Genealogy notes 1-14 March 2013 reading and talking

Well I'm back from Bali and totally relaxed having had no access to TV, mobile phone, laptop or tablet while I was away. I didn't mean to be so totally cut off but I inadvertently left the phone on the charger!!

Coming home I found a small mountain of surface mail which included new issues of some of my favourite genealogy magazines - Inside History, Australian Family Tree Connections and the Genealogical Society of Victoria's award winning Ancestor. Of course there was a similar virtual  mountain of emails and online e-magazines including Irish Lives Remembered and this month it includes a 16 page Irish-Australian research supplement (wow), Queensland Family History Society's Snippets and the Society of Australian Genealogists' journal Descent along with a reminder that my subscription is about to expire! How quickly a year goes!

Then there are my e-newsletters from State Records NSW, Queensland State Archives and Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) - these are all free and don't take that long to read but they are great for letting you know what is new. For example here is the 2013 list of newly released records from PROV.

I've also rejoined the Genealogical Society of Queensland now that I'm back home and they have asked me to speak at their June seminar. I'll be looking at 19th century immigration records which is always a popular topic. The Chincilla family history group should be finalising the date of their seminar in July on online newspapers very soon and I'm really looking forward to heading out west again.

I've also been asked what topics I would like to cover on the 4th Unlock the Past genealogy cruise in 2014 and I'm working on some new topics and new books so that will all be new and exciting next February. I'm already looking forward to that especially with Thomas MacEntee and Chris Paton as the international speakers.

Also on the looking forward front, I've already booked for the NSW/ACT genealogy conference in Canberra in September. I missed last year's as I was in the middle of moving out of our Melbourne home and as this year's is being held near where I first lived when I moved to Canberra I'm keen to see that area again.

Yesterday I went to the Bribie Island Family History Special Interest Group meeting and caught up with everyone there. They will probably get me to give a talk in September or November and they seem to have a fondness for something Irish! I also met the convenor of the U3A Bribie Island family history group on and she has also invited me along to their meetings which are every week on a Monday at 8.30am (who said retirees get to sleep in???). I've got medical appointments next Monday but I'm a definite starter for the following Monday.

As part of my getting back into genealogy again, I went and joined the Bribie Island Branch of the Moreton Bay Regional Council Library Service. Sadly they don't seem to have a great genealogy collection and I'm told the Redcliffe Branch is better but then that's a bit further to drive. I've written 7 genealogy guides now and sadly none are in the local library but Redcliffe has two of them and Caboolture and Strathpine have one each. When I launch the next research guide I will have to make a bigger splash in my new pond!

I'm really more interested in the local history collections so I've got to make contact with the Bribie Island Historical Society and also visit the Caboolture Historical Village which I haven't done in decades. Visiting the Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology at Toorbul is also on my list but finding the time to do all of this seems to be a challenge!

In our absence and all of the rain, the weeds seem to have taken over the yard and we still have some unpacking and sorting to do from the move. Plus new things we want to do around the house. It's funny but I never believed my friends when they said they were busier than ever in retirement - now I know that it really is true but then who wants to be bored? Can someone doing genealogy ever really be bored?

As you can see I've really thrown myself back into my genealogy research and there are all those notes and new ideas to follow up post genealogy cruise that I need to work through. Stay tuned for lots more news as I settled back into genealogy in my new home.

Genealogy notes 20-28 Feb 2013 Genealogy cruise wrap up

Well it's been fairly hectic since we arrived home from the cruise - it's still raining in SE Queensland and we have spent time bailing out water from the back yard and dealing with insurance issues  from the Australia Day long weekend extreme weather event. Thankfully the house hasn't leaked as much as it did that weekend.

I did find time to do my overall review of the Unlock the Past genealogy cruise and it's on my website here. I really do think it's a perfect way to have a genealogy conference - while at sea you don't have to worry about getting to the venue and you don't need to worry about where to go for dinner!

I was really thrilled to see that my Days1-5 and Days 6-9 made Randy Seavers Best of Geneamusings for the week - that was a real honour and thanks to Jill Ball aka Geniaus for making sure I didn't miss that!

I did forget to mention that one of the geneacruisers was a friend from the Bendigo Branch of the Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies and she told me about all of the new resources on their website. They also hold a great family and local history expo each year in Bendigo - this year it's on 17 March 2013 but a bit too far too drive to from Bribie Island. I'll miss going there.

I also missed congratulating Alan Phillips and his family on their great organisation of the cruise and they have just sent out their cruise evaluation form which I hope everyone completes as it does allow them to plan bigger and better cruises for us. I did mine and it didn't take long at all. Future cruises looks exciting so I did tick definitely interested!

Well it's been a mad and sometimes stressful nine months since we put our house on the market and made the move from Victoria to Queensland. There's been a lot of travel and genealogy in between not to mention packing and unpacking and repacking! But we have settled now and to help us relax and enjoy our new home, we are off to Bali for a week of absolutely doing nothing.

When I return it will be back to my genealogy and my part time business which has seriously suffered over the last 9 months on the road and in temporary accommodation. I have partly written books, articles to write, research to do and a whole lot of new talks as well. So for the next week I will be off the air, but watch out for my return. It will be back to genealogy with a renewed vigour and enthusiasm. Stay tuned.

Genealogy notes 15-19 Feb 2013 - Days 6-9 of genealogy cruise

This is a continuation of my earlier report on Days 1-5 of the Unlock the Past genealogy cruise. Due to the electrical problems and two days in Noumea for repairs, we didn't get to Fiji and this meant we had four full days of genealogy sessions for the remainder of the trip. Although pretty much a die hard genealogy addict, I did find this a bit of information overload and I was a little stiff from all the sitting, especially the afternoon sessions from 1-5pm.

I did break it up a bit with one on one sessions with people who had brought along their brick walls for me to solve. Some researchers had detailed notes on what their problem was and copies of documents which made it really easy to provide feedback. Others however tried to remember from memory (which may not be that good) and mis-remembered details don't help when trying to make suggestions. I find it easier to follow other people's research if they have taken the time to list out what they have done - often that helps them to also see any holes in their own research.

Anyway what did I do over the last four days of the cruise?

Day 6 started with a talk from Stephen Dando-Collins on the mistaken identity and trials of Joe Windred which I found fascinating. I only wish my ancestors had led such interesting lives. Next was Paul Milner on finding ancestors in Ireland and even though he covered some of the basic sources I still found bits and pieces that will be useful for my own Irish research. Next was Carol Baxter talking about writing family history and Helen Smith on friendly societies. The third concurrent session was the research help zone and this was where I did some of my one on ones.

After lunch my talk on convicts and criminals was on against Jan Gow on New Zealand BDM's and Bob Velke talking about The Master Genealogist. With only a short break to change rooms or whatever, I then went to Diane Foster's talk on preservation or perish which was all about preserving our family histories as best we can. The other choices were a webinar with Geoff Rasmussen on his new book Digital Imaging Essentials and Geoff Doherty talking about the disappearing Dunnes.

By this time I needed a break and did some more one on ones but the choices were Rosemary Koppittke on FindMyPast the world collection, the second part of Geoff Rasmussen's webinar on digital imaging essentials and Bob Velke on The Master Genealogist charts and forms. The last talk of the day was Paul Milner on the English probate system.

For new readers some of the speakers will be putting their handouts on the Unlock the Past website, Paul Milner has a Handouts button on his website and my talks in PDF format are all on my Resources page of my website, scroll down to Presentations.

Day 7 was an early start for me giving my Warning Warning talk on common family history mistakes and Paul Milner followed with English civil registration and problem solving. Then the concurrent sessions started and I went to the information session on the NSW/ACT genealogy conference in Canberra in September. Rosemary Mackenzie also mentioned the AFFHO Congress in Canberra in 2015 and Alan Phillips spoke about Unlock the Past future genealogy cruises. I missed Helen Smith talking about genealogical education and Carol Baxter talking about writing non fiction narrative.

After lunch it was another marathon session of three concurrent talks over four hours so lots of choices to make as to which sessions to attend. I got caught up talking to someone over lunch and missed Louis Kessler on Jewish genealogy, Jan Gow on ten ways to do family history comparing old ways with new and Neil Bradley talking about Second Site for The Master Genealogist.

As I have been considering moving to Family Historian genealogy software I made sure I didn't miss Jill Ball's presentation and I was interested to see that Jill has also just made the change over. After my Bali trip next week I think I'll take the plunge too! The other choices were the Research Help Zone and Helen Smith talking about what caused our ancestors' deaths and I've heard this before and it is a great look at some of the old time diseases.

The 3pm session was Diane Foster talking about preserving photographs, Geoff Doherty with an intriguing presentation Oh What a Tangled Web and Rosemary Kopittke on the The Genealogist.co.uk. I went to this as I often forget there are other huge subscription databases out there. For the final session of the afternoon I went to Jill Ball's session on Geneablogging where she mentioned some great blogs to follow and even managed to mention the Kiva Genealogists for Families blog which many of us belong too. Therefore I missed Louis Kessler on GenSoftReviews and Jan Gow on genealogy in 2020 - hard to think that far ahead but if the changes over the last decade or so are anything to go by, we should be having a great time tracing our ancestors in 2020!

Paul Milner bravely gave an after dinner talk on Overcoming the Dead End Doldrums and many also went to the La Scala Theatre but it was a bit of a rush and getting good seats at the last minute is not easy. Another big genealogy day!

Day 8 offered 15 talks and we had the group photo on the stairs of the magnificent Carmen Restaurant. First up was Paul Milner on occupation and guild records which I really enjoyed as I love putting ancestors into their day to day context. After the photo I gave my mining talk but missed Stephen Dando-Collins on getting published and writing fiction from your research.

After lunch I got a lot out of Linda Elliott's free English genealogy websites (slides will be on her Mad About Genealogy website) . It really is amazing what is out there now but we should always remember that it isn't all online. This meant I missed Louis Kessler on using life events to solve genealogy problems and Carol Baxter on scandal and skulduggery in early NSW. My next session was Jill Ball on Android (andIPad) genealogy with lots of good tips on making the most of these wonderful tools. Other choices were Helen Smith on the Ryerson Index (excellent for dates of deaths and funerals) and Diane Foster on what's the difference between genealogy and family history.

My brain went into overload at this point and I fled upstairs to Deck 11 for a coffee and a biscuit (or two)  and missed Rosemary Kopittke on Scotland's People, Linda Elliott on English parish registers and two short case studies by Jill Ball and Dawn Springett. Suitably refreshed I went back downstairs to hear Paul Milner on overlooked sources for 19th and 20th C Scottish research which was most interesting. I missed Louis Kessler on GEDCOM transfers and Carol Baxter on military ancestors.

There was no after dinner session but Jill Ball had organised a session where we all got together and talked about a favourite genealogy book or one that we were currently reading. It could be a 'real' book or a 'digital' book. This was interesting and quite a few people turned up to share their books. I had to leave before the end as I'd promised to go to the theatre with some friends. Jill was planning to write up a list of books so that others can see what we are all reading!

Day 9 and it's a bit sad as we really we only have one more day left. Amazing how fast time goes when you are having fun. Paul Milner led the charge again today with a very informative talk on maps and gazetteers for  British research. I have so much home work to do after this cruise it's not funny! My talk on It's Not All Online was next and then there was a choice between Jan Gow on Collaborative Research with an incredible video from FamilySearch (I still don't really believe it but then I did see it with my own eyes) and Stephen Dando-Collins chairing a panel on historical writing.

After lunch I went to Jan Gow's digging deeper into FamilySearch and sadly missed Jill Ball talking about Google+ for genealogy. I really do need to spend the time to explore that one more. Then there was a social media panel chaired by Jill which included Louise Kessler, Ilona Tester, Helen Smith and myself all answering questions on which social media we use and why. It's a shame more cruise attendees didn't go to this as there were no competing sessions. I think people who don't use social media for genealogy are seriously missing out!!

The next round of talks included Helen Smith talking about bringing your ancestors to life and I really enjoyed this as Helen managed to find out so much about her case study from very little information to start with. Other choices were Louis Kessler on why genealogy is everyone's solemn duty and Rosemary Kopittke on connecting with families online.

My last talk for the cruise was on at 4pm and it was my military talk and I missed Stephen Dando-Collins talking about Captain Bligh and Louis Pasteur. After dinner there was a very moving closing talk by Paul Milner which encouraged us all to make sure we write down our stories and pass them on. It was a great way to end what was a stimulating and fun genealogy cruise. The prize draws were next and a few photo opportunities and then it was off to our cabins to pack and make sure our luggage was outside if we wanted it taken off for us in the morning.

I will be doing an overview of the cruise in my SHHE Genie Rambles blog in the next day or so as genealogy cruises are not just about the speakers and the talks. There is the networking and sharing as well as shipboard life and time ashore. So look out for that coming soon. Just a reminder that most of the speakers will be either putting their handouts or talks online and I've mentioned the links above. Plus lots of other cruisers will be blogging or have already done so and those blogs will give you lots of ideas and information about the cruise. Stay tuned!