About Us
How we can help
Lithgow & District Family History Society Inc. provides a resource library and facilities for people who are researching their family history. We also have a huge amount of local history. Our resources include cemetery records, birth, death & marriage records, local, Australia wide and overseas records, CDs, books and microfiche.
Our Resource Centre is located in the Ewen Smith Memorial Hall on the corner of Tank & Donald Streets Lithgow and is open on Tuesday nights 6pm - 9pm, Friday 10am - 4pm & the first Saturday of the month 10am - 4pm.
Membership
Fees for the year 1 March 2018 to end of February 2019 are:
Joining fee: nil. Membership fee: $45 (journals sent by Australia Post; $40 (journals sent by email).
Membership entitlements include 3 journals per year, free admission to LDFHS Resource Centre during opening hours including assistance with research enquiries, 3 hours free research by the LDFHS research officer for members who live outside Lithgow City Council area.
Non-members’ research at the Resource Centre costs $10 per person on Tuesday evening & $20 on Friday & Saturday. Digital copying is allowed (subject to copyright).
Faces Behind the Facades Main St Lithgow
Faces Behind the Facades, Main Street Lithgow is an ongoing project of the Lithgow & District Family History Society Inc relating to the history of individuals who operated businesses in Main Street Lithgow for a number of years.
Many interesting and informative stories have revealed themselves that help inform us of the people who shaped Main Street and, by their participation in community organisations and both local and state government, the history of our region.
Large scale window vinyls will be on display in relevant business windows in Main Street Lithgow as shown on the map above and will include narratives capturing the stories of individuals, historic portraits and images of the original building facades.
Yvonne Jenkins Memorial Award
Matt Drewett from Queensland recently forwarded this photo proudly holding the winning certificate for the 2018 Yvonne Jenkins Memorial Award.
Matt's chose to tell the story of a belt buckle that was issued to NCOs or enlisted men in the Prussian divisions of the German army during the First World War. The buckle was kept in a cigar box by Matt's great uncle Fred who served in the 13th Battalion AIF in the First World War.
An enlisted man just like Matt's great uncle Fred, had probably worn this buckled belt before it was cut by a sharp blade to become a souvenir. By whom or how Uncle Fred came to acquire the buckle is still a family mystery.
Matt's prize as winner of the Yvonne Jenkins Memorial Award was twelve months of free membership of the society, entitling him to three hours free research by the society's research officer. Matt's ancestor William Charles Drewett was a builder in Lithgow for 40 years before his death in 1914. An associate of Enoch Hughes, W C Drewett was originally involved in the building of the original blast furnace before larger contracts came his way. The society's research officer has been able to assist Matt with his research by supplying further information on the Drewett family and their time in Lithgow.
The essay title for the 2019 Yvonne Jenkins Memorial Award is My Favourite Rascal, and the winner will receive 12 month's membership of the society.
Yvonne Jenkins, for many years the society’s president and a prolific author, always encouraged members to write their family stories and when she died in 2011 the society decided that an essay competition in her memory would be a fitting tribute.
Entries, which should not exceed 1,000 words, close on 30th April 2019 and the entry form and conditions of entry are available by contacting the society by email secretary.ldfhs@gmail.com or by contacting the society during opening hours Tuesdays 6pm – 9pm, Friday 10am to 4 pm on 02 6353 1089, or on the society’s website www.ldfhs.org.au.