Researching Family History

For Family History enthusiasts check out some software that could assist your organisation and research with

Family Tree Maker – Free Update for Version 2012 brought to you by Gould Genealogy.

We also have a subscription to Ancestory.com  which can be accessed at both Leichhardt and Balmain Library.

Sydney Sands Directory on microfieche

Sydney Directory 1865 (Sands). 1865. Directories are a great resource for genealogists, social and local historians … no they don’t give you BDM details, but they can give you all the interesting information about a person and the place they lived in.

The Sands’ directories are among the most comprehensive and best known of Australian directories. 1865 was the fifth year of release for the “”””Sand’s Sydney Directory””””. Similar in style to earlier years, this one contains 13 directories in one.

You will find the following included:

  • Street Directory (lists houses/businesses street-by-street, together with the head of the household and occupation)
  • Suburban Directory (lists persons in the suburbs alphabetically by surname, together with their address, and sometimes occupation)
  • Alphabetical Directory (lists persons in Sydney alphabetically by surname, together with their address, and sometimes occupation)
  • Trade and Professional Directory (occupations are listed alphabetically, with a listing of each person, and address – similar to current day yellow pages)
  • Banks, Insurance and Other Companies
  • Artistic, Literary, Scientific, and Benevolent Institutions
  • Masonic Institutions
  • Government and Official Directory
  • Ecclesiastical Directory
  • Legal Directory
  • Medical Directory
  • Municipal Directory
  • Colonial Directory (contains details on heads of parliament and governmental positions for each Australian state, and New Zealand)
  • hundred of adverts are also included, which make for interested reading in themselves!

Covering both Sydney and its suburbs, this will be a useful reference for all with connections to the region at this time. Also included is a small Almanac section which lists ‘Remarkable Events’ for every day of the year.

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