Who Do You Think You Might Be: The Nuts and Bolts of Genealogical Method

Ashfield Civic Centre, 258 Liverpool Road Ashfield

A presentation by Kerry Barlow.

Kerry Barlow has an extensive background in education, having taught economics, economic history and education for many years, at high school, TAFE and university levels. She has strong skills in research, having conducted numerous funded projects and published many reports, articles and learning guides on a wide range of social and economic issues.

Kerry’s passion also lies in family history and local history research, and she brings her teaching and research expertise to the genealogy field, where she has been teaching family history courses for the WEA for the past 7 years.

This presentation will cover:

Primary Sources

Birth Death Marriage records

• civil registration
• use of Indexes
• purchases for verification of correct people
• each jurisdiction collected different information
• dependent on honesty and knowledge of informant

Baptism & Marriage records

• record dates vary for all jurisdictions
• often provide more information than Birth, Marriage civil records (eg sponsors, witnesses, religion)

State Archives

• some primary records – eg convicts, land grants, immigration

Secondary Sources

Newspapers

• useful for birth, marriage, death sources (eg death notices, obituaries)
• useful for land purchases, court proceedings

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Activity Rooms 3 & 4 in Ashfield Library in Ashfield Civic Centre