A.I.G.S. North West Area Meeting

The topic for the next Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies Inc. meeting will be "Indexing Your Family History" speaker Mary Russell. The venue is the Moonee Ponds Courthouse, Kellaway Avenue, Moonee Ponds commencing at 8pm. A.I.G.S. members - free; Visitors - $3.00, light refreshments served where you can discuss family history. Any queries phone Terry A.H. 9376 7637 or jump on the website for the A.I.G.S.

Welsh Wills

Wills, which were proved in the Welsh ecclesiastical courts before the introduction of Civil Probate on 11th January 1858 have been deposited in the National Library of Wales. Over 190,000 Welsh wills have been digitised and are now available on the Library's website or direct on our online catalogue and are free to view.

More Australian Content on Ancestry

Australian Electoral Rolls, 1903-1954. This database contains selected Australian electoral rolls, with the exception of South Australia. Electoral rolls were compiled by each state during election years to determine the number and names of individuals eligible to vote. Information listed in electoral rolls usually includes: name of voter, gender, address and occupation. This information plus lots of other information for family history researchers is available on Ancestry.com which is a large family history database available through the Moonee Valley Library Service.

History Week 25th October-1st November, 2009

The theme for this year's History Week is 'discover the wonders of Victoria's past'. Some of the events that are happening during the week are 'Remembering Chinatown' at the Chinese Museum, 22 Cohen Place, Melbourne, Family History Research at the Immigration Museum, Flinders Street, Melbourne, 'Machines in Action Day', Scienceworks, 2 Booker Street, Spotswood, Guided tours of the Westgarthtown Heritage Trail, starting at the Ziebell Farmhouse, 100 Gardenia Road, Thomastown. Discover the hidden treasures of Moonee Ponds on the Moonee Ponds Heritage Discovery Trail, Wednesday 28th October, 2009, 9.30am to 11.30am. Meet at the Moonee Ponds Courthouse Museum, bookings essential on 9370 4607 $5.00 per head. There are also many events throughout the state of Victoria from the History Centre at Port Fairy to events at Sovereign Hill, Ballarat and many more events. Make sure to jump online and check out the website www.historyweek.org.au.
Or for more information give the Royal Historical Society of Victoria a call on (03) 9326 9288.

New Genealogy Book @ Sam Merrifield Library

'Scottish Genealogy' by Bruce Durie is a comprehensive guide to tracing your family history in Scotland. Bruce Durie addresses the questions of DNA and the issues of Clans, Families and tartans in a fascinating insight into discovering your Scottish ancestors. The book is available at 929.10720411 DUR or by accessing our library catalogue @ Moonee Valley Library Services.

Who Do You Think You Are?

A new series has commenced a couple of weeks ago with the first two episodes searching for the ancestors of Ron Barassi and Sigrid Thornton. This Sunday the 11th October, 2009, Ben Mendelsohn will discover his family background. The next three shows will explore the ancestors of Singer Christine Anu, Chef Maggie Beer and Rock Star and Activist John Butler. http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/whodoyouthinkyouare/about/page/i/1/h/About/.

Photographer Unknown

'Photographer Unknown' is a new exhibition of photography that explores anonymous images and film footage. Patrick Pound has collected hundreds of old family snaps and pinned them to a wall in ordered rows. The images have been found on eBay, in second-hand shops, on YouTube, in family albums and deceased estates. This exhibition may interest anyone who has ever been left with photos from the family estate and wondered about the images and have tried to trace their relationship to the people, activities and places in the images; also public libraries and museums who receive donations of photos that then need to be identified and stored for the future. The exhibition is at Monash University Museum of Art, Clayton campus 16th September - 28th November, 2009, Curator Dr Kyla McFarlane. For a review of this exhibition go to 'Memories, with loose moorings'