WHEN Joy Roy started researching her family history, all she wanted to know was how her three times great grandparents got to Australia.<\/p>\n
But that first encounter with genealogy turned into a lifelong passion and as a result for 45 years she\u2019s helped others trace their ancestry.<\/p>\n
While she\u2019s now retired from the profession, Ms Roy still conducts research for local people with the Bendigo Regional Genealogical Society.<\/p>\n
Formed in 1982, the BRGS now works from the Bendigo Library to sift through historical records and unearth the past of the region and its people.<\/p>\n
Ms Roy said genealogy was an exciting process all about putting little clues together to make a full family story.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople want to know where they came from, it\u2019s the sense of belonging and I like the thrill of the chase,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you understand your own history, it makes it real.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt becomes like a huge jigsaw that you\u2019re constantly wanting to join the next person in.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the advent of online platforms like Ancestry.com have allowed people across the world to dive into their family\u2019s past, Ms Roy said tapping into local experience could make for a much more successful, guided search.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople do need help and they do need a structured way on how to find their family history and the computer hasn\u2019t made it easier,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an advantage to come to the BRGS, they can learn tips from every one of our members because everybody\u2019s had some unusual experience in searching for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen they can go home and apply it to their research whenever it\u2019s suitable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think in time it will go the full circle and come back to people saying, \u2018I want to do my family history, the local group will be able to help me put it together\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to encourage local people to get more involved with us. Whilst we say we\u2019re for genealogy, which is the study of one\u2019s descent, in actual fact we do a lot with social history, the history of houses, hotels, businesses, where properties were located.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WHEN Joy Roy started researching her family history, all she wanted to know was how her three times great grandparents got to Australia. But that first encounter with genealogy turned into a lifelong passion and as a result for 45 years she\u2019s helped others trace their ancestry. While she\u2019s now retired from the profession, Ms […]<\/p>\n