Conferences, books, new resources: My genealogy month September 2026

September  has flown as usual and settling back into normal life after the whirlwind trip around Europe wasn't easy. Especially having to get my own meals and doing dishes!

From the headings below you will see  that I gave more talks and even attended a genealogy conference and combined that with a road trip around the northern half of New South Wales. Plus I managed some PhD research and writing and even a few hours on my own family history. 

Books

Yes I succumbed to temptation at the NSW & ACT family history conference in Port Macquarie picking up some very cheap second hand books and buying some new editions. 

Plus I won a $100 book prize from the Central Coast Family History Society which added to my book swag. Just as well we travelled by car as the weight home on a plane would have been something to consider.

Conferences

The Port Macquarie theme was The Paper Trial and Beyond: Family History in the Digital Age was well organised with great speakers and lots of display tables. The organising committee did a wonderful job. The genealogy fair on the Friday was free and well attended. Saturday speakers included the excellent Martyn Killion, Christine Yeats, Andrew Redfern and John Grenham (pre recorded) and that was just before lunch.

After lunch there was the always hard choice between different sessions - I chose land records followed by using Y DNA. The conference dinner was wonderful with a men's choir doing the entertainment while we ate.  Food was delicious and plentiful.

Sunday speakers were Jill Williams (live streamed from Ireland) , Clive Smith, Fiona Brooker all the way from New Zealand and myself. Sessions were recorded so attendees and those registered virtually can watch again. Although I still like to make written notes in a notebook. 

The next conference on the horizon is the AFFHO Congress in Wellington, New Zealand in February 2027. I must get around to booking flights and accommodation plus another road trip around the North Island.

Closely following is RootsTech 2027 which I will attend virtually. Registration is now open and they have started to announce key note speakers. 

Irish Ancestors

A highlight from my recent trip
 to Ireland

I have been exploring the  North of Ireland FHS online indexes (I am a  member) and while there are few Heddles in  the  indexes  there are lots of Templetons (109 entries but only 67 in Antrim) . I would  love to identify Agnes Templeton who married Stewart Heddles. The index does not list given names only surnames, but I can make a member's request. 

I also have my ancestors in Wikitree as part of the Islandmagee DNA project and North of Ireland family tree. 

To really focus on  my Irish research, the NSW conference Irish talks by John Grenham and Jill Williams gave me additional ideas to follow up or revisit. The Y DNA talk was also helpful as Dad's Y DNA led me back to the Heddles family in Islandmagee (via my brother's DNA, thank goodness I had a brother).

New Resources

The Queensland Family History Society have released a new index Nominated immigrants from 1905 to 1928. Not that useful to me but there are researchers out there with more recent research. The data was selected from Queensland State Archives Open Source suite and includes almost 96,000 entries. The QFHS now has 68 datasets with almost 16 million entries. Volunteers are wonderful people.

Technically more books, but I also purchased Karen Cummings new book on methodology. Plus  the latest edition of family stories from FamilyHistory ACT.

Talks

September saw me give three talks - the first on researching in Wales to the Bribie Genie Chats group, Western Australian ancestors was a webinar with Legacy Family Tree Webinars and finally a look at Queensland land records with the Genealogical Society of Queensland. Actually that is four talks if you include the conference session.

What's Coming Up?

Thankfully October is on the quiet side and I can spend more time on the PhD writing and researching. Six weeks away from home over the last couple of months meant not a lot of work was done on it. Although it is never far from my mind as people seem interested in the topic and answering questions helps me to think about the priorities of the research. 

My printer finally died so I will have to seek out another fairly soon as I can't really live without a scanner and printer. I even still do the odd photocopy.

Have fun researching this month and until next time, good luck finding genealogy gems.

Shauna

Books, travels, resources and other news: my genealogy months July & August 2026

A massive couple of months with most of my time spent overseas in the UK and Europe. I managed to visit 13 countries in four weeks and have some amazing experiences. Thanks to all those who followed my travels on Facebook, it was good to see all the comments and interest in the places I visited.

One of my more memorable places was the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy and trying to knock it down with my pink walking stick!

Books

Although I always say 'no more books' inevitably I come home with a few unplanned purchases and a heavier suitcase. 

Browsing in Irish bookshops was particularly tempting.

I was especially pleased to get David Hume's Historic Days in East Antrim (includes Islandmagee) while in Belfast. 

Conferences

Less than a fortnight now to the NSW & ACT conference in Port Macquarie where I am giving a talk on searching in digital catalogues.

Registration for the AFFHO congress in Wellington, New Zealand in February 2027has opened. That's my next lot of travel planning - flights and accommodation as I always enjoy congresses and catching up with everyone.

E Resources 

Renewed my membership of the State Library of Queensland for another three years. It's free and membership includes: 

• Explore eresources – Online courses, ebooks, newspapers, journals, and research databases (QLD residents only) 
• Search the catalogue – Find photographs, archives, and special collections 
• Borrow books and materials – Borrow or request items for delivery to your local library (QLD residents only) 
• Book spaces & equipment – Reserve study rooms and computers 
• Create at The Edge – Use design tools, recording studio, and maker equipment

New Resources

I was interested to see that the Royal Historical  Society of Queensland is putting it's library catalogue online via EHive. The library team reached a milestone of uploading 10,000 public entries to eHive. This includes approximately 5500 Photographs, 1800 Booklets, 2900 Books (covers and index), family files, district files and other miscellaneous files. The Alder Collection donated by the Alder family was the most recent photograph collection uploaded. The images were taken by Edward Henry Alder (known as Harry) (1866 – 1957) who was an honorary life member of The Royal Historical Society of Queensland. Over 400 images have been loaded from this collection including photos of the 1893 flood pictures, rural Queensland photographs and Alder family members. 

FamilySearch has added more than 8.2 million new records from 22  countries including Belgium, England, France, Italy, Phillipines, Switzerland, Ukraine and the USA. Staggering numbers as usual. The English component is an expanded collection of births/christenings and parish registers from Middlesex.

Talks

Giving a talk on researching Western Australian ancestors for Legacy Family Tree Webinars on Wednesday 2 September. For the week after the presentation, you can still view it for free then you need to be a subscriber.

Conwy castle, Wales

I'm finally going to give a talk on researching Welsh ancestors to the Bribie Genie Chats group using my own family examples. On my recent travels I visited Cardiff and the walled city of Conwy in Wales, not to mention Anglesey which has the longest place name in Welsh - ever so much easier to just call it Anglesey!  

A photo says it all and no idea how to pronounce. 

Later this month I am giving a session on Queensland land records for the Genealogical Society of Queensland. I have some interesting examples from my own research to share and illustrate the value of land records.

What's Coming Up Next?

Already I am receiving invitations to speak next year and I did put in a proposal to Legacy Family Tree Webinars. Although to be honest with myself, 2027 is the year I really need to 'settle' down and write up my PhD research and compile my database on the incarcerated women of colonial Queensland.

It's spring and the weather is glorious outside. Time to boot up the laptop and start working outside in the gazebo. 

Until next time, happy searching Shauna

Ancestral footsteps, big things, new resources & other news: my genealogy month June 2026

 Six months of 2026 are now gone. I've made  good progress with the PhD research but writing it up is more slower. The trip out west was great and I'm looking forward to the next six months of 2026 when I say goodbye to my swinging 60s and embrace my slower 70s. To party, or not to party?

Ancestral footsteps

The Big  Opal, Eulo

Instead of wandering around the midlands of England looking for my mother's family, we ended up driving out to western Queensland in search of my father's great grandmother who lived in Eulo and Thargomindah in the 1890s. They were opal miners and her husband was a jeweller. 

There is not much out there now and it is still incredibly remote. An airconditioned car was obviously better than a Cobb & Co Coach although the bumps and potholes in the road may have been the same. 

On the way we stopped at Miles and had dinner at the pub where Max's Mum and Dad met during the war. He was a soldier stationed out there and she was the barmaid behind the bar (her father was the publican). 

In Charleville we went to the secret American WW2 army base and did the tour. Amazing how much history is out there  that probably most of us don't know about.

Russian rocky road,  Dirranbandi

Of  course we also had fun and relaxation in the hot springs, great pub food, even camel burgers and Russian rocky road from  the Dirranbandi bakery. 

Speaking of bakeries, some of the pies we had were creative and delicious. Just glad that they are not local, as I could be tempted more often. 

Books

Any trip with me usually means I come home with more books and the western road trip was no different. But only two and both focused on  my family history around Eulo and Thargomindah. 

The opal fridge magnet had my name on it as did the pink yabby in support of breast cancer fundraising.

Enjoying all the background reading for my PhD on incarcerated women in colonial Queensland. 

So many ideas to follow up on my own family history once I get this finished (possibly submitted in 2028, although I have until 2031). 

Hopefully there will be a few pockets of personal family history between now and then.

Conferences

In September there is the  NSW & ACT conference in Port Macquarie where I am giving a talk on using digital archives. That will be a road trip down the coast and back, probably by an inland route for something   different.

The AFFHO conference in Wellington next February sounds like it will have quite a few Queenslanders there. So I will need to think about booking airfares and accommodation as I don't want  to miss out. FOMO is a terrible thing.

Family History Month and Nick Vine Hall Awards

Just a reminder that August is AFFHO's Family History Month so keep an eye out for some great events. Due to the timing of my trip I will only get the last few days of August and of course, the closing event which is usually a fantastic speaker. No details yet.

The Big Watermelon, Chinchilla

The judges have got their scores to me for the Nick Vine Hall Awards. Now to tally up the scores and work out the winners for 2026 which are usually announced at the opening event of Family History Month. 

Who will do the announcement this year in my abscence still to be decided.

Resources

If you just want to sit back and learn some new tips, don't forget FamilySearch have free webinars each month. Of particular interest this month is on 16 July Using the FamilySearch Catalog Effectively and on 30 July Using Google Maps for Family Hitory. You can also view earlier webinars if you missed one or  need a refresher. 

What's new in Trove in June 2026 - I love these updates as they illustrate just how much is in Trove  in all the various categories. This month there is a WW2 focus which is interesting.  Follow the link.

The Digitising Our Collections

The Big Yabby, Moonie

page will give you an update on digitised newspapers and other resources. Follow the  link.

Talks

I'm doing an update on Scottish resources for the Genie Chats group this month. Plus I'm working on my presentation for Port Macquaries and a Legacy Family History webinar for after my return from Europe.

I've decided not to give presentations in 2027 - firstly my PhD will be in crunch time and secondly, I will be over 70 and quite probably should think about retiring and just go to events as a spectator. 

A novel idea but given I gave my first talks back in the early 80s, I'm just about talked out!

What's coming up

After the disappointment of having our flights to London cancelled in June and having to abandon our road trip around England and Scotland, I fully expected that my August trip would also be cancelled as it flies through the Middle East. But just notified that it is still on and I leave in four weeks. Wow. So not prepared. This trip is a bus trip around the UK and Ireland then across to Europe for four weeks. 

Until next time, happy researching, stay safe and take care,  Shauna