NSW & ACT Association's 2025 Annual Conference, Day 1.

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 Having woken on Thursday morning to more heavy rain, I was not looking forward to my drive, down, either Bulli Pass or Mount Ousley, to Fairy Meadow. By noon the rain had stopped and the sun was trying to shine, by 2.00pm we had blue sky and when I picked up two friends, I opted for the most scenic route, down the escarpment; Lawrence Hargrave Drive and the spectacular  Sea Cliff Bridge.  

For more information about the wonderful feat of engineering, see this link; Sea Cliff Bridge 

Friday dawned with blue sky and we adjourned to the Fraternity Club for the first day of the conference, hosted by Illawarra Family History Group Inc.  This was their open day and I was thrilled to see so many non-conference attendees, (those of us with lanyards) there. 

The Society had organised four speakers, for the day along with an array of exhibitors. It was wonderful to see so many friends and receive hugs.  The theme for the conference was They Came From Where?

Chris Rowan was our wonderful M.C. for the weekend and we settled in for the first of the morning's speaker, Terry Nunan. Terry spoke about Digging for Gold in NSW Land Records, not the mineral gold but the gems you can find relating to your family and where they lived.

Martyn Killen from Museums of History brought us up to date with What's New at State Archives? The State Archives holds so much that we all need several lifetimes to view it all.

Lunch and a chance to catch-up with friends or browse the exhibitors.

Lorraine Neath was up just after lunch with an interesting talk about Ebenezer's Cash Book 1897-1913. This little book relates to Lorraine's family and details the transactions of ordinary people in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Payments for selling milk and butter, expenses for shoes and material. A peak into people's lives.

I was the last speaker, talking about Blogging for Genealogy. It was well received and the feed-back, on the day and over the weekend was lovely. I hope I have inspired more people to blog. Nicole for the Society of Australian Genealogists took some photos.




The day ended, for some  with the raffle draw, for others it was a quick trip to our hotels, to return for the Meet and Greet at 6.00pm. 

The Meet and Greet is a fantastic time to catch-up with people, exchange news and information.

Bed was looking great around 10.30, when I finally turned in but ...

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