Genealogy notes 19 Nov - 7 Dec 2012 - Canberra news!

The last couple of weeks have been a blur. We moved into the rental unit and carried our stuff up all 27 steps but at least there is more room than the caravan. We finally found our 'dream' house and pending the pest and building inspection on Monday, we will settle on 14 January and then we will have the awesome job of unpacking our two container loads of 'stuff' now in storage in Brisbane. I have found it really hard writing articles for Inside History Magazine and Irish Lives Remembered without easy access to my own research files. It's not all in my database!!

We are getting into the swing of island life and attended the Blessing of the Surf at Woorim last weekend and have been sampling the various restaurants and clubs on the Island. Somehow when you are not in your own home, it seems that you are always on holidays even though we are not! The weather has been hot in south east Queensland but we always seem to have a breeze and are a few degrees cooler than Brisbane. However that didn't prepare me for two days in Canberra where it was 3 degrees in the mornings and snowing on the Alps.

Getting to and from Canberra was a bit of a marathon with the distance and time differences but it was all worthwhile. I attended the first meeting of the National Archives of Australia's advisory committee for the centenary of World War One. They really need an acronym for that! It was good to hear what they have planned between now and April 2014. The main project is a new website and the working title is Wartime Australians which will build on the existing Mapping Our Anzacs website but will include a lot more records than just the service dossiers. There will be lots of opportunities for individuals to input their own stories as it progresses so stay tuned.

As part of the overall briefing we were reminded about the various features of the Mapping Our Anzacs website and also a brief look at their Destination Australia website (which I first heard about back in August at the State Library of Victoria's Family History Feast day - you can hear Mark Brennan's talk here).

One of the hazards of this gypsy life I have been living is that I have missed all sorts of family history news and about a month ago NAA launched their ArcHive project which is where they have digitised accession consignment lists to increase access to collections. There are the usual OCR problems so they are asking the public to help them transcribe the lists (a bit like correcting newspaper texts on Trove) and quite a few people have already signed up. Another worthy project to be associated with and they have prizes!

It was strange being back in the Parkes building and attending a meeting in the Bruce Room and it brought back lots of good memories of my time with NAA - if only those winters weren't so cold! I also ran into a few old colleagues and found out whose doing what these days.

The other meeting I managed to squeeze in during my brief time in Canberra was with the President of the Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations (AFFHO) and we chatted about National Family History Week (NFHW) which is in August each year. As the new co-ordinator I have written a discussion paper which highlights some issues and which I hope will get lots of comments and feedback. An edited version has been published in the December 2012 issue of NewsFlash and can be read here.

If you haven't yet liked the NFHW Facebook page you can do so here.

Historic Newspapers UK invited me to trial one of their newspapers so after some thought I selected the date my  GG grandfather Robert White died in Wiltshire and as I like illustrated newspapers I picked one of those. I don't expect to find any reference to him but it is just after the end of World War One and I thought it would be good to see what the news was at that time. The copy arrived quickly and I haven't had a chance to open the box but I might put it under the Christmas tree as a present to myself - I suspect none of the other family members would think of a present like that for me!

With most of January taken up with our move into the new house, I have started to give some thought to the talks I am giving on the next Unlock the Past 3rd genealogy cruise which leaves in February 2013. I'm already excited about going on the Voyager of the Seas as I have seen it on the news and current affairs programs not to mention the newspapers. So that plus the exciting genealogy program lined up means it will be another great trip.

Finally I've gotten behind with my KIVA Genealogists for Families project news because my email program was filing all the updates in the Spam folder. I've got quite a lot of repayments which means I can now take out new loans and help others. If you would like to join the project team click here for my invite link.

With Christmas fast approaching I'm not sure how much genealogy I will manage but at least I can now stop looking at real estate sites. So that must mean some free time! Until next installment, happy researching.

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!