Specialist indexes in Australia

Specialist Indexes in Australia : a genealogist's guide was compiled in 1998 by Queenslander Judy Webster. The 2006 supplement has now been issued. The books consists of a central register of indexing projects in Australia such as cemetery records, hospital admissions registers, newspaper indexes and other name indexes of interest to family researchers. These are available at Ivanhoe and Diamond Valley libraries in the Reference section.

Judy Webster's Genealogy Advice website is also well worth a visit.

Research Organisations

After starting your family history research at Yarra Plenty, consider exploring the records at other organisations throughout Melbourne for your family history research.

Victorian Archives Centre - Joint PROV and NAA Research Facility
Public Record Office Victoria
99 Shiel Street, North Melbourne
National Archives of Australia

State Library of Victoria Genealogy Centre
328 Swanston Street, Melbourne

Administration and Probate
2nd Floor
436 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages
Transport House
589 Collins Street, Melbourne

Land Victoria
570 Bourke Street, Melbourne

The Registrar General's Office
570 Bourke Street,Melbourne
Pre 1862 Land records

Coronial Services Centre
57 Kavanagh Street, Southbank

Royal Historical Society of Victoria
239 A'Beckett Street, Melbourne

The Genealogical Society of Victoria
Level B1, 257 Collins Street, Melbourne

Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies
1/41 Railway Road, Blackburn

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - Family History Centres
Blackburn
Braeside
North Caulfield
Croydon
Deer Park
Epping
Moorabbin
Northcote
Wantirna

University of Melbourne
Parkville

Genealogy column in Net Guide

The Society of Australian Genealogists maintain a regular "know how genealogy" feature in Australian Net Guide. A number of branches have this magazine available for borrowing.

Australian Maps Online

The range of maps in the collection of the National Library of Australia now numbers more than 600,000. This includes more than 100,000 post-1900 Australian maps and a significant collection of pre-1900 Australian maps. These are supplemented by more than 500,000 aerial photos. Much of all this is in the NLA's online catalogue, but the rest is only accessible by consulting the Library map staff.

To check what's available in an area of interest, go to www.nla.gov.au/map/ and enter an appropriate search criterion in the form provided. For instance, a search for "Eltham" gives a list of twelve hits, dating from the 1901 to 2001. One of those listed shows a thumbnail of the map, indicating that it can be viewed online. There are in fact over 6000 maps online. The earliest one focussed on Australia appears to be one of Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, by Captain John Hunter. It shows the
position of the encampments and buildings as they stood in March 1788, and
the positions the transports were moored on their arrival.

The maps are best viewed with the interactive viewer that can be downloaded from the NLA site.

New Brunswick (Canada) Newspapers

The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, Canada, has a
useful "vital statistics" index to about 300,000 items from 1784-1896 -
about 640,000 unique names. The items are mainly notices of births,
marriages, deaths, but also include shipwrecks and many other events, all
containing names that would further the search for an ancestor. Largely the work of the late Daniel F Johnson, it's drawn from 75 newspapers across New Brunswick. The index can be searched by name or by the full text of the newspaper item, at http://archives.gnb.ca/Archives/

The language of each index entry is the original used in
the newspaper entry, and as transcribed by Johnson. His transcriptions
used a certain amount of abbreviation and search criteria need to take
that into account. Many of the items refer to events beyond New Brunswick,
with a good number mentioning Australian places. A Search for Australia, NSW, some other colony, or a particular placename will reveal a range of entries likely to be of interest to Australian researchers, often providing information well
beyond what is available in BDM indexes, inquest indexes etc.

SAG-E newsletter October 2006

Index to vessels arriving in Sydney 1837-1925

The latest additions to the online indexes at State Records NSW include one to the vessels arriving in Sydney 1837-1925. Note that the index relates to vessels arriving in Sydney only, not to the whole of NSW. It is an index to ships - not the people on board.

It records the name and type of vessel, and date of arrival. If you know the name of the ship, this index will be useful to check or confirm the date of arrival.

There are over 120,000 entries in this index, which is the work of
Mary-Anne Warner and her team of volunteers. This new online index can be searched at : > www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/index_~1.asp.

SAG -E newsletter October 2006

Digital Genealogist

A new online journal "Digital Genealogist" has just been launched. It will require a subscription but the first issue is free and is available to download as a PDF
http://www.digitalgenealogist.com/

Articles include:
Family reunion flyers: professional design without professional software.
In search of genealogical software.
Essential technology for genealogists.

Nick Vine Hall

Family History researchers will find it sad to learn of the passing of Australian genealogist Nick Vine Hall who passed away on October 31. One of his books "Tracing your family history in Australia : a national guide to sources" was a must have for researchers beginning their family history

An obitary can be found at the AIGS website