12th AFFHO Congress - a veritable cornucopia of information

Marie Hickey from Auckland Research Centre attended the Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry from 16 – 20 January 2009.

I attended several talks/workshops. All of the papers (with some exceptions) are published in the Proceedings book Preserving the past for the future which can be found on the shelves in the Auckland Research Centre at 1 GEN.

The basis of the congress was a series of talks and workshops presented by an array of international and national speakers. During breaks attendees had time to speak to stall holders about their wares, websites and archives material. This was invaluable for the Auckland Research Centre as it gave us a chance to dispel the myth that material held relates just to Auckland. As a result of this and arranged visits to the library a number of attendees came in to ARC and had an enjoyable day/s.

John Grenham spoke about Irish census substitutes and the Irish Loan Fund records otherwise known as the Reproductive Loan Fund (not what it sounds). Some of the records for the latter have been digitised and can be found on the following website www.movinghere.org.uk Click on “search our catalogue”, enter the surname in the “search for” box and tick Catalogue of digitised records which is to the right of this. This will bring up the results list and click on the link to be taken to the digitised image. [These instructions are not included in the paper]. A very useful source if your family are found.

Other talks included David Hey discussing apprenticeship records, Sherry Irvine - land records in Scotland, Cathy Pilgrim and the digitisation project of Australian newspapers. The presentation everyone talked about and were impressed by was Elaine Collins’ talking about the 1911 census by satellite.

Attendees tended to be from Australia or New Zealand but there were also a few from further afield. I found attendance well worthwhile as I was able to see and hear about some of the innovative ideas of what is happening in the world of family history as well as what will be available in the near future. Another plus for me was catching up with old friends but the downside was that we were very well fed so I’m sure most of us put on a little weight over the weekend.

These congresses occur every three years with the next being held in Adelaide, Australia so if you have an interest in family history this may be an event worth considering saving up for and perhaps combining it with a holiday.

Not all of the talks/workshop papers have been reproduced in the proceedings book but if we attended one of these, a brief outline will be available at the enquiry desk at ARC shortly.

Where Digital Technologies meet Roast Dinners: the 12th Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry