Genealogy notes 4-11 July 2013 State libraries for genealogy

Well we have farewelled yet another house guest, this time someone we used to know in Canberra but who is now living on the Gold Coast. It always surprises me that people living in Queensland have never been to Bribie Island but then I think I like it as a secret little hideaway!

As usual having people in the house takes me away from the laptop and genealogy pursuits and this time it made me completely forget that it is Diary's anniversary! Two years ago on 1 July 2011 I started up Diary of an Australian Genealogist to prove to someone that it was very easy to set up a blog and keep it going. Time has gone quickly but then lots of things seem to happen in my life. Two years ago I was still working full time and had more time for genealogy and social media  whereas now I'm part time and living in a beach paradise with lots of other distractions.

Still I do manage to get to some great genealogy events and yesterday I attended the local Bribie Island family history group meeting where old friend and colleague Stephanie Ryan was talking about the genealogy resources at the State Library of Queensland where she is the Genealogy Librarian. It was a bit of a walk down memory lane for me as I first went to work at SLQ in 1981 and I went back to work there in 1990. Both times I left to go and work at Queensland State Archives. It was also good to see that SLQ still supports researchers who live outside the capital city, all too often regional and rural people miss out on personal visits although I can understand that there are time and travel costs involved. We just need that 'beam me up' technology!

Anyway enough of memory lane, it was great to hear Stephanie mention the AJCP (Australian Joint Copying Project) which has to be one of the most under-utilised resources for genealogy and she definitely invoked memories when she mentioned the A2 series of microfilm which was a joint copying project between SLQ and State Records NSW back in the 1970s. It is really good to know that they are currently working on a better index to all the wonderful material that relates to pre separation Queensland (1824-1859).

Stephanie mentioned all the useful family history information guides which are all online and nice to see that they have been recently updated. All too often you see guides which are out of date! There are more online indexes at SLQ than I realised so I have a bit of exploring to do just in case any of my families are mentioned. I have been using the Library's One Search to find information so I was interested to hear that you can also still search the former online catalogue as well. Like most things it can be useful to search both as sometimes the results vary.

I recently applied for my SLQ library card which gives me access to the Library's e-resources at home and I really must make the trek down to Brisbane and check out the new building. It has changed a lot since I last worked there in 1994. The trouble is I expect I'd want to spend more than a day there as there is just so much available for both Australian and UK genealogy.

National Family History Month has been keeping me busy with lots of events being added over the last week. It's only three weeks to launch so I'm expecting the next weeks to be busier than ever. I'm looking forward to the announcement of the Nick Vine Hall awards at the launch and I hope that genealogy and family history societies have nominated their journals this year. It is good to recognise the enormous effort all the editors do to bring new information and stories to society members.

Finally I would like to say that it was wonderful to see that Diary was listed in Jill Ball's 50 Blogs You Need to Read in the current issue of Inside History Magazine. It was a great anniversary present although I expect Jill doesn't remember it has been two years this month. We obviously have similar interests as many of the genealogy blogs she listed are ones that I try to look at on a regular basis. It's divided up into Institutions, Organisations, Niche Topics and Societies, Personal Genealogists and Professional Genealogists. However there are some that I haven't seen before so there's another thing down on my list to do - check them out! If you are looking to find some good blogs to read check out Jill's list and they are not all Australian, some overseas ones as well.

I'm off to Chinchilla for the weekend for the genealogy seminar with the Chinchilla Family History Group and I have a number of historical villages on my list of things to do while I'm out that way. At least that gives me something to write about next Diary! Until next time, try and find some time to do your own genealogy.

Genealogy notes 28 Jun - 3 Jul 2013 genealogy seminars & reviews

It's been a big week for genealogy. On Sunday I went to the annual Genealogical Society of Queensland seminar which had a program of Irish heritage in the morning and immigration in the afternoon. As usual I've written a review of the day and you can read the review here. A copy of the talk I gave on 19thC immigration is on my Resources page, scroll down to Presentations. The great thing about genealogy seminars is that you can meet up with old friends and meet new ones, or help solve someone's brick wall, or at least try to.

It was with real pleasure that I saw Helen Smith's smiling face in the audience and at lunch I had the chance to chat. Her first words to me - haven't seen anything about the Burstows in the Diary for a while? Immediate guilt on my part as Burstow is my one name study and Helen is the Queensland rep for the Guild of One Name Studies, she's researching the name Quested. I shouldn't really feel guilt as National Family History Month is taking up a lot of my spare time at present and there is now less than four weeks to August. Still I would like to get back to working on the one name study!

I also caught up with one of Max's cousins - it turns out that we are related by marriage! My gg grandfather's  (Anders Gundersen) second wife (Ann Pollard) was the younger sister of their ancestor (William Pollard). So it was nice to get that information to add into both of our family databases. Max's family seems to be the flavour of the month as I also received an email from Scotland from another one of his more distant cousins on the Jarvis side, so I've been swapping information with them too.

We have had a spell of wet and cold weather here (for a change) so I've spent the time writing up all the reviews that I had previously promised people. There are five new reviews on the Resources page of my website, scroll down to Reviews to see the following:

• Hazel Edwards OAM, Authorpreneurship: the business of creativity
• Carol Baxter, Captain Thunderbolt & His Lady: the true story of bushrangers Frederick Ward & Mary Ann Bugg
• Cathy Dunn, Norfolk Island Deaths 1st Settlement 1788-1814
• Merle D Grinly, Queensland Ship Deserters 1861-1911 
• Merle D Grinly, Queensland Transmissions of Real Estate by Death 1878-1940
• Merle D Grinly, Wallangarra Quarantine Registers 1918-1919

Some great new genealogy resources here so check them out if you have Norfolk Island or Queensland research interests and Hazel's book is a must read if you are a writer or thinking about becoming an author. Carol's book is simply a good read.

Last Diary I mentioned that I would be doing a Q&A on National Family History Month on Inside History's Facebook page on 18 July - that has now been changed to 25 July so amend your calendars! I will be talking about my 31 genealogy activities for researchers during NFHM and I am also going to have 31 activities for genealogy and family history societies to do during August. None of it is compulsory but it will give people some ideas on what to try during the month and don't forget to check the NFHM web calendar to see what events are on near you. I'm adding events most days lately.

In the coming week I'll be finalising my two talks for Chinchilla and continuing with NFHM activities including launch arrangements and adding events to the NFHM website. It's a gorgeous day here on Bribie Island, sunny blue skies and the temp going up to 24 today so I'm heading out to do a bit of gardening and enjoy that winter sunshine. Until next time.

Genealogy notes 20-27 June 2013 free Irish searches & more

We have just said goodbye to yet another lot of friends visiting us - so many of our friends now seem to be holidaying up here and escaping the cold down south. While I love catching up with everyone it does take me away from my laptop and then I go into email and internet withdrawal. I'm not sure if it's the approach of National Family History Month in just four weeks time or if people seem to do more genealogy when it's colder but there is certainly lots happening at the moment.

Don't miss the findmypast free Irish records searching from 27-30 June - this is to commemorate the loss of almost all of the 19thC Irish census records. To quote from their media release the  "‘Ashes to Archives’ initiative which will provide Australians free access to its Irish Birth, Death and Marriage Records. Available from 27 until 30 June, 2013 Australians will not only have free access to over 21 million Irish birth, death and marriage records, but also plenty of useful resources for piecing together their Irish ancestry, notoriously one of most difficult genealogies to track." 

Another new website to check out is the new Unlock the Past cruises website. Their media release says it all but in short there will be more cruises with different itineraries, prices to suit everyone and I'm already tempted by the Baltic cruise in 2015. I've got ancestors from that part of the world and I've always wanted to go there. Although regular readers will already know I'm a genealogy cruise addict. I find them more preferable than a land based genealogy conference as everything is on board and you don't have to travel to the venue each day or wonder where you will eat that night.

It was nice to see that I'm already listed as a blogging partner and I'm one of the presenters on the Feb 2014 cruise to southern Australia. I'm particularly excited to be catching up with Chris Paton again and meeting Thomas MacEntee for the first time, although I feel like I already know him from various social media interaction over the years. There are other new speakers as well as some of the regular favourites so it looks like being another great cruise. Roll on February!

I'm starting to get back into Queensland mode having connected up with Brisbane's Living Heritage Network. It's a great way to quickly see heritage locations within Brisbane and also outside Brisbane. So many places to revisit and even some new ones. I'd also forgotten about the Brisbane History Group and it's good to see that they are still organising events and looking into Brisbane's history. I probably should also rejoin the Royal Historical Society of Queensland too although it's a bit far to be attending meetings.

National Family History Month in August is keeping busy at the moment - the main task is putting all the events into the web calendar and I expect that will get a bit busier between now and August. The launch is under control and I've got all my travel plans organised for my trip to Melbourne to attend the 10th anniversary of Family History Feast at the State Library of Victoria and then on to Canberra to speak at the Heraldry and Genealogy Society of Canberra and attend the National Archives of Australia's advisory committee meeting on the centenary of WW1.

Of course before I do all that jet setting, I'm off to Chinchilla in two weeks for two talks, together with Sue Reid from the Queensland Family History Society. Max and I will also visit Miles while we are out that way. Why? Because that's where his dad met his mum, at the Miles Hotel during WW2. We got some nice photos of his parents from his Aunty Joyce while we were in Bundaberg -the handsome soldier and the hotel keeper's daughter!

But more immediate is my talk on Sunday at the annual Genealogical Society of Queensland seminar. The presentation is all done and I've been contemplating a hair cut but I think I'm in the 'grow in long again frame of mind'. One day I might find the perfect hairstyle for me but I'm not holding my breath.

I should also mention that I've done my final article in a 12 part series for Irish Lives Remembered on Irish Loved Ones Missing Downunder. That will be in the July issue but June is now on their website. I don't really know where the last 12 months went but moving from Victoria to Queensland and being homeless for five months was a big part of it. Looking back now I can't believe that I managed to keep the series going while travelling.

Finally I've been asked to host a Q&A session on National Family History Month for Inside History's regular  Thursday night Facebook session. I haven't done one for ages but it will be a good opportunity to do a last minute plug for NFHM and get people checking the web calendar for events near them. It will be on 18 July so put that date in your diaries. Inside History is one of the many sponsors for NFHM and we are grateful to their support.

July is going to be a big month but I'm hoping to be a bit more regular with this Diary just to keep people informed of what's happening out there. If you can spread the word about NFHM in any way I will be very grateful. Until next time, happy genealogy searching.