On a cold winter’s day in Ballarat, Billy Holloway-Jones decided to uncover the story of his family home.

What he discovered was a story of courtship and marriage in a new world, and life and death in the Australian goldfields.

Haraway-Jones had an internet connection and patience.

With access to online databases and local council records, he slowly pieced together the history of the house.

The tools are available for anyone to use.

“I grew up in my parents’ house on Lydiard Street, and even though I thought that was my home as a child, I always knew that many of the houses on that street were over 100 years old,” he said.

“Several people were commuting to that house on bicycles.

Mr Haraway-Jones had been told that the first owner of the house was William John Payne.

It turns out to be William’s father-in-law, Cornish immigrant Philip Williams, and the metaphorical “ghost” of the house is older than he thought.

William courted and married the then 18-year-old Elizabeth Williams in August 1866, and they eventually lived together.

Before long, Haraway-Jones found herself scanning marriage certificates from Cornwall and digging into the history of a family 17,000 kilometers away.

interesting story

Australia is home to some grand old buildings with a great history and many proverbial ghosts have been discovered.

But Gippsland historian Linda Barraclough said even relatively modest places had interesting stories to tell.

“A house doesn’t have to be big or grand to be worth studying,” Barraclough says.

“Sometimes the most humble people have the more interesting stories.

“They don’t even have to be that old.”

Barraclough said a good example is housing used just after World War II.

“Worker’s housing in the immediate post-World War II era is things like Australian Paper Mill housing in Traralgon, prefabricated railway housing in Traralgon, and SEC housing in Yallorn and Newborough,” she said.

“They were called “snail houses.” One SEC executive said that if he wanted to recruit workers, [from the United Kingdom]they would have to take the house with them. Sawmills can also have an interesting history. ”

A treasure trove of history

You don’t need to be a professional historian to start tracing the history of an old home.

Haraway-Jones took the first steps in discovering the deeper history of her home on Trove. Trove is an online database owned by the National Library of Australia that catalogs Australian newspapers, government archives, library records, museum documents and manuscripts.

“I’m just reading through Trove [old newspaper] “There weren’t that many articles, but you can find little traces,” Haraway-Jones said.

“For example, you might find a birth notice or a death notice. That’s enough to compile the information and consider the next source.”

Mr Barraclough described Mr Trobe as a “game changer”.

While libraries kept extensive records in bound booklets and microfiche, Trove now allows users to search almost instantly for names, locations, and even keywords that may appear in news articles and other documents.

“A large percentage of newspapers are available online, going back to when they were first published, and the great thing is that they are searchable,” Barraclough said.

“It wasn’t just newspapers; there were lots of maps, lots of books, and a huge cache of photographs, which completely changed research.

“You can just sit at home and do it on your computer.”

track titles

Another good starting point is the property’s ownership history. It can be accessed online through the New South Wales Land Registry Service or Victoria’s Land Registration Service.

The title history search statement lists the names of current and previous owners, sale dates, and mortgage forgiveness information.

Haraway-Jones said these basics could be used to expand the search within the local area or parish.

“Then you can start searching for things like Congressional documents,” Haraway-Jones said.

“Ballarat Library has very good digitized fee records, which are also available online.

Barraclough said having these essentials could help local historical societies, clubs and even groups on social media tell a detailed picture of what life was like for the original owners and residents.

detours and dead ends

Haraway-Jones said there were some hiccups along the way.

The property has changed addresses several times in its history, and council records had to be consulted before the address could be determined.

But sketching out a chronology of the house’s history, he said he was confident any old house in Australia could do it, and with enough hard work and persistence, anyone could do it.

Haraway-Jones said his home has had many ups and downs in its 146-year history.

“My father used to joke, ‘This house is so old, someone might have died here,'” he says.

“This all confirmed what my father had once said: multiple people died there, but at least a few were born there.”

Where to search:

If you want to inspect your own home, start here:

• trove.nla.gov.au — Trove is the National Library of Australia’s online research portal. In addition to our searchable archives, we also feature digitized copies of newspapers from 1803 onwards.
• nswlrs.com.au — New South Wales Land Registry Service. Use the Historic Land Records Viewer to search for free maps, title records, and plans dating back to 1792.
• run data online — Victorian Land Registry Service. A title history search statement listing the legal owner of the land can be purchased for approximately $23.
• Titlesqld.com.au — Past title searches are available for $25 to $37.
• landgate.wa.gov.au — Western Australia Land Information Authority. You can order a title deed for about $33.
• nsw.gov.au/Departments-and-agency/births-deaths-marriages — Registration of births, deaths and marriages in New South Wales.
• bdm.vic.gov.au — Births, deaths and marriages in Victoria.
• familyhistory.bdm.qld.gov.au — Births, deaths and marriages in Queensland.
• aiatsis.gov.au — Australian Torres Strait Islander Research Institute website. It includes a step-by-step method for exploring the heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
• prov.vic.gov.au — The Victoria Public Records Office website has a huge range of information, including immigration details, prison and legal records.
• archives.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au — Sydney City Council’s archives include John Sands Sydney, suburban and rural commercial directories for each year from 1858 to 1932-1933 (except 1872, 1874, 1878 and 1881), containing names, street addresses and occupations of residents.