Sticky Notes

We hope you enjoyed our first family history podcast and thanks...

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:50:46 +1100

We hope you enjoyed our first family history podcast and thanks to everyone who submitted questions for our April edition.

This month, Ancestry’s Brad has answered your questions on convicts, immigration, Irish ancestry and more.

Got a question for Brad? Simply post it on our Facebook page, use the Twitter hashtag #AskAncestryAU or submit via Tumblr.

Thanks to everyone who submitted questions for our new family...

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 09:36:26 +1100

Thanks to everyone who submitted questions for our new family history podcast. We are pleased to introduce our first recording featuring Brad Argent, Ancestry’s Content Director.

Brad has answered your questions around researching Irish ancestry, immigration records, search tips, Member Connect, Canadian ancestry and more.

Got a question for Brad? Simply post it on our Facebook page, use the Twitter hashtag #AskAncestryAU or submit via Tumblr.

150 years of the London Underground

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 10:55:00 +1100

This week marks 150 years of the London Underground. The first underground journey took place between Paddington and Farringdon on the Metropolitan Railway on 9th January 1863.

We found this old postcard of Piccadilly Station in our UK and Ireland Historical Postcards collection which is free to search online.

Elvis Presley

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 08:31:50 +1100

Happy birthday to Elvis Presley, born on this day, 8 January, in 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi. Here he is on the 1940 US Census with parents Vernon Elvis and Gladys Love, aged 5.

Elvis went on to become one of the most popular musicians of the 20th century.

He married Pricilla Ann Beaulieu in Nevada in 1967 and had daughter Lisa Marie in 1968.They divorced in 1972, shown below in the California Divorce Index, 1966-1984.

Elvis died in 1977, aged 42.

Louisa Collins

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 15:11:15 +1100

On this day, 8 January, in 1889, Louisa Collins was hanged in Darlinghurst Gaol, the last woman to be hanged in NSW. Dubbed as “Lucretia Borgia of Botany”, Lucia poisoned her two husbands and son with rat poison.

Here she is in the NSW, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930. Her height has been recorded as 5 foot 3 1/2 inches, with black hair and brown eyes.

Under the execution date, it is noted that His Honor the Chief Justice Darley said “I hold out a hope of mercy for you on earth”.

Mary Christmas

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 11:10:15 +1100

You may remember this time last year, we came across Santa Claus in the 1930 U.S. Census alongside his wife Mabel and 6 children.

This year, we have found Mary Christmas. A number of them in fact.

There is Mary Christmas, aged 39, on the NSW, Assisted Immigrant Passenger List, 1828-1896 with her husband Robert and 4 children including another Mary.

Then there is Mary Christmas, aged 59, from Hawthorn in Victoria who is listed in the Australian Electoral Rolls, 1903. Her occupation is shown as ‘home duties’ and she is living with Samuel Frederick Christmas, presumably her husband.

And it’s not just in Australia. Mary Christmas from Utah is shown on the 1940 U.S. Census. Kent born Mary Christmas can be found in the England and Wales, Birth Index in 1920 and Mary Christmas from Islington is included in the London Electoral Registers, 1832-1965.

Any seasonal names in your family tree? Let us know on our Facebook Wall.

Real James Bond Uncovered

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 09:03:54 +1100

Sidney Reilly, the secret agent widely believed to be the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s legendary character James Bond, has been uncovered in one of our collections.

The record (shown above) was found in the British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 collection, which details the medal entitlement of more than 4.8 million WWI soldiers. It reveals that Reilly’s Military Cross was issued for service in the Royal Flying Corps.

Sidney Reilly, known as the ‘Ace of Spies’, was an agent for Scotland Yard’s Special Branch who in 1918 joined Sir Mansfield Smith-Cumming, the first director of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), as an operative for MI1 (a predecessor to MI6). His friend Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart knew Ian Fleming for many years and told him of Reilly’s espionage exploits. Later Fleming allegedly mentioned to a colleague at The Sunday Times that he had created Bond after hearing about Reilly.

In typical secret-agent fashion, much of Reilly’s life is shrouded in mystery. It is alleged that he worked undercover and stole revolutionary aircraft engine parts and weapon plans from the Germans before the First World War even began. He was then dispatched on counter-Bolshevik operations in Germany and Russia during the conflict itself.

Reilly’s medal was awarded for his “distinguished services rendered in connection with military operations in the field”, which are said to have included parachuting behind enemy lines and disguising himself as a German officer in order to obtain undercover information.

His record is one of thousands of medal cards online, revealing the medals awarded to each First World War soldier. In addition, more than 50,000 of these cards also list details of covert operations undertaken or letters from next of kin on their reverse side, meaning thousands of people today can track down find the spy in their own family.

Ancestry.com.au’s researchers have also found another interesting James Bond-related fact; Daniel Craig is actually the half 19^th cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, his on-screen partner in crime during the acclaimed opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Brad Argent, Ancestry.com.au Content Director for Australia and New Zealand, comments: “James Bond himself would have been proud of this discovery – uncovering the ‘real’ James Bond among the millions of World War I records online. The information contained on thousands of the medal cards available at Ancestry can help anyone find the ‘Bond’ in their own family tree.”

Queen Victoria in the 1841 England Census

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 13:01:00 +1000

Census records are a wonderful resource for family historians and help you discover details like the names, ages, birthplaces, occupations and relationships of your ancestors.

Even Queen Victoria herself was included in the 1841 England Census along with Prince Albert at Buckingham Palace (record shown above). Also present in the Palace on the night of Sunday, June 6th 1841 are the Earl of Aboyne whose occupation is listed as “Lord in Waiting”, a number of Queen’s messengers, valets and footmen.

Uncover the different generations of your family in census records from England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, covering every decade from 1841-1912. Start searching.

Immigrant Ancestors

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 11:16:00 +1000

As a nation of immigrants, most of our families have come from somewhere else. How many nationalities make up who you are? We’re keen to find stories of members with mixed ancestry showing the rich tapestry of nationalities that make up Australia and New Zealand.

If you have an interesting mix of ancestry and would like to share your story, we want to hear from you! Simply Submit Your Story and remember to add a photo of your ancestor if you have one.

1940 Census Indexing at Ancestry.com Now 70% Complete

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 02:45:00 +1000

Last night Ancestry.com posted images from twelve more states, bringing the total to 37 states and the District of Columbia. With 70% of the images now indexed, you’re chances are better than ever for finding family. Newly added is Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Utah.

Take a look at some of the notable names we found in this release.

Chuck Norris
You don’t enumerate Chuck Norris; he enumerates you. OK, so that’s probably not true. Since Carlos Ray “Chuck” Norris was only 0/12 of a year old, he probably wasn’t wielding a pen, a sword, or any other weapon. But by 1950, we bet he was already kicking some butt and taking names.

Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite was already reporting the news in 1940, working as a newspaper writer for a news service in Kansas City, Missouri. And that’s the way it is April 2, 1940.

Tom Brokaw
Another award-winning newscaster was just getting his start in life. Thomas J. Brokaw is listed as a “permanent guest” in a hotel in Bristol, Day Co., South Dakota, age 1/12 of a year. We’re glad he decided to venture away from that hotel so that he could bring us the news in a career that has spanned five decades.

Johnny Cash
The “man in black” was just a boy age eight when the census taker came to call in 1940. His dad earned $140 a year as a laborer in a public school to support his wife and five children, and reported additional income, probably from the farm they lived on.

Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon (John Uhler Lemmon III) was no grumpy old man in 1940. He was only 15 and is enumerated with his parents. His father made more than $5,000 that year as a retail and wholesale salesman in the flower industry.

Leonard Nimoy
As Spock, Leonard Nimoy once said, “Insufficient facts always invite danger.” We can’t tell whether it was insufficient facts or just poor recording that led the enumerator to not only list Leonard’s last name as Mimony, but to also list him as female and the “granddaughter” of the head of household (his mother Dora’s father). While not exactly dangerous, it did make it harder to locate him.

Angie Dickinson
Angeline Brown, age eight, living in Edgeley, LaMoure Co., North Dakota, would not stay there for long. In 1942 the family would move to Burbank, California and Angeline would go on to become the movie and TV star that most of us know as Angie Dickinson.

Glen Campbell
The “Rhinestone Cowboy” was living on Bills Delight Road, in Saline, Pike County, Arkansas in 1940, the seventh son of Wesley and Carrie Campbell. His father, a farmer, reported working 60 hours during the week of March 24-30 of that year.

Harry S. Truman
The 33rd president of the United States was a senator in 1940, five years before being elected to the country’s highest office. He’s living in the house at 219 N. Delaware St. in Independence, Missouri—a house built by his wife Bess’ grandfather. This was the Truman family home when they weren’t living in Washington, D.C. His census record indicates that he had four years of high school. He is the only 20th century president that didn’t get a college degree.

Find your family in the 1940 U.S. Census.

Captain N.R. Howse

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:27:58 +1000

On this day, 24 July 1900, Sir Neville Reginald Howse (pictured above) became the first soldier in Australian services to be awarded a Victoria Cross medal - Britain’s highest award for valour “in the face of the enemy”.

Born in Somerset, England, in 1863, Howse studied medicine in London before migrating to Australia. He served in the Second Boer War with the NSW Army Medical Corps.

On 24 July 1900, under heavy cross-fire he went to rescue a fallen trumpeter. When his horse was shot beneath him, he continued on foot and on reaching the casualty, dressed his wound and carried him to safety.

Howse died in September 1930, aged 66.

You can have a look at the names, gravesites and other details for the recipients of the Victoria Cross in our UK, Victoria Cross Medals, 1857 - 2007 collection.

Happy Birthday Ernest Hemingway

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:33:00 +1000

Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on this day, 21 July in 1899 in Chicago, USA, to Clarence Edmond and Grace Hall Hemingway.

After high school, Hemingway left for the Italian front, enlisting with the World War 1 ambulance drivers. In 1918, he was seriously wounded and returned home. He is shown in the 1920 US Census above, with his occupation was listed as “none”.

Hemingway went on to marry 4 times, published 7 novels and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He died in July 1961, aged 61.

Matthew Flinders

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 10:08:14 +1000

Captain Matthew Flinders died on this day, 19^th July, in 1814.

Born in England in 1774, Flinders was the first explorer to circumnavigate Australia and identify it as a continent.

He is shown above in the NSW, Colonial Secretary’s Papers in 1798 on a list of grants and leases of land registered in the Colonial Secretary’s Office.

On his return to England in 1803, Flinders was held captive in Mauritius for 6 years. It was during this time that he started his famous book and atlas, A Voyage to Terra Australis.

There are numerous places in Australia that have been named after Matthew Flinders – the most famous being Flinders Island in Bass Strait.

Two New Zealand V.C.s in One Day

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 11:19:00 +1000

The UK, Victoria Cross Medals, 1857-2007 collection lists the recipients of the Victoria Cross (VC), Britain’s highest award for valour “in the face of the enemy”.

On 15 July 1942, two New Zealanders distinguished themselves and were recognised with the Victoria Cross.

Sergeant Keith Elliot (pictured above) was awarded the Victoria Cross after he led a bayonet charge, despite being wounded, which resulted in the capture of four enemy machine-gun posts, an anti-tank gun and fifty prisoners. He refused medical aid until he had reformed his men and handed over the prisoners, which amounted to over 130.

Captain Charles Upham (pictured above) is the only combat soldier, and the third ever, to have been awarded a second Victoria Cross medal, the first being in 1941. In July 1942, he personally destroyed a German tank, several guns and vehicles, despite a broken arm.

Charles Upham died in Christchurch in 1994, aged 86.

You can view names, photos, grave sites and other details of the recipients of the VC in the Victoria Cross Medals, 1857-2007 collection.

Ben Chifely

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 12:08:38 +1000

On this day, 13th July, in 1945, Ben Chifley became the 16th Australian Prime Minister.

Joseph Benedict Chifley was born on 22 September 1885 in Bathurst, NSW. He was an engine driver for many years before becoming Prime Minister after the death of John Curtin in 1945.

He is shown above in a 1930 Australian Electoral Roll with his wife Elizabeth.

Ben Chifley was Prime Minister until December 1949 and died in June 1951, aged 65.

Did you know we have a number of historical postcards on...

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 12:45:22 +1000

Did you know we have a number of historical postcards on Ancestry.com.au? You can search for postcards from Australia, the UK and Ireland, Canada, the USA and more.

If you do not already have pictures of the places your ancestors lived, historical postcards are a good alternative to personal photos.

They are also fun to look and spot changes in cityscapes over the years. The postcard above of the Sydney Botanical Gardens and Circular Quay looks like it’s missing something but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is…

Historic Law Breakers and Mischief Makers Revealed

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 16:36:00 +1000

We recently added over 67,000 prisoner records and mug-shots of Victorian criminals with the Dorset, England Prison Admission and Discharge Registers 1782-1901 and Dorset, England, Calendar of Prisoners, 1854-1904.

These records provide a vivid glimpse into the world of Victorian crime with the prisoners included convicted for a variety of offences.

Those convicted of minor crimes such as petty theft and drunkenness were forced to face the wrath of the Victorian judicial service - crimes which today would likely receive a far lesser sentence. Examples include -

Samuel Baker – aged 73, Samuel Baker was sentenced to nine months’ hard labour after breaking into a house to steal two brushes, some vests, and a pair of stockings in 1893.
Charles Wood – this unemployed local drunk was sentenced to one month in prison for ‘refusing to quit the beer-house’, in 1872.
George Pill (shown above)– aged just 18, soldier George Pill stole a donkey from neighbour in 1894, resulting in a punishment of six weeks’ hard labour.

Examples of dangerous criminals in the records guilty of crimes such as arson and murder include:

James Seal – in 1858, labourer James Seal was found guilty of the wilful murder of Sarah Ann Guppy. He received the death penalty for his crime, and was sentenced to be hanged.

William Parsons (shown above)– this labourer was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1891 for committing arson, after he ‘maliciously and feloniously’ set fire to a neighbour’s barn.

These records are of particular value to family historians as they pre-date Civil Registration so you can delve deeper into the past than other historical records allow.

Let us know if you uncover a convict ancestor on our Facebook wall!

Love separated by 10,000 miles and The Great Depression

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 15:29:13 +1000

David Brown, along with his mother, brothers and sisters, decided to emigrate from Dundee in Scotland to Perth, Western Australia in 1929. They had been working in Dundee within the jute industry, but the industry was on the decline, and the Australian Government was encouraging migrants to settle in Australia by paying most of their fare.

David Brown was only 19 when he left Scotland, but he was already engaged to be married to Madge MacKenzie. Madge’s father had emigrated to Perth as well, and the plan was for Madge to follow her father and fiance the next year.

However, the Great Depression hit in 1929 and the assisted immigration scheme shut down. Madge was stranded in Dundee. Her family in Australia tried to save enough money to get her out, but the depression made this difficult. It took seven years for Madge to make it to Perth where she eventually married her fiance, David, in 1838.

The story was not such a happy one for David’s older brother Thomas who had also emigrated to Perth. He also left behind a loved one. Tom had married Jane Ogilvie, who was 4 months pregnant, just before he left for Australia. Jane stayed in Dundee to look after her sick father and, although Tom kept trying to get her over to Australia, by the time they could manage it, too many years had passed and they divorced. Their daughter grew up in Dundee, and died in 2009, having never known her father.

Thanks to Ancestry.com.au, David Brown’s grandson, David, has recently contacted Tom’s grand-daughter in Scotland, and David has been sharing family memories and photos of Tom.

Happy Birthday George Orwell

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 11:16:04 +1000

Eric Arthur Blair, better known by his pen name George Orwell, was born on this day, 25 June in 1903 in India.

He moved to England at the age of one and is shown below on the 1911 England and Wales Census, aged 7, with his mother Ida, sister Avril and 2 servants.

Eric Blair went on to become a renowned author and journalist, best known for his novels Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, which together sold more copies than any two books by any other 20th century author.

He died in January 1950, aged 46.

Look who's in the 1940 US Census

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 10:39:00 +1000

We have recently added the 1940 US Federal Census to Ancestry.com.au with the states of New York, Washington DC, Delaware, Maine and Nevada currently searchable by name.

Here are just a handful of recognizable names we’ve discovered in Washington DC and New York.

Washington DC

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

President Franklin Roosevelt and wife Eleanor are in the White House, just where you’d expect them.

Marvin Gaye

The census taker arrived at the Gay family residence on Marvin’s first birthday April 2, where Marvin was enumerated along with his father Marvin Sr., who was a preacher, his mother, Alberta, and one brother and one sister.

J. Edgar Hoover

Living alone at 413 Seward Square in Washington, D.C., Hoover, the FBI director, had been leading the bureau (formerly the Bureau of Investigation) since he was appointed director in 1924 by Calvin Coolidge, and he would continue in that role until his death in 1972.

New York

Katherine Hepburn

“The Great Kate” was in New York acting in the stage version of The Philadelphia Story, which had closed its year-long run at the Shubert Theater just a few days before the census was taken. She wouldn’t be in New York for long though, as she needed to be back in Hollywood where the movie version of The Philadelphia Story began filming in July of that year.

John D. Rockefeller Jr.

The philanthropist and iconic businessman had driven “The Last Rivet” in the final original building in Rockefeller Center the previous year and was basking in the success of his now-thriving “city within a city.”

Billie [Elnora] Holiday

Born Eleanora Harris, Billie lists her occupation as a singer in a night club, and is living with her mother, Sadie, and friend and fellow musician, Irene Wilson.

The 1940 US Census is free to search on Ancestry.com.au. Let us know on Facebook if you make any discoveries!