Website Wednesday - Accredited Genealogists Ireland

Accredited Genealogists Ireland (AGI) is the accrediting and representative body for professional genealogists on the island of Ireland (Ireland and Northern Ireland). The Association was established in 1986 to set a high standard of work among its members and to protect the interests of its members and their clients.  To qualify for membership, a genealogist’s work is reviewed by an Independent Board of Assessors.

In addition to working as professional genealogists undertaking commissioned research, many members also share their expertise through lectures and courses on genealogy, both in Ireland and internationally. They contribute to the field by publishing books on genealogy and history, and their knowledge is often sought after for appearances on TV and radio programmes. 

Since its foundation, AGI has maintained its position at the forefront of Irish genealogy advocating for the preservation of and maintaining access to records for genealogists and family historians in the future.

Late last year, Accredited Genealogists Ireland (AGI) released two additional free publications in its Irish census records series: “1911 Census of Ireland: a guide for family history researchers” and “Beyond Form A: unlocking the hidden depths of the Irish census“. 

Who Do You Think You Are Magazine Feb 2026

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

Inside this month's issue : 

• Illegitimate names
• Historians trace Birmingham almshouse residents
• Ancestry adds UCL records
• University to compile first ancient Celtic languages dictionary of Britain
• Cambridgeshire Archives acquires 18th-century land ownership document
• Become a Pro with Ancestry - is it worth the cost of upgrading?
• Case study : tracing an RAF crew 
• Solving DNA dilemmas 
• ‘My Grandfathers fought on opposite sides in WW2’
• Irish Teaching Records 
• Free British resources 
• Go Further - More free sites worth their weight in gold
• And more...

 

Week 4 (Jan. 22-28) A Theory in Progress

Theories about our ancestors' lives are all well and good, until they lead us astray.  Following a theory too closely, however, can mean we don't look for records in the right places. 

One such example was the family of my great grandfather, James Nicholas Clark.  From information in marriage and death records, James was born around 1856, and his family came from Bristol, England and settled in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia.

For years I searched the Victorian immigration records for the family's arrival.  For years I searched for James's birth or baptism in and around Bristol.  My theory in progress was that the family travelled from Bristol to Victoria sometime around 1870, when they first appeared in St Kilda records.  That was my theory in progress.  Of course I was wrong!

After discovering that the German branch of my family had emigrated from Hamburg, Germany to Hahndorf, South Australia before travelling overland into Victoria to settle, it struck me that perhaps my Clark family had also arrived in a different colony in Australia before moving to Victoria, and I began looking further afield.  A new theory in progress!

There I found them, arriving in Launceston, Tasmania in 1855, where the family lived for at least 12 years before they crossed Bass Strait and settled in Victoria.  An unnamed male child, almost certainly my great grandfather James Nicholas, was registered in Launceston in 1856, and James’s younger sister Annie Amelia Clark was born 31 March 1857 in Port Sorrell, Tasmania.  Annie was followed by several other children also born in Port Sorrell.

This prompted me to revisit several other theories about my family and explore possibilities I had not previously considered.  It pays to check your theories and think outside the box. 

Website Wednesday - The Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland

The Huguenots were members of the French Protestant Church, many of whom, in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, left their homes in France to escape persecution. More than 50,000 of these refugees came to the British Isles and, in 1718, a French Hospital was founded in London. In 1885, the directors of the Hospital created a Society to promote the publication and interchange of knowledge about Huguenot history.

The original ‘Huguenot Society of London’ has since been renamed 'The Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland', and an Irish Section with its own website has been established. Both sections of the Society aim to form a bond of fellowship among those who respect and admire the Huguenots and seek to perpetuate their memory, and membership is open to anyone wishing to join.

The Huguenot Society provides a variety of resources that can help those searching for their ancestors: its own publications, substantial collections of family history material in the Huguenot Library and leaflets providing guidance. Further support and information is available for the Society’s members. 

FamilySearch

Last year FamilySearch announced that Full-Text Search is now part of its standard search tools. Since its initial release in FamilySearch Labs during RootsTech 2024, the feature has undergone numerous enhancements to improve its power and usability. 

The number of record collections available on this free database is enormous.  As of 16 January 2026, FamilySearch includes the following :

6,652 searchable and full-text transcribed image collections. There are over 2.403 BILLION "results" in these collections.  

24,568 browsable (some indexed, none transcribed) image collections. There are over 5.894 BILLION images in these collections.  There are 2,101 collections from the United States and 6,968 from Europe.  

3,429 Historical Record Collections (many indexed, browsable).

You do need to sign up to use FamilySearch, but you can authenticate using Google, Facebook or Apple or create your own sign in by providing your name, date of birth and email, and choosing a username and password.

So if you haven't visited the FamilySearch website for a while, take a look and see if they have new information for you to help in your family history research. 

Week 3 (Jan. 15-21) What This Story Means to Me

There are many family stories I have uncovered over the years which have made clear how fortunate I am to live in a time when, in most countries, there are safety nets to help those who fall on hard times.  For some ancestors, finding help during times of trouble was difficult, and few social services existed.  

One such family I have followed through the census is my Hines branch of the family tree.  In the 1841 census (below) parents James and Susan are alive and children John, Samuel, Albert and Hannah are listed with them.  Eldest daughter Susannah is not home on census night and so not listed here.

 

By the time of the next census in 1851, circumstances have changed for the family.  Both parents have died, and the five siblings have been split up.  The two eldest children, Susannah and John, now aged 18 and 16, are living with their maternal grandparents and are listed below as house servant and farm servant respectively.

Middle child Samuel, age 14, has been found a home with relatives, and is listed as a lodger in the house of James Prentice.  His maternal grandmother Susannah's maiden name was Prentice (she is the Susannah Woollard listed above, who took in the two eldest children), and James Prentice is her nephew.

The two youngest children, Albert, now age 12 and Hannah, age 10, have been less fortunate.  Apparently there were no relatives willing and able to take these youngest children, and they are listed in the census as paupers in the Cosford Union Workhouse.

So not only have these children lost their parents, they have also been split up, the ones old enough taken by relatives and put to work.  The two youngest, not yet old enough to perform sufficient useful labour, are sent to the workhouse.

#52Ancestors 

Website Wednesday - PROV Divorce Files

The Public Records Office of Victoria (PROV) has a number of digitised collections available free online for family history researchers.  One such trache or records are the Divorce Files and Cause Books.

The records are divided onto 3 sets : Melbourne divorce records (1861-1942) ; Melbourne divorce records (1943-1950) ; and Regional divorce records (1890-1950).  If your ancestors divorces in Victoria during these periods, there may be a wealth of information available to you through these records.

The case file will contain a number of documents that might include:

• the petition stating the grievance
• affidavits (or supporting statements) by the petitioner
• a formal answer by the respondent and any co-respondents (in cases of adultery, both parties to the adultery were summoned)
• further affidavits in support of that answer
• orders by the court directing who is to pay for the costs of the case
• a praecipe, which is an order to the clerks of the Court to produce a writ containing the formal decree made by the justice.  The praecipe will often have a summary of the decision.

Note that not all cases were heard.  Sometimes they were withdrawn before the hearing or otherwise settled.

One such divorce was that of my great grandfather James Nicholas Clark from his first wife Eliza (nee Hawley) in 1897.  The file is 55 pages long and includes names, addresses, details of work and living arrangements, where and when the marriage took place, children, and the circumstances of the marriage breakdown. 

 

Family Tree UK Magazine

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 : 

• RAF Museum London awarded for autism-friendly service
• Will £800+K 17th century explorer journal be saved for the nation?
• Test your knowledge with the Findmypast app
• New display: exploring Jane Austen’s brothers & their naval connections
• Rare chance to see Jane Austen’s will in The National Archives’ Love Letters exhibition
• DNA Club news 
• NextGEN call for presentations
• Poverty, illegitimacy and lies 
• Reclaiming my German roots
• Transcription Corner
• Revisiting research
• Queen Catherine Court, Ratcliff an East London slum
• Approach to the research
• The Romanovs : reform and revolution 
• And more... 

Week 2 (Jan. 8-14) A Record That Adds Color

While not a formal record exactly, this colored print of my father was taken from a photograph from when he enlisted in the Air Force, during World War 2.  

It is hand colored on cardboard - and had spent who-knows-how-long lying behind a wardrobe in my parents bedroom.  Neither my sister or I can recall ever seeing it, although we are both familiar with the photo from which it is taken (below), and how or when it was created I have no idea.

It is one of a very few images I have of my father as a young man that are in colour - and it especially showcases his bright red hair.  It certainly adds colour to my family history.  My next project is to investigate restoring the colored image and having it framed.  I even have the spot for it picked out in my study!

Family Tree US Magazine Jan/Feb 2026

The latest issue of Family Tree US magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines. 

Inside this month's issue :  

• Web Highlight : Find a Grave Fact or Fiction
• 2026 Genealogy Conference Preview
• New website for FREEBMD
• Out soon : the 1926 Census of Ireland
• Capturing Family Stories
• AI’s IQ - Does AI’s might match its hype? 
• Star Search - Hit the big time with these blockbusting record search strategies.
• Byte by byte - Take these five simple steps to digitize your genealogy.
• Find Your U.S. Ancestors
• This is your land - homesteading, bounty-land warrants, and more.
• Find your immigrant ancestor’s hometown through three research success stories.
• How Interviewing Relatives Saved My Research
• A Century of Immigration: U.S. Arrivals, 1820–1920
• Researching History and the Point of Departure
• Voter Records
• DNA and Adoptees
• Tracing Borders with the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries
• Antique Linens
• 17 Genealogy Habits for the New Year
• Tips for Studying Black Ancestors and History
• Finding the enslaved in US Censuses

Week 1 (Jan. 1-7) An Ancestor I Admire

This year I have once again decided to participate in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks blogging challenge run by Amy Johnson Crow. The challenge prompts often have me looking at my family history in new ways and exploring records I haven't revisited for a while.

Week 1 id "an ancestor I admire" and I have chosen my great grandmother Eliza Beseler.

Eliza was born in 1871 in Learmonth, Victoria to Edward Beseler and Emma (nee Flower).  Eliza married Alfred Pummeroy in1895 in St Kilda, where Alfred worked as a plasterer.  They had four children before Alfred suddenly became ill with pneumonia and died on 6 Feb 1901, leaving Eliza with 4 young children and in a desperate situation.

The family lived in rented housing and had little by way of savings.  With four children to look after, the eldest 4 years old and deaf and mute, the youngest (my grandfather William) only 2 months old, Eliza was unable to do much by way of paid work.  She took in washing to make a little money, and was given 3 shillings a week by the local Ladies Benevolent Society.  It wasn't enough.

After struggling for a month after her husband's sudden death, Eliza took the step of applying to the local court for help, risking having her children removed from her custody and placed in an orphanage, something she was adamant she did not want.  The judges hearing the case awarded her 10 shillings from the poor box and committed the children to the department, with the recommendation they be handed back to their mother.

This appeal was reported in several newspapers.  Two reported the case with a fair amount of detail, including the fact that the children all appeared clean and well cared for, while a third much briefer article gave a somewhat different impression, especially with the heading 'Neglected Children'.

Prahran Telegraph, Sat 9 March 1901, p3.

The Argus, Sat 9 March 1901, p15.

The Herald, Fri 8 March 1901, p5.

How much courage and desperation Eliza must have felt to take the step of appealing to the courts for aid.  Standing before three magistrates to plead her case, knowing they had the power to take her children away, while still mourning the death of her husband.  I admire her greatly.

Who Do You Think You Are Magazine Jan 2026

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

Inside this month's issue : 

• Family historians invited to take part in 2031 census consultation
• Ancestry adds legal examination records
• St Helens Archive Service relocated
• TNA introduces £42.25 fee for WW2 service records
• 50 websites to watch 2026 
• Declaration 250 - Celebrate the anniversary of the USA’s gaining independence
• Hospital Records - how to trace patient records and other sources from general hospitals
• Theatres and Performers 
• Irish Military Pension Applications 
• How do I find children missing from the census?
• What uniform are these women... 
• And more ....