Searching for your family history online

January has fewer meetings scheduled so it is the month when I get really involved with Genealogy or family history as I usually call it.  I had thought I would get a book I am writing almost finished but somehow I didn’t get around to it, but, the month has been full of exciting family history.

When I began my journey to search for my ancestors there were no computers to help me.  It took shoe leather and pen and paper; even white cotton gloves when handling original documents.  Nothing will replace viewing and touching original documents and turning the pages of old books but I have found the Internet an incredible source of information.  Emails have provided a wonderful stream of information (and friendship) as details can be quickly shared.   I must be getting very lazy because I now find it hard to sit down and write a letter and actually remember to post it, then wait days to get a response!  With email it is possible get a response within minutes.

If you’re searching for your ancestors, then these websites are a great way to begin your search.

Trove 

The National Library of Australia has Australia’s largest reference library’ it collects, preserves and makes accessible Australian documentary resources and non-Australian library materials. Trove is located on the NLA website.

Trove’s collection includes digitised Australian newspapers from 1803 to 1954; and the Woman’s Weekly up until 1982.

Among over 385,550,7343 Australian and online resources: books, images, historic newspapers, maps, music, archives and more you can find some real gems to delight you, ranging from little snippets to big stories.

Search for the name you want information about.  It may turn up a family notice, a Technical College result or any manner of details Be careful how you word your search.  If you choose to search for ‘The names of all people involved in the Cricket match at Manly” The results will include every the, of, all etc. that you have in your search. The outcome will be both frustrating and long!  Refine your search. Maybe type ‘Cricket Team Manly 1941’ or “Smith Cricket Manly 1941” because it will greatly reduce your search time.

A list with all the results will appear, click on any that interest you and a searchable section of the actual newspaper will appear and beside it an Electronically Translated Text.  This text is sometime a bit hard to read but you will soon get used to it. If you are lucky someone may have edited it to make it easy to read. Sometimes the text is very long but you can scroll down fairly quickly as the words included in your search are all highlighted.   Select the section you want to print before hitting that print button because if you don’t you could end up printing out many many pages.

NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages 

Family history certificates are unrestricted, so no identification is required for registry records from 1856 listing births over 100 years, deaths over 30 years and marriages over 50 years.  Early church records (1788 – 1855 baptism, marriage, burial) are also available. The information available can include registration number, last name, given name/s, Fathers Given Name/s, Mother’s given names, District and an offer to Buy now.  Sometimes not all this information is available.

You can search over 18 million records for free…  After viewing search results, your option is to purchase a certificate and obtain all the information available. By supplying a registration number, you get a discounted fee of $31.00 (normally $44.00).

The Ryerson Index  

The Ryerson Index is an index to death notices appearing in Australian newspapers. The date range covered extends from the Sydney Gazette of 1803 up to newspapers published within the last week or so. The Index also includes many funeral notices, and some probate notices and obituaries.

Because the Index was originally created by the Sydney Dead Persons Society, its strength lies in notices from NSW papers – including in excess of one million notices from the Sydney Morning Herald alone. However, the representation from papers from other states continues to grow, with additional papers being regularly added, so that the Index can now truly be considered an Australian index.

If you are seeking a death that has taken place outside the range of information made available by the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages this is the place to look!

Have you tried searching for you family history? What interesting information have you found?