News - August 2023
Tuesday 15 August - 7:30pm General Meeting
VENUE:Old Sunday School, St Johns Park Precinct
GUEST SPEAKER: June Cunningham
TOPIC: Follow the Gossip! Finding my family
As June grew up, she knew only her immediate birth family. She had never even seen a photograph of her grandparents and knew almost nothing of their lives.
Her search opened a Pandora's box of scandals, as she followed the extraordinary misdemeanors of her grandfather across the UK, India, and the Middle East. What could explain his behavior?
June grew up with no real sense of extended family - her parents came to Australia when she was three, leaving all their relatives in England.
She was born in South Africa, so she had never met her grandparents; and had never even seen a photo of any of them, or in fact any photos at all of her father's life.
As a child it did not really bother her; she just assumed it was normal. As for so many people, it was only as June got older that she became interested, and so began quite a journey.
June gave a longer version of this talk at Cygnet U3A, and it generated enough interest for them to start a Family History Group which meets monthly.
More for Your Diary
Thu 17 Aug - 10.00am Branch Committee Meeting
VENUE: Branch Library, Bellerive
Thu 17 Aug - 1.30pm DNA Group Meeting
VENUE: St Marks Church Hall, Scott Street, Bellerive
Thu 24 Aug - 2pm Library Committee
VENUE: Branch Library, Bellerive
Tue 19 Sept - 7:30pm General Meeting
VENUE: Old Sunday School, St Johns Park Precinct
SPEAKER: John Counsell
TOPIC: The History and Heritage of the Hobart Rivulet
From Your Branch President
All is going smoothly - your committee is a great team who all contribute to keep the wheels turning as well as working on new projects. We have a couple of new library assistants but could still do with more.
Thanks to Eddy Steenbergen, the Comprehensive Subject Index (CSI) has been updated online with a huge number of new entries. What is the CSI, you ask? It is a searchable database of references to named people, objects, places or events. The data has been compiled by TFHS volunteers over many years from the contents of publications in the Branch Libraries. If you go to https://www.hobart.tasfhs.org/csi_search.php and put in the name of one of your ancestors, or a Tasmanian locality you are interested in, it will almost always come up with a list of publications in the Branch Library where that person or place is mentioned. Then you come into the Branch Library on a Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday morning or Saturday afternoon (check opening hours) and a volunteer will help you find the publications you are interested in.
I recently thought I would challenge it by putting in the name of an obscure person who was not in Tasmania for long in the mid-1800s. I was very surprised to find that he is mentioned in an early edition of Tasmanian Ancestry and in the Knopwood Historical Lectures, with the page specified. Give it a go - you will be surprised what you can find.
Ros Escott
president@hobart.tasfhs.org
Research Notes
Despite the prevalence of on-line records there are still many avenues for the determined researcher to follow up and many of these can be found within the resources held at the Branch Library. I still receive two or three requests on a weekly basis for information not found elsewhere. In most of these cases the Comprehensive Subject Index (CSI) is my good friend. This resource is available both in the Library and on our own website, recently updated. There is much to be found among the family history books, local histories, Indexes to Assessment & Valuation Rolls, Cemetery Indexes and Undertakers Records which are not readily available elsewhere.
Recently, I have undertaken a transcription of a Convict Conduct Record and Susan Hood's publication Transcribing Convict Conduct Recordswas most useful. Several requests for burial information and the occasional one for property locations have also featured.
In the meantime, my own family research has become important, and I hope to put it in some order sometime soon.
Louise Rainbow
Research Officer
Computer Resources - Pioneer & Federation Indexes
One of our most popular and useful resources on the library computers is the Pioneer & Federation index for Tasmania. These list Births, Deaths & Marriages 1803-1899 (Pioneer Index) & Births 1900-1919 Deaths & Marriages 1900-1930 (Federation Index). There are a number of indexes for Victoria, South Australia and one for Queensland as well.
Unfortunately, with the upgrading of most of our computers the indexes will now only run on one of our older machines. There is a separate shortcut on the relevant computer desktop to take you to the indexes. Our library assistants will be happy to point you in the right direction.
Membership
Memberships for The Society were due 1 April for the current year, through to 31 Mar 2024. If you have forgotten to renew, please do so as soon as possible and we will arrange for the June Tasmanian AncestryJournal to be mailed to you.
If you have misplaced your membership renewal form, contact us at membership@tasfhs.org and we will arrange to send a replacement.
Volunteers Needed
With recent resignations, illness and several members absent on holidays during the next few months, the library is seeking replacement volunteers, particularly on Tuesday and Saturday afternoons. If you are able to help on either of those days, please contact Judith Mudaliar, at jude1710@bigpond.com .
Library Accessions July 2023
Books
* Denotes complimentary or donated item
Marita Bardenhagen Memorial Award for Local History
The Marita Bardenhagen Memorial Award for Local History is a biennial prize acknowledging outstanding original research in the field of local history with significant Tasmanian content.
Entries open on 14 June 2023 and close 30 September 2023.
How to apply:Application forms are available from Dr Dianne Snowden AM at dsnowden@tassie.net.au
Library Notes
Do you have ancestors from Scotland? Thanks to the generosity of a past member, the library has a good collection of tombstone inscriptions from some areas of Scotland. Aberdeenshire and the North East are well represented, and some booklets contain several cemeteries. Dewey numbers 929.3209411 - 929.3209414 will help you on your way.
Judith Mudaliar
Maree's Mutterings
The events for National Family History Month through Libraries Tasmania have expanded throughout the state with some available on webinar. A full listing from the libraries for Tasmania is available here:
https://libraries.tas.gov.au/events/list/?tribe-bar-search=family+history
This is the national programme for the month... some are available on webinar:
https://familyhistorymonth.org.au/index.php/nfhm-events-calendar
Libraries Tasmania National Family History Month 2023 Opening Ceremony
https://familyhistorymonth.org.au/index.php/videos/video/2023-opening-ceremony
Held on Tuesday 1 August 2023, at 5pm Eastern Australian time, by Zoom. Professor Hamish Maxwell-Stewart and Andrew Redfern spoke on the topic of 'AI (Artificial Intelligence)'. A video recording of this talk is available till the end of September.
The beginning of this talk (I haven't got far into it) is about what Hamish hopes to do with Tasmanian records, including BDM'S for the 20th century. I am sure all Tasmanian family history researchers will be interested in what is happening.
The first video from Libraries Tasmania National Family History Month 2023 has been released. Just one piece of the puzzle: connecting your family history With Libraries Tasmania's Chloe House and Amberlei Darlington Beresford:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lusz1dRoN8
Another video through Libraries Tasmania is the talk by Catherine Whittaker, on Elizabeth Fry - the lady who cared for the female convicts and organised fabric and cottons to keep them occupied on the voyage out to Tasmania.
Elizabeth Fry: Voice of the Voiceless Convict Women:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNBPPfUc7Go
Gro Online View Digital Image Service
Ordering birth and death certificates from the UK has been a difficult process for some years. While Scotland People offered a pay per view online system, it was much more difficult and expensive to obtain GRO (General Records Office). For that reason, the Hobart Branch has offered an ordering system on behalf of members.
That has finally changed with launch of the GRO Online View digital image service which now makes birth entries from 1837 up to 100 years ago and death entries from 1837 to 1887 viewable online (and saveable) for a fee of £2.50.
It is necessary to first open an account, but the original register entries can then be viewed online. Full detail of how it works may be found here: https://www.rolotest.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/images/CGOVPublicBeta.pdf
Meanwhile Victora has increased the cost of their historic certificates from $20 to $22.
FCRC seminar: Sunday 5 May 2024 - Call for Papers
Topic: Freedom: Time Served, Moving On
This seminar will focus on the pathways to freedom for convict women and will explore the lives they led once emancipated.
Possible topics may include:
Pathways to freedom
Emancipation - prosperity or poverty? How the emancipated women lived out the rest of their lives. Individual stories
Exploring subsets - return to their home country, moving to another colony or country; marriage; non-marriage; businesswomen; relying on the State to survive
If you would like to present a 20-minute paper at the seminar, please forward an abstract for consideration to seminar@femaleconvicts.org.au by 20 October 2023. The abstract should outline your intended topic, the points you will highlight and the sources you will be using to inform your paper.
Dianne Snowden (President) Female Convicts Research Centre
Amanda Johnson (Seminar Organising Committee)