Guest post: Military and Irish records online

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Guest contributor: Marie Hickey

Now that the Christmas/New Year break is over many of you will have been visiting/visited by relatives and caught up on all the latest family news, exchanged family info etc and may now have new avenues of research to follow up on.
Here are some records which have recently come available on the internet which may be of use with your research.

Military:
 Digitised records of about 100,000 RAF officers serving in WWI (killed or discharged before 1920) from series AIR 76 at TNA (the National Archives) are now available through the Documents Online service.
 Another site for those with military links/interests is the aerial reconnaissance photographs for WWII.  The first instalment of 4,000 photographs may be viewed at http://aerial.reahms.gov.uk
 For those of you who may have links with the East India Company and therefore have someone who served in the Bombay Army 1795-1862 may find the databases  on The Families in British India Society useful although, do bear in mind that this is only a selection of records but still of value.  http://fibis.org
Ireland:
Twenty nine directories for Belfast and nearby towns 1819-1900 have been digitised are available at http://streetdirectories.proni.gov.uk
The National Library of Ireland have produced a free sources database cataloguing over 180,000 Irish manuscripts and articles from over 150 publications up to 1969 http://sources.nil.ie

Over 280,000 images from glassplates taken from three major collections held by the National Library of Ireland have also been digitised and can be viewed at:

Happy searching!

Guest post: Tamaki Makaurau Marae Directory

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Guest contributor: Anahera Sadler, Pou Kohinga Matua (Maori Reference Librarian)

Website: http://www.maraedirectory.com

If you are looking to connect or reconnect with your whanau, hapu or iwi and think you are from the region of Tamaki Makaurau then this website is definitely worth a look in.

The Tamaki Makaurau Marae Directory is an initiative sponsored and maintained by Te Puni Kokiri (Ministry of Maori Development). The directory provides a listing of all marae in the greater Auckland region, enabling the local community, tangata whenua and visitors to easily find and visit local marae.

The website encompasses 75 marae from Warkworth in the north through to Pukekohe in the South. It is searchable either by name of marae or by region (North, East, West or South). A picture of the marae is viewable, a pepeha (a way to introduce yourself in a Maori context - waka, maunga, awa, iwi, hapu, marae) are recorded, contact details and google maps with driving directions are also listed to further aid the researcher to identify where the marae are and how to get there.

So, make the most of this resource...reunite with your whanau, strengthen your links, delve into these sacred places steeped in whakapapa, stories of days gone by, and learn about their relevance today!

Guest post: Government gazettes

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Guest contributor: Bridget

The historic Victoria Government Gazette's from 1851 to 1997 are available online http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/

Searches can be done by keyword or by page and years can be browsed.

As far as family historians are concerned government gazettes are a primary resource which has been largely overlooked by researchers. To appreciate the gems in the gazettes think laterally. For example, your ancestor farmed and may have needed to brand his stock; brands were registered and the public advised via the government gazette. An ancestor may have deserted ship or escaped custody, or left his wife; detailed descriptions are given. Licences were needed to run a pub, practice medicine, own a ship; all of which were gazetted. Also included are details of land grants, transfers and leases; shipping and emigration notices; appointments to public office or employees of the government.

Auckland City Libraries has the Government and Police Gazettes for the states of Australia on CD-Rom. A search of our catalogue on our website www.aucklandcitylibraries.com will show the wide ranging dates covered in our collection.
Along with the hard copies of the New Zealand Government Gazettes Auckland City Libraries has the LexisNexis New Zealand Gazette Archive, PDF copies of the New Zealand Gazette, the official newspaper of the government. As with the Australian Government Gazettes our New Zealand ones are another under used resource for family historians. Again, you can find lists of people; teachers, electricians, doctors and plumbers,for example.

The gazettes are resources well worth keen family historians investing some time in.

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