Family History Society of Rockingham and Districts

An Affiliated Society of Family History WA

Meetings

General meetings are held on the first Saturday of the month, commencing at 2.00 pm, in the 1st floor Meeting Room, Lotteries House, Civic Boulevard, Rockingham.

Speakers and Topics for 2023

A charge of $5 per head for members and non-members includes afternoon tea.  School-age children welcome.

All topics are subject to change.

Download 2023 Meetings

2023

TOPIC

SPEAKER

7 Jan

No meeting – library closed

4 Feb

 Beginning your research and Trying to solve brick walls

Betty Vanderlande

4 Mar

Convicts to Australia

Peter Godfrey

1 Apr

Q and A

6 May

GM and CY O’Connor Pipeline

Bill Culter

3 Jun

Shipwrecks off the WA Coast

Peter Godfrey

1 Jul

Broome Pearlers

Peter Godfrey

5 Aug

Fremantle Roundhouse

Frank Duffy

2 Sep

Underage Soldiers of WW1

Moira Wills

7 Oct

Bob Kucera Jewish Ancestry

To be confirmed

4 Nov

About U3A worldwide and WA

Judith Amey

3 Dec

CHRISTMAS QUIZ

2024

6 Jan

CY O’Connor part 2

Bill Cutler

3 Feb

Lucy Saw Rockingham History

Sharyn McCaskey

2 Mar

Success Convict Ship

William McCaskey

NEXT MEETING

Download poster

RE-CAP 2 September 2023

Moira Wills presented a talk on ‘The Under-age Boys of World War I’ inspired by reading the book ‘The Lost Boys’ by Paul Byrnes. Moira mentioned the experience of her own previous generations’ war experiences then concentrated on the stories of the young Australian volunteers some as young as 14.

Moira discussed topics such as the attitudes to women serving in the armed forces, conscription attempts due to waning numbers of volunteers, Patriotism (including shaming with the ‘white feather’), Duty to Country, the Economic Depression at the time, a sense of adventure among the young, Underage Enlistment and the conditions these young men experienced during the war.

Moira spoke in some detail on stories of young soldiers Miller Mack (an Aboriginal volunteer) who survived the war but died of illness in 1919, Rufus Rigney (another Aboriginal who enlisted 1917), Hughie O’Donnell, Douglas Wood (14 years 5 months when he joined up) and Charles Church (joined under fictitious identity at 15 years 2 months and died at Pozieres in 1916).