News - February 2025
Tuesday 18 February - 7:30 pm General Meeting
VENUE: Old Sunday School, St Johns Park Precinct
GUEST SPEAKER: Judith Mudaliar
TOPIC: CRIME AND CRIMINALS IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND
This talk is an outline of attitudes to crime, the court system, prisons, punishment and a brief look at some noted criminals and summaries of some quirky murder trials. Madeleine Smith, the Mannings and Adelaide Bartlett are some of the criminals who are mentioned in Jude's talk.
Judith's career was as a teacher, teacher-librarian and with interests in history, crime, needlework and notably family history. She is also a First Fleet descendant of Private John Munday who brought his wife and son, Edward, Jude's g-g-grandfather, with him to Port Jackson and Norfolk Island. A child was baptised on board ship and son John born at Port Jackson.
Jude is involved with the Clarence U3A as both tutor and participant and of course has been a volunteer at the TFHS library for over twenty years. Jude is currently a councilor with the Clan McLean Association which meets in Victoria, NSW or South Australia.
More for Your Diary
Thu 20 Feb - 10am Hobart Committee
VENUE: Branch Library, Bellerive
Thu 20 Feb - 1:30pm DNA Group
VENUE: St Marks Church Hall, Scott Street, Bellerive
Thu 27 Feb - 2pm Library Committee
VENUE: Branch Library, Bellerive
Tue 18 Mar - 7:30pm General Meeting
VENUE: Old Sunday School, St Johns Park Precinct
SPEAKER: Ros Escott
Topic: When DNA suggests Tasmanian Aboriginal Ancestry
From Your Branch President
I hope you all had a pleasant time over the break, catching up with family and friends, or escaping from everything (and everyone?) at your favourite place. Maybe you had time to work on your family history research, or were you more like most of us and stepped away from it all? /p>
I went to a 50 th wedding anniversary lunch, sat next to someone I have not previously had the chance to talk to, and discovered (inevitably) that she had a family history mystery that I thought I could solve using DNA. She now knows who her late father's parents were and more about the people who informally adopted him. She has a whole new branch on her tree to explore.
Appleyard Property and House Names Index
FoFor many years, the late Maurice Appleyard was the primary person working away quietly on compiling an index of property and house names from real estate pages and other sources. We have decided to call this the "Appleyard Property and House Names Index" and to make it a searchable index online in the Members-only section.
If you have, or know of, a named house or property anywhere in Tasmania, that is not in the index, we invite you to let us know:
- the property name
- the year or decade it was built (if known)
- the location or address
- a reference or source - which could be your name as contributor and/or owner, or it could be another source.
You can submit this online in the Members-only section or send to Brenda Richardson library@hobart.tasfhs.org
You are also welcome to come into the branch library and look up any properties you know, to see if they are in the index. I live in a house built for Henry Jones of IXL Jams in 1912. He also built the house next door and bought the then new house on the other side of us, for three of his several daughters. Each of the houses has a name, but Maurice didn't catch up with any of them.
Ros Escott president@hobart.tasfhs.orgLibrary Accessions 2024 - 2025
Books
The following items were accessioned during October, November and December 2024
*K. Parish, M. Martin, M. Yost
Church of England Marriage Register Index Ringarooma District, Tasmania 1904
- 1948 Q929.31099464 CHU
*R. Kenny The Family History of Private James Kelly Q929.2 KEL
*L. Dillon Captains, Carpenters & Convicts - A History of the Duke/Beattie Families Q929.2 DUK
* The History of Kingston 994.62 HIS
*K. Parish, M. Martin, M. Yost
Church of England Marriage Register Index Ulverstone Tas 1900 - 1929, 1932
- 1947 Q929.31099465 CHU
*K. Parish, M. Martin, M. Yost
Church of England Marriage Index Holy Trinity, Launceston. 1900 - 1944
Q929.31099465 CHU
*I Donald Her Blood in our Veins - the story of Ellen Wainwright Q929.2 WAI
*D. Beswick The Family of Thomas & Mary Beswick Q929.2BES
*K. Parish, M. Martin, M. Yost
St. Pauls Church of England Marriage Index. Launceston Tas. 1900 - 1947
Supplement 1945 -1954 Q929.31099465 STP
*T. McKay & H. Reinhart
Richard Lewis 1789 - 1867 - The History of Abernant Estate, Cambridge
Tasmania Q929.2 LEW
*T. R. McLeod A History of Green Ponds 1862 - 1987 994.62 MAC
*S. Gregs Once upon an Island Q994.62 GRE
*K. Parish, M. Martin, M. Yost
Church of England Marriage Index St. Marys District 1896 - 1963
Q929.31099464 CHU
*K. Parish, M. Martin, M. Yost
St. Georges Church of England Marriage Index Invermay Launceston Tas. 1921
- 1963 (incomplete) Q929.31099465 STG
*W. Burbury Education at Ross - a history 3701.99463 BUR
*E. Beaven Take heed lest you forget - St. Peters Anglican
Church, Hamilton
283.9462 BEA
*K. Parish, M. Martin, M. Yost
Church of England Marriage Index - St. Johns Church, Launceston Tas. 1. 1900
-1924. 2. 1924 -1940. 3. 1941 - 1947
Q929.31099465 CHU
*S. Cocker A Community at Work - The Tasmanian Sanatorium 1905 -1945
Q362.13 COC
*A Thomes Margate Primary School 1869 - 1994 Q372.99462 TOM
*None Bridgewater - a community & its schools Q373.66462 BRI
*K. Parish, M. Martin, M. Yost
Chalmers Free Presbyterian Marriages 1901 - 1930
Q929.31099461 CHA
*K. Parish, M. Martin, M. Yost
Holy Trinity Marriages 1920 - 1930 St. John the Baptist Marriages 1920 -
1930 Q929.31099461 HOL
*K. Parish, M. Martin, M. Yost
St. Andrews Presbyterian Marriages 1896 - May 1902, March 1905 - April 1916,
1916 - 1930 Q929.31099461 STA
*A. Baker Female Convicts Transported England to V.D.L. on the Hector
1835 A - C Q3659946 BAK
*A. Baker Female Convicts Transported England to V.D.L. on the Hector
1835. D - I Q3659946 BAK
*A. Baker Female Convicts Transported England to V.D.L. on the Hector
1835. J - M Q3659946 BAK
*A. Baker Female Convicts Transported England to V.D.L. on the Hector
1835. N - Z Q3659946 BAK
* Pioneer Women of Van Diemen's Land Q994.6 PIO
*P Milnes Discovering English Parish Registers 929.342 MIL
*G. Jaunay Tracing your English Ancestors 929.342 JAU
*G. Jaunay Cracking the Code of Old Handwriting 411.7 JAO
*S. Hicks What was the Voyage Really Like 304.18944041 HIC
*C. Porton Irish Family History Resources online 929.10720415 PAT
*A. Stewart London & Middlesex Family History Resources
Online
929.160412 STE
The following items were accessioned during January 2025
M. J. Maddock Kennedy-Murray - the first hundred years Q 929.2 KEN
Evandale History Society
Kennedy-Murray - the first hundred years or so in NSW and Tas
Q 929.2 KEN
T. McKay A list of boats built by C.H. McKay or owned by
the McKay family
623.8 MCK
G. Barnett Our heroes - Tasmania's Victoria Cross recipients. 355.1342 BAR
J.Sinn Oswald Ernest Sinnott lived in Tasmania 1914-1941 Q 929.2 SIN
Channel Heritage Centre
We will remember them - the men from the Channel who enlisted for service -
WW1 940.39462 CHA
R. Goodwin 80 years of service - history of Kingborough RSL
sub-Branch
305.90697 GOO
Unknown The Salmon Ponds. Q 639.3755 SAL
D.Tyler A story of Susan and Mary and Joseph Twitchett
(1797-1895).
q 929.2 twi
* denotes complimentary or donated item
Comprehensive Subject Index (CSI) Project
Do you have some spare time and access to a computer with Excel software? The Society is currently looking for volunteers to help with its CSI project, which aims to consolidate the information contained in the books in our library into a single searchable database. This involves transcribing the index in a particular book into an Excel spreadsheet, which is then passed on to the project co-ordinator to add to the database. If you think you can help, or you would like more information about the process, please email secretary@hobart.tasfhs.org .
Rootstech 2025 Conference
RootsTech is the world's largest genealogical conference and there will be literally hundreds of live and recorded classes available to watch online. Sponsor Family Search is offering a free online and recorded event explaining what it is all about and how to navigate and make the most of what is available.
Some Notes from the Research Corner
With the coming of online resources available, many free websites and others that are a subscription website it is easy to believe that the family trees submitted have credibility. While many of the trees are legitimate a vast array are indeed suspect and should be researched thoroughly.
Recently a research request was received regarding a place of residence in Hobart in the 1840s and onwards and for some time was quite puzzling. A contributor to a subscription website had posted a photograph of what seemed to be the house in Goulburn Street that could quite well have been correct to someone who is not familiar with the streets of Hobart.
On further investigation the correct address in Upper Goulburn Street was discovered by using the indexes of the Assessment & Valuation Rolls. Some of these indexes are available on our shelves and indicate a relevant page number in the Hobart Town Gazette of the required year and in this case, it was 1847 and 1858. Wise's Post Office Directories which begin in 1890 are also an excellent secondary source and are available on the computers.
Google search is a good friend when desperation sets in. What a good find
was an obscure website; https:\\westhobartwordpress/earlymaps.
Select DPIPWE
Spyglass Tool which reveals an Old Map of Hobart Town visible above a
current satellite image of Hobart. The Spyglass Tool can be moved over the
current map to a location and the 1841 old map is revealed with the owner's
name visible.
The correct place was found but unfortunately the original home does not exist. In addition, there is plenty of early West Hobart information to be found on the bookshelves.
This has been a good example of thorough investigation and not taking the word of others who may be slightly misguided.
Maree's Mutterings
Queenborough Cemetery and Queenborough Exhumations
What an extremely useful resource the archaeologists have found with the Cemeteries of Southern Tasmania Vol III Queenborough Cemetery, Hobart. This index was a production of the Monday Group back in early 2000s and published in two volumes in 2005.
Link to names of those exhumed:
https://www.hutchins.tas.edu.au/former-queenborough-cemetery-exhumations
Some of the media reports
May 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43Z1gLcwLxk
16 December 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChuCxZsQ0p0&t=3s
Those exhumed are being reburied at Cornelian Bay - suggested it will commence late January. As of last week, nothing happening there - Brad Williams has stated they will have new coffins and treated respectfully.
Hutchins School
We are pleased to announce that, thanks to further research undertaken with additional information arising from public enquiries, a second supplementary list of identified persons will be available on the Hutchins website from February 8. Additionally, an advertisement will be published in The Mercury on the same date, and the supplementary list will be accessible in the Tasmanian Government Gazette on February 12.
Body Parts Kept Without Consent
ABC report from the Tasmanian Coroner's Office releases [129] names of people whose body parts may have been kept without consent.
If you think you may have a family member involved, you need to apply to find out information.
There is a link on this page: https://www.magistratescourt.tas.gov.au/coronerscourt/news/coronial-project
The list of names has been removed from the website but available elsewhere, please let me know if you have a name -via email - mareering@gmail.com .
FamilySearch
Ireland Civil Registration
From FamilySearch - an index of Ireland civil registration including 1864-1958 births, 1845-1958 marriages, and 1864-1958 deaths, but excluding index records for Northern Ireland after its creation in 1922.
https://www.familysearch.org/europe/record-updates-uk?
You may have to register and sign in?
FamilySearch Labs
https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/
Labs is where FamilySearch can share new and potential site features with users before they are released generally. It gives users a chance to see what is being worked on and to provide feedback. All the products and features on the Labs website are experimental. The products and features are not guaranteed to be available or may not function correctly.
What is an experiment?
Experiments are features that a team within FamilySearch is working on. Often, it is a feature that is just about ready for release. Sharing it in Labs allows developers to see it "in the wild" before it is fully released to the general public.
How it works
After you choose which experiment you want to try, simply move the toggle to on. The experimental features will now be live in your browser. If you decide you don't want to use the experimental features anymore you can toggle it off. Since these experiments are not yet live on the site, support is limited. Also keep in mind that some feature functionality may be buggy or incomplete.
There is a video introduction to FamilySearch Labs: https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/what-is-familysearch-labs
MERCURY PORTRAIT INDEXES
Alphabetical Index to Portrait Negatives 1921 - 1987: https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/tas/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fARCHIVES_SERIES$002f0$002fARCHIVES_SER_DIX:NS4016/one