Christmas Traditions

As the year draws to a close and many of us are getting ready for family time, I have again been thinking about my family's Christmas traditions.  Sorting through the box of decorations that came to me when my parents passed away, it struck me that many, while slightly tatty, date back to my childhood or before I was born, and they are greatly treasured.  One of my family history projects this year has been to photograph the older, most treasured ornaments and record their significance.

While my family has always had the traditional Christmas tree, wreath and turkey for Christmas lunch, some of our particular traditions were more unique to us - like watching "The Muppet's Christmas Carol" on Christmas Eve.  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 film and even as teenagers the tradition of watching "The Muppet's 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.  Eventually while on a cruise I located a DVD copy (in April!) and after explaining the significance to several bemused holiday aquaintances, that night seven adults sat in front of a television and watched the brilliant Michael Caine, so shiningly evil as Scrooge before he finds the spirit of Christmas, as he seamlessly interacted with his Muppet costars.

Some Christmas traditions have also changed - such as the year of my tinsel-obsessed cat that resulted in a rather expensive Christmas day visit to the family vet (again - I am so sorry, Debbie).  As a result of this, tinsel does not feature in my festive decorations.  The same cat has also resulted in the rule that my Christmas Tree is put up undecorated for a week until he has finished treating it as his own personal climbing gym!

2021 has, again, been a challenging year that caused some major disruptions to family life, making the anticipated visits with family and friends even more special than usual.  So whatever your Christmas traditons I hope everyone out there enjoys the festive season and I look forward to 2022.  Merry Christmas!

Ancestry Library Edition Home Access to End

A reminder to all our library patrons that it has been announced that home access to Ancestry Library Edition will end on 31 December 2021.  Ancestry made the decision back in April 2020 to allow their database, normally only accessed in the library buildings using our public PCs or wi-fi, to be accessed from home while the CoronaVirus pandemic impacted library access for many.  So Campaspe Library members can continue to access this fantastic genealogical resource from home until the end of the year, after which free access will revert to in the library only. 

Ancestry Library Edition allows user to access the full range of records available in a world subscription to Ancestry.  The difference with a private subscription is that Library Edition does not allow you to create your own online family tree.  It is still a wonderful resource for family history researchers. 

To access Ancestry Library Edition, you need to go to the Campaspe Regional Library web page at https://www.campaspe.vic.gov.au/library  On the left hand column, click on 'Genealogy' and then on 'Databases'.  The link for Ancestry Library Edition from home is at the top right.  You will be prompted to log in using your library card number and PIN, then follow the prompts to Ancestry's page and continue researching your family history from the comfort of home.

 

For many genealogists who have been restricted close to home during the pandemic, this free access to the Ancestry database through their local library membership has been a fantastic opportunity to keep researching from home.  A huge thank you to Ancestry for making their database available to so many.

State Library of Victoria Maps and Plans

The State Library of Victoria has just reached a significant milestone, having now digitised over 30,000 maps and plans.  The library's maps and plans are being digitised in the Library’s Imaging Studio and Scanning Studio by their Digital Production team.

Australian maps, especially those covering Victoria, are the main focus of this collection, though the Library also has many maps from overseas.

As well as a total of over 110,000 maps – enough to carpet metropolitan Melbourne – the physical collection includes geographical and cartographic reference books and atlases.

There is a wealth of rare and antique maps in the collection, including maps showing the first outlines of the Australian coast, charts by Matthew Flinders and early Dutch maps. The 19th-century township, parish, county and squatting maps can provide all sorts of leads for those investigating their family history.

Drainage plans produced by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) from the late 19th century to the 1940s give a fascinating historical record of Melbourne streetscapes and features.

There are several thousand auction plans showing the layout of suburban estates, and large collections of fire insurance plans, aerial photographs, geological and goldmining maps. The library also holds topographic maps from government agencies such as Land Victoria and Geoscience Australia.

Significant overseas holdings include maps by the British Ordnance Survey, nautical charts covering all corners of the globe, and 19th-century maps of India.

As the selection of maps and plans which have been digitised grows they are made available online through the library's online catalogue, including the majority of their historical Victorian county and parish maps, MMBW, auction and fire insurance plans.

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.

Articles and stories in the January issue of Family Tree include:

• The Future of Family History
  
• Dress at the time of the 1921 Census
  
• The biggest news of 1923
  
• Twiglets
  
• The Princess & the Painter’s wife
  
• Are you ready for the 1921 Census?
  
• Registering Catholic Estates & other Catholic sources
  
• Where did our ancestors live?
  
• DNA Workshop
  
• Celebrating some highlights of 2021, & new project ideas for 2022
  
• Spotlight on... The Quaker FHS
  
• Your questions answered
  
• Diary Dates
  
• The World’s a stage
  

WDYTYA Magazine January 2022

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

• The 1921 census Alex Cox from Findmypast answers your questions about the eagerly-anticipated release
• Websites to watch Jonathan Scott looks at what we can expect from the biggest family history websites in 2022
• Family hero Martin Caldicott's great uncle captained a daring sea rescue in 1951
• Eureka moment An old family Bible helped Paul Cooper find his grandmother's father
• When women went wild Julie Peakman on how the 1920s changed the lives of our female ancestors
• Plus: The best websites for RAF ancestors, finding Scottish school records, how to use RootsMagic 8 and more

Jewish Newspapers added to Trove

Throughout the year Trove's collection of Australian Jewish Newspapers has been expanded to provide  access to over 200,000 pages and 180 years of Australian Jewish community history.  This project is a collaboration between the National Library of Australia (NLA), the National Library of Israel (NLI) and the Australian Jewish Historical Society (AJHS), and has seen 15 new titles are digitised into Trove’s collection of newspapers, over the years 1871-2008.

Titles now included in Trove include :

• The Australian Jewish Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1920 - 1933)
• The Australian Jewish News (Melbourne, Vic. : 1935 - 1999)
• The Australian Jewish News (Melbourne, Vic. : 2000-2020)
• Australier Leben = Australian life (Melbourne, Vic. : 1931 - 1933)
• The Westralian Judean (Perth, WA : 1924 - 1925; 1929 - 1955)
• The Australian Hebrew Times (Sydney, NSW : 1894)
• The Dialectic : Jewish Monthly (Fitzroy, Vic. : 1875)
• The Australian Zionist Pioneer (Sydney, NSW : 1929) 
• The Australasian Hebrew (Sydney, NSW : 1895 – 1896) 
• The Australian Jewish Chronicle (Sydney, NSW : 1922 - 1931)
• The Sydney Jewish News (Sydney, NSW : 1939 - 1954)
• The Australian Jewish Times (Sydney, NSW : (1953-1990) 
• The Australian Jewish News (Sydney, NSW : 1990 - 2008)
• The Australian Jewish News (Sydney, NSW : 2009-2020)
• The Australian Jewish Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1935 - 1955) 
• The Australian Israelite (Melbourne, Vic. : 1871 - 1875)
• The Jewish Weekly News (Melbourne, Vic. : 1933 - 1935)

 

New Records on Ancestry

New records available on Ancestry include the following :

Australia

United Kingdom