General News
14 October, 2024
History on tap
Looking to hunt up some information on a relative or want to know where someone lived and when?
The Wimmera Association of Genealogy, which has about 25 members, has a data base of 820,000 items covering people from Hopetoun in the north, to Balmoral in the south, the South Australian border to the west and Ararat in the east, dating back as far as the 1840s.
If all that fails to come up with the information needed, it might be in one of the 230,000 land-selection photos or one of the family-history books and files that fill a complete wall in the society's Pynsent Street, Horsham, office.
And if they're also of no use, there's a couple of drawers brimming with thousands of records from Wimmera cemeteries.
President Tony Ward said one of the society's projects was to contribute to a wall at Horsham Cemetery with the names of people buried in the cemetery who fought in World War I.
There are also rows of crosses for people whose burial sites are unknown.
Mr Ward said most people who attended the centre were aged 50 or over and interested in looking back on their family history.
The centre, near Horsham Centre Cinemas, is open on Tuesdays from 1.30pm to 4.30pm.
Members charge a small fee for the service of finding information.