Willis Family Reunion – Celebrating a 100 years in Australia 1833-2023

The Willis family is planning a family reunion to be held on Sunday 30th April 2003 at the Redlands Sporting Club, Anson Rd, Wellington Point, QLD 4160. For full details download the attached invitation.
Read more about the Willis family history, including their arrival in Australia, their life at The Oaks and descendants by downloading the attached pdf document.

Society Monthly Meeting

A reminder that the Society’s monthly meeting is scheduled for 10:30am AEDT tomorrow, Saturday 4th March. All members are invited, attendance either in person or via Zoom. Full details, previous meeting minutes and financial statement are included in the Secretary’s latest email.

Are you interested in tracing your family history?

In partnership with Wollondilly Library the Society will host a workshop on how to start researching your family history. It will commence at 11am on Monday 6th February in the View Room of the Library, 42 Menangle Street, Picton.

The workshop will run from 11am to 12 Noon and if you can stick around, join us for a light lunch and a general chat. The Society will then host a second workshop from 1pm to 3pm on further avenues of research.

THE WORKSHOPS ARE FREE HOWEVER BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL FOR BOTH SESSIONS.

To book for the morning session (11am-12pm) please contact the library – https://www.library.wollondilly.nsw.gov.au/events/getting-started-with-family-history

To book for the afternoon session (1pm-3pm) please contact the Society either by email – pictonheritage@outlook.com or phone the secretary on 0427 659 340.

Temporary Closure of Society’s Research Room

The top floor of Wollondilly Library will be closed from 29 August 2022 for renovations for a period of two to three months. As a result, during this time members will not have access to the Society’s records stored in the library.

Should you have an inquiry, society members may still be able to assist by accessing records which have been digitised together with resources held outside the library.

Monthly meetings will be held in the home of one of our members. Members will be notified via email of the details. If you wish to contact the Society please email pictonheritage@outlook.com or contact us via the Society’s website or  facebook page or telephone the secretary on 0427659340.

Family History Month

Did you know that August is Family History Month at the NSW State Library. They have a range of free online events that will help you to uncover your family’s past – https://bit.ly/3AssB9E

Remember to also check out our Members Library where we have listed a collection of external resources to assist with your research – https://bit.ly/3SXDHdW

There are now only 29 days to go until the 37th Annual Conference of the NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies. Full details are here – https://bit.ly/3ps3lKt

Journal Exchange

Did you know that the Society participates in a “Journal Exchange” with a number of other Historical and Family History Societies, including the Bathurst Family History Group, Botany Bay Family History Society, Cowra Family History Group and the Lancashire Family History & Heraldry Society, just to name a few. Navigate to  our Members Library – Other Society Journals page and browse by year and month to catch up on the latest family history news.

Do you have ancestors or relatives who were married in Picton between 1839-1963?

We have recently completed our transition of the St Mark’s Picton Anglican Marriage Registers (1839-1963) into a searchable database on our web site. Search by Bride or Groom name and discover the following details as recorded by the Minister at time of Marriage : Bride and Groom places of birth, residence, occupations, parents names, fathers occupation, status at time of marriage and names of witnesses.

Available here https://www.pictonheritage.org.au/?page_id=2156 and accessible NOW for PDHFHS Members who have registered for web site membership.

Our Digital Project

We have been busy converting our paper based indexes into an online searchable database. To date we have added over 7,500 records to our online searchable Index database. A single keyword can be searched across 13 different indexes, including The Sands Directory, 1885 Landholders Returns, St Marks Anglican Parish Marriage (Bride & Groom) Index & List of Councillors and Alderman in the Wollondilly & Picton Councils, (just to name a few) and return results from each.

Existing financial PDHFHS and website members can access the Index Search here and start searching!!

Want to access the Index Search? Then become a PDHFHS Member, for only $20 per year for singles, $25 for a family or $15 for pensioners and students……it’s cheaper than a Netflix subscription !!

Once you become a member, register for our Website membership so you can access all of the great content, which we will be adding to over the coming months.