Ballarat & District Genealogical Society Inc

23/08/2026

Our Annual General meeting will be held at the Ballarat North Community Centre, 7.30 pm Wednesday 26th August.

Neil Leckie from the Sebastopol Historical Society will speak about the activities and records held by this Society, followed by supper.
All welcome.

We are still seeking more nominations for our committee.
Please send nominations, apologies or proxies to [email protected]

12/08/2026

this is very interesting, if you can overlook pronounciations and some spellings!

Between 1852 and 1853, the ground under Ballarat was the richest al...

09/08/2026

Just in from the GSV re seeking Mervyn Limon's next of kin.

Hi Everyone

Thank you so much for all your assistance in the effort to reunite the WW2 Medals of Mervyn Oswald Limon with his next of kin.

I have good news for everyone. The family in Canada have been in contact with the man who located the medals, and the process has begun to send them to Canada.

Take care God bless
Thank you again everyone.

Anne-Maree Richardson FGSV
Hon. Research Manager
Genealogical Society of Victoria

08/08/2026

The Wendish Society has sent an invitation for their annual luncheon in Ballarat. Contact details are included below.

03/08/2026

The August LINK edition has been emailed to financial members. Check your inboxes and junk mail. Let me know if it hasn't arrived. [email protected]

Perhaps you may know of the family of Mervyn LIMON.
Please contact the GSV. Details below.

20/07/2026

The next general meeting for BDGS Inc. will be held Wednesday 22nd July , 7.30 pm at the Ballarat North Community Centre.
Topic for the night- ‘Writing your family history with the assistance of ChatGPT.’
All welcome.

The forthcoming Annual General meeting of the Ballarat & District Genealogical Society is to take place 7.30pm, Wednesday 26th August 2026 at the Ballarat North Community Centre corner Armstrong and Walker Streets.

We are calling for nominations for the 2026/27 Committee.
We have been operating with only seven to eight members over the past few years, and we would love to have a full Committee of ten members. You do not need to be an expert researcher, just someone who is happy to help make decisions and keep our Society on track.
Nomination forms and proxy forms will be available at the above mentioned July meeting.

16/07/2026

THE STATE LIBRARY is holding a free webinar- Go to their website
State Library Victoria, find What's On on the bar to book.

TOPIC Advanced Searching
Learn how to use advanced searching techniques in this hands-on and free webinar.

Book now
Date: 30 July 2026, 11:00am–12:00pm
Cost: Free
Bookings: Bookings required
Location: Via Zoom with closed captioning available

Information has never before been so readily available. With the click of a button, the world is your oyster. But how can you tell the good sources from the bad?

Join our Librarians for a hands-on online workshop where they’ll show you:

The types of resources you can use
Techniques to get better search results
Tips and tricks to being an efficient researcher
Book your ticket now.

12/07/2026

The National Archives curator ( Canberra) is seeking contact with family of the lithographic artist David Reginald Cochrane.

You can either contact me or Lucie herself at
Lucie Shawcross

Dear Ballarat Genealogical Society

My name is Lucie and I am a curator at National Archives in Canberra.

I am wondering if you could please assist me to contact any of the family of Dave Reginald Cochrane (lithographic artist, 1898 - 1982) who lived in Ballarat?

I would like to let Cochrane’s decedents know about an upcoming exhibition of posters at National Archives, that includes one he made for McKenzie’s Oats in 1924.



Dave Reginald Cochrane (artist, 1898 - 1982), F. W. Niven Pty Ltd, Melbourne (printer)
Do you like lovely porridge – McKenzie’s oatmeal – somebodys been tastin’ my porridge an’ they’ve eaten it all up 1924
lithograph
NAA: A1861, 5159

(the poster is huge – 6x sheets – it is currently being prepared for display, and will be digitised as part of this process – apologies for my weird collage – it all fits together in real life!)

All I have been able to find about Cochrane so far is that he married Alma Lillian Hopkins in 1922, and it looks as though they had two children, Elwyn Linnia born 1922, and Ivan David born 1925. I also found Reginald’s FWW service records (NAA ID: 3264133).

Many thanks for any assistance you may be able to offer us.

Warmest wishes and best.

08/07/2026

NEWS FROM THE RYERSON INDEX
·
📊 Ryerson Index Update!

Since our last update on 14 June, our incredible volunteers have uploaded 18,247 new notices to the Ryerson Index website.
We're also pleased to have added another funeral director to our growing collection, making even more notices available for researchers and families.
We'd love to keep expanding our coverage, but to do that we need more volunteer indexers.
If you've ever considered helping preserve Australia's family history, now is a great time to get involved. No matter how much time you can spare, every contribution makes a difference.
To learn more, visit our website or get in touch with us directly at [email protected].
https://www.ryersonindex.org/newindxr.htm
Thank you to every one of our volunteers for your continued dedication—it simply wouldn't be possible without you. 💙💛 See less

We will then run you through a basic training exercise, where you index 20 or so fictional notices. You have two attempts at getting this exercise correct.

30/06/2026

HAPPY VICTORIA DAY!
Did you know that on July 1, 1851, the Australian Constitutions Act established the separate colony of Victoria, leading to the creation of the Victorian Parliament, Supreme Court, and Public Service?