Category Archives: Important news

More VIC Wills and Probates online!

18 Friday Sep 2020

Posted by in Database and Indexes, Family History, Important news

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If you’re anything like me – when you’re doing research in Victoria and someone dies, you mentally think … what year?  Oh bum – it’s after 1925.

Why do we say that?  Because Victorian Wills and Probate files are free and online from 1841 to 1925.  Understand?  They’re not online after 1925 – that WAS the limit of the files you could access online.  The indexes continue but not the digitised files.

I checked and I’ve got permission from PROV to post this Blog and information!

If it wasn’t for COVID-19 we would be very close to enjoying the new PROV server and website – that would mean heaps and heaps and heaps of new digitised records online for us to have a total pig-out.  Sadly COVID-19 has delayed that for some time in the future – impossible to give an expected date at this stage.

So why am I saying “More VIC Wills and Probates online”???

Let’s re-write that first paragraph as at today …

If you’re anything like me – when you’re doing research in Victoria and someone dies, you mentally think … what year?  Oh bum – it’s after 1950.

1950?  That’s right – 1950!

How and where?  READ CAREFULLY …

Who filmed the Wills and Probate files for the Public Record Office Victoria?

FamilySearch!

And what can you find on the FamilySearch website?

Wills and Probate files to 1950.  FamilySearch aren’t doing the wrong thing by PROV.  The Indexes aren’t linked to the individual records / digitised films, but by using the PROV Index and a little bit of patience you CAN find the one you’re after and download it from FamilySearch.

The detailed steps below will help you find the right images but for people who know what they’re doing on FamilySearch you may not need this sort of detail.

Here is what you need to do:

  1. Search the Wills and probates index on the PROV website for your person of interest. [Image 1 below]
  2. Make a note of the 2 or 3 VPRS numbers for that person  [Image 2]
  3. Sign In to FamilySearch. If you haven’t registered you must do so – it’s free and doesn’t require a credit card.
  4. Search the Catalog for Place – Victoria, Australia – and check Online records  [Image 3 below]
  5. In the results page for your search [Image 4 below] scroll down to Australia, Victoria – Probate records and click on the line to expand it [Image 5]
  6. The two items of interest are highlighted – Australia, Victoria Probate files, 1925-1950 and Australia, Victoria, Wills, 1853-1951
  7. Click on the Probate files 1925-1950 entry to view the 3,123 digital folders – scroll down to see the Film / Digital Notes and look at the detail of each entry – this is the VPRS number and details – in this example we’re looking for VPRS 28 / P3 unit 3514, item 323/725 that was noted in Step 2 above  [Image 6]
  8. In this case the entry we’re searching for is on page 19 – note how the detailed description matches the VPRS number – click on the camera icon  [Image 7]
  9. You should then see thumbnails of the images in this folder – in this case there are 1,197 images.  If you see individual images, you can click on the Browse Multiple Images icon on the left below the “+” and “-” symbols  [Image 8]
  10. Double click on the first thumbnail to view the Single Image. This is where you need to get creative – we are looking for the file 323/725 and if you looked closely in Step 8 you would have noticed that this digital folder covers files 323/677 to 323/745 and where looking for file 323/725.  I guessed that I wanted image no. 900 – this takes you to file no. 323727 – close!.   [Image 9]
  11. If I was way off I would keep making guesses until I got close the 323/725 – you can choose to go backwards image by image using the arrow or guess another image number like 850.  When you find the correct file no. 323725 DO NOT STOP THERE.  You MUST keep working backwards to ensure you have all the images for file no. 323725.  [Image 10]
  12. If you were physically looking at the probate files for 323/725 in the PROV Reading Room there would be numerous folded groups of documents.  Generally each would have a ‘Victoria Stamp Duty’ stamp on the cover.  TIP: you can use the multiple image browse button where you can spot these stamps in the thumbnails and keep jumping backwards to find the first image for 323725.  [Image 11]
  13. NOTE: In the last 24 hours – 20 Sep 2020 – FamilySearch are preventing anyone from printing or downloading the images – you can read them but that’s it – you can do screen captures of part pages but that’s it at the moment.  Keep watching this space!
    Once you are at the first image for the file you want, you can download the images.  The download can only be done one image at a time.  If you have downloaded a number of images and the site stops you downloading any more, don’t panic.  You haven’t done anything wrong – it’s just a trigger point in the system – I have checked with FamilySearch that this is OK.  Take a note of the image number (so you can go straight to this one next time), Sign Out, shut down FamilySearch, make a cuppa, open up FamilySearch again, Sign In, and follow procedures above to get to the Film / Folder you want.  Go straight to your next image number by entering the number you noted earlier, and start Downloading from there.  Depending on the number of images in your Probate files, you may need to repeat this step more than once  [Image 12]

RECOMMENDATION: Have a good look around at the other entries in Step 5 / Image 4 to see just how much is available on FamilySearch for your Victorian research.  You might be surprised.  And keep returning to check as more images / folders may have been added since your last search.  Remember that if you find something with a KEY above the CAMERA icon, that means you can’t view it from home – you need to go to a Family History Centre.

If you want to get really excited about the future of images on PROV when the new server and website becomes available, have a look at the 375 entries that appear when you search with Place – Victoria, Australia, AND Author – Public Record Office, AND Online availability.  Many of these are not yet images on FamilySearch (just a film reference) and others are available only at Family History Centres, but they will all be available on PROV in the not too distant future.  [Image 13]  Congratulations to PROV and FamilySearch for these amazing digitisation projects!

Image 1

 Image 2

 Image 3

 

Image 4

 Image 5

 Image 6
Image 7

 Image 8

Image 9

Image 10

 Image 11

 Image 12
Image 13

 

Beyond 2022 – Irish research

05 Sunday Jul 2020

Posted by in Essentials, Events, Family History, Important news, Uncategorized

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All Irish records were destroyed in the fire in 1922 – oh my goodness, how many times have I heard this so-called ‘fact’??  Of course that statement is totally wrong BUT there WERE MANY important records destroyed in the Four Courts fire on 30 June 1922.

Here are a few facts:

  • June 1922 to May 1924 – Civil War
  • 28 June to 5 July 1922 – Battle of Dublin
  • Assault by Provisional Government forces on the Four Courts building – garrison of the Irish Republican Army Executive
  • The Irish Public Record Office was located in the western block of the Four Courts
  • It was used as an ammunition store by the Four Courts Garrison
  • Shelling of the Four Courts resulted in the first
  • Fires cause the explosion – 30 June 1922

What was lost?

  • Apart from fragments: Irish Census of 1821, 1831, 1841, and 1851
  • Just over half of the Anglican Church of Ireland Registers deposited there following disestablishment of the state church in 1869 [Church of Ireland families – never more than 25% of the population]
  • Majority of wills and testamentary records that have been proved in Ireland – BUT transcripts of many survive
  • All pre-1900 documents from the legal courts, as were local government records for the same period

What wasn’t available anyway!

  • 1861 and 1871 Irish Census – these records were destroyed shortly after the census was taken
  • 1881 and 1891 Irish Census – these records were pulped during WWI due to a paper shortage

What survived or was elsewhere?

  • 1901 and 1911 Irish census returns
  • All civil registration records (BDMs)
  • Nearly half of all Church of Ireland parish registers
  • Roman Catholic baptism, marriage and burial records
  • Presbyterian baptism, marriage and burial records
  • Methodist baptism, marriage and burial records
  • Griffiths Valuation records and maps
  • Tithe Applotment books
  • Indexes to wills and probate bonds
  • A good number of local muster rolls, poll tax lists and other records dating back to early 1600s
  • Thousands of other records
  • Millions of non-government records

The most important advancement for family history researchers into Irish records –

Beyond 2022 – Vision

June 30th, 2022, marks the centenary of the terrible explosion and fire at the Four Courts, Dublin, which destroyed the Public Record Office of Ireland (PROI) and, with it, seven centuries of Ireland’s collective memories. While incomparable with the loss of human life, the destruction of the Record Treasury at the PROI was one of the great tragedies of the Civil War.

Beyond 2022 is an all-island and international collaboration. Working together, we will launch a Virtual Record Treasury for Irish history—an open-access, virtual reconstruction of the Record Treasury destroyed in 1922.

Combining historical research, archival discovery and technical innovation, Beyond 2022 offers a lasting and meaningful legacy from the Decade of Centenaries, democratising access to invaluable records and illuminating seven centuries of Irish history.

Visit the Beyond 2022 website and explore the videos and progress that has already been made.

Catch up with Else Churchill and Alec Tritton at Beyond BMDs

04 Wednesday Mar 2020

Posted by in Events, Family History, Important news

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Check the Book by Dates to ensure you pre-book for the individual city events – you’ll get a discount off the full price as well as being entered in the BIG prize draws.

You might also get a chance to chat with Else on the BIG news just announced by the Society of Genealogists and Family Search.

Adelaide – Burnie – Melbourne – Sydney – Brisbane.

Example – turn up in Melbourne on Monday 23rd March without pre-booking and it will cost you $110 – Pre-book by 16th March and it will only cost you $95.00.

Look forward to seeing you there! Its going to be a great event with fantastic presenters – Else Churchill and Alec Tritton … Susie Zada

Guess what we’ll all be doing in March 2020?

28 Friday Feb 2020

Posted by in Family History, Important news, VAFHO

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Discounted certificates for the month of March

To say thank you to our valued family historians, the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria (BDM Victoria) are offering downloadable uncertified historical certificates for $20 each for the entire month of March.

This is a saving of $4.50 per certificate.

You can also subscribe to BDM Victoria’s mailing list for future offers, updates about system improvements and user guidance.

Why is February 14 so important?

11 Tuesday Feb 2020

Posted by in #FHDU, Events, Family History, Important news

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If you answered – “It’s Valentine’s Day” – you’re WRONG.  There is something much more important AND better than a bunch of roses for Valentine’s Day.

What is it I hear you ask?

It’s the LAST DAY you can get a massive $200 discount off the full price for FHDU – Family History Down Under – 22-26 March 2021, Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

Are you going to be boring and follow the pack?  Buy a dozen red roses that will be dead within a week and forgotten within 2?

Buy your Valentine a ticket to:

Family History Down Under
22-26 March 2021
Sunshine Coast, Queensland

The excitement and anticipation will grow from this Valentine’s Day until next year’s Valentine’s Day when your sweetheart will have to start thinking about packing.

And it will last a LIFETIME – your Valentine will learn so much that it will be part of the rest of their lives researching both of your families.

Even better – it’s an event you can both enjoy – lots do to for partners but even better if shared between both of you, you will learn twice as much.  Amazing overseas speakers, massive exhibition – the benefits are endless.

BUY TWO TICKETS

BOOK NOW!!
HUGE DISCOUNTS END
FEBRUARY 14, 2020

Memorial Service for Dr Joan Elizabeth Hunt

15 Saturday Sep 2018

Posted by in Events, Family History, Important news

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Memorial Service for Dr Joan Elizabeth HUNT

The Memorial Service for Joan Hunt will be held this Thursday 20th September at 12 noon at the Ballarat Mechanics Institute, 117 Sturt Street, Ballarat.

BRING YOUR SOCIETY’S BANNER

This suggestion has been put to Gary and his response was “yes most definitely”.

It will be a wonderful way of showing just how much Joan helped groups around our State.

If you know of any group that won’t be at the Memorial Service but they have a banner, ask if you can take their banner.

It would be great if we can have as many banners as possible displayed around the room at the Memorial Service.

Special Memories

09 Sunday Sep 2018

Posted by in Events, Family History, Important news

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This morning I received a very special email from the Gisborne Genealogical Group – they sent me a photo from just two weeks ago – a VERY special photo reproduced here with the permission of the Gisborne Genealogical Group.

The reason it is so special – Joan Hunt and I were the presenters at the Gisborne Genealogical Group’s Land Records seminar.  It was a terrific day with a terrific audience.  It was also the last time I saw Joan.

I spoke to her the following week when she and Gary were generously chasing up photos from Linton for another friend who had just lost his father and brother in a fire at Ocean Grove.  His late Mum’s ancestors were from Linton and he had lost his family and most of his family history archives in that fire.

This is a special photo because of the smile it brings to my face remembering Joan.  It’s how I remember her – vibrant, generous, knowledgeable and constantly teaching all who heard her speak.

It also reminds me of two people I feel most for at a tragic time like this – Gary – Joan’s soul-mate, and Jamie who lost his father and brother – the last members of his immediate family.  My thoughts and prayers go to both of them.

NFHM – prize drawer closing in THREE days!

17 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by in Events, Family History, Geelong Football Club, Important news, Local History

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Have you found the details of how you and/or your organisation can enter the amazing prize draw for National Family History Month?  You have until Monday 20 August 2018!

And of course the title should be DRAW and not DRAWER (auto spelling – grrr) – but if I change the title the FB links won’t work! 😦

To register for the draw, go to the NFHM SPONSORS page and read all the details from the generous sponsors and how to register.

And while you’re at it, have a good look at the NFHM Closing Ceremony details.  This is being co-hosted by the Geelong Family History Group and the Geelong Heritage Centre.  You have until Monday 27th to register – remember bookings are ESSENTIAL and LIMITED.

It’s really easy to get to from Melbourne and country Victoria.  And of course there is no reason you can’t combine a trip to the Closing Ceremony with a research day at the amazing Geelong Heritage Centre.

Thank You RootsWeb!

20 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by in Database and Indexes, Essentials, Family History, Important news

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Sometimes I have to bite my tongue again and again to refrain from an outburst but this morning I read an email that was the last straw and yes, this is an outburst.  BUT it will be a considered, thoughtful and polite outburst – I have no intention of naming and shaming anyone.  Because most of the people who make me bite my tongue probably wouldn’t subscribe to a blog site like this I may actually post a link to this blog on the List Owners Mailing List to which I’m referring.  (Gosh, the nuns at school – more than 50 years ago – would be smiling down on me for remembering ‘up with which I shall not put’!)

Back to the matter in hand.  There are some things we can look back on and reflect on ‘the good old days’.  With genealogy and technology it is sometimes much better to look forward and not complain about ‘what was’.

[Option 1] Who can remember trying to find a birth certificate (I’m talking Australian States here).  You had to come up with an actual date or as close as possible and pay for a search that was +/- n-years from that date.  Nope – you couldn’t go online and request and pay for this certificate.  You had to get a form – sometimes available through a Post Office, fill it out, include a cheque or Postal Note, and post it SNAIL MAIL to the relevant State Registry Office.  Then came the anticipation – waiting MONTHS for the envelope that either included the desired certificate or a ‘Dear John’ letter stating that it couldn’t be found.

[Option 2] Come forward a number of years and joy of joys – Microfiche INDEXES of the State BDMs.  You then had to go to a major library, record office (PROV) or larger genealogical society to search these indexes.  If you found the entry you wanted, you then had to follow the procedure above – fill out a form, post it off with your payment, (or visit the Registry Office), then wait a month or two for your certificate.

Things have progressed with a few more options in between.

[Option TODAY] For Victoria, Australia you can go to the Vic BDM Registry web site and search HISTORICAL Indexes, find the certificate you want, pay online and instantly download the certificate you wanted – fully digitised and immediate!

Which option would you prefer?

I know there are some who would still prefer to search the Digger CDs as they found them easier to search.  The problem is that the older technology Digger CDs didn’t function under new versions of Windows.  Yes, I know there are some technological work-arounds but these are outside the skill sets of the majority of people wanting to search the indexes.  The cost and effort to reproduce new versions of the Digger CDs that worked with the new version of Windows and continue to update them again and again just wasn’t a viable option.

So what has this got to do with RootsWeb – Mailing Lists, Web Sites etc.

It’s an example of some of the demands and rudeness appearing on the RootsWeb ListOwners Mailing List in response to the resurrection of the RootsWeb – they want everything they used to have but with the added advantes of today’s technology.

I won’t rehash all the history but from the mid 1990s there was a free service called RootsWeb.  It included Mailing Lists, Boards, Web Sites and various other functions.  It used emails to communicate with those subscribed and was a fantastic resource for family history and local history researchers around the world.  Personally I adminned a couple of Mailing Lists and still do.

RootsWeb was bought by Ancestry – and of course there were plenty of Ancestry critics who complained and said Ancestry would steal everything and charge us to access our own work.

What eventually happened was that the hardware and software used to run RootsWeb (on multiple different servers) became outdated and needed massive upgrades.  For some time we were without any of the RootsWeb functions.

All that has changed – RootsWeb is back up and running and is still FREE to us all.

That required new servers and new software to handle the myriad options previously available on RootsWeb.

Yes there were teething problems that were being worked on – some functions were suspended for a while as technical issues were sorted out.  They were brought back online but as you can imagine there were thousands of List, Board and Web admins wanting THEIR part of the system working the way THEY wanted.

Throw into the mix a wonderful RootsWeb / Ancestry person called Anne Mitchell.  I was in awe of the patience, clarity, support provided by Anne.  A lesser person would not have had the patience to put up with the abuse and complaints!

One of the guidelines of Admins is to ensure their area (Mailing List etc) remained polite and positive!  Unfortunately many of them didn’t apply those principles to their own behavious on the ListOwners Mailing List.

There are plenty of examples for those with access to the ListOwners Mailing List but basically some Admins DEMANDED functions that were previously available in obsolete software that was no longer available and at the same time DEMANDED new functions.  YOU CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS.

I can only guess at the difficulties that Anne had keeping on top of the messages pouring into ListOwners.  Even when she asked for examples it was sometimes like bashing your head against a brick wall.

And inflammatory subject lines – wow!

It was getting impossible to find messages relating to particular topics – there were so many agressive and me-too messages.

Anne made use of newer technology – a RootsWeb Blog that would be easier to manage and allow easier searching for specific items.

Well – the abuse started on the Mailing List about the Blog – complaints, don’t want to use, etc. etc. etc.

I shudder at emails from supposedly adult list admins saying just ‘dumb idea’.

It was encouraging to see many messages saying ‘Thank you Anne’ – there should have been more.

At one stage there was a war between UK and USA users – how each looked on things differently!

When the Blog was created to make things easier there were replies such as …

Have far far too many alerts popping in daily to accept anymore.
Not joining any blog. Your list you made for announcement was enough if it
is used it hits all those people with lists. Send it the notice we will get
it. Having this n that to watch is getting overwhelmed.

Then there was a question about Web Sites – some had been reinstated but not all.  On July 3rd, Anne explained that …

You will be able to request it [web site] to have it reinstated sometime early next week.  We will publish a form to fill out.

Today – July 20th – an admin on the ListOwners Mailing List said …

Anne

It’s been two weeks.  When will the form be available?

Another Admin politely referred them to the Blog – the Form had been implemented on July 5th!

RootsWeb users and Admins – you demand things from the past and won’t accept things that are NOW and easily available.

YOU CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS.

It is WONDERFUL having the Mailing Lists back again (and Web Sites etc) – there are a few issues still being sorted but they are working and all those wonderful archives are being restored – a HUGE asset for all Family History reasearchers.

Thank you Anne, RootsWeb and Ancestry.

World ??? Day

31 Saturday Mar 2018

Posted by in Important news, Warnings

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They say a lovely image of animals will attract people to a blog more than a boring photo or no photo at all.

This blog is about a ‘boring’ subject and has absolutely nothing to do with those adorable meerkats!

Who is responsible for World ??? Days?  Who decides what and when?  Who is responsible for maintaining THE list?  And who backs-up the list?

Have you picked up the hint?

Do you know what today / tomorrow is?

World BACKUP Day!

And if you wanted a boring image then this has to be it!

The image may be boring but the subject is SO important.  Remember how many hours you’ve spent researching and collecting your local or family history?  Can you imagine if that was all lost in a flash?

We all know of someone or heard of someone who has lost everything – hard drive failure, bushfires, floods, human errors?

They say the date is important because it’s the day before April Fool’s Day and of course no-one wants to be an April Fool.  Although it is a little difficult from the various articles to tell if World Backup Day is 31st March or 1st April.

It really doesn’t matter because in reality EVERY day is important but today is a good reminder of what you should be doing – backing up your data!

Dick Eastman reminds us at the beginning of every month to BACK UP YOUR DATA.

I was once manager of the I.T. Department of a large public hospital.  Our procedures were locked in stone – backup two copies to tape, then cycle what was called Grandfather – Father – Son backups.  We never missed and the operator signed the daily ops sheet to confirm it was done.  When the backup was completed, one set was put aside to be transported off-site so if anything happened to the computer room, mainframe, hard drives or local backups, there was always a safe copy kept off-site.

What could go wrong with such watertight procedures?

WE DIDN’T REGULARLY REVERSE THE PROCEDURE – we didn’t check restoring from the backup tapes!  We found out the hard way – when we tried to restore from backup – we found that our tape unit had a parity error which meant that for months ALL tapes were useless.

To recover the hospital’s vital database an expert had to be flown out from Blue Bell, Pennsylvania to Australia to ‘recreate’ that part of the database that was corrupted with the parity error – literally bit by bit.

Remember to regularly test that you can restore and read the files that you’ve backed up.

Today I got a new external 4 TB (terabyte) hard drive to backup my Desktop Computer, my Notebook Computer, my iPad, and my smart phone.  There are 1,024 gigabytes in a terabyte, and 1,024 megabytes in a gigabyte.  4 TB = 4,194,304 MB – that’s a LOT of room for backups.

It’s a PORTABLE Drive – it fits in a small padded zippered pouch that can travel with me or be stored elsewhere.  It’s my newest backup but I have 2 TB drives that I’ve tested restoring.

No system will be totally perfect but it’s better than nothing.

Have you backed up your precious files?  If not, DO IT NOW!