Question for the Aussies

[KiwiChris]

Does anyone know where Lord Howe Island BMD would be registered? The Electoral roll seems to be part of Sydney but would BMD be New South Wales?

I am looking for a marriage which would be between 1931 and 1933 when the groom would have been living on Lord Howe Island. Before that he was in NSW but the marriage does not seem to have been registered there.

[kiterunner]

There are Lord Howe Island births, marriages and deaths in the NSW indexes, Chris.

[marquette]

Lord Howe Island regs come under NSW. You could also try Trove, if he was from Sydney then perhaps the marriage was reported in the papers ?

[tenterfieldjulie]

I know their police force is the Federal Police so it is possible that their records are also there.

[KiwiChris]

I have looked for his marriage in the NSW BMD, Ancestry and Trove, I have even checked NZ in case he whipped over here, but I can't find any record. He and his wife died in NSW and I have that, so I have her parents christian names, I just can't find her surname.
I have tried using only the christian names on Ancestry and there is one possible one born in Tasmania but not quite right and I think she married someone in Tasmania.

[tenterfieldjulie]

Chris if you want to PM me the details I will see what my books on Norfolk say when I get home next week. I had a holiday in Norfolk in 2009 and I bought a number of books on the island. Not sure what I have but I'm sure they related to their records as I had a friend whose ancestors were there in the 2nd settlement.

[KiwiChris]

I am looking for Kenley Frederick Saunders who married Bertha Jane probably about 1930-1933ish. Bertha died 1972 and Kenley 1983, both in NSW.

[Merry]

I put his full name into the new Family Search site and got one match which was an image stating the following:

Australia, New South Wales, Alphabetical Index to Newspaper Cuttings, 1841-1988

Name in full: Rev Kenley Frederick Saunders
Wife: Bertha Jane Robertson
Married 5th April 1932
Source of Info: Sydney M Herald 5th April 1957

Sadly, I guess the entry in the paper didn't say where the marriage took place - just they were celebrating their silver wedding.

[kiterunner]

Or it could be that the entry in the paper does say where they married but it didn't get indexed. Unfortunately Trove's coverage of the Sydney Morning Herald only goes up to 1954.

[KiwiChris]

Ooo thanks. :D

[tenterfieldjulie]

Chris have you had any contact with the Angliccan Melanesian Mission whose HQs are on Norfolk Island? We were told that their area covered all the Pacific and I'm wondering if they may hold records there.

[KiwiChris]

We have a number of contacts throughout the NZ, Australian and Pacifica churches, my job in the project is to use online resources to fill in the gaps. It is my understanding that the archives for each strand of the church have been already used, it does not mean that nothing was missed but often snippets of information are now available that did not make it to the church archives.

I had not realised just what was available on the new family search site, I had certainly not come across newspaper bits on there before.

The problem with the project at the moment is to get information transcribed from a card file, (this stage is virtually complete), check the transcription for any obvious errors, identify gaps in the information which become more obvious when the transcription follows a format, and fill in what we can.
My suspicion is that this is the first stage to get the information on line, and then we can be a bit more leisurely in going back and looking a bit harder, by which time there will be more information available.
We are about to upload a new version of the New Zealand Index which I have also been working on, this will mainly add information from the 1911 census and also a few more Irish records. I know that there are gaps that I could fill on the Australian work I did early on, now that the Irish 1901 and 1911 census information is available on line. That will have to wait until an online update otherwise I will never finish the first draft!
It would be good to begin uploading the first parts of the Australian index in the first half of next year, it will need to be done in stages.