Guest blog, blurry eyes, DNA update & other genealogical news 8 May - 12 June 2023

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get back to weekly blog posts. Life keeps throwing curve balls which have their various challenges. 

For some time, I have had blurry vision - was it the medication I'm on (a known side effect), am I spending too much time on a computer, did I just need to upgrade my glasses script and get new glasses (both reading and distance). After much procrastination I went to the optometrist and discovered that I had cataracts in both eyes and the left eye needed urgent attention and the right wasn't far behind. In the last three weeks both eyes have been done, I've worn sunglasses to meetings, and I hate the taste of the eye drops which seem to seep down from the tear ducts and into my throat. On the plus side I can now read all that information on food jars and tins from across the kitchen. I kid you not! Everything is so much brighter and clearer. Very pleased with the results.

Blogs

Writing blog posts has definitely dropped off over the last twelve months or so and I am now wondering if part of the issue was not being able to see clearly? 

First day at school & no clue
what I wanted to do when I grew up

Getting back on track with this one and I have done another guest post for the Genealogical Society of Queensland. Does Researching Our Family History Change Us? How Do We Want To Be Remembered? It's a continuation of a post I did for them last November. 

Books & Journals

These too have dropped off in favour of ABC and SBS crime dramas. I definitely think it was easier to watch TV then to read books and ejournals on my IPad. The question now will be what will win - the big stack of books I have to read or all the drama titles I have listed to watch. I've been loving the Swedish ones and the original Wallander series was filmed near where my son lives today in southern Sweden. It has hardly changed in the 20 something years since it was first filmed. 

I have also been watching and enjoying, the latest Australian series of Who Do You Think You Are? You can catch up with the episodes on SBS on Demand. 

DNA

Not much to update on my own DNA research, but Max has an intriguing 2nd cousin match on his father's paternal side. It is in the UK and I have researched those lines back multiple generations and nothing jumped out at me. A puzzle for a quiet afternoon and probably several cups of tea.

Events

Author photo May 2023

On 20 May we went for a private tour of the Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology followed by a delicious morning tea. The Museum is not that far from where we live and each year, they host the Medieval Festival which attracts large numbers from all over Australia. 

The Abbey Church has some very significant stained-glass windows brought over from England and they are truly beautiful with the sun behind them. A shame that bullet proof glass is necessary on the outside, but a sign of the times we live in no doubt. Never have understood vandalism.

History Queensland had their AGM in Caloundra last month and I gave a small session on visiting RootsTech in person as well as virtual attendance. Societies can have their own groups watching live or recorded sessions. 

The only drawback to live was that it would need to be a pyjama party due to the time difference. But what fun for 2024!

I also attended the AFFHO AGM and noted that Rosemary Mckenzie from the ACT is the new President. Some committee positions are vacant and I'm sure that she will be able to fill those positions shortly.

The Bribie Family History Association Inc has regular board meetings and they kindly fit my surgery schedule into our committee meetings. We have about 45 members which is good considering we only formally established in February this year. Monthly guest speakers bring people in and in July I am the guest speaker with A is for Alias (all about ancestors who change their names and how you can find them again).

New Resources

Findmypast have released a new set of records Britain: School and University records which contains almost 152,000 records unique to Findmypast and spanning from 1264 to 1926. I wonder how many people can trace back to the 1200s? Plus, they added six more Yorkshire newspaper titles. 

The Genealogist added an intriguing release of records for Guilds, Societies and People of Note. So if you have Freemen, Liverymen, Aldermen, members of the Masons and Oddfellows or Worthies then this is a collection to search. I was curious to know who were included as Freemen and they seemed to be tradespeople - pewterer, draper, glover, smith, cooper, weaver, hatmaker, shoemaker, tanner, capper, baker, butcher, merchant and so on. The Rolls of Freemen reminded me of directories which are always good to search for occupations. 

MyHeritage introduced Reimagine a mobile app for both iOS and Android that lets you scan photo album pages and restore, enhance, colorise and animate your photos easily. I haven't used it and must admit that I do find colorising and animating old photos a bit creepy but I can see how those features make it more interesting when telling stories. Being a mobile app makes it ideal when visiting relatives and they bring out the old photos.

Talks

Since my last diary update, I have spoken at the Noosaville Library. I never get tired of watching all the fruit bats in the trees around the Library but do take care not to park under the trees. So noisy for such small creatures.

Plus I tutored a few sessions on advanced Irish genealogy at Bribie U3A. 

What's Coming Up?

Quiet time! Apart from the talk at Bribie I don't have anything planned for July.  

The time is going to be spent on scanning docs/photos, writing, editing, adding/checking citations and perhaps even doing a little bit more research on my draft family histories. There are five family history drafts that I would like to see self-published as a first edition on my website and perhaps even in Trove. They are:

• Carnegie including Davis/Ferguson (Scottish- Angus)
• Guy, Rosewarne and Trevaskis (English - Cornish)
• Finn and Fegan (Irish - Wicklow)
• Price including Pollard (English - Staffordshire)
• White and Titt (English - Wiltshire)

The hardest part is trying to stop myself looking for new/missing information. Plus, early citations are not what they should have been, so I often have to look them up again. 

I first started each of these when I lived in Brisbane, 24 years ago. Since then, they have travelled to Canberra, Melbourne and now here on Bribie. For someone who started researching her family history 46 years ago, it's time to publish something! Wish me luck.

Until next time, happy researching. Shauna

New WDYTYA Australian series, Cite-Builder & Other Genealogy News 16 April - 7 May 2023

So much for fortnightly updates - this is three weeks but again I have been super busy. So much genealogy happening. I never seem to be home either.     

Blogs 

My twice a year guest blog for GSQ is coming up so I have put fingers to the keyboard. It's nice to tick off something early. Also helps those who have to put the blog online. 

Books 

Definitely never enough time to read all the books I keep piling up. At Bribie Library I saw an Elizabeth George Inspector Lynley book I hadn't read. Simply had to check it out and of course, it is hundreds of pages long. 

Takes after his 'farmor'
(father's mother)

For Mother's Day I have been promising myself a couple of new books - put the order in to Gould Genealogy and now await their arrival. 

My son lives in Sweden and he has promised a FaceTime chat with my little one year old grandson. So presents and a visit - what more could I want? 

Bribie Family History Association Inc 

As President I chair the monthly meeting on the 1st Friday of the month at the Bribie RSL. 

We had 36 members out of 48 members turn up to hear Sue Reid talk about resources available after 1954 when digitised newspapers generally cut out in Trove. It was great to see so many people attend and a smaller number stayed on for lunch and more geneachat. 

Bribie U3A

The Irish genealogy class is going well with 13 attendees. I am updating/changing the course from what I did in 2021 as there has been so much change since then. New resources and more digitised newspapers. I use my own Irish families to find examples so it is an excellent way for me to do my own genealogy research at the same time.

Conferences 

The NSW & ACT annual conference in Wyong clashes with a talk I am doing for GSQ so I will just  have to attend from afar.

Virtual/hybrid conferences certainly cut the cost of travel and accommodation. Watching things later is the catch - I still have RootsTech 2023 and 2022 talks I wanted to watch. Not to mention Legacy Family Tree webinars that are featuring Australian and New Zealand speakers. 

At the Family History Down Under conference last year, I won a prize. A free premium account with Cite-Builder designed and maintained by Jenny and Andy Joyce. Sad to say this is the first day that I have had a chance to sit down and  have a closer look at how it creates citations for you. It would certainly help with consistency as that is a problem with all my draft family histories. See below.

There is a free version as well which might be all that you want. Try it out and see will it be useful for your family history writing. 

History Queensland 

2023 in person

The AGM is coming up this month and as Patron I will be attending. I'm also going to be doing a short talk on attending RootsTech 2023 in person. An amazing experience and the size of the Salt Palace Convention Centre was simply staggering. 

New Resources 

All those RootsTech sessions are online to view free. Never watch television again when you have a smorgasbord of genealogy webinars to watch.

For example, you can find out what's new at FamilySearch by watching the webinar here.

Do a search for Irish, English, Scottish or simply browse to see what might be relevant to your own research. Some of the previous year's sessions are still available. 

Talks 

Another Noosa talk on FamilySearch coming up. So many people don't use all the various search features and other resources on this website. 

My Website 

Pleased to say that my website has been sorted out again following a move to a new server platform. Now I have a bit of updating to do but at least it looks good again. Many thanks to my tech guy Joannes who is local. 

What's Coming Up

Herbert William White 
from Pitton & Farley
Wiltshire

I'm hoping to finish the first edition of my White's of Wiltshire family history. It has taken me quite a bit to locate and do my citations which I don't seem to have bothered too much with before the days of the internet. 

Thankfully I have managed to locate most of them and it was lovely to see Wiltshire records digitised on Ancestry where as before I only had transcripts from a UK researcher. After that, I only have another four main family drafts to finish not to mention some maternal lines that I would like to write up.

The end goal is to have all my research available online for free in various places. I don't want it ending up in the bin.

Enjoy your genealogy research over the next couple of weeks. Stay safe and take care.

Shauna

Legacy Webinar Marathon, Trove update, Noosa talks, 2024 invitations & more genealogy news 1-15 April 2023

 Hello everyone

I am moving back to fortnightly posts as there is so much happening in the genie world at present. It is all very exciting. April used to be a big birthday month - both my mother and my paternal grandmother had birthdays. We always used to have birthday parties with cake. I think the photo below is ca 1976/77. Strange I can really see my father in this photo of me and my mother.

April 14 would have been Mum's 89th birthday

Blogs

Some of my geneamates are participating in the April A-Z blog challenge. There are some great posts and I am trying to keep up with reading Pauleen Cass blog posts. So many great ideas and suggestions for our own family history research. 

Books/Magazines

I have been doing a massive catch up with journals from all the societies I belong to. And a blitz on Family Tree Magazine UK and Who Do You Think You Are. Did you know that you may be able to get paper copies from your local library and even perhaps an e-copy? Check out what is available online via your local library. It is afterall a free resource.

Bribie Family History Association Inc

Bribie Genealogy has taken the next step and formalised into an incorporated family history association. No surprises that I was elected President. We still meet at the Bribie RSL on the first Friday of the month, except January. There is an excellent speaker program for 2023. There is also our Facebook page. 

New Resources

Is anyone keeping up with all the new resources at FamilySearch, Ancestry, Findmypast, MyHeritage and The Genealogist? What about Trove updates or the British Newspaper Archive?  It's exhausting and some days I can't decide which family I want to review and update.

Wasn't this wonderful news? From the Trove press statement - 

The National Library of Australia welcomes the commitment made by the Albanese Government to provide $33m over the next 4 years to maintain Trove, with $9.2m ongoing and indexed funding from July 2027. We are delighted that Trove’s future has been secured. 

Talks

I am starting to get requests for talks in 2024 which is amazing. 2023 is not almost into May and life has definitely sped up. Perhaps it will slow down now after all my overseas trekking.

There are more talks coming up at Noosa and Moreton libraries and for the Genealogical Society of Queensland. Normally I would say check my website but as you will see below, that's a bit tricky at present.

Webinars

Legacy Family Tree Webinars held a 24 hour genealogy marathon and I was one of the speakers. The sessions are available for one week free. After that you need to take up a subscription which is modest or it would make a great birthday/Christmas present. A wide range of fantastic speakers and topics. 

My session looked at Australian online indexes for family history research which you might not know. Here is the link.  https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/australian-indexes-online-for-family-history-research-you-might-not-know/

Thanks to the 269 viewers so far

Website

This month my website was moved to a new hosting service and the move has not gone well. You can still see most of the pages scrolling down but it looks like a dog's breakfast. My wonderful website guy is going to try and restore how it looks. 

What's Coming Up?

More Irish genealogy sessions at Bribie U3A. It's amazing how much new material I find while preparing this talks. 

Another talk at Noosa on FamilySearch which will be an in depth look at using all the features that FamilySearch offers.

More time will be spent on updating and finalising my draft family histories. Last weekend I worked on the White family history - adding missing citations, inserting photos and despite my resolution not to do new research, I managed to expand from 90 pages to 115 pages. And I have five of them to do. I need more weekends which is what I used to say when I worked full time.

Front page of my draft White family history 

Until next time, happy geneasearching

Shauna

Genealogy Updates for March 2023: in person conferences, new resources, & other news

 March was a huge month travelling to the USA for my first ever in person Roots Tech conference. The rest of the month was mainly spent travelling and I would like to thank all those who followed my Facebook photos of the trip. It was fantastic and good to know that others enjoyed my experiences. The most genealogy I did was via emails - reading enews and genealogy ejournals and checking Ancestry and MyHeritage for new DNA matches.

Blogs

FamilySearch Library books and more books 
& even one on an area that I am researching in County Antrim, Ireland

My review of the RootsTech 2023 genealogy conference from an in person perspective is here. 

As always I kept a travel diary so I can go back and see what I did and given that RootsTech was so full on I'm glad I did that. So many experiences!

Books

Very proud of myself in that I only bought one book over there. Diahan Southard's Your DNA Guide.

To be honest there wasn't a lot of temptation as it is too expensive to ship books to a conference. So many exhibitors had order forms or referred you to Amazon. Nathan Dylan Goodwin was the only one with a pile of books around him at the start but by the end those piles had dwindled. I am an impulse buyer so his strategy worked better - the bird in the hand. 

Also good to finally meet him in person. 

Conferences

Although Roots Tech 2023 is over, you can still view the sessions online at home. There is enough to keep us all interested until next year. The dates for Roots Tech 2024 are 29 February to 2 March.

The next Australian genealogy conference is the NSW Association Annual Conference and this year it is hosted by the Wyong Society. The there is The Running Waters of History between 8 - 10 September 2023. Speakers include Martyn Killion, Michelle Patient, Mark Bundy, Geoffrey Potter, Michael Bell and Jeffrey Madsen. The conference is in person and virtual. This year I will be a virtual attendee, as I have conflicting dates with a talk for the Genealogical Society of Queensland that same weekend. 

New Resources

Do you ever check the new additions to the British Newspaper Archive? I get their enewsletter but I usually skip over as I'm busy but then of course I never revisit the email. One of my new promises to myself is to read things as they come in. Not always practicable but worth trying for.

For example, in March they advised that they had added more to the Birmingham Mail which was first published in 1870. Almost another half million digitised pages which made me quite excited as both Max and myself have Black Country ancestors. Years covered include from 1871 to 1999 with gaps. I particularly like that newspapers post 1954 (Trove cut off) as it can lead to discovering more recent cousins. 

Talks

First week home was busy with talks to Strathpine Library on genealogy for beginners and Noosaville Library on resources for women as part of International Women's History Month. 

Next is my talk as part of the Legacy Webinars 24 hour genealogy marathon on 13 April. My session is Australian Indexes Online for Family History Research That You May Not Know About. The event is free but you must register to receive the link. Check out all the speakers and topics here.

What's Coming Up

Due to all my travels I have agreed to run the Irish genealogy course again at Bribie U3A. The first term missed half the lectures due to my absence so they have enrolled again.

Salt Lake City in person 2023

The rest of April will be spent sorting my notes from Roots Tech and following up on all of my action points. 

Easter is next week and the school holidays are always an opportunity to catch up with my brother. Not to mention that I also have a fondness for hot cross buns which I never buy outside of  March/April.

Have a great genealogy month and I hope to be back to regular reports now that all my big trips are out of the way. Until next time, stay safe and well. Shauna

Genealogy Diary Update for January 2023: Meeting the new twig on the family tree was the highlight

Welcome to 2023 and another wonderful year of researching our family stories.

An early reader 

An early walker

My visit to Sweden to see my little 7 month old grandson was wonderful and I enjoyed every minute of the 10 days I was with them. I think they too liked having an extra pair of hand/eyes around the place. The plan is that they will visit Australia and New Zealand to introduce him to other family members in July 2023. So only a few more months and I will see him again. Not that he will remember me. 

Christmas lunch Swedish style

The whole trip was amazing and I enjoyed seeing Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Copenhagen and Singapore as well as the area around Lund in Sweden. My Facebook profile captures the sights, food and drinks quite well. Anyone would think all I did was eat. 

Blogs

Only one blog post and that is my response to Jill Ball's annual Accentuate the Positive Geneameme. This is a good way to look at what has been done over the year in a number of different areas. 

Books

One of my holiday reads was Nathan Dylan Goodwin's The Sawtooth Slayer. A great read and an insight into using Gedmatch to identify clusters. 

I downloaded some of Sarah Woodbury's historic novels about Wales and I am now hooked on her as an author. She has a number of different series with different characters and settings but all based on historical Wales.

Caloundra Family History Research

The following is a Call Out To Past Members from CFHR re their 30th anniversary in May.

To mark the 30 th anniversary of The Caloundra Family History Research group in May this year, we are embarking on a project to record the group’s history. Our aim is to finish and present this important record at our anniversary celebration.

To achieve our goal, we need your help! We are inviting former members of our group, or if you know of a former member, to please contact us so that we can record your reminiscences. We are happy to conduct interviews or we will accept written accounts of your memories.

We have a rich history and we envisage showcasing our growth, activities, research, stories, library, special interest groups and guest speakers. Stories from our past members would greatly enrich our 30 th Anniversary history book.

Please contact us at:

Email: hello@caloundrafamilyhistory.org.au

Mail: P.O. Box 968, Caloundra QLD 4551

Phone our Secretary: 0437-235-842 or Publicity Officer: 0408-254-765

Conferences

My next big adventure is attending RootsTech 2023 in early March. My first time in person so I am looking forward to visiting the FamilySearch Library. Not sure if I will do any research as I have a few things on the tourist list as well.

DNA

No new close relatives but I want to try and identify more of my clusters. I suspect it is a bit harder than Nathan's fictional genetic genealogists in his books but worth a try.

Surprisingly I have had a few emails from distant cousins - nothing too close  and we haven't been able to identify the common ancestors. With three unknown biological ancestors on Dad's side its a bit of a handicap. Need much closer matches.

Talks

February is a busy month for presentations - both in person and virtual. Check out the Events page of my website. My first talk for 2023 is for the family history group at Monash Library in Melbourne. I did talks for them during the Covid lockdowns and now we continue as a hybrid group on Zoom and in person at the library. Hopefully the technology will be on our side.

What's Coming Up?

My great grandmother
- both her parents were Irish

Bribie U3A is starting up in a couple of weeks and we are looking at Irish Genealogy in first term. I am going to be away for 4 sessions. That might be a good time to set them some practical exercises to try and further their own Irish research while I am away. 

Bribie Genealogy has morphed into Bribie Family History Association and our meetings will still be the first Friday of the month at the RSL, Bribie Island. Except for April as that will be Easter.

So between my presentations and my voluntary activities the next few weeks will be busy. Already I have found new information on a number of my Irish families and that gives added value to my efforts at U3A Bribie. 

Until next time, happy searching

Shauna

Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2022

Each year Jill Ball (aka Geniaus) invites us to take part in this activity by responding to the following statements/questions, several of which are new, in a blog post. Write as much or as little as you want and complete as many statements as you wish. If you wish to take part and don't have a blog, please email Jill your responses and she will post them on the GeniAus blog.

Once you have done so, please share your post's link in a comment on Jill’s post or via email to jillballau@gmail.com. On her return from a family holiday in mid-January, Jill will share a list of links to all responses on the GeniAus blog.

Remember to Accentuate the Positive 

(Please delete the items that are not relevant to your situation.)

1. I was happy to go back to ... after a Covid absence

In person events – I much prefer giving talks to a ‘live’ audience as it is so much easier to interact with people. I’m also a big book buyer and you can’t do that on Zoom.

Attending U3A genealogy classes in person. I missed the cameraderied of sitting around the table laughing and sharing.

2. In 2022 I was particularly proud of writing ...

Making substantial progress on my family histories for the Carnegie, Finn, Price, Trevaskis and White families. This includes going back and doing citations and scanning documents and photographs. The plan is to finish each one and call it Edition 1 and then upload to Trove via NEDS for all to share. Then Edition 2 will be all the additional information I find as I keep looking for new information.

I also had my 12th research guide published by Unlock the Past - Australian Genealogy Online. Available in print or ebook from Gould Genealogy & History.

3. A new software package or web application I embraced was ...

As mentioned in the previous question, I have been looking at using NED (national e-deposit) to put my family histories online. It seems very simple to use and is a great way to e-publish by simply answering questions re access etc. I'm not planning to sell my family histories.

4.  My sledgehammer did great work on this brick wall ...

My brick walls haven’t budged but I do regularly check for any new information. You never know what might turn up.

5. A new genealogy/history book that sparked my interest was ...

NathanDylan Goodwin’s The Sawtooth Slayer was a must read and an interesting insight into tracking descendants of a common ancestral couple.

I also bought Penny Walters books The Psychology of Searching and Ethical Dilemmas in Genealogy.

Another must have was Danielle Lautrec’s The Good Genealogist: how to improve the quality of your family history research.

6. A geneasurprise I received was ....

The gift of two Ian Mortimer books for my birthday from Mia Bennett – I now also have Restoration Britain and Regency Britain. I simply love the The Time Traveller’s Guides as they give so much detail on each time period.  This really helps to understand more about our ancestors’ lives.

Members of Bribie
Family History Association

7.  In 2022 I finally met ...

The lovely Mia Bennett who spoke at the November meeting of the Bribie Family History Association. It was a real treat for our members to have Mia in the same room with us. She was on her way to Family History Downunder in Sydney with a ‘horde’ of other overseas genealogy speakers.

8.  Locating ... gave me great joy

All the citations I didn’t think to note back in the 70s and 80s and probably into the 90s too. It has been hard work, but I now feel that my research is more validated especially when those family histories are up in Trove.

9.  I am pleased the Covid situation caused me to change ...

As a profoundly deaf person I tended to avoid online talks because I couldn’t hear that well. Covid caused a boom in Zoom which also allowed for closed captions - what a plus. Must also be easier for those struggling with different accents although auto translation can lend itself to unintentional humour.

10. I progressed my DNA research by ...

Really narrowing down Dad’s biological family both near and further away. He had an unknown grandfather and two unknown great great grandfathers all on his biological father’s side. So not a walk in the park but common ancestral couples are now well proven.

11.  An informative journal or newspaper article I found was ...

No one article but I always enjoy the various member society journals I receive – there are always tips about what’s new.

12. I was pleased I could contribute to ...

Another four terms of genealogy tutoring at Bribie U3A. We tackled Australian, English and Scottish genealogy, and brick wall solutions. First term in 2023 is Irish genealogy, last done in 2021.

Assisting the Queensland Family History Society with processing their personal family history donations now that they have moved into new premises.

13.  ... taught me how to ...

I learnt a number of time saving tricks when working on DNA matches from Mia Bennett. So obvious but now I explore all the little filters and options on the various sites.

14. I got a thrill from opening someone's eyes to the joy of genealogy ...

I experience this every week at U3A when I demonstrate something to the class which they haven’t seen or heard about. My archival search strategies show what is deeper in the archives and not always name indexed or digitised in the major subscription sites.

15. The best value I got for my genealogy dollars was ... 

My genealogy society memberships as some of these have exclusive records not found elsewhere. Although it does get a little expensive when you are researching in more than one Australian state.

16. A DNA discovery I made was ...

In 2022 I spent more time looking at Mum’s DNA matches as I have good paper trails for most of her families. No real surprises yet but she has an awful lot of Cornish ancestors.

Fiona Brooker from
Memories of Time

17. I enjoyed my first post Covid face to face event because ...

You could catch up over a coffee/lunch and yes you can do that on Zoom but just being able to see people means so much more.

18. A fabulous event I attended was ...

FamilyHistory Down Under in November was the biggest event I attended and had so many of my favourite overseas speakers. The talks are available online until the end of February 2023 and I still have a list of ones I want to watch or watch again.

I even won a sponsor's prize - one year subscription to Cite Builder. I'm looking forward to seeing how this works and for more consistency in my citations.

19. I'm happy I splashed out and purchased ...

All my books. Plus, I finally bought a laser printer and ever so much quicker than my old ink cartridge printer which is now used only for scanning.

19. I got the most joy from ...

Discovering my webinar on using Australian Archives was the number 2 webinar on Legacy Family Tree webinars in November. This was a total surprise, and I am usually in the Top 40 not the Top 10.

20. Another positive I would like to share is ...

The birth of my first grandchild Theodor who lives in Sweden with his parents. It is so nice to have added a twig to the family tree. I just spent 10 days with them over Christmas/New Year and talked to Theo about his family and life in Australia. Towards the end of my stay, my darling son said ‘Mum you do realise that Theo only knows Swedish’! Note to self: investigate how good Google Translate is for English into Swedish before my next visit.

Please share this invitation far and wide in your social media channels.

 

2022 Genealogy Goals & Looking to 2023: My genealogy weeks 26 November - 13 December 2022

 We come to the end of a calendar year again and as usual, I have no idea where the year went. 

I do know that I gave 40 talks in 2022 so I need to stop talking. Goal number 1 for 2023, learn to say No. 

Excited to know 'Farmor' is coming

I also know that a new twig was added to our family tree - my first ever grandchild, Theodor who lives in Sweden with his Mum and Dad. Goal number 2 is visit them and this is an easy one to tick off. This afternoon I am flying out to Sweden via Dubai and Copenhagen to spend Christmas and New Year with them. I am also hoping for a White Christmas and to tick off another bucket list item.

During 2022 I spent quite a bit of time working on all my family history drafts for each of my major families. These range from smallish, 10000 words to largish 20000 words or huge over 25000 words. They include illustrations and sources/citations, bibliography etc. Not yet indexed as they are not yet finished. I have been saying that for decades. Goal number 3 will be to make them all first editions and publish them via a PDF on Trove (through NED) and the Internet Archive. Free for all or at least those interested.

Just needs a 2023 update then finis

2022 was the year that we returned to face to face meetings and conferences and how good was that. I am a confessed genealogy conference junkie and I love planning my year around conferences. Goal number 4 is to attend at least one overseas conference and one Australian conference. In 2023 I am already booked to attend RootsTech in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. This will tick off a few bucket list items including a visit to the Salt Lake City FamilySearch Library and attending RootsTech, the largest genealogy event on the planet. Although it will again be hybrid like so many conferences now. For my Australian conference I would like to attend the annual conference in NSW which I understand will be on the Central Coast. The NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies' website is not working this morning so I can't check. I still want to visit Newcastle and do some research on Dad's family so that will be a double bonus if I drive down. 

That's enough goals for 2023. Back to 2022.

Books

Currently reading Nathan Dylan Goodwin's latest in the Venator series, catching serial killers using DNA evidence. It's amazing how you can actually learn tips of how to manage DNA matches while reading a novel. I can't put it down so I think it will be reading material on the plane tonight.

Talks

Although I inferred above that I would not do as many talks in 2023, I seem to have not grasped that message. In February 2023 I already have 5 talks - 2 virtual and 3 in person. There are only 4 booked for the rest of the year so perhaps it will be OK. Where I am speaking is on the Events page of my website. When I checked that link I discovered that my security certificate had expired two days ago. No reminder notice which is odd. So hastily purchased one and hoping I can get it all sorted before I leave this afternoon. Otherwise you will see a not safe message until I return. Although it is safe, not hacked but a nuisance at this late notice.

What's Coming Up?

First term at Bribie U3A will be a repeat of our Advanced Irish class last held in 2021. Lots of new things since then so that will keep me busy.

But first I am going to have an amazing time in Dubai, Copenhagen, Lund (Sweden) and Singpore. Plus time with my family where I will be called 'Farmor' although I think I prefer Nanna. Then there's Swedish cuisine and Yule time traditions and possibly even snow to make it truly magical.

Time to go and pack that suitcase and try and get in my presents for the family too. Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year holiday season. Stay safe and well and I hope to catch up with everyone in 2023. 

Shauna

Review FHDU 2022, new books, new resources & other news: My genealogy weeks 6 - 25 November 2021

Wow time does fly when you are having fun. So much has happened since my last post.

Books

Family History Down Under was definitely a temptation for me and I ended up buying 6 books from authors such as Chris Paton and Penny Walters. Plus one of my favourite authors Nathan Dylan Goodwin sent a review copy of The Sawtooth Slayer, the latest in his Venator cold case series. 

Which book to read first? 

The 4th book in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, The Drums of Autumn, has slowed down my list of books this year. Why are all her books so big and with small print? I can't put it down but at the end of the day my eyes are not as sharp. So I am going to sleep earlier and getting up earlier so I can still get my hour of reading done.

Conferences

Well FHDU was a big success and I really loved seeing everyone again in person. There were some great speakers and talks and lots of catching up with what's new. My to do list is a mile long! For a longer report on the conference see my blog post Report on FHDU 2022.

My next adventure will be RootsTech 2023 which I will be attending in March 2023 in person for the first time. Can't wait. I'm also lucky to be one of the Influencers for RootsTech next year. 

New Resources

It was interesting to see in the FamilySearch October 2022 update that they have now included some more UK cemetery records. Both in counties that I am researching. Another thing on the to do list. 

Findmypast added a number of new and updated digitised newspapers and again there are things that I want to research. It really is never ending. The 1868 Staffordshire Sentinel is calling me.

Talks

Only five more talks this year. Four of them will be at Coffs Harbour & District Family History Society annual seminar this weekend. Looking forward to that as it has been a few years since I was last there. I'm donating a copy of my Australian Genealogy Online as the lucky door prize.

My final talk for 2022 will be at Bribie Genealogy - they are expecting my annual Christmas quiz but this year I am going to look at setting some goals for 2023. We all need to start thinking about how are we going to leave our research for the future. 

What's Coming Up?

My trip to Sweden and my first catch up with my son and his family since they moved there in 2019. Also my first cuddles with my only grandson the adorable Theodor. It is snowing there at the moment so perhaps I will be able to have my first White Christmas and tick off another bucket list item.

I still have two weeks here so there will be another Diary post before I leave. 2022 has just gone so quickly. Well I must be off to Coffs Harbour which is about a six hour drive from here. Have a great weekend and try to get some genealogy research in. 

Until next time, stay safe and well.

Review Sands of Time & other genealogy news: My Genealogy Month 6 October - 5 November 2022

What a huge month for genealogy. I gave talks, went to conferences and just tried to keep up with all my genealogy reading. The last four weeks have been a bit of a blur.

It is also my birthday month and I was able to celebrate with friends from U3A and Bribie Genealogy and Mia Bennett from the UK who was able to stay with me for a couple of nights. Mia kindly gave me two books from one of my favourite authors - Ian Mortimer and these were the Time Traveller Guides to Restoration Britain and Regency Britain. I love his Time Traveller series.

Books

Image 1993
via Wikimedia

Tackling Diana Gabaldon's Voyager at the moment - the third volume in the series. It is so big and heavy it is a real struggle trying to read it in bed, especially with my arthritic thumbs. 

For lighter reading I have various enewsletters and ejournals from societies to read.

Bribie Genealogy

We were thrilled to have Mia Bennett from the UK attend our meeting and give a talk on Using DNA to Support Family History Research. There were lots of DNA questions after the coffee break. We had a good turn up of members plus some visitors from Caloundra Family History Research. 

My only regret is that I was so excited I forgot to take a photo of Mia and the group. We will just have to do it again another time!

The Sands of Time cookie

Conferences

Sands of Time at Redcliffe went very well and you can read my review of the conference here. The highlight for me was being able to talk to people again in person. The talks were good and I still have to work my way through the handouts. 

I am off to Family History Down Under 2022 this coming week and that will be a mega feast of talks. Plus afterwards we can watch the sessions we couldn't attend plus the bonus talks. Attending in person means that I can catch up with more friends and experience the vibes that don't quite make it in a Zoom environment. 

Looking further afield I have decided to go to my first ever in person RootsTech 2023. Flights are booked and I will have to plan some research at the Salt Lake Research Library. Or perhaps I will just wander around in amazement. The Dinosaur Museum is also on my agenda that week.

Another bonus is that I have been appointed a RootsTech 2023 Influencer complete with a badge.

New Resources

I have finally got Ancestry's Side View where DNA matches are assigned to either paternal or maternal sides of your family. 

There are 6929 matches assigned to Dad, 4978 assigned to Mum and 7548 unassigned. 

I am finding this fascinating and very distracting as far as time goes. It is like a magnet to me. 

Talks

I am doing two talks at FHDU 2022 - Australian genealogy online and Why Can't I Find It. 

After that I am doing a recorded talk for the Society of Australian Genealogists for their religious seminar which will be fun. Sadly I can't do it in person as that clashes with the all day seminar I am doing with the Coffs Harbour District Family History Society on 26 November.

To round the year off, I will be doing a Christmas Quiz with Bribie Genealogy at our December meeting.

What's Coming Up

The end of the year very quickly. For once I might have a white Christmas/New Year as I will be visiting my son and baby grandson in Sweden. There are no guarantees of snow but one can hope. One thing I can count on is that it will be colder than here!

Babe in the Woods

I have been saying that I don't want to be as busy as I was this year with talks but already I am down to give nine talks. 

That's a bit shy of the 39 this year so perhaps I will achieve a less busy year! 

What I really want is for the years to slow down. Where has 2022 gone?

Until next time happy searching 

Loving Wiltshire records, Sands of Time, FHDU 2022 & other news: My Genealogy Fortnight 23 Sep - 7 Oct 2022

 My two week break from teaching at U3A Bribie went super fast but I managed to get some writing done on my individual family histories. To do the scanning of documents and photos I may have to chain myself to the chair as I always seem to come up with an excuse not to do it. 

Books

Over the last two weeks I have been reading Larissa Behrendt's books that she talked about at the Norfolk Island conference. Both books have to go back to Moreton Library so it is fortunate that we have had a few wet cooler days which are just perfect for reading.

Bribie Genealogy

This month on Friday 7 October we have Helen Smith talking about dating photographs. This should be a fantastic talk and very practical. Most of us have photos that are undated and usually not named or identified by place.

Bribie U3A

Term 4 is all about Brick Walls and we are going to tackle real student brick walls. 

Not sure how it will go but I started the term with a discussion on how probate records in Wiltshire (via Ancestry) helped me to trace back to my 13th great grandfather.  Also used baptism, marriage and burial records to identify the various family groups.

Conferences

Hard to believe that Sands of Time is now only a few weeks away. One of my favourite speakers Michelle Patient is talking about Where to Next with DNA?

This is a marvellous opportunity to listen to some great speakers, meet new friends and network with like minded people. Please come up and say hello.

The Coffs Harbour seminar has been moved back to 26 November. That will be a great way to end the genealogy year. I am giving four talks at the day long event, I hope to see some of you there. When regional societies host these seminars, it can be worth the drive if you live not too far away. 

FHDU 2022 is early November and I have my flights and accommodation booked. I'm giving two talks there but I am more excited at the great range of international speakers to listen too. If you can't make it to Sydney, there is also a virtual option. 

New Resources

FamilySearch have added three new Irish collections which is exciting:

• Ireland Court of Chancery Bill Books 1627-1884     1,217,591 records
• Ireland Dublin Poor Law Unions Board of Guardians Minute Books, 1839-1924     892,325 records
• Ireland National School Registers 1847-1954             152,829 records

What's Coming Up?

Attending conferences in person is so exciting and meeting weekly to discuss genealogy brick walls at U3A means that I will be living the genealifestyle again. It always motivates me to do more on my own family history research.

If you get the chance to do your own research, happy searching and hopefully I will see some of you at Redcliffe or Sydney. Until then, take care Shauna