Tuesday 28 January 2014

Genealogy notes 24-29 Jan 2014 - podcasts & blogs!

It is not quite a week since the last Diary but I am now in travel mode! Tomorrow I am heading to Canberra for a National Archives of Australia advisory committee meeting for the centenary of World War One then back to Bribie for the weekend before heading off to Sydney on Tuesday for the Unlock the Past genealogy cruise. There will be another Diary on Monday 3 February then every few days while on the cruise as lots of genealogy stuff will be happening!

On 27 January, Marian Pierre-Louis released the genealogy professional podcast interview she did with me earlier in the month. You can read about it and hear it here. It was a first for me to be interviewed by someone in the USA but we managed to find a time that suited us both!

Week 4 Memorial Cards is my blog post in my 52 Weeks of Genealogical Records in 2014 blog challenge on my website and I am really glad that I set myself the challenge. Already I have discovered new information by revisiting some of my older research and seeing what is new, especially online. I am also pleased that a few of my blogging friends are taking up the challenge some weeks if the topic interests them and they have the time.

There are so many good bloggers out there now, you could spend all your time reading and being inspired by others. If you are new to blogging, then Geneabloggers is a great place to find a blog in your area - look under Genealogy Blog Roll in the top menu.

It was great to see that the Claim a Convict website was re-established and it is a remarkable tribute to Lesley Eubel who sadly died earlier this month. Lesley was the original creator of the site and it was taken down when she became ill in late 2013. It is now more interactive so if you have not visited the site for a while, take a look! There are also some great resources and links to other convict sites.

While in Canberra I will be dropping off my speaker acceptance form to the AFFHO Congress 2015 'Generations Meeting Across Time'committee. I have been asked to give two talks at the Congress and it seems ages since the call for papers. A close read of the agreement states that the papers are due by 30 November 2014 (so that they can be published in the Congress proceedings) and that is not that far away! Before we know it we will all be gathering in Canberra in March 2015 for yet another terrific AFFHO Congress. I hope everyone has it in their calendars!

My first talk for Moreton Bay Region Libraries is on Monday at the Albany Creek Library. It is looking at online newspapers for genealogy research and is the first of seven talks over the next two months. I am looking forward to seeing all the libraries in the Moreton Region and hopefully I will even know a few faces in the audience! All the dates and places of my talks are on the Services and Events page of my website. Moreton have a Your History Our History program and there are some great genealogy talks coming up all over the region.

I also finished going through the final proofs of yet another research guide with Unlock the Past. That means I will have two new guides out in February but UTP also has a number of other titles they are releasing at the same time. No doubt there will be some for sale on the cruise and also on the MacEntee/Paton roadshow around Australia but you can also check the ever growing list of titles online here. Actually I just surprised myself - there are 39 titles here already without all the new titles. Given that UTP only started up in 2009 and that my first research guide was also their first UTP publication in 2010, that is a lot of publishing in just a few years!

Finally, I have also been busy scanning photos and documents, naming, tagging and filing which all takes more time than you think. Plus it is a bit boring but essential. I need more rainy days or less interesting distractions! Happy researching until next time.






Wednesday 22 January 2014

Genealogy Notes 16 -23 Jan 2014 - blast from my own past

It has been a week of surprises with my brother making a surprise visit which was good as it gave us a chance to start planning the surprise 80th birthday party for our mother. We went through some old photos and starting selecting photos that we want to scan and put together as a slide show - almost a 'this is your life'. Her birthday is not till April so I have some time to scan, arrange and put it all together but the hard part is selecting the photos and it is obvious we have some gaps. Next visit to Mum's I will have to have a sneaky look in the back room to see what I can find in her collection of photos!

Another surprise was that Max and I realised we had been in our new house a whole year and I have to say that went super quick. I downloaded the real estate photos from when our house was on the market (luckily they were still there) as we have made quite a few changes especially to the gardens, driveway and side access. I need to take some new photos so that we have some before and after photos as I am sure we will not remember a few years down the track.

Fortunately I had written, before my brother's visit, my Week 3 Probates (wills and administration) blog post as part of my 52 Weeks of Genealogical Records blog challenge before he arrived. Rereading some of my probate files for the blog was interesting because I realised I had not fully appreciated things listed in inventories and what they were really telling me. Items of furniture and lists of personal effects can give us an idea of where and how they lived. I also participated in Cassmob's Australia Day geneameme challenge C'mon Aussie so I am well and truly ahead on writing blog posts as compared to this time last year.

I have been working on my talk for the Bribie Island Historical Society in March on my Carnegie Family from Toorbul and in reviewing all my notes on the family, I am discovering new information and relooking at some of my previous interpretation of the family's history. This will be the first time that I have solely talked about one of my own families so I know it has to be interesting for those not related but still interested in the area in which they lived. Putting the talk together has been a challenge but a great way of telling the family's story. I might even try it for other families just for my own benefit.

I completed the National Institute of Genealogical Studies course on Connecting Families Online. I can proudly say I received 100% on the exam which was a bit of a surprise as some of the questions were a bit tricky and could have been taken two ways I thought.  Now theoretically I have some free time!

My online reading has been Dick Eastman's e-newsletter (and good to see him up and about again), Lost Cousins, Society of Australian Genealogists e-newsletter, Queensland Family History Society's Snippets and e-news from the Genealogical Society of Queensland to mention just a few.

I have been trying to trace down some Spencer descendants for Max and it now looks like there was even a Spencer family connection here on Bribie Island back in the 1930s. So that means that both Max's mother (Burstow and Eldridge lines) and his father's families have connections to Bribie even though his Mum and Dad didn't meet each other until World War 2! It is either a small world or everyone passed through Bribie at some point!

I am heading out to the hairdresser's this afternoon for a new look. Then it will be photo time as I want to update the photo on my website (now quite dated) and the one on my social media accounts is also a bit dated). I am not fond of having my photo taken but 2014 is the year for a new image all round. The last time I was going to do it was Easter 2013, we took the photos then lost the camera. Stay tuned for the new me.

Next week I will be fine tuning my talks for the  Unlock the Past Genealogy cruise and there is a quick trip down to Canberra. I am a member of the National Archives of Australia advisory committee for the centenary of World War One and a key program is their new Discovering ANZACS website. It will be good to see what progress they have made since the last meeting.

Happy researching this week.




Tuesday 14 January 2014

Genealogy notes 8-15 January 2014 New Year date changeover & other news

Silly me - I forgot that with the start of a new year, we also see the archives and BDMs changeover their systems. This means new records are released having entered the open access period and in most cases another year to search for BDMs. This can often be the break through that we have been waiting for although in my case, I am still waiting for 2018 as that is when I can apply to see a file on my great great grandfather (100 years access). So have another look, just in case something exciting has turned up for your own genealogy research!

My friend Hazel Edwards has also been busy and has been looking at writing 'non boring junior history' which is all about getting our grandchildren interested in history. In this article in this article in The Looking Glass she explains how she goes about it. I like the idea of real heroes as I have never really been into fantasy heroes, and I believe some of my ancestors fall into the category of real heroes when I think about some of the obstacles they overcame in their lives.

I am still on track with my personal blog challenge - 52 Weeks of Genealogical Records - Week 2 Internal Migration (but then it is only week 2!). It has been really good receiving comments on the blogs and having people suggest other records for the week's theme. So far I have the tips already in my upcoming list of topics but I am sure that as we progress other tips will not be, but they can form the basis of next year's blog challenge!

It has been a week of techno firsts for me. I managed to do an interview for a genealogy podcast via Skype and all will be revealed on 27 January. My new piece of technology allowed me to hear quite clearly by connecting my laptop to my hearing aids and I was actually surprised at how well it went, having had some disastrous Skype chats in the past. I have not heard the interview back yet so this is just based on my impressions.

My other techno first was a Google hangout with friend Geniaus and Unlock the Past about the 4th genealogy cruise leaving in a few weeks - hear the hangout here. I was supposed to participate but could not link into the hangout. However, after thinking it was just me doing something wrong, I found out that others could not link either. So a dreaded technology glitch which can be a nightmare if you are giving a live presentation which is why I prefer to do Powerpoint slides rather than rely on the internet. The other thing about the hangout was that I could hear and see more clearly on the IPad than I could on the laptop so I am not too sure what that means. I guess I will just have to be brave and attend another hangout!

The technology we have available to us now is really simply amazing and I am looking forward to Geniaus' presentations on the cruise as she always manages to introduce me to something new in the techno world. We also have on board another techno master Thomas MacEntee and I suspect he will simply blow my mind with ideas although I will be writing it all down with my trusty pen in my paper notebook (a Luddite to the end, sob).

My National Institute of Genealogical Studies on Connecting Families Online exam is this coming weekend so I had to quickly complete the last modules' exercises and start to get my head thinking about the exam. Just the thought of an exam sends shivers through me, and even at university I had this thing about exams. The last two NIGS courses I did I received a Fail because I did not complete them but that was because, inadvertently, they ended up coinciding with our big move north and life was just too chaotic. I really should re-enroll and finish them. Another thing on the to do list!

The January issue of Irish Lives Remembered is out and has my article on South Australia in it and I have been busy working on Western Australia for the next issue. I have not done too much online reading but I have curled up by the pool with Ancestor from the Genealogical Society of Victoria, latest issues of Australian Family Tree Connections and Inside History Magazine, the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly and the Journal of One Name Studies from the Guild of One Name Studies. As usual every time I read something I jot down things I want to follow up - it is never ending - and I feel a bit guilty when my partner says 'you could spend 24/7 doing genealogy'. I deny it of course, there are other interests in my life like travel and wining and dining, but he may have a point!

I have accepted another two talks for the first half of this year - on Bribie Island (where else) and also at Inverell in New South Wales. Check out the Services and Events page on my website for details.

On a final note, I have been working on National Family History Month 2014 and I am very pleased to say that the website has now been moved to the new domain. This means that you need to change your bookmarks so that they point to the new domain. I have also changed the name of the Facebook page as well so check that out too. There are no events in the web calendar yet but I am hoping that will change soon and I will be following up sponsors to see if I can get them on board again for 2014. Perhaps we might even get some new sponsors too! Make sure August 2014 is in your diaries! Happy researching everyone.




Monday 6 January 2014

Genealogy Notes 1-7 Jan 2014 - 52 Weeks of Genealogical Records in 2014 blog challenge

As I wrote last week, I want to get back to some regular blogging on my families and I was toying with doing my own blog challenge to keep me focused. With a bit of effort I have come up with 52 Weeks of Genealogical Records in 2014 and I even managed to get the first Week 1 blog post done in time for this Diary update. 

What is my blog challenge? Briefly it is to stimulate my own genealogy blogging efforts in 2014 by focusing on a different kind of genealogical record each week. I wanted a challenge that reflected my own archival background as well as my own genealogy interests and there are probably lots of other records that I could have included. The challenge has an Australian focus but most of these records will be found just about anywhere in the genealogy world.

The 52 different types of genealogical records I finally decided on are listed in no particular order (each week will be a random surprise). Anyone is welcome to do all or part of this blogging challenge.  Let me know if you are participating and I will put a link to your post under each week's challenge. 

Read Week 1 Military Medals. Wish me luck with the next 51 weeks, especially when I am travelling (the Unlock the Past 4th genealogy cruise is only a bit over three weeks away and there will be lots to blog about there too!)

I also managed to write up my response to GeniAus' Accentuate the Positive 2013 Geneameme - read my response here.

I have almost finished my talks for the UTP cruise although I will still have to do a quick check of URLs just before sailing as some websites seem to change all the time! I am participating in a panel session with Chris Paton and Thomas MacEntee and we have been given the questions in advance to allow us time to think about our responses. It should be an interesting session with viewpoints from the UK, the USA and Australia. For those not going on the cruise, remember that both Chris and Thomas are doing DownUnder day seminars in Brisbane, Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart and Perth. Not to be missed, although I do feel sorry for those in Darwin as it is the only state/territory missing out. Hopefully they will be reading some of the various blogs that will be written about the cruise and day seminars.

I am sitting here watching a pair of rosellas feeding in a tree just outside my study window and there are a pair of doves foraging on the ground below them. The butcher birds and magpies (and their babies) will be flying in soon too. There are sparrows lined up on the pool fence too. It is a great view and I positioned my desk so that I could look out over the pool, the palms and the orchard but it is a bit distracting! The humidity is building again and there may even be another storm out there. That was the long way of saying I am signing off and going for a swim! Happy researching, until next time.


Monday 30 December 2013

Genealogy notes 22-31 Dec 2013 final thoughts for 2013!

Christmas at Mum's place was voted the best in years - we managed to have all the family present, the kids (now all adults) plus the adults all got on, our small gifts to each other all hit the mark and showed a lot of thought in the selection and we didn't overeat or drink. Mum was even convinced to turn the air con on! This is really similar to other years so I'm not sure why we all felt that it was the best but I do have some nice photos of everyone around the table having a good time.

Since then we have been busy catching up with friends on Bribie Island and taking delivery of our new boat and taking it for a spin or two. I'm very pleased and proud to say that I was the first to catch a fish in it too! It's going to get a lot of use once some of the tourists and holidaymakers return home. Pumicestone Passage is always busy this time of year.

We've also started to re-landscape the back garden and putting in some new plants. It's all hard work but once we have the gardens looking the way we want we can sit back and relax (or do our hobbies without feeling too guilty).

I haven't done too much genealogy but I did realise that I had forgotten to mention that National Archives of Australia has a new research guide - Commonwealth Government Records about Tasmania which will be launched and available in late January 2014. It is compiled by old friend and colleague Michael Piggott. I've been sent an advance review copy but so far I haven't had time to do more than flick through the pages but it looks good.

Module 3 of my Connecting with Families course with the National Institute of Genealogical Studies was easier than I thought it would be as I already use timelines as part of my normal genealogical research but I wasn't aware of some of the website tools so I will spend a bit more time looking into them. The other major focus of the written assignments was gravestones, another area that I have done a lot of work in. But again I was surprised by websites that I hadn't come across before, although some are just American focused - I should look at them for my Norwegian ancestors who went to Minnesota in 1851. Module 4 is next and then the exam - all to be finished by 19 January!

I also found time to do My Genealogy Aspirations 2014 which included a review of my 2013 aspirations and as yet I haven't participated in Geniaus' Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2013 blog challenge. I did her 2012 challenge and I always find it surprising how much genealogy I have done when I think about the questions Jill poses in the Geneameme. So that will be an early 2014 blog challenge!

As I indicated in my Aspirations I want to get back to writing blogs about my families and other genealogy topics so I have been working on my own blog challenge that reflects my archival background. It's not easy coming up with 52 topics that involve genealogy, archives and records but I have a list of sorts and I'm hoping to kick that off during the first week of 2014 and then every week thereafter. The other hard part is coming up with a catchy name for it! Wish me luck.

Tonight is New Year's Eve and we have booked into the local bowls club for their dinner/dance so that should be good. We decided to skip the fireworks this year and as it seems to be threatening to rain, perhaps that was a good idea. I hope everyone has a terrific 2014 genealogy year ahead of them and that we all progress our research or at least learn a little more about our ancestors. Until next time.

Friday 20 December 2013

Genealogy notes 15-21 Dec 2013 exciting news

You would think that in the lead up to Christmas (only 4 days away now) things would slow down but I've had two bits of really exciting news in the last few days as well as the usual genealogy news! I was thrilled to receive a request from the National Library of Australia to archive this blog in their web archive Pandora. I talk about Pandora (accessible through Archived Websites in Trove) in my talk Genealogy Treasures of the National Library of Australia and I've been a big fan of it for years. It also saves me from having to archive it myself which is really good!

Then I received an invitation from Unlock the Past to be part of their 6th genealogy cruise which is three nights out of Sydney (virtually a genealogy conference at sea) and there is an optional five day Norfolk Island extension post cruise. We went to Norfolk Island a few years ago to be part of the 200th anniversary celebrations of the closing of the first settlement and the removal of everyone to Tasmania. We have often said it would be nice to go back again so 2014 looks like the year this will happen.

I've now put the dates and places I am speaking at between January to June 2014 on the Services and Events page of my website. There are seven talks with the Moreton Bay Region libraries as well as seminars with the Genealogy Society of Queensland and the Queensland Family History Society plus the 4th Unlock the Past genealogy cruise. I've been busy working on my five talks for that as it is now only six weeks away! How exciting. The Bribie Island Historical Society have also asked me to talk about my Carnegie family who settled on Pumicestone Passage in the 1870s - I find myself thinking about them a lot, especially when I'm walking along Banksia Beach and look across the passage to where they lived back then.

The National Archives of Australia celebrated International Migrants Day on Twitter and Facebook (18 December) and they are looking for stories from migrants who came here post World War Two for their new exhibition A Ticket to Paradise. NAA are asking people to relate their personal experiences of migrating to Australia after WW2 - the journey, the arrival, staying in hostels, their first jobs, how they fared, how they established communities and so on. If this interests you, send some details to destinationaustralia@naa.gov.au by 31 January 2014.

I received the 3rd edition of the Family History Journal from the Queensland Registrar of BDMs and it seems that during 2013 they added 95,000 images to their website. A list of what is now available is on the family history page of their website - see here. The quarterly newsletter is free and a great way to keep up with all the new releases if you have Queensland research interests.

With family visiting this week (son, daughter in law, granddaughter and not quite 2 year old grandson) I haven't been able to get into Module 3 of my Connecting with Families course with the National Institute of Genealogical Studies. But fortunately in the spirit of the season they have given us an extension of time and I will be able to get back into it tomorrow after the family fly home. It is amazing how fast time flies, it seems like they only arrived yesterday and now they are getting ready to go home. At least they missed all those really hot temperatures in Adelaide this week! Queensland has been really beautiful with low temps and humidity and the kids really loved the pool and all the birds that visit us.

In December 2012 I wrote about my Genealogy Aspirations for 2013 and it is interesting to look back on what I thought I would focus on during the year. I am happy to say that progress was made on all of them plus there were other successes that came up as a result of new record releases and new digitised material online. What ever did we do before Trove? I am now pondering what my 2014 aspirations will be so stay tuned.

We are spending Christmas with my family in Brisbane so that will be good to catch up with everyone - so much easier when everyone is in the same place! Then we will be farewelling 2013 a huge year for us and welcoming 2014 which should be much easier, at least we have no plans to move house again! I hope all my readers have a safe and happy Christmas with their families. There will be one more Diary blog for 2013 so until next time, happy researching everyone.


Friday 13 December 2013

Genealogy notes 4-14 December 2013 - Genealogy learning online & other news

So much for getting back to normal, I should have remembered that December is the month for lots of distractions. Christmas parties at the local historical society and the family history group made me realise that just about everyone on Bribie Island is either doing their family history or interested in doing it. I even made contact with someone who may be able to give me some photos of a family for whom I have no photos whatsoever. Fingers crossed!

I also realised that I had signed up for my free online genealogy course with the National Institute for Genealogical Studies (NIGS) on Connecting Family: Online and Virtually. I picked December as I knew that I would be home for most of the month but the first two modules were already underway before I opened up my online briefcase. Fortunately they were both fairly easy and things I have already done or am currently doing so I could catch up very quickly. Module 3 is where it starts to get more new and interesting for me so I'm looking forward to that next week.

Also next week, on 18 December, is International Migrants Day and the National Archives of Australia are asking people to contribute their migrant stories for an exhibition. They are looking for contributions from now until 31 January 2014. I'll have more info next week and will be sending some tweets and links etc.

More good news and this time from the Queensland Registrar of BDMs. They have released AIF deaths abroad for World War One with 9169 records and Registrations of Death on the War Service Act 1942 (World War Two) with 4905 records. It's really sad when you look at those numbers and realise that is only for Queensland. So many families were impacted by the wars.

Findmypast.com.au have brought back Family Tree Week - every day between 26 December and 1 January they will be sharing hints and tips on starting your family tree and making the most of their records. As I have been doing my family history for the past 36 years you may be wondering why I would even participate in beginner level activities. So much has changed over the last four decades (scary thought) plus it is always good to go back and revisit your research or look at different aspects of it. Christmas is often the time when we catch up with family members so remember to ask see all those old photo albums and whatever else they have hidden away at the back of cupboards.

As always I was pleased to see the December issue of Irish Lives Remembered as it is a great free online Irish genealogy magazine but this month the focus is on Armagh records. My great great grandmother Maria Jeffers was from Portadown County Armagh and I've never really been able to trace her family back, but I always live in hope. So I will be having a close look at that article over the holidays.

I've also been busy writing a piece for Inside History Magazine, another one of my favourite genealogy magazines and Moreton Bay Region Libraries have asked me to do eight talks early next year on Google Tools and Online Newspapers. Once the dates and places are confirmed I will put the details up on my website under the Events tab so watch out for that in the next week or so.

The other thing that I must start working on is finalising my talks for the 4th Unlock the Past genealogy cruise which is now only about seven weeks away. I'm doing five talks and some of them are totally new talks and the others updated versions of my popular talks. I'm getting excited as it will be great listening to Chris Paton again and I'm a fan of Thomas MacEntee so hearing him in person will be fantastic. One of Thomas' many interests is Hack Genealogy and there are all kinds of free and interesting resources on that website. As it is an Australian cruise I should be able to do Diary blogs on board (when in port) assuming there is a little spare time to write. It looks a full program!

We are off visiting friends this weekend and next week we have Max's son and his family staying with us for eight days. It will be strange for us to have children in the house for that long a period, especially a two year old so we have been trying to make the house a  little more child proof and of course, lots of Christmas decorations and lights.

Most of our Christmas preparations are done although I do have to finalise some Christmas cards for those relatives not online. I'm still not sure where 2013 went but it's been a big year and 2014 is looking like another great year (minus the big house move). I hope everyone else is preparing to enjoy the festive season and catch up with their families and loved ones. Until next time.