News - August 2024
Tuesday 20 July - 7:30pm General Meeting
VENUE: Old Sunday School, St Johns Park Precinct
GUEST SPEAKER: Dr Imogen Wegman
TOPIC: Interpreting the thousand words: what maps can tell family historians
As historians, we often use maps as illustrations or to pinpoint a specific location, sometimes even finding a historic map that shows the world as our ancestor experienced it. What can be easy to forget is that every map has been carefully curated: it shows a set of choices made by the surveyor, cartographer, printer, and publisher, and these choices all influence how we see the world it displays. This talk will explore how we can read the detail of historic maps and associated imagery to find new information that enhances our research.
Dr Imogen Wegman is a Lecturer in Humanities at the University of Tasmania. She has been teaching into the Family History program for many years and enjoys converting her students into 'map nerds' like her. Her research uses historic cartography and modern methodologies to examine the colonial environment, and she is currently writing a book about land granting in early Van Diemen's Land.
More for Your Diary
Thu 15 Aug - 10.00am Branch Committee Meeting
VENUE: Branch Library, Bellerive
Thu 15 Aug - 1.30pm DNA Group Meeting
VENUE: St Marks Church Hall, Scott Street, Bellerive
Thu 22 Aug - 2pm Library Committee
VENUE: Branch Library, Bellerive
Tue 17 Sep - 7:30pm General Meeting
VENUE: Old Sunday School, St Johns Park Precinct
SPEAKER: Hamish Maxwell Stewart
Topic: using digital technologies to explore Tasmania's past
From your Branch President
DNA and Family History
Anyone who knows me well will know that I am a firm believer in using DNA to support family history research. But notice that I said 'support', as DNA and family history research are not an either/or - they complement each other. Your DNA results are next to useless without a family tree attached to enable to analyse them or break down a brick wall.
Despite the impression given by the advertisements, DNA is not just about ethnic origins. With your results comes a list of hundreds of 'matches', people who share some segments of DNA with you. The more they share, the more closely they are related to you. With a few skills at analysing these matches and working with family trees, you can usually work out who the 'common ancestor' is, the ancestor you are both descended from, and how the match is related to you. And with more skills and some third-party tools, it is often possible to work out how you are related to mystery matches and hopefully to break down brick walls in your tree.
This is where our Branch's DNA Interest Group can help you. Either by teaching you some skills or with some individual help. We meet monthly, February to November, on the third Thursday of the month 1.30 - 3.00 pm at St Mark's Church Hall in Bellerive. For more information and a video with me explaining how I use DNA to solve mysteries, see https://www.hobart.tasfhs.org/dna.php .
Getting your DNA done is not for everyone. You have to be prepared to accept what you find, which may not be what they expected to find. It can be a huge shock to discover your father or beloved grandfather is not who your thought he was, or that a close family member fathered a child, or gave a baby up for adoption and it was kept a family secret. For better or worse, DNA does not lie. One member recently commented that, after years of researching his family tree, he did not want to get his DNA tested and discover a branch of his tree was wrong and all that work was wasted.
Library Assistants Needed
Please think about becoming an assistant in our Branch Library. One three-hour session per month on your choice of Tuesday 12.30 - 3.30 pm, Wednesday 9.30 am - 12.30 pm or Saturday 1.00 pm - 4.00 pm. Training provided so you learn how to use the library's physical and online resources to help visitors with their research. Support always available from fellow assistants on duty. When it is quiet, do your own research. You are not only helping us keep this valuable resource open for members and for the public, but you will become part of a friendly, supportive team of volunteers.
Ros Escott president@hobart.tasfhs.org
Looking for a Family Connection
Jill Salmon is inquiring whether anyone has any information on the Overell family?
She has found 4 small volumes:
- Helps to Worship, Margaret Overell, from the Dean of Hobart Sept 27th 1906
- The Birthday Scripture Book, Effie M. Overell, 1879
- Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie, by H.W.Longfellow Miss Overell with love Doris Read, Christmas 1912
- The Birthday Scripture Text Book, To my dear friend Mrs Overell, With a shower of blessings for her happy sojourn in England & safe return to Tasmania E.C. August 18th 1885.
She is happy to hand these over to anyone who has a connection to the family. If you have or know of a connection please contact the secretary: secretary@hobart.tasfhs.org.
Cascades Convict Connections - Uncover Your Ancestral Roots
Saturday & Sunday 24 - 25 August - 10.00 am to 3.00 pm - Free Event
This Family History Month, join an esteemed panel of experts at the Cascades Female Factory as they unveil the mysteries of genealogy research.
Gain valuable insights and insider tips to illuminate your family's journey through history so you can craft your own comprehensive family tree.
Meet the esteemed panel of experts:
- Female Convict Research Centre
- University of Tasmania - Family History
- Friends of the Orphans Schools
- Maureen Martin Ferris
- Hobart Penitentiary, National Trust
- Roses from the Heart - Dr Christina Henri
- State Library and Archives of Tasmania
- Tasmanian Family History Society Inc. The Hobart Branch will be there, along with our unique Southern Tasmania Undertakers database.
Site entry is free for anyone attending this event; however, a charge will apply to those wishing to join one of the two tours:
- Convict Women's Tour
- Notorious Strumpets and Dangerous Girls
Tasmanian ANZACS
Those Who Served, Their Families and the Impact of World War One. Volume 1: The 12th and 52nd Battalions by Stefan Petrow
Much has been written about the Anzac experience in World War One, but the unique contribution of Tasmanian soldiers has been largely overlooked. Tasmanian Anzacs expands our understanding of the Great War by drawing on previously unexamined private letters, diaries and thousands of service records of Tasmanian soldiers who served in the 12th and 52nd Battalions of the Australian Imperial Force and their brothers and sisters who enlisted in other units.
Also given prominence are the families who supported their loved ones with parcels and messages from home to help them cope with the horrors of many critical battles at Gallipoli and the Western Front. Recounting acts of great courage, physical and mental hardships, capture by the enemy and death on the battlefield, Tasmanian Anzacs commemorates the varied experience of Tasmanian soldiers and the pain their grieving families endured in this richly detailed history of war's human impact.
The book is available at Fullers, Cracked and Spineless and Hobart Bookshops or direct from the publisher: Forty South
FCRC Seminar: Sunday 4 May 2025
Presented in partnership with the School of Humanities, University of Tasmania.
Topic: Female Convict Places: A Lasting Legacy
Call For Papers
This seminar will explore female convict places, where our female convicts spent time, how they came to be in those places and the legacy left for future generations.
Possible topics include:
- The Female Factory system
- Regional locations
- Musters
- Incarceration
- Assignment and probation systems
- Employment
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 2024. The abstract should outline your intended topic, the points you will highlight and the sources you will be using to inform your paper.
Dr Dianne Snowden AM (President) Female Convicts Research Centre
Amanda Johnson (Seminar Organising Committee)
Familysearch Library Classes and Webinars For August 2024
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (30 July 2024)-The free FamilySearch Library August 2024 webinars will focus on storytelling and the power that comes from learning, preserving, and telling your family's story. Classes will share stories of individuals connecting with their roots and offer tips on using the FamilySearch Family Tree, including how to add memories to your tree, view record hints and sources, and merge duplicate individuals.
No registration is required. All class times are in Mountain Daylight Time (MDT). Click on the links below to watch the classes live or to view Available On-Demand classes. If you miss a class, most sessions are recorded and can be viewed conveniently on demand in the FamilySearch Library classes and webinars archive.
More Resources
Want more genealogy content?
- Explore 18 billion historical records and images at FamilySearch
- Search historical record images using the powerful Explore Historical Images feature
- Peruse over 1,500 free on-demand sessions from RootsTech
- Schedule a free 20-minute consultation with a FamilySearch Library research specialist
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Date/Time (MDT) |
Class/Webinar |
How to view |
Presenter |
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Available On Demand |
From Research to Draft: Rapidly Writing Your Ancestor's Story |
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Available On Demand |
Let AI Be Your Ghostwriter |
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Available On Demand |
The Power of Storytelling: How Stories Connect Us with Our Roots |
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Available On Demand |
The Power of Storytelling: Taking Family History off the Shelf through Storytelling |
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Available On Demand |
Stories for Your Family History: Preserving Children's Stories |
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Thursday, August 1, 10:00 AM MDT |
Tracing the Saints: Introducing Latter-day Saint Church Record |
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Tuesday, August 6, 10:00 AM MDT |
Family Tree Merging Duplicate Individuals |
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Tuesday, August 13, 10:00 AM MDT |
FamilySearch Family Tree: Correcting Relationships |
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Thursday, August 15, 10:00 AM MDT |
Extra! Extra! The Scoop on U.S. Newspaper Research |
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Tuesday, August 20, 10:00 AM MDT |
FamilySearch Family Tree: Record Hints and Sources |
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Monday, August 26, 10:00 AM MDT |
Marriages, Murders, and a Munchkin: Using FamilySearch to Record Memories |
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Tuesday, August 27, 10:00 AM MDT |
FamilySearch Family Tree: Adding Memories |
ABOUT FAMILYSEARCH
FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. We are a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and our predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Our services and resources can be accessed for free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 6,000 family history centers in 129 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Australasian Conference - Connections 2025
SAVE THE DATE: March 21-24, 2025.
The Australasian Conference - Connections 2025 - will be held in Brisbane over four days in March 2025. Hosted by the Genealogical Society of Queensland, the conference combines the 17th Australian Conference on Genealogy and Heraldry and 5th History Queensland State Conference.
Connections 2025 is a must do for family and local historians.
Visit the Connections 2025 website for more details here www.connections2025.org.au and follow the Facebook page for weekly updates https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555896460536