News - November 2025
Tuesday 18 November - 7:30 pm General Meeting
VENUE: Old Sunday School, St Johns Park Precinct
GUEST SPEAKER: Michael Watt
TOPIC: The Fingal Valley's German Heritage
This talk focuses on a case study investigating a clustered settlement of 28 German families and two single men, who arrived in the Fingal Valley in three waves between 1855 and the mid-1880s. The topic is introduced by a discussion of the geographical and historical context for the study.
Settlement of the main towns and the mining of gold, coal and tin in the Fingal Valley are outlined. Immigration policy focusing on recruiting German immigrants is examined with reference to the three waves of German immigrants.
Discussion of the main chapter on the German families examines the organisation of each case history into three main parts: the origins of the family; emigration and settlement of the family in Tasmania; and the life histories of each child in the second generation.
The nature of the clustered settlement is determined from an analysis of the demographic characteristics of the German immigrants across five key attributes: religion; education; occupation; language use; and intermarriage and social interaction.
Michael Watt taught social studies in several rural and suburban high schools across Tasmania in the 1970s and then worked as an education officer in the Curriculum Services Branch focusing on curriculum development, student assessment and teacher professional development. Since retiring, he completed a Master of Education at the University of Tasmania in 1996 and a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Canberra in 2004.
IMPORTANT - Closing Dates For The Library
The library will be closing for the summer break Saturday 13 December 2025 and re-opening Tuesday 20 January 2026.
A big thank you to our Librarians Judith and Pam who collate the Library roster and all the Library Assistants who have given another wonderful year of service to our members and visitors.
More for Your Diary
Tue 20 Nov - 10:00 am Branch Committee
VENUE: Branch Library, Bellerive
Tue 20 Nov - 1:30 pm DNA Group
VENUE: St Marks Church Hall, Scott Street, Bellerive
Thu 27 Nov - 2.00 pm Library Committee
VENUE: Branch Library, Bellerive
Tue 17 Feb 2026 - 7:30 pm General Meeting
VENUE: Old Sunday School, St Johns Park Precinct
SPEAKER: Chris Woods
TOPIC: Troubled Lives: The Ellis Family
From Your Branch President
How long since you last explored the members-only resources on the TFHS website? Or have you never logged in to see what is there? You are missing out on a valuable part of your membership.
Recorded Presentations
Missed a talk you really wanted to hear, or can't get out at night anymore? There are now eight recorded presentations on the members-only site. You can grab a cuppa, sit back, put your feet up and hear the presentation while you see the PowerPoint slides that accompany it. How many of you know what a 'refuser' was in the late 18 th century? I had no idea, and it was fascinating to hear the story of the stance Andrea Gerrard's ancestor took in 1789. Was Mary brave or foolhardy?
Early Tasmanian Records
We have been able to use the data from the Tasmanian Names Index to provide our members with a powerful, alternate search tool, with many records having a link to a digital image of the source record. There are 15 different searchable databases here, including births, deaths, marriages and divorces, inquests, wills, passengers and ships arriving in the 19 th century, and much more. The beauty of having the records in this format is that you can search for e.g. all the children of a couple in one search. Or scroll through a list of arrivals of migrants under immigration schemes, looking for someone whose name might have been misspelt and otherwise unfindable.
Tombstone and Memorial Inscriptions of Tasmania (TAMIOT)
The TAMIOT index contains over 115,000 entries from 788 locations within Tasmania. It is available to purchase on CD-ROM. It is very easy to search and can contain really useful information. If you find something promising, as a member you can request one of our volunteers to check whether additional information or images are held.
Southern Tasmanian Memorial Inscriptions
Again, an easy surname search which can produce images of monuments, plaques, headstones, memorial inscriptions and epitaphs from Southern Tasmania. This project started in 2014 with the aim of recording every memorial inscription within the Hobart Branch district with notable exceptions, such as Cornelian Bay, where other searchable records already existed. It involved a great many volunteers over an extended period, photographing, transcribing, deciphering cemetery plans and then creating a database. Some inscriptions have faded and become illegible over time, but we may have a photo of how it was.
Ros Escott president@hobart.tasfhs.org
Maree's Mutterings
From Friends of Branxholm Cemetery, a list of folks buried there. This list has been compiled by the Friends and reviewed by Dorset History Society to make it as accurate as possible - but we know there are still gaps and errors waiting to be corrected. If you have any further information, please contact the Friends directly at friendsofthebranxholmcemetery@outlook.com .
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aDESGEaKCC9YtpBkiyHeLU14sQ_oM6Qp/view
From Australian Dictionary of Biography - A map of the settlements on and near the Derwent River Van Diemen's Land by G.W. Evans, Dy. Surveyor Genl. Hobart Town 1819. https://adb.anu.edu.au/entity/12453
An old site but could be worth investigation? Beyond the Pale - world immigrants to Van Diemen's Land before 1900 - https://vdlworldimmigrants.wordpress.com/ .
Library Notes
Two recent donations may be of interest to readers:
Betty Pilgrim - The "Trade Wind" Voyage to Tasmania, 1857-1858, and
Ray Welsford and others - The Story of the Board - Pioneers of Warrnambool and district.
Both books have attached web sites which provide additional information, so can be used as a basis for further research. Many thanks to these and other donors.
Library Accessions 2025
The following items were accessioned during October 2025
Books
* A. Buchanan Index to additional Births 1803-1840 Q 929.3109946 BUC
* W. Cromer The First Fifty Years - Taroona Tennis Club
1959-2009 796.34206 CRO
* B. Pilgrim The "Trade Wind" voyage to Tasmania 1857-1858 Q 325.2410 PIL
* B. Rieusset Administration of justice - Van Diemen's land and
Tasmanian executioners Q 364.6609946
RIE
A. Scott Urchin convicts - the Point Puer boys of
Van Diemen's Land 365.42 SCO
* R. Welsford The Story of the Board - Pioneers of Warrnambool
and District Q 994.57 WEL
* Denotes complimentary or donated item