Tasmanian Family History Society Inc. Hobart Branch

News - March 2026

Editor: Judith Crossin

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Tuesday 17 March - 7:30 pm General Meeting

VENUE: Old Sunday School, St Johns Park Precinct

GUEST SPEAKER: Rex Cox

TOPIC: The Port of Hobart in Time of War

A selection of images taken in the Port of Hobart during the Boer War, the Great War and WW2. These include port scenes and visiting ships - many of which would not otherwise have called here. Some images are rare, particularly those taken 1939-45 when photography was officially prohibited. The ways and means by which people circumvented the regulations provide a very interesting background.

Rex has a lifelong interest in ships and the Port of Hobart, leading to publication of the book "Ships of Hobart Harbour" in 2014. This interest led to employment as a Customs Officer, working on the busy Hobart waterfront during the fruit export seasons in the late 1960s. Rex joined the Maritime Museum of Tasmania in 1985, and is a past president and Life Member. He regularly contributes articles and photos to its quarterly journal "Maritime Times." He is also President of Nautical Association of Australia, and contributor to its quarterly journal "The Log."

Rex is still photographing ships in the port 65 years after being given his first camera as a 13th birthday present.

More for Your Diary

Thu 19 Mar - 10am Hobart Committee

VENUE: Branch Library, Bellerive

Thu 19 Mar - 1:30pm DNA Group

VENUE: St Marks Church Hall, Scott Street, Bellerive

Thu 26 Mar - 2pm Library Committee

VENUE: Branch Library, Bellerive

IMPORTANT DATE

Sat 18 Apr - 2pm Annual General Meeting

VENUE: St Marks Church Hall, Scott Street, Bellerive

SPEAKER: Elisabeth Wilson

TOPIC: Using the Scottish Kirk Sessions records for family history

From Your Branch President

Welcome

We are very pleased to welcome Jo Cleary to our Branch Admin volunteer team. Jo brings extensive experience in administrative roles and is at home in databases and spreadsheets. She will be coming in at various times while she familiarises herself with what we do and who we are and has already started her induction as a much-needed library assistant. It will come as no surprise to many of you that she has already found a document that her family were convinced did not exist - never underestimate our library's resources. If you have not already met Jo, introduce yourself to her if you are in the library while she is there.

TFHS Conference and AGM

This annual event is on your doorstep this year, hosted and organised by the Hobart Branch. It is on Saturday 20 June at the historic Rydges Hotel in North Hobart. The conference has a great program with interesting speakers (even if I say so myself), and registration includes a choice of tours on Sunday morning. You can help make this event a success by encouraging your friends and family to come along and sharing our social media promotional posts. Program, further information and to register: www.tasfhs.org/AGM

DNA Interest Group

Caroline Homer will be a guest speaker at our next DNA meeting, talking about the fascinating journey that her non-biological mother's DNA has taken her on, the questions it has answered for her mother about where she came from, which was unexpected. Richie Wooley will then tell us about what he managed to find when analysing a friend's DNA - expect another of the stories where he leads us along to an interesting conclusion. 1.30-3.00 on Thursday 19 March at St Mark's Church Hall, Scott Street, Bellerive. All welcome.

Using AI to colour your images - a word of warning

I was sent this image of an old newspaper clipping photo by someone in the USA who proudly told me that she had had it coloured for me. It is her great-grandfather aged 90, holding a bronze memorial plaque cast from metal taken from the battleship U.S.S Maine which was destroyed in Havana Harbour in 1898.

The plaque is curiously coloured the same blue as his shirt, rather than the polished bronze described in the accompanying article. If you look closely, you can see that both of his hands are holding it at the bottom (his left hand is barely visible), and AI has added a pink third hand coming through the plaque where the head of the figure on it should be. The figure has an outstretched arm with the pink stump of a fourth hand on the end.

The technical term for these false AI generated features is 'hallucinations' and it is something AI does not infrequently, both in text information and images. Be warned.

Ros Escott escottros@esco.au

 

University of Tasmania - Major Course Review of The Family History Program

The University of Tasmania has asked that TFHS participate in a major course review of the Family History program. This review is a regular part of the "lifecycle" of university degree programs and is seen as an opportunity to reflect on how the program functions and to suggest areas for improvement or necessary changes.

I have agreed (as President of TFHS) to meet with the review panel on 11th March (not much notice) and would welcome comments from members that I can take to the panel for consideration.

Here are some headings that might help:

1. If you have studied in the program and completed (or intend to complete) the Diploma:

What was/is the best thing about the program? / What was/is the worst thing?

2. If you have studied some units in the program but do not intend to complete the Diploma:

Are there any changes to the program that would alter your decision?

3. If you have considered studying in the program, but have decided against it:

Are there any changes to the program that would alter your decision?

4. Do you have any comments (from your own experience) about interactions between TFHS and students studying in the program?

5. Are there any things that you think the Review Panel should be made aware of?

Robyn Gibson
PO Box 12
PERTH TAS 7300
Mobile: 0417 982250

Membership Renewal Notice

DON'T DELAY! RENEW TODAY!

Membership fees for the oncoming year 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 are almost due.

The renewal form was posted with the Tasmanian AncestryJournal Vol 46 No. 4 in early March. If you have not yet paid your subscription and have misplaced the renewal form, please let us know at membership@tasfhs.org and we will arrange a replacement.

Payment methods are endorsed on the renewal form.

Members can now renew online by debit/credit card through our website. For more details copy the following to your address bar https://www.tasfhs.org/renew.php

This will reduce the society's bank charges and save time for our hard-working volunteers.

Direct deposit, cheques or postal orders are still acceptable

If using direct deposit, it is very important that your 8-digit CRN is used as the reference.

In the past a number of deposits have been made that can't be identified due to lack of CRN details. The CRN is clearly marked on the front, bottom right-hand side of the renewal form.

Cheques are still acceptable and should be sent to:

Membership Registrar
TFHS INC
PO Box 326
ROSNY PARK TAS 7018

We look forward to your continued membership and hope you enjoy the articles in Tasmanian Ancestry.

Maree's Mutterings

Emeritus Professor Lucy Frost died on Saturday 7 February after a long illness.

Lucy FrostBorn in Tennessee on 19 August 1941, Lucy migrated to Australia in the early 70s to take up a position as a lecturer in English Literature. In 1997 she became the first female professor to be appointed in Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Tasmania. Her appointment was transformative. She reorganised the curriculum and encouraged a generation of younger scholars.

Together with Cassandra Pybus, she set up CAIA (the Centre for Colonialism and its Aftermath). She became acutely interested in convict history, particularly transported women and their children. To better promote and research their story, she co-founded the Female Convict Research Centre. She also served for a decade on the board of the Cascades Female Factory Historic Site Ltd. She was a member of the four-person team that commissioned the "Footsteps Towards Freedom" sculptures on the Hobart waterfront. These four bronze figures of convict women and an orphan schoolboy resulted from an international collaboration with Irish Sculpture Rohan Gillespie.

Lucy was a passionate believer in the power of digital technologies to better organise research and research communities, as well as to transform the way in which stories could be told about the past. She played a pivotal role in the formation of DHT, which was built out of the earlier digital initiatives she had pioneered. Along with Adrian Graves, she helped draft the constitution and until November 2025 served as Chair of the Board. Lucy authored many books including No Place for a Nervous Lady: Voices from the Australian Bush (1989), Chain Letters Narrating Convict Lives(2001), Abandoned Women: Scottish convicts exiled beyond the seas (2012) and Convict Orphans (2023).

At heart, Lucy was a planetary wanderer. Every year she would slip away to travel to a new country. Now that she has gone on her last journey she will be sorely missed.

There will be no funeral (a typical Lucy request). There will be a Memorial event later in the year.

FCRC Seminar 2026 - Sunday 3 May

Compliance or Defiance: Working the System

Presented in partnership with the School of Humanities, University of Tasmania.

We invite you to join us for our annual research seminar. This seminar will focus on the ways convict women navigated the rules and regulations of the convict system: did they submit or did they rebel? Did they choose a path somewhere in-between? Was it a conscious decision or a 'choice' they were forced into? What were the consequences of the path they took?

The registration details and pricing are now available on our website at https://femaleconvicts.org.au/fcrc-seminars/seminar-registration . You have the option of attending in person or online via Zoom webinar. Registrations for in-person attendance should be finalised by April 27th. The program is being finalised and will be available soon.

Our venue for 2026 will be the Stanley Burbury Theatre at the University of Tasmania, a spacious facility enabling easy social distancing and parking.

If you are attending the seminar in person and would like the opportunity to connect on the day with other attendees who may be researching the same convict women you can register your interest by emailing recollectionstas@gmail.com with the following: your name; the name of your convicts; the name of the ship they arrived on and the year they arrived.

If you have any queries, please contact seminar@femaleconvicts.org.au 

We look forward to seeing you at the Seminar!

Regards,

Dr Dianne Snowden AM
President
Female Convicts Research Centre Inc.

Amanda Johnson and Jane Hofto
Seminar committee

Andrew Goodwin & Lydia Munro Family Muster

Andrew Goodwin and Lydia Munro
Family Muster
"Creating Stories"
Old Wool Store Hobart
29 Oct - 1 Nov 2026

Presenters will demonstrate the crucial importance of research, and of testing even primary source historical data.

Presenters and Topics include:

Family Muster of Andrew Goodwin, convict, Scarborough 1788 and Lydia-Letitia Munro-Munroe, convict, Prince of Wales 1788. Andrew Goodwin, second class settler, wife and seven of their children embarked per HMS Porpoise for Hobart in Dec 1807.

www.australianhistoryresearch.info

Library Accessions 2026

The following items were accessioned during February 2026

Books

Dunn, C Paradise on Norfolk Island - Goodwin family 1790-1807 Q 929.2 GOO

Yates, R Code of silence - a conversation with Reinee Yates 940.54 YAT

* Denotes complimentary or donated item


Sent by the Tasmanian Family History Society Inc. Hobart Branch