THE GENEALOGICAL _ SOCIETY OF TASMANIA P.O.Box 640G, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia PATRON The Honourable Sir Angus Bethune STATE COUNCIL EXECUTIVE President Mr John Goo1 d OG4-24 1969 (Bus.) Senior Vice President Mrs Lilian Watson 002-442504 Junior Vice President Mr Des Hyatt 004-31 2797 General Secretary Mrs Andrea Gerrard 002-29 4911 Membership Secretary: Miss Karlena Nagle 003-44 1240 Treasurer Mr Geoff Rapley 003-44 2118 Executive Members Mrs Frances Travers 002-493064 Mr Doug Forrest 004-31 1222 Mr Jim Ritchie 003-244480 PUBLICATIONS BOARD LIBRARIES BOARD Co-ordinator:Mrs Judith Parnell 003-31 6940 Co-ordinator: Mrs Jean McKenzie 002 25-3709 17 Outram St. , 4 Geodhart P I ace Summerhi 11, Launceston 7250 Sandy Bay, Hobart 7005 Chief Mrs Theo Sharples 002-47 631 3 Editor: Mrs Audrey Hudspeth 002-43-9403 Librarian : 330 Carella St., Howrah, Hobart 7018 RESEARCH BOARD MEMORIALS BOARD (T.A.M.I.O. T. ) Co-ordinator: Mrs Carol Rodway 002-486639 Co-ordinators: Mrs Shirley Johnson 57 Balook St., 6 Kent St. , 002-43 7486 Lauderdale 7021 Li ndi sfarne, 7015 Registrar Mrs Georgina Chick :Mrs Patricia O'Toole 33 Brooklyn Rd., 003-44 8393 Youngtown, Launceston 7250 BRANCHES OF THE SOCIETY BURNIE DEVONPORT Society Postal Address: Soc iety Postal Address: P .0. Box 748, Burnie 7320 159 Nichel St., Devonport 7310 Chairman: Mr Jon Williams H . 004-363182 Chairman : Mr John Geoid B.004_24 1969 Deayton I s Lane, B. 004-30 2511 5 V ictory Ave., Elliott, 7325 Devonport, 7310 Secretary: Mrs Dawn Coil ins 004-31 1113 Secretary: Mrs Rosemary R itchie 004 -24 4480 HOBART LAUNCESTON Society Postal Address: Soc iety Postal Address : 44 High St., Bellerive 7018 33 Brooklyn Rd . , Youngtown, Launceston 7250 Chairman:Mrs LilianWatson 002-442504 Chairman:Mrs Judith Parnell 003-31 6940 44 High St •• 17 Outram St. , Bellerive, 7018 Summerhi 11, Launceston 7250 Secretary:Mr Chris Williams 002-310614 Secretary : Mrs Patricia O'Toole 003-448393 (Ring Chairman if no answer) mEmBERSHIP SECRETARY miss Karlena Nagle 149 Opossum Road NOR WOOD 7250 rrasmanian Ylnce§[rt VOLUME 4 Number 1 March 1983 Cartoon - Carol Hook 153 Mostly About Kew - Theo Sharples 155 New Members 157 Reading About Tas. History - W.A. Neilson 158 Library Notes - Theo Sharples 161 Library List - John Marrison 163 Library Donations 167 Book Review - Shirley Johnson 168 Exchange Journals 169 Life Wasn't Meant to be Easy - Bertha Rolls 171 Branch News 173 Cemetery List - Southport 176 Cemetery Hunting - Shirley Johnson 179 Notes & Queries 182 153 DEADLINE DATES FOR JOURNAL COpy ARE FEB 1, mAY 1, AUC 1 AND NOV 1. CONTRIBUTIONS AND ALL CORRESPONDENCE ON JOURNAL mATT ERS SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE CO-ORDINATOR OF THE PUBLICATIONS commITTEE, mRS JEAN mcKENZIE, 4 COODHART PLACE, SANDY BAY, 7005. Ph: 002-25 3709 EDITORIAL PANEL: Jenny Bug g Leonie Carpenter Carol Hook Robyn manser Special Typing: Irene Hunt From a cemetery in Essex, U.K.:- Remember me as you pass by, As you are now so once was I. As I am now, you soon will be, Therefore prepare to follow me. Added later:- To follow you I'm not content, Until I know which way you went. CONGhA1'ULATIONS ! Our firs t State Secretary , Andrea Gerrard , has a new baby daughter . Our best wi s hes p:,o t o Andrea and her husband Hon, and our grateful thanks for all Andrea's hard work on behalf of the Society. SPECIALIST PHOTOGRAPHlC SERVICE I is now avai I able to those seeking expert re-photography of old photos and portraits etc. at reasonable rates. Toning and enhancement is avai I abl e and all work is to arch i val standard. ALSO certificates, diplomas and other formal documents tastefully hand-scripted. Tim Waters 194 Nelson Road MT. NELSON Ph: 253480 (AH) 154 mOSTLY ABOUT KEW by Theo Sharples For a long time now, I have been faced with the brain- teasing question of how to find the place of birth of the first of my father's direct ancestors to live in Tasmania. I have tried all the more usual channels; I.G.I. doesn't know him, there was no inyuest after he drowned 'in Ralph's Bay, no tombstone inscription, no will, no letters of administration, no mention by name in shipping lists; in fact, no nothing. So, reasoning that as m.p.A. (my Problem Ancestor) was a bounty passenger to Van Diemen's Land, he illould have had business with a government depart- ment, my husband and I paid a visit to the Public Record Office at Kew, where the archives of English government departments are kept. Before proceeding to the Reference Room, we had to obtain a reader's ticket each. Having done so, we are readers for life and can use the facilities at Kew whenever we wish. P.R.O. Kew, is a n e w and apparently spacious building, especially by comparison with the premises at Portugal St where we had a few da ys previously,done some successful census-exploring for a friend in Tasmania. Staff members were pleasant and helpful and my only real complaint would have to be that the Reference Room staff interviews its clients from one of those high counters, up on a platform, where the chin of a person like me barely reach- es the edge of the counter. The Reference Room contains class lists, or indexes, clearly set out and labelled, referring to government instrumentalities, the armed forces, etc o Having inspected the ones suggested by the assistant at the counter, I found what appeared to be the very things I needed and we proceeded to the adjoining Langdale Room (so named after Baron langdale, a former Keeper of the Rolls). The procedure for getting the document(s) you require is quite simple. First, you ask at the counter in the Langland Room for a seat numbero You are ｾｩｶ･ｮ＠ a pocket "bleeper" with the same number. Then you return to the Reference Room where the computer keyboards and visual, display units are situated. They are simple enough for anyone but a complete moron to use; a one-finger typist can use the keyboard as long as he/She follows the instructions given. First you have to "key in" (type) mostly About Kew continued 00 2 your reader's ticket number, seat number and the reference number(s) of the documents you want (up to 3 at a time). If you do it correctly, the computer replies on the VGD.U o screen "Good" or "Thank you 0 Now do such-and-such". If you don't, it says politely "Sorry, you have made a mistakeo Please do ｳｵ｣ｨＭ｡ｮ､Ｍｳｾ｣ｨＢＮ＠ You then go back to your seat, or wander around the Reference Room, or go downstairs to the restaurant, since you may have to wait some time to get your document(s) if the staff is having a busy day. When the material is ready to be collected, your pocket bleeper will both bleep and flash a light, so you can't say no-one told ｹｯｵｾ＠ Then you go back to the Langdale Room, collect your document(s) and settle down at your allotted seat to worko We had several references to checko There were letters referring to the emigration of m.p.A. and to the fact that a form had been sent to him to be filled in. There was also a register giving names and addresses of people who had completed and returned their applications but- would you believe - the vital name was not there, although others were listed around the date that would have been appropriateo The latter half of the register was com- pletely blank o The assistant from whom I then sought help said, "I don't think this one was ever recorded". So near and yet so far, thought I, pondering what to do next. 11 Ne x t " ha p pen e d at New Re g i s t e rHo use i n E din bur g h • When I presented the meagre bit of information which is all I've ever had to work on, the assistant said, "Forget it- you haven't got enough information to work on". I'm not the sort of girl to "forget it" when I've travelled 12,000 miles to achieve something, especially a great- great-grandfathero Two weeks later, in Carlisle, we had a chat over breakfast with a Canadian man whose friend had had a similar problem. He had sought, and got, what he wanted from Lloyd's Register of Shipping, working on the theory' that if his ancestor's ship was insu red, there might be a list of passengers held by ｴｨｾ＠ ｩｮｳｾ･ｲｳＮ＠ So I wrote to Lloyd's, received an acknowledgement and a promise of further communication when they'd done some searching, and in due course received their reply. They gave me some information about the ship, limited because there was some uncertainty about the ownership of the vessel at the time about which I inquired. I didn't get the details I wanted about m.p.A., but they did accompany 1.5.6i Mostly About Kew continued .0 3 the letter with information sheets to help with further research. Sources listed included Lloyd's Marine Collection, available in the Guildhall Library, London, other records in Britain concerning registry of shipping and seamen at 31 December 1978, several useful addresses in Australia and N.Zo concerning shipping, and other addresses in the U.K.