Centenary of End of WW1, book review & other news - Genealogy Notes 1-15 Nov 2018

It's been a big fortnight with a week away at one of my favourite beaches - Bargara near Bundaberg in Queensland. Lots of walks and swimming (not that I don't do that here at home) but it always seems different elsewhere.

Blogs

My blog for The In-Depth Genealogist on Introducing Monuments Australia has been getting some love on Twitter. For Remembrance Day I reposted my military blogs on Alexander Thomas Davis and the three Finn Brothers - John, Robert and Denis Patrick. The centenary of the end of WW1 was marked by many blog posts as everyone remembered those that were lost.

I have been invited to a book launch (Who Answered the Call) at the Bribie Seaside Museum at the end of November. This is a collected work featuring all the soldiers in the Bribie area who enlisted in WW1 and WW2 and published by the Bribie Island Historical Society. Alexander Thomas Davis is featured in it and my blog post is also referenced. Unfortunately they never found a photograph of him either and he appears to be one of a handful of soldiers who never had their photograph taken in uniform before they left.

Books

I finally finished my book review for The Promise of Tomorrow, the final volume in The Garth Trilogy by Lynette McDermott. I also reviewed the second volume Perseverance and you can read that on the Resources page of my website - scroll down to Book Reviews. The first volume was Of Angels and Eagles which I have also read but not reviewed. It is a fictional saga based on two convict families, the Garths and the Belletts who were on Norfolk Island and then Tasmania. It is an easy read and an interesting way to present a family history.

DNA

I am still trying to analyse my results and work out who is related to Mum and separating them out so that I am left with just those who must be related to Dad. I'm going to another GSQ DNA SIG meeting as Helen Smith will be back and Michelle Patient is visiting too. Lucky for my U3A advanced history group, Michelle has kindly offered to visit us here on Bribie Island so that will be an exciting opportunity for them.

New Resources
The bigger databases just keep on getting bigger and bigger. For example, during the fortnight FamilySearch added the 1901 Irish census and BillionGraves. Both of these are already available on other free websites so what is the advantage of adding them into something else. One stop searching is good because not everyone may know that these sources are available elsewhere. Or you may not think to search in them for someone.

Recently while searching for something in FamilySearch I found a reference to an ancestor who I thought would probably not have a tombstone. Yet there was a reference to him in FindAGrave and when I looked it was definitely him and there was a photograph. So a one stop place to look can be useful but you have to remember that no one database has everything - you need to look in all the big ponds and all the little ponds too.

What's Coming Up?

My last talk for the year is at Caboolture Library and it is all about blogging your family history. There are still a couple of classes for Bribie U3A and then the long hols over December and January. As everyone is keen to continue at U3A, I will be busy planning out some more classes. We are also thinking about doing a family history writing group to encourage all of us to tell our family stories. Motivation and inspiration shared are definitely useful to get you started.

Talks, book launch and research - lots of interesting things to keep me busy in the next fortnight. Until next time, have fun researching.

Blogs, 2019 Conferences & Other News - Genealogy Notes 16-31 Oct 2018

Lots of travel this fortnight, mainly to Brisbane to give presentations and attend meetings. The traffic leaving Brisbane on Saturday afternoon surprised me but once out on the open highway, we moved more freely. It is not far to travel but the traffic just makes it seem that much further.

Blogs

John Trevaskis son of my
missing James Henry Trevaskis

My guest blog for the Genealogical Society of Queensland on genealogy cruising was published. Read it here.

I also managed to get my Trove Tuesday Body Discovered Unknown Identity blog post finished in time. Sadly there are lots of unknown people out there that belong in someone's family history. Is this what happened to my James Henry Trevaskis although you would think that his wife would have had some sort of search undertaken for him. Maybe his death is meant to remain a mystery.

Conferences

I missed a meeting of the Waves in Time Conference as I was still not feeling great and there were so many other commitments I had to attend. Speakers not showing up has to be an organisers worst nightmare. Anyway the committee are very capable and it is shaping up to be an interesting program with some great speakers. A 3 day geneafest not to be missed.


The next NSW & ACT Family History Association conference has already sent out its first newsletter. So put 11-13 October 2019 in your diary and it will be held at Knox Grammar School and organised by the Ku-rin-gai Historical Society. The theme is Exploring the Past, something we all do with our family research.

Education

Three years ago, just before I broke my right elbow I signed up to do a course on family history with the University of Tasmania - Diploma of Family History. Due to the accident I had to pull out and I have been looking at it ever since. This fortnight I have again applied and the first subject if my application is successful, will be Writing Family History. This is an area that I have been working on for years - trying to get all my stories, documents, photos into something that others might read. Starts later this month and goes through to the end of January. Something to do when it is too hot outside.

New Resources

I subscribe to the FamilySearch newsletter and the amount of records being added is staggering. For example, in September 2018 almost 13 million indexed new family history records were added and over 500,000 digital images from all over the world.

You can now access FindAGrave and Billion Graves through FamilySearch too and in a search I found one of our direct ancestors had a tombstone which was surprising. I might not have looked at FindAGrave or Billion Graves but as it came up in the FamilySearch search, I looked and it was the right person. So sometimes fishing in a bigger pond is a good idea, especially if you are not really looking for anything in particular.

Talks

It was a busy fortnight with a blogging presentation at Strathpine library, a webinar on mining ancestors for the Society of Australian Genealogists and a presentation on Probate Records in Australia, the UK and Ireland for the annual seminar of the Genealogical Society of Queensland. All three presentations are on the Resources page of my website, scroll down to Presentations.

In addition I did my usual two talks at the Bribie U3A Advanced Family History class - genealogy software, paleography and non conformist records.

What's Coming Up?

Only one more talk on blogging at the Caboolture Library on 19 November and that will be the end for 2018. That's a total of 22 talks in 10 months (no talks in Dec-Jan). An average of just over 2 talks a month. So much for cutting back in 2018!

So far there are only 5 talks scheduled in 2019 but don't forget all my U3A advanced family history sessions which are 4 terms a year with 9-10 weeks per term. That adds up to a lot of talks but in a more informal class room setting.

We had a great Halloween class on Wednesday - chocolates, gruesome deaths and one student even came dressed in a fantastic Welsh costume. We have had so much fun it will be a continuing class in 2019.

Have fun searching in the coming fortnight - I will be away for a week at one of my favourite beaches in Queensland then back home for some serious work on my own family history in the December/January quiet time. Till next time.

Wiltshire discoveries, new resources & seminars - Genealogy Notes 1-15 Oct 2018

Herbert White (far left) was from Wiltshire

Still coughing as this chest infection seems reluctant to go. The weather has been a bit wet and perfect for staying indoors and doing research.

There have been some exciting new discoveries with my Wiltshire ancestors when I found out that Ancestry have added lots of records from the Wiltshire Record Office.

It really does pay to go back and look at your research from time to time as new records are indexed and made available. In this instance there were images which is even more exciting. I pushed back one of my Wiltshire families another generation.


Blogs

My guest blog post for the Genealogical Society of Queensland on the benefits of genealogy cruising will be posted next Monday. I enjoyed doing that as it brought back all those wonderful Alaska cruise memories, pre chest infection. Just happy I made it home to be sick, nothing worse than being sick while travelling.

Docked in Alaska

DNA

I equate bed rest with also sitting in front of a laptop and so some hours were also spent trying to analyse my DNA results and sort out those only related to Mum. Anything else must be Dad's and surprisingly Dad has about three times the results of Mum. If only I had some family names to match or his DNA for closer results. With Mum's I can see which results relate to our Cornish families on her mother's side and which ones relate to families on her father's side.

The DNA workshop at Bribie Island was good as I learnt a few more tips for analysis so it really is the more you listen/learn, the more sense results make. Especially if you have all your family names.

Education 

A while back I did the free online genealogy course with Future Learn (University of Strathclyde) and enjoyed it as well as learning new things or being reminded of things I had forgotten. Just noticed they have another free course starting on 5 November 2018. Only six weeks but covers a lot of topics - have a look at the program and see if it interests you.

New Resources

Outside the study window - so distracting!

It is almost impossible to keep up with all the new resources being added to the major genealogy sites. Findmypast have added electoral rolls for the UK 1920-1932 and more newspapers have been added plus existing titles have been added to.

FamilySearch have added FindAGrave and BillionGraves indexes which mean that you get prompts to check those sites out for names that you search for in FamilySearch.

The Ancestry update told me that they now have New Zealand naturalizations from 1843-1981 which is great for those with European ancestors. My NZ connections were all British.

It is definitely useful to subscribe to the update enews as you just don't know what will be relevant to your own research.


Talks

I managed to do my talk on Making the Most of Trove for the Bribie Island Family History Group with the help of cough lozenges, lots of water and an understanding audience. The presentation is on the Resources page of my website, scroll down to Presentations.

Three more talks coming up next week and then it will only be U3A talks for the rest of the year (which isn't that long to go).

What's Coming Up

Caloundra Family History Research have a one day seminar on 10 November with the theme End of World War 1: The Soldiers Come Home. Four speakers, morning and afternoon tea and a light lunch for the modest cost of $30 if you are a member of a reciprocal genealogy group or $35 for others. Bookings and further details are available on their website. Unfortunately I will be away that week so I am missing out! They are also hosting the Waves in Time conference next May and I will definitely be there for that.

Most genealogy and family history societies run excellent education programs and if you are not a member of a local society you are missing out on some great opportunities to learn and network with other geneafans.

Next week is a super busy week with talks and then a short visit to family. After that the plan is to start writing up some of my family stories in the six weeks left of 2018. Until next time, try and have some time with your ancestors.