Activities 2007

Assistance in BMCC libraries
Assistance is available in the Family History section at Springwood library 10am to 1pm on weekdays.
Society volunteers are in Katoomba Library from 2 to 4pm on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.

In Family History section at Springwood.

Meetings
Meeting dates and other activities are added to this page as arrangements are finalised. On most occasions a brief summary of the event is added after its completion.

Monthly meetings are held in the Upper Hall of Springwood Civic Centre on the second Friday of the month, commencing at 10am. Each meeting date will have either a guest speaker or a workshop-type activity. Visitors are welcome to attend our meetings and guest speaker sessions. A charge will be levied for non-members.

Committee meeting dates are listed for member information.

FEBRUARY

Friday 2nd - committee meeting, in lieu of January which fell on Australia Day.

Friday 9th February
Jenni Trezise was present to accept her appointment as a Life Member. Jenni was honoured for her foresight and efforts to establish this Society in 1986 - as we begin our 21st year. Jenni was presented with her citation by President Ian Kendall.

President Ian and Jenni, holding her citation.

Guest speaker Rod Corrie knew his father's background was English/Scottish and his mother's European/Jewish but like so many of our ancestors they did not talk about the family. After his parents' deaths he found little more than extracts of their birth certificates. So began research into his maternal line and his Australian Jewish heritage. The first to arrive was Henry Cohen, convicted at the Old Bailey for having £3.50.00 in promissary notes in his pocket, not for the huge sum of cash he was carrying as a London businessman. Wife & children followed and Henry became the driver for Major Innes the Commandant of Port Macquarie. Wife Elizabeth was allowed to be in Port Macquarie too, set up a business and the family flourished, the children grew and they, their spouses and descendants are among prominent busness people and community leaders since.

Rod told of many useful sources and brought copies of books on researching Australian Jewish history. The Society is grateful to Rod for a CD of the family history he has written, and a copy of Australian Genesis: Jewish Convicts and Settlers 1788-1850 by J. S. Levi & G.F.I. Bergman.

Friday 22nd - committee meeting

MARCH

Friday 16th March - Note the change of date to the 3rd Friday
Our March meeting is to be held a week later than usual, to take advantage of John Mitchell's visit in the area. John is touring from the U.K. will speak on John Appledore who was a member of the second team, with the Deputy Surveyor General, to explore over the Blue Mountains as far as the Cowra. John comes from London and is a member of both the Cornwall and Devon Family History Societies.

Friday 22nd - committee meeting

Saturday 31st March is Springwood Foundation Day. Once again, the Society will bought stall space in Macquarie Road, Springwood, and our presence known to the wider community. The day was deemed very successful.

APRIL

Friday 13th April
Member Margaret Allen spoke about her ancestor William Dean of Eastern Creek. We all know the area well - as we cross it on the M4. Margaret had written a book and also had an excellent display of illustrations.

Friday 20th April was a members only gathering at Leura, to enable members to share their research, their brickwalls. Microfiche, CDs etc were available, and much sharing of expertise. Everyone discoverred the Society had resources they had not known about. Members shared research experiences overr morning tea and lunch - an excellent day.

Friday 26th - committee meeting

MAY

Tuesday 8th - St Stephen's Cemetery, Camperdown.
A well attended outing - and very successful for some members who located relevant headstones.

Friday 11th - the normal meeting opened with Penrith Librarian and Nepean FHS member Lorraine Stacker presenting Suzanne Newbury with the Bob Howard Award for the best researched article in the Explorers' Tree 2006.

After the short meeting members & visitors divided into 3 groups and circulated toeach of the 3 topics.
Pauline - research places by public transport - and what is available at each
Audrey & Nola- methods of storing data without using a computer program.
Joan - members' interests on our website
Special thanks to all the committee members who helped on the day. Members are aksed to suggest topics for future workshop days.

Friday 25th - committee meeting

JUNE

Friday 8th - meeting. Well known local historian and author Andy Macqueen was the guest speaker. Andy walked Barralier's route as the basis of his book on the journey of that French explorer and his attempt to cross the Blue Mountains. Andy spoke of his four great grandfathers - and what a wonderful heritage of seafaring and exploration! His main focus was on the exploration and mapping of that very rugged area to the north of us - the Willomi and, in particular of G. Grandfather Frederick D'Arcy exploring and mapping the area for Major Thomas Mitchell. It was a wonderful, sourced family history in its context.

Friday 23rd - committee meeting

JULY

Friday 10th - another workshop day. The activities opened with a "presentation" of the newly restored All Australia book and the updated Magazine Index. Workshops coveed computer genealogical programs, a member's written family history and how he did it, and Dressing the Graves ceremonies.

Friday 27th - committee meeting defered to August 4th due to seminar preparations.

Saturday 28th - FOUNDATION STONES SEMINAR

Location - Baptist Church Hall, Macquarie Road, Springwood
(corner of Macquarie Road and Homedale Street, close to Springwood Railway Station)

8.45-9.15 - Registration
9.15-9.30 - Introduction
9.30-10.30 - Perry McIntyre (Vice President SAG, & SAG Irish Interest Group)
Morning tea
11.00-12.00 - Pauline Kettle (Co-ordinator SAG London & Home Counties Interest Group
12.00-1.00 - Pat Gordon (SAG Scottish Interest Group)
Lunch
2.00-2.30 Greg North - some lighter entertainment
2.30-3.30 - Dr Carol Liston - historian & Associate Professor,
School of Humanities & Languages, University of Western Sydney
on Irish research and female factory descendants
Afternoon tea
4.00-5.00 What are people doing?

This was an excellent day in every way - well attended, close to public transport, ample parking,excellent speakers, good discussion, morning and afternoon teas and lunch at the usual high standard of our catering team.

2008 seminar - again on last Saturday of July (26th) - same time, same place.

AUGUST

Friday 4th - July's committee meeting

Friday 9th - Bill Olive was the guest speaker. Bill topic was wills and probate, with reference to information available at State Records NSW, then concentrated on will and probate records in England etc. Bill had interesting examples from his own family history research and issued some very useful notes.

Friday 23rd - Committee meeting

SEPTEMBER

Friday 14th - workshop meeting on the use of microfiche, microfilms, CDs, etc by members using th Society's resources from the Library.

Friday 21st - visit to Ebenezer Church and a delicious devonshire tea in the Old Schoolhouse before moving on to Wilberforce to visit Rose Cottage and the Wilberforce Cemeeteery.

Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd - the Society was represented at the NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies Inc at the annual conference held at Casino. members manned a trade table with our publications including the new Volume 2 of Wood Coffill (Katoomba) Burial Records 1945-1967. Details of the availablity of this book are under Publications, accessible from the top banner of this page.

Friday 28th - committee meeting

OCTOBER

Friday 12th - General meeting on German research

Wednesday 24th - Macquarie Street "crawl" - visiting the Land Tran sfers Office, Hyde Park Barracks for convict displays etc, on to the Mitchell Library and finally to the Reserve Bank's Currency Museum - of particular interest was the Japanese currency ready for use in Australia when their invasion was successful.

Friday 26th - committee meeting

Saturday 27th - the Society's very successful garage sale. Thanks to all who donated and to those who undertook the organisation and sale of items.

NOVEMBER

Friday 9th - ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Friday 23rd - Committee meeting

DECEMBER

Friday 14th - Christmas gathering

NOTE - library volunteers will not be available in Springwood every day
but will be present as often as possible.
Katoomba volunteers will resume in February 2008

Site Managed by Ian Kendall