Blue Mountains Family History Society Inc

22/10/2026

NEXT MEETING – 13 November 2026
Our tenth (and final) meeting for 2026 will be held on Friday 13 November 2026 commencing at 10:00am.

The meeting will be held in the small community hall at the rear of the Springwood Presbyterian Church on Macquarie Road, Springwood.

Meeting Agenda:

10:00am Welcome to renewing members and (hopefully) some new members to their first meeting.

10:05am Minutes of the October 2026 meeting, approval and business arising.

Secretary’s Report and approval
Treasurer’s Report, approval and approval for new payments
General Business

10:30am Morning Tea/Coffee and Biscuit ($2.00)

10:50am Annual General Meeting (AGM)

Minutes of the AGM 2025, approval and business arising

President’s Annual Report, and approval
Secretary’s Annual Report, and approval
Treasurer’s Annual Report, and approval

The Returning Officer will then declare all positions vacant and using the nominations received, will call the election of Office Bearers for 2027.

12:00noon Meeting close – Next meeting Friday 12 February 2027

The Christmas Meeting will be our usual Christmas/End of Year Function on Friday 11 December 2026.
As it was for 2025, the function will be held at the Alexandra Hotel at Leura. Attendees will purchase their meal and drinks as per the a-la-carte menu. Please advise the Secretary of numbers attending so that the Hotel will be able to cater appropriately for us. Partners and Friends very welcome!

22/10/2026

22/10/2026

Tarella Historic House Museum Open Day

Sunday 25 October 2026

The Blue Mountains Historical Society (BMHS) will conduct a Community Open Day of its Tarella Historic House Museum, on Sunday 25 October 2026 from 10am to 3pm at 99 Blaxland Road, Wentworth Falls.

Visitors are invited to view this fine example of a late 19th century Blue Mountains holiday house, furnished with period furniture, some of which is linked to the original owners, the McLaughlin family. The cottage provides an insight into domestic life at that time, including in the original kitchen, where tasty titbits are often cooked on the open fire for visitors on Open Days.

Younger children might also enjoy following our gnome trail throughout our gardens.

An entrance fee of $10.00 for adults, $2.00 for school age children, covers both entry to the cottage and inspection of the BMHS Research facilities.

Morning and afternoon tea, and, occasionally, soup and buns, will be available in the separate kitchen in the BMHS research building for a small additional charge.

06/10/2026

NEXT MEETING - 9 October 2026
Our nineth meeting for 2026 will be held on Friday 9 October 2026 commencing at 10:00am.

The meeting will be held in the small community hall at the rear of the Springwood Presbyterian Church on Macquarie Road, Springwood.

Meeting Agenda:

10:00am Welcome to renewing members and (hopefully) some new members to their first meeting.

10:05am Minutes of the September 2026 meeting, approval and business arising.

Secretary's Report and approval
Treasurer's Report, approval and approval for new payments
General Business

10:30am Morning Tea/Coffee and Biscuit ($2.00)

10:50am Guest Speaker: The meeting on 9 October 2026 will be led by Ian Kendall, BMFHS Treasurer. Ian's topic will be "Exploring WikiTree".

12:00noon Meeting close - Next meeting Friday 13 November 2026

WikiTree (wikitree.com) is an amazing site where advanced genealogists and casual historians collaborate on a global family tree for our cousins and descendants to enjoy for FREE.

WikiTree has been growing for 17 years from the grassroots up. We are now the most accurate & trusted collaborative family tree.

Today we have 1,407,014 community members and 46,241,562 ancestors and cousins on our tree, 16,731,421 of which have DNA connections.

It's all free!

Everything on WikiTree is free for everyone, forever. Expenses are covered by unobtrusive advertisements. Members who sign the Honor Code don't even see most of the ads, but enjoy member benefits that cost money on other websites.

26/09/2026

Blue Mountains Historical Society - Meeting and Public Talk – Saturday 3 October 2026

Blue Mountains Historical Society (BMHS) will hold its monthly meeting and public talk on
Saturday 3 October in its meeting rooms at 99 Blaxland Road, Wentworth Falls, commencing at
10.30am.

Kate O'Neill, prominent historian, Chair of the Woodford Academy Management Committee and
local Hazelbrook resident, will base her talk on the 1989 publication "Hazelbrook Heritage - A
Social History of Hazelbrook and Woodford".

BMHS members are free of charge. Visitors are very welcome for an entry fee of $5.
Morning tea will be available from 10am for a small additional charge.

10/09/2026

YASS & DISTRICT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Spring has arrived at last and this means our activities calendar moves into overdrive! Check out some of the great events we have coming up in the Yass Valley.

🌷SEPTEMBER

2pm Saturday, 19 September 2026
Celtic Graveside Yarns cemetery tour
Yass Cemetery
Members $25, Non-members $35
Book online: Celtic ☘️ https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1621385

10:30am Saturday, 26 September 2026
Yass Graveside Yarns cemetery tour
Yass Cemetery
Members $25, Non-members $35
Book online: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1625421

2pm Sunday, 27 September 2026
Drop-in with Guest Speaker, Mr Mathew Trinca Talalin AM (former Director of the National Museum of Australia)
Yass Valley History Centre
Details of Mathew's presentation will be shared soon.
This free event will be open to the public, so bring along a friend who may not have visited the History Centre before.
RSVP essential to [email protected] due to limited seating and catering requirements.

🌼 OCTOBER

Running Friday, 30 October to Sunday, 1 November 2026, we have Digging up the Past with a great program of history talks, tours, food and unique experiences, in partnership with the Yass Railway Heritage Centre and the iconic Liberty Theatre (you can check out their events here: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1622843

Yass Valley History Centre is hosting the following events on the program:

5pm Friday, 30 October 2026
Gruesome Graveside Yarns + Dinner at Yazzbar
Yass Cemetery
Members $55, Non-members $65
Book online: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1645746

2pm, Saturday 31 October 2026
Boozers & Baddies of Binalong history walk, + c.1883 Courthouse special access + Afternoon Tea at Cafe on Queen
Binalong, NSW
Members $45, Non-members $55
Book online: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1641722,

9:30am - 5pm, Sunday 1 November 2026 (registration from 8:45am)
Echoes of the Harp: exploring Irish Settlement in southern NSW
A comprehensive full-day seminar for family and local historians and researchers with 7 Guest Speakers, Morning Tea, Lunch and Live Music included
Yass Soldiers Club, 86 Meehan Street Yass
Members $95, Non-members $115
More details and booking information will be available very soon.

Bookings online are preferred; however, bookings can be made at the Yass Valley History Centre, 247A Comur St Yass, Tuesdays & Thursdays 10am to 4pm if needed.

Our events are one of the History Centre's major sources of revenue and play an important part in helping us keep the Centre operating with free entry, and our collection preserved and accessible here in Yass. If you can come along to an event, bring friends or family, volunteer to assist with an event, or share the details with others, it all helps and we greatly appreciate your support.

We hope you can join us and we look forward to sharing some of our fabulous local history with you.

Yass Valley History Centre team

Step beyond the gates and discover the Irish, Scottish and Welsh pioneers who helped shape the Yass Valley. This is no ordinary cemetery walk....

28/08/2026

Street Stall – Saturday 12 September 2026 – 9:00am to 12:00noon

Members of the Society will hold a street stall in the grounds of the Presbyterian Church in Springwood on Saturday morning 12 September 2026. There will be many items for sale including plants, books, cakes and knick-knacks. The sale raises fund towards the activities of the Society, including resources, library management and assistance with our volunteer family history assistance service in Springwood and Katoomba libraries.

Available at the street stall will be a framed photograph of the Grose Valley kindly donated by a member of the Society to be raffled.

Donations for the street stall can be brought to the meeting on the 11 September 2026 or on the morning of 12 September. Assistance on the day of the street stall to set up will be appreciated.

24/08/2026

BLUE MOUNTAINS HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Tarella Historic Cottage Museum Monthly Open Day

Sunday 30 August 2026

The Blue Mountains Historical Society (BMHS) will conduct its Community Open Day at Tarella, its Historic House Museum, on Sunday 30 August 2026 from 10am to 3pm at 99 Blaxland Road, Wentworth Falls.

Visitors are invited to view this fine example of a late 19th century Blue Mountains holiday house, furnished with period furniture, some of which is linked to the original owners, the McLaughlin family. The cottage provides an insight into domestic life at that time, including in the original kitchen, where tasty titbits are often cooked on the open fire for visitors on Open Days..

Younger children might also enjoy following our gnome trail throughout our gardens.

An entrance fee of $10.00 for adults, $2.00 for school age children, covers both entry to the cottage and inspection of the BMHS Research facilities.

Morning and afternoon tea, and, occasionally, soup and buns, will be available in the separate kitchen in the Society’s research building for a small extra cost for both members, other than volunteers on the day, and visitors

12/08/2026

NSW Heritage Networks in relation to Blue Plaque nominations:

If you know of a person, group or event from the past that deserves recognition for their contribution to NSW, nominate them for a Blue Plaque today. Nominations close at midnight on
Sunday, 13 September 2026.
Nominate here. (https://https://www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/blue-plaques-nsw-nominations-now-open)
Who or what can be nominated?
We are seeking little-known and unique stories that deserve to be recognised and appreciated.
Nominations must:
• Relate to a person, group or event that has had a lasting impact on NSW.
• Be real and historically accurate.
• Be appropriate, sensitive and engaging.
• The person/people must have passed away, or the event must have taken place, more than 20 years ago.
To learn more about eligibility and what qualifies for nomination, see our
nomination guidelines. (b021906b-44f8-4e24-b29f-18003d15d5c2@96ef8821-2a39-471c-b89a-67b0833dd3b9)" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/b021906b-44f8-4e24-b29f-18003d15d5c2@96ef8821-2a39-471c-b89a-67b0833dd3b9)
Register for the upcoming webinar
Join our informative webinar, which is open to anyone interested in submitting a nomination.
• Hear a brief overview of the Blue Plaques NSW Program
• Understand how to submit a quality nomination
• Get answers to your queries in a live Q&A session
When: Wednesday, 19 August 2026, 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Where: Online via Microsoft Teams
Register here
Need inspiration?
To learn more about the program and explore the remarkable stories already recognised with a Blue Plaque, visit the website