Getting Ready for Genealogy in 2017: Genealogy Notes 22-31 Dec 2016

2016 is drawing to a close and this is the last Diary post for the year. As usual I have been doing some reflecting on genealogy related events in 2016 and also reviewing what is coming up in 2017. Read 2016 Genealogy Reflections and 2017 Genealogy Expectations to see some of the highlights and where I will be in 2017.

The start of a new year also means the release of another year of BDMs so make sure you follow up any new clues. Most State Archives also do another year of access openings and Public Record Office Victoria put out a reminder in their blog 1 January section 9 record openings. There will be a full list of all opening on their website after 3 Jan 2017.  

Learning more about Denis Patrick Finn,
my underage AIF volunteer was a
2016 highlight.

Geniaus is also asking us to reflect on how good our 2016 genealogy year was in her annual Accentuate the Positive geneameme 2016. I haven't got to this yet but I usually do participate as the questions really make me think about everything I have discovered.

Through Facebook Thomas MacEntee gave us 10 Ways to Jumpstart Your Genealogy which is a good way to relook at your research and maybe even try something new. I've always found Thomas very motivating and posts like this do inspire. If you are not using Facebook and social media for genealogy then you are missing lots of great blog posts and other online news.

Katherine R Willson has compiled a list of all Facebook groups for genealogy including Australian sites and there are over 10,000 links. See her list here.

Here in Australia Alona is encouraging us to be part of the Genealogy and the 52 Week Challenge which aims to record all kinds of personal memories. Regular readers will recall I did my own 52 Weeks of Genealogical Records in 2014 which extended into 2015 as I found it hard to keep up the weekly blog posts, illness, family issues and travel often change our priorities. Even so I think participating in a weekly or monthly blog challenge does tend to keep you more focused and inclined to blog regularly.

Max with some of his family history at the Amateur
Fishermen's Association Queensland cottage on
Bribie Island. 

Yesterday we had a nephew visit and he had never seen the family history before. Needless to say he was fascinated with all the Spencer stories, photographs, the previously unknown connection to Bribie Island and the family back in Staffordshire. Four hours went quickly and if he hadn't already booked a flight home, he might have stayed even longer. No doubt he will be emailing me soon as a lot of it is now in digital format. I still think flicking through the huge paper binder is somehow more exciting. Must be something about physically turning over the page!

Personally I'm looking forward to seeing what will be added to all the major databases online, both free and subscription. I've had some wonderful breakthroughs through indexing and digitisation and this can only increase. DNA testing also seems to be getting people excited and long lost cousins found. I will certainly be looking at more of this in 2017.

I'd like to thank all my regular readers and geneapals on various social media platforms. Through you my own genealogy research and knowledge is enriched as everyone shares their knowledge and tips. There has never been a better time to be doing the family history. I hope everyone has a wonderful year of genealogy research in 2017. Until next time

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.

Index finds, DNA discoveries & Other News - Genealogy Notes 3-9 Dec 2016

The big catch up post holiday is now over, the new carpet is laid and slowly moving things back into their respective rooms. The study is looking neat and tidy although there are still lots of boxes out in the tiled hall way. It's like moving house and yet another opportunity to declutter and reorganise.

But as always it is easy to get side tracked by exciting genealogy news. As a member of the local Bribie Island Historical Society I have given a few talks on my ancestors who lived in this area from the 1870s. One of the committee members has been working on indexing local land records for the Island and came across an S J Jewsbury. As it is an uncommon surname she checked on Ancestry and found my public tree and contacted me.

Sarah Jane Jewsbury nee Finn, Truth, 26 Mar 1939 via Trove

While we don't know what those initials stand for on the land record (yet), I have a Sarah Jane Jewsbury nee Finn who was my great grandmother Mary Finn's sister. Mary married James Carnegie whose grandparents lived on the other side of Pumicestone Passage to Bribie Island. Either it is a huge coincidence or it is my Sarah Jane but now I have to try and work out what the S J stands for and if it is her, why and how did she come to own land on the island post World War One. You really can find information anywhere, as long as someone has indexed it!

Sadly Sarah Jane lost her son Ronald in 1939 as a result of a tetanus infection and the inquest made the local newspapers. As well as information on the family, there were photographs of Sarah Jane and Ronald.

Another exciting bit of news was that while I was away my blog post on City of Sydney Archives made Genealogy a la Carte, a Canadian blog list compiled by  Gail Dever.  This is part of a series of blogs I have been doing for The In-Depth Genealogist for the last two years. It is always nice to know someone has read a blog post, but to also have it listed for others to note is great. I am know thinking I should be saying that it is Sydney (or wherever) Australia as there must be lots of places called Sydney in the world.

Personally I'm not a fan of organisations changing names and websites but it is the times in which we live. State Records NSW new corporate name is State Archives and Records Authority of New South Wales. Thankfully the URL is the same and it is nice to see Archives back in the corporate name. Read more about the name change here.  

There has been no time to do any research,  but Family Tree DNA did notify me that my results were now available. Although I did the Ancestry DNA test  in 2015, I wanted to do the same test with FamilyTree DNA just in case the last year has just been one horrible nightmare. So it was with some trepidation that I looked at the results and they were even more conclusive than the Ancestry results. So if I hadn't got suspicious then, I would certainly be suspicious now with 0% Scandinavian. Interestingly my Ancestry percentages have also changed, dropping from less than 8% Scandinavian to less than 1%.

I guess in some respects I'm lucky that Mum is still alive and could explain my 'surprising' results. On the other hand, if I hadn't been expecting Norwegian heritage, then I may never have known the truth.Still trying to work out where to go next as my 40th anniversary of family history research comes up in March 2017. Where would my research be now if everyone had told me the truth 40 years ago? By the way, I notice that there are now MyHeritage DNA home testing kits so it definitely looks like being a part of our genealogy research in the future.

In the lead up to Christmas there are lots of Christmas parties and yesterday I went to the Bribie Island Family History Special Interest Group meeting. I took along some books and magazines to have an impromptu raffle and there were some excited members while I had some more space in my study. We all discussed Christmas memories and it was interesting to see how many people used to leave a beer and nuts out for Santa not to mention those who left gifts for the 'dunny' man!

Some of us then went on to lunch in the Bribie RSL which had several Christmas parties in full swing. You simply can't go past beer battered flathead and chips!

This coming week is very quiet apart from the Christmas party for the Bribie Island Historical Society so which family to choose to do some new searches on. Trove never disappoints and often I find new information on Ancestry and Findmypast so it is always worthwhile to relook at direct and collateral lines.

Until next time, happy searching.