Webinars, Virtual Conferences & Family Discoveries: Australian & New Zealand Genealogy News October/November 2021

 

Diary is changing again. That doesn't mean that I am again getting out more in person to genealogy events but it does signify that I am looking to record more of my own family history. Over the last few months I have had more opportunity to do my own research (what a luxury) and I am finding more things that I want to share with other researchers. 

Sometimes I do that on Twitter or Facebook but it is not always easy to find things again on social media. Another place I am talking about my genealogy finds and tips is at the two monthly meetings of Bribie Genealogy which are not recorded. By putting these finds in a blog post I can use Google to help me find topics of interest. 

The aim will be a weekly summary of what I have been researching, any tips or tricks and of course, any success stories. This is partly possible as we are entering the quiet part of the genealogy world in Australia as everything slows down for Christmas/New Year and the January holiday period. 

Future Proofing Your Research

I have written quite a bit about my own attempts at this on my website blog and I am still on my mission to downsize and make my research more accessible online.

This is definitely at the forefront of my mind as I have been asked to assess a donation of records to the Genealogical Society of Queensland. It is five large archive boxes of research in no particular order. Societies cannot take large collections of manuscript material, especially if there is no order or easy access. 

By doing my own downsizing and writing up my research I hope to avoid this situation and to give copies of my digital research to multiple groups/people or make it freely available online. The trick is to do all of that before it is too late. 

In a dedicated push over the last few weeks I have been simply writing up my family history from my folders and database. Looking up and adding citations and wondering why didn't I do that 20 something years ago! 

Basically ending up with an outline of the family back home and the family and their descendants here in Australia. 

All similar formats at this stage but I have one draft for each immigrant couple. Now to add photos, edit, polish up and add anything else that should be in the history. There is a definite sense of satisfaction in looking at the printed copies and I can visualise the images and flow of the text. Now to keep the focus and go from draft to final.

The binders are slowly disappearing!

New Resources

In October FamilySearch added electoral rolls 1865 to 1957 for New Zealand. Over 900,000 names and one of my grandfather's brothers, Thomas Price, spent time there with his family. Another item on the follow up list.

In October Findmypast expanded their exclusive collection of Catholic parish registers with over 100,000 records covering 59 parishes across Cornwall, Devon & Dorset.  Published online for the first time in association with Diocese of Plymouth, this valuable new resource spans 1781-1921 and includes;

• Over 55,000 baptisms
• Over 16,000 marriages
• Over 15,000 burials
• Over 15,000 congregational records

Each record includes both a transcript and scanned colour image of the original document. How good is that!

Webinars and Virtual Conferences

FamilySearch run free monthly webinars on a whole range of topics including how to use the various resources within FamilySearch, European, plus a range of topics on British Isles, Asia, US and Canada genealogy. Check out what is on in November here. Scotland is definitely the focus this month and even within a country grouping you can find generic topics such as Organising Your Genealogy which is in the US section. I tend to learn something new from each webinar.

For example I registered for the latest Scottish Indexes Conference which are run regularly and are free. As a result of revisiting some of my Scottish research and following up tips from different speakers I found the burial record of my 8th great grandmother. Just because it is a Scottish Indexes conference doesn't mean that it is all about Scotland, I have heard Welsh and DNA talks. Check out the programs, there may just be a talk that will solve your brick wall.  The last Scottish Indexes Conference is on 5 December 2021, details on the home page.

What's Coming Up?

At the time of writing this post I am at the Virtual Genealogical Association annual conference, virtual of course, and I have just presented a talk on the Australian gold rushes and how miners from all over the world flocked here in the 1850s. I have until March to watch all the other speakers and there is a wide range of topics.

My last presentation for 2021 is at THE Genealogy Show Winter Event in December and I will be talking about asylum records in Australia. Live on stage in a virtual world. 

I have just added my 2022 presentations to the Events page of my website. There is a gap around May/June as I am hoping to go to Sweden and see my first grandchild. 

Perhaps a spot of research in the UK while I am over there. No firm plans yet as the Queensland border has yet to come down and governments are still sorting out their restrictions, I will wait a bit longer before finalising anything.

Good luck with your own research. Stay safe and well. Until next time.

A Geneafeast of Conferences & Other News: Australia and New Zealand Genealogy News September 2021

What a wonderful month for even more virtual genealogy events. 

One weekend I was trying to watch three different events and I didn't want to miss any of the talks. Luckily most events now record and allow you to watch over the next week or so.

Plus it is now spring time down under and there are flowers everywhere. 

My favourite double hibiscus. It keeps flowering all year.

Books

Now reading the final (5th) volume of Conn Iggulden historical saga on the family history of Genghis Khan through to his grandson Kublai Khan. A great read and hard to put down at times. It was a hard life for their women and children and I especially found the details around camp life interesting. 

Bribie Genealogy

September saw us permitted to meet in person again which was good. David Barnes shared at the Friday meeting how he organises his family history records and at the Monday night he walked us through the Tier One level of Gedmatch for DNA results. 

Good to see everyone in person again and some of us even shared a lunch.

Conferences

The NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies conference With Conviction was virtual but hosted by Port Macquarie. There were some interesting talks and I really liked Michelle Patient's Celebrating Cousins and Cate Pearce's Using DNA for Aboriginal Family History. In the virtual goody bag, you could download handouts provided by speakers, a digital copy of Traces magazine and other useful leaflets and forms. Next year will be in the Maitland/Newcastle area and I really hope to make this one in person. Although I have been to Newcastle many times, I never knew that it was the home of Dad's biological families. Will also spend additional time for family research and see what more I can learn.

The Professional Historians Association Queensland conference also went virtual and I missed a weekend stay in Brisbane. All the papers were interesting and stimulating and it was not surprising to me to see that so many professional historians now use genealogy resources. Probably because there is so much more online now.

Legacy Family Tree Webinars declared it Webtember with free webinars throughout the month. Some great sessions were on offer. Personally I have a subscription as it is such a good learning resource and not that expensive. Makes a good birthday/Christmas present each year if the family are looking to buy you something. 

Finally I went to the Irish Lives Female Finds virtual conference hosted by the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Society, Canada. Don't you just love the capability of Zoom. Sessions were recorded so I didn't have to stay up all night. The Irish DNA talks were related to my own family research on Islandmagee, Antrim and I won one of the lucky door prizes, a year's full subscription to MyHeritage.

New Resources

It was exciting to see the list below of new digitised newspapers at Findmypast, especially if you have London ancestors. Every time I see these updates I want to do new searches but I try to limit it to a couple of times a year. Below is the notice in the Leicester Chronicle on 31 January 1846 reporting on the death of Paul Spencer's first wife. Elizabeth was only 24 years old, and it also gave her father's name. So much information can be discovered in newspapers.

• Chelsea & Pimlico Advertiser covering 1860-1863 and 1865-1866
• East London Advertiser covering 1862-1866
• Kingsland Times and General Advertiser covering 1860 and 1862-1863
• West London Times covering 1860-1861, 1863-1864 and 1866-1867
• Westminster Times covering 1863

While additional pages have been added to the following titles:

• Albion from 1852
• Birkenhead News from 1914
• British Banner from 1850-1851, 1854 and 1856
• Croydon Times from 1934-1947, 1950 and 1952-1961
• Daily Director and Entr’acte from 1860
• Daily News (London) from 1922-1923, 1925 and 1927
• Limerick Reporter from 1849
• Liverpool Daily Post from 1858-1859
• Morning Herald (London) from 1808
• Sheffield Independent from 1929

Talks

As we come up to the end of the year I only have three more talks - all virtual even though two of those talks are in Australia. All talks are listed on the Events page of my website. 

What's Coming Up

At the October evening meeting of Bribie Genealogy I am doing a presentation Downsize and Pass On Your Family Research based on my own experiences of trying to downsize 45 years of personal genealogy. 

I first started the project two years ago and progress is not as fast as I expected. Time is not always our friend, even in lockdowns. Making decisions and simply sorting papers and digitising photos takes time.

My other task is to follow up all the tips I wrote down during all those September webinars. Perhaps I won't watch so many in October? 

Take care and stay safe and happy researching. 

National Family History Month & Other News: Australia & New Zealand Genealogy August 2021

 Wow what a fantastic month for genealogy. So many great events and with so many virtual, it was easy to attend events without travel costs. National Family History Month (NFHM) is over but with ongoing lockdowns and nowhere to travel to, we still have plenty of time for family history.

Blogs

First pair of shoes, still in the wardrobe!

I managed to do two blogs during August. First there was Genealife in Lock Down and I followed that up with Tossing Out the Binders which was the result of last year's lock downs. Both are on the blog page of my website. 

When I look around at everything still in my study, I don't think I am doing too well with this downsizing project. Plus there are the memorabilia you don't know what to do with - do I take photos of Mum and Dad's 21st keys and then toss the originals? What about Mum's wedding dress? 

Every time I open the study wardrobe, my first pair of shoes are there on the shelf Why can't I toss?

But when I look at my achievements, I realise how far I have come in what is basically a very slow process when you have 44 years of research to downsize.  

Books

Weeding the bookshelves is part of the overall project and many books have been given away or put aside to give to others. It's not a rash decision in that the piles stay there for a week or so to allow me to change my mind. There is also a small pile that I want to read or read again before making a decision. Of course, at the end I will have to go into my LibraryThing account and update my books and shelving locations. 

Does anyone else pick up a book and wonder why they bought it? Or believe the price they paid for it? Why have I got so many unread books? 

Bribie Genealogy

Both of our August meetings were cancelled due to Covid lockdown and we managed to Zoom the Friday meeting with Helen Smith who spoke about doing DNA plans for research. Sadly there was no lunch post meeting which is always a fun time with our guest speakers. For context on a segment later in this post, Bribie Genealogy does not have a physical home but we have free use of a room at the local RSL for our monthly meetings, complete with wifi. We don't have subscriptions or a journal/newsletter and we usually send out slides from presentations to members, or Zoom recordings if no physical meeting. So we are a virtual society with physical meetings when we can.

Fingers crossed that the September meetings go ahead.

DNA

Who was my Dad's father?

Excited to learn that I have a 2nd cousin on Dad's side and it looks like my hypothesis and prime suspect might be correct. Although I would like to see more matches on that family line. Interestingly they share more DNA with me than my brother. It is good to do the comparisons.

New Resources

My main source for what's new or new to me this month has been all the webinars or Zoom meetings that I have attended. I always try to learn at least one new thing from a talk but lately I am ending up with a page of 'must follow up' notes. 

For example, Fiona Brooker gave a good talk on the 1939 Register (UK) and that made me realise I have not gone looking for any descendants of common ancestors for most of Mum's families. No doubt that would help with DNA matches too.

Talks

My advanced Irish genealogy course continued via Zoom as Bribie U3A never opened up for third term due to Covid restrictions. Not quite the same as in person, round the table but certainly better than nothing. The other plus is that I can record the sessions and attendees can play them back and do their own searches at the same time.

My talk at the opening event of NFHM is still on the Webinars page until the end of September if you want to watch. It was looking at the future of genealogy post Covid and what role societies might have. It certainly caused a lot of discussion on the night and afterwards I suspect. I loved this comment from a New Zealand person: I was most impressed with Shauna's presentation (clever intelligent Lady) even more so, with how Bribie local Genealogy Societies and how they cope without a main Genealogy Society or base.

Mum's teenage diary 

I gave a Zoom presentation to Caloundra Family History Research on using diaries and letters for family history which was well received. Although I do like travelling to their meetings as their afternoon teas are pretty good but Covid put an end to that. The slides are on the Resources page of my website.

My last talk was a tips and tricks Zoom session on how to use Australian archives which I offered as part of NFHM. Attendees got the recording afterwards so that they could just relax during the talk.

What's Coming Up

The Association of Professional Genealogists conference is virtual over three months so that more people can attend and I have enjoyed the first two days. 

Another Zoom session, this time with Family History ACT on Writing and Sharing Family Stories which is a four speaker seminar. My session is on blogging family stories but other sessions are on charts as stories, doing a book using Family Tree Maker software and what is involved in self publishing and how to set up your manuscript. 

The Professional Historians Association Queensland conference has moved to virtual but that will occupy me over a weekend. The part I really miss is catching up with people in person and I was looking forward to a couple of nights in Brisbane. 

Similarly I am attending the NSW & ACT conference in Port Macquarie via Zoom instead of the long drive down. They decided early on to be a virtual event which proved to be the right decision given NSW's current Covid situation. 

I know a few family history people out there that still do not want to learn to Zoom or attend live webinars. However, I honestly don't think life is going back to how it was before. We have to adjust to the changing times and take advantage of technology as now is, in some ways, another boom time for genealogy. Attending overseas conferences has never been easier or cheaper. Try it and you won't be sorry for learning yet another techno skill.

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

Australian Convicts, NFHM, New Resources & Other News : Australia and New Zealand Genealogy July 2021

At the end of July we went back to covid lock down which means more genealogy time in August which is National Family History Month in Australia and New Zealand. 

Check out all the events, most of them virtual. Remember too that there are excellent prizes to win from the various sponsors.

This is a round up of news in July which was a busy month. Also a disappointing month as the AFFHO Congress on Norfolk Island was postponed to 2022 due to Covid uncertainties. Many people couldn't attend and even some who still wanted to holiday found themselves unable to get there. Cancelled holidays, closed borders, masks and vaccinations. My second jab is in mid August. 

Blogs 

I haven't been blogging except for Diary but I am pledging to change this. For NFHM in August there is a blogging challenge - Genealife in Lock Down. Plenty to talk about there. Also I have collected some nice Trove articles and a Trove Tuesday blog is long overdue. 

Books & Magazines

I have genealogy magazines and journals stacked everywhere, some going back decades. Last year I gave away lots at my U3A genealogy sessions after flicking through them for anything relevant. I started that up again with the intention of sharing with my U3A students again but so far third term has not started due to Covid. In some instances I have digital copies of the magazines so no need to keep the paper copies. 

Bribie Genealogy

Pumicestone Passage
and theGlass House Mountains

Our July meeting was impacted by the snap Covid lockdown but our guest speakers Eric and Rosemary Kopittke agreed to speak via Zoom. Rosemary on Scottish Resources and Eric talking about walking in the steps of our ancestors. Both talks were excellent and it was just a shame we couldn't share lunch with them. 

As I write this, we are back in lockdown so we will miss having our August speaker Helen Smith in person. Helen is no stranger to Zoom so we will still go ahead but without lunch. 

Our  Monday night meeting is also cancelled so we postponed David Barnes and his session on Gedmatch to later and we will just have a Zoom chat session. 

New Resources 

There has been an update to the Biographical Database of Australia :

• convicts in 1840s Victoria 
• 21st Regiment soldier profiles 1833-1840 many in WA & TAS 
• registers of convict deaths 1828-1879 & permissions to marry 1826-1851 (NSW, Norfolk Is & early Vic & QLD) 
• 1830s notices re escaped convicts & Sydney City burials 1832-1856 
• Coroners Inquests 1834-1859 (NSW + some QLD & VIC) 
• Criminal Court records 1788-1833 (NSW + some TAS, QLD & Norfolk Is) 
• NSW probate Index 1790-1876 (+ early TAS, QLD & VIC) 
• a remarkable record of 17,000 people leaving Sydney by ship 1816-1825 
• colonists & Aboriginal people mentioned in the Sydney Gazette 1803-1807 
• index of NSW people mentioned in UK Colonial Office letters by historian Mathilde Deane.

Whenever I have a convict query, this is one of my favourite websites so fantastic it is still being added to from time to time. 

Events

My photo collage in the PHAQ newsletter

Attended the Professional Historians Association Queensland AGM via Zoom and it was good to see people and to catch up on what some of the North Queensland members have been doing. 

For their newsletter a while back, I was asked for a photo collage. Since doing the collage, I have also thought it would be a good idea to do some on my ancestors. But it is not as easy as it looks. 

I spent a good couple of days watching webinars from The Genealogy Show in June before they were taken down. So many good speakers and talks and lots of ideas to follow up. Next year I won't leave it to the last minute! 

I have to do the same with the Family History Down Under 2021 conference as well before that is taken down in another month. Time flies and I don't think I am the only one who still has RootsTech 2021 webinars to watch either.

Talks

I spent time working on my talk for the opening of NFHM in August which will be a virtual event. My aim is to get a discussion going on the future of genealogy and what we want from our societies. Another talk in NFHM is for Caloundra Family History Research is on Diaries & Letters for Family History and it is a Zoom session. 

To be part of NFHM I decided to run my own Zoom event of Tips & Tricks with Shauna Hicks which is free. I have also booked to attend other virtual sessions so don't forget to check out the NFHM events page. More events could be added during the month as well.

To see where I am speaking during the year, check out the Events page of my website.

What's Coming Up?

Hopefully an end to Covid lock downs! Apart from that we do have NFHM and more time to spend on genealogy at home in August. Make the most of the free events and have a wonderful NFHM.

Take care and stay safe everyone.

Until next time

Shauna

Irish Genealogy, Winter Blues, New Resources & Other News: Australia and Zealand Genealogy News June 2021

 During June I had a couple of private genealogy research jobs and both involved lots and lots of convicts going back to the First Fleet. Such a confusing time with so many convicts sharing the same name, no civil registration and a lack of newspapers in those early days. The Biographical Database of Australia can help to sort some of the convicts out but often there are still doubts and questions. 

Anyway I felt mentally drained so we decided to have a few days away and with uncertainty around border closures, we ended up holidaying at Caloundra and could see the northern tip of Bribie Island from our balcony. There is lots of history in the area and a day trip up to Rainbow Beach was a breath of fresh air, literally. No masks required and hard to get used to again on our return. 

My badges from 2018 Congress

July is a busy month workwise - one research enquiry, one genealogy mentoring client, preparing for the 9 week Irish genealogy class at U3A and doing presentations for National Family History Month in August - two are on Norfolk Island as part of the AFFHO Genealogy Congress (in person) and one for Caloundra Family History Research via Zoom. Finally, someone who won one of my two hour genealogy sessions at an earlier event has worked out where she needs help. Just hope that I will be able to help her.

Books

The nice thing about a few days off is that you can escape with a good book or two. My brother has talked me into reading the five (large) volume work by Conn Iggulden on the history of Genghis Khan and his family. Fascinating, addictive and hard to put down once started. 

Back in 1996 I travelled through Inner Mongolia and China and found the history, architecture, costumes, culture and food so different from our own. In some ways the books are like a family history because they give such detail on the daily lives of the individuals and how they lived. And probably more like family history on steroids!

Irish Genealogy

My great grandmother - her
parents were from Wicklow

With the discovery that Dad's biological family were Irish, I have been more interested in Irish genealogy. One half of his ancestors are from County Antrim, one quarter from County Wicklow and the other quarter from Scotland (Angus). I have found so many interesting websites and resources that  I have turned it into a 9 week U3A course on researching Irish genealogy. The best part is that I am using my own family examples to highlight how the resources help to establish a family timeline from cradle to the grave. Plus I am looking forward to those attending sharing their own knowledge of Irish genealogy. 

New Resources

As usual, lots of new resources were released during June by the big database companies. FamilySearch added more entries to their Papua New Guinea and Samoa collections. 

Ancestry added more to their Australian records including one of my favourites - Sydney, Australia, Anglican Parish Registers, 1814-2021. Many people think this is just for Sydney but it is the Sydney Anglican diocese which stretches north, south and west of Sydney, much further than you might think. 

Check it out if you have Anglican ancestors as it is possible to see baptism and marriage registers. Certainly cheaper than paying for a certificate.

SHHE (Shauna Hicks History Enterprises) Free Enewsletter

With the demise of Feedburner as a enews reminder that a new edition of Diary is out, I have decided to start up my own free genealogy enewsletter. This will go out when there is a new Diary post or a post from my Genie Rambles blog on my website. Other news may also be included. You can subscribe for free from the Home page.

I would like to thank all those who have followed Diary via Feedburner over the years. The support was always encouraging and I hope to continue informing and inspiring readers for many more years. 

Twitter @ANZAncestryTime

I have missed a few weeks of this but if you have a free Tuesday evening then think about joining #ANZANCESTRYTIME – an online event for Australian & New Zealand family historians to meet up on Twitter to chat, share ideas and help each other. Join Fran Kitto, Sharn White and Pauleen Cass for a chat on Tuesday evenings 7pm Brisbane time.  You need to sign up for Twitter, but you do not have to be an active participant just listen to what is being discussed.  Although it is hard not to want to add your own two cents worth. 

Convict connections on a
previous visit to Norfolk Island

What's Coming Up

My trip/holiday to Norfolk Island for the launch of National Family History Month and the AFFHO Genealogy Congress, covid permitting. 

U3A classes and my Zoom session with Caloundra on letters and diaries for family history research. Plus my second guest blog post for the Genealogical Society of Queensland is due in July. 

Time really flies when you are interested in family history. Until next time, happy searching.

Shauna

Genealogy education, new resources & other news: Australia and New Zealand Genealogy News May 2021

 Winter already. I am not a fan of the shorter days and getting up in the dark and the cold. These days you are more likely to find me curled up in bed until the sun is up but I'm happy with my digital genealogy magazines on my IPad. Finally I am embracing the idea of reading online and not stacking up paper mags in the study.

Books

I have been a member of Library Thing for many years and have catalogued a good number of my study books in it. The last couple of years I have not been diligent plus I have moved things around since allocating the original shelf number. 

Before updating my Library Thing, the plan was to deaccession ie remove books no longer current or useful. The problem with that is every time I take a book down, I think I should read it again or use if for reference. Going to be a slow process!

For example, Mark Herber's classic Ancestral Trails: complete guide to British Genealogy & Family History. My edition is the updated one and reprinted in 2003 but still 21 years old. All the information is still valid but how we access a lot of those records has now changed enormously. I want to read it again but my arthritic wrists are groaning in pain under the weight of the book and my eyes, even with reading glasses are struggling with the small font. When did I get old?

Sitting at the dining table with a cup of tea and the book lying flat on the table seems to be the way to go. Given that it is over 700 pages (even with that small font), 30 chapters and 11 appendices - I suspect that a packet of chocolate biscuits will be needed too. Wish me luck as I try to read a chapter a day during June.

Conferences

The Genealogy Show is coming up this month and I am super excited to be presenting two talks at this virtual event. Plus lots of other great speakers and topics. Thanks to Covid we are able to see these shows more easily in a virtual world as it means no airfare and no accommodation fees. Not to mention that long plane flight!

My first trip in a plane/overseas (during Covid times) is coming up with the AFFHO congress on Norfolk Island. National Family History Month (August) will also be launched there this year so it will be very good to see people again and chat over cups of tea. Quite a few people I know will be there and we always love a visit to Norfolk Island with its history and beauty.

Continuing Education

James Carnegie & wife Mary Finn

I have just finished a course on The Life of Our Ancestors from the National Institute of Genealogical Studies. This was a freebie that I signed up for at the virtual RootsTech 2021. It was six weeks and all about writing family history which was most apt for what I am now doing with my own research. Now working towards a final draft of my Carnegie and Stratton Scottish families.

Suitably motivated I had the occasion to look at the FutureLearn free six week genealogy course and I was surprised to find that I did this back in 2016. Five years ago and time has just flown since. On the spot I decided to do it again as a refresher. Just completed Week One and it is good to look at your research with fresh eyes.

If you are looking for something less involved, why not check out FamilySearch's free webinars - click here to see what's on in June. The program for July and August is also available at that link.

DNA

No really exciting new matches on Dad's side but I have been experimenting with the new Tier One tools in Gedmatch. 

I found the closest match clusters tool very interesting. I have a number of groups that are on Dad's side and they appeared as clusters. By selecting the multikit analysis I was able to work out how the groups were connected. In most of the cases, each group related to a single chromosome triangulation. Now to work out the common ancestors for each group which must be further back than six generations. 

Mum's side is so easy as there are no illegitimate births, and I have managed to do a complete tree back five generations which means that I can generally identify most of my matches for her. Plus more people seem to have tested on her side. 

New Resources Australia & New Zealand

The fantastic Trove has added more titles including:

• Various titles in the Australian Jewish Newspapers Project - see here for link to titles
• South Australia : Port Lincoln, Tumby and West Coast Recorder, 1904-1909
• South Australia : West Coast Recorder (Port Lincoln) 1909-1942
• New South Wales: The Campbelltown News 1920-1929
• New South Wales: Ingleburn News 1953-1954
• Victoria: The Bacchus Marsh Express 1866-1943
• Victoria: The Express, Bacchus Marsh 1943-1954

FamilySearch added more:  

• Australia - Victoria wills probate and administration files 1841-1926
• Kiribati vital records 1890-1991
• Papua New Guinea birth records 1888-2004
• Papua New Guinea vital records 1867-2000
• Samoa vital records 1846-1996
• Tuvalu vital records 1866-1979

Talks

During May I gave my final talk to the Noosaville Library on Irish genealogy and two talks to Moreton Region Libraries on sorting your DNA matches. Good audiences at each event and some lovely feedback too. This was really nice to hear from someone at the Moreton library talks.

Shauna Hicks does a professional, informative presentation and by allowing access to her website attendees can look things up from home after the workshop.

Caloundra Family History Research have just booked me to do a Zoom event during NFHM (National Family History Month). The topic they picked is one of my favourites - Diaries and Letters : Fleshing Out the Family History. 

More details about where I am speaking is on the Events page of my website.

What's Coming Up

Bribie Genealogy has its two meetings on the 1st Friday (day) and 1st Monday (evening). The June day meeting has one of our locals talking about how he put his family history online using blogger and on the Monday night we will be looking at FamilySearch. Preparing for both of these keeps our small organising group busy.

My primary task is preparing my talk for the AFFHO Congress - Finding Love in Paradise. The story of two convicts and their life together on Norfolk and later in Van Dieman's Land. There is also a short talk for the opening of NFHM month about where is genealogy and societies going in the future. For that I may need a crystal ball. 

Happy researching this month, stay safe and well and hopefully we will all catch up somewhere in person again.

New Resources, Talks & Other News :Australia & New Zealand Genealogy Notes April 2021

April was all about Easter, ANZAC Day and another short lock down just prior to Easter. For someone who is hearing impaired, wearing a mask just makes it all that much harder to understand anyone. Thankfully it was only for a short time and certainly better than having Covid 19 out and about in the community. It must be so hard for all those people in other countries who have been living this nightmare for over a year now. 

Horse arena with snow
(outside my son's place in Sweden)

Did the Messenger chat with my son for Easter - he lives in Sweden and is just getting over their winter which is decidedly colder than anywhere here in Australia. I'm still hoping for a catch up and a white Christmas but I'm not going to hold my breath for 2021. 

The photo was taken early January 2021 so I will need to be there at least a few weeks I think.

My son and his wife want to come back for a visit too and see family and friends but they are realistic about it all. Stay safe and well everyone.

Books

Finally managed to get my book review of Nathan Dylan Goodwin's The Chester Creek Murders up on my website. See the Resources page of my website. 

A friend recommended I start reading the Steve Robinson Jefferson Tayte genealogy mysteries and I managed to find three in the Bribie Library. I had reserved one as there were none when I ordered but two more were on the shelves when I went to collect. 

Also a good read but his main character genealogist seems to risk life and limb every story. I certainly don't have that much adventure when researching for clients. I like the way the story lines are in both the present and the past and show how things are handed down and influence the present. 

Bribie Genealogy & Bribie U3A

Our April meeting was on Good Friday so we couldn't meet in person. For those at a loose end on Easter Saturday we did a Zoom catch up. I gave a talk on military resources for locating widows and children after World War One. It was recorded so that other members could download for later. 

My beginners class at U3A is going well with a small but eager group of very new to research people. I am having to rethink some of my week's lessons as we pin down the basics of searching for births, deaths and marriages. Tracing people back is second nature to me but I now realise that it can be quite foreign to anyone totally new. We are doing some case studies so that they can see the process and work on their own families. 

Conferences 

My next speaking at a conference is The Genealogy Show in the UK on 25-26 June 2021 which is virtual. There is a great line up of speakers including two other Aussies - Jill Ball and Sharn White. That will be a full on weekend. 

Then it is the AFFHO Congress 2021 on Norfolk Island  and the launch of National Family History Month in August while we are over there. It has been so long since I have been in an airport or on a plane, it will be a very strange experience. Still I love Norfolk Island and it will be an opportunity to catch up with lots of friends. 

The next History Queensland conference is 21-23 October 2022 at Redcliffe (just north of Brisbane). Mark that in your diaries now and cross our fingers that it will be in person. 

Talks

In April I did two talks for Noosa Libraries at Noosaville on Scottish and Irish genealogy resources. Good audiences both times and some excellent feedback. Both of those talks and my two earlier talks for Noosa are on the Resources page of my website.

Website

Still tinkering with the new website and after all the hassles of being hijacked I am wondering if it is all worth while. Why do people have to scam and make the internet less safe for people who just want to use it for good things? By the end of May I will complete it and move onwards and upwards. Motivation plus. 

What's New in Australia & New Zealand

Only three new newspaper titles in Trove for April but they are good if you have ancestors in those places and time periods.

• Queensland - Catholic Advocate (Brisbane) 1911-1938
• South Australia - The Prospector (Fitzroy) 1978-1984
• Victoria - Great Southern Advocate (Korumburra) 1889-1940

FamilySearch continues to add new records and here are a few examples from the Pacific region.

• Kiribati Vital Records 1890-1991
• Micronesia Death Records 1970-1986
• Papua New Guinea Vital Records 1867-200
• Samoa Vital Records 1846-1996
• Tuvalu Vital Records 1866-1979
• Vanuatu Vital Records 1900-2001

Ancestry updated its fantastic Sydney, Australia, Anglican Parish Registers 1814-2011 and added Australia, Army, Military Service Records 1901-1940.

What's Coming Up?

The Reading Room way back when!
 Looking forward to seeing the new QSA.

There are two talks for Moreton Libraries in May at Redcliffe and Burpengary on managing DNA matches. See the Events page of my website for details on dates.

History Queensland is having its AGM and 6 monthly meeting at the Queensland State Archives on 8 May. As Patron I will be attending and it will be good to visit QSA again. 

Hard to believe I left there almost 22 years ago to go and work in Canberra at the National Archives of Australia. Where does time go? 

Niles Elvery will be giving a short presentation on how to use the new online catalogue. 

Until next time, stay safe and well and good luck with your genealogy searching.

FHDU 2021 megafest, new resources: Australia & New Zealand Genealogy Notes March 2021

Wow a huge month with more genealogy webinars to watch than programs on television! 

Plus I sneaked away for a week's holiday with a Canberra HAGSOC (now Family History ACT) friend to the Sunshine Coast. Lots of genealogy discussion over that week too. Had lunch with geneamates at Buderim which was good, catching up in person. Got home just before we went into the snap lockdown. 

Without fail my Easter orchid continues to deliver year after year. The colours are gorgeous but I think it is time to divide and have two Easter orchids next year. Or a bigger pot!

Books

Also on holiday with me was Nathan Dylan Goodwin's The Chester Creek Murders: A Venator Cold Case which is the first installment of his new book series. 

I have yet to do my review but as usual Nathan has written a gripping read and I predict the series will be as big a hit as his Morton Farrier series. 

It was also a pleasure to listen to Nathan speak about how he does his research in the FHDU Methodology stream. Thankfully the motel's free wi fi was up to letting me watch it live.

During the month I also received the latest Traces magazine, Discover Your Ancestors No 9, and a number of digital genealogy journals and magazines. The paper ones sit on the chair, and the digital ones disappear out of sight. Despite my best intentions. 

My latest thoughts on how to manage my digital reading is to list items as they arrive in my inbox and then tick them off when I have read them. Also with the intention of reading them within 7 days so that they don't become a serious backlog. Discipline - not a strong point for me with so many other things to capture my geneattention.

Bribie Genealogy & Bribie U3A

Our March meeting was a success with Pauleen Cass our guest speaker giving us lots of tips for our Irish research. Pauleen also had a very useful handout for members.

Somehow I was talked into taking over the Bribie U3A beginners class. My fear is that I will be too much for them so I am making my weekly classes as basic as I can. I suspect that the attendees will have varied experience which just makes aiming the level of the class that much harder. Still it should be fun. The idea is that attendees will go from the beginners class to joining Bribie Genealogy. 

Our April meeting falls on Good Friday so I organised a military talk via Zoom for those interested. 

Conferences

FHDU 2021 was the big event in March and was in the end a totally virtual event. But that saw more talks offered. Four streams on DNA, Abroad, Australia & New Zealand and Methodology meant that people could attend one, two or all streams. 

Being the geneaddict that I am, I have all four streams to watch. Now to find the time. Bit like my digital reading! Plus I need to write a blog post. 

In case you missed it and are interested, it is still possible to purchase access to the different webinar streams. See the link above.

My next conference is the AFFHO Congress 2021 on Norfolk Island. I am giving a paper on the Pyers/Johnson family. AFFHO have also asked me to speak at the launch of NFHM 2021 which is an honour. That should be an amazing week in a place that I love for its beauty and simplicity of lifestyle. 

Talks

I talk too much! I was pleased to accept a last minute offer to give a talk at The Surname Society's AGM and seminar day. Basically I reworked one of my previous talks into how to find surnames in archives downunder. It was also a good opportunity to hear talks on Library and Archives Canada, (now to look for more of my Canadian cousins), National Archives UK and Archives New Zealand presented by Fiona Brooker. A great tour of their online catalogue Archway.

Talks are coming up at Noosa Libraries, Moreton Libraries and other places but I can't mention those yet. Details of my upcoming talks are always on the Events pages of my website.

Plus those close by can come along to Bribie Genealogy on the 1st Friday of the month, 9.15am at Bribie RSL.

Website

There hasn't been much action on my website in recent months as I was hijacked and it cost a small fortune to remove malware and whatever else. I am truly grateful to my IT person for sorting it all out and now I just have to start blogging again. 

There will also be a fresh look to reflect on my new approach to life post cancer and covid, although the latter may still be around for a while yet.

What's New in Australia & New Zealand

Do you subscribe to the Trove enewsletter? It is the easiest way to see what newspaper titles have been added to Trove during the month. For example in March 2021 they added: 

• Sunraysia Daily (Vic: 1920-1927)
• The Mildura and Merbein Sun (Vic: 1921)
• The Mildura Irrigationist (Vic: 1892-1893)
• The Merbein Irrigationist and Murray Valley Soldiers' Gazette (Vic: 1919-1920)
• The Mildura Irrigationist and Murray River Agricultural Times (Vic: 1888)
• The Mildura Irrigationist and Murray River Cultural Advocate (Vic: 1891 - 1892)

• Noosa News (Qld: 1968-1974)
• Noosa Advocate (Qld: 1911-1929)
• Noosa Advocate and Cooroora Advertiser (Qld: 1929-1934).

Great news for those with Mildura, Victoria or Noosa, Queensland families. My son's GG grandfather John Barrow Atkinson was one of the early people to buy land at Noosa. If only the family had held on to it!

Similarly I subscribe to the enews from various state archives to see what has been indexed or digitised. In the March Now & Then from State Archives and Records New South Wales I discovered that the  Protestant male orphan school register 1850-1886 has been digitised and is online. These enewsletters are easy to read and often contain useful hints on searching or advertising a new webinar on a family history topic.

While not Australasian, the FamilySearch enewsletter each month has new records from around the world and is always worth a browse. There were new French and German collections and some for various English counties. By knowing what has been added, you can simply search that collection if it is relevant to your ancestral search areas.

April is a big month for talks, more doctor visits (check ups), U3A beginning family history classes, a 4 day visit from my brother, the Bribie Historical Society meeting and setting time aside to watch some of my FHDU webinars. I wonder what bright shiny object will grab my attention this coming month? 

Take care and stay safe. Happy geneasearching until next month. 

Short month, lots of genealogy: Australia & New Zealand Genealogy Notes February 2021

Wow the 28 days of February went past so quickly. But a huge month for doing nothing but watch webinars. One of the reasons this blog post is a week late.

Books

Hard to believe but I still haven't started The Chester Creek Murders by Nathan Dylan Goodwin. I have been waiting for some extra spare time so that I can read uninterrupted. I have a week away at Noosa and Caloundra at the end of March. It will be perfect motel reading. 

Bribie Genealogy

Time was spent on putting together an email list (doubles as membership) and preparing for the March meeting. 

Our April meeting is Good Friday so we will be having a Zoom meeting on Easter Saturday instead. We have even started to think about having a second meeting a month in the evening. It is really good to see so many enthusiastic people.

Conferences

This is where most of my time has been spent. Finalising handouts for the FHDU conference in March as well as trying to record my presentation using Powerpoint rather than Zoom. I found it really limiting and stopped the flow of my usual style when giving a talk. Still a learning exercise and technology continues to get better and better. Now that it is virtual, the overall package is cheaper than it was in person. That's a plus but I will miss the personal catch ups.

Of course RootsTech Connect took up three days and nights and it was amazing how you could get caught up in the frenzy of trying to do everything. I scored a few freebies in the Exhibition Hall but will do a blog post soon on how I found the whole experience. The Twitter #ANZAncestryTime topic last week (Tuesdays 7pm Brisbane time) was on RootsTech so I picked up more tips to follow up. 

The talks are still online and if you search for Oceania you will pick up most of the Australia and New Zealand talks. My talk on Australian Archives was well received and there were a few people in the chat room and one person even found her ancestor after hearing one of my tips on spelling variants. 

All RootsTech Connect speakers were sent a gift package which was unexpected and a lovely way to end an amazing experience. Thanks to all the people behind the scenes. 

Plus on the spur of the moment I decided to attend The Family History Show on 20 February which was only about $10AU. I have done a blog post on the conference and it is funny how it took about to 2011 and an article I wrote for Discover Your Ancestors. Small world. Read the report here. 

Talks

My talk at Bribie Island Library on What's In A Surname was well received and the Where Do I Start beginners session at Noosaville Library has a very enthusiastic audience. Both events booked out. Another talk on Using Ancestry's DNA Tools is coming up for Noosaville. I have been asked to do a webinar for The Surname Society in March. 

I'm also back at U3A as the person doing the beginners course can no longer do it. Therefore in Term 2 I will be trying to confine myself to beginner methodology. Hope they don't find me too overwhelming. Actually it will be good to get back to basics. Another plus is that  they can come along to Bribie Genealogy meetings. 

See where I am speaking on the Events page of my website. 

What's New in Australia & New Zealand

If you subscribe to the free Trove enews, you can get the latest on what's new in Trove. There is also a link to the enews on the home page of Trove. For example, the February news was that four newspaper titles for each of New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia were added, varying date ranges. 

I was interested in these three in particular:

• Nowra Colonist (NSW) 1899-1904
• The Telegraph and Shoalhaven Advertiser (NSW) 1879-1881
• Windsor & Richmond Gazette (NSW) 1888-1961.

Two of my great grandmother Elizabeth Price's children were born in the Shoalhaven area in the 1880s. 

Sign up to Trove at the bottom of the February newsletter. 

Also remember it is a new calendar year and many of the BDM indexes are now available for another year. Some states like NSW update through the year, while others don't. This also applies to state archives and that means another year of closed series is now available. You really do need to go back and check for additional records at the start of each calendar year.

FamilySearch added New Zealand electoral rolls 1865 to 1957 adding just over 3.5 million names to the records for New Zealand. With trans Tasman families there's another search I need to do. 

Findmypast added quite a few interesting records for my English and Irish families and Ancestry updated its Australia and New Zealand Obituary Index 2004 to the present. Also some UK WW1 pension records which interest me. 

If you subscribe to the free enews from the archives, libraries and resources that are of interest to your research it really is easy to see what's new. However, beware of bright shiny objects which may tempt you away from a planned research strategy. 

Have a wonderful research time in March. Stay well and safe.

Shauna