History in the making as family history conference hits town

September 22, 2017

Volunteers are gearing up for the largest family history conference in NSW to begin on Friday in Orange.

More than 300 people, from across the country, are expected to descend on the Orange cultural precinct, for the 33rd NSW & ACT Family History Conference.

Workshops are fully-booked but people are encouraged to register for the two day conference and attend the star-studded line-up for the series of talks on Saturday and Sunday at the Orange Civic Theatre.

Orange Mayor Reg Kidd said the conference was one of the biggest in the country and certainly was the largest in its 33 year history.

“Orange is a great location for this type of event and it’s wonderful that Orange City Library was invited to host the conference this year,” Cr Kidd said.

“Council has been able to incorporate the whole civic centre precinct into the program with events at The Orange Regional Museum, The Orange Regional Gallery, The Orange Civic Theatre and of course the library.

“Anyone with an interest in family history should make sure they attend, whether you are an avid researcher or just like to dabble in your own family story, then you should make sure you don’t miss out.”

Central West Libraries Manager Jan Richards said the program was full of a vast range of speakers on topics ranging from photography, to food history, tracing convict ancestry and how to research genealogy on the web.

“We have prominent historians, researchers, artists and authors giving talks on every element of family history research,” Ms Richards said.

“If you don’t know where to start looking then this conference is for you, but equally if you’ve been
researching for years then this conference will add value to your story.”

Guest speakers include photographer and story teller William Yang, actor and writer William McInnes as
well as Tasmanian artist Dr Christina Henri and historian Dr Catherine Bishop.

Registered guests are invited to attend the conference at the Orange Civic Theatre on Saturday and Sunday and all members of the public are welcome to attend the free Family History Fair at the library on Friday.

For information and to book tickets go to yourfamilystoryinorange.wordpress.com

Highlights include:

  • Orange Regional Museum is hosting Roses from the Heart a unique memorial to the 25,566 convict women transported to Australia from Britain and Ireland from 1788 to 1853. The installation will include hundreds of bonnets each with the name of a female convict and the ship which brought them the Australia.
  • Orange City Library is hosting the Family History Fair from 9am to 4pm on Friday September 22 where members of the public can come along and speak with a range of different service providers and businesses in the family history industry.
  • Orange Regional Gallery is hosting William Yang: Self Portraits. The exhibition features a series of images in which the artist charts his childhood in North Queensland, his time in Sydney where he came out as a gay man, his search for identity and his trips to China. More recent images are meditations on family and mortality. Mr Yang will also be performing The Story Only I can Tell at Orange Civic Theatre on Friday September 22.
  • A tour of Duntryleague on Sunday September 24 which includes a talk by local historian and member of the Orange and District Historical Society, Ross Maroney

HISTORY IN THE MAKING: Volunteers have a briefing ahead of the conference tomorrow (Friday September 22).
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