Venue:
Coast Centre for Seniors,
2 Curie Avenue, Little Bay, NSW
(unless otherwise listed)
Time:
1:30pm
(unless otherwise listed)
Visitors Welcome
Upcoming Events:
Annual General Meeting
Annual General Meeting
The Cape Banks FHS Annual General Meeting will be held at the Coast Centre for Seniors on Saturday 21st October 2023 from 1:30pm. This will be followed by "Show and Tell" where members bring along an item from their family history and tell a story about the item.
Guest Speaker Meeting
Guest Speaker Meeting
Speaker: Ron May OAM, Volunteer Speaker, Australian National Maritime Museum
Topic: 'The Teddy SHEEAN Story'
No RAN sailor has received a VC. 50 VCs were awarded to RN personnel in WW I and 23 in WW II.
Ordinary Seaman Teddy Sheean on HMAS ARMIDALE was the youngest at 18 and the most junior rank – a loader for the OERLIKON anti- aircraft gun. The ship was attacked by 13 Japanese planes attacking from different directions. Two torpedoes hit the ship and the order was given to abandon ship. Teddy helped launch the motorboat then decided to defend his shipmates from the Japanese who were strafing them in the water.
The Navy recognized him by naming a COLLINS class submarine HMAS SHEEAN. He was finally awarded the VC on 1 December 2020, 78 years after the action and after constant pressure from family, politicians and his mates.
Past Events:
Discussion Group
Discussion Group
Topic: "Secrets and lies in family history". In your family history research you may have come across a family story that appeared to be incorrect or intentionally misleading. What was the original story? After your research what is now the real story? How did you identify and solve this problem?
Guest Speaker Meeting
Guest Speaker Meeting
Speaker: Members of Cape Banks FHS
Topic: Members of Cape Banks Family History Society Inc. will be discussing "The stories behind 150 editions of our award-winning journal, Kith & Kin" at the September 2023 meeting. Join us to learn about the origins of our journal and its remarkable journey to becoming an "award-winning" publication. The upcoming September issue marks a significant milestone as our 150th edition, making this event even more special. We invite you to come and discover the captivating evolution of our esteemed journal.
NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies Annual Conference – Day 3
NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies Annual Conference - Day 3
Title: The Running Waters of History
All presentations in person and via ZOOM.
NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies Annual Conference – Day 2
NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies Annual Conference - Day 2
Title: The Running Waters of History
All presentations in person and via ZOOM.
NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies Annual Conference – Day 1
NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies Annual Conference - Day 1
Title: The Running Waters of History
All presentations in person and via ZOOM.
Guest Speaker Meeting
Guest Speaker Meeting
Speaker: Councillor Danny Said
Topic: "I am, a Said: Danny Said's family journey"
In this special talk for Family History Month in August, former Mayor and Randwick Councillor Danny Said will speak about his ancestry and tell how his Maltese family made their wealth in Egypt by supplying fresh water to ships in the Nile, how the company was nationalised in the 1950s and the family was thrown out of Egypt for as Maltese, they were British Subject.
Virtually the majority of the population of their town, Port Said, spoke a number of languages and being forced to emigrate many made the move to Australia and to three streets in Matraville. Danny will also tell tales of growing up in Matraville and his life beyond that time.
Discussion Group
Discussion Group
Topic: "It's all about names!". Everyone has a name (given name or surname). Is it a family name passed down through the generations, or a name that reflects an event or person of significance to the family or community? Did a family member have a "nickname" given to them? Has the name been a help or a hindrance to your research?
Guest Speaker Meeting
Guest Speaker Meeting
Speaker: Chris Beazley, who is making a return visit after his successful talk about an early flying family, the Taylor's.
Topic: "Loris Bonney, an early Australian Aviatrix"
Loris [Laurie] Bonney.......
Cousin to Bert Hinkler and the bored wife to an older businessman, Lores travelled the world solo in a Gypsy Moth in the 1930’s for the fun of flying. She was the first woman to circumnavigate Australia solo, then solo fly from Australia to England and the first person to fly solo from Brisbane to Cape Town via Cairo. She had her share of mishaps and crashes, but she always arrived at the world’s aerodromes looking like she had just stepped out of the beauty parlour. Included in this session is a brief account of our other early Australian aviatrixes.
Guest Speaker Meeting
Guest Speaker Meeting
Speaker: Suzanne Leal
Topic: "Why write about the War?" It’s been almost eighty years since World War II ended yet every year, novels keep being written about it. Why do writers continue to be so interested in the war and the people who lived through it?
Discussion Group
Discussion Group
Topic: "Obituaries". This could include an obituary that may be humorous or informative or surprising or .... ???
General Meeting
General Meeting
Speaker: Dr Megan Neilson
Topic: "Unravelling the family myth: A personal glimpse of Chinese-Australian history"
When I set out to solve a family puzzle I never expected to fall headlong into Chinese-Australian history. The puzzle concerned my great-grandmother Matilda Jane Millar who in 1852 had arrived in Victoria from England, only 11 years old and seemingly unchaperoned. On the Ballarat goldfields Matilda Jane was later to marry my Chinese great-grandfather Chin Kit. There was a romantic family myth about how they had met elsewhere. But the records said otherwise. The unravelling of the true story took me from University College London, to Ballarat and Bendigo in Victoria, to Launceston in Tasmania and ultimately to Guangdong in southern China.
Beginners’ Workshop
Beginners' Workshop
A free Beginners' Workshop for those who are starting out on their journey into their family history.
General Meeting
General Meeting
Speaker: David Rosenberg
Topic: "Pine Gap – Close To God’s Ear: NSA Eavesdropping Memoirs"
David worked for the NSA for over twenty years, including eighteen years as an American officer at the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap. This is the first book about the NSA’s operations at a satellite ground site by an individual who held the Top Secret security clearance that allowed him to work inside Operations. His book details the intelligence collection mission at Pine Gap and the partnership between Australia and the United States that has made Pine Gap the most important satellite ground site in the Intelligence Community. David is the Technical & Creative Consultant for the Netflix and ABC television series, ‘Pine Gap’.
NSW Heritage Festival
NSW Heritage Festival
The 2023 Australian Heritage Festival theme is Shared Stories. This new theme invites event organisers to share the stories of our natural, cultural built and Indigenous heritage, and encourages the community to build connections through the contribution of their own rich and diverse stories along the way.
Discussion Group
Discussion Group
Topic: "The Corner Shop". This could include memories of days gone by of the local store where you or your ancestors shopped. Where was the it located? What did it stock? What services did it provide? Do you have photos of the shop? Bring them along with your story to be told. If you do not have anything to share, come along and listen to other members' stories. Their ideas may trigger a memory for you, which you may then wish to share. Looking forward to hearing a number of different stories!
General Meeting
General Meeting
Speaker: Leonie Bell
Topic: "Stannumville: Suburb in the Sand"
Many people are aware of the canvas and tin shacks that were erected by desperate people on the sandhills of La Perouse and Sans Souci during the throes of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Shanty towns such as these have a long history in Australia, particularly in pioneer and gold mining towns in Victoria and New South Wales during the Gold Rush. However, few will have heard of a News South Wales State Government scheme to house families in a purpose-built tent town during World War 1. Canvas Town, sometimes referred to as Calico Town or Tin Town, was later known as Stannumville and was situated south of Daceyville.
Discussion Group
Discussion Group
Topic: "What the family wore and when they wore it". This could include what was worn on a special occasion, what was worn for work, a special outfit that was treasured or any other important or treasured clothing item. Do you have photos or perhaps even that special item? Bring them along with your story to be told.
General Meeting
General Meeting
Speaker: Jane Britten and Barbara Swebeck, Woollahra Library Local Studies Team
Topic: "Maps and Mansions"
NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies
NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies
Title: Riding the Waves of History
All presentations via ZOOM and YouTube.