Society of Australian Genealogists

After our Friday Hang Out today we are taking a break over the festive season - looking forward to hearing about your research over the holidays when we are back in 2023!

This Friday's Hang Out with the SAG is to showcase those that volunteer for SAG or other family history societies or associated organisations, and thinking about some of your recent research finds.
Would love to hear your story - join us Friday from 4pm AEDT - details via www.sag.org.au/member-area

Don't miss our DNA Stories Hang Out session this afternoon at 4pm AEDT: www.sag.org.au/Member-Area
Christine Woodlands has brought together another group of DNA enthusiasts and course students who will be sharing their stories!


Image via Wikimedia Commons

It's on again this Saturday 10 December from 3pm AEDT - FREE for members!
https://www.sag.org.au/event-5007755

Don't forget to register for tonight's FREE member event Searching the 1950 U.S. Census on MyHeritage: https://www.sag.org.au/event-5033598
(Non-members are also welcome to register - a small fee will apply.)
Daniel Horowitz will outline how this census record collection includes valuable information on the 150 million people living in the United States in the post-WWII era — a time of great change and significant population exchanges between regions and continents.
Image via Wikimedia Commons

Hi everyone - please bear with us at the current time as we are a few staff members down through illness. The Library is open today as normal from 10am.

Are you feeling inspired to start some formal study in family history online next year?
Join the Society’s staff and faculty as they talk you through the course options available at the SAG in 2023. Thursday 8 Dec from 7pm AEDT - all welcome: https://www.sag.org.au/event-5013093

This session will be recorded so you can join live or watch later.

Courses outlined include our Beginner’s Practical Introduction to Family History course, our existing suite of online courses on research methodology, the Certificate in Genealogical Research and Diploma in Family Historical Studies alongside our DNA research offerings.

Today is International Volunteer Day and although nice to get the nudge from social media about IVD, every day we look around Richmond Villa, our Library, our Zoom events, and our correspondence to see the efforts of our Volunteers across all aspects of the Society. Our Volunteer numbers are around 83 people in total and they reside around Australia and New Zealand. They constantly both inspire and keep us on the staff in check to support our members and those learning more about how to do their family history. We will be seeing those available to come to Sydney to thank in person this Friday and looking forward to developing more volunteer opportunities in the new year.


Image via George Dolgikh

Save the date for next year and something for your Christmas list if you haven't already got the book!

'A huge miscarriage of justice': Scotland says it's time to recognise the women it killed and tortured en masse

We've been following this story with interest knowing that some of us might have 'witches' in our extended family:

'A huge miscarriage of justice': Scotland says it's time to recognise the women it killed and tortured en masse Nearly 300 years after the Scottish Witchcraft Act was repealed, something is finally being done to address a dark part of Scotland's history.

Our Friday Hang Out starts in an hour with guest host John Heath is themed on Ancestors who changed their name and how we found them! Join us online via Zoom at 4.00pm AEDT with your stories! www.sag.org.au/Member-Area

(and anyone found anything interesting in the 1921 Scottish Census?)

What's in a name? Our Friday Hang Out this week with guest host John Heath is themed on Ancestors who changed their name and how we found them! Join us online via Zoom at 4.00pm AEDT with your stories! www.sag.org.au/Member-Area

Don't forget for those in Sydney today, TONIGHT is Family History in the Pub from 5.30pm: https://www.sag.org.au/event-5040894

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Images from Will Watt https://williamwatt.com.au

Timeline photos

Get your clicking fingers ready: the 1921 Census is coming to ScotlandsPeople!

The 1921 census will be opened at 9 am tomorrow morning, available to search and view. Find your parents, grandparents or even earlier generations among 4.8 million individual records.

For the first time, open up 150,000 searchable scanned images of the original handwritten census books detailing each address, from the very finest hotels to the most cramped tenements and from ships at sea to people living in tents.

Get a glimpse of what life was like for people in 1921: where they lived, who they lived with, their occupations and more. This census also recorded where people worked, if children had been orphaned and who was eligible for benefit under the National Insurance Act of 1911.

Investigate for yourself from tomorrow morning...

Please note that the ScotlandsPeople website will be offline from 06:00 to 09:00 on Wednesday 30 November, ahead of publication. Thank you for your patience.

www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

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Ever find some of your family names not quite what they should be on certificates or passenger lists? Sometimes by accident or otherwise by design...perhaps some baristas are just carrying on the practice of misnaming our family?
Our Friday Hang Out this week with guest host John Heath is themed on Ancestors who changed their name and how we found them! Join us online via Zoom at 4.00pm AEDT with your stories! www.sag.org.au/Member-Area

Image via metro.co.uk

How a 15-minute film four years in the making was worth every waiting moment for one community

How a 15-minute film four years in the making was worth every waiting moment for one community A short film inspired by renowned author Judith Wright's family history in colonial Queensland has showcased the resilience of First Nations people – and brought a diverse community together.

Don't forget your tickets to join us in the pub on Wednesday night in Sydney: https://www.sag.org.au/event-5040894 We're hosting a Family History in Pub at PJ O'Brien's in King Street in the city from 5.30pm! We'll talk about our latest family history finds and put the crowd through a few trivia questions with prizes - all welcome!

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This Saturday morning is our last English Research Group meeting of the year - join us at 10.30am AEDT to hear county presentations on Gloucestershire, Cambridgeshire and Cornwall alongside our popular English Brick Walls session! All welcome - https://www.sag.org.au/event-5013193

Have you tracked down everyone's wedding announcements from their local newspapers? Something for us to think about as we prepare for tonight's online Let's Talk About...Newspapers, a FREE member event from 7.30pm AEDT: https://www.sag.org.au/event-5054072
See you there!


Image from the SAG Collection.

Thinking about our Certificate of Genealogical Studies students and Diploma in Family Historical Studies candidates who have examinations this coming week. You've done the hard yards already - on the home stretch now. Take it easy this week!

(And for those considering some formal study, we have an information evening coming up on Thursday 8th December at 7pm AEDT where you can find out about these online courses and more): https://www.sag.org.au/event-5013093

Image via Creative Commons.

Some folks think we are an organisation only for professional genealogists - not so - we welcome all doing their family history, from any country of origin, keen to learn about changing tools & techniques to apply & within a supportive community: https://sag.org.au/Application-form

There is still time to register to join us from 9.15am AEDT for our online conference, In Search of...Religion and Religious Organisations in Colonial Australia (and more)
https://www.sag.org.au/event-5018957

You've got to have faith! We've just finished another inspirational Friday Hang Out sharing our religious connections and brick walls! If you missed it, catch up on the podcast recording now available via www.sag.org.au/Member-Area


Image of St Nicholas parish church, Brighton, East Sussex via Wikimedia Commons.

There is still time to register for our In Search of...Religion and Religious Organisations in Colonial Australia online conference TOMORROW/Saturday 26th November from 9.15am AEDT https://www.sag.org.au/event-5018957

Please note that all sessions (except Early Irish Catholics in Australia) will be recorded, or are pre-recorded to distribute as a pack after the event so if you are unable to join us live, you can catch up on the sessions.


Image courtesy of Frederick Garling, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

To tie in with our online conference on Saturday: https://www.sag.org.au/event-5018957
this Friday's Hang Out with the SAG is on the theme of religion and religious orders. Do you have a cleric in your family or someone that took holy orders? Is there anything you can tell us about a particular family ceremony such as a baptism, bris, wedding or funeral? Join us at 4pm AEDT this Friday.

Image - just came into the SAG collection

Extra Extra! FREE member event on Monday 28th November about online newspapers!
https://www.sag.org.au/event-5054072

Our final Let's Talk About... event of the year will focus on how we get our past news in the present and in a digital format! More info on the line up soon!


Image of the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald from our 'birthday' in 1932 via Trove

There are still places available for our special webinar presentation this week, Ich bin ein Berliner: (Re)uniting five half-siblings from four different mothers. TOMORROW/Thursday night from 7.30pm AEDT: https://www.sag.org.au/event-4969912

We are honoured to have Michael Tobias join us from his home in Scotland. In July 2020, Michael agreed to assist a woman identify her birth father. DNA had revealed that he was Jewish. No-one could imagine the story that was about to unfold. Michael will give an overview of DNA inheritance and the impact of endogamy on DNA results and he will then show how he used the JRI-Poland database to create family trees based on the woman’s DNA matches. This is a session not to be missed as it combines the best of DNA and traditional genealogical research.



Image from Niki Nagy via pexels.com

TONIGHT! Join us at 7pm AEDT for My Ancestor Was A Pirate – Pirates of the Caribbean, the Sequel (part of our current season ticket): https://www.sag.org.au/event-4999670

Despite the popularity of the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise, that was only the start of the story of English piracy which moved into the Indian Ocean and became the bane of the East India Company. It was easy for ordinary people to be sucked into piracy and many individuals moved in and out of the profession.

This presentation covers how men turned pirate, piracy in the East Indies, and whether it was possible for pirates to retire and return home. If your ancestor disappeared from home, perhaps he became a pirate. How would you find out? This would certainly enliven your ancestral history but how would you find out?

There are still plenty of activities in November and December at the SAG to finish off 2022 - look out for emails/social posts for highlights and regularly check in at www.sag.org.au/events

What to be part of a dynamic team? We are hiring! Please see details via the link for a paid, up to full time role of Administration Officer providing support across all activities of the Society. We are looking for a confident all rounder for our Sydney-based premises. Expressions of interest close Monday 21 November 2022 with interviews provisionally scheduled for the afternoon of Wednesday 23 November in Sydney.
https://www.sag.org.au/Working-with-Us

Fantastic Hang Out this afternoon with some great immigration stories (alongside diaries and insights to ships and houses!). Catchup with the podcast recording now available in the Member Area if you missed the session live: www.sag.org.au/Member-Area

See you at 4pm AEDT for today's online Friday Hang Out and bring your Immigration and Travel Stories!
www.sag.org.au/hangout

Any chance you'll be in Sydney the night of Wednesday 30th November? We're hosting a Family History in Pub at PJ O'Brien's in King Street in the city from 5.30pm! We'll talk about our latest family history finds and put the crowd through a few trivia questions with prizes - all welcome, sign up at: https://www.sag.org.au/event-5040894

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Images from Will Watt https://williamwatt.com.au

Do you have any immigration or travel stories of your family you could share at our Friday Hang Out with the SAG this week? Whether plane, train, ship or automobile, we'd love to hear something from your research findings. Join us 4pm AEDT Friday - details of this FREE member event on our website via www.sag.org.au/Member-Area.

It's on again this Saturday 19th November from 3pm AEDT - FREE for members! https://www.sag.org.au/event-5007754

Could you imagine Apple, Amazon, or Google having private armies? Perhaps your family members were part of a militia, employees or investors in multinational organisations from times past. Join SAG CEO Ruth Graham this Wednesday online as she explores case studies of her family's experiences in former European colonies and outlines available resources: Wed 16 November from 7pm AEDT - part of our current webinar season ticket - https://www.sag.org.au/event-4999568


Image from Brian Magill

Join us tomorrow/Tuesday evening at 7.30pm AEDT for our last Irish Research Group online meeting of 2022! Get together with others who have ancestors from any part of Ireland, or just have a research interest in those areas. Discuss research strategies and resources, and swap ideas and knowledge. We will be hearing further about education sources alongside utilising the NLA to reach Irish newspapers. All welcome, register at: https://www.sag.org.au/event-5013100
BYO!

Image from Mathias Reding

Happy World Kindness Day!

[Book: Mean streets, kind heart : the Father Chris Riley story / by Sue Williams / M3/20/3]
https://www.sag.org.au/VisitUs