Ancestry

From time to time, this blog will participate in the Family History through the alphabet challenge which geneabloggers  all over the world are participating in.

So this week  A is for Ancestry!  Did you know that Yarra Plenty Regional Library and most Victorian Public Libraries subscribe to Ancestry Library Edition? A version of the Ancestry.com subscription website which gives a huge range of Australian and international  resources for family historians.  Along with other e-resources  'Ancestry'  can be accessed for free in on any PC in every branch library via our website - Research - Genealogy - e-resources.  The site grows all the time.  Highlights include:

            ·                              Searchable English census records 1841 - 1911 with images of the    actual  census

•                    Birth, marriage and death records, including the England and Wales birth, marriage and death indexes 1837 -2004

•                    Records of immigration into the US and of emigration from the UK

•                    Military records, for example 'Great Britain Army War List January 1893

•                    Directories and membership lists, including British telephone directories 1880 -   1984, being added in batches

•                    Australian Electoral Rolls 1903-1980

•                    Australian birth, death and marriage indexes

•                    Convict and passengers lists
•                    Learning Centre and more

New Zealand Military research

As Anzac Day approaches, Ancestry has released new databases for your New Zealand military research. These databases include:
New Zealand Army WWI Nominal Rolls, 1914-1918
New Zealand Army WWI Reserve Rolls, 1916-1917
New Zealand Army WWII Nominal Rolls, 1939-1948
New Zealand Army WWI Casualty Lists, 1914-1919
New Zealand Army WWI Roll of Honour, 1914-1919
New Zealand Army Medal Rolls, 1860-1919
New Zealand WWI Military Defaulters, 1919-1921
Chronicles of the N.Z.E.F., 1916-1919
The Defenders of New Zealand
As with all Ancestry databases be sure to read the “About” section and what records are contained.
Ancestry Library Edition provides unprecedented access to family history records through more than 7,000 collections that help individuals from North America, U.K., Europe, Australia, and beyond trace their lineage.
Ancestry Library Edition has just launched its new search interface, with a clean and crisp design that improves the overall user experience. Features of the new interface include:

. Improved look and feel for a more intuitive user experience
. Map and location filters on the home page
. Name filters with Soundex
. Type ahead features
. Improved country and state pages
Ancestry Library Edition can be accessed on any PC in any branch Library during library opening hours via the library website.

New Zealand records on Ancestry

Ancestry now has New Zealand records added to its database. Seven databases have been added in celebration of Waitangi Day February 6.

The records cover 140 years of New Zealand's history from 1842-1981 from the six major historical collections - the New Zealand Electoral Rolls 1853-1981, Canterbury Provincial Rolls 1868-1874, Jury Lists 1842-1862, Maori Voter and Electoral Rolls 1908 and 1919, Maori Land Claims 1858-1980 and New Zealand Naturalisations 1843-1981.

Ancestry can be accessed via the library website on any PC in any Library during opening hours.

New Australian resource on Ancestry

New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Coroners' Inquests, 1796-1942This database contains registers of coroners’ inquests for New South Wales, Australia, for the years 1796–1942. Coroners were responsible for inquiring into any unnatural or sudden deaths in their jurisdiction. They also investigated deaths when a body was unidentified, a cause of death was uncertain, or the deceased was in the care of the state. Coroners could investigate fires that caused destruction of property, as well. Magistrates could take depositions about circumstances of death in more remote areas where no coroner was available.

Coroners' registers can contain information similar to that found on a death certificate. Depending on the date and the form used for the inquest, records in this database may include the following:

name of deceased
age
birthplace
estimated date and place of death
date and location of Inquest
verdict of inquest (probably cause of death)
name of the coroner or magistrate
name of doctor
occupation of deceased
personal property belonging to deceased

Library members can access Ancestry on any PC in any branch Library via the library website at www.yprl.vic.gov.au with thier library card.

Chalmers' General Biographical Dictionary added to Ancestry

This database includes all 32 volumes of Alexander Chalmers’s General Biographical Dictionary, which, according to its subtitle, contains “an Historical and Critical Account of the Lives and Writings of the Most Eminent Persons in Every Nation; Particularly the British and the Irish. From the Earliest Accounts to the Present Time.” Entries are alphabetical by name. Ancestry World Archives Project volunteers have indexed all 32 volumes by name, birth dates, and death dates to improve database usability.

New on Ancestry

Some more great Australian content on the Ancestry Database: -
South Australia Government Gazettes 1867-1884
This is a collection of South Australia Government Gazettes, which were printed between 1867 and 1884. The gazettes contain a large amount of government business notices ranging from notices of appointment to government positions, to land dealings, renewal of business licenses and insolvency. Tens of thousands of names are contained in the gazettes each year. People and their localities, small and large, are brought up in the workings of the province. The gazettes offer much more than simply a name and a date. The collection covers events and circumstances in the life of the people who lived in South Australia.

Gazettes from the years 1867, 1869, 1874, 1876, 1883, 1884 are included in this collection. The books are complete, but all gazettes from 1867-1884 aren’t in this collection. The gazettes include:

Appointees to government positions
Appointments of magistrates and Justices of the Peace
Appointments of returning officers
Crown land leasees
Deceased estates
Dissolution of business partnerships
Insolvents
Licenses
Notices or rewards for lost or stolen property and stock
Property owners subject to compulsory land acquisition by government
Unclaimed letters
Unclaimed property

Sydney and New South Wales, Sands Street Index, 1861-1930
Contained in this database is a collection of the Sand’s directories for Sydney and New South Wales, Australia from 1861–1933. Available directories are for the years 1861, 1865, 1870, 1875, 1880, 1885, 1890, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930. There are usually several sections in each directory including an index of alphabetical names, street addresses, and commercial addresses. Although the alphabetical name section is the most useful part of the directory to the genealogist, other information can be gleaned from these directories such the names of each head of household, their districts of residence, and often their occupation.

Why use directories? Directories are extremely useful for locating people in a particular place and time. They are excellent census substitute records. If you have traced an ancestor through several years of directories and they then disappear, it likely means that the individual either moved or died. The advertisements and professional or commercial sections of the directory can also help you learn more about your ancestor’s occupation and may lead you to other occupational records. You do want to exercise some caution in your research, however, as some street names and numbers may have changed and a property may not have been listed for several years if it was previously vacant.

Published by John Sands, the Sands’ Directories cover the Sydney metropolitan area and the rural country of New South Wales. Information was collected by Sands’ agents calling door to door so it may not be as accurate as legal documentation. Other things to be aware of are that street numbering was often absent during the earlier years of the directory, listings only include the head of the household rather than owners or boarders, house names could change regularly, and unoccupied premises were not recorded.

Information in this database:

Alphabetical name directory
Advertisements
Commercial directory
Street directory
Index

Access to Ancestry is via the Genealogy link on our website on every PC in every Branch Library.

England & Wales, National Probate Calendar on Ancestry

Ancestry has posted "England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations),1861-1941", a major resource for genealogists. http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1904

Information varies across different entries, but each typically includes:

* Probate date
* Full name of the deceased
* Death date
* Death place
* Registry where issued

You will usually find the amount left in the estate as well.

Ancestry warns that their collection currently does not include the years 1858-1860 and there are some gaps for the years 1863, 1868, 1873, 1876, 1877, 1883, 1888, 1899-1903 and 1910-1911.

Ancestry is available on all PCs in every branch library.

More new Australian databases on Ancestry

Always search the "About" section of any database searched on Ancestry. The following indexes are not complete. They do not cover every state for every year indicated.

Birth Index, 1788-1922
Death Index, 1787-1985
Marriage Index, 1788-1949

They can be used in conjunction with State historical indexes.

Ancestry is available on every PC in every library branch via our website

New Australian database on Ancestry

Researching a military ancestor in N.S.W? A new database on Ancestry is the

New South Wales, Australia, Cowra Military Camps Personnel Photo Index, 1905-1970
This data collection contains index of photographs taken of Armed Forces Personnel stationed at Cowra Military Camps and POW Camps during World War II. The indexes were made from Images of over 4,000 of the soldiers who trained at Cowra Military Camp prior to embarking for overseas during World War II.

Information collected from these photographs includes:

Names of soldiers
Ranks of soldiers
Date the photo was taken
Negative number
Other notes
The original photographs from this database were provided by: Cowra Family History Group Inc. PO Box 495 Cowra NSW 2794.

Ancestry Library Edition can be accessed for free via the Genealogy link on the Yarra Plenty Regional Library website at any PC in every Branch Library.

New Australian content on Ancestry

Queensland, Australia, Passenger Lists, 1848-1912
This database contains an index to registers of passengers on immigrant ships arriving in Queensland, Australia, between 1848 and 1912. The ships were coming from ports in the UK and Europe. The registers typically do not include passengers from New Zealand, the Americas or other non-European ports.

Details vary, but these registers may include:
Name
Age
Date and place of arrival in Queensland
Ship name
Date and port of departure

Western Australia Post Office Directory 1910
Western Australia Post Office Directory 1926

This data collection contains the Western Australia Post Office Directory for 1910 and 1926. Directories provides information by locality, individual surname, government service, and by trade or profession. The different sections enable the inquirer to see at a glance the householders or businesses in any one town; the address of any householder or business in the State; and the businesses or individuals throughout Western Australia engaged in any trade or profession.

Information extracted from this collection includes:
Business Names
Individual Given Names
State
Year

New South Wales, Australia, Applications and Admissions to Orphan Schools, 1817-1833
The Female Orphan School in Sydney was established in 1801 to house destitute girls aged 7 to 14. The Male Orphan School was later established in 1819. Boys aged 7 to 10 could be admitted and would remain a responsibility of the school until age 15. Boys received basic education in reading, writing, and math. At age 15 they were sent out to apprentice with a tradesman or to work as a farm labourer.

From 1826 to 1833 the administration and management of the Orphan Schools was under the direction of the Trustees of the Clergy and School Lands Corporation.

To access the particular database go to Search - Card Catalogue - database name and then search within that database

About this Collection:
This collection consists of Applications for Admission into the Male and Female Orphan Schools in Sydney. The years covered roughly follows those in which the Schools were run by the Clergy and School Lands Corporation (1825-1833). Applications were used to determine admission of children, thus requiring certain criteria be met in order to be admitted.

The applications consisted of letters or petitions written by the parent(s) or guardian(s) (often a widow or widower) asking for the child to be admitted into the school. Some petitions were written on pre-printed forms, others are entirely handwritten. The petition usually listed:
Name of petitioner
Name of child wanting admission
Names of parents
Reasons why the child should be admitted
Date of application or admission
This collection also contains School Admission Books, covering the years 1817-1832 for females and 1819-1833 for males. The Admission Books generally list the following information:

Name of child
Age
Date admitted
Date of quitting the school
Parents’ names
Occupation
Residence
Remarks

To access an individual database go to the Search tab - Card Catalog and then search the name of the database and happy hunting within that database.

Help on Ancestry

Ancestry Library Edition is available on every PC in every branch library. All you need is your library card to access it via our website.

If you ever feel stuck or frustrated have a look at the “Help” link which appears at the top right hand side of most pages. Under the “Answers” tab search your query in the topic lists provided or browse the summary list. The “Learning Center” tab is also an interesting list of articles worth a browse.

The Ancestry.com Wiki is a new section on Ancestry.com available to subscribers and non-subscribers alike available in the library under the “Help” link. It offers detailed and useful information about family history records, research, and places pulled from The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy and Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources. Currently in Beta stage it hopefully will build its international content.

Ireland, Famine Relief Commission Papers new on Ancestry

A fantastically rich collection of Irish records entitled the Ireland, Famine Relief Commission Papers, 1845 – 1847 is now available on Ancestry. These 7,000 original letters were written by Irish citizens who were requesting help during the Great Famine in the mid 19th century. Some are quite harrowing accounts of life during the Famine, which were a stark reminder of just how brutal conditions were at that time.

Between 1845 and 1852, people in Ireland were literally starving to death as result of a disease that killed their potato crops – the staple food for Ireland’s poorest who constituted a third of the population! Overall it’s estimated that a staggering million Irish citizens died as a result of the Famine.

Many of the letters were written by members of local relief committees, the clergy and concerned citizens who didn’t know where else to turn. They were, in fact, pleas of help sent to a Relief Commission that was set up by the English Prime Minister Robert Peel in an attempt to help those worst affected. The majority of the letters refer to the counties of Cork, Galway, Clare, Mayo and Limerick, although these regions weren’t necessarily the worst affected.

This is the first time the Ireland, Famine Relief Commission Papers have gone online so please take a look and uncover the unique stories found in this record collection.

Ancestry is accessible free on any PC via our website at all branch libraries.
Source: Ancestry Blog

Convict research this Australia Day

This Australia Day is an opportunity to reflect on the lives of our ancestors who contributed to our growth and those pioneers who made a new life here wether by choice or not.

My earliest pioneer ancestor is Thomas Squires who arrived in Hobart, Tasmania in 1830 "transported for life" for picking pockets at age 18 years.

A member of "Australian Royalty" as actor Jack Thompson liked to put it. We don't know for sure if he spent time at Port Arthur or not, there were a number of convict settlements around Tasmania, but his records are held there.

Port Arthur Historic Site are currently undertaking a project to identify all those who came through Port Arthur between 1830 - 1877. 2010 marks the 170th anniversary of the Foundation of the the convict settlement.

This project includes both convicts and free people. An enquiry service is available for those who are researching their family history for a fee. A copy of a convict record can be supplied.

Ancestry have just announced new convict records available via their website and this is free to search till the end of January.

Another good website for researching your convict is the Old Bailey Online

On Australia Day I always like to listen to "I am Australian" - I especially like this version by Travis Collins. It was written by Bruce Woodley and Dobe Newton.

Victorian passenger lists on Ancestry

Victorian shipping lists have recently been added to Ancestry. Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839–1923.

This data collection contains unassisted and assisted immigrant passenger lists to Victoria, Australia for various years between 1852 and 1923. The ships were coming from UK ports, New Zealand ports, and other foreign ports. “Unassisted immigrants” are individuals whose passages were not subsidized or paid for by another person or through another agency.

Ancestry can be accessed via the library website on all PCs in all branch libraries.

NSW Passenger lists

Great to see even more new Australian content on the Ancestry database.

New South Wales, Departing Crew and Passenger Lists, 1816-1825

This data collection contains muster rolls, ship’s company lists and passenger lists for ships departing from New South Wales (often from Sydney) between December 1816 and 1825. The records consist of both pre-printed and handwritten forms.

New Australian Electoral Rolls on Ancestry

Ancestry has increased the date ranges available for electorial Rolls. South Australia however, is still not included.

The dates available for Victoria now include: 1856, 1903, 1909, 1914, 1919, 1924, 1931,
1936, 1937, 1942, 1943, 1949, 1954

Ancestry is avialable from the genealogy link from our home page on all Library PCs at every branch.

New databases on Ancestry

Some new updates to databases on Ancestry include the following with many images being added:

Australian Convict Transportation Registers – First Fleet, 1787-1788
Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Second Fleet, 1789-1790
Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Third Fleet, 1791
Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Other Fleets & Ships, 1791-1868


New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922
New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896
New South Wales, Australia Convict Ship Muster Rolls and Related Records, 1790-1849 -New South Wales, Australia, Certificates of Naturalization, 1849-1903
New South Wales, Australia Historical Electoral Rolls, 1842-1864
1841 New South Wales, Australia, Census
1828 New South Wales, Australia Census (Australian Copy)
New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Convicts' Applications to Marry, 1826-1851 -New South Wales, Australia, Convict Death Register, 1826-1879

A new database is the Port Phillip, Australia Directory, 1847 This directory contains the names, addresses, and occupations of almost 10,000 residents living in Port Philip, Victoria, Australia, in 1847. In addition to potentially finding your Australian ancestors in the directory, you will find interesting local facts about Port Philip that can give you a more detailed look at what life was like there. You’ll find members of the legislative council, local holidays, public works, custom import duties, what plants grew during each season, and more


England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index: 1837-1915
England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index: 1837-1915
England & Wales, Marriage Index: 1916-2005

Ancestry can be accessed via our website at www.yprl.vic.gov.au at any computer at any branch library.

Updated England and Wales birth records available on Ancestry

Ancestry is especially great for those of researching the UK side of the family. Ancestry has recently announced via its new databases link and blog (in part):

At the end of January Ancestry.com made 134 million General Records Office (GRO) UK birth records for England and Wales dating from 1837 to 2005 available online for the first time, fully searchable by name, registration date and district. This was done as an update to the existing England & Wales Birth Index collection. Ancestry is working to also fully index the GRO Marriage and Death indexes. When complete, more than 250 million individual birth, marriage and death (BMD) records will be searchable.


England & Wales, Birth Index: 1916-2005
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915

New Australian database on Ancestry

New South Wales, Certificates of Naturalization, 1849-1903
This database contains certificates of nautralization from 1849-1903 for New South Wales, as well as some registers of individuals who were issued certificates of naturalization between 1859 and 1876.
This database contains the following records for New South Wales:
Certificates of naturalization, 1849-1903
Lists of aliens to whom certificates of naturalization have been issued, 1859-1876
About Naturalizations:
The naturalization process is the process an individual undergoes to gain citizenship of a country. Certificates of Naturalization are the official records showing that a person has been granted citizenship. These records generally provide details about the individual and their immigration. Such information may include:
Name
Country or place of origin
Age
Ship of arrival
Arrival date
Place of residence
Similar information may be found in the lists of aliens to whom certificates of naturalization were issued.
Ancestry can be accessed on any computer at all branch libraries.

UK Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 on Ancestry

A new database on Ancestry may useful to family history researchers researching their UK connections: UK Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960.

This database is an index to the Board of Trade’s passenger lists of ships arriving in the United Kingdom from foreign ports outside of Europe and the Mediterranean, including Australia. Exceptions to this are vessels that originated outside of these areas but then picked up passengers in European or Mediterranean ports en route. The UK port of arrival was not necessarily the final destination of the ship. In addition, the names found in the index are linked to actual images of the passenger lists, copied from The National Archives (TNA) collection series BT26.
The passenger lists date from 1878 to 1888 and 1890 to 1960. However, many of the pre-1890 lists were irregularly destroyed by the Board of Trade in 1900. Therefore, there are not many lists included in this database that date from these earlier years.
Separate lists were kept for British (and Commonwealth) passengers and Alien passengers. In addition, there was a variety of form types used throughout the years. These differences in forms may result in a variety of information recorded for different passengers.
When it is available, the following information is included in this index:
Name of passenger
Birth date or age
Arrival date
Port of departure
Port of arrival*
Ports of voyage, if recorded
Vessel name
Shipping line, if recorded
Official number, if recorded
Source information (TNA collection number, piece, and item numbers)
*The Ports of Arrival listed are the final destinations of the ship. However, if the ship had a stopover in the UK en route to another destination, it still had to have a passenger list filled out.
Additional information such as the passenger’s occupation and intended address in the United Kingdom may also be listed on some forms. From the 1930s entries included the abbreviation, “T”, if the visit was for the purpose of tourism. Be sure to view the image of the original passenger list for any additional information relating to a passenger. Keep in mind that some passenger lists were several pages long – you may need to use the “Previous” and “Next” buttons in the image viewer in order to see all of the images relating to a particular list.

This database can be accessed on Ancestry on any library computer at any branch via the "list of databases" link on our website.