My son visited for the weekend and we had a technology free weekend, just sitting around and talking rather than checking emails and social media. first day was hardest but by the second day I was more comfortable and of course most things can wait till Monday. It was also an opportunity to sit back and see just what emails I was receiving and I was a bit surprised to see that most were not that important and I simply hit the delete button. So an email tidy up is going on and I am unsubscribing to a lot of 'advert' type emails that I don't recall signing up to. My gmail account was worse than my primary email but both were receiving things I don't read and thankfully both my spam filters save me from a lot too.
This week is almost full on with two genealogy adventures. It is Queensland Week and I am heading north to Noosaville Library to give a talk on genealogy research in Queensland focusing more on what's online. I've put together the usual suspects with some other favourite not so usual suspects and everyone should learn something new.
The next day I am heading south (lots of freeway driving) to the Queensland State Archives (QSA). I have been promising myself a research trip for some time but setting a date was always an issue. But I received an invitation to Shackled - Queensland's First Female Convicts which is a half day seminar with Dr Jennifer Harrison talking about the 140 female convicts who came to Moreton Bay (and we can buy copies of Jennifer's new book, of the same title, Shackled - Queensland's First Female Convicts) followed by a talk on how to research convict records at QSA. Both talks should be interesting and morning tea is also included. All for free!
So with that motivation in the morning, I thought why not a little research in the afternoon before the long trek home. This may say something about my age, but I am Number 1 in the QSA researcher's system and I was really pleased to find out that they can reactivate my number when I visit. In preparation for the trip I have been searching the catalogue for series and item numbers as the system has changed and there are new numbers for my old favourite series.
I also did some name searches and even though there is not a lot of name identified data in the online catalogue (more in the online indexes), I discovered some really exciting references to my great great grandfather John Finn in two series that I would not have thought to look in. I also discovered a reference to Max's grandfather Henry Spencer, again in something I would not have checked. Indexed entries are fantastic. Imagine how much we could find is everything was name indexed if time and money were not critical.
Unfortunately you can't pre-order records at QSA, so I need to get there early and try and order before the talks start. My list of want to look at files is probably too long so a return trip will be necessary but I am looking forward to some wonderful new information on problem ancestors. The other distraction is that I will probably meet up with other geneafriends at the talks, although they might also be trying to fit in a bit of research too.Stay tuned.
I haven't seen too much talk of DNA Nation on social media but I have been taping it and have just managed to watch the first episode. I did my matriarchal DNA some years ago with 23 and Me and more recently the Ancestry ethnicity test which revealed mostly a UK background. My brother has just done a full Y test with Family Tree DNA so I am waiting to get those results. DNA Nation looks at three Australians with diverse backgrounds and the first week looked at the matriarchal side of things. I found it interesting and helped confirm my understanding of female DNA. Now to find some time to watch weeks 2 and 3.
As it has been a busy week with some solid writing, I didn't get too much time to read blogs or follow social media. So one of my easy catch up tricks is to check out Randy Seaver's Genea-Musings which is a list of the blogs that he liked best last week. As usual there were some great blog posts listed for 29 May to 4 Jun - why not have a look and see what you may have missed.
A lot of travel time coming up but if those archive files are as exciting as I hope they are, it will be a serious genealogy research weekend coming up. By some good fortune it is also a fishing competition weekend so the house will be all mine with no distractions. Lucky me. It's also a long weekend for the Queen's birthday so perhaps everyone can fit in some genealogy research. Until next time happy searching.
This week is almost full on with two genealogy adventures. It is Queensland Week and I am heading north to Noosaville Library to give a talk on genealogy research in Queensland focusing more on what's online. I've put together the usual suspects with some other favourite not so usual suspects and everyone should learn something new.
The next day I am heading south (lots of freeway driving) to the Queensland State Archives (QSA). I have been promising myself a research trip for some time but setting a date was always an issue. But I received an invitation to Shackled - Queensland's First Female Convicts which is a half day seminar with Dr Jennifer Harrison talking about the 140 female convicts who came to Moreton Bay (and we can buy copies of Jennifer's new book, of the same title, Shackled - Queensland's First Female Convicts) followed by a talk on how to research convict records at QSA. Both talks should be interesting and morning tea is also included. All for free!So with that motivation in the morning, I thought why not a little research in the afternoon before the long trek home. This may say something about my age, but I am Number 1 in the QSA researcher's system and I was really pleased to find out that they can reactivate my number when I visit. In preparation for the trip I have been searching the catalogue for series and item numbers as the system has changed and there are new numbers for my old favourite series.
I also did some name searches and even though there is not a lot of name identified data in the online catalogue (more in the online indexes), I discovered some really exciting references to my great great grandfather John Finn in two series that I would not have thought to look in. I also discovered a reference to Max's grandfather Henry Spencer, again in something I would not have checked. Indexed entries are fantastic. Imagine how much we could find is everything was name indexed if time and money were not critical.
Unfortunately you can't pre-order records at QSA, so I need to get there early and try and order before the talks start. My list of want to look at files is probably too long so a return trip will be necessary but I am looking forward to some wonderful new information on problem ancestors. The other distraction is that I will probably meet up with other geneafriends at the talks, although they might also be trying to fit in a bit of research too.Stay tuned.
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| My ethnicity map with Ancestry DNA |
As it has been a busy week with some solid writing, I didn't get too much time to read blogs or follow social media. So one of my easy catch up tricks is to check out Randy Seaver's Genea-Musings which is a list of the blogs that he liked best last week. As usual there were some great blog posts listed for 29 May to 4 Jun - why not have a look and see what you may have missed.
A lot of travel time coming up but if those archive files are as exciting as I hope they are, it will be a serious genealogy research weekend coming up. By some good fortune it is also a fishing competition weekend so the house will be all mine with no distractions. Lucky me. It's also a long weekend for the Queen's birthday so perhaps everyone can fit in some genealogy research. Until next time happy searching.
So exciting to see Jennifer's session at QSA booked out. I've ordered the book from SLQ's bookshop. Timing is perfect for the online course in Convicts with University of Tasmania.
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