Every family historian needs to understand about calendars and their history. Without this knowledge you can’t understand why someone who died on 27 December 1724 could be buried on 3 January 1724, why the 10th September 1752 didn’t exist and what “1 July 25 Henry VIII” means. This talk will cover the Julian Calendar, the Gregorian Calendar, Regnal dates, dating by Saints’ days and Quaker dates.

This presentation looks at how various apps and tools for phones and tablets can be used for genealogy. Commercial and free subscription sites to record and share family trees online, genealogy software, photo scanning, organising research notes, uploading cemetery information and more will be demonstrated. It is recommended that you trial free versions to see which apps and tools suit your research needs.

A common mistake in genealogy is to concentrate on direct ancestors and ignore their siblings. This excludes one of the most useful resources for family historians, the descendants of your ancestor's siblings, your cousins. This talk explains how they can enrich your family history and break down your brick walls.

A look at what is available at home and at Family History Centre/Affiliate Library. Millions of names and records to extend and verify your research – or take you further. From countries around the world digitized images and indexes are available. Help is available and easily accessible for most countries. Original records covering many topics that can be researched by name, place and time. Sponsored by Family History Connections.

In this presentation I am going to show you how you can use Google Earth and its amazing tools to create visual stories about the places where your ancestors lived and in particular the journeys they made. Google Earth has the tools that allow you to create a visual story that shows the places your ancestors visited. You can add to add to your story the research items you have in your collection such as photos, records, maps and information to make a Tour and then a Move - a visual story that will make you feel connected to an ancestor’s journey. We live in an exciting technological time where we have the wonderful tools that Google Earth has provided that we can make use of for family history purposes in order to better understand our ancestors’ lives.

How can we as family historians locate someone who seems to be almost ‘invisible’? The problem isn’t that there are few records available, but rather how thoroughly we investigate and analyse the sources we do find. This presentation outlines ways we can look “outside the box” when searching for the women in our families.

Doug Elms, VICGUM President, will review the types of records and information which can be obtained during family history research. He has also included an introduction to using a genealogy program – Family Tree Maker. As one of the main reasons for using a computer program is to generate family stories his presentation illustrates how to: commence a tree, add data to the tree and also to produce charts, reports and books. Sponsored by VicGUM.

MyHeritage is a genealogy platform established in 2003. With millions of records available to search and download, some unique to this site. The Library Edition allows access to search names, families and records of various events. With partnerships with many well-known sources of information and research this is definitely a valuable tool for researchers. Sponsored by Family History Connections.

Learn more about the key technologies that make finding family members on MyHeritage quick and simple. Take an in-depth look at Smart Matches™, Record Matches, DNA Matches, and Instant Discoveries™, and receive helpful tips to leverage these technologies in your genealogy research.

Following an introduction as to how he came to be writing genealogical crime mystery books, Nathan will explore the actual process of writing. Using books from his genealogical crime mystery series as a basis for case studies, Nathan will talk about the progression from development of the initial idea, explore the real genealogical research methodology involved, through to the writing of the novel. Nathan will also discuss the issues and problems of combining the use of such authentic genealogical methodology and research methods with fiction-writing.

Not all our ancestors were paragons of virtue. Some behaved in a manner that we now find unacceptable or abhorrent. Are we embarrassed by those family members? What aspects of the lives of our ancestors might make us feel uncomfortable? Does it matter when the ancestor lived; is there a point at which some actions become exciting or interesting, rather than alarming? Have genealogists’ reactions to certain conditions and behaviours changed over time? Are we tempted, like genealogists of the past, to remove them, or their mis-demeanours, from the record? This presentation is a thought-provoking and hard-hitting look at our reactions to ancestors who might have been a source for embarrassment. Some sources for discovering those ancestors will also be mentioned

This talk introduces the basics of photo restoration using the program Photoshop Elements. Learn how to repair scratches and tears, and how to bring out details in older photos, using some simple techniques. Managing your photo collection will also be discussed along with how to add metadata and watermarks to your photos for use on websites and social media.

Taking the wrong research path or running into brick walls sometimes results from not using enough evidence or sidestepping research with shortcuts. Allan will demonstrate some pitfalls when only relying on one document. He will illustrate the differences in document details and offer solutions to provide evidence with more than one source.

Dr Nick Barratt dusts down his crystal ball and casts his eye to the near future, using current trends that are shaping the way we research and write genealogy to predict some of the changes we might reasonably expect to take place. This talk will also look at some of the post-pandemic opportunities that are emerging in the UK where we might collaborate with other groups to help support and rebuild communities that have been disrupted – genealogy as a force for global good.

Are you just starting your research or perhaps you need a refresher or some new ideas? This talk looks at basic fundamentals and the different tools and technology we can use for researching our family history. From the basics of organisation and charts to technology, apps and DNA, I discuss what I keep in my toolbox along with other options for you to start building your personal toolbox for research.

Do you get sick of seeing family trees with incorrect assumptions? Tired of having to explain your reasoning over and over? Can’t remember where you found that piece of information? Too much conflicting information? You need use to the Standard. The Genealogical Proof Standard. GPS. Find your way.

Humans are visual beings, particularly those not interested in family history. Part of this talk will be on how to capture your family history to entice them. The other will be ways of visualising your data, your research thoughts and research problems to help you the researcher.