VICTORIA
Port Phillip District Land Sales 1837 - 1851, from the
Victorian Historical Magazine, newsletter of the Victorian Historical Society.
Book, VIC 333.16 POR
It’s always amazing just how many researchers have ancestors who were in
Melbourne in the very early days of the first land sales. This simple
photocopied publication of the original magazine has an index to names, with
page references. The page reference will lead you to the list of allotments
and purchasers with a column for situation, another for purchaser, the area
of the allotment and the purchase price.
Section one is the index, Section two covers the city allotments and Section
three covers outer areas within 9 miles of the GPO. Further information
is available on microfilm at the Public Record Office of Victoria.
ENGLAND
Bristol
The Topography of Medieval and Early Modern Bristol, published
by the Bristol Record Society. Book, GLS 942.41 LEE.
Part one by Roger Leech, Property holdings in the early walled town and marsh
suburb north of the Avon.
Bristol is in a prime location for emigration of all types, and many Bristol
people found their way to Australia.
The word Topography in the title of this book may remind you of geography
lessons at school, but in fact the content of this volume is of great value
to genealogists.
There is the usual contents page, a list of abbreviations, an introduction,
some very useful and interesting town plans. There is the usual alphabetical
index at the end of the book, and it’s a very worthwhile exercise to check
for your ancestor’s name if he or she was in early Bristol. Check for
all possible spellings, as early spellings are what you will find.
The index will take you to a page number with a description of the property
and a very nice history of the succession of the land. Some entries
date from the 14th century, and extend as late as the 19th century.
Most entries are extensive, and will make you wish you had Bristol ancestry.
IRELAND
Irish Families in Australia and New Zealand, by Hubert William
(Bill) Coffey and Marjorie Jean Morgan. Books, IRL 929.2025 COF.
This set of four books is a very underused resource for Australian and New
Zealand researchers whose ancestors came from Ireland. Admittedly,
their appeal is limited, as although the claim of the authors is that “Practically
every newsworthy person born in Ireland or of Irish ancestry who had ever
lived in Australia or New Zealand, is included in this biographical dictionary”,
of course there will be many who are not.
However you would be doing yourself a disservice if you do not at least do
a name search for your ancestor. There are four volumes, divided alphabetically.
The first is Abbot – Dynan 1788-1983, Volume two is Eades – Little 1788 –
1985, Volume three is McAfee – Quirk 1788 – 1991, and Volume four is R –
Z 1788 – 1994.
The wonderful thing about the entries is the amount of information given.
As each of the volumes is a revision of the original sold-out edition, entries
have been added to and information supplied by relatives who have submitted
addresses. So if you do find your ancestor listed, you may be able
to make contact with the person who added to the entry. Of course it’s
sad that all our Irish ancestors are not mentioned, but those who are there
are real treasures for family history.