Irish Family History Speakers Visiting New Zealand
Irish Family History Speakers Visiting New Zealand
The 12th Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations (AFFHO) Congress, a premier event for Historians and Family Historians, is held every three years. In 2009 it will be held in New Zealand for the first time in twelve years and will take place at Kings College, Auckland from 16-20th January 2009. This event is being hosted by the New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG)
The theme of the Congress is Preserving the past for the future.
We are anticipating that 400 - 600 people will attend. We have arranged a programme that includes over thirty international and local speakers. A wide selection of lectures and workshops are available to attendees and the programme will be complemented by trade displays.
We wish to encourage people from all walks of life to take advantage of this unique opportunity to gain knowledge and understanding of their heritage.
If you are able to promote this event through your business and contacts we would really appreciate it. Should you have any queries regarding this please check our website www.affhocongress2009.org
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The following speakers and their topics may be of interest to your audience:
John Grenham - is the author of
numerous books, including Tracing your Irish Ancestors (3rd
ed.
Dublin 2006),and Irish Ancestors (Gill & MacMillan,
2004), as well as the CD-ROM Grenham’s Irish
Surnames
(Eneclann, 2003). In association with The Irish Times, he
runs the “Irish Ancestors” website.
Whatever
you’re having yourself: Irish census
substitutes
The talk includes a brief summary of the
better-known census substitutes, but focuses on more useful
and lesser-known records, including the Loan Funds, the
Charleton Marriage Fund, agricultural surveys, official
petitions and electoral records. Since the range of records
is by definition infinite, a complete account is mpossible;
the aim of the talk is to sketch the main areas in which
these records are being uncovered, to how how they can be
used, and to bring hope to those who have run out of the
standard Irish sources.
Naming of the Green – Irish
Place Names and Surnames
Beginning with an overview
of hereditary naming practices, the talk focuses on the
distinctiveness of Irish patronymics, “O” and “Mac”;
the division and subdivision of tribal patronymics, with
examples including the O’Neills, Hegartys, O’Kanes and
O’Donnells; genealogy in early Ireland and its relation to
naming traditions; Norman influences and the linguistic
background; anglicisation: translation, transliteration and
distortion. A section on place names then gives a summary of
Irish territorial divisions, their origins and genealogical
relevance. The final section deals with the connections
between place names and surnames, focusing on the
territoriality of Irish surnames, with specific examples
from Longford, Donegal and Kerry.
Chasing shadows:
Irish genealogy online
For a variety of reasons, few
large sets of Irish genealogical records are available
online. However, there are many highly-valuable local or
partial record-sets, which can be difficult to track down.
The workshop will start with an outline of the main Irish
records and where any online transcripts can be found, and
will proceed to guided hands-on research. Participants will
receive complementary subscriptions to the ireland.com Irish
Ancestors site."
Improving the Poor: Irish Loan Fund
Records
Irish Loan Funds, in particular the
Reproductive Loan Fund, can provide wonderful information on
the rural poor in the 1830s and 1840s. The lecture describes
the background to the records, their formats and locations,
and outlines the best ways of using them.
Sherry Irvine, is an internationally known author, lecturer, and teacher specialising in British Isles family history. She has lectured in Australia and New Zealand, Canada, USA and in London. Her articles appear in several publications, electronic and print, including Ancestors Magazine and Ancestry Weekly Journal.
Irish Church Records:
Guaranteeing a Complete Search
The workshop
demonstrates how to determine exactly what survives for five
denominations. It begins with how to identify the churches
that ancestors may have attended and what sources, online
and published, indicate the extent and location of surviving
records. There is advice about using resources of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and those of heritage
centres and archives in Ireland.
The purpose of the workshop is entirely practical and two-fold. First, dispel the myth about avoiding Irish research because nothing survives and secondly show there are straight-forward steps to discovering the situation for your research problems. There is an added benefit—once the importance of ensuring “complete” searches is understood it will be beneficial to all research in Ireland.
Visiting Kin - Facts and
Fun with Family Travellers
Many years before
computers I found a collateral relation visiting in England
in 1851. That took time and effort. Today it is easy to
check for travelling kin in census and passenger records,
and use the facts to solve problems. This lecture presents
new ideas for searching online censuses and passenger lists
that may get you out of genealogical trouble
Dr Jennifer Harrison is an historian associated with The University of Queensland and since 1987 has been this State's researcher for the Australian Dictionary of Biography for the Australian National University in Canberra. In addition she was the Queensland researcher for the New Zealand Dictionary of Biography. In 2006 she delivered presentations at Ulster universities and in the course of several previous visits, at academic conferences in Dublin, Maynooth, Cork, Limerick and Galway.
More
than maps Using Irish Ordnance Survey records
While
researchers may use Ordnance Survey maps, many may not
utilise other products which emanated from the years when
Ireland was mapped. The Memoirs series was augmented by the
Name Books and the Letters. Several of these have been
reprinted and available in many libraries. These invaluable
items will assist in acquiring the essential knowledge of
location required for undertaking Irish research.
Todd Knowles is a member of the British Reference staff of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City Utah. He is an Accredited Genealogist, specializing in the British Isles and in Jewish genealogy.
A taste of National Archives
in England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand
This workshop will delve in to the records
and resources that are available in the archives preserved
by most national archives. Just which records are always
preserved, what are some of the special records that each
country stores. The access to these records and how this
differs from country to country. What is available in the
Family History Library in Salt Lake City. And, especially,
what is available on line for these countries.
A taste
of Civil Registration in England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand.
What is Civil
Registration and when did it start and under what
circumstances and what information was and is collected in
these countries. Are there special years when the
information requested changed? What are the special
differences between the countries. What has been preserved
and how do we access the information - both at home via the
internet and away when we are visiting our countries or the
Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
Geraldene O’Reilly was born in Wellington, lived in Auckland for 15 years and currently resides at Cambridge in the Waikato. She has had a long standing association with the NZSG and was instrumental in the formation of the Irish Interest Group (Waikato). Geraldene has spoken on Irish research at NZSG Conferences and to various NZSG branches throughout N.Z and since 2004 has conducted classes on Irish research for the NZSG Education department.
Irish Emigration:
Nominated & assisted immigrants to New Zealand
Ships
Passengers Lists are the main source of information on Irish
Immigrants arriving in New Zealand. However there are other
resources such as Nomination lists, Promissory Notes and
Treasury Account Books that can reveal additional details on
Irish family links. British Parliamentary Papers and
Government letters contain nomination lists, some of these
documents for the period prior to the Immigration &Public
Works Act of
1870.
ENDS