Blogs, Memes & Other News - Genealogy Notes 15 Dec 2019 - 7 Jan 2020

Welcome to 2020 and another year of genealogy and learning more about our ancestors. Sadly this will be set against a horrifying backdrop of fires in every state. The loss of life, homes, businesses and our native wildlife is almost inconceivable and they say it is not over yet. Stay safe everyone and this is a good time to make sure you have everything backed up some place else.

Katherine R Willson
hand made card 2019

A belated Christmas surprise was a hand made card from Katherine R Willson which I was delighted to receive.

Katherine maintains that wonderful Facebook list of everything to do with genealogy (as at May 2019 there were over 4500 links). I love just browsing it as there are so many different groups that may be useful to our research. Check out her Social Media Genealogy site.

Blogs

GeniAus (aka Jill Ball) challenged us to an Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2019 and you can read my response here. Other participants are also adding their posts to Jill's original challenge and it is a good way to learn about new things such as books and software.

Thanks Jill for getting us all motivated so early in 2020.

The binders have gone - discover where in forthcoming
Month 2 update

My personal blog challenge on Preparing Your Family History for Hand Over in the Future continues and another update (Month 2) is due next week.

I'm steadily working away at various things although with Christmas/New Year and a household visitor progress has been slow. But all  systems go now with that Month 2 update looming.

To assist me with this challenge and in particular, the writing up of my ancestors stories, I thought about participating in Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks blog challenge.

However we are almost at the end of Week 2 so I'm not doing so good. However, like all challenges you don't have to keep up as everyone has family/personal lives which take priority. But it is a motivator so stay tuned.

Journals

The latest issue of Traces: Uncovering Australia's Past was part of my holiday reading. So many great stories out there and we can definitely learn from other's research.

Which brings me to a huge issue in my genealogical blog challenge mentioned above. As I used to move homes every 5-10 years, I regularly just gave away all my journals to genie societies rather than pack and move. I did this with no hesitation. It just had to be done.

Which is why I'm puzzled by my current struggle to let go of all the journals and magazines I have gathered here in the last 7 years. I will even confess that some are over 20 years old so obviously some have more appeal than others.

What I am finding now is that without the pressure to pack and move, I am rereading/skimming and deciding that I need to follow something up. Sitting here scratching my head over the dilemma doesn't work, that just means more bits of hair on the laptop. I've moved to 3 weekly chemo (much better than weekly) but still losing what little hair I had left.

My motto in the blog challenge is be ruthless - so three boxes have just come down from the shelf and now to find them new homes or use them in my U3A classes.

Resources

Remember 1 January is when many BDMs and archives update their catalogues with another year of information. There is always something new to discover. Here is what's new at Public Record Office Victoria in 2020.

December is also a month when various groups/companies give a round up of the year's achievements. Check out what FamilySearch did in 2019.

January is also a time when those same people start to tell us what's coming up in the new year. I think 2020 is going to be amazing and a follow on to DNA in 2019 - it seems to me that was the topic that interested everybody last year.

What's Coming Up?

Port Arthur from the UTP Feb 2014 cruise

My website Events page has a list of my talks for 2020. There are four talks so far and I agreed to do something for the GSQ DNA group but no date has been set yet (or not that I can remember).

There is even one on the final Unlock the Past genealogy cruise Adelaide to Tasmania. Hard to believe I was last there 5 years ago.

A bit sad that this is the last one and hope to see many of the UTP regulars as well as meeting new geneacruisers.

I am also involved with the DNA for Genealogists group that meets in Bribie Island Library on the 3rd Thursday of the month, February to November.

My two U3A classes are still running - Advanced Family History & Writing Family History so that will keep me busy.

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy and safe 2020. Let's find those elusive ancestors now!

Blogs, 2019 Conferences & Other News - Genealogy Notes 16-31 Oct 2018

Lots of travel this fortnight, mainly to Brisbane to give presentations and attend meetings. The traffic leaving Brisbane on Saturday afternoon surprised me but once out on the open highway, we moved more freely. It is not far to travel but the traffic just makes it seem that much further.

Blogs

John Trevaskis son of my
missing James Henry Trevaskis

My guest blog for the Genealogical Society of Queensland on genealogy cruising was published. Read it here.

I also managed to get my Trove Tuesday Body Discovered Unknown Identity blog post finished in time. Sadly there are lots of unknown people out there that belong in someone's family history. Is this what happened to my James Henry Trevaskis although you would think that his wife would have had some sort of search undertaken for him. Maybe his death is meant to remain a mystery.

Conferences

I missed a meeting of the Waves in Time Conference as I was still not feeling great and there were so many other commitments I had to attend. Speakers not showing up has to be an organisers worst nightmare. Anyway the committee are very capable and it is shaping up to be an interesting program with some great speakers. A 3 day geneafest not to be missed.


The next NSW & ACT Family History Association conference has already sent out its first newsletter. So put 11-13 October 2019 in your diary and it will be held at Knox Grammar School and organised by the Ku-rin-gai Historical Society. The theme is Exploring the Past, something we all do with our family research.

Education

Three years ago, just before I broke my right elbow I signed up to do a course on family history with the University of Tasmania - Diploma of Family History. Due to the accident I had to pull out and I have been looking at it ever since. This fortnight I have again applied and the first subject if my application is successful, will be Writing Family History. This is an area that I have been working on for years - trying to get all my stories, documents, photos into something that others might read. Starts later this month and goes through to the end of January. Something to do when it is too hot outside.

New Resources

I subscribe to the FamilySearch newsletter and the amount of records being added is staggering. For example, in September 2018 almost 13 million indexed new family history records were added and over 500,000 digital images from all over the world.

You can now access FindAGrave and Billion Graves through FamilySearch too and in a search I found one of our direct ancestors had a tombstone which was surprising. I might not have looked at FindAGrave or Billion Graves but as it came up in the FamilySearch search, I looked and it was the right person. So sometimes fishing in a bigger pond is a good idea, especially if you are not really looking for anything in particular.

Talks

It was a busy fortnight with a blogging presentation at Strathpine library, a webinar on mining ancestors for the Society of Australian Genealogists and a presentation on Probate Records in Australia, the UK and Ireland for the annual seminar of the Genealogical Society of Queensland. All three presentations are on the Resources page of my website, scroll down to Presentations.

In addition I did my usual two talks at the Bribie U3A Advanced Family History class - genealogy software, paleography and non conformist records.

What's Coming Up?

Only one more talk on blogging at the Caboolture Library on 19 November and that will be the end for 2018. That's a total of 22 talks in 10 months (no talks in Dec-Jan). An average of just over 2 talks a month. So much for cutting back in 2018!

So far there are only 5 talks scheduled in 2019 but don't forget all my U3A advanced family history sessions which are 4 terms a year with 9-10 weeks per term. That adds up to a lot of talks but in a more informal class room setting.

We had a great Halloween class on Wednesday - chocolates, gruesome deaths and one student even came dressed in a fantastic Welsh costume. We have had so much fun it will be a continuing class in 2019.

Have fun searching in the coming fortnight - I will be away for a week at one of my favourite beaches in Queensland then back home for some serious work on my own family history in the December/January quiet time. Till next time.

DNA connections, blogs as cousin bait & other news - Genealogy Notes 8-15 April 2018

Mum, my brother and I a long long time ago

A lot of the last week was out and about so not a lot of desk time. U3A starts again this week so Wednesday afternoons will be Advanced Family History and Friday mornings Local Bribie History. Two week breaks seem to go so quickly.

Mum had a great 84th birthday with two cakes - one with us and one at the aged care centre. My brother and his son came up for coffee and cake. Then Max and I took Mum to lunch so she could have nachos and a wine, treats not often on the menu!

Blog Reading

My blog post on the Australian Women's Register for The In-Depth Genealogist was listed on Gail Dever's Genealogy a la Carte for 14 Apr 2018. It's always nice to see that people are reading things I write. Plus I like to browse these compilations to pick up other blog posts of interest to my own research.

One I thought would be useful if only I could find a spare day was The Legal Genealogist's post on why we should all find Time to Paint. It's all about DNA Painter and how you can match up known relatives. My problem is not knowing who my relatives are!

Elizabeth Price nee Judge born Pollard

Although blogging about your known relatives can also help connect up in conjunction with DNA testing. A couple of years ago I wrote about my great grandmother Elizabeth Price nee Judge born Pollard - a brick wall that took a while to fall. I also posted a photograph of her.

At the weekend while checking my Ancestry DNA messages I found an email from someone descendant from the same Pollard family in Croughton, Northamptonshire. They had written to tell me how similar my Elizabeth was to her Croughton cousins and sent two photos to show the resemblance.

Blogging is definitely cousin bait and if you have both done DNA tests and submitted family tree charts then it all comes together quite nicely.

Resources

Kerry Farmer is the Director of the Australian Studies certificate with the National Institute for Genealogical Studies and quite often does free webinars. There is another one on Wednesday morning (18 April at 9am Sydney time) on Trove and how it is more than just digitised newspapers. It is free and open to all but you need to register. There is no user name or password required. Just type in your first and last name and click Enter as a Guest. Link to attend. Kerry usually advertises these on various Facebook sites so keep a watch out in the future.

What's Coming Up?

Thursday is my Sporting Ancestors talk for Caloundra Family History Research. It is always a great monthly meeting and I will also be able to find out what is happening with the Waves In Time Conference in Caloundra in May 2019. This is one of my favourite areas of Queensland and we nearly settled here so it is definitely in my diary for next year. Although it is only an hour and a half  up the highway I will be staying locally to maximise all my networking time with geneafriends.

There is a meeting of the Professional Historians Association of Queensland  at the weekend and it's on the north side of Brisbane so I'm planning to attend.

Until next time, have a great genealogy week!

Blogs, Books, Congress 2018 & Other News - Genealogy Notes 1-14 Mar 2018

The first two weeks of March certainly sped past and were super exciting for all those who attended the Bridging the Past genealogy conference in Sydney. Ongoing family and health issues saw multiple trips to Brisbane and were the main reason this is two weeks and not my usual weekly update.

Blog Posts

Congress was fabulous and as usual I will be sharing my experiences with those who could not attend in person. Day One is already written and Days 2-4 with a final post on Exhibitors and other bits and pieces are still to be completed. As I write the posts I am compiling a to do list to follow up on various links and searches. Congress 2018 will be in my life for a few more weeks yet.

Some of the other bloggers have also written or are in the process of writing up blog posts for Congress. Some of the links are being posted in the Facebook page Geniemates for Congress but this is a closed group. Some kind soul may also be compiling a list of bloggers doing reports so stay tuned.

Some of the bloggers at Congress 2018, photo courtesy Lilian Magill

Lilian Magill has been quick to do a number of Congress posts and has also shared her photo of some of the bloggers who attended. Sadly I missed the photo opportunity as well as the one for Queensland attendees, but I did manage to make the photo opportunity for the students of the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. So much was going on, it was hard to be everywhere at once!

My blog post on one of my favourite Western Australian websites, Outback History, was featured on the In-Depth Genealogist on 8 March. There are so many great Australian websites I don't think I will ever run out of topics.

Books

Although I say no more books, who can resist buying them when there is so much opportunity at an event like Congress. The after dinner speaker at the Congress dinner (more in the daily post to come) was a very passionate speaker and so now I have an author signed copy of Mark Tedeschi QC's book Murder at Myall Creek: the trial that defined a nation.

Another speaker who motivated me was Lisa Louise Cooke from Genealogy Gems and I purchased the 2nd edition of her The Genealogist's Google Tool Box together with a DVD package on using Google Earth. While I use Google Maps all the time I seem to struggle with Google Earth so time to learn a new resource.

The Congress Handouts are in PDF format and I have now downloaded them - all 309 pages! No wonder they didn't go for a printed version. I've even refrained from hitting the print button. This might be the time to seriously try reading (and enjoying) a publication on my laptop.

Nathan Dylan Goodwin has asked me to do a review of his latest book The Wicked Trade so that is winging its way to me. Always a good read and I'm looking forward to curling up on the lounge for some uninterrupted reading time.

Conferences

As usual everyone is sad that Congress is over for another three years, but it is even sadder this time as the next Congress has not been announced as no society or group of societies have said they will take on the enormous task of running an event like this.

However we do have some state conferences which might be of interest. This year the NSW & ACT conference is in Bateman's Bay on 14-16 September 2018 with the theme Sailing into History. I usually try to go to these if possible but not this year as I am already booked on the Unlock the Past Alaska cruise.

Another one for early next year is the History Queensland and Caloundra Family History Research  conference on 24-26 May 2019 with the theme Waves in Time. That will be a definite attend as it is only about an hour up the road from me.

Resources

Most of the new resources I've come across will be in the daily blog posts from Congress so keep an eye out for those and there will be a round up in the next Diary.

Talks

April 2017 talk at Caloundra

My next talk will be on Sporting Ancestors: everyone has them and it will be with Caloundra Family History Research on 19 April. They are a super friendly group and always have a great afternoon tea and chat.

Plus it is a great excuse to get another purple top to fit with the Group's image!

What's Coming Up
There are only another two weeks of First Term at Bribie U3A remaining - all of the present attendees have signed on again and we will have additional students for second term as advanced family history seems to be a popular topic.

No surprises there. But it does keep me busy preparing sessions based on the individual needs of the class.

There are research projects, articles and blog posts to write not to mention all the things I want to follow up on my own family history research. Busy times but fun times.

Until next Diary have fun searching and remember to try out some of those URLs mentioned in my Congress posts. Good luck.

New Year, New Look & Lots of News - Genealogy Notes 27 Dec 2017 - 5 Jan 2018

Christmas 2016 in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Happy New Year everyone. Still wondering where 2017 went but looking forward to a big genealogy year in 2018.

Blogs
My first blog challenge for the year was Jill Ball's annual Accentuate the Positive 2017 challenge - read my year in review here. When you stop and consider the questions, you really have done more genealogy than you first think. It is also good to read what others have been doing as there are lots of ideas out there and Jill will be collating responses in January. Stay tuned.

I'm back doing blog posts for The In-Depth Genealogist and my first post was on Discovering the Ryerson Index and there have been quite a few comments, adding to the history of the index. It was also picked up in three genealogy blog roll ups:

• Gail Dever's Genealogy a la carte - This Week's Creme de la creme 23 Dec 2017
• Copper Leaf Genealogy - Friday Finds 22 Dec 2017
• Crissouli's That Moment in Time Friday Fossicking 5 Jan 2018

I am a fan of those who do these blog compilations as it is hard to keep up with everything published and these summaries often contain useful posts I'd miss.

Books
I've been asked to review Worcester County Council's new digital Explore the Past publication which looks at how to trace your ancestors in Worcester. It's 70 pages and available for 6 pounds and looks very comprehensive. My review should be finished in the next week.

Over the holidays I read Winston Graham's The Angry Tide - I come from a long line of Cornish tin miners and first read Graham's Poldark series back in the late 70s (somehow that doesn't seem as long ago as the 20th century). Of course, I am also watching the new Poldark television series and The Angry Tide picks up where the last series ended so I won't give any spoiler alerts.

Journals/Magazines
It's always exciting when a new history/genealogy magazine starts up and I have just received Issue 1 of Traces: Uncovering the Past which is published in Australia. I took advantage of the 50% introductory offer last year but I noticed (just now as I write this) that the offer is still on the website. So if you are interested, be quick.

Cassie Mercer who we all loved as editor of  the now defunct Inside History is a consultative editor and the first issue has some of my favourite authors including Jayne Shrimpton and Helen Smith.

Social Media
Alona has been busy updating her very useful lists of Australian Genealogy Facebook sites and there are now over 1100 links. Read about the update here and to download a copy - but don't hit the print button as it is 42 pages.

Sources
This is not a new resource but I sometimes forget how useful it can be. The University of Leicester's online Historical Directories Collection is free to access. It covers local and trade directories for England and Wales from 1766 to 1919. The website contains at least one directory for every English and Welsh county for each of the 1850s, 1890s and 1910s. A wonderful resource.

What's Coming Up?
Even though I said no more travelling, no more talks, I find that I've already agreed to give 10 talks in 2018 and that involves some travelling. At least it's less than previous years. To see where I will be presenting in 2018 check out the Services/Events page of my website.

The really megaevent this year is the Bridging the Past & Future conference in Sydney in March. There will be over 500 attendees with lots of great talks, exhibitors and time to catch up with old and new friends. I'm giving two presentations and currently putting the finishing touches to the papers which are due on Monday.

Until next time, happy searching.

Aussie blogs, Trove News, 2017 Events & Other News - Genealogy Notes 10-21 Dec 2016

The view from the study window

Last Diary saw me all excited about the approaching holiday season but a nasty bug has meant that I've missed parties, Christmas lights and I'm still to do the shopping. But there is something nice about bed rest especially if you have some good books and a tablet. Catching up on my reading has been good and that includes blogs.

Gould Genealogy & History News blog had an interesting post - 12 Australian Genealogy Blogs You Should be Following which lists some of my favourites too. I am also honoured to receive a mention on the list. It is authored by Alona who has her own blog Lonetester HQ which I would also include on a must read list of Aussie blogs. That kept me quiet for a while when I wasn't napping!

The other great way to spend enforced time in bed is to browse the digitised newspapers in Trove. Last time I wrote about a possible Jewsbury family connection to Bribie Island and I realised it was quite a while since I had done any updating on this family. I found heaps of new references and while I am yet to enter the details into my database and family history, I have had the luxury of simply searching and reading.

The good news for Trove is that in this week's mid year budget the government has managed to find $16.4 million over the next four years to digitise more resources and to maintain and upgrade infrastructure. Wonderful news. Launched in 2010 and with now more than 522 million items and 22 million unique users it is definitely a genealogy and history treasure.

One thing I have managed to do is update the Services & Events page of my website to show what events I will be speaking at in 2017. Additional events will go up as details are finalised but so far there is the Footsteps in Time genealogy conference at Southport in May, a day with the Coffs Harbour & District Family History Society, local talks and more. Check out the Services & Events page for details.

I had plans to do some new blog posts before January to end the year on a high. Now everything is being carried over into 2017 including some writing projects which are not going to make deadline. Since starting to work from home, I had forgotten what it was like to pick up a serious infection from someone else. Of course not having any grandkids local also helps to keep us immune too. Probably why this one took me by surprise.

There will be one more Diary to end 2016 which has been an absolutely brilliant year for me on a genealogy perspective. But more about that next time. Until then, happy researching.

Genealogy Expo Bound & Other News - Genealogy Notes 1-7 Oct 2016

This Diary post is being written in advance as I am about to leave for Adelaide and the Unlock the Past Adelaide expo on Friday and Saturday. It will be genearaging while you read this. Wondering if this will get me another entry in Geniaus' geneadictionary? Last week's geneaenvy made it and if you haven't caught up with Geniaus' latest inclusion, read it here.

I'm giving two talks at the Expo - one on digitised newspapers which seems to be the most popular talk after the organisers did a survey of who was attending what session. Sadly my other talk on sporting ancestors didn't poll as well and I'm now in a smaller room. Most people automatically assume they have no sporting ancestors but the reality is that they have probably never looked. It's not just cricket! All those fishermen, hunters, shooters, swimmers and others must belong to someone. My book is available from Gould Genealogy & History and on sale at the Expo.

Usually I try to do daily posts when I attend these types of events, but since breaking my right elbow last year travel has been more complicated. It's hard to tow a suitcase, laptop and handbag with only one arm so I need to become more techno with the tablet. I have an old model IPad but was given a smaller Android tablet which I haven't quite got the hang of yet.

I could do photos easily with the IPad but the new tablet only seems to take selfies and I'm not quite into that. You can't seem to turn it around and take photos and see what's in the frame. Others have looked and confirmed its not just me being silly. I could use my phone but then I have to get my reading glasses out and as they are a new addition to my wardrobe, I quite often find they are at home!

There will be a full report once I get back but in the meantime I'm sure there will be lots of tweets and Facebook posts from other geneabloggers at the Expo. As well as local South Australians, I know others travelling from Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria so it will be a busy time with all the talks, exhibitors and catching up with geneafriends.

If you want time to go fast then get involved in following a daily blog or challenge. I'm a fan of Amy Johnson Crow and she is currently doing 31 Days to Better Genealogy with a different post each day. It's National Family History Month over in the USA and it's similar to what I have done here as a NFHM online event for the last few years. The timing is not great for me with the trip to Adelaide and other projects but each day gives new ideas from someone else's perspective. I can always follow up at a more leisurely pace. The first five days have gone so quick that when I see the email pop up I can't believe it is 24 hours later!

This week saw me send off my monthly blog and article for The In-Depth Genealogist. These are always on Australasian topics and the blog posts tend to favour archives and libraries (no surprise there) and what you can use online.

Max and I as part of the 200th anniversary of
the closure of the First Settlement 2007

We are thinking of going back to Norfolk Island (for a third trip) with some of our Bribie friends. It seems we have raved so much they now all want to experience it themselves. A friend on Norfolk Island reminded me that next year is the 10th anniversary of our convict reunion over there. Seems like 2017 is the year to go back but where have the last 10 years gone?

Last week the family were hassling me about Christmas but now they seem to have twigged that I'm about to enter a new decade, which I had thought I could slip quietly into. I wonder if the swinging 60s still applies or, now that 60 is the new 40, is it back to the 40s? Not sure that I could deal with another mid life crisis.

Either way over the last few weeks of my 50s I thought it might be interesting to try and find photographs from each decade. This might keep the family amused if they insist on the big party. The hard part is that having been a gypsy for a good part of my life, there is not a great photographic store to choose from. Perhaps some of you who have known me through family history for the last 40 years have some interesting photos of me?

Have a great genealogy week and if you are in Adelaide, do say hello. Happy searching until next time.

Lots of Blogs, NFHM & Upcoming Events - Genealogy Notes 6 - 12 Apr 2016

Most of my weeks fly past in a blur but the other day I had to sit down and start planning out my movements in July and August. This is one of the busiest times of the year for me as National Family History Month starts to happen. As the voluntary coordinator on behalf of AFFHO (Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations) I arrange the launch and usually give a few talks throughout the month.

The launch this year is in Perth and we will have a seminar day with the Western Australian Genealogical Society. Its a long flight so it makes sense to do something else for NFHM. I am also at an all day seminar at Nambour for  Genealogy Sunshine Coast and one talk for Noosa Library Service, both north of Brisbane but I can drive to both places and return in a single day. I will also be flying to New Zealand to be part of their NFHM expo (details to come soon) so another long flight and several days away from home.

A couple of other events are under discussion and if they happen I will be the most traveled person in Australia that month! Maybe I should start eating spinach now.

It is good to see that some societies and libraries have already entered their events into the NFHM web calendar but we would love to see more events.

Last week's Diary was mentioned in Friday Fossicking with That Moment in Time. I love these collated posts as someone else has pulled together interesting blogs to read, new URLs to check out, and as Crissouli also has some Irish blogs, there is usually Irish news. Another collation post I try and read regularly is GeniAus' Gems and the post for 10 April  made me smile - it starts off 'some weeks just get away from me'. We all know that feeling. Again a nice selection of blogs to read.

For anyone who hasn't got the blog habit yet, you really should think about. Just this morning I received yet another email from a distant relative who had found my blog post and then my website through a Google search. It simply has to be the easiest way to make contact with distant relatives.

I've had various family dramas this week and have spent a bit of time travelling to Brisbane and back again. My hope of following up some of those new Scottish leads in last week's Diary has not happened yet but the file is still on my study table, in my line of sight.

This coming weekend is the Kiama Family History Centre Expo which will be good for everyone down that way. Caloundra Family History Research are having a military seminar on 2 July with four fantastic speakers including Helen Smith with her talk on the Health of the ANZACS: From Galliopoli to the Western Front which I heard on the recent Unlock the Past genealogy cruise. Unlock the Past are having a history and genealogy expo in Adelaide on 7-8 Oct 2016 which will also be good to attend. Someone should invent 'beam me there' technology!

This coming week I will be speaking at the Caloundra Family History Research monthly meeting so that's a trip up the highway plus there will be another couple of trips to Brisbane which is down the highway. Lots of drive time but fingers crossed there will also be a few moments for some genealogy research and maybe a blog post. Have a great genealogy week. Until next time.

Pandora, Aussie blogs & other news - Genealogy Notes 8 - 14 Jan 2016

Wow the second week of 2016 went past in a blur and with all my rehabilitation I didn't get time to do much. But it was a week when three good things happened from a genealogy viewpoint and just a shame I couldn't write about them all at the time.

First up I was alerted to a blog post by State Library of New South Wales about the second edition of my book What Was The Voyage Really Like? It was fantastic to see one of my books being used to help people who go into SLNSW. It is part of their popular questions blog series. Thanks to a number of geneabuddies I was alerted to the post otherwise I might have missed it. Read their post here. My books are for sale online through Gould Genealogy & History and are part of their Unlock the Past guide series.

The second piece of good news was a couple of days later with an email from the National Library of Australia asking permission to archive my website Shauna Hicks Historical Enterprises into their web archive Pandora. This is a great honour and I was thrilled. This Diary blog was added to Pandora back in 2013 so now both my websites will be available into the future.

Through Facebook posts I discovered that many Aussie geneabloggers have been added to Pandora recently which is a fantastic recognition of some great blog writing on genealogy in Australia. Congratulations to all those selected. Unfortunately the Library can't archive everybody but this is a great start.

I am a member of a closed group on Facebook for Australian Local & Family History Bloggers and GeniAus compiled a list of everyone's blogs and it is amazing at just how many blogs there are. Not everyone fits the criteria for membership of this group so there are other Aussie genealogy related blogs out there. We could easily spend all day just reading blogs! If you are short of time I always check out GeniAus' GAGS (GeniAus' Gems) - read her round up for 15 Jan 2016.

That might be my excuse for not doing any blog writing myself yet but it is more that other things have higher priority just now. Every time my specialist says it is a 12 month rehab program I just want to say bring on 2017! Perhaps the first month is the hardest and it will get easier.

Back to my good news. The third item was a message from the Post Office to come and collect a parcel. A bit late for Christmas so I went down and was very pleased to discover that I had been sent a lovely tote bag from The In-Depth Genealogist for being part of their writer's team for Going In-Depth, their digital genealogy magazine. It is the only one of its kind in Australasia although some of my Aussie geneamates going to Rootstech in February will bring one back too.

I will get to Rootstech one year but this time I am on the Unlock the Past genealogy cruise around New Zealand and southern Australia in Feb/Mar. While at the post office I was surprised to find another parcel waiting for me.  Yes my tickets and booklet for the cruise so not long now, less than four weeks. I just have to finalise my eight talks before then!

One news item I picked up this week was the release of WW1 hospital diaries by the National Archives UK. It is not only UK forces but also Australia, Canada, India and New Zealand. Read more about the records here.

Next week is busy. I have a good friend from Canberra coming up for a visit over the Australia Day weekend so it will be a great catch up and she can see our lovely Island. My friend is going to Rootstech so I might see if she will bring me back a souvenir! Another visit to the surgeon, not so thrilling but a routine 4 week check up. And as we have a visitor coming, I really should do some housework which has been neglected since my December hospital visit. Or should I just call up the cleaners we used when I had my broken elbow (which is still in therapy mode too)? Decisions decisions.

Have a good geneaweek and check out some of the Facebook sites for Australian genealogy or follow some of the Aussie geneabloggers - always lots of tips and new resources to follow up. Until next time.

Geneatripping & NFHM 2015 - Genealogy notes 1-7 Jun 2015

Most weeks I wonder how quickly the week has gone and then some times I ponder where the years have gone. This Diary is celebrating its 4th birthday on 1 July and the original reason it started was to simply demonstrate how quickly you can set up a blog using Google Blogger. From memory it did take a little more than the 5 minutes I told the audience but since then I have seen many people set up their own blogs and write their family stories and have success in reaching long lost cousins. It really is worth the effort.

While this Diary's content has changed a bit now that we have settled and not wandering around the place so much, it has fallen into a weekly blog more by default than any design.So I am pondering some changes as we approach Diary's 5th year!


Having just said that I am not moving around that much, for the next four months I am actually on the move. My long awaited holiday in Europe is fast approaching and I will be joining other geneafriends on the 8th Unlock the Past genealogy cruise to the Baltic countries.  It is 15 years since I last went to the UK and Europe so I am really looking forward to this holiday. A few days in London and surrounds prior to the cruise will help with the jet lag. Look forward to lots of geneablogging coming from that trip.

On my return, before I even get over my jetlag, I am back on a plane to Adelaide for the launch of NFHM 2015. As voluntary coordinator of National Family History Month I have been moving the launch around Australia so that we can raise the profile of NFHM which is an Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations (AFFHO) initiative. I'm hoping to attend a genealogy event or two in Adelaide while I am there.

Just a quick reminder that genealogy and family history societies must have their events up in the NFHM web calendar before 30 June if they want to receive a bonus prize. Full details on the NFHM website.

After the launch weekend it is back home. Moreton Bay Region libraries have asked me to do 10 talks at their various libraries during NFHM. They are fantastic supporters of NFHM and always have a great genealogy program throughout the year. So happy to be living in an area where the local library is interested in local and family history. Details of the August talks are on the Events page of my website.

The end of NFHM is being celebrated at a Genealogical Society of Queensland seminar so that is a relatively quick trip to Brisbane. The NFHM prizes for societies and individuals will be drawn at the event and I thank GSQ for hosting the prize draw this year.

Then I am off to Port Macquarie for the annual NSW & ACT family history conference - I usually try to attend these conferences if the program is interesting and the host city is relatively easy to travel to. When I lived in Canberra I went to quite a few so there are lots of geneafriends that I like to catch up with.

Back in Brisbane by the first weekend in October so that I can go to the In Time and Place conference on local and family history organised by History Queensland, the Genealogical Society of Queensland and the Queensland Family History Society. There will be no shortage of blogging posts from these events and it is good to see geneablogger Alona (Genealogy & History News) spreading the word about these major events coming up. Read her round up of national and state events here.

Attention regional delegates. Thanks to the generous support of the State Library of Queensland, the Conference Organising Committee is delighted to offer free registration to regional delegates from areas beyond south-east Queensland. For details and to apply, see the website or contact by email, by 24 July 2015. Fantastic offer if you want to attend and live outside south-east Queensland. 

Even if you can not personally attend these events there will be lots of geneabloggers tweeting, Facebooking, or using Google + to let people know what is happening at each of these events. It is amazing what you can learn from social media at genealogy events.

The last week was also busy with lots of writing. I have done a second edition of my first ever research guide What Was The Voyage Really Like? which was published in 2010. So much more is online now and you really do need to revisit your research from time to time. The new edition should be published in July so watch out for that.

Week 39 in my 52 Weeks of Genealogical Records in 2015 is on old age pension records and again I found that there are more records out there than we might think. Doing simple keyword searches in online archive catalogues can turn up some amazing record series. Of course most are not name indexed or digitised but if you can visit and search yourself it might be worth while.

This coming week I am giving a talk at Deception Bay Library on Thursday and on Tuesday I am going to Bribie Island Library to hear a talk by Helen Smith. Something else to blog about.

Research wise I haven't done much except ask Trove to send me emails when family articles from the Telegraph and Daily Standard become available on Trove. It is amazing how many reference there are to my families in these two newspapers - they were obviously not Courier Mail people. Are other Brisbane people finding this too or is it just my families?

Until next week have a great genealogy weekend.

Genealogy Notes 3 -9 Nov 2014 lots of blogging & celebrations

The first week of November is always a big week for me. I am a year older and this year my brother joined me in celebrating the big day. The last time he did that was my 21st nearly 40 years ago so we spent a lot of time talking about our childhood. Amazing what memories come back when you start chatting about the past.

My big day is either on or next to Australia's big racing event, the Melbourne Cup so I have always embraced that as my one day of betting on the horses. I managed to back first place so that was a bonus but this year's race was overshadowed by the deaths of two horses after the race. I have always thought it was a dangerous occupation but then most sports are dangerous and people/animals can get hurt or killed.

I guess it is all about choice and my choice is genealogy. It is not dangerous but it is addictive. Most of this week I have spent writing blogs. For those who missed my Twitter, Facebook or Google+ notices here are the links to my reports on the Eastern Australian Unlock the Past cruise, the Norfolk Island genealogy and history conference. It was a fantastic 10 days away.

This week we have Remembrance Day and I usually have an Anzac Day/Remembrance Day blog focusing on one of my military ancestors. Most of my direct ancestors have been written about so this November I wrote about my great grandmother's (Dorcas White nee Trevaskis) nephew Frederick Trevaskis. He died at the Western Front in 1917 never having married. If someone dies without descendants, we as family historians, need to tell their stories as perhaps no one else will or can.

As part of the official bloggers team for AFFHO Congress 2015 next March in Canberra, I will be doing a series of interviews/blogs with some of the Congress speakers. My team bloggers Jill Ball and Pauleen Cass have already started some of their interviews. We hope to have everyone done by Christmas and it will be a great way to know more about the speakers before you get to meet/listen to them next year.

As well as blogging myself I also like to read other people's blogs too and one blog I follow on a semi regular basis is The Legal Genealogist. The last two posts It's Not Sharing and It Bears Repeating: Just Say No should be read by everyone, including the comments. As someone who has found her own work on other websites word for word with no acknowledgement, I totally identify with the first post and with the second post, we do need to read, accept and abide by terms and conditions of websites, applications or whatever we use.

However I am not going to stop blogging my family stories as only this morning I opened up my email to find yet another distant cousin had found me via a blog post. She is thrilled and it is reciprocal as I believe the family bible in her possession, was given to my GG grandmother (new cousin's G grandmother) by her mother in 1861 in Ireland. Therefore, once we can arrange a visit, I will get to see my GGG grandmother's handwriting! Plus there are photographs.  

I have so many commitments at the moment I am feeling a bit overwhelmed but then I am off on a caravan trek with friends for the next two weeks and hoping that I can do things along the way! I find it hard to say no to requests from geneafriends especially when something is of interest to me. I am having a read of Carol Baxter's new book out in time for AFFHO Congress 2015 so stay tuned for more details. Carol is one of the speakers with me on the Unlock the Past Baltic cruise in July next year. Lots of other great speakers too so should be another fantastic genealogy cruise.

Watching the most amazing sunset as I type this. At last the rosellas and other birds have fallen silent and it has been another perfect day in Paradise. Time to wander out and see what is in the fridge for dinner although Sunday night is usually home made pizza night if we are not having our Sunday roast. Happy genearesearching until next time. Next post will be from Bargara, another one of those perfect little spots on Queensland's Coral Coast.

Genealogy Notes 23-30 Sep 2014 - LibraryThing & Guest Blogging

Extreme satisfaction this week as I am finally tackling something that has been on my To Do list for years if not decades. But more on that later. First up I want to start with some blogging news. Week 23 Electoral Rolls was this week's challenge in my personal genealogy blog challenge 52 Weeks of Genealogical Records in 2014. I am a big fan of electoral rolls for solving where people move to.

I also did a guest blog for the Genealogical Society of Queensland and took the opportunity to convince a few more people to start blogging their family stories. Read my post here. It really is a fantastic way to find lost lost relatives and get to know other Geneabloggers.

From time to time I am asked to do a book review and past reviews can be seen on the Resources page of my website (towards the end of the page). My next book review is a bit out of the ordinary as I have been asked to review one of Nathan Goodwin's genealogical crime mysteries which sounds absolutely fascinating. Hiding the Past is Nathan's first book in this series and a review on Amazon said A good reminder that you just never know what you will find once you embark on an ancestral hunt! I know that feeling so looking forward to a good read.

Which brings me to what I have been doing most of the week.

In the last 40 years since I left home, I have carted my genealogy, history and other cannot part with books, including novels and cookery books from home to home, city to city, state to state. Packing up and moving nine times you tend to jettison a lot of stuff along the way, so I hate to think what my house would have been like if I had not had a wanderlust.

So now that we are in the home we are never moving from, I am fulfilling my lifelong ambition to have all my books catalogued and easily findable no matter what bookcase they are in throughout the house. One of the attractions of this house was that two walls of the study have built in book cases, in fact I could not go past this house once I had seen the study which also overlooks the swimming pool area and our palm and fruit orchard. Although the birds are a bit of a distraction!

Over the years people have given me all kinds of suggestions on how to do this but I have gone with LibraryThing which is free and many geneafriends also use. I think there is something nice about being able to see (virtually) what other people have on their bookshelves and already I have two LibraryThing friends.

Setting up the account is easy and to add your books you simply select a group of libraries that you think will have the books and then you enter the ISBN and hopefully one of your libraries has the book and you get all the library cataloguing details which saves a lot of keying in of author names, titles etc. You can add your own tags and there is a private comments field where I enter the Bookcase number and shelf number.

I gave all the bookcases and shelves numbers which allows me to know which shelf a particular book is located on. Many of my research guides and other finding aids are small pamphlett size and hard to spot so this means I will be able to grab something quickly once I look it up on LibraryThing.

So all very positive and exciting and somewhat addictive. I have spent hours doing this and rearranging my books. But like everything, there are two sides to cataloguing your library collection.

I am using the National Library of Australia (NLA) as my main library choice with support from various State Libraries for my Australian books and similar libraries overseas for my New Zealand, UK and USA books. With legal deposit I expected to find most of my books in the NLA or the relevant State Library but I am surprised at how many of my books are not where I expect a copy to be held. With one of my books, in desperation I tried the University of Queensland and they had a copy so universities are now my fall back position.

You can enter books in manually but I prefer to have all the cataloguing details as well and it is quicker if you can find it already in a library somewhere.

But that is not what is taking me the longest time. I am rediscovering each and every one of my genealogy reference books and some of them are quite ancient and precomputer and internet times. It is fascinating to read them and see how we did genealogy in those far off days. At one point I was going to say they were all superseded and simply toss them, but there is some good advice and the records are the same, just the way we look for things has changed. So the weeding and decluttering  is not quite going to plan.

It will probably take me months to do all of my books so I will give updates from time to time on progress. LibraryThing is my new best friend and we won't be parted anytime soon!

For those in Brisbane don't forget the Queensland Family History Society seminar on Saturday with Pauleen Cass (Family History Across the Seas) and myself talking about asylums, hospitals and prisons. Should be a great seminar and if you are in the Gold Coast area, I am also attending the Angling for Ancestors seminar although I am not talking. Graham Jaunay and Jan Gow are the two speakers for that day long genealogy fest so I can just sit back and soak up all their genealogy knowledge! Blog posts to come on both seminars.

Until next week, happy genealogy searching or in my case, LibraryThing.

Genealogy Notes 15-22 Sep 2014 more lovely awards & great blogs

Well it has been a big week for receiving some wonderful tributes for my blogs and my presentations. First up I received a One Lovely Blog Award from Alex Daw (Family Tree Frog) for this Diary blog and if you have not seen my response, read it here. My second One Lovely Blog Award was from Helen Smith (Helen Smith's Keyboard) for my other family oriented blog SHHE Genie Rambles and my response is here.

As part of the Awards we each nominate other blogs that we like to read or admire and that  way we all get to find out about all the fantastic blogs out there. It really is good to see so many people using blogs to tell their family stories and make them accessible via Google.

The highlight of my week was finding out that I was the Gold Medalist Rock Star Genealogist in Australia and New Zealand in John Reid's (Canada's Anglo Celtic Connections) annual survey. The Top Ten list for ANZ is also a line up of some of our best bloggers and speakers although a few northerners also made the list probably due to their down under tours with Unlock the Past in the last few years.

All this recognition has inspired me to get back to blogging and I have managed to restart my personal genealogy blog challenge 52 Weeks of Genealogical Records in 2014. Week 22 is on Family Letters and Correspondence and I share two family letters that I am fortunate to have found during my research.

My next big project is a new research guide and I am trying to get a section each day as well as finalise my two talks for the Queensland Family History Society seminar on 4 October. One talk is on asylum records and I have done a version of this presentation on a number of occasions as it is based on my guide My Ancestor Was In An Asylum: Brief Guide to Asylum Records in Australia and New Zealand.

My second talk is on prison records and I was surprised to find that the last time that I only spoke about prison records was in 2002! Normally I combine it with convict records so my October talk is a reworked version of one of my most popular talks over a decade ago. It has been interesting updating it (although my family stories haven't changed) but so much has changed online!

My talks for the next Unlock the Past genealogy cruise and Norfolk Island genealogy conference in late October are also done but I will probably keep tweaking them between now and then. I have a couple of new talks which is always a little nerve wracking as you never know if people will like them and find them useful.

At the weekend I took my own advice and finally decided to tackle my Irish brick walls (yet again). In 37 years of researching I have yet to learn anything more about my Irish GGG grandparents apart from their names.In my brick wall talks I tell people to try tracing siblings if you can't track back a direct ancestor so over the years I have managed to identify some siblings but never traced them.

So using the National Archives of Ireland for wills and census records, Findmypast for a wide range of Irish records for County Wicklow, FamilySearch, Ancestry and Roots Ireland I managed to put together a reasonable framework for two of the siblings. If I purchase marriage certificates it should prove they are siblings but that won't advance me back. It is unfortunate that Irish death certificates are not more informative. I now have possible deaths for all four of my Wicklow GGG grandparents but unless a family member was an informant purchasing a copy may not actually confirm it.

I have always been a bit of a gambler so I will apply for photocopies (the cheaper option to certificates) and see what I get. Nothing ventured nothing gained so wish me luck. I still have to look at my four GGG grandparents in Northern Ireland but that will have to wait for another free weekend.

There have been lots of useful Tweets and Facebook posts too and quite a lot of these are picked up in Geniaus' The Australian Genealogists Daily which I subscribed too as it usually provides a good snapshot of relevant tweets.

Time for some lunch and exercise - some days it is too easy just to sit at the laptop and do that last bit of research or read one more blog or check Twitter for new sites! Until next time happy researching.

Lovely Blog Award

Diary is usually my blog for my genealogy news and adventures and my other blog SHHE Genie Rambles is where I place all my personal stories and write about my families. However I have to make an exception as my long time geneafriend Alex Daw of Family Tree Frog has nominated Diary for a Lovely Blog Award which is really exciting. Alex's enthusiasm for genealogy is as keen as mine and it is always terrific to visit her library and give talks to all her genealogy library members. Thanks Alex.

Here are the Rules for the "One Lovely Blog Award":

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link to that blog
2. Share Seven things about yourself - refer below
3. Nominate 15 bloggers you admire (or as many as you can think of!) - also listed below
4. Contact your bloggers to let them know that you've tagged them for the One Lovely Blog Award

Seven things about me:

1. Throughout my adult life, I have moved around a lot (at least 9 homes and 3 cities) and recently settled into our 'retirement' house on Bribie Island. Will it be the last? 

2. Our family always had a thing about visiting animal sanctuaries and it is something that I still do. And yes that is my one and only baby brother.

3. I always wanted to be a librarian but after leaving school I applied to the Brisbane City Council for a library position but was told that I was not the kind of person who worked in libraries. Disappointed I joined the Queensland Public Service, got married and a few years later discovered genealogy, which totally changed my life and a few years further on again, I found myself working at the State Library of Queensland with the person who told me that I was not the kind of person who worked in libraries. Small world!

4. Fishing is another one of those long term passions I seem to have inherited and my father was a keen fisherman all his life. He would have really loved the boat we recently purchased to fish around Bribie Island which is where Dad first taught me to fish.

5. Another lifelong passion is reading and I can read anything but losing myself in a good book is a fantastic way to spend a few hours. Over the years I have bought thousands and every time I move, lots go to the local charities. I have always been a member of a library and regularly borrow books but somehow having to give them back seems wrong. Which is probably why I keep buying books! 

6. My son seems to be following in my footsteps and I do not expect to see grandchildren any time soon. My parents used to despair that they were never going to be grandparents as both my brother and I were tardy but then we did not know that cancer would come along and take those years from our father. One of my favourite shots of Dad taking photos of my son dancing with Mum at my brother's wedding.

7. Travel is also something that I have done all my life and I am currently writing this in a unit at Surfers Paradise where I used to go with my family in the early to mid 1960s. It does not seem like 50 something years ago but then I look outside the window and yep, a lot of years have changed this place. Amazingly the Pink Poodle is still here!

6 Bloggers I admire

This is tricky as the genealogy blogging world is a very supporting community and many of the people I regularly read have already been nominated . I tend not to read other blogs as I simply do not have the time but one area that I do dip into is Australian history. So although I am allowed to nominate up to 15 bloggers, I am going to do 3 history and 3 genealogy. But check out everyone who has been nominated for a Lovely Blog Award as there are hundreds and hundreds of interesting blogs out there.

1. Stumbling Through the Past by Yvonne Perkins - Yvonne has just moved to Singapore and fortunately we met at the Australian Historical Association conference in Brisbane in July 2014 just before she left. Yvonne's posts often alert me to new Australian history books that I want to read and exhibitions that I might want to go to as well as all kinds of other Australian history news. 

2. History and Philosophy in Queensland by Neville Buch - This is a brand new blog with only the Welcome blog and a piece on why it has been set up. However it is one that I intend to follow as I recently met Neville through the Professional Historians Association of Queensland and again at the AHA conference in July. We have been discussing the value of blogging and social media and the lack of it within the professional history arena in Queensland so I hope that his fellow Queensland historians take note. 

3. Historians Are Past Caring by Marion Diamond - Marion was one of my Australian History lecturers at the University of Queensland and I managed to meet up with her at the AHA conference in July and personally tell her how much I like reading her posts. She did not remember me, not surprisingly amongst all those students she must have had, but her lectures were always interesting and I am happy to say her blog posts are equally interesting.

4. Geneabloggers by Thomas MacEntee - this has probably been nominated by many others but it is almost the bible for anyone wanting to find a blog, look for blogging prompts or simply to find out what is happening in the blogging world. 

5. Inside History Magazine Blog by Cassie Mercer - one of my favourite history and genealogy magazines all rolled into one and often they feature past stories as guest blogs. This allows the stories a much wider audience as Google can search them and I have had some amazing feedback on stories I wrote that were published a couple of years ago but are now more accessible online.

6. The British GENES Blog (GEnealogy News and EventS) by Chris Paton - I have had the pleasure of meeting Chris a number of times on his trips down under and find his blog an excellent way to keep up with all the news in the UK. 

One final word from me, if you have not tried blogging your family stories, why not think about it. The new family contacts and new friends both in person and online have all made blogging a fantastic experience for me. Thanks again Alex for nominating me for the Lovely Blog Award.