Searching for John Smith

 Professional genealogist Joy Roy recently presented at Diamond Valley Library as part of our Family History Month program 2019.  In Searching for John Smith, Joy discussed her research journey to find her man in Scotland. Her challenge?  SMITH is the most common name in Scotland.

General tips from her discussion included:

Names. Look for a middle name. Perhaps your ancestor’s middle name was a family name (in the case of Joy and many with Scottish ancestry, Scottish naming patterns may be in place) 

Place. Know the specific place your ancestor was associated with. Look at maps and be familiar with surrounding place names at the time your ancestor lived. Explore local history and seek out local publications for mention of your ancestor (and websites).

Online searching. Always include a location in your online searching to help filter your search results.

Occupation. Ascertain occupation via census records, city directories or obituary.

Cemeteries. Explore cemeteries in person and/or online and/or published index to find final resting place. A gravestone inscription or burial record can lead to researching other family members (or even people buried in the same location but who may or may not be related) an obituary or more.

Newspapers. Newspaper Research for your family history via British Newspapers Archive, Find My Past and Trove add life to your ancestors story. Obituaries are especially valuable and look at all versions when copied to other papers. Some may be longer than others.

Get distracted. Going on tangents can be fruitful. Joy’s ancestor was in charge of a prison. She researched the prison including its correspondence files to understand more of John’s life.

Family. Widen your search to include other family members. John can be found as a witness to a marriage or an informant for a death for example.

Criminal activity. Follow up on suspected criminal activity as a “bad” John Smith can be easier to locate in these types of records.

You can find your John Smith with patience and a lot of effort.  Your search can be successful.

This blog post was first published on 29 August, 2019 at Yarra Plenty Regional Library

Goldfields Family History

Various gold rushes occurred in Australia over the second half of the 19th century creating an influx of immigrants seeking a new life.  Explore the following resources to research your gold fields ancestors in Victoria.

Download Gold Fever! Life on the Diggings, 1851-1855 from the National Library of Australia which provides a good introduction to to the time period. Ballarat's Sovereign Hill Education blogs about the Victorian Gold Rush era, 1850’s people. Lifestyles and events. Ballarat's Gold Museum also includes various blog posts of interest.

View objects from the Digging up gold – mining equipment from the Australian goldrush exhibition from the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences.  Life on the goldfields also highlights the artistry of S.T. Gill via the National Library of Australia.

For a first hand account, you can download (in various formats) : A Lady’s Visit to the Gold Diggings of Australia in 1852-53 by Mrs Charles Clacy from Project Gutenburg.  Read diaries of gold miners held by the State Library Victoria. 

The Victorian Mining accident index from the Ballarat & District Genealogical Society Inc includes thousands of entries.

Overland Gold shares information relating to travel between the copper mining areas of South Australia and the Victorian goldfields in the early 1850s from the Cornish Association of Victoria.

Check historical maps for the time period of your research, they can be helpful in identifying lesser known local place names too.

It is worth searching the collection of the Public Records Office Victoria for your ancestor, particularly anything that may be held at their Ballarat site. 

Explore Yarra Plenty Regional Library's collection and good luck with your Goldfields Research

Image: Panning for Gold, by Walter Withers, 1893 via Wikicommons

Meet Cedric at State Library Victoria

Have you explored the digitised collections at State Library Victoria?  A number of collections have been curated and can be explored via the Cedric link  here.

Collections include:

Melbourne Street Directories 1912-152
Victorian Groundwater records
Journal of commerce of Victoria and Melbourne
Mufti 1934-2000
Football Record
Victorian Historical Journal 1911-2012
Records of Coles Myer
Australasian decorator & Painter 1905-1924
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria
World War 1 unit histories
The Traveller 1895-1924

Search the online catalogue for more.

Image: Man in dust coat replacing armful of books onto shelves. Source: State Library Victoria via The Age 1954