Lilian's Tree

I left home at 7.30am Friday morning and arrived back 2.30pm Sunday afternoon after three wonderful days and two nights at the NSW & ACT Association Conference. As I mentioned in my previous post Friday was open to the public as a Family History Fair and it was really good. There were four talks on Friday and I went to three of them. Joy Murrin talked about NSW BDM's and said that is it often best to think outside the box, with regards to names and registration districts. She gave and example of a person, occupation was a mason and when the child was entered into the register it was with the surname Mason. With registration districts Joy explained that each are were allocated a number of pages and it they filled up, the next entry went where ever there was a space, so you could have a Kempsey in a Kiama spot. The best thing is to be open minded and with a transcription agent, you can do a check and verify, before getting the full document. Gail Davis from State Records a...

I heard all three ladies speak at the conference and had to get their books. Joy Murrin's on NSW, BDM's  was hot of the press, only released on Friday and I bought the first one. This gives lots of useful tips on searching the indexes for a record. Carole Riley's on lands backs up what she gave her talk on, maybe this time the information will stick.  Carole's passion is land records and in this book she shares her knowledge with us. Well worth buying. Cora Num's eRecords was also a new book out this year and blended in with the talk she gave.  Cora has a fantastic website that is well worth a visit. Google Cora Num and you will find the site. In the goodie bag we all got at registration were magazines like Inside History, AFTC and a copy of the HAGSOC journal, The Ancestral Searcher. Heaps of reading to do.

Yesterday I attended a lecture, by Joy Murrin at the Society of Australian Genealogists. Joy is a transcription agent and she spoke on how to get the most out of the NSW Birth, Death and Marriages Index. Her tips and examples were great and I learnt heaps. Yesterday was my third Saturday, in a row that I had attended a lecture and all were fantastic. The one on how to write for publication was interesting because of they way articles have to be set out etc. I also attended one on education, a topic I enjoy, as my Grandmother was a teacher.  I really recommend attending lectures, talks etc. about genealogy as you come away with very useful information. Most  societies structure the pricing so that members pay one fee and non-members a slightly higher one. Better yet, join a society and enjoy all the benefits of membership. The magazine Australian Family Tree Connections lists "What's On" in all states, so have a look.