Books, NFHM, WDYTYA, & Other News - Genealogy Notes 14 Jun - 10 Aug 2020

Another seven weeks have slipped past me. Most of this year has slipped past me.

Breaking my left shoulder at the end of May meant that I could not do too much physical work around the house so I just kept on doing family history research and tidying up my records. There was some client work, and a couple of talks to groups via Zoom and Go To Webinar. Lots of reading ejournals (family history of course) and listening to genealogy webinars. 

My motivation to write is still somewhat missing in action and the reason there have been no Diary or other blog posts. It is probably my response to the shutting down of everything due to COVID 19. I miss the personal interaction with people and that was a great motivator to start this Diary all those years ago. U3A here on the Island is not resuming until 2021 so that is disappointing.

I must admit that the cancer treatment over the past year has also worn me down a little. But I am pleased to say that I have had my first haircut in over 12 months and there are only three more treatments to go. My last one is on 21 October and I plan to have a big bottle of bubbly chilled for the occasion.

The end is in sight and I am currently revamping my website (for the new healthy me) and looking to 2021. Already I have six talks in my calendar for next year - hopefully they will all be in person!

Now for a selection of what has kept me busy.

Books

Graeme Davison's Lost Relations: Fortunes of my family in Australia's Golden Age is an excellent read combining elements of his family history with social history in England and Australia.

Genealogy Software

I have been a Legacy Family Tree user for many many years, having moved to it from Brothers Keeper. A migration that was not without some grief.  Here on the Island I am surrounded by people using Family Tree Maker so to challenge myself, as I said I would never move software again, I have moved my own family tree to Family Tree Maker. The move was quite painless and I found that the main tidy up area was around inconsistent use of sources over the decades. A bit of time was spent on that and I did find sources easier to do in FTM.

My partner's and my son's family history are still both in Legacy Family Tree. By using both I will be able to do a good comparison. I just hope I don't get too confused. 

National Family History Month

August is NFHM in Australia and the website has online events (very few in person in Australia at present). This makes it much easier to attend as there are no travel costs although some events may have a fee. Check out the website for details.

Another great way to celebrate would be to watch some of the free Legacy Family Tree webinars or treat yourself to a subscription. Lots of educative videos on You Tube as well. No excuse to be bored this August. 

This afternoon I am doing a Live Facebook with MyHeritage on Australian Records as part of National Family History Month. It will be my first Live Facebook and coincidentally, MyHeritage asked me to do my first webinar, some years ago now but also during NFHM.

Society Membership

I finally got around to joining Caloundra Family History Research. They are my closest society and I don't have to battle Brisbane traffic. 

Love the fact that they have purple shirts - I fitted right in everytime I visited to give a talk.

The half price membership (due to COVID 19) was another draw card but I was also attracted to their incredible Zoom program of events each month. All the special interest groups meet via Zoom and have guest speakers plus they are running a fortnightly Meet & Chat in addition to the monthly meeting. 

Incredibly active Society and I hope their inspiration and motivation rubs off on me. There are quite a few events in my diary for the next month.

I am still a member of Queensland Family History Society and the Genealogical Society of Queensland and both groups are now talking merger. 

Plus I have memberships with the Genealogical Society of Victoria and the South Australian Genealogy and Heraldry Society. So many benefits to society memberships.

Television

During the time since last Diary, I have managed to catch up with a number of episodes from the latest Australian series of Who Do You Think You Are. 

The stories are interesting and I can usually relate to various aspects of my own family history. Plus I love seeing friends and colleagues helping the celebrities discover their family stories. Celebrities were Lisa Wilkinson, Bert Newton, Cameron Daddo, Lisa Curry, Denise Scott, Kat Stewart, Julie Bishop (I have never seen a celebrity change clothes and earrings so often) and Troy Cassar Daley.  If you have missed an episode catch up with SBS On Demand.

What's Coming Up?

The weekly Zoom meetings with the Bribie Zoom Genies will now continue until the end of the year as U3A is closed until next year. We are a small group but we have fun and all look forward to seeing each other regularly. 

The Bribie Historical Society is resuming meetings this month so it will be good to see all of those members again. I haven't stood for President again as I was away/sick more often that I was there in the the last 12 months. Not that we had physical meetings for four months.

We are certainly living in unknown times and fortunately most of Australia is keeping the pandemic at bay. Victoria and New South Wales to a lesser extent are struggling and I really hope that all my friends and colleagues in those areas stay safe and well. 

Finally there are only three weeks of winter left - it doesn't really get cold here and there is no visual seasonal change like there is down south. Spring always seems brighter and I am already resolved to exercise more and enjoy the sunshine. 

Stay safe everyone and happy searching until next time.