Trove – Eight Years of Incredible Discoveries
Eight years ago, the way of historical and genealogical research in Australia changed forever. Trove went live.
Created by the National Library of Australia, the Trove website is a portal to their absolutely incredible collection of records.
By “absolutely incredible”, I’m talking millions of records. But not “just” millions. How about 554,000,000 of them? That’s right, over HALF A BILLION of them in fact! All online and all free to search. So how lucky are we?
There’s no doubt that Trove is Australia’s number 1 website for research. If it’s not yours, it should be! So go and bookmark it www.trove.nla.gov.au now.
If you’re not familiar with Trove, take a quick look at the videos below that give you a quick overview, of what it is, and the different facets to it.
So you’ll find photos, journals and articles, archived websites, government gazettes, music, sound and video recordings, diaries and letters, maps and books, even vintage issues of the Women’s Weekly magazine. They all make up the phenomenal collection of Australian history that the National Library of Australian (NLA) looks after. For more a detailed analysis on using Trove and all it’s facets, check out Shauna Hicks’ “Trove: Discover Genealogy Treasure in the National Library of Australia“.
the stats as at 1 December 2017
However what most researchers (myself included) head to Trove for, is their historical newspaper collection. And why wouldn’t we, they are so fun. And with over 200 million pages of old newspaper online already – there are so many stories just waiting to be found.
The blog theme “Trove Tuesday” was started back in 2012 by Amy Houston of the Branches Leaves and Pollen blog, [note, I know the link has changed, but I still wanted to give her the credit], and through its creation, has inspired so many to find and share their amazing discoveries using Trove.
Just having a quick look through my own Trove Tuesday posts, and I’ve done articles on obituaries, the opening of a butter factory, drink ‘driving’, a hanging, a duel, several WW1 and WW2 related entries, local football match, Adelaide’s water supply, gold, South Australian pioneers, an earthquake, Christmas, the plague, a sudden death, a ploughing match … and so much more.
None of this would have been easily accessible without the online newspapers on Trove. The detail in a newspaper article is often better than you’ll find anywhere else , so it is a valuable source of information.
So I wish to say a huge CONGRATULATIONS to the National Library of Australia team for Trove’s 8th birthday, and THANKYOU, THANKYOU, THANKYOU for giving us the present of Trove.
And one last note, if you come across the following terms, here are their definitions:
– BT – before Trove
– pre-Trove – life before Trove
– post-Trove – life after Trove went live
– Troveite – a person addicted to searching Trove’s newspapers
and for even more Trove related lingo, be sure to check out a heap more at Carmel’s Library Currents blog
Related Articles:
13 Tips For Searching Trove’s Historical Newspapers
180, and Still So Young!
Happy Birthday South Australia! 28th of December. The day that my beautiful homestate celebrates its birthday, and today it turns 180.
And while 180 is ancient in human terms, for the age of place it’s really only a baby. But even so, in those 180 years, the colony (and now State) has seen so many remarkable achievements throughout the years.
But first South Australia’s birthday is officially called “Proclamation Day“, and Wikipedia says …
“Proclamation Day in South Australia celebrates the establishment of government in South Australia as a British province. The proclamation was made by Captain John Hindmarsh beside The Old Gum Tree at the present-day suburb of Glenelg North on 28 December 1836.“
the Old Gum Tree at Holdfast Bay (now Glenelg), c1890
the Old Gum Tree at Glenelg, 2011
John Hindmarsh, who became the first governor of South Australia arrived in South Australia on the “Buffalo”, on 28th December 1836, and when he stepped ashore at Holdfast Bay (near the Old Gum Tree), he read the proclamation.
Each year re-enactments of the events of South Australia’s founding are still held on the same day, by the remains of the same Old Gum Tree. The proclamation calls upon the colonists to “conduct themselves with order and quietness,” to be law-abiding citizens, to follow after industry, sobriety, and morality, and to observe the Christian religion. By so doing, they would prove to be worthy founders of a “great free colony.” You can read the full proclamation on the Adelaidia site.
The People …
As with any place, South Australia has many men and women of ‘note’. Those who’ve made an impact on the State in various ways, and you’ll find many of these mentioned in the 150 Great South Australians post (see links below), but obviously the list is confined to 150, with others who should make the list as well, but their achievements are incredible.
150 Great South Australians – Part 1 A-I
150 Great South Australians – Part 2 J-Z
The Events …
As for key events that have happened in South Australia, there’s so many … but here’s a small sampling for you.
1627 – First recorded European sighting of the South Australian coast.
1802 – South Australian coastline mapped by Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin.
1836 – South Australia proclaimed by Governor John Hindmarsh on 28 December at the Old Gum Tree, Glenelg.
1836 – Site for Adelaide chosen by Colonel William Light beside the River Torrens.
1837 – Adelaide’s first hospital opens on North Terrace.
1838 – The first Australian police force is formed in Adelaide, the South Australia Police.
1839 – The first road in South Australia, Port Road, is opened.
1840 – Royal Adelaide Show held for the first time.
1848 – Pulteney Grammar School established.
1850 – The forerunner to Harris Scarfe, G. P. Harris and J. C. Lanyon, opened on Hindley Street.
1858 – Melbourne-Adelaide telegraph line opened.
1858 – The first edition of The Advertiser newspaper is published.
1859 – A jetty of more than 350 metres in length is constructed at Glenelg.
1861 – East Terrace markets opened.
1861 – Copper discovered at Moonta, on the Yorke Peninsula.
1865 – Bank of Adelaide founded.
1870 – Port Adelaide Football Club established.
1872 – The General Post Office opened.
1873 – First cricket match played at Adelaide Oval.
1878 – First horse-drawn trams in Australia commenced operations in the city.
1880 – Telephone introduced in South Australia.
1881 – Coopers Brewery is established.
1883 – Adelaide Zoological Gardens opened.
1885 – The Adelaide Arcade opens.
1895 – South Australia was the first Australian colony to grant women the right to vote, and the first in the world to allow women to stand for Parliament.
1901 – Adelaide became a state capital upon the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January.
1904 – Adelaide Fruit and Produce Exchange opens in the East End.
1914 – South Australian troops join their Australian comrades in Europe to fight in the Great War.
1915 – Liquor bars close at 6 pm following referendum, creating the six o’clock swill
1924 – Radio broadcasting begins.
1927 – Duke and Duchess of York visit.
1933 – First John Martin’s Christmas Pageant.
1935 – Many German place names, which had been changed during the Great War, are restored.
1937 – First permanent traffic signals installed.
1939 – Worst heat wave recorded with disastrous bushfires and highest Adelaide temperature of 47.6° Celsius.
1940 – Birkenhead Bridge opens.
1942 – Rationing of tea and clothing introduced.
1948 – Holden begins production.
1954 – Adelaide is hit by an earthquake causing much property damage but no loss of life.
1954 – Queen Elizabeth II makes first sovereign visit to Adelaide.
1954 – Mannum-Adelaide pipeline completed, pumping water from the River Murray to metropolitan reservoirs.
1955 – Adelaide Airport at West Beach opens.
1958 – First parking meters installed.
1977 – Late night shopping commences.
1982 – International air services begin at Adelaide Airport.
1989 – The Bicentennial Conservatory, referred to as “The Big Pasty”, opens at the Botanic Gardens.
More Information …
For further information on South Australia’s history, be sure to check out the following:
Wikipedia Timeline of South Australia’s history
South Australia’s Timeline: The First Hundred Years of Colonisation
Happy 100th Birthday to my Grandma
Evelyn Phebe Randell was born on 24 June 1916 in “Caringa Private Hospital”, the first hospital in the small town of Gumeracha in the Adelaide Hills.
She was born in the town, grew up living in the town, went to the local school, and married at Salem Baptist Church in Gumeracha too, and is buried there too. Known as Ev to some, Lyn to others, Evelyn was my grandma.
Although she is no longer with us, having died a few years ago, I am remembering her on this day that would have been her 100th birthday.
When I was young, the apple orchards, and her place at Cudlee Creek were my second home. So I have a lot of memories from that era.
The daily morning and afternoon teas with Sao biscuits, the picnics on the side of the road, rock buns and jelly cakes, roast dinners, the old oven, the pantry, the outdoor loo, the small knife that was permanently in her bag to cut up a burger from McDonalds in half, the birds, the washhouse, her aprons, how she used a cup and saucer (rather than a mug), and the garden … oh she so loved her garden!!
She would elbow my grandpa to wake him up during church, she would comment on what people wore, and the way she and my grandpa would sit in the car in their driveway on a Sunday afternoon, if it was cold but sunny. I remember how she got hooked on watching both Home and Away, and Punky Brewster, and was quite upset when it was taken off, even writing to the TV station. When she wasn’t cooking, cleaning or in her garden, she was crafting – taking up knitting, hobbytex, quilling, paper tolle, leather crafting, beadwork and tapestry to mention a few.
I could go on and on …
Ella Randell (nee Sinkinson), together with her oldest daughter Ella ‘Annie’ Randell (age c.22), and youngest daughter Evelyn Phebe Randell (age c.6)
Evelyn with her three older sisters, Anne, May and Dorothy, c.1924
Evelyn Randell, age about 20
wedding of Evelyn Randell and Cec Hannaford, 31 May 1941
Cec and Evelyn Hannaford, Dec 1988
Happy Birthday Grandma, we’re still thinking of you …
