Manly Families

Australian Cemeteries

2009-11-08T19:34:00.000-08:00

Great news!! Australian cemeteries now have a new home with their own domain.
http://www.australiancemeteries.com/
You may want to update your bookmarks, however if you go into the old ozgenonline.com/aust_cemeteries site, you will be transferred quickly to the new site. It looks just the same as the old one, but is much, much quicker, making it easier to use.

To forget one's ancestors is to be a brook without a source,a tree without a root.
Chinese Proverb

The Mutch Index

2009-10-25T21:55:00.001-07:00

Thomas Davies Mutch (1885 - 1958), by unknown photographer, courtesy of State Library of New South Wales

This useful genealogy resource, especially for the early years of the Colony, is the Thomas Davies Mutch Card index to births, deaths and marriages, 1787-1957 (known as the Mutch Index). State Records holds a microfilm copy (Reels 2125-2129) of the original index which is held by the Mitchell Library.

The Index is believed to cover all relevant extant records relating to New South Wales from 1788-1828, except for the Newcastle Register and the Methodist Church records, and selected records to 1957. Later entries are from tombstone inscriptions and the most recent from news-cuttings and relate only to comparatively few families. A list of the records included is at the beginning of the index, and further information is available from the Mitchell Library.

MUTCH, THOMAS DAVIES (1885-1958), journalist, politician and historian, was born on 17 October 1885 at Lambeth, London, eldest child of William Mutch, Scottish omnibus driver, and his second wife Sarah, née Davies. He arrived in Sydney on 24 March 1887 with his parents and four half-brothers. Educated at Double Bay Public School, he left home and school after his mother died in 1899 and worked for four years in outback shearing-sheds. An enthusiastic reader, he absorbed socialist literature and the bush tradition.

A professional genealogist, Mutch was a council-member of the Society of Australian Genealogists in 1945-46 and was elected fellow in 1946. He compiled a comprehensive index to the early settlers of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land from parish registers, convict indents, musters and land records; the 'Mutch Index' is now in the Mitchell Library. A trustee of the Public Library of New South Wales (1916-58) and a member of the Mitchell Library committee (1924-58), he secured Jansz's original charts for the library, successfully lobbied for establishment of the State Archives in 1942, and in 1945 persuaded the National Library of Australia to co-operate in a joint copying project of documents relating to Australia in the Public Records Office, London.

He died of cancer at his Clovelly home on 4 June 1958 and was buried in the Anglican section of Waverley cemetery after a service in St James' Church. The Society of Australian Genealogists established the T. D. Mutch memorial lecture in his honour.

Letters of a Nation

2009-10-25T17:01:00.001-07:00

As part of Australia Post's Letters of a Nation campaign, they have developed an online archive that will preserve all letter submissions and act as a resource tool for generations to come.

The Letter Archive can be searched via category e.g.Friendship/Mateship/Romance;
Migration; Family/Childhood/Children/Home; Culture/Arts; Humour; Sport;
Business/Commerce/Employment; Protest; Politics; War; Life events(births,deaths,marriages); Religion; Milestone events i.e. Federation, Bicentenary; Environment; Education; Health/Healthcare; Social trends/Change (movements, fashions); Science/Technology/Research/Innovation.

Or search Letter Archive via era..
1809-1849; 1850-1899; 1900-1909; 1910-1919; 1920-1930; 1930-1939; 1940-1949; 1950-1959; 1960-1969; 1970-1979; 1980-1989; 1990-1999; 2000-2009.

You can also submit your own letters to the site or subscribe for updates.

Example: A father's letter to his son after release from a POW camp.
Ron Castle, the son of a POW soldier in the Second World War, was Australia Post's Letters of a Nation campaign first submission.
The letter is written from Ron's father, Charles Castle to Ron telling him he looks forward to catching up on 'some great times, just you and I'. The letter is particularly poignant; because for fifteen months Charles' family did not know if he was dead or alive following a telegram advising that he was 'Missing in Action'.
As it was, Charles was actually a Prisoner of War soldier in Malaya throughout this time.
Ron submitted his letter to give recognition to his father and to his father's mates who were not as lucky as he was to return home to their families.

The Old Bailey

2009-07-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913 is a fully searchable on-line edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,745 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court.

The Old Bailey, also known as Justice Hall, the Sessions House, and the Central Criminal Court, was named after the street in which it was located, just off Newgate Street and next to Newgate Prison, in the western part of the City of London. Over the centuries the building has been periodically remodelled and rebuilt in ways which both reflected and influenced the changing ways trials were carried out and reported.

This site also includes historical background covering policing, crimes tried, trial procedures, judges and juries, trial verdicts, and punishments. It provides important information to help the researcher understand proceedings, especially in the case of punishments. Defendants could be given more than one punishment, and the actual punishment a convict received often differed from that specified at their trial. It is worth searching later sessions by the name of the defendant using the “Personal Details” search page to see if the sentence was mitigated.

Because the actual punishment a convict received often differed from that specified at their trial, It is also possible to search separately for information about pardons or executions. Although this information was not consistently reported in the Proceedings, there are regular reports of pardons from 1739 until 1796 and of executions from 1743 until 1792. Additional evidence about whether (and how) punishments were carried out can be found within the Associated Records.

Note on Punishments: A large number of eighteenth-century statutes specified death as the penalty for minor property offences (the "bloody code"), meaning that the vast majority of the people tried at the Old Bailey could be sentenced to hang (one could be executed for stealing a handkerchief or a sheep). Nevertheless, judicial procedures prevented a blood bath by ensuring that sentences could be mitigated, or the charge redefined as a less serious offence.

Through partial verdicts, juries reduced the charges against many convicted defendants. Through the mechanisms of benefit of clergy and pardons many more defendants found guilty of a capital offence were spared the death penalty and sentenced instead to punishments such as branding, transportation, or imprisonment. Many received no punishment at all.

National Archives of Ireland

2009-07-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

Researching your Irish Ancestry can be notoriously difficult, but the National Archives of Ireland holds a wealth of information, searchable on-line.
Unfortunately almost all the records acquired by the Public Record Office of Ireland before 1922 were destroyed by fire and explosion at the beginning of the Civil War in June 1922 and as a result, the material now held by the National Archives dates mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries, although there are a few surviving court and exchequer rolls dating to the early 14th century.
However they are still well worth visiting, as they also provide excellent guides to searching the archives and researching Irish family history
Some of the most frequently consulted archives:
Archives acquired from private sources
Census 1901
Census 1911
Chancery pleadings
Chief Secretary's Office Registered Papers
Church of Ireland parish registers
Convict Reference Files
Coroners' inquests
Dáil Éireann records
Departmental records
Famine Relief Commission records relating to the Famine
Ferguson manuscripts
Genealogical abstracts (Betham, Crosslé, Tenison Groves, Grove-White and Thrift)
General Prisons Board
Incumbered and Landed Estates Court rentals
Irish Record Commission calendars
Lodge's manuscripts
National School applications, registers and files (pre-1922)
Office of Public Works
Official Papers
Ordnance Survey
Outrage Reports
Probate records
Quit Rent Office
Rebellion Papers
Society of Friends Famine Papers
State of the Country Papers
Trade Union archives
Valuation Office and Boundary Survey records
Will books and grant books

York Assizes

2009-07-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

York Reference Library has an on-line index to records of prisoners brought to trial at York Assizes 1785-1851. http://www.yorkfamilyhistory.org.uk/assizes.htm
The Library's records give quite a lot of detail and, in most cases, there are also the results of the trials. Some of these are published on this website. For those not published York Library offer a look-up service and you can contact them at reference.library@york.gov.uk
This index of over 8,000 names has been divided into alphabetical sections, as follows:
A - B; C - D; E - F; G - I; J - L; M - P; Q - S; T - V; W - Y

Records include ID number, Surname, Forename, Age, Place of Origin and Date.
However, pre-July 1800, ages were not given, and after this time, place of origin was generally not given. There are occasional gaps.
This index was kindly donated to the Society, in 2003, by Conrad Plowman

Victorian Family History

2009-07-19T19:12:00.000-07:00

Thank God for CD-ROMS or it would cost us a fortune to look up Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages on-line. The Victorian BDM charge 99cents to view a page. This could add up to quite a bit if you are researching your Victorian Ancestors. Luckily Manly Library holds
Death Index, Victoria 1921 – 1985
Edwardian Index, Victoria 1902 – 1913
Federation Index, Victoria 1889 -1901
Marriage Index, Victoria 1921 - 1942
Great War Index, Victoria 1914- 1920 is not available The Victorian Registry of BDMs have taken the decision to cease supply.
On the other hand congratulations to Public Records Office of Victoria, who provide not only great indexing, but also a good selection of digital copies on-line.

Price Rise

2009-07-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

The cost of getting birth, death or marriage certificates from the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages increased at the 1st July 2009, and it will now take 8 weeks before you receive them in the mail.
Family History Certificates for
• Births 100 years or more after the event
• Deaths 30 years or more after the event
• Marriages 50 years or more after the event
With registration number are $28.00 Standard or $49.00 Urgent
Without registration number are $37.00 Standard or $58.00 Urgent
Additional search for 10 years or part thereof is$38.00

More to See in Ancestry

2009-07-15T19:47:00.000-07:00

More records have been added to the Ancestry Database during May & June, which will be of interest to Australian researchers.
In particular:
New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Convicts' Applications to Marry, 1826-1851 – Updated
New South Wales, Australia, Convict Death Register, 1826-1879 - Updated
New South Wales, Australia Historical Electoral Rolls, 1842-1864 – Updated
1841 New South Wales, Australia, Census – Updated
1828 New South Wales, Australia Census (Australian Copy) – Updated
New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922 – Updated
New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896 – Updated
New South Wales, Australia Convict Ship Muster Rolls and Related Records, 1790-1849 – Updated
New South Wales, Australia, Certificates of Naturalization, 1849-1903 – Updated
The Cyclopedia of Western Australia, Vol. 1 & 2
Australia and New Zealand Obituary Collection - Updated
London, England, Poor Law Records, 1834-1940 - Updated
Principal Women of The Empire: Australia and New Zealand, Vol. 1
British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 - Updated
You can use the Ancestry database free of charge in the Library – just ring 9976 1743 to make an appointment.

New Zealand now on-line

2009-05-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

I had always been disappointed I could not check New Zealand Birth, Death and Marriages records on-line, however the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Amendment Act 2008 allows the Register-General to now make historical information available. (http://www.bdm.govt.nz/)

This means that you can search for:
Births that occurred at least 100 years ago
Stillbirths that occurred at least 50 years ago
Marriages and eventually Civil Unions that occurred 80 years ago and
Deaths that occurred at least 50 years ago or the deceased's date of birth was at least 80 years ago.

You can use the link above, or go directly to the historical records database.

The site contains an excellent time line detailing the development of BDM records in New Zealand and further information about the records.

There are around 11 million births, deaths, marriage and civil union records.
Births Deaths and Marriages was originally part of the Colonial Office.
Births and deaths have been officially recorded since 1848.
Marriages have been recorded since 1854.
In 1911, it was required that Māori marriages be recorded.
In 1913, it was required that Māori birth and deaths be recorded.
Separate Māori and General registration systems were kept until 1961 although some Māori are registered in the general system.
As registration could not be enforced many Māori births and deaths were not registered.
Registers were also established to record overseas marriages and war deaths covering all wars since WWI.
Later registrations provide more information to researchers than earlier ones, however there is still a lot of useful information to be gathered from the early records.

If you have New Zealand ancestors, this is certainly a site worth checking.

Ethics in Genealogy

2009-03-18T16:33:00.000-07:00

Many genealogical societies publish codes of ethics which they may ask their members to sign. Generally the guidelines might include wording such as;
- being courteous and respectful to record custodians and others who serve the public
- carefully handling books or records and returning them to the designated space
- not tearing or damaging any document, book, or film
- presenting genealogical findings with honesty and integrity
- using permission when necessary and attributing work to the correct copyright owner

The Genealogical Society of Victoria has published an GSV Ethics Policy, worth reading. It mentions copyright, sensitivity to others, obtaining consent before sharing information and rights of privacy.

Family research can be an emotional journey, so sensitivity is always required, and the rights of others are to be respected.

New to Ancestry

2009-02-15T19:52:00.000-08:00

New records are being continually added to the Ancestry Database. So even if you have looked there previously, it may be time to re-check the database.
Just in the last two months many Swedish & Belgium birth records have been added, plus Dutch & Danish records and various German records in their original languages.

On the English side –
London, England, Marriage Licences, 1521-1869 added in February 2009
The England & Wales, Birth Index: 1916-2005 – was updated in January, along with the England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915

Also added from New South Wales were -
New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Convicts' Applications to Marry, 1826-1851
And New South Wales, Australia, Certificates of Naturalization, 1849-1903

You can use the Ancestry database free of charge in the Library – just ring 9976 1743 to make an appointment.

BDM Indexes

2008-10-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

We have been spoiled with our access to on-line indexing for births, deaths and marriages in NSW. We can look up births from 1788 to 1907, deaths from 1788 to 1977 and marriages from 1788 to 1957. Victoria teases us with a search facility then charges to look at the results. ACT, Northern Territory, South Australia and Tasmania do not have searchable on-line records, but Queensland and Western Australia are now on-line. Queensland has records available for births 1829-1914, deaths 1829 – 1929 and marriages 1829 – 1929. Western Australia has birth indexes from 1841 – 1932, death indexes from 1841 – 1953 and marriage indexes from 1841 – 1932. The Archives Office of Tasmania does have some on-line indexes, but these are limited, and births deaths & marriage records (up to 1900) are split between here and the Registry of BDM (after 1900)

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness

2008-10-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

I came across a great little website the other day called “Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness”
Their volunteers have agreed to do a free genealogy research task at least once per month in their local area as an act of kindness. While the volunteers of Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) have agreed to donate their time for free, you MUST PAY the volunteer for his/her expenses in fulfilling your request (copies, printing fees, postage, film or video tape, parking fees, etc.).

RAOGK is a global volunteer organization. With over 4000 volunteers in the U.S. and many international locations, including Australia, they have helped thousands of researchers. Volunteers take time to do everything from looking up courthouse records to taking pictures of tombstones. All they ask in return is reimbursement for their expenses (never their time) and a thank you.

Do you need help? Are you looking for someone in another location or with particular expertise? Or would you like to volunteer? Visit the website to find out more!

Collateral Lines

2008-10-13T21:52:00.000-07:00

What is a Collateral?
In genealogical terms, collateral means belonging to the same ancestral stock, but not in the same line of descent. In other words, it is any line of descent from one or more of your ancestors through any other than your own direst line.
It differs from clusters, in that clusters looks at the same generation, while collateral lines looks at ancestral lines spanning generations.

Applying Cluster Genealogy to your Research

2008-10-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

Take into account the many ways applying Cluster Genealogy to your research may help to overcome dead ends . Also remember to record your sources!

Consider a husband and wife – You have all the records for the husband, but not for the wife. You may to need to prepare a time-line and look at the major events in their lives. Do they have children? When did the husband die? What happened after the husbanded died? Could the wife have gone to live with other members of the family in another state?
Census records on other family members may reveal the wife as an additional member of the household. Property or probate records may provide a new location to check. Obituaries or death records of children may provide a new name if the wife remarried after the death of her first husband.
Cluster genealogy opens the possibilities of finding additional records by increasing the pool of individuals on whom you are researching.

Always note the source of information that you record or photocopy, and date it too. If the material is from a book, write the name, author, publisher, year of publication, ISBN or ISSN (if it has one), and also the library where you found it (or else photocopy the title page). Occasionally you’ll find that you need to refer to a book again, or go back to great aunt Matilda to clarify something she told you.
When searching for relatives in records, don’t pass over entries that are almost (but not quite) what you’re looking for. For example, if you’re searching for the marriage of John Brown and Mary Jones in 1850, make a note of the marriage of John Brown and Nancy Smith in 1847: this could be a previous marriage in which the wife died shortly after.
Don’t assume modern meanings for terms used to describe relationships. For example, in the 17th century a step-child was often called a “son-in-law” or “daughter-in-law,” and a “cousin” could refer to almost any relative except a sibling or child.

Uses for Cluster Genealogy

2008-10-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

Cluster genealogy can be used to -.

1. To break through a "brick wall". Using cluster genealogy, additional evidence is sought in data gathered from the records left by persons in the ancestor's cluster. For example, if the question is one of place of birth, researching the origins of the ancestor’s neighbors can be helpful. Unrelated family groups often migrated together or followed earlier migrations of neighbors or family members.

2. To build a genealogical proof. When constructing a genealogical proof, a genealogist must conduct a reasonably exhaustive search for all information that is or may be pertinent to the identity, relationship, event, or situation in question, including a search of records created by persons in the target ancestor's cluster.

3. To develop context for an ancestor's life. The facts of an ancestor's life are often meaningful only in the context of his cluster. For example, the fact that an ancestor was a Catholic is interesting; the fact that the ancestor and his family were the only Catholics in their community is intriguing.

Cluster Genealogy

2008-10-12T20:39:00.000-07:00

Cluster genealogy is a research technique employed by genealogists to learn more about an ancestor by examining records left by the ancestor's cluster. A person's cluster consists of the extended family, friends, neighbors, and other associates such as business partners. Researching the lives of an ancestor's cluster leads to a more complete and more accurate picture of the ancestor's life.
In order to work with cluster genealogy, you must think beyond the direct lineage. It is important to know the names of all the siblings of your ancestor. In the case of a parent for whom you cannot find anything, then it is the siblings of the child who is your direct link. You then must find all records that may have been created for those individuals throughout their life.
As an example, when searching for the parents of Lucinda Wheeler, it was suspected that they were Ezrin Wheeler, whose wife was Rachel. Rachel's maiden name was not known, and the records so far found on Lucinda were not giving any clues to support this hypothesis about the link from Lucinda to Ezrin and Rachel.
In locating the obituary for Lucinda it was discovered that she had one brother still living at the time of her death. In turning to research the brother, his death certificate gave the name of his father, and also the full name including the maiden name of his mother – information that would not have been found if the focus remained on Lucinda.

Ellis Island

2008-10-06T20:01:00.001-07:00

Ellis Island is a 27.5-acre site located just minutes off the southern tip of Manhattan Island, New York, and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the US National Park Service. It has been estimated that nearly half of all Americans today can trace their family history to at least one person who passed through the Port of New York at Ellis Island.
During the years of Ellis Island immigration from 1892-1924, there were more than twenty million individual stories that would eventually be shared with family and friends. Records and references to these millions of stories have been made available free of charge at http://www.ellisisland.org/ .

It has frequently been said that “They changed our name at Ellis Island" , but Donna Przecha disputes this and dispels some common myths about name changing at points of immigration in her article. Donna looks at how spelling really changed, - the clerks at Ellis Island didn't write down names. They worked from lists that were created by the shipping companies. What usually happened was the immigrant bought a ticket from an office near his home. So, the seller probably spoke the same language and transcribed the name correctly. In cases where the name was recorded incorrectly, it likely occurred in the old country, not at Ellis Island.
When immigrants arrived at Ellis Island, they were checked against the list. With all the immigrants coming through the facility, many translators were employed so language problems were rare. Name changes were often made by the immigrants themselves for a variety of reasons, that Donna discusses in her article.

Blacksheep Ancestors

2008-09-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

There are a number of websites devoted to the Blacksheep in the family.
Black Sheep Ancestors.com provides links to search prison records, insane asylum records for the US as wellas for the UK. There are also numberous links to historical court records, execution records and biographies of famous outlaws and criminals across the US, Uk and Canada.

The International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG) is an Association of Genealogists who have found "blacksheep ancestors" in their direct family lines, or under the "One Degree Rule" of the Society. The purpose of the Society is to discuss family blacksheep in order to learn more about them and share information about your "Black Sheep" with other members of the IBSSG! Many times having a Black Sheep in the family leads to a family "wall of silence" and research into the family becomes very difficult. Their Goal is to help find alternate routes to information sources, and to "normalize" the view of the blacksheep as a person, who has a place in the FACTUAL history of the family, without regard to behaviors.
Remember, the acts may be embarrassing to others in your family, but within the Society, you are not alone! Many have similar situations, and can relate (actually many are related) to the problems in doing this research.

Quarantine Station

2008-09-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

The site was occupied by Aboriginal people before the arrival of colonists. Initially there was no need for quarantine.
In the 1820s the number of immigrants increased and Spring Cove was used in 1828 for the first time for quarantine purposes. In the early years, ill people were kept on board ship and others were accommodated in tents. Gradually buildings were added to the complex and these buildings reflect the beliefs and practices of the times in which they were built. The Quarantine Station was used to house newly arrived immigrants for 140 years.
New ways of treating infectious diseases combined with the speed of air travel meant that the Quarantine Station was not really needed after 1960. The last ship to be quarantined was the Nikki Maru in 1972.

The Quarantine Station website contains some excellent information about the its history and immigration http://www.manlyquarantine.com/

Manly Library has copies of records of those buried at the Quarantine Station.

Jean Duncan Foley in her book In Quarantine: A history of Sydney’s Quarantine Station 1828 – 1984, lists ships quarantined there, the dates of arrival, the number of deaths and the reasons for quarantine. If you suspect that an ancestor was quarantined there, you would need to check NSW State Archives www.records.nsw.gov.au for immigrant arrivals or cross check if you know the ship on which they arrived.

Griffiths Valuation

2008-08-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

Ever tried to find out anything about Irish Ancestors? If the answer is ‘YES’, then you will probably know about Griffiths Valuation. The Primary Valuation was the first full-scale valuation of property in Ireland. It was overseen by Richard Griffith and published between 1847 and 1864. It is one of the most important surviving 19th century genealogical sources. The Library holds the index to Griffiths Valuation of Ireland 1848 – 1864 on CD-ROM, but there is now a website to make searching easier.
http://griffiths.askaboutireland.ie/gv4/gv_start.php?version=text_only

IGI continued

2008-08-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

Taking up where I left off last time – Hugh Wallis has made an exhaustive search of the likely ranges of IGI batch numbers and created a database of those numbers and the source records that they apply to. For each batch he has extracted the church or chapel (if specified), town, county and country names and then organised them by country and county and created this freepages website . He has also included a hotlink from each batch number to the actual search engine provided at http://www.familysearch.org/, including the ability to enter the surname you are looking for. This makes it very easy to search all the batches for a particular geographic location using just the last name you are searching for - something that is not possible directly from the LDS site without doing a lot of typing.
Hugh has found over 50,000 different batch numbers, which shows the enormity of the task that has been undertaken by the LDS and for which we as genealogists should be immensely grateful.
There are a few issues that researchers should take into account when using the IGI.
1. The International Genealogy Index (IGI) does not cover all parish records and you need to ascertain the coverage.
2. Some material on the IGI is the result of private researchers whose veracity is not known and is unsourced.
3. There are problems with Welsh records due to misunderstandings about the English surname / patronymic name mix.
4. The IGI has converted all dates to the Gregorian System which came into effect in 1752 in the British Empire.
These are not problems unique to the LDS Church Family History Centres and indeed all good researchers will always try to verify material they locate by accessing original material.

IGI

2008-06-24T22:17:00.000-07:00

I had a strange request the other day about IGI records. Someone assumed the Library had them all on fiche. It appears there was some confusion as to what the IGI numbers actually were.
IGI stands for the International Genealogical Index, which is a partial index to vital records from around the world. It is one of the world’s largest collection of genealogical records. Information comes from individual research and original records. The majority of the names are from records of people who lived between 1500 and 1885. The index contains:
The names of millions of deceased persons from throughout the world.
Dates and places of births, christenings, marriages, and other events.
Latter-day Saint ordinance information.
Some of the information may have come from microfilm copies of the original records. Because the original records may have been updated by the record custodians, you may find additional, more accurate information in the original records. You may also be able to obtain official copies of the original records by contacting the appropriate record custodian.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often referred to as the LDS) has made the International Genealogical Index (the "IGI") available on the internet at http://www.familysearch.org/ and provided a very effective searching capability. However, it is not always easy to locate your ancestors (even if they are there in the IGI) using the search mechanisms provided at that site. This is because a search by last name only is not permitted unless you search within a single batch of records at a time or, at minimum, across the entire country (not even a single county let alone a town). If you have a rare name this might be OK but what if you are looking for Smith or Jones?
There are the standard warnings about relying on the IGI - as with any secondary source it should only be used as a finding aid and the primary source material should be referred to for definitive information. There ARE mistakes but, nevertheless, used properly it is indispensible.
The LDS has organised the records in the IGI into 'batches'. These batches relate to how and when the information was extracted from source material. This is where Hugh Wallis comes to the rescue at his site http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers.htm , but more of that another time.

Terminology

2008-06-02T23:08:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed while researching your family history that in Australia we refer to Births, Deaths and Marriages, with these life events in alphabetical order, while in other places such as the UK, they refer to Births, Marriages and Deaths, in chronological order of the life events. What difference does it make?

Well it could make a quite a bit of difference if you are trying to find websites, but have inadvertently put in the letters the wrong way round.

Have you checked out http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/ for UK births, marriages & deaths? Does it come close to http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/ NSW births deaths & marriages?