It has been a huge fortnight with so many things happening. Time truly flies when you are doing family history or Zooming around the world.
The Australasian Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists has been reactivated and I am the new Chapter Representative. Currently reviewing bylaws and regulations and working out a social/professional development program for members. Happily there are a number of others who want to assist. Zoom will make it much easier for Australian and New Zealand members to meet so monthly meetings are now an option. Before we were rather limited to genealogy conferences where a few of us were able to attend and have a get together. Looking forward to progressing the Chapter over the next 12 months.
#ANZAncestryTime
This is the new must follow Twitter tag for Australia and New Zealand genealogy. It happens every Tuesday night from 7-8 pm Brisbane time. Just use a time converter to make sure you have the right time for your place.
What is it? It is where a group of enthusiastic genealogists come together to pose a series of questions over the hour. Everyone at home answers the questions with their tips, resources and expertise. It is the fastest hour I have ever spent. To try and keep up with all the posts I use TweetDeck so that I can follow the hash tag and still tweet myself and see any notifications that mention me.
One thing about getting involved with these events is that it does force you to learn new technology (TweetDeck in my case) and you get to learn from a wide variety of other genealogists. Even though it is set for Australasian time, people follow from all over the world.
Why not join us next Tuesday night?
Blogs
Still not doing any blog writing but I have managed to do this Diary almost on the fortnight.
I think part of the problem is that I'm being tempted by all these Zoom meetings and webinars, instead of writing.
Conferences
I have registered for the Family History Down Under 2021 conference in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast. Now booked out under current Covid restrictions. If Queensland eases restrictions, the venue will be able to host more people. Fingers crossed.
Also happy to accept being an Ambassador for the conference. Let's hope Queensland stays relatively Covid free and we can get all together again next year. The sessions are also being recorded before hand, just in case it becomes a virtual event.
So hard to plan anything for next year and overseas travel is certainly not on the agenda.
DNA
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| Mary Finn and James Carnegie on their wedding day in 1906 |
It was exciting to see a first cousin once removed turn up in MyHeritage on Dad's maternal side. This will help me to further identify my Carnegie/Finn families. We share 11 segments and 197.6cM. They triangulate with my brother and I in a number of places.
Remember to go back and check for any new matches.
New Resources
Another plus for me was seeing the City of Westminster, London Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1558-1812 and the Marriages and Banns 1754-1935 appear in Ancestry's latest additions. That's almost 4 million records.
Also in Ancestry, the England and Wales Death Index has been expanded from 1989 to 2019. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have access to recent death indexes in Australia?
Thanks to the magic of Zoom I was able to listen to Cyndi Ingle on Building a Digital Research Plan courtesy of the Temecula Valley Genealogical Society in the USA. It was a great session and I always learn something new.
My own sessions with the Bribie Island Zoom Genies continue and the weekly sessions certainly keep me busy. We are having an in person workshop this week for something different, although we still have to abide by all the covid regulations.
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| The Deniliquin Ute 2012 |
I am also excited to be hosting a couple of talks for the Deniliquin Genealogy Society - not as good as their usual Deniliquin Genealogy Expo which was cancelled due to Covid 19 - but it will still give the weekend a genealogical buzz.
Sessions are on Irish Resources and DNA Matches Using Host Tools.
Webinars
I watched courtesy of Legacy Family Tree Webinars Blaine Bettinger's Advanced DNA Techniques: Deductive Chromosome Mapping and found it very useful. I have Mum and my brother's DNA so I will be trying this out. I will need to watch it again as it is definitely not for beginners. Finding time will be the problem.
What's Coming Up?
Next week is my last cancer treatment and another operation in early November. By Christmas I will be looking forward to 2021 and all the exciting things already on my agenda. I definitely feel more positive and excited. Queensland has been lucky in that the effects of Covid 19 have been minimal in this state apart from the initial lockdown at the beginning.
Just checking the calendar and I also have the Genealogical Society of Queensland's annual seminar and this year it is Irish Ancestry on 24 October via Zoom. I even purchased raffle tickets virtually. Dad's side is mostly Irish with a bit of Welsh and Scots so I'm hoping to learn some new tips and resources.
Until next time, happy researching and remember #ANZAncestryTime every Tuesday on Twitter.
