Moonee Valley Family & Local History Blog

Coming up:  Family History events at the library in February and March..... Online Family History Avondale Heights Wednesday 22 February, 1pm-3pm Begin investigating your own family history with this 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. Free, bookings necessary via Eventbrite or phone 8325 1940 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracing your World War I ancestors Niddrie Library Thursday 16 March 2017 11am – 12pm Uncover the truth about the soldier in your family. Learn how the smallest piece of information is enough to begin your journey of discovery. Free, bookings necessary via Eventbrite or phone 8325 1925  

  Image sourced from Britannica Image Quest   DNA testing has become a popular way of supplementing genealogical research. Ancestry promotes it as a means of finding family members although it can be complicated and inconclusive. Jane Davies will discuss what can be determined through DNA testing and what needs to be considered before going ahead with a test.  Jane teaches classes at the Australian Institute of Genealogy Studies. When: Monday, 31 August 2015 from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM. Where: Avondale Heights Library and Learning Centre - 69-79 Military Rd Avondale Heights, VIC 3034. To book, click here

August is Family History Month, so come along to one of the many events and classes that will be running during the month. Classes on discovering your family history, how to use databases to solve some problems as well as how to find your Italian ancestors will be running. We'll also be having talks about genealogy, how best to write a non-boring family history and conserving your collection. Plus there will be a tour of the Essendon Historical Society Museum and an afternoon tea to kick off the month in style. Find out more today: Moonee Valley Libraries Events

In June the Genealogical Society of Victoria will be offering the following lunch time talks. June 6th Discovering Richmond's history David Langton June 13th Researching in England Joan Hunt June 20th Red Cross records pertaining to WWI soldiers Lorraine Phelan June 27th Do you have a Tailoress in your family? Lenore Frost GSV members free, non-members $8.00 Time 12.30 - 1.30pm Level B1, 257 Collins St,  Melbourne PH 9662 4455 gsv@gsv.org.au http://www.gsv.org.au/

In May the Genealogical Society of Victoria will be offering the following lunch time talks. May 2nd  The history of the St Kilda Cemetery Celestina Sagazio May 9th Did they swim? Passengers into Australia Claire Johnson May 16th English records 1500-1750: wonders await! Alan Fincher May 23rd The history of Brighton Cemetery Elizabeth Paine May 30th John Batman: an inside story of the birth of Melbourne Joy Braybrook GSV members free, non-members $8.00 Time 12.30 - 1.30pm Level B1, 257 Collins St,  Melbourne PH 9662 4455 gsv@gsv.org.au http://www.gsv.org.au/

I have been going through photos and letters at home in the hope of putting some order into my own Family History Collection. As I was going through some boxes I discovered a floppy disc that I had saved my father's eulogy on. Like most people I no longer have a floppy disc drive on any computer in the house. Luckily I remembered that the library still has a portable drive available, so I can transfer the data. This prompted me to finally get together some old home videos of family events  and investigate copying them into another format as well. Many people will be in a similar situation with information and perhaps video and photographs copied onto formats that may no longer be readily retrievable now or perhaps in the future. For family historians and anyone interested in history it does pose an interesting question. Will our precious memories be easily available to future generations? Printed photographs and written rec...

 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.

A couple of days ago I received a comment from blogger Geniaus that was for an "Ancestor Approved Award". Recipients of the award are required to: Write 10 surprising, humbling, or enlightening aspects of their research; Pass the Award on to 10 other researchers whose family history blogs are doing their ancestors proud. The Moonee Valley Family and Local History Blog was created a couple of years ago after completing the SLV Web 2.0 Training. The blog is part of the new social media that works alongside more traditional resources that are associated with local and family history. Many of our enquiries are from our Ask a Librarian portal, people visiting the library and often requests from overseas. The following are some of the events, activities and queries that the Moonee Valley Library Service has presented over the last twelve months. The Sam Merrifield Library hosted the touring exhibition 'Independent Type Books and Writing in Victoria' in February/March. Our...

The topic for the next Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies Inc. meeting will be "Indexing Your Family History" speaker Mary Russell. The venue is the Moonee Ponds Courthouse, Kellaway Avenue, Moonee Ponds commencing at 8pm. A.I.G.S. members - free; Visitors - $3.00, light refreshments served where you can discuss family history. Any queries phone Terry A.H. 9376 7637 or jump on the website for the A.I.G.S.

'Scottish Genealogy' by Bruce Durie is a comprehensive guide to tracing your family history in Scotland. Bruce Durie addresses the questions of DNA and the issues of Clans, Families and tartans in a fascinating insight into discovering your Scottish ancestors. The book is available at 929.10720411 DUR or by accessing our library catalogue @ Moonee Valley Library Services .

On Monday the 3rd August, 2009 between 10am-4pm the State Library of Victoria will be the venue for a program of free information sessions for family history researchers, including the annual Victorian Association of Family History Organisations (VAFHO) Don Grant Lecture. Sessions will be presented by the National Archives of Australia (Victorian Office), Public Records Office Victoria, Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages and the Victorian Association of Family History Organisations. Bookings are essential as numbers are limited, call 03 9348 5600 or 1800 657 452 (toll free) or email reception@prov.vic.gov.au This program is a fantastic opportunity for anyone interested in family history and to meet like-minded people.