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Tuesday 11am - 2pm Wednesday 10am - 3:30pm Thursday 11am - 2pm Saturday 2pm - 5pm Sunday 2pm - 5pm

Family History ACT

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Family History ACT

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The object of the Society is to promote the research and recording of family history

15/10/2026

Tomorrow afternoon.

The E.M. Fletcher writing competition announces its shortlist and presents the awards, including the Rosemary McKenzie Prize for the best entry by a society member. Afternoon tea follows.

Saturday 17 October, 2 pm, Cook Community Centre or Zoom. In-person places are limited. Book at familyhistoryact.org.au — What's On.

https://www.familyhistoryact.org.au/index.cfm?module=event&pagemode=indiv&page_id=6715677

Image credit: AI generated image

14/10/2026

Everyone is talking about AI. Lot's of us are unsure what it is actually good for.

October's AI for Genealogy SIG is the session for your questions — summarising a pile of notes, making sense of an unfamiliar term, suggesting where to look next, working with an old document, drafting a family story, building a timeline. We will also be straight about where it goes wrong: invented facts, confident errors, privacy and copyright.

Monday 19 October, 7.30 pm, on Zoom. Free for members, $25 for non-members. Everyone welcome. Book at familyhistoryact.org.au — What's On.

https://www.familyhistoryact.org.au/index.cfm?module=event&pagemode=indiv&page_id=3197375

Image: AI generated image

13/10/2026

Someone has written a family story that touched our hearts.

The E.M. Fletcher writing competition announces its shortlist and presents the awards — the winning entry, the runner-up, and the Rosemary McKenzie Prize for the best story by a society member. Afternoon tea afterwards, which is a drawcard in itself.

Saturday 17 October, 2 pm to 3 pm, at Cook Community Centre or on Zoom. Members and guests welcome; in-person places are limited. Book at familyhistoryact.org.au — What's On.

https://www.familyhistoryact.org.au/index.cfm?module=event&pagemode=indiv&page_id=6715677

Image: AI generated image.

12/10/2026

Why do the women in a family history so often come down to us as a myth rather than a person?

Family History ACT is partnering with the Canberra Writers Festival on Family History Quest: Mothers, Myths and Identities. Jane Messer and Cynthia Banham set out to research and write about grandmothers and great-grandmothers their families had misunderstood. Irma Gold talks with them about maternal inheritance, from old Bologna to pre-war Berlin and Mandate Palestine.

Saturday 17 October, 3.15 pm, Activity Room, National Archives of Australia. $30, or $25 concession. Tickets through the festival: canberrawritersfestival.com.au

Image: Canberra Writers Festival.

10/10/2026

Plenty of convicts came to Australia. Some went home.

Matt Cuneen returns to the Convict SIG with his PhD research on convicts who left Australia — who went, how they managed it, and what became of them. If your convict ancestor disappears from the Australian records and you assumed that meant a death you cannot find, this is the talk that suggests otherwise.

Wednesday 14 October, 7.30 pm, at Cook Community Centre or on Zoom. Members book at familyhistoryact.org.au — What's On.

https://www.familyhistoryact.org.au/index.cfm?module=event&pagemode=indiv&page_id=4338731

Image: Canva

09/10/2026

Coming to the Canberra Highland Gathering tomorrow?

Family History ACT will be there, with members of our Scottish Special Interest Group at the stall. Bring the question you've never known who to ask: a Scottish ancestor who simply vanishes, a surname that changed spelling every generation, a certificate you can't read. We'll show you where to look, and what the society holds that you can't get at home.

You'll find us at site 11, in the clan row beside the Burns Club.

Saturday 10 October, 9am to 5pm
Kambah Oval, Kett Street, Kambah
Entry is free.

Details: canberragathering.com.au

Image: Canva

07/10/2026

Three days to go, and the room is full.

Zoom places are still open for a full day on Polish family history with Tom Wodzinski — migration paths to Australia, records held in neighbouring countries, what is free online, reading a record without the language, and getting an answer out of Polish officialdom. Pitched at beginners, and you can join from home.

Sunday 11 October, 10 am to 3 pm Canberra time, on Zoom. $40, and open to everyone. Book at familyhistoryact.org.au — What's On.

https://www.familyhistoryact.org.au/index.cfm?module=event&pagemode=indiv&page_id=6482541

06/10/2026

Got an album or box of family photos that nobody ever looks at?

FamilySearch is running two free webinars this month on its Memories tools:

• New FamilySearch Memories Slideshow Feature — the engineers who built it show how to play your photos and stories as a slideshow you can watch with family or share. With Ryan Bey, Maggie Bronson and Janet Worden.
• FamilySearch Memories Website Update — an easier way to upload family photos. With Ryan Bey and Maggie Bronson.

They stream live at 4.00 am Canberra time on Friday 9 and Friday 16 October, so most of us will be watching the recordings, which go up afterwards. Both are free and open to everyone, with no booking or sign-in needed.

Details: https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/events/rootstech-weekly-webinars

Image: Schlesinger Library, Harvard University, via Flickr Commons.

05/10/2026

Stuck on something in Family Tree Maker?

The user group is an open question-and-answer hour — no set topic, no presentation, just members working through whatever has gone wrong or won't behave. Novices and long-time users both welcome, and the novice questions are usually the ones everyone else wanted to ask.

Thursday 8 October, 10 am to 12 pm, on Zoom. Members book at familyhistoryact.org.au — What's On.

https://www.familyhistoryact.org.au/index.cfm?module=event&pagemode=indiv&page_id=6276930

Address

Cook, ACT
2614

Opening Hours

Tuesday	11am - 2pm
Wednesday	10am - 3:30pm
Thursday	11am - 2pm
Saturday	2pm - 5pm
Sunday	2pm - 5pm

Website

https://familyhistoryact.org.au/

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