Remarks: The Darragh Index to the Melbourne German Sick and Relief Society membership 1861-1924: Melbourner Deutscher Krankenverein was compiled from the Society's archival collection held in State Library Victoria's Australian Manuscripts Collection (MS 13467).
The Index consists of over 1200 name entries with a further 640 names of wives, children and parents appearing within some entries. In addition to the name and date of joining, or date of nomination if unsuccessful, there may also be information about marital status on joining, occupation, date and place of birth, date of death, date of leaving, address at the time of joining, date of arrival in Victoria and on what ship.
The Deutscher Krankenverein or Melbourne German Sick and Relief Society was founded in 1861. It provided sickness and death benefits to members and also supported members and others who were needy or out of work. The Society's records, spanning 63 years, have been translated from the Gothic script and indexed by Dr Tom Darragh, author of a number of books about the history of Germans in Victoria.
The Krankenverein records are important because they give a unique picture of the German artisan, labouring and small business classes of Melbourne, about which little is known. Biographical data of members of the various German Lutheran churches is readily available, but many of the Krankenverein members do not seem to have been connected to any Lutheran Church. If the members were German Catholics, they were a small part of a large Catholic community and their records are difficult to find, if they available at all. Of particular value are the dates and places of birth in Germany of the members, data that is often difficult to obtain.
Description: May include member's date and place of birth, occupation, date of death, address, immigration details - Index
Title: Darragh Index to the Melbourne German Sick and Relief Society Membership (1861-1924)
Publisher: State Library of Victoria
Holdings: 1861-1924
Frequency:
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