New Year - New Information

 Happy New Year and welcome to 2024.  A new year brings with it new information for genealogists in Australia so what follows is a list of recommendations to start 2024 off well.

1.  If you are not already subscribed to the TROVE newsletter, get on the list now!  You will be updated with all the new pieces of information going on to the site, keep an eye out for newspapers etc. in the areas where your ancestors lived.  By the way, there are some great pieces of information you will come across along the way, here is one on vintage knitting patterns. 

2.  Australian BDM's now have more records as one more year has been added.  Births go up to 1923, Deaths to 1993, and Marriages to 1973.  So you may just be able to confirm a few more dates.

3.  Another year of Australian National Archives information has been freed up.  If you had a parliamentarian in the family you may be interested in the cabinet records from 30 years ago, most other things are available after 20 years.

4. From January 1 the NSW State Archives are opening up public access to records after 20 years.  This means another 10 years of records are open in 2024 as previously the withholding period was 30 years.  A full 10 years to explore.

5.  There are lots of new genealogy podcasts, so try a new one and maybe you will get a new perspective or a clue for your research.  Most national archives in countries all around the world have podcasts, so that may be a good place to begin.  If you are not in any facebook genealogy groups, now is the time to try some out.  I find the team at Australian family History Genealogy Research a very helpful group.

6. Why not sign up to a bunch of genealogy newsletters and see which ones are for you?  Simply unsbuscribe for the ones you don't need.  Try out lost cousins and see who you find.

7. Now is the time to check those National Archive files that have not been digitised in the past.  The NAA is digitising files every day, and your ancestor just might be one of them.

8. Finaly, make this year to set a genealogy goal and go for it.  If you need help, try libraries, local history groups, genealogy groups on Facebook and connect with others researching.  If you are researching in Australia, search my website for some help (eg. Military or Immigration)

Happy New Year. 💖