1911 English & Welsh Census now available at the SAG

We're delighted to announce that members now have free access to the 1911 Census for England and Wales in the library at 2/379 Kent Street. Available on www.findmypast.co.uk, this completes the full range of publicly available national census from 1841-1911 in our library. We're now able to make this available with the assistance of funds from our Sustaining Member program and the ongoing support of FindMyPast. We expect this much anticipated new resource to be quite busy, so you can ring in advance and make a booking on one of the computers to ensure a spot if you wish. Please also note that at busy times it may be necessary to ask members to vacate the computers after an hour to give others a chance to hunt for their ancestors too!

2010 Annual Appeal Update

Many of you will know that the target of our 2010 Fundraising Appeal was our project of preserving NSW church parish registers, the Joint Copy Project. We are very grateful to all those members who contributed to funds and can report that, to date, we have raised over $42,000 to assist with filming.

As a result of this wonderful support, we have completed the filming of Presbyterian marriage registers held by the Uniting Church Archives. Records of those parishes beginning with the letters A to P have been available in the library for some months (Reels 346-361) and we've just added the remainder of this series Q-Y (Reels 362-378). So, whether you are interested in a Presbyterian marriage that took place in Leeton, Orange, Singleton, Mosman, Arncliffe or Bingara, those records are now available (remembering that these registers cover Presbyterian churches which became part of the Uniting Church, not 'continuing Presbyterians').

To check, go to our online library catalogue at www.sag.org.au and type in the name of the place you have an interest in and the word 'church'. We will shortly be adding records of the Catholic Diocese of Bathurst to the collection and are currently filming more Anglican records so 'watch this space' for additions.

In the meantime, you may be interested in these couple of gems that we came across in preparing the records for filming which really highlight how valuable the church registers can be. The first is a rather cosmopolitan marriage in the 1940s between Robert Goodwin and Jean Moulton at Lindfield, the groom having been born in China and his usual residence stated as being Virginia USA, another is the marriage in the same era which refers to the groom, Tom Irvine Brown as being born in Glasgow and his usual residence as Solomon Islands! Are these anyone's ancestors? We'd love to hear from you!

Thank you again to those of you who have made these records accessible through your donations. The 2010 Appeal is still open, so if you would like to make a donation, please download the appeal brochure here.

New booking system for SAG activities

As part of our ongoing work on the SAG website, we've launched a new booking system for SAG events. Instead of going through the bookshop you now register directly on the website and receive immediate confirmation of your place in a course. Follow the link to see our upcoming events and to make bookings using our secure Eway payment system. Please note that from now on all events are advertised at the full price. SAG members receive a discount ranging from $4-$10 per event, so just use the discount code given and quote your current SAG membership number when registering - the discounted price will be calculated automatically for you.

Easter Closure

The Society's libraries will close at 4pm on Thursday 21 April and reopen on Wednesday 26 April at 10am. This closure period covers both Easter and Anzac Day, so please note we are NOT open on Saturday 23 April or Tuesday 26 April which would otherwise be normal library days.

Launch of "The Tin Ticket"

A new book, "The Tin Ticket: The Heroic Journey of Australia's Convict Women" by Deborah Swiss, will be launched in May. The launch will be held on Thursday 12th May (6.00pm for 6.30pm) at Abbey's Bookshop 131 York St Sydney. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to David Hall, davidh@abbeys.com.au or 02 9264 3111, by 10th May. Deborah will talk about her book and take questions from the audience. More information about the book can be found on the online. There is also a link to a video created by the author featuring the descendants of some of the convicts featured in the book.

A chronological list of all activities is now available for online viewing and bookings here. You can also phone the office on 9247 3953 or call in during library hours Tuesday to Thursday and Saturday.

All activities are held at Richmond Villa, 120 Kent Street unless otherwise specified.

• Saturday 2 April (10.30am - 12.00pm) - Records of HM Army Soldiers
  This session will focus on the 19th century and up to 1913. Learn how to interpret your ancestor's service record and reasons why one may not exist. Discover what is meant by W097, W0120 and W0121. Sylvia Murphy will explain how to access and use the range of available records and when you may need to call on the overseas experts. Bookings Essential. $20 ($25 non-members).
• Saturday 2 April (1.30 - 3.30pm) - Take a Lead from Govt/Police Gazettes
  Finding a reference to an ancestor in relation to land/property need not end as a 'one-liner' in your family history. Vicki Eldridge will take a selection of finds and show how the various resources available both online and in repositories can help you improve on that information. Bookings essential. $20 ($25 non-members).
• Friday 8 April (10.30am - 1.30pm) - Beginners - Hands on at the Library
  Held at 379 Kent Street Sydney. This session is for beginners who would like assistance on the various ways of locating births, deaths and marriages for their ancestors in both Australia and the UK. There will be a one hour presentation followed by a two hour research session with each SAG volunteer assisting two members. Bookings essential and places limited to 14. $40 ($50 non-members).
• Saturday 9 April (10.30am - 12.30pm) - The Irish Convict Women on the Elizabeth
  'Worst and Most Turbulent': The Irish convict women of the Elizabeth 1828. Suzanne Voyfas spent many years researching her book Elizabeth 1828 on the Irish convict women and their lives in New South Wales. In this session she describes her research into the history of these women from colonial government records, newspapers, and the parish registers filmed by the Society. Bookings Essential. $20 ($25 non-members).
• Saturday 9 April (1.30pm - 3.30pm) - Almost Full Introduction to Tracing your Scottish Ancestors
  Researchers with Scottish ancestry are fortunate that there is a large amount of information available online for them to use which can help establish details of their Scottish heritage. This talk will discuss how to determine that you have Scottish ancestry and will examine the digital resources that play such an important part in Scottish research. Presenter: Jeremy Palmer. Bookings Essential. $20 ($25 non-members).
• Monday 11 April (9.00am) - Orientation Tour
  Members only. A one hour orientation tour of our library at 379 Kent Street - find out how the library is set out and what services we offer there. Bookings Essential. Free - but a donation to our Building Appeal on the day would be appreciated.
• Saturday 16 April (10.30am - 12.30pm) - How to Write Your FH in 10 Easy Steps
  Is your amazing family story still sitting on the desk? Want to get it into print? Noeline Kyle will provide answers to questions such as: Where do you start? How many chapters should you have? How do you keep going? Where is the best place/space for biographical entries? How do you set limits? With her latest book 'How to Write & Publish Your Family Story in Ten Easy Steps' and with the hundreds of strategies she has garnered from more than 30 years of writing, editing and publishing family stories, Noeline will encourage you to take that one step further and put your family story into print. Bookings Essential. $20 ($25 non-members).
• Thursday 28 April (10.30am - 12.30pm) - Getting Started on Your Family History - Members Only
  Are you wondering how to get started, or what questions to ask? This opportunity is especially for new members with no family history research experience. Learn the fundamentals to start you on the road, and where to find and ask for help. Members Only. Special Price of $10.00. Bookings Essential.

1911 Census of Scotland

The Registrar General for Scotland has announced that the 1911 census will be released on www.ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk on Tuesday 5 April 2011. The images of the original summary books include the name, address, age, occupation, birthplace and marital status of everyone counted in the 1911 census, as well as details about their children. For the first time, the census images will be presented in full colour. For more information see www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/Content/Help/index.aspx?r=546&2066.

Irish Archives Resource Portal

The Irish Archives Resource is a new website which will, for the first time in Ireland, enable catalogues of many of Ireland's archival collections to be searched online in one place. The website includes records of current and defunct government and local government agencies, individuals, landed estates, clubs, societies, trade unions, religious organisations, cultural and political organisations etc.

The collections now available online consist of both original and unique records and documents in a variety of forms including textual, visual, cartographic, aural, and electronic. The collections include records of Cork City and County Archives , Donegal County Archives, Fingal County Archives, Galway County Council Archives, Guinness Archives, Irish Film Archive, Louth County Archives Service, NUI Galway John Hardiman Library Archives, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, University College Cork Boole Library Archives, and Waterford County Archives Service.