Ancestry Free Account

Ancestry.com is one of the largest subscription genealogy databases in the world.  Did you know, however, that you can create a free account that allows you to build online family trees, preserve and share photos and stories, connect with other researchers, and read how-to help?

Ancestry also has more than 2,000 collections that are free to search even without a paid subscription. Many of these were created or indexed in partnership with other organizations, such as FamilySearch, and Ancestry.com has agreed to keep access to them free.  They also offer free access to certain records at various times throughout the year - such as free access to military records around Remembrance Day.

To see a list of free collections, click on the Search tab and drop down to the Card Catalog.  Then type 'Free' into the search the keyword search box. You can also combine this with other words, such as Victoria or war, to see what’s free in your area of research, or you can use the filters to search a particular type of records (Census, Military, etc), a location (United Kingdom, Australia, etc) or date.

If you have done an Ancestry DNA test, you can also link it to your free account.

Want to access Ancestry records that are not on the free list?  Don't forget that Ancestry Library Edition is free to search at many public libraries, including at any branch of Campaspe Library - giving you free access at all Ancestry records.

Ancestry DNA 2-step Verification

For those who have done a DNA test with Ancestry, you may have already noticed that to access your DNA matches you are now required to set up 2 step verification.

To set up this added layer of security, you are first required to choose between having your code sent to a mobile phone or an email address.  Then you input the number or address you wish to choose and confirm using your current Ancestry password.  A code is then sent to you via your chosen method for you to input before you are able to access your DNA matches.

Once you have accessed your DNA matches, you have several ways of sorting them.  At the top level, you can view matches by :

• Parent - view matches on your maternal or paternal line
• Ancestor - choose any ancestor in your Ancestry tree
• Location - zoom in on a world map to see where you matches are dispersed

You can also filter by 

• Unviewed matches - highlighting those DNA matches you have not yet evaluated.  
• Common Ancestors - viewing only matches whose Ancestry tree intersects your own
• Trees - sort by Private Linked Trees, Public Linked Trees or Unlinked Trees
• Shared DNA - sort by Close Matches, Distant Matches or by Custom Centimorgan Range
• Group - create you own custom group such as new matches

So if you have done an Ancestry DNA test and haven't checked back in a while, go set up your 2 step verification and check out the latest updates.

Victorian Court of Petty Sessions Records

A new record collection available on Ancestry includes images of the original records from the proceedings of Australian Courts of Petty Sessions between 1854 and 1922. 

The court registers in this collection typically have criminal, civil, and licensing cases mixed together, but the busiest courts may have recorded each type of case in separate registers. Entries in the court registers were typically organized chronologically and were handwritten, making some information difficult to read.

Records may include the following information:

• Name
• Court date
• Court city
• Names of children
• Place of residence
• Reason for appearance
• Result of appearance
  

The records were created by officials working for Courts of Petty Sessions in Victoria, Australia. The original documents are primary historical sources, and the information in them may not be available in other records. The original register books are housed at the Public Record Office Victoria in Melbourne.

The powers and jurisdiction of the Courts of Petty Sessions were established by a parliamentary act in 1832. These local courts were conducted by two or more justices hearing cases together and commonly making decisions without the input of a jury. The most common criminal cases heard in Petty Sessions were for theft, drunkenness, and disorderly or dishonest conduct. People also were charged with failure to show up for work or were accused of speaking to their employer in abusive language. Courts of Petty Sessions also handled civil cases and the issuance of licenses. However, in 1886, separate courts were established to process liquor licenses.

From minor criminal charges to cases of child neglect to accusations of drunk and disorderly conduct, this record set has been a gold mine of information about my ancestors.  Not only can these records be used to confirm that my ancestors appeared before a Court of Petty Sessions at a specific time and place, they also confirm where these people lived at the time of their court appearance gives me a location to search for land, church and government records. 

Don't forget that you can search the Ancestry database for free at any branch of Campaspe Libraries using our public access PCs or wifi through our subscription to Ancestry Library Edition.

Australian Coastal Passenger Records 1852-1924

A wonderful new set of records has been made available on Ancestry.  The new dataset of Australian Coastal Passenger Records contains images of passenger registers for ships traveling between ports in Victoria, Australia, and ports in other Australian cities.

Records in this collection may include the following information:

• Name
• Age
• Gender
• Marital status
• Occupation
• Family relationship
• Nationality
• Departure port
• Departure date
• Arrival port
• Ship captain's name

Some names may be abbreviated, and children may be listed as "child with" and their parents' surnames. The registers have printed column headings with handwritten entries.

The registers were created by officials working for the government of the state of Victoria.  Laws enacted shortly after the state of Victoria was established in 1851 required ship masters to fill out register forms and submit them to customs officials before departing a port. The lists are formally called "Inward Passenger Lists (Australian Ports)" but are commonly referred to as coastal passenger lists. Beginning in 1924, documentation of interstate maritime passengers was transferred from the states to the Commonwealth.  The original documents are housed by the Public Records Office of Victoria in Melbourne.

These newly digitized records are a valuable record set for many whose ancestors did not migrate straight from A to B.  My Clark family, for example, emigrated from Bristol in England and settled in Melbourne, Victoria.  It took me several years of searching for their immigration records to discover that they actually travelled from Bristol to Launceston, Tasmania, then settled in Port Sorrel, Tasmania for several years.  At least 6 children were born in Port Sorrell or Launceston before the family moved to Victoria and settled in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda.

This new dataset will hopefully allow me to establish exactly when the family moved from Port Sorrell to St Kilda, finally solving a long standing family mystery.  Time to get searching.

Ancestry DNA Update 2023

Recently, Ancestry again updated their DNA Ethnicity Estimates, so I have again been studying my new, updated results.  I have commented before that with every ethnicity estimate, my results seem to move further from my family tree as I know it.  This time actually moved a little back towards what my existing tree leads me to expect.

The table below shows my ethnicity estimates over the years since I first tested.  It is worth noting that in 2018 and 2019 the Irish ethnicity represented Ireland and Scotland combined.  According to my researched Family Tree, my father's family is 100% English back to the early 1700s and further and is primarily from the Essex/Suffolk area. My father's parents married in England before they came out to Australia.  My mother's family is at mostly English with some Irish (a Great-Grandmother), German (Great-Great-Grandfather) and Scottish (Great-Great-Grandmother) mixed in.  Most of her lines arrived in Australia in the 1840s and 1850s, and the various nationalities intermarried out here.  This is not reflected in my ethnicity estimate. 

	Sep 18	Sep 19	Sep 21	Apr 22	Sep 22	Sep 23
England	65	78	54	45	33	43
Ireland	22	10	2	2	1	0
Scotland	0	0	33	32	38	32
Germanic Europe	8	3	0	0	4	5
Ivory Coast/Ghana	2	1	1	2	2	2
Sweden/Denmark	2	5	0	2	19	15
Norway	1	2	9	14	0	0
Mali		1	1	0	0	0
Wales				3	3	3

The breakdown of my maternal DNA and paternal DNA also shows some unexpected results.  All the Sweden/Denmark DNA comes from my father’s side, as does a small amount from Scotland and Germany.  My Irish ancestry has disappeared completely from my mother’s ethnicity.  And I have never known where that 2% Ivory Coast/Ghana comes from.

Maternal	Paternal	Total
England 14%	England 29%	England 43%
Scotland 28%	Scotland 4%	Scotland 32%
Germanic Europe 3%	Germanic Europe 2%	Germanic Europe 5%
Ivory Coast/Ghana 2%	Ivory Coast/Ghana 0%	Ivory Coast/Ghana 2%
Sweden/Denmark 0%	Sweden/Denmark 15%	Sweden/Denmark 15%
Wales 3%	Wales 0%	Wales 3%

Ultimately, we need to remember that these numbers are estimates only and can still be quite inaccurate.  More important to most who are actively researching are their cousin matches, people whom the DNA tests show are being related. I have cousin matches on all the major branches of my tree intersecting at various grandparents, great grandparents and further back, so for several generations back I am reasonably confident my tree is accurate - or as accurate as it can be.