The countdown is now really on for my genealogy cruise to the Baltic with
Unlock the Past Cruises. Only 8 days before I fly out and still so much to do. Although being coordinator of
National Family History Month is a voluntary position it still requires a lot of 'work' especially at this time of the year. Lots of events have gone up into the web calendar and I have been busy promoting these on the
National Family History Month Facebook page.
Many of our sponsors have also included pieces on NFHM in their magazines or newsletters - thanks to
Ancestry,
Australian Family Tree Connections and
Inside History magazine and there may be other pieces that I have not seen yet. My blogging friends have also been spreading the word so August looks like being another great geneafest.
As I only get back a few days before the launch I have tried to organise everything and I am leaving all the instructions and notes with
Genealogy SA, the South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society, who will liaise with the
National Archives of Australia while I am away if anything comes up. If I don't make it back to Adelaide in time for the launch, at least everything will still go ahead.
So far with all my travels I have never encountered any real issues apart from the odd missed flight due to road traffic delays, cancelled flights and the only luggage issue was when I went to Darwin and my luggage ended up in Tasmania. If my good luck continues to hold, I will be there for the launch.
Each NFHM I put up my
31 activities for individuals to do during August and I have another
31 activities for genealogy and family history societies to do to help them make the most of NFHM this year and in the future. I have put them up a bit earlier due to my absence overseas but people might want to start planning what they want to do during August. Both sets of activities are on the
Resources page of my website, at the very top so you can't miss them.
Just about every week we hear about new resources being released but this week I was especially excited to hear that
Findmypast has entered into partnership with
Public Record Office Victoria to index and digitise the coastal passenger lists 1852-1924. When I worked there these were on our wish list but the lists were in a fragile condition, unindexed and not even microfilmed.
The other exciting news is that Findmypast and PROV are also doing Courts of Petty Session records for Victoria - regular readers will know that I simply love CPS records as so many of my ancestors are in them for all kinds of crimes from the petty to sometimes more serious.
Here is a snippet from the Findmypast media release.
Sydney,
Australia, 25 June 2015, Never before microfilmed or indexed, the collection of Victoria’s
Coastal Passenger Lists 1852-1924 will be brought online to Findmypast.com.au later this year.
Comprising both original images and transcripts of an estimated 118,000
records, these passenger lists provide a vivid snapshot of immigrants and
travellers alike arriving in Victoria’s coastal ports. Family
historians using these invaluable records will uncover details of their
ancestors’ passage to Australia, as well as biographical information. Covering
the 1850s onwards, these records capture the mass immigration into Victoria in
the historic gold rush era, which fuelled one of the most dramatic population
booms in Australian history. Over one
million Victoria Petty Sessions records, dating from 1851 to the 1970s, will
also be brought to Findmypast as part of the partnership in an ambitious
project expected to span several years. The collection includes approximately
1.7 million original images and transcripts, covering numerous record sets from
dozens of central and regional courts throughout Victoria – from Prahran to
Port Fairy to Mildura. Capturing
details of each case, those involved, and the trial outcome, the Victoria Petty
Sessions will help family historians to investigate their ancestors’ criminal
history. Director of
Public Record Office Victoria Justine Heazlewood says the advantages of this
new digitising partnership are two-fold “These informative historical records
will become available to online researchers much sooner than would have been
possible otherwise, both on our digital catalogue within two years as well as
via Findmypast.com.au”
It really is an exciting time to be doing genealogy as we have never had access to records like this in the past. I can't wait for those records to come online.Now it is cheaper to have a subscription than travel to another state to do research. And more instant, no more waiting for snail mail or time off work to travel. Of course we do need to remember that not everything is online.
The hardest part for me when I see these new releases is that I want to go and look straight away but I know that I should be doing an article or blog post for
The In-Depth Genealogist or finishing the course I am writing for the
National Institute for Genealogical Studies or updating one of my research guides for
Unlock the Past. I have a new edition of
What Was the Voyage Really Like? coming out next month - it was the first research guide I wrote so very exciting to see a new edition.
With only 8 days left I am still working out what to fit into the suitcase and currency is a bit of an issue. If I want to buy something on shore with so many different countries, euros are not as standard as I thought especially in Denmark and Sweden, plus I am still reading about the history of the countries we are visiting and some of the places I am hoping to see when on shore.
What will probably happen is that I will end up getting everything done on time, throw things together the night before and set out for a great holiday and have a good time. Travel jitters get me every time!
So no more genealogy releases please to distract me although
Trove can continue to send those wonderful emails saying that what I was waiting to see is now ready. I'm just not opening them till I get back as I know I will be off on another tangent and lose more hours in Trove. There is only one more Diary until I leave so wish me luck finishing everything and have another great genealogy week.
