Tuesday 22 July 2014

Genealogy Notes 15-22 July 2014 - NFHM & exciting family finds

Wow the past week has been full on with all kinds of exciting things. National Family History Month is keeping me busy with more events added and there have been some changes to dates, times, venues and even a cancellation. So remember to keep checking the NFHM web calendar for any changes. There is also a new prize sponsor - Momento photo books so keep an eye out for news about the prize draws as we get into NFHM in just over a week's time. Full list of NFHM sponsors and prizes here.

Findmypast (a NFHM prize sponsor) have been doing 100 record sets in 100 days and some brilliant records have been added over the last 100 days but the one that got me most excited were the last four sets - Nos 97 - 100 Staffordshire baptisms, burials, marriages and banns. I have oodles of Staffordshire ancestors and have had a quick play (found my GGG grandfather's marriage and the deaths of my GG grandparents amongst other things ) but there is a fishing competition on this weekend and I will be alone for two days. So I am quietly planning my Staffordshire feast of family history for this weekend!

Peter from Lost Cousins also drew my attention to the Staffordshire records release as I have put my Staffordshire census information into the Lost Cousins database. I need to recheck that as more census information has been released since I last added my families.

Another NFHM prize sponsor, Inside History Magazine has featured a story on Max's ancestors which I discovered over a cup of tea this morning. Max's grandmother was the cousin of Archie Barwick who features in the new documentary The War That Changed Us so looking forward to seeing that  and to learning more about Archie. It goes to air on 5 August on the ABC so perfect timing for NFHM!

At the prompting of other relatives I have put my family trees up publicly in Ancestry (a major sponsor and a prize sponsor of NFHM) and I am a bit amazed at the distant relatives that have sent me emails and new information. It certainly pays to advertise but keeping up with all the new enquiries at this time is a little hectic. Thank goodness NFHM is only a month although there are some who have suggested it should be all year!!

I also been watching the new series of Who Do You Think You Are on SBS and found Andrew Denton's story so moving but then all the stories are interesting and get me wanting to do more research on my ancestors! Just wish some of them had led more exciting lives! If you have missed an episode you can watch them online too.

The other exciting news is that I have been invited to the launch of the National Archives of Australia's new Discovering ANZACs website by the Governor General and followed by high tea so definitely not to be missed. Luckily it is the same week that I am in Canberra for the launch of NFHM, next week is going to be huge. Plus I get to catch up with all my old Canberra friends.

The 5th Unlock the Past cruise is currently underway and both Alona and Helen have managed to write some blog posts and put pictures up on Facebook so that those of us not there can still find out all the news. Read Alona's posts here and Helen's here.

Trove is having a pre NFHM event and are looking for your family stories and there are some I Love Trove badges on offer so read all the details here but closing date is 30 July so be quick!

Well that's my news for this week and I will have another Diary update on Sunday before I head off to Canberra will all the latest news on NFHM. August is going to be a fantastic month for genealogy and family history. Happy researching.






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