Conferences coming up & other news - Genealogy Notes 22-30 Apr 2017

Wow the 1st of May already, where did April go? Time goes when you are busy and last week was fantastic with all kinds of news and events.

First was the exciting news that I have been selected to present two talks at AFFHO Congress 2018 in Sydney next year. Bridging the Past & Future will be held from 9-12 March 2018 and there is a great range of speakers and topics over the four days.  Make sure the dates are in your diary as this is Australasia's main genealogy event and it only happens every three years.

The next bit of exciting news was the invitation to speak at the NSW & ACT annual conference which is being held in Orange, NSW. My great uncle Solomon Price was born in Orange so I was doubly excited to have a reason to accept. It is on between 22-24 September 2017 and the conference theme is Your Family Story: Telling, Recording & Preserving. Registrations open today and the program should be going up this week. Something to look forward to.

Last week's presentation at Ipswich Central Library was well attended with lots of questions. One lady told me she remembered me from 35 years ago when I worked at the John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland and that she still enjoys my talks. She is now 87 years old and still doing the family history which is wonderful to see. It has to be one of the best hobbies because so many of us have been doing it for so long. The passion never goes away. The talk was Warning Warning: Avoiding Common Genealogy Mistakes and as usual the presentation is on my website. Go to the Resources page, and scroll down to Presentations.

I have another presentation in June for Ipswich Libraries and next time it will be at the Redbank Plains Library. To see where I am speaking and the topic go to the Events page of my website.

My sessions at the Bribie U3A are going well and it is interesting working with a small group of people as you can focus on individual genealogy problems and factor in their interests to the talks.

The other big thing occupying my time this week is my presentation for the Footsteps in Time conference on the Gold Coast which is now less than three weeks away. The final presentation is due Friday so definitely a priority. It should be a great time with lots of interesting sessions and catching up with geneamates and making new friends.

The following weekend I am giving four talks for the Coffs Harbour District Family History Society at an all day seminar. It is a few years since I last spoke there so I am looking forward to catching up with everyone again.


So May is going to be a busy month with lots of talks and travel. There has been no time for any genealogy research or blogging as preparing and delivering presentations takes time. I'm hoping for some more free time this coming week as the other half is away on a fishing trip.

Happy researching until next time.

Outback History, Archives & Other News - Genealogy Notes 15 - 21 Apr 2017

My Ancestry DNA  profile

A big week with lots of interesting things happening. Friend, genealogist and DNA expert Helen Smith visited me in my Island paradise over Easter and helped me to understand my DNA results better. I have done autosomal tests with Ancestry DNA and Family Tree DNA and had my brother do a Y DNA test with Family Tree DNA.

If I am going to puzzle out my father's origins then I also need to get Mum and my brother to do autosomal tests too. The order is placed and hopefully they will both agree so that I can narrow down possible connections on Dad's side.

While analysing some of my top results we did find a second cousin on my mother's side. I had researched that line back in the 1970s and nobody was that interested then but now someone has done some research and DNA testing so I need to get back in touch. They are descended from my grandmother's eldest sister. So I can see how DNA can be used to locate more distant cousins. It was a very useful few hours and I really did appreciate the one on one chat about my own results. Thanks Helen.

Moya Sharp asked me to do a guest blog post on her Outback History website which I was pleased to do. Quite a few of my ancestors went to Western Australia during the 1890s gold rushes and I have found references to them on Moya's site. It is free to search and there are lots of resources for the WA goldfields. Read my blog post Queenslanders in Western Australia to get some more tips on using the site and tracing mining ancestors.

I was a bit teary when I read the proof of my last article for Inside History Magazine, although totally honoured to be part of the very last issue. As I reported last week, the Magazine is stopping publication although their website will continue with news and other information from time to time. I won't spoil the surprise of what my last article is about but I hope it generates lots of discussion.

Chocolate & wine - thanks Caloundra

My annual trek to Caloundra Family History Research to talk at their monthly meeting was as usual a wonderful afternoon. If nothing else, I should join just so that I can savour those wonderful home cooked slices they serve at afternoon tea. On a more serious note my talks was on Archives You May Not Know But Should and quite a few people said they hadn't realised there were so many archives and that they had such wonderful records. It definitely is not all online. As usual my presentation is on my website, go to the Resources page and scroll down to Presentations.

My first session as a U3A tutor on advanced family history went well and the 90 minutes went super fast. I'm not sure that an afternoon session is best as I am a morning person but it was the only time slot available. It's a keen group of people and I'm looking for this week's session too.  I will be gathering their wish list of what they want to see discussed and hopefully it can be incorporated into our sessions. I've also asked for any brick walls as actual exercises so that should be fun too.

It's a fishing weekend so I have been able to sit down and read Nathan Dylan Goodwin's latest novella The Missing Man in a single sitting. What bliss as they are usually hard to put down once you start. I haven't done the review yet but probably by next week.

Coming up this week I have the first of two talks for Ipswich City Libraries so anyone in the Ipswich area is welcome to join us at the Central Library on Thursday 27 April at 10am. It's free with details here.

National Family History Month is a bit quiet with only one society entering their genealogy events for August 2017 so far. I certainly hope we get some more participation soon. Societies who do participate usually report that they get more new members and more people visiting their premises and attending their sessions so it does pay to advertise.

Another busy week coming up with the trip to Ipswich, tutoring at U3A and hopefully writing a blog post or two. Have a great genealogy week and good luck with your searching. Until next time.

WDYTYA Speaker handouts, Inside History Ends & Other News - Genealogical Notes 7-14 Apr 2017

Happy Easter everyone. We spent yesterday helping Mum celebrate 83 years and catching up with other family members. Family occasions seem to be where you most notice the passing of the years. It has been a while since I last saw my nephew and he is now sporting a moustache and looking much older. Yet I can still easily remember him as a baby and surely he was only at school last year. Mum is talking about wanting to see a great grandchild but none of the three grandchildren look like settling down anytime soon. But then my brother and I were a bit tardy there too so we will be waiting a while to be grandparents. Every family is different but we should all be recording these family stories while we can.

Photo courtesy of Noel and Del Bergman

On Thursday I went to the Bribie Island Family History Group meeting to hear the talk on the 1865 voyage of the Susanne Godeffroy from Hamburg Germany to Moreton Bay. Noel and Del Bergman gave a fascinating talk on their research which led to a 522 book The Passage of Time: the 1865 voyage of the Susanne Godeffroy not only on the voyage but also all those on board the ship.

Some of the case studies were fascinating. Noel and Del gave some really good research advice during the talk including the following points:

• you need to visit archives and libraries (it's not all online)
• you need to visit cemeteries - online indexes, transcripts or photos still don't give you context of who is buried close by (and that's true for any record series)
• you need to use more that just the usual family history resources - they mentioned some of my favourites including police gazettes (it really is staggering how many different resources there are when you see them listed in a publication).

My only regret was that I didn't have someone on the Susanne Godeffroy. If you get a chance to hear the Bergman's talk, definitely go and you can also visit their website on the Bergman/Eckersley family history. A small group of us stayed on to have lunch at the Bribie RSL and continued talking about research. A great day out.

On a sad note I received an email from Inside History magazine this week advising that the next issue will be their last. We can all appreciate how hard it must be to continually produce and publish such a quality print and digital magazine and it is a shame that it was not financially sustainable. I have been a supporter from the beginning and had the pleasure of writing many articles, blogs and expert queries for them over the years. I was especially honoured to be part of the last issue. Cassie wrote:

I would like to thank our subscribers and advertisers who believed in Inside History from the start; without your support the magazine would not have lasted as long as it did. I would like to thank our talented contributors, who generously gave their time and expertise to write for us. And to our readership, all 60,000 of you across our print, digital and social platforms, thank you for reading the magazine, and for telling us how much you loved each issue.  We’ve loved hearing your stories, how we’ve helped you overcome research brick walls, and connected you with new family members.

I would just like to say to Cassie that Inside History magazine will be greatly missed and on the positive side, it is really good news that the Inside History website will continue and be updated from time to time. They are also working on an exciting photo dating website which will be launched later this year. Sounds fascinating.

WDYTYA 2017 - photo courtesy Alan Phillips

Who Do You Think You Are 2017 looks like it was another fun event and it is good to see the social media posts and photos even if we can't get their ourselves. I followed Alan Phillips' (from Gould Genealogy & History and Unlock the Past)  photos on Facebook. So many different exhibitors and such a large venue. It's on the 'must do' list for the future.

Of particular interest is that the handouts from the various speakers are available free on the website. While it is not as good as hearing someone's talk you can still learn a lot from the handouts. There were some interesting sessions - check them out here. You can also see 2014 and 2015 talks as well. Why not binge out on WDYTYA handouts instead of Easter chocolates?

I have been sent a review copy of Nathan Dylan Goodwin's new book The Missing Man so I am looking to find some quiet time to read uninterrupted. From what I have seen on social media, this one is another 'you can't put it down' book.

A busy week coming up with a talk at the monthly meeting of the Caloundra Family History Research, my advanced course in family history starts at the Bribie U3A and my ongoing local history course starts up again after the holiday break.

Have a safe and happy Easter, and if you do find time for some genealogy research, good luck. Until next time, happy searching.