When Alice Anderson was found dead in her garage in 1926 it made headlines around Australia. Why? Was it because she was the nation’s first female mechanic – an astute businesswoman who trained and gave female mechanics an opportunity to work in the male-dominated industry? Or was it because her death was a mystery – Read More
For many Australians, stumbling across a convict in your family tree is a joyous occasion; after all, convicts put their blood, sweat and the occasional tear into building this country. However, we often gloss over the fact that many of these convicts were habitual or opportunistic criminals who found their way down under through a Read More
Why is August to important in family history circles? It’s National Family History Month (NFHM) – an initiative by the Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations (AFFHO)! AFFHO is organising and facilitating the initiative via the NFHM website. It is hoped that 2018 is the biggest year yet in terms of interest and number of Read More
Has Ancestry helped you learn something interesting about your family? Or did you receive surprising AncestryDNA results? Perhaps you’ve connected with long lost relatives? Or been inspired to travel somewhere new? Nothing speaks to the power of Ancestry better than our very own members and we’re currently in search of the most compelling and unique Read More
With Australia’s next census fast approaching we thought it might be worth revisiting the first census held in Australia way back in November 1828. Prior to 1828 the colony’s population was originally counted through musters however these only focused on parts of the total population. Musters excluded military personnel, and free settlers could not be Read More
Australia is famous for its convict beginnings, but it has never really stopped being a nation of immigrants. Since October 1945, more than 7.2 million people have migrated to the country. Australians can search 275 databases and more than 200 million records dating from 1606 to 1974 to unlock clues about how their ancestors came to Read More
This week we asked our Facebook community what surnames appear in their family tree and here’s what they told us… With 36% of Aussies claiming English ancestry, it is not surprising that the most popular surnames are English, with Smith being no.1, followed by Williams, White and Jones. Walker, Clark, Brown, Martin and Taylor are also Read More
The Ancestry.com.au team were honoured to meet the British archaeologist who helped unearth the remains of King Richard III from a Leicester car park. Dr. Appleby’s team recently solved the 500-year-old mystery of King Richard III’s final resting place — they found and identified his remains in the ruins of a Greyfriars church, buried beneath Read More
Last week we asked our Facebook community to “Describe your family history journey in 3 words” and here’s what they said… We got lots of wonderful responses which encapsulate the genealogy journey – An addictive adventure Fascinating, remarkable and life changing Mysterious, revealing, intriguing Addictive, interesting, fun Eye-opening, fascinating, hilarious frustrating, enlightening, rewarding Enlightening, uplifting Read More
From Brad Argent, Content Director, Ancestry.com.au The internet is a great way to get started on your family history, and nothing beats digging up the evidence of your ancestors from the comfort of your own home. However the past is huge and there is much of it that will never grace the pages of the Read More