Moonee Valley Family & Local History Blog

The Genealogical Society of Victoria has several interesting talks coming up in the month of May. Talks take place on Thursdays at Level B1, 257 Collins St Melbourne from 12.30 - 1.30pm. Cost is $5.50 for non-members and free for GSV members. May 3 Helen McLaughlin Geneological Gems at the University of Melbourne Archives. May 10 Ada Ackerley Community attitudes to Excile and Orphan immigration in the 1840s and 1850s. May 17 Margaret May Projects at VicHeritage (Registry of BDM's). May 24 Susan McLean The Scottish Census: a new angle.  May 31 David Weatherill Cemeteries in Victoria.

Ancestry has released a national database of Australian BDM records, which allows you to search across all states of Australia for each of these events. While this is an important index of early Australian records, they are not necessarily 100 percent complete - compliance to registration laws vary and Australia's vast distances complicate most record-keeping efforts. For more information about tips for searching, a comparison chart of date ranges for births, deaths and marriage for every state and territory in Australia, have a look at an article 'Records go National' in the October, 2010 PC User magazine which is available at Moonee Valley Libraries.

The BDM historical records are available on-line for New Zealand, information available includes births from 100 years ago, stillbirths that occurred at least 50 years ago, marriages and civil unions that occurred 80 years ago and deaths that occurred at least 50 years ago. To find out more about these historic records visit Birth, Death and Marriage Historical Records

Two CDs have just been added to the collection here at the Sam Merrifield Library. One is The Argus Newspaper Index, with Births from 1914-1931, and Marriages 1931-1941. This is one of the Digger Indexes; a CD version of a familiar work, Charles Bateson's "Convict Ships 1787-1868 tells the story of the transporation of prisoners from Britain to Australia, these CD Roms are now available in the Local History Room @ Sam Merrifield Library.