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Useful Information for Researchers

It is intended to include bits and pieces of useful information relating to research resources, seminars, National Family History Week and so forth on this page. Some of what you will find here has been provided by members, speakers and other people, and we cannot vouch for the correctness of the information contained on external websites.

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Australian Joint Copying Project
Cornish Naming Conventions
Will My Software Work With Vista
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Australian Joint Copying Project

The Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) began in 1945 by the National Library of Australia (NLA) and the State Library of New South Wales (SLNSW) to copy material relating to Australia and the Pacific held in the Public Record Office (PRO) in London.

From 1960 onwards, coverage was extended to include archives and manuscripts held in the British Library, the National Library of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, university libraries, museums, learned societies, business archives, county and city record offices, missionary societies and private homes. These microfilms formed the Miscellaneous or M Series.

in 1988 for a further five years, the AJCP continued under the direction of the NLA, supported by the State Library of Victoria, the National Library of New Zealand, and several university libraries. The AJCP Office in London was closed in June 1993 and the last reel was received in 1997.

The Microfilm
The AJCP was the longest running project of its kind in the world. It located, described and filmed thousands of classes and collections of Australian, New Zealand and Pacific records held in hundreds of locations.

The material is divided into two series; the PRO Series and the Miscellaneous Series. There are 7314 reels in the PRO Series and 3105 reels in the Miscellaneous Series. The PRO Series is organised by the department or agency of the British Government that created and assembled the records, such as the Colonial Office, Home Office, Treasury, or Admiralty. The M Series reels are grouped either under the person or body that created the records, such as Sir Joseph Banks or the London Missionary Society; or the repository that currently holds the records, such as the British Library, the National Library of Ireland or the Buckinghamshire Record Office.

AJCP Handbooks
You can buy these books from the NLA online

Part 1	General Introduction and Shelf List (3rd edition)
Part 2	Colonial Office
Part 3	Home Office
Part 4	War Office
Part 5	Foreign Office
Part 6	Board of Trade, Exchequer and Audit Department, Privy Council & Board of Longitude
Part 7	Admiralty Records
Part 8	Miscellaneous Series
Part 9	Public Records Office, Personal Collections
Part 10	Dominions Office
Part 11	Public Relations Office, Classes filmed in the final year of the project

You can search the details of each filmed series via the Flinders University Library at http://catalogue.flinders.edu.au and the films can be also be ordered there for viewing. Since 2006, all university and educational institution libraries have been deemed to be open to the public.

[Information from Graham Jaunay]

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Family Naming Conventions - Cornwall

On several occasions after our AGM, Graham Jaunay had kindly held a Question and Answer session, at which questions are fielded by members. The following was fielded at the 2007 AGM.

A member requested information on the naming conventions used in Cornwall. Graham provided us with this explanation:-

1st son	father's father	1st daughter	mother's mother
2nd son	mother's father	2nd daughter	father's mother
3rd son	father	3rd daughter	mother
4th son	father's eldest brother	4th daughter	mother's eldest sister

Price, R.W. Child Naming Patterns in Three Villages, 1558-1740: Wickham, Durham; Bottesford, Leicester; and Hartland, Devon, MA Thesis, Dept. of History, Brigham Young University, 1987.

Although regional tendencies are evident, the overall conclusion is definitive.

First sons were named most frequently after the father's father, second sons for the father, and less frequently for the mother's father.

First daughters shared names most often with the father's mother. Older daughters were named for their mothers and less often for maternal grandmothers.

Both sons and daughters were most frequently named for the father's family.

England prior to 1750 showed stronger patriarchal leanings than any other English-speaking culture that has been studied.

[Information from Graham Jaunay]

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