Visit to the Society of Australian Genealogists (SAG)

Deborah sent in this update on the doings of the Club's Genealogy Special Interest Group.  This is the fourth field trip undertaken by the SIG and I think the most popular so far.  John and I are really sorry we couldn't go.  I'll let Deborah tell it in her own words:

On Friday, 12^th November the Genealogy SIG enjoyed our own private tour of the Society of Australian Genealogists’ library in Kent Street, Sydney.  Sixteen of us travelled by train and ferry to the city and met up at a café just down the street.

The Librarian, Lorraine Brothers, welcomed us  and began by explaining that the library’s collections of books and journals is organised by country, starting with A for Australia, through N for England  and finishing at Z, rare books.   There are some interesting card indexes worth exploring, including indexes to some of the books in the library as well as Victorian Cemeteries and newspaper cuttings for the Hunter Valley area. 

Deborah and Judy

The library has microfiche and microfilm readers  (where we can look up material such as the indexes to the UK Old Parish Registers, NSW Parish Registers and Irish Civil Registrations) and 15 computers with access to Ancestry, Find My Past, The Genealogist, National Archives and Origins as well as various databases on CDs.  SAG has a team of volunteers who help visitors with their research.

After the tour twelve of us had lunch together at the City Bowlers Club in the café upstairs before heading off in different directions.  We agreed that it had been a very interesting visit and Lorraine was very knowledgeable and able to answer everyone’s questions.

Suggestions on our next Genealogy SIG excursion are welcome