Conferences, webinars and DNA finds: My genealogy weeks 1-15 October 2025

Spring is sprung and the hippeastrums are out. Only wish they bloomed more often. Lots of colour in the garden.

It has been incredibly dry here in recent months and the local wildlife is also feeling the lack of water and lush green grass in the surrounding national park. 

The kangaroos and wallabies are coming into residential areas especially where people water their lawns. Caught this rather large visitor the other afternoon at the neighbour's place. 

Books

All my book club suggestions have arrived at the library and now madly reading 'in my spare time'. One of the books has 18 reserves so no chance of an extension on that one. 

Also doing a deaccession of my family history books and looking to give them a new home. On our next trip to the Capricorn Coast I will be taking up a big donation to the Central Queensland Family History Association. 

They were really helpful with unique sources on some of my incarcerated women for my PhD thesis. Some are a bit dated but the information and context is still relevant. And yet the bookshelves don't have any noticeable gaps despite dozens of books in the box!

Conferences

This week I am off to Darwin for the Professional Historians Conference and my session on homeless women in colonial Queensland. I love Darwin so much history and then I will be off to Broome to cross off another bucket list destination. Another place with so much history.

This must have been my year for conferences as I have just been selected as a speaker at the Dragon Tails Conference in Brisbane in November. Another Ph D related session on some of my incarcertated women who partnered with Chinese men. It will be my fourth conference this year, genealogy in March in Brisbane, PhD related history in Townsville in June, the Darwin conference in October and the Chinese one in Brisbane next month. Great opportunities to catch up with friends and colleagues while travelling.

DNA update

My next DNA challenge is to identify my two unknown great great grandfathers on my father's side. I have finally identified two common families (Blakeley and Hardman) in my unknown matches for the one in Brisbane which links to my Brennan family. This gives me six potential suspects so now I need to narrow down to just one family if possible. 

At least it is not a total unknown as my Toorbul great great grandfather remains. But then someone might test and all will become clear. Hope is eternal as they say.

New Resources 

FamilySearch continues to add amazing record numbers to its collection eg over 21 million new records from seven countries as per their October newsletter. Countries include Italy, the Phillipines, American Samoa, Brazil, Haiti, Ukraine and the USA. They have also expanded their FindAGrave index with nearly four million records in the world collection.This made me think that I usually only use FindAGrave for Australia when in fact I should be using it for other countries especially in the UK and Ireland. Another thing on the 'to do' list.

Findmypast added a substantial collection of Suffolk coronial inquest records and more Middlesex baptisms from 1657-1841 which I will be searching for the very generic Walker family! More records for London included the Greater London Burial Index 1530-1812 and Archdeaconry Court of London willis index 1570-1582.

Talks

James Carnegie and Mary Finn

In addition to conference sessions, I still do genealogy talks and the annual seminar day at the Genealogical Society of Queensland was a great day. My session on prison and convict records was well received. 

A few days later I did a live webinar for Legacy Family Tree Webinars onpost office directories in MyHeritage. That session is free and you can watch it by clicking the link. I use Australia, New Zealand, England and Ireland directories as examples.

What's Coming Up

Another birthday, Christmas and 2026. Time does fly when you are having fun. 

I am booked to attend the Founding Families Connect Group for the old Caboolture Shire in November. My Carnegie family was one of the founders so I am looking forward to finally getting to one of their meetings.

Until next time, stay safe and keep researching. 

Shauna

Books, Webinars, New Resources & Other News: my genealogy weeks 16 -30 Sep 2025

 Everything seems to be speeding up or I'm trying to do more. Even the Bribie Family History Association Book Club is challenging me. See more below.

Blogs

The next instalment of my travel postings for the GSQ blog was published. Read more here and the earlier one on my trip to Ireland here.

Books

I have always been a big reader, even in primary school with all the Enid Blyton books. Totally enjoying being part of the BFHA book club and reading books I don't normally choose. 

At the last meeting six new titles were suggested so I put in a request at my local library, as they were at other Moreton libraries. Within a week I had four of the titles which of course now have to be read over the four week loan period. 

Family Baggage is about sorting a parent's belongings after they've passed. We can all relate to that.

Hoping that The Psychology of Family History will explain why I am so obsessed with researching.

New Resources

One thing I learnt from the North Ireland DNA school was that DNA Painter has a whole lot of new tools since I last had a look. Now that Dad's paternal side is definite, I want to try and follow up some strange ethnicities in my mother's family. The paper trail does not lead there. Are there more skeletons in my family? Surely not.

Ancestry regions and Mum's Germanic Europe and Welsh percentages.
Similar results in FTDNA and MyHeritage.

Have been loving the use of AI full text searching in FamilySearch. This is going to break a few brick walls for people I think. Also noted that Ancestry is trialling a similar feature for transcribing original documents. It's a fast moving field and I have booked into the GSQ's event with Andrew Redfern in November.

I also did the GSQ's webinar on We Are XYZ and there are huge possibilites for that. Technology is brilliant but sometimes I wish it didn't move so fast. 

The other day I experimented with using the microphone in Word to write a story on one my my incarcerated women (PhD thesis) instead of keying it. Wow, so good for my arthritic thumbs. 

Talks

Next week there is the GSQ annual seminar and I am first speaker with an introduction to convicts and criminals, all in 45 minutes! Luckily the records are similar. One of my favourite topics and the idea behind my PhD thesis.

Wonder which one is my GG grandmother Brisbane Women's Prison ca 1902

The following week is a webinar for Legacy Family Tree Webinars on using post office directories in MyHeritage. 

On the first Friday in November I am the guest speaker at the Bribie Island Family History Association meeting. Topic is Mining the Archives. Also planning one of my Go Fishing sessions as I have been told some members have missed them this year.

Excited to be doing a 20 minute pre recorded video for RootsTech 2026 on burial and cemetery records in Australia next March. Registration is already open and free unless you are going to Salt Lake City in person. I'd like to but I am already planning to go to England and Scotland next year. 

My Carnegie GGG grandparents grave in the historic Toorbul Cemetery.

What's Coming Up

Finally I am going to be home for a meeting of the Founding Families of Caboolture Shire. This group are descendents of original families which includes my Carnegie, Davis and Bishop connections. Looking forward to meeting others in the group.

I'm off to Darwin for the Professional Historians Conference where I am giving a session on females vagrants (homeless women) in colonial Queensland. After that off to Broome to cross off another bucket list place I have always wanted to visit.

Until next time, stay safe and well and keep on researching. Shauna

Family History month, talks, conferences and other news: My genealogy weeks Aug to 15 Sep 2025

Last month was another travel month with three weeks in Bali. Lots of great food, and good books to read. But time to get serious again with my studies and family history.

Blogs

Managed another guest blog for the Genealogical Society of Queensland. This one continued on with my walking in ancestral footsteps only this time in North Queensland. Read the blog here.

Books

Mostly read books and articles relating to my Ph D thesis in Bali while I lazed around the pool.

Conferences

AFFHO's Family History Month was a great success and the opening and closing presentations are online so don't miss Andrew Redfern, Jane Smith and Anne Young's inspiring talks.

Virtual conferences are so good. No travel and no having to pay for accommodation. But you do miss the personal interaction.

In the first two weeks of September I attended the North of Ireland Family History Society summer school on DNA. The sessions are recorded and you have a month to watch them. So far have watched four and they have been brilliant as a refresher and as something new. Finding time to watch is the hard part. 

On a really positive note, I won a mitochondrial full test DNA kit from Family Tree DNA which more than covered the cost of the summer school. However I did the full test back in 2021 but I can have a credit for another product but I have decided to donate the value in autosomal kits for the Islandmagee DNA project (where Dad's paternal family was from).

St John's Church Islandmagee Antrim May 2025

Also attended the Scottish Indexes conference with another great line up of speakers on various aspects of Scottish research.

Finally I virtually attended the NSW & ACT annual conference which was held down in the Illawarra. Some familiar faces in the audience and some of the speakers were really excellent on AI and DNA in particular. Again there is time to watch the sessions again over the coming month.

RootsTech 2026 - yes fast approaching on 5-7 March next year. Registration opens on 24 September 2025. Not long to go and in person and online.

Family History 

Not much new research done as I am still editing the final draft of my family history on my Carnegie/Stratton line. The draft has been written over the last 20 years and I haven't included some sources so I have to go back and identify them. Plus my style of doing endnotes has changed so I have had to decide on a final style sheet and then make all the amendment. Getting there slowly as the date on the front cover indicates!

I want to finish it before the next gathering of Founding Families, the descendants of original families of the Caboolture Shire meet in October. That is organised by the Caboolture Family History Research Group which I keep saying I should join and check out their resources. 

New resources

Where to start? There is so much happening everywhere. What has really blown me away is that FamilySearch now has full text searching (with AI) as a menu item under records. I particularly like looking at probate records as you get everyone mentioned in the will, not just the deceased. How incredible is that for finding lost people in our family trees.

Talks

In August I gave a talk at the Auckland, New Zealand Family History Expo (virtual) on mining the archives. Talking about some of my tips and tricks on making the most of your searches in online catalogues in Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland. Also had a few slides for finding European archives.

What's coming up?

Home through September so I hope to catch up with quite a few things on my to do list. I have two genealogy talks in October and a presentation at the Professional Historians Association conference in Darwin at the end of October. That should be good and I am taking the opportunity to come home via Broome, a place I have always wanted to visit.

Hard to believe that Christmas and the New Year are heading towards us at the speed of light. Enjoy your research time before that silly season arrives. Until next time Shauna

Still travelling, still talking and other news: My genealogy month July 2025

 Another month has gone past and I have been travelling again. Loved the dinosaurs out near Winton. Very hard to keep up with my usual family history commitments. Not to mention my PhD research.

Australian Age of Dinosaurs 

Blogs

I did manage to write up my guest blog post for the Genealogical Society of Queensland. Walking in Ancestral Footsteps outlines my trip to Ireland in May and lessons learned. Read the post here.

I have just finished writing the next post for August which is Still Travelling in Ancestral Footsteps. This time outlining my trip to Townsville in North Queensland then out to Charters Towers before going down to Winton and back through Longreach and Barcaldine to Rockhampton.

New Resources

One of the things I have noticed researching my prison ladies is that there are more Trove articles coming up for Charters Towers than I have previously seen. A good reminder to check for new titles added. Visit the coming soon to Trove page for details of new additions 

https://trove.nla.gov.au/announcement/2024/03/22/coming-soon-trove 

While I was travelling Ancestry released its new DNA clusters feature which I haven't had the opportunity yet to fully explore. You need Pro and over 65cM for it to work but this might help me identify the remaining two unidentified ancestors on my father's side. I have four clusters and only one is paternal and that relates to Dad's biological father. I think I need more, bigger matches but that comes back to people I am related to taking DNA tests.

Talks

CQFHA premises Jul 2025

While in Rockhampton I gave two talks to the Central Queensland Family History Association which was a great afternoon and a lovely audience. I also managed to do some research on my Rockhampton prison ladies in their library using some of their exclusive local history resources. Still to process all that into my biographical files on each woman. 

Got back in time to do another Genie Chats based on Thomas MacEntee's do over program. Hard to believe we have already completed Steps 1-7. The year will soon be over but already I can see substantial progress on some of my do over tasks.  

Also spoke on immigration records at the Pine Rivers Heritage Museum. They serve the most delicious morning teas. It was timed to complement their latest exhibition on immigrants to the Pine Rivers area. 

August is Family History Month and I am giving a live Zoom presentation at the Auckland Family History Expo on Mining the archives in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. Plus I will be announcing the winners of the Nick Vine Hall awards at the opening ceremony on 1 August. 

Television

The lending library, Comet Jul 2025

Since getting home, I have been catching up with the latest Australian series of Who Do You Think You Are on SBS. I hadn't heard of all the celebrities. But there have been some really interesting stories and it shows how ethnically diverse Australia is. Yes some of us are plain UK but lots of us also trace back to Europe and Asia. Still available on SBS on Demand so don't miss out on some fascinating family stories.

What's Coming Up?

Did I mention there is another trip coming up? I had another conference program talk accepted on my PhD thesis so I will be off to the Professional Historian's Conference in Darwin in October. After that I'm popping over to Broome to tick off one of my Australian bucket list items. But I have to be back in time for the November Bribie Family History Association meeting as I am the guest speaker with a talk on using archives more effectively.

Until next time, keep on researching.

Ancestral footsteps, new resources and other news: my genealogy months of May and June 2025

Yes it has been two months but I have travelled thousands of kilometres and had some amazing adventures. These days I only travel with my smart phone which is not easy to write blog posts on. However if you are a Facebook follower than I regularly post photos of my daily doings.

Books

Still trying not to buy books but on my recent trip to Islandmagee in Northern Ireland I couldn't help myself. This is where Dad's family is from and the two books are good histories of  the area with some interesting historical post cards as illustrations in one of the books. A bit weighty for my luggage but fortunately I packed light to start with.

Genealogy Travels

On my annual visit to my family in Sweden, I had a stopover in Doha for a few days.

The spice market was amazing as were the camels just down the road from my hotel. Not something you see every day.

After my two weeks in Sweden, I decided to have a quick week in Ireland to tick off two bucket list items. The first was to visit the Roman Catholic Church in Rathdrum, Wicklow where my great great grandparents John Finn and Sarah Fegan married. The second was to visit my great great grandparents Stewart Heddles and Agnes Templeton's grave in Islandmagee in Antrim in Northern Ireland. You can read more of my Irish adventures in my guest blog for the Genealogical Society of Queensland which will be published next week. 

A hectic week but I am really glad that I made the effort and saw the countryside where my ancestors lived and decided to leave. Everywhere was green with lots of spring flowers along the road side and rail tracks. But not a lot of work opportunities apart from farming in Rathdrum or fishing in Islandmagee. Whatever there reasons, I'm glad they picked Australia to emigrate to.

St John's Islandmagee, Antrim, Northern Ireland where my GGG grandparents Stewart Heddles and Agnes Templeton are buried.

New Resources

I have had no chance to explore some of the new record releases or webinars. I haven't even kept up with genealogy society journals or genealogy magazines through the local library.

The best way to find out what is new is to subscribe to the free newslettes which usually provide a montly update. 

PhD Incarcerated women in colonial Queensland

Slowly plugging away with the biographies of my 1750 women who were incarcerated in Queensland gaols between 1850 and 1900. So many interesting stories and it is going to be hard to decide who goes into the thesis. I keep telling myself you have to write a 100,000 thesis not just do the research, which of course is the fun place.

Talks

A busy time with a talk on my North Queensland incarcerated women at the Australian Historical Association conference in Townsville. 

Two talks at the Central Queensland Family History Association premises. It has been a few years since I have spoken at their library and I am looking forward to catching up with everyone again.

After my travels I have a talk on immigration records for Moreton City Libraries at the Pine Rivers Heritage Museum. A great place to visit especially if you have any ancestors in that area.

What's Coming Up?

More travel as I leave on Friday for North Queensland and the Australian Historical Association conference in Townsville. On the way up we have stops in Rockhampton and Bowen. Yes I want photos of the Big Bull and the Big Mango. But I am going to meet a second cousin in Bowen who has also been researching the Price family history. 

My involvement in the AHA conference is three fold - one I am a speaker on women incarcerated in North Queensland gaols, two I am chairing an interesting session on Chinese migration issues and thirdly I will just be sitting back and listening to some fascinating presentations. There are multple streams which means you need to mak a decision as to which one to go to.

After the conference we are doing a trip out to Winton via Charters Towers and Hughenden. Checking out the Dinosaur Trail as well as other historica places. Coming back via Barcaldine to Rockhampton where I will be researching some of my Central Queensland women at the Central Queensland Family History Associatin library. Lots of my names appear in their online index so I'm hoping to discover some treasures.

Then home via Tannum Sands where we are catching up with friends. 

Hopefully there will be another Diary post about mid July. Have fun researching until then, Shauna

Travel adventures ahead, books, talks & other news: My Genealogy Weeks 1-30 April 2025

 Another great few weeks progressing my family history drafts and following up new ideas from the AFFHO congress last month. 

Plus the research on my 1750 women for my PhD is ramping up and I am loving discovering their stories. Although often sad if not tragic. 

My gardening friend has given us a plant whose flower is truly unique. Meet the Bat Plant! I just hope that we can coax flowers out of it just as she does. So weird looking.

In a review of my commitments I decided to stand down from President of Bribie Family History Association after two years. Prior to that I was running Bribie Genealogy on my own for however many years so well and truly time for new perspectives. 

Handing over committee meetings, admin of the Facebook page and BFHA blog, and the organisation of the speaker program and TechGirl at meetings will be a big timesaver. I can simply sit back and enjoy the meetings. Definitely less stress.

Blogs

Of late my blogging has been less regular mainly due to too many commitments. However I have just discovered that this Diary blog is the front runner in a list of Australia genealogy blogs.  Closely followed by the Genealogical Society of Victoria and GeniAus. Check out the list of Australian bloggers and discover more interesting blogs to follow.

Given that accolade I am going to try and keep that position and be more informative and timely. Although finding time is probably my biggest issue.

Books

Moreton Libraries continues to assist my PhD research and it is often surprising how many books I want to read are within the library itself. If not, they get them in for me on inter library loan. How fantastic and makes remote research so much more accessible.

The Bribie Family History book club is looking at Kate Morton books at the moment. I hadn't read her before and mine is set around the time of the First World War (almost Downton Abbey or Upstairs Downstairs). The other members have different books so our next catch up will be chatting about the different story lines and time periods. 

Conferences

My next conference is in July in Townsville with the Australian Historical Association where I am giving a paper on my North Queensland ladies. It's been a while since I have spoken at an academic conference but I am looking forward to the other sessions and meeting like minded researchers. Will also be doing some research in both Townsville and Rockhampton and meeting up with a cousin in Bowen. 

May even get out to do Australia's dinosaur trail visiting Hughenden, Richmond and Winton. Plus we can't go past without saying hello to Muttaburrasaurus at Muttaburra.

Talks

Can't linger too long on our travels up north as I have to be back in Moreton for a talk on immigration at the Pine Rivers Heritage Museum in mid July.

It was good being part of the Legacy Family Tree Webinars 24 hour marathon and I am still catching up on sessions I want to view.

Received my goodie bag as part of the RootsTech 2025 media group. A handy bag and some very nice note cards. 

What's coming up next?

My little grandson is turning 3 and so I am off to Sweden for birthdays and Mother's day. Shame they live so far away but I do get a European holiday each year. 

After I leave them I am heading over to Ireland and will be travelling around Wicklow after my Finn and Fegan ancestors then up to Belfast for my Heddles and Brennan ancestors on Islandmagee. Always love walking in my ancestors footsteps when I can.

Until next time stay safe and happy researching. Shauna

Congress 2025 review, blogs, books, & other news: My genealogy weeks 16-31 March 2025

 Another busy fortnight with four days away in Brisbane for the Connections conference. Fresh on the heels of the cyclone we have had another extreme weather event which has flooded Queensland from top to bottom. So many people and animals have been impacted. Truly heartbreaking.

Blogs

I was thrilled to see my Diary blog listed at No 37 in the top 100 genealogy blogs compiled by FeedSpot considering that I have been struggling to keep my blogging mojo. There are some old blog favourites in this list as well as some new ones to check out.

Books

Yes I said no more books so only buying three at the conference was progress, more or less. Glenville Pike's local history Croydon Gold is of interest to my PhD, The Scots and their fish by G W Lockhart might help me understand my Scottish salmon farmers and Kay Ryan's What's in a name? a journey of immigration, infidelity and incarceration is a local history with some connection to my PhD topic.

Conferences

I have written a review blog of the Connections conference on my website. See it here with some links to websites that might be of interest.

The next AFFHO Congress will be in Wellington, New Zealand in 2027. Seems a long time in the future but never to early to start planning to attend. At least for this conference junkie.

 New resources

Excited to see these New South Wales newspapers due to appear on Trove soon.

• Adelong Mining Journal and Tumut Express (1858-1860)
• Border Post (1856-1860) [Albury City Libraries]
• Cootamundra Liberal (1888-1906)
• Germanton Times and Tumbarumba Advocate (1884-1885)
• Junee Democrat (1899-1904)
• South Coast Register (1926-1948) [Shoalhaven Libraries]
• Tumbarumba Times (1906-1955)

Check out the what's coming soon to Trove page here.

Talks

For the Legacy Family Tree Webinars 24 hour marathon I am giving a session on using MyHeritage Downunder for genealogy research. A little bit of Australian and Canadian research and a look at the new Cousin Finder. Register free here for my talk or any of the others over the 24 hours.

What's coming up

My next task for AFFHO is to organise the judging of the Nick Vine Hall awards for 2025. Collating the entries and then sending them off to the judges. They then do the hard work and I collate the scores in July in time for Family History Month in August.

Don't miss Legacy Family Tree Webinars 24 hour marathon coming up on 3/4 April 2025. Sessions are in time friendly zones or you can watch later for the following week.

Until next time, happy researching. Shauna

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

Genealogy cruising, geneabooks & other news, November to December 2024

November went by in a bit of a blur - recovering from surgery, celebrating my birthday and getting ready for the Unlock the Past genealogy cruise in December. Once we were home from that trip, it was get ready for Christmas and the New Year. A whirlwind couple of months.

Cruise speakers with Alan and Anthea Phillips

Blogs

In my review of the year I realised I had written no blogs for my Genie Rambles on my website and not as many as I had hoped in Diary. Plus there were the two guest blogs for the Genealogical Society of Queensland. 

In a last minute rush I have written a report on the genealogy cruise, read it here and revisited an Aussie Christmas blog from a few years ago, read it here. Updating it made me realise how much has changed in the last few years.

I am also going to be part of Geniaus' annual review of our achievements in the past year. 2024 has been a strange year for me, mostly focused on my PhD research, but still finding new things on the family. Read my Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2024 here.

As part of my plan to move all my research online, I am republishing articles I wrote for various journals in the past. To start with, I have done all my articles between 2015 and 2017 for Going In-Depth for the In-Depth Genealogist, now defunct. I had forgotten how much of my own family history I had written about so this will be another way via Google for relatives to find my research. See the articles on a new page of Diary called Genealogy Downunder.

Books

In some ways not being well is good as you can lie around and read. Over the last two months I have read quite a few and have gained some new books thanks to Santa and the Unlock the Past bookstore on the cruise. Looking forward to picking up some new hints.

Some of my Christmas reading

Conferences and Travel

The March AFFHO Congress is coming up fast. I am registered, booked my accommodation and the only thing left to do is finish my talk and handout.

The ACT/NSW conference is in Woollongong this year and in person. I am considering going but it is also the same time that I was planning to go to England. Need to sort out my travel plans for 2025 as there is quite a bit of travel coming up, Bali (holiday), Sweden (family), Ireland (family history) , England (family history) and in Australia, Darwin (a history conference) and Broome (bucket list).

And don't forget a virtual visit to RootsTech 2025. It's free and online. I am giving two talks. But I will miss the in person experience that I had in 2023.

2023 was a great experience

Resources

Wow so many new records from Ancestry, Findmypast, MyHeritage and FamilySearch. And let's not forget Trove and all those wonderful newspapers. I honestly can't keep up although I know most of my family lines need updating.

Talks

2025 always starts early for me as I accept invitations to speak at various events. There are quite a few  in the first six months of 2025 and you can check them out on the Events page of my website. Looking forward to catching up with everyone again.

What's coming up next?

I am still planning to publish at least one of my family histories online through NED. It is just taking longer than I thought to tidy up and make the endnotes consistent.

This will make my family research available through Trove for other researchers. Not so much a family history, but a record of my research on each of the families. I don't want all the hard work of the last, nearly 50 years, lost when I am no longer here.

Always lurking in the background is my PhD research on 1750 women incarcerated in colonial Queensland gaols. Never short of anything to do there.

As always, have fun researching. Until next time, Shauna