It is amazing (to me) the information found in many of these early notices and I am pleased whenever these notices are of use to listers, I know how excited I felt when I found mention of my own family members. I have not found any information to say whether the BDM notices were paid for or not but I have come across several mentions that the editions of the SMH were sent to England by packet ship and many notices that say "Home papers please copy" so I suspect many of these early notices are to let relatives in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland know when their relatives had children, married or died. The newspaper was the obvious way of doing this as many ships foundered but many copies of the SMH arrived in England so the information was available even if a letter didn't arrive because of a shipwreck. Patricia Thankyou Patricia for the note on Mary Anne Parry (nee Musty). My G G Grandmother, she was buried on their property and I am surprised the SMH was informed.

Dear Patricia, If I can move forward about 40 years from the papers you have been looking at and just expand a little on what can be found. About every two weeks there was an edition of the Sydney Morning Herald that carried an extra line in the banner, "Supplementary summary per (name of ship)". That paper carried mostly a full page, sometimes more of items dealing with Policitical, Social, Mining, Industry and big news items such as floods and fires, and went to the U.K. to keep them up to date with news from the "colony" Not every paper, but many, carried a Summary of the Births Deaths and Marriages published in the SMH since the last list, so that gives the date of birth for the child, marriage and death. These can often take up well over a full column, even though most are one line entries. Some notices from country areas were published in the SMH, but I have found that the majority of death notices from country areas did not have a funeral notice. There was a Country News column most days, sometimes small but often half a column, headed by the town name, and in there anything from a weather report to a report of death, or Inquest result can be found. Places like Penrith and Palm Beach were in the country area in those times. Sometimes at the end of the Country News the SMH reprinted a full news item from a country paper, giving the source paper credit. These are in addition to the Court Reports and Inquests that Max has been posting to the Sydney Rootsweb List. Later still most days there was a column, sometimes small, but often with half a dozen entries "Casualties" and that gives a small run down of an incident that resulted in someone being taken to hospital, complete with name and address. >From time to time these people died, and a couple of days later there is a report of the Inquest. Unfortunately State Records at Kingswood have none of these Inquest files, so the newspaper report is in most cases the only record, apart from on the Death Registration. Of course a lot of new items were on those foundering ships you spoke of, and then the Marine Board inquiry which followed. I think most of us race to the Death and Funeral Section when we want information for our research, but I urge researchers to take a few minutes to read some of the other items in the paper too. Fortunately I have access to 20 years of bound copies of the Sydney Morning Herald which are retained by the Lithgow Family History Society, 1881-1899 from which I am extracting information to be indexed into www.ryersonindex.org but finding many other items of interest along the way. These bound copies are easier to read than the microfilm version, but much more difficult to handle. Sincerely, Bill > It is amazing (to me) the information found in many of these early notices > and I am pleased whenever these notices are of use to listers, I know how > excited I felt when I found mention of my own family members. > I have not found any information to say whether the BDM notices were paid > for or not but I have come across several mentions that the editions of > the SMH were sent to England by packet ship and many notices that say > "Home papers please copy" so I suspect many of these early notices are to > let relatives in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland know when their > relatives had children, married or died. E-mail message checked by Internet Security (6.0.0.386) Database version: 5.13920 http://www.pctools.com/en/internet-security/

Dear Bill You said in your email: "Unfortunately State Records at Kingswood have none of these Inquest files, so the newspaper report is in most cases the only record, apart from on the Death Registration." How right you are! I have my great great great grandmothers DC and I have been to State Records at Kingswood to look for her inquest details in 1869. The DC and the 'one line entry' re inquests at State Records at Kingswood did nothing to really satisfy my curiosity about her death. Tonight I found a detailed account of her death by drowning in Pitt Town Bottoms during the floods of 1869 ...and a detailed account of her inquest linking family members and providing clues for other avenues of research. I cannot stress enough the value of some of the articles I have found in the newspapers relating to my ancestors. Cheers Rhonda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill" <oldboybill@westnet.com.au> To: <aus-nsw-hills-hawkesbury-hunter-valley@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 10:34 PM Subject: Re: [HHHV] Deaths February 1844 > Dear Patricia, > > If I can move forward about 40 years from the papers you have been looking > at and just expand a little on what can be found. About every two weeks > there was an edition of the Sydney Morning Herald that carried an extra > line > in the banner, "Supplementary summary per (name of ship)". > > That paper carried mostly a full page, sometimes more of items dealing > with > Policitical, Social, Mining, Industry and big news items such as floods > and > fires, and went to the U.K. to keep them up to date with news from the > "colony" > > Not every paper, but many, carried a Summary of the Births Deaths and > Marriages published in the SMH since the last list, so that gives the date > of birth for the child, marriage and death. These can often take up well > over a full column, even though most are one line entries. > > Some notices from country areas were published in the SMH, but I have > found > that the majority of death notices from country areas did not have a > funeral > notice. > > There was a Country News column most days, sometimes small but often half > a > column, headed by the town name, and in there anything from a weather > report > to a report of death, or Inquest result can be found. Places like Penrith > and Palm Beach were in the country area in those times. > > Sometimes at the end of the Country News the SMH reprinted a full news > item > from a country paper, giving the source paper credit. > > These are in addition to the Court Reports and Inquests that Max has been > posting to the Sydney Rootsweb List. > > Later still most days there was a column, sometimes small, but often with > half a dozen entries "Casualties" and that gives a small run down of an > incident that resulted in someone being taken to hospital, complete with > name and address. > >>From time to time these people died, and a couple of days later there is a > report of the Inquest. Unfortunately State Records at Kingswood have none > of > these Inquest files, so the newspaper report is in most cases the only > record, apart from on the Death Registration. > > Of course a lot of new items were on those foundering ships you spoke of, > and then the Marine Board inquiry which followed. > > I think most of us race to the Death and Funeral Section when we want > information for our research, but I urge researchers to take a few minutes > to read some of the other items in the paper too. > > Fortunately I have access to 20 years of bound copies of the Sydney > Morning > Herald which are retained by the Lithgow Family History Society, 1881-1899 > from which I am extracting information to be indexed into > www.ryersonindex.org but finding many other items of interest along the > way. > These bound copies are easier to read than the microfilm version, but much > more difficult to handle. > > Sincerely, Bill > > > >> It is amazing (to me) the information found in many of these early >> notices >> and I am pleased whenever these notices are of use to listers, I know how >> excited I felt when I found mention of my own family members. >> I have not found any information to say whether the BDM notices were paid >> for or not but I have come across several mentions that the editions of >> the SMH were sent to England by packet ship and many notices that say >> "Home papers please copy" so I suspect many of these early notices are >> to >> let relatives in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland know when their >> relatives had children, married or died. > > > > > > E-mail message checked by Internet Security (6.0.0.386) > Database version: 5.13920 > http://www.pctools.com/en/internet-security/ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > AUS-NSW-HILLS-HAWKESBURY-HUNTER-VALLEY-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the > message > > __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus > signature database 4689 (20091215) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. > > http://www.eset.com > > > __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4689 (20091215) __________ The message was checked by ESET Smart Security. http://www.eset.com