You could ask the council. This is a much under utilised way of obtaining info on rellies. If they live somewhere, and mostly had a house as there were not so many flats and rental properties in the old days, they must have paid rates. If they lived on a property, the lands department must have a record. Electoral roles also assist. Not everyone put notices in the newspapers. I think the ww2 nominal roll is a great help also as it gives the NOK and often gives you the wife or father of your serviceman. These are only suggestions of course. Newspapers are wonderful, but rates notices are spot on....... robyndehood. toowoomba. ----- Original Message ----- From: Justin McDonald <justin@shinethrough.com> Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2004 8:55 pm Subject: [GEELONG] Geelong Advertiser Index > Would SKS be willing to do a lookup for me in the Geelong > Advertiser index > or possibly the Geelong Advertiser itself. I'm looking for a > death notice > for Michael McDonald who died on 13th Feb 1874 at Austin Street, > Chilwell at > the age of 72. I'm interested to know if there is a death notice > or obit > and if so whether it mentions his wife, Mary (nee McPherson). I > have been > unable to locate a death record for her. > > Thank you, > > Justin Heath McDonald > > > ==== AUS-VIC-GEELONG-DISTRICT Mailing List ==== > Geelong & District Surnames of Interest : > http://www.zades.com.au/geelong/gdname.htm > >

Hi Robyn and Justin, You won't get anything from the council on rates - particularly in 1874 - all of those rate books are at the Geelong Heritage Centre and certainly not indexed at that period. You would need to personally search through the rate books (microfilm copies) to find the details or pay for a research request. Of course, his wife, if she was alive, may have moved after his death and therefore not necessarily any way of connecting the two from the rate books. Is his wife mentioned on his death certificate? Did he leave a will or property that required letters of administration? These are far better options for finding the sort of information you asked for than the rate books - which, by the way, are invaluable, but it really depends on what you're looking for. And the death in 1898 I mentioned may be the right person in which case hopefully the death certificate would confirm deceased husband and children. Regards ......... Susie Z ----- Original Message ----- From: "mrshaw" <mrshaw@telstra.com> To: <AUS-VIC-GEELONG-DISTRICT-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 7:32 AM Subject: Re: [GEELONG] Geelong Advertiser Index > > You could ask the council. This is a much under utilised way of obtaining info on rellies. If they live somewhere, and mostly had a house as there were not so many flats and rental properties in the old days, they must have paid rates. If they lived on a property, the lands department must have a record. Electoral roles also assist. Not everyone put notices in the newspapers. I think the ww2 nominal roll is a great help also as it gives the NOK and often gives you the wife or father of your serviceman. These are only suggestions of course. Newspapers are wonderful, but rates notices are spot on....... robyndehood. toowoomba. >