FHACT members enjoy a Xmas get together

Our final monthly meeting of the year brought members together for an evening of celebration and fascinating historical insight. The festive atmosphere set the perfect backdrop for a memorable close to our monthly meetings for 2025.

We were honoured to welcome special guest Professor Hamish Maxwell-Stewart from the University of New England, accompanied by his colleague Dr Lisa Hackett. Professor Maxwell-Stewart captivated the audience, who attended in person and on zoom, with an engaging presentation on Digital History, Family History and Technology. His vision for the future is to make access to historical records, such as convict records, more easily accessible and able to be linked to other important records to reveal more information.  Hamish spoke about the Digital Tasmania project — an ambitious digital database comprising more than 3 million records drawn from a wide range of historical sources.

Developed by Hamish with the combined efforts of family historians, archivists and researchers, the project integrates these extensive records to create an invaluable resource for understanding the lives of 75,000 convicts shipped to Van Dieman's Land. Members were fascinated as Hamish demonstrated the remarkable potential of the platform for research, education and community engagement. 

Following the presentation, members enjoyed a relaxed social gathering over supper. The opportunity to speak informally with Professor Maxwell-Stewart and fellow attendees was warmly welcomed, rounding out the evening with conversation and good cheer.

Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to making the final meeting of the year such a success, especially to Professor Maxwell-Stewart and Dr Lisa Hackett.

Here are a few snaps of our members as they relaxed and shared some good cheer.

                                                                           The Three Wise Men – Peter Mayberry, Jeff Bollard and Jeff Brownrigg

                                                                   Members enjoying Hamish's talk – Cathy Zdanowicz, Barbara Moore and Julia Trainor.

                                                                   Three cheeky elves in the back row – Donald Giorgio, Ellen Waite and Jeanette Hahn.