International Institute of Genealogical Studies

Optional Print Course Material: Australian: Births, Deaths and Marriages

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

This course will concentrate on the birth, death, and marriage information gathered by the various churches as parish records, as well as the civil records gathered by colonial, state, and territory governments. An understanding of the historical context is included to explain which authority collected the information and how the records varied over time. Births, deaths, and marriages records from various periods and jurisdictions will be examined to determine how much information is actually available and helpful for the genealogist, as well as how and where the records may be found.

The course also looks at why the information in such records may not always be accurate, as well as what to do when records are not available in the expected place.

Optional Print Course Material: Australian: Other Sources for Births, Deaths and Marriages

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

While the course Australia: Births, Deaths and Marriages concentrates on the various sources of church parish records and government civil certificates of births, deaths and marriages, this course focuses on other sources to obtain birth, death, and marriage information. Birth, death, and marriage information may be found in newspaper notices, naturalization documents, and military service records. Divorce records provide information about births and marriages, as well as details about the ending of marriages. In addition, there are many other records associated with deaths, including wills, probate, deceased estate files, intestacies, letters of administration, cemeteries, undertakers, and inquest records.

Military records and biographical dictionaries will be mentioned briefly as a source of information about births, deaths, and marriages but these topics are covered in more detail in other courses.

Course Length: 7 weeks

Optional Print Course Material: Australian: Immigration Records - Free Settlers

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

The study of immigration includes more than finding dates and shipping records. An understanding of some Australian history (as well as major events in other places of the world) is necessary to comprehend why large numbers of people chose to leave the places they were living and take the arduous and often dangerous journey to the other side of the world.

The course will discuss the migration of free settlers, and consider significant emigrant groups, government policies, sponsored and assisted passages, voyage conditions, and ships’ passenger lists as well as denization, naturalization and citizenship.

Course Length: 7 weeks

Optional Print Course Material: Australian: Convict Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

A study of convict records includes some discussion of the British legal system and the conditions that led to convicts being transported to the colonies of Australia. Governments kept copious records at all stages of their control of the convicts and these provide more information about the convicts in Australia than for free settlers of the same period.

The passage of convicts through the legal system may be traced from their trials and imprisonment, transportation, the convict administration in the colonies, as well as their various assignments until the eventual end of their imprisonment (by death or freedom).

 In addition, the course includes some records of the changing attitudes toconvict heritage and the impact that has on the records that are available.

Course Length: 7 weeks

Optional Print Course Material: Australian: Newspapers and Biographies

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Newspapers are a wonderful research tool as they can provide background information on our ancestors that may not be found in official documents. As well as the expected notices of births, engagements, marriages, deaths, burials and obituaries we may also find reference to their sporting activities or involvement in community events. References to insolvencies, bankruptcies, other misdemeanours or more serious crimes can lead to court and criminal records at the archives. This course focuses on using both historical and current newspapers to flesh out our knowledge of our ancestors and the communities in which they lived.

 A useful companion to newspapers are biographical resources and these can be for an individual or a defined group and based on a local, state or national level. Often referred to as biographical dictionaries or pioneer registers these resources can provide a quick background on an individual which can then be followed up in newspapers and official records.

 By using these two types of resources, you will be able to add substantially to your knowledge of your ancestors. As more and more of these resources are digitised and placed online making them easier to access and to search, there is a constant need to go back and revisit your research to find any new material on your ancestors.

 By undertaking this course on Australian newspapers and biographies you will find lots of additional material on your families as we make our way through the modules. In the course of writing this module and undertaking the assignments, I even added to my own family knowledge which was a bonus for me.

Course Length: 7 weeks

Optional Print Course Material: Australian: Church Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

This course examines religious resources that are available in Australia. Major emphasis has been placed on Christianity and the various church records available for the main Christian denominations in Australia. Parish records such as baptisms, marriages and burials and other lesser known church records are examined. Religions other than Christianity are also looked at briefly as Australia has been a multicultural country since the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788.

Course Length: 7 weeks

Optional Print Course Material: Australian: Local History and Regional Sources

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

This course includes newspapers, maps, directories & almanacs, electoral rolls, government records, local council records, sewerage and utilities, libraries, universities and museums, cemeteries, local area studies, including regional histories, business records, membership records, and records relating to land and its uses.

 A study of local history informs us about how our ancestors lived as part of a community as well as where they lived. This course first examines the records that can identify those locations, and then proceeds to the regional sources that allow us to see ancestors in the context of where they lived and who lived near them and what that can tell us about their lives. Some of these sources include lists of names, while others provide background information about places as well as the lives of the people who lived and worked there.

Course Length: 7 weeks

Optional Course Reading Material: Australian: Military Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

This course discusses available documents and the information included about those who served in British regiments in Australia as well as Australians who served in military forces in Australia and overseas. Military records from the earliest days of the colonies through various twentieth century conflicts are included.

 Various types of records created by the military are discussed, including service records, muster rolls, campaign documents, pension records and draft registration. The content of the records and their usefulness for genealogy is described. The course includes historical background as well as some background to the changing social perceptions towards the military.

Course Length: 7 weeks

Optional Course Print Material: Australian: Occupational Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Genealogy and the study of family history are more than just collecting names, dates and places. This course focuses on occupations and how someone’s occupation could change over time, have a significant role in a community and even impact on a family’s lifestyle. Miners, for example, often moved around following the gold or other minerals and their families moved too. Tracing them can be difficult but occupation records may provide clues.

 To determine someone’s occupation usually means that we need to use more than one kind of record to build a complete picture of their working life. As we gather the pieces of information we can then analyse what it is telling us about the person, their family and community life. There are lots of ways to discover someone’s occupation including BDM certificates, directories and almanacs, electoral rolls and newspapers.

Occupational records can provide additional information on our ancestors. By knowing an occupation, we can then look for supporting information in staff records of businesses and governments and if they work as farmers and graziers then land records may be useful.

 Knowing where to look is the key issue and this course will help you to discover a person’s occupation and then to follow up where there might be additional information in government archives, libraries and other resources. Where applicable, guides and other finding aids are listed together with any indexes, databases and digitised records.

Optional Course Reading Material: Australian: Education Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Education records can be a fascinating resource to add more detail and interest to our ancestor’s lives. The records may not always give us biographical information to take our family lines further back in time, but the records will tell us more about the lives they lived. Today’s education arrangements are quite different from those in the 18th and 19th centuries.

 For the purposes of this course, we will mostly be looking at educational records from 1788 through to 1950. We will explore education records which can include archival records, memorabilia, photographs, building plans, newspaper reports, published school histories and local histories. Archival records are those created by the school such as administrative files, correspondence files, building files, pupil admission registers, corporal punishment registers of teachers, photographs of buildings and pupils, building plans, sporting memorabilia and other records. Records explored will span primary school to adult education and will include students as well as staff.

Course Length: 7 weeks

Optional Print Course Material: Australian: Health Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

This course looks at how health records can help with family history research. Records for general hospitals, maternity hospitals, asylums, sanatoriums and other health institutions will be looked at together with staff records. In addition it looks at selected epidemics and medical treatments that our ancestors might have been familiar with.

Optional Print Course Material: Canadian: Census Records - Part 1

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Census records are a pivotal source in trying to document our ancestry. They are among the most useful and commonly utilized records available to genealogists. By documenting the individuals and families in each census year, they provide a snapshot of what was happening at that time. This course will instruct the student in how to access Canadian census records and how to analyze the information provided. Differences between rural and urban censuses will be examined. Suggestions for using census substitutes, census finding aids, and resources will also be provided. A short history of census records in Canada is included.

Course Length: 7 weeks

Optional Print Course Material: Canadian: Vital Statistics Records - Part 1

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

The recording of an individual’s vital statistics was most often done at the time the event occurred. This usually means that the information is considered accurate. Unfortunately, vital statistics records can often be very difficult to find. This course will concentrate on the vital statistics gathered by the provincial governments and the various churches. Birth, marriages, and deaths records will be examined to determine how much information is actually available and helpful for the genealogist. How and why the information was gathered as well as when it began will be discussed.

Suggestions for using the Internet for researching many vital statistics records will also be provided. A short lesson in the history and geography of each province is included.

Optional Print Course Material: Canadian: Wills and Estate Records - Part 1

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

It’s exciting finding an ancestor’s Last Will and Testament and a great deal of valuable genealogical information is available in these documents. These records are often overlooked.

 Whether the deceased was testate or intestate, this course will show where to search for wills and estates keeping in mind the historical era and the geographical location in Canada. We will also show you what kind of genealogical information you will find.

We will examine how these documents will reveal not only the distribution of the property and possessions of your ancestors but also what other relevant historical information is sometimes available.

Wills & Estates records can lead to new clues in your research.

Optional Print Course Material: Canadian: Land Records - Part 1

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

This course provides an overview of both early Crown land records and private property registrations in Canada. Major record groups, such as Land Petitions, the Ontario Land Record Index, and the Abstract Index to Deeds will be examined with particular attention to their genealogical significance.

Optional Print Course Material: Canadian: Census Records - Part 2

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

This course is a continuation of Canadian: Census Records-Part 1. Both courses are required for the Certificate Program in Genealogy. 

This Intermediate Level course will build on the basic skills developed in Canadian: Census Records-Part 1, with emphasis on interpreting the information found in census records, analyzing the information and formulating a research plan to prove or disprove the hypothesis formed in your analysis.

 As the Intermediate Level course is a compulsory portion of the Certificate Program in Genealogy, skills required by professional researchers will be developed. Students should bear in mind that assignments submitted should be clearly written, with appropriate explanations and suggestions. Not all students will have the same timely access to actual census records. In order to provide each student with the necessary information for every Case Study, the information will be based on a hypothetical family and census records, and all pertinent information will be supplied to the student with their Course Notes and Assignments. The census information will follow the format of an actual census for the year indicated, and all data that might be found in an actual census record for that year will be included. The names of family members and their personal information will be hypothetical, as will the documentation of the census page. However, it is expected that by now the student has consulted some actual census records in order to familiarize themselves with the process of locating and using these records.

Optional Print Course Material: Canadian: Vital Statistics Records - Part 2

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

You were probably surprised by the amount of information included in the Canadian: Vital Statistics Records - Part 1 Course. You will recognize that some material in Part 2 was included in the basic course. It is being repeated in order for the student to focus on this particular facet of present day documents. The Canadian: Vital Statistics Records - Part 2 course will continue to describe the whereabouts of the records that are available at government archives as well as government offices and court houses records, i.e.: government present day registrations for births, marriages and deaths; adoption records from government offices and divorce records from both. The other area we will cover is that of adoption records and their accessibility. An adoption search is quite different from any other search you will ever undertake and should be done with great care. It affects the lives of the living more profoundly than you would ever imagine. We will also be examining the procedure for finding and using divorce records in genealogy.

Optional Course Print Material: Canadian: Religious Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

For many regions of the world, the records associated with the ancestral place of worship are the backbone of genealogical research. Registers of baptism, marriage and burial are of great use prior to vital statistic registrations in Canada. In the early years of settlement, the Government passed laws which forbade certain groups from performing various services.

This course will cover where to look for these registers and other religious records in Canada, what type of data you should expect to find, and how to evaluate what you have found. Information found can also provide stories that can be added to the family history.

Optional Print Course Material: Canadian: Wills and Estate Records - Part 2

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

The course Researching Canadian Wills & Estate Records builds on the introductory level as it delves deeper into the intricacies of research when dealing with wills and estate records. Numerous examples, including their transcriptions for easier reading, will illustrate the various types of documents. Less emphasis has been focused on the course material and much more into the case studies in order to allow you to become much more familiar with working with the documentation. Several case studies will give you the opportunity to examine the documents yourself and become more accustomed to their wording, their look, their feel, and, importantly, the wealth of information they hold. Lastly, the course should reinforce that there are a variety of sources which should not be overlooked when researching for wills and estate records.

Optional Print Course Material: Canadian: Land Records - Part 2

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

When land was “granted” from the Crown to individuals or companies specific records were created to document the change in ownership. Record groups such as Military Grants, Township Papers, the Canada Company Papers, the Peter Robinson Papers, Correspondence to the Surveyor General and Commissions as well as various other land companies will be reviewed with the goal of determining where these records are today and how they may be of benefit to a genealogist.

It is vital that you become comfortable with the documentation and writing style so that you will be able to glean the correct information from the material. You will find the examples and assignments to be of interest and useful in this regard.

By following the family of John Newell through several examples and with his Case Study we can follow various transactions as they occurred for one family over a period of time.