Books, Resources, Talks & Other News : My Genealogy Weeks 1-15 Oct 2024

As I write this we are having a very hot spring day and have had little rain for weeks if not months. 

The garden is suffering even though we have bore water. 

Our beautiful native birds are visiting to drink and swim in our bird baths (fresh water), a real distraction from writing this blog post. There is a bird bath just outside my office window. But I am off to China so this blog post needs to be finished. 

Books 

My Ph D thesis is in sync with my family history, so every book or article I read is relevant to one of my family lines. The temptation is to then do more family research. Plus there are so many other resources mentioned in the References and Bibliographies that I don't know what to read next. My PhD completion date is at the end of 2026 so the next three years will be fascinating. 

For example, Janet McCalman's Vandemonians is a great read for anyone with Tasmanian convicts, especially if they then went over to Victoria. 

The Brisbane History Group's publication Brisbane Diseased: Contagious Cures and Controversy (see cover photo below) has a number of relevant articles on alcoholism and venereal diseases. 

My thesis looks at prostitutes, female vagrants and female habitual drunkards in colonial Queensland gaols. One of those was my GG grandmother and I have even found one of Max's distant cousins on the Billson family line. 

Conferences 

We are booked for the Unlock the Past genealogy cruise for December 2024. It is also called the Celebrity Edge Australian Wine Cruise so I will be able to indulge both my passions. 

Seriously it leaves from Sydney, then Hobart, then over to Kangaroo Island, Adelaide, on to Melbourne and finally back to Sydney. Four at sea days devoted to good speakers and topics. May need a holiday after that!

New Resources 

Now here are some serious distractions. 

If you get the Trove newsletter, you find out what is new for the month. For example, the September list of New South Wales digitised newspapers included:

• Araluen Star and Miners' Right (1863-1864) [Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council]
• Braidwood and Araluen Express (1899-1907) [Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council]
• Daily Mirror (1941-1944) [National Library of Australia]
• Pastoral Times and Deniliquin Telegraph (1859-1861) [Deniliquin Genealogy Society Inc]
• Pastoral Times: incorporated with the Southern Courier (1861) [Deniliquin Genealogy Society Inc]
• Pastoral Times and Southern Courier (1861-1862) [Deniliquin Genealogy Society Inc]
• Pastoral Times and Deniliquin and Echuca Chronicle (1862) [Deniliquin Genealogy Society Inc]
• Pastoral Times and Deniliquin and Moama Reporter (1863) [Deniliquin Genealogy Society Inc]
• Pastoral Times and Echuca and Moama Chronicle (27 June 1863) [Deniliquin Genealogy Society Inc]
• Queanbeyan Age (1955-1971) [Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council]
• South Sydney News (1940) [Bayside Council Library]
• South Sydney Sentinel (1932-1935) [Bayside Council Library]
• Wagga Wagga Express & Murrumbidgee District Advertiser (1875) [Wagga Wagga & District Historical Society]
• Wagga Wagga Express (1875-1876)  [Wagga Wagga & District Historical Society]

Findmypast released three more Oxfordshire record sets, more baptisms, marriages and burials. Plus almost 100,000 paged from digitised newspapers. My Sweatman and Cooper families were from Deddington, Oxfordshire and my Prickett family were from Fritwell, Oxfordshire. Definitely will have to check these updates out.

Talks 

There have been talks for Strathpine Library, Legacy Family Tree Webinars and Queensland Family History Society. 

Yesterday was a talk at Caboolture Library on Gedmatch and when I get back from China I am giving a talk Researching in Australia at the Really Useful Family History Show in the UK (virtual). That is looking like a really good weekend of genealogy with some excellent speakers and topics.

That will be my last talk for 2023. The fastest year ever but then I did a lot of travel and the PhD takes up time too.

What's Coming Up?

Christmas! Not quite yet but at Bribie Family History Association we have asked Judy Lofthouse to run her Christmas genealogy quiz at our December meeting. Plus stay on for our Christmas lunch at the RSL's Botanic restaurant.

I have also mapped out our 2024 speakers and members meetings. Maybe that is why I feel that the years go quickly? Planning the next one before the end of this year.

My first and last visit to China was back in 1996 so it will be interesting to see the changes in Beijing and I have not been to the other places on our trip. So all new and exciting.

Until next time, stay safe and happy researching. Shauna

Genealogy Update for February 2023: RootsTech 2023 in person & other news

Didn't February go quickly. But then again it is only six weeks since I arrived back from my trip to Sweden and meeting my first grandchild Theo. Now I am heading off to the USA on more adventures. I am a RootsTech 2023 influencer so will be in the thick of the action in the media hub.

Books

My aim is not to buy any books at RootsTech. I have to carry them around afterwards and keep the suitcase under weight regulations. Will I achieve this? 

I'm also hoping to meet one of my favourite authors in person at RootsTech - Nathan Dylan Goodwin. I've already got all his books so no temptation apart from a selfie with him. 

See website link above

Conferences

All I can think about is I will be at RootsTech in person this year for the first time. It doesn't seem to be as big this year as it is also virtual and many have chosen to watch from afar. Still there are a lot of exhibitors and talks and people I want to catch up with. Plus I want to visit the FamilySearch library, another long term bucket list item. 

So looking forward to walking through the doors
of the FamilySearch Library image via Wikipedia

New Resources 

MyHeritage added 41 million records in January. I can't even imagine that many more records being added. The collections are from 12 USA state, the UK, Australia, Finland, Greece, Israel and Portugal and include BMDs, obituaries, migration and voter registration records. Australia caught my eye and it is the South Australian Adelaide Gaol Prisoner Registers 1848 to 1912. There are 76,555 records that are indexed and digitised by FamilySearch. It seems a lot of crime in the City of Churches but exciting news for anyone with Adelaide ancestors. Perhaps they were repeat offenders?

Do you subscribe to the Trove newsletter? Each month there are interesting stories from the collections. Plus there is a list of new resources in Trove. Below is a copy and paste because I always find it fascinating what is added and to also see who is behind the funding. Some historical societies are also funding the digitisation of newspapers for their geographic area. How good is that? 

Look at February's offering - great for teachers in New South Wales, and I'm interested in The Catholic Advocate in Brisbane and the Port Lincoln Times in South Australia.

National

• Education: journal of the NSW Public School Teachers Federation (1919-2019) [New South Wales Teachers Federation]
• Papers of Frank Macfarlane Burnet (1928-1985) [Australian Academy of Science]
• Hemisphere Journals (1957-1984) [National Library of Australia]
• Colonial Art [National Library of Australia]

TAS

• Colonial Times and Tasmanian Advertiser (1827) [Libraries Tasmania]

QLD

• Nanango News (1912, 1913, 1920, 1922) [Nanango History Room Inc]
• The Australian (Brisbane, Qld. : 1878-1888) [State Library of Queensland]
• The Catholic Advocate (Brisbane, Qld. : 1915) [State Library Queensland]

SA

• Daylight (1919-1928) [State Library of South Australia]
• Port Lincoln Times (1955-1965, 1992-2002) [State Library South Australia]
• The Blackwood Magazine (1914) [State Library of South Australia]

WA

• Common Wealth (1933)  [State Library of Western Australia]
• The Maylands & Bayswater Chronicle (1905) [State Library of Western Australia]
• The Sun (Kalgoorlie, WA. : 1919) [State Library of Western Australia]

VIC

• Kyneton Guardian and Woodend and Malmsbury Chronicle (1863-1870) [State Library Victoria]
• Nagambie Times (1882-1913, 1919-1920) [Nagambie Historical Society Inc]
• The Bacchus Marsh Express (1884) [Bacchus Marsh and District Historical Society]

NSW

• Forbes Times (1899-1902) [Central West Libraries]
• Mittagong Argus (1902-1904) [Berrima District Historical & Family History Society]
• Mittagong Express (1899, 1901-1902) [Berrima District Historical & Family History Society]

Talks

I was busy in February with talks in person at Burpengary Library, Caboolture Library and Caloundra Family History Research as well as a virtual with Monash Library in Victoria and the Association of Professional Genealogists in the USA.

There are more presentations coming up at the end of March and into April. Check the Events page of my website for details.

What's Coming Up

Due to my travels the Advanced Irish Genealogy at Bribie U3A was cut short so I have agreed to do Irish again in Term 2. That will keep me busy as most of them have tricky Irish brick walls which we have looked at during other terms. 

I also want to get back to my own research and finish one or more of those draft family histories that have been haunting me for years. 

Take care and stay safe while I jet over to Salt Lake City for RootsTech 2023.

Rootstech 2022, Winter Genealogy & More Newspapers in Trove: My Week in Genealogy 21 - 28 November 2021

 Wow there is so much happening at the moment I'm finding it hard to keep up with webinars and conferences. A weekend away at Tin Can Bay was good and took me away from the study desk.

ANZAncestryTime 

This is a Twitter event by @ANZAncestryTime held every Tuesday night at 6pm Brisbane time (just adjust the time to your time zone). Topics vary each week and attendees answer questions posed by the hosts for the night. It is a great way to pick up some new tips and resources. If you miss a night you can go back and see the night's summary done by @tasteach. Remember to use the hash tag #ANZAncestryTime so that eveyone else can see your responses. The hour goes very quickly.

Association of Professional Genealogists Australia & New Zealand Chapter

Hosted the last Zoom meeting of APG ANZ for 2021 where we discussed what it is like being a genealogy speaker downunder as compared to the US and the UK. 

The impact of Covid and the rise of Zoom has also changed the way society meetings and conferences are managed. 

I also have arranged for a members badge  based on our logo for in person events which will come back some day.

 Bribie Genealogy 

Time was spent on preparing for the December meeting on Friday 3 December where I will be conducting a Christmas genealogy quiz on family history basics. I have also drawn up a list of 31 things to do over the Christmas New Year break before we meet again in February. 

At our last Monday night meeting of the year on 6 December, David Barnes and myself are showing members different ways of identifying DNA matches. 

Conferences

Looking forward to THE Genealogy Show Winter Event this coming weekend 3-5 December. Talking on asylums in Australia and will be doing a live chat on Saturday morning. Not sure how that goes but the talk is prerecorded and loaded along with the handout. So I can just sit back and enjoy the weekend. We have 30 days to then watch all the presentations. It is not too late to buy a ticket.

The Scottish Indexes next conference is on 5 December and I have registered for that too. I love these conferences and get so much out of them. Plus they are free and watchable in our time. 

DNA Update

Totally surprised to see someone two steps away from my brother's Y DNA in Family Tree DNA during the week. It fits with my theory of Dad's father, although still all circumstantial bits of evidence. At least they are all pointing in the same direction.

I have been sent the first photograph of my grandchild due next year. Technology has come a long way since I had my son. His ultrasound was not all that recognisable whereas this image is amazing for the first trimester. 

The Zoom gender reveal party is on 4 December. They are in Sweden, her parents are in New Zealand and the Netherlands and we are in Australia. A multiglobal family. 

Reading

Going on holidays with someone who is a late riser is always difficult for me as I am an early riser. What can I do without making a noise before they wake up? Happy to say that I managed to catch up with my ejournals and emagazines. The latest issues of Who Do You Think You Are and Family Tree Magazine gave me lots of ideas to follow up. Do you know that you may be able to get them through the eresources of your local library? Worth a look and some libraries also have the print magazines for loan. 

SA Genealogy Nov 2021 journal, a couple of back issues of Generation from Genealogical Society of Queensland journals and ditto for the Queensland Family Historian from the Queensland Family History Society. Perhaps I need to get away more! 

RootsTech 2022

I'm excited to have been appointed a RootsTech 2022 influencer. This is the first time for me. 

Two of my speaking proposals were accepted and I have been busy reading forms and contracts. Also there are specific instructions for recording so I will have to practice with the unfamiliar technology. 

Registrations have now opened and you can sign up now for free.

This reminds me that there are still a few talks from last year on my must watch list. 

Writing My Family Histories

The focus this week was on Max's Spencer family as he wants to give it as a Christmas present for his son. I had a draft to start with and this week's just been filling out different sections and making it more clear who is who in the tree. There is a strong military presence so I am adding an appendix of those who served in the various wars both in the UK and Australia. Learning quite a bit about British military records which will be useful.

What's Coming Up?

After this weekend there are no more talks or meetings until the New Year. This will give me even more time to work on those family history drafts. It would be really good to start 2022 with a few of them printed and spiral bound. From there I could PDF and place them on my website. 

I'm going to miss online conferences but there is still plenty of presentations to watch on Legacy Family Tree Webinars and lots of genealogy tutorials on You Tube. 

The following week I will be attending the Caloundra Family History Research Christmas party which is always good fun. 

What's New

Trove enews in November was all about Western Australia. It is free to subscribe and a quick way to find out what's new in Trove. Check out all the new newspaper titles coming and thanks to the various partners who are making it happen. The WA and SA newspapers are of most interest to me. 

          Western Australia

• The amateur sports gazette (1934-1935) [State Library of Western Australia]
• Daily News (1951-1955) [State Library of Western Australia]
• Dalgety's review: a weekly record of pastoral, agricultural, commercial and general information (1926-1948) [State Library of Western Australia]
• Freelance (1924-1925) [State Library of Western Australia]
• Perth Daily Telegraph (1922) [State Library of Western Australia]
• Sports News (1953) [State Library of Western Australia]
• Social wealth: an exposition of the natural laws governing the production and distribution of wealth (1934) [State Library of Western Australia]
• The Sruss-Sruss (1931-1932) [State Library of Western Australia]
• The standard: a church paper for the Diocese of Perth, W.A (1882-1886) [State Library of Western Australia]
• Suburban Life (1939) [State Library of Western Australia]
• Victoria Park News (1949-1950) [State Library of Western Australia]
• W.A. shipping and commercial news: pastoral, agricultural and mining gazette (1922-1923) [State Library of Western Australia]

• South Australia
• Daylight (1919 - 1928) [Brian Samuels / State Library of South Australia]
• The Western Mail (1928 - 1930) [Brian Samuels / State Library of South Australia]
• The Adelaide Examiner (1841 - 1843) [Brian Samuels / State Library of South Australia]
• The Prospecter (1978 - 1984) [Prospect South Australia History Group]
• Northern District Times (21 Oct 1937-17 Feb 1938) [State Library of South Australia with Prospect Local History Group]
• Northern Districts Courier (Aug 1925-Dec 1927) [State Library of South Australia with Prospect Local History Group]

• Queensland
• Catholic Advocate (1911 - 1919; 1923 - 1934; 1936 - 1938) [State Library Queensland]

• Victoria
• Richmond Guardian (Vic. : 1885; 1904 - 1922)
• Albury Banner and Wodonga Express (1860-1872) [Albury Library & Albury Wodonga Historical Society]
• Bacchus Marsh Express (1866 - 1943) [Bacchus Marsh and District Historical Society]
• Great Southern Advocate (1889 - 1906, 1914 - 1919, 1921 - 1940) [Korumburra & District Historical Society]
• Elmore Standard (1882 - 1911) [Bendigo Regional Genealogical Society]
• Ferntree Gully News and Mountain District Free Press (1954); [Eastern Regional Libraries & Dandenong Ranges Historical Society]

• New South Wales
• Inverell Times (1899 - 1907, 1909 - 1954) [Inverell Shire Public Library]
• Albury Banner and Wodonga Express (1860-1872) [Albury Library & Albury Wodonga Historical Society]

Enjoy your genealogy week and stay safe and well. 

Shauna

FHDU 2021 megafest, new resources: Australia & New Zealand Genealogy Notes March 2021

Wow a huge month with more genealogy webinars to watch than programs on television! 

Plus I sneaked away for a week's holiday with a Canberra HAGSOC (now Family History ACT) friend to the Sunshine Coast. Lots of genealogy discussion over that week too. Had lunch with geneamates at Buderim which was good, catching up in person. Got home just before we went into the snap lockdown. 

Without fail my Easter orchid continues to deliver year after year. The colours are gorgeous but I think it is time to divide and have two Easter orchids next year. Or a bigger pot!

Books

Also on holiday with me was Nathan Dylan Goodwin's The Chester Creek Murders: A Venator Cold Case which is the first installment of his new book series. 

I have yet to do my review but as usual Nathan has written a gripping read and I predict the series will be as big a hit as his Morton Farrier series. 

It was also a pleasure to listen to Nathan speak about how he does his research in the FHDU Methodology stream. Thankfully the motel's free wi fi was up to letting me watch it live.

During the month I also received the latest Traces magazine, Discover Your Ancestors No 9, and a number of digital genealogy journals and magazines. The paper ones sit on the chair, and the digital ones disappear out of sight. Despite my best intentions. 

My latest thoughts on how to manage my digital reading is to list items as they arrive in my inbox and then tick them off when I have read them. Also with the intention of reading them within 7 days so that they don't become a serious backlog. Discipline - not a strong point for me with so many other things to capture my geneattention.

Bribie Genealogy & Bribie U3A

Our March meeting was a success with Pauleen Cass our guest speaker giving us lots of tips for our Irish research. Pauleen also had a very useful handout for members.

Somehow I was talked into taking over the Bribie U3A beginners class. My fear is that I will be too much for them so I am making my weekly classes as basic as I can. I suspect that the attendees will have varied experience which just makes aiming the level of the class that much harder. Still it should be fun. The idea is that attendees will go from the beginners class to joining Bribie Genealogy. 

Our April meeting falls on Good Friday so I organised a military talk via Zoom for those interested. 

Conferences

FHDU 2021 was the big event in March and was in the end a totally virtual event. But that saw more talks offered. Four streams on DNA, Abroad, Australia & New Zealand and Methodology meant that people could attend one, two or all streams. 

Being the geneaddict that I am, I have all four streams to watch. Now to find the time. Bit like my digital reading! Plus I need to write a blog post. 

In case you missed it and are interested, it is still possible to purchase access to the different webinar streams. See the link above.

My next conference is the AFFHO Congress 2021 on Norfolk Island. I am giving a paper on the Pyers/Johnson family. AFFHO have also asked me to speak at the launch of NFHM 2021 which is an honour. That should be an amazing week in a place that I love for its beauty and simplicity of lifestyle. 

Talks

I talk too much! I was pleased to accept a last minute offer to give a talk at The Surname Society's AGM and seminar day. Basically I reworked one of my previous talks into how to find surnames in archives downunder. It was also a good opportunity to hear talks on Library and Archives Canada, (now to look for more of my Canadian cousins), National Archives UK and Archives New Zealand presented by Fiona Brooker. A great tour of their online catalogue Archway.

Talks are coming up at Noosa Libraries, Moreton Libraries and other places but I can't mention those yet. Details of my upcoming talks are always on the Events pages of my website.

Plus those close by can come along to Bribie Genealogy on the 1st Friday of the month, 9.15am at Bribie RSL.

Website

There hasn't been much action on my website in recent months as I was hijacked and it cost a small fortune to remove malware and whatever else. I am truly grateful to my IT person for sorting it all out and now I just have to start blogging again. 

There will also be a fresh look to reflect on my new approach to life post cancer and covid, although the latter may still be around for a while yet.

What's New in Australia & New Zealand

Do you subscribe to the Trove enewsletter? It is the easiest way to see what newspaper titles have been added to Trove during the month. For example in March 2021 they added: 

• Sunraysia Daily (Vic: 1920-1927)
• The Mildura and Merbein Sun (Vic: 1921)
• The Mildura Irrigationist (Vic: 1892-1893)
• The Merbein Irrigationist and Murray Valley Soldiers' Gazette (Vic: 1919-1920)
• The Mildura Irrigationist and Murray River Agricultural Times (Vic: 1888)
• The Mildura Irrigationist and Murray River Cultural Advocate (Vic: 1891 - 1892)

• Noosa News (Qld: 1968-1974)
• Noosa Advocate (Qld: 1911-1929)
• Noosa Advocate and Cooroora Advertiser (Qld: 1929-1934).

Great news for those with Mildura, Victoria or Noosa, Queensland families. My son's GG grandfather John Barrow Atkinson was one of the early people to buy land at Noosa. If only the family had held on to it!

Similarly I subscribe to the enews from various state archives to see what has been indexed or digitised. In the March Now & Then from State Archives and Records New South Wales I discovered that the  Protestant male orphan school register 1850-1886 has been digitised and is online. These enewsletters are easy to read and often contain useful hints on searching or advertising a new webinar on a family history topic.

While not Australasian, the FamilySearch enewsletter each month has new records from around the world and is always worth a browse. There were new French and German collections and some for various English counties. By knowing what has been added, you can simply search that collection if it is relevant to your ancestral search areas.

April is a big month for talks, more doctor visits (check ups), U3A beginning family history classes, a 4 day visit from my brother, the Bribie Historical Society meeting and setting time aside to watch some of my FHDU webinars. I wonder what bright shiny object will grab my attention this coming month? 

Take care and stay safe. Happy geneasearching until next month. 

Short month, lots of genealogy: Australia & New Zealand Genealogy Notes February 2021

Wow the 28 days of February went past so quickly. But a huge month for doing nothing but watch webinars. One of the reasons this blog post is a week late.

Books

Hard to believe but I still haven't started The Chester Creek Murders by Nathan Dylan Goodwin. I have been waiting for some extra spare time so that I can read uninterrupted. I have a week away at Noosa and Caloundra at the end of March. It will be perfect motel reading. 

Bribie Genealogy

Time was spent on putting together an email list (doubles as membership) and preparing for the March meeting. 

Our April meeting is Good Friday so we will be having a Zoom meeting on Easter Saturday instead. We have even started to think about having a second meeting a month in the evening. It is really good to see so many enthusiastic people.

Conferences

This is where most of my time has been spent. Finalising handouts for the FHDU conference in March as well as trying to record my presentation using Powerpoint rather than Zoom. I found it really limiting and stopped the flow of my usual style when giving a talk. Still a learning exercise and technology continues to get better and better. Now that it is virtual, the overall package is cheaper than it was in person. That's a plus but I will miss the personal catch ups.

Of course RootsTech Connect took up three days and nights and it was amazing how you could get caught up in the frenzy of trying to do everything. I scored a few freebies in the Exhibition Hall but will do a blog post soon on how I found the whole experience. The Twitter #ANZAncestryTime topic last week (Tuesdays 7pm Brisbane time) was on RootsTech so I picked up more tips to follow up. 

The talks are still online and if you search for Oceania you will pick up most of the Australia and New Zealand talks. My talk on Australian Archives was well received and there were a few people in the chat room and one person even found her ancestor after hearing one of my tips on spelling variants. 

All RootsTech Connect speakers were sent a gift package which was unexpected and a lovely way to end an amazing experience. Thanks to all the people behind the scenes. 

Plus on the spur of the moment I decided to attend The Family History Show on 20 February which was only about $10AU. I have done a blog post on the conference and it is funny how it took about to 2011 and an article I wrote for Discover Your Ancestors. Small world. Read the report here. 

Talks

My talk at Bribie Island Library on What's In A Surname was well received and the Where Do I Start beginners session at Noosaville Library has a very enthusiastic audience. Both events booked out. Another talk on Using Ancestry's DNA Tools is coming up for Noosaville. I have been asked to do a webinar for The Surname Society in March. 

I'm also back at U3A as the person doing the beginners course can no longer do it. Therefore in Term 2 I will be trying to confine myself to beginner methodology. Hope they don't find me too overwhelming. Actually it will be good to get back to basics. Another plus is that  they can come along to Bribie Genealogy meetings. 

See where I am speaking on the Events page of my website. 

What's New in Australia & New Zealand

If you subscribe to the free Trove enews, you can get the latest on what's new in Trove. There is also a link to the enews on the home page of Trove. For example, the February news was that four newspaper titles for each of New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia were added, varying date ranges. 

I was interested in these three in particular:

• Nowra Colonist (NSW) 1899-1904
• The Telegraph and Shoalhaven Advertiser (NSW) 1879-1881
• Windsor & Richmond Gazette (NSW) 1888-1961.

Two of my great grandmother Elizabeth Price's children were born in the Shoalhaven area in the 1880s. 

Sign up to Trove at the bottom of the February newsletter. 

Also remember it is a new calendar year and many of the BDM indexes are now available for another year. Some states like NSW update through the year, while others don't. This also applies to state archives and that means another year of closed series is now available. You really do need to go back and check for additional records at the start of each calendar year.

FamilySearch added New Zealand electoral rolls 1865 to 1957 adding just over 3.5 million names to the records for New Zealand. With trans Tasman families there's another search I need to do. 

Findmypast added quite a few interesting records for my English and Irish families and Ancestry updated its Australia and New Zealand Obituary Index 2004 to the present. Also some UK WW1 pension records which interest me. 

If you subscribe to the free enews from the archives, libraries and resources that are of interest to your research it really is easy to see what's new. However, beware of bright shiny objects which may tempt you away from a planned research strategy. 

Have a wonderful research time in March. Stay well and safe.

Shauna

NFHM 2016, Scottish finds & other news - Genealogy Notes 30 Mar - 5 Apr 2016

A big week but I am happy to announce that the new National Family History Month website is up and running and we have events already from NSW and VIC. The behind the scenes is a bit different from what I am use to but gradually working it out. Much easier and quicker for me adding the events, more just an approval process. NFHM even has its own blog - read the first post here.

So technically I will have some 'free time' now that the NFHM website is finished. Despite this tempting thought I decided not to participate in the April Blogging from A to Z challenge. Many of my geneamates are doing it but I'm behind in a few things because of the NFHM website and I really need to catch up. However I am enjoying reading some of the posts so far.

Trove Tuesday was yesterday and this is another blogging challenge that I am trying to do at least once a month in 2016. It really is worthwhile because you need to think about what to search for and then write about whatever you discover. So I am using the opportunity to revisit my research. Earlier this year I focused on Herbert William White as my Australia Day Tribute 2016 so I decided to try and find something in Trove on Herbert's son Robert James White.

Herbert White is on the left and
Robert White is standing at the back, ca 1912

Robert died aged 30 years in Charters Towers, Queensland but there were not many results except notices of the filing of probate documents by the Public Curator. What I did find was an account of Herbert's death in Richmond, Queensland where Robert was working at that time. This account in the newspaper raised a number of questions about what was happening in the family in the four months between Herbert and Robert's deaths in 1924. As Trove is adding new information all the time it can really pay to revisit your searches as my Herbert William White Obituary Trove Tuesday post shows.

I am about a half a week behind now with my Future Learn beginning genealogy course  and I was catching up nicely when I was side tracked by an offer from Scotland's People of free credits at the weekend. Who can resist free and as we had been talking about Scottish records in the course I had been thinking of my own Scottish families and where I was stuck with my research. Again revisiting my research with new ideas paid off.

My GGGGG grandmother was Mary Fraser/Frazer who married James Ferrier in 1812 in Craig By Montrose in Forfar/Angus. The marriage record said both of this parish. But I had never been able to find out anything else about Mary. Common names and looking for James and Mary in the Scottish census was a bit like a needle in a haystack. This time I looked for their children as a few of the children had what looked like surnames as middle names. So Andrew Ferguson Ferrier led me to my Mary in the 1841 census. She was a 60 year old widow living on Rossie Island with two of her adult children.

In the 1851 census I picked her up again under the surname Farrier (watch those surname variants) and this finally gave me a birthplace of Pathen (although I think that should be Rathen) in Aberdeenshire ca 1783 as she was listed as 68 years old. No wonder I couldn't find her in Forfar/Angus. Her occupation is pauper and salmon net weaver and she is still living with an invalid daughter.

Mary is gone by the time of the 1861 census and a search for her death gave numerous results but none that looked like her. As registration was only introduced in 1855 she may only have a burial record but again nothing definitely her. But perhaps as a pauper on Rossie Island there is no record. Her invalid daughter is in the 1861 and 1871 census and I think that if Mary was still alive, she would have still been living with the daughter. I need to look into this more.

From only knowing her name I have now gone to knowing where she was born, a more accurate year of birth, she was widowed early, had no money, was a salmon net weaver, lived on Rossie Island and cared for an invalid daughter.  A sidetrack from my studies definitely worth doing.

Having a good time with
Caloundra Family History Research in 2015

This month I am giving a talk to Caloundra Family History Research and they are always a great group to visit. I could probably get there quicker by boat from Bribie Island but in a car I need to go out to the highway, then up the highway then turn back towards the coast. Must start looking for a new purple top (the group's colour).

The Unlock the Past 13th cruise to Papua New Guinea now has a preliminary program up for those who have been wanting to see what talks will be given during the 10 night cruise. I am giving five talks and there are a number of military talks as well as a good spread of genealogy talks. Good to see Helen Smith giving some DNA talks as I still need to understand that a bit more.

Well back to my FutureLearn course. Week 4 started on Monday so must finish Week 3.  As I have said previously, if you want the weeks to fly, enroll in some genealogy education course or blogging challenges! Until next time have a great genealogy week.

Tasmania, NFHM & Trove - Genealogy Notes 15-21 Jun 2015

Another big week and some amazing family discoveries in Trove (Australia's free digitised historical newspapers for overseas readers). More and more titles are being added - see the latest update of newspapers here. Now whenever I have a spare 15 minutes I do a quick Trove search on a family name. Of course this is a trap as it is very rare for me not to find at least one new story.

Yesterday I decided that I would have another look for Max's elusive grandfather and this time I looked for the names of each of his three wives. What a bonus! Articles on all of them and most of the stories also included Henry Spencer's name  ONLY the OCR was poor and the articles were not showing up under a search of his name. I didn't have time to correct the text but I did add tags for his name.

I am beginning to think that Henry lived at the District Court as there was another court appearance with his brother as the plaintiff and another one with his first father in law. I will now have to spend a whole day at the Queensland State Archives looking at court records, with these new cases on top of what I already had.

This is where Trove is so fantastic - it gives you the clues, dates, places and topics that you can then use to find original records and learn more about what ever it is. BUT you need to remember the disadvantages of OCR and do searches from all angles and maybe it is only an initial and not a full given name. Anyway my 15 minutes before dinner turned into a late dinner so maybe do your quick 15 minute search at a more convenient time or risk the family's wrath.

Tasmania has also been on my mind this week and not because that is where we first started tracking Henry Spencer. The University of Tasmania is again offering its free online introduction to family history course and you need to enrol before 6 July. I know others who did this last year and they said it was fantastic. So I have signed up for this round and I can start it when I get back from holidays. But I have to catch up quickly on my return. Sadly the list of things I have to do as soon as I get back is growing, I will probably need another holiday later in the year!! Still I think it will be good to do an introductory course as family history has changed a lot in recent years and refresher courses always motivate me with new ideas and resources.

In 2013 I was given a print copy of Michael Piggott's book Commonwealth Government Records About Tasmania to review. At the time the launch was delayed so instead of publishing the review, I saved it till after the launch.Yes out of sight out of mind and as Michael is the keynote speaker of this year's National Family History Month launch I was thinking about the review and wondering why I could not find it on the Resources page of my website. I forgot to publish it but better late than never. Read the review here and the guide really is a good resource if you have Tasmanian families. It is also a good insight into the usefulness of the National Archives of Australia's research guide series.

Last but not least National Family History Month was the big time taker this week with adding events to the website, promoting them on the NFHM Facebook page, liaising with Genealogy SA who are helping me with the launch preparations and chatting to sponsors. I have to say I am a bit disappointed that more genealogy and family history societies, libraries and archives have not put their events in the web calendar yet. I had hoped there would be more before I went overseas as nothing will be added in my absence. Perhaps there will be a mad flurry this week.

We have no events for WA, TAS or the NT yet and QLD has 27, NSW 26, VIC 57, SA 5, ACT 4 and only 1 online event so far. Why not remind your society, library or archive and get them to add their August events to the NFHM web calendar? Remember it has to be before early July or it will get added at the end of July which will still in time for NFHM but some people like to plan so that they can attend as many events as they can.

Well it is a beautiful winter's day here in Paradise and my garden looks much warmer than my coolish study. I am going out to enjoy the sunshine and maybe even a coffee before I tackle the dreaded weeds! Happy researching and please help me spread the word about NFHM 2015.