Moonee Valley Family & Local History Blog

The Sam Merrifield Library has a copy of 'Griffith & District Pioneers - A Biographical Register'compiled and published by Griffith Genealogical & Historical Society Inc. This is the second in a series established by Hilary Dalton and Wendy Polkinghorne in Volume 1. It documents, the story of the second stage of the development of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Areas - the settlement of many of the soldiers returning from World War 1 onto irrigation farms.

The Special Guest Speaker will be Major Ian Rainford OAM,ED, President, The City of Essendon Regiment 58th/32nd Infantry Battalion Association. Major Rainford will speak on World War 1. He will also formally present to the Essendon Historical Society the 58th/32nd Regiment Book of Remembrance. This book, containing the names of 30 officers and 585 men of the 58th Battalion who fell in the Great War, was presented to the Battalion by Cr Royle in 1935.At the same time Major General Blamey unveiled the Battalion Monument on Pascoe Vale Rd ,the only one in Australia honouring a single unit. Please join us as we take on guardianship of the historic Book of Remembrance. Free, Tues 26 April 7-30pm 768 Mt Alexander Rd Moonee Ponds 3039 Phone 93704607

The next meeting of the North Western branch of the Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies Inc. will be about World War 1 Volunteers of Essendon and Flemington, presented by well known local historian Lenore Frost. Details as follows - Monday 18th April, 2011 @ 8pm Moonee Ponds Courthouse, Kellaway Avenue, Moonee Ponds. AIGS Members - free; Visitors - $3.00, Light refreshments will be served. Phone Terry AH 9376 7637

The Third Australasian Scottish Genealogy Conference Catch the Moments Scotland 1750 to 1850 A Century of Transformation Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th APRIL 2011 Hemisphere Conference Centre 488 South Road, Moorabbin, Melbourne $75 per day, or $130 for both days including lunch Saturday night Dinner and Ceilidh $50 pp. CONFERENCE FEATURES Choice of eight lectures each day Live Scottish music and dance Exhibition area Easy access - all activities/facilities on ground floor Free on-site parking On-site Hotel accommodation available KEYNOTE SPEAKERS Sheena Tait (UK) - Scottish professional genealogists; Genealogy tutor; Panelist and writer for UK publications Practical Family History and Family Tree Magazine. Eric Richards (Aus) - Professor of History at Flinders University, Adelaide. A specialist in Australian and Scottish history and author of the well known "The Highland Clearances"

Contained in this database is a collection of Sand's directories for Sydney and New South Wales, Australia from 1861-1933. Available directories are for the years 1861, 1865, 1870, 1875, 1880, 1885, 1890, 1900, 1905, 1910, 1915, 1920, 1925 and 1930. Why use directories? Directories are useful for locating people in a particular place and time. The advertisements and professional or commerical sections of the directory can also help you learn more about your ancestor's occupation and may lead you to other occupational records. Published by John Sands, the Sands' Directories cover the Sydney metropolitan area and the rural country of New South Wales. This is a new database available on Ancestry.