Kerry Farmer

Kerry Farmer (New South Wales) Family History Research

Kerry began teaching classes in “Family History Research using the Internet” in Sydney in 1997, and is now the Director Australian Studies, developing the Australian Records certificate for the internationally recognised National Institute for Genealogical Studies. Kerry is the author of DNA for genealogists and Arrivals in Australia from 1788. Together with Rosemary Kopittke Kerry also wrote Which genealogy program?. All published by Unlock the Past.

Kerry has served on the Education Committee of the Society of Australian Genealogists, and presents seminars and classes there as well as at other conferences and forums and undertakes commissioned family history research assignments for others.

Kerry has researched her own family history for over 30 years, researching ancestors predominantly from Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. She has also tackled the family branches in Canada, United States, South Africa, India, Germany, Poland, Norway and Russia. Kerry graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science and Pure Mathematics), and also with a Bachelor of Arts (Literature).

Unlock the Past cruises – 4th & 13th

Publications

• Unlock the Past guide books
  • DNA for genealogists (4th edn 2017)
  • Arrivals in Australia from 1788 (2015)
  • Which genealogy program? (3rd edn 2012) – out of print
• Unlock the Past handy guides
  • Births, marriages and deaths in Australia (2017)
  • Convicts: from trial to freedom (2018)
  • DNA for genealogy (2017)
  • GEDmatch: tools for DNA & genealogy research (2017)

Topics

AUSTRALIA

• Convicts
  – Convict records in NSW
  – UK sources for convicts
• Immigration
• Government archives
• Military (or specifically WWI or WWII)
• Newspapers
• Government gazettes
• Deserters
• Big brother is watching: Australian government archives
• Tracing your ancestors in the Victorian goldfields

UK

• Researching online (England or Scotland)
• Censuses & Valuation Rolls (England or Scotland)
• Scottish websites (with or without ScotlandsPeople)
• Online Scottish records you may not know
• Using ScotlandsPeople
• English parish chest
• Parish records

DNA

• Introductory
• I’ve done the test, what’s next?
• Tips and tricks
• Chromosome mapping
• Finding hidden family
• GEDmatch
• Using DNA to find unknown biological ancestors
• What’s Next
• mtDNA
• Y-DNA
• autosomal DNA
• websites
  – Ancestry
  – FamilyTreeDNA
  – MyHeritage

Other

• Finding historical photos online
• Using local history to help family history
• Newspapers for use in family history
• Using Findmypast
• Subscription websites and how to get good value
• Tracing your Canadian ancestors
• Tracing your New Zealand ancestors
• Tracing your Norwegian ancestors