Welcome to the web site of the Blue Mountains Family History Society (BMFHS). Here you will find details of activities and events planned by the Society, details of our volunteer researchers in the Family History Area of the Springwood Branch of the Blue Mountains City Council (BMCC) Library, plus links to other sections of this site (Resources, Members, Blue Mountains, Facebook, Application Forms etc)
Please also check out ourPosts section where you will find posts/blogs on activities and events undertaken by BMFHS. You will also be able to comment on these posts. Also inPosts are downloadable copies of our monthly Newsletter.
Family History Research Services
Family History advice, assistance and research by Volunteers of BMFHS will resume for 2026.
Springwood Library: Thursday 5 February 2026 10:00am-1:00pm and every Thursday.
Location: Springwood Library Research Room, lower ground floor
Bookings: Please make bookings with the main circulation desk in the Library.
Katoomba Library: Tuesday 10 February 2026 10:00am-12:00noon and then every second and fourth Tuesday of each month.
Location: Katoomba Library
Bookings: Please make bookings with the main circulation desk in the Library.
NEXT MEETING – 12 June 2026
Our fifth meeting for 2026 will be held on Friday 12 June 2026 commencing at 10:00am.
The meeting will be held in the small community hall at the rear of the Springwood Presbyterian Church on Macquarie Road, Springwood.
Meeting Agenda:
10:00am Welcome to renewing members and (hopefully) some new members to their first meeting.
10:05am Minutes of the May 2026 meeting, approval and business arising.
Secretary’s Report and approval
Treasurer’s Report, approval and approval for new payments
General Business
10:30am Morning Tea/Coffee and Biscuit ($2.00)
10:50am Guest Speaker: Ian Kendall (Society Treasurer and Web Manager) – An Introduction to TROVE
Ian Kendall has been a member of the Blue Mountains Family History Society since 2005. He has held the position of President for a number of years before becoming the Society Treasurer in 2012. Ian is also the Society’s Public Officer. As well as Treasurer, Ian manages the Society’s web pages and provides research services for individual inquiries, volunteers twice a month at Katoomba Library assisting members of the community with assistance in family history, genealogy and DNA and once a month in the Springwood Library. He maintains a library of digital newsletters and journals online for access by members.
Ian has been interested and researching his family in one way or another since 1960, but having retired from Educational Administration now spends way too much time on his hobby of family history. He has researched and submitted articles to the Society’s journal, The Explorers’ Tree.
TROVE – Trove is a collaboration between the National Library of Australia (NLA) and hundreds of Partner organisations around Australia. Search Trove to explore amazing collections from Australian libraries, universities, museums, galleries and archives. It’s free and available online all day, every day.
What’s inside the treasure Trove
Everything you would find on a visit to a library or museum can be found in Trove. It brings together billions of pieces of information.
Digital copies
Search for digital copies of newspapers, Government Gazettes, maps, magazines and newsletters. Or books, pictures, photographs, archived websites, music and interviews. Even information about famous Australians, including copies of letters, diaries and personal archives.
12:00noon Meeting close – Next meeting Friday 10 July 2026
Recent Activities
Street Stall
Members of the Society held a street stall in the grounds of the Presbyterian Church in Springwood on Saturday morning 2 May 2026. There were many items for sale including plants, books, cakes and knick-knacks. The sale was successful raising $238.00 towards the activities of the Society. Many thanks to those who donated and worked at the stall.
May Meeting
Our meeting on Friday morning 8 May 2026 in Springwood was very well attended. Our guest speaker was Dr Damian Gleeson who presented an excellent talk with visual slides via ZOOM projected so all members could see and hear his presentation.
He has research and produced a book – Irish Bigamy: new insights into colonial New South Wales – and this was his topic for the presentation. After the presentation a number of members purchased his book at a special member price. Many thanks Damian.
His research into Irish Bigamy and the clergy who were co-conspirators intersected with the family research of one of our members.
BOB HOWARD AND COOLGARDIE SAFE AWARDS 2024
The Bob Howard Award and the Coolgardie Safe Award are awarded annually.
The Bob Howard Award is awarded to the best researched article published in The Explorers’ Tree
The Coolgardie Safe Award is awarded to an article published in The Explorers’ Tree that may ‘not satisfy the criteria of the Bob Howard Award but is worth preserving and exudes a breath of fresh air’
The articles published in The Explorers’ Tree reflect the genealogical interests of the BMFHS members and can also reflect our childhood memories and our contemporary lives and times. Our memoirs will become the day-to-day family history of the future and will inform future family historians of what it was like to live in the 20th and 21st centuries. We encourage all members of BMFHS to submit an article. All articles will be considered for the Bob Howard Award or the Coolgardie Safe Award.
Awards for 2024 were presented at the September Meeting by our talented reviewer, Vicki Edmunds – senior Librarian with the Blue Mountains City Library based in Springwood. These are the awardees for 2024:
The Bob Howard Award
Winner:
Starting in Stone; how a couple of bankrupt Scottish stonemasons did OK in their new country by Adrian Howie
Having been to the Q Station and seen the stone rock carvings by stonemasons in the rock, it was so interesting to learn a back-story of how a stonemason made his way to Sydney. The photos are a lovely touch throughout the story, the sailing ship records, primary sources such as newspaper articles and secondary sources such as books of stonemason compilations has really rounded out this very thought-provoking story of early immigration of a skilled person and how they fared in the colony of Sydney. How lovely that this story then concludes with the overview of the Navua property in Grose Wold near Richmond. The sources really painted a very vivid picture for the reader.
Runner Up:
Serendipity in Family History or Finding the Johnston Brothers, Carters in Bombo (Kiama) NSW ca1883-1892 by Helen Allan
I always enjoy reading about how people overcome dead ends in their Family History research, and the serendipity in finds along the way. This research piece by Helen used cemetery inscriptions, death registry and certificates and original photographs. I was not aware of a Quarry in Bombo and the photo from Kiama Library is excellent. Plus a sad ending to the story which is, unfortunately, typical of many family deaths – complete accidents.
The Coolgardie Safe Award
Winner:
Chimney Sweep to Land Owner by Chris Wenman
What an amazing story to unearth about your GGG Grandfather, John Thomas Harris. From the streets of London, with stories of assault and pawning of a watch, to the court transcript at the Old Bailey, I was hooked! How interesting to be able to read transcripts of statements from the court hearing. It really paints a picture. Learning about the pardon/transportation option and being part of the Second Fleet, then arrival at Sydney Cove was also a very interesting moment in time. Hearing about the connections, the acquiring of property and the living conditions in the Nepean Valley should be mandatory for all young people.
Runner Up:
And a Box of Chocolates by Lynne Tocher
The story of Lynnes first job with Darrel Lea is an absolute treasure. Learning about the high calibre confectionary practices of Darrel Lea was eye-opening. No wonder I loved these chocolates growing up! And to learn that their factory was under the Southern Pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge – how fun! I never knew that the walnuts would have had to be imported, and the staff could eat as much chocolate as they wanted (so long as they did not eat the walnuts), I am not sure I would have ever left this job – EVER!
MEMBERSHIP, BOTH NEW AND RENEWAL for 2026
Renewal for membership for the period 1 January 2026 – 31 December 2026 is now DUE.
The Membership RENEWAL Form and for NEW Memberships can be downloaded from HERE.
The form can be printed and completed and emailed as attachment to xploretree@yahoo.com.au or opened in a PDF application (eg Adobe Reader) and completed on your computer and emailed to the above email address.
Payment can be made in cash at a meeting of BMFHS, or to a Library Volunteer in Springwood Library on a Thursday 10:00am – 1:00pm OR
paid by EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) to the BSB and Account Number on the Form.
In all cases, it is essential that the renewal form is sent to BMFHS.
EXPLORERS’ TREE
| EXPLORERS’ TREE | The March 2026 issue of our excellent journal, Explorers’ Tree was available and posted to those members who have paid for postage or was distributed at our March 2026 meeting. Members not at the meeting will be able to collect their copy from the Family History Centre in the Springwood Library. Now would be an ideal time to put pen to paper (fingers to the keyboard) and write an article for Explorers’ Tree making our Editor very happy. The following issue of Explorers’ Tree will be published in March 2026. I am sure that in the past twelve months you have discovered interesting things about your ancestors. Please consider writing an article (short or long) and send it to the editor for inclusion in an upcoming issue of Explorers’ Tree. Our Journal is held in both the State Library and the National Library as well as in other genealogy collections including in the USA. Articles for Explorers’ Tree can be emailed to bmfhsweb@gmail.com, posted to PO Box 97, Springwood NSW 2777 or delivered in person at any general meeting. |
HIP, HIP HOORAY!
The activities of volunteers in the Family History Research Centre in Springwood Library have RESUMED as the renovations and upgrade of Springwood Library have been completed and were official reopened on Saturday 6th May 2023 with a wonderful Open Day activities. Many thanks to President Ann who led two information sessions about our volunteer activities in the Library.
Research assistance in Katoomba Library will he held on the Second and Fourth Tuesday of each month from 10:00am to 12:00noon February to November (inclusive). Bookings with the circulation desk in the Library are essential.
In Springwood Library our Volunteers can assist you with your family history research and they can be found on the lower floor of the renovated library just off the car park. Research assistance in Springwood Library will he held every Thursday of each month from 10:00am to 1:00pm February to November (inclusive). Bookings with the circulation desk in the Library are essential.
Research assistance continues via email and will still be available. Please refer to our Contact details.
SOCIETY EXCHANGE JOURNALS:
As the majority of other Family History Exchange Journals are now delivered in digital/PDF format, these are held in a directory in the BMFHS Society’s computers in the Family History section of the Springwood Library. These are available when a Society Volunteer is on duty as these computers are restricted by password to BMFHS members only.
All digital/PDF exchange journals will be received by the BMFHS Web Site Manager, in order to include these on the BMFHS Library computers.
FACEBOOK – Blue Mountains Family History Society has its own Facebook page. Please check us out, “like” us, leave comments, post historical photos or just read what others have to say about us.
http://www.facebook.com/BlueMountainsFamilyHistorySociety
Please check our FaceBook page regularly as often there are notices of short-term interest, such as free searches on Ancestry or Find my Past or special discounts on Certificate Transcriptions, that are available for only a weekend or limited time. Also you will find *details of activities and events both of BMFHS and many other genealogical, family history or local history societies and groups.