Wednesday, August 17, 2011

New Resource Helps Family History Researchers Find Their Past

Keen family history researchers can now map their family tree, discover relatives they didn’t know about and uncover a vivid picture of their past thanks to a Yarra Plenty Regional Library subscription to the popular Find My Past websites.

New and experienced family tree researchers will benefit from access to the sites findmypast.com.au and findmypast.co.uk), which boast millions of historical records, including birth, marriage, death, baptism and burial records, a census collection, migration records and extensive military records. The Australasia collection, which covers Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands, also includes: probate, land and court records, criminal reports, and electoral rolls.

YPRL Local and Family History Librarian Liz Pidgeon says the sites will be of great benefit to researchers. “Researching your family history is a rewarding and challenging process. I am really excited as these sites will help local researchers get the most out of their research.”

“This is an important resource that complements the Ancestry and Times Digital Archives database that YPRL already subscribes to,” she said.

August is Family History Month at Yarra Plenty Regional Library where people with an interest in researching their family history can attend a whole host of genealogy related events at library branches across the region. The month also incorporates National Family History Week.

“I invite people to start researching their family tree. They will learn about their past and themselves,” Ms Pidgeon said. “Learning about your ancestors and their lives can give you insight into how you came to be the person you are today”.

To get full access to Find My Past, researchers must access it from within a YPRL branch.

For details of all the local and family history resources available, pick up a new brochure from any library branch or click here for more information.

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