Edition 30 of Australian history and genealogy magazine Traces is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines.
Shortly after the establishment of the Church of England, a law was passed which required parish priests to record all the baptisms, marriages, and burials that they officiated each year. These records, called registers, were supposed to have started in 1538, although this is not consistent throughout England.
From 1598, every parish priest of the Church of England was supposed to make a copy of his parish register and send it to the archdeacon or bishop every year. Generally referred to as Bishop’s Transcripts, these copies were generally produced in the same form as a regular parish register.
As bishop’s transcripts generally contain more or less the same information as parish registers, they are an invaluable resource when the original parish register has been damaged, destroyed, or otherwise lost. Bishop's transcripts can also be of value even when parish registers exist, as priests often recorded either additional or different information in their transcripts than they did in the original registers. Most bishop's transcripts before 1812 were recorded on blank sheets, and then on pre-printed forms from around 1813 onwards. Many priests stopped producing these transcripts with the beginning of civil registration in 1837, but some persisted even into the twentieth century.
It should be noted that many bishop's transcripts may not be available during the Interregnum, 1642-1660. During this period, the hierarchy of the Church of England was disrupted, leading to a lapse in record-keeping and communication in some dioceses.
In general, transcripts contain records of the following events:
Throughout my family history, there have been a number of places that were 'Home Sweet Home' to my ancestors, and finding out about them is a big part of my research.
My father's family had strong ties to Fordham Hall (also called Manor Farm) in Essex, being tennants at the Hall for several generations. Although they were not the owners, they were major local landholders and were the gentry of their small community.
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| Fordham Hall, Essex |
Fordham Hall eventually became part of the Woodland Trust, but for years it was 'home sweet home' to my father's family.
For
my father, the second youngest of 10 children born in Australia after my grandparents emigrated, 'home sweet home' was a full house indeed. Often the family lived in small
farmhouses, with only a few rooms. They moved several times during my
father's childhood, but none of the homes the family occupied would be
called spacious.
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| The Green family home in Mildura, Victoria |
'Home sweet home' for my father was the sheep station called 'Para' on which I was born. My father worked there as a stockman for approximately 20 years, and my mother became station cook after their marriage. I have a number of family stories of Dad's time at the station, and it was his favourite of all the places he called home.
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| Para Homestead |
My sister and I were both born during our parents last years at the station. Just before we reached school age, our family moved to the small town of Moama, where we lived for the rest of my childhood. I have blogged a few times about cleaning out this home after my parents died, before the home was sold and I moved to my current Home Sweet Home.
Family historians often locate records that list ancestors with unusual and intriguing occupations. Many of these occupations may have originated as far back as the Middle Ages and by the 14th century it was common for people to take their occupation as a surname. i.e. Skinner - Flayer of animal hides for leather or Fletcher – maker of arrows.
One website that help offer explanations of what our ancestors occupations were is Hall Genealogy's Old Occupation Names. While the site has not been updated recently, it still offers explanations of hundreds of old occupations, listed alphabetically.
Each old occupation listed has a short explanation of what it involved, sometimes with multiple explanations or a timeline of when the occupation existed.
23andMe, one of the world’s largest DNA testing companies, has just announced that it is filing for bankruptcy protection. The company said it has initiated voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the US Bankruptcy Court. The company said that it would continue to operate its business and there would be no changes to the way it stores customer data.
Mark Jensen, chair and member of the Special Committee of the Board of Directors at 23andMe, said in a recent statement: “After a thorough evaluation of strategic alternatives, we have determined that a court-supervised sale process is the best path forward to maximize the value of the business. We expect the court-supervised process will advance our efforts to address the operational and financial challenges we face, including further cost reductions and the resolution of legal and leasehold liabilities. We believe in the value of our people and our assets and hope that this process allows our mission of helping people access, understand and benefit from the human genome to live on for the benefit of customers and patients.”
“We want to thank our employees for their dedication to 23andMe’s mission. We are committed to supporting them as we move through the process. In addition, we are committed to continuing to safeguard customer data and being transparent about the management of user data going forward, and data privacy will be an important consideration in any potential transaction.”
Founded in 2006, 23andMe saw its share price plummet after the company suffered a major data breach in October 2023, when hackers breached about 14,000 customers’ accounts, gaining access to the data of 6.9 million people who were listed as those users’ relations. In September 2024, 23andMe agreed to pay $30 million to settle a lawsuit by affected customers.
23andMe has an FAQ section about the ongoing situation on its website.
Who Do You Think You Are Magazine has published a guide on how to download and/or delete your data from 23andMe is you wish to do so.
The 6th Annual 24-Hour Genealogy Webinar Marathon hosted by FamilyTreeWebinars.com and MyHeritage begins Thursday, April 3 at 5pm eastern U.S. time (Friday, April 4 at 8am Sydney time) and ends on Friday, April 4 at 5pm eastern U.S. time (Saturday, April 5 at 8am Sydney time).
Over the past few years we have lived through several historic events, and I have had several discussions with fellow Family Historians about how we should record our memories and reactions for the future, so that generations yet to come can see how their ancestors lived through several years of crisis.
In 2020 the world experienced a historic global pandemic, with many of us moving in and out of lockdowns and various restrictions on our daily lives as the world struggled to limit the spread and impact of Covid-19. Like many I was stood down from my job, saw businesses close and contacts restricted, and in the small community where I live, unforgettably saw armed police restricting travel across the state border. I spent my 50th birthday in lockdown, isolated at home.
While many of my memories of the
pandemic restrictions, which flowed on into 2021, are stressful, there
were also many positives. So many people came together to keep each
other going. Online shopping boomed and the concept of 'click and
collect' became (and remains) common. In the genealogical community
meetings and conferences went online and access to many digitised
records were relaxed to make research from home easier. The idea of
working from home became much more common in many industries.
Hard on the heels of 2 years of Covid lockdowns, 2022 saw my home area suffer the worst floods in living memory. While my home itself was not impacted, many friends saw their homes flood, roads and highways were cut, access to services cut, shops closed and like many I came under an evacuation order.
We watched the Murray River flood parkland, the water creeping closer and closer, flooding homes and breeching levies like the one behind the library where I work - see the photo below. As the water rose the community came together to frantically sandbag homes and businesses, another wonderful show of community spirit in the face of a crisis.
These are memories that need to be recorded as part of our family history. We have all lived through a global pandemic and lived through or witnessed a number of historic events in recent years. Recording our memories of such major events should be a part of our family history records, for the generations that come after us.
So please, get writing your memories. Become your own storyteller of the historic times you have just lived through.The Early British Census project (EBC) brings the numerous disparate pre-1841 census records into one searchable database. It is designed to help family historians discover their ancestors; offer training for students; and provide data for scholarly research, particularly for local and population studies. The project offers valuable insight into household and occupational structures of early industrial Britain.
EBC brings these various records into one searchable database. When the database is complete, it will likely contain information about approximately 500,000 households.
The first stage of the project is to extract data from, and where possible gather digital images of, the 1801-1831 English censuses. Later stages will capture records from other parts of the British Isles as well as earlier periods.
Student researchers, under faculty supervision, consult the originals, extract parish, household, and individual data, and where possible upload the digital image. The extractions are then verified by a second researcher.
All information was extracted from digital images of original census records. No extractions or transcriptions from other collections or publications were used.
The latest issue of Family Tree UK magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines.
Inside this month's issue :
We all have those gaps in our research, when we have progressed as far as we can and are searching for those elusive facts that will allow us to progress further. We have hit a brick wall.
A notable brick wall in my tree starts with my great great grandparents David Mulholland and Eliza (McCrae), the first of my Irish ancestors to arrive in Australia.
David
Mulholland died in Eurobin, Victoria, Australia on 10 April 1902 at the
age of approximately 70. He left behind wife Eliza Jane (McCrae) -
although I have never found a marriage record for the couple - and 7
surviving children. Death notices describe David as being 71 years of
age and a colonist of 42 years, putting his birth at around 1831 and his
arrival in Australia around 1860. David's death certificate states his
parents names as David Mulholland and Margaret (McGee)
Eliza - or Elizabeth, survived her husband for 23 years, dying 28 October 1925 in Eurobin. Her obituary, published in the Albury Banner and Wodonga Express on 6 November 1925, describes Eliza as having "reached the advanced age of 85 years, 63 years of which were spent at Eurobin" and states that she was born in County Belfast, Ireland. This puts her birth at around 1840 and her arrival in Australia around 1862. Eliza's death certificate - under the name Eliza Mulholland - gives her parents names as James McCrae and Mary.
I have, thus far, found no records for either family in Ireland. Neither have I found a marriage record for David and Eliza in Australia or Ireland. I will keep looking, however, in the hopes of breaking through the brick wall and continuing further back along my Irish ancestry.
The Ryerson Index is a free index to death notices appearing in Australian newspapers. The date range covered extends from the Sydney Gazette of 1803 up to newspapers published within the last week or so. The Index also includes many funeral notices, and some probate notices and obituaries.
In 2020, Ryerson made the decision to commence indexing notices from Funeral Directors' websites in response to the mass closures of regional newspapers which occured in the second quarter of the year.
The Index was originally created by the Sydney Dead Persons Society, so its strength lies in notices from NSW papers - including in excess of two million notices from the Sydney Morning Herald alone. However, the representation from sources in other states continues to grow, with additional papers and funeral directors being regularly added, so that the Index can now truly be considered an Australian index. Today the Ryerson Index contains 9,604,544 notices from 497 different Australian newspapers, publisher websites and funeral director websites.
Indexing is being continuously carried out by a team of volunteers who give freely of their time to ensure the site continues to grow. Site updates generally occur weekly creating a wonderful resource not purely for Family History researchers.
While the actual notice is not digitised, information includes :
Name
Notice Type (Death, Funeral, Probate)
Date of Event
Event Type (Death, Funeral, Cremation, Publication)
Age (if available)
Other Details (late of...)
Publication
Date Published
Probate is the process of dealing with the property, money and possessions of a person who has died, usually laid out in their will. Probate records are a useful resource for family history because you can use them to confirm when your ancestor died and trace other members of their family who are named as heirs in their will. They can even provide you with a picture of your ancestor's life by showing how much property and money they owned, or reveal long-hidden family dramas such as relatives who were cut out of the will.
Until the middle of the 19th century, the process of handling probate through proving wills or granting administrations came from church courts such as the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. But from 12 January 1858 a civil Court of Probate for England and Wales was established, with the Principal Registry in London and numerous other district registries. The district registries sent copies of all Grants of Probate, and all wills associated with them, and all Grants of Letters of Administration to the Principal Registry where annual centralised indexes were prepared. These are known as the Probate Calendars, and are now all available to search online.
The Probate Calendars include those who left a will and those died intestate (with no will) but with an estate that had to be administered. Records that say 'Probate', 'Grant and Will', ‘Administration (Admon) with Will’ or just 'Will' refer to records where a will existed and was provided. Records that just say 'Administration' or ‘Administration or Grant’ refer to people who died intestate and for whom there is no will.
The arrangement and content of the Calendars has changed over time. Within the annual volumes, with names arranged alphabetically, wills and administrations are listed separately from 1858 to 1870. A single sequence starts in 1871. Note that the Calendars are arranged by date of probate, not date of death. Although probate was usually completed soon after the death there could be considerable delay, sometimes decades or longer.
For probate records from 1858 to 1891 you could get: the name of the deceased; their address and occupation (or “wife of”, “widow of” or “spinster” in the case of a woman); date and place of death; names, occupations and addresses of executors and their relationship (if any) to the deceased; and date of probate and name of the Registry. From 1892 to 1957, the probate records don't contain the address or relationship of the executors; and from 1959 to 1967 no details of husbands are included. More modern probate records include only the name, address and date of death of the testator, together with the date and place of the grant.
You can currently order probate records from the government’s Find a Will website for just £1.50 each.
To search for probate records, go to the website. There are three options to choose from: Wills and Probate 1858–1995; Wills and Probate 1996 to present (new probate records appear online approximately 14 days after the grant of representation has been issued); and Soldier’s Wills (1850–1986). Then enter the surname of the person you are searching and their year of death. If necessary, use the 'Advanced Search' page with the option to enter more information to further narrow down the search results.
You will then be shown a page of search results, which will enable you to click through to the probate calendar with the deceased individual's record on it. Note that some wills are difficult to search for following an upgrade to the website. To make it easier, you may have to use wildcards or change your use of quotation marks, spaces or other symbols in the search box. You may have to click through multiple pages of results. Then follow the prompts to add the will to your basket to purchase a copy.
I have blogged several times before about my father and his siblings. Dad was one of 10 children born between 1908 and 1928. As the second youngest of the Green children, Dad's oldest brothers and sisters left home while he was still quite young - his oldest sisters Isobel and Phyllis both married in 1934 when Dad was just 8 years old.
To the best of my knowledge the photo below is the only photo of all 10 siblings together, which makes the scanned image I have even more precious. And yes, one of the brothers does have a beer bottle balanced on his head! That would be Ernest, known to all as Squib, the second eldest of the Green siblings. If there are any relatives out there who have another photo of all 10 siblings together, I would love to hear from you and am happy to share copies!
,%20Jess,%20Peter,%20Frank%20Jr,%20Olive,%20Nancy,%20%20Front%20Isobel,%20Frank%20Sr,%20Phyllis.%20%2022%20Nov%201965,%20Ros%20May's%20funeral..JPG)
Given the spread of ages amongst the siblings, added to the fact that Dad was 44 years old when I was born, the spread of ages amongst the cousins is quite large - my oldest cousin on Dad's side is 35 years my senior!
On my mother's side of the family, my grandmother Gladys Pummeroy (nee Clark) was one of 12 siblings, plus 2 half siblings from her father's first marriage. Among my treasured photos are a pair dating from 1947 of the Clark siblings.
Divided into the male and female sides, my mother is 5 years old and standing at the front of the group, with my grandmother Gladys on her right and Great-Grandmother Pricilla on her left.
The
male group, again featuring matriarch Pricilla, has my grandfather
William standing directly behind. For many of my aunts and uncles,
these are the only images I have of them, so they are precious to me
indeed.
Having only a single sibling myself, I find the idea of such large families quite different, although as I travel back up my family tree there are many such groups of siblings.
Rootstech 2025 has begun! Running 6-8 March this wonderful conference is available free online.
Presenters for Rootstech 2025 include : Nick Barratt, Diahan Southard, Judy Russell, Rebecca Whitman Koford, David Allen Lambert, Barbara Ferreira, Dr Wanda Wyporska, Steve Little and Hugo Edgardo de Giorgio.
You can search the schedule and build your own playlist of the sessions you want to view, making sure you don't miss out on anything. Remember, recordings of the online sessions remain available after the event, so you can view all you want at your leisure. And it is all free!
Inside this month's issue :
