Hello Listers Some of you may be interested in the new set of microfiche indexes from the Ballarat Genealogical Society. The set is: Ballarat East Petty Sessions, Series VPRS 290/P, Part 1, (1858-1889) "For two years a team of volunteers from the Ballarat & District Genealogical Society Inc has been engaged in this indexing project. Many thousands of entries from 27 of the old court registers have been transcribed into a database of approximately 55,000 names. Now a surname index is available as a set of 15 microfiche. This will prove to be a valuable resource for family historians who are tracing the people of the first and second generation in the Ballarat area. Ballarat East was located on the alluvial flats and hills lying east of the Yarrowee Creek and in the main, occupied the site of the original canvas town of the early diggings in the area where the Eureka Rebellion took place in 1854. The first case presented in the Ballarat East Court of Petty Sessions was heard on 4 July 1858. It was brought against John Hollam for "wilfully destroying a fence", but the complaint was dismissed. In the first week, Maurice M Ellis was fined 1 shilling for holding a lottery at the Montezuma Theatre Ballarat, the prize for which was a nugget of gold, known as the Nil Desperandum Nugget. Two days later George Buchanan was fined the much larger amount of 5 shillings for "neglecting to clean his private yard". So began the colourful collection of tales which were recorded in the court books....." More details, purchase price, address, etc. are available on our web site at: http://www.ballaratgenealogy.org.au/pettysessions.htm or via a link from the front door at: http://www.ballaratgenealogy.org.au/ ======================================= Reminder : CHHA Family & Local History Expo : 2003 "Batons, Bayonets & Bushrangers" Saturday, 4th & Sunday, 5th Oct, 2003 Australian Catholic University, Ballarat, Victoria. More details at: http://www.ballaratgenealogy.org.au/chha/chha.htm ======================================= Regards Daryl Povey Ballarat & District Genealogical Society