Lilian's Tree

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...

What is a Webinar I hear you say? Well a webinar is a (sem)inar done on the web, webinar, simple. This one was run by the Royal Australian Historical Society (RAHS) and it was on land research- the Parish Map. Carol Liston, Associate Professor, University Western Sydney. Carol gave a very informative presentation on Parish maps, giving an overview of how they came into being, what to look for on them and how to follow the numbers trail, (those written on the map). She also recommended looking at ALL editions of the map, so you can see the changes that happened. One thing to take note of, is that only the name of the ORIGINAL purchaser is on all of the maps, for other you need the numbers. The only names that changed where Crown land was leased.  You need both the Parish and County name to find a map and for that Carole used the Geographical Names Board web site. www.gnb.nsw.gov.au   select Search Place Names and follow the instructions. There is a Fact Sheet that is useful...