Darling Downs Biographical Pioneer Register

I read on the Family history across the seas blog this evening that a new edition of this Pioneer Register is to be published. If you have ancestors from this area you can find details here: Darling Downs Biographical Pioneer Register.

Blayney Pioneer Register now available

Just noticed on a listserv that the new Blayney Pioneer Register "Settlement to Federation" is now availble. 

It was compiled by members of the Blayney Shire Local and Family History Group Inc. it was launched on December 15th. This book covers the period from the settlement of the district in the 1830s to 1901 and many of the district families are mentioned.  There are over 800 entries in this publication, with 16 pages of photos.

It  is available from the Blayney Library and the Cottage both in Adelaide Street Blayney.

Pioneer Registers

Among the 30 books I requested from the National Library on my visit last week were a number of Pioneer Registers for areas where my ancestors and their descendants resided. Pioneer Registers  record the names of early settlers in a particular area and are usually published by local family history or genealogy societies. The National library holds a number of Pioneer Registers.

One of the registers I consulted was Bathurst Pioneers published in 2007 to which I had made some contributions. Another was the Hawkesbury Pioneer Registers. The Camden  Register published by the Camden Area Family History Society Inc. also included submissions made by me. From the entries therein I was able to identify more descendants of my convict ancestor, Patrick Curry.

Pioneer Registers are a fantastic resource for family historians but one must use these resources with caution and check sources to ensure that the information published is accurate.  In one publication I consulted a given name was typed as "Casuman" but I knew the gentleman's name was "Casimir".

I commend Pioneer Registers to genealogists but, as with many secondary sources, one must verify the information published in them.

Do you have ancestors from the Inverell district?

The  Inverell District Family History Group Inc. is collecting submissions for a Pioneer Register of the District pre 1900.

 Click here to download the Pioneer Register submission forms

Submissions will be received up to 30 Septmeber 2010.  Further details are available on the society's website.

Do you have ancestors from Blayney?

On a listserv this morning came news that a new Pioneer Register for the Blayney District is being compiled. Included in the Register to be published by Blayney Local & Family History Group Inc. in 2010 will be details of families from settlement to federation.

Further information is available from the society's website.