Tracing Family Branches

The Metropolitan Cemeteries Board website from Western Australia is another that I have found beneficial to my research.  Easy to navigate and use it is a valuable site for researchers looking for information in this area. Source: Metropolitan Cemeteries Board.  Retrieved from  http://www.mcb.wa.gov.au/ResearchAndGenealogy/Search.aspx

Today's website is the New Zealand governments,   Births, Deaths and Marriages Online .  Easy to use and navigate it is a wonderful resource for researchers. 'The historic data available for you to search is limited so that information relating to people who might still be alive, can be protected.  Information available includes: Births that occurred at least 100 years ago Stillbirths that occurred at least 50 years ago Marriages that occurred at least 80 years ago Deaths that occurred at least 50 years ago or the deceased's date of birth was at least 80 years ago.'                               Source:  Birth, Death and Marriage Historical Records.  Births, Deaths and Marriages Online. Retrieved from  https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/Home/ 'In the database there are about: 5.7 million births. 2.4 million deaths. 2.1 million marriages. Some intere...

The NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages website is one that I have used extensively for many years.  In the Family History section it presently allows you to look up Births 1788-1912, Deaths 1788-1982 and Marriages 1788-1962 but every year another year is added to the indexes.  My New Years Day tradition is to take some time to search the new listings and see what new information I can find!  Although easy to use, the site was much better when it allowed extensive wild card searches.  They were so helpful given the spelling variations you can find due to illiteracy and accents impacting on the registration process.  It was also helpful in situations where the birth name changed, as while the name changed the registration number remained the same and you could easily find both the original and the altered index entry, which may have been a factor in limiting the wildcard option. Regardless of the changes it is still a very valuable site and I love the...

The Australian Dictionary of Biography is another worthy website that is easy to navigate and very interesting.  ' The Australian Dictionary of Biography is Australia's pre-eminent dictionary of national biography. In it you will find concise, informative and fascinating descriptions of the lives of over 12,000 significant and representative persons in Australian history. The subjects come from all walks of life — from prime ministers, governor-generals and premiers, generals and bishops, artists, actors and authors, engineers and schoolteachers, to prostitutes, thieves and murderers — providing a cross-section of Australian society . The ADB is produced by the National Centre of Biography at the Australian National University (ANU) and is available both as a hardcopy publication and online. ' Source: About Us. Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved from   http://adb.anu.edu.au/about-us Home page screenshot Source: Australian Dictionary of Biog...

The I rish Famine Memorial website is well worth a look, it is easy to navigate and very informative.  The Great Irish Famine (1845-1848) is commemorated in Australia with a monument located at the Hyde Park Barracks, on Macquarie Street, Sydney, Australia.  The Famine Orphan Girls that were brought from Ireland to Australia during this time period were the inspiration for the monument and the website contains a searchable database of the Orphan girls. ' This website introduces you to the monument itself, to this particular emigration scheme which operated between 1848 & 1850, to the women themselves and the ships on which they travelled. It is designed to be an motivating and rewarding experience for anyone interested in Irish history and genealogy or in broader issues related to famine, displacement and immigration no matter where in the Irish 'diaspora' you may reside. ' Source: Irish Famine Memorial Sydney homepage.   http://www.irishfaminememorial.org...

I came across the Australian Medical Pioneers Index when searching for information about my Pierse family connections.  Rumour has it that Dr. William Joseph Pierse was the brother of Winifred Carrigg nee Pierse and my Great Great Great Grandfather John Pierse.  They were from Listowel area of Kerry, Ireland and all three ended up in Australia.  Winifred who was one of the Irish Famine Orphan Girls arrived in Australia on board the ship Thomas Arbuthnot in 1850 and died in Gundagai, New South Wales in 1899,  William arrived on the ship Isabella Watson in 1852 and died at Peel River, New South Wales in 1861, while John arrived prior to 1862 and died at Darbalara, New South Wales in 1921.  Unfortunately I have not yet been able to verify the family connection but I did find multiple listings for William Pierse on this website.  This website is very easy to navigate and quite interesting! Screen shot of website home page Source: Australian Medic...

Another website I have used with success over the years is FreeBMD . It provides those on a limited budget with an alternative to the commercial websites with regards to Indexes to Birth, Death and Marriage registrations for England and Wales from 1837 to present.  While is is not yet completely transcribed it is a work in progress and is being constantly added to. '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.' Source: FreeBMD. Retrieved from   http://www.freebmd.org.uk / Source: FreeBMD. Retrieved from  http://www.freebmd.org.uk/

KB Koninklijke Bibliotheek Historische Kranten , covers Dutch newspapers from around the world including the Dutch East Indies from the period 1618-1995.  It is a wonderful resource that has been extremely helpful to me in finding out more about my husbands ancestors who were based in the Dutch East Indies.  Using it I have found articles, family notices, passenger listings and advertisements which have provided me with numerous research leads on his relatives and their lives. Online translation programs have helped me to get the most out of this site as I have no Dutch language skills. ' Historical Newspapers - Dutch newspapers from the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries Read online: newspaper articles, news, family announcements and advertisements. Newspapers from Dutch East Indies, Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles and the United States. Newspapers from World War II - War Newspapers .'  'The website contains a selection of over 1,400 newspapers from the period ...

The First Fleet Online  website is another valuable resource for researchers.  Free, easy to use and search, it is a great starting point for those interested in the First Fleet. The website is best summed up using a quote from its Objectives page: ' It contains a database of the First Fleet convicts; background notes about the sources of the data in the database; diary extracts, stories and letters of the time; advice about how to approach learning in general; suggestions on how to investigate the topic of the First Fleet in particular; reference and links to other information about the Australia's past; and an invitation to correspond with us and join the online community discussing First Fleet issues. ' Source: First Fleet Online. Objectives. Retrieved from  http://firstfleet.uow.edu.au/objectv.html   Source: First Fleet Online. Retrieved from  http://firstfleet.uow.edu.au/index.html An example of the information available from the First Fleet...

Another website of note is Old Bailey Online .  Covering the period 1674-1913, this fully searchable site provides access to texts on 197745 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court.  For those with a convict ancestor or just an interest in criminal law and history it is a fascinating site. Source: The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913. Retrieved from  http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/ Below is printable information obtainable from this site on the trial of Joseph Puckeridge (it is recorded as Buckeridge in these documents) husband of my 5th Great Grandmother Ann Maund. Source: Joseph Buckeridge, Theft, shoplifting, 2nd April 1800. Retrieved from  http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t18000402-69-defend573&div=t18000402-69#highlight

A website that I have been using for many years is The Ryerson Index .  With the NSW BMD death indexes limited until 1982 at present, this resource helps to provide a research work around and has been an invaluable source of information for me.  Easy to use and constantly updated by a team of wonderful volunteers, I really cannot recommend it highly enough. Source: The Ryerson Index. Retrieved from  http://www.ryersonindex.org/

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website is free to use, easy to navigate and has a very good search facility.   Source: Commonwealth War Grave Commission. Retrieved from http://www.cwgc.org/ My husbands great Grandfather James Harvey Murray died while a civilian prisoner of war in 1943.  The following are screen shots of the information about him on this website and a copy of a printable certificate containing this information that the website provides for download and printing.   Source: Record for James Harvey Murray.  Retrieved from http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx?cpage=1 Source:Record for James Harvey Murray.  Retrieved from http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/3171212/MURRAY,%20JAMES%20HARVEY  Source: Certificate for James Harvey Murray. Retrieved from http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/3171212/MURRAY,%20JAMES%20HARVEY

One of the web sites that I have been using for many years is World War 2 Nominal Roll .  An official Australian government site, this one is easy to use and search. Source: World War 2 Nominal Roll. Retrieved from http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/

One of the websites that I have been using for years is TheShipsList . It is a wonderful research asset covering shipping with passenger lists, ship descriptions, shipwreck information and more, has 3500 free access web pages and is constantly being updated with new information.  Source: TheShipsList. Retrieved from http://www.theshipslist.com/ My 4th Great Grand Aunt Mary Beaver (nee Rhall) and her husband Charles went to California in 1849 on the barque Louisa . Below is an example of the information found about this journey using this web site. barque Louisa, 307 tons, Captain Mailler from Sydney, cleared 23rd May sailed 26th May 1849, for California Mr. Blackenberg Mr. Suttor Mr. Bertleson Mr. J.S. Lloyd Mr. Freer Mr. Turner Mr. R. Orr Mr. J. Etheridge Mr. H. Atkinson Mr. P. Power ...

My husbands family is full of research challenges as they have scattered around the globe from one generation to the next.  From around the 1890's parts of his family have been based in the Singapore and Malaya areas and this website from the National Library of Singapore has been an absolute gem in helping me to find out more about these family members.  A digital newspaper archive similar to Trove it is relatively easy to navigate and like Trove it is easy to get side tracked by these windows into the past.  Through NewspaperSG I have been able to find articles, family notices and advertisements relevant to these families, which have provided me with invaluable information about them and helped to paint their pictures in more meaningful ways. Source: NewspaperSG (n.d.) Retrieved from http://newspapers.nl.sg/

While I love travelling and physically experiencing history, it is not always practical or possible to do so.  Let's face it, sometimes life just gets in the way!  Thankfully technological advances, talented people, businesses and organizations now provide us with work around opportunities that can help us jump over such hurdles and allow us to continue our journey.  Over the past decade or so an assortment of websites have provided me with information that advanced my research, solved mysteries, revealed fact from fiction and encouraged and nurtured my passion for genealogy, all from the comfort of my home office.  With this in mind I thought that I would use this blog to record some of my favourites on 'Website Wednesdays'. The Australian Cemeteries Index website by Reg McDonell has been a long time favourite of mine. Headstone inscriptions can be very revealing and are a precious resource for researchers.  Having such a quality website, that is easy to use,...