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FindMyPast Australasia

15 Oct By Leave a Comment

FindMyPast Australasia website: www.findmypast.com.au  which includes Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands, is a subscription or “pay as you go” website as are the other FindMyPast sites. Included in the Australasia website are searchable databases for: cemetery records, death records, probate, land, court records, migration records, directories, criminal reports, electoral rolls, electoral rolls, almanacs, military records and government gazettes. At this writing there is an impressive collection documenting millions of individuals.

When using the website be aware FindMyPast are constantly adding new databases, so it’s important to always search the “Full List of Records” under the “Help & Advice” button at the top of the page. At that point you can select a specific database by category. You can also search all the databases with one search. If you have too many results in your earches, you can filter the search to a more specifically. There is no cost to search the index, but there is a cost in obtaining the full record. Credit cards are accepted as payment.

Each database has an accompanying description, and shows how many entries are part of that particular collection. Do not ignore these introductions, as they can provide excellent advice and helps in getting the most out of your search. 

If you are new to the FindMyPast websites, then it is always wise to check what is actually on the website. Is it what you need? If not, then you may need to wait until what you need is added to the collections. I have personally used FindMyPast Australasia and I did find what I was looking for in an Australian case. The website did not have everything I needed, but for the key was a newspaper article. It was well worth my time and funds!

New Zealand Society of Genealogists

14 Jul By Leave a Comment

The New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG): www.genealogy.org.nz is a reputable and quality organization which you should never hesitate to contact for your research needs. The question is why would a non-New Zealand genealogists need their help?

I’m a firm believer that in order to reconstruct the entire story of a family, you have to trace out the siblings of your ancestor no matter where they immigrated. That’s one approach. Another approach is that it may be within the New Zealand branch of the family that the birthplace in Ireland for the entire family is preserved. Birthplaces are often difficult to identify from North American and UK records. However, they are more common place in New Zealand records.

NZSG has an active Irish Interest Group: www.genealogy.org.nz/Irish_Interest_Group_202.aspx and to perhaps broaden your horizons a Maori Interest Group: www.genealogy.org.nz/Maori_Interest_Group_205.aspx Since the Irish definitely intermarried with this ethnic group, Maori Studies should never be neglected in your explorations. In 2011, the Irish Interest Group library holdings were integrated into the NZSG collection. The combined collection resulted in one of the best material collections of Irish resources in New Zealand

The Society publishes the bi-monthly journal The New Zealand Genealogist which is a

respected journal in family history. They have also been active in indexing records, and producing CDs. The current “Kiwi Index v. 1.0” CD has over 8 million entries from a variety of sources. NZSG members have access to this CD. A list of sources on the CD can be found on the website.

Whether you have an ancestor or a branch of your family who settled in New Zealand, then you will benefit from learning more about the resources at the NZSG. Remember, the answer to Irish origins may lie in a New Zealand record!

Australasian Genealogical Computer Index (AGCI)

23 Jun By Leave a Comment

The importance of a resource such as this cannot be underestimated. Remember, if you can’t find out where your branch of the family came from in Ireland; go to the branch which went to Australia and New Zealand. Chances are their records will provide birth places. The AGCI provides easy access to records which are important for these types of research strategies.

The current edition of the AGCI on CD-ROM (2004) includes some 3.9 million records indexed by 39 societies. A second CD (2005) contains entries extracted from the New South Wales Government Gazette(1832-1863). Other CDs are planned for the AGCI. The AGCI will provide the individual’s name, place, date, cross reference, type of record (church, cemetery, government, newspaper, etc.), and the society which submitted the entry. This is a resource worth studying or purchasing for a library with genealogical collections.

If you find an index entry of interest then either look for the original record on microfilm at the Family History Library: www.familysearch.org or contact the SAG which has a record retrieval department for sources at the SAG Library, National Library of Australia, and from State Records of New South Wales. These entries comprise about two-thirds of the first AGCI CD and all of the second volume. Otherwise, the individual society which submitted the entry will need to be contacted directly. 

This type of research is thinking outside the box.

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