DNA sorting, family history writing & other news: my genealogy fortnight 15 - 31 Jan 2026

 A big fortnight for learning new things. Trying out AI and Chat GPT, SubStack and solving website issues are just some of my technolical learnings this past fortnight.

AFFHO

I have agreed to convene the Nick Vine Hall awards again and my three judges from last year have all agreed to stay on for 2026 which is wonderful. Updating the flyer and information sheet is easier when there is not too much to change. Journal entries from member societies will come in during February and March and then the judges have three months to read and score the journals. I get a month to collate the scores and all is ready to be announced at the beginning of Family History Month in August.

Amazing how quick the year goes when you outline a timeline like that.

Books

My review of the Hop-Picker Murders by Nathan Dylan Goodwin is now up on my blog page of my website. As always, I love his books and can't wait for the next one.

Conferences

RootsTech 2026 is just a month away so start looking at what you might want to attend live or watch later. I am giving one session on Australian cemetery and burial records. It is recorded and will be available in the library to watch anytime. I'm also part of the virtual media team.

The NSW & ACT conference is in person in 2026 and will be hosted by Port Macquarie & District Family History Society. Check out the conference website. We nearly settled in Port Macquarie so it will be on our travel plans this year.

New Resources

Legacy Family Tree Webinars has a whole series on AI and DNA and I really need a few rainy weekends to catch up with my viewing schedule. And it is only January. 

Talks

My first talk/webinar for 2026 was for Legacy Family Tree Webinars on Sorting my DNA matches with MyHeritage's theory of family relativity which went well. It was the first time I have done a case study as a talk so it was about my methodology and what I found by looking at my mother's DNA matches. You can watch it here for free.

Next is a talk in early February for the Bribie Family History Association on Mining the archives so that is in person. I am looking forward to seeing people again at the meeting and having lunch after.

The following week is up to Noosaville for two workshops on using apps for family history and blogging our stories so that we will be fun. 

Travel plans

This is the year I explore my Mother's origins in central England (Northamptonshire, Staffordshire), before heading up to Scotland to check out Dad's maternal Scottish ancestry north of Edinburgh. Plus a stopover in York, must see the Jorvik Viking Centre!

James Carnegie (my great grandfather), his mother was from Montrose, Scotland

Writing Family History

As many of you will know, I have written draft family histories for both Mum and Dad's side of the family on different family lines. I haven't published yet because I keep adding things, changing how I cite sources, or simply tinkering. Biting the bullet I had decided to get Chat GPT to help me edit my Cornish Connections draft. 

Edit only, not rewrite and it has been interesting to see little inconsistencies in style, dates and it has even picked up when I failed to cite a source. For example, I use 'on board' and sometimes 'aboard' a ship. 

Front cover of latest draft

I think 2026 is the year these long standing drafts will get finished. 

What's Coming Up?

February sees the start of my PhD meetings again with my tutors. I have made good progress over the holidays but those monthly meetings will keep me focussed. 

I have also resolved to get out and about more and have joined the Bribie RSL fishing club. My first fishing competition is coming up next week using only a hand line. The last time I did that was probably with my father decades ago. It will be followed by a BBQ. Just hoping this heatwave is over by then.

Until next fortnight, happy searching.

Shauna

New year, new records, new genealogy focus, resources & other news: my genealogy fortnight 1-14 January 2026

 

Happy New Year. My wish is that 2026 does not go as fast as 2025. More time out to enjoy the things I like - reading, researching and relaxing. My 3Rs!

Apps

As some of you may know, I have been exploring SubStack as a way of recording my family stories or my genealogy thoughts or whatever. Still getting the hang of it, but there are some very interesting people to follow on SubStack. Lots of genealogy motivation. And it may even benefit your research. For example good friend Alex Daw (Family Tree Frog) is on SubStack and wrote a post on one of her ancestors. He was the brother in law of one of the incarcerated women in colonial Queensland in my PhD case studies. How amazing and as I always say, it is a small world. Find me here.

Irish famine memorial Dublin 2025

Blogs

Jill Ball's Accentuate the Positive geneameme for 2025 has had us bloggers putting fingers to keyboards over the last couple of weeks. I always like reading about what other researchers have been doing and their success stories.

Read my contribution here. 

Books

Updated Library Thing and deleted all the books I have donated to societies or given away. Added the new ones from the last few months. 

Not sure that downsizing is working too well - still have close to 700 books and that's not counting fiction.

Have just finished reading Nathan Dylan Goodwin's latest book The Hop-Picker Murders. It is the 11th book in his series on genetic genealogist Morton Farrier. 

I will do a short review but I always find it hard to write about a book without giving away plot details. So more thought needed.

Resources

A new year means that more records have come into the public domain in national and state archives and of course, birth death and marriage indexes. So take some time to look up what's new or find those entries you have been waiting for.

For example this link will show you all new records under Section 9 for the Public Record Office Victoria. A lot of the records have come out of 75 year closed access including children's courts, asylums, divorce and so on. There is also the story of Jean Lee, the last woman hanged in Australia in 1951.

Watched a webinar on using the Virtual Treasury of Ireland via the Association of Professional Genealogists. Not  the easiest to search, no wildcards or Boolean but keyword followed by filters got me to census statistics for Ballygannon and Glasnarget townlands in County Wicklow. These give population figures and number of households from 1841 to 1881 for the two townlands my Finn and Fagan families emigrated from in 1882. Great background context and also learnt that the railway was completed in 1861.

Talks

Mum's ethnicity via MyHeritage

My first talk for 2026 is coming up on 28 January for Legacy Family Tree Webinars. I will be looking at using MyHeritage's theories of relativity to sort DNA matches or not! 

It was an interesting experiment and useful for sorting out some of Mum's DNA matches. My paper research reveals she was pure English but her ethnicity shows more than England. 

Register here for free and find out what I discover. 

Webinars

Spent some time selecting my webinar registrations from  the fantastic program organised by Legacy Family Tree Webinars. 

I seem to have selected a lot of topics with initials eg DNA and AI!

What's coming up

Mustn't forget that I am still doing my Ph D thesis on incarcerated women in colonial Queensland. I have done a lot of the research into the individual women and now into more serious writing and literature reviews and statistics. It is a lot of work but I am also learning some new skills in research, writing and technology. Definitely not bored.

Looking forward to when societies return from the Christmas/New Year break. Attending meetings in person or visiting society libraries and catching up with friends is all part of the family history world.

Wishing everyone a fantastic genealogy year in 2026. Until next time, Shauna

Watching webinars, experimenting with AI & other genealogy news: my genealogy weeks December 2025

Our shipboard friends

Another year is coming to an end and now that we have the Christmas tree up and a few presents scattered under it, I am taking the time to watch a few genealogy webinars and read a few books. 

For something different we went on a cruise to the South Pacific and had Christmas lunch at sea. Now home again, safe and well, to finish off this post and think about the coming year. 

Saying goodbye to our shipboard mates was hard.

Blogs

Because I stayed focused this year (following Thomas MacEntee's Do Over program) I achieved a lot with my family history. Tidying up files and citations, correcting inconsistencies, making new discoveries and getting ever closer to publishing those family history drafts that have been hanging around for decades.

That was a long way of saying that I will be participating in Jill Ball's Accentuate the Positive geneameme for 2025. With her prompts it is a chance to reflect on our family history achievements for the year. I have made a start and given myself the deadline of New Year's Eve. Stay tuned. It's been an amazing research year.

Books/Genealogy magazines

Trying to prioritise which books  I want to get read over the Christmas/New Year break. Also mindful that I need to finalise my literature review for my Ph D thesis on incarcerated women in colonial Queensland. Most of those are a bit heavy for bedtime reading so I definitely need to have a few fiction books on hand 

Currently reading Grantlee Kieza's book on Mrs Kelly (aka Ellen Kelly, mother of Ned). Did you know she had twelve children? Nine with her first husband and another three with her second husband. The Irish didn't have an easy time in country Victoria.

I also don't mind flicking through genealogy magazines at night although sometimes the temptation to get up out of bed to look at something is strong. To avoid that I keep a pen and notebook beside the bed and write down what to follow up in the morning. The trick is to make sure I am not too cryptic or I won't remember the next day.

Photographs

Just this month a second cousin on my Dad's father's side of the family sent me a photo of Dad's father as a young man. As I have never seen a photo of him I was thrilled but on opening up the image, all I could think of was 'that's where Dad got his ears from'. It's not the sharpest image, but still lets me see who he was. Can't wait to show my brother when we get together after Christmas. 

Resources

I think the only way I am going to keep up with new resources is to set calendar dates with myself to go in and search the what's new section on various websites at least once or twice a year. Even Trove this year has turned up new references to my families with new papers digitised. I had a major breakthrough with one of my incarcerated women because someone had changed an entry in FindAGrave. If I hadn't been rechecking everything I would never have discovered it. Research can be very fluid. 

Visited the old penal settlement
on Noumea

 Talks

 My first talk for 2026 is in January and it is a case study of   using MyHeritage's Theories of Family Relativity to sort my   Mum's DNA matches. Not something I have looked at closely   before but in preparing my slides I am discovering some   interesting matches. Or at least working out which family line the   matches might belong to. Register here for free. 

 My 2026 talks are on the Events page of my website and I am   still adding some as details are finalised. 

 Just noticed that my security certificate is not working despite the   fact that I paid it back in October. Hopefully my supplier can   solve the issue quickly. 

Webinars

Legacy Family Tree Webinars have announced their 2026 program of topics and speakers. Membership makes a great Christmas/New Year present and is definitely good value or you can try and watch the webinar live or within a week to see it for free. 

I have two talks in 2026 - one in January (see above) and the other in September on researching in Western Australia. 

What's Coming Up

Reflection on what I have managed to achieve with my family research this year and what I would like to continue tidying up in 2026. Not to mention learning some new skills especially around the use of AI for genealogy.

I hope that everyone has had an enjoyable time with family and friends in December and wishing you all a safe and happy New Year in 2026.