News - March 2024
Tuesday 19 March – 7:30pm General Meeting
VENUE: Old Sunday School, St Johns Park Precinct
GUEST SPEAKER: John Wadsley
TOPIC: The History of Claremont Army Camp and Cadbury Peninsula
The early European history of Triffitts Point, which became Cadbury Peninsula, is fascinating. There is evidence of one of Claremont’s earliest colonial farms, which goes on to become a major farming enterprise through the 19th Century.
The Army’s interest starts with a Remount Depot, then the Great War came with the creation of Tasmania’s major training camp, which saw over 11,000 men pass through its gates.
The attraction of Cadbury to Tasmania in the 1920s was a significant development for the area. And today a former school site, over one hundred years old, is to become the centre of a new housing development.
This presentation will explore all aspect of the area’s history. John has recently published his book on the area's history titled "A town of Tents", copies of which will be available for sale at the presentation.
John Wadsley has a background as a professional heritage consultant and historian. He has a strong interest in Australian military history and co-authored the bicentennial history of Anglesea Barracks in Hobart published in 2011. John has undertaken significant historical research on the impact of the Great War in Tasmania and Australia. He is a long- term member of the Friends of Soldiers Memorial Avenue. He previously worked as a NPWS ranger at Port Arthur and Richmond Gaol, and across various government agencies before joining GHD Consultants for 10 years. He set up his practice in 2007. He has also worked at TMAG and the Maritime Museum of Tasmania.
More for Your Diary
Thu 21 Mar – 10.00am Branch Committee Meeting
VENUE: Branch Library, Bellerive
Thu 21 Mar – 1.30pm DNA Interest Group Meeting
VENUE: St Marks Church Hall, Scott Street, Bellerive
Thu 28 Mar - 2pm Library Committee
VENUE: Branch Library, Bellerive
Sat 20 Apr – 2pm Annual General Meeting
VENUE: St Marks Church Hall
SPEAKER: Malcolm Ward
TOPIC: Bellerive; a Personal Story
**** There will be no other general meeting for April.
Books
Alexander, James and Alison; THE HOPKINS BICENTENARY - Henry and Sarah Hopkins arrived in Hobart Town, 10 September 1822 (Celebrated By Their Descendants; Hobart, 10 Sep 2022) [Q929.2 HOP]
* Aplin, Graeme; S. G. Foster, Michael McKernan, ‘Eds; AUSTRALIANS Events and Places[994 APL]
* Atkinson, Alan; Marian Aveling, Eds; AUSTRALIANS 1828 [994 ATK]
* Borchardt, D.H., Ed; AUSTRALIANS A Guide to Sources [994 BOR]
Coal River Valley Historical Society Inc; 200 YEARS IN THE VALLEY - Celebrating the Bicentenary of Richmond (Journal 7, Jan 2024)
*Colour Library Books Ltd; TRADITIONAL BRITISH CRAFTS [Q680 TRA]
* Curthoys, Ann; A.W. Martin, Tim Rowsc; Eds. AUSTRALIANS from 1939[994 CUR]
*Leitch, B; THE JAM FACTORY [994.6 LEI]
*Nicolson, Nigel; GREAT HOUSES OF BRITAIN [Q728.80942 NIC]
*Radi, Heather; 200 AUSTRALIAN WOMEN - A Redress Anthology [920.094 RAD]
*Stanley, Peter; THE REMOTE GARRISON - The British Army in Australia, 1788–1870 [355.00904 STA]
*Thomas, Bertram ‘Snow’; SNOW AT NORTH DOWN - 91 Years from 1931 (Recollections and Letters of Bertram (Snow) Thomas [Q929.2 THO]
* Denotes complimentary or donated item
The Alexander book was donated by the authors. The Leitch book was donated by member, Nora McCarthy. The remaining books were donated in memory of former member Audrey Hudspeth.
From Your Branch President
St Patrick’s Day has had me thinking about my Irish roots. Those of us with Irish ancestry have long felt despondent about ever being able to trace our family history, because so many records were destroyed in the 1922 Four Courts fire. But don’t underestimate the free online resources that are now available.
My favourite is www.irishgenealogy.ie , which has the Irish GRO’s civil records of births 1864‑1923, marriages 1845 to 1948 and deaths 1871 to 1973 (with earlier dates being progressively added). If you find and click on a record of interest, don’t miss the little word ‘image’ at the bottom which brings up the image of the registration – for free!!!
They also have searchable Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland records of baptisms, marriages and burials – but only for limited parishes (list available). In this case, don’t miss the ‘View the church register page containing this record’ to see a PDF of the original record.
Still no luck? The National Library of Ireland , has digitised the microfilm reels of many Roman Catholic parish registers up to approximately 1880.
Then there is the National Archives (of Ireland), especially for the 19th and 20th Centuries but some much earlier. Wills are worth searching. They also have free access to the 1901 and 1911 censuses of Ireland. A good starting place is to download their booklet ‘Our Sources for Family History’ at https://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy/guide/ .
Last but not least are the wonderful resources at Ireland Reaching Out, www.irelandxo.com , which is aimed specifically at the Irish diaspora. Again, it is free, and well worth joining, particularly if you know where your Irish ancestors came from. And if you don’t know, they can help you.
I’d love to hear if any of you have a useful find from this.
Ros Escott president@hobart.tasfhs.org
Renewing your Membership for 2024-2025
Memberships are currently due for the year commencing 1 April 2024.
The renewal form was posted with the latest Tasmanian Ancestry Journal early March.
If you have not yet paid your subscription and have misplaced the renewal form, please let us know at membership@tasfhs.org and we will arrange a replacement.
Payment methods are endorsed on the renewal form including a new option through the PayWay system offering a faster easier and more secure payment method for most members and we hope you take advantage of it when renewing your membership.
If you haven't already done so, the first step is to register so that you can login to our new members-only website. Having done that, you simply login and select Membership/Renew now from the menu. Your existing membership details will be displayed for you to review and then you proceed to the secure payment page. You will receive an email receipt from the PayWay system. Go to https://www.tasfhs.org/renewals/ for further details and links to the website.
If using direct deposit option, it is very important that your 8-digit CRN is used as the reference. In the past a number of deposits have been made that can’t be identified due to lack of CRN details. The CRN is clearly marked on the front, bottom right-hand side of the renewal form.
If using Debit/Credit card, please ensure that your card is current, the card number is entered clearly and in full and that the expiry date (mm/yy) is entered as well.
Cheques are still acceptable and should be sent to Membership TFHS INC PO Box 326 ROSNY PARK TAS 7018
Members-Only Website
Over 200 members have registered so far to access our new members-only website. Have you? It enables you to check your membership details, produce a membership certificate (useful if proof is needed when visiting other states) and to renew on-line. Payment is by debit/credit card which is faster and much more secure than our other payment options. It also reduces our processing times and workload, so please do try it.
You will also find the first of our member-only online offerings: a fully searchable version of TAMIOT, offering over 110,000 headstone and memorial inscriptions from some 788 Tasmanian locations.
It’s a simple process to register:
- Go to this link: https://www.members.tasfhs.org/phplogin/register.php
- Make up and enter your username.
- Make up and enter your new password (twice)
- Then enter your email address, and press Register
You will then be sent an automatic email which will have a link it. Once you click that link your registration will be complete and you will be able to login with your new username and password.
Female Convicts Research Centre Seminar
Presented in partnership with the School of Humanities, UTAS
Freedom: Time served, moving on
Sunday 5 May 2024, 9.00 am – 3.00 pm at the Stanley Burbury Theatre, University of Tasmania
Registration options:
- In-person attendance: $60.00 plus 50c TryBooking fee (includes morning tea and lunch)
- Zoom webinar attendance: $40.00 plus 50c TryBooking fee.
https://femaleconvicts.org.au/fcrc-seminars/seminar-registration
Maree’s Mutterings
Australian Jewish Historical Society website now has a new page: a map of our database of 84,000+ Australian Jewish Burials, and you can filter by Tasmania on the side.
https://collections.ajhs.com.au/Browse/cemeteries/
Queenborough Cemetery
Recent media claimed that a “body from the early-1800s” has been found at a construction site at a Hobart school. (Pulse Tasmania and ABC Hobart face book sites; ABC news https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-07/old-human-remains-found-the-hutchins-school-sandy-bay/103552150 - Face book pages https://www.facebook.com/SandyBayHistoricalSociety ; https://www.facebook.com/groups/117216850261847 ).
“Police forensic teams were called to Hutchins in Sandy Bay to investigate the 200-year-old find. There is estimated to be around 150 bodies at the former grave site, with many more expected to be dug up as works continue.” The school is to hold a service at the Queenborough Memorial Garden in future, to honour the people who were buried where their school now stands.
The bodies wouldn’t be quite 200 years old as the Queensborough cemetery wasn’t established until 1873 – 150 years ago. Some earlier burials may have been transferred to the cemetery after various church burial grounds closed in 1872.
The cemetery closed by Act of Parliament in 1944.
From the valuable work of the volunteers of the Hobart branch Monday and Publishing Groups we have the publication of The Cemeteries of Tasmania, Volume Three, Queenborough Cemetery. This publication has that “it had been estimated that Queenborough Cemetery had between a minimum number of 4318 graves containing 7675 bodies and a maximum number of 4417 graves containing 7879 bodies”. It is impossible to give an accurate figure. Indeed, this Index lists over 15000 names, of which at least 9000 appear to be for individuals.
The transcriptions of inscriptions of the headstones held by Libraries Tasmania suggest that the headstones inscriptions date from 1864 to 1942. These inscriptions are dated by Libraries Tasmanian as taken 1953 to 1955 and are numbered to 3428. https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/AB413-1-1_001#
There is a monument at Cornelian Bay for this cemetery “Sacred to the Memory of those who were re-interred at Cornelian Bay from the Queenborough Cemetery 1960 – 1963”. This contains 1542 names though with the addition of the family groups in figures, makes 1591.
https://www.thegardensfamily.com/cemeteries/Hobart/Queenborough/index.htm
Fielding Family Photographic Exhibition
South Riana Memorial Hall
Penguin History Group Inc.
Saturday 30 March to Monday 1 April 2021 11.00 am to 3.00 pm
- Extensive photos and interesting articles on the families
- PowerPoint presentation
- Detailed family trees
- Admission by gold coin donation
- Devonshire teas will be available
For more information contact Craig Dunham at craig.dunham@outlook.com