Current Speaking Topics

Most of my topics are designed for 50-60 minute presentations. Many are also suitable for a two hour workshop. Please contact me to discuss your requirements. Other topics are able to be developed with sufficient lead time.

Most topics are able to be presented as a webinar, a live presentation using GoToMeeting™. Your society requirements to hold a webinar are a good internet connection, a computer with speakers, a projector and an organiser. If you are interested in hosting a webinar please contact me for further details.

Australia        Research        DNA        Queensland        English Research        Irish Research        Online Resources        Online & Technology        Health History

Helen V. Smith

Helen is a speaker, researcher and author and has been researching family history since 1986 in Australia, England, Ireland and Wales with forays into other areas of the world chasing after mobile family members.

She has spoken in every state and territory in Australia, and internationally in New Zealand, Canada, USA, England and aboard
the Unlock the Past cruises.

Australia

  • Emigration to Australia: Colonial and Beyond
  • Friendly Societies and Family History
  • Honouring Our ANZACS
  • They Went to Australia and Now Can’t be Found

  • To Have but Not to Hold: Divorce in Australia
  • Researching Australian Military Personnel
  • Researching in Australia Using Online Resources

Research

  • Bringing Your Ancestors to Life
  • Death Certificates & Archaic Medical Terms
  • Document Analysis: Getting the Most from your Research Documents (2 hours)
  • Documents of Death
  • Gaining a Genealogical Education
  • Government Inquiries: A Treasure Trove for Genealogists
  • Help I am Stuck! Demolishing Brick Walls
  • Hidden Treasures: Secrets from Documents
  • How to Start Researching Your Family History
  • Indexes: the Best and Worst of Tools
  • It’s Not All Online: Where Else Can I Look?
  • London Gazette: A Cornucopia of Genealogical Items
  • Making Genealogical Research Time
  • Mapping Your Ancestors
  • Never Just the Index!

  • Newspapers: Bringing Your Family History to Life
  • One Name Studies: What are they? How do you do them? How can they help me?
  • One Place Studies: What are they? What can you get from them to help in your Research?
  • Paying it Forward: Volunteer Opportunities from Home
  • The Ryerson Index
  • “Oversexed, Overpaid and Over Here”  Movement to and from Australia and the USA
  • Symbolism of Death
  • Understanding the Context: Why Social History is Important in Genealogical Research
  • Timelines as a Research Tool
  • When Was It Taken? Dating Historical Photographs
  • Wringing the Most out of your Document

DNA

  • How DNA can be used to Solve Genealogical Puzzles
  • DNA: What Use is It? Which Test, Why and From Whom?

  • DNA: I have My Results. Now What Do I Do?

Queensland

  • Archives in Queensland
  • Distressed Cotton Operatives Migration Scheme (1863)
  • Housing for All
  • Lost Ancestors in Queensland?

  • Online Queensland Resources
  • Tracing Your Ancestors in Queensland
  • William Busby: Stone Mason of Toowong

English Research

  • Battle of Bossenden Wood: Last Agricultural Uprising (Kent)
  • Directories, Gazetteers and More!
  • English Apprenticeship Records
  • English Parish Records: Hatch, Match and Dispatch
  • English Parish Records: More Than Just Hatch, Match and Dispatch
  • My Genealogical Treasures in Quarter Session Records
  • In the English Workhouse
  • Lost in London!
  • Ancestor was from South-West England (Devon and Cornwall)
  • My Job is Killing Me!

  • Nobblers, Cracksmen, Coiners and more: Researching
    Criminals in England
  • Researching in UK Archives from Abroad
  • Researching in Kent, England
  • Researching in Oxfordshire, England
  • The Poor are always with us: English Poor Laws
  • They are Dead but Where are They Buried?
  • Where there is a Will there should be a Genealogist!
  • Wills post 1858 in England

Irish Research

  • Researching the Irish Online

  • Irish Research Using Social Media

Online Genealogical Resources

  • Ancestry
  • British Newspapers Online
  • Findmypast

  • MyHeritage for Online Trees
  • MyHeritage: Record Matching

Online and Technology

  • Ask Grandma! Getting the Family stories before it is too late
  • Books, Books, Glorious Books!
  • Digitising and Organising Your Family History
  • Fishing for Cousins using Blogs as Bait
  • Google the Genealogist’s Friend
  • Online Newspapers

  • Searching the Internet Effectively
  • There is an App for That
  • Trove: Not Just Newspapers
  • Using Free and Pay Resources on the Net
  • Using Timelines in Family History Research
  • Visualising Family History Data

Health History

  • Black Death: When the Plague came to Queensland
  • Death Certificates & Archaic Medical Terms
  • How Our Ancestors Died
  • Just What Did Cause Their Death?
  • Pandemic: The 1918 Influenza Epidemic in Queensland
  • Pandemic: The 1918 Influenza Epidemic in Australia

  • Researching a Health History
  • TB: Killer of the ages or Great-Uncle Charlie had TB
  • ANZAC Health: Gallipoli
  • ANZAC Health: From Gallipoli to the Western Front
  • ANZAC Military Health World War 2: Asia Pacific Region

Australia

  • Emigration to Australia: Colonial and Beyond
  • Friendly Societies and Family History
  • Honouring Our ANZACS
  • They Went to Australia and Now Can’t be Found
  • To Have but Not to Hold: Divorce in Australia
  • Researching Australian Military Personnel
  • Researching in Australia Using Online Resources

Research

  • Bringing Your Ancestors to Life
  • Death Certificates & Archaic Medical Terms
  • Document Analysis: Getting the Most from your Research Documents (2 hours)
  • Documents of Death
  • Gaining a Genealogical Education
  • Government Inquiries: A Treasure Trove for Genealogists
  • Help I am Stuck! Demolishing Brick Walls
  • Hidden Treasures: Secrets from Documents
  • How to Start Researching Your Family History
  • Indexes: the Best and Worst of Tools
  • It’s Not All Online: Where Else Can I Look?
  • London Gazette: A Cornucopia of Genealogical Items
  • Making Genealogical Research Time
  • Mapping Your Ancestors
  • Never Just the Index!
  • Newspapers: Bringing Your Family History to Life
  • One Name Studies: What are they? How do you do them? How can they help me?
  • One Place Studies: What are they? What can you get from them to help in your Research?
  • Paying it Forward: Volunteer Opportunities from Home
  • The Ryerson Index
  • “Oversexed, Overpaid and Over Here”  Movement to and from Australia and the USA
  • Symbolism of Death
  • Understanding the Context: Why Social History is Important in Genealogical Research
  • Timelines as a Research Tool
  • When Was It Taken? Dating Historical Photographs
  • Wringing the Most out of your Document

DNA

  • How DNA can be used to Solve Genealogical Puzzles
  • DNA: What Use is It? Which Test, Why and From Whom?
  • DNA: I have My Results. Now What Do I Do?

Queensland

  • Archives in Queensland
  • Distressed Cotton Operatives Migration Scheme (1863)
  • Housing for All
  • Lost Ancestors in Queensland?
  • Online Queensland Resources
  • Tracing Your Ancestors in Queensland
  • William Busby: Stone Mason of Toowong

English Research

  • Battle of Bossenden Wood: Last Agricultural Uprising (Kent)
  • Directories, Gazetteers and More!
  • English Apprenticeship Records
  • English Parish Records: Hatch, Match and Dispatch
  • English Parish Records: More Than Just Hatch, Match and Dispatch
  • My Genealogical Treasures in Quarter Session Records
  • In the English Workhouse
  • Lost in London!
  • Ancestor was from South-West England (Devon and Cornwall)
  • My Job is Killing Me!
  • Nobblers, Cracksmen, Coiners and more: Researching Criminals in England
  • Researching in UK Archives from Abroad
  • Researching in Kent, England
  • Researching in Oxfordshire, England
  • The Poor are always with us: English Poor Laws
  • They are Dead but Where are They Buried?
  • Where there is a Will there should be a Genealogist!
  • Wills post 1858 in England

Irish Research

  • Researching the Irish Online
  • Irish Research Using Social Media

Online Genealogical Resources

  • Ancestry
  • British Newspapers Online
  • Findmypast
  • MyHeritage for Online Trees
  • MyHeritage: Record Matching

Online and Technology

  • Ask Grandma! Getting the Family stories before it is too late
  • Books, Books, Glorious Books!
  • Digitising and Organising Your Family History
  • Fishing for Cousins using Blogs as Bait
  • Google the Genealogist’s Friend
  • Online Newspapers
  • Searching the Internet Effectively
  • There is an App for That
  • Trove: Not Just Newspapers
  • Using Free and Pay Resources on the Net
  • Using Timelines in Family History Research
  • Visualising Family History Data

Health History

  • Black Death: When the Plague came to Queensland
  • Death Certificates & Archaic Medical Terms
  • How Our Ancestors Died
  • Just What Did Cause Their Death?
  • Pandemic: The 1918 Influenza Epidemic in Queensland
  • Pandemic: The 1918 Influenza Epidemic in Australia
  • Researching a Health History
  • TB: Killer of the ages or Great-Uncle Charlie had TB
  • ANZAC Health: Gallipoli
  • ANZAC Health: From Gallipoli to the Western Front
  • ANZAC Military Health World War 2: Asia Pacific Region

Have a question?

Please feel free to contact me with any inquiries or questions.

Have a question?

Please feel free to contact me with any inquiries or questions.

Connect with me

Contact Me

hvsresearch@dragongenealogy.com
www.dragongenealogy.com

Connect with me

Links

Contact Me

hvsresearch@dragongenealogy.com
www.dragongenealogy.com