A free day of family history related talks hosted by the NSW and ACT Association of Family History Societies will be held at Toukley on Friday, September 8.
Arranged by the Wyong Family History Group, the Family History Fair will be held at Toukley Over 50 plus Leisure Centre in Hargraves St.
Speakers will include Jill Ball, an amateur genealogist who has been engaged in chasing her ancestors for 30 years.
She devotes every spare moment to family history, loves embracing technology for genealogy and hosts a number of blogs.
Ball has presented at international, national and state education and genealogy conferences and has been voted Australia’s Gold Genealogy Rockstar several times.
Her topic on the day will be Genealogy for All and runs from 9.45am-10.30am.
General Manager at Rookwood Cemetery, Mark Bundy, will be the second speaker.
He started working at Rookwood in 1992 and has held various roles within the business.
He has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to Rookwood’s many fascinating and quirky facts and will speak about his experiences from 11am-11.45am.
Jill Ball will be one of the speakers 
Local historian Geoff Potter
Geoff Potter is the Central Coast’s own Local History Librarian, based at Gosford Library.
A published author, Potter is passionate about history and will be speaking about the infamous police manhunt on the Central Coast in 1959 when armed robber Kevin Simmonds escaped from Long Bay Gaol and evaded capture for many days.
Potter will outline the details from 1pm-1.45pm.
Keith Ingle from Latter Day Saints will be then speak on FamilySearch and how the website can assist help with research from 2.15-3pm.
There will be a trading area on the day, where representatives from commercial entities as well as other family history groups will have displays of their wares.
Exhibitors will include Ancestry, Gould Genealogy, three NSW Transcription Agents, My Heritage, and many more.
The trading area opens at 9am and closes at 4pm and a full list of exhibitors can be found on the conference website.
A huge raffle will run throughout the day with prizes drawn from 3.15pm.
There is no need to register; people are welcome to attend any or all of the talks on the day.
There will be a limited amount of food available for purchase for tea breaks and lunch and attendees can bring their own food or visit one of the many cafes and take-away places within easy walking distance.
The event will also mark the beginning of the State Family History Conference, which will run over the weekend.
With the theme The Running Waters of History, the conference is a paid event and registration can only be done via the Conference website.
Registration closes on August 27.
A huge raffle will run over the entire weekend with tickets available online and prizes to be drawn on Sunday at the close of the event.
Full details on the Family History Fair and the conference can be found at https://unpublishedwater.weebly.com/
For more information email wfhgconference@westnet.com.au
Source:
Wyong Family History Group