The Newsletter
Te Awamutu
Branch
NZ Society of
Genealogists
No 177
October 2007
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
Editor at large: John Graham
Email: jmrg@xtra.co.nz
Te Awamutu Website: www.teawamutu.net/genealogy
New Zealand Society of Genealogists Inc. www.genealogy.org.nz
Meetings are held in the Masonic Centre, corner of Sloane Street and Albert Park
Drive, 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 2 October - The guest speaker will be Kingi Turner speaking on
"The importance of Genealogy/Whakapapa from a Māori perspective". Knowing Kingi his
presentation will be informative and therefore well worth attending.
A reminder that the AGM will be held at our November meeting (notice of meeting on last page).
Nominations for committee are most welcome.
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Convenor’s Corner: Sadness in the Graham family as we had to put our fox terrier of
12 and a bit years old to sleep. He woke up one morning and was unable to use his back
legs. The house is very quiet!
Thank you to Ngaire Phillips for sharing her experiences regarding researching the
Mangapiko district and surrounds. What fascinated me was the number of old
photographs and documents that had been preserved to capture life in those early days.
One sure thing the transportation network has improved over the seventy years, from
'shanks pony' to modern day cars.
I have just installed Family Tree Maker 2008 and now comes the learning curve as to
how to navigate my way around. The layout is quite different to previous versions. There
are a number of enhancements i.e. when in the place of birth window if you click on the
places icon, a map is loaded zooming in on the town and on the family home page it
automatically calculates the persons age and relationship.
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Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 177 – October 2007
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
Page: 1
WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND & ABOUT
Morning Group:
A reminded 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!! This will recommence in February.
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Thank you to Sue Tervit for sending this in.
Spotted in a recent Family Tree Magazine about new records to search online from 14
September. Go to www.BMDRegisters.co.uk
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December
Meeting
The committee thought it would be
fun to have a photo competition. To this
end please send (hard copy or scanned image) of a photo of yourself aged between 3-8
years old to the Convenor. The photos will be displayed through the data projector
and members asked to identify. Members may like to speak for a few minutes on some
aspect of their childhood?
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Foreign stamps for sale
The branch has a number of Australian and UK stamps in stock
for sale. Please contact Sandra and make an offer. With the advent of
email there is less demand for stamps but there is still a requirement to
send a stamped addressed envelope (SAE) in order to receive requested
information.
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Family History Week commenced on 21 September and the branch hopes to
have a DVD presentation being played in the Selectrix shop window (a
couple of technical challenges at time of printing). In addition there are
posters in the library and CAB.
A special vote of thanks to Jan for putting the presentation together
and to Selectrix for allowing it to be played in their shop.
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 177 – October 2007
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
Page: 2
From NetGuide Sept 2007 – Thank you Sandra for sending this article
As part of her latest article in the September
2007 edition of NetGuide, Jan Gow has
come up with some suggestions to keep
track of all those interesting things you find
when researching your ancestors. This is a
précis of that article. You can read the full
article and access its related links on
http://tinyurl.com/26wr5u
“Would you like to find the “fruits” of your
family tree, the Who, the Where, the When
of your ancestors?
To make this
genealogical journey you’ll need to
investigate not only where and when your
direct ancestors were born and died, who
and where they married, the why (why did
they move?) and the what (what did they
do?), but also the Who, Where, What and
Why of
their children and their
descendents.” Jan refers to these fruits as
the ASDS - Ancestors / Siblings /
Descendents - your ancestor’s brothers,
sisters and children down the generations.
As she says, “they could be anywhere in the
world but it is important to find them,
especially if they are also researching their
family history. Using the internet, there is a
good chance that will happen!”
She likens this process to a journey, with
tickets, itinerary and travel log.
She
continues, “Before you pick up your tickets
and buckle your seat belt, you need to know
where you want to go, who you want to look
for and where to find them. Start with what
you know and fill in a pedigree chart. Go to
www.genealogy.org.nz
and
click
on
Resources > Forms and Charts > Pedigree
Chart. Print this and start with yourself as
Number 1. Fill in as much as you can. The
Pedigree Chart is your “itinerary.” It shows
you where you need to travel to fill in the
gaps and where you don’t need to travel
because you already have the information!”
Your “travel log” is where you put all the
information you collect along the way. Jan
suggests you start by buying an A5
hardback notebook and some packets of
coloured dots. These usually come in red,
blue, green & yellow – one colour for each
of your four grandparents.
“In the notebook, leave 12 pages free for an
index, count the number of pages left and
divide by four. Now look at your Pedigree
Chart and find your grandparents. These
four families form the basis of your
research. Colour code as you choose.
Always work with the male line first. Take
the coloured dot for your father’s father and
place this on the edge (near the top) of the
first page after the index pages. Stick a
second circle behind the first. What you
have done is to make a tab to this section of
the book. Count through the number of
pages for each division and place the colour
of your father’s mother in the next section.
Do the same for your mother’s parents.
You have now separated your research into
four divisions in your notebook and you can
find each family easily with the coloured
tabs. Note down anything you find or think
of, for example to dos, notes from phone
calls, emails etc. Note down who has the
family bible, family scrapbook, autograph
book, photos, certificates, and who has
already started researching (always ask that
question!). Make sure you note the date
when you made the entry, and most
importantly make sure you carry your “travel
log” with you at all times.”
Jan recommends that “if you don’t already
have a genealogy computer programme
then it is worth considering getting one
sooner rather than later. Don’t be worried
that you will choose the wrong programme.
All programmes will do what you need and
all programmes can export and import .ged
files (genealogy data communication =
gedcom = .ged). If you do decide to change
programmes after you start entering
information it is simply a matter of exporting
a .ged file from one programme and
importing it into another. It is essential that
you record all your sources in your
genealogy programme. Every piece of
information on a document needs to be
entered and sourced back to that document.
The document then needs to be safely filed
and the filing reference also entered in to
the genealogy programme. It is easier to do
this as you begin researching, instead of
later when you have piles of documents to
process.”
If you have a scanner, documents can be
scanned and the image added to your
genealogy programme. If you don’t have a
scanner then firms like Te Awamutu Copy
Centre can scan them for you and save
them to a CD. You can them save them to
your computer programme from there.
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 177 – October 2007
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
Page: 3
AGM 2007
Tuesday 6th November
1930 hours (7.30pm)
Masonic Centre
Corner of Sloane Street and Albert Park Drive
Agenda
Welcome:
Apologies:
Minutes:
Minutes of Meeting held on 7 November 2006
Matters arising from minutes
AGM Correspondence
Matters arising from correspondence
Convenor’s Report: John Graham
Library’s Report: Margaret Main
Morning Group Report: Jan McBeth
Financial Statement: Sandra Metcalfe
THE FOLLOWING REMITS ARE TO BE PRESENTED TO THE 6th NOVEMBER 2007 AGM
Part 1: ‘That the Te Awamutu Branch of the NZSG opts to go with the New Zealand
Society of Genealogists in regards to the proposal regarding the Charities Commission
ruling’
Part 2: 'The end of the financial year for the Te Awamutu Branch of the NZSG in
accordance with the Charities Commission and Government requirement will be changed
to 31 March and that the next AGM will be after 31 March 2009'
Annual Subscriptions:
Notice of motion: That subscriptions align with the new financial year end of 31 March and
therefore cover the period 1 October 2007 – 31 March 2009 (18 months) - Single members
= $35, Couples = $45. If prompt payment is made up to and including the February
meeting there will be a $5 discount i.e. Single =$30 and couples =$40
Note: Don't be alarmed subs have not gone up it is just extrapolated for 18months
Election of Officers:
Convenor:
John Graham available for re-election
Secretary:
Karen Glew available re-election
Treasurer:
Sandra Metcalfe available re-election
Committee Members:
Margaret Main available re-election
May Rhodes available re-election
Peter Fletcher available re-election
Auditor: Mr Roger Johnston
General Business:
Following the meeting there will be a speaker and supper
All welcome
Te Awamutu Branch NZSG # 177 – October 2007
Disclaimer: All efforts are made to ensure the information published is accurate
Page: 4