Review Sands of Time & other genealogy news: My Genealogy Month 6 October - 5 November 2022

What a huge month for genealogy. I gave talks, went to conferences and just tried to keep up with all my genealogy reading. The last four weeks have been a bit of a blur.

It is also my birthday month and I was able to celebrate with friends from U3A and Bribie Genealogy and Mia Bennett from the UK who was able to stay with me for a couple of nights. Mia kindly gave me two books from one of my favourite authors - Ian Mortimer and these were the Time Traveller Guides to Restoration Britain and Regency Britain. I love his Time Traveller series.

Books

Image 1993
via Wikimedia

Tackling Diana Gabaldon's Voyager at the moment - the third volume in the series. It is so big and heavy it is a real struggle trying to read it in bed, especially with my arthritic thumbs. 

For lighter reading I have various enewsletters and ejournals from societies to read.

Bribie Genealogy

We were thrilled to have Mia Bennett from the UK attend our meeting and give a talk on Using DNA to Support Family History Research. There were lots of DNA questions after the coffee break. We had a good turn up of members plus some visitors from Caloundra Family History Research. 

My only regret is that I was so excited I forgot to take a photo of Mia and the group. We will just have to do it again another time!

The Sands of Time cookie

Conferences

Sands of Time at Redcliffe went very well and you can read my review of the conference here. The highlight for me was being able to talk to people again in person. The talks were good and I still have to work my way through the handouts. 

I am off to Family History Down Under 2022 this coming week and that will be a mega feast of talks. Plus afterwards we can watch the sessions we couldn't attend plus the bonus talks. Attending in person means that I can catch up with more friends and experience the vibes that don't quite make it in a Zoom environment. 

Looking further afield I have decided to go to my first ever in person RootsTech 2023. Flights are booked and I will have to plan some research at the Salt Lake Research Library. Or perhaps I will just wander around in amazement. The Dinosaur Museum is also on my agenda that week.

Another bonus is that I have been appointed a RootsTech 2023 Influencer complete with a badge.

New Resources

I have finally got Ancestry's Side View where DNA matches are assigned to either paternal or maternal sides of your family. 

There are 6929 matches assigned to Dad, 4978 assigned to Mum and 7548 unassigned. 

I am finding this fascinating and very distracting as far as time goes. It is like a magnet to me. 

Talks

I am doing two talks at FHDU 2022 - Australian genealogy online and Why Can't I Find It. 

After that I am doing a recorded talk for the Society of Australian Genealogists for their religious seminar which will be fun. Sadly I can't do it in person as that clashes with the all day seminar I am doing with the Coffs Harbour District Family History Society on 26 November.

To round the year off, I will be doing a Christmas Quiz with Bribie Genealogy at our December meeting.

What's Coming Up

The end of the year very quickly. For once I might have a white Christmas/New Year as I will be visiting my son and baby grandson in Sweden. There are no guarantees of snow but one can hope. One thing I can count on is that it will be colder than here!

Babe in the Woods

I have been saying that I don't want to be as busy as I was this year with talks but already I am down to give nine talks. 

That's a bit shy of the 39 this year so perhaps I will achieve a less busy year! 

What I really want is for the years to slow down. Where has 2022 gone?

Until next time happy searching 

Loving Wiltshire records, Sands of Time, FHDU 2022 & other news: My Genealogy Fortnight 23 Sep - 7 Oct 2022

 My two week break from teaching at U3A Bribie went super fast but I managed to get some writing done on my individual family histories. To do the scanning of documents and photos I may have to chain myself to the chair as I always seem to come up with an excuse not to do it. 

Books

Over the last two weeks I have been reading Larissa Behrendt's books that she talked about at the Norfolk Island conference. Both books have to go back to Moreton Library so it is fortunate that we have had a few wet cooler days which are just perfect for reading.

Bribie Genealogy

This month on Friday 7 October we have Helen Smith talking about dating photographs. This should be a fantastic talk and very practical. Most of us have photos that are undated and usually not named or identified by place.

Bribie U3A

Term 4 is all about Brick Walls and we are going to tackle real student brick walls. 

Not sure how it will go but I started the term with a discussion on how probate records in Wiltshire (via Ancestry) helped me to trace back to my 13th great grandfather.  Also used baptism, marriage and burial records to identify the various family groups.

Conferences

Hard to believe that Sands of Time is now only a few weeks away. One of my favourite speakers Michelle Patient is talking about Where to Next with DNA?

This is a marvellous opportunity to listen to some great speakers, meet new friends and network with like minded people. Please come up and say hello.

The Coffs Harbour seminar has been moved back to 26 November. That will be a great way to end the genealogy year. I am giving four talks at the day long event, I hope to see some of you there. When regional societies host these seminars, it can be worth the drive if you live not too far away. 

FHDU 2022 is early November and I have my flights and accommodation booked. I'm giving two talks there but I am more excited at the great range of international speakers to listen too. If you can't make it to Sydney, there is also a virtual option. 

New Resources

FamilySearch have added three new Irish collections which is exciting:

• Ireland Court of Chancery Bill Books 1627-1884     1,217,591 records
• Ireland Dublin Poor Law Unions Board of Guardians Minute Books, 1839-1924     892,325 records
• Ireland National School Registers 1847-1954             152,829 records

What's Coming Up?

Attending conferences in person is so exciting and meeting weekly to discuss genealogy brick walls at U3A means that I will be living the genealifestyle again. It always motivates me to do more on my own family history research.

If you get the chance to do your own research, happy searching and hopefully I will see some of you at Redcliffe or Sydney. Until then, take care Shauna 

Sands of Time Speakers, FHDU 2022 & Other Genealogy News: My Genealogy Week 15 - 22 September 2022

There is so much happening at present that a few extra Diary posts are needed.

Bribie Genealogy

We have been an informal group that grew out of the genealogy group at Bribie U3A and went onto Zoom during Covid. We met weekly and motivated each other. Since the end of lockdowns we have gone back to in person monthly meetings at Bribie RSL. Now I am part of a working group that is looking at incorporation for the group. There are advantages to this not least the ability to apply for grants. I would love to see a genealogy fair on Bribie. As well as the constitution and by laws there is the discussion over what will our logo be? Interesting times.

Bribie Genealogy September meeting

Conferences

Sands of Time at Redcliffe on 21-23 October 2022 is almost here. Just four weeks away! I am so excited about a local conference so close to Brisbane and the Gold and Sunshine Coasts. Not to mention that it is a good excuse for a holiday in Queensland. As Ambassador I have had the pleasure of interviewing some of our speakers and presenting them through this blog. Check past blogs for Michelle Patient, Eric Kopittke and Liesl Harrold.

Now meet Mark Finnane Professor of History at Griffith University in Brisbane.

Tell me a little about yourself and your interest in history?

I am an academic historian, Professor of History at Griffith University. For me history is a fundamental knowledge, most basically it’s about the stories we tell about ourselves in the world we live in. And just as the world is constantly changing, the stories we tell also change, helping to explain ourselves to others as well as provide a way of thinking about our place in the present and the kind of future we want or wish to avoid.

With my colleagues in this presentation (a number of staff and students associated with the Harry Gentle Resource Centre and the Prosecution Project, both hosted at Griffith University) we are providing an overview of the ways in which academic history is using, and producing, records that are commonly also used in family and community histories more generally.

Your talk sounds fascinating - what led to your interest in this topic?

As researchers who are working every day with archives and genealogical sources in our various projects we thought it would be useful to reflect on our work for an audience that is different from the academic world in which we collect and interpret historical sources. We want to highlight the work that historians do in contextualising the data we access. We want to demonstrate also some of the products of this work, especially in digital form, accessible to all those able to access the web.

What do you hope to experience/learn from attending Sands of Time?

We are particularly interested in hearing from those using genealogical sources about the kinds of challenges they face in accessing material that answers their questions – and what they know that might be useful in our future research collecting and making accessible data about individual, family and community histories

Is there anything else that you would like attendees to know?

We are keen to let people know about resources we are working on that provide information that may be useful for family and community histories – particularly the new Harry Gentle Resource Centre Dictionary of Biography focussed on the peoples who lived in colonial Queensland. We are also interested in highlighting the role of community volunteer historians who assist in the transcription of historical sources including data for the Prosecution Project.

Talks

Next is my keynote address at the Sands of Time conference at Redcliffe.

I have four talks for the Coffs Harbour & District Family History Society at the end of October.

At Family History Downunder 2022 in Sydney in November I am giving two talks. So many of my favourite speakers all in the same conference venue. 

Choosing which session to attend will be hard but I can always watch the others later. Plus the chance to catch up in person with so many friends and colleagues.

That will then make a grand total of 37 talks in 2022! Perhaps I talk too much!

U3A Bribie

For the 4th term we are going to try something new. Instead of me just sitting there lecturing the group we are going to try and tackle brick walls together. There is good wifi access so we will be able to do live searches and a white board to note key points. It should be a good interactive learning experience for all. The hard part will be getting people to not be too shy in putting forward their thoughts/experiences. 

By popular demand Irish Genealogy will be the focus of Term 1 2023. Why am I not surprised?

What's Coming Up?

Christmas at a fast pace but I don't mind so much this year as I will be in Sweden having a white (hopefully) Yule time with my son and baby grandson. We haven't seen each other since they moved there three years ago so it will be a wonderful catch up. 

Before then I hope to get more of my draft family histories completed and printed for final edits. I cannot edit without a red pen in my hand and a paper copy. Talk about a dinosaur but reading on paper just highlights errors for me. 

Have success with your searching or whatever other genealogy activity you do this week. Until next time Shauna

Theo at four months, supercute.