Conferences, new editions & other news: My genealogy fortnight 1-15 March 2025

The first two weeks of March were full on with Cyclone Alfred hovering around Bribie Island for a few days. Had to be the slowest cyclone ever and travelled all the way down the Queensland coast to impact the Gold Coast and northern New South Wales. Strangely it was not until after the cyclone/weather event hit the mainland that Bribie actually got the strong winds and rain. Other parts of south east Queensland were not so lucky. 

To keep me busy indoors was RootsTech 2025 with lots of talks on offer. The Find Your Relatives feature ends on 11 April so make sure you check that out before then. I have 734 relatives now but mostly 8th cousins. Just be careful that you check trees and matches for any wrong assumptions, especially the further back the match is.

Below is a map of my Find Your Relatives connections in the US and Canada. Sometimes I find that these link up to my more distant DNA matches so a useful tool to explore. Remember ends 11 April.

This weekend we had the Scottish Indexes Conference so lots of learning this month so far. You can download past conference handouts from the website. The date for the next one is 13 September 2025 and registration is free but given the value offered, a donation to their website is a nice idea.

Blogs

Stay tuned for a blog or two on the upcoming AFFHO Congress where I will mention the sessions I attend and other bits and pieces for those who can't attend in person. Hybrid conferences definitely make it more affordable for people without having to spend on airfares and accommodation. Maybe we were spoilt by Covid.

Books

I have been working on a second edition of my Australian Genealogy Online and that should be at the printers this week. Looking forward to seeing the updated edition. Just checked Gould Genealogy & History and the ebook is here and the print book here.

Conferences

Next weekend is Connections 2025 the biannual AFFHO conference which is in Brisbane. I will be staying at the venue rather than doing the highway shuffle for three days. Looking forward to catching up with friends and hearing some interesting presentations.

I am giving one session Mining the archives and attending the welcome function and the conference dinner.On the Thursday night pre conference I will be joining APG ANZ members for dinner and a drink at a local iconic hotel. 

Talks

My next session is for Legacy Family Tree Webinars and it will be part of their 24 hour marathon on 4-5 April. Sessions are live in the time zone of the presenter so you can watch sessions in the middle of the night or at a more convenient time. Registration is free, just pick which sessions you want to listen to live. My session is Discover MyHeritage from Downunder at 3pm on Friday 4 April.

What's Coming Up?

Bribie Family History Association's AGM is now being held at the April monthly meeting as March was cancelled due to the shut down occasioned by Cyclone Alfred. We also have Christine Ianna a conservation specialist talking about saving our soggy treasures. Little did I think that we would have a cyclone just before her visit.

As usual my PhD research and reading will take up time with the weeks just zipping past. 

Until next time, happy searching. Shauna

Books, Talks, Conferences & Trips: My Genealogy Weeks 31 Jan to - 28 Feb 2025

The big highlight of the last few weeks was my confirmation report and presentation to Griffith University assessors for my PhD thesis. A 10000 word report including a literature report tends to focus your thoughts on what your topic is and is it worthwhile as a PhD topic. Personally I think telling the life stories of over 1700 women in colonial Queensland gaols is fascinating. Thankfully the assessing panel agreed and I will get formal approval soon but they told me on the day I had passed.

My Easter orchid continues to flower so it is also a reminder that summer is finishing and autumn is coming.

Books

Just finished Tea Cooper's The Naturalists Daughter. Another great read and when I went to the library to borrow another of her books, none on the shelf. 

Bribie Family History Association book club has started up for the year and we had two books waiting for us. Both look really interesting and both authors I have not read before. 

Heather Morris' book was hard to put down. I hadn't been aware of those events (trying not to do a spoiler alert).

Plus I have a couple of books people have lent me or given to me. The obvious question whenever I meet my friends is, have you read it yet? Now out of the cupboard and on the desk where I can see them. Pity I can't do that with e-books, articles, journals and magazines. Sadly that is a case of out of sight out of mind. I bought a new IPad with lots more memory so I'm hoping to get more e-reading done on my travels in May.

Conferences & Travel

RootsTech 2025 is only a few weeks away now. I'm not familiar with the keynote speakers named so far and will probably just end up watching pre recorded sessions due to the time differences. With over 150 sessions to choose from we won't be bored over the weekend. Remember it is free to watch online.

But not as good as meeting people in person. One of the 2023 highlights was meeting Nathan Dylan Goodwin in person.

The NSW/ACT annual conference is in Wollongong in September and I am still thinking should I go or do my planned trip the east coast of Queensland to Rockhampton and Townsville. Planning to do some PhD research up that way and want to do it before summer arrives again. 

We have our trip to Bali again in August and I don't get back from my Swedish trip till the beginning of June. A Wollongong trip would mean driving through Newcastle and a spot of research on Dad's family has been in my travel plan since pre Covid days.

Stewart's Creek Penal Establishment in 1912
image courtesy State Library Queensland

The other conference I definitely want to attend is the Professional Historian's Association conference in Darwin in October. That will also give me the chance to pop over to Broome, another must visit Australian town on my bucket list. I only have a few to go so it would be good to tick this one off.

New Resources

Excited to learn that Findmypast has added 207,233 cemetery records from New Zealand. Regions include Christchurch, Selwyn District, Far North District, Onehunga, Ruapehu and Auckland. There is a list of cemeteries included on the search page. Good news for those of us with trans Tasman families.

Still with Findmypast they added 307,800 new newspaper pages updating 67 existing titles and adding Bromley. Digitised newspapers are so good for finding out family stories we might never know about. 

Talks

My Monash library and Noosaville library talks were well attended and lots of fun. I enjoy giving my search strategies talk because I can actually see people thinking of why they need to search variant spellings of given names, surnames and places. 

My next talk is at the Connections 2025 conference in Brisbane. I'm looking forward to catching up with lots of genie friends and learning heaps as well.

What's Coming Up?

Bribie Family History genie chats has started up for the year and we are doing Thomas MacEntee's do over or go over program with his permission. Already I have found it useful as I picked my Somerset families on Dad's side to review as I am getting lots of DNA matches to those families. Since I last looked Ancestry has added lots of Somerset records and with images. Already pushed a couple of families back a generation or two. But also looking to record everything properly as I go. Looking forward to seeing how the other participants are going at the next Genie Chat session.

Have to say it is nice to actually spending some dedicated time on my own family research.

RootsTech 2025 will be a full on weekend and there are a few sessions I would like to see live. Maybe I should plan another visit for 2026. That will be three years after my last visit. Plus I am giving a talk on Australian military records on the Thursday. 

Until next time, happy searching. Shauna

Books, Resources & Other News: My Genealogy Week 23 - 30 Jan 2025

Well time is moving fast. My Easter orchid is in bloom, a bit like having hot cross buns in the shop. A hectic week preparing a confirmation report for my Ph D. Still to do the slides but should be ready for presentation on 7 February. 

Books 

My reading pile of books is huge and I have them on Kindle and Funnell too and an academic platform. Not to mention all the academic articles relevant to my research on women incarcerated in colonial Queensland. Had to go through them for my uni report and so many are also relevant to family history research. 

For example, Tanya Evans' Family history, historical consciousness and citizenship: a new social history. I really like her introduction looking at the origins and practice of family history in Australia, Britain and Canada.

Another one that I haven't read fully yet is Janet Few's Marginalised women: a guide for family historians which is on my Kindle. It is good to compare my Queensland examples with her British case studies. 

Conferences

March is the big month with Roots Tech attending virtually and giving two sessions. The theme this year is Discover and I am sure we will all learn something new.

Then the AFFHO Congress in Brisbane where I will present one session in person. Sadly nothing after that unless I see an interesting virtual/hybrid conference. Just have to cheer myself up with my trip to Sweden to see the family.

New Resources & Magazines

WDYTYA January 2025 features one of my guest posts on a reader's question. Always exciting to do but also often quite hard to resolve. Sometimes our ancestors just don't want to be found.

Ancestry now has the 1921 census for England and Wales. 

The Museums of History Newsletters provide updates about the records held by the State Archives in New South Wales. I get really good tips when they produced their own newsletter. There is a webinar on how to read a parish map if you are not familiar with these. Plus information on what is in education records.

Lost Cousins newsletter is still informative and lots of information on updates and new resources.

Talks

February is a big month with a session with Monash Library family history group on searching techniques and a similar session up at Noosaville mid February. 

Love the graphic Noosaville did to advertise the talk. Details of my talks are on the Events page of my website.

What's Coming Up?

I'm buying a new car and should have it by the end of the month or early February. Exciting times. Love the colour and so much quieter and safer than my Mazda. Although not sure that I will get used to a self steering car and one that can move forward and back without me in it.

Until next time, happy searching, Shauna

New DNA matches, books I'm loving & other news: My genealogy week 15 -22 Jan 2025

 Another busy week with a trip to Caloundra to give a talk on Scottish ancestors and lots of work on my confimation milestone for my PhD. In fact, that has taken over my life at the moment.

Books

Still fascinated with Tea Cooper's books. Just finished reading The Fossil Hunter and have now borrowed The Naturalist's Daughter from the Bribie Island library.

Bribie Family History Association

Out first meeting for 2025 is on 7 February with Mariane Young as our guest speaker on researching in Ireland. Putting together the slides for the meeting so that those members who can't attend still get all the news. Looking forward to seeing everyone again.

Conferences

For something different, I am going to talk about the NSW/ACT annual conference which is in Wollongong this yearbetween 12-14 September 2025. No details yet but you can sign up for the conference newsletter. No 1 is here.

My RootsTech handouts are due next week but I notice that my sessions have disappeared from the classes schedule. I need to check that out. 

New Resources

I haven't used Findmypast for a while so a bit surprised to see a new look. There was a hint to an Elizabeth Bilson in the 1841 census in Melton Mowbray and when I checked it out, a 12 year old Mary Spencer was also living there. More proof that the Billson and Spencer families were connected in Leicestershire. Only trouble was that the image is very poor and the name of the three week baby girl is not readable. A search in 1851 didn't find them so I need to have a good look at this. When I get spare time!

Snippet from 1841 census via Findmypast

Then I popped over to Ancestry to check my new DNA matches. Got excited with a large match, first cousin once removed, but once I checked it out, I realised it was a second cousin with a much larger cM match than her brother. Interesting.

Otherwise most of my new matches were in the smallish range of under 20cM. 

I should probably schedule regular checks of my DNA accounts as I have them with FamilyTree DNA and MyHeritage as well as Ancestry and 23 & Me. 

Talks 

My next talk is for Monash Library in Melbourne and it's a variation of my why can't I find it talk. So lots of tips and tricks on how to find something hiding in the indexes. Always a good group and it is hybrid with some in the library's conference room and some on Zoom.

And a trip up to Noosa Libraries - another good group. I like the advert they have done for my talk Why Can't I Find It? Family history searching at Noosaville Library. Very Sherlockian, if that is a word? You can book online by going to the Events Calendar - select Monday 17 Feb at 10.30am till 12 noon.

Always amazed by all the bats in the trees around the library complex. Have to be careful where you park the car!

What's Coming Up?

A new passport! Having booked my trip to Sweden, I now realise that there won't be six months left on it by the end of my holiday. 

Have fun researching, until next time, Shauna

Remember 1 January updates & other news: My Genealogy Week 8-14 January 2025

Well the first week of the year went by in a blur. I mostly worked on researching the women who will feature in my PhD The Grass Wasn't Always Greener.

With all the rain we have had lately, there are lots of lovely blooms in the yard. Max bought some inside to brighten up the house. Lots of red.

Books

Currently reading another one of Meg Kennealy's books which I enjoy. 

Just finished The Fossil Hunter by Tea Cooper and I do love her books on early New South Wales.

Looking forward to our Bribie Family History Association Book Club starting up again in February. Bev always manages to make an interesting choice, and not one that I would necessarily pick for myself.

Conferences

Uploaded my slides and handout for Connections 2025. My session is all about archives. What else!

RootsTech 2025 is on in just a few weeks. The program is now live and it is free to register. You can select what talks you want to listen to and no need to stay awake all night as sessions are mostly prerecorded.

Resources

I forgot to mention last week that the 1 January meant a new release of records into the public domain. So time to look for new BDMs and archival records, and not just in Queensland. Check out Public Record Office Victoria's What's New in December 2024.

FamilySearch continue to amaze me with their use of AI over Australian wills and probates. Fantastic for locating relationships you might not be aware of. For example, a will/probate is usually indexed under the name of the deceased. With AI you also get everyone mentioned  in the will including children and other beneficiaries. Fantastic. The full text search over other records is equally good. Check out the projects in FamilySearch labs. 

Talks

First talk for 2025 is tomorrow with the Caloundra Family History Research Group. The topic is researching Scottish ancestors. James Carnegie's parents were from Montrose, Angus, Scotland and Mary Finn's parents were from Rathdrum, Wicklow, Ireland.

James Carnegie and Mary Finn

For a list of where I am speaking check out the Events page of my website.

Travel

Another trip to Sweden and my little grandson's 3rd birthday. 

On the way home I will spend a week in Ireland visiting the Rathdrum area of Wicklow where my Finn and Fegan families came from and also going up to Northern Ireland to visit Belfast and Islandmagee where my GGG grandparents Stewart Heddles and Agnes Templeton are buried. 

Also having a stopover in Doha so I don't arrive totally washed out in Copenhagen. 

What's Coming Up?

Bookfest in Brisbane and the opportunity to buy some great book bargains. Last year I showed great restraint limiting myself to $100 and one green shopping bag. Achieved but quite a few went back on the tables and choosing that final selection was hard.

 Do I want to do that again? Do I need more books? 

Until next time happy researching Shauna

New Year, Inspiring Blogs & Other Genealogy News: My Genealogy Week 1-7 January 2025

 Welcome to 2025 and another great year of family history research. 

I spent the holiday break on another attempt to weed out my two remaining vertical file cabinets. Tossing what I don't need, scanning what I do need, and putting aside my paper birth, marriage and death certificates for donation to the Queensland Family History Society. After scanning of course.

As usual my library has grown and these new additions are all added into Library Thing, which is also an app on my phone to avoid buying something twice. Yes I am feeling organised to take on 2025.

Blogs

I participated in Jill Ball's Accentuate the Positive 2024 annual blog post. You can read mine here and then go to Jill's Geniaus blogpost for the accumulation of all the contributors to get more ideas for 2025. At the time of writing this post, Jill is still receiving blogposts, so just watch her blog site for the accumulation update.

Books

As mentioned above, there are some new books on the shelves.

Conferences

Looking forward to the AFFHO Congress in Brisbane in March. Read more about Connections here.

Online Webinars

Looking forward to the next series of Rippling Effects of the Great Irish Famine which starts at the end of January. Some excellent speakers including our own Dr Perry McIntyre and it runs for five weeks until the end of February. Lectures are recorded and you can watch at a time that suits. And it's free. 

The previous series is still available on their You Tube channel. See it here.

Resources

The end of the year is always a great time to get a round up of what has been added to various databases. MyHeritage does their compilation as a diagram which really appeals to me. Read their blog post for more details here. Staggering numbers.

I'm a bit behind with Ancestry but I just read that they added over 13 million records in November. it is easy to see all the new collections - just visit the recent collections page and select the country of interest.

FamilySearch also did a blog post on their year in review. Read it here. 

How can anyone keep up with all these new resources? It really is a great time for researching our family history.

Talks

My web page for events has been updated for 2025. See where I am speaking (the list is updated from time to time). Just check the Events page for details. 

March and the Congress will soon be here so I hope to catch up with lots of friends and colleagues in Brisbane.

What's Coming Up?

My first talk for the year is at the Caloundra Family History Research Group on 16 January. In person, and hybrid, I will be looking at Scottish ancestors and how to trace them. Always a fun group to visit.

Research on my PhD is ongoing and amazing how fast 20 hours a week goes. At least there is no travel time.

Have a great geneaweek and until next time, have fun finding those ancestors. Shauna