Ask Grandma Kylie

05/08/2026

Book in early for this September talk by Lainie Anderson Author.

For Wednesdays @ 1 next month, join Lainie Anderson Author as she shares her journey from historical research to historical fiction.

📆 Wednesday 2 September, 1pm to 2pm
📍 In the Genealogy SA Library or online via Zoom
🎟 Members FREE / Non-members $20
👇 Booking info in comments

Kate C***s was a household name in early twentieth-century Adelaide, internationally recognised for her groundbreaking work as the first equally-paid policewoman in the British Empire. When she wasn’t patrolling the city with a five-foot cane to separate canoodling couples, she was marching young women out of o***m dens and forcing abusive husbands to their knees to recite the Lord’s Prayer.

By the turn of the century, however, Kate C***s had been all but lost to history. In 2024, South Australian author Lainie Anderson completed a PhD researching C***s’ life and exploring how a work of popular murder mystery could do justice to this significant figure from the past. Lainie’s talk retraces the path from fact to fiction, and the opportunities and challenges of bringing real characters back to life.

03/08/2026

02/08/2026

Passing skills on to my grandchildren is one of my favourite things to do when I’m not researching family history. What skills are you passing on?

25/07/2026

I'm loving this new Ancestry feature! You can compare your census hints to see if they're consistent or where the anomalies are. Has anyone else used it? What do you think?

23/07/2026

NEW DATABASE UPDATE! Newspaper Marriages – over 12,000 records added, and 11,000 more improved 📰

This is the latest update of Newspaper Marriage records, this time incorporating new records from a large number of country newspapers as well as some new records from the Ian Shillabeer collection. We have also made improvements and updates to previously published records in the same collection. Coverage is from July 1852 to December 2024 with varying degrees of coverage.

To learn more about each dataset (including information about the records, the source and the coverage periods) head to the Online Database Search and look for the link to the PDF data sheets in the right hand column.

Thanks as always go to our dedicated volunteers, whose work enables this wonderful and ever-growing collection of records.

Images: Genealogy SA Photographic Collection. P00244-05, Wedding of Donald Ross Hawkins and Patricia Margaret White, 1953. P00207-01, Wedding of Edward Albert Dansie and Rose Pitman, 1909.

22/07/2026

Family Threads Project update
After separating the DNA matches into groups and identifying the most recent common ancestor couple, I’m now building their family tree forwards through each generation to living descendants. This helps narrow down which branch may lead to the unknown birth parent.

18/07/2026

Hit a brick wall with official government records? Try checking church registers, and tell us your best find in the comments!

18/07/2026

I can recommend GEDmatch webinars having done one myself which was extremely useful. It is early morning for us Aussies but it's worth it.

📅 Free webinar - Friday, July 24 at 12 PM PST

Your DNA match list holds answers. This session shows you how to find them.

Join genetic genealogist Ryan Russell on Making Sense of Your DNA Matches: AutoCluster, AutoSegment & AutoKinship. a practical walkthrough of three tools that group your matches into clusters, cluster them by shared DNA segments, and predict how you're related.

Free and open to all GEDmatch users. Tier 1 members get the recording in the forums afterward.

Register now 👉https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7660337549898469721?source=facebook

16/07/2026

Nearly a million Australians served abroad in World War II: fighting in Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Asia-Pacific region.

The National Library’s collection holds many manuscript collections from Australians whose lives were irrevocably shaped by their participation in the Asia-Pacific theatre during World War II.

The experiences of Australians in Asia during WWII are now available to research in Trove. A newly digitised collection includes the papers of war correspondents, prisoners of war and their families.

Learn more about the collection: https://brnw.ch/21x4anh

[Image description: Handwritten letter that reads: “My dearest wife, I am a prisoner of war. I am quite well. Love to Barbara, Ian and yourself. Andrew J Somervaille.”]

16/07/2026

Families come in many shapes. I can help research and chart your family as it really is, with care and respect.