British Isles

Carol Baxter is the descendant of a First Fleet marine who later joined the NSW Corps, and of a British soldier who was taken prisoner during the American War of Independence, and has spent a considerable amount of time researching these ancestors. She has also examined military records in depth in her role as General Editor of the Biographical Database of Australia. This seminar will provide an overview of military records available in Britain and Australia and guide you towards the sources you can readily access.  

- 45/60 minutes – Powerpoint presentation

Most family historians think little about the surnames they are tracing even though most of us would have gathered information about the origin of our own surnames. Yet many of their ancestors’ surnames came into existence 800 years ago and provide information about their lives at that particular time. This seminar provides a fascinating exploration of the history and origins of British surnames.  

- 30/60 minutes – Powerpoint presentation

Exactly what is happening at findmypast? The last couple of years have seen huge growth in multiple directions – in records from Australia and New Zealand, Ireland, America, in the original UK site itself and the launch of the British Newspaper Archives by brightsolid. All this means much better access to records for local and family historians and is very exciting to see. Where to now?

Newspapers contain a wealth of information for family historians, beyond the reports of national and local events. Births, deaths and marriages, funerals, obituaries, accidents, missing persons, ships' arrivals and passenger lists, shipwrecks, petitions, 'letters to the editor', advertisements, examination results, court cases, governement notices - and more. Digitisation means that many of these can now be easily searched from home. This talk covers some of the main collections both of Australian and overseas newspapers.