A Special Event with Guest Speaker Shauna Hicks
​This Event is open to both GCFHS members and the general public, bookings are essential as numbers will be limited. Registration is now open.

Seminar Details

​Day:    Saturday

​Date:   26th May 2018

​Time:   1.00 pm to 4.00 pm

Location:  Upstairs Room 1 
Bicentennial Building
833 Nerang-Southport Road
Nerang  Qld  4211

Seminar Price:
GCFHS Members $15.00
​Non-Members $20.00
​

Archives You May Not Know But Should
& Skeletons in the Family: Convicts, Prisons & Asylums


​Archives You May Not Know But Should 
This talk highlights a variety of archives that researchers may not be aware of for genealogy research.
​It seeks to make researchers more aware of archival resources that may or may not be online.

Shauna looks at government (national, state and local government) and non-government (school, church, business and specialist) archives in Australia that family history researchers may not be aware of. In addition, she will look at archive portals in England, Scotland, Ireland and Europe.
Some archives have digitised records online but there is much more to be discovered in archival catalogues. You will be amazed at how many archives are out there!
​
Skeletons in the Family: Convicts, Prisons & Asylums Records
This talk looks at records useful for finding ‘skeletons’ in the family by briefly reviewing available resources.

In this talk Shauna outlines how to research family skeletons such as a convict ancestor, or perhaps an ancestor who did time for a local crime or crimes. Convict and prison records have a wealth of biographical information not found in other types of records and many aged and ill people ended their days in asylums as there was no one to care for them. Similarly many women were placed in asylums following childbirth for what we know today as post-natal depression.

Asylum records are similar to hospital and prison records and an ancestor may have only spent a short time there but the records hold incredible family history. Shauna will use examples from her own research to show how wonderful these records are for family history. Don’t be afraid to look for the family skeleton.

​Shauna Hicks has been tracing her own family history since 1977 and worked in government for over 35 years in libraries and archives in Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne. Since retiring, she has written a number of family history guides and is a regular speaker at genealogy cruises, conferences and  seminars.

​She now operates her own part time business at www.shaunahicks.com.au and  is the author of the blog, Diary of an Australian Genealogist.
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Shauna Hicks

Gold Coast Family History Society is organising a series of talks by well renowned experts to help you with your research in 2018.
All are open to both GCFHS members and the general public for a small fee, bookings will be essential as numbers will be limited.  Visit our Up Coming Events page to see a list of future events .