The London Gazette

In the last post we looked at the life of Kathleen Kinsella, who did not survive the bombing of the Vyner Brooke on February 14, 1942. Whilst I was researching Kathleen I came across the fact that her sister, Nancie, had received an M.B.E (Member of the British Empire) so I began some research into this and came across a new resource that may be of interest to you. It is the London Gazette www.london-gazette.co.uk where, since 1665, all official British government notices are published. Before I tell you about the London Gazette I will tell you about Nancie Kinsella. Nancie, Kathleen and their three brothers were the children of Michael James Kinsella (1858-1919) and Susan (nee Lockens 1857-1930) of Cora Lynn. Michael Kinsella had selected 60 acres of land on the north side of the Main Drain at Cora Lynn in 1900. They both started school at Koo-Wee-Rup North and then transferred to Cora Lynn State School and they both became nurses. Nancie had left Australia before the War and when the War broke out she enlisted in the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service. This service was started in 1902 by Queen Alexandra and provided nurses for military hospitals. Nancie nursed in the Middle East; was in Normandy where she looked after D-Day casualties and also nursed the 1,700 survivors of the Belsen Concentration camp. At Belsen, the nurses had to de-louse and clean the captives and the wards as well as provide treatment for all manner of diseases such as dysentery, tuberculosis, typhoid, typhus, diphtheria, heart and kidney problems as well as starvation. Nancie was awarded a M.B.E in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in North West Europe – this was listed in the London Gazette, issue 37004, of March 29, 1945.

 

She was also mentioned in Despatches for the same service and was awarded the Associate Royal Red Cross medal, which is awarded to nurses for acts of bravery or exceptional devotion to duty. This award was in the January supplement to the London Gazette, issue 38797, of December 30, 1949.

It appears that she remained in the Service and completed her time in the Reserve of Officers in 1956 as we can see below from the London Gazette, issue 40758, of April 17, 1956. In 1956, Nancie Kinsella was appointed the Matron at the at the Peter McCallum Hospital and the ‘Nancie Kinsella Patient Library’ there is named in her honour. 

Because Australia had the Imperial Honours System before 1975 all Australian recipients are listed in the London Gazette, so if your ancestor or relative received a C.B.E (Commander of the British Empire) or an O.B.E (Officer of the British Empire) or, like Nancie Kinsella, a M.B.E (Member of the British Empire) or even a higher honour such as a Knighthood then they will be listed in the London Gazette. The notice above was in the London Gazette, issue 45678, of June 3, 1972. Cr Thwaites was awarded an O.B.E for his services to Local Government. Cr Thwaites was a Cranbourne Shire Councillor from 1958 to the 1980s. Sir Sidney Sewell received his Knighthood in 1945 and it was listed in the London Gazette, issue 37119, of June 8, the same year. Sidney Sewell was a pioneer in the treatment of tuberculosis, founded the Association of Physicians of Australasia in 1930, lived at Roads End, Beaumont Road in Berwick and built the Tudor shops in High Street. The notice is also interesting for the use of the term 'Dominions' as it has been many years since Australian was referred to in that way. Other things you would find listed in the London Gazette include bankruptcies, naturalisations, patents, military honours, promotions and appointments and public service appointments. And, best of all, the entire 340 plus years of the Gazette are now digitised, searchable and free to print off. I would advise doing an Advanced search where you have the option of searching a phrase or limiting by dates. It is an amazing resource if your ancestors are from the United Kingdom or like Nancie Kinsella involved with a British Military unit.

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Early Settlers of the Casey Cardinia district

The Narre Warren and District Family History Group (NW&DFHG) have produced Early Settlers of the Casey-Cardinia District. The book records the names of the early settlers in the area that was once the Berwick Shire and the Cranbourne Shire and is now covered by the City of Casey and Cardinia Shire. The book covers the prominent early landowners who arrived here from the 1830s through to the more humble families who worked the land and created the community spirit which built our towns and organizations.

It is naturally not an exhaustive list. Some information came from research from NW&DFHG members and some information was submitted by descendants of the settlers.

This is a valuable contribution to the history of our area.

The NW&DFHG, run entirely by volunteers, started in 1989 and has produced a history of their first twenty years, Kindred Spirits.

Their Research Room at the Cranbourne Library has an extensive collection of local, Victorian, Australian and overseas information.  For opening hours, meeting details and other information visit their website at www.nwfhg.org.au

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South East Victoria Family & Regional History Expo

Ancestry database now has Australian Birth, Marriage and Death records. The information covers much the same sort of information you can get from the Digger CD-Roms or the on-line Indexes available through the Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. It also covers the same range of years. For privacy reasons, most of the Birth Indexes generally only cover births which took place 100 years ago, Marriages which took place 60 to 80 years ago and Deaths which took place at least 30 years ago, although it varies from State to State. This is a welcome addition to Ancestry and significantly adds to its Australian content. Ancestry database is available to use, free, at all our Library Branches.

If you are new to family history then you might want to know what is significant about these Records. They are essentially the Indexes to the Births, Deaths and Marriages and include the Registration number, which you need to apply for the Certificate, from the various State Registry Offices of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Why would you purchase a certificate? Firstly, you usually get a lot more information. For instance, this is the Ancestry database record (above) of my great grandfather, James Rouse, who died in 1939 at Bunyip. James, a widower, arrived at Cora Lynn in 1903 with his nine year old son, Joe. They took up land on Murray Road. If we had his death certificate then it would potentially tell us who his parents were, where he was born, when he was married, how long he had been in Australia, what his cause of death was and what children he had. This is a treasure trove of information for genealogists. I say it will 'potentially' tell us, because obviously information on a Death certificate comes from family members or friends who may not be aware of all the circumstances of the deceased's life.


I have the birth certificate of James' son, Joe (my grandfather) and it includes the signature of James Rouse, and that is another reason why you might purchase a certificate. We don't have many photographs of James and, sadly, many of the people who knew him are no longer with us, so its lovely to see a sample of his handwriting. You will also get to see your ancestor's signatures on their Marriage Certificate.

This is a photograph of James (1862-1939) with his daughter, Lucy (1898 - 1981) and grand daughters Nancy and Dorothy, taken in 1929. Nancy and Dorothy are the children of Joe, and nieces of Lucy.

If you want to trace your own family tree and want some great advice and see some great resources, then the Narre Warren and District Family History Group are holding a Family and Regional History Expo on Saturday, August 28 at the Beaconsfield Community Centre, Old Princes Highway at Beaconsfield. There will be over 40 different exhibitors, including Casey Cardinia Library Corporation, 100s of records to research and lots of advice and information will be available.

Open 10.00am to 4.00pm, entry is $8.00, children under 15 free. There is also the chance to win a door prize of a 12 month World Deluxe Subscription from Ancestry.com.au. Even though we would still like you to come to one of our Libraries to use Ancestry, this is a great prize and means you can access all the Ancestry records, twenty four hours a day, from your home computer.

I look forward to seeing you there.

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Narre Warren and District Family History Group

National Family History Week takes place from Saturday, August 1st until Sunday, August 9th 2009. We have our own Family History Group based in Casey Cardinia, the Narre Warren and District Family History Group. The Group has just celebrated their 20th anniversary and are still going strong.

The members of the 20th anniversary sub-committee, cutting the birthday cake. Left to right - Faye McCoubrie, Pam Lowther, Lorraine Taylor, Wendy Goodwin, Lynne Bradley and Eileen Durdin.

The first meetings of the Group were held in Lorraine Taylor’s living room at her house in Sweeney Drive in Narre Warren on May 10th 1989. Resources were owned personally by the members and shared with others at each meeting. In June 1989 the Group affiliated with the Genealogical Society of Victoria and in July they produced their first newsletter, Spreading Branches. The Group fund-raised to purchase resources, and from October 1990 the meetings moved to the Presbyterian Church meeting room in Narre Warren. When the Narre Warren Library opened on November 21st 1992 they moved into a room there, and have been with the Library ever since.

The Family History Group has a well resourced Research Room staffed with knowledgeable, helpful and friendly volunteers. The Group also produces valuable research about the Casey Cardinia area – they have transcribed registers and created Indexes to the burials at Harkaway, Berwick and Pakenham cemeteries. Another great and on-going project is their Casey Cardinia Index, a combined index of every local history book written on a town, organisation or person in the Casey Cardinia area.


They have also produced a history of their first 20 years, called
Kindred Spirits.  It is an interesting account of the Group from the first meeting in May 1989 to the successful group they are today, with over 100 members.

If you have been involved in Family History research you will know how much change there has been in genealogical resources over the past twenty years - index cards have been replaced by microfiche which in turn have been replaced by on-line resources, such as Ancestry database. In fact, it has got to the stage now where people expect to find their whole family tree complete and sitting there on the Internet waiting for them. One of the early projects which the Group undertook was transcribing the Shire of Berwick Rate books, by hand, onto individual index cards. The City of Berwick and the Cardinia Shire have since microfilmed the Rate books and they are available on CD-ROM.

The Shire of Berwick Rate Cards. Each rate-payer had their own Index card. It was a labour of love and dedication to produce these cards.

The Group were based at the Narre Warren Library until September 2017 when they shifted to rooms in the Cranbourne Library Complex (65 Berwick-Cranbourne Road). Check out their website for opening hours, meetings and other information. http://nwfhg.org.au

Come along to check out their resources, get some advice and find out for yourself what a supportive friendly group they are.

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Australian Newspapers Beta project

The National Library of Australia commenced a four year project of digitising Australian newspapers in 2007 and ultimately aims to digitise 3 million pages. The project currently involves twenty six newspaper titles and the only Victorian one so far is The Argus which is on-line from 1915 to 1940. These newspapers are a great resource for both local and family historians. The Argus started in 1846 and closed in 1957 and covered State and National news but you can also find lots of local news. I did some searches using the names of various Casey Cardinia towns and found the following local items - a letter to the editor about the 'deplorable conditions' of the roads in Pearcedale in 1923 ; a report on the Congregational Church girls' camp at Harkaway in 1927 ; a photograph and short report on the unfurling of the Union Jack, by Miss Ada Arymtage, at the Beaconsfield Primary School. The School had sent an Australian flag to the Beaconsfield School in England in exchange ; a visit by the Governor of Victoria, Lord Somers, to the Gilwell Scout Camp at Gembrook in 1931 and a report on the official opening of the re-modelled Cora Lynn cheese factory in 1932 (see below)

The Argus, Thursday 29 September 1932, page 10.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4500697

You can search by any key words including family names which makes this project a great resource for Family historians. My great, great, great Grandfather Thomas Weatherhead, was a Sea Captain. I found a few reports in the Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen's Land Advertiser which mentioned Captain Weatherhead. On May 25th 1822 it was reported that Captain Weatherhead and the transport ship The Phoenix, carrying 182 male convicts, had arrived on the previous Monday. The Phoenix had left Portsmouth on January 5th. In the June 1st 1822 edition in the Claims and Demands column in the Classified Advertisements it tells us that Captain Weatherhead and The Phoenix was leaving the Colony and that any claims (debts etc) should be presented (see below).

Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen's Land Advertiser, Saturday 1 June 1822, page 1.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1089707

As you can see there is a wealth of information in these old newspapers and it is a fantastic project and a fabulous resource. You can find the newspapers on the National Library of Australia website at www.nla.gov.au > Find > Newspapers > Digitised newspapers or click on this link http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home

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The Old Bailey Proceedings

The Old Bailey is the nickname of the Central Criminal Court in London and the Proceedings of the Court, from 1674 to 1913, are available on-line at http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/ It is a fabulous site and contains the details of over 210,000 criminal trials and the biographical details of approximately 3,000 men and women executed at Tyburn. The Proceedings, which contain accounts of the trials, were published on a regular basis from 1674 until 1913 and were initially targeted at a popular audience. These Proceedings are now digitised and are fully searchable.

You can search by Crime e.g. Theft by pocket picking (there are 13, 656 of those) or by punishment e.g. Transportation (there are 41,515 of those) or you can combine the punishment and the crime and the you will discover that 4,942 people were transported for Theft by pocket picking.

You can also search by name so you might find an ancestor listed as either a defendant, a witness or an official. One simple trial from April 1832 lists John Roach, as the defendant, Edward Grubb, as the victim, and John Jefford and George Robins who are members of the Police force or the Watch. John Roach was 20 at the time of his offence and sentenced to 14 years of transportation. There are also accounts of high profile trials such as the trial of Oscar Wilde for 'gross indency' in 1895. Some of the more interesting punishments include Death - death and dissection and Death - Drawn and Quartered.

They are a fascinating resource for both social and family historians.
A trial in the Old Bailey in 1773. The Old Bailey sentenced over 41,000 people to transportation, firstly to British colonies in America, which stopped after the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. From 1787 they were sent to Australia with the first convicts (736 in all) arriving at Botany Bay with the First Fleet on January 18th, 1788. The First Fleet is pictured above.

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Lost and Almost Forgotten towns of Colonial Victoria.

Many people tracing their Family history, come across a town which cannot be located on a modern map. This may be because the town no longer exists or that it has changed its name. To help locate these "missing" towns you could consult Lost and almost forgotten towns of Colonial Victoria : a comprehensive analysis of Census results for Victoria, 1841-1901 by Angus B.Watson. Mr Watson has listed all the towns and villages , as defined by the Government Statist, for all Victorian censuses between 1841 and 1901. Perhaps your ancestor attended Tobin Yallock State School or Cannibal Creek State School or a family document lists Irishtown as an address. These won't be found on a modern map but this book will tell you that Tobin Yallock later became Lang Lang and Cannibal Creek State School was re-named Garfield and that the Emerald Gold field diggings were listed on the 1871 Census as Irishtown. The book also lists the population of the towns, so it is interesting to read that Berwick grew from a population of 60 people in 1861 with 14 dwellings to 452 in 1901 with 98 dwellings. This book is available for loan at our Pakenham and Cranbourne branches.

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Women's Suffrage Petition

2008 marks 100 years since Women gained the right to vote in Victoria. The other Australian states had already granted women the right to vote, South Australia being the leader, where women had the right to vote and stand for Parliament granted in 1894. New Zealand can claim to be the first country in the world where women were allowed to vote in a General election. This was in 1893. Australia was the second country, when women achieved the right to vote, in Federal elections, in 1902. New Zealand and Australia led the world in women's suffrage - the United States didn't allow women to vote until 1920 and the United Kingdom had introduced limited female suffrage in 1918 and extended the vote to all women in 1928.

In 1891 women in Victoria established a petition, presented to the Victorian Parliament, to agitate for the vote for women. http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/about/the-history-of-parliament/womens-suffrage-petition
This is an amazing resource of nearly 30,000 signatures. The signatures were collected by women

who went door to door all over Victoria. The Women's Suffrage petition has been digitised and is fully searchable by name or address. The indexing was undertaken by volunteers from the Genealogical Society of Victoria and the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. If you are lucky you might find your Grandmother's name and signature. The image, left,  is of the original 260 metre long petition, which is made of paper pasted onto cotton.

I have tried to find the names of every woman, from what is now the Casey Cardinia area, who signed the petition - there were 62 all up - 41 from Pakenham, 13 from Gembrook South, 3 from Officer and one each from Cranbourne, Nar Nar Goon, Beaconsfield, Berwick/Harkaway and one from Eumemmerring. It does appear that the petition needed a person in the town to act as a catalyst, such as what appears to have happened at Pakenham as otherwise I would have thought that there would be greater numbers from Berwick and Cranbourne. Dandenong, which would have been larger than Pakenham, Berwick and Cranbourne had only two people sign the petition.

Here are the names -
ABLETHORP, Emma - Gembrook South. You can read about the Ablethorpe farm
 at Gembrook here.
ALLEN,Jessie - Pakenham
BRUNTS, J - Cranbourne - this should be BRUNT.
Mrs Brunt may have been away on holidays when she signed as the other
women who signed the petition above and below her came from Kyabram.
CHURCH, Anna - Pakenham
CIBICK, Elizabeth -  Beaconsfield
CLANCY, Elizabeth - Pakenham
COLVIN, Cassie - Pakenham
COLWELL, Julia - Pakenham
DOWD, Emma -  Pakenham
DWYER, Mary - Pakenham
ELLIS, Emma - Pakenham
EYART, Margaret M.J. - Pakenham
FAHEY, Margaret - Pakenham
FERGUSON, Elizabeth - Pakenham 
GIBSON,  Margaret  - Pakenham
GILLMASTIN, Fanny - Pakenham
GOODALL, Bessie - Pakenham
HALLORAN, Joanna - Pakenham
HICKS, Elizabeth - Officer
HILLMAN, Adeline - Pakenham
HILLMAN,Eliza - Pakenham
HILLMAN, Julia A.- Pakenham
HITCHINS, Annie H. - Gembrook South
LEWIS, Amelia J. H. - Pakenham
LEWIS, Elizabeth - Gembrook South
MACKIE, Helen A. - Harkaway, Berwick. I am not sure if the Mackie
property was called Harkaway but I think more likely that they
lived at Harkaway and she added Berwick to help identify her
location. Helen was amongst women from Malvern and
Armadale on the petition, so was presumably visiting. 
MARGENGARK, Lizzie - Pakenham
MARTIN, Nye - Pakenham
MASON, Elizabeth - Pakenham
McGOWAN, Annie - Gembrook South
McGOWAN,  Henrietta C. - Gembrook South
McRAE, Mary - Pakenham
MURPHY, Ellen Agnes - Officer.
NEILSEN, Margaret - Pakenham
NUGENT , E - Pakenham
PATERNOSTER, Maisie - Pakenham; PEARSON, Agnes - Pakenham
REECE, Ellen Elizabeth - Officer
ROBERTS, Mary - Pakenham; ROBERTSON, Mary - Pakenham
SASKER, Mrs - Nar Nar Goon. Mrs Sasker was in Maryborough when she
signed the petition.
SHORT, Margaret - Eumemmerring. Margaret was amongst women
from Malvern and Windsor on the petition, so once again she must
have been visiting.
SMARTT, Bertha E - Gembrook South
SMITH, Elizabeth - Pakenham
SMITH, Ellen - Gembrook South
SMITH, Margaret - Pakenham
SMITH, Minnie - Gembrook South
STANFORD, Jessie -  Pakenham
SWANSON, Maria - Pakenham
UNWIN, Jane - Pakenham
URE, Jane,  Mrs  -  Gembrook South. You can read about the Ure family of
Gembrook, here.
WADSWORTH, Constance - Gembrook South
WADSWORTH, Flora - Gembrook South
WADSWORTH, J.L. - Gembrook South
WALTON,  Lily - Pakenham;
WARNER, Sarah -Gembrook South
WATERS, Jane - Pakenham
WATSON, A. M., Mrs - Pakenham
WATSON, Cecily E. - Pakenham
WATSON, Mary E. - Pakenham
WHUSTONE, Eugenie - Pakenham
WILSON, Emily - Pakenham.

This is page 368 from the petition and has some Pakenham and Gembrook South names.

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Preserving family treasures

Your family would own many precious historical documents and items. You might have a collection of old photographs, papers from Grandpa's business, old love letters or letters sent back from the Front in the First World War, Grandma's wedding dress or even Aunty Joan's 1950s belle of the ball gown.

There are many useful Internet sites with information on preserving your family treasures. The Collections Australia network is the public gateway to Australian Collecting Institutions such as Museums and Galleries http://www.collectionsaustralia.net/ Type in ReCollections in search box. ReCollections provides professional advice for the preventative care of items such as books, photographs, papers, leather, wood and textiles such as clothing or embroideries.
The State Library of Victoria http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ also provides information on correct storage of precious books, papers and photographs. Click on Services then Conservation advice then Information guides or follow this link http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/services/conservation/index.html
Finally the National Archives of Australia http://www.naa.gov.au/ The N.A.A provides a range of preservation information. Click on Records Management then Secure, store and preserve or follow this link http://www.naa.gov.au/records-management/secure-and-store/index.aspx

Proper storage of family treasures will help preserve them for future generations. Sadly, we no longer have Grandma's wedding dress, but this is the wedding photograph of my Grandparents, Joseph Rouse and Eva Weatherhead, who were married at the Methodist Church at Garfield on November 22nd, 1922.

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Ancestry database and Electoral rolls.

Casey Cardinia Library Corporation subscribes to Ancestry database. Ancestry database is free to use at any of our Libraries. Follow this link to our website http://www.cclc.vic.gov.au/
Ancestry database now has the Australian Electoral rolls from 1901-1936. The rolls are indexed and you can also view the original document. The rolls for Victoria cover the years 1903 to 1954. These rolls are a great resource for both the Family Historian and the Local Historian.
Family Historians can use the rolls to track the movements of their ancestors. As an example, George Stephenson Weatherhead (1888-1944), who is my grandmother's brother, was listed on the Tynong roll in 1914. In 1919 George, and his wife Annie, are listed at Carstairs, south of Townsville in Queensland. From these entries, we can see that he has married and moved interstate.
The Electoral rolls are also a valuable resource for Local Historians. In the 1903 roll, most of what is now Casey and Cardinia was in the Flinders District. Emerald, Cockatoo and Gembrook were in the Mernda District. If you search the sub-district of, for instance, Yannathan you will get a "snapshot" of the 244 people on the roll, their names, addresses and their occupation. This can help you build up a picture of the area at that time. This image shows the first page of the Yannathan roll. Click on the image to enlarge it.

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Cemeteries in Casey and Cardinia

With the upsurge of interest in family history, cemeteries have become a popular source of information for genealogists. If you are interested in researching cemeteries then you can access many cemetery records through the Australian Cemeteries website www.australiancemeteries.com.au
It's  a great site and sometimes, if you are lucky, it even has head stone photographs.
We will have  a look at the eight cemeteries in the Casey Cardinia area.

Berwick Cemetery The first Trustees were appointed for this Cemetery on July 25 1860. They were Charles Rossiter, James Feehan, John Brisbane, Abram Gardiner and Adam Ritchie.  They have  a website which includes a deceased search  www.berwickcemetery.com.au

Bunyip Cemetery The Bunyip Cemetery site was officially reserved on November 22, 1886 and on December 6, 1886 the first Trustees were appointed - Joseph Williams, George Birch and James Barnes.

Cranbourne Cemetery   The site for the Cemetery was reserved on December 11, 1857 and the following Trustees were appointed at the same time - Alexander Cameron, Patrick Thomson, James Smith Adams, William Sykes and Edward Malloy.

Gembrook Cemetery   Land for the Gembrook Cemetery was set aside on July 14, 1879 and on July 28 the following Trustees were appointed Talworth Benjamin Backhouse, Henry James, Alexander Crichton, John Walters and Charles Brache.

Harkaway Cemetery It was established in June 1873 as a private cemetery, called Zions Hill,  and owned by a group of local families. In 1905 it was decided that it should be gazetted as a public cemetery and Immanuel Wanke, Francis Barr, George Washington, Edward Hillbrich and John Durling were appointed Trustees on June 30 and on September 12 1905  it was officially gazetted as a public cemetery*.

Lang Lang Cemetery The Lang Lang Cemetery site was reserved on December 5, 1887 and the first Trustees appointed December 10, 1889 were Thomas Poole (whose grave is pictured right), William Jones, Prosper Henry Victor Le Roux, Joseph Foster, William Norquay, Patrick McGrath, Edmund McGrath and Alexander McMillan.


Nangana Cemetery (also called Emerald Cemetery or Macclesfield Cemetery)  On February 6 1883 land was set aside for the Nangana Cemetery.    The first record of Trustees I can find is from February 27, 1893 when Carl Nobelius, Thomas Collis, Edwin Hunt, George Charman and James Slade. The Emerald Cemetery is now run by the Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust  and there is a deceased search function on their website www.gmct.com.au

Pakenham Cemetery The site for the Pakenham Cemetery was reserved on February 13, 1865 and the first trustees were appointed on May 8, 1865 and they were John Startup, Richard Fortune, Michael Bourke, Thomas Mulcahy and George Ritchie (whose grave is pictured left)  It is believed that the first burials actually took place in the 1850s.

The Necropolis Springvale - Many people opt for cremation and for people in this area this was usually done at The Necropolis in Springvale,  where the first cremation took place in 1905. It's now called the Springvale Botanical Cemetery. Their burial records are on-line - you can access them at https://sbc.smct.org.au/


* Information from Harkaway Cemetery Tour: Ordinary people, interesting lives - a walk in the historic Harkaway Cemetery, published by the Narre Warren & District Family History Group, 2016. They have researched walks in the Berwick, Cranbourne, Harkaway, Lang Lang and Pakenham cemeteries - more information on these publications can be found on their wesbite http://nwfhg.org.au/

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Australian Army War Diaries

The Australian War Memorial (www.awm.gov.au) has digitised war diaries from the First and Second World War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. They are the diaries of the Unit's administration, operations and activities and rarely contain information about individuals. However, they can give you a real feel for what was happening on a day-to-day basis and will be of immense interest if you had relatives serving in a particular unit. The soldier is my great uncle Alf Weatherhead , who was in the 23rd Battalion. The map (click on image to enlarge it) is from the diary of the 23rd Battalion and it formed part of Battle Order 20 from July 20 1916. The diaries are on the Australian War Memorial web site - follow this link. http://www.awm.gov.au/diaries/index.asp. These are an amazing resource and well worth exploring.

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