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Family History Collection

The Family History Collection contains microfilm, microfiche, CDROMs and books to assist  people researching their family history. There are film and fiche readers available together with computers for database access.

Resources

• Genealogical books
• Indexes to Births Deaths Marriage registrations for most Australian States
• State Records NSW: include Shipping records, Convict Records, Early Colonial Secretary papers, Orphan records, Occupation lists.
• Cemetery lists
• Directories: Sands, Genealogical Research Directories
• Census and Musters
• Early Electoral Rolls for NSW
• Local Newspapers
• Published family histories
• Local histories
• Online resources including Ancestry.com Library Edition

Access

The Family History Collection is located in the Local Studies/Family History Room at Port Macquarie Library and is open during library hours.  The material is for use in the library only. 

There are also a number of books available for loan in the general non-fiction section of the library.  Branches at Wauchope and Laurieton also hold reference and non-fiction books as well as providing access to CDROM databases.

Bookings are recommended for use of the microfilm reader/printer; all other readers and computers are not booked. Use of the collection is on a self-help basis.

Guidance

Volunteers from the Port Macquarie and District Family History Society Inc are available to help on Tuesdays, 10.30am-3:30pm and Wednesdays from 1:00pm to 3:30pm. Reference staff are available to assist with basic enquiries. 

Further information can be obtained by contacting the Reference Services Librarian, Jeff Stonehouse, or telephoning 6581 8725.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Where do I start?

You begin with yourself and work backwards.  You can choose whether you follow your own direct line or you include both lines of your parents and/or your spouse.  There are no rules about this.  For help, check How To Do Genealogy, or one of the websites listed below.

What about missing relatives or friends?

The National Library of Australia has a page on its website that offers some guidance in tracing missing friends or relatives.

What other resources are there?

Local

• Port Macquarie & Districts Family History Society Inc
• Port Macquarie Historical Society Inc
• Wauchope Historical Society Inc
• Camden Haven Historical Society Inc
• Special heritage groups, see Hastings Council Heritage page

Other

• The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints
  Cnr Railway Pde & Bruntnell Street, Taree NSW 2430, phone: 02 6552 3653
  Hours: M,W, 10am - 5pm, W, 6:30 - 9.30  

How To Do Genealogy

Visit your library and borrow books on beginning family research, and check the type of resources being offered.  Check to see if courses are being offered by the library or some other organisation. Join a local family history society where possible, as this will provide you with guidance from those who have knowledge.

Where to start

Begin with yourself and work backwards. You can choose whether you follow your own direct line or whether you include both lines of your parents and/or your spouse. There are no rules about this. 

You may need to consider the following questions:

• What do I want/need to learn about my family? Compile a genealogy or write a family history
• How do I record what I find?
• What information do I have at home?
• What records do libraries, genealogical societies and other organisations have?
• How do I obtain the records I need? Personal documents, such as birth, death and marriage certificates, are the most important documents you will need in researching your family.
• Where do I go to from here?

Collecting information

Useful information can come from your own records, papers etc plus those of other family members.  Information can be in: family bibles, birthday books, baby record books, certificates, wills, old letters, diaries, land records, passports, memorial cards, school reports, and other items ie maps, engraved jewellery or articles, military records, employment records and photographs.

Talk and write to family members, they may have memorabilia that will help you. This process is ongoing, you will check with relatives continually as you find information. 

Obtain copies of your birth and marriage certificates, your parents and grandparents, if possible. Each certificate helps you move backwards. When you have collected sufficient to get you started, record all the genealogical details you know. 

How to record information

There are useful charts designed for genealogy.  There are also computer programs to organise your information.  The library holds Family History Research Manager, RG929.394/FAM.  This book  has very useful forms that can be photocopied.  Using specially designed forms can make the recording task much simpler. The following charts can be used

Pedigree Charts: this chart shows your direct line of family starting from your name and going back about four generations. 

When your pedigree chart is completed, lines will lead from your name back through the generations of your ancestors. Your paternal (father's) side of the family will be on the top half of the chart and your maternal (mother's) side will be on the bottom half of the chart. When a family line chart is filled to the right margin, that family line is continued on another pedigree chart.  The pedigree can also work as an index to your family group sheets

Family Group Chart: this form is used to record each family unit.

This form provides sections to record the husband and wife and their genealogical information.  Below the parents' record, there is a section for information about the children with their births, marriages, and deaths.

Make a separate family group sheet for each marriage. If a man was married five times, he will have five family group sheets; one for each marriage. Start with yourself and your spouse, or your parents if you are not married. Work backward in time, generation by generation, putting the names of each married couple at the top of a page. 

It is advisable to follow the above steps before going to a library or archive to use their resources.  Your pedigree and family charts will clearly show what records you need to look for.

Copies of your forms are very useful to take with you when visiting libraries, archives etc.

Common abbreviations in family history sources

Some genealogical conventions used in recording data

• Legibility is important
• No abbreviations of names (eg does Geo. mean George or Geoffrey)
• No dittos in recording names
• Print SURNAME in upper case letters. This helps distinguish a surname such as JAMES from a given name James
• Enter the birth surname (the maiden name) for women.  Not the husband's surname. If the wife's birth name is not known, she may be simply entered with her given name or as (Mrs) + given name + husband's SURNAME
• Record dates as day, month and year. Abbreviate months with first three letters optional but is clearer than numbers (eg 12 Jul 1946 for 12.7.1946)
• Record place names from smallest to largest location (eg town, state, country)
• Record the CURRENT name of towns and countries unless there is a likelihood of a problem arising with identification, then record the new name in parentheses (eg  Commerce (now Nauvoo), NSW)
• States, counties, countries may be abbreviated: there is a code (Chapman code) that has been accepted internationally and is available in the front of the GRD (Genealogical Research Directory)
• Record your sources for each person

Useful family history web addresses

• NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages:
• Web sites for Genealogists:
  Cora Num regularly updates this Australian based site that has a wonderful coverage of useful sites.
• Society of Australian Genealogists
• Australian Family History Compendium:
  Useful link to a significant number of Australian resources.
• Genseek Genealogy and History:
  Similar to the Compendium above.
• RootsWeb's Guide:
  over 30 different guides to help beginners as well as other useful links.
• Ryerson Index to Contemporary Death Notices and Obituaries in Australian Newspapers:
  Very useful resource for obtaining approximate death dates for more recent family information.
• Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites:
  A good starting point to a wide range of international resources
• GENUKI - UK and Ireland genealogy:
  Useful links to British genealogical societies.
• State Records New South Wales:
  provides access to many online indexes to collections held by State Records.
• Public Record Office of Victoria:
  offers online access to their holdings plus indexes to passengers arriving from British and Foreign Ports 1852-1876.
• Australian War Memorial:
  provides access to a number of databases online: artworks, books, photographs, private records and official records including the Roll of Honour with details of over 102,000 of Australia's war dead.
• Maping our ANZACs:
  a database of WWW1 service personnel that can be searched by place of enlistment.
• Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
  resources online give access to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Biographical Index (ABI) which is a personal name index to published material held in the AIATSIS library.
• Claim a Convict:
  An interesting index designed for people with convict ancestors to contact others with an interest in a particular convict and share information.
• Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints:
  on this website you can search the IGI (International Genealogical Index for the British Isles and North America), Ancestral File and the Family History Library catalogue.
• Australian Cemeteries:
  links to cemeteries around.