I’ve received a response to my previous post about the fire that destroyed the premises and resources of the Inverell Family History Group from the President, Ann Hodgens:

Dear Carole,
Thanks for publishing the story about Inverell District Family History Group and the big fire which destroyed our library. We would like everyone to know that the group will be continuing and we have new premises already. The group did have a very small amount of material off site, however the wonderful family history and history world have overwhelmed us with their generous offers of duplicate books etc. At present we are unable to accept any offers of research material, however people can register anything they would like to offer, relevant to the wider Inverell district, by downloading from our website http://www.inverellfamilyhistory.org.au a donation form and after completing this, returning the form to us at PO Box 367, Inverell 2360. We we are able to accdept material we will then contact donors.
The wonderful fire brigade people rescued some of our family files containing family trees, copies of BDM certificates, etc and our priority is to salvage what we can of these. We believe we may salvage as many of 200 of these family files which is fantastic.
Our insurance company have authorised an immediate payment to provide us with computer, photocopier, desk, table, filing cabinet, bookshelf and chairs – these are now in place in our new premises at 129 Otho Street, opposite the centrelink offices. Members have generously donated items such as, paper, pens, pencils, stapler, magnifying glass, waste paper bins and even toilet paper!! We hope to be open again next week.
We would like to thank everyone for their amazing and very welcome support through this disaster.
regards
Ann Hodgens
President

Please contact the group directly through their website if you can offer them any assistance.

I have been forwarded the following email regarding the fire in Inverell:

Due to the number of phone calls and E-mails that we have received we have decided to let everyone know that the Inverell Genealogical & Historical Society Inc is not the one named in the news about a Historic Building being gutted by fire in Inverell.

The fire was in the Byron Arcade building which housed a Butchers shop, A Legacy opportunity Shop,  A crystal spiritual shop, a Café And a youth assistance centre as well 2 or 3 other shops on the ground floor and the Inverell District Family History Group shop front and research room. The shops were completely gutted as well as the 14 apartments on the first floor which because smoke alarms were fitted the tenants all escaped without any injuries. All the contents of the shops and apartments were completely destroyed and all that stands now is the façade and some of the other brick walls. An engineers inspection is being carried out to see if the building can be resurrected, we hope this is the case.

The Inverell District Family History Group has lost all their archives, books, family histories as well as various other records on paper and film as well as their CD collection, which are almost all irreplaceable. The computer photo copier and cabinets can be replaced but the records are all lost

You can go to www.inverelltimes.com.au to see the full headline story in the Inverell Times of Tuesday January 26^th.

We will add a story in our February E-History Newsletter, and hope by then to know if the building is to be demolished or not.

Editor:  Inverell Genealogical & Historical Society Inc

World Vital Records is one of the more recent entrants to the online genealogy records market, and has access to a lot of material from Archive CD Books and the Queensland Family History Society.

Their World Collection, which includes Australia, New Zealand and the UK, is normally double this price, and so this is great value. If you are already a subscriber the year will be added on the end. I am now a subscriber until March 2011!

This is a real bargain. It cost me $72.77 in Australian dollars this morning.

The free access announced on the 11th August has proved so popular that they are extending the deadline to the 18th August.

I already have an account with them which I use frequently. Government Gazettes, Police Gazettes, directories, and a lot of content from Queensland FHS make this worthwhile to have a good hard look around!

The ad seems to have miraculously changed, but the half-price offer for the World collection is a great deal, especially if you have, as I do, ancestors from the States as well as Australia and New Zealand.

An announcement from World Vital Records:

World Vital Records is announcing the addition of the largest number of records to be released in a single day since the site launched in 2006.

To commemorate this milestone, for the first time World Vital Records is offering FREE PUBLIC ACCESS to its entire online collection beginning August 11 through August 13, 2009. This is a perfect opportunity to participate in this incredible promotion.

This is a great opportunity to have a look around at the Australian content in this site, mostly, but not only, provided by Archive CD Books Australia.

Just click on the link below!