Awards, ethic inheritance & other news: My Genealogy Weeks 13 - 30 April 2022

Time goes even faster with Easter followed by two long weekends in a row. Short weeks and it's hard to know what day of the week it is. But I have been putting this extra time to good use and doing more family history writing and tidying up of my digital files. Tossing out binders is satisfying but the next challenge is making everything accessible in a digital format. 

Awards

I was delighted and honoured to receive a Certificate of Appreciation from the Association of Professional Genealogists for my work in establishing and maintaining the Australian and New Zealand chapter during the pandemic. During that time we also had approved our own member's logo. I also host our monthly meetings via Zoom.

Blogs

No blogs written but I have a blog that never really developed (no time) and I am now considering turning it into a site for my written family histories. Having attended the Society of Australian Genealogists webinar with Danielle Lautrec on creating websites for family history I was inspired to think about this more. It is a great way to have your research available in the future and searchable by Google. Setting up the design will be the hard part.

Books

Still reading the Ela of Salisbury books with a little Jo Nesbo on the side for something a bit more dark. 

Keeping up with genealogy magazines and society journals always a challenge but I have now drawn up a schedule of when they become available and I can tick it off when read. Also a good way to remember how many societies I belong to!

Bribie U3A

It is good to be back at our weekly meetings and this term it is English genealogy. Each week I talk about three themes and relevant websites. Attendees also submit a brick wall which I then walk them through strategies to perhaps solve it. No solutions yet but I have turned up new information and places to look. A great way to keep up your research skills.

DNA

Ancestry's new tool to sort out parents ethnicity without the need to have them tested is a bonus. I can readily identify Mum as she is mostly English (Parent 2) and Dad is showing as mostly Scottish but I believe his paternal line is in Antrim, Ireland which might skew things.

Dad's ethic inheritance is 41% Scottish, 5% Irish , 3% Norwegian and 1% North African. That last one is intriguing and the high result for Scotland has me wondering if my unknown biological GG grandfather was Scottish. My GG grandmother Helen Carnegie was born in Scotland and emigrated with her parents John and Helen Carnegie to Queensland in 1865. It would make sense if they made friends with Scots out here. 

I have another unknown biological GG grandfather who had a child with my Irish GG grandmother and maybe that is where the Norwegian fits?

Three unknown biological ancestors within five generations on Dad's paternal line is simply not fair!

New Resources

Do you check out the free webinars each month with FamilySearch? In May they have quite a few on how to use FamilySearch more effectively plus beginner sessions. Go to FamilySearch webinars.

Similarly Legacy Family Tree Webinars are free to join or watch within a limited time. There may also be free webinars in their online library. A subscription also makes a good birthday gift too.

FamilySearch added more non-conformist church records to their Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Northumberland collections as well as more from Middlesex parish registers. You really do need to review your research on a regular basis or risk missing that clue to break down those brick walls.

Talks

I have been a member of the Virtual Genealogy Association for some years and agreed to give a talk at their 4th birthday celebrations on 30 April. As it was a party, I tried a more lighthearted approach talking about immigrants, my own families while trying to provide information on resources. As I guessed most of the members are in the Northern Hemisphere, I ended with a chat about some of our unique animals. The presentations can be viewed on the YouTube channel.

What's Coming Up

Another trip to Noosa with a talk on mining ancestors at the Noosaville Library and in the afternoon a talk on using Australian archives effectively with the Cooroy - Noosa Genealogical & Historical Research Group at Tewantin.

The next History Queensland meeting is being held at Queensland State Archives and I have been invited to talk about my long family history/archives career (45 years last March). The genealogy bug really did take over my life! Must admit though, I am finding it hard to talk about myself and my experiences. It's a bit like doing your own eulogy.

Have a wonderful time researching your families and take care and stay safe. Until next time, Shauna

Electoral rolls, conferences & DNA progress - Genealogy Notes 8-31 Jan 2020

How is it February already? It has been a terrible summer season with the drought and bush fires just about everywhere and now it looks like it is about to flood. Where I am it looks like it will rain for the next week so lots of indoor time to concentrate on my family history records reduction program. Stay safe everyone.

Blogs

Before (but I kept the wardrobe door closed)

Month 2 report on my personal genealogy blogging challenge is up. Links to the original blog post and Month 1 are in that report.

Preparing your family history records for hand over to someone else is not a quick and easy task. A simple goal like scan photos could take weeks/months and I am finding that you have to be selective and ruthless. It is easy to get bogged down and I have quite a few issues parked because they are too big or I can't decide what to do.

Books

Thanks to the generosity of one of my U3A students, I was able to go to the local secondhand bookstore and select a variety of books that might be useful to the family history or writing classes. I had no trouble finding items that would be of interest to both classes and of course they all joined my list of 'must reads'.

One would think being sick I would have more time to read - my trouble is staying awake if I lie down or even when sitting in the lounge chair! Do they purposely make drugs that cause fatigue to ensure you get adequate rest?

Conferences

Everyone is excited about Family History Down Under which is 22-26 March 2021 (yes more than 12 months away) which will be held on the Sunshine Coast. There is an early bird rate which closes on 14 February 2020 so you have to get in quick for the substantial saving on the whole conference.

Check out the speakers and you will understand why people have already booked accommodation, airfares and registration. Not to be missed and look at the conference venue.

I'm also waiting for the Riding the Waves of History (Newcastle ACT/NSW) conference in September 2020 to open registrations. I don't want to miss that as I'm planning research on Dad's family at the same time.

The final Unlock the Past genealogy cruise  to Tasmania departs in just over a month from Adelaide and I'm looking forward to catching up with lots of friends and learning heaps from the speakers. Stay tuned for cruise reports in late March early April.

DNA

Herbert William White
from Wiltshire

Another first cousin has tested - this time in My Heritage and it has been quite a few years since we have seen each other. She is also on Mum's side.  Now that I have a few close matches with first and second cousins I can sort out the Prices from the Whites and the families back from them.

I'm still waiting for closer matches on Dad's side. No doubt all those DNA test kits for Christmas will start to filter their way online soon. Fingers crossed.

Resources

Thanks to Twitter I have been keeping up with additions to the Cornwall Online Parish Clerk's website. Quite a few of my parishes have been listed so time to have another look at my Cornish families for any new information.

Received the following media release from Queensland Family History Society. It can be more difficult to find information on living people and electoral rolls are one possible resource and 1969 is quite recent. The Society also has other information online that is exclusive to its members.

Commonwealth Electoral Roll (Qld) 1969

Queensland Family History Society (www.qfhs.org.au) has just launched online access to the Commonwealth Electoral Roll (Qld) 1969. All QFHS Members have access to this data that is not available on Findmypast, MyHeritage, FamilySearch or Ancestry.

This database provides details of more than one million people in Queensland who were registered to vote in the 1969 elections. It lists all the information recorded in the rolls of National Archives of Australia: BP94/2 (Commonwealth Electoral Rolls for Queensland).

The Electoral Roll is a unique source of public information on individuals at the time. Enrolment and voting were compulsory for those aged 21 or older, so Queenslanders from all walks of life are included. Combining the range of information with the search and sorting facilities can be especially useful for finding family groups.

Talks

There is a list of my talks coming up in April and May on the Events page of my website. Two talks for Moreton libraries and one for my local Bribie Island Family History Group. All on DNA matches which will be fun with lots of questions.

Our own Bribie Island Library DNA for Genealogists group starts meetings again this month so another opportunity to learn more and discover how others are going with their matches.

What's Coming Up?

My two U3A classes on advanced family history and writing family history keep me busy. There are a few new people in each class but it never hurts to do refresher classes as there are always new resources and websites.

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I often wonder how my ancestors met - did they live near each other, go to the same church, or was it on the high seas travelling to Australia. I have few wedding photos so I can't even guess what kind of wedding it was. They don't rate a mention in Trove so I'm guessing small family affairs and if I'm honest, in a couple of cases the first child was on the way.

Happy ancestor searching until next time.

New Victorian resources, DNA reports & other news - Genealogy Notes 15 Aug - 15 Sep

DNA Down Under memorabilia

I had a fantastic time during National Family History Month and had every intention of doing a report at the end of August.

However bad news on the medical front hijacked me to doctors, specialists and surgeons. This Wednesday I'm heading off to hospital for breast cancer surgery and if hugs and kisses (both physical and virtual) could cure cancer, I wouldn't need surgery. Everyone has been fabulous and offered help and support. With luck it has been caught early enough but I will know more after surgery.

Archives

The Geelong Heritage Centre Archives catalogue includes over 46,000 records and can now be searched online for the very first time by visiting archives.grlc.vic.gov.au.

The Archives are a unique recorded history of Geelong and surrounding areas (stretching from Portarlington to Lorne, Belmont to Lara, Geelong to Meredith and everywhere in between). There are collections of public and private records, newspapers, maps, plans, photographs, and catalogues and indexes.

When I lived in Melbourne I had the opportunity to research there a few times in the old facilities. Now they have much more luxurious premises and an online catalogue to search before you visit.

Blogs

I managed to write three blog posts about DNA Down Under. Read about the Brisbane event here, Part 1 of the Sydney 3 day event here and Part 2 here. 

Another souvenir!

It was absolutely fabulous and I learnt so much. To distract myself, I have been having an intensive look at Dad's biological family and its amazing how time flies when you start chromosome mapping.

E-Resources

The State Library of New South Wales blog post When NED Rode Into Town attracted my attention. Of course we all think of Ned Kelly but not in this instance. Below is a brief abstract of the post and for more details click on the link to the blog post.

The national, state and territory libraries joined forces to launch one giant national digital collection of Australian publications. It’s called National edeposit – or NED for short.

By ‘Australian publications’ we’re talking books, journals, magazines, music, pamphlets, newsletters, novels, children’s stories, self-published poetry anthologies, maps, government reports. You name it, regardless of where it was published in this vast continent, NED will have it.

NED is a website. It’s a system and a service, connecting a network of publishers and libraries.

Publishers go to the NED website to deposit and describe their electronic publications using a simple tool, choosing where and how they want them to be accessed. For the rest of us, these publications show up through the national discovery service, Trove.

The queue to registration at Brisbane DNA Down Under

Talks 

During August I did eight talks for Moreton Region Libraries on English Genealogy and Irish Genealogy Resources Online. Both presentations are on my the Resources page of my website, scroll down to Presentations.

I also did a DNA presentation on the search for my father's biological family to the Bribie Island Library DNA Genealogists group.

Victorian Resources

Still in Victoria, one of the main reasons I maintain my membership of the Genealogical Society of Victoria is so that I can access their Cemeteries Database and GIN (Genealogical Index of Names) online at home. I was interested to see this update from last November (sometimes it takes me a while to catch up with news).

GSV has been transcribing cemetery records since the 1950s and although there are now online websites for cemeteries (with many including photographs), some of those early headstone have disappeared or become illegible or even destroyed by vandals.

So make sure you try this database. You can search for free but if you want access to the information you need to be a member or pay a fee. Here are the additions.


Recently added to Cemeteries Database:
Trafalgar cemetery transcriptions 1886 -1996. 2nd ed
Trafalgar cemetery headstones 1882-1979
Voters’ roll for the… District of Epping, for the year ending July 1870
Steiglitz old & new cemetery register & headstone transcriptions 1854-1997
Mornington cemetery headstones 4/1/1861 to 18/2/1985
Orbost cemetery headstones 5.4.1882 to 12.8.1982
Winchelsea cemetery register and headstones 1858-1981
Yalca North cemetery headstones 1/10/1895 to 26/5/1977
Goroke cemetery register and headstones 14/3/1890 – 13/9/1982
Gormandale cemetery headstones 8/11/1895 to 13/7/1982
Guildford cemetery records 1871-1st Nov 1998
Ashens cemetery headstones 1890-1908; includes some Ebenzer Mission cemetery headstones
Flinders (Cerberus Naval Base) Boot Hill Naval cemetery records 7 June 1925 to 11 February 1980
Goroke private cemeteries: ‘Pleasant Banks’ station cemetery 1866-1893 & ‘Mortat’ private cemetery 1850-1877
Crib Point cemetery tombstones
Mulwala cemetery NSW: register and headstones 7/4/1853 – 22/5/1991
Bridgewater cemetery headstones 1863-1984
Coburg Pine Ridge cemetery register 1864-1996

Added to Genealogical Name Index & LINX Australia
Baptisms 1869 to 1900 at Bendigo St Paul’s Church of England (part complete)

Voters’ roll for the… Shire of Gisborne for the year ending October 1884: Borough Riding.

What's Coming Up?

My last talk for the year is another DNA presentation on how I have searched for my father's biological family and this time it is for the Genealogical Society of Queensland DNA Group. I still have some question marks around my research so it will be good to test out my theories with such a knowledgeable group of people. Plus some  of the newer members may benefit from my own experiences on this unexpected DNA journey.

There are my two U3A courses - Advanced Family History and Writing Family History - for 4th term and I am still working on the programs. This will also depend on my physical health as well but I am hoping that it will be business as usual, or almost.

Until next time, have a wonderful time researching your ancestors.

NFHM, DNA DownUnder and other news - Genealogy Notes 1-14 Aug 2019

August is always a fantastic month in Australia - lots of genealogy events to mark the end of winter, not that we have had much up here but our friends down south have certainly seen a bit of snow and cold times.

National Family History Month (NFHM)

It's National Family History Month with lots of genealogy and family history events in Australia this month. I've been giving talks around various Moreton Region Libraries and there have been wonderful attendees with lots of questions. My presentations on some of my favourite English and Irish genealogy resources are on the Resources page of my website, scroll down to Presentations.

Check out the NFHM website for any events still to come in your area. Also don't forget that DNA DownUnder is still touring with events in Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. I went to the Brisbane seminar and you can read my report on it here. In just under two weeks I will be in Sydney for the 3 day event.

There are genealogy bargains out there this month. Queensland Family History Society is offering a special membership price that includes access to MyHeritage at home plus other benefits and resources on offer to their members. The Society's open day is on 24 August from 10am to 3pm with displays by the special interest groups and volunteers to answer your questions. Something for everyone. More information on their website.

Resources

FindMyPast have added some more Scottish newspapers - two new titles for the Moray area, the Forres News and Advertiser; the Northern Scot and Moray & Nairn Express; the Renfrewshire Independent 1858-1877 and the Devon Valley Tribune (Clackmannanshire) 1890s to 1950s. I'm particularly interested in the Moray area.

FamilySearch added Toowoomba, Queensland prison index which is also available via Queensland State Archives. Having the index in a bigger, more widely searched database might mean more people discovering a criminal ancestor. My GG Grandmother is in that index.

Talks 

We had another meeting of the Bribie Island Library DNA Genealogists Group and I gave a presentation on how I am tracing my biological grandfather's family.

As I mentioned above, my presentations Irish Genealogy Resources Online and English Genealogy Resources Online are on my website, go to the Resources page and scroll down to Presentations. There is only one more talk for Moreton Libraries and that is the Strathpine Library just before I leave for Sydney.

By the end of August I will need a holiday. At least I will have more time to watch the local bird life from my office window (which sadly does not move around as much as my other geneacolleagues). Still, a bird in the hand.....

What's Coming Up

I have missed a few of my U3A classes due to the talks and travel but next week we are having another look at Sources & Citations. After Sydney I will be reporting on my DNA adventures to both my U3A class and the Bribie Island Library DNA Genealogists Group. Maybe September will be busy too!

Enjoy the rest of National Family History Month and I hope you make some exciting discoveries. Until next time

Memories of Dad, DNA hunting & other news - Genealogy Notes 1-31 Jul 2019

July saw me totally fixated on my father's family. Confirming DNA matches with traditional genealogy methods. It has been enlightening for all kinds of reasons. Certificates are more expensive than when I first bought them 42 years ago but now they arrive seconds after my visa card payment goes through.

The ease of checking indexes and looking at digitised records is way different from back then. My trouble now is that I just want to keep going with my searches and at times it almost seems like a scattergun approach. Look everywhere and check anything that looks like the name I am chasing.

Time to pull back and look at it from a fresh viewpoint. My next task is a timeline to make certain that it all fits together logically across Ireland, NSW and QLD.

July is also a month of many memories of Dad - he was born in July, married in July and died in July. A late 1950s photo of me and Dad plus koala with Mum, my baby brother and baby koala. I can't remember the outing but the photo certainly tells me it was a day out to Lone Pine in Brisbane.

Blogs

Full on research meant that I didn't get around to any blog writing this month. I was also sad to learn that The In-Depth Genealogist is not going to publish Going In-Depth anymore. I enjoyed doing regular articles and monthly blog posts for them over the last few years. The plan is that I now put that time into more blog posts on my own website.

National Family History Month

August is NFHM and there are lots of exciting events around the country. Check out the website to see what's on in your area. I'm giving eight talks across August at various Moreton Bay Libraries which will be a lot of fun on English and Irish genealogy. See the Events page of my website for details.

In addition I'm going to the one day Brisbane DNA Downunder event plus the three day conference in Sydney. Lots of geneamates seem to be going to that too so a good chance to catch up with everyone plus learn more about DNA.

The Bribie DNA Genealogists Group has me as their local speaker at the August meeting. Basically it will be explaining my DNA discovery and how I have traced my father's family. We are hoping to have a NFHM dinner after the meeting - it will be a first for Bribie!

New Resources

In the latest South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society journal I read about all the amazing records that FamilySearch are digitising for South Australia. So far I have loved the shipping, school and prison records but there is more planned. It is not the easiest state to research but digitisation is changing that.


Reading

I have mostly been catching up on my journal reading and paper copies go to bed with me so that in the morning I can read them before getting up to a chilly but not cold house. The mornings are getting lighter so spring can't be too far off.

Do you get your free copy of the latest digital issue of Irish Lives Remembered? This is definitely one to read on the laptop with a cup of coffee carefully off to the side.

The latest issue of the Australian magazine Traces arrived in my mail box and it features a Q&A that I was asked to do on dating a photograph. For those not familiar with Traces it is similar to what Inside History was and has excellent and varied articles on genealogy and history. A subscription makes a good birthday or Christmas present.


One of my U3A students commented that she told her family not to give her any presents that you could not eat as she had everything else. She ended up with seven boxes of chocolates. I have now suggested she ask for subscriptions to some of the great genealogy magazines out there. Definitely better than chocolate (but then I'm a cheese person).

Talks

My DNA talk to the local Bribie Island Family History Group was well received and many people said they were going home to try out my tips.

Dates of my talks at Moreton Libraries in August are on the Events page of my website and you do need to book. They are free but some libraries have limited seating so remember to book and check out the times of each talk as well.

In October I have agreed to give a talk on my Unexpected DNA Journey to the GSQ DNA group which meets in Brisbane.

Television

I loved watching Every Family Has A Secret and hope there are more episodes on the way. If you missed it catch up on SBS. Wondering when we will see the new British episodes of WDYTYA? Trying to avoid any spoilers on Twitter or Facebook but it's a bit tricky.

What's Coming Up

Planning my two U3A courses has given me lots of new opportunities to expand my own knowledge.  Plus I'm still into researching Dad's family and I want to try the Family Tree Magazine (UK) challenge to write my family history in 1000 words. I suggested that to my U3A writing students so really should give it a go myself. Thinking about it more, the challenge would be good to do in NFHM.

As usual busy times - have fun with genealogy until next time.

DNA, Talks, Conferences & Resources - Genealogy Notes 1-15 May 2019

So many interesting things happening at the moment. Simply loving the Bribie U3A classes and everyone is learning something and being motivated. It's like having your own little family history society and meeting weekly. Also had some interesting client research projects which have taken me into new areas.

Books

Currently reading (via inter library loan) Genetic Genealogy in Practice by Blaine Bettinger and Debbie Parker Wayne. As I'm going to two of the DNA Down Under events (Brisbane and Sydney) I thought it was time to do some background reading. I already have my own copy of Blaine's The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy but the more you read, the more you learn and absorb/remember.

Conferences

Waves in Time is next week so I have been dusting off the blogger beads, getting some of my books ready for sale (should anyone be interested) and making sure my talk is ready to go. It's a short time period with other free talks closely following each other so no going over time.

I've also been saving my dollar coins and small notes should anything tempt me on the secondhand book stalls.


Resources

Found baby Fred in the SA school admission
registers on FamilySearch

During the fortnight FamilySearch added more South Australian school admission register entries and South Australian will and probate records to their database. Two collections that I am following closely. Only indexed records no images.

Findmypast added almost 100,000 pages of updated digitised newspapers and some Scottish occupation records, but none relevant to my Scotsman who was a sailor. I have previously found records for him in Findmypast.

Ancestry have a new message centre for members and there are changes to the member profile with more setting options available. I need to have a look at both of these too.

Keeping up with the changes is often hard but everything online seems to be getting better and better.

Makes me wonder how we ever did genealogy back in the days before computers and the internet. I know because I still have four drawer filing cabinets full of paper correspondence and copies of documents  which I occasionally try to modernise into digital format.

Talks

Went to David Barnes talk on DNA at the Bribie Island Family History Group's meeting last week. I've heard David's talks before and he manages to pack a lot of information into his talks but he then shares those presentations with attendees so you can go over them again at your own pace. Everyone is at different levels of understanding and for some of the beginners, it can be overwhelming.

They have asked me to do a DNA talk in July based around my own DNA matches and analysis. So more of a practical approach on what to do with your matches.

David and I also had our first monthly meeting of the DNA Genealogists Group at the Bribie Island Library which was attended by 16 people. This was a good number for an inaugural meeting as there was time for everyone to introduce themselves and say a little about why they were interested in DNA and genealogy. We also watched an introductory DNA webinar from RootsTech and had a Q&A session plus a chat over tea and coffee (no biscuits). Will have to remedy that next time.

What's Coming Up?

A busy week with my writing family history and advanced family history classes at U3A, the Waves in Time conference and of course afterwards, I have to write up a couple of blog posts about the family history fair and the conference sessions. This next fortnight is simply going to fly past but lots of excitement and genealogy. Until next time, good researching and have fun.

Free Books, DNA, Conferences & New Resources - Genealogy Notes 16-30 Apr 2019

Wow so much is happening in the genealogy world at the moment. I'm torn between looking at new and exciting records, sorting my DNA matches or getting all my family history research for the last 40 plus years into really good order.

Blogs

My last two speaker interviews for the Waves in Time genealogy conference (now only a few weeks away) were completed. Read about Cara Downes from the National Archives of Australia here and Barb Toohey from Canberra here. Barb's talk is on who wants my records and that is partly behind my current determination to tidy up all my paper based records and make sure they are in my genealogy database. To follow will be the tidy up of my digital files which also show a blend of different recordkeeping styles over the last 20 years I have had a computer.

Books

Regular readers will know I am a fan of Nathan Dylan Goodwin's books and recently he has been advertising a free copy of The Asylum which is the prequel to his Morton Farrier Forensic Genealogist series of books. Click the link for a free download from his website. I loved it although I still struggle to read ebooks on my laptop. There is no curling up in bed or a comfy lounge chair - maybe I need to get a smaller device?

Conferences

Only a few weeks now till Waves in Time and my talk on tips for beginners has gone to the organisers. I am the first talk on the Friday at the free public fair which is really good. This means that I then have the rest of the time to totally enjoy myself with no pretalk nerves.

I booked my Brisbane ticket for the DNA Down Under tour in August and made the decision to go to the Sydney 3 day DNA event at the end of August. Before then the aim will be to work out some really good questions to ask all those experts - I'm looking to find a biological grandfather and it is a bit trickier when you haven't got any surname to look for. There are lots of matches that are not on Mum's side and don't match known relatives on Dad's side. I am pleased to be one of the Ambassadors for this exciting event which is occurring during our National Family History Month.

New Records

Findmypast has added some new Queensland records - the WW1 soldier portraits from the State Library of Queensland. I have already found some of my soldiers on the Library site but the advantage of having them in the bigger pond of Findmypast is for those who don't know about the Library's wonderful resources. Judy Webster's Queensland hospital registers are now included and as a big fan of Judy's over the years, I have used these records before too. But for others they could be a breakthrough for missing ancestors, especially those from the Queensland goldfields.

FamilySearch are continuing to add South Australian school admission records which I have found quite useful on the Spencer side.

Talks

My talk on Soldiers in the Family was well received at the Caloundra Family History Research group. Although the traffic on Easter Thursday was a lot heavier than normal, I gave myself plenty of time to get there without stressing. The drive home was marginally easier and I had time to go home for a quick cuppa before going to the Bribie Island Library in case anyone turned up for our new DNA  meetings. There is a lot of interest in DNA on the Island and the first meeting in May should be good.

What's Coming Up?

My U3A advanced family history group and the writing family history group are keeping me busier than I anticipated. On the plus side, it's very motivating for me as I can't just do the talk, I have to do the walk too. Hence tackling the organisation of my family history records for the next few months.

The Waves in Time conference will be a lot of fun and I will be blogging about the three days but after the event. Too much going on and I don't want to miss anything while trying to blog at the same time.

There is a DNA talk next week from David Barnes at the local Bribie Island family history group and I will be attending that. There is a lunch afterwards which is a good time to chat to others about the meeting and swap tips.

So a busy two weeks coming up. Take time out where you can to keep your genealogy research going and if you are at any of the same events, please come up and say hello. Until next time.

DNA Down Under, Books & Talks - Genealogy Notes 1-15 Apr 2019

It's almost Easter and without fail my orchids bloom each year just in case I forget. The blooms this year are not as good as previous years, possibly that long hot summer with no rain.

This image is from a few years ago when they were simply magnificent.

Blogs

During the fortnight I continued my blog interviews for the Waves in Time conference speakers - read about Michelle Patient - The Patient Genie who is giving a session on methodology.

There is now a link on the conference website to speaker interviews with the other conference ambassadors. Check it out here and more interviews will be added over the next few weeks. Hard to believe that the conference is now just over four weeks away.

Books

One of my Christmas presents was Nathan Dylan Goodwin's Ghost Swifts, Blue Poppies and the Red Star, a Mrs McDougall investigation. I made the mistake of putting it into my must read pile of books and of course since then more have gone on top and I have been sidelined by others. After seeing a tweet from Nathan on whether people liked the book, I realised my error and it went straight to the bedside table. Another great read and hard to put down. It is set just after World War One when so many were grieving for lost sons, fathers and husbands. I hope there is another Mrs McDougall adventure soon.


Conferences

I am pleased to announce that I am also an ambassador for the Unlock the Past DNA Down Under event in August. There are one day seminars in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth and a three day conference in Sydney. At each event there will be a number of speakers and topics and as DNA seems to be the flavour of the geneamonth, these sessions are likely to be very popular.

I'm tempted by the longer Sydney event but the Brisbane event will be easier to get to. I was fortunate to hear Blaine Bettinger at an Unlock the Past event in Seattle prior to the Alaska genealogy cruise.

Similarly I was on the same program at a Townsville genealogy seminar for National Family History Month in 2017. Both speakers I would like to hear again and both are on the program for Brisbane. So that looks like a must do.

As Sydney is over three days, it is divided into Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced streams - at the moment I think I am somewhere between intermediate and advanced. Which stream/talks to go to if I decided to go to the Sydney conference? The full program is not online yet but I can see the choices might be tough.

What's Coming Up?

Uncle Gordon,
a Rat of Tobruk

This week I'm presenting A Soldier in the Family to Caloundra Family History Research. It looks at different military resources using my own family examples. My biggest worry is getting trapped on the highway going to or returning from Caloundra - Easter Thursday holiday traffic which I didn't consider when they first asked me to do this date.

The main issue coming home is that I have to be back at the Bribie Island Library by about 4.45pm as our new group DNA Genealogists might be turning up. We received publicity in the local papers but the fact we were not having the first meeting until May was not published. Therefore some people might turn up even though it is Easter Thursday. My job is to sit there and explain the mixup. So far quite a few people have expressed interest but anyone who hasn't formally contacted the organiser won't know there is no April meeting.

My two classes at U3A Bribie will resume - advanced family history which seems to have a waiting list to join and my writing family history. Both groups have continuing students and it will be another fun term but it speeds up the weeks. Time seems to fly during terms.

Until next fortnight have lots of geneafun.

January 1 new archives resources & other news - Genealogy Notes 16-31 Dec 2018

2018 has ended and its been a year of lots of small family discoveries. No major breakthrough but lots of facts about individuals discovered through newspapers, wills and buying the odd certificate to confirm a lead. In the coming year I want to spend more time writing the stories rather than continuing to gather new information. That's the plan.

Blogs
It wasn't a big year for blog posts but I managed at least one post a month and occasionally two if there was a lot happening, like the Alaska genealogy cruise with Unlock the Past. The last fortnight of 2018 saw two blog posts - a Trove Tuesday John Finn Charged With Incendiarism (now there's a candidate for a good story as poor John had so many things go wrong in his life) and I finally did a DNA post on Finding Truth in Family History which explains why after 42 years of family history research, I am now looking for a biological grandfather.

Books
I'm currently reading Kate Grenville's The Secret River. It's an historical novel but inspired by her convict ancestor Soloman Wiseman who settled in the area now known as Wiseman's Ferry.

None of my ancestors did anything famous or have anything named after them but I can't help thinking about what kind of historical novel could I write about their lives. Or should I just try for a straight family history although one has to make that an interesting read too.

We have formed a genealogy writing group at the local U3A so these will be the kind of questions we can discuss and motivate each other  with.

Photos

One of the last things I did in 2018 was to have a professional photo shoot with a local photographer Deb Neill. She does some really lovely photos of Bribie which I see through various Bribie Facebook sites. I have been wanting to update my profile picture for a while but I hate getting my photo taken and I can never really find one that I like. That's why I am still using the 2014 photo taken of me while in Inverell for a talk. Deb has done a series of photos that I can use on social media, website, blogs, books or seminar flyers. The hard part is trying to decide which one to use as there are a couple that I really like or maybe I should use different ones on different sites. Anyway there will be a new me coming soon!


Conferences & Talks

The events page of my website has been updated with talks and conference sessions I'm doing in 2019. As the year progresses new dates will be added. For me the most exciting event will be the Waves in Time conference at Caloundra under the auspices of History Queensland and Caloundra Family History Research. It is only an hour or so up the highway but I will be staying up there to maximise the time at the family history fair and the conference.

New Resources - 1 January record releases

Remember that a new year means new archives & BDM resources as another year comes into the open access period. It was good to see the ABC News story on Public Record Office Victoria's newly opened mental hospital files. Some states like New South Wales update their BDM indexes throughout the year while others simply update at the end of the year. It is always worth checking for any new births, deaths or marriages and it is a great way to keep your research current.

What's Coming Up?

My U3A classes in advanced family history (weekly) and writing family history (fortnightly) will keep me busy and motivated. Plus I have even enrolled in how to use a smart phone as I'm sure there are lots of tips and tricks to learn. That's only a 5 week course.

The first genealogy seminar for the year is with the Queensland Family History Society with the theme Taking Your Australian Research Further. I am looking at what you can discover in Australian archives and other resources people might not be using for their family history research. Janice Cooper is the other speaker on the day advising us how to place our families in their communities and in the times they lived.


Until next time, I hope you find time for some genealogy research with lots of exciting discoveries.

Alaska Update, DNA & Other News - Genealogy Notes 1-15 Sep 2018

Well I am back home after 16 days in Canada and the USA. It was a wonderful trip with some great scenery and experiences. Plus it was a digital detox for the whole time - no laptop, phone, tablet, or social media for 16 days. It is a great way just to be in the present and not miss anything because you are too busy sending Facebook/Twitter posts or writing up blogs. The only negative is that I appear to have caught a cold but then quite a few on the cruise seemed to have a bit of something that was going around. At least I am home and it didn't impact on the holiday.

Explorer of the Seas at Juneau 

Alaska Cruise 
This was 7 days with the Unlock the Past team and attendees from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Had a fantastic time catching up with past cruise mates and making new friends. As usual I will blog the genealogy learnings separately, probably in two blog posts as we had two full genealogy days, a half day plus a nightly lecture. Hope to have them done during the next week. The two talks that I presented - Finding Pictorial Images and Caring for Family Archives are on the Resources page of my website, scroll down to Presentations.

DNA News
There were lots of sessions on DNA as part of the cruise program and one of the things I picked up was that you can upload your Family Tree DNA raw data into MyHeritage for free. To find as many matches as you can you need to have your data placed in all the various sites as you don't know where potential cousins may have tested. So one of the first things I did since returning home is to upload my raw data to MyHeritage. While catching up with my blog post reading, I noticed that The Legal Genealogist wrote MyHeritage DNA Changes - and Deadline and the option will only be free until 1 December 2018. So don't wait.

Seattle's famous Sky Needle

Seattle Conference
This was held the day before the cruise left and it was mostly DNA talks by Blaine Bettinger with some Irish talks by Maurice Gleeson and a how to dig deeper on the web with Cyndi Ingle. Another great day and a chance to meet fellow cruisers and others before we sailed. A blog post on this is also on the way. While in Seattle I also took the opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing and learn more about the First Nations people who lived in the area.

Tillicum Village, Blake Island, Seattle

What's Coming Up?
Back to Bribie U3A on Wednesday for the last class for third term. The 'students' have asked for a free ranging talk on my Alaska learnings so that will be a lot of fun. Should also help me to start thinking about what to include in my blog posts on the cruise.

On Thursday as part of the Moreton Region Older and Bolder program I am on a walking tour of Bribie's World War 2 involvement when various forts and other military buildings were erected as part of the defence of Brisbane. It should be interesting.

Then there are two weeks holiday from U3A although I will be preparing the sessions for Term 4. It is Advanced Family History so I'm planning something a little different for the final term for the year.

No talks until October so that gives me a chance to catch up on other things and to get over the last two weeks of travelling where I did over 25,000 km. No wonder I feel tired although the head cold probably has something to do with that.

Until next time, have a great time researching.

Genetic Genealogy, Book Review & Black Sheep Talks: Genealogy Notes 9-17 May 2018

Mother's Day flowers

The past week was dominated by Mother's Day and it was the first Mother's Day that Mum celebrated with my brother and I at my place and my son and his soon to be wife also came for a fish and chip lunch. So my three generations were all in the one place for Mother's Day. My brother headed home to celebrate it all over again with his wife and two children. We are a very small family these days.

As part of the day I showed some very early photos of Mum and I plus early photos of my son and I - Mum's comment was that it didn't even look like us but throw in a few decades and yes that was us way back then! It is only when looking at photos that I feel the passing of the years and wonder at how quickly time passes.

Books

My review of Nathan Dylan Goodwin's The Wicked Trade and The Suffragette's Secret: genealogical crime mysteries is now finished. Read it here. As usual a really good read and now the patient wait for the next book.

My new book to read (or more correctly reread) is Blaine Bettinger's The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy. I am getting lots of DNA matches but still struggling to understand my results so back to the drawing board for a refresher.

Talks
In that DNA spirit I am off to Brisbane tomorrow for the Queensland Family History Society's seminar on Genetic Genealogy with Dr Maurice Gleeson. Apparently it is fully booked which just shows how popular DNA is at the moment. I've spoken at that venue and it is not a small theatre. Should be a great morning and a catch up with geneamates. Just noticed that his handout is already on their home page - a bit of reading for tonight to make the most of the two talks tomorrow. Blog post to follow.

The room started to fill early

My two talks with the Cooroy-Noosa Genealogical & Historical Research Group on Monday were well attended with an almost full house for the convicts talk in the morning and slightly less for the afternoon session on missing ancestors (look for them in prisons). Lots of people seem to have black sheep in the family.

There was lunch in between and an opportunity to chat to people and have a look around their wonderful premises. As usual both talks are on the Resources page of my website, scroll down to Presentations.

My U3A advanced family history session on Wednesday was all about locating photographs of your ancestors, places they lived, schools they attended, ships they arrived on and other aspects of family history using photographs to tell the stories.

Part of the research area, books always look more
interesting than a row of computers

Television

I have been fascinated by all the celebrity stories so far on the new Australian series of WDYTYA on SBS. There have been some really interesting stories and only three more episodes to go. Although they do drag it out in some cases, but then I guess that is all part of the entertainment value of the show.

What's Coming Up

My next genealogical outing will be to the Gold Coast Family History Society Again I will be giving two talks - one on finding and using archives for family history and the other on skeletons in the family. Another favourite topic with so many in my own family. That mini seminar is on 26 May at Nerang and it is open to the public with a modest price for members and slightly higher for non members.

Obviously I will be working on these two talks during the week as well as doing a blog post on the QFHS Genetic Genealogy seminar. Plus a new talk for my U3A students on insolvencies and bankruptcies which will be fun. Lots of interesting records to talk about there.

Until next time have a great genealogy week.

Newgate Calendar, DNA talks & other news : Genealogy Notes 24-30 Apr 2018

My goody bag from the Caloundra
Family History Research Inc last week

Reviewing old society journals can be rewarding - finally relocated my membership card for Genealogy SA. I obviously was using it as a book mark in one of their journals, it's now safe with all my other membership cards. Sometimes it is useful just to browse and check out urls or other resources and stories.

For example, in the Genealogical Society of Queensland's journal Generation, December 2014 there was an article 'Serious Crimes in the United Kingdom 1700-1825' from The Newgate Calendar.

Although most of my ancestors were criminals with a variety of crimes, none of them were too serious. However I'm fascinated by these types of records. The article finished by saying that the book is online free although it is a multi volume work. You can download volume by volume or browse the thematic contents including sneak thieves, highwaymen, smugglers, traitors, abductors of maidens, body snatchers and much much more.

Some of the entries are really quirky but fascinating. From the Ex-Classics home page, you can do a Google search such as Newgate and the surname of a person if you think one of your ancestors might be listed.

Blogs
Received some nice feedback on my Australian Trade Union Archives blog post for The In-Depth Genealogist. It's always nice to know that people are reading and learning something from our writings.

Tuesday's resolve is to do another Trove Tuesday post. The hard part I find is trying to pick a topic, so many interesting things to write about. Of course, it is also very easy to be distracted while searching in Trove.

Books
I've just finished reading Nathan Dylan Goodwin's The Suffragette's Secret, a Morton Farrier short story (and enjoyed it - review to follow) and now I've started on The Wicked Trade, another Morton Farrier adventure looking into Kent and smugglers in the 1820s. For me the attraction of Nathan's books is the combination of genealogy, history and a good story plus the development of his lead character as he progresses through his own life. I think we can all relate to crying babies and sleepless nights.

Talks
Last week I mentioned that I'm speaking at a Gold Coast Family History Society seminar at the end of May. Should have checked my diary - there are two talks for the Cooroy-Noosa Genealogical and Historical Research Group in conjunction with Noosa Libraries on 14 May.

Since moving back to Queensland I've done a few talks for Noosa Libraries but it has been quite a while since I last did talks for the Cooroy-Noosa group. It was in their old premises so I'm looking forward to seeing the new premises.

Cooroy-Noosa Genealogical & Historical Research Group premises

Moreton Libraries have booked me to do my blogging for family history talk at the Strathpine and Caboolture libraries later in the year. Plus I received my first request to do a presentation in 2019. No wonder time goes so fast!

What's Coming Up?

Front page of the bible Sarah Finn nee Fegan
brought to Queensland

I've just booked for the Queensland Family History Society seminar on Genetic Genealogy with Maurice Gleeson on 19 May. He is giving two talks - Managing your matches: a step by step approach to interpreting your DNA matches and Marrying DNA and Irish family tree research.

Learning more about how to read my DNA results and what to do with them is something I really need plus I have Irish ancestors from Wicklow - John Finn and Sarah Fegan. Should be a great day and a chance to catch up with geneafriends from Brisbane.

Until next time have a great genealogy week.

WDYTYA, DNA, & Other News: Genealogy Notes 23-31 Mar 2018

I'm not a fan of acronyms as not everyone knows what they are but they do save you a lot of keystrokes. The two in the title of this post should be familiar to everyone.

This week was the last U3A session for Term 1 and there is a two week break before Term 2 starts. My advanced family history class looks like doubling so I need to do some planning. Many students continue on plus there will be new students which means that I have to balance so that the 'oldies' aren't bored and the 'newbies' are not overwhelmed. Plus I need to keep myself interested otherwise there is no point volunteering to do these sessions. It is actually a great way to keep up to date!

DNA

My Ancestry ethnicity profile

How exciting to be contacted by Chris Paton and be told that we are related! He found me through FamilyTree DNA while looking for connections to his Mitchell family in County Fermanagh. This didn't mean anything to me but looking at some of his other surnames I recognised three from my own grandmother's Irish and Scottish families. Now to work out the connection!

While on the topic, Queensland Family History Society is hosting a seminar with Maurice Gleeson (Irish genetic genealogist amongst other things) on 19 May so a trip to Brisbane is coming up. Maurice is also on the Alaska Unlock the Past cruise that I'm going on in September but this is another opportunity to try and understand my matches.

Genealogy/family history societies have an active education program so check out your local society and see what speakers or seminars are coming up. They are great opportunities to learn something new as well as chatting to like minded people about your family history problems, or perhaps you can help someone with their brick walls.

Blogs/Articles

The Congress satchel

The Genealogical Society of Queensland invited me to do a guest post on the recent Sydney Congress 2018 for those who couldn't attend. It will be posted on 2 April on their weekly blog. Some of the other posts might interest you too.

I also managed to get my monthly blog post for The In-Depth Genealogist in on time as well as my monthly article.  The deadline is always the end of the month and despite my good intentions of doing it early in the month, I always seem to be hovering around the very end!

With all my Congress 2018 blog reports finished, I'm hoping to do a Trove Tuesday blog post this week. It's been a while since my last one - January to be precise on the Samuel Plimsoll. So much for doing one a month but the last two months have been busy and I was away from home twice.

Resources
Thanks to Carmel (Library Currants) we have a handy website that allows you to customise a tombstone for your blog posts, articles or family histories. Try out Tombstone Builder. I quite often pick up nice little tips from Carmel's blog Library Currants so if you haven't seen it before have a look.

Ancestry have added the New Zealand police gazettes 1878-1945 and I love police gazettes because you can find out all kinds of unknown family snippets. Yes you might find a crime or a desertion but there were also missing friends/family and of course victims. My great uncle managed to have his bicycle stolen not once but twice and I would not have known this without browsing Queensland police gazettes.

If you don't have an Ancestry subscription you may have access to it through your local council library or your nearest genealogy/family history society. One of my families spent time in New Zealand so this Easter I will be checking out the New Zealand police gazettes just in case!

Television
Who has time for television when you are a family historian? There are a few shows I like to watch and one of my favourites is starting a new series on 19 April on SBS - the 9th series of the Australian WDYTYA. Celebrities include Justine Clarke, Ernie Dingo, Noni Hazlehurst, Natalie Imbruglia, John Jarratt, Todd McKenney, Patti Newton and Charlie Teo. The 8th season went to air in 2016 so it has been a long wait but I'm ready and excited.

What's Coming Up

My orchids Easter 2015

It's Easter which means some of my orchids are in flower but they are not as spectacular (must be all that rain we have had this year) as they were when I took this photo. It's in a much larger pot now so I was hoping for more blooms. Perhaps a dash of fertiliser!

Apart from gardening I like to get out and about and my next talk is at Caloundra Family History Research on 19 April with a presenatation on Sporting Ancestors.

Enjoy the Easter long weekend with family and friends, try not to eat too much chocolate and do spend your time on your family history. I hope you have some fabulous finds.

Until next time