Genealogy notes 10-18 Nov 2012 - still house hunting

Well the last Diary's wishful thinking hasn't happened, so much for positive thinking! We still haven't made an offer on a house, there is always something not quite right or we can't agree on it. We have a few that interest us but still have to see a few more and of course, new homes come on the market all the time.

Schoolies' week is upon us and thankfully Bribie Island is not like Surfers Paradise but we did see an interesting  rite of passage for Year 12 students here. They all jump off the Bribie bridge into Pumicestone Passage in their school uniforms! So glad we didn't have that type of activity when I was finishing school. I don't think we did anything and I started work the following week.

As school is finishing for the year this means that people will be starting to take their Christmas holidays and as the case back in September, caravan parks are booked out and we have to move from here. Just when we were wondering where we might end up, a friend's friend had another friend who is trying to sell their holiday unit here on Bribie. It hasn't sold so far, so we have arranged to rent it for the same weekly rate of the caravan park over Christmas New Year which is really great. They didn't want any long term tenants so it suits them as well.

So next weekend we will be moving into this two bedroom unit on the top floor of a unit complex which overlooks the bridge, and just to the right are the majestic Glass House Mountains and on both sides is Pumicestone Passage. We should have a great view of the New Year's Eve fireworks! Of course to get to the top floor, there are three flights of stairs which might be a bit of a struggle carrying all our gear up there (and back down again) but there is also a swimming pool and it's close to shops.

It also means that we will be able to leave our laptops set up and it will be easier for me to pop online throughout the day without having to set everything up each time. I sincerely hope they sell their unit but I hope it's not before we buy a house and move! I have had enough moving for now.

My discussion paper and draft strategic plan for AFFHO and National Family History Week 2013 was discussed at their Council meeting during the week and as I suspected, it generated a lot of discussion, some for and some against. I've now been asked to write something for the December NewsFlash and get feedback from member societies and others. This delays my plans to start advertising NFHW but this is a debate worth having I think. Watch out for the December issue and please encourage your society to comment!

I've booked my flight to Canberra for the NAA's advisory committee for the centenary of WW1 meeting and I'm hoping to catch up with some Canberra friends too. Due to daylight saving I have to go down the day before so this gives me more time and is a little less tiring than a same day flight.

I'm almost finished another article for Irish Lives Remembered and Inside History Magazine have asked me to write another feature story for them so that's exciting. I like writing as long as the ideas flow, which is most times. But sometimes I sit and look at the screen waiting for inspiration! A long term research client has asked me to do some more work so hopefully I'll start to get back into a more normal routine soon. Ending on another note of wishful thinking as the Christmas season starts to speed towards us.

I hope everyone else is doing more genealogy than me! Till next time.

Genealogy notes 31 Oct - 9 Nov 2012 travelling again

Since the last Diary entry in Lake Macquarie, NSW we have continued travelling north and stopped in Grafton overnight. It was the Jacaranda Festival fortnight so the streets were just a mass of purple flowers everywhere and a reminder that I was about to turn another year older! From Grafton we headed back to Queensland and had to remember to turn our clocks back an hour as there is no daylight saving here.

I had forgotten how early the sun rises and it is hard to block out the sunlight in a caravan so I'm waking up super early! Hopefully my body will get used to the different time zone although I do love beautiful sunrises. Of course we have to remember that the sun also sets earlier! As Melbourne Cup was fast approaching along with that special day of the year, I wanted to spend it on Bribie Island the place I first learnt to fish back in the mid 1960s. The Bribie Island Bridge was built in 1963 so it's celebrating it's 50th next year.

Pumicestone Passage has always been a special place for me but it wasn't till I started researching my family history in 1977 that I discovered that my GGG grandparents John and Helen Carnegie settled at Toorbul in the late 1870s. John was an oysterman so perhaps that's partly why I'm such an avid lover of seafood and fishing! For some stories on the Carnegie see my website My Families page.

Anyway getting back to our travels, my other half has also fallen in love with this part of Queensland. We've been here a few times but only for day visits but once you get used to island life (and a much slower pace) it seems hard to leave. We've now been in the Bongaree Caravan Park for 9 days and have just booked for another 2 weeks but sadly we have to leave mid December as it is totally booked out for the Christmas holiday period. I hope Mum wants a couple of visitors for Christmas!

We've also been looking at lots of houses for sale on the island but getting exactly what we want is not that easy although some houses are coming close. I suspect it will be a compromise and we make changes post purchase. So stand by for exciting news re our new home.

On the exciting news front, I have been asked to join the National Archives of Australia's advisory committee for the centenary of World War One 1914-1918 which is a great honour and I'm looking forward to participating in the committee. The first meeting is in Canberra in December so it will also be a chance to catch up with some Canberra friends too not to mention my old colleagues at NAA.

I also managed to send off my discussion paper and draft strategic plan for National Family History Week 2013 to the AFFHO committee who are meeting this month. I didn't have as much time to get that together as I would have liked but there is lots of scope for collaboration as planning progresses into 2013. I'm also pleased to see that people are still hitting the Like button on the NFHW Facebook page.

I even managed to finish another article for Irish Lives Remembered - their free online e-magazine has some great genealogy articles in it. Don't forget to look at back issues also available online.

Now that I know we will be here for a few weeks I'm planning to tackle the virtual mountain of e-newsletters I've filed for reading not to mention the blogs I haven't read. I'm also hoping to do a family blog for Remembrance Day but it's a bit tricky with all my family history records still in storage. Hopefully I have enough information in my database to do that. I also want to start participating in the Trove Tuesday blogs and start regularly tuning in to Inside History Magazine's regular Thursday night Inside History Magazine Facebook session. I missed last night as our days seem to blur together especially if I don't log on everyday.

Finally I will just mention that I attended the Bribie Island Family History Interest Group meeting yesterday which is an informal group which meets twice a month to help each other and to share information. Despite the new haircut and no makeup I was still recognised, perhaps it's the distinctive name (thanks Mum)! Anyway it was a warm welcome and a number of them had been to the Unlock the Past expo in Brisbane and even the seminar day we had in Nambour a few years ago with Elaine Collins from FindMyPast. There was even a lady who I knew from my time with the North Brisbane branch of the Genealogical Society of Queensland. So it really is a small world.

Although I've said it before I really do want to get back into the habit of doing these Diary updates more regularly and to make them more genealogy oriented. It should be easier now we are in one place for a few weeks. Wish me luck!

Genealogy notes 26 - 30 Oct 2012 Cornish Cultural Celebration

I'm writing this Diary entry on the shores of Lake Macquarie near Swansea in NSW. We are on our way back up the NSW coast to Queensland. This is an area that we have always wanted to visit, but never quite made it before so we are here for two days to soak up its natural beauty and to visit some of the historic areas as well.

Our stopover in Nowra for the Cornish Cultural Celebration organised by the Southern Sons of Cornwall was great and we caught up with quite a few old friends as well. On the Friday afternoon there was a group whale watching tour on Jervis Bay and it had to be one of the coldest windiest days I've ever seen there. However that doesn't seem to bother the humpback whales and we spotted quite a few mothers with their calves. Towards the end of the tour one mother and calf entertained us with quite a few fluke slaps, tail waves and semi breaches as well as swimming around the boat. Having seen the whales at Hervey Bay many times, I have to say the whales seem to be more active in the warmer waters but then it was such a miserable day perhaps even the whales didn't want to jump up into that cold wind!

Saturday was the official start to the Celebration (of all things Cornish). As I have two great great grand parents who were Cornish, I've always had an interest in Cornwall and its differences with the rest of England. I've always wanted to go to the Cornish festival in South Australia (Kernewek Lowender) but something always seems to clash with it so when I heard about this one organised by my Shoalhaven friends, I couldn't resist.

After registering I raced off to my first session which was a Cornish cookery class where we were shown how to make 'real' pasties and I have the recipe! But I can't practice until we get another house and an oven! Sonia and Trina had precooked some pasties for us to taste and I can confirm that the smell and taste were spot on. For dessert they demonstrated what you can do with really soft bread rolls, cream and golden syrup. I hesitated to try them as it seemed a bit weird but I'm willing to try exotic foods overseas so this wasn't that different and I was pleasantly surprised at how good they tasted.

Then there was morning tea and delicious muffins followed by the official opening ceremony. My next session was Nigel Pengelly on Cornish Communications and Keeping in Touch with our Cousins in the 21st Century. As you may have guessed from the title this was based around social media especially blogs and I was able to have a chat with Nigel about this at lunch on Sunday.

After lunch on Saturday there was a bardic ceremony which I found fascinating. It was all in the Cornish language although an English overview and transcript was provided. It seemed strange watching the bards in their flowing blue robes against an Aussie bush backdrop. I really need to read up more on Cornish customs and rituals. The ceremony was followed by a photo opportunity and afternoon tea.

The Celebration dinner was at Worrigee House and of course dinner was a pastie and 4 vegies (not as good as Sonia's, less moist but then cooking for so many is more challenging) followed by apple/berry pudding or chocolate tarts both very nice. Dinner was accompanied by a Celtic concert with Scottish pipes and dancing (there was a fascinating session with the pipes in conjunction with a didgeridoo), an Irish harp, Manx and Welsh dancing, Cornish songs and dancing. All really interesting to watch and listen too. It was a much later night that we usually have.

The raffle was also drawn during the evening and as usual I didn't win but it was good to see that both Ancestry and FindMyPast donated subscriptions as well as Cornish World magazine. There were beautiful paintings and quilts as well for those not into family history.

Sunday's sessions started with a Cornish service followed by morning tea. My talk on Tracing Your Cornish Mining Ancestor was next (on my website Resources page, scroll down to Presentations) and it was well received and there was lots of follow up discussion over lunch. The last session I went to was Julie Wheeler talking about Famous and Infamous Cornish and this was an interesting and often funny look at people who I didn't even know were Cornish or of Cornish descent. Then there was a final afternoon tea and everyone started to say their goodbyes.

The only exhibitors were a Cornish sales table and I bought my Cornish by Descent badge and a Cornish tartan scarf so that I looked a bit Cornish (although most people assume that the Hicks part of me is Cornish but it isn't). Claire Gleeson was also there demonstrating her wiresmith jewelry with Cornish stones and these are really beautiful and I was very pleased to receive one of them as a speaker's gift.

While I didn't advance my Cornish genealogy I did learn a lot more about Cornwall and the place my two great great grandparents came from. I also caught up with a fellow GOON member and had a wide ranging chat with him. I chatted to lots of other people and heard all sorts of family stories which I encouraged people to capture by either recording or writing down.

It was a great weekend and the organisers are to be congratulated on a smooth running event and if they ever decide to do a 4th Cornish Cultural Celebration I'll be one of the first putting the date down in my calendar! I'm told there is a Cornish group in Queensland so I will have to look them up when I get home. But for now I'm in Lake Macquarie and this afternoon we are doing the touristy thing and I have a number of historic places I want to visit if we have the time to fit it all in! Safe travels as they say in caravan world.