Category Archives: Client Websites
WordPress eCommerce Website Rebuild | Art Gallery Case Study
Cambridge Fine Art UK Website Rebuild
Transforming an Outdated Website Into a High-End Online Experience
I recently rebuilt the Cambridge Fine Art UK website, transforming an outdated and underperforming site into something far more aligned with the quality of the artwork they sell.
This was a significant rebuild project with a strong focus on design, user experience, and giving the business a more premium online presence.
The Client and the Goal
The original website was, quite honestly, prehistoric in its creation. It did not perform well and it did not compete visually or functionally with other websites in the same space.
For a fine art business selling British and European fine art pieces, presentation matters. The website needed to feel more refined, more professional, and more in line with the high-end nature of the products.
The goal of this rebuild was to create a website that better represented the business, their branding, their colours, and the premium feel their customers would expect.
The Challenge
This was not a simple rebuild.
Cambridge Fine Art UK had more than 800 WooCommerce product listings already on the system. Recreating that product data from scratch would have been incredibly time-consuming and unnecessary, so the smarter approach was to preserve the existing product listings while rebuilding virtually everything else around them.
That meant we needed to retain the valuable WooCommerce content while dramatically improving the design, layout, and overall user experience.
What We Did
For this project, I reused the WooCommerce product content, including the existing product listings, but virtually everything else was rebuilt from scratch.
- Retained the existing WooCommerce product listings
- Rebuilt the interface to better reflect the business
- Changed the layout and structure significantly
- Improved the overall user experience
- Created a more high-end visual feel to match the artwork
- Aligned the website more closely with their colours and branding
The Outcome
The interface changed dramatically, and the new website now feels far more polished and premium.
Rather than looking dated and struggling to compete, the site now presents Cambridge Fine Art UK in a way that better matches the quality of the artwork they sell. It has a more refined feel, improved usability, and a stronger visual identity overall.
Why a Website Rebuild Can Be Worth It
Sometimes a website update is enough. Other times, the existing site is holding the business back so much that a rebuild becomes the better investment.
That was very much the case here.
By rebuilding the website around the existing WooCommerce content, we were able to preserve a huge amount of valuable product data while still delivering a major transformation in look, feel, and performance.
For businesses with large eCommerce websites, that kind of approach can make a rebuild much more practical and cost-effective.
Thinking About Rebuilding Your Website?
If your current website feels outdated, underwhelming, or no longer reflects the level of your business, it may be time for a rebuild.
WordPress Website Design for Trades | Melbourne Case Study
Basement Wraps Australia Website Build
From Landing Page to a Full Business Website
I recently worked with Basement Wraps Australia to build a brand new website from scratch.
They already had their domain, hosting, and a simple landing page in place, but they needed a proper website that could showcase their work, build trust, and help generate enquiries from the right people.
The Client and the Goal
Basement Wraps Australia is a family-owned business, and Pedro is an incredibly talented artist who is clearly passionate about what he does. The business offers a wide range of creative services including vehicle wraps, murals, custom art, branding, sign writing, wraps, and more.
They have so many ways they can help small businesses stand out, so the website needed to reflect both the quality of their work and the breadth of what they offer.
Our goal was to create a website that would:
- Showcase examples of their work
- Make it easy for people to contact them and make enquiries
- Target the Melbourne area
- Build trust through Google reviews and a professional online presence
The Challenge
The challenge with this project was taking a very basic online presence and turning it into a website that could genuinely support the business.
It needed to look professional, clearly explain what Basement Wraps Australia offers, and visually highlight the quality and creativity behind the brand.
For service-based businesses, especially creative ones, the website needs to do more than just exist. It has to help potential clients quickly understand what the business does, whether they are a good fit, and how to take the next step.
What We Did
We built the site from the ground up with a strong focus on both presentation and practicality.
- Created a brand new WordPress website from scratch
- Structured the content to better reflect their services
- Added sections to exhibit examples of their work
- Built in clear ways for visitors to make enquiries
- Included Google reviews to help build trust and credibility
- Designed the site to better target their Melbourne-based audience
The Outcome
The finished website gives Basement Wraps Australia a much stronger online presence and a solid platform to grow from.
It now gives potential clients a much clearer picture of the quality of their work, the range of services available, and how to get in touch. It also better reflects the professionalism and creativity behind the business.
A Website and the Skills to Use It
One of the things I especially loved about this project is that it did not stop at the website build.
Basement Wraps Australia also invested in two of the NCDAcademy DIY short courses on blogging and learning how to back up and update their own website.
That means they now have both a professionally built website and the skills to take care of it moving forward, which is such a powerful combination.
Need a Website Built for Your Business?
If you are starting with a basic landing page or no real website at all, and you want something professional that helps your business stand out and generate enquiries, I can help.
WordPress Website Updates for Small Business | Case Study
Red Door Tours Website Updates Case Study
Small Changes That Make a Big Difference
I recently worked with Red Door Tours, led by Nicole Farrell, to support ongoing updates to their existing WordPress website.
Nicole already had a solid site in place, but like many business owners, she simply did not have the time to keep on top of updates, improvements, and content changes.
Her goal was simple. Add videos, update testimonials and Google reviews, make general content improvements, and keep the site fresh and relevant.
The Client and the Goal
This project was not about starting over. It was about improving what already existed and making sure the website better reflected the business as it is today.
Nicole came to me with a list of modifications she wanted completed, including website updates, adding videos, updating testimonials, improving Google review functionality, and making general content changes. We worked together initially to map out what was needed, and then I took care of the implementation.
The Challenge
This is something I see often with small business websites. The site is already built, the ideas are there, and the business owner often knows what needs to happen, but there is not enough time to actually do it.
When that happens, even a good website can start to feel out of date. Content becomes stale, social proof is not as visible as it could be, and valuable improvements get pushed further and further down the to-do list.
What We Did
For Red Door Tours, I focused on making the requested updates efficiently and thoughtfully so the website became more polished, more engaging, and easier for visitors to trust.
- Added video content to key areas of the website
- Updated testimonials to better reflect current client feedback
- Improved Google review functionality
- Made general content updates across the site
- Rebuilt portions of the page to improve the overall user experience
The Outcome
Instead of investing in a full rebuild, Red Door Tours was able to improve the existing website through targeted updates that made a real difference.
The end result was a more engaging website experience, stronger social proof, fresher content, and a site that better supports the business without the need to start from scratch.
Why Website Updates Matter
One of the biggest misconceptions I come across is that a website has to be completely rebuilt in order to improve it. That is not always true.
Sometimes the smartest move is to work with what you already have and give it the attention it needs. Strategic WordPress website updates can go a long way in helping a website feel more current, more professional, and more useful to visitors.
If your site is already built but needs content changes, improved testimonials, video integration, or other refinements, those smaller updates can still have a big impact.
Need Help Updating Your Website?
If your website is built but sitting there needing updates, support, or a fresh set of eyes, I can help.
WordPress sites being hacked by “Adsformarket” scripts
January saw so many sites attacked by automated hackers looking for websites with vulnerabilities in which they can exploit for personal information.
Some of these hackers attack websites for the purposes of siphoning personal and financial information which they can attempt to utilise as a means of financial gain.
Common activities include:
- Obtaining email address to send spam
- Installing malicious codes and software which may result in forms of payment.
- Redirecting visitors & website traffic to other websites which often they are setup as an affiliate which may create funds for them.
Whilst being one of the best content management systems out there, WordPress; like any open source content management systems, does have vulnerabilities when not correctly maintained.
In this case, a number of clients who were currently self-managing their accounts – whom had not kept up with internet security, backed up the website or completed the needed website maintenance, were the hardest hit.
But what on earth does that “correctly maintaining your WordPress website” mean??
“Self-Managed WordPress Websites” are basically WordPress websites that have been built for you, whereby you take over the responsibility of maintaining the website, ensuring the website is running the latest versions of each of it’s components and making relevant changes as need to the pages and page content.
In order to correctly maintain your WordPress websites, it means you need to keep the WordPress software and it’s relevant plugins and themes regularly updated. It means making a regular backup of the website files and the database. It means making sure you’re not using the default settings for things like login credentials or non secure settings, and using plugins that are regularly update by their developer.
You can also look to utilise more advance strategies like customising your WordPress database tables names to make then unique, changing your SALT keys regularly and if you were implementing new functionality for your website, that you’re using tested and regularly updated plugins and themes.
I think my WordPress website got hacked / How can I tell if I’ve been hacked?
There are 3 main characteristics we’ve seen of late with websites who have been hacked, some are more obvious thank others. However, Hackers have accessed the website and injected malicious code into the websites and modified files that resulted in:
- onscreen errors,
- search engines such as Google – identifying the site as containing malicious code / marked them unsafe
- or the most commonly – the website has a series of codes injected into the website that force visits to be redirected to unsafe and undesired websites.
AdsForMarket – WordPress Website Attacks
One of the primary redirects or spam codes injected into some of these websites were for a domain called “Adsformarket”.
This adsformarket is owned to a private entity and was registered through a domain provider Eranet, whom I’ve contacted to ask them to look at what their users are doing. However hackers can easily change their domains names and use the same scripts elsewhere, whilst we can try and have these creators dealt with, it’s hard to prove and it won’t entirely stop the from doing this again. So the best way to counteract this is to implement stronger security measures.
I make note here NO WEBSITE IS 100% HACK PROOF. However we can make various modifications to help strengthen the website boundaries and with regular maintenance, website backups & updates. Website owners can decrease the downtime and the cost it would take for their websites to be recovered.
Getting help – if you think your WordPress website has been hacked:
If you think you may have been hacked or you’d like some help with your website.
Natalie Crowe Designs is happy to work with you to address the issue.
Please contact us or give us a call to discuss your options: 0423285233
Website Launch: Nixon’s Lawn & Garden Service – Lawn Mowing Newcastle
Lawn Mowing Newcastle
Call Nixon’s Lawn & Garden 0418687167
Hey guys, Nat here, I’ve been exceptionally busy offering working on clients websites and offer website help to my amazing clients, however I’ve made time to continue to grow and improve my knowledge and skills as having a website and keeping up with the constant changes happening in the online world means you need to be constantly aware of what’s new and fresh, what changes Google has made to the search engine algorithms and more. So in addition to completing further training to improve my skills in order to be able to help more clients. I’ve been improving my local search optimisation skills and well as honing in on improving my development skills. I am super excited to start putting more of my skillset to use and have been powering through on the goal front! So many targets hit and superseded so many! I have so much more to share about those goes in the coming week as we are catapulted into 2020… However today’s post is all about a local lawn mowing service; Nixon’s Lawn & Garden Service which I’ve spent the last few weeks building the new site, optimising the site presence and working on getting this awesome local business in front of as many customers looking for Lawn Mowing Service Newcastle & Lake Macquarie. So without further delay! I’m proud to announce the lawn of Nixon’s Lawn & Garden Service https://nixonlawns.com.au 
Nixon’s Lawn Mowing Newcastle
It’s been an absolute pleasure working with Alan, from Nixon’s Lawn & Garden Service – A Newcastle Lawn Mowing & Garden Company who offer a variety of services to commercial and private clients, including:
- Lawn Mowing
- Edging / Whipper Snipping
- Hedging / Hedge Trimming & Pruning
- General Gardening
- Weed Spraying
- Tree lopping
- Pressure Washing
- Rubbish Removal
- Acreage Mowing
- Small Space Mowing
- Mowing for Industrial, Corporate or Real Estate
& a whole lot of other services .
Prompt Lawn mowing services in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie & Hunter Valley
Nixon’s Lawn & Garden service has a fleet of vehicles on the road covering around Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland & the Hunter Valley. This means they’re able to service more clients in multiple areas with their affordable, prompt and reliable lawn care and garden service. We’re not talking about one man and a mower! Nixon’s has been around for decades. Check out the video below of just some of the vehicles & equipment Nixon’s Lawn Mowing has to compliment their amazing customer service and dedicated and trained staff.
Your Local Lawn Mowing Company passionate about providing a quality service:
In the short, this local family business which has been operating for 28 years, taking care of lawn and garden maintenance for your homes, businesses and workplaces offering:
- Great pricing and fully insured
- A team of dedicated and experienced staff.
- A fleet of vehicles on the road covering all areas of Newcastle, Lake Macquarie & the Hunter.
- NO JOB TOO BIG OR TOO SMALL
- LARGE commercial / industrial areas through to SMALL spaces
- All size residential properties & businesses
If you’d be interested in finding out more, or would like to request a lawn mowing quote, feel free to visit the new website. The team are more than happy to provide written quotations on request. Contact Nixon’s Lawn today for a no obligation free quote. – 0418687167 Lawn Mowing Newcastle | Affordable Lawn Mowing Hunter Valley | Reliable Lawn Mowing Lake Macquarie 
Ruth Crawley Beauty Therapist Heddon Greta | Hunter Valley & Maitland
Improving a new client’s existing website:
In September this year we had the pleasure of communicating with the lovely Ruth from Ruth Crawley Beauty.
Ruth had contacted us in regards to her existing website wasn’t performing well on the search engines. We took some time to review her situation and see how best we were able to assist her.
We noted that although her site did have some optimisations in place it wasn’t drawing enough attention on the search such as Google & Bing.
Evidence of this was shown when you couldn’t type in any of her service names followed by broader area locations for example the “Hunter Valley” or “Maitland” opposed to her actual suburb of her Beauty Studio Heddon Greta, Heddon Greta is only a short drive from Maitland or the Hunter Valley and Ruth’s business wasn’t coming up.
We started working out the best way to improve the situation. We need to add more content connected to Ruth’s site that the search engines could explore that details more in regards to her services and also helped her strengthen her presence online.
Web Design & Content Strategy:
We decided to implement A BLOG, DEDICATED SERVICE pages and implement some SKYPE MENTORING & TRAINING.
- BLOG – short for Web Log – it’s like an online diary for your business.
Whilst you don’t necessarily have to write your content from a personal “Dear Diary” type scenario. However due to the competitive nature of the beauty industry and the ability to add new content in the form of a blog post, targeted to the type of information that your prospective clients are going to want to read – answering questions they have and demonstrating your wealth of knowledge is truly valuable.- Some of Ruth’s recent blog posts include:
- Dedicated Service Information Pages – Individual pages with dynamic content added
Clients could then easily share that particular service around via the link or even just key in the search engine the name of a product or service and the service area for example if they were looking for Micro Skin Needling Hunter Valley or Microdermabrasion Maitland chances are these dedicated pages are more likely to show up.
- Business Mentoring & Training via SKYPE
Although Ruth is only a short drive away from my office in Abermain, the convenient of being able to jump on an program on our computers or phones and have a quick chat, video call, share files and my favourite feature – share screen we’re able to do so much more. Share Screen allows you to connect with a Skype user and they allow you to view their screen or you can share yours. We used this amazing tool during training or to walk you through how to address an issue – ie completing a tasks you’ve not done before or solving problems that are coming up for you. It makes it 100% easier, more cost effective and the turn around time is cut down to a 1/4.Ie Ruth needed to know how to do a particular task or reiterate something we’d discussed in our last mentoring session, we quickly connected via Skype and I was able to walk her through the process. It’s pure genius! And I LOVE the feature.
You can find out more about Ruth and her services via her website or visit her on FACEBOOK
Ruth Crawley Beauty Studio provides professional beauty services for the Hunter Valley including Heddon Greta, Maitland, Cessnock and Kurri Kurri.
These services include: Micro Skin Needling, Microdermabrasion, IPL Hair Removal, LED Skin Healing, Manicure & Pedicure, Oxygen Therapy, Spray Tans Services, Facial Therapy, Waxing Services & Peel Treatments
Salon hours:
By appointment only.
Thursday, Friday & Saturday.
Late appointments are available Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
EFTPOS is available.
For appointments phone:
0438 279 099.
Virtual PA Lancashire – Busy Lizzie – New UK Client
Goooooooooood Morning Everyone hope you’re having an amazing Wednesday! 🙂
We’ve been super busy working with some amazing clients since the new year and wanted to introduce you to one of the projects we’ve been working on.
Introducing Busy Lizzie Personal Assistant a UK based virtual assistant based in Lancashire.
We worked with Lizzie to rebuild her old website to a new much more modern and practical website. The website is a WordPress site complete with blog, contact form and an easy to use page builder element so make managing the site a breeze.
We’ve optimized the load speed of the site so it’s favorable to the search engines and targeted relevant search terms that would see her progressively work her way to the top of the search engines for her chose key search phrases.
Couple this with the ability to continue to grow her content and optimize her own blog posts based on the guidance of key plugins like Yoast, and Lizzie is well on her way!
Why not try searching for Lizzie today?
For best results open your browser in private or incognito mode. What this does is gives you a fresh search experience and doesn’t take into consideration any other search criteria or previous pages you’ve visited into account. You actually use this method to check your own status on the search engines.
With your browser in private (ie, mozilla firefox & safari) or incognito mode (chrome) – type in www.google.com and search for “Virtual PA Lancashire” you’ll see Lizzie’s site is slowly working it’s way up the organic rankings.
Whilst Lizzie’s site is not quite in the number one position with consistent content and engagement with her site. This will improve over time.
It’s been an absolute pleasure working with Lizzie and we’ll be working together on a few additional projects moving forward.
You can find out more about Lizzie by visiting her:
- Website: Busy Lizzie PA Lancashire
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/busylizziepersonalassistant/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/PABusyLizzie
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-smith-28285220/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/busylizziepa/
- Phone: 07889552462
Strive For Autism – Autism Hunter Valley Support Group
Strive For Autism Hunter Valley website launch!
I am pleased to announce the launch of striveforautism.org.au and look forward to supporting this local community group in 2018 to provide much needed support and resources for our Hunter Valley Autism Community.
In March 2017, we were contacted by Maxine Baird from Bairds Real Estate in regards to a possible collaboration in terms of the development for a new website for the Hunter Valley Autism Support Group – Strive For Autism.
The Strive for Autism support group was formed in 2007 by a group of dedicated parents and friends of individuals who have an Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Originally formed to provide parents in the Cessnock area with a support group where they could come together to support each other by sharing stories and advice, it has developed over the years, becoming involved in many activities to raise community awareness and increase support for families and individuals with ASD.
New Strive For Autism – Hunter Valley website:
Strive for Autism had an existing website for the organisation which offered a great foundation however given the growth in participation and overall achievements of the organisation, it was clear that a brand new website complete with:
- an online Members Area,
- Dedicated resources directory,
- The ability to share their achievements,
- The ability provide the public with relevant information and updates in the form of a news / blog
- Provide a point of connection, contact and a go to for ASD resources for our community.
After discussing the organisations requirements, I detailed all of the possibilities I could come up with, based on a series of notes provided, these notes outlined roughly that the site would have a minimum of 30 pages, need to be connected with the social media platforms, be easy to manage and update.
Example Sitemap Draft:
Strive For Autism Quarterly Meetings – Koe-Nara Cessnock.
I was welcomed to the organisations quarterly meeting at the Koe-Nara building at Cessnock Public School Grounds, and given the opportunity to talk about our plans moving forward.
Whilst I anticipated the development cost coming in around the $3000 mark, by the time we were done, the development was closer to $5000.
With knowledge that this was for an amazing cause, that Strive For Autism is a Not-For Profit organisation helping our kids and our families, and the overall energy and the desire to support and nurture our local Autism Community – I wanted to contribute and really get behind this amazing local initiative; the volunteers involved and of course the members with family or friends with or impacted Autism Spectrum Disorders.
50% Donation to a worth cause.
After crunching numbers and looking at our remaining donations pool, I decided to jump on board, and offered Strive a 50% donation of the development price in order to ease the financial burden on the organisation… Leaving more funding available to give back to our kids.
The $2450 saving in my mind was the best means of contribution I could made as a starting point for this.
Autism Website Development:
Since then, Maxine and her team have worked tirelessly with more than 200 emails back and fourth to get the website to where it stands today.
The website will continue to be developed and built on to. With the addition of many more resources to the directory and plenty more content on the agenda.
This amazing project whilst it has taken nearly 8 months to come to fruition. It has been a pleasure working with Maxine and the amazing staff at Bairds Real Estate, over the months leading up to launch date, which we decided 10th Anniversary Dinner.
Strive For Autism 10th Anniversary Dinner:
Held on the 14th of November at Cessnock Golf Club, we had the pleasure of meeting many of our local members of Strive, their families and friends, who came along to celebrate 10 year anniversary for Strive for Autism. The amazing Keynote Speaker Trudy Sharp received a standing ovation for her incredible presentation of her life and the life they made for themselves – going against the odds, believing in her son and his abilities and trusting that where there is a will there is away.
Below pictured Trudy Sharp, Appointed Strive Ambassador Anna and Maxine Baird Strive President.
Andrie Designs – Website Design & Business Mentoring Cessnock
Over the last few years, I’ve worked with 100s of clients to establish and grow their businesses – both online and offline, some of my amazing clients are local within Cessnock & the Hunter Valley, others I meet with via Skype and work remotely to offer support and a wide range of skill set from:
- Website Design,
- Technical Support
- to my experience as a solo-entrepreneur –
- mama of 1
- and self employed business owner for almost a decade.
My next Blog Post feature client is one of those amazing clients I work with remotely, who is not only an amazing client but after spending volumes of time together over the years – I am proud to call my client and friend.
Lisa Ratford – The owner of AndrieDesigns.com formerly TwoPrettyPoppets.com – an indie pattern designer specialising detailed sewing patterns for professional results, contacted me in regards to getting some business mentoring and website support some time ago.
We’d worked together on “tweaking” elements of her website and growing her online presence, eventually moving Lisa over to our hosting platforms and redesigning her website to suit her ongoing demand and new face of her business.
When I spoke with Lisa about the possibility of her being willing to prepare a testimonial for me, she was more than obliging and call me a sucker for happy ending but her words brought me to tears.
Lisa and I have been through so much over the years with troublesome/ dud development, technical challenges and who can forget the “Double” Move – shifting from one hosting company – and being the only account on the system to have issues, to then completely pick up that site development not a month later and move the site again – as a means of allowing Lisa’s website to function at it’s best.
Anyway without further delays – here’s what Lisa from AndrieDesigns.com had to say out Natalie Crowe Designs – Website Design and Business Mentoring Hunter Valley :
“When Nat first asked if I’d be able to write a testimonial for her revamped website, I didn’t give it a second thought. After the complete and utter chaos my poor website has been through over the past few months, it was the least I could do to say thank you!
Right from day one back in 2016, Nat has been fantastic and an absolute pleasure to work with. Her attention to detail and complete dedication to each and every little niggle I throw at her continues to amaze and impress me.
So, it was only natural that when the time came to move my website off its existing host server and onto a new one, I knew Nat was THE person for the job. Throughout the process, we encountered several hiccups (over and above the ‘typical’ hiccups associated with a move) which caused extra stress, frustration, and at times the need to vent via several inappropriate expletives which need not be repeated. Throughout the whole ordeal Nat maintained complete professionalism, worked on the issues over countless hours and a couple of sleepless nights, and reassured and updated me as she went on where things were at.
To say the move was a success wouldn’t be completely accurate, and unfortunately we then had to turn around and move the site AGAIN just 6 weeks later. Despite the heavy feeling in our hearts, we both dug deep and just got on with it. Again, Nat was wonderful at both the work she did in moving my site AND her reassurance and constant contact. Thankfully this time it was a resounding success and I know my site would be no where near as amazing as it is without her help and support.
If there was ever a 100% top notch developer and business mentor then Nat would have to be it. I am beyond thrilled with the work she has completed for me thus far and look forward to a long and prosperous partnership as my businesses continue to grow. Thank you for everything lovely lady!”
– Lisa Ratford
www.andriedesigns.com
MDGS.org.au – Maitland & Beyond Family History
Natalie Crowe Designs has been working with local Genealogical Society ” Maitland & District Genealogical Society Inc” MDGS for short… to develop a new website to share the services and provide the public with a means to make enquiries about the historic information stored within the various resources the Society has.
MDGS underwent a name change and is now known as Maitland & Beyond Family History Inc. in 2016 and the new website reflects this change.
Designing the Website For MDGS.org.au
The original development was close to $3000 worth, with a great deal of time and planning as to what was needed long-term for the Society. Things like; Where the site would be going in the years that followed the development of the website and the simplicity needed so that members of the Society could self manage and update their new website.
I met with several members of the society at the Barracks at 17 Lindesay Street, East Maitland to discuss the website development needs and what would be best suited for the growing society – long term.
After the consult, I spent time going over what was currently available in way of an online presence and what other services were offering. Whilst there were very little in the way of offerings locally, I felt a strong connection with the Society and what the Society had to offer. I felt that the Society provided the local community with many an amazing resources, not only connecting the past with the present and helping people connect the dots but the many uncovered gems here, the preservation of our history and what we’d provide for future generations. My primary aim, whilst being in business, was to support and nurture… with the conscious intent of ensuring this type of resource was available for years to come.
Whilst I often donate time and funds to community services like this. I wanted to include at least a $600 discount from my current years “donation budget” as a way to give back, by the time I’d finished the proposal – from memory think we reached a collective to $870 worth of time donate to the Society free of charge as a means of supporting the amazing efforts of the volunteers at this not for profit service.
For more information on what the service offers – visit their website – http://mdgs.org.au
Maitland & District Genealogical Society Inc (MDGS) was originally formed in 1998 as the Maitland Family History Circle Inc. 12 years later the name was changed; and following many years operating from the Community Room at Maitland Library on Wednesday mornings, MDGS moved to its current location at the Mounted Police Barracks, 17 Lindesay Street, East Maitland in 2011. In 2016 MDGS became Maitland & Beyond Family History Inc.
Current operating times are:
- Wednesday, 9:30am – 3:00pm
- Saturday, 9:30am – 3:00pm
- Other times by appointment
While we are located in Maitland, our research is not restricted to Maitland alone. We can help you with your ancestors whether they lived locally or beyond; came free or convict; English, Scottish, Irish!
A sample of what we have available:
- An electronic database of people who are mentioned in our resources
- An extensive Library, that includes books on a variety of topics of interest to researchers, as well as research on specific families
- A large archive of research completed over many years
- NSW Registers of Baptisms, Burials and Marriages, 1787 – 1856 (microfilmed images of Parish Registers)
- Transcribed Parish and Cemetery Records from the local area and beyond
- Transcripts of Death Registers from the Maitland Court House, 1856 – 1945
- Pioneer Registers from the local area and beyond
- A large range of CDs and digital material from Australia and overseas
- Transcribed Electoral Rolls from our local area and beyond
- Land Records, Maps and Rate Books of our local area that can help you find where your ancestor lived and/or if they owned land
