~ 12th December 2007 ~  

MEETING DATES 2007/2008

Meeting held 2nd Wednesday of the month at 10am in the Tebbutt Room, Windsor Library

INFORMATION

NEXT MEETING

Seasons Greetings to all. The next Hawkesbury Family History Group meeting will take place on Wednesday 13 February 2008. (Note there is no meeting in January) Dr Carol Liston will be discussing the Parramatta Orphan School.

HISTORICAL AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL ROLLS LAUNCHED ON ANCESTRY

Ancestry.com.au recently launched Australia’s earliest post Federation Australian Electoral Rolls, covering 1901-1936 for all Australian states except S. A.  At present only rolls from the 1930s are available for NSW however Ancestry hope to complete indexing the whole period by mid 2008. Ancestry is available for borrowers at Hawkesbury Central Library to access for free. To book a PC phone 4560 4460 for a booking.

REMINDER

"Who do you think you are?"

Don't forget to watch the interesting program "Who do you think you are?" on SBS on Sunday evenings at 7.30pm. The show follows celebrities through the process of tracing their family history. The Australian version commences on Sunday 13 January 2008.

REUNIONS

Owen & Margaret Cavanough Reunion - 29 March 2008

Descendants of Ebenezer church pioneers Owen & Margaret Cavanough - please note that a family re-union is planned for 29 March 2008 at Ebenezer Church, starting at 10am. Further details from: Pat Holdorf, 85 James Street, Punchbowl NSW 2196 or email p1234@tadaust.org.au  

HOW I GOT STARTED ON FAMILY HISTORY? - Bernie Dunning

My first journey into my family history started when I was a little boy. My mother’s family used to meet each Sunday for lunch and the conversation afterwards often ended discussing members of the family who had died, married etc. Most of this obviously was by word of mouth and in recent times when I have been trying to find out more, find that some of the information was not exactly correct. My wife and I first came to Hawkesbury Family History Group to find out what we could on Pitt Town Common. My great grandmother was living there in the 1903 electoral roll. After visits to the State Archives, the Land Titles Office and again Windsor library - we located the place they lived on the Pitt Town Dural Road, Pitt Town. This land was granted to my great grandfather in 1892.

We use a program called Family Tree Maker for our records and only last month we tried to locate the death of my paternal great great grandmother and we wrote to Marilyn Rowan for copies of 2 death transcriptions for Sarah Maria Montgomery. One did not belong to us (the lady was in gaol) but the other was a little girl aged 4 who died in Windsor. Her father Charles William Montgomery was a son of my great great grandmother. This also led us to Windsor and we spent another day at the library and then St. Matthews Church & Cemetery, locating their family grave. This is a continuing saga as we still have not found the death of my great great grandmother.

Reminder….HOW I GOT STARTED ON FAMILY HISTORY?… more needed

I would like to start a new section on our newsletter, about how people got started in family history. What made you take up this hobby, how long have you been doing it, what have been the changes over the years and the challenges. Has it been a rewarding hobby and what sort of things have you learnt. If you are interested in participating, send the details to michelle.nichols@hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au or post them to Michelle Nichols, Hawkesbury Central Library, 300 George Street, Windsor 2756

NEW LOCAL STUDIES ITEMS

New Local Studies items now available to consult in the Local Studies Collection at Hawkesbury Central Library. To check the Library catalogue online go to http://catalogue.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au/amlibweb/

South Australian Deaths 196-1972 (CD-ROM)

South Australia Pre-Civil Registration Birth, deaths & Marriages (CD-ROM)

Probate index Victoria 1940-1992 (extended from 1841-1939) FICHE PRO

Generously donated by the Hawkesbury Family History Group

Surfing the internet……. Sites for family historians

Members with internet access should check out the following interesting sites. The Library has free access to the internet, contact 4560 4460 for bookings at Windsor & 4578 2002 for Richmond bookings.

Australia Downunder (heaps of info about Australia) includes converter ~ http://www.alldownunder.com/oz-k/index.html

Rookwood Cemetery (Independent Section i.e. Uniting, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, Wesleyan use "DECEASED SEARCH") ~ http://www.rookwoodindependent.com.au/

~ Let us know of sites, that you have tried with (or without) success ~