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Where Did They Go and What Did They Do?
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Compiled by the Newcastle Region Library and reproduced here with their kind permission.
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How do you add flesh to the family history bones that you have already found? The bones may include the date of birth, marriage, arrival, death, children's names and birth dates, which can be obtained from the indexes and records now available. But these records do not tell us what our ancestor was really like and what they did every day of their life. The bones are taken from 'official records'. Unfortunately most people leave little personal written record of their life behind them when they die. A diary or letters will be a lucky find.
Newspapers
When living people settle and start earning a living sometimes they are mentioned in newspapers, journals etc with details about their lifestyles, inventions and other activities. These are often a surprising source of information.Australian Town & Country Journal 8 Jan 1870 - 25 Jun 1919 (microfilm)
Also held on microfiche index to some of the entries within these films. NNPL
Oral History
Memory is a tool, just like any other, and before using it in researching your family history you should know how it works. The every day routine and the few dramatic events that affected you personally will be remembered. Memory of dates and events that do not effect youc but may have been told to you as stories, will be imperfect and should be verified against other data. Asking your elderly relatives to remember their childhood and their impressions of their grandparents will work. But often memory recall will have to be prompted by your questions. You can not just stick a microphone in their hand and order them to 'remember'.Suggested reading:
Louise Douglas, Alan Roberts, and Ruth Thompson, Oral History: a handbook, Sydney, Allen & Unwin 1988, contains useful questionnaires. NNPL
Noeline Kyle, We Should Have Listened to Grandma NNPL
Eve McLaughlin, Interviewing Elderly Relatives NNPL
Oral History Association of Australia, Oral History Handbook NNPL
Photography
Alan Davies and Peter Stanbury, The Mechanical Eye in Australia, photography 1841-1900Contains fascinating information on technological changes in the process of photography as well as a useful list of photographers, their places of operation and dates to help you date that family photograph NNPL
Lenore Frost, Dating Family Photos, 1850-1920 NNPL
Directories
Knaggs Nautical Almanacs and Directory 1872-1906Business Directory for Hunter River district in two parts. Containing lists of businesses, services and calender of events. Gives statistics for Port of Newcastle and related information. Contains list of electors for Newcastle City 1880-1900. In 1906, contains list of organisations in Lower Hunter with names of executive committees. Lists heads of households. NNPL
Farmers & Graziers Gazette & Stud Manual (1953 Returns) SUHHS
Federal Directory 1901 and 1909
Comprises street, suburban, commercial, trade and professional lists, local government, parliamentary and miscellaneous information, includes listing for South Maitland area in later issue NNPL
Index of Names in Federal Directory of Newcastle 1901 NNPL (Microfiche)
Sands Sydney NSW Directory 1858-1932/33
Lists all commercial businesses in both Sydney and country regions of NSW, gives wider coverage for country regions than Sydney. Useful for locating small business owners, for example, corner sweet shops. NNPL
Sands Country Directory & Gazeteer 1878-1890 Incomplete NNPL (Microfiche)
Merchants & Traders Association Country Trades Register 1933 NNPL
Who's Who 1927-1980 (Incomplete) SUHHS
Boyle's Lower Hunter Index 1801-1883 (Microfiche)
Index of matters relating to the Lower Hunter from various sources including Maitland Mercury, NSW Government Gazette, Colonial Secretary's Files, Mitchell Library files etc. NNPL, NFHS, NMCL
Wise's Post Office & Commercial Directory for NSW
Held NNPL for 1948
Held SUHHS for 1926, 1929, 1947
NSW Calender & Post Office Directory
Held 1832, 1834, 1835 NNPL
Telephone Directories
Telephone Directories NSW Country Exchanges 1915-1985 (Microfiche) NNPL
Held SUHHS for Scone Area 1919-1992 (Incomplete)
Electoral Rolls
In New South Wales in 1843, the franchise to vote was limited by a property qualification for men owning freehold property to the value of 200 pounds or leasing with a value of twenty pounds.In 1855 those eligible to vote were possessors of freehold estates, holding licences from the government to departure, occupiers of houses, or possessors of leasehold estates within the electorate.
Om 1858, the right to vote in New South Wales was extended to all adult males over 21 years of age who had lived in an electorate for the preceeding six months and were either British citizens or had lived in the colony for two months preceeding the election. Only males aged 21 years and over are shown until 1902 when women became eligible to vote. Since 1973, most persons registered in Australia, aged 18 years and over have been entitled to vote.
NSW Colonial Secretary Electoral Rolls 1842-1864 (Microfiche)
Held NNPL, NCES, SFHS, LDS
NSW Colonial Secretary Electoral Rolls 1852 (Pillip, Brisbane & Bligh) Held SUHHS
NSW State Electoral Rolls 1860-1900
Arranged by Division and within Division by Polling Place (Microfilm) NNPL
Electoral Rolls for NSW (Commonwealth Division) 1903-1928.
Arranged by Division and within Division by Polling Place. Held NNPL, LDS (Microfiche)
Electoral Rolls for NSW (Commonwealth Division) 1901-1984 Incomplete. Held SUHHS
Electoral Rolls for NSW (Commonwealth Division) 1920-1997
Arranged by Division and within Division by polling place. 1988 and 1990 alphabetical within Division. 1992 onwards Alphabetical. Held NNPL (Microfiche)
Commonwealth of Australia 1901-1988 Electoral Redistributions
Book of Maps showing what Polling Places are within Divisions. Held NNPL
Newcastle City Council Roll of Electors 1931-1986 (Incomplete) Held NNPL
Electors Roll for Woolona Shire 1917; Upper Hunter Shire 1950; Scone Shire 1963 (supplement), Scone Shire 1964-1987 (Incomplete) Held SUHHS
Census
The library holds Census records on microfiche and microfilm for most states of Australia. The contents of these vary depending on the time and what was actually kept by the Bureau of Statistics.1881, 1891 & 1901 Census Records (Microfiche)
1828 Census (CD-Rom) Held NNPL
Material for other states entered on separate sheet titled Births, Deaths & Marriages - Other States
Paracensus of Australia 1788-1828, Compiled by James O'Donohue. Sources of information include the Quaker Register, Norfolk Island Evacuation Embarkation Lists, Convict Women 1788-1818, Van Diemens Land Musters along with other early sources. Held NNPL
Land Records
Land records held by local libraries and microfilm copies of material in the State Archives Office of NSW. The State Archive's land records related to the alienation process only and not to subsequent regarding sale of the land. Records relating to the subsequent sale of the land are available from the Land Titles Office, Prince Albert Road, Sydney.During the early years, especially in the 1820's, people with capital were encouraged by the government to come to Australia and were given free land grants as an incentive, in proportion to their ability to employ convicts and make the land productive. These ceased about 1831 and Crown Land only could be acquired thereafter by purchase. This is called the Alienation Process relating to the idea that the Crown owned the land and people were in fact alienating this from the Crown.
Land has been held in NSW under three basic systems of title, namely Old Systems Title, Torrens Title and Crown Land Title. The records that are most valuable to researchers are those under the Old Systems Title as this operated until 1863. For information about land after the original transaction or grant, consult the records available at the Lands Titles Office, Prince Albert Road, Sydney, NSW 2000.
NSW Colonial Secretary's In Letters 1788-1825
Contains correspondence from residents of the colony requesting purchase, grants of land and other matters relating to land within the colony. Held NNPL (Microfiche & Microfilm)
Indexes to land grants and leases 1792-1865 and selected registers of land grants and leases 1792-1867
These are the earliest grants in the Colony, detailing quantity and location. Usuallyh include number of the grant, name of the grantee, number of acres, whether grant or lease, name of the district, name of the Governor who granted lease, name of witnesses to the execution of the deed and any conditions imposed on the grant. Held NNPL, NLMPL, NMCL, NCES (Microfilm)
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