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From: "Perplexed" <>
Subject: [AUS-QLD-BRISBANE] NLA newspaper digitisation project - a greatsite for information on family members & online access to databases
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2008 22:44:31 +1100


Apologies for cross-posting, but I think the site I'm writing about is one
of huge interest and great value to family history researchers in Australia.



It's specifically Australian, doesn't cost to use and I have to say I've
been having an absolutely great time browsing family names and locations

from the newspaper digitisation project being run by the National Library of
Australia. See

http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home



I cannot praise the project too highly. It's given me absolutely unexpected
views of what my families throughout Australia

did in everything from their spare time to their working habits. I know
from family history that my Bouffiers from the

Hunter Valley were wine makers, that's why they were brought out from
Germany. But, the NLA project has fleshed my knowledge

out much more than this, showing they won numerous medals for their wines
both in Australia as well as at exhibitions overseas. They

also exported wine to Europe during the 1880s and 1890s. I've just finished
reading an interesting article about the value of exports to

Australia and the need for quality in those exports, particularly aimed at
the wine industry.



In relation to the Bouffier's spare time, I've found out family members
helped set up the local cricket club, played intercolonial football,

polo and a couple of family members were in the habit of writing rather
stroppy letters to the editor complaining about a range of things

which apparently annoyed them. I didn't know any of these things before I
started browsing the NLA site.



I've also found my great grandfather James Whiteford, born Melbourne in the
1850s but who worked as a policeman in far north Queensland.



He's mentioned in police despatches reported in the newspapers of the day.
The newspaper provide details of government

appointments e.g. James was appointed the registrar of births and deaths,
but not marriages in Coen and the assistant registrar of slaughter

houses for Coen as well. I have scans through the family of shares he had
in the Great Northern Mine. From the newspaper digitisation

project, I've found much more information about the Great Northern Mine
itself.



There are a couple of extremely graphic and horrifying articles about his
police work which give a much more in depth look at his life and

work than I previously knew (and possibly wanted to know!).



My Whitefords came into Melbourne originally. The NLA site has given me
information about the property they had in Malvern and its sale

in the early 1900s, details I didn't have previously.



This is a fabulous resource - I cannot stress too highly how good it is,
even as a beta project with issues around the digitisation. It gave me

a completely different picture of, and knowledge about, family members.



It's also really interesting reading from a perspective of the 21st Century.
An article I was reading tonight was about one of the intercolonial

football matches between NSW and Queensland. It goes into some detail about
the "lovely ladies" who attended the match and their finery.



In terms of searching, there are a huge range of options. You can search by
name, property name, ship names, location e.g. Malvern, Coen or Cooktown
etc.

You can choose to look only at certain papers, you can look at decades, at
individual years etc. I've found family land records, sales records of

everything from land, to horses, to hogsheads of wine.



It's also a work in progress. When I first browsed a few weeks ago for
Bouffier there were approximately 90 mentions, there are now 152, without

looking at variations such as Buffier. So keep visiting and enjoy!!!!



For names such as McGrath, search using M'Grath, as this also bring up hits.



It also can be used to search for information about overseas conditions and
areas of interest. While I have in excess of 4000 hits for Coen which I
will make my way

through there are over 56,000 hits for Ireland.



Now I don't plan to look at all of those but more of interest to me is that
a search for "Famine Ireland" brings up 1,200 references. A search for
Invernessshire

brings up around 90 hits. It opens up a world of information online for
people. I think we should spread the word about the site around the
Australian family

history area of interests.



One other point - get a reader's card for the National Library - any
Australian resident can do this now. They now have a great range of online
information and

databases for browsing, including a number of family history / genealogy
websites. See the NLA home page for this.



Cheers all



Anne



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