Z - Zone in

Z

Zero in on

Zone in on

Zoom along

Zoom is one media platform that enables virtual meetings with participants coming together on a screen via the internet. The host and participants can be seen or unseen and all can actively participate. It is an ideal teaching tool we use within our group. 

Have you used Zoom to communicate with other family historians? Our group has a professional account for hosting meetings but you can have a free account that will give you as many 40 minute sessions as you like.

Zap! That's it for our A-Z series! 

Y - You and Yours

Y

Youth - pass your stories on, encourage the younger generations

You and Yours - develop a history

Yesteryears - discover and write about your ancestors

Y-DNA:-   Enhance your research using the male Y sex chromosome. The male pair of sex chromosomes are X and Y, where the X chromosome is passed from the mother and the Y chromosome from the father. Because the Y chromosome is unique to the male it passes from father and son and is virtually unchanged in the process. Some DNA companies provide deep Y-DNA research which applies over many generations helping to identify the paternal line of ancestors. 

YouTube - Are you using YouTube for your family history? There are dozens of genealogy channels that help you learn for free. Have you thought about setting up your own YouTube channel for sharing your family stories? 

X - X marks the spot

X

• Experience excitement at discoveries
• Exact details, find more about your ancestors
• Exceptional documents

Sometimes one needs Xray vision to examine old documents and make out signatures or names, such handwriting interpretation skills can be learned.

Add an X to a spot on your own map to mark where your ancestors lived. Try MyMaps or Ways to use Google Earth for Genealogy.

eXpertise - We have experts in DNA, experts in Scottish genealogy, experts in Irish, South African and New Zealand genealogy to mention just a few.

W - Writing and Wondering

W

• Wander the  library shelves
• Work out the when and the why of ancestors lives
• Work with others
• Write the stories

Welcome - We'd love you to join us in the engaging pursuit of family history.

Writers' Group meets each month. The aim of this group is to write and share small anecdotes of family history related to a chosen topic. Friendly feedback helps writers to hone their skills whilst building a bank of stories to hand on to the next generation.

Without a doubt one of the most heard cries of the genealogist is

“Why did I not ask Granny about that?”

With all that information and all those stories tucked away in your head,

Why not write them down for future generations to read?

When we die, a whole library burns, so make a hard copy.

Website - Have you checked out our website lately? It contains information about our

• calendar of events and opening hours
• membership
• library catalogue
• publications and indexes
• contact details - email address and phone number
• social media and more

V - Volunteers and Voice

 

V

• Validate the family myths
• Verify the facts
• View webinars
• Voice your stories
• Volunteer

Volunteers are the backbone of our group. They give their time generously in many and varied ways. Are you looking for such an opportunity? Come and contribute your skills.

Voice typing helps you record memories and get stories written quickly. Ask someone to show you how.

Videos are engaging tools to use to present your family history to others. Learn how to make a video in PowerPoint or how to record a simple video using your phone.

U - Unexpected and Unusual

U

• Uncover the facts
• Understand past families
• Use our databases and resources

Unexpected connections sometimes surprise. At an education session the facilitator asked for a family name to demonstrate an internet search. An audience member suggested a familiar name, but it could not be found. She suggested an alternate name, also on another member's family tree. Later they discovered a shared ancestor who had arrived as a convict.

Unusual names Our Cooroy Rag photo database has many unusual names from the 1980s and 1990s.

Unique Do you have any names in your families that are unique or have only been used once?

Us Join our friendly society for good value, help with your research and friendship. Everyone has something they can contribute to the group.

T - Treasures and Technology

 

T

• Test your theories
• Treasure the memories
• Try a new tool

Technology  Family history research needs various skill sets to ensure the completion of a task. Many members are competent with the technology involved be it websites, Trove searches, parish records, scanning, microfilm or DNA and are happy to share their knowledge. Word processing and Excel classes are also available.

The Heritage Centre has computers available for research with helpers on hand. No need to book in advance. Wi-Fi is available for those who prefer to use their own devices.

Use our technology to digitise the treasures in your photo or paper collection.

Our large display screen is used effectively for group and guest presentations.

Timelines are an effective tool for viewing the state of your research into any particular ancestor. 

S - Searching and Scanning

S

• Satisfy your curiosity
• Seek answers
• Sort through data

Scan - We have two scanners members may use to digitise their photos, slides and documents. Help is available. In some cases the digital images can be further enhanced using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to enable the search for key words or sentences in old newspaper or book scans.

The Scottish Interest Group meets once a month to further their skills and share their research.

School prize - Each year the group hosts a writing competition at the local primary school.

Social events play an important role in enhancing the group.

R - Research and Reason

R

• Read widely
• Research for a reason
• Recollections
• Record the details
• Remember the stories

Research Assistants - Our skilled personnel are on hand each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 9.30 am - 1 pm  to help you delve into your past.

The Client Research Team will undertake research for clients and members. There is an initial fee of $25 for basic research from the resources. Should extended research be required, fees are by negotiation thereafter. 

Record the details of research so that you know where to start and what to look for next time. It is wise to not rely on recall.

Repeat earlier research to see if new information has been identified or indexed.

Q - Questions and Quotes

Q

Question the assumptions

Query the databases

Quote the source

Questions: Family History research throws up many puzzling questions. The answers might be found quickly or may take many long and hopefully fruitful hours of detective work.

Quote the source of all found information. One's memory is unlikely to retain all the correct details.

 

P - Preserving and Publishing

 

P

• Preserve photos
• Print the past
• Place people in their time
• Photocopy papers

Publishing: The Cooroy-Noosa Group has published two books. Pioneer families were interviewed and their recollections and family stories recorded for posterity

Pioneer Families of Cooroy and District was first published in 2002. It contains 70 family names and stories. It is now available for purchase on USB or as a digital file for $15.

Echoes of the Past published in 2011 contains 71 names and stories. . Print copies are still available.

O - Occupations and Organisation

 

O

• Open an index
• Organise your files
• Outline a story

Occupations Why are they important in family history? Learning about the work of our ancestors provides us with information about their daily lives and social status. Were they blacksmiths, brewers or book binders? Maybe coachmen, cobblers or cooks. Whatever the occupation, find out more about this important part of your ancestor’s life.

Opening times: Our Heritage Centre opens on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 9.30am to 1pm. Workshops, Interest Groups, talks and more are held on other days.

N - Newspapers and Names

 

N

• Narrate your story
• Note down your sources
• Notice inconsistencies in dates and other data

Newspapers - Access free newspapers of the past through Trove and PapersPast. Come in to the Heritage Centre to access all the papers available through our FindMyPast subscription. Search for your ancestors in the news.

Names and naming patterns - We have an excellent collection of material about names in the library

Nametags - Our wise members remember to wear their nametags so they can be acknowledged by name.

M - Memories and Maps

 

M

• Make new friends
• Manage your finds
• Meet like-minded people

Memories can be recorded at the time with photographs and movies or they can be recorded later in a diary, letters or on a recording device to become a biography. Make sure you record some of yours!

Maps of historical significance are held in the library collection. They are available to peruse and can be important in constructing family history stories.  The map drawers hold not only many early maps of our area, regional and Queensland maps, but also assorted maps from towns and countries around the world.

L - Local history and our Library

L

• Look in the Library
• Label the photos
• Learn with us

Learning and library Volunteers at our Heritage Centre provide education for beginners and more advanced genealogists too.

Investigate our library catalogue. Members may suggest resources to enhance the collection.

Local History We have an extensive collection of local history resources in our collection and some experts to guide your research.

K - Kinship

K

• Keep looking
• Key in the dates
• Kindle an interest

Kin: a group of persons who come from the same set of ancestors. Find your clan, family, folks, kinfolk, lineage, stock or tribe. 

How are you related?

Cousin Chart—Family Relationships Explained • • FamilySearch Blog: What is a second cousin? What does it mean to be once removed? Use this cousin chart and our simple explanations to answer all your cousin questions.

 

J - Journey to the past

 

J

• Join our group
• Journey to the past
• Justify your research

J is for Journal. Cooroy Noosa Genealogical and Historical Research Group publishes Missing Link, a twice yearly journal available to all interested persons. The journal is shared with historical societies around Australia and overseas. Copies are available to read in local libraries and on our website.

We receive journals from other family history groups from all over Australia. These are available to read at the Heritage Centre.

Join our group - membership is only $45 per year a bargain for free on site access to Ancestry, FindMyPast and all our in house resources.

I - Identify and Investigate

 

I

• Identify an ancestor
• Implement a plan of research
• Interrogate Irish records
• Investigate the past
• Investigate industries

Invitation Come along to the Heritage Centre where one of our friendly research assistants will show you the many benefits of membership of our group.

The Irish interest group meets once a month to find those elusive ancestors.

H - Heritage

 

H

• Hear about the history of local places and people
• Heed some advice
• Hunt the ancestors
• Highlight their stories

The Heritage Centre is the home and busy hub of our group. Situated at 17 Emerald Street, Cooroy, it houses an extensive library of resources, networked computers, maps, journals, microfiche and much more.

G - Genealogy and Good Company

 

G

• Gain skills
• Get help
• Grow your family tree

 A Genealogist is a person who traces and studies the descent of persons and families. They use interviews, historical records, genetic analysis and other records to obtain information and demonstrate kinship. Members of our group can guide you in the genealogy journey.

Guest Speakers - entertain and educate us. Check our Calendar for upcoming events.

F - Finding the Facts

 

F

• Find the facts
• Focus on family
• FindmyPast - use this database at the Heritage Centre
• Fossick through the records

Family Trees: Construct your own family tree showing the relationships between people in several generations of your family.

Fundraiser Stall -  We have home made jams, pickles, craft and second hand books.

E - Establish a timeline

 

E

• Enjoy the company of like minded people
• Examine the evidence of an ancestor's existence
• Experience the thrill of discovery
• Explore in depth
• Expose the elusive

You can share exciting finds about wills, headstones, discovery of convict and criminal ancestors and the thrill of unravelling puzzles that have eluded you for a long time. Our research assistants might just know the exact database you need to explore.

Establish a timeline of your ancestor's life. Use our resources to fill in the details

D - Discover, Digitise and DNA

 

D

• Dabble with DNA
• Digitise photos
• Digitise your documents
• Dive into the past

Discovery - you never know what might turn up.

DNA determines our make up. Reproduction causes the combination of female and male DNA to create a new individual with unique DNA. This allows matches with ancestors and descendants to be found and complements family tree research with biological tree matches.

C - Challenge and Classes

 

C

• Challenge yourself
• Collect the facts
• Compute
• Connect
• Consider the evidence
• Create

Classes about many topics related to family history are regularly held at the Heritage Centre for all members to attend. Topics ranging from Research, Understanding DNA, Using Trove or Zoom are conducted by knowledgeable members or guest presenters.

Convicts - find yours - we provide assistance.

Connections - you may find another member looking for the same ancestor

Client Research - let us help you.

Census records- we know how to find and use them

B - Books and Blogs

 

B

Borrow books

Broaden your knowledge

Browse the collections

Our library has a great and varied collection of books. Letters from early settlers to Australia should not be missed. A genealogical treasure trove is waiting to be explored. 

Browse our other resources

Blog your stories - came along and learn how.

A - Archive and Ask

 

A

About our group

We aim to collect, promote and encourage the study of genealogy, heritage and local history in Cooroy and the local district. Members and visitors enjoy access to our large collection of resources with experienced researchers on hand to share knowledge and assist ongoing research.

Archive

We have an archive of the Cooroy Rag newspaper from 1985 - 1996 along with most of the original photos that were published in those years.

A is for All things genealogy

• Ask for assistance
• Assist one another
• Associate names and places