~10th July 2002 ~  

HAWKESBURY FAMILY HISTORY GROUP ~ MEETING DATES 2002

10 JULY 2002 LORRAINE STACKER Emu Plains Government Ag Establishment 1819-32 
14 AUGUST 2002 GEOFFREY BURKHARDT 1900s sources + 20th birthday celebrations 
11 SEPTEMBER 2002 KEITH JOHNSON Sydney Burial Ground 
9 OCTOBER 2002 CATHY McHARDY Did your ancestors live in the City of Sydney? 
13 NOVEMBER 2002 JOCELYN POWELL Publishing your family or local history 
11 DECEMBER 2002 SHOW & TELL Plus Christmas Party

20th Birthday Celebrations-Hawkesbury Family History Group

As mentioned in last month's newsletter, the Hawkesbury Family History Group will be celebrating its 20th birthday in August 2002. As part of the festivities, a "Members Interest List" will be published in the September issue of the Hawkesbury Crier. Forms are available at meeting however information does not have to be on this form, but please use the same format. To participate send the following details relating to your research :

SURNAME BEING RESEARCHED
CHRISTIAN NAME
TIME PERIOD
TOWN/VILLAGE & STATE/PARISH COUNTRY e.g. SMITH, ALEX 1820-1860 WILBERFORCE, NSW AUS
Research does not have to relate to the Hawkesbury. Limit of 16 entries per person. Details to be received by the 23rd August 2002.

NSW & ACT Assoc of Family History Societies ANNUAL CONFERENCE

"Progress and Unity" at Casino Friday 20-Sunday 22 September 2002 Speakers include Jennifer Hoff - Richmond River Historical Society "Working together with Aboriginal Elders to create a special display at Lismore", Nola Mackey - Historian/Author Grafton "European Settlement in the Clarence River District before 1850", John Ferry - UNE Armidale "A Sweet Little Nest - The Australian Home over Two Centuries", Shauna Hicks-National Archives, "Later Immigration to Australia", Carol Liston "What Family Historians should be doing with information they find", Greg Cope - National Archives, Brisbane "Resources at the Archives and obtaining digital copies" Allison Morgan, Registry of BDM's,"Latest up-date on Registry News' Full Conference (2 days) $75 ( Saturday only $55 Sunday only $35) Conference Dinner on Sat evening $28. More info see www.rootsweb.com/~nswcdfhg/Conference.html or Ph: (02) 66628114 ah (02)66622893. Email Address: casinofhg@hotmail.com

Reminder : George Howell & Hannah Hill 200 Year Family Reunion - Sunday 4th August 2002

To be held on Sunday 4th August 2002 at The Richmond Club, cnr. East Market & Francis Street, Richmond. George Howell arrived in 1802 on the ship Perseus & Hannah Hill arrived 1804 on the Experiment. Contact Marion Gozzard phone 02 4721 2872 or email johngozzard@hotmail.com RSVP for bookings 14 July 2002 - most important for catering!

Reminder : Jurd Family Reunion - 3rd & 4th August 2002

To be held Windsor High School Auditorium from 10am, Saturday 3rd. Official Welcome & Book Launch at 3.30pm. Celebration Dinner. Sunday 4th - 200th Anniversary of Daniel's arrival on the Perseus. A Day of Pilgrimage to Windsor - Pitt Town - St Albans. For further information Contact Peter Stewart by email petrusfms@hotmail.com or phone 07 3858 4660 or 0417 292 245

Read widely

It is particularly useful when undertaking any research to read widely about a subject. Family History is no different and there are a wide range of subjects that family historians are interested in as a result of their research. The following books may be of interest :-

Chain letters : narrating convict lives / Lucy Frost & Hamish Maxwell Stewart 
994.402 CHA

Orphans of history : the forgotten children of the First Fleet / Robert Holden 
994.402 HOL

Disastrous decade : flood and fire in Windsor 1864-1874 / Michelle Nichols 
994.42 NIC

Surfing the internet**. Sites for family historians 

The Library has free access to the internet, contact 4560 4460 for bookings. Richmond also has a computer to access the Internet, for bookings phone 4578 2002.

Lost & Abandoned Graves & Graveyards - Hunter Region http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~ddhit/Container.htm

St. Peter's (Glebe Gully) Old Burial Ground, West Maitland http://www-personal.une.edu.au/~pgrave/StPeters/index.htm

Victorian Divorce Index 1861-1900 www.cohsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/db/divorce.pl

Field family web site http://www.pcug.org.au/~cfield/distantf/

~ Let us know of any new addresses, that you have tried with (or without) success ~

William Baker Neptune 1790 - new mailing list 

A mailing list (on the internet) has commenced for anyone interested in the descendency of William BAKER who arrived in Australia 1790 on the Second Fleet ship "Neptune" he was a convict, settler, publican & gentleman. It is hoped that all members of the list will finally be able to sort through all their relevant research information and finally discover William's actual facts against other William BAKER'S records. 

To subscribe to the list: WilliamBAKER-Neptune-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 
To post messages: WilliamBAKER-Neptune@yahoogroups.com 
To contact list owner: WilliamBAKER-Neptune-owner@yahoogroups.com or Beverley Borey boreylog@bigpond.com

New Items added to the Local Studies Collection * check out the following:

Years of hardship : the story of Catherine Edwards : a pioneer of Parramatta and the Hawkesbury / Tom Croucher 
RL929.20994 CRO also in lending at 929.20994 CRO

Hawkesbury racing 1800-2000 : including the history of the Hawkesbury Race Club, established 1829, racing, horses and personalities, Hawkesbury, 1800-2000 / John Hiatt. 
RL798.40099442 HIA also in lending at 798.40099442 HIA

Porr Law Union Records / Jeremy Gibson & Colin Rogers RL
929.342 GIB

Good web guide : genealogy RL
929.10285 PEA

Minerva : Journal of John Washington Price (Voyage Cork Ireland to Sydney 1798-1800) 
RL910.45 PRI

The following is a letter to societies from the AUSTRALASIAN FEDERATION OF FAMILY HISTORY ORGANISATIONS INC. ABN 31 076 496 332 6/48 May Street, Bayswater, Western Australia 6053 www.affho.org

President: Mr Graham Jaunay 61 8 8374 2049 Facsimile: 61 8 8474 2041 Email: president@affho.org 
Secretary: Mrs Lyn Coy Telephone: 61 8 9332 4859 Facsimile: 61 8 9313 5967 Email: secretary@affho.org

9 July 2002

Dear Member Organisations, 

I am writing to you directly because I suspect that many of you and certainly your members do not get to read our AFFHO NEWSFLASH. I know that even as a councillor of my own host society, I never saw a copy once it became an electronic version! I suppose this is one of the disadvantages of the electronic media.

AFFHO cannot survive without the support of its member organisations. As the umbrella for all Australasian family history organisations it is important that as many societies as possible are members. A large membership will strengthen AFFHO in some of the important issues it needs to raise.

I suspect some societies are not members because they do not see any benefit for their membership dues. You will be pleased to know that my Council and I intend to change that. We intend to make AFFHO an essential element of the family history community in Australasia.

How are we going to do that? How can we ensure that all member societies feel valued by AFFHO and gain positive benefits from their membership? AFFHO has resolved to give all our member societies great support but mere words require action. We cannot just sit back and expect that to happen and we will need to be pro-active. Like everything, it is a two-way street - there is no way AFFHO can act in a vacuum. Just like your very own society, we cannot successfully operate without an active membership.

AFFHO looks to our member societies to alert us to issues that will have a wide impact on all societies. We have already identified three major issues which need urgent attention. The problems facing societies with the huge impost of public liability insurance will be addressed as a matter of urgency. Another potential problem flagged is the implication the new Australian privacy laws will have upon family history societies. Closely allied to this issue is the old thorny copyright question. We live in a growing litigious society and any one of these three issues could see any society forced to its knees by court action on the part of an aggrieved party.

We suspect there is much more work to do to ensure the retention of the census records and this will be an on-going long term project. For your part I hope you and your society will actively support AFFHO. You can do something positive right now and support AFFHO in its efforts by:-

1. Ensuring members have access to AFFHO NEWSFLASH. Post a copy on the notice board.

2. Tabling this letter at your next management/council meeting and respond where appropriate.

3. Ensuring your group has nominated an active AFFHO delegate. Let our Secretary have your delegate's name and contact details (preferably e-mail address).

4. Reporting AFFHO news and activities in your newsletter. Alert your newsletter editor to items in NEWSFLASH. Let our Secretary have your editor's name and contact details so that we can send them news direct (preferably e-mail address).

Thank you for your support and do not hesitate to contact AFFHO with any issues that you feel may be of significance to the family history community.

Yours sincerely,

Graham Jaunay BA DipT (Pr) MACE AAGRA 
President - Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations Inc (AFFHO) 
E-mail: president@affho.org.au