Convict Records, new conferences & blogs - Genealogy Notes 19 Nov - 26 Dec 2017

I had a wonderful break and it is actually harder to sit and do nothing than you think. Sitting and watching mother nature is fascinating and I never realised just how many different types of sand crabs come out to play/feed at low tide and there are more birds than just seagulls at the beach. The determination of female turtles is amazing - they wait 30 years before first heading back to the beach they themselves hatched on to lay their own eggs. Then they swim away and do it all again the following year. The sad part is that over the last 30 years that I have been doing this, erosion has taken away many of the sand dunes and now the Rangers and volunteers try to move the eggs to higher ground so that the eggs are not lost to the next incoming tide. A very worthy project and great to see so many tourists supporting turtle conservation.

Totally refreshed I am now getting ready for 2018 and making sure I don't double book any speaking engagements and that they don't clash too often with my Advanced Family History class at Bribie U3A. Quite a few of last year's students are returning and I'm pleased to say that two of them broke down brick walls after we discussed them in class. It definitely pays to discuss a brick wall with others and get alternative views and suggestions.

An old, but still relevant and interesting article about the destruction of convict records in NSW in 19th century - article was written by Christine Shergold and it is available online at State Archives and Records NSW where Christine worked for many years.  It is a timely reminder that if you are looking at a specific group of records, take the time to read any online guides about the records for background information and context. It might just explain why you can't find a particular record.

This last week of 2017 I'm busy finalising my two papers for the Bridging the Past & Future Congress in Sydney in March 2018. I'm really looking forward to four days of amazing talks and meeting new and old friends. My airfare and accommodation is all booked and paid and it is within easy walking distance of the venue. More time for looking at the exhibitor stalls or catching up with people for coffee and a chat.

There is another new conference on the Australian scene in 2018. There is the inaugural GAGHA conference in Adelaide on 17-19 August - if you are like me, you hate acronyms and are sitting there trying to work out what it is. Pat yourself on the back if you got German - Australian Genealogy & History Association which will be exciting for all those with German ancestors. The call for papers is open until 31 December 2017 so be quick if you want to present a paper but otherwise note the dates and plan a trip to Adelaide. Registration opens in February and I imagine that they will also be promoting it at the Sydney Congress.

I managed to get one more Trove Tuesday blog post done for 2017 and its about The Queenslander Cot Fund which helped the Hospital for Sick Children in Brisbane. Amazingly this one newspaper article mentioned my GGG grandmother, my GG aunt, her two sons and my G grandfather and his fiancee, later my G grandmother. Three generations of a family connected in time and place by one newspaper article. Thanks Trove and if you want to know what titles are coming up in 2018, click here. It's a bit disappointing that there are no Queensland titles but I am excited about the Ballarat ones.

After a break, I have started writing blogs and articles for The In-Depth Genealogist again and my first blog post was Introducing The Ryerson Index. It gives just some of the reasons why and how I use the Index for genealogy and family history. Check out other In-Depth blog posts here. I'm also happy to say that my article on Starting Out in Australian and New Zealand Genealogy made it onto the front cover of the December issue of Going In-Depth.

Unlock the Past have a new range of Handy Guides which are low cost 4 page guides on a range of topics and these are in addition to their guide books where there are now over 80 titles. I'm looking forward to checking these out in Sydney in March. My absolute favourite Unlock the Past activity in 2018 is their Alaska cruise in September. I've not been to America before so I'm also looking at a post cruise trip but so many places to consider.

My son ca 1991 - now he is getting married
and moving to Europe to live. White Christmas coming up!

Christmas lunch was out our place this year and my brother and his family joined my son and Mum for a magnificent seafood feast which literally went on for hours as we tasted oysters, crab and a range of different prawns with avocado and freshly baked rolls. Followed by a yummy creamy fruit pavlova for dessert. For the traditionalists we also cooked a piece of port with our best ever crackling. All I managed for Christmas dinner was a cup of tea and a shortbread biscuit! Given the heat yesterday we were all glad that we had broken with tradition although Mum did keep saying it really didn't seem like Christmas.

There are lots of exciting things on my genealogy agenda for 2018 and I look forward to sharing them with everyone. Enjoy the last week of 2017 and try to squeeze in some family history, especially if you have relatives visiting. Until 2018 have fun.

Local History, Remembrance Day & Other News - Genealogy Notes 19 Oct - 18 Nov 2017

Well four weeks slipped past again in a blur and my brother assures me that all family drama will be over by Christmas and I can start 2018 again fresh! I'm still trying to work out where 2017 went and having spent last weekend going through all Mum's photos I'm left wondering where the last 60 something years have gone. I'm left with a small box of photos that I want to keep and some that I will digitise and the rest are in a bag for my brother to go through. He seems to have taken more photos than me over the years but then he had two children so you would expect more.

Memorial to the Kennedy Regiment,
Army Museum North Queensland,
Townsville, Sep 2017

I did manage to write one blog post - Remembrance Day 2017 and the Kennedy Regiment, Queensland which is appropriate as Mum's father Henry Price and his brother Les Price were on the Kanowna when it left Townsville for German New Guinea at the start of World War One.

My tutoring sessions at Bribie U3A on advanced family history are going well and it is hard to believe there are only two more sessions before the end of term four. Both are on brick wall solving and already one attendee has broken down her brick wall which is good. Not sure why but I am always surprised by other people's brick walls, some are absolutely fascinating and I suspect our ancestors never thought that one day their descendants would come looking for them. The tutoring has been fun and it will be a continuing course next year with many of the attendees staying in the class. We have even been given a bigger room.

From 13 December 2017 users of FamilySearch will be prompted to register for a free account or sign in to their existing account to have access to the free expanded benefits of FamilySearch. This is due to the need for FamilySearch to be able to assure all its partners that its content is offered in a safe and secure online environment and signing in to accounts fulfills that need. I set up an account a while back to add in some family names but haven't done anything since. Signing in will probably prompt me to do more than just search for something. The hardest part will be remembering yet another password as I don't like using the same password for everything. Read more about the changes here.


The Royal Historical Society of Victoria have published a useful online guide Writing and Publishing Local History: A Guide for First Time Authors and Historical Societies, written by Rosalie Triolo, Helen Doyle and Katya Johanson. It is free to download or you can buy a paper copy from the RHSV Bookshop for $30.

Ravenswood Hotel, Sep 2017

Catching up with my National Trust of Australia news and the 2018 Australian Heritage Festival theme is My Culture, My Story and they are currently looking for events to go into the calendar for April/May next year. There will probably be lots of interest for family history too so make a note to watch out for the calendar. The Festival starts on 18 April 2018.

With everything that has happened this year I have given considerable thought to what I want to carry over into the New Year. After coordinating the last 5 National Family History Month's in Australia from 2013-2017 I have stepped down as the voluntary coordinator.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the societies, individuals and sponsors who helped me achieve all that I did over the five years. So much of what is done in the family history world is done by volunteers who try to support societies who exist to help individuals both in person and online. The answer is not always on Facebook and it is not always instant and free.

Support your local societies before we lose more of them and the services they offer such as meetings, seminars, libraries and special interest groups.

Best parma in Queensland,
Ravenswood Hotel, Sep 2017

With my haphazard blog posts of late I was also planning to end this blog but as my brother said, things will be better in 2018 and I might regret killing it off. So possibly monthly posts as we go into the Christmas/New Year period and not a lot of family history usually happens then as we all get caught up in the festive spirit. We can then see what the New Year brings.

So on a more positive note I've drawn up a list of three things to focus on in 2018:

•  a regular schedule of blog posts for my own genealogy development in 2018 which will appear on my website, 
• again writing regular blogs and articles for Going In-Depth after my sabbatical (which has taken far too long) 
• and getting back to my DNA research and the mystery grandfather. 

There will be one more Diary post before Christmas so until then have fun searching and why not think about what you want to focus on in 2018.

Digital tools, Open Data, Rockstar Genealogists & Other News - Genealogy Notes 11-18 Oct 2017

It's been a soggy week in south east Queensland which means lots of time indoors. I've now got my family history database on the new laptop and brought all my photographs across. It would have been easier to just copy everything across but it is amazing how many programs I have that I no longer use or there are newer and better versions. I am also tidying up my file directory and deleting things that I don't need anymore. A true spring clean and of course a nice little list of things to do later. 

The professional development day of the Queensland Professional Historians Association in Brisbane was a great success and I learnt about some digital tools for organising research so that you can find it again later. Of course Evernote was one that was mentioned, Air Table and also Zotero which I had forgotten about and how you can use it with Trove. The Department of Natural Resources and Mines has a new Queensland historical map viewer coming soon which will allow us to use the historical digital maps already in open data easier. It looks fantastic and here's hoping that the testing phase is completed soon.

My talk was on social media for historians and how it can be used for finding and sharing information as well as networking. It was a long day but good catching up with some people I've known for decades - I guess that's when we realise the years are passing. The venue was the Queensland Art Gallery theatre and I really must get down to Brisbane and spend some time in the Gallery, Library and Museum as they have all changed greatly since I worked there in the 1990s.

In the small world category, one of the attendees who I have known for years, had just spent time with a friend who is my distant cousin on the Carnegie side of the family and while she was visiting, they Googled some of the family names and found my blogs.  Naturally I said please have her contact me and we can share more family stories but I was also fascinated by the personal recollections she had of Toorbul. When you start to share your family stories online you really do start to connect up with others.

John and Helen Carnegie's grave
at Toorbul (my GGG grandparents)

Going to U3A twice a week for advanced family history and local Bribie history takes up time but it is also another opportunity to share information and learn from others. My talk on the Carnegies of Pumicestone Passage went well at the Bribie Island Historical Society Meeting and everyone was amazed at how much additional information I had found over the last three years. How I solved the brick wall with so many people using aliases left some just shaking their heads but it was something that took me years to solve and only 45 minutes to explain. It's always easier in hindsight.

I have just accepted my first talk for 2018 with Caloundra Family History Research, apart from my two talks at the Bridging the Past & Future Congress in Sydney in March. Speaking of talks, John D Reid (Canada's Anglo Celtic Connections) is again hosting his annual Rockstar Genealogist survey and voting is now open. I'm honoured to be nominated and there is a great line up of Australasian genealogists as well as some of the overseas genealogists who have visited our shores in the last few years. Check out their websites/blogs and be prepared to learn lots.

Talk of Christmas parties seems to be everywhere at the moment but I also like this time of year as I don't have any talks, so no travel and just time to catch up on projects and do some writing. Of course it helps that it is raining so no garden, pool or walks along the beach to distract me. The bookshelves need a tidy up with all my new books (some still to be read) plus print copies of journals and magazines.

We have been here 5 years in January so that means quite a few boxes have magically appeared in the study cupboards. The only time I find it easy to weed my magazines and journals is when I am moving house and then it's a necessity. Now that I am staying put, I'm hoarding again. It might be time to bundle some of them up and take them along to those Christmas parties!

I'm looking forward to a nice quiet week of research and writing and perhaps weeding those magazines. Have a great genealogy week and until next time, happy searching.