40 years old and fighting fit

Western Ancestor - March 2019 

Celebrating 161 issues, our journal this month honours some of our past Presidents whose committment eipiotmises the hundreds of people who have given their time, effort and ideas to Family History WA.

This issue of Western Ancestor is full of contributions from members, including a fascinating story about WA's bridge-building past, and an exploration of the new DNA technology is helping to rediscover the ancient roots of Australia's Aboriginal people.

 Construction work on the rear car park at 48 May Street commenced on Monday 4 February and will continue for a few weeks.

Already there's been significant progress! Gone is the eyesore and wasted space and our new parking area is emerging. 

Please be aware that there may still be significant noise, especially in Unit 6, as the road base is laid and topped with bitumen. Plan your visits to FHWA with this in mind. 

However, for a couple of weeks of inconvenience, we'll have improved access to additional parking space - a brilliant outcome.

When you want to access the Events Calendar, click using the right button of your mouse.  This will give you the option to "Open in a New Tab" and leave the website open while you use TryBooking.  Having the website open in another tab is a quick way to get back to the website when you have finished your booking or to swap between the website and the TryBooking Events Calendar.

From today, Wednesday January 23, 2019, when you click on the Events tab here on the website, you will open a list page from our new booking system at TryBooking. 

The new system is quick and easy to use and very user friendly. 

All our members are encouraged to book for all our events, including Special Interest Group meetings and Genie Chatter, as it helps the organisers to plan the session if they know how many people to expect.

Bookings are now open for coming events

All 134 currently scheduled events are in the Calendar, but while you can see all the events for the full year, you can only book for the next four months. 

1979-2019

Celebrating forty years and going strong

WAGS is the product of our members' dedication and passion. Thank you to all who helped grow our family history community over the past four decades and especially those who gave their time and energy to build our Society. 

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY WAGS !!!!

Website maintenance update

All is going well, thanks to the wonderful work of our IT officer, Chris Harris.

If you experience anything unusual with the website,
please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and send us the address (URL) of the page that you are trying to access.

REMEMBRANCE DAY, 2018

The 400,000 Australians who enlisted,  the 60,000 who never returned.  We will remember them.  

Amidst the celebrations of the war's end, a story of tragedy at home.  "It was a dreadful thing": a story around Armistice Day, 1918,  now featured on the  WAGS blog.

Unwanted Certificates - now available in pdf 

AS the collection of unwanted certificates grows, we are pleased to let members know that some are now available in digital format which can be emailed directly to you.

This little treasure trove, indexed by WAGS members, comprises nearly 4000 records.  With 5,500 birth and baptism certificates, 1111 death certificates,1030  marriage certificates, as well as 9 wills and 4 census records, it is valuable resource.

At only $5 a certificate, this service can save you $$$ and time.  Check here now to find one of those elusive family members.

You are also encouraged to donate your unwanted certificates to this collection.

Western Australian WW1 soldiers honoured

Announcing the completion of the first comprehensive list of West Australians who served and died on the Western Front in WW1, Shannon Lovelady said that her team of researchers had discovered 158 soldiers whose names were not on the Western Australian State War Memorial.

You can explore the checklist on the Western Front Dead from Western Australia project page.

This Western Australia project (WFDWA) is the second 'Dead from Western Australia' project supported by WAGS which has been proposed, led and administered by Shannon Lovelady. This project commenced in January 2016.

The project is nearing completion and now honours 5,209 names of Western Australians who lost their lives in World War 1.  Shannon is interviewed on the ABC (see link below) where she talks about some of the highlights of her work and the complexity of the project which involved three years work, by 70 volunteers.

This penultimate database has been added to the WAGS website.

ABC: Unknown WWI soldiers honoured in project to track down all WA men killed on Western Front

- the Commonwealth War Grave Commission's database
- WA's State War Memorial
- Kings Park Honour Avenues plaques
- Various WA battalions’ Rolls of Honour
- Casualty lists 1916-1919

Murder and mayhem - this time it's personal

Western Ancestor - September 2018 Issue 159 Vol 14 No. 03 

The murder mystery surrounding the Murrays of Lewis leads this edition.  And yes, it is our editor Mike Murray whose family is central to the story set in the far northern reaches of Scotland.  The September Western Ancestor ranges from the ancient roots of primogeniuture to today's wills and inheritance laws, the mid-twentieth century practices of closed adoption to today's open policies.

Members can browse or download the electronic copy in the Member’s Only Section (you will have to log in) of this website under the Journal 2018 menu item.