Family Tree Research

One of my hobbies is tracing our family tree. Before I got so busy with work and study, I would pop into the local Genealogical Society every few weeks to carry out research using their microfiche and map resources. I was lucky to be living in my hometown and to be the seventh generation of my Mum's family to live here. There was a lot of pertinent information in those local historical records that helped me grow the family tree.

When I started working at the library I found that they also had local history records. In fact, a whole local history room of books, maps, photographs, and microfilm. They also had subscriptions to a number of online genealogy databases or services, like Ancestry, My Heritage, and Find My Past. All you needed to use them was a library card. I thought this was fantastic. I had had an Ancestry subscription but had let it lapse due to cost. Now I could go to the library on my days off and use it there for free. The experience was a little different than using a personal subscription, but the ability to search the linked databases was all there.

So there's a tip - if you'd like to get started researching your family tree, check if your local library has a local history collection or access to any of the family tree research services.

Another thing I have researched alongside my family tree and all their stories is the history of my house. This one was trickier as I had to work backwards through often unrelated records. One huge help here was our National Library's digitised newspaper collection. I could search for mentions of the street address. From there I was able to identify names of people who had lived here. They could then be researched in historical electoral rolls, giving a rough idea of the period of time they lived here. It was fascinating following all the threads, finding when the block of land had been subdivided from a larger estate and sold off, noting the first mention of a house on the block, and then finding the man who had her built. She stayed with his family for the next 75 years.

I can't wait to have some decent free time again so I can jump back into it. As more records are digitised and become accessible online, more pieces of the puzzle become available.

Until next time,
@Sammie