Learn how to research your family history

Workshop covers such areas as getting started, organisation and filling in forms, starting research, and websites.

HISTORY BUFFS: Marion Hall, Chris Wright and Linda Marshall at the CQ Family History Association Hall. Picture: Jann Houley

WHETHER your family hails from Rockhampton or elsewhere, the CQ Family History Association is happy to pass on the joys and pitfalls of researching your heritage.

They are hosting a beginners workshop on Saturday, February 9 at their library in Highway St.

The workshop will cover such areas as getting started, organisation and filling in forms, starting research, and websites.

The two presenters of the workshop, Chris Wright and Helen Wagstaff, have had many years of experience researching their own family history and have presented this workshop for a few years.

Participants are welcome to bring some lunch and begin their research in the library in the afternoon.

The association has a very active education program with workshops for members as well as interest groups that meet during the year.

Family history information is much more readily available these days and more resources are becoming available all the time.

With the advent of computers comes a much quicker way of searching millions of records, and indeed, for many people, digitalisation of the original records is a blessing.

However, all information is not online; the Park St library holds many resources; computerised, on microfiche, on microfilm, and in paper form.

There is a great selection of local records, as well as records for the rest of Queensland, interstate, and overseas.

The project group is continually indexing local records, such as school records, to make them easier for people to access.

On the website cqfamilyhistory.org.au there is an index, which includes the names of anyone in an index in the library.

The index of names is now running into the hundreds of thousands.

It does not matter if your ancestors didn't come from this area, the techniques of research are the same and the Family History Association's library has information on many different areas.

The Association is grateful to the Rockhampton Regional Council's community assistance grant which allowed them to purchase the signs for beginners day, and for the open day, later in the year.

FAMILY HISTORY BEGINNERS WORKSHOP

• Saturday February 9, 9am to 12.30pm
• 16 Highway Street, Park Avenue
• Cost $20.

Originally published as Learn how to research your family history