Yeah! We’ve got more Addies!

May 27, 2014 2 Comments

Police Court Roster July 1859Got home from work late – tired, exhausted, wet & hungry … but that all vanished when I had a quick check of my emails.  That magic email notification I’ve been waiting more than a year to spot!  Notification from the National Library of Australia … Geelong Advertiser … added on 2014-05-27      Yippee!!!!!!!!!!

Before today, we had Addies up to 1856, then 1914-1919.

At the right is the Police Court Roster for July 1859 – that’s right … 1859!

For those who remember the first lot of Addies to come online … if you did a search, there were lots of “Coming Soon” entries – searchable but not yet viewable.

CelebrateAt the moment, they’ve just loaded a full six months of 1859 – searchable AND viewable.  Then if you check some more … I’ve found heaps of searchable but not yet viewable … 1861, 1866, 1873, 1878 … it’s all happening and it’s SO EXCITING!

And don’t forget that we owe a HUGE Thank You to our own State Library of Victoria – without their support we wouldn’t have got this far, let alone the full gamut from 1840 through to 1919 that is all on its way.

We’re spoilt – we KNOW just how magnificent the Geelong Advertiser is for researchers – now the rest of the world can share that awe!

THREE CHEERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Update on Geelong Advertiser on TROVE

December 1, 2013 2 Comments

Geelong Advertiser 9 January 1841 p1It’s so much fun watching the progress of the Geelong Advertiser through TROVE – the anticipation is mounting!  Priority has been given to the years 1914-1918 and this is what has already been completed and available online:

  • 8 Jan 1914 – 24 May 1915
  • 17 Dec 1915 – 31 Mar 1916
  • 14 May 1917 – 31 Dec 1918

And checking the ones still to come, they’re VERY close!  They appear to have been digitised and searches during this period will find the entries marked as [Coming Soon]:

  • 26 May 1915 – 16 Dec 1915 [6,101 entries “coming soon”]
  • 1 Apr 1916 – 13 May 1917 [11,340 entries “coming soon”]

So you know what that means!  Once those ones are finished, they’ll be starting on the rest of the promised Geelong Advertisers … it is so reassuring to look at the NEW TITLES COMING list for the current year:

The following titles are intended to be made available to the public during the coming year [July 2013 to June 2014]. Multiple titles may be processed and made available at any given time. Dates of when specific issues will be available unfortunately cannot be provided.

And find this entry:

Geelong Advertiser 1857 – 1918 National Library of Australia and selected by Australian Newspaper Plan libraries

And when that’s all done we’ll have a complete run from 1840-1918.

And while we’re holding our breath with excitement, I found this reference to the Addy in a book I was indexing – oh how politically INCORRECT our newspapers used to be!

 

14 May 1942 – Tobacco Shortage Hits Councillors

Cigarettes will in future grace the Bannockburn Council table in place of cigars.  The supply of the latter has run out and as replacement cost is 2 pounds 8 shillings a box, no more will be purchased.  Those Councillors who do not smoke the humble cigarette can, if they so desire, provide their own cigars.  But as Bannockburn is largely composed of Scotchmen, the risk of that is not great.

And before ANYONE complains, that is a direct quote and not something I would DARE to say in mixed company!

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Time Capsules and the Geelong Advertiser

November 30, 2013 2 Comments

Old Geelong Advertiser buildingSometimes when you’re indexing, your mind wanders in strange directions – well mine does anyway.  I index things at random – usually it’s a really good chance to clear your overloaded mind so you can work on another task or project.  It’s one of those terrific “brain-dead” tasks that you can end do while watching a movie.  The eyes read, the fingers move, you turn a page and keep repeating these tasks!

At other times, while you’re indexing it’s a chance to come up with strange ideas and questions – sometimes even rash statements.  So, while I was indexing a book this morning I came up with a rash statement …

I bet the Geelong Advertiser has been placed in more Time Capsules than any other newspaper in Victoria – maybe even Australia!

I agree – that is a VERY rash statement but there is some basis to it:

  • The Geelong Advertiser was the “local” paper for much of Western Victoria for most of the 19th century and beyond
  • The Geelong Advertiser is Victoria’s oldest morning newspaper, the first edition being published on November 21, 1840 and it’s still going

And how on earth do you prove something like that?

We start compiling a list / database – not many entries yet but you can change all of that!  Make use of the Time Capsule form.

And if we have any Addy journalists watching … well you can help even more!!!

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Geelong Advertiser: WWI years

August 11, 2013 1 Comment

Geelong Advertiser 8th June 1918I hope everyone has been keeping tabs on the National Library of Australia / TROVE additions!  If not, you will have missed the start of the 1914-1918 copies of the Geelong Advertiser appearing.

So far the uploads include part of 1917 and 1918 – keep watching and DON’T FORGET to register and do your bit by correcting as many entries as possible to make it easier for others to find their families.

Thank you to the State Library of Victoria and the National Library of Australia – where would we be without them?

I must confess to smirking last Thursday – sitting in the audience listening to an American genealogist – he was SO jealous of our NLA digital newspapers and TROVE!

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THE biggest news for Geelong and district

May 4, 2013 12 Comments

CelebrateI confess – I screamed, I laughed, I shouted for joy, and yes … I was close to tears!  I had just heard the most fantastic news for all local and family history researchers in our region – and I have permission to do this blog.

Some of you who have followed this blog and our mailing list over the years will know how hard we have worked, grovelled and pleaded to get the Geelong Advertiser digitised and available through TROVE.  We eventually succeeded in November last year with the Addy online up to 1856.  We were warned not to expect many more years in a hurry.

At this very moment I’m sitting at the VAFHO State Family History Conference in Ballarat – about to give my talk titled Regional Victoria: a goldfields experience.  At the same time Jenny Higgins from National Library Australia is presenting her paper More than Gold: Treasure from TROVE.  Jenny had asked for an “Announcement” to include in her presentation.  And I had THE most exciting chat with Jenny and I have her permission to post this blog as soon as we’ve both finished our presentations.

You MUST have guessed by now that the exciting news is about the Geelong Advertiser but it’s even better than that!  The Addy will be included in the 1914-1918 papers digitised in the next financial year [July 2013 – June 2014] … AND …

In the same group, the Addy will be digitised from 1857 to 1913.  You heard me!  NOW you understand why I’m so excited!

The Addy will be online from 1840-1918 .. that warrants a BIG celebration!!!!!!!!!!

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Geelong Advertiser … THANK YOU!

November 7, 2012 1 Comment

It is definitely an early Christmas present – our heartfelt thanks to the National Library of Australia and the State Library of Victoria.  This is what we were promised initially:

And they’ve added a bonus!

As reported in the recent blog, there were lots of very large gaps for the digitised images.  There were 913 issues digitised and online with 1,600 still to come.

I haven’t had time to check them all yet but I have checked up to Wed 31 Dec 1851 and so far all have digitised images.  BUT it appears that we might have ALL of them up to 9 Aug 1856 searchable and digitised!

We know there are still some missing individual issues that we hope will be tracked down and included but apart from those, we can now search and view the Geelong Advertiser [under its various titles] from the FIRST issue 21 November 1840 through to 9 August 1856.  That’s 2,844 issues online!

We really do owe the National Library of Australia and the State Library of Victoria a huge Thank You!

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Geelong Advertiser … update – what’s on TROVE!

November 3, 2012 1 Comment

I must confess to a little frustration at the lack of movement in the Geelong Advertiser being loaded into TROVE after the initial couple of updates.  I did ask a couple of questions recently – whether there was any connection between the questions and the recent flurry of updates I honestly can’t say – I’m just VERY grateful that a lot more has been added!

That said, I was then rather confused at the date range of updates and what was really there when you looked at the detail.  I’m sure others may also be confused so I’ve been doing a bit of work identifying what’s really there and what’s only partially there.

The papers that are currently being scanned and added to TROVE are:

 

When you follow the above links you can see each date for each month for each title which “appears” in TROVE.  It is not until you click on a specific date that you either see the first page for that date or you are presented with a message that says “This item is part way through the digitisation process.  It will be available when this page passes the final quality control check.  This is likely to be within the next 1-28 days.”

If you search for an entry in any of the three titles for the Geelong Advertiser, some entries will include the phrase “[coming soon]”.  Click on the “[coming soon]” link and you will be presented with the same message as above.

The following table shows the status of the Geelong Advertiser planned for this digitisation group as at Saturday 3 November 2012.  It shows the date ranges that are fully online and those in the [coming soon] category as not yet fully online.  I will try to update it when I become aware of more dates being completed.

 

Year Date from Date to Title Issues Online Not yet online
1845 Wed 28 May Sat 28 Jun Geelong Advertiser and Squatters’ Advocate [1845-1847] 10  
1845 Wed 2 Jul Wed 31 Dec Geelong Advertiser and Squatters’ Advocate [1845-1847]   42
1846 Sat 3 Jan Wed 30 Dec Geelong Advertiser and Squatters’ Advocate [1845-1847]   100
1847 Sat 2 Jan Tue 26 Oct Geelong Advertiser and Squatters’ Advocate [1845-1847]   76
1847 Fri 29 Oct Tue 28 Dec Geelong Advertiser [1847-1851] 18  
1848 Tue 4 Jan Sat 30 Dec Geelong Advertiser [1847-1851] 127  
1849 ? Jan ? Mar Geelong Advertiser [1847-1851]   ?
1849 Tue 3 Apr Sat 29 Dec Geelong Advertiser [1847-1851] 134  
1850 Tue 1 Jan Fri 30 Aug Geelong Advertiser [1847-1851] 199  
1850 Mon 2 Sep Mon 30 Dec Geelong Advertiser [1847-1851]   94
1851 Wed 1 Jan Fri 31 Oct Geelong Advertiser [1847-1851]   247
1851 Sat 1 Nov Sat 20 Dec Geelong Advertiser [1847-1851] 42  
1851 Mon 22 Dec Wed 31 Dec Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer [1851-1856]   8
1852 Thu 1 Jan Fri 31 Dec Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer [1851-1856]   303
1853 Sat 1 Jan Thu 28 Jul Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer [1851-1856]   178
1853 Mon 1 Aug Sat 31 Dec Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer [1851-1856] 129  
1854 Wed 4 Jan Tue 28 Feb Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer [1851-1856] 48  
1854 Wed 1 Mar Thu 31 Aug Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer [1851-1856]   156
1854 Fri 1 Sep Sat 30 Dec Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer [1851-1856] 103  
1855 Mon 1 Jan Mon 30 Apr Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer [1851-1856] 103  
1855 Tue 1 May Mon 31 Dec Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer [1851-1856]   209
1856 Tue 1 Jan Sat 9 Aug Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer [1851-1856]   187
      TOTAL 913 1600

 

An important thing to keep in mind – there are random dates that have not been digitised at this stage due to missing issues.  Some are odd dates and others are for a range of dates such as Jan-Mar in 1849 – it is hoped that missing issues will be located and added at a later stage.

In the meantime, enjoy searching the 913 issues of the Addy that are already fully digitised and searchable.  And remember that if you’re totally desperate and find a reference during a search that is not yet available online, the Addy is available on microfilm at various locations including the National Library of Australia, State Library of Victoria, Geelong Heritage Centre, Deakin University Waterfront.

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Geelong Advertiser … it’s here!

July 3, 2012 2 Comments

The first part is here!  So far 1 Nov 1851 – 20 Dec 1851 and I must confess that the first page I looked at was not great quality but there is so much to look forward to.  As you can see from the list below, this is the last part of the second group of papers.

  • Geelong Advertiser and Squatters’ Advocate (28 May 1845-26 Oct 1847)
  • Geelong Advertiser (29 Oct 1847-20 Dec 1851)
  • Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer (22 Dec 1851-9 Aug 1856)

Have a look at Trove Digitised Papers or the summary page.

We can expect notification of additions progressively over the next couple of weeks.

Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

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Geelong Advertiser … 24th June 2012 update!

June 24, 2012 2 Comments

I think we’ve all been holding our breath after the National Library said [in January 2012] the following would occur …

The papers are currently being scanned and hopefully would be completed by the end of the financial year [June 2012].  The papers in this lot are:

    • Geelong Advertiser and Squatters’ Advocate (28 May 1845-26 Oct 1847)
    • Geelong Advertiser (29 Oct 1847-20 Dec 1851)
    • Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer (22 Dec 1851-9 Aug 1856)

Now for the latest news!

It is so close you can smell it!  If you go to TROVE and search for Geelong Advertiser you’ll see what I mean!  For the results which include the title(s) and date range shown above it also shows the magic words [coming soon].

A layman’s interpretation is the OCR / text part is loaded [or in the process of being loaded] and the images will follow.

The bottom line is that it is VERY CLOSE!

I suggest that everyone gets some extra sleep in preparation for some LONG nights searching the Addy.

And for those that want 1843 or 1857 or later – let’s be very grateful that at least it’s started and there will be more to come.

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Geelong Advertiser … update!

January 10, 2012 1 Comment

One thing my previous blog proved – a LOT of people believe that the Geelong Advertiser is an important newspaper and that it should be part of the National Library of Australia Newspaper Digitisation project!

Now for the latest and greatest news!

One member of our Geelong & District Mailing List contacted the National Library about the digitisation of the Geelong Advertiser.  The reply she got included a statement that the Geelong Advertiser WAS included in their 2011-12 schedule and that it had been added to the NLA Future Titles – Titles coming soon web site.

The papers are currently being scanned and hopefully would be completed by the end of the financial year [June 2012].  The papers in this lot are:

  • Geelong Advertiser and Squatters’ Advocate (28 May 1845-26 Oct 1847)
  • Geelong Advertiser (29 Oct 1847-20 Dec 1851)
  • Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer (22 Dec 1851-9 Aug 1856)

It is important to note that this scanning is being funded by the National Library of Australia and not by the State Library of Victoria.  And I guess that also adds weight to our argument on how important these papers are.

This also fits with the statements made when the Digitised Newspapers project was announced at the Genealogy Congress in Darwin in 2006.  At the time I remember being particularly excited when they announced that one key regional newspaper for each state would be selected as part of the pilot project.  For New South Wales it was the Maitland Mercury [where many of my ancestors lived] and for Victoria it was the Geelong Advertiser.  At the time I remember feeling smugly spoilt!  The Maitland Mercury happened but not the Addy.

Now before you start jumping up and down and yelling and saying that the Addy doesn’t appear on the Future Titles web site [that’s what I did!] … if you do a FIND on the page you’ll find them in the strangest place!   They’re listed under South Australia!  I don’t care where they’ve put them – as long as they are there that’s all that matters.  [And AFTER I posted this blog I noticed that the Geelong Advertiser now belongs to Victoria – right where it should be.]

By now you should have noticed that the papers to be scanned commence 28 May 1845 and the Geelong Advertiser began 21 Nov 1840 – so what about the issues 1840-1845?

I’m guessing the decision has been made to not repeat what’s already been done or they’re waiting until they can access all the issues missing between 1840 and 1845.

In my previous blog I mentioned that:

Some issues from the first five years of the Geelong Advertiser were digitised as part of the Australian Periodical Publications 1840-1845 project.  It’s available online as single page downloads however it’s not searchable.

Back in 2004 to 2006 I did a lot of work checking these files.  At the time I produced a spreadsheet showing which papers were missing.  I’ve just double checked the spreadsheet and it’s still the same.  I’ll mention a few gaps here but I’ve also uploaded the spreadsheet as an Acrobat file so you can at least check if there are important dates that may already be online.  [ Geelong Advertiser Summary of papers 1840-1845 ]

Some explanations for the “gaps”:

  • There are random omissions – I don’t have an explanation for these.
  • There are NO editions for 1843, hence the jump from 26 Dec 1842 edition No. 110 to 1 Jan 1844 No. 184.
  • There is a strange mixup of edition numbers from 10 Jul 1844 No. 238 to 15 Jul 1844 No. 230.  A sequence of edition numbers if repeated – and also missing first time around.
  • There are some gaps of almost a month throughout 1844 – no explanation.
  • There is no issue No. 315 however this may never have been produced – following the sequence it would have been for 28 May 1845.  You’ll notice that the name changed 28 May 1845 to Geelong Advertiser & Squatters Advocate – they may have just decided to skip an issue number.
  • The planned scanning for NLA commences with this new title on 28 May 1845.

It’s possible that someone on our Geelong & District Mailing List may have done more detailed research into the missing / existing issues and can give us an update.

In the meantime let’s celebrate the imminent digitisation of a good chunk of the Geelong Advertiser.  Our next task is to confirm the plans for 2012-13 – hopefully the scanning won’t stop at 1856.

I know a LOT of people will be getting a LOT of sleepless nights once the Addy hits TROVE – in the meantime you’ve got nearly six months to store up some extra sleep to compensate for the last half of the year!

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