"Discovery - the UK National Archives site on the NZSG members' page" - Graeme McVerry

Branch member, Graeme McVerry gave an extensive talk about some of the on-line treasures of the UK National Archives that can be downloaded for free from the members' area on the NZSG website, or available for $ direct from the Discovery site for non-NZSG members.

Items available include wills, WWI medal rolls for British servicemen, WWII RAF combat reports including RNZAF men serving in the UK (the New Zealand squadron 75 is included, as well as individuals across all RAF squadrons), the Royal Marines, merchant and Royal Navy records, historical maps, and much more.  Graeme gave examples gained from researching his own family history.

See the reprinted article: December 2014, The Petone Chronicle :: Searching for ancestors just got easier

'Playing with Pixels' - Mike Harper of 'flying jandal design'.

Mike presented a beginner's guide to restoring old or damaged photos.

'Using the Pictorial Collections in the Alexander Turnbull Library for Family History' - Jenni Chrisstoffels, Turnbull Library

Jenni presented us with lots of examples of fascinating material that is available to illustrate local and family history, for example, paintings, maps, photographs, ephemera such as railway or tram tickets, postcards.  Much of this is available for viewing online. 

If what you seek doesn't show with their search tool, use their "Ask a librarian service" as they still have lots to add to their catalogues.

Detailed notes provided by Jenni are included in the News & Views for November 2014.

"The 1914 Benge and Pratt's fire in Upper Hutt" - Reid Perkins

Upper Hutt archivist Reid Perkins gave an excellent talk about the people affected by the fatal fire at Benge & Pratt's general store 100 years ago.  This was the biggest disaster in Upper Hutt's history in terms of lives lost, and led to the formation of the Upper Hutt Volunteer Fire Brigade.

Reid interwove stories of families and events in Upper Hutt in the early 20th century with the events of the night of the fire.  Many of the families featured are still resident in Upper Hutt.

See more details and a photo in the News & Views for October 2014.

Richard Sadleir: 'Irish ancestors'

Richard Sadleir described his research into his ancestry which he can trace back to the 15th century.  The path goes back from Australia to Ireland and then London.  Some connections were only found in London in 17th century church records.

Richard's ancestors and their relations ranged from the ordinary to the extraordinary, including one remarkable black sheep.  There is even a direct connection to Ned Kelly, the infamous Australian bushranger.

'Genealogy Road Trips' - Dawn Chambers and Lynly Yates

Branch members, Dawn Chambers and Lynly Yates, gave a lively talk on their trips and places visited to discover family history information, while en route to and from various genealogical conferences around New Zealand.

'The New Zealand Coast Watching Service in WWII' - Dale Williamson

Dale Williamson talked about his book and the research behind it. The book is entitled For Special Duty outside New Zealand: The New Zealand Coast Watching Service during World War II.

Coastwatchers were established around the coast of New Zealand, and at a large number of locations in the Pacific area for which New Zealand was responsible.  Their duty was to give New Zealand advance warning of any enemy activity, particularly once Japan entered the War in December 1941. A number of Coastwatchers were captured by the Japanese in the Gilbert Islands [now Kiribati]: some detained in Japan as prisoners of war; and others executed by the Japanese at Betio, Tarawa. 

Dale's presentation provided a brief overview of the work of the Coastwatchers, and in particular the events in the Gilbert Islands.

See the News & Views for May 2014 for details and photos.

'The Irish Experience' - Anita West, Alastair Hardy & Diane Stinson

Branch members Anita West, Alastair Hardy & Diane Stinson each travelled to Ireland in the last year, and spent time researching their family history while they were there.  They told fellow members about their Irish experience - the highs, lows and lessons learned.

Thursday
13 February 2014

'Self-publising family history' - Suzanne Sutton-Cummings

Branch member Suzanne Sutton-Cummings spoke on using self-publishing websites to publish your family history and photos.  She covered how to go about it, content and things to be aware of when publishing books.  During her talk Suzanne reviewed three websites that she has used and showed examples of books that have been published - one a short biography and the other an extensive family history.

See the News & Views for May 2014 and News & Views for August 2014 for Suzanne's helpful guidelines.