Family History Group is Back!

Image from Sam Merrifield Collection
The Family History Group are back for 2016 and the first meeting is Tuesday 02/02/16 at the Sam Merrifield Library at 2:00pm. Join with other people from the Moonee Valley area to discuss the shared joys and problems of researching your own family history. 
So come along and bring any genealogy questions you're having trouble with to hopefully get the answer you need.

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Malakoff Castle, Maribyrnong

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Raleigh's Punt on the Maribyrnong River, Malakoff Castle in background. c. 1870-1900. Image belongs to the Sam Merrifield Library Local History Photo Collection. Malakoff Castle was built in 1846 by Mr Joseph Raleigh and was a well known landmark which stood on the summit of the Maribyrnong hill overlooking the Saltwater River now called the Maribyrnong River. The building initially was used as a shepherd's lookout by the owner of a station property which surrounded Maribyrnong. In shape it resembled a castle-like appearance with a tower and a weather-vane, the tower was built in the late 1840's or early 1850's and was built of bluestone from the quarries nearby. The building was demolished in the 1920s.
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This week the National Library of Australia hosted an excellent online seminar on researching Chinese-Australian family history Their presentation was a gold-mine of information, with many tips that are applicable more widely to researching ancestors from other non-English speaking backgrounds. Here are a few of my top take-aways from the session: - Keep a file of name variations for each of your ancestors in cases where name variations are likely - When struggling with researching ancestors from a particular time and place with which you are unfamiliar, check the Family Search website for tips. They have dedicated pages providing specific research tips for various times and places around the world. - For Asian-Australian Ancestors who travelled back and forth from Australia the Records of Exemption from the Dictation Test Certificates database created by CAFHOV is very useful: https://www.cafhov.com/vic-cedt-index/ Above: screenshot of part of the
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