Merry Christmas to all

2020 has been an unprecedented, and for many the end of the year will come with welcome relief and a certain amount of trepidation for what 2021 may hold.  The global epidemic has changed our lives in so many ways, separated many of us from our family, friends and daily lives, and made us relearn many of our normal routines.  For many this Christmas will be unusual, with restrictions on travel and limits on gatherings.

It is still, however, Christmas, and no matter how we celebrate this year there are still many Christmas traditions we will still follow.  I feel fortunate indeed that after the challenges and uncertainty of the year, here in Victoria, Australia we have our lives running fairly close to normal.

For me, Christmas means that the tree is up - in fact it has been put up several times thanks to the enthusiasm of my cat who sees the Christmas Tree as his own personal climbing gym - and the house is decorated.  The fridge is full, the presents wrapped, cards sent and received.  Work is about to shut down until New Year, a lovely week of leave.

Tonight, my sister and I will continue the annual tradition of watching The Muppet Christmas Carol.  It is a tradition that we have had since I was a child and we watched it one Christmas on TV.  Much searching from my mother produced a video of the Carol and even as teenagers the tradition of watching "The Muppet Christmas Carol" on Christmas Eve prevailed.  It continued as we became adults and spent Christmas with our parents, was tolerated by baffled partners and friends, and after our parents passed was continued by my sister and I.

Starring the brilliant Michael Caine, so shiningly evil as Scrooge before he finds the spirit of Christmas, he seamlessly interacts with his Muppet costars.  Kermit is a perfect as the kindly, patient Bob Cratchit, with Miss Piggy as his feisty wife Emily, Statler and Waldorf are the evil Marleys, cackling gleefully about evicting children from orphanages.  And Gonzo shines as the 'omniscient narrator', a blue furry Charles Dickens with his sidekick Rizzo the Rat who cheerfully states he is here for the food.

We both pretty much know the film by heart.  We've watched it every Christmas Eve since we were young children.  We will happily settle in to recite lines, sing the songs, munch mince pies and thoroughly enjoy our evening. This is our Christmas.

Whatever your traditions and however you celebrate the end of 2020, I hope everyone out there enjoys the festive season and I look forward to 2021.  Merry Christmas!

#ANZAncestryTime

#ANZAncestryTime is a Twitter Platform for anyone with an interest in Family History and Genealogy.  Whether just starting out or an experienced researcher, #ANZAncestryTime is a place and time where like-minded people in the genealogy community can come together and connect in conversation. #AncestryTime has an initial focus on genealogists with an interest in Australian and New Zealand family history but we enthusiastically welcome the participation of genealogists all around the world.

Each week, a topic for discussion will be introduced. To participate, follow Australia & New Zealand Ancestry Time on Twitter, use the #ANZAncestryTime hashtag to tweet and retweet participate. You can share your experiences, services, ask questions and offer help. Need more help on how to participate? Then check out How to join in now.

#ANZAncestryTime will be hosted at 7 PM AEST every Tuesday. You will find out your local time on the Time Zones page.

Topics already covered include Newspapers, Military and Occupations.

Free Digital Records at National Archives UK

The National Archives have made digital records available on their website free of charge for the time being, as their reading room service is suspended in line with national restrictions in England.

Registered users will be able to order and download up to ten items at a time, to a maximum of 100 items over 30 days. The limits are there to try to help manage the demand for content and ensure the availability of digital services for everyone.

To access the service and download for free, users will be required to:

• Register/sign in to their Discovery account before adding items to their basket (maximum ten items per basket).  You will be required to register for a free account on our website and be logged in to be able to download documents.
• To find records that are available to download for free, filter your search results in Discovery to include records that are ‘available for download only’.
  
• Abide by the terms of the fair use policy
• Complete the order process to receive a download link, which will remain active for 30 days. (The link will also be saved in ‘Your orders’ in your account for 30 days)

What sort of documents can I download?

You will be able to download records digitised by The National Archives and published through Discovery, their online catalogue. These include:

• First and Second World War records, including medal index cards
• Military records, including unit war diaries
• Royal and Merchant Navy records, including Royal Marine service records
• Wills from the jurisdiction of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury
• Migration records, including aliens’ registration cards and naturalisation case papers
• 20th century Cabinet Papers and Security Service files
• Domesday Book

 So take advantage of this wonderful offer while it lasts - and happy researching.

Free Magazines

Campaspe Library subscribes to a number of Genealogy magazines that library members can download or read online for free.  In addition to BBC Who Do You Think You Are magazine, we also subscribe electronically to Traces Magazine and Family Tree (U.S.).  We also have a selection of history magazines, such as BBC History, All About History, and History Revealed.

 

To access these magazines, and many more, go to the library homepage and click on the link to RB Digital and follow the instructions to download the app and log in using your library membership.  You can even set up to automatically receive new editions of your favourite magazines.  There is no limit to how many magazines you can access or how long you can keep them, and many titles have back issues available as well.

 

So check out our eMagazines - and our other eResources like eBooks and eAudio - all available free with your library membership, and all accessible from the comfort of home.  If you have difficulty accessing them, library staff are only a phone call away to help you.

 

Happy reading!

The Year in Review

A rather challenging and different year is almost over, and as I usually do at this time, I'm looking back at the genealogical highlights.  Feel free to make your own responses to each question.

1.  An elusive ancestor I found was - Thomas Farmer, Master Mariner.  Born 1781, Thomas was also a Mason, made a member of the Dundee Arms lodge 8 March 1810. He is one ancestor I have managed to discover quite a bit about during the year.

2.  A precious family photo I found was - my fathers WW2 Air Force enlistment photo.

3.  An ancestor's grave I found was - Thomas Farmer, 1781-1850 (see question 1).

4.  An important record I found was - Thomas Farmers Master Mariner's certificate.  Downloading a digital copy of his original certificate was definitely a highlight!

5.  A newly found family member shared - notes on common ancestors.  I keep basic trees on several sites - Ancestry, FamilySearch, My Heritage, etc mainly as 'cousin bait' to make contact with others researching in the same tree so we can share information - and every now and then I strike it lucky.

6.  A geneasurprise I received was - so many genealogical websites, archives and companies who made special effort to keep going during the pandemic.  From the National Archives UK making all their digital records free while in lockdown to Ancestry allowing libraries who subscribed to Ancestry Library Edition to let their patrons access the database from home, so many went out of their way to keep us all researching.

7.  A new piece of software or website I mastered was - the updated Trove website.  While I am still not convinced I like it better than the old version, spending time getting to know the ins and outs of the new site has been useful.

8. A social media tool I enjoyed using for genealogy was - Zoom.  Online meetings and get togethers have been the order of the year, with so many planned activities, conferences and meetings having to be cancelled by the pandemic.

9. A genealogy conference/seminar/webinar from which I learnt something new was - The Virtual Genealogical Society's Annual Conference.  Like so many of the talks, presentations and meeting I attended this year, everything was online and attended from the safety of my study.

10. I am proud of the presentation I gave at/to - Library patrons via Facebook on using Ancestry Library Edition from home during lockdown.

11. I taught a friend how to - download her family tree from Ancestry.

12. A great repository/archive/library I visited was - the National Archives UK - online.  I've downloaded a number of wills and other digital records this year while the website so generously made them free.

13. A new genealogy/history book I enjoyed was - Tudor History: A Captivating Guide to the Tudors, the Wars of the Roses, the Six Wives of Henry VIII and the Life of Elizabeth I.  A great ebook read.

14. An achievement during lockdown was - a major cleanout and reorganisation of my house.  While stood down from my job for several weeks, I built shelving, cleaned out my garage, sorted through my wardrobe, reorganised the lined cupboard, cleaned out the pantry, and turned my 3rd bedroom / junk room / study into a usable work space.  All those jobs that I'd never found time for got done, along with 2 trips to the local recycling centre.  The glow of accomplishment was wonderful!

15. Another positive I would like to share is ... Treasures hidden away in dark corners.  As mentioned previously, a few years ago I faced the task of clearing out my family home after the deaths of my parents.  Treasures were found in every corner, and quite a few were glanced at briefly before being boxed up to transfer to my new home.  During lockdown, many were rediscovered, more closely examined, recorded for posterity and put on display around my home.

WDYTYA Magazine

The latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to RB Digital eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue

• 50 hottest websites Don't miss our annual preview of the biggest record releases and online resources family historians can look forward to in the new year
• Picture perfect Helen Dawkins explains how to safeguard your old family photographs to ensure they are protected and preserved for generations to come
• Reader story
Katie Carmichael investigated her great grandfather's mysterious death in 1930s New York
• Remembering the Holocaust How to trace the victims of Nazi persecution using online records
• Railway mania
Did your family lose money in the rise and fall of railway speculation?
• Plus: The lives of the first policewomen; finding Irish probate records; tracing publicans in your family tree... and much more!

WDYTYA Magazine

The latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to RB Digital eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue

• Give your tree the WDYTYA? treatment Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine editor Sarah Williams shares top behind-the-scenes tips from the TV series to help you uncover your family history
• Reader survey Tell us what you think about the magazine for your chance to win a £200 Marks & Spencer e-Gift Card
• New census series
Don't miss our new monthly series exploring UK census records as far back as 1801
• Christmas crackers The cracking story behind the festive tradition
• World War Two army service records
All you need to know about discovering the war heroes in your family tree
• Plus: The best websites for finding cemetery records; researching shipwrecks; finding Polish refugees in your family tree, and much more!

Donating Your Research

Have you ever considered what will happen to all your family history research after you are gone?  Do you have family members who are interested in genealogy who will take on your research and pass it on, who understand your work and value it?  Or do you wonder if all your details and documents will end up in boxes in the garage until they are eventually thrown out?

While I have provided casually interested cousins with some details of my research and copies of documents and photographs, I have no close relative who is interested in continuing the family history research I have been accumulating for decades.  Several of my friends are facing the same situation - their children and grandchildren might enjoy a few stories now and then, but they are not interested in the detail and have no desire to continue the research.

Donating your research to a local, state or national Genealogical Society is an option worth investigating.  The Society of Australian Genealogists accepts both published and unpublished materials which have value for genealogical research.  They accept both hard copy and digital formats, and their website has both a Background Information Leaflet on donating your research to the SAG, and an Assessment Form for unpublished materials.

Your research does not have to be complete to be donated, and they accept relevant supporting documents such as immigration and military service records, correspondence, birth death and marriage records, and research notes.  Any research you donate will be able to be viewed by other researchers, and you will be expected to fill out a donation form. 

There are other Genealogical Societies around the world who are prepared to accept donations to preserve the information for future generations of researchers, so consider who will look after and pass on your research, and if donating a copy of all you have learned is worthwhile.