Just wanted to remind you that through our links with Central West Libraries we have partnered with Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and FamilySearch International Research. We are pleased to have Affiliate Status with the FamilySearch International Research and Library system. The Library is now designated as a 'FamilySearch Centre'. This affiliation provides clients with the opportunity to access the resources of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and FamilySearch International Research

Microfilms and Microfiche may now be ordered online by patrons of Latter-Day Saints Family History Centres or affiliated FamilySearch Centres. The patron can logon to www.film.familysearch.org. Upon registering on the site, the patron will choose the FamilySearch Centre where they would prefer to view the films (Central West Libraries). The films ordered will be sent to that centre.

Films and fiche rentals are paid by Visa or Mastercard. Microfilms are rented for $7.75 each. Microfiche are charged $7.75 per set.

When the ordered films arrive at the centre, the patron will receive email notification. Patrons are entitled to view films they are reading for up to 60 days from the date the films arrive at the centre/library, should they so wish. Patrons may renew the film rental for another 60 days, online, for an additional $7.75. Microfiche are kept at the centre, with the understanding that the ownership for the fiche remains with FamilySearch. Happy researching.

Members of Orange Family History Group participated in the Words from the Dust writing workshops series held across the Central West as part of a Central West Writers' Centre project supported by a Positive Ageing Grant. The workshops helped people to recall stories from their childhoods and generate ideas for writing family histories. Pictured is Marie (centre) explaining her memory map to Jennifer (left) and Carole. Stories from all the workshops can now be read on the words from the dust website: www.wordsfromthedust.com.au

Greetings everyone, our August newsletter is now available and you can read it online. Catch up with all the latest news via the Orange Family History Group newspage: http://www.ofhg.com.au/pdfs/August-Newsletter-2011.pdf

Find out about FamiySearch Internationl Research, Australian Generations Oral History Project, see if you can help with locating Orange photos for a new book by Lis Edwards, there are also details about the Underwood family reunion, Centenary of WWI news and find out who your street is named after and more....

Orange City Council and the community are in the process of developing a regional museum which is proposed to be co-located with the existing Orange City Library/Orange Regional Gallery in the centre of Orange. A regional museum: * focuses on telling the stories about the history of the region * is staffed by museum professionals * has semi-permanent and temporary exhibition spaces * practises high standards of care for collections. The purpose of this survey is to capture community views relating to the activities of the regional museum which will assist its further development. The results of this survey will contribute to informing Council's Community Strategic Plan. To complete the survey, click on the link below.

Thanks for your assistance.

We would like to share this thank you:

"I'd like to thank the Orange Family History Group for the wonderful information I received in response to my request for details of local town criers. Carol Sharp was the research officer. This is just what I was hoping for - not simply names and dates, but stories as well. I am very grateful to Carol for her thorough research and help, Many thanks, Anne."

Anne was looking for informaton about town criers and found references to them in Orange. We were happy to help and wish Anne well with her project.

The Local Studies Room was buzzing with people keen to learn more about researching family history when Orange Family History Group and Orange City Library hosted its Family History Australian Records Workshop during Library and Information Week. It was a fantastic atmosphere as people had brought in their problem research questions and we set out to help them. There were many research breakthroughs during the workshop. Orange Family History Group members were on hand to assist people with their enquiries and took everyone through simple steps to help trace their ancestors. It was exciting to watch people discover information they had not been able to find out before. The evening event also renewed enthusiasm for family history research for several people. Group members were also able to offer alternative ways to search the internet when other avenues had been exhausted. It was a great night and we thank everyone for coming along.

Join Orange Family History Group at Orange City Library when we present a workshop to help you find the information you need for your family history project. The event is part of Library and Information Week 2011 and its theme "We find Stuff!"

Family History Australian Records Workshop

Thursday 26 May

7pm – 9pm

Orange City Library, Byng Street, Orange

Bookings on 6393 8132

Members will be on hand to assist you with your research enquiries. We assist with research requests all the time and can help with accessing things like Births, Deaths and Marriages Records on line and on CD Rom. There are also cemetery records, internet resources and State Records we can help family historians with. This is a follow up workshop to the highly successful Tracing your Family History – Beginners Guide held last year. Please book on 6393 8132 and bring along your research questions.

Great news for people researching Indigenous issues, The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Studies (AIATSIS) has digitised the back archive of the 'Koori Mail'.

The Koori Mail, established in 1991 was Australia's first wholly Indigenous owned fortnightly newspaper. AIATSIS has digitised more than 35,000 pages spanning the last 20 years and 500 editions of the paper.

The Koori Mail's first edition was just 24 pages, all black and white (except for the masthead), and read by about 25,000 people. Today, the newspaper averages close to 100 pages, is alive with colour, and reaches more than 100,000 readers right around Australia every fortnight.

Stone has been a critical part of the Orange district infrastructure and decoration since the earliest days from the foundations and walls of the first bridges, huts cottages and mansions to the base and surfaces of roads and the decorative elements of houses, buildings, monuments and gravestones.

Stonemasons and quarries will be the subject of Orange and District Historical Society's next monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 11 at the Senior Citizens Centre.

While our relatively wet climate and deep soils are a blessing for agriculture, horticulture and gardens, they represent a great challenge for the stability of roads and buildings. With the centre of town built on a swamp, the abundance of readily available building and road material was a great boon to development. In our varied local geology we have world-class marble for monuments, easily worked indestructible columnar basalt for foundations, walls, kerbs and gutters, and other rocks such as shales, granites and quartz for road bases and their gravel toppings. Basalt blocks were almost universal in the foundations of any respectable house until the 1940s when concrete took over.

There were many quarries with the best known being the marble quarries of Caleula, (north of Mullion Creek), Borenore (Rusconi's) and Spring Hill. There was the bluestone, (basalt) quarry beside the railway line on Racecourse Road (now closed), larger rock and shale quarries close to town on Ophir and Icely roads (Tucker's and Sharpe's) and innumerable pits along various other roads. Huge quantities of rock and gravel were also sourced from the massive mullock heaps left from mining activities in Lucknow.

The two speakers have worked at either end of the industry. Hillary Jenner is a bricklayer and stoneworker who maintains many of the old bluestone walls in Orange. He has recently worked on the restoration of Bloomfield House. Charlie Smith had 42 years with Canobolas and Cabonne shire councils working as a loader operator in most of their numerous quarries and pits.

There will be others in the audience with expertise in geology and other knowledge relating to the subjects to make contributions during question time. The meeting will start at 7 for 7.30pm. There is a small charge of $3 for members of Orange and District Historical Society and $5 for non-members, to cover costs. Light refreshments will be served.

If you have any inquiries or would like to attend the meeting, please RSVP to Phil Stevenson on 6362-3257, mobile 0402 412 188 or email ibiswines@bigpond.com

Family historians are invited to meet local author Elisabeth Edwards when she talks about her research into her latest book - a medical history of Orange titled In Sickness and in Health How medicine helped shape Orange's history. The project was supported by Orange City Council, Pinnacle Health Care and Orange Regional Arts Foundation to coincide with the opening of the new Orange hospital located on Forest Road. Learn more about the stories behind the book and her extensive research to record Orange's medical history. Meet Lis, hear her talk and ask questions at Orange City Library on Thursday 5 May at 5.30pm. Please book your place by calling 6393 8132.