Online genealogy, back ups & other news - Genealogy Notes 21 Sep - 1 Oct 2020

Our first visit to Norfolk Island in 2007

Still trying to break free from my Covid fog and days that just seem to run into each other. I know it is Tuesday because that is when we have our genealogy Zoom sessions here on Bribie. But the other days could be any day. 

But there is a lot to be excited about coming up in 2021 with conferences both in person (Sunshine Coast and Norfolk Island) and virtual. 

But first my last week or so.

Back Ups

Like many people I do a back up of my computer files and genealogy databases on the 1st of every month. Sometimes I may back up during a month if I have done something substantial but otherwise it is a could habit to get into. First of the month, back up.

Blogs

It was nice to see my last Diary post mentioned in Interesting Blogs in Friday Fossicking at That Moment in Time 25 Sep 2020. Chris' round up of blog posts is always interesting and covers a wide variety of subject areas.

Conferences

My AFFHO Meritorious Service Award
- would be nice to get another personal 
chance to wear this.

Family History Down Under 2021 has a new venue in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast and the program has just been released. I paid my early bird registration this week as attendee numbers are limited by the new venue and covid regulations. Of course that may change again if we can move past covid in 2021. 

The AFFHO Congress is on Norfolk Island in 2021 which should be covid free but it is so difficult to make future plans amongst the uncertainty of travel plans. 

I love visiting Norfolk Island and would like to see what the program is before I make any decisions.

On the virtual front we have RootsTech 2021 which is going to be massive with so many people and countries participating around the world.

New Resources

Ancestry, Findmypast, FamilySearch and MyHeritage have all added new records to their already super databases. Now might be the time to check again for any missing ancestors or families that have been tricky to find. As more and more records are indexed, it can be easier to locate them, especially if they are not where you think they should be. People did move around.

Talks

I have another Facebook Live session with MyHeritage on 12 October at 4pm Brisbane time. 

Plus my weekly Zoom sessions with our little Bribie Zoom Genies. For something difference we will be hiring the Bribie Arts Centre for a 3 hour in person workshop on a number of topics. Members will be bringing their laptops for hands on searches or genealogy software questions. Should be fun and good to see people in person although we do have to meet all the covid requirements. 

Twitter

Ancestry Time Australia and New Zealand @ANZAncestryTime is starting up on Tuesday 6 October from 7 pm Brisbane time. Come along and join everyone for a live hour of genealogy on Twitter. Other time zones for around the world are on the home page.

What's Coming Up?

I have a couple of clients at the moment keeping me busy. 

Me in Oct 2019

I am also one of the moderators for the new @ANZAncestryTime and I'm not too sure what that involves, but I will be there every Tuesday night 7 pm Brisbane time.

My revamped website is almost in the final stages. Some of you might have seen some of the changes throughout the year - what should have been a lot quicker kept getting delayed by my illness, broken shoulder and family losses. 

I am really looking forward to moving on post cancer. What a difference a year makes - only one more treatment to go!

Another thing some of you may have noticed, earlier in the year (before everything else happened) I set up a Facebook page for my business. 

The intention is to separate out my personal life from my genealogy life although I suspect the two are intertwined. We shall see.

Until next time, stay safe and well and have fun genealogy searching.

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.