Research tips & tricks

Your ancestor’s world – 19th century Victoria

Your ancestor’s world – 19th century Victoria

August 1, 2023

Family matters, Research tips & tricks:

Welcome to National Family History month, a month dedicated to family history research! 
Alongside your family history explorations, local and social history research can help us to understand something of the motivations, places, lives and times of our Victorian ancestors. In this week’s blog we include few snapshots from our collections and beyond, to help you build a picture of the journeys undertaken and of the Victoria your ancestors may have inhabited in the nineteenth century.

Rennie Ellis, 1987. H2011.130 1563

Online Collection Spotlight: Access Australia by NewsBank

July 8, 2023

Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Research tips & tricks, Tips and tricks:

Are you looking for an article from the Coburg Leader in 2010? Want the week’s top stories read out to you while you prep dinner? How can you search for articles about affordable housing across many trusted Australian news sources all at once? For all these answers and more, read on to today’s online collection spotlight.

Trove: a treasure chest of family history gems

Trove: a treasure chest of family history gems

March 30, 2023

Family matters, Research tips & tricks:

If you’re a family history researcher in Australia, chances are you’ve stumbled upon Trove. The Trove digitised newspapers and gazettes collection is an invaluable resource for family historians, and allows for free, remote access to over 1000 historic Australian newspapers and gazettes, no matter where you are in the country. Let’s see what family history treasures we can unbox in Trove!

The Ryerson Index:  a family history discovery tool

The Ryerson Index: a family history discovery tool

December 27, 2022

Family matters, Research tips & tricks, Websites:

The Ryerson Index can be a wonderful help to family history researchers. It’s a research tool for finding information about deceased family members and friends: a free online index of historic and current Australian newspaper death and funeral notices.

How to trace your ancestor’s criminal past

How to trace your ancestor’s criminal past

August 29, 2022

Family matters, Research tips & tricks, Websites:

Welcome to National Family History Month! Each week of August we will publish a new family history blog to help you with your research. In this week’s blog we explore how to research your ancestor’s criminal past.

The public bar, Hancock's Essendon Hotel
Commercial Photographic Co., photographers.

How to research your ancestor’s occupation

August 22, 2022

Family matters, Research guides, Research tips & tricks:

Welcome to National Family History Month! Each week of August we will publish a new family history blog to help you with your research. In this week’s blog we look at how to trace your ancestor’s working life by exploring a range of occupational records.

Nurse attending two wounded soldiers.

Hospital records for family history

August 15, 2022

Collections, Family matters, Research guides, Research tips & tricks:

Welcome to National Family History Month! Each week of August we will publish a new family history blog to help you with your research. In this week’s blog we look at how to research your ancestor’s health by exploring historical hospital records.

When the boat comes in: voyages to Victoria

When the boat comes in: voyages to Victoria

August 8, 2022

Family matters, Research guides, Research tips & tricks:

Welcome to National Family History Month! Each week of August we will publish a new family history blog to help you with your research. In this week’s blog we look at how to research your ancestor’s journey to Victoria. We explore immigration records, shipboard diaries and how to track down an elusive ancestor.

Wedding ceremony and guests, [197-?]. Photo by Maggie Diaz. This work is in copyright. H2013.261/547

Researching births, deaths and marriages in Victoria

July 31, 2022

Branching Out, Family matters, Research tips & tricks:

Welcome to National Family History Month! Each week of August we will publish a new family history blog to help you with your research. In this week’s blog, we explore birth, death and marriage records in Victoria.

Researching school records

Researching school records

May 18, 2022

Collections, Family matters, Research tips & tricks:

The years spent at school made up a significant period of our lives. In this blog, we explore the different resources you can use to research your ancestor’s education in Victoria.