Family History Expo Feedback Form
Bunbury Museum and Heritage Centre will be full of family history fun on Saturday 31 August as the Family History Expo returns for a third year!
From 10am to 3.30pm, the 2024 Family History Expo will take over the entire Bunbury Museum and Heritage Centre building for the day. If you are interested in family history, culture and heritage then this expo is for YOU.
This free community event offers new and experienced family historians the chance to discover and connect with an extensive range of family history, local history and research groups from the Greater Bunbury region, meet other like-minded family historians, and learn how to discover and share your own family stories.
This year's theme is New Beginnings, Old Country. Attendees are encouraged to uncover the beginning of their family trees on this old country.
Ask our experts questions about your family - wherever in the world they are from, find out how your ancestors who came to the South West would have lived and worked, take a look in our old school room and add your family to the migrant timeline.
Take part in the Yarning Circle, led by the Greater Bunbury Noongar Elders Group, stallholders and attendees are invited to join in a yarn about the experience of living in this Old Country, making New Beginnings, and how that has impacted on First Nations communities. Yarning Circles are places of healing, reset, and re-grounding. A safe and respectful space to share stories, listen to each other’s experiences and grow together. A place of truth-telling, even the hard and hurtful parts, a place of coming together to share the journey towards healing and reconciliation.
Activities and Stallholders
Celebrations – old and new – listen to birthday theme snippets and migrant stories. Talk to our group about recording your life story and adding to the history of Bunbury.
The Bunbury Cemetery Board houses the headstones from the now closed Bunbury Pioneer Park Cemetery, as well as some descendants from the first colonists to the area. Find out how you can trace your family and see where they rest.
The Ron Maidment Archives situated within Iluka Capel Public Library collects preserves the history of people places and activities within the Shire of Capel. You never know what you might find in our archive – ask our friendly volunteers for help with your family.
Our interactive website tells the stories of Capel pioneers to the present day. We’ll be on hand to give you a tour of the site and answer any questions.
Australind Family History Society provides a library with extensive genealogical resources for worldwide family history research along with skilled and experienced researchers on hand, if required. Come along and see if our experts can help you break down some brick walls.
Bunbury Historical Society Inc advocates for the history of Bunbury and its people, and its cultural and economic heritage. See how your ancestors may have lived at King Cottage – the home of the King family who migrated from England in 1880. BHS has a huge collection of items used in domestic and rural life.
Access photos, documents, oral histories, maps and cemetery records pertaining to the Shire of Harvey which includes Australind, Brunswick, Yarloop and more. Our volunteers love telling the story of local people – is your family story online?
We share our writing experiences and help support each other through those blank pages. If you are thinking of writing your family history you are welcome to come along – check out the diversity of historical topics group members are interested in and write about.
The Dardanup Heritage Collective formed in 2020 and has completed a major signage project, adding interpretative and information signage at sites of history and heritage interest in Dardanup and surrounds, published two books, and established a very successful website telling stories about Dardanup. John Giumelli will host a yarning session about Italian migration in the Dardanup area. John is a wonderfully engaging speaker, adopting a light-hearted and interesting approach to any topic he tackles.
If you are interested in finding out how to research your family history, head along to our friendly sessions, held the 3rd Thursday of each month, 5.30 to 7pm at Eaton Library. Open to beginners and experienced alike, we look a different topic each month, share knowledge and make new friends.
Capturing family history and life stories through stunning video interviews. Simple Ben Stories would love to hear your stories and help you tell them.
Recording your life story for your future generations is just as important for you as it is for them. It helps you feel better about your life, even if you think you don’t have a story worth telling, your story is the most important story for your children and their children. Paul van der Mey provides a private oral history recording service making the process easy and enjoyable. Your children’s children become more and more distant from your heritage and experience with each generation, having Paul van der Mey record your oral history creates a link between you, your heritage and your family’s future.
Newspapers are great sources for family historians, come and view some really old copies on Microfilm. Did you know we have copies of the Bunbury Mail from 1990 to 2014 available in print?
Bunbury MacAussies is a group for Scots in Bunbury & surrounds to come together as a community to share stories, photos, ideas for events. We are happy to offer support to any Scots needing friendship, help if we can with family or organising Scottish events.
The Yarning Circle will be lead by the Greater Bunbury Noongar Elders Group.
Yarning Circles are places of healing, reset, and re-grounding. A safe and respectful space to share stories, listen to each other’s experiences and grow together. A place of truth-telling, even the hard and hurtful parts, a place of coming together to share the journey towards healing and reconciliation.
The Yarning Circle will be lead by the Greater Bunbury Noongar Elders Group, and everyone is invited to join them to yarn about the experience of living in this Old Country, making New Beginnings, or what it was like to live in the old country (where you/your ancestors migrated from), and how that has impacted on First Nations communities.
South West Japan Festival is a cultural event for local community, with workshops, events, dinners all about the history and life in Japan. Visit the stall to learn more about the upcoming festival and the opportunity to explore connections with our sister city Setagaya.
The Southwest Irish Community Group are a not for profit group who organise social and cultural events in the South West. They also provide support to newly arrived Irish migrants to the South West.
There is a strong history around Bunbury of Irish settlers, many of whom are part of or associated with the famous John Boyle O’Reilly group.
Dragonfly Coffee Van and South West Women’s Health and Information Centre provides more than coffee… pick up a brochure on health and wellbeing or have a chat with our friendly professional whilst you enjoy your coffee.
A selection of professional-grade archival supplies will be for sale to help you keep your treasured family heirloom in tip-top condition.
What schoolyard games did your ancestors play? Come and have a go at some in our courtyard.
Entry is free and no ticket is required, come along any time during the day.
Want to be a Stallholder?
Expressions of interest for stalls from cultural/migrant groups are now open. Share the story of how members of your group came to Bunbury, how and when they made new beginnings and where people can find information about ancestors in your old country. If you or your group are interested in running a stall at this event, to fit in with our theme, please contact our Local History Officer for an application form. Email or phone for more information.