Kiva Genealogists for Families, Resources & Other News: My Genealogy Weeks 1-15 Oct 2024

Hello everyone

Fresh back from a two week holiday in Bali. We haven't been since Covid and found it much busier than before. Airport congestion was unreal mostly due to having to do online visas and health declarations prior to arrival. Many hadn't and quite a few planes arrived at the same time. 

It didn't help that they changed baggage carousels without announcing the changes. 

But the people were friendly and the food was wonderful. We even did a Balinese cooking course so now to put that into practice.

The good thing was that I didn't get sick or fall over and hurt myself. Bought some nice casual dresses for summer and planning when we might be able to escape there again.

Books

Our Bribie Family History Association bookclub has been reading some great books. Our current book The Girl Who Left: from Croatia to the cane fields by Debra Gavranich is about a woman who left Yugoslavia after WW2 to marry a man she had never seen before in Queensland. Based on a real life story it is interesting to learn more about Australia's post war immigrants.

One thing I forgot to mention in my September news was that I have completely updated my books on Library Thing. I also received their Tenner badge as I have been a member for over 10 years. 

The app is now on my smart phone so that I can see if I already have a book before buying it. A great way to avoid having two copies of the same book.

Looking forward to reading this new book from Nathan Dylan Goodwin. It is the next one in the Venator cold case series.

DNA

Ancestry has done a major update to how DNA ethnicity (now ancestral regions) helps us to understand our paternal and maternal lines.  

Dad has lost his Scandinavian and it is now England and Northwestern Europe (this must be the two lines where I don't know who my GG grandfathers are). Otherwise he is Scots and Irish.

Mum still has that puzzling Wales connection with no Welsh in the paper trail. Her Cornish is now a defined group.

Hopefully over the December/January break I will find some time to get back to those unknown ancestors and see if I can track them down.

Kiva for Genealogists

Another group I have been a member of for years has been Genealogists for Families team on Kiva which lends small loans to people in other countries under a range of categories. Our team captain is Judy Webster and we have been in existence since 27 Sep 2011 - that's 13 years so we missed that 10th anniversary. There are 264 members who have made over $550,830 in loans. 

That's an impressive record and by relending or making new loans it is amazing how your individual contribution adds up. For example I have made 194 loans in 71 countries. Now that I have actually looked at my stats it would be nice to get to 200 loans before the end of 2024 which will depend on existing loans being repaid or I can make new loans. I usually do this for Christmas instead of buying gifts. Now on my to do list so I don't forget.

Anyone can join us by going to Kiva, signing up and selecting the Genealogists for Families team. You do have to make a $25 loan as well.

Resources

The Trove Treasures e-newsletter for October talked about haunted buildings, tracing towns through resources in Trove, early Australian maps and a feature on brides from 1890. Everyone should sign up for this newsletter as it really does expand your knowledge of what is in Trove and how best to find what you are looking for. Plus it's free.

At right is an image from the the Brisbane Telegraph of Mum's eldest sister who was an October bride in 1938. Mum was only 4 at the time so my memories of aunty Hazel were always of an older woman. Finding this image in Trove was wonderful and it is just one of the many images I have found on Mum's family.

MyHeritage has an all new look to their Inbox feature for easier communication with other researchers. Plus they added another 56 million records in September. No wonder everyone is saying it is hard to keep up with changes and new resources.

If only we could do family history 24/7! But then the house doesn't get dusted, the garden doesn't get weeded and no food shopping gets done. Amazing how these basic chores take up so much of our daily life - how did I manage when I worked 9-5, five days a week?

Talks

Genealogical Society of Queensland's annual seminar was at the weekend. Forgotten Women and Children had an incredible line up of good speakers with varied topics on women. 

I was one of the speakers looking at homeless women in colonial Queensland gaols based on my PhD research. But many of the aspects I cover apply to all women, not just those unfortunate enough to be sent to gaol for having nowhere to live.

Left is an image of female prisoners at the Boggo Road Gaol. My great great grandmother Helen/Ellen Carnegie/Ferguson could be in that photograph which was part of a series in The Queenslander in 1903.

I still have talks in November and December so it has been a very full year of presentations despite my saying at the start I would be cutting back to focus on my PhD. Hard to stop something you love doing.

See my Events page for details.

What's Coming Up?

First is catching up with my emails and ejournal and enewsletter reading. As a member of numerous genealogy societies and other organisations I receive their quarterly journals and weekly newsletters. It is so easy to simply flag and aim to go back when I have more time. The only trouble is that 'more time' never seems to happen.

My plan for 2025 is to list all the journals and magazines in a chart and then tick them off when I have read the issue. Sounds simple but it never seems to work until I get to the end of the year and madly flick through a whole lot at once. There will be more timely reading in 2025. Wish me luck.

Until next time happy researching

Shauna

Conferences, Talks & Other News: My Genealogy Month 1-30 Sep 2024

 Spring has sprung down under and we are out and about at conferences. Here in Brisbane we have been commemorating the 200th anniversary of the settlement of the Moreton Bay penal colony, first at Redcliffe then at Brisbane.

Books

At both the Brisbane History Group Welcome to Brisbane seminar and the Moreton Bay Bicentennial Commemoration Conference there were free book giveaways. 

Couldn't resist The Ethnic Presence in Queensland and John Pearn's In the Capacity of a Surgeon. The proceedings of the Conference will be published in a few months and will include papers not presented on the day. Something to look forward to and will be a good summary of those early years in Queensland.

Conferences

The NSW ACT conference Digging Deeper in 2024, a virtual conference hosted by Port Macquarie was held on 14 September. Excellent speakers with Clive Smith, Andrew Redfern, Nick Reddan and Ruth Graham. Great value without having to travel and pay accommodation. However I do miss meeting catching up with people in person. Sessions were recorded so you can watch again which is a plus.

Also booked for the QFHS all day seminar on Family Tree Maker in person event in Brisbane in October. 

Starting to think about the Unlock the Past Genealogy Cruise in December. Lots of people I know are booked and it will be a nice finish to 2024. I am giving three talks on the cruise.

Looking into 2025 we have RootsTech 2025 (virtual attendance for me) and the AFFHO Congress Connections in Brisbane in March. Honoured to be presenting a session on Mining the Archives as competition for a speaking spot was very competitive. Also giving two sessions virtually at RootsTech on Australian Genealogy Online and Australian Military Ancestors.

Order of Australia Investiture

The highlight of my life so far was going to Queensland Government House to receive my OAM for services to community history with Max and my brother. The Governor is a lovely person and it was a wonderful event and champers and nibbles on the lawn afterwards was delightful. It is a small world as I was seated next to the brother in law of one of our Bribie Genealogy book club members who had received his award for services to the defence force.

PhD update

I passed my early candidate milestone so now officially a Ph D candidate. My database on 1700 women incarcerated in Queensland gaols is progressing and my research on immigrant ships the women arrived on is not as easy as I had thought.

 Discovering what name they used is not always obvious - did they arrive single, married, widowed or with their parents. The use of alias names does my head in but all good training for searching indexes for variant names and spelling.

Talks

My session at Caboolture Library on Convicts and Criminals was also a part of the 200th commemorations for Moreton Libraries. A nice enthusiastic group with good feedback.

My next talk will be at the annual seminar of the Genealogical Society of Queensland in October. Another excellent program of speakers but a virtual event. More affordable and not having to deal with highway traffic.

Check my website Events page for final presentations in 2024 and what is already organised for 2025.

What's Coming Up?

Christmas and where did 2024 go? My goal this year was to complete my draft family histories and at least get first editions up on Ned and into Trove. 

Good intentions but I am struggling with updating my sources to new archival online catalogue references. To be honest my citations were not as good as they should have been and time has been spent looking things up again. 

Happy searching until next time.

Shauna

Family History Month Weeks 3 and 4 : My Genealogy Weeks 16 - 31 August 2024

 Well that's a wrap. Family History Month in Australia and New Zealand is over for another year. As usual August went incredibly fast.

AFFHO Closing Ceremony 

This was hosted by President Sonia Russell and featured David Barnes talking about the AFFHO Congress in 2025. This is in Brisbane next March. Check out the website here.

The conference venue is modern and a bit of a distance from where I live. So accommodation is booked as the drive up and down the highway is not worth thinking about. All right if you live on the south side of Brisbane.

It will be excellent and I am looking forward to catching up with genie friends from all over.

Sonia also announced all the winners of the various sponsor prizes and it was nice to hear the names of many genie friends around the country.

Nick Vine Hall Awards

This kept me busy sending out all judges feedback to each of the societies and contacting the winners and runners up with the good news. Society journals are a wealth of advice on all topics and a great resource for family stories. 

Check them out at your Society Library and I noticed that some Societies are now sharing journal exchanges online with their members, usually in the members only section. This is exciting if you find it hard to get to the library in person.

Bribie Family History Association Book Club and Genie Chats

This month we discussed Judy Nunn's Khaki Town based around Townsville in World War II. 

I will miss the next meeting as I will be in Brisbane at Government House accepting my OAM award. That will be exciting as I have never managed to visit there before. 

Another two sessions looking at social media for family history research and an Irish brick wall for one of our members.

Brisbane History Group

Went down to Brisbane for their Welcome to Brisbane afternoon seminar on immigration. It was part of the various events to celebrate the bicentenary of the founding of Brisbane in 1824.

Papers on immigrants from Lebanon, Greece, Germany, Russia, and Jewish immigrants.

Brisbane History Group have some interesting events so check out their website here.

Talks

A trip up to Noosaville Library to give a presentation on Sporting Ancestors. They have such a lovely family history search room which is separate from the main library area. Nice and quiet with a computer and access to Ancestry and Findmypast and they are an affiliate for FamilySearch. Plus lots of great genealogy books and local history books.

I also did a live webinar for Legacy Family Tree Webinars on using MyHeritage to research family history in Australia. That went well and by preparing the talk I learnt a lot more about some of the features of MyHeritage. The webinar can be viewed for free here.

What's Coming Up?

Sadly we have to wait a whole year for Family History Month to come around again. However, in the meantime check out local and online events as there is usually something on each month. Your local genealogy society is a good place to start.

Until next time, happy researching.

Shauna

Family History Month 2024 Week 2: My Genealogy Week 8 -15 August 2024

 Another busy week. Received some nice feedback after sending out the judges' feedback on the various society journals in the Nick Vine Hall awards for 2024.

8 August 

Attended a committee meeting of the Bribie Family History Association. Starting to plan our 2025 list of guest speakers for our monthly meetings. 

Book club reading this month

9 August

My early candidate milestone for my PhD on the Grass Wasn't Always Greener and the Incarceration of Women in Colonial Queensland involved a 20 minute presentation followed by questions from the audience of other historians and Griffith University lecturers and tutors. A bit nerve racking but got the green light to continue my research.

10 August

Attended a writing family history workshop led by Sue Reid and Clem Ditton from Queensland Family History Society writing group. It was our second Bribie Family History Association workshop for 2024. As usual our members appreciated having a more in-depth look at a topic. 

11 -13 August

Catching up with the week's email and working on presentations coming up later in the month. Also trying to keep up with the BFHA book club reading as well as all my PhD reading. Not really a chore as I love reading but finding the time for that and keeping up with genealogy journals is not easy.

Great grandfather Thomas Price

14 August

Hosted Genie Chats in the morning and then some members joined me here for morning tea and cakes. 

15 August

Practising my new writing focus - get up an hour earlier and work steadily on one of my family history drafts. Selected the Price family history to do first. What I am finding is that I can get quite a lot done in a focussed two hour session several times a week.Now to keep up that momentum.

What's Coming Up?

A talk on sporting ancestors at Noosaville, a meeting of the Professional Historians Association Queensland, more Genie Chats and a book club meeting.

I hope everyone has entered the AFFHO prizes draw. There are still two weeks to go and more prizes to win. See the website.

Until next time, happy searching 

Shauna

Family History Month 2024 Week 1 : My Genealogy Week 1 - 7 August 2024

 The first week went by in a blur of events, both in person and virtual.

1 August

Started the day with a visit to the Genealogical Society of Queensland library down at Wishart. The drive is long and often horrendous with traffic, but always good once I am there.

Had to be home by 6pm for the opening of Family History Month for two reasons. First I was announcing the winners of the Nick Vine Hall awards for 2024. Congratulations go to Genealogical Society of Victoria for their journal Ancestor and in the smaller societies category, Cape Banks Family History Society for their journal Kith and Kin.

Second I was guest speaker along with Heather Garnsey talking about our time in family history over the last few decades. Heather is most associated with the Society of Australian Genealogists in Sydney and I have been involved in many archival projects that have benefited family historians with greater access to records. Plus doing my own family history research since 1977. It was a great chat with Sonya Russell, President of AFFHO asking the questions. The hour went very fast.

Both Heather and myself received the Order of Australia medal as part of the King's Birthday Honours in June.

2 August

Presented a talk to Bribie Family History Association on D is for Diaries, outlining how shipboard, military and personal diaries can be used for family history research. It was a good session with some members keeping the chat going over lunch at the Bribie RSL. Since then a couple of members have written to me about diaries held within their own family collections.

3 August

Up early for the trip up to Caloundra for a one day seminar on DNA with Caloundra Family History Research. Helen Smith from Dragon Genealogy and myself each gave two talks. 

Mine were about my personal approach using coloured dots and clusters to organise my matches. The second talk was a follow on with Looking for Granddad, a case study searching for my biological grandfather. 

In July I finally had proof for my theory when another descendant from that male line matched with my brother. 

Granny is probably up there cursing me for my doggedness in searching for the truth but at the same time, she should be saying 'what a clever granddaughter'! Secrets will always come out with DNA so don't test unless you want to  know the truth.

Then the drive back home from Caloundra. Great day but a long one and my brain was mulling over all the things from Helen's two talks.

4 August

Sunday at last and I had promised myself the day in bed reading. But I was too restless with new research ideas so it was a good day doing my own family history on the computer.

5 August

One of my favourite Victorian libraries is Monash as they have a very active family history group. This time the presentation was virtual only rather than the usual hybrid set up. My talk was Where Do I Start which is aimed at beginners but can also be a good refresher talk for more experience family historians.

Lots of questions mostly not related to a beginners session but I managed to field questions and provide further references.

6 August

A meeting with my two Griffith University supervisors on the progress of my Ph D on the Incarceration of Women in Colonial Queensland. My Early Candidate Milestone is next week and I have to be ready to present and impress independent assessors. Otherwise I cannot progress with my Ph D. Happy to say I passed with flying colours and I am grateful to my two supervisors for their support.

7 August

A morning session of Genie Chats with members of the Bribie Family History Association via Zoom. These chats are a way of talking about specific subjects or following a theme for the term.

Rather a hectic first week for Family History Month but the fun is not over yet. You can still register an interest in events being held, some free and some paid. There are prizes to be won so visit the AFFHO website for more information.

What's Coming Up?

More meetings, talks both family history and Ph D, a writing family history workshop and more Genie Chats. There is also dinner at the Bribie RSL followed by the Bribie Island Historical Society monthly meeting. 

Have a great time during the second week of Family History Month in Australia and New Zealand. Until next time, Shauna.

What's new, Family History Month, Books, Talks & More: My Genealogy Months May, June and July 2024

Not sure where the last three months have gone but it has been an eventful time.

Back from my holiday which didn't go quite to plan. Missed seeing Belfast and Islandmagee, Shetland and my three-night stopover in Doha. However, I still managed to get to Sweden and spend some time with my little two-year-old grandson. What happened? Bad luck said the hospital doctor when I queried how I got bacterial pneumonia which led to a 11-day hospital stay in Liverpool, England.

Baptismal font
Canterbury Cathedral England

On the plus side I also managed a few days in The Netherlands in Amsterdam and Rotterdam before boarding the cruise ship. The first port was Dover, and it was really good seeing the white cliffs of Dover as we sailed in. 

The excursion to Canterbury Cathedral and Leeds Castle in Kent was good. 

From there we went to Ireland, and we saw the castles of Cashel and Cahir which was amazing. The next day I knew I was sick and confirmed with an x-ray in the ship's hospital. Thank goodness for travel insurance. 

Only a couple more medical appointments and apparently I will be as good as new. Not sure I believe that but I certainly hope it helps with my mobility issues. The pink walking cane is an eye catcher and often leads to people assisting me or giving up a seat for me. I would miss that. Stay tuned.

Blogs

Cashel Castle Ireland

Once out of the blogging habit, it is hard to get back to it. However I did complete another guest post for the Genealogical Society of Queensland. It was inspired by some new records on MyHeritage, marriages in New York. Read about my USA connection here.

Books

Many years ago, I catalogued all my library books into Library Thing. From time to time, I have added books but not every book and I have moved books around and even given some away. As a result, I have bought second copies which is a waste not to mention lugging them home in my suitcase. One of my promises to myself post illness was to update Library Thing and put the app on my phone. It is a tedious job checking, adding and deleting but I will now be able to find any book anywhere in the study.

Do I really have 641 books from 442 authors on my bookshelves? And that is after my massive cull and giveaway of books over the last year.

Extract from my Library Thing catalogue

Family History Month

Check out the new AFFHO website for Family History Month - they have dropped the national. It is now much easier to add events to the calendar for August. Have a look at August events.

Remember too there are prizes to be won. Simple to enter and free.

Genealogy Software

There is a new Version 10 for Legacy Family Tree software which I will have to download as I have Max's family in Legacy. I often move my own family between Family Tree Maker and Legacy as there are different features that I like.

Ancestry have introduced a paid product DNA Pro Tools which allows you to see the shared matches of your matches. Max is away fishing so I have quite a few hours set aside to check out what it does for my own DNA matches. Have heard good reports from others but I am looking to find three unknown biological ancestors all on Dad's side. 

New Records

Findmypast has new parish records for London, Middlesex and Surrey. Also over 320,000 new digitised newspaper pages. Anybody else finding it hard to catch up.

Online Events

On 22 June I attended the Society of Australian Genealogists one day seminar on Enhancing Your Family History with Artificial Intelligence. There were seven speakers looking at different aspects and certainly thought provoking.

Canal cruising Amsterdam

Talks

There are seven talks lined up for me during August so it will be a busy month for me. Some are virtual so that saves travel time and worrying about what the highway traffic will be like.

Check out the events page of my website for dates, places and topics. 

What's Coming Up

There are a number of events I'm looking forward to attending in August. Some in person and some virtual. 

I am also hoping to catch up with everything - so easy to get behind when you go on holidays or get sick or both. 

Emails multiply, my blog and genealogy journals/magazines falls behind and then there is my Ph D on the Incarceration of Women in Colonial Queensland. My one year milestone is coming up in August. The year has flown. 

Until next time happy searching

Staggering additions to online collections, NFHM and other genealogy news: My Genealogy Weeks 22 Mar - 30 Apr 2024

 My holidays are fast approaching and as usual, all the things I have to do seems to increase. The last four weeks have flown.

Bribie Family History Association

As Hon President and unofficial Tech Girl, this keeps me busy every meeting day. I have to get the projector up and running, the remote controls and the speaker's presentation. At the same time I have to try and talk to the guest speaker and any members who want to chat to me. So far no one wants to take on the tech side of things and I can understand why no one wants to be out front as President. 

Still things are usually OK on the day. The May meeting will be interesting - I am Tech Girl, I am chairing the BFHA general meeting and then I am the guest speaker with a talk on finding my Irish family online. By the time the meeting finishes I will be somewhat wrecked.

The FamilySearch workshop I ran for the group was very successful. There are so many aspects within FamilySearch for researching and recording our family history. Booked out both sessions and some lovely feedback on both the morning and the afternoon. Feeling quite chuffed. A lot of work goes into preparing these workshops so it is really nice to see it appreciated.

• All excellent, thoroughly enjoyed and learnt heaps
• Shauna is an excellent speaker and knows her subject well
• (enjoyed the most) depth of knowledge of speaker and humour in talk
• Found out things I didn't know
• All wonderful, enjoyed it immensely and very professional presentation
• Took me to another level that I didn't expect
• Very thorough and exactly what I didn't know I needed
• Shauna is an excellent teacher and she makes the talks very interesting
• Extremely well done Shauna is a wealth of knowledge

BFHA Book Club

One of our members has taken over the organisation of the club for me. This saves me additional visits to the library to pick up and drop off our book sets. Plus she will be suggesting the books which will be a surprise to me. So far we have had very different books each month. 

Our next selection is Judy Nunn's Khaki Town based around the bombing of Darwin in World War 2. Perfect holiday reading.

There is no May meeting as a couple of us will be away and the June meeting is put back a week so that I can attend.

Also loaded up my reading apps for the trip. Not ideal reading on my phone, but certainly beats carrying books around in my suitcase. I have enough Bluey books as it is.

DNA

Downloaded from Diahan Southhard So Far Genetic Genealogy: The first 25 years 1999-2024: Reflections from DNA Leaders and Luminaries. Yes another book to read (only 90 pages) but so interesting to see the changes in our own lifetimes. Although DNA has only been on my own radar since 2015 and that fateful test. 

Nick Vine Hall Awards

The awards closed on 30 April 2024. As the new convenor, on behalf of AFFHO, I am super excited to say that we have 22 entries from member societies. These have all been sent off to our three judges who will have the big job of reading and scoring the entries and then I collate the scores, organise the plaques and certificates and hand over to the AFFHO President. The Awards are announced during National Family History Month in August. 

Resources

I was somewhat shocked to read the latest newsletter from the British Newspaper Archive - they added half a million new pages in just one week. Staggering. Digitised newspapers are the gift that just keeps on giving as you find snippets or longer stores abour your ancestors and their families. What a great time to be researching your family history.

Another great mind explosion since last Diary was attending the FamilySearch 130th anniversary in Brisbane and finding out that they are using AI with free text collections. This will save enormous amounts of time indexing and will make everyone mentioned in a document accessible not just the primary person eg in wills. 

Here is an example from my FamilySearch workshop. The will is for Mary Hayes but I searched for Trevaskis and as you can see the words are highlighted in the transcript and in the original document. How good is that? Still experimental in their labs but coming soon.

Talks

Another great session at Noosaville Library on military ancestors just in time for Anzac Day. 

Just updated my website to reflect some of the new talks for the second half of the year. That includes events for National Family History Month in August, always a busy time for me. Go to the Events page of my website to see what is coming up - both in person and virtual.

What's Coming Up?

A mad week making sure I have everything I need for my trip. Ticking off a few items from my bucket list as usual - one of the big highlights is visiting Lerwick in the Shetland Islands (love Shetland the series) and a personal tour to Islandmagee in County Antrim where Dad's paternal family is from. The icing on the cake is seeing my little grandson and giving him his 2nd birthday presents in person. 

My 'to do' list for when I return is starting to look a little daunting and I always wonder should I slow down. Maybe in a few more years. Until next time, happy researching, Shauna

PS Next Diary will be the end of June. 

Nick Vine Hall Awards, Bribie Library & Other News: My Genealogy Weeks 1-21 Mar 2024

So much has been happening over the last few weeks and as per usual, I am behind with my updates. March is Women's History Month and I liked Trove's blog on Pioneering Women.

Books

The Bribie Family History Association Book Club totally enjoyed Kate Grenville's A Room Made of Leaves.

Our next book is from one of our own members. Rick Desmier published his own family history in 2020 using NED the National E Deposit Library maintained by the National Library of Australia and searchable through Trove. The Desmier family history: an Anglo Indian family that has been in India for more than 200 years. 

Rick joined my U3A family history writing class in 2019 to undertake this and it is an inspiration to me to finish my own drafts. 

I like the fact that our book club seem to go between fiction and non fiction books. 

Genealogy Software

I had an interesting chat with Martin who is the developer of Forebears the easy to navigate family history app. It is available for both Apple IPhone/IPad and Mac. 

You can upload your family tree via gedcom and then carry it around on your phone or device.

It is not connected to any of the online databases and it is easy to add to and share with family members. No one has access to your data except you.

The Forebears app is free to download and use. I found it easy to use and it managed Mum's rather large gedcom file. 

It is certainly convenient to have it on my phone without having to log into a website. Like any app or software program it is what best suits your purpose. Only by trying different things do we know what works best for our own research needs.

During my playtime with this app, I realised just how many places my tree is online. Also many are quite out of date and I really should either update or take down. An online tidy up just went on my to do list. How does everyone keep their trees online up to date?

New Resources - DNA update

Ancestry have updated their DNA communities and I now have Queensland (no surprises there), Eastern Australia (from Jervis Bay down to Eden and almost out to Griffith and Wodonga and the ACT. Wish I had known that when I lived there! Obviously Dad's family.

Further afield I have northern Ireland and south western Scotland, again aligns with Dad's family. No real surprises on Mum's side but a designated Western Cornwall now. 

Interesting to see how these ethnicity fields are refined over time.  

Nick Vine Hall Awards for AFFHO

As the new convenor for the NVH awards, I have been busy accepting early entries for the 2023 awards, answering queries, liasing with the judges and getting organised for a Zoom session for members after Easter. Read more about the Awards on the AFFHO website.

Presentations

The Genie Chats on English Genealogy keep me busy each week and hard to believe another term is almost over. Next term it will be looking at a few brick wall case studies as I will be away for quite a few weeks.

PhD Update

Griffith University have now finished my working database for my colonial women in Queensland gaols. Now all I have to do is enter my data on women already researched and continue working on the thousand plus still to go. I have used one of my favourite photos as a backdrop - it might have my great great grandmother in it.

Every book or article I read sends me in even more directions and it is amazing how much relates to my own personal family history. 

Talks

It was nice seeing familiar faces at my talk for the Bribie Island Library. The session was on the 1921 census for England and Wales which is available on Findmypast at the Library. So many new features that you wish were available for the earlier census records. 

What's Coming Up

Easter can you believe it? My trip to Sweden and my grandson's second birthday is also getting closer. So many things to finalise before I head off for another trip of a lifetime. A quick circumnavigation of the UK and Shetland Islands is also in the plan as well as stopovers in Amsterdam and Doha.

Over Easter I hope to do a tidy up of my website. One tends to set the pages and then forget that they might need a bit of an update from time to time.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter break with family or friends. Try not to eat too much chocolate. And try to find a little time for your own personal family history research. 

Take care until next time 

Shauna

RootsTech, Talks, & other genealogy news: My Genealogy Weeks 15-29 February 2024

Summer is over and autumn is upon us. Although here in Queensland we are still sweltering in the heat and the gardens look like they need more water. 

Blogs

I have finally created a blog for Bribie Family History Association. There is still content to add and I need to establish regular posts, although that is easier on our Facebook page.

Beautiful flowers every table

Keeping this blog every fortnight is hard going as I seem to be going off Island a lot lately. Morning tea at Miegunyah in Brisbane followed by an afternoon with the Brisbane History Group celebrating the sesquicentenary of Brisbane. Managed to buy a couple of books discounted down. 

Who can resist cake and scones?

Books

Big shout out to Moreton Libraries as I have been able to get some of my PhD reading through their library system or via interlibrary loan. So good and I only have to drive down to the Bribie Library to collect. So many books to read and take notes from. I will never remember where I got what piece of information/evidence if I don't write it down. 

Reading Kate Grenville's A Room Made of Leaves for our Bribie Family History Association book club. I will be interested to see what other club members think.

Conferences

RootsTech 2024 is over, a weekend that went very fast. Fortunately a lot of the classes are still on the website and we can watch them at home for free. I would like to have been there in person but coming from downunder it is an expensive weekend with flights, accommodation, meals, taxis and other expenses. If I do it again I will factor in serious time at the FamilySearch Library for material that I cannot get online, all those lovely books not yet scanned.

The AFFHO 2025 Congress planning is going well and the website has information on all aspects of the conference. There is also a call for papers out at present. 

The last Unlock the Past genealogy cruise sails in December 2024. Not too late to join other like minded people on what looks like a fantastic program.

Brisbane History Group publication

Nick Vine Hall Awards, AFFHO

There have been a few entries so far but I will be doing more publicity over March and into April. Any member society of AFFHO can submit one of their journals from 2023 for judging in the Awards. 

Also working with our new judges on the judging criteria and marking system so that we will have consistency over the three judges. As convenor I collate the results. All very exciting and a big part of National Family History Month in August.

Talks

My visit to Noosa Libraries was very successful with a great group of people. The evaluation sheets were encouraging and always suggestions for what else could be done. 

Weekly Genie Chats on English Genealogy also keep me busy at the moment. Only four more weeks to go this term. There won't be a second term as I will be away for most of it. 

Technology

The Family History Academy ran a three week workshop on AI for Family History with Fiona Brooker and Andrew Redfern. This certainly opened up my eyes to what can be done with AI not only with my genealogy/family history but also with my PhD and lengthy criminal trials. 

What's Coming Up?

A talk at Bribie Library on the UK 1921 census on Findmypast. It is interesting following up siblings lines in the UK as I often find a connection then with DNA matches. 

RootsTech 2023 - will I get there in 2025?

I know it can be hard for some, but try to find a little family history time for yourself and use some of the new resources or watch some RootsTech 2024 classes.

Take care, stay safe and happy searching until next time. Shauna

RootsTech, New Resources & Other News: My Genealogy Weeks 16 January - 14 February 2024

Well January is done and dusted and we are half way through February. From now on it will be back to regular genie society meetings, attending special events and meeting new people. There is never a dull day when you research your family history.

Blogs

The ship dwarfed by Alaska's
Inner Passage 2018 

My first guest post for the Genealogical Society of Queensland was completed and there were some interesting comments on both the blog page and on Facebook. 

Many people identified with some of my points. The post is called Shauna's family history A-Z and you can read it by clicking the link.

In the post I put C is for Conferences but now I am thinking perhaps it should have been for Cruises. The Alaska genealogy cruise was a stand out with Cyndi (from Cyndi's List - another C) and amazing Alaska scenery. 

I am planning to keep Diary more regular this year. My tip is to schedule in my calendar and then do it rather than whenever I remember or think of it. This will be my year to be organised! All good except I drafted the end of January post and then forgot to publish it. Hence the delay.

Books

Reading so many interesting books for my PhD on Incarcerated Women in Colonial Queensland 1850-1900. Perhaps not surprisingly, many are also of interest to my family history research. A bonus. Interlibrary loans will get a workout this year. 

The Bribie Family History Association Book Club is having its first meeting in February. We have been readingThe Ancient Paths by Graham Robb. We had a good time discussing the author's incredible use of resources and the attention to detail. Not the easiest book to read but definitely one to make you aware of the need for thoroughness of research.

Our next book club read will be Kate Grenville's A Room Made of Leaves which I am really looking forward to. I am a big fan of her books. What if Elizabeth McArthur had a secret diary? What if indeed!

Conferences

RootsTech 2024 is almost upon us and I am disappointed not to be there this year. So many more Australians going than last year. Still there are all the virtual sessions so it is definitely a genealogy feast for the last weekend in Febrary. 

2024 in person 

The big news is the 2025 AFFHO/History Queensland congress now has a website. The theme is Connections Past Present and Future and the dates are 21-24 March 2025 in Brisbane, Queensland.

Keynote speakers are the wonderful Judy Russell (The Legal Genealogist), Nick Barrett (Who Do You Think You Are) and Hamish Maxwell-Stewart (Digital History Tasmania). 

Details of accommodation, call for speakers and other news is all online now. Check it out and book a space in your diary.

Also looking forward to the final Unlock the Past genealogy cruise in December 2024 with Chris Paton, Mia Bennett and others. It is a Southern Australia cruise and I have also seen it advertised as a wine and food cruise. Definitely my kind of cruise.

New Resources

Not quite a new resource but I have just done a 3 week workshop on Artificial Intelligence with Fiona Brooker and Andrew Redfern through the Family History Academy. Wow there are certainly ways to do some things more efficiently and quickly using ChatGPT and other AI tools. I think the issue will be indicating that you have used AI in a project or whatever. The ethics are an interesting topic all on their own. 

Great session and I love playing with ChatGPT which is free. That's my new technology toy for the year done and dusted.

Presentations

So far I have given a Zoom/hybrid presentation to 93 people in Monash Library/virtual and in person presentation at Caloundra where they had their biggest turn out since pre Covid. Next week I have an in person presentation at Noosa which is fully booked. 

Perhaps we are getting back to our pre Covid lives?

Details of where I am speaking are on the Events page of my website.

Special Projects

I have been working with a group of people revising the Queensland Family History Society's library policy. Like any revision project, there are lots of things that need to be looked at and how these will be dealt with in future. Think ebooks and ejournals and archival records of the Society and donations and dare I say it, legacy issues and backlogs arising from moving premises more than once. 

The good news is that the revised library policy is coming along and a project plan for all the legacy issues will be developed and then it will be a case of one smaller project at a time. Boxes in storage sheds are not ideal conditions for books and archival materials. Looking forward to working more with the volunteers.

What's Coming Up?

Miegunyah 2014 via Wikipedia

A visit to Miegunyah (Queensland Women's History Association), an afternoon of talks with the Brisbane History Group and my regular weekly Genie Chats. This term is all about English Genealogy. 

Since starting my Ph D my own personal family history writing has come to a stop. I want to allocate time to completing my citations and drafts and getting them up into NED (national edeposit).

Until next time, happy searching. Do try and make some time for your own research, no one else will do it and others will benefit now and in the future. 

Take care, stay safe.

Geneastats from 2023 & Other News: My Genealogy Weeks 1-15 January 2024

The first two weeks of 2024 have seen devastating storms, flooding and incredible heatwaves almost in a rolling pattern. Now another cyclone seems to be looming off our coast. Stay safe everyone, out thoughts are with all those impacted.

Blogs

Each year I do two guest blog posts for the Genealogical Society of Queensland. I picked January and July for my efforts. This means the January guest blog is lined up and ready to go in early February. I will be interested in all feedback on my 2023 thoughts. A direct link will be in the next edition of this Diary blog.
 

Books

I have so many books to read now. There are those for sheer pleasure, those for genealogy and family history and those for my Ph D research.

Not sure if I mentioned it last year, but we have started up a Bribie Family History Association Book Club and we have been reading The Ancient Paths by Graham Robb. Not an easy book to read but quite fascinating and the archival references are amazing. We operate via the Moreton Bay Region Libraries which makes it very easy to operate a book club.

Plus I try to keep up with the digital genealogy magazines that I can borrow from the local library.

Conferences

The AFFHO Congress is coming up in 2025 and they have released the dates for that. It will be held in Brisbane which is good news for all the locals. The last one was on Norfolk Island which was a much smaller affair due to the remoteness of the venue but still an excellent conference. 

The Congress theme is “Connections: Past, Present and Future” will be held in Brisbane on 21 – 24  March 2025. The venue is Brisbane Technology Park, Clunies Ross Court, Eight Mile Plains and is situated next to hotel accommodation. Save the date and I will be staying onsite as battling highway traffic each day to and from would leave me a total nervous wreck. Everyone is always in a rush and there is usually a bingle or two to slow traffic down further. Plus that would give me an extra four hours a day to chat and mingle with friends. Much more pleasant.

Unlock the Past is having its final genealogy cruise in December 2024 and that has some big name speakers and sails out from Sydney. Booked and will probably give a talk or two depending on how the final program develops.

The NSW/ACT Association of Family History Societies usually have an annual conference about September. There is nothing on their website yet about 2024 so hopefully that will be announced soon.

New Resources

It is almost mind blowing to read some of the statistical accounts from the big genealogy databases on how much is added each year and 2023 was no exception.

FamilySearch added over 30,000 newly digitised books to their online collection which now stands at 586,813 digital books online. I just did a search for Islandmagee in County Antrim, Island. It has returned a number of volumes including the Brennen Chronicles (one of my family lines is Brennan for Islandmagee). Another book mentions the Cain/Kain family of Islandmagee, another one of my family lines. In fact there are 33 pages of references to all kinds of books and journals. I would hate to be searching for a big parish. 

There are now over 18.36 billion historical records online for over 70 countries. A big addition was the digitised 1931 census for Canada. One of my Scottish families went to Canada and I would love to find some DNA matches to confirm that this is one of my family lines. 

MyHeritage also had a very big year and I can't sum it up anymore than their own image of achievements. You can read more about these statistics in the January blog post. I'm beginning to think we could do genealogy 24/7 and still not use all the resources out there. 

And all the others Ancestry, Findmypast, The Genealogist, Irish Roots, Geneanet, WikiTree and others added to their collections. There is so much out there now  that it is often hard to decide where to search first. 

Online trees can be a real time saver but you have to remember to check them carefully and go back to original sources. Recently I found a tree that was exactly what I wanted but they had a different surname for the wife (which was different from the marriage certificate) but absolutely no explanation for this discrepancy. It is so frustrating when people don't give sources and don't add a note that explains such a major difference between the marriage certificate and their tree. 

Nick Vine Hall (NVH) Awards

It is going to be exciting to be part of the NVH Awards for 2023. We have three new judges, revised criteria and all member societies of AFFHO are encouraged to enter one of their 2023 journals/newsletters.

My main job over the next couple of months will be promoting the awards and encouraging editors to submit. Of course members of individual societies have to write up their own stories for publication so make sure you write at least one article this year for your society editor. Don't be shy and who knows it might lead to further information on the family.

Talks

My first talk for 2024 will be for Monash Library in Melbourne in the first week of February. They are a great group and have hybrid meetings. The session is Researching Australian Ancestors and anyone can join but you need to register and what out for daylight saving time if you live this side of the border.

Then it will be up to Caloundra for my annual appearance there. Another great group and not just because they all wear purple shirts. So friendly over afternoon tea. The talk will be Researching Family in Ireland Online. 

What's Coming Up

Bribie Family History Association is having its first meeting for 2024 and our guest speaker is Sue Reid an excellent presenter on researching newspapers. Afterwards some of our members meet for lunch. No doubt we will be busy sharing our success stories over the summer break. 

Our AGM is coming up in February and here is a happy snap of the current committee hard at work.

My monthly meeting with my Ph D tutors is also challenging especially when they ask to see what I am working on. 

Last month it was my database of incarcerated Queensland women 1850-1900 and this time it is my research plan for Queensland State Archives and my Bibliography to date. It is only seven months since I started so quite full on. 

Take care over the next few weeks of summer weather. A good opportunity to stay inside with a good book, either digital or print. I'm almost preferring digital to my surprise. New skills, new ways of doing things. Until next time, happy researching. Shauna