New Churchill Book to be launched Tuesday

A new local history book "Street and Place Names of Churchill" is being launched at the Churchill ComTown Hall on Tuesday at 11am.

Churchill's Rob de Souza-Daw has been undertaking research about Churchill for several years, and he has detailed that research in his new book.

The book, which includes 100 photographs and four maps, will be launched on 18 May from 11am in the Churchill Town Hall.

Finding People in History

Over the next couple of months, we will be voting in both Victorian &  Federal elections. You can find information about the electoral process on the websites of the Australian and Victorian Electoral Commissions.
Electoral Rolls are a useful research tool for both family and local history researchers as they place people at a particular place in time.
Ancestry Library edition, which you can access through most public libraries in Victoria, includes Australian Electoral Rolls, 1903-1954. This database contains selected Australian electoral rolls, with the exception of South Australia. Ancestry also includes New South Wales, Australia Historical Electoral Rolls, 1842-1864.
Electoral rolls were compiled by each state during election years to determine the number and names of individuals eligible to vote. Information listed in electoral rolls usually includes: name of voter, gender, address, and occupation.

Our Community in wartime

With Anzac Day just round the corner, it is worth mentioning the National Archives and the War Memorial websites as sources of information about our service men and women. It is also worth visiting our local historical societies to view the resources they have showing how their local communities coped during the war. Traralgon Historical Society's website has an interesting article about Armistice Night 1918 and Morwell Historical Society's website includes information about local servicemen during Boer War and the Great War.

Irish research

Earlier this month Ancestry.com online published the Ireland, Famine Relief Commission Papers. According to Ancestry Blog, these "fantastically rich collection of Irish records 7,000 original letters were written by Irish citizens who were requesting help during the Great Famine in the mid 19th century.

Between 1845 and 1852, people in Ireland were literally starving to death as result of a disease that killed their potato crops – the staple food for Ireland’s poorest who constituted a third of the population! Overall it’s estimated that a staggering million Irish citizens died as a result of the Famine.

One record  was a letter from a gentleman called Patrick Browne, written in 1847. He was a Poor law Guardian of Aughrim Parish, and was requesting funds to purchase coffins to bury 16 people who had starved to death. In response he was told that funds were for food only and coffins should be paid for by the parish"

Ancestry is available through your local public libraries in Victoria.