Death and taxes

Good news from the Public Record Office Victoria – they’ve updated their online will and probate index! You can now search for will and probate records from 1841 – 2007. Most records up to 1925 have been digitised and can be accessed immediately. Later records will need to be viewed in their North Melbourne Reading Room (pre-order required).

In Victoria, since 1852 the power to grant probate has been exercised exclusively by the Supreme Court, first by Judges of the Court, then by a Master in Equity and in more recent times the Registrar of Probates. Prior to 1852 the Resident Judge at Port Phillip of the Supreme Court of New South Wales exercised this power. The Court has maintained a register of all Grants of Representation (usually Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration) since 1841.

The will and probate records are fantastic family history documents. They can tell you the names of beneficiaries (often next of kin), addresses, occupations, dates of death, property owned and more

A will is the legal instrument that permits a person, the testator or testatrix, to make decisions on how their estate will be managed and distributed after death. The will usually names one or more persons, the executor or executrix, to carry out the wishes and directions in relation to the estate. A person who dies leaving a will is referred as having died testate. If a person does not leave a will, or the will is declared invalid, the person will have died ‘intestate’, resulting in the distribution of the estate according to the legislation of the state in which the person resided.

Probate is the process of proving to the court the validity of a will. The ‘grant of probate’ is the official document issued to the executor of the estate to pay all debts, collect any monies due and to distribute any remaining assets in accordance with the wishes of the deceased as expressed in the will.

Letters of administration are issued when a person dies without a valid will. This is the alternate grant to granting of probate. The grant is normally made to next-of-kin and the estate is distributed on the basis of a formula laid down by legislation.

And it is not all boring, dry legal terms, sometimes will,  probate and their supporting documents can give you a real insight into the deceased, how they operated their business life and their private existence, as well as links to previous and later generations. 
Wills and probate certificates are an essential part of the document trail for all family history detectives.

Bushfires north & south

Unfortunately it's time once again to depict bushfires in the local area. This time it is again fires in the Grampians, but also fires to the north (Yaapeet) and north-west (Yanac).
Again we are fortunate to have Lynton Brown photographing fires at the opposite extremes of the region.

Lake Albacutya fire Tuesday

Lake Albacutya fire Tuesday night

Firstly he was at the Lake Albacutya (Yaapeet, Nypo, Hopetoun West) fire on the 14th & 15th, and is now at the Northern Grampians (Halls Gap, Roses Gap) fire.

Albacutya fire Wednesday

Smoke from the Albacutya fire, 15th

Tankers at Yaapeet on Wednesday

Checking on the CFA site today the Lake Albacutya fire has burnt 10,700 hectares, there are a number of other Mallee fires in the Wyperfeld National Park and near Tempy, as well as the Big Desert fire north of Yanac which has burnt 2,881 hectares.
The main Grampians fire (there's another outbreak in the Black Range near Bunjil's Cave, and and in the southern area near Mt Victory) near Polhners Road is also out of control burning in rocky terrain between Roses Gap and Wartook. Lynton has managed to capture these photos on his phone.

Smoke from the Northern Grampians fire 16th

Approaching the Northern Grampians fire, Thursday

The family farm 2014

The International Year of Family Farming 2014 is an initiative promoted by the World Rural Forum and supported by over 360 civil and farmers' organisations on 5 continents. The I.Y.F.F. was declared by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations to highlight the enormous role that family farms play in the world's food production, and to promote the sustainable and environmentally friendly development of the over 500 million family farms throughout the world.

A family farm encompasses familial groups, indigenous clusters and neighbourhood co-operatives, whether they are involved in farming crops, livestock or marine creatures.

The I.Y.F.F. aims to raise the profile of family and small-scale farming by focusing world attention on its significant role in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, particularly in rural areas. Through local knowledge and sustainable, innovative farming methods family farmers can improve yields and create more nutrient-dense and diverse food systems.

In both developing and developed countries, family farming is the predominant form of agriculture in the food production sector. The world's family farmers produce 80% of the food consumed in the developing world, and produce the food that feeds billions of people.
There are a number of factors essential to the successful development of family farming: agro-ecological conditions, access to markets, access to land & natural resources, access to technology & extension services, access to financial, demographic, economic & sociocultural conditions.

Family farming has an important socioeconomic, environmental and cultural role:

• family and small-scale farms are inextricably linked to world food security
• family farms preserve traditional food products, while contributing to a balanced diet and safeguarding the world's agro-biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources
• family farming represents an opportunity to boost local economies, especially when combined with specific policies aimed at social protection and well-being of communities

Family farmers aren't just food producers - they're business women and men, they're teachers in their communities, they're innovators & inventors, and they're stewards of the land. They provide the ecosystem services that benefit us all.
Thoughout this region there has been a proud tradition of family farms being the backbone of agriculture and an essential element of the history of land settlement, so spare a thought for our farmers now and then.