Posts Tagged “New Zealand”

There are some great opportunities to learn more about family history research in the next few months, and I will be taking advantage of them.

The Unlock The Past Expos are being held in four Australian States this year, starting with the NSW Expo in Coffs Harbour this weekend, on 3-4 June 2011.  There will be an exhibition hall with exhibitors from around the area and across the State; a great program in two streams, with something for everyone; and lots of prizes and special offers totalling thousands of dollars.

This is the first time, to my knowledge, that a range of events in regional centres like this has been tried, and I hope that many people take advantage of it.

History, Genealogy and Heritage Events

3-4 Jun 2011 - Unlock the Past New South Wales Expo (Coffs Harbour) - Coffs Harbour

24-25 Jun 2011 - Unlock the Past Queensland Expo (Cairns) - Cairns

22-23 Jul 2011 - Unlock the Past South Australia & Victorian Border Expo (Mt Gambier) - Mount Gambier

2-3 Sep 2011 - Unlock the Past Victorian Expo (Geelong) - North Geelong

I will be speaking on Social Media and Family History at all of these events, as well as giving demonstrations on a range of family history sites such as Find My Past and Scotlands People, and generally trying to be useful, so please come and say hello.

I will also be at the 2nd Annual New Zealand Family History Fair in Hamilton on 26-27 August, which promises to be even bigger and better than the first Fair last year. I will be speaking on Social Media and Family History and Google, helping out at the Australian Research stand, and generally trying to take in as much as possible.

I’m looking forward to learning as much as I can and meeting as many of you as can make it. Please come if you can!

The next Australian and New Zealand Genealogy class offered by Genclass.com starts on the 1st May. Genclass is a USA-based company that offers online training on a wide range of genealogical topics and geographic areas. The instructors are all experienced educators in the field of family history research. Courses last for a month, two lessons per week. Students receive the materials for the class by email and take part in online discussions with the instructor, who is also available for questions via email.

The Australia and New Zealand class is taught by Kerry Farmer, a member of the Education Committee of the Society of Australian Genealogists who has given classes to community college groups for over 10 years.

I have seen the preparation and commitment that Kerry puts into all of her classes and seminars and I can highly recommend this course.

You can see more details of the class topics here.

The New Zealand Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages has released its online index for historical births deaths and marriages. Records are restricted according to their new privacy provisions to births more than 100 years old, still births more than 50 years old, marriages more than 80 years old, and deaths more than 50 years old where the deceased was born more than 80 years ago.

Once you have found a result that you think might be useful you can order a copy online for NZ$26.00 for records before 1874 and NZ$20.00 for records after 1874. This equates to about $21.00 or $16 Australian. If you are given a choice between a certificate and a computer printout make sure you ask for a computer printout – these are like photocopies and contain more information (and are cheaper!).

Birth results give parents’ given names for easier identification. Marriages can be searched by both parties’ names, although if you search by one name you don’t get the other one in the results list. 

The website is here: http://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.identityservices.govt.nz/search/.

It’s slow at the moment but that may be because so many people are trying it out, like me! Sometimes it gives up and asks you to try again. I’m sure these problems will be resolved in time.

The days of poring over microfiche a year or a few years at a time and then sending a form and waiting a few weeks are over.