WorldGenWeb Project

The WorldGenWeb Project is a non-profit, volunteer based organization dedicated to providing genealogical and historical records and resources for world-wide access.  The Project provides researchers with a safe place where they can focus on valuable and useful resources to conduct their research. Click on the country of your choice and eventually you can drill down to the specific community, and related free genealogy websites where you can hunt for more ancestral information.

Was your ancestor an Inventor?

Do you have an inventor in your family tree? If so, they may have registered a Victorian or Australian patent for their ‘bright idea’. There are two major online sources, both freely available, for searching the names of patent applicants in Australia from the mid 1800s to the present day.
Victorian patents 1854-1904

Prior to 1904 in Australia, inventors were able to register a patent application in each Colonial State. In Victoria, there were over 21,000 patents registered between 1854 and 1904, both by Australian residents and by overseas applicants. You can search for the names of these inventors in the Victoria Government Gazette .
Australian patents 1904 +

After1904, the administration of the State’s patents acts was transferred to the Commonwealth, and the Australian Patent Office was created.  Now named IP Australia, you can search for Australian inventors, from 1904 to the present, using IP Australia’s ‘AusPat‘ online database.

Occupations

Who Do You Think You Are Magazine has published on their website a series of 'take it further' articles providing links to more specialist advice.  Currently subject tabs include Jobs, Overseas, Military, Religious, and Miscellaneous. Articles can be printed and helpful websites for more information are listed.

Cora Num - Web sites for Genealogists

Web Sites for Genealogists is an Australian gateway site for tracing your family history by Cora Num.  The site has over 2,000 links in 50+ categories and contains links to resources both in Australia and overseas, although the emphasis is on Australian material.

Shauna Hicks History Enterprises

Shauna Hicks History Enterprises is a small personal part time business specialising in local and family history research. Established in August 2009, it seeks to assist people in researching their own family and community histories.  I recently attended a seminar at which Shauna Hicks was a speaker, and thoroughly enjoyed her talk.  Shauna's website holds a wealth of information, links, notes from her various talks, and more. 

National Archives of Australia

Defence was one of the first functions to be passed to the new Australian Government in 1901. Until then, responsibility for defence had rested with the six colonies.

The National Archives’ holdings on defence date largely from 1901 but include some colonial records, such as those on the Boer War.

Records include :

• service records – personnel dossiers and case files
• administration – how the Commonwealth has managed the defence of Australia
• the forces – Army, Navy, Air Force
• conflicts – Boer War to Vietnam War
• films - Films by and about Australia's defence
• other defence matters – war crimes, weapons trials, disasters

Free BMD

FreeBMD is an ongoing project, the aim of which is to transcribe the Civil Registration index of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales, and to provide free Internet access to the transcribed records.  The FreeBMD Database currently contains 214,279,072 distinct records.  While not complete the site, and its sister sites FreeCEN (Census data) and FreeREG (Parish Registers) are well worth checking.