Last diary entry included reference to a family get together where we would be showing old videos of ourselves and our kids which we had recently converted to DVD so that we could share them with other family members. It's amazing how much we can all change even in just a few short years. There was lots of laughter as we looked back on how much we had changed and Christmas lunches we remembered but not the details of what we wore, what we ate and the gifts we received. It was a great afternoon and we will now make copies for everyone.
Today is the 2011 Australian census night and as we are currently staying at Mum's we will have to complete it here. I have been nominated the census 'person' so I will have the job of filling in the answers to the 60 questions, three times over.While I suspect I know most of the answers, I will still have to ask the others for some information. And yes, we will be saying Yes to Question 60 which is about keeping a cover of our return for future generations.
The other major genealogy task for today is to complete my talk on mining ancestors for the monthly meeting of the Southern Suburbs branch of the Genealogical Society of Queensland which is next Monday. On the following Wednesday I am giving another talk, this time on Victorian Resources for Family History to the Queensland Family History Society at their monthly meeting. I have already finalised that talk as it is based on an earlier talk I gave to the Society of Australian Genealogists in Sydney in May.
I am all organised for my three talks at the Toowoomba City Library on Saturday so that is good. I hate last minute panics and like to have all talks completed in advance so that I can just tweak them if necessary. It has been so warm here in Brisbane that I am almost looking forward to Toowoomba's cooler climate.
I'm starting to get requests for genealogy talks next year and can't believe how quickly this year has gone. I suspect this year I accepted too many requests as I seem to have hardly ever been home which is one reason why it has gone quickly. Next year should be a slower so that I can actually work on my own family history, but then I seem to say that every year!
Monday 8 August 2011
Saturday 6 August 2011
Genealogy notes 5-7 August 2011 Everything Irish
The weather in Brisbane is absolutely perfect, you wouldn't even know it was winter. We haven't even put a cardigan on since we arrived and on our morning and afternoon walks along Enoggera Creek we even manage to work up a sweat! Going back to Melbourne is going to be hard.
Friday was a e-reading day (in between family interruptions) and I caught up with Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter (mostly US), QFHS Snippets (Queensland Family History Society), Lost Cousins: Putting Relatives in Touch (mostly UK), Professional Historians Association Queensland, Proformat News (Adelaide Proformat, South Australia), newsletters from Ancestry.com.au, and Genes Reunited and I still have more catching up to do. Now that I have started to put all e-newsletters into a single folder for reading it is easier for me to see just how many I actually receive - it's a bit of an eye opener.
Saturday was the Genealogical Society of Queensland annual seminar Ireland: Unlocking the Mystery so it was an early start to get to the Queen Alexandra Home at Coorparoo. Amazingly I still remember the way from Mum's place. First speaker was an old friend from Canberra Cora Num talking on Irish Research on the Internet which is a talk she gave on the Unlock the Past genealogy cruise but I missed it as numbers were limited and I wasn't quick enough. As usual she has a handout on her website (click on the gopher) which is just as well as she mentioned lots of sites I was familiar with but also some I wasn't aware of. So lots of follow up research on my Irish families is now on the To Do List.
I was second speaker with my talk The Colonial Irish Loved a Beer or Two and Pauline Williams was next talking about Irish Resources at the GSQ. Lunch followed and I must say the catering was fantastic at both morning tea and lunch - I don't think anyone went hungry.
After lunch Richard Reid's talk was From the First Fleet to the Rose of Tralee - The National Museum of Australia's Irish in Australian exhibition. His talk provided some of the background to the Just Not Ned: A True History of the Irish in Australia exhibition which recently closed at the National Museum of Australia (lots of Irish family history tips on this site too). Richard's anecdotes about some of the Irish objects in the exhibition and some of the issues associated with curating an exhibition of that size made for a very interesting talk. Having seen the exhibition myself in Canberra it brought back memories or added a new dimension to what I had been lucky enough to see.
Final speaker of the day was Jennifer Harrison on Releasing Irish Convicts which was an overall view of a life of an Irish convict and at each stage (crime, arrest, gaol, transportation, etc) Jennifer gave examples of the types of records which might be available to provide more details. By constructing a timeline like this it is easy to see where the gaps are and then focus your research to close those gaps.
It was good to see Queensland State Archives represented there, although they were the only exhibitor apart from the GSQ.
The seminar was a good way for me to catch up with friends and even some relatives and the GSQ's book sales table seemed to do a roaring trade. I didn't win the raffle or the lucky door prizes but then I never do. Still you have to be in it to win it.
This morning I am catching up with my emails, tweets, and blog reading (see Unlock the Past's list of blogs in Australia and New Zealand for some interesting reading). This afternoon we are having a family gathering at my brother's place which will be good as I haven't seen his kids for a while and my son and his girlfriend will also be there. Almost like Christmas in August and there will be seafood too! Must remember to take the camera and unknown to everyone we have DVD copies of our old videos when everyone was so much younger. There will be a few laughs and it's good to be home.
Friday was a e-reading day (in between family interruptions) and I caught up with Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter (mostly US), QFHS Snippets (Queensland Family History Society), Lost Cousins: Putting Relatives in Touch (mostly UK), Professional Historians Association Queensland, Proformat News (Adelaide Proformat, South Australia), newsletters from Ancestry.com.au, and Genes Reunited and I still have more catching up to do. Now that I have started to put all e-newsletters into a single folder for reading it is easier for me to see just how many I actually receive - it's a bit of an eye opener.
Saturday was the Genealogical Society of Queensland annual seminar Ireland: Unlocking the Mystery so it was an early start to get to the Queen Alexandra Home at Coorparoo. Amazingly I still remember the way from Mum's place. First speaker was an old friend from Canberra Cora Num talking on Irish Research on the Internet which is a talk she gave on the Unlock the Past genealogy cruise but I missed it as numbers were limited and I wasn't quick enough. As usual she has a handout on her website (click on the gopher) which is just as well as she mentioned lots of sites I was familiar with but also some I wasn't aware of. So lots of follow up research on my Irish families is now on the To Do List.
I was second speaker with my talk The Colonial Irish Loved a Beer or Two and Pauline Williams was next talking about Irish Resources at the GSQ. Lunch followed and I must say the catering was fantastic at both morning tea and lunch - I don't think anyone went hungry.
After lunch Richard Reid's talk was From the First Fleet to the Rose of Tralee - The National Museum of Australia's Irish in Australian exhibition. His talk provided some of the background to the Just Not Ned: A True History of the Irish in Australia exhibition which recently closed at the National Museum of Australia (lots of Irish family history tips on this site too). Richard's anecdotes about some of the Irish objects in the exhibition and some of the issues associated with curating an exhibition of that size made for a very interesting talk. Having seen the exhibition myself in Canberra it brought back memories or added a new dimension to what I had been lucky enough to see.
Final speaker of the day was Jennifer Harrison on Releasing Irish Convicts which was an overall view of a life of an Irish convict and at each stage (crime, arrest, gaol, transportation, etc) Jennifer gave examples of the types of records which might be available to provide more details. By constructing a timeline like this it is easy to see where the gaps are and then focus your research to close those gaps.
It was good to see Queensland State Archives represented there, although they were the only exhibitor apart from the GSQ.
The seminar was a good way for me to catch up with friends and even some relatives and the GSQ's book sales table seemed to do a roaring trade. I didn't win the raffle or the lucky door prizes but then I never do. Still you have to be in it to win it.
This morning I am catching up with my emails, tweets, and blog reading (see Unlock the Past's list of blogs in Australia and New Zealand for some interesting reading). This afternoon we are having a family gathering at my brother's place which will be good as I haven't seen his kids for a while and my son and his girlfriend will also be there. Almost like Christmas in August and there will be seafood too! Must remember to take the camera and unknown to everyone we have DVD copies of our old videos when everyone was so much younger. There will be a few laughs and it's good to be home.
Thursday 4 August 2011
Genealogy notes 2-4 August 2011 - Too Much To Read
My last entry was all about catching up with my genealogy reading but things didn't go quite to plan. I am now in Brisbane but at least with e-newsletters and e-books they can travel with me easily! So still planning to catch up with all that e-reading.
I'm speaking at four events while up in Queensland which is exciting as I will also get to see many old friends as well. The first event is on Saturday with the annual Genealogical Society of Queensland's seminar. The theme this year is Ireland: Unlocking the Mystery and it is fully booked. Lots of people have Irish ancestors so I'm not that surprised.
It should be a great day with speakers Cora Num with Irish Research on the Internet; myself with The Colonial Irish Loved a Beer or Two; Pauline Williams on Irish Resources at GSQ; Richard Reid curator of the Not Just Ned: A True History of the Irish in Australia exhibition at the National Museum of Australia (topic not defined) and Jennifer Harrison on Irish Convicts.
I will write more about the other events in future diary entries but you can see the list of events on my website.
Last night some of my Twitter friends and I were tweeting about 'the reading pile' beside the bed, or is that more than one pile which then seemed to turn into a bookcase, again with a 'to read' tag. I must say I identified with the issue as I often buy magazines or books at genealogy events and then don't get the chance to read them before I buy even more. And that's not counting the e-newsletters and e-books I have waiting to read on the laptop! Does every genealogist have this problem of too much to read or is it just us??
I'm speaking at four events while up in Queensland which is exciting as I will also get to see many old friends as well. The first event is on Saturday with the annual Genealogical Society of Queensland's seminar. The theme this year is Ireland: Unlocking the Mystery and it is fully booked. Lots of people have Irish ancestors so I'm not that surprised.
It should be a great day with speakers Cora Num with Irish Research on the Internet; myself with The Colonial Irish Loved a Beer or Two; Pauline Williams on Irish Resources at GSQ; Richard Reid curator of the Not Just Ned: A True History of the Irish in Australia exhibition at the National Museum of Australia (topic not defined) and Jennifer Harrison on Irish Convicts.
I will write more about the other events in future diary entries but you can see the list of events on my website.
Last night some of my Twitter friends and I were tweeting about 'the reading pile' beside the bed, or is that more than one pile which then seemed to turn into a bookcase, again with a 'to read' tag. I must say I identified with the issue as I often buy magazines or books at genealogy events and then don't get the chance to read them before I buy even more. And that's not counting the e-newsletters and e-books I have waiting to read on the laptop! Does every genealogist have this problem of too much to read or is it just us??
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