Thank you for sending us your latest "Ask the Expert" genealogy questions. Jan Gow has answered your questions on Australian and New Zealand research.
Jan Gow is past treasurer and chairman of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists. She has lectured at local, national and international conferences, made numerous radio appearances and written for national and international magazines. She runs tutorials on the NetGuide website and has a regular column in the magazine.
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We are only able to answer a modest number of questions. If your question is not chosen, we do hope that you will still read the useful advice that the findmypast team give to others, as it may relate to your own research.
Q: I'm having terrible trouble trying to find my Great Grandfather. The information I have been given: his name was Thomas James Green, born 1835/36, from Cornwall, England, parents Samuel Green & Harriet (Reynolds). He came out to Australia in 1856/57, married Mary Ann Green in 1870 at Adaminaby, NSW. Hope you might be able to help me please?
A: NSW has a wonderful online index to the Births, Deaths and Marriages. If you go here you can look for Thomas and Mary Ann. I am torn between giving you the information I have found, or letting you have the pleasure and excitement of finding for yourself!! I am assuming you have your Thomas marrying Mary Ann Green not because this is her maiden surname, but because you do not know her surname? Visit the website and you will see their marriage. I believe her surname is misspelt and it should be VENABLE. Do look at the deaths too - your Thomas is there.
Another great service is that you can pay a transcription agent to look at the registers for you and copy down the information. This is emailed to you. I use Joy Murrin joy@joymurrin.com.au or www.joymurrin.com.au. This is cheaper and quicker than ordering a certificate.
Search the births too. Another great service is that you can click on the column header and sort that column. Look for births for GREEN surname with father Thomas. Click on the District header and alpha sort. Then go to Cooma (close to Adaminaby). Five births there - all could be yours!
Incidentally, Adaminaby is a town that is no more - it was drowned in 1958 as part of the Hydro Electric Scheme. Old site was drowned and much of the town moved to a new site. Now, because of a prolonged drought, the ruins have emerged - petrified machinery, furniture, crockery etc! A wonderful photo of the old Catholic Church - may be the one Thomas and Mary Ann attended. More info here.
Q: I am trying to search for an ancestor - Anne or Annie Isabel Gallagher who was born in Cork & sailed aged 6yrs for Australia, possibly Victoria or South Australia, some time in the 1860s or early 1870s. Can you advise where I might start looking? She married someone named Read and then a Henry Bemrose Coates. It is from this union the family are descended.
A Finding Anne (Annie)'s death registration would be a great start. This may give you information on her parents, her husband, marriage and children. Go to the Office of Consumer and Business Affairs. Click on Births, Deaths & Marriages/Applying for a certificate. Deaths before 1982 are historical, so you can order this certificate. Indexes are available on CD or fiche. Check with your local repositories to see if these are available. Otherwise you could use an Agent. Knowing more about Henry Bemrose Coats could help too, so you could order their marriage certificate, which may give some details about their parents. For Victoria (marriage to 1942, deaths to 1985) - click on Search family history indexes. This is a pay to view site - you pay to search the index. Once you find the entry, order and pay for this, you can download the image.
South Australian Genealogy and Heraldry Society - data bases to search and a $AU5 look up service (pay by Visa or Mastercard). Family History South Australia. Victorian Genealogical Society or Genealogical Society of Victoria.
Always a good idea to join a Mailing List - . The South Australia GenWeb Project.
Knowing which State to search would be a good idea! A quick search of sites did not show a likely entry for Ann(Annie) Gallagher or Henry Coates. Look at Ballarat Genealogical Society or The Genealogy Help Network.
I would look for Henry Coates' death registration too. You just may find out how long they were in Australia before they died which could help find their passenger record. As always with genealogy, finding just one piece of information can lead to much more.
Q: I have managed to trace one of my relatives to Australia. She emigrated in 1967 to Queensland. Do you know of a web site that would be able to trace living relatives for that region?
A: It would be helpful to have a little more information. What age was she when she immigrated? Did she marry in Queensland? Have children? Die - or is there a chance she could be alive still? If married, do you know her married name?
There is a restriction of 100 years for births, 80 years for marriages and 50 years for deaths. So, you would not be able to obtain her marriage or death certificate, but you could contact bdm-mail@justice.qld.gov.au and ask. It would depend on your relationship to this relative.
Some Queensland newspaper death notices are included in the Ryerson Index - so you might find her death here.
Tracing living people is not easy with Privacy Laws we have now. However telephone books, electoral rolls, directories, newspapers can help. You can check the Queensland phone book.
From 1988 Electoral Rolls for the whole State are alphabetical - so if your ancestor was still alive then and you know her name (if she married in Queensland) then you would be able to find where in Queensland she was living.
These rolls are on microfiche at National Archives of Australia (Brisbane Office) and the State Library of Queensland. They are not available online but I suggest you go to www.judywebster.gil.com.au. This site offers lots of very good information on researching in Queensland and Judy offers an excellent research service.
The Queensland Government plans to release, online, historical indexes to Births, Deaths and Marriages - these will cover 1800-1929 so, again too early for your ancestor. See www.justice.qld.gov.au/bdm
Finally, it’s always a good idea to join a Mailing List - www.rootsweb.com/~ausqld2. If your ancestor is still alive or has living relatives, they could already be searching for you!
