Our proud convict past

Two websites have recently been launched which will be of value to historians researching their convict heritage.

Founders and Survivors is a national project funded by the Australian Research Council.
It seeks to record and study the founding population of 73,000 men women and children who were transported to Tasmania. Many survived their convict experience and went on to help build a new society. It is inviting submissions of names of convicts from the community.

You can read more about the project at The Age website.

Convict researchers will be aware of Old Bailey Online -the proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674 - 1913. An Old Bailey user wiki has been launched, allowing users to contribute information on people mentioned in the Proceedings, historical background, related source materials, and corrections. The wiki also includes the bibliography and school resources pages.

Taking stock of the past

Looking for a family history project?

Have you documented the important items in your home? This is also a great way to get younger family members involved in your family history, and what better time than in the school holidays.

It's time to take stock of what you own and where it came from. It's an easy thing to do and you might learn something you didn't already know about your family. Create a worksheet to record your data. You may also wish to photograph your items and prepare a small photo album.

For more advice visit this article from Ancestry

Origin of your surname

Do you know the origin and history of your surname?

National Trust Names is a fun website which presents the findings of a project based at University College London that is investigating the distribution of surnames in Great Britain, both current and historic. It allows users to search the databases that have been created, and to trace the geography and history of their family names.