Moonee Valley Family & Local History Blog

Interested in getting started with researching your Family History? Join us on Zoom for a Family History Online class. Discover free online tools such as Ancestry, Find My Past and Trove and learn basic skills and techniques to discover more about your family’s past. In this 2 hour class we'll discuss how to begin researching your family history, particularly using online research tools. The content is aimed at beginners, so covers how to get started, as well as some basic tips and tricks that are important to keep your research in order and on track. The main focus of the session will be on online research tools that you can use for family history research. In particular, we'll be focusing on Ancestry and Find My Past (two fantastic family history research databases that can be accessed for free by Moonee Valley Library members), as well as the Trove website - which is, as the name suggests, an amazing treasure trove of historical information. If time permits we'll also co...

"We're pleased to announce that the online resources, Ancestry Library Edition and Find My Past, usually accessible only in our libraries  can now both be used from home! This access is available to Moonee Valley Libraries members through the Library Catalogue. Please note that for Ancestry the preferred browsers are  Internet Edge or Explorer. If you have any difficulties with access please call library staff on 9243 1900 between 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday. A massive thanks to Ancestry and Find My Past for making these great resources available for the community to use from home at this time."

Item source: Moonee Valley Libraries Begin investigating your own family history with these classes which will give you an introduction to the online databases Ancestry, Find My Past and Trove. Learn the skills and techniques needed to discover the details of your family’s past.  The best part, it's free! Classes will run: Tuesday, 7 June 2016 from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM Sam Merrifield Library - 762 Mount Alexander Road, Moonee Ponds, VIC 3039 To book for this class click here  or call 8325 1950 Thursday, 16 June 2016 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM Niddrie Library - 483 Keilor Rd, Niddrie, VIC 3042 To book for this class click here  or call 8325 1925 Friday, 15 July 2016 from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM Avondale Heights Library and Learning Centre - 69-79 Military Rd, Avondale Heights, VIC 3034 To book for this class click here  or call 8325 1940

Good news for anyone researching Irish family history. In partnership with the National Archives of Ireland and FamilySearch, Find my Past have released most of Ireland's 19th century census records. Unfortunately, most of Ireland's 19th century census records were destroyed, so what remains is of particular importance. The records include the remaining returns from Ireland's censuses 1821-1851 as well as census search forms from the 1841 and 1851 censuses. Find My Past can be accessed online at all our library branches, either via one of our PCs or using your own device via our wireless internet. Julia

More records relating to the First World War have recently been made available through Find My Past. Find My Past have added 330,000 WWI Nominal Roll records and 340,000 Embarkation Roll records. Find My Past is an online database of records that can be used for family history research. It can be accessed at any of our library branches. Julia

 For anyone wanting to explore their family history, Ancestry and Find my Past can be useful places to get started. Ancestry has thousands of databases including many Australian records, with new information continually being added. Available Australian data includes electoral rolls, convict indexes,  passenger lists, birth, death and marriage indexes and a growing number of other resources. Find my Past  has numerous records including postal directories, funeral records and electoral rolls. Both Databases feature thousands of records from the United Kingdom and America.  Ancestry and Find my Past are available within the library at any of our five branches.