Family, COVID & Genealogy Online Boon - Genealogy Notes 11 Aug - 20 Sep 2020

 Have you ever wondered about the term 2020? I have always associated it with perfect vision so to me it suggests something wonderful. Yet this year has been anything but, not only for me, but many people around the world. 

My intention to get back to a regular writing routine after last Diary was thrown by the unexpected deaths of both my mother and mother in law within a three week period. I showed a 60 photo Powerpoint of Mum's life at her private family service and was quite pleased to hear some of my mother in law's family history read out at her service. It really brought home to be that I can't ask any more questions of that generation. We really need to capture our family stories before it is too late.

L-R Maren, Adam & Val (my Mum) 

I find family history research therapeutic and a distraction from the world's woes at present. The introduction of COVID 19 into our lives has brought many changes but there is one aspect that I really do like. Many events have gone virtual and we are able to attend in real time, or watch later if sessions are recorded. 

Just this weekend I have been following the Back to Our Past Irish conference which only cost me $17AU to attend. What a bargain for three days of genealogy talks on all aspects of Irish family history. 

My Irish GG grandfather,
John Finn from Wicklow

It is kind of funny watching people presenting from their own homes and occasionally you get to see another family member pop up, the door bell chime or somebody talking in the background! Mute those microphones when attending a session!

DNA

New ethnicity results from Ancestry have not made a big difference to my previous ethnicity but I am still wondering where my Australian region has gone. Without that I would not have found my father's family in New South Wales and narrowed down my DNA family.

I did see a new feature called Story Scout which purported to be stories about my ancestors and all three stories were totally wrong and not consistent with the known facts on my trees. There was an invitation to share. At the time I was dealing with family matters so I noted to follow it up. Now when I search my Ancestry menu I can't find it at all. 

Does anyone know what Story Scout is?

The by product of this futile search, was that I ended up exploring the Ancestry Academy which has lots of different videos on a wide range of topics. Another rainy day activity! If it ever rains again on the Island.

Television

Remember, the new series of Every Family Has A Secret with Noni Hazlehurst on SBS starts this Tuesday 22 September. Sadly there are only three episodes and if you miss one you should be able to catch on up SBS on Demand. Wish we had more shows like this, I never tire of watching how people research.

What's Coming Up?

My weekly Zoom sessions with Bribie Zoom Genies is a real motivator. We are even planning a three hour in person get together workshop for 20 October. I wrote that date out as 20/10/20 after the meeting ended and wondered was that really a good date for it? 

There is another Facebook Live with MyHeritage in October and I have been accepting talk dates for 2021 - some in person and some online. 

My latest selfie is at right - seems strange to be getting haircuts and washing my hair again. So much easier just pulling the turban on. Only two more cancer treatments (last one 21 October) and some surgery in November and by Christmas it will be over. Just in time for 2021.  Let's all hope the world is in a better place by then.

Until next time, happy searching

Shauna

Books, NFHM, WDYTYA, & Other News - Genealogy Notes 14 Jun - 10 Aug 2020

Another seven weeks have slipped past me. Most of this year has slipped past me.

Breaking my left shoulder at the end of May meant that I could not do too much physical work around the house so I just kept on doing family history research and tidying up my records. There was some client work, and a couple of talks to groups via Zoom and Go To Webinar. Lots of reading ejournals (family history of course) and listening to genealogy webinars. 

My motivation to write is still somewhat missing in action and the reason there have been no Diary or other blog posts. It is probably my response to the shutting down of everything due to COVID 19. I miss the personal interaction with people and that was a great motivator to start this Diary all those years ago. U3A here on the Island is not resuming until 2021 so that is disappointing.

I must admit that the cancer treatment over the past year has also worn me down a little. But I am pleased to say that I have had my first haircut in over 12 months and there are only three more treatments to go. My last one is on 21 October and I plan to have a big bottle of bubbly chilled for the occasion.

The end is in sight and I am currently revamping my website (for the new healthy me) and looking to 2021. Already I have six talks in my calendar for next year - hopefully they will all be in person!

Now for a selection of what has kept me busy.

Books

Graeme Davison's Lost Relations: Fortunes of my family in Australia's Golden Age is an excellent read combining elements of his family history with social history in England and Australia.

Genealogy Software

I have been a Legacy Family Tree user for many many years, having moved to it from Brothers Keeper. A migration that was not without some grief.  Here on the Island I am surrounded by people using Family Tree Maker so to challenge myself, as I said I would never move software again, I have moved my own family tree to Family Tree Maker. The move was quite painless and I found that the main tidy up area was around inconsistent use of sources over the decades. A bit of time was spent on that and I did find sources easier to do in FTM.

My partner's and my son's family history are still both in Legacy Family Tree. By using both I will be able to do a good comparison. I just hope I don't get too confused. 

National Family History Month

August is NFHM in Australia and the website has online events (very few in person in Australia at present). This makes it much easier to attend as there are no travel costs although some events may have a fee. Check out the website for details.

Another great way to celebrate would be to watch some of the free Legacy Family Tree webinars or treat yourself to a subscription. Lots of educative videos on You Tube as well. No excuse to be bored this August. 

This afternoon I am doing a Live Facebook with MyHeritage on Australian Records as part of National Family History Month. It will be my first Live Facebook and coincidentally, MyHeritage asked me to do my first webinar, some years ago now but also during NFHM.

Society Membership

I finally got around to joining Caloundra Family History Research. They are my closest society and I don't have to battle Brisbane traffic. 

Love the fact that they have purple shirts - I fitted right in everytime I visited to give a talk.

The half price membership (due to COVID 19) was another draw card but I was also attracted to their incredible Zoom program of events each month. All the special interest groups meet via Zoom and have guest speakers plus they are running a fortnightly Meet & Chat in addition to the monthly meeting. 

Incredibly active Society and I hope their inspiration and motivation rubs off on me. There are quite a few events in my diary for the next month.

I am still a member of Queensland Family History Society and the Genealogical Society of Queensland and both groups are now talking merger. 

Plus I have memberships with the Genealogical Society of Victoria and the South Australian Genealogy and Heraldry Society. So many benefits to society memberships.

Television

During the time since last Diary, I have managed to catch up with a number of episodes from the latest Australian series of Who Do You Think You Are. 

The stories are interesting and I can usually relate to various aspects of my own family history. Plus I love seeing friends and colleagues helping the celebrities discover their family stories. Celebrities were Lisa Wilkinson, Bert Newton, Cameron Daddo, Lisa Curry, Denise Scott, Kat Stewart, Julie Bishop (I have never seen a celebrity change clothes and earrings so often) and Troy Cassar Daley.  If you have missed an episode catch up with SBS On Demand.

What's Coming Up?

The weekly Zoom meetings with the Bribie Zoom Genies will now continue until the end of the year as U3A is closed until next year. We are a small group but we have fun and all look forward to seeing each other regularly. 

The Bribie Historical Society is resuming meetings this month so it will be good to see all of those members again. I haven't stood for President again as I was away/sick more often that I was there in the the last 12 months. Not that we had physical meetings for four months.

We are certainly living in unknown times and fortunately most of Australia is keeping the pandemic at bay. Victoria and New South Wales to a lesser extent are struggling and I really hope that all my friends and colleagues in those areas stay safe and well. 

Finally there are only three weeks of winter left - it doesn't really get cold here and there is no visual seasonal change like there is down south. Spring always seems brighter and I am already resolved to exercise more and enjoy the sunshine. 

Stay safe everyone and happy searching until next time.

ANZAC Memories, DNA updates & Other News - Genealogy Notes 22 Apr - 13 Jun 2020

The last seven weeks have been a struggle to keep up my motivation, at least for blogging. I have done lots of research and tidying up but I am definitely missing seeing people in person. 

Just as we appeared to have a little more freedom, I went and slipped in the kitchen. Broke my left shoulder and confined to a sling and only using one hand for about six weeks. Definitely part of the reason for this delayed blog post which started back in April.

A new look me with my hair growing back and my fashionable black sling.

ANZAC Day
A very different day this year but I think the people gathering in their driveways was a more personal tribute than a larger gathering, although I did miss watching the local parade.

George Price from
Charters Towers

I was prompted by a few Facebook posts to recheck information on some of my WW1 relatives. This was a great idea as I found a soldier portrait of my mother's uncle George Price in the State Library of Queensland's Soldier Portraits website. It was listed under G Price and that may be why I hadn't seen it previously. Remember to check initials and all variations of names.

A feature is the Queensland Registrar General's historic source images for those Queensland soldiers who died overseas. All of their deaths were registered in 1922 after the then Registrar sought information from all the families. In some cases this may only be a death certificate completed by the family and in others cases it may also contain letters from the family. Not all events have historical source images but it is worth a look.

A snippet from their Facebook tribute to an inspirational man:
As we approach Anzac Day, we acknowledge the efforts of George Porter, former Registrar-General, who painstakingly took it upon himself to record the deaths of Queensland’s fallen WWI soldiers. George wrote to the families of every fallen soldier to compile the records. The families’ responses have been digitised, along with the records, and these are available to search and download.

Only one of my family died overseas and when I looked at Frederick Trevaskis' entry it showed that there was an historical source image. It is the same cost as a digital image of the death certificate but with the possibility of other family material. I purchased a copy (instant delivery) and it was only the handwritten certificate completed by Frederick's mother in 1922. How hard was it for her to do that six years after her son had been killed on the Western Front?

Blog Posts

My genealogy tidy up continues and my Preparing Your Genealogy Records For Hand Over Month 5 Progress Report records my success to date. It is almost never ending as each task seems to generate more research, which is the part I like most.

On 1 June I was guest blogger for the Genealogical Society of Queensland with my post Genealogy in COVID 19 Times was Amazing and Never Boring. Thankfully I had finished writing it before my accident. Some of my activities for the last month or so are recorded there.

Books

During my enforced rest I was fortunate to have The Sterling Affair, the latest Morton Farrier Forensic Genealogist crime mystery by Nathan Dylan Goodwin to read. 

Thoroughly enjoyed it but my book review will be a few weeks until both hands are working again.

DNA

In April I attended the Genealogical Society of Queensland DNA group meeting via a Go To meeting platform. You can see people if they turn their webcams on, see slides from the presenters and watch the organisers speak. Overall I heard reasonably well and I made quite a few notes to follow up because as always the DNA world is a moving feast. We looked at small DNA matches (and how they may not be true matches), clusters and how to use them and WATO (what are the odds) on the DNA Painter site.

Join a Family History/Genealogy Society

Even in these stay at home times, it is useful to belong to family history/genealogy societies as most of them are now online for monthly meeting and special interest group meetings. Many are providing even more information online to members including access to major subscription sites. Various societies that I am a member of have given me access to Ancestry, Findmypast, MyHeritage and The Genealogist all without leaving home. Some of us may not want to go back to pre coronavirus days with all this wonderful access at home.

Talks

On 21 May I gave a talk via Zoom on Online English Genealogy Resources for Caloundra Family History Research which was a first for me. I missed the audience but from a technology viewpoint it is a good way for societies to keep members involved. As usual the presentation is on the Resources page of my website.

The other thing missing was the photo opportunity after the meeting. As I give a talk there each year, it is a useful guide to how I have changed over the years. This is last year, 2019. Me with hair seems so odd and I suspect I may not go back to longish hair!

Caloundra have asked me to do a similar talk on Irish Online Genealogy Resources for their special interest group in July. This is also the year that I finally join the Society as I enjoy their meetings and it is easier and quicker to drive to Caloundra than to Brisbane. 

What's Coming Up?

U3A classes are still on hold but I have been hosting Zoom meetings for most of the advanced genealogy group each week. That is keeping us in touch with each other and allowing us to share information and success stories.

I have another three weeks in my sling so physical activities will be minimal. It might be a good opportunity to sort through all my old genealogy journals and magazines. You can't keep everything but it is so hard to part with things. Hopefully some of my U3A students will be interested in browsing them.

Stay safe everyone and continue to enjoy all the online resources at home. Until next time.