Kiva Genealogists for Families, Resources & Other News: My Genealogy Weeks 1-15 Oct 2024

Hello everyone

Fresh back from a two week holiday in Bali. We haven't been since Covid and found it much busier than before. Airport congestion was unreal mostly due to having to do online visas and health declarations prior to arrival. Many hadn't and quite a few planes arrived at the same time. 

It didn't help that they changed baggage carousels without announcing the changes. 

But the people were friendly and the food was wonderful. We even did a Balinese cooking course so now to put that into practice.

The good thing was that I didn't get sick or fall over and hurt myself. Bought some nice casual dresses for summer and planning when we might be able to escape there again.

Books

Our Bribie Family History Association bookclub has been reading some great books. Our current book The Girl Who Left: from Croatia to the cane fields by Debra Gavranich is about a woman who left Yugoslavia after WW2 to marry a man she had never seen before in Queensland. Based on a real life story it is interesting to learn more about Australia's post war immigrants.

One thing I forgot to mention in my September news was that I have completely updated my books on Library Thing. I also received their Tenner badge as I have been a member for over 10 years. 

The app is now on my smart phone so that I can see if I already have a book before buying it. A great way to avoid having two copies of the same book.

Looking forward to reading this new book from Nathan Dylan Goodwin. It is the next one in the Venator cold case series.

DNA

Ancestry has done a major update to how DNA ethnicity (now ancestral regions) helps us to understand our paternal and maternal lines.  

Dad has lost his Scandinavian and it is now England and Northwestern Europe (this must be the two lines where I don't know who my GG grandfathers are). Otherwise he is Scots and Irish.

Mum still has that puzzling Wales connection with no Welsh in the paper trail. Her Cornish is now a defined group.

Hopefully over the December/January break I will find some time to get back to those unknown ancestors and see if I can track them down.

Kiva for Genealogists

Another group I have been a member of for years has been Genealogists for Families team on Kiva which lends small loans to people in other countries under a range of categories. Our team captain is Judy Webster and we have been in existence since 27 Sep 2011 - that's 13 years so we missed that 10th anniversary. There are 264 members who have made over $550,830 in loans. 

That's an impressive record and by relending or making new loans it is amazing how your individual contribution adds up. For example I have made 194 loans in 71 countries. Now that I have actually looked at my stats it would be nice to get to 200 loans before the end of 2024 which will depend on existing loans being repaid or I can make new loans. I usually do this for Christmas instead of buying gifts. Now on my to do list so I don't forget.

Anyone can join us by going to Kiva, signing up and selecting the Genealogists for Families team. You do have to make a $25 loan as well.

Resources

The Trove Treasures e-newsletter for October talked about haunted buildings, tracing towns through resources in Trove, early Australian maps and a feature on brides from 1890. Everyone should sign up for this newsletter as it really does expand your knowledge of what is in Trove and how best to find what you are looking for. Plus it's free.

At right is an image from the the Brisbane Telegraph of Mum's eldest sister who was an October bride in 1938. Mum was only 4 at the time so my memories of aunty Hazel were always of an older woman. Finding this image in Trove was wonderful and it is just one of the many images I have found on Mum's family.

MyHeritage has an all new look to their Inbox feature for easier communication with other researchers. Plus they added another 56 million records in September. No wonder everyone is saying it is hard to keep up with changes and new resources.

If only we could do family history 24/7! But then the house doesn't get dusted, the garden doesn't get weeded and no food shopping gets done. Amazing how these basic chores take up so much of our daily life - how did I manage when I worked 9-5, five days a week?

Talks

Genealogical Society of Queensland's annual seminar was at the weekend. Forgotten Women and Children had an incredible line up of good speakers with varied topics on women. 

I was one of the speakers looking at homeless women in colonial Queensland gaols based on my PhD research. But many of the aspects I cover apply to all women, not just those unfortunate enough to be sent to gaol for having nowhere to live.

Left is an image of female prisoners at the Boggo Road Gaol. My great great grandmother Helen/Ellen Carnegie/Ferguson could be in that photograph which was part of a series in The Queenslander in 1903.

I still have talks in November and December so it has been a very full year of presentations despite my saying at the start I would be cutting back to focus on my PhD. Hard to stop something you love doing.

See my Events page for details.

What's Coming Up?

First is catching up with my emails and ejournal and enewsletter reading. As a member of numerous genealogy societies and other organisations I receive their quarterly journals and weekly newsletters. It is so easy to simply flag and aim to go back when I have more time. The only trouble is that 'more time' never seems to happen.

My plan for 2025 is to list all the journals and magazines in a chart and then tick them off when I have read the issue. Sounds simple but it never seems to work until I get to the end of the year and madly flick through a whole lot at once. There will be more timely reading in 2025. Wish me luck.

Until next time happy researching

Shauna

Online seminars & New Resources - Genealogy Notes 18 - 27 Oct 2015

This last week has been interesting thanks to a fishing competition which meant I was home alone for 5 whole days and 7 nights. Yes I could have done some spring cleaning, some gardening and other domestic goddess stuff but I decided, with a birthday looming, that I would spoil myself. I started out data entering all my new data and filing things I had discovered while I was incapacitated with my broken elbow.

Relooking at these finds sent me in search of other discoveries and even in the last couple of months new resources have gone online and I found even more to get excited about. In Findmypast I think I have found a death notice in the Irish newspapers for my GGG grandfather Robert Fagan in Wicklow, Ireland - the name, age (80 years) and place (Glasnarget) are all spot on but no one else is mentioned in the notice. It is not a common name in the area but I would like to find more confirmation.

An intriguing sentence at the end is - American papers please copy. Does this mean that while his daughter Sarah Fegan came to Queensland, did some of her siblings or Robert's siblings or other relatives go to America? Something else to follow up!

But the point is that the last time I looked in the Irish newspapers there was no result for him at all so you really do need to go back and look regularly. I have particularly noticed this with Trove and since they have added the Brisbane Telegraph and the Daily Standard I have found lots more references to my families than I ever did in the Courier Mail. You have to check every newspaper as it may be totally new information or perhaps just slightly different.

While I made some really interesting discoveries in all those digitised newspapers, it did seem to soak up the hours or else it got dark early that day!

On Facebook I noticed that Kerry Farmer from the National Institute for Genealogical Studies was giving a free webinar on local history for genealogy and fresh from the History Queensland family and local history conference (see my review) I decided to listen in. Only a small group attended which surprised me, but Kerry squeezed an amazing amount of information and sources into that hour.

While I was familiar with most of the sources some of the NSW examples were new to me. I hadn't realised that you could get all those exciting parish maps online free. I was madly trying to write down URLs while Kerry kept talking so that I could follow up later. She also reminded me about QueryPic which I used to use a lot when I lived down south but since coming north it seems to have slipped out of my mind. I could have really used it in my keynote talk at the History Queensland conference but QueryPic is now back in the forefront of my search strategies again. So a great hour of reminders and new things and all for free. Thanks Kerry.

Sketch of my GG grandfather John Finn
 in the Brisbane Truth 

Week 42 Gaol and Prison Records in my personal genealogy blog challenge 52 Weeks of Genealogical Records in 2015 had me delving into Trove again and yes more references to all my criminal ancestors. It is a rainy afternoon as I write this and I am so tempted to open up Trove and just have a little browse. Yesterday was Trove Tuesday (actually every Tuesday is Trove Tuesday) and many of my Geneablogger friends do a Trove Tuesday post. It is really interesting to see what others find on their ancestors. Another great way to spend some time!

Genealogy Sunshine Coast have asked me to do an all day seminar as a grand finale for National Family History Month 2016 which sounds a great way to end a genealogy and family history month. I haven't quite got around to thinking about NFHM 2016 just yet but I will have to start thinking about sponsors and planning soon as August has a way of catching up to me. Sponsors and ideas are always welcome and as 2016 will be the 11th year I am hoping for a new look.

In a week or so I will be in Rockhampton presenting 3 talks to the Central Queensland Family History Association so that will be exciting. The talks are all done and I will have some of the Unlock the Past research guides for sale too including my own titles. We are planning to go up the Bruce Highway and come back via the Burnett Highway to see a little more of that part of Queensland.

Mum, a cute me and my baby brother

My mother has just told me that it is 6 weeks to Christmas and asked what are we doing this year. I am having trouble even realising that 2015 is almost over. It has been a big year with broken limbs and time spent in hospitals and doctor's waiting rooms so a quiet uneventful Christmas/New Year sounds good to me.  But Mum is a traditionalist so I need to start giving it some thought but my grandmother's rum ball recipe has leapt to mind. I always loved them!

Next week is Melbourne Cup, my birthday (the old Guy Fawkes night
for those old enough to remember) and I will be doing what I love most, travelling. Diary will be coming from an exotic Queensland location yet to be disclosed but one I always love going to. Have a great genealogy week and remember, keep looking for new information online, it can pay off.  

Genealogy notes 13-19 August 2014 - More National Family History Month news

Another busy week with one talk for Moreton Bay Region Libraries and a webinar (my first ever webinar presentation) for MyHeritage. I found it a bit strange just sitting in my study talking to my laptop knowing that there were about 120 people out there listening to me. More new technology mastered or at least experienced!

My experimenting with a NFHM board on Pinterest has been working really well (if I can say that) as I did a Google trawl looking for items about NFHM and found some interesting pieces which I was able to pin to the board. Quite a few people are following and some have even pinned my pins on to their own boards.

This week was the deadline for my next article for Irish Lives Remembered and I was sent a proof of an article I wrote for Inside History Magazine which is looking good for the next issue.

I have added a few more events to the NFHM web calendar and continue to add individuals into the sponsors prizes giveaway. There are a fantastic list of prizes to be won by individuals including 10 Ancestry subscriptions, 2 Findmypast subscriptions, 2 MyHeritage subscriptions, 2 AFFHO Congress 2015 registrations, 2 $100 genEbooks vouchers, 3 NSW transcriptions from Joy Murrin, 1 Momento photo book valued at $150, 2 Unlock the Past cruise vouchers at $200 each and $150 research services with yours truly. How to enter is on the home page of NFHM and please read the terms and conditions. The prize giveaway closed in one week - 26 August at 5.00pm. Links to all the sponsors are on the Sponsors page.

Also on offer is a free online genealogy course with the National Institute of Genealogical Studies. There are three courses to choose from and instructions on how to enrol in the course of your choice is on the Sponsors page of NFHM.

There are still lots of events to go in the last two weeks of NFHM so check out your local area and remember to see what is online as there are some interesting offers there too.

My 31 Activities for Researchers and 31 Activities for Societies in NFHM is on my Resources page and I did manage to write up my first 15 activities and you can read it here. The other 16 will hopefully be later this week.

I also managed to take up another 3 Kiva loans with my repayments from previous loans, all part of the Kiva Genealogists for Families project. That is also a good activity to do during NFHM and I must remember that for next year.  You can join me at http://www.kiva.org/invitedto/genealogists/by/shauna1522

Tomorrow I am speaking at the Deception Bay Library on Family History on the Cheap and I have not been to that Library before so probably all new people. Next week I have four talks to finish off NFHM and of course the sponsors prizes giveaway draw on 27 August at Redcliffe. I really like that I can spread some of my major NFHM  activities around - launch in Canberra, talks throughout Moreton Bay Region and the prize draw at Redcliffe. Just as well I don't mind a bit of travel.

For those not familiar with Redcliffe it was Queensland's first European settlement and September 2014 marks the 190th anniversary of settlement in the area. So a nice historical place to end my NFHM! For those reading this overseas, we really are a very young country.

I think that is all I have done the last week but then I am a bit weary! Planning a nice week off post NFHM with a week's holiday at Surfers Paradise. I haven't been there since I was a teenager so it will be interesting and something a bit different, not our usual exotic places.

Keep on enjoying NFHM and happy researching.

Genealogy Notes 19-25 Apr 2014 - Military Musings

Today is ANZAC Day and everyone's thoughts are centred around our military ancestors and the centenary of the start of World War One. Kintalk (Auckland Libraries) have organised their usual Trans Tasman ANZAC Day blog challenge and I posted my story on Jack Russell aka Thomas Henry Alphonsus (Alfred) Spencer who fought in both World Wars. Read his story here. I am also looking forward to reading the other blogs in the challenge.

Week 14 of my personal genealogy blog challenge, 52 Weeks of Genealogical Records in 2014 is on Cemetery Records and you can read about it here. Each time I do one of these blogs, I find out a little more about one of my families as I revisit the research or look at things from a different angle. The weekly challenge also means that I do not let it slip down my to do list.

Findmypast.com.au have been releasing 100 records in 100 days and part of this exciting project is the release of thousands of military records for ANZAC Day.  The new collections contain nearly 700,000 detailed records of soldiers who served as part of the Australian Imperial Forces between 1914 and 1918.

The new records available on findmypast.com.au include:

•             Australian Embarkation Roll 1914-1918

Transcripts contain details of approximately 330,000 AIF personnel, recorded as they embarked from Australia for overseas service during the First World War. They include full names, rank, age, trade, marital status, address at date of enrollment, next of kin details, religion, date of joining, unit embarked with, and further remarks. Many of the next of kin addresses recorded are in the UK.

•             Australian Nominal Roll 1914-1918

This list contains details of approximately 324,000 AIF personnel who served overseas during World War 1. It was recorded to assist with their repatriation to Australia from overseas service. The transcripts include the soldier number, full name, final rank, awards, date embarked, and the date returned to Australia, killed in action, or died of wounds. The records also include soldier’s’ unit of service at the time of death or at the end of the war, and non-effective entries – how that person became no longer effective (for example, if they were returned to Australia).

Read more about the records and their ANZAC Memory Bank which contains personal stories here.

I have not had much chance this past week to do much genealogy but I did catch up on my back issues of the Journal of One Name Studies and I am really excited that there will be a meeting of the Queensland branch of the Guild of One Name Studies (GOONS) on Bribie Island on 31 May. At least I won't have far to travel! The other big reading catch up was with Quarterly, the journal of the Association of Professional Genealogists and it is always good to read about what others are doing.

I am a member of Kiva's Genealogists for Families team and took up another three $25 loans to help families in other countries. It is a great project and you can join me on the team here.

I am heading to Inverell, New South Wales today so that I can give my two talks at the Inverell District Family History Group seminar tomorrow. There is a military theme to the day and I am looking forward to hearing the other three speakers. I will be writing about that when I get back home. A busy weekend ahead and I hope everyone finds some time to think about their military ancestors and maybe even do some research and writing. Until next time.

Genealogy notes 27 Mar - 5 Apr 2013 Canberra news

Well it's been busy on the home front and my recent visit to Canberra has made life even more hectic but I'm fast realising that my life in retirement on Bribie Island is never going to be less than action packed. Over Easter we finally go to do the 6 hour eco cruise on The Ferryman and I just love sailing past my Scottish ancestors home on the Toorbul side of Pumicestone Passage. As there was 6 hours of sailing we went almost to the tip of Bribie Island and could easily see Caloundra. The bird life is amazing and must have been even more amazing back in the 19thC before the settlers arrived.

It's a great trip and amazing value as it also included morning tea (hot cross buns, chocolate ones no less), a delicious roast chicken and salads lunch  (and I must get the wombok salad recipe it was amazing) and afternoon tea with home made cakes which were so good. I don't think we have ever eaten so much in a single place before! Well done Ferryman and I hope others do the trip because the 6 hours goes very quickly with so much to see. Definitely worth a day trip from Brisbane.

Easter was also a time to catch up with family and a visit to Mum ended up with us coming home with a car load of pot plants and all her African violets as Mum is no longer able to care for them. This was all great for our new home but it did mean that we then had to spend a couple of days planting them out in our orchard/rainforest or repotting them for indoors! My son has also been doing amazing things in his new house and has tackled his overgrown yard with amazing vigour and it is good to see them settling into their new home. We also took the opportunity to give them a few more boxes of our unwanted goods but no matter how much I declutter, we still seem to have heaps of stuff.

Before I left for Canberra I sent in to the local newspaper a small article on my Carnegie family at Toorbul hoping that they might publish it. They say it pays to advertise and I was really excited to find that it was published in the Island and Mainland News  and they included the two pictures of my ancestors tombstone in Toorbul cemetery. It's the only one left in the historic cemetery. This also led to me being contacted by the Bribie Island Historical Society and I will be going to their next meeting on Wednesday. So I'm really looking forward to that.

While in Canberra I met up with the president of AFFHO to discuss this year's National Family History Week and I have big news there but all the members of AFFHO have to be notified first so stay tuned. All I can say at this point is that NFHW 2013 will be bigger and better than ever before and I hope everyone will also follow us on Facebook NFHW as well as putting their events on the website calendar. I will also need everyone's help to promote it as we are operating on a real shoe string budget this year. Still I'm a firm believer in the power of social media and I know I have some great online geneafriends.

But now for the real reason for my Canberra trip. I'm on the National Archives of Australia's advisory committee for the centenary of WW1 so we were there for a progress report on their new Wartime Australia website. The draft pages look fantastic and are user friendly so that everyone can add in their own stories. It was also good to hear about the activities being undertaken by other State Archives and places like the Australian War Memorial. It's going to be easier than ever to trace our military ancestors and most of these projects and activities will start to roll out in 2014 and then continue through to 2018.

Another new website and exhibition planned by the NAA will feature forced adoption stories and they are calling for expressions of interest for anyone interested in assisting with the project. It is due for launch in 2014 on the anniversary of the Government's formal apology. Read the media release for full details.

While sitting in the Qantas Club waiting for my flight home I was really surprised, and delighted to find the new paper issue of NAA's Your Memento Highlights Vol 2. This paper edition features the more popular stories from their Your Memento free online e-magazine and I do have to say that I prefer reading the paper issue. All too often with the digital notifications, I file the e-mag or e-news and then don't go back to read it whereas the paper copy sits there in a pile on my cupboard making me feel guilty until I read it.

Also spotted was a new glossy paper magazine from the National Museum of Australia simply called The Museum: Behind the Scenes and Vol 2 is a great read with some really good photos and stories. I'm only sorrow that I didn't see Vol 1 but all is not lost. The issues (some articles only) are also online and Vol 3 is now out as well! Like libraries and archives, museums are also great places to find background information and context on our ancestors and where and how they lived.

An email from the local Bribie Island Family History Special Interest Group (no website) also got me quite excited as it included news from the local Bribie Island (Bongaree) Library. They have a series of free genealogy talks planned for the rest of the year under the banner Finding Your Family: Who Are You? There are workshops on handwriting (reading all that old colonial writing), Irish ancestors, beginners sessions and even a session on Bribie's WW2 bunker and other military records. So I will be booking in for most of those! For those interested see their what's on calendar.

I rejoined the Genealogical Society of Queensland and received a very nice welcome back including a paper journal which has joined the pile on the cupboard! I also received my renewal notice for the Genealogical Society of Victoria and as I like using their online resources, I will be renewing but I am glad that I am a lifetime member of Queensland Family History Society as that is one less subscription to pay. Still being a member of key societies is so worth while and really does help further your family research not to mention make new friends.

Instead of buying the family Easter eggs this year, I decided to take out another $25 loan with the Genealogists for Families project and as I had received repayments on previous loans, I was able to make two further loans to needy families overseas. I'm still surprised how easily this project sustains itself. Once you have made a few loans the repayments then allow you to fund still more loans. Of course you can take back the repayments if you want, but I've never missed the original $25 I used for my first loan so why not let it keep on helping others. Occasionally I make additional loans to mark special occasions like Christmas and Easter and since I joined the Genealogists for Families project I have made 28 loans! So that's 28 families I have helped with whatever their loans were needed for.

As usual I have made this Diary too long and I really am going to have to do it more regularly (like I used to before the big move)! I've got a genealogy to do list beside me that I really must tackle. Plus the other half has just left for fishing so now is the perfect time to do some research - trying to decide what new lead to follow up is the problem. There's so much new information out there! Wish me luck and as always, best wishes with your own research.

Genealogy notes 18-28 Aug 2012 busy busy!

Well as the title suggests it has been 10 busy days since I last logged on. Everything seems to happen at once. I've had all the dramas of packing up the house, getting ready for my Sydney trip, finalising my next two publications for Unlock the Past and to complicate life I cracked a filling in my tooth needing a visit to the dentist, had to visit the doctor for another mole removal (fast growing and changing colour), a biopsy and thankfully not malignant this time and a specialist visit which I had put down as unnecessary but the CT scan showed something not quite right so I'm now considering when can I schedule in an operation which involves drilling a little hole in my head!

I had also been congratulating myself on having got through winter with hardly a sniffle when in the last few days I seem to have come down with a nasty chest infection. By this time tomorrow I need to be on a plane to Sydney so lots of fruit and vegies today! I'm actually looking forward to  my two talks  at the Society of Australian Genealogists as it gives me a chance to catch up with Sydney friends. I've got some meetings arranged, dinner with an old friend and after my talks I'm spending the weekend with a friend at her unit right on the Harbour to relax before the big move next week.

During the last week or so I have been doing a little experiment with the National Family History Week Facebook site (I'm the new co-ordinator in case you missed that news) and by placing a couple of messages on that site and my own Facebook site I managed to have a rather dramatic upsurge in statistics for the site, mainly thanks to my cyber friends. It would be really good if those reading this could also visit the NFHW Facebook site and hit the Like button (if you haven't already) as I am trying to prove the power of social media in promoting events like NFHW. I'm working on a strategic plan for 2013 and I'm hoping that we can make the week bigger than ever.

Now that all my family history files are packed away in boxed I feel quite empty. Although I have most of the data in my software program I don't have all my paper documents or photographs scanned yet so I can't just pop up and look at something. I'm also a bit worried that we won't find another home with a study as big as this one. When we do finally resettle somewhere, it will be a toss up what I unpack first - the domestic stuff or the family history!

Observant readers will notice that I've added a few pages to this blog - one on My Families and a more direct link to my other website and finally a page on the Genealogists for Families project which is a really good way of supporting families around the world.

The other thing I managed to do was finish the next installment of my articles on Irish Loved Ones - Missing Down Under for Irish Lives Remembered. The new issue is due out on 5 September and remember it is free online.

For anyone on the Queensland Coast don't forget the Unlock the Past road show is heading your way in the next few weeks. All details on my Events page and I hope to meet lots of new people on the trip.

Although it's a way off I've also been planning for my trip to Rootstech 2013 next March, looking at airfares, accommodation and registration. I've always wanted to go to Salt Lake City so this is a good chance to do it and go to what promises to be a great genealogy conference too.

Anyway the rest of the packing won't finish itself plus I need to sort myself out for the Sydney trip, will it be cold and wet like last time or will I see some early spring? Till next time.

Genealogy notes 18-24 June 2012 - Getting Expo Ready

The last week was the usual mad blur of too many things happening at once. As I'm in Brisbane for the Unlock the Past history and genealogy Queensland expo, I also had to leave the house neat and tidy for the real estate agent to show people through. Apparently they don't like seeing bits and pieces around (this includes kettles, toasters, salt & pepper and other things I leave out for daily convenience) so trying to think about potential buyer need was a distraction.

An exciting interlude before I left was an interview with Michael Lund from Brisbane's Courier Mail who was doing an article on family history to be published on 23 June. We seem to talk for ages and he had lots of questions but it's a really good article and you can read it here. I managed to finish my talks and I always print a copy, save to two USBs as  well as the copy on my laptop and the master on my remote back up drive.

As well as getting used to my new laptop, I also decided that I really did need an IPad to help me report on the Expo as the laptop is to heavy and big to carry around the exhibitor tables as well as take notes during sessions. Not to mention any social media activity! So that meant setting it up which wasn't too bad but I still haven't worked out how to transfer my calendar and contacts to it and I also discovered that my IPhone doesn't seem to talk to the new laptop so I haven't been able to sync that either.

The technology is great but for non techno people like me it always seems to be a little bit trickier. Luckily the Expo gives me three days to ask questions with a whole range of experts. Setting my new Telstra wi fi was not so straightforward either but thanks to the two technicians at the local store they sorted out my problems and I'm all systems go with that and it talks to the IPad and laptop so I'm happy.

Lots has been happening on my personal genealogy front with certificates arriving from the UK and I've ordered some wills too which should get here soon. The only trouble is that I don't have time to sit down and process all the new information. When I get home I've got to finalise talks for National Family History Week in just four weeks time, including State Library Victoria's Family History Feast and five talks with the Yarra Plenty Regional Library. Still it's going to be an exciting time.

Over the next three days I hope to do a daily blog of the expo and at the end my usual overview blog of the entire event. It doesn't finish until late tonight and I have to be up early and get across Brisbane in the morning so getting Day 1 out on time might be tricky but we will see how we go. I'm also looking forward to catching up with Geneablogger friend (and I remembered to pack my genealogy blogger beads) and also the Genealogists for Families Project members.


Stay tuned as the next three days are going to be full on genealogy. So excited!

Genealogy notes 27-29 October 2011 Genealogists for Families

About a month ago, Judy Webster a good friend of mine in Brisbane sent me an invitation to be part of a new group she had established, Genealogists For Families within KIVA. I hadn't previously heard of KIVA and at the time of her note, I was busy with a deadline hovering over my head. Like most busy people I have a 'to do' list on my desk and I added Judy's request to follow up later.

Again like most busy people, my 'to do' list is never ending and something else always seems to crop up. I regularly read Sydney friend Geniaus' blogs as they are always relevant and interesting so when I saw her blog title, It's Taken Me a While, I immediately wondered what she was referring too. As I started reading, it could have been me writing that blog because I still hadn't got back to Judy. So once I finished reading, I went back to Judy's request.

I signed up for Genealogists for Families then and there and managed to take something off my to do list! Click here to join

I then spent quite a bit of time trying to decide which projects I would personally support as they all sounded worthwhile. I decided on the $25 loan option as that would allow me to support two loans. I ended up choosing one from Mongolia as I had spent a week travelling through Outer Mongolia in 1996 and had slept in a yurt and visited with local families. The other project I chose was from Peru, a place I have always wanted to visit (Machu Picchu is on my bucket list).

The very next day I received two emails telling me that both projects had been totally filled and that the recipients had their loans and I would receive progress reports. I was surprised as I had thought it would take longer to fill the loans. I then decided to support another project and again spent some time trying to decide but eventually picked a project in Kenya and just this morning I found out it has also been fully funded. It's terrific that these loans get funded so quickly.

My partner is now interested in KIVA and how it allows people to establish or run their own businesses or helps them out with special projects. He will probably fund a couple of projects too so I am looking forward to see what his choices will be.

The other really good thing is that Judy's idea is now gaining fantastic support from genealogists around the world and within a month of starting Genealogists for Families, there are 45 members with 62 loans with a total amount loaned of $1550. While this doesn't sound like much, it is supporting 62 people with their businesses, farms or whatever and is not just a charity handout. The loans are expected to be repaid and at that point, you can then reinvest that original loan money into new projects. In other words your original gift keeps on giving if you want it to. I think that's what I like best about KIVA.

Despite my tardy start on the team, I totally recommend and support the  Genealogists for Families team on KIVA and I would love to think that some of my readers might do so to. Check out the links and if you can't get involved now, help us spread the word to genealogists everywhere. Click here to join.

As I indicated in my last Diary update, I am having a lovely weekend alone and have made some nice progress on my Wiltshire families thanks to purchasing my ggg grandmother's marriage certificate (she married  again aged 70 years). However I will report on that next time as I am still looking for a few more bits and pieces. Until next time.