Sands of Time keynote speaker Michelle Patient, AFFHO Congress 2022, NFHM & other news : My Genealogy Weeks 1-15 July 2022

Where did June disappear too? And now it is almost halfway through July. I have been totally absorbed in my project to downsize my family history library and family folders and binders. Not to mention trying to sort boxes of photographs and work out who is who in family albums. Most have been inherited from my grandmother and mother and simply put into the too hard basket. It is amazing how fast time goes when you are totally focussed on something. Plus it has been too cold to do anything outside. Can't remember when Queensland was last this cold!

Blogs

Obviously I haven't written anything in the past month but I have committed to doing the National Family History Month blog challenge. Alex Daw is the new coordinator for NFHM in August and to support a good friend, I put my hand up. Most of August will be away from home in Norfolk Island or New Zealand, also on NFHM activities, but I will take a laptop and hope for some quiet time.

Bribie Genealogy

Our June meeting had a guest speaker from the National Archives of Australia, Brisbane Office which went really well. There were lots of questions and with the help of my phone, we even did some online searches of the database. Afterwards one of our members can up to me and said that when she put in her maiden name, she came up with a reference to herself. You never know what you might find in the archives!

Bribie U3A

For third term we are looking at Scottish Genealogy so that will be a challenge. I have only researched in Angus and Kincardine which is where my Carnegie and Stratton ancestors are from. 

John Carnegie and his wife Helen Stratton came out to Queensland in 1865 and their grave in the old Toorbul cemetery is the only surviving grave. It is a solid concrete base and the tombstone now lies flat on the grave. Toorbul is across Pumicestone Passage and opposite Bribie Island where I live. Strange to think they settled there back in the 1870s.

Conferences

I have booked my seat at the virtual NSW & ACT Conference Riding the Waves of History in September. There is a great line up of speakers and interesting talks and all very affordable with no travel costs or accommodation needed. I had been looking forward to doing some research in Newcastle on Dad's family connections but may have to be a separate trip now.

Sands of Time is coming up and I am an ambassador for the conference as well as a keynote speaker.

One of the other keynote speakers is a friend, Michelle Patient and her session looks at DNA and emerging technology and is titled Where to Next. Michelle has a very interesting background as the following bio outlines. What she hopes to gain from attending Sands of Time is also included.

"Descended from engineers, blacksmiths and mechanics it seems inevitable that Michelle has an interest in technology as a tool for researching family history. Apart from being a genealogist and DNA enthusiast, she has qualifications in Chemistry, Geology and Family History and has worked in engineering laboratories and IT.

Growing up with a grandmother whose family stories, photographs, and memorabilia sparked her life-long interest in genealogy. In 1987 Michelle began searching for her English half-sister whom she met in 1993, and in 2005 she reconnected her mother with her birth family. With ancestry ranging from Deep English on her paternal side, she has early Australian military and convicts, Australian & New Zealand early colonists on her maternal side, her personal research covers a wide range of British Isles Diasporas and early Down Under research. She has separated facts from fiction, uncovering stories of will disputes, adoptions, children being given away, bankruptcies, and murder-suicides.

 

Adding DNA research to her genealogy tool kit has increased the range of Michelle’s methods, revealed skeletons, and broken down many brick walls. Michelle is an active member of the Society of Australian Genealogists and the Guild of One Name Studies, is a member of APG and is the DNA consultant behind the Australian SBS TV series Every Family has a Secret . Since March 2020 Michelle co-hosts the fortnightly Talking Family History virtual lounge with Fiona Brooker."

 

What am I hoping for?

I hope my closing address will help motivate and inspire attendees to focus the information they have learnt over the weekend, improving their research skills and by applying new technologies, help gather new evidence and as well as become more efficient and effective in their genealogy practice.

Personally I am really looking forward to chatting with people in real life and feeling the vibe and buzz of the event, so excited to be able to being with so many from around Queensland, as well as interstate.

Talks

One thing I did do in June was talk and both in person and virtual. The lovely people at Monash Library in Melbourne asked me back for a session on online newspapers both in Australia and in Britain and Ireland.

It was great to visit the Strathpine Library family history group again and my talk there was on convicts. 

The slides to both talks are on my website under the Resources page. 

What's Coming Up?

In our convict outfits with the Commandant

Starting to get excited about the AFFHO Congress on Norfolk Island which is now sold out. We fly out at the end of July for a week and I have one talk on Max's convict ancestors Samuel Pyers and Susannah Johnson who married there during the First Settlement. 

We have been twice before but looking forward to another visit. 

After a quick trip home, we are heading out again to New Zealand for the Family History expo  where I am giving a session on Trans Tasman miners and a talk at Auckland Library on Where Else Can I Look.

 After some time at Rotorua it is down to Christchurch for there NFHM expo and some time at Queenstown before heading back home.

These will be our first trips overseas since covid so hopefully everything will go smoothly. I am really looking forward to catching up with friends and colleagues in person. Email and Zoom is not quite the same. 

Hoping everyone stays safe and well in this third covid wave. Keep researching and writing those family stories. Until next time, Shauna

Sands of Time at Redcliffe & Other Genealogy News: My Genealogy Weeks 16-31 May 2022

For Queensland we have been having some very wet,cold and windy conditions lately. This time last year we were still swimming in our pool and enjoying the sunshine. My son turned 35 and I reflected on where those years went. I did receive a birthday photo of my new grandson minus his father (I must admit I don't like myself in photos but my son takes it to extremes). 

Three weeks old and I'm predicting
he will be tall like his parents

The threat of being stranded by floodwaters meant that I couldn't attend the History Queensland AGM in person and had to deliver my talk via Zoom. Talking about one's life and career is not easy but it is a really good way of stimulating memories.

Blogs 

Still no blogging mojo and in that spirit I took part in Pauleen's Merry Month of May blog challenge. She asked a series of questions to see what our new norm is post covid. Read about My New Norm. 

Most of my spare time has been spent on writing up my family histories for my various family groups. This is more in line with my project to ditch the heavy binders that no one will want in favour of print/bound or PDF copies of a family history. Either format is easier to share and distribute to libraries and genealogy groups.

Conferences 

THE Genealogy Show Summer event in July is fast approaching and I am giving a talk on Australian convicts. I'm looking forward to hearing the other speakers and learning more about a range of different topics.

The NSW/ACT conference this year (Riding the Waves of History) in September is virtual again, a legacy from covid times. Which is a shame as I had been looking forward to taking some extra time for researching the family in Newcastle. That will have to be a holiday sometime in the future. 

Sands of Time is coming up in October and it will be in person at Redcliffe. That is under the umbrella of History Queensland which hosts a conference every two years. I like these conferences because they are usually close to home. I am pleased to say that I am an Ambassador for Sands of Time. Registration is now open so don't miss out on our wonderful Queensland genealogy conferences.

November sees Family History Downunder 2022 in Sydney with some well known overseas speakers. An event not to be missed in person or online. Hybrid events are here to stay I think.

New Resources

Not exactly new, but I have been having a wonderful time with Ancestry's digitised Wiltshire records. I have managed to push a couple of lines further back and get copies of relevant baptism, marriage and burial records. I still get a sense of pride when I see an ancestor could sign their name but equally, if there is an X for their signature, I wonder what it was like not being able to read or write. 

My great grandfather, Herbert William White, on the far left,
was from Pitton & Farley in Wiltshire. 

Talks 

As we move on from Covid I am still accepting talks for 2022 which is good to see. Road trips are always fun and it will be good to see people I haven't seen in a couple of years. Details of where I am speaking and when are on the Events page of my website. 

In June I am off to Strathpine library for the first time since covid. I wish the Bribie Library had the same facilities to host our genealogy group but not to be. Strathpine are always an enthusiastic audience so I am looking forward to that.

I'm also speaking at Monash Library in Melbourne - not in person although a trip to Melbourne again would be nice. This event is via Zoom and last time I spoke to them they had lots of questions. So another great genealogy group based in a library. 

What's Coming Up

My advanced English genealogy class at Bribie U3A has been a success and I find myself now doing an advanced Scottish genealogy class in Term 3. One benefit is that I learn more myself while preparing class notes so it is a win/win. Most of the English genealogy class are now members of Bribie Genealogy which is also good.

The latest health threat here on the Island seems to be 'the flu' but I have had the flu shot and fingers crossed I stay healthy. I really hate sneezing and having a runny nose. 

Stay well and stay safe. Until next time happy searching.

New twig on the branch & Other news: My Genealogy Weeks 1-15 May 2022

This fortnight saw me add a little twig to my own family tree. At last I am a grandmother to little Theodor while friends tell me they are great grandmothers. Proof that we can't always guess generations in family history. Some people marry and have children early while others are late starters and my son followed in my footsteps. 

Theodor lives in Sweden and it will probably be Christmas before I see him in person when I finally have the White Christmas I have been talking about since 2019. Until then we have various platforms where I can see him and his parents and chat - not quite the same as in person but where would we be without the internet? 

Makes me wonder about our own ancestors who left home to come to Australia - their parents may never have heard from them again. Perhaps photos were mailed home but goodbye back then was a final moment in a family's life and history. Do you ever stop and think about those left behind? 

Books

Since I have been talking about the Ela of Salisbury mysteries - on to the last book in the series and hoping that the next is not too far away - people have been suggesting other authors too me. 

Bernard Knight is the latest suggestion and a quick look online tells me he wrote 15 Crowner John mysteries.  The series is set in Devon and  Cornwall in the 10th century and one of  Mum's family lines was from Cornwall.  Knight is a Welsh author and a former Crown pathologist in the UK, and who doesn't like a book written by a coroner. 

The bad news is that Moreton Libraries only has two books in this series and not the earliest. I always prefer to read a new mystery series in order as that lets the characters develop and is less confusing in my opinion. Of course it is available on Amazon ebooks but slightly dearer than the Ela series. There should be a discount for the whole series. I might try my local second hand book shop first. 

DNA

Ancestry has again updated ethnicity estimates and mine is starting to get really interesing. On Dad's side there are three unknown biological ancestors - a grandfather, a great great grandfather and another great great grandfather all on his biological father's line. While I have been able to work out paternal ancestors further back on one unknown, the other two are still a bit of a mystery. 

I know that Mum is the England & Northwestern Europe and she has no family lines outside of that area. I believe Dad is mostly Irish and Scottish. Some of his Irish is Antrim in Northern Ireland which could account for some of the higher Scottish percent. So Norway and the Baltics is one of my mystery great great grandfathers possibly. Given that Scotland is 31% I am now wondering if the other unknown great great grandfather is possibly Scottish. Now to try and identify possible matches and families that might connect up with me. 

Resources

Findmypast released two new indexes which interested me. 

Lancashire, Oldham Workhouse

This brand new collection sees over 150,000 records from Oldham Workhouse in Lancashire published online. These records cover over 130 years, from 1800-1936, and include both admissions and discharges. The transcripts provide standard biographical information, as well as the admission or event date. While the original record images include details such as notes on the inmate’s state at arrival (including health conditions and financial situation), whether they were on a regular diet or 'infirm' diet, religious persuasion, and reason for discharge.

 

Huntingdonshire Marriages 1754-1837 index

Though this collection was originally released as a browsable collection, Findmypast now transcribed these records and released them as a fully searchable index for the first time. The records include full names of both spouses, the year of marriage, and sometimes extra details, such as occupation or whether the spouses were previously widowed.

FamilySearch expanded the following collections which are good for those with non-conformist ancestors:

• England, Gloucestershire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1642-1996 1,750 records
• England, Herefordshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1583-1898 166 records
• England, Lancashire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1647-1996 212,301 records
• England, Middlesex Parish Registers, 1539-1988     15,024 records
• England, Northumberland Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1920 58,798 records

Talks

Giving presentations is certainly keeping me busy this year. I'm averaging about 6 presentations a month either in person or via Zoom. At the beginning of May I gave an entertaining look at family history downunder for the Virtual Genealogy Association birthday party. This can be seen on YouTube here plus any of the other presentations on the day.

Another trip to Noosa for two talks. The first on mining ancestors was at Noosaville Library and the second was at the Cooroy Tewantin Genealogy Research Group meeting. It was a look at how to maximise your searches in various online Australian archives catalogues. Presentation slides are available on the Resources page of my website.

Brisbane office, National Archives of Australia

Thanks to yet another wet weather event, I was unable to attend the History Queensland meeting in person at Queensland State Archives. But I was there via Zoom and oversaw the election of the new committee and gave my talk on how I ended up working in archives and libraries. It's interesting looking back at your own life story and seeing where the turning points were. 

Plus two English genealogy classes at Bribie U3A and it has been really interesting walking through various brick walls presented by those in the class. 

Check the Events page for 2022 talks.

What's Coming Up

My next talk is not until 14 June 2022 at Strathpine Library with a presentation on convicts. This means I have a couple of weeks to get back to my downsizing my genealogy records and writing up family stories. Resisting the urge to do more research will be the hard part. 

Until next time, take care and stay safe and happy family history researching.