Sharing Family History Help

Why Share Family History Help on my Blog

I decided to re-share this Family History Help so as not to lose the information in the depths of Facebook posts. I have been a coordinator for the Caloundra Family History Facebook page. Already I have found I was looking for links I had shared to the wall when I needed them for my own research. I decided that I would collate the links in one easy to search place with a few tags and comments.

This started in a spreadsheet on my computer. Then I needed one when away from my Mac. So I have decided to make them available on my blog. Others can refer to them as well.

Here is a compilation of the May family history help shared on Facebook. It’s tips, posts, links, jokes and more:

• General Meeting 21 May with Guest Speaker – Helen Smith – Topic: “They Went to Australia and Now Can’t be Found.”
• Helen’s website: From Helen V Smith’s Keyboard.
• Friday Flashback: At the meeting on Thursday we all were given a bundle of old library materials that were moved out to make room for new acquisitions and donations. The ones I obtained are the source for our Friday Flashback section. Watch out for these on Flashback Fridays.
• The first Friday FlashBack was about the need for Indexes looking back at the Genealogical Society Gladstone District TimeLine from 2004.
  “From the Editors Desk…. I have written before about the need to index records. A collection of records is only as valuable as the index that you have for them. We all have experienced the frustration of looking for a name through a collection of records that have not been indexed.” Have you ever been frustrated by no index? Is this still happening over 10 years later?
• 14 Free NSW links
  Even if you live on the Sunshine Coast you might be doing research in NSW. Here are 14 Free Links put together by Alona Tester. As Alona writes, “…many people think that genealogy costs a lot of money, let me tell you that all of the links below are free. Personally, I find that it’s often a matter of knowing where to look beyond the big-name websites, and hopefully, this will help with that.”.
• Make sure you plan your weekend.
  Shared via Twisted Twigs On Gnarled Branches Genealogy on Facebook.
• Do you use the FamilySearch Wiki?
  If you are new to family history or a skilled expert stuck for ideas then the FamilySearch Research Wiki may help.  If you are an expert in a particular area you can add to the Wiki too.
• Why History Matters – Knowing your family makes young people more resilient to stress. Do you try to engage young people with history?
• Shared the number of new records indexed reported by the Ryerson Index Facebook Page.
• Do you have a UK nurse in your tree? The Red Cross has searchable UK Nurses lists and more.
  
• At Helen Smith’s presentation on “They went To Australia and now can’t be found” she mentioned Judy Websters index’s for asylums, hospitals, criminals, pensions etc.
• London Ancestors from London: Charles Booth and the survey into life and labour in London (1886-1903). Check out if your ancestors lived in a richer or poorer area of London with the Charles Booth maps.
  Charles Booth Online Archive – The Charles Booth Online Archive is a searchable resource. It gives access to archive material from the Booth collections of the Library of the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Senate House Library.
• Really?
  Shared via Twisted Twigs On Gnarled Branches Genealogy on Facebook.
• The FamilySearch guide to Australia ancestry, family history and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.
• Caloundra Local History:
  Many local Surf Clubs have photos and history that my include your ancestors. Could pay to take a visit if you have a family story about surf life savers.
• I’m related to royalty!
• Remember to cite your sources! You’ll be glad you did.
• Ancestry for sale??? Not trying to scare you but this is a reminder to keep backups of you GEDCOM. Update from Lisa Louise Cooke at Genealogy Gems.
• Friday Flashback: “Postcards in your attic? Postcards can be a source of information to the Family History Researcher and may hold an amazing amount of information.” Source: Bremer Echoes, Ipswich Genealogical Society Inc. Vol 23 No 3 Nov 2005, pgs 7&8.
  
• Local History: The Nambour Chronicle was the first Australian newspaper to be digitised. Updated: the web address has failed a number of times so I recommend checking Trove  for the years 1922–1954.
• When Jill Ball from Geniaus starts doing a session of Australian research from home she opens up a collection of tabs on her browser so that she can jump from one site to another with ease. You can create your own list biased to your research needs. Check out her favourite 12 tabs when doing Australian research.
• Useful Tips for Reading Handwritten Documents from Archives Outside / State Records NSW.
• Don’t forget to warn the family if they are on their own for dinner this Sunday! Via Twisted Twig.
• Expand Your Genealogy Knowledge with Ancestry Academy. Launched only a few weeks ago, there are 4 courses that are free and a number of others. With my membership I seem to have access to all of them at no charge so check out your own access if you are an Ancestry member. Found at the Gould Genealogy Facebook post.

So that is a summary some of the material on the Caloundra Family History Facebook page for May 2015.  I will finalise the June 2015 Sharing Family History Help post soon.

I have tried to link to the sources. Feel free to contact me if there needs to be corrections. Or make recommendations for  information, tips, links or more to share on social media.