Coffs Harbour District Family History Society Inc.

DON'T FORGET OUR TRIP FOR FAMILY HISTORY MONTH, TAKING THE PLACE OF OUR AUGUST WORKSHOP .........

This is promising to be a great outing, so please support the Society and come along!

We will be visiting the Nambucca Valley Historical Museum on Saturday 22nd August 2026.

We will meet at the museum at 50 Liston Street, Nambucca Heads at 1.00 pm.

Admission will be $5 per person which includes tea and biscuits.

Please notify us if you wish to attend: [email protected], 6648 3605 or call in to the rooms let us know.

Car pooling is suggested.

BOOK LAUNCH!!!

In celebration of Family History Month, please join us for the launch of Sarah Smith's book "The Sawmiller's Daughter" ..........

Location: Harry Bailey Memorial Library at Yarrila Place, Coffs Harbour

Date: Saturday 1st August 2026

Time: 11.00 am

Sarah will be doing a reading and will be signing books, which can be purchased at the launch.

Please register your interest in attending through this link:

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/a-history-month-special-sarah-smith-author-of-the-sawmillers-daughter-tickets-1992744462330?aff=odcleoeventsincollection

If you have any queries please email us at [email protected], ring us on 6648 3605 or call into the rooms.

We hope to see you there!

A History Month Special: Sarah Smith, author of ‘The Sawmiller’s Daughter’ Step into Australia’s past with this powerful debut novel from Dorrigo-based author Sarah Smith.

Did anyone have one of these useful items?

On this day in Australian history .....

- 1770 Captain James Cook discovered the Great Barrier Reef

- 1838 The Myall Creek massacre occurred; 28 Aboriginal Australians are murdered

- 1908 The Australian Parliament passes the Invalid and Old Age Pensions Act providing for pensions for British subjects (excluding aborigines) at age 65

- 1968 Rugby League World Cup: Australia beats France 20-2

Famous birthdays:

Bill Kerr (born in Cape Town 1922); Ian Sinclair (born in Sydney 1929); Martin Wesley-Smith, Australian composer (born in Adelaide 1945)

TROVE WORKSHOP

(Etymology: Trove is a shortened form of the legal phrase treasure trove, which comes from the Old French word trover, meaning "to find")

When: Saturday, 27th June, 2026
Where: Community Village, 22 Earl Street, Coffs Harbour
Time: 1.30 pm start
Cost: $5.00 per person

Remember how much we used to like sitting with a cuppa and reading the newspapers? Debbie Campbell will be demonstrating how to get the most from Trove.

What is Trove?

Trove is the place to explore all things Australian.

It is a single point of entry to a treasure trove of artefacts, curiosities and stories from Australia’s cultural, community and research institutions.

On Trove you can find more than 14 billion digital items on any topic.

Trove connects you to digital collections from our hundreds of Trove Partners across Australia, including libraries, museums, galleries, the media, government and community organisations and more.

There is so much available, so much to find out.

It is essential to register so please phone us on 6648 3605 or email us at [email protected]. Alternatively, you can call into our rooms Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday 10 am to 3 pm, or on Saturday morning 10 am to 12.30 pm.

A plate of food towards afternoon tea would be appreciated.

27th May 2026

On this day in history:

1703 St Petersburg (Leningrad) is founded by Russian Tsar, Peter the Great

1933 Walt Disney's short film, "Three Little Pigs", is released (Academy Award Best Animated Film 1934)

1940 British and Allied forces began the evacuation of Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo) during World War II

1977 The S*x Pistols release "God Save the Queen" sparking major controversy and leading to a ban on the song by the BBC

2006 An earthquake strikes Java, Indonesia devastating Bantul and the city of Yogyakarta and killing over 6,600 people.

I bet lots of you know what this item is! I used to own one ... did you?

Let me know in the comments what it is 😊

Our second cemetery walk at Coffs Harbour Historic Cemetery last Saturday 23rd May was a great success, despite the inclement weather.

Our President, Fiona Hulbert, and Secretary, Cheryl Dal Pozzo, put in a great deal of work researching and organising the walk. Due to the popularity of both walks, they are something we will look at doing again in the future.

Cheryl and Fiona are working on putting the information gathered for the walks into a booklet, and we will advise when that will be available.

I have attached some photos from the walk, but more were captured if anyone is interested in viewing them.

Many thanks to all who attended. If you have an interest in researching your family history any further, please consider becoming a member of our group . . . . .