Proformat
News ISSN
1833-9514News
February
seminars
There are no seminars scheduled.
Web site update
The biography of Professor T Brailsford Robertson has
been added and can be accessed via South Australian chronology under European influence or Some South Australian contributors to society.
Privacy and Irish
research
As if it is not already difficult to undertake research in Ireland,
the Republic is debating a privacy bill that will make it illegal to
access public records for personal information of living people. Of
course here in Australia we have had this impediment for over 5 years!
1911 English/Welsh Census
The National Archives must supply SOME information
from the 1911 Census in response to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.
This service will be able, from 17 January 2007 at a cost
of £45 per address search. Sensitive information will be redacted
from the data given to the recipient.
Note that until the census is fully digitised searches can only be
made using addresses and not surnames. Searches must be made
using the special online census search request forms that will be made
available on TNA’s web site in January.
See the 1911
FAQ for more information on making a search request
Newspapers
Someone once said that you cannot believe anything you read
in newspapers except the date and it is wise to check on that once
in a while! As long as you keep this concept in the back of your mind,
newspapers can open up many useful leads for the family history researcher.
In this issue:
News
•
February
seminars
• Web site update
• Privacy and Irish research
• 1911 English Welsh Census
Newspapers
Graham Jaunay wishes all
subscribers a happy 2007.
Adelaide
Proformat
5 Windana Mews
Glandore SA 5037
Australia
Tel: +61 8 8371 4465
Fax: +61 8 8374 4479
proformat@jaunay.com
Services
• Research
• Drafting charts
• Locating documents
• Seminar presentations
• Writing & publishing
• SA lookup service
• Ship paintings
Prior to World War 2 many regional towns, political groups and religious denominations maintained newspapers. The demise of many came with the improved communication that allowed major city papers to be distributed quickly and the development of radio and later television news broadcasts.
As a rule of thumb, the researcher should look for the appropriate regional or church newspaper rather than the major dailies published in the capital cities. A staunch supporter in a small church in a country town who worked hard all their life in the community is going to be recognised by the local community.
The best way to locate newspapers is through the state libraries all of which specialise in collecting the published newspapers for their state. Usually this means a visit to the library concerned because unless you know the name of the newspaper concerned you will need the help of a librarian to track it down as most online catalogues cannot assist.
A list of South Australian newspapers from 1836 sorted by region is available on the Graham Jaunay's web site.
Family historians will find two particularly useful sections within newspapers:
• personal notices and especially births, deaths, marriages and funeral notices
• obituaries
Personal notices reached their zenith in the twentieth century when personal incomes and classified advertisement charges reached a level that allowed average people to post a notice. Of the personal notices, in SA the most useful are the death/funeral notices which often name the members of the family but more importantly the cemetery which cannot be found in death certificates until 1948. Of course all personal notices come into their own once a researcher comes to the embargoed period for modern births, marriages and deaths. Earlier notices of births and marriages have lost much of their usefulness with the advent of the excellent indexes from SAGHS which are so informative.
In earlier times the costs often prevented the placement of a notice and I suspect with the falling popularity of newspapers today we will see a corresponding decline in notices being posted. There are a few indexes available and those that are available are more likely to relate to the papers in larger towns and cities. In South Australia only a handful of papers have been indexed and all indexes are partial only.
The importance of obituaries cannot be under estimated. Many nineteenth century obituaries will fill that black hole created by the lack of detail in shipping records and may allow the researcher to determine their ancestor's origins as well as interesting aspects of their lives. Obituaries are very much the result of the contribution the deceased has made to their society. The rich and famous will often feature but readers should not discount that many people made contributions to their community who then saw fit to submit an obituary. Readers should attempt to trace the small regional and religious newspapers for an improved chance of finding these records.
A list of a number of published obituaries (about 4500) in South Australian newspapers is available on the Adelaide Proformat web site. These have been compiled incidentally over the last decade while undertaking newspaper-based work for clients when a note has been made of obits sighted. In the past month these have all been checked against the SA Death Index and then published on the web site. While this index will indicate an obit exists you will need to pay a fee to get the precise edition details or a transcription.
The other feature of newspapers is of course the news. While your family is unlikely to be featured in the news columns, you can still get an indication of their life experiences by reading their local newspapers. Sometimes the event being reported may be significant and affect the whole community and although your family may not be named, they certainly would have experienced the event. A typical example (and topical since we have just celebrated the 50th anniversary) has to be the 1956 Murray floods that devastated every community along that mighty river. In other sections of the newspaper you will find people named in court proceedings and not necessarily for anything other than being a witness or victim of a crime.
Newspapers are indeed a great resource for family historians.