The Royal Australian Historical Society's Annual Conference.

-

 It is great to see in-person conferences returning and the past weekend I attended the Royal Australian Historical Society's Conference, with the Theme being, Windows into Local History.

 Held at the Campbelltown Catholic Club, it was two full days of learning, plus pre-conference drinks, on the Friday night and the Conference dinner on the Saturday night. I stayed at the hotel, next to the venue, which was great.


As we arrived, we were given a 'goody' bag and book. The bag contained our program for the two days, information leaflets on places of interest and a note pad and pen. Seating was at round tables, and I joined with a group of friends.







The day was divided into sessions, each with a theme and two or three speakers.

Session A - Welcome and Keynote Address.

Session B - Windows into Local History: Views on Campbelltown's Past.

Session C - Windows into Local History: Opening Classrooms to Community Stories.

Saturday ended with tours of the local area and dinner.

Session D - Windows into Local History: Showcasing Affiliated Societies and Celebrating Volunteers Contributions.

Session E - Windows into Local History: Expanding Horizons through Digital Tools and Resources.

Session F - Windows into Local History: Exploring Ghost Stories and Unveiling the Shadows of the Murderous Past.

I could write a novel, if I was to expand each of the topics covered, suffice to say, all of us came away with information and tips on how to explore and present local history.

My highlights would be, Session C, with Fran Musico Rullo, Local History Comes Alive! The History Club at St Patrick's College for Girls, Campbelltown.  Session E, with Suzanne Holohan, AI in Action: ChatGPT as a Tool for Historical Societies, and all three speakers from the final session of the weekend, Session F. Rachel Franks, with Murder and mayhem, just around the corner, Christine Yeats, with Bessie Fisher and her road to perdition and Andrew Allen, with Frederick Fisher and the Legend of Fisher's Ghost.

I had a wonderful find in the book, First Citizen. Mayors of Campbelltown Since 1882 by Jeff McGill.  Where on page 14 is a photo of Henry Vaughan, big brother of Isabella Vaughan, my great-grandmother.


It was the best conference I have been to, in nearly 40 years of doing research. The speakers were excellent, covering a wide range of relevant topics. The venue and their staff were superb. But those that organised the event, from both the RAHS and other societies were top notch. Everything flowed, was on time and you were always smiling.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lost in DNA Weekend Part 1. (my 600th post)

-
Image
Now the title of this post might have you scratching your head and wondering, 'what is she going on about?'  But if you belong to the Society of Australian Genealogists,  https://www.sag.org.au/   you will know what I'm talking about. Twice a year the Society has 'Lost In' weekends, covering a wide range of topics, some are face-to-face and some are webinars. Both are great. This past weekend was held at the Portside Conference Centre, Sydney, on Saturday and Sunday. Some of the group, early on Saturday morning. The room was filled, both days. The topic for the weekend was DNA and whilst we aren't NCIS Agents, looking for a killer, we are still trying to find that elusive ancestor, who is just out of our reach. Or so they thought! Saturday was a warm, humid day in Sydney, just the sort of day you want, when digging for ancestors. The Society had put together a varied program, so that novices and experts were covered. Martyn Killion was our chair and sta...
Read more

Transcription Agents.

-
Hi, As it is very wet both in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, genealogists just might spend their weekend doing research and ordering certificates. Below are the details of transcription agents, very useful people. Here in New South Wales (NSW), we have three transcription agents, Joy Murrin, Marilyn Rowan and Laurie Turtle. These wonderful people and save you money, when you want a certificate, to verify a birth, death or marriage. What, might you ask is a transcript? A transcript is an actual copy of a document, everything written on it. This is very helpful if you are looking for say a marriage and know they split-up. I have several transcripts of different marriages, where in the comments section is, decree absolute and a date, etc. or who gave permission, if the parties were under age. Joy Murrin , of Joy Murrin Family History Service, offers transcripts for NSW, Victoria, England and Wales, Scotland and New Zealand. http://www.joyinfamilyhistory.com/ Joy also off...
Read more

The Connection is Back!!!

-
 As a genealogist I can leave mysteries alone, a mention of something has me looking for information, to find out more and well with this 'connection,' I couldn't leave it alone. With my two previous posts,  Nicolls/Nicholls   and  Connection  I thought I had it sorted, well no. Looking at Christina Nicolls  and her age had me thinking that Richard Henry Daly,   couldn't be her son, could he? I did a search on Ancestry for Richard and found three different years of birth, 1920, 1924 and 1926.  Given that Christina was born in 1875 (10273/1875), she would have been 45, 49 or 51 years old when Richard was born.   While it was a push, she could have had Richard in 1920, but searching didn't give me any births of a Richard to a Christina in 1920, using the New South Wales, Birth Death and marriages site, (NSW BDM). I then got Christina's death certificate, (03867/1956) and with careful checking found all the children, listed, except Dai...
Read more