Gympie Family History Society Inc

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Gympie, QLD
Gympie Family History Society Inc

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Researching and preserving Family History and our Regional Heritage We are also involved in research and preservation of Gympie's history.

OPEN Wed 9.30-2, Fri 9.30-12 & Sat 1-4

We are a volunteer society involved in research of family history for members and general public, particularly (but not solely) in the Gympie area.

08/11/2026

Nashos & Vietnam: an afternoon of stories, photos and good company 🇦🇺

A big thank you to Ivan Friske for joining us at the Old Ticket Office on Saturday and helping us learn more about Australia’s national servicemen, the Nashos, and the Vietnam era. It was a relaxed afternoon, and the conversation carried on over a very leisurely afternoon tea. ☕

Our thanks also to Ray Mullulay, who brought along his service details and a wonderful photo album from his time in the service, and to Val Buchanan, who shared some items for us to look through. There’s something special about sitting down together and turning the pages of an album someone has kept for years.

And where would a GFHS afternoon tea be without the wonderful ladies who turn up with homemade treats? You spoiled us again! 🍰

It was lovely to catch up with friends we hadn’t seen for a while, welcome some new faces and say hello to a few new GFHS members as well. We love opening our rooms for afternoons like this, where we can learn a little more about the history of our region, our state and our country, and enjoy each other’s company along the way.

Thanks again, Ivan, and thank you to everyone who came along. Here are a couple of photos from the afternoon. 📸

02/11/2026

🔎 JOIN THE FAMILY! THERE'S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO DISCOVER YOUR ROOTS!

Have you ever wondered about that mysterious great-grandparent? 🤔 Got a family story that doesn't quite add up? Or perhaps you've been climbing your family tree for years and have finally come to a branch that just won't budge!

Well, we love a good mystery at the Gympie Family History Society, and we'd love to help you solve yours!

🎉 WE'VE GOT A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA FOR NEW MEMBERS!
For a limited time, when you join GFHS, we're including a complimentary TWO-HOUR RESEARCH PACKAGE!

That's right! Give our research team a challenge, tell us what you'd love to discover, and we'll spend up to two hours digging into the records, following clues and seeing what we can uncover.
Then, come on into our rooms, have a cuppa, and we'll share what we've found. We can help you follow up on any promising leads and share suggestions on how you can continue the search yourself.

Who knows where those first two hours might take us? You might discover a missing ancestor, an unexpected connection, or a whole new branch of the family tree! 🌳

BUT WAIT... THERE'S MORE TO BEING A GFHS MEMBER!

📚 Explore our wonderful collection of local and family histories, cemetery records, newspapers, photographs, indexes and historical treasures, including resources you won't find online.

💻 Access popular family history research websites and databases through our research room computers.

🌏 We're also a FamilySearch Affiliate Library, giving visitors in our rooms access to additional FamilySearch records that may not be available from home.

🧩 Enjoy help and guidance from our friendly volunteers, whether you're just beginning your family history journey or tackling a particularly stubborn brick wall.

👥 Share tips and tricks with other family history enthusiasts.
☕ And perhaps one of our favourite membership benefits? The friendships! We love nothing more than a good old chinwag over morning tea, swapping family stories, sharing discoveries and occasionally finding out that we're related to someone sitting across the table!

❤️ YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE ANCESTORS FROM GYMPIE TO JOIN US!

Whether your family came from Gympie, Glasgow, Germany or somewhere entirely different, you're very welcome. Our resources and research interests reach far beyond the Gympie region.
And by becoming a member, you're also helping us continue our work researching and preserving family history and our regional heritage for future generations. Maybe you might even want to volunteer to help us!

📍 Come and meet us!
Gympie Family History Society
The Old Ticket Office, 1 Chapple Street, Gympie
🕘 Wednesday: 9.30am–2pm
Friday: 9.30am–12pm
Saturday: 1pm–4pm

📞 (07) 5482 8211
📧 [email protected]
🌐 Find out more about membership or just go ahead and JOIN:
https://www.gfhs.com.au/gfhs-about-gfhs/membership/
Come for the family history, stay for the friendships... and bring us a mystery to solve! 🔎🌳

01/11/2026

🌼 Thank you for a lovely morning at the Gympie Regional Council 2026 Seniors Expo! 🌼

We enjoyed a wonderful morning at The Pavilion at the Gympie Showgrounds last Thursday, with a steady stream of old and new friends stopping by our Gympie Family History Society table. Thank you to everyone who came to say hello, discover a little more about what we do, and share some wonderful family stories. 💛

We were especially pleased to hear from local families with documents and photographs tucked away, who offered to uncover them and share them with us when they can.

It’s a lovely reminder that those old photos, letters and family papers can hold stories you won’t find anywhere else. Before throwing them away, please have a chat with us. They could be invaluable to our research, and we can help preserve them and the stories they hold for future generations. 📷📜

We hope some of you will pop into our Society Rooms one day soon. There’s always a warm welcome and a good family history chat waiting!

📣 Coming up: Nasho & Vietnam talk
📅 Saturday 7 Nov 2026
🕐 1:00pm

Please book your place:
📧 [email protected]
☎️ +61 7 5482 8211

Thank you again for sharing your morning - and a little of your family history - with us. 🌳

🌳 Would you like to be part of what we do? We’d love to welcome you as a member or volunteer - or simply as a supporter of our work. Whether you enjoy researching, lending a hand or sharing local stories, your support helps us preserve family history and our region’s heritage for future generations. Come along for a chat and find out how you can get involved!

23/10/2026

🇦🇺 Nashos & Vietnam - a special guest talk at GFHS

How much do you know about Australia’s national servicemen, affectionately known as “Nashos”, and the Vietnam era? Many of us still have plenty to learn, and we’re looking forward to welcoming a special guest to help us better understand this chapter of Australia’s military history.

Join us for an afternoon of learning, friendship and conversation.
📅 Saturday 7 November 2026
🕐 1pm
📍 GFHS Society Rooms, The Old Ticket Office, 1 Chapple Street, Gympie

After the talk, stay for afternoon tea and a chance to chat with our guest and the GFHS team. ☕🍰

Everyone is welcome, and there is no charge to attend. Places must be booked, as places are limited. Please RSVP by emailing [email protected] or calling us on 07 5482 8211.

You don’t need to be a member or know anything about the topic - just bring your curiosity.

We'll have a raffle on the day as well as copies of our WWI Book Series for sale.

We’d love to welcome you!

22/10/2026

🌳 A little time on your hands? There’s a whole family tree waiting to fill it!

GFHS will be hosting a table at the 2026 Gympie Region Seniors Expo, and we’d love you to stop by for a chat.

If you’ve ever wondered who’s hiding in the branches of your family tree, come and meet us! You don’t need to know where to start - curiosity is a perfectly good qualification. 🔍

Family history isn’t our only interest, either. If you’d enjoy helping preserve documents, photographs and information for future generations, we’d love to talk about volunteering. It’s a lovely way to put your skills to use, learn something new and become part of a friendly community.

And yes, following one small clue can lead to a very absorbing hobby. Those ancestors do have a habit of keeping us busy! 😉

📅 Thursday 29 October 2026
🕘 9am–11.30am
📍 The Pavilion Conference and Reception Centre
77 Exhibition Road, Southside
☕ Free entry and complimentary morning tea

Come along, say hello and discover what’s happening in your community.

Can’t make it to the Expo? We’d still love to meet you at our Society Rooms in The Old Ticket Office, 1 Chapple Street, Gympie. Email [email protected] to arrange a visit or pop in during our opening hours shown on our page.

There’s room at GFHS for new researchers, willing helpers and new friends. Perhaps there’s a place for you! 💛

10/10/2026

Do you remember Dr Leslie Outridge? Or perhaps your family has a story to share? 🕰️💬

Some of Dr Outridge’s relatives are coming to Gympie and would love to connect with locals who remember him - or who have heard stories about him from parents, grandparents or friends.

Dr Outridge was a familiar face in Gympie for many years, working as a GP from the late 1920s/early 1930s until ill health prompted his retirement in 1967.
His family home and practice were at 20 Caledonian Hill, before he and his family moved to Brisbane.

He was also the only doctor to survive the torpedoing of the hospital ship AHS Centaur on 14 May 1943.

Beyond his medical work, he had many connections to community life, including helping establish the Gympie Golf Course and, for a time, being a part-owner of The Gympie Times. His family has also heard plenty of anecdotes about his love of ci**rs - and the distinctive scent people associated with him!

Perhaps he was your family doctor, a golfing companion, a neighbour or someone your family spoke about. Even a small memory could mean a great deal to his relatives. ❤️

If you have a memory or story to share, please comment below. We can send you the family’s contact details by private message so you can reach out directly and perhaps arrange a catch-up during their visit.

Please share this post with anyone who might remember Dr Outridge. Sometimes a simple conversation brings a whole chapter of family history to life.

26/09/2026

🔎 ARE THERE ANY TOZER RELATIVES OUT THERE?

We’ve had a request from one of our followers who is researching their family history and hoping to contact descendants of the Tozer family who may still be living in the Gympie Region - or who may have family connections here.

Their family connection is through Horace Tozer's sister, a name many interested in Gympie’s history will recognise.

Now we call on our wonderful local history network! 🌿

👉 Are you a descendant of the Tozer family?
👉 Do you know someone who is?
👉 Perhaps the name appears somewhere in your own family tree?

If so, we’d love to hear from you. You can comment below, send us a private message, or contact the Gympie Family History Society, and we can connect you with the researcher.

Sometimes one little family connection is all it takes to open up a whole new branch of the tree. 🌳

And even if you’re not a Tozer - a share might just help this post find the right family!

25/09/2026

To all my friends, thank you for your kind words and good wishes.
I suffered a torn aorta and required emergency surgery . This will take a while and recovery will be long and hard. God bless. I love you all.

Denise

14/09/2026

🌿 A New Committee, the Same Great Spirit! 🌿

Our AGM was held on Saturday, and we’re very pleased to welcome our committee for the year ahead:

⭐ President: Denise Juler
⭐ Vice President: Ian MacGregor
⭐ Secretary: Marilyn Mullaly
⭐ Assistant Secretary: Jody Allen
⭐ Treasurer: Vi Brown
⭐ Assistant Treasurer: Graham Juler
⭐ Librarian: Janelle Westlake
⭐ Researcher: Karen McCormack
⭐ Maintenance: Ian MacGregor

Now, normally this is where we would proudly show you a lovely photograph of our new committee all together…

Except we forgot to take one. 😂

In our defence, some of our wonderful members had made an extra-special effort in the home-baked afternoon tea department, and apparently the call of cake, a cuppa and a good chat was stronger than the call of the camera!

The official committee photo will come. 📸☕🍰

But perhaps that little oversight says something about our Society too.

Our vision is:
“Researching and preserving family history and our regional heritage.”

And while that is at the heart of what we do, we do it with plenty of friendship, fun and community along the way.

So, if you have some spare time, an interest in family history or local heritage, enjoy meeting people, or simply like the idea of helping preserve something valuable for future generations, we’d love you to think about joining us.

🌳 Become a member and research your own family story.
📚 Become a volunteer and help us preserve, index, digitise and share the stories and records of the Gympie Region.
☕ Or just come in, meet us, have a chat and find out what we do.

Every photograph identified, every record indexed, every family researched and every local story preserved adds another little piece to the legacy we are building - information that can be used today, tomorrow and well into the future.

And yes…there is quite often cake. 😉🍰

Congratulations to our new committee, and a huge thank you to all our members and volunteers who make GFHS the friendly little community that it is.

The photo is of Deep Creek Railway Bridge c1895

11/09/2026

📣 A little reminder… our AGM is tomorrow!

Our Gympie Family History Society AGM will be held tomorrow at 1.00pm in our Society Rooms, and we’d love to see you there.

AGMs might sound like they’re all minutes, motions and paperwork 😉 - but they’re also about the people who keep our Society going, the friendships we’ve made, the projects we’re working on, and where we’re heading next.

So come along, catch up with some familiar faces, meet a few new ones, and have a cuppa with people who understand why finding just one more ancestor can keep you occupied for hours! ☕🌳

Haven’t renewed your membership yet? No problem. You can come along tomorrow and renew at the desk.

And if you’ve been thinking about joining GFHS, tomorrow is a great opportunity to do it. New members are always very welcome - whether you’re an experienced researcher, have only just started climbing your family tree, have an interest in Gympie’s history and heritage, or simply want to support the work we do.

Membership helps us continue researching and preserving family history and our regional heritage, maintaining our resources, supporting community projects and, most importantly, helping people discover the stories of those who came before us.

❤️ We love new members. We love catching up with old friends. And we really appreciate everyone who supports our Society.

📍 Gympie Family History Society
Old Ticket Office, 1 Chapple Street, Gympie
🕐 AGM – Tomorrow at 1.00pm

Come along and be part of it - because preserving Gympie's history takes a community.

Address

Old Ticket Office, 1 Chapple Street
Gympie, QLD
4570

Opening Hours

Wednesday	9:30am - 2pm
Friday	9:30am - 12pm
Saturday	1pm - 4pm

Telephone

+61754828211

Website

https://www.gfhs.com.au/

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