Seafood platters, looking for UK cousins, talks & other news: My Genealogy Week 1-7 February 2022

I'm starting to fall behind and it is still early days in the year. Where did the last week go? Time flies indeed. Max and I celebrated meeting in Canberra 21 years ago. I seriously don't know where those years have gone. 

My son has recovered from Covid and managed not to give it to his pregnant wife. A relief for all and the birth of the first grandchild is now only about two months away. Not that I am counting. 

I am in the midst of my six monthly health checks and travelling to doctors and doing tests all takes time. After the session on Friday at the Sunshine Coast Hospital we called into Mooloolaba and the See Restaurant for a seafood platter and a couple of cocktails. 2022 will be my year of the seafood platter.

Blogs

I am just managing to keep up with the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks blog challenge. Week 5 was branching out and I decided to focus on my great grandfather Herbert William White and his siblings who all stayed in England. 

Using more modern genealogy resources helped me to identify who they married, any children and when they died. Although there are some gaps in the story as White is such a common name.

Diary is in tandem with the blog challenge so both are being written at the weekend when I have more time. Getting back to work has seriously dropped the number of hours decluttering, writing and researching.  

Bribie Genealogy

I was the first guest speaker for the year and it was all about FamilySearch and looking at all the different research strategies. You could easily spend days on their website. A small group then enjoyed lunch at Bribie Social at the RSL. I had the Juicy Lucy burger - turns out that has beetroot, bacon and egg plus the usual. Must have been the biggest burger I have seen ever. So shocked I forgot to take a photo.

Next month we have Judy Lofthouse talking about the 1921 UK Census which is on Findmypast.

Social Media

As I am weeding and tossing out my research files, books, binders etc, I have also started to look at social media. My target this week was Twitter and I had just over 1500 people I was following. 

When I checked their accounts many of them had not tweeted in years, even decades and some, sadly,  I knew had passed on. This shocked me to see their accounts still there. Obviously no one has closed the accounts down. 

I am now plodding through all the profiles and deleting any that have not posted within the last 12 months. As you can see I have already deleted nearly 500 accounts.

I also have to update my lists and include some of the more recent people I am in contact with in the Twittersphere.

I joined Twitter in September 2009 and I have never gone back and checked the accounts I was following. This has left me a bit depressed and it is another thing we have to remember to do - give someone your passwords and account names so that they can go in and turn them off. Or at least mark them closed if they want the account to be there forever. 

Will someone want to see my tweets in 50 years time? If I was doing a biography on someone then yes I might want to know what they were doing and posting about on Twitter. This topic is starting to broaden out into what should be archived!

Talks

Another invitation this week to do a presentation with MyHeritage in March. Getting back to basics using MyHeritage for research in Australia and New Zealand.

This morning I gave a talk to the Monash Library family history group on breaking down brick walls. The slides are on the Resources page of my website. They stay up for about six months.

A reminder that I am giving two talks at RootsTech Connect 2022 too in early March. Saw earlier today that they have 152,000 registered and it is not too late to join. And its free. So many sessions and speakers, somthing for everyone. 

All the events that I am speaking at are on the Events page of my website.

What's Coming Up?

A favourite photo of Dad with my son ca 1991

Two talks next week. 

Thursday sees me up at Noosa Library talking about where do you start which will be a refresher for the new year. I so much prefer in person talks. 

Finally at the end of the week on Saturday I am speaking at the Port Macquarie society meeting via Zoom. That will be about my search for Dad's biological father. 

A big week of talking!

On Wednesday I get the pleasure of listening to someone else speak at the Bribie Island Historical Society meeting. It will be good to see people again as the last time we all gathered was the Christmas party in December. 

Take care and stay safe. Happy genealogy finds too. Shauna

Blogs, Books, Talks & Other News: My Genealogy Week 24 -31 January 2022

The week has seen a major tidy up of my book shelves and a lot of the time it seemed to be just moving books from one room to another. But in the end I have a bag of books (mostly fiction) for the local secondhand bookstore and a few boxes of genealogy/local history books for one of the genealogy societies that I belong too. 

However, after taking my books to the local secondhand bookstore, I managed to come home with another six books for research purposes. Just a hopeless book addict!

I did get a few comments on Facebook about rehoming my books but you can only have so many books in one house. And at the end of the road, someone else will either toss them or call Vinnies or the Salvos. This way I can ensure the books that have an ongoing value will be rehomed with the right people. 

I had planned to do my laptops but they stayed in the too hard basket. Maybe next week.

Blogs

Still keeping up with the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks and Week 4 was Foundations and Curious as a suggestion. I chose Mary Anthony later Hosking as she died aged 93 years in the Penzance Workhouse in Cornwall. I was curious about life in a workhouse. Read about Mary here.

I also completed my guest blog post for the Genealogical Society of Queensland, four weeks early. Inspiration hit me while doing some research and I just wrote the post there and then. At least I don't have to worry about it in February. 

Books

I added more ebooks to Kindle on my IPad and noted that I know have quite a 'stack' there. I must start alternating between print and ebook. One that I definitely want to read is Nathan Dylan Goodwin's The Foundling which I seem to have forgotten that I purchased. Not sure how I managed that as I normally read his books the day I get them.

Currently reading Carol Baxter's Breaking the Bank which provides a good backdrop to Sydney in the late 1820s. 

Bribie Genealogy & U3A

Meetings start up next week for Bribie Genealogy and we have the year's speakers planned out. I will start off with a megalook at what you can do at FamilySearch. So many people only search the database and there is so much more that is not indexed and included in the historical records database. We are still meeting at the Bribie RSL which means that to attend people must be double vaxxed and be able to show evidence of that.

Bribie U3A has cancelled Term One due to Omicron on the Island. This means that the English Genealogy subject I was going to tutor is also cancelled. I'm still not sure what I will be doing in Term Two although getting to Sweden seems a bit remote at the moment.

Talks

Received another invitation to speak in February. This time it was the Cornish Association of Victoria and I haven't giving a talk there for over 12 years. However, I still have/use the lovely coffee mug they gave me last visit. My topic is the Cornish in Queensland and using my own Cornish mining families as examples. It will be nice to see some old faces as it will be via Zoom.

February is a busy talks month for me with six talks, three in person (Bribie, Caloundra and Noosa) and three via Zoom (Monash Library, Melbourne, Port Macquarie, New South Wales and the Cornish Association in Melbourne. 

Webinars

Watch out for free offerings of well known speakers. I accepted the free offer to Legacy Family Tree webinars on 29 January and had the opportunity to listen to Cyndi Ingle, Lisa Louise Cooke, Thomas MacEntee and Teri Flack. All topics to help you stay organised with your genealogy information. Everyone provided detailed handouts so that saved some note taking.

Keeping on top of my emails is a major problem for me and speakers gave various suggestions. It still comes down to time. I delete many unsolicted emails as well as spam that still manages to get through the filters. 

What's Coming Up?

Always check the Events page of my website for where I will be speaking, both in person and via Zoom. I am really looking forward to getting back into talks as I love meeting new people, seeing old friends and talking about genealogy to people. So much better than talking to myself in my study which is what happens when I have to prerecord talks. I really miss audience feedback during a talk.

Stay safe and well, until next week, Shauna

Tossing binders, Scottish conference & other news: My genealogy week 16 - 23 Jan 2022

The week has gone quickly and I have only left home for pilates, gym and to get milk and bread. Sadly still no toilet paper in the local store and I am still mystified with the connection between covid and the loo. We were going to do a trip to Brisbane to see my son's father but both he and his wife have covid. Then my son sent a text that he has covid from co workers in Sweden. Fortunately no one has really bad symptons as all are vaxxed.

Blogs

Keeping up with Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks blog challenge. Week 3 was on a family photo and I don't have that many to choose from. I went with the marriage photo of my great grandmother Mary Finn and James Carnegie in 1906. 

I have her wedding ring and feel a connection to her although she died while I was very young. Read her story here.

Books

Part of my downsizing and decluttering is finding new homes for some of my many many books. What it also means is that I come across something that I have always wanted to read, or something I should read for the family history. Sometimes I think I just move books from one shelf to another, or from one bookcase to another. That of course upsets all my cataloguing in Library Thing which I should really update with new purchases. 

Bribie Genealogy

All our speakers are now organised for the year and it is a good mix of topics. The workshops still have to be organised but at least the monthly meetings are set. It will be good to see everyone again as our last meeting was at the beginning of December.

Conferences

A good part of last weekend was listening to the talks at the Scottish Indexes conference. I have now downloaded the handouts although not all speakers give a handout unfortunately. These conferences are free although you can make a donation to help the organisers keep them going. 

I am now setting aside tasks where I can watch a webinar and still achieve some activity such as sorting photos, going through folders and binders. That way I get something done while learning new things. There are usually free webinars offered by FamilySearch or Legacy Tree Webinars

Downsizing

So many smaller projects
inside this one cupboard

Last week I included a 2019 photo of the end shelves in the wardrobe. I have since tossed out 6 binders of different families and before anyone goes into total shock, I have the information in my genealogy software. I can print out the same information more or less (images still have to be added). 

The main difference is that with the binders you could sit there and turn the pages and see the family group sheets and information on each family. But those binders were heavy (each paper sheet in a plastic sleeve) and I don't think anyone has ever looked at any of them, except me. 

From the new photo of the shelves you can still see lots of family binders still to be despatched. They are now all in one place. There is a shelf for boxes of photos to be sorted and scanned. Smaller tasks for when I watch webinars. 

The only trouble with all in one place, it reminds me of how much I still have to do. 

Tossed binders 

Findmypast & the 1921 Census

I have been exploring the census and using my son's paternal ancestors to search on. Some I have found easily but have resisted the urge to pay for the image so far. Only $4.32 but I don't think it will tell me anything I don't know. 

There is another family who I know should be there but so far I haven't been able to identify them confidently enough to pay the additional charge for the image. 

No doubt after a certain time period the images will be available within Findmypast. If only digitisation wasn't such an expensive exercise. But I have to admit that the cost is less than a certificate.  

Comes back to your research plan and  what do you want to know!

Talks

All my February talks are done although I always like to do a last minute URL check. 

During February I will be speaking in Monash in Melbourne, Victoria, Port Macquarie in New South Wales, Noosaville and Caloundra in Queensland. The last two are in person but that may change due to any new covid restrictions. 

Check out the Events page on my website for my 2022 talks calendar. 

What's Coming Up?

The last week before I am out and about again will focus on organising my old IT equipment. 

I have a couple of old laptops that I take to the computer guy on the Island and he updates and rehomes them for those in need. Same with an old tablet. I even have Mum's mobile phone that needs to be disposed of responsibly. That will free up some space on the other work desk. 

Of course I need to check that I have removed everything I want from the hard drives.

I want to get in some more research on my son's paternal family. From Ancestry I can see that some lines go right back and others are a bit of a blank. There lies a challenge or two for me. 

Take care and stay safe if you can. Researching your family history helps when you need to take your mind off other things. 

Until next time, Shauna