Diary is changing again. That doesn't mean that I am again getting out more in person to genealogy events but it does signify that I am looking to record more of my own family history. Over the last few months I have had more opportunity to do my own research (what a luxury) and I am finding more things that I want to share with other researchers.
Sometimes I do that on Twitter or Facebook but it is not always easy to find things again on social media. Another place I am talking about my genealogy finds and tips is at the two monthly meetings of Bribie Genealogy which are not recorded. By putting these finds in a blog post I can use Google to help me find topics of interest.
The aim will be a weekly summary of what I have been researching, any tips or tricks and of course, any success stories. This is partly possible as we are entering the quiet part of the genealogy world in Australia as everything slows down for Christmas/New Year and the January holiday period.
Future Proofing Your Research
I have written quite a bit about my own attempts at this on my website blog and I am still on my mission to downsize and make my research more accessible online.
This is definitely at the forefront of my mind as I have been asked to assess a donation of records to the Genealogical Society of Queensland. It is five large archive boxes of research in no particular order. Societies cannot take large collections of manuscript material, especially if there is no order or easy access.
By doing my own downsizing and writing up my research I hope to avoid this situation and to give copies of my digital research to multiple groups/people or make it freely available online. The trick is to do all of that before it is too late.
All similar formats at this stage but I have one draft for each immigrant couple. Now to add photos, edit, polish up and add anything else that should be in the history. There is a definite sense of satisfaction in looking at the printed copies and I can visualise the images and flow of the text. Now to keep the focus and go from draft to final.
The binders are slowly disappearing!
New Resources
In October FamilySearch added electoral rolls 1865 to 1957 for New Zealand. Over 900,000 names and one of my grandfather's brothers, Thomas Price, spent time there with his family. Another item on the follow up list.
In October Findmypast expanded their exclusive collection of Catholic parish registers with over 100,000 records covering 59 parishes across Cornwall, Devon & Dorset. Published online for the first time in association with Diocese of Plymouth, this valuable new resource spans 1781-1921 and includes;
- Over 55,000 baptisms
- Over 16,000 marriages
- Over 15,000 burials
- Over 15,000 congregational records
Each record includes both a transcript and scanned colour image of the original document. How good is that!
Webinars and Virtual Conferences
FamilySearch run free monthly webinars on a whole range of topics including how to use the various resources within FamilySearch, European, plus a range of topics on British Isles, Asia, US and Canada genealogy. Check out what is on in November here. Scotland is definitely the focus this month and even within a country grouping you can find generic topics such as Organising Your Genealogy which is in the US section. I tend to learn something new from each webinar.
For example I registered for the latest Scottish Indexes Conference which are run regularly and are free. As a result of revisiting some of my Scottish research and following up tips from different speakers I found the burial record of my 8th great grandmother. Just because it is a Scottish Indexes conference doesn't mean that it is all about Scotland, I have heard Welsh and DNA talks. Check out the programs, there may just be a talk that will solve your brick wall. The last Scottish Indexes Conference is on 5 December 2021, details on the home page.
What's Coming Up?
At the time of writing this post I am at the Virtual Genealogical Association annual conference, virtual of course, and I have just presented a talk on the Australian gold rushes and how miners from all over the world flocked here in the 1850s. I have until March to watch all the other speakers and there is a wide range of topics.
I have just added my 2022 presentations to the Events page of my website. There is a gap around May/June as I am hoping to go to Sweden and see my first grandchild.
Perhaps a spot of research in the UK while I am over there. No firm plans yet as the Queensland border has yet to come down and governments are still sorting out their restrictions, I will wait a bit longer before finalising anything.
Good luck with your own research. Stay safe and well. Until next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment