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

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

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 

Sands of Time Speakers, FHDU 2022 & Other Genealogy News: My Genealogy Week 15 - 22 September 2022

There is so much happening at present that a few extra Diary posts are needed.

Bribie Genealogy

We have been an informal group that grew out of the genealogy group at Bribie U3A and went onto Zoom during Covid. We met weekly and motivated each other. Since the end of lockdowns we have gone back to in person monthly meetings at Bribie RSL. Now I am part of a working group that is looking at incorporation for the group. There are advantages to this not least the ability to apply for grants. I would love to see a genealogy fair on Bribie. As well as the constitution and by laws there is the discussion over what will our logo be? Interesting times.

Bribie Genealogy September meeting

Conferences

Sands of Time at Redcliffe on 21-23 October 2022 is almost here. Just four weeks away! I am so excited about a local conference so close to Brisbane and the Gold and Sunshine Coasts. Not to mention that it is a good excuse for a holiday in Queensland. As Ambassador I have had the pleasure of interviewing some of our speakers and presenting them through this blog. Check past blogs for Michelle Patient, Eric Kopittke and Liesl Harrold.

Now meet Mark Finnane Professor of History at Griffith University in Brisbane.

Tell me a little about yourself and your interest in history?

I am an academic historian, Professor of History at Griffith University. For me history is a fundamental knowledge, most basically it’s about the stories we tell about ourselves in the world we live in. And just as the world is constantly changing, the stories we tell also change, helping to explain ourselves to others as well as provide a way of thinking about our place in the present and the kind of future we want or wish to avoid.

With my colleagues in this presentation (a number of staff and students associated with the Harry Gentle Resource Centre and the Prosecution Project, both hosted at Griffith University) we are providing an overview of the ways in which academic history is using, and producing, records that are commonly also used in family and community histories more generally.

Your talk sounds fascinating - what led to your interest in this topic?

As researchers who are working every day with archives and genealogical sources in our various projects we thought it would be useful to reflect on our work for an audience that is different from the academic world in which we collect and interpret historical sources. We want to highlight the work that historians do in contextualising the data we access. We want to demonstrate also some of the products of this work, especially in digital form, accessible to all those able to access the web.

What do you hope to experience/learn from attending Sands of Time?

We are particularly interested in hearing from those using genealogical sources about the kinds of challenges they face in accessing material that answers their questions – and what they know that might be useful in our future research collecting and making accessible data about individual, family and community histories

Is there anything else that you would like attendees to know?

We are keen to let people know about resources we are working on that provide information that may be useful for family and community histories – particularly the new Harry Gentle Resource Centre Dictionary of Biography focussed on the peoples who lived in colonial Queensland. We are also interested in highlighting the role of community volunteer historians who assist in the transcription of historical sources including data for the Prosecution Project.

Talks

Next is my keynote address at the Sands of Time conference at Redcliffe.

I have four talks for the Coffs Harbour & District Family History Society at the end of October.

At Family History Downunder 2022 in Sydney in November I am giving two talks. So many of my favourite speakers all in the same conference venue. 

Choosing which session to attend will be hard but I can always watch the others later. Plus the chance to catch up in person with so many friends and colleagues.

That will then make a grand total of 37 talks in 2022! Perhaps I talk too much!

U3A Bribie

For the 4th term we are going to try something new. Instead of me just sitting there lecturing the group we are going to try and tackle brick walls together. There is good wifi access so we will be able to do live searches and a white board to note key points. It should be a good interactive learning experience for all. The hard part will be getting people to not be too shy in putting forward their thoughts/experiences. 

By popular demand Irish Genealogy will be the focus of Term 1 2023. Why am I not surprised?

What's Coming Up?

Christmas at a fast pace but I don't mind so much this year as I will be in Sweden having a white (hopefully) Yule time with my son and baby grandson. We haven't seen each other since they moved there three years ago so it will be a wonderful catch up. 

Before then I hope to get more of my draft family histories completed and printed for final edits. I cannot edit without a red pen in my hand and a paper copy. Talk about a dinosaur but reading on paper just highlights errors for me. 

Have success with your searching or whatever other genealogy activity you do this week. Until next time Shauna

Theo at four months, supercute.

Blogs, Books, Talks & Other News: My Genealogy Week 24 -31 January 2022

The week has seen a major tidy up of my book shelves and a lot of the time it seemed to be just moving books from one room to another. But in the end I have a bag of books (mostly fiction) for the local secondhand bookstore and a few boxes of genealogy/local history books for one of the genealogy societies that I belong too. 

However, after taking my books to the local secondhand bookstore, I managed to come home with another six books for research purposes. Just a hopeless book addict!

I did get a few comments on Facebook about rehoming my books but you can only have so many books in one house. And at the end of the road, someone else will either toss them or call Vinnies or the Salvos. This way I can ensure the books that have an ongoing value will be rehomed with the right people. 

I had planned to do my laptops but they stayed in the too hard basket. Maybe next week.

Blogs

Still keeping up with the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks and Week 4 was Foundations and Curious as a suggestion. I chose Mary Anthony later Hosking as she died aged 93 years in the Penzance Workhouse in Cornwall. I was curious about life in a workhouse. Read about Mary here.

I also completed my guest blog post for the Genealogical Society of Queensland, four weeks early. Inspiration hit me while doing some research and I just wrote the post there and then. At least I don't have to worry about it in February. 

Books

I added more ebooks to Kindle on my IPad and noted that I know have quite a 'stack' there. I must start alternating between print and ebook. One that I definitely want to read is Nathan Dylan Goodwin's The Foundling which I seem to have forgotten that I purchased. Not sure how I managed that as I normally read his books the day I get them.

Currently reading Carol Baxter's Breaking the Bank which provides a good backdrop to Sydney in the late 1820s. 

Bribie Genealogy & U3A

Meetings start up next week for Bribie Genealogy and we have the year's speakers planned out. I will start off with a megalook at what you can do at FamilySearch. So many people only search the database and there is so much more that is not indexed and included in the historical records database. We are still meeting at the Bribie RSL which means that to attend people must be double vaxxed and be able to show evidence of that.

Bribie U3A has cancelled Term One due to Omicron on the Island. This means that the English Genealogy subject I was going to tutor is also cancelled. I'm still not sure what I will be doing in Term Two although getting to Sweden seems a bit remote at the moment.

Talks

Received another invitation to speak in February. This time it was the Cornish Association of Victoria and I haven't giving a talk there for over 12 years. However, I still have/use the lovely coffee mug they gave me last visit. My topic is the Cornish in Queensland and using my own Cornish mining families as examples. It will be nice to see some old faces as it will be via Zoom.

February is a busy talks month for me with six talks, three in person (Bribie, Caloundra and Noosa) and three via Zoom (Monash Library, Melbourne, Port Macquarie, New South Wales and the Cornish Association in Melbourne. 

Webinars

Watch out for free offerings of well known speakers. I accepted the free offer to Legacy Family Tree webinars on 29 January and had the opportunity to listen to Cyndi Ingle, Lisa Louise Cooke, Thomas MacEntee and Teri Flack. All topics to help you stay organised with your genealogy information. Everyone provided detailed handouts so that saved some note taking.

Keeping on top of my emails is a major problem for me and speakers gave various suggestions. It still comes down to time. I delete many unsolicted emails as well as spam that still manages to get through the filters. 

What's Coming Up?

Always check the Events page of my website for where I will be speaking, both in person and via Zoom. I am really looking forward to getting back into talks as I love meeting new people, seeing old friends and talking about genealogy to people. So much better than talking to myself in my study which is what happens when I have to prerecord talks. I really miss audience feedback during a talk.

Stay safe and well, until next week, Shauna

More online geneafeasting, Gift ideas & Other news: My Week in Genealogy 29 Nov - 5 Dec 2021

Weeks are flying past or is it more that Christmas is fast approaching. I have been visiting the local markets for hand crafted gifts and to support local businesses. There are more tourists on the Island and more stalls to make the most of the holiday crowds. My other preoccupation is geneafeasting on so many good webinars and online conferences. I am a member of quite a few societies and there has been so much that I want to watch/listen to.

Bribie Genealogy 

Bribie RSL 

Our last Friday meeting of 2021 at the Bribie RSL was a big success with a number of us having lunch afterwards. We had our usual meeting bits and pieces and instead of a guest speaker, I gave them my Christmas genealogy quiz. Lots of fun and they can do some of the activities over December and January. Our next Friday meeting is in February which seems a long way off.

Our final Monday night meeting is this coming week and we are looking at different ways to approaching DNA matches. A useful and practical end to what has been a busy first year for our group.

Conferences

This weekend has been very busy with THE Genealogy Show Winter Event on Friday and Saturday. I gave a talk on Australian asylum records and we have 30 days to watch all the presentations we couldn't watch live over the weekend. 

On the Sunday I was registered for the Scottish Indexes Conference which I love and not just because it is free to register. Lots of good speakers and topics. Handouts are also available online.

RootsTech 2022 has accepted two sessions from me. I am busily trying to get them down to 20 minutes each. Then I have to record them and send them off before 17 December. Plus do a handout which is the  easiest way to give attendees the URLs.

Genealogy Society Memberships

Genealogical Society of Queensland's mission -
love the concept of enriching

In my introduction I mentioned all the exciting things I have been watching and that's mostly due to my memberships. These give me access to society resources online and thanks to covid, access to some subscription sites. 

While preparing for my talk for Bribie Genealogy I had occasion to visit my Genealogical Society of Queensland members only area. I will admit it has been a while, but I was surprised to see what is now on offer to members. Some subscription sites can only be accessed in person at the Society's research rooms. 

From home I can currently access MyHeritage, The Genealogist, Roots Ireland, Irish Ancestors by John Grenham and the Biographical Database of Australia. There are limited 'virtual seats' but it is possible to gain access and research. 

If you are not a member of a genealogy/family history society, membership is a perfect Christmas gift. Just let the gift giver know which society you would like to join. Then enjoy 2022 exploring what's online in your pyjamas. No selfies! 

My son - will his son look like this?

DNA

We have now had the Gender Reveal Zoom party and I will be a first time grandmother to a baby boy. 

Odd thinking that he will have 25% of my genes. 

I have upgraded by brother's Y DNA with FamilyTree DNA to 111 markers as I have had a few closer matches in recent weeks. Stay tuned.

What's Coming Up?

Apart from the last meeting of Bribie Genealogy I have no more talks for 2021. 

My calendar for 2022 is looking busy and I have agreed to do three terms of genealogy topics at Bribie U3A. Plus Bribie Genealogy will be back on a monthly basis from February. A trip to Sweden is still on the calendar, covid permitting this year. I really want that white Christmas I have been promising myself for the last two years. With the added attraction of a grandchild now, it may even be more than one trip. 

There are some interesting conferences coming up in 2022 which will be in person, covid permitting. Let's all hope that the world starts to return to  more or less normal again. 

Writing Family Stories

I am in the final check stages for the Joseph Spencer family of Cosby, Leicestershire family history that is going out as a Christmas present (via Express Post at this point). At least in a Word document we can add in extra bits and pieces, especially if family members ask us to provide more information.

Have another good week of genealogy research, if you get the time. I will probably just work on talks or written histories but you never know when a rabbit hole will appear.

Stay safe and well.

Shauna

A Geneafeast of Conferences & Other News: Australia and New Zealand Genealogy News September 2021

What a wonderful month for even more virtual genealogy events. 

One weekend I was trying to watch three different events and I didn't want to miss any of the talks. Luckily most events now record and allow you to watch over the next week or so.

Plus it is now spring time down under and there are flowers everywhere. 

My favourite double hibiscus. It keeps flowering all year.

Books

Now reading the final (5th) volume of Conn Iggulden historical saga on the family history of Genghis Khan through to his grandson Kublai Khan. A great read and hard to put down at times. It was a hard life for their women and children and I especially found the details around camp life interesting. 

Bribie Genealogy

September saw us permitted to meet in person again which was good. David Barnes shared at the Friday meeting how he organises his family history records and at the Monday night he walked us through the Tier One level of Gedmatch for DNA results. 

Good to see everyone in person again and some of us even shared a lunch.

Conferences

The NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies conference With Conviction was virtual but hosted by Port Macquarie. There were some interesting talks and I really liked Michelle Patient's Celebrating Cousins and Cate Pearce's Using DNA for Aboriginal Family History. In the virtual goody bag, you could download handouts provided by speakers, a digital copy of Traces magazine and other useful leaflets and forms. Next year will be in the Maitland/Newcastle area and I really hope to make this one in person. Although I have been to Newcastle many times, I never knew that it was the home of Dad's biological families. Will also spend additional time for family research and see what more I can learn.

The Professional Historians Association Queensland conference also went virtual and I missed a weekend stay in Brisbane. All the papers were interesting and stimulating and it was not surprising to me to see that so many professional historians now use genealogy resources. Probably because there is so much more online now.

Legacy Family Tree Webinars declared it Webtember with free webinars throughout the month. Some great sessions were on offer. Personally I have a subscription as it is such a good learning resource and not that expensive. Makes a good birthday/Christmas present each year if the family are looking to buy you something. 

Finally I went to the Irish Lives Female Finds virtual conference hosted by the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Society, Canada. Don't you just love the capability of Zoom. Sessions were recorded so I didn't have to stay up all night. The Irish DNA talks were related to my own family research on Islandmagee, Antrim and I won one of the lucky door prizes, a year's full subscription to MyHeritage.

New Resources

It was exciting to see the list below of new digitised newspapers at Findmypast, especially if you have London ancestors. Every time I see these updates I want to do new searches but I try to limit it to a couple of times a year. Below is the notice in the Leicester Chronicle on 31 January 1846 reporting on the death of Paul Spencer's first wife. Elizabeth was only 24 years old, and it also gave her father's name. So much information can be discovered in newspapers.

• Chelsea & Pimlico Advertiser covering 1860-1863 and 1865-1866
• East London Advertiser covering 1862-1866
• Kingsland Times and General Advertiser covering 1860 and 1862-1863
• West London Times covering 1860-1861, 1863-1864 and 1866-1867
• Westminster Times covering 1863

While additional pages have been added to the following titles:

• Albion from 1852
• Birkenhead News from 1914
• British Banner from 1850-1851, 1854 and 1856
• Croydon Times from 1934-1947, 1950 and 1952-1961
• Daily Director and Entr’acte from 1860
• Daily News (London) from 1922-1923, 1925 and 1927
• Limerick Reporter from 1849
• Liverpool Daily Post from 1858-1859
• Morning Herald (London) from 1808
• Sheffield Independent from 1929

Talks

As we come up to the end of the year I only have three more talks - all virtual even though two of those talks are in Australia. All talks are listed on the Events page of my website. 

What's Coming Up

At the October evening meeting of Bribie Genealogy I am doing a presentation Downsize and Pass On Your Family Research based on my own experiences of trying to downsize 45 years of personal genealogy. 

I first started the project two years ago and progress is not as fast as I expected. Time is not always our friend, even in lockdowns. Making decisions and simply sorting papers and digitising photos takes time.

My other task is to follow up all the tips I wrote down during all those September webinars. Perhaps I won't watch so many in October? 

Take care and stay safe and happy researching.