1915 – The landing at Gallipoli. 1916 – The Battle of the Somme. 1940 – The Battle of Britain. 1942 – The Battle of Malta. 1945 – Burma’s liberation from Japan. If ever there was one story of an Anzac who encapsulates both World War I and World War II – whose report card reads Read More
For anyone with ancestors from Sydney, Rookwood General Cemetery may hold clues vital to your family research. Why? Because it’s the largest cemetery from the Victorian era still in operation in the world, with more than one million burials spread across its 200 hectares. Its vast landscaped gardens have become the last resting place for Read More
Parish registers of baptisms, marriages and burials are one of the main staples of the family historian. Anyone tracing their family tree back further than civil registration and the census in England will almost certainly look at these sources. Indeed, many of you will have spent hours scrolling through microfilms of registers in the pursuit Read More
If you are new to the world of family history and DNA, you might not be aware of one of the best offline resources at your disposal – family history societies. Societies have been around for decades and have always been a haven for those of us looking for our ancestors. Prior to the boom Read More
Family historians know the value of a good murder. A death and some intrigue in colonial Australia often left a great paper trail in the records, one that can reveal all sorts of details when you know where to look. Historian Catie Gilchrist, from the University of Sydney is one such person. Catie has always Read More
This month, Ancestry launched 73 new and updated AncestryDNA communities for the UK as part of a global release of over 225 new regions. This is an exciting next step in the journey we are taking with our customers, as we continue to discover more about how our DNA can add to our knowledge and Read More
At least for purposes of research, just about every genealogist rues the ancestor whose last name is common, and therefore hard to trace, and rejoices in their ancestors with more unusual names. While an unusual surname undeniably can make genealogical research easier, it doesn’t corner the market on interesting and informative origins. In Western Europe, Read More
DNA solved a 70-year-old question of whether Loraine Allison survived the Titanic crash. Many have wondered what happened to the two-year-old little girl who disappeared from the crash more than 100 years ago. The story begins with Hudson and Bess taking their two kids, Trevor, seven months, and Loraine, two years of age, across the Read More