The Newsletter
Te Awamutu
Branch
NZ Society of
Genealogists
No 181
March 2008
Convenor: John Graham 871 8986
Email: jmrg@xtra.co.nz
Secretary: Karen Glew 871 7778
Email: kglew@xtra.co.nz
Treasurer: Sandra Metcalfe 871 3250
Email: Metcalfe@wave.co.nz
Te Awamutu Website:
www.teawamutu.net/genealogy
Editor at large: John Graham
Email: jmrg@xtra.co.nz
New Zealand Society of Genealogists Inc. www.genealogy.org.nz
Meetings are held in the Parish Lounge at St John's Anglican Church, Arawata
Street (parking off George Street), Te Awamutu, at 7.30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of
each month – February to December. Visitors are most welcome.
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Next Meeting: Tuesday 4 March - The Genographic Project:
A DVD, Sponsored by the National Geographic Society and IBM, will be shown
followed by discussion. Spencer Wells has traced the migration of mankind from its
early beginnings in Africa, to all parts of the world, by analysing markers in our DNA.
Looking ahead
Tuesday 1 April – Burma trails presented by John Graham, which will include 16mm
film shot in 1948/49. John will share his family connection with Burma (Myanmar)
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Convenor’s Corner: Wendy & I will be travelling the High Country and Marlborough
Sounds late February early March so will not be at the next meeting.
We were very fortunate to have Lyn McOnie as our guest speaker/presenter on the 5th of
February (a summary of events later in the newsletter). A short note from Lyn
Some of your folk might be interested in a service I can offer. Instead of getting
photocopies of records at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City I have an agent
there who will copy them and send them by email. You can find more about this on the
website under SERVICES – specialist lookups.
Happy hunting
Lyn McOnie - Helping People Find & Know Their Ancestors
www.familyhistoryhelper.co.nz
"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."
Sir Edmund Hillary
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 181 – March 2008
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
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Thanks to Sandra for summarising February's meeting
Lyn McOnie’s two workshops on “Overcoming the Brickwalls” and “Making the
Most of Family Search” were a great start to the year. Thirty three people attended the
afternoon session (22 visitors, 11 branch members) and twenty people the evening
session (10 visitors, 10 branch members). Judging by the level of interest and the
questions asked of Lyn, it seems we have tapped an unmet need from people who want
to get started with their family history but don’t know how or where to begin. It is the
committee’s intention to provide more of these types of workshops in the future and the
next one will be an all day one on Saturday, 21 June.
Lyn runs a genealogy research business and with her experience of working at the
Family History Library in Salt Lake City, her knowledge of the resources held at Family
History Centres and her intimate knowledge of www.familysearch.org she is well worth
contacting if you have any queries. Visit Lyn’s website to find out more about the paid
services she offers, as well as tapping into lots of free information and tips
www.familyhistoryhelper.co.nz
During the evening session, Lyn spoke about ordering photocopies of records (books,
films etc) at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. She later emailed us about a
service she offers. “Instead of getting photocopies of records at the FHL in Salt Lake
City I have an agent there who will copy them and send them by email. You can find out
more about this from my website by looking under SERVICES – specialist lookups.”
While an actual visit to the family History Library is the ultimate experience, this sounds
like a pretty good and cost effective alternative, especially when you consider the
thousands of books on the library shelves that we don’t have access to.
An overview of Lyn’s two workshops
“Overcoming Brickwalls”
Lyn’s key message in her “Overcoming Brickwalls” workshop is to:
1.
Tidy up what you have. Go back over your records and verify the source of
every event. Record the full parish, county and country names. Do not use
abbreviations. What makes sense to you may be a puzzle to someone
looking at your information in the future. “Research without sources is
mythology.”
2.
Use the research cycle. Identify what you know about your family. Decide
what you want to find out. Select a record to search. Find and search the
record. Use the information to take you to the next step.
3.
Analyse your records. What is the relevance of the information you’ve
found? What new leads does it provide you with?
4.
Additional resources. What additional resources are available? Wills?
Census?
“Making the most of Familysearch”
Over the next few newsletters we will explore in more depth some of the resources
available on www.familysearch.org . Most of us have probably used this site to search
for ancestors but how many of us have really explored it to find out just how useful it can
be to help in our research? The following may be if use to those who are just beginning
their research and wondering where to start.
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 181 – March 2008
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
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Go to www.familysearch.org home page. On the right hand side of the home page you
will see “Get Started with Family History.” Click on “How do I get started?” This
will bring up 6 basic steps to get you going. Click on each of these and EXPLORE!
When you scroll down to the bottom of the “How do I get started” page you will see
links to things such as pedigree charts, family group records forms, research guidance &
research helps – as well as much other useful information for beginners.
Go back to the www.familysearch.org home page and this time click on “Helpful
research guidance.” From here you can access research guidelines for most of the
countries you are likely to be interested in. For example, scroll down to England and
click on it. A window opens with links that will give you information about the best
resources for finding English Births, Marriages & Deaths in three key time periods –
1066–1537; 1538-1837 & 1837 – present. These time periods are significant in English
history. 1066 was the Norman conquest of England followed by the Doomesday Book,
the first recorded English census. In 1538 legislation was passed requiring parish priests
to record births, deaths & marriages in special registers. And from 1837 civil
registration was introduced.
Knowing what information you are looking for, and what sort of records were available
for the time period you are interested in, improves your chances of success.
We will explore other parts of this website in future newsletters. In the meantime,
ENJOY EXPLORING!
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From the Te Awamutu Museum
Information that is on our Public Access database is available in the
museum foyer during our opening hours. It contains much of our
accessioned collection, and operates like a library database, searching
for object/archive title, maker, event, or place. Because its search
mechanisms are less sophisticated than our professional database, and we
also have resources that are not listed on it, if you don't find what you
are looking for it is still worth putting in a written research enquiry at
the front desk. But it is fun to browse.
We are busy developing an exhibition to mark the centenary of
completion of the North Island Main Trunk Line for April to
September, 2008. It is an interesting slice of history.
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"One clear idea is too precious a treasure to loose."
Caroline Gilman
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Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 181 – March 2008
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
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SCOTLAND ONLINE CREATES
WORLD-CLASS FORCE IN FAMILY
HISTORY MARKET WITH
ACQUISITION OF
FINDMYPAST.COM
Scotland Online, the ISP and IT
solutions provider, today announced it
has acquired findmypast.com, the
leading independent UK-based family
history website, from Title Research
Group as part of its plans to establish a
world-class online network of family
history resources.
The merger will see Scotland Online's
current online genealogy service,
ScotlandsPeople, working closely with
findmypast.com to create a dynamic
family history resource to serve millions
of family history enthusiasts worldwide.
The amalgamation will enable a wider
audience to access the most complete
suite of family history records available
online in the UK and will benefit the
genealogy industry by enabling
genealogists and amateur family history
enthusiasts to access hundreds of
millions of records in one place.
Scotland Online recently won the tender
for the 1911 England and Wales census
records, which will be available during
2009.
Findmypast.com will also continue to
add data and functionality to its website,
further consolidating the company's
long-term commitment to the family
history market.
Findmypast.com established itself as an
innovative genealogical service with a
commitment to customers and quality
that have made it the number one
destination website for family history
researchers. It was the first company in
the world to put the complete Birth,
Marriage and Death indexes for England
and Wales online, later adding its census
and unique passenger list records.
Continued improvement in
findmypast.com's functionality and user
experience will remain a key objective
for the business, and customer access to
both findmypast.com and
ScotlandsPeople's online resources will
be unaffected by the merger.
Findmypast.com will continue to be
based in London.
Chris van der Kuyl, Chief Executive of
Scotland Online, said; "We are
delighted to welcome the findmypast
team to Scotland Online and look
forward to working very closely with
them on building a wonderful family
history resource. Family history
enthusiasts the world over will benefit
from our experience in developing
customer facing services and combining
our existing
skills within Scotland Online with those
of findmypast will be of great benefit to
the family history community".
Tom Curran, Chief Executive of Title
Research Group, the parent company of
findmypast.com, commented: "This
transaction will bring together two
established and successful genealogy
resources to create a world-class
network of family history records. I am
delighted Scotland Online shares
findmypast.com's dedication to making
more genealogy resources available to
both genealogists and family history
enthusiasts and that they share our
passion for excellence and commitment
to customers."
For further media information, please
contact: Vicky Perry/ Erica Gyulafia
Lansons Communications
+44 (0)207 566 9708/ +44 (0)207 566
9714
vickyp@lansons.com/
ericg@lansons.com
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 181 – March 2008
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
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Morning Group:
A reminder that these are held on the 3rd Tuesday of the month, Time 9.30 - 12 30 at
228 Longs Rd. (2nd house on left from Puahue Rd end.) Bring a problem and let's see
if we can help sort it!! For branch members only
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NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY OF GENEALOGISTS
THAMES BRANCH
THAMES FAMILY HISTORY
EXPO
Expert advice from NZSG Interest Groups:
Australia; Channel Islands; Cornwall; England (North & South);
Europe: London, Ireland; Maori; North America;
Scotland, Wales and New Zealand Computing
for Genealogists
Thames Civic Centre
17 May 2008
Doors open 10.00 am to 4.00 pm
Door Charge: $ 10.00
Coffee and tea supplied provide your own lunch
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FROM COAST TO COAST - NZSG CONFERENCE & AGM,
QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY WEEKEND, 30 MAY-2 JUN 2008
Canterbury, Bishopdale, Riccarton , Waimakriri and Darfield Branches are hosting
this conference at St Bede’s College, Main North Rd, Papanui.
Registration forms are now available and NZSG members will have received one with
their Nov/Dec issue of The NZ Genealogist.
Haven’t got a form? Download one from the NZSG Website www.genealogy.org.nz
or email 2008conference@genealogy.org.nz or write to PO Box 20 506 Bishopdale,
Christchurch 8543
Not planning to attend Conference? Please pass your registration form onto a friend or
hand it in to your local Branch for use by other members.
Not a member of NZSG? You are still most welcome to attend at no extra cost.
Can’t spare all that time for conference? Daily registration is available @$70.00 per
day. Friday night and Saturday morning count as a single day. The AGM is held
Saturday afternoon. Send for a Registration form today to see who is speaking and
their topic.
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"We should quietly hear both sides"
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 181 – March 2008
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
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