Library & Meeting Room
  Mechanics Institute
  68 Elder St  Lambton NSW
  Ph 4957 8296 (during library hours)

          Correspondence Address:  (Please note new address, since late 2005)
                               The Secretary
                               NFHS Inc
                               PO Box 233
                               LAMBTON  NSW  2299
                               AUSTRALIA

Email: nfhsinc@gmail.com   Please see below for Research inquiries.

The Newcastle Family History Society Inc., formed in  1983 is a friendly, busy group of people dedicated to family history, with interests in families from around the world.  Not all our members live in Newcastle, however. Many belong because their ancestors came from the Lower Hunter region of New South Wales, and they like to keep in touch with our activities and publications, through our Journal.

All funds are used to purchase additional Library holdings, run the Society and produce publications mainly relating to the Lower Hunter district and its people. We carry out extensive research on local records, and hold many unpublished indexes, for example NMH Indexes  and transcripts in addition to those listed under publications.

We are members of the
Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations Inc.
NSW Association of Family History Societies
Royal Australian Historical Society


Monthly Meetings
Meetings are held on the 1st Tuesday each month, except January, starting at 7.30 pm.
General business, committee reports, Q & A,  precede an interesting talk from a guest speaker, or contribution from our members.  Visitors are most welcome.

Library
Our well equipped premises are in the Mechanics Institute, 68 Elder St, Lambton, and  we welcome
visitors wishing to use our resources. We also hold library workshops, seminars, trips and other
functions related to our interests.

The Library houses a great number of books, journals, maps, microfilm and microfiche records,
cd roms, card indexes, cemetery transcripts, local and family histories.
Our collection reflects our members interests in families from around the world.

Use of library is free to Society members; visitors are invited to make a donation of $5 per person per visit. Volunteers are on duty to help you with your research.
Photocopying is available, also tea/coffee making facilities, and a microwave.

Our library is open
every Thursday         1.00-3.30 pm
every Saturday         10.00am- 3.30 pm
Meeting nights           6.00-7.25pm,
and one hour from close of meeting or 10 pm, whichever is earlier.

The Library is not open on Public Holidays, and will also close mid-December 2008, and re-open
mid- January 2009.
Have a look at our recent library acquisitions,  NMH Indexes, cemetery holdings and convict resources.

Research Requests
For a fee of $15.00  PAID IN ADVANCE, plus a SAE, an inquiry about one particular family will be published in our next available quarterly Journal, which is circulated to all financial members, and to other societies which have a reciprocal agreement with our Society.
Also, a search will be made in the following sources:

• The Society’s Pre-1900 and Pre-1920 Pioneer Registers
• The Society’s Surname Index, which indicates whether we hold material on particular families, or whether we have had a previous inquiry about a particular family.   If we have already done research, photocopies of the results can be provided.
• The Society’s current Members' Interests Directory.
NB: Up to 4 pages of photocopying is included in the fee.  If additional material is available, the details will be summarised, and you will be notified of the cost of further photocopying.

For a fee of $40.00  PAID IN ADVANCE, plus SAE, in addition to the above, a search will be made in other LOCAL records available at the Society’s library. These sources include:

•  Hunter Valley Parish Register Index:
This is a card index of births, marriages and some burials for Newcastle and the Hunter Valley, mainly pre-1856, but some later, depending on parishes and denominations.  Catholic records, in particular, are mainly pre-1856.
• Ben Champion’s Hunter Valley Register: an index of domestic notices in the Maitland Mercury 1843 – 1905, and the Newcastle Morning Herald 1860 – 1905
• Other relevant newspaper indexes – e.g. Gloucester Examiner Name Index.
• Early Newcastle Burial Indexes – Wesleyan, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian
•  Sandgate Cemetery Burials Index 1881 – 1985
• Where relevant – headstone transcriptions for Sandgate Cemetery 1881 - 1982
•  Beresfield Crematorium Records 1937 – 1999
•  Maitland Burials Index
•  Relevant transcriptions of headstones in various local cemeteries.
•  Various local directories – all pre 1900.
•  Miscellaneous Local History Files
If the inquiry is to be published in the Journal only, and no research carried out, the fee is $5.00. (Members are entitled to have one free inquiry published in the Journal each year.)

Please provide a stamped, self-addressed envelope, or IRCs, for the results.
Some Advice for Inquirers

• Please write clearly. If at all possible, typing is preferable.
• Make sure your address is on your letter, as well as the enclosed envelope.
• It helps if surnames mentioned in the body of the letter are in capitals.
• Do not use abbreviations, other than the accepted ones used in a pedigree, such as
          b. = born; d =died; bur. = buried.
• Be brief, and ask a specific question.
• Provide sources for known information - eg. birth certificate, shipping records.
• Identify an individual by given name, surname, and, if known, dates of birth and death, and place of residence. Often the best way to do this will be a family group sheet or a pedigree chart. If a person was only in the area for a specific period, list dates and places of known residence, so the time frame is narrowed down.
• DON'T send original documents. If you think it will be useful, send a photocopy.
• Enclose a stamped addressed envelope (SAE – 8 ½ ” x 4 ¼ ”/ 22cm x 11cm) for the reply.
• Put your address on the letter, as well as on the enclosed envelope.  They may come adrift at some stage.
• Acknowledge receipt of any reply

Please mail research requests to:
The Secretary
NFHS Inc
PO Box 233
LAMBTON  NSW  2299
AUSTRALIA.
 
Publications for Sale
Society members work co-operatively to produce publications of interest to researchers with links in the local area, or to further research generally.  These include Knaggs Almanac Index, cemetery transcriptions, school admission registers, War Memorials, etc.

Postal Charges. Post & packing prices are for NSW. If a single order is posted for 2 or more publications, a reduction in postage charges may be possible.  Higher charges are required for some interstate and overseas postage. You can contact us for the current interstate & international  postal rates for the material you'd like to order, or for other general  (non research) questions relating to the Society, by emailing nfhsinc@gmail.com
 

Adamstown Heights Infants' School Admission Registers 1950-1990
(Published 1997).... Approx. 1,000 names incl. date of birth, religion, name of parent/guardian, residence,
occupation of parent/ guardian (Note: from 1972, name, registration, date of birth only, as required by
Dept of Education for privacy)
28 pp., A4, was $9.00, Now $5.50 + $2.50 p&p.
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Albemarle - Third Fleet Transport.
An alphabetical listing of convicts, masters, crew, naval and military.(1998).
Includes History of the vessel; chronology; listing by name with Colonial documentation;
 three appendixes including information on convictions, hulks, sentences, document transcriptions.
104pp., A4, was $20.00 Now $15.00 + $3.50 p&p
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 Big Hill. A Tribute to the Pioneers Interred in Teralba and District Cemeteries, NSW
200 interments have been identified in the area, to which has been added much historical material.
168pp., A4, $30.00 + $8.50 p&p. For description see Latest Publications
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 Branxton General Cemetery NSW
Transcribed by John Delaney, 1984. Revised and updated NFHS August 2002. Includes headstone records
since1984, and courthouse records as recorded by John Delaney. Full index, photographs and a site plan.
84pp, A4, $25.00 + $3.50 p&p NSW.
Combined CD Edition of the Branxton General and Catholic Cemeteries now available $27.00 + $3.00 p&p.
For description see Latest Publications
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Branxton Catholic Cemetery NSW
Transcribed by John Delaney, 1984. Revised and updated NFHS October 2002. Includes headstone records since1984, and courthouse records as recorded by John Delaney. Full index, photographs and a site plan.
90pp, A4, $25.00 + $3.50 p&p NSW.
Combined CD Edition of the Branxton General and Catholic Cemeteries now available $27.00 + $3.00 p&p.
For description see Latest Publications
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Catherine Hill Bay Cemetery, NSW
Gravestone Inscriptions 1896-1994
Nearly 600 headstones or burial sites.
Details from monumental inscriptions and grave diggers records.
Out of print book published 1995.
CD only, $15.00 + $3.00 p&p.
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Coalmining Related Deaths, Hunter Valley, New South Wales, 1901-1925.
A companion volume extending the coverage of
Nineteenth Century Coalmining Related Deaths, Hunter Valley, NSW
404pp. A4, published 2006. $45.00 + $8.80 p&p. CD $27.00 + 3.00 p&p.
For description see Latest Publications
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LATEST PUBLICATION! 
Coal and Shale Mining Non-Fatal Accidents New South Wales, 1876-1920
Compiled by Elaine Sheehan
The book is A4 format, 263 pp., soft bound with plastic covers and metal spine.
In addition to the database of 4,150 cases, there are two appendices –
(1) Examples of Newspaper Reports and (2) Examples of Claims before the Compensation Board of NSW. 
$35.00 + 8.50p&p.   CD  $27.00 +$3.00 p&p. For description see Latest Publications
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The Diaries of John Reid, Victorian Schoolmaster 1853-1856
Transcribed by NFHS A4, 134 pages. $30.00 + $3.50 p&p. This book will be printed to order only.
Please allow 28 days for delivery.  For description see Latest Publications.
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Diary of a Voyage on the "Dirigo"
Liverpool, UK to Rocky Creek, NSW
This CD contains copies of the diary pages by an unknown author handwritten in a note book in 1859-60 during the 108 days journey of a young male emigrant in the sailing ship, “DIRIGO”, from Liverpool to Sydney. A transcription was prepared by Mr Leo D. Geer on 28 July 1979. Discolouring and age made the diary difficult to read.
CD only: $15.00 + $3.00 p&p
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Early Newcastle – the Fettered and the Free
The first twenty years of permanent European settlement at Newcastle 1804 through to 1824.
A4 format, pages i-vii and 1 to 346.
The hardbound book book is finished in dark green cloth with gold lettering on the spine. Each book is
individually hand-bound on receipt of order $90.00 + p&p (POA, according to destination)
Soft cover book, steel binding and protective plastic covers,  $50.00 + $8.50 p&p.
  CD  $35.00 + $3.00 p&p. For description see Latest Publications.
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Geographical Encyclopædia of New South Wales Originally published by William Hanson, 1892
Available as a facsimile book, A5 format, i-iv, 458 pp., 2 maps, pH neutral paper, section-sewn, hard cover,
bound in buckram $69.00 + $8.50 p&p,  or as a CD $27.00 + $3 p&p. (Published by Brian Engel, 2004)
SPECIAL NOTES The book will be commercially hand-bound on receipt of your order which could possibly
cause a delay in delivery of up to four weeks. For description see Latest Publications
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Glendale, Lake Road, Primary School Admission Registers,1949-1990
Approx. 1,250 names, contents as for Adamstown Heights.
125pp., A4, was $16.50, Now $8.00 + $3.50 p&p.
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Greta Cemetery NSW
Transcribed by John Delaney, 1984. Revised and updated NFHS Oct 2002.
Includes headstone records since1984, and courthouse records as recorded by John Delaney.
Full index, photographs and a site plan. 140pp, A4, $25.00 + $3.50 p&p.
 Indexed CD Edition now available $27.00 +$3.00 p&p.
For description see Latest Publications
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 History of Merewether 
originally published by Jonathan Dixon, 1935
Republished by NFHS,  supplemented with index of all names, 22 photographs, plus a list of the 
Occupiers of Properties in Merewether 1 July 1910 to 1 January 1913, transcribed from
Water Board Rate Books.
190pp. A5, $25.00 + $3.50 p&p. CD edition $25.00 + $3.00 p&p.
For description see Latest Publications
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The Irish Relief Fund List of Subscribers published in the Maitland Mercury in 1846
31 pages printed one side only, A4, thermal bound. $15 + $2.50 p&p. CD edition $15.00 + $3.00 p&p.
For description see Latest Publications
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Knaggs Almanac - An Index to the Newcastle section 1866, 1868-1899,1901-1906 (1997).
Full set held in the Society Library. 23,000 entries by surname.
77pp., A4, was $22.00, Now $7.00 + $3.70 p&p.
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Maitland Municipal Petitions 1861-1862
Petitions urging the formation of local government in Maitland. i-v + 46pp, A4, illustrations, map.
$20.00 + $2.50p&p.  For description see Latest Publications
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Newcastle Morning Herald & Miners’ Advocate
Court Reports 1879 - 1898 (irreg.) on CDROM
Available cuttings have been brought together, with  index of over 54,000 names.
CD includes Adobe Acrobat Reader for Windows.
Compiled By Snippers CD $27.00 + $3 p&p. (Published by Brian Engel, 2004)
For description see Latest Publications
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Newcastle Morning Herald & Miners’ Advocate
Domestic Notices & Accident Reports 1879-1898 (irreg.) on CDROM
Available cuttings have been brought together, with  index of over 51,000 names.
CD includes Adobe Acrobat Reader for Windows.
Compiled By Snippers CD $27.00 + $3.00 p&p. (Published by Brian Engel, 2006)
For description see Latest Publications
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Newcastle West Burial Grounds (2000)
Three books out-of-print, now available on one CD, fully indexed
Presbyterian 1844-1881, 1,300 names, 125pp. (out-of-print)
Roman Catholic 1842-1881, 1,172 names, 106pp.(out-of-print)
Wesley Methodist 1858-1881,169 names, 28pp.(out-of-print)
All three books include history of the burial site, maps, index of surnames,
 supplementary material (news items, obits, funeral/death notices, inquests etc)
CD $27.00 + $3.00 p&p.
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NSW State Association of Family History Societies Conference, 1997 - Papers and Proceedings (1998).
 94pp., A4, was $16.50, Now $8.00 +$3.50 p&p.
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Nineteenth Century Coalmining Related Deaths, Hunter Valley, NSW
by Frank Maxwell and Elaine Sheehan
260 pp. , A4, with map and photographic illustrations. Published 2004. $40.00+ $8.50 p&p.
CD $27.00 +3.00 p&p. For description see Latest Publications
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North Waratah (Mayfield),St Andrews Church of England Burial Ground 1862-1902
For a  description see Latest Publications
Out of print book published 2001 CD edition only, $27.00 +$3.00 p&p.
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Old Wallsend Cemetery, NSW, 1863-1896 (2001)
Includes an historical survey, three maps, index of surnames (127 pp.)
Supplementary Material (270 pp.)  (Edited by Elaine Sheehan, 2000) Out of print book now available as
CD $27.00 +3.00 p&p. For description see Latest Publications
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A Private Town - A Private Cemetery Minmi ... 1859-2003
Book $55.00 +$8.80 p&p. CD $35.00 + $3.00 p&p. For description see Latest Publications.
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Researcher's Workmate (Finesse Reproductions).33 Family Group Record sheets in convenient
booklet, with provision for notes and indexing. A5, $10.00 + $2.50 p&p.
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Small Cemeteries in the Hunter Valley
A compilation of the burials recorded in twenty-three small cemeteries located in in the Hunter Valley.
The publication is based on short cemetery transcriptions held in the Newcastle Family History Inc. library.
84 pp. A4 (1997) $15.00 + $3.50 p&p; CD $15.00 + $3.00 p&p.
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LATEST PUBLICATION! 
Burials in Stockton Cemetery, NSW 1890 -2005
Contains a comprehensive catalogue of burials in Stockton Cemetery, NSW, including details
of marked and unmarked graves, newspaper funeral notices, etc. where available.
New maps have been provided to resolve the differences which exist between the
Trust, Church, newspaper and Council records.
842 pp. A$ (2006) $50.00 + $8.00 p&p. CD $35.00 +$3.00 p&p.
For description see Latest Publications
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War Memorials of Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, New South Wales (1994)
16,214 entries (alphabetical + location key) from 169 memorials. 140 pp., A4, was $16.50,
Now $2.00 + $3.50 p&p
War Memorials of the Hunter Valley, Book 2 (2000)
10,000+ names on 88 memorials pictured individually and with alphabetical index.
v + 266pp, A4, now out-of-print.
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From Slaughter Yard to Schoolyard
Wickham Public School Admission Registers 1927-1990
A4, published 2004. $55.00 +$8.50 p&p or CD $27.00 + $3.00 p&p.
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INTERSTATE & INTERNATIONAL POSTAL RATES ON APPLICATION
The prices listed above are subject to change without notice.
You can contact us for the current interstate &  international  postal rates for the material you'd like to order,
or for other general  (non research) questions relating to the Society, by emailing nfhsinc@gmail.com
Please make cheques payable to "Newcastle Family History Society Inc."  and mail orders to:

The Secretary
NFHS Inc
PO Box 233
LAMBTON  NSW  2299
AUSTRALIA.

Membership
Single (Journal collected)   $40 pa
Family (Journal collected)  $50 pa
Postal (Journal posted) add   $5 pa
Plus $5 joining fee for new members, which includes a "new member pack".

Membership now falls due 1st March, and renewals must be paid before the 1st June or the $5 joining will be incurred.  A half-year membership will be issued to new people joining the Society in the second half of the year, that is, from 1st September, but does not apply to an existing member rejoining in the second half of the year. For a single member this will cost $25.00. ( $20 + $5 joining fee) + $5 postage if required.

Benefits of membership include:
Use of our constantly expanding genealogical library. Have a look at our recent library acquisitions,
and reviews.
A question and answer session is a feature of each monthly meeting, where you will find members happy to help with research problems.
Interesting guest speakers on a range of family history subjects, providing new ideas and inspiration to members' research activities.
Quarterly Journal free to members.
Regular workshops for both beginners and advanced researchers.
A computer user group for help with programs and the internet.
An opportunity to contribute to worthwhile indexing projects and local family history records.
Financial members are entitled to a 10% discount on single copies of our publications.
You can download a PDF Membership Application form here.

Journal
Our Journal is now published quarterly,  with the first new 20 page edition appearing in March 2003. It includes items of special interest to members, and is issued free to members. Research enquiries can be printed from non-members for $5.00.

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Monthly Meetings   Library   Research Requests
Publications for Sale   Membership   Journal

Library Acquisitions  NMH Indexes   Latest Publications
Reviews   Members Interests   Projects
Cemetery Holdings   Convict Resources

All prices are in Australian dollars.
This page and all contents are Copyright ©2008 Newcastle Family History Society Inc, NSW, Australia. All rights reserved.

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Page last updated 12 April 2008.

To advise of any omissions, corrections or comments regarding this site, please contact Helen Windon

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