Moonee Valley Family & Local History Blog

Ancestry makes nine military collections free to all Australians, including newly released British Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1918. Other collections include the ANZAC Memorial, 1914-1918 a book comprising a Roll of Honour of nearly 20,000 Australians and New Zealanders who died in the war; and the British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920, which contains the names of approximately 90% of the soldiers who fought in the British Army in WWI, including many from Australia. In total, more than 16 million names have been made available in military records from Australia, Great Britain, the US and Canada. The Ancestry database is free to use at any of the Moonee Valley Libraries.

A new online history project - and soon to be ABC TV series - invites people from all over Australia to tell their personal and family history stories online. The Making of Modern Australia will be an unofficial people's history, with individuals and families sharing their stories of life in Australia since 1945. The stories can be about anything at all, but the TV series will be made up of four episodes, each one looking at a different theme: *faith and religion *romance and relationships *parenting and childhood *the Australian home/a sense of place For more information about this project visit the website http://makingaustralia.abc.net.au/service/displayHomePageExperience.kickAction?page=Homepage&as=73526

London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1834-1906 London, England, Deaths and Burials, 1834-1934 London, England, Poor Law Records, 1840-1938 These new historical records detail the rich history of London and its inhabitants over 400 years. It is estimated that seven in ten Australians will have an ancestor in the London Historical Records, 1500's-1900's, due to London's status as the the city at the centre of the British Empire for centuries. Starting with records from London's infamous Victorian workhouses memorably depicted by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist, these databases include more than 77 million records, providing insight into the colourful history of one of the world's greatest cities. A number of modern day celebrities can also find ancestors within the collection including David Beckham, J.K. Rowling and Britney Spears. These records may be accessed through the database Ancestry available at Moonee Valley Libraries (for use in Library only).