Family matters go under the microscope

ALWAYS been convinced you are the relative of a famous Scottish warrior or perhaps had an inkling that your blood may be a touch bluer than that of your friends but never known how to prove it?

The answer to your questions may be closer than you think.

To celebrate the inaugural National Family History week Kiama Council will be presenting an Introduction to Family History night aimed at helping both beginners and experienced researchers delve deeper into their families past.

Director of the Kiama Family History Centre Ray Thorburn said the night planned to provide people with the necessary tools to be able to find those elusive answers to questions about their personal history.

More and more people are becoming interested in their family history and we hope to make it become more easily accessible to everyone, he said.

The Kiama centre, with its world wide collection of records and knowledgeable staff is able to put researchers on the right track, not only with the available records but importantly with information about how to use them to find the answers.

While the internet has been touted in some circles as the ultimate researching tool, Mr Thorburn said it only provided a small amount of information compared to what is available through other mediums.

People get sucked in with the net from right when they start.

This night is about helping people to explore all the researching tools available to them, he said.

In the centre we have the entire catalogue of Births, Deaths and Marriages in England and Wales from 1837 to 2000. There are over 345 million entries available to peruse.

The goal of this night is to be able to help people wade through this stuff to get the information they require.

We are hoping to get a good range of people to attend the night as both experienced researchers and new comers would both certainly learn a lot. Family History is becoming more popular every day and it is burgeoning within the schools so we really hope to attract a good crowd to our talk.

The presentation will be held at the recently refurbished Family History Centre, Railway Parade Kiama on Thursday August 3 starting from 7:30pm.