Moonee Valley Family & Local History Blog

To celebrate the Newmarket Saleyards anniversary Museum Victoria has curated an exhibition of stories, objects and stories. The Newmarket Collection has digitised images of books recording Outwards Livestock, a Branding Iron and a Ceramic Plate from the Newmarket Hotel, 1900-1958. The site has links to related stories about the Newmarket Saleyards. The Local History Room at the Sam Merrifield Library has a substantial collection of information on the Saleyards in the Vertical Files.

The Moonee Valley Library Service has a 90-day trial of "Find My Past" a well known genealogy site. It can only be used in the library and we have access to both the Australian and the UK versions. You can access it at http://www.findmypast.com.au/ which give you the Australian edition. Contents include Sands & McDougall, NZ electoral rolls, government gazettes and much more. The following is the link for the UK edition findmypast. The site includes census, migration and army records. Comments and feedback welcome.

Several years ago Kory Meyerink wanted to know if his website ProGenealogists.com was reaching it target audience. He set out to find the most popular genealogy websites. His top websites for 2011 include Ancestory.com ; MyHeritage.com; FindAGrave.com ; FamilySearch.org ; and Genealogy.com . For the full listing visit ProGenealogists

Ancestry is pleased to announce the release of six important databases with historical significance to New Zealanders. Summary of the new online collectons are as follows: New Zealand Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981 Electoral rolls for New Zealand from 1853 to 1981 are contained in this collection. By law, all persons who were eligible to vote were required to register on the electoral roll, even if they did not intend to vote. The original collections of electoral rolls are held in the Parliamentary Library in Wellington, New Zealand. New Zealand, Maori Voter and Electoral Rolls, 1908 & 1919 Information listed in the rolls includes: Names of voter, tribe, sub tribe or hapu, address, and gender. Canterbury, New Zealand, Provincial Rolls, 1868-1874 The rolls were compiled during election years and include the names of individuals from each electoral district who were qualified to vote for the provincial superintendent and members of the provincial council. New Zealand, Jury Lists, 1842-...

A new ABC TV program on tracing the history of your house will commence in August 2011. This show will no doubt be as popular with family history buffs as the show "Who do you think you are"? ...this is the Next Big Thing! The show will be presented by Melbourne-based archaeologist and cultural heritage expert Adam Ford. This eight-part series will be supported by a website which will give viewers tips and tricks to trace the history of their own homes. The history of homes is one of the most popular questions that we receive at the Sam Merrifield library, people love to know if there is something special about their home. On a personal level I am looking forward to any new clues or tips on this topic.