ALEXANDRINA LIBRARY SERVICES

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February 2009                                                                                    by Dawn Juers

No 55

Further to the article “The Snake Pit – Younghusband Peninsula” by Peter Barclay and researched by Bill Cox  (History Room News No52) we had a visit from David Shipway the present owner of the land who kindly presented the History Room with a large artistic drawing of the homestead.

David agreed that the reason for the name “The Snake Pit” was as quoted in our article -  infested with Copperhead, Tiger and Brown snakes. Snakes abounded in the sandy area near the “homestead” and there was no Aboriginal connection with the name.

New Books – Two new books in the History Room are:

‘Of Billabongs and Broken Dreams’ Tales of the Murray River by Alastair Wood.

Gordon Michelmore’s Oral History (the well known farmer of Middleton).

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In the December issue of the Australian Family Tree Connection there is an article with local interest on Bill and Mollie Walker by George R. Smith. William (Bill) was the son of Dr Wm and Mary Walker. This is a four page article on Bill and his wife and their adventurous life.

After his mother, already a widow aged 32yrs, drowned in Pt Elliot on the 10^th January 1905, Bill spent his early life being cared for by his Aunt Lizzie – Mrs Elizabeth Mary THOW who apparently lived in The Strand, Pt Elliot (where ‘The Bargain Barn’ now stands). He attended the Port Elliot Primary School from 1905-1909 and the Victor Harbor High School in 1910 before completing his higher education at St Peter’s College and University SA.

Bill and his wife Mollie led an interesting life travelling and working in England and Australia. They were keen photographers and maintained a diary of their work and travels which is available to researchers in the ‘Walker Collection’ South Australian Museum.

For more detail of their life, travels  and research notes – Australian Family Tree Connection- Dec 2008

Recently I was on the National Archives Australia website  http://www.naa.gov.au  and found three letters which show what little gems can be found after trawling through 31pages (of 47), while I was researching a relative, J.R. Elfenbein.

The first letter (6^th May 1943) was from Constable H.A. Ward of Goolwa to Base Records, Canberra, after he found a ‘Female Relative Badge and Bar.

The reply (2) (15^th May) is shown left and explains that the owner is Caroline GODFREY who received the Badge & Bar on behalf of the war services of her son Capt G.C. GODFREY A.I.F. and her nephew Sgt J.R. ELFENBEIN  50^th Battalion, A.I.F.(1914-18 War).          

Letter (3) (21^st May) – again from Constable Ward of Goolwa explains that Mrs Godfrey had died 12 months earlier and the badge, given to her daughter

Mrs H.T.WATSON, had been  lost by her. The Badge No was 123693 and the Bar 121850.

***

Helen Halm has advised me that a useful site for researching newspaper articles is

http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home

It provides access to newspapers dating from 1803-1954 which have been scanned, providing search facilities and the invitation to correct those which presented a challenge to the scanner. Helen says check out Cadell for the breadth of coverage, interest and the need to help with the editing.

While talking of newspapers, Graham Jaunay in his newsletter Proformat advises that South Australians can access the scanned and indexed images of some British newspapers including the LondonTimes. To gain access it is necessary to obtain a Resource Card from the front counter of the State Library. Holders of this card can now use the new feature from home on the State Library website called – Home Access.

Graham has written a long article about this facility and the newspapers it covers in his on-line newsletter. To become a subscriber go to www.jaunay.com/newsletter.html

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We have all used ‘Google’ but for genealogists there is a simple search engine called ‘I found it’.  Go to www.gensource.com/ifoundit/  You can specify a category (cemetery etc) and can use wildcards, keywords and phrases.

***

The National Archives advise that a lot of the 1911 census for England and Wales has been released. To search is free but for a copy of the entry there is a charge. Go to –

http://www.1911census.co.uk/

Difficult tasks are often the easy tasks we left undone

when we should have tackled them!

Happy researching

Dawn

Genealogy help is available by appointment on Thursdays, to guide you through your research. Please phone the Library on 8555-7000 to make an appointment. For comments, suggestions or to receive this newsletter – email

historyroom2004@yahoo.com.au or phone the Library on 8555-7000.

Back copies of this newsletter can be sourced on the Alexandrina Council website –

http://www.alexandrina.sa.gov.au/site/page/cfm

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