Finally after months of work my newest project YeOldeFamilyTree.com is ready for beta testing.

YeOldeFamilyTree.com is free online family tree website that is designed to make creating and sharing your family tree fun, free and accessible.

Now you are probably thinking “here we go again, another free online family tree website!”

So what makes YeOldeFamilyTree.com different?

YeOldeFamilyTree.com provides a simple and efficient free online family tree – created for fellow genealogists. Here are some of the features:

Don’t want certain records shown?

You can hide their details using our “Mark as Living” private feature. You have full control over privacy.

What records can we view?

Most other so called free online family tree websites cost if you need to see records a relative owns, has purchased or discovered even though the person who did the research is not receiving any of your money!

YeOldeFamilyTree.com is 100% free and you can view any photos, documents and records submitted by our members.

Can we export a gedcom file?

Some sites have the ugliest gedcom files. Their gedcom files result in a lot of garbage when imported into any software but their own?

Exporting a gedcom file to use on your desktop family tree program is no problem with YeOldeFamilyTree.com.

What rights does YeOldeFamilyTree.com have to our records or images?

None! All records and images you own are yours. We have no rights without written permission first!

YeOldeFamilyTree.com is designed with a focus on giving you the most useful features.YeOldeFamilyTree.com is always on the lookout for modifications “mods” to enchance your free online family tree experience.

In Part 1, ‘Rehearsing for war’, the Australian Prime Minister, Mr WM Hughes, poses for the camera and Australian WW1 soliders are shown building trenches and preparing for battle in Pozieres. While at rest, Australian WW1 soliders build practice trenches using sandbags. At a trench training range, they rehearse for the coming attacks, using smoke bombs for cover. Near Armentières, West Australians of the 11th Battalion march up on duckboards, laid to traverse the mud.

Part 2, ‘Shells, shells, and more shells’, shows Australian WW1 soliders occupying old German trenches, enjoying the sunshine and waving at the camera as they await orders to move. They house some of their horses in old shell holes made by British guns. British Field Artillery moves up behind horse teams. British 8-inch howitzers are now pounding Pozières. the French village had been laid to waste during the two-week battle.

Part 3, ‘The shelling of Pozières ridge’, is a clip of British howitzers shelling German positions and Australian field guns joining the bombardment. They keep up a constant rain of shells on the German positions on the ridge. Horse-drawn limbers and mules bring up more shells and water along dusty roads. The Germans retaliate with shrapnel, which explodes in the air above the Australian lines. Australians go forward through the tiny village of Contalmaison, almost destroyed by shelling.

Paul Byrnes, a journalist and curator at the National Film and Sound Archive, says the film was the first attempt to make an Australian war documentary.

The rules for accepting the award are:

Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who granted the award and their blog link.

Pass the award on to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.

Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Here are my choices:

1. Grave Stoned

2. Ancestry Tool Box

3. Scottish Genes

4. FamHist

5. Family Stories

6. Steve’s Genealogy Blog

7. Irish Family History

8. Family History Expos

9. Irish Roots Cafe

10. GenerationStation

11. The Family History Researcher Blog

12. Elyse’s Genealogy Blog

13. Genealogy Reporter

14. Easy Genealogy

15. Little Bytes Of Life

Not having found “much dirt” on my families past so far, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but was rather let down in the end. No stories of murder or blood and lust.

The article is about Harriet Georgina Day and her husband Reginald Henry Seabrook, Louisa’s brother, who were married in 1918.

So how did Harriet Seabrook get rid of two husbands? Believing her husband, Reginald Seabrook was dead she went through a form of marriage with Tudor Adolphus Viven Bird in June, 1922.

The  problem was that the police ascertained Reginald Seabrook was still alive and the wife was charged with bigamy, but after several adjournments the prosecution was withdrawn. A sequel to the case at Townsville, was the application for divorce by Mrs. Seabrook on the grounds of desertion.

At the same time Tudor Bird succeeded on an application for a declaration that his marriage with Mrs Seabrook was null and void. It was stated in evidence that Reginald Seabrook went to the Northern Territory in 1918. The wife later heard he was dead. After marrying Bird there was a quarrel over Seabrook’s child with the result that they separated. Since then she had maintained herself and her child.

You would think that after all the marriage problems Harriet would stay single for a while, but according to the Qld BDM index, Harriet married Hamliton Kelly in 1927.

The Ryerson Index is an index to death notices appearing in current Australian newspapers. It also includes some funeral notices, probate notices and obituaries. While not all Australian death notices are listed, the Ryerson Index contains over 2,596,891 entries from 178 newspapers (at time of posting) and the indexing is being continuously carried out by a team of volunteers.

One of the advantages of the Ryerson Index compared to some of the other Australian death notices websites is that it contains records going back to the mid 1800′s. Other Australian death notices sites like obits.com.au, obituary.com.au and thelastpost.com.au records are obtained from funeral directors or though contributions by members of the public which limits their content.

The Ryerson Index can be searched in two ways: by name, or by location and once the search is complete it lists the Surname, given name, date of death, age, location, which publication it was printed in and the published date.

Once you have found the death notice you are after, you can receive a photocopy of the death notice by using the Ryerson Index free lookup service. Again this is a volunteer project and don’t expect too much as not all decades are available for lookup.

If you cannot get a copy of a Australian death notices using the Ryerson Index free lookup service, try the Australian newspaper archives website or visit your local library and they might have copies of your State’s papers on microfiche.

Thompson’s Poultry Farm, North Ryde, NSW, Australia. Photo taken late1930′s, early 1940′s.

On the left is my Nana’s brother Albert Thompson and on the right is his father and my Great Grandfather Albert Thompson.

Why does a chicken coup have 2 doors. Because if it had 4 doors it would be a chicken sedan.

Don’t get me wrong, I think naming a daughter or a son after their parent’s or grand parent’s first name is a great tradition, but on more than one occasion it has caused me problems.

I know, I know, it might have been easier to change their first name so you know when someone is talking about Sarah Thompson the mother not Sarah Thompson the daughter but it makes it hard when they use the changed name on official occasions and it bears only a little resemblance to the original name.

The last time it happened was just recently when I started searching for the children of my great great great great grand parents John Thompson (born Thomson but that’s another post) and Sarah Ramm.

I was lucky enough to find a collection of scanned images online and within an hour, I had the birth records of all 9 children including a daughter Sarah Ann Thompson.

OK, time to look for marriage and other records for these children. All went well at first, finding most of the records for the sons, but when it came to Sarah Thompson, I could not find a trace.

Looking back through the records, I came across a marriage for a Mary Ann Thompson to a Samuel Starling. I knew we had a Starling in our tree (sorry couldn’t resist it) but as I already had one son married to a Starling, I thought that might be the connection.

Unfortunately the marriage record did not give an age, so I could not work it out from that but the year of marriage and location seemed right. The death record had Mary Ann Thompson’s age at death, which matched Sarah’s birth year.

Was this Sarah Ann Thompson?

Apparently it was! A distant cousin who saw my family tree on Ancestry.com got in contact with me and during a wonderful three hour talk on the phone, I was told Mary Ann Thompson was the Sarah Thompson I was looking for.

Thanks Cousin Lyn

This Thompson family portrait was taken in Australia around 1913, not long after arriving from England. On the left is Amelia Jane Thompson, with daughter Adeline in her arms. Back right is Albert Thompson and the happy looking girl front right is Amelia (Millie) Thompson, my Grandmother, aged about 4. It is one of the earliest photos I have of my Grandmother.

But eventually there may come a time when you have to purchase a BDM certificate to allow you to trace your family tree further. NSW BDM certificate costs will vary from state to state, with NSW BDM certificates starting from about $28 (at the time of posting).

Another alternative is to get a transcribed copy of the certificate. There are a number of professional BDM transcription agents across Australia who will often be able to transcribe certificates cheaper than purchasing the original.

Being a bit of a scrooge, this was the position I found myself in when I needed to find information on my mum’s parents.

Somehow I had ended up with a copy of my grandfather’s death certificate, so I knew Pop’s details but all I knew about Nana was that her and Pop were married in Ryde, NSW and their 50th Wedding Anniversary was in 1982. Nana’s parents were named Albert and Amelia Thompson and that Nana was born in England somewhere.

Once I had Nana and Pop’s marriage reference number from the NSW BDM index, I then found a NSW BDM transcription agent through Google.

A NSW BDM transription agent can transcribe the following for you: NSW Birth Certificates 1788 – 1909. NSW Marriage Certificates 1788 – 1959 and NSW Death Certificates 1788 – 1979.

When hiring a NSW BDM transcription agent, one good thing is that besides purchasing a full transcription, you can pay for only the “fields” you require. A NSW Full Certificate Transcript cost is $18.00, NSW Partial Certificate Transcripts (5 Fields) is $15.00,  and a NSW Partial Certificate Transcripts (3 Fields) costs $12.00.

For example, if you need a marriage certificate transcribed, you have the choice of 12 different fields.
1.Marriage Date & Place
2. Groom’s Birthplace
3. Groom’s Occupation
4. Groom’s Age
5. Groom’s Father
6. Groom’s Mother
7. Bride’s Birthplace
8. Bride’s Age
9. Bride’s Father
10. Bride’s Mother
11. Witnesses
12. Religion & Minister

I only needed to know 3 fields 7, 9 and 10 and the cost is only $12 instead of $28 for a certificate. Not a bad saving, especially if you need to purchase a few.

And when I received the order, the NSW BDM transcription agent actually sent me all of Nana’s details, fields 7 to 12, even though I didn’t really need them, which I thought was nice.

The look on most faces when you talk about your families’ history? – Bored
The look on people’s faces when you hand them or play your own family history DVD? – Priceless
The smile Grandma would get playing your family history DVD to her friends, showing off her good or bad ancestors?  – Priceless
The cost? Nothing

The methods I have used to create my free family history DVD are pretty basic, but the possibilities are endless. I highly recommend playing around with the different settings and options of each program used, as some of the effects can really make your free family history DVD, all that more professional.

Here’s a quick review of how to create your own family history DVD:

Part 1: Using OpenOffice.org Impress to create a free slideshow.

Part 2: Turn your slideshow into a video using free screen recording software. Add voice narration to your recording.

Part 3: How to edit your video files using free editing video software. Edit movies, fix errors in your slideshow, add music or even add voice overs.

Part 4: Looked at how to burn your video files to DVD, capable of playing on a standard DVD player.

You can view all the video tutorials here.

Hope you enjoyed our series on How To Create A Free Family History DVD.