Irish Genealogy, Winter Blues, New Resources & Other News: Australia and Zealand Genealogy News June 2021

 During June I had a couple of private genealogy research jobs and both involved lots and lots of convicts going back to the First Fleet. Such a confusing time with so many convicts sharing the same name, no civil registration and a lack of newspapers in those early days. The Biographical Database of Australia can help to sort some of the convicts out but often there are still doubts and questions. 

Anyway I felt mentally drained so we decided to have a few days away and with uncertainty around border closures, we ended up holidaying at Caloundra and could see the northern tip of Bribie Island from our balcony. There is lots of history in the area and a day trip up to Rainbow Beach was a breath of fresh air, literally. No masks required and hard to get used to again on our return. 

My badges from 2018 Congress

July is a busy month workwise - one research enquiry, one genealogy mentoring client, preparing for the 9 week Irish genealogy class at U3A and doing presentations for National Family History Month in August - two are on Norfolk Island as part of the AFFHO Genealogy Congress (in person) and one for Caloundra Family History Research via Zoom. Finally, someone who won one of my two hour genealogy sessions at an earlier event has worked out where she needs help. Just hope that I will be able to help her.

Books

The nice thing about a few days off is that you can escape with a good book or two. My brother has talked me into reading the five (large) volume work by Conn Iggulden on the history of Genghis Khan and his family. Fascinating, addictive and hard to put down once started. 

Back in 1996 I travelled through Inner Mongolia and China and found the history, architecture, costumes, culture and food so different from our own. In some ways the books are like a family history because they give such detail on the daily lives of the individuals and how they lived. And probably more like family history on steroids!

Irish Genealogy

My great grandmother - her
parents were from Wicklow

With the discovery that Dad's biological family were Irish, I have been more interested in Irish genealogy. One half of his ancestors are from County Antrim, one quarter from County Wicklow and the other quarter from Scotland (Angus). I have found so many interesting websites and resources that  I have turned it into a 9 week U3A course on researching Irish genealogy. The best part is that I am using my own family examples to highlight how the resources help to establish a family timeline from cradle to the grave. Plus I am looking forward to those attending sharing their own knowledge of Irish genealogy. 

New Resources

As usual, lots of new resources were released during June by the big database companies. FamilySearch added more entries to their Papua New Guinea and Samoa collections. 

Ancestry added more to their Australian records including one of my favourites - Sydney, Australia, Anglican Parish Registers, 1814-2021. Many people think this is just for Sydney but it is the Sydney Anglican diocese which stretches north, south and west of Sydney, much further than you might think. 

Check it out if you have Anglican ancestors as it is possible to see baptism and marriage registers. Certainly cheaper than paying for a certificate.

SHHE (Shauna Hicks History Enterprises) Free Enewsletter

With the demise of Feedburner as a enews reminder that a new edition of Diary is out, I have decided to start up my own free genealogy enewsletter. This will go out when there is a new Diary post or a post from my Genie Rambles blog on my website. Other news may also be included. You can subscribe for free from the Home page.

I would like to thank all those who have followed Diary via Feedburner over the years. The support was always encouraging and I hope to continue informing and inspiring readers for many more years. 

Twitter @ANZAncestryTime

I have missed a few weeks of this but if you have a free Tuesday evening then think about joining #ANZANCESTRYTIME – an online event for Australian & New Zealand family historians to meet up on Twitter to chat, share ideas and help each other. Join Fran Kitto, Sharn White and Pauleen Cass for a chat on Tuesday evenings 7pm Brisbane time.  You need to sign up for Twitter, but you do not have to be an active participant just listen to what is being discussed.  Although it is hard not to want to add your own two cents worth. 

Convict connections on a
previous visit to Norfolk Island

What's Coming Up

My trip/holiday to Norfolk Island for the launch of National Family History Month and the AFFHO Genealogy Congress, covid permitting. 

U3A classes and my Zoom session with Caloundra on letters and diaries for family history research. Plus my second guest blog post for the Genealogical Society of Queensland is due in July. 

Time really flies when you are interested in family history. Until next time, happy searching.

Shauna

Family, COVID & Genealogy Online Boon - Genealogy Notes 11 Aug - 20 Sep 2020

 Have you ever wondered about the term 2020? I have always associated it with perfect vision so to me it suggests something wonderful. Yet this year has been anything but, not only for me, but many people around the world. 

My intention to get back to a regular writing routine after last Diary was thrown by the unexpected deaths of both my mother and mother in law within a three week period. I showed a 60 photo Powerpoint of Mum's life at her private family service and was quite pleased to hear some of my mother in law's family history read out at her service. It really brought home to be that I can't ask any more questions of that generation. We really need to capture our family stories before it is too late.

L-R Maren, Adam & Val (my Mum) 

I find family history research therapeutic and a distraction from the world's woes at present. The introduction of COVID 19 into our lives has brought many changes but there is one aspect that I really do like. Many events have gone virtual and we are able to attend in real time, or watch later if sessions are recorded. 

Just this weekend I have been following the Back to Our Past Irish conference which only cost me $17AU to attend. What a bargain for three days of genealogy talks on all aspects of Irish family history. 

My Irish GG grandfather,
John Finn from Wicklow

It is kind of funny watching people presenting from their own homes and occasionally you get to see another family member pop up, the door bell chime or somebody talking in the background! Mute those microphones when attending a session!

DNA

New ethnicity results from Ancestry have not made a big difference to my previous ethnicity but I am still wondering where my Australian region has gone. Without that I would not have found my father's family in New South Wales and narrowed down my DNA family.

I did see a new feature called Story Scout which purported to be stories about my ancestors and all three stories were totally wrong and not consistent with the known facts on my trees. There was an invitation to share. At the time I was dealing with family matters so I noted to follow it up. Now when I search my Ancestry menu I can't find it at all. 

Does anyone know what Story Scout is?

The by product of this futile search, was that I ended up exploring the Ancestry Academy which has lots of different videos on a wide range of topics. Another rainy day activity! If it ever rains again on the Island.

Television

Remember, the new series of Every Family Has A Secret with Noni Hazlehurst on SBS starts this Tuesday 22 September. Sadly there are only three episodes and if you miss one you should be able to catch on up SBS on Demand. Wish we had more shows like this, I never tire of watching how people research.

What's Coming Up?

My weekly Zoom sessions with Bribie Zoom Genies is a real motivator. We are even planning a three hour in person get together workshop for 20 October. I wrote that date out as 20/10/20 after the meeting ended and wondered was that really a good date for it? 

There is another Facebook Live with MyHeritage in October and I have been accepting talk dates for 2021 - some in person and some online. 

My latest selfie is at right - seems strange to be getting haircuts and washing my hair again. So much easier just pulling the turban on. Only two more cancer treatments (last one 21 October) and some surgery in November and by Christmas it will be over. Just in time for 2021.  Let's all hope the world is in a better place by then.

Until next time, happy searching

Shauna

Exciting Irish News, Camden Conference & Other News - Genealogy Notes 3-7 Sep 2016

The Society logo

Tomorrow I head off for Canberra and my visit to AIATSIS (Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies) before heading to Camden in New South Wales for the Cow Pastures and Beyond genealogy conference and family history fair. It is organised by the Camden Area Family History Society and I love their logo. As well as ACT and NSW friends, I also know that some from SA and QLD will also be there. A great three days coming up and a report will follow next week.

My week has been spent catching up on some genealogy magazine reading and exploring lots of new URLs. That's probably the main reason I never catch up with the reading because an article sends me to the laptop. Of course that also happens with tweets and Facebook posts too. This was going to be written this morning when I saw Chris Paton's British Genes Blog post and it totally hijacked my day.

Why? The headline was Historic Irish BMD Records Freely Available Online and how could anyone with Irish ancestors go past that. Several hours later I have managed to find out a lot more about my GG Grandmother's sisters family in Ireland. Sarah Finn nee Fagan had a sister Mary Fagan who married Patrick McCormack and they looked after my GGG grandmother Sarah Fagan nee Cane in her old age. As it was a collateral line I have never bothered to get certificates, relying on the 1901 and 1911 census records for the family. Now thanks to these new records online, I have Mary and Patrick's marriage certificate, birth certificates for all of their children and death certificates for Patrick and Mary.

I believe my great grandmother Mary Carnegie nee Finn was named after her aunt Mary McCormack nee Fagan. They never met and I wonder if Sarah ever wrote back home to her sister Mary? No letters survive here but now that I have more information on the McCormack's, perhaps I should try and track down any descendants?

I haven't been as successful with my Finn and Beakey families - I've got some possible entries but the certificates are not online yet. Once they are there might be enough information for me to confirm a relationship. Plus I've been jumping all over the place in my excitement, looking for quick hits. A more steady approach is required, not to mention some spelling variation searches. In the past I have found Finn under Funn. Still that will have to wait until I get back home again. As will entering all the data into my genealogy program.

The other thing I get from magazines and journals are blog post ideas and now that NFHM is over for another year I want to get back to some blog writing. Also high on my priority list is a new course module for the Australian Certificate offered by the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. It is on Education Records and I am looking forward to it as education records have long been a favourite of mine. One of my popular presentations is on school records and I use lots of my own family discoveries.

I'm also half way through a new research guide for Unlock the Past which was also abandoned for NFHM. Hopefully after I reread what I have done so far, it won't take too long to finish. Perhaps I need to stop checking social media for new releases?? Those people who don't use social media for genealogy and family history are missing out but then they probably get more other things done like housework, gardening and food shopping.

Time to go and pack a suitcase and get all my travel documents together for an early start tomorrow. The Bribie shuttle is picking me up at 5am to get to the airport on time. Traffic on the highway is always the unknown and I would prefer to have breakfast in the Qantas Club than be stuck in Brisbane's early morning traffic and worrying about missing the flight. Enjoy the weekend and if you are in Camden, come up and say hello.

 Until next week, happy searching!

Genealogy notes 28 Jun - 3 Jul 2013 genealogy seminars & reviews

It's been a big week for genealogy. On Sunday I went to the annual Genealogical Society of Queensland seminar which had a program of Irish heritage in the morning and immigration in the afternoon. As usual I've written a review of the day and you can read the review here. A copy of the talk I gave on 19thC immigration is on my Resources page, scroll down to Presentations. The great thing about genealogy seminars is that you can meet up with old friends and meet new ones, or help solve someone's brick wall, or at least try to.

It was with real pleasure that I saw Helen Smith's smiling face in the audience and at lunch I had the chance to chat. Her first words to me - haven't seen anything about the Burstows in the Diary for a while? Immediate guilt on my part as Burstow is my one name study and Helen is the Queensland rep for the Guild of One Name Studies, she's researching the name Quested. I shouldn't really feel guilt as National Family History Month is taking up a lot of my spare time at present and there is now less than four weeks to August. Still I would like to get back to working on the one name study!

I also caught up with one of Max's cousins - it turns out that we are related by marriage! My gg grandfather's  (Anders Gundersen) second wife (Ann Pollard) was the younger sister of their ancestor (William Pollard). So it was nice to get that information to add into both of our family databases. Max's family seems to be the flavour of the month as I also received an email from Scotland from another one of his more distant cousins on the Jarvis side, so I've been swapping information with them too.

We have had a spell of wet and cold weather here (for a change) so I've spent the time writing up all the reviews that I had previously promised people. There are five new reviews on the Resources page of my website, scroll down to Reviews to see the following:

• Hazel Edwards OAM, Authorpreneurship: the business of creativity
• Carol Baxter, Captain Thunderbolt & His Lady: the true story of bushrangers Frederick Ward & Mary Ann Bugg
• Cathy Dunn, Norfolk Island Deaths 1st Settlement 1788-1814
• Merle D Grinly, Queensland Ship Deserters 1861-1911 
• Merle D Grinly, Queensland Transmissions of Real Estate by Death 1878-1940
• Merle D Grinly, Wallangarra Quarantine Registers 1918-1919

Some great new genealogy resources here so check them out if you have Norfolk Island or Queensland research interests and Hazel's book is a must read if you are a writer or thinking about becoming an author. Carol's book is simply a good read.

Last Diary I mentioned that I would be doing a Q&A on National Family History Month on Inside History's Facebook page on 18 July - that has now been changed to 25 July so amend your calendars! I will be talking about my 31 genealogy activities for researchers during NFHM and I am also going to have 31 activities for genealogy and family history societies to do during August. None of it is compulsory but it will give people some ideas on what to try during the month and don't forget to check the NFHM web calendar to see what events are on near you. I'm adding events most days lately.

In the coming week I'll be finalising my two talks for Chinchilla and continuing with NFHM activities including launch arrangements and adding events to the NFHM website. It's a gorgeous day here on Bribie Island, sunny blue skies and the temp going up to 24 today so I'm heading out to do a bit of gardening and enjoy that winter sunshine. Until next time.

Genealogy notes 8 -24 Dec 2012 - Christmas thoughts

Regular readers will know that we have been very busy buying our new house on Bribie Island and getting ready for move in day on 14 January plus organising ourselves for Christmas this year. To make it all more complicated I had a very painfall fall in the bathroom just over a week ago. I slipped on wet tiles and down I went so this Diary has been delayed and I've spent quite a few hours visiting doctors and getting x-rays. No permanent damage luckily just stiff and sore.

I had thought I might get lots of genealogy reading done but the pain killers seem to put me to sleep which is probably a good thing but it isn't reducing my reading pile by much. I was excited to learn that Inside History magazine has a new digital only annual volume out so I quickly downloaded their app and my copy for a very modest price. I still like reading a paper copy I think but reading it on the IPad was almost as good and easier than trying to read on the laptop.

One thing I did have to finish after my fall was the 6th instalment of my Missing Down Under series for Irish Lives Remembered which is a great free e-magazine for Irish genealogy. All previous issues are available online so you can catch up if you haven't previously seen it.

I was going to review my 2012 genealogy resolutions as I do every year but that hasn't happened yet. It was almost impossible this year to achieve my goals after our sudden decision to sell up and leave Melbourne. I think I need smaller more achievable type goals or break them down into monthly goals. Otherwise I'm never going to get all my old photos scanned, organised and listed!

Happily I did manage to contribute to Cassmob's Christmas geneameme and my contribution is here. I like these kind of challenges as they make you think back and dredge up long forgotten memories.

My seminar with Sue Reid on digital newspapers for the Queensland Family History Society in February is almost sold out which is fantastic. Obviously a popular topic and everyone is keen to get researching in 2013.

I've accepted an invitation to speak on the 4th Unlock the Past genealogy cruise which is going to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Hobart. It is doing two things I've always wanted to do - sailing through Bass Strait and doing a run from Hobart to Sydney (just like the Boxing Day race only in reverse). Plus there are some exciting overseas speakers too so I wouldn't want to miss this one.

Well I've been sitting for too long so it's time to wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas with their families and loved ones. I'm spending it with my mother and other family members in Brisbane and it will be traditional as Mum thinks that is the only way to have a good Christmas. I'll just have to have the prawns and crabs on Boxing Day! Take care and enjoy yourselves until next time.

Genealogy Notes 4-13 Jul 2012 - It's all happening!

I've always lived my life pretty full on but now I have so much happening it's almost too much. I won't bore you too much with the house moving side - basically it's sold, we are packing and we have to be out by 7 September. Along the way Max will be spending 10 days in Bali with one of his sons, and taking another trip to Adelaide to see his latest grandchild born towards the end of August.

I have a trip to Sydney for 2 talks with the Society of Australian Genealogists at the same time otherwise I'd be in Adelaide too. I'm not going to Bali because I have National Family History Week talks for Family History Feast at State Library Victoria (totally booked out which is fantastic) and Yarra Plenty Regional Libraries. Details of all my talks are here.

We also have to do a quick trip up to Queensland taking one of the cars, the trailer and the motorbike. If there's time we might even look at some houses! That will leave us with one car and the caravan to take on the next trip assuming the boat sells before then! I could say a lot about boys with toys but I will refrain as I will only hear 'what about all your ancestors, not to mention books too'. Moving does bring tensions out!

So all those little trips take away from our packing time and we still have heaps of stuff despite all the giveaways to friends, family, charity and the garage sale. How can two people who have downsized previously (the move from Canberra) still have so much stuff!

I'm leaving the study to last as there is a lot happening on the genealogy side of my life too. There's all the talks I have to prepare as mentioned above, I've just finished an Ask an Expert question for Inside History Magazine and exciting news (for me) is that I've been asked to write an article for the new free online Irish magazine Irish Lives Remembered. I've also just submitted the draft for my latest publication with Unlock the Past - it's to be called Finding Ancestors in Church Records: A Brief Guide to Resources. I love writing almost as much as I like travelling and giving genealogy presentations.


And to cap off a really busy week I found out that Geniaus (aka Jill Ball) had nominated this Diary for an Illuminating Blogger award which was both an honour and a real thrill. When I started this Diary just over a year ago it was mainly to replace my hand written one and I didn't really expect people to follow my genealogy adventures. When we resettle, I hope to go back to my 'more serious' blogging on the family which I do in my SHHE Genie Rambles blog. Of course, I will keep up the Diary as well.


As I said at the beginning we leave here on 7 September and we have to head for Queensland as I'm going to be on the next Unlock the Past Queensland coast roadshow which is from 25 September to 6 October visiting Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Townsville, Mackay, Gladstone and the Sunshine Coast. Full details for each place are in the links. It's been a while since I've travelled up that way and I'm really looking forward to seeing some of my favourite places again.


Then it's back down to Deniliquin for the inaugural Genealogy Muster and then across to Shoalhaven for the 3rd Cornish Cultural Celebration which I'm really looking forward to. I've always been fascinated by my Cornish ancestors.


That will be my last genealogy adventure for the year and we will hopefully be then settling into a new home somewhere. I would like that before Christmas if possible and definitely before we embark on our third Unlock the Past history and genealogy cruise in February to Fiji. I first went there in 1975 so that will be fun going back not to mention all the genealogy lectures on board. 


I really liked their blog 30 Reasons to Attend a Genealogy Cruise - I don't need 30 reasons, I just need to hear two words - cruise and genealogy - and I'm hooked! Any readers of this Diary going?


Sadly it's time to go back and do some more packing. Or perhaps I'll get the Flip Pal mobile scanner out and do some photo scanning for a while. I really don't like the idea of all our family history records in a shipping container for the next few months. Until next time, happy researching.

Genealogy notes Day 6 at Sea & Wellington adventures

Today was all day in Wellington and right through into the evening. We have been to Wellington many times so we decided to have a leisurely day starting with the shuttle into the CBD, then a short walk over to Te Papa, the national museum. Although we visit Te Papa just about every time we are in Wellington, this time we focused on the immigration and military displays fitting the theme of some of the genealogy talks so far.

The Museum also has a giant squid which is nowhere near as big as the giant baby squid we saw in Auckland. It was interesting watching the video of how the fishermen caught the squid and how it finally ended up in the tank at Te Papa. We stopped to buy some lovely paua jewellery at the Maori Artworks and then had latte and gingerbread watching the world go by on the harbour front.

Then a short walk back into the main shopping area where we wandered around buying a few things that caught our eye. We then managed to find our way back to the shuttle stop and we went back to the ship about 3.30pm for a late lunch up on the Terrace Deck (I could eat Mexican everyday especially when washed down with a Chile chardy – I haven’t a hope of remembering how to spell this really nice South American wine).

Afterwards it was back to the cabin to send yesterday’s Diary, check emails and generally relax. The late lunch didn’t work with the early dinner booking so we ended up going to the Level 4 Rotterdam dining room and were placed just one table over from the Captain and his wife. We then engaged in what can only be called ‘Captain gawking’ while we enjoyed scallop ceviche and orange and ginger pork followed by a divine orange sorbet. The bread basket for two would have fed a small army. We also enjoyed a glass of Australian Rosemount chardonnay.

Then it was time to stroll around the deck looking at the lights of Wellington while we tried to work off the many calories we had just consumed. All the activity over the last few days was catching up with me so I headed off to bed and Max went to catch the crew’s show which started at 10.30pm. We passed the Hudson Room and there were still Unlock the Past cruisers in there making the most of the Research Help Zone and online databases.

At about 3.30am I was woken by the ship’s roll and I knew (having crossed Cook Strait before) that we were in open sea, probably approaching the South Island. Looking out the window I could see the ocean swell so not surprised about the roll and then I noticed all these flying fish (although Max says they were birds). You could easily see them in the ship’s lights and I will admit they didn’t fly like other flying fish I have seen before but then I didn’t think birds flew at night, except owls etc. Maybe seabirds do too. I will have to find out.

Anyway before I totally wander into 26 November, I will go back to the day’ genealogy talks starting with mine on Making the Most of TROVE. I do have a version of this on my website Resources page but I have added some new features so need to upload this new talk (but I am finishing this blog in Picton and there is no internet connection). My session was followed by Richard Reid talking about Farewell My Children looking at Irish assisted immigration and I will confess that this is the book that I brought on board to read during the cruise. So far I’ve only managed a few pages and for a reader like me, that says there are lots of other distractions on board!

There was also an onshore seminar with the Wellington branch of the Society of New Zealand Genealogists where Chris Paton and Rosemary Kopittke gave three talks.

Until next time I have an internet connection!!

Genealogy notes 24 Nov 2011 Day 4 at Sea & Napier Adventures

Today we arrived in Napier in the afternoon. Strong winds put a question mark over whether we could actually berth but after a short delay we were guided in by the local tug boats. A bus shuttle then conveyed passengers into Napier as wharf security and distance meant we couldn't simply walk off by ourselves.

Our friends picked us up and we were then chauffeured around in a very nice, newish Lexus (thanks Lexus of Hawkes Bay)and first stop was The Mission Estate Winery and we did a quick tour of the main building. The old photographs on the wall were fascinating as the Mission is seen as the birthplace of New Zealand wine since 1851. Then it was a short drive to Hastings and up to Te Mata Peak which is a very high lookout reached by a very narrow road but the views are spectacular.

Then it was back to Napier where I asked for a quick stop at The Art Deco Shop where I could have spent a lot of money but restricted myself to a couple of calendars and a beautiful writing journal as potential Christmas gifts although I don’t rule out giving them to myself! Napier is famous for its Art Deco buildings and the Art Deco Trust works towards preserving this unique heritage.

The others were a bit bored so then on to the local Speight’s Ale House where we tasted a few beers (we did the Speight’s Brewery tour some years ago in Dunedin) and I also tried Monteith’s Crushed Apple Cider which is quite refreshing and deceptive (doesn’t taste of alcohol). By then it was time to make a dash back into the City centre to catch a shuttle back to the ship.

The day’s genealogy sessions started after breakfast - Chris Paton did Discover Scottish Records (which I heard and reported on at the Auckland seminar) and Richard Reid talked about Key Irish Documents. At breakfast we were seated next to a couple who do lots of house swaps (overseas) and house sits (Australia) and we have often discussed trying these out. So with the interesting discussion and the drawn out breakfast (some people order more than one course) we ended up inadvertently missing Richard’s talk (time seems to disappear on a ship).

All was not lost as Perry McIntyre (her website is now working again) in her talk on Irish Census and Old Age Pensions made a few references to things Richard had said in his talk. One of the key documents was Form B of the 1901 Irish census which tells you what class of house your ancestor lived in. Now I have looked at these and noted all the information but I have never looked for an image of the four house classes (in hindsight it seems obvious but unless someone points us in a particular direction, we may not think of it ourselves).

Perry had a great image of the four types and then brought up a photo of a Class 4 house that Richard had also used in his talk. It is from the National Library of Ireland’s online photos collection (Labourer's hut, Gweedore) and is really a very evocative image and it is not hard to wonder why so many of our ancestors came out to Australia.

Perry’s comprehensive look at the Irish census was also very good for highlighting that not everything was destroyed in the 1922 PRO fire – some of the census records had already been pulped or had been used for paper recycling during World War One. So even if there had been no fire, we still wouldn’t have had access to these records.

The second part of her talk was on the introduction of the 1908 old age pension and the need of many people to prove that they were 70 years of age. With the introduction of civil registration only in 1864, many had to use the 1841 and 1851 census to prove how old they were. These records are mainly for Ulster and there are some indexes but not all online, although some are. Perry suggested using Google to find some of these smaller, localised indexes.

My talk for the evening session was Tracing Your Military Ancestors in Australia which is a broad overview of the main sources and there is a version of this talk on my website Resources page (scroll down to Presentations). I was going to go and join Keith Johnson for a drink in the Oceans Bar afterwards, but knowing that I had to be up and with it for a talk on TROVE at 8.00am the next morning, I decided to head back to the cabin and bed.

Before I forget, there was also an onshore seminar with the Hawkes Bay members of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists and Chris Paton and Jan Gow gave two talks.

Cruises are supposed to be relaxing but can be hectic when you try to combine ship activities, extended meals at breakfast, lunch and dinner (because you are talking to others), onshore tourism and genealogy sessions. It’s Wellington tomorrow all day and into the evening and I’m wondering if I should try and schedule in an afternoon nap!!

Genealogy notes 16-21 Oct 2011 - Irish updates & writing family history

Well another week has gone with family and domestic matters interrupting my family history time. Thankfully I am spending the weekend alone and it is cold and grey in Melbourne so I am hoping to get lots done. I do love the family but it is so peaceful not having to jump up every few minutes to find something for them that is in plain sight!

Tuesday I managed some quiet time and spent it visiting various Irish genealogy sites - so much seems to have gone online since I last looked. I was very impressed with the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) will calendars and the fact that those up to 1900 have been digitised and are freely available online. Ancestry have lots of new Irish records and I have been using their Collection Priority filter (but you do need to remember to turn it off!).

FindMyPast Ireland has also been adding records and most notably this weekend they have added Irish prison records (but doesn't include the North). I'm finding the landed estates records most interesting. Another site I use a lot is Roots Ireland and again lots of new additions and I have also been using the Irish records on FamilySearch. Not doing searches on surname etc in the top section of their home page but going into the Browse by Location section and going into the records themselves and then doing the searches.

I find cross checking in all the various online databases useful if I can't find families under expected spellings or variants. Although it does take time. I have found this particularly so when using the various versions of Griffith's Valuation online which has just reminded me of the Ask About Ireland website which I also visited.

I'm looking forward to seeing Chris Paton's new book on Irish internet sites which I believe will be ready for the Unlock the Past history and genealogy cruise with a Scottish/Irish theme in November . Maybe some of my Irish brick walls will tumble on board the cruise ship! If you can't make the cruise, don't forget there are on shore talks all around New Zealand, Burnie in Tasmania, Melbourne and Sydney.

The other major achievement this week was finishing my book reviews of Hazel Edwards How to Write a Non-Boring Family History and Goldie Alexander's Mentoring Your Memoirs and doing a Writing Family History Again blog to include the reviews and to write about my own struggles in this area . By going public with my procrastination, I hope I am committing myself to some real effort in completing at least one of my draft family histories in 2012.

I haven't managed to do any genealogy reading this week although I try to follow key people on Twitter and Google+ so that I am vaguely aware of what has been happening.

Next week I have been invited to the University of Melbourne Archives to talk to the staff about what researchers want and how they might be able to increase usage of the archives. UMA is one of the archives I demonstrate in my talks It's Not All Online and Archives You Should Know but Perhaps Don't. When I first saw the invite I thought I was in trouble for using them and creating a demand for their services but it is the opposite, so looking forward to catching up with old colleagues and friends.

Hopefully it will be quieter next week and I will catch up with everything before I again pack my bag and hit the road for Pambula and the Bega Valley Genealogy Society in two weeks. At least there is never a dull moment!

Genealogy notes 19-22 Sep 2011 Value of Blogging

There's a lot happening at the moment. After my Judge family breakthrough, see Diary for 15-18 Sep 2011, I have been changing online family trees and entering all my new correct data. I still have to do that with my personal database and of course, go through all my paper files. Still I'm glad I've finally found the real Elizabeth Judge even if she is technically Elizabeth Pollard.

I reviewed my talk Archives You Should Know But Perhaps Don't and updated Powerpoint slides where necessary in preparation for today's talk at the Genealogical Society of Victoria. I received nice feedback and it's good to see genealogists broaden their knowledge outside of the usual national/state archives thinking. Hopefully they will all be on their computers tonight looking at all the various sites. My website Resources page has a number of my talks and handouts with links so that people don't have to write so fast.

We finished up with a discussion about blogs (this was after a show of hands revealed hardly any hands)! I was stressing how good they are to find out what is happening and what other people are doing. Also how blogging your family stories can lead to distant relatives finding you. I gave my Maria Jeffers blog Letters Home My Irish Families example. The comments on that blog include responses from family members descended from the person mentioned in the letters. They had no idea the letters even existed! I hope GSV attendees at least look at some blogs and maybe even try out Blogger themselves. With luck they are reading this now!

I did another guest blog for MyHeritage and that should appear tomorrow and I watched Brad Argent from Ancestry on Mornings with Kerri-Anne on Channel 9 on Wednesday talking about famous Australian celebrities. But I forgot to watch Who Do You Think You Are that night - at 10pm it's a bit late for me. I'll have to get the DVD! It's the second series of the US version and Wikipedia has a nice summary of the WDYTYA US shows, both seasons.

The September e-newsletters I've read since last time include Ancestry, Lost Cousins, National Archives UK, Unlock the Past Crew, FindMyPast UK, and S&N Genealogy News. Sometimes I think I subscribe to too many e-newsletters but they are mostly free (except for my subscription sites) and I usually find something of interest in all of them. I like how you can click on links and follow up items of interest which you can't do if  reading paper magazines (I know you can type in URLs but nothing beats instant link). I will confess I do speed read, skim, only look at the pictures etc unless it is specifically on an area of personal interest.

Genealogy notes 30-31 Aug & 1 Sep 2011 expos & conferences

Not sure where time is going lately. Tuesday was a bit of a loss as we spent most of the day going to various medical appointments - nothing like waiting around and finding the same magazines everywhere. Must remember to take some family history journals next time but I always like to think they will be on time!

Wednesday was spent changing some of the slides in my three talks at the Unlock the Past history and genealogy Geelong expo on 2-3 September. Mostly updating website pages but Google has changed its home page quite a bit since I first did my Google tips talk, so I have reworked that. I also made the discovery that my website counter on a couple of my pages (including the Resources page that I refer everyone to) have not been working for some time. It's now all fixed but I have lost the statistics for those pages although I still have the overall stats via Google Analytics.

In the afternoon I had an exploratory look at the Find My Past Ireland website - I keep hoping that I will progress my Irish lines. I found looking at the Forums and the various questions people ask interesting. When I posted my Norwegian interests to a forum a few years ago I received amazing help so I will post my Irish interests next week when I have more time (she says).

Today I have worked on my guest blog for MyHeritage and realised I didn't include last week's in this Diary. Sometimes I do more than I think  I have - probably should make notes as I go! Anyway it comes out every Friday. One of the things I mentioned in it was the annual conference of the ACT & NSW Family History Societies Association in Inverell on 16-18 September. I usually try to go but as we have been away so much this year and it is a long drive, I'm going to miss catching up with all my old friends.

The next two days will be in Geelong and I will be blogging the expo as I usually do but that won't be out until Sunday. The Expo looks like it will be a big event with over 70 exhibitors so I may not mention them all. It will probably depend on how many are relevant to my own areas of research. I also hope to catch a few speakers that I haven't heard before so that will be good, and on topics I'm interested in. People are coming from all over Victoria so I will also catch up with friends as well. It will be genealogy heaven!

Genealogy notes 5-7 August 2011 Everything Irish

The weather in Brisbane is absolutely perfect, you wouldn't even know it was winter. We haven't even put a cardigan on since we arrived and on our morning and afternoon walks along Enoggera Creek we even manage to work up a sweat! Going back to Melbourne is going to be hard.

Friday was a e-reading day (in between family interruptions) and I caught up with Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter (mostly US), QFHS Snippets (Queensland Family History Society), Lost Cousins: Putting Relatives in Touch (mostly UK), Professional Historians Association Queensland, Proformat News (Adelaide Proformat, South Australia), newsletters from Ancestry.com.au, and Genes Reunited and I still have more catching up to do. Now that I have started to put all e-newsletters into a single folder for reading it is easier for me to see just how many I actually receive - it's a bit of an eye opener.

Saturday was the Genealogical Society of Queensland annual seminar Ireland: Unlocking the Mystery so it was an early start to get to the Queen Alexandra Home at Coorparoo. Amazingly I still remember the way from Mum's place. First speaker was an old friend from Canberra Cora Num talking on Irish Research on the Internet which is a talk she gave on the Unlock the Past genealogy cruise but I missed it as numbers were limited and I wasn't quick enough. As usual she has a handout on her website (click on the gopher) which is just as well as she mentioned lots of sites I was familiar with but also some I wasn't aware of. So lots of follow up research on my Irish families is now on the To Do List.

I was second speaker with my talk The Colonial Irish Loved a Beer or Two and Pauline Williams was next talking about Irish Resources at the GSQ. Lunch followed and I must say the catering was fantastic at both morning tea and lunch - I don't think anyone went hungry.

After lunch Richard Reid's talk was From the First Fleet to the Rose of Tralee - The National Museum of Australia's Irish in Australian exhibition. His talk provided some of the background to the Just Not Ned: A True History of the Irish in Australia exhibition which recently closed at the National Museum of Australia (lots of Irish family history tips on this site too). Richard's anecdotes about some of the Irish objects in the exhibition and some of the issues associated with curating an exhibition of that size made for a very interesting talk. Having seen the exhibition myself in Canberra it brought back memories or added a new dimension to what I had been lucky enough to see.

Final speaker of the day was Jennifer Harrison on Releasing Irish Convicts which was an overall view of a life of an Irish convict and at each stage (crime, arrest, gaol, transportation, etc) Jennifer gave examples of the types of records which might be available to provide more details. By constructing a timeline like this it is easy to see where the gaps are and then focus your research to close those gaps.

It was good to see Queensland State Archives represented there, although they were the only exhibitor apart from the GSQ.

The seminar was a good way for me to catch up with friends and even some relatives and the GSQ's book sales table seemed to do a roaring trade. I didn't win the raffle or the lucky door prizes but then I never do. Still you have to be in it to win it.

This morning I am catching up with my emails, tweets, and blog reading (see Unlock the Past's list of blogs in Australia and New Zealand for some interesting reading). This afternoon we are having a family gathering at my brother's place which will be good as I haven't seen his kids for a while and my son and his girlfriend will also be there. Almost like Christmas in August and there will be seafood too! Must remember to take the camera and unknown to everyone we have DVD copies of our old videos when everyone was so much younger. There will be a few laughs and it's good to be home.

Genealogy notes 2-4 August 2011 - Too Much To Read

My last entry was all about catching up with my genealogy reading but things didn't go quite to plan. I am now in Brisbane but at least with e-newsletters and e-books they can travel with me easily! So still planning to catch up with all that e-reading.

I'm speaking at four events while up in Queensland which is exciting as I will also get to see many old friends as well. The first event is on Saturday with the annual Genealogical Society of Queensland's seminar. The theme this year is Ireland: Unlocking the Mystery and it is fully booked. Lots of people have Irish ancestors so I'm not that surprised.

It should be a great day with speakers Cora Num with Irish Research on the Internet; myself with The Colonial Irish Loved a Beer or Two; Pauline Williams on Irish Resources at GSQ; Richard Reid curator of the Not Just Ned: A True History of the Irish in Australia exhibition at the National Museum of Australia (topic not defined) and Jennifer Harrison on Irish Convicts.

I will write more about the other events in future diary entries but you can see the list of events on my website.

Last night some of my Twitter friends and I were tweeting about 'the reading pile' beside the bed, or is that more than one pile which then seemed to turn into a bookcase, again with a 'to read' tag. I must say I identified with the issue as I often buy magazines or books at genealogy events and then don't get the chance to read them before I buy even more. And that's not counting the e-newsletters and e-books I have waiting to read on the laptop! Does every genealogist have this problem of too much to read or is it just us??

Genealogy notes 27-29 July 2011

We're still travelling and after Canberra we went to our friend's farm in Yarrawonga in northern Victoria where we have been lucky to see the births of some of their new lambs. Also amazing just how many white cockatoos are now in the area along with a few pink galahs.

The head cold I developed in Mount Gambier went to my chest so the last couple of days I haven't even felt like reading my emails or tweeting so I have quite a bit of catching up to do. But our friends have also been taking us round the tourist places and how could I say no to a visit to Rutherglen and some of the old, famous wineries in this area, not to mention the cheese tasting place at All Saints Winery. Today we are off to the Corowa chocolate factory and maybe another winery or two. It's a great gourmet area and I have bought olives, cheeses, spices, sauces etc.

My friend is an avid genealogist too so we have been having some great conversations and I had the chance to see the book she put together after a recent family reunion. I really must finish all my family history 'drafts' - there can always be a second edition!

We have even done a draft strategic plan for discussion at the VAFHO committee meeting next week. I will miss it unfortunately as by then I will be in Brisbane.

But for now I am getting reading for the Irish seminar tomorrow organised by the Wodonga Family History Society. My talk is The Colonial Irish Loved a Beer or Two and the other speaker Professor Geoff Brownrigg is giving two talks on Australian Irish Lives. It should be a great day and Wodonga is always a great audience.

Tomorrow will be a big genealogy day and I am hoping to learn lots to assist researching my own Irish ancestors - I have four great great grandparents who came out to Queensland in the 1860s and 1870s. Stay tuned.

Genealogy notes 24-26 July 2011 Not Just Ned & Tobruk 1941

We've done a lot of driving over the last few days - after the Unlock the Past history and genealogy expo in Mount Gambier we drove back to Melbourne on the Sunday for a quick change of clothes etc. I managed to finish my review of the expo and then on the Monday we drove up to Canberra. Why a visit to Canberra?

Well this is the last week of the Not Just Ned: A True History of the Irish in Australia exhibition and I have been wanting to see it but we just haven't been able to get to Canberra. Also on at the moment is the Rats of Tobruk 1941 exhibition at the Australian War Memorial, another Canberra exhibition we wanted to see.

We are both nursing head colds from Mount Gambier, so after an early night we were keen to get to the exhibitions but the day started badly. I discovered that somehow I had chipped my front tooth and despite my partner telling me no one would notice, we both knew they would. Fixing it will have to wait until we return to Melbourne.

Our second bit of bad news was a phone call telling us our beloved pet had died unexpectedly in the night and despite wanting to rush home, we knew that would not change anything. So after much tears, we went to the Irish exhibition late morning although I didn't phone my friends at the Museum as I felt I just couldn't talk to anyone at present. We will make another longer visit to Canberra and catch up with friends then.

Anyway the Not Just Ned exhibition at the National Museum of Australia is really spectacular and it is amazing to see what they have brought together for the exhibition which takes at least two hours to walk around. At the end there is a room where you can look at books and computers to trace your own Irish ancestry. Members of the Heraldry & Genealogy Society of Canberra volunteer there on Friday afternoons. I bought the catalogue so I could read more at leisure. Finally there are very useful Irish family history tips on the NMA website.

After that we drove over to the Australian War Memorial and visited the Rats of Tobruk 1941 exhibition, another very worth while exhibition. My uncle was at Tobruk and my partner's father was too so there was a personal interest for both of us. After that we toured the WW2 area of the AWM and managed to also see the light and sound show Striking in the Dark, based around the bombing of Berlin. There are excellent family history resources on the AWM's website and I couldn't resist temptation in the AWM Shop buying Peter Fitzsimon's book Tobruk.

Having seen both exhibitions I now have a list of things I want to follow up on my own Irish and military ancestors - genealogy really is a never ending story!

Genealogy notes 5 July 2011 - Irish genealogy

Today in Melbourne was wet and windy with the odd earthquake to make it interesting. I had planned on going out and doing a few errands but changed my mind and spent most of the day looking at Irish records and websites.

Some of the sites I spent time on included the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and it must be a while since I last looked because they have a lot of indexes I hadn't tried before. I had some good family finds in the Will Calendars and some I need to look into further. Another site, and an old favourite now digitised, is Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland 1837 which I used to learn about various places my family were from.

I revisited Griffith's Valuation of Ireland 1848-1864, now also online (I'll soon forget how to even use a microfiche at this rate) which is searchable on the Ask About Ireland website. There are all sorts of interesting links from this website so there went a 'bit of time'.

I also tried to pin down some of my Irish ancestors deaths using the FamilySearch Irish Civil Registration Indexes 1845-1958 with some success. The Roots Ireland database was also useful in tying a few loose ends down but it is amazing how those Euros add up (but still cheaper than some of the prices we pay for Australian certificates).

It's great that the 1901 and 1911 Irish census records are free but most of my Irish ancestors were out here early and their parents deceased by 1901. I really need to find out more about collateral lines.

Periodically I used Google Maps to help me locate various places and to see that they were all in the same area. Genuki was also useful in helping me to locate what was available for the various counties I am interested in.

Although I had a good afternoon researching on the various sites, I can't help wishing for a one stop shop! I am also conscious that there are more Irish sites that I didn't visit today. So I am going to have an early night and read Cora Num's Irish Research on the Internet - it's supposed to be raining again tomorrow so I might as well prepare for another Irish research day!!