Genetic Genealogy, Book Review & Black Sheep Talks: Genealogy Notes 9-17 May 2018

Mother's Day flowers

The past week was dominated by Mother's Day and it was the first Mother's Day that Mum celebrated with my brother and I at my place and my son and his soon to be wife also came for a fish and chip lunch. So my three generations were all in the one place for Mother's Day. My brother headed home to celebrate it all over again with his wife and two children. We are a very small family these days.

As part of the day I showed some very early photos of Mum and I plus early photos of my son and I - Mum's comment was that it didn't even look like us but throw in a few decades and yes that was us way back then! It is only when looking at photos that I feel the passing of the years and wonder at how quickly time passes.

Books

My review of Nathan Dylan Goodwin's The Wicked Trade and The Suffragette's Secret: genealogical crime mysteries is now finished. Read it here. As usual a really good read and now the patient wait for the next book.

My new book to read (or more correctly reread) is Blaine Bettinger's The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy. I am getting lots of DNA matches but still struggling to understand my results so back to the drawing board for a refresher.

Talks
In that DNA spirit I am off to Brisbane tomorrow for the Queensland Family History Society's seminar on Genetic Genealogy with Dr Maurice Gleeson. Apparently it is fully booked which just shows how popular DNA is at the moment. I've spoken at that venue and it is not a small theatre. Should be a great morning and a catch up with geneamates. Just noticed that his handout is already on their home page - a bit of reading for tonight to make the most of the two talks tomorrow. Blog post to follow.

The room started to fill early

My two talks with the Cooroy-Noosa Genealogical & Historical Research Group on Monday were well attended with an almost full house for the convicts talk in the morning and slightly less for the afternoon session on missing ancestors (look for them in prisons). Lots of people seem to have black sheep in the family.

There was lunch in between and an opportunity to chat to people and have a look around their wonderful premises. As usual both talks are on the Resources page of my website, scroll down to Presentations.

My U3A advanced family history session on Wednesday was all about locating photographs of your ancestors, places they lived, schools they attended, ships they arrived on and other aspects of family history using photographs to tell the stories.

Part of the research area, books always look more
interesting than a row of computers

Television

I have been fascinated by all the celebrity stories so far on the new Australian series of WDYTYA on SBS. There have been some really interesting stories and only three more episodes to go. Although they do drag it out in some cases, but then I guess that is all part of the entertainment value of the show.

What's Coming Up

My next genealogical outing will be to the Gold Coast Family History Society Again I will be giving two talks - one on finding and using archives for family history and the other on skeletons in the family. Another favourite topic with so many in my own family. That mini seminar is on 26 May at Nerang and it is open to the public with a modest price for members and slightly higher for non members.

Obviously I will be working on these two talks during the week as well as doing a blog post on the QFHS Genetic Genealogy seminar. Plus a new talk for my U3A students on insolvencies and bankruptcies which will be fun. Lots of interesting records to talk about there.

Until next time have a great genealogy week.

Genealogy conferences 2019, digitised gaol photos & other news: Genealogy Notes 1-8 May 2018

It was a big week for exciting announcements and I had a fabulous time discovering new information on my own families. Even after 40 years of research I am still learning new things about some family members who have always fascinated me. New online indexes and digitised records make it a must to go back and relook at your previous research.

While working on my two talks for the Cooroy-Noosa Genealogical & Historical Research Group on convicts and prisoners I was simply amazed at how much more is online and more easily accessible than when I did my convicts thesis for the Society of Australian Genealogists Diploma back in the early 1990s. Similarly while working on this week's talk on parish registers for Australia and the UK for the Bribie U3A advanced family history class I had even more finds. Now I want to review all my early Australian research. My to do list just gets longer and longer.

Blogs

The Chyebassa, image courtesy State Library Victoria

My Trove Tuesday post was the Voyage of the Chyebassa to Queensland in 1883. My great grandfather Herbert William White made his way to Charters Towers after leaving the ship at Townsville. Searching in Trove gave me insights into the voyage and what it was actually like travelling on board the Chyebassa including what they ate. Another wonderful Trove discovery.

Conferences
My overseas plans for next year were all thought out with a planned trip to my first ever Rootstech conference from 27 Feb to 2 Mar 2019. I've been promising to do that for years but something else has always been happening in the early part of the year. Plus I have wanted to go to Salt Lake City for years. This is a four day event which is better value than just a two day event unless you combine the trip with some tourism or genealogical research.

There is also an Unlock the Past Mediterranean cruise with some of my favourite speakers Paul Milner, Janet Few and Caroline Gurney in Sep 2019 going to Portugal, Spain, Gibraltar and on to France and Italy. I've been to the first three places but not the last two so I'm tempted.

This week I found out about two conferences which seem to be stepping into the empty space left by WDYTYA. The first is Family Tree Live on 26-27 Apr 2019 in London's Alexandra Palace with lectures, workshops, displays and stands aimed at all levels of family history experience. It is being organised by Family Tree in partnership with the Federation of Family History Societies. To receive the latest show information you can sign up for the e-newsletter at Family Tree. I love going to London but it is expensive for accommodation and I have been there.

The second conference The Genealogy Show is on 7-8 Jun 2019 at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham where Mum's Price family is from. The Midlands are somewhere I have not managed to get to yet. So a big temptation. The organisers have already set up a Facebook page for The Genealogy Show 2019 where you can get all the latest updates.

Also on next year is the local Waves in Time conference at Caloundra on 24-26 May and that is a definite must attend, apart from it's only an hour or so up the highway from where I live. It will also be a lot cheaper to attend.

Decisions decisions - pity you can't go to everything so I'm back to next year's planning board. Genealogists downunder definitely need 'beam me there' technology.

Convicts and Prisoners
From the introduction you will see it's been a week for looking at convict and prison records. State Archives and Records NSW has some wonderful online guides, indexes and digitised records but I was pleased to see that there are now digitised gaol photographs online (last time I looked it was just the index). It was thrilling to see a photo of my great uncle Denis Patrick Finn in 1928, not because he was in gaol but it was the only the second photo I have even seen.

Denis Patrick Finn, image courtesy
State Library of Queensland

The first was as a 17 year old soldier heading off to the Western Front in WW2 on what was probably his big adventure, having lied about his age to do so. Denis spent his 18th birthday in a German prison of war camp and as his prison alias in QLD was Johann Romanoff, there was a lasting legacy from his teenage experiences during the war.

Looking at his life (through prison registers in QLD and NSW and his two broken marriages) you can easily see that Denis could not settle back into a 'normal' way of life. His two brothers, John and Robert, also returned from the war but instead of trying to live in an urban area, both never married and lived in remote regional areas.

The other website that amazed me with new records was the Biographical Database of Australia. I found new information on my early Sydney convict families and the database groups the information together if they are  sure it is the same person. However, you still need to check other entries for the name as it may not all be together. One drawback is that the database only lets you search on a name which is fine if it is not a common name, but if you are looking for John Smith there are lots of results to skim through. Still it is a useful resource for early NSW in particular. It is free to search but to see the full record there is a reasonable subscription as it is a not for profit project.


Reading
The weekend saw me finish Nathan Dylan Goodwin's The Wicked Trade - now to do the review. As usual I can't wait for the next book!

Virtual Genealogy 
In some ways it was only a matter of time before we started having virtual genealogy societies. Many of our traditional genealogy and family history societies now have members only areas for those who can't attend meetings or the library in person. This is a fantastic benefit and the primary reason I am still a member of four Australian societies.

Last year I mentioned I won a subscription to VicGum and while I have been looking at their newsletters and email posts, I had yet to look at the members only area. Technology is amazing as I have been watching some of their meetings and guest speakers and it is just like being in the audience.

So this week I joined the Virtual Genealogical Society which is a global organization serving family history enthusiasts of all levels, geared towards those:

● whose circumstances make it difficult to attend local genealogical society meetings
● who prefer online presentations, special interest groups (SIGs), conferences, and socializing
● with an interest in connecting, networking, and mentoring with global genealogists.

They aim to provide a forum for genealogists to connect, network, and mentor with genealogists around the world through monthly meetings online, webinars, social networking, annual conferences, and in-person meet-ups at conferences, institutes and events around the world. It will be interesting to see how this develops and if it will change how existing (real not virtual) societies operate.

What's Coming Up?
A big week with today's talk on parish records in Australia and the UK at Bribie U3A and on Monday my talks on convicts and prison records with the Cooroy-Noosa Genealogical & Historical Research Group in partnership with Noosa Libraries. If you are at either event do come up and say hello.

Plus I have to start adding all my new information to my database and there must be a blog or two in these new stories. Sometimes it is hard to choose - spend time discovering new information or stop searching and spend time writing it up!

Have a great genealogy week until next time.

Newgate Calendar, DNA talks & other news : Genealogy Notes 24-30 Apr 2018

My goody bag from the Caloundra
Family History Research Inc last week

Reviewing old society journals can be rewarding - finally relocated my membership card for Genealogy SA. I obviously was using it as a book mark in one of their journals, it's now safe with all my other membership cards. Sometimes it is useful just to browse and check out urls or other resources and stories.

For example, in the Genealogical Society of Queensland's journal Generation, December 2014 there was an article 'Serious Crimes in the United Kingdom 1700-1825' from The Newgate Calendar.

Although most of my ancestors were criminals with a variety of crimes, none of them were too serious. However I'm fascinated by these types of records. The article finished by saying that the book is online free although it is a multi volume work. You can download volume by volume or browse the thematic contents including sneak thieves, highwaymen, smugglers, traitors, abductors of maidens, body snatchers and much much more.

Some of the entries are really quirky but fascinating. From the Ex-Classics home page, you can do a Google search such as Newgate and the surname of a person if you think one of your ancestors might be listed.

Blogs
Received some nice feedback on my Australian Trade Union Archives blog post for The In-Depth Genealogist. It's always nice to know that people are reading and learning something from our writings.

Tuesday's resolve is to do another Trove Tuesday post. The hard part I find is trying to pick a topic, so many interesting things to write about. Of course, it is also very easy to be distracted while searching in Trove.

Books
I've just finished reading Nathan Dylan Goodwin's The Suffragette's Secret, a Morton Farrier short story (and enjoyed it - review to follow) and now I've started on The Wicked Trade, another Morton Farrier adventure looking into Kent and smugglers in the 1820s. For me the attraction of Nathan's books is the combination of genealogy, history and a good story plus the development of his lead character as he progresses through his own life. I think we can all relate to crying babies and sleepless nights.

Talks
Last week I mentioned that I'm speaking at a Gold Coast Family History Society seminar at the end of May. Should have checked my diary - there are two talks for the Cooroy-Noosa Genealogical and Historical Research Group in conjunction with Noosa Libraries on 14 May.

Since moving back to Queensland I've done a few talks for Noosa Libraries but it has been quite a while since I last did talks for the Cooroy-Noosa group. It was in their old premises so I'm looking forward to seeing the new premises.

Cooroy-Noosa Genealogical & Historical Research Group premises

Moreton Libraries have booked me to do my blogging for family history talk at the Strathpine and Caboolture libraries later in the year. Plus I received my first request to do a presentation in 2019. No wonder time goes so fast!

What's Coming Up?

Front page of the bible Sarah Finn nee Fegan
brought to Queensland

I've just booked for the Queensland Family History Society seminar on Genetic Genealogy with Maurice Gleeson on 19 May. He is giving two talks - Managing your matches: a step by step approach to interpreting your DNA matches and Marrying DNA and Irish family tree research.

Learning more about how to read my DNA results and what to do with them is something I really need plus I have Irish ancestors from Wicklow - John Finn and Sarah Fegan. Should be a great day and a chance to catch up with geneafriends from Brisbane.

Until next time have a great genealogy week.

ANZAC day, genealogy talks & other news - Genealogy Notes 16-23 April 2018

Another week and another email from someone who found me via a blog post. This was exciting and I jumped up to grab an album of my mother's that was packed up when she went into the nursing home last year. But the one I wanted wasn't with the others, now the big question is where is it? There are boxes and boxes of photos for me to sort and digitise but with no real deadline they have just been sitting in the cupboard. With this motivation the coming week is going to be all about photographs and digitising them.

Blogs
Having just written the above paragraph on the value of blogs, I haven't had a chance this week to write anything. Tomorrow is ANZAC day and in past years I have written about my military ancestors.

In 2013 I wrote about The Brothers Finn and World War One - with this the final anniversary year of WW1 it is fitting to highlight this post again. Research (and blog posts) are not static and in 2016, three years after my first post, I wrote a Trove Tuesday blog World War One and the Finn Brothers.  In this blog I wrote about my excitement at finding a photograph of all three brothers in the same newspaper The Week, 31 Jan 1919. They all returned home but the youngest, Denis had been wounded and spent time in a German prisoner of war camp. The other two brothers never married. Lest we forget.

Journals
With the mornings getting darker, I'm no longer leaping out of bed and fumbling around in the dark trying to make a cup of tea without waking anyone else up. However there is no chance of going back to sleep so I have been having a reading feast of genealogy journals and magazines that having been piling up in the study. There are so many good stories and lots of tips and advice and URLs to check out on the laptop. One journal can hijack your day as you start exploring whatever the topic was.

Of course this is my print journals and to read my digital journals I have to actually sit at the study desk, not as comfy as being snug in bed. But the time will come when all journals will be digital as it is a much cheaper option for societies. Plus if I'm honest I won't need as many bookshelves! I just need to schedule time to read but so often I am hijacked by the desire to actually do research.

Talks

My talk at Caloundra Family History Research Inc went well with a packed house and interested audience. Received a lovely certificate, purple (what else) photo frame, a silky oak bottle stopper and a nice bottle of sav blanc to use the stopper with.

I stayed on to hear one of their own members talk about his family connection to some well known criminals. He was very entertaining and had people laughing and as someone who also has lots of criminals in the family, it can be hard talking about them. But there are some fantastic records with lots of family information and of course they are always in the newspaper!

The Gold Coast Family History Society have invited me to speak at their next seminar day on 26 May and one of the talks is my favourite - Skeletons in the Family which looks at convicts, prisons and asylums. My ancestors will be on display yet again. The other talk is on Archives You Should Know. Full details about the event are here. The Society meets at Nerang which is about half way between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Looking at their advertising I need to update my photo. That one was taken in Inverell, NSW in April 2014 and hard to believe that was four years ago. I will need a hair cut before the Gold Coast talk so time to take another good photo of me. Just wish it wasn't so hard.

What's Coming Up?

Memorabilia at the AFAQ cottage at Bongaree

There is no U3A this week due to ANZAC day but I am chairing the local history class this week and telling them all about the first five Presidents of the Amateur Fishing Association of Queensland. There is a family history element and it is a talk I gave to the Bribie Island Historical Society last year. Then in the afternoon, the current President of the Historical Society is giving a talk on Women of Bribie which should be fascinating. The U3A serve a wonderful afternoon tea for the modest gold coin entry.

On the writing front there are blog posts and an article for The In-Depth Genealogist. Weeks go fast but then months seem to go even quicker.

Until next week time a great genealogy week with many happy findings.

DNA connections, blogs as cousin bait & other news - Genealogy Notes 8-15 April 2018

Mum, my brother and I a long long time ago

A lot of the last week was out and about so not a lot of desk time. U3A starts again this week so Wednesday afternoons will be Advanced Family History and Friday mornings Local Bribie History. Two week breaks seem to go so quickly.

Mum had a great 84th birthday with two cakes - one with us and one at the aged care centre. My brother and his son came up for coffee and cake. Then Max and I took Mum to lunch so she could have nachos and a wine, treats not often on the menu!

Blog Reading

My blog post on the Australian Women's Register for The In-Depth Genealogist was listed on Gail Dever's Genealogy a la Carte for 14 Apr 2018. It's always nice to see that people are reading things I write. Plus I like to browse these compilations to pick up other blog posts of interest to my own research.

One I thought would be useful if only I could find a spare day was The Legal Genealogist's post on why we should all find Time to Paint. It's all about DNA Painter and how you can match up known relatives. My problem is not knowing who my relatives are!

Elizabeth Price nee Judge born Pollard

Although blogging about your known relatives can also help connect up in conjunction with DNA testing. A couple of years ago I wrote about my great grandmother Elizabeth Price nee Judge born Pollard - a brick wall that took a while to fall. I also posted a photograph of her.

At the weekend while checking my Ancestry DNA messages I found an email from someone descendant from the same Pollard family in Croughton, Northamptonshire. They had written to tell me how similar my Elizabeth was to her Croughton cousins and sent two photos to show the resemblance.

Blogging is definitely cousin bait and if you have both done DNA tests and submitted family tree charts then it all comes together quite nicely.

Resources

Kerry Farmer is the Director of the Australian Studies certificate with the National Institute for Genealogical Studies and quite often does free webinars. There is another one on Wednesday morning (18 April at 9am Sydney time) on Trove and how it is more than just digitised newspapers. It is free and open to all but you need to register. There is no user name or password required. Just type in your first and last name and click Enter as a Guest. Link to attend. Kerry usually advertises these on various Facebook sites so keep a watch out in the future.

What's Coming Up?

Thursday is my Sporting Ancestors talk for Caloundra Family History Research. It is always a great monthly meeting and I will also be able to find out what is happening with the Waves In Time Conference in Caloundra in May 2019. This is one of my favourite areas of Queensland and we nearly settled here so it is definitely in my diary for next year. Although it is only an hour and a half  up the highway I will be staying locally to maximise all my networking time with geneafriends.

There is a meeting of the Professional Historians Association of Queensland  at the weekend and it's on the north side of Brisbane so I'm planning to attend.

Until next time, have a great genealogy week!