2021 #AtoZChallenge P is for ...Pioneer register : Dubbo and western region of NSW

  I've been researching my family history for over thirty years. Along this genealogy journey I have been supported by hundreds of books, many of which I have listed on my Librarything page. 

During the 2021 #AtoZChallenge I will be writing about two of my passions, books and family history. I'll be taking a trip down memory lane and revisiting some of those books that have enriched my genealogy experience.

In pre-internet days Pioneer Registers were used in Australia to publish details of early arrivals (pioneers) in a particular region. They provided a means for unknown cousins to contact each other.

Initially a genealogy or history society or a group of like-minded individuals from a particular area or with a particular interest would call for submissions giving details of pioneers that fitted a certain set of criteria. These submissions were collated and published in book format (or later on CD) then sold to interested organisations and individuals. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s I remember submitting details for such books as well as contacting many submitters with shared ancestors. We used mostly snail mail to connect with these submitters.

While several of these registers have been published this century eg Wyong Pioneer Register in 2013 the majority were published earlier. I remember having great success tracking down cousins via the Pioneer register : Dubbo and western region of NSW that was published in 1989. 

These resources should not be ignored. Although the contact details for submitters may no longer be correct the clues, stories and pictures published in these works are geneagold.