Genealogy notes 9-21 March - getting ready for genealogy Congress

This Diary has been a bit quiet for a number of reasons. Our friends came for the Labour Day weekend so it was really good showing them around Melbourne and we had fish and chips down at Williamstown and explored all the old buildings. It's amazing that the main streetscape is very much as it was back in the 1800s. They ended up going home a bit earlier than planned as their first grandchild decided to arrive earlier and quicker thank everyone expected. So the champagne flowed and we shared in their excitement. But I still would have liked to take them to Werribee Open Range Zoo as I want to go back and see the silver back gorillas they have now.

The next week was quiet as I had a basal cell carcinoma (one of the better kind of skin cancers you can get) removed from the right side of my face, leaving a bit of a hole and ten rather ugly stitches. A few days later the doctor called to confirm that the biopsy showed that he had got it all and everything should be ok in the future. But I do need to look for any more that might pop up which is a legacy of growing up on the Gold Coast in the 1960s and 70s and slathering ourselves with coconut oil!

I did manage to finish sorting out my professional library and archive books and took three big boxes to one of the members of the local branch of the Australian Society of Archivists Religious Archives special interest group. Most of these people are part time or volunteers and don't always have access to professional libraries. I'm hoping that everyone will be able to select a book/s that will continue to help them with their work. I'd rather give my books to people I know who will use and appreciate them than sell them to a book dealer - it's like an ongoing legacy. I mentored many people during my career and it's one of the things I miss in retirement.

The other major thing I did was to finalise my two presentations for the 13th Australasian Congress on Genealogy & Heraldry and sent them to the conference organisers. It starts next Tuesday night with the welcome reception which is always a good opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues from other States and New Zealand.

I've also made arrangements to visit the Adelaide Migration Museum to visit their exhibition Who Are We Now - last year I was privileged to be asked to contribute one of my blogs - Letters Home - My Irish Families to the exhibition. Due to timing and distance I wasn't able to get to the exhibition opening so I'm going on Tuesday to have a look and also chat to the Curator and find out how the exhibition has been received. I hope some of the other Congress attendees also make it to the Migration Museum as it's is definitely worth a visit.

We are driving over to Adelaide and taking the caravan so we will be doing some sightseeing along the way - going via the Coorong (vast unspoiled ecosystem of freshwater lakes, wetlands, ocean and saltwater inlets) and returning via Berri on the Murray River (where Max grew up) and should be home for Easter. Where is this year going - seems even faster than last year but then I say that every year lately. I will be blogging and tweeting from the Congress so if you can't make it, you can at least follow what's happening as there will be a few of us trying to capture everything through our tweets and blogs. Stay tuned.

Genealogy notes 1-8 March 2012 - Kyabram seminar talks

What a hectic week starting with my partner's birthday on the 2nd. We went down to historic Queenscliff the day before and had a great time looking at some of the very grand hotels and homes as well as the Fort Queenscliff Museum. It's also a seafood haven and we had some great meals including local mussels and fish. Then it was back home to get ready for the Kyabram Regional Genealogy Society seminar where I was giving three talks as well as selling some Unlock the Past publications.

Given all the awful flooding in north east Victoria we weren't too sure if we would even get there but Kyabram was just outside the flooded areas although a number of people who had booked couldn't make it because they were either already flooded or were afraid they wouldn't make it back home. It was still a great afternoon and my talks on Google for Family History, It's Not All Online and Archives You Should Know left most of them a little bit overwhelmed but in those talks I'm aiming to broaden their view of family history beyond the usual suspects. It's meant to give them lots to think about and I do put copies of the slides on the Resources page of my website.

I haven't done an evaluation of my talks for a while so I asked everyone to complete an evaluation form which most did. Even though they are anonymous, people still feel strange/reluctant about providing written feedback. The verbal feedback was good and I was kept busy with questions right up until the organisers were showing us out the door! Written feedback was more on the venue, a big hall with no microphone so I encouraged people to move their chairs closer to me but that didn't really help with the 'echoing'. It didn't help that I left my remote and laser pointer at home so I had to stay close to the laptop to change slides.

One person thought the seats too hard - I have seen people bring their own cushions to events so obviously they have been caught out by hard seats before! Also there were some beginners so a few requests for more basic talks but it is always hard to know at what level to pitch those kinds of talks. Hopefully they will join/ask their local society for help too.

One person said my three talks was a marathon effort and it did feel that way towards the end and a number found the Google talk 'enlightening'. I think a lot of people don't realise how much more to Google there is than just a search engine. One person said it was 'well worth driving in the rain for' and as it was a three hour drive there and three hours back for us that made me feel that it was worth our effort in appalling weather. I will give the final comment to the person who said 'loved it all - just what I wanted and needed'.

After that I veged out for a few days and devoted time to continue to pack and sort out which books I will keep and which will go. I contacted the Religious Collections Special Interest Group of the Australian Society of Archivists (they've got a great new website) to see if some of their members would be interested in having my library and archives books. Most of them are volunteers or part time and don't have access to work libraries and they were most enthusiastic. So I will drop off three boxes of books and then they can work out who wants what and I will be happy knowing that my books are still being put to good use.

I treated myself to a visit to the State Library of Victoria and it really is a great genealogy resource and they weren't that many people in the Genealogy Centre that day. I was surprised when one of the librarians told me they hate cruise ships visiting Melbourne - apparently a lot of people make a beeline for the Library to do their genealogy while in port! And these aren't even genealogy cruises, just ordinary cruises but people still take their genealogy away with them. Not sure why I was surprised really, I do that kind of thing myself!!

We have friends coming for the Labour Day weekend - we met them on the last Unlock the Past genealogy cruise and in January we stayed with them near Paynesville in the Gippsland Lakes and now they are checking out western Melbourne and the Bellarine Peninsula with us. There will probably be lots of genealogy talk over the weekend while our partners discuss their boats and fishing!

Next week I'm heading to Public Record Office Victoria for their Women, Children and Welfare History in the Archives free seminar which should be good. I've also got to finish and send off my two presentations for the AFFHO genealogy congress in Adelaide at the end of the month. I always look forward to the congress (every three years) as it is a great opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues. The next one is in Canberra in 2015.

Don't forget St Patrick's day next week - I always do an Irish family blog and have had great success with finding relatives in previous years so fingers crossed! Until next time.

Genealogy notes 23 - 29 Feb 2012 - lots of blogging

We've been back from Darwin four days and most of that time has been spent trying to catch up with everything in between various medical appointments. I had to finalise the last of the daily blogs from the War Comes to Australia tour (appeared over six days in Diary of an Australian Genealogist) and then do an overview report on my website. The other Darwin blog I finished was a report was on the family history seminar held after the tour.

There was the usual pile of mail waiting for us and I was excited to see my prize for winning one of Inside History's Friday Facebook competitions. I'm looking forward to reading Lucy Frost's Abandoned Women: Scottish Convicts Exiled Beyond the Seas! Currently I'm about half way through Babette Smith's Australia's Birthstain: The Startling Legacy of the Convict Era so it looks like my convict reading theme will continue for a bit longer.

Another exciting piece of correspondence was to receive an invitation to speak at the Deniliquin Genealogy Society's annual expo in October. The last time we were in Deniliquin NSW was because our car broke down travelling back from Adelaide to our then home in Canberra. I'm sure this visit will leave much more pleasant memories.

I didn't think I would get to Sydney this year but the Royal Australian Historical Society have asked me to partner with Carol Baxter to present a full day workshop on researching your family and writing up the family history. I've worked with Carol in a writing seminar before and she is an inspirational speaker who really gets people enthused about writing up their family stories in an interesting way. The new RAHS Calendar of Events (for Apr-Jun) is not up yet but the dates will be 12 April and 19 April - it will run twice as they are expecting it to be popular.

It's my other half's birthday and every year I try to take him some place special that we haven't been before. As we have just got back from Darwin and are going to Adelaide in a few weeks, I didn't want to travel to far. One of the places that has been on my bucket list since arriving in Melbourne in 2003 is to stay at the Vue Grand in Queenscliff. We've done a few fishing charters out of Queenscliff and quite often go down to the Bellarine peninsula to get fresh mussels from Portarlington but we've never stayed at this historic hotel. By chance, I saw a special summer accommodation offer and although summer is now technically over, I was still able to book a night at the special rate for his birthday. I'm really looking forward to it as we haven't even been inside before.

We can't linger down at Queenscliff as I'm giving three talks at the Kyabram Regional Genealogy Society on Saturday and eight of my Deniliquin friends are going to make the trek over to Kyabram (VIC) as well. It should be a good day although after that many talks and lots of questions I often feel a little drained! Max is going along to to sell some of the Unlock the Past publications that I usually take along with me because people out in regional areas don't always get to look at books prior to buying. I know I always like to see before I buy!

There is a stack of unread blogs, e-newsletters and even emails still to catch up on so enough diary writing for now! Until next time. 

Genealogy notes 22 Feb 2012 - Final day of Darwin battlefield tour

The last week has gone very quickly although we have been kept very busy on the War Comes to Australia tour organised by Unlock the Past in collaboration with Mat McLachlan Battlefield Tours. This last day is basically breakfast and then transfers out to the airport although a number of people seem to be staying on to do other things in the Territory.

It was also a last chance to say goodbye to new friends and swap contact details. I was particularly looking forward to going down to breakfast as I had given Brad Manera my uncle's WW2 kidney dish to look at overnight. I wanted to know if this was a common item that every soldier brought back or something more unique. Mum had said that my uncle used it to eat out of but it didn't really seem big enough for that.

I was very excited when Brad confirmed it was uncommon and that it appeared to be either Italian or French in origin. As my uncle had engraved the various places he had been to in the war along with dates and various drawings and symbols this made it even more unique. I am now more than ever determined to research his war service and he will be my ANZAC day blog this year so I have a bit of time. Also when I go to Brisbane in June I will ask Mum about his photo albums as I remember seeing WW2 photos amongst Mum's albums. Brad and I will keep in touch about our findings.

I will be doing an overview blog which will appear on my website but just to wrap up this daily blog, I have found the tour really enjoyable and interesting. Not only that it has further awakened my academic interests which have been a bit dormant since I finished my Masters back in the late 90s. While on the UTP genealogy cruise last November a friend asked when was I going to do my PhD as it is on my list of things to do when retired. My response was I hadn't found a topic yet (you have to be pretty passionate about something for a PhD) and my interests have moved on since I did my Masters on Female Philanthropy in Colonial Queensland. I suspect that I really should do another degree or post graduate degree to get back into research before plunging into a PhD. I should probably move house too as that is disruptive and time consuming!

Would I do another battlefield tour? Without hesitation, especially if it had a personal connection to our own families. I'd like to thank again Unlock the Past and Mat McLachlan for giving me the opportunity to be part of the tour.

On Saturday there is the Unlock the Past Family History Seminar with the Genealogical Society of the Northern Territory and the Northern Territory Library (being held at the Library) so stay tuned for a report on that. Rosemary Kopittke and I are each giving three talks and it should be a great day.

Genealogy notes 21 Feb 2012 - Day 5 of Darwin battlefield tour

Today was an early start on our War Comes to Australia tour as we were heading down to the Adelaide River area to visit various military sites. I was on the second bus and our driver gave a running commentary on the history of Darwin and the Northern Territory as we made our way south. First stop was the WW2 Strauss airstrip where there is a static display outlining the role of the airstrip and three large kittyhawk aircraft replicas attract passers by as it is not obvious it is an old military airstrip until you stop.

Second stop was the Rail Heritage Precinct at Adelaide River where there was lots to see especially about the railway and the building of the overland telegraph. I wandered around the grounds to see the outside displays as well but it was incredibly humid. We also had morning tea here as well and I think my very nice, but hot cup of tea only made me sweat more.

The third stop was at the Adelaide River war graves cemetery and here Brad Manera performed a short, but moving,  ceremony reciting the very moving "They shall  grow not old, as we that are left grow old, Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, We will remember them". Followed by Lest We Forget. Then members of the War Widows' Guild laid a wreath at the memorial. We then had a quick look around but the humidity must have been 100% and most of us tried to stay in the shade.

We then had a short drive out to Mt Bundy Station which is a well known working cattle property for a look and just near the station were some incredible termite mounds and also a herd of buffalo. We didn't get out here and after a few 'termite photos' we went back to the Adelaide River Inn for lunch. I was fortunate to be sitting at the same table as our driver and he pointed out some of the very interesting birds in the nearby trees. Of course I can't remember their name now but they had red eyes and yellow breasts.

After lunch we swapped our bus for the all terrain vehicle which the other group had been on in the morning. I felt sorry for Brad at this point as he had to do the all terrain trip again as he was giving the commentary on the significance of the Snake Creek area. I hadn't even realised this area was there and as we made our way in, you could see all kinds of relics in the bush, from munition storage depots to old research buildings and accommodation places. The old train tracks were also visible in places. A fascinating area and I felt like wanting to go on an archaeological dig there, as it awakened feelings I haven't felt since I did archaeology at university many years ago.

From there we made our way to the old WW2 Coomalie airstrip and a local expert on the area gave us a talk. We were very lucky as it had been teeming rain all the way from Snake Creek to Coomalie and the runoff was flooding the sides of the road. However as we arrived at Coomalie the rain stopped and we were able to get out and look around although the thunder still rumbled overhead. The humidity had dropped substantially which was most welcome.

Then it was the long trip back to Darwin and Brad told various anecdotes and answered questions and we were back at the hotel in time to freshen up for the farewell dinner. This was a buffet with various roasts, potatoes, vegetables, salads, soup, bread and a very tempting dessert section. There was lots of conversation, farewell speeches and people swapping contact details.

Tomorrow those heading home will be taken to the airport, but quite a few are staying on to see more of Darwin. We will be doing some sightseeing ourselves and the arrival of the Queen Mary 2 in Darwin tomorrow is a must see. Till next time.

Genealogy notes 20 Feb 2012 - Day 4 of Darwin battlefield tour

Regular readers will know that I'm on the Unlock the Past and Mat McLachlan Battlefield Tours War Comes to Australia tour and I'm a bit behind in my blogging as the days are quite full and there isn't that much time to write my blog let alone keep up with my emails, tweets and other social media. Plus the heat and humidity has a way of sapping one's energy too.

Day 4 was a combination of visits to various museums and then three talks in the early evening from 4-7pm at the beautiful Northern Territory Library within the NT Parliament House which was an experience in itself.

First however to the museums and we boarded our buses ca 9.00am to head out to East Point Reserve and the Darwin Military Museum and the new Defence of Darwin Experience. We had a group photo with one of the WW2 military gun emplacements in the background. It was also good to see some wallabies seeking shade under the trees near the museum too.

I've been to the museum a few times and you could spend hours looking at both the indoor and outdoor displays but I was more interested in the new Defence of Darwin Experience which had only opened two days earlier for the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin. This is a very impressive interactive display and if you fully explored everything it would take some hours (Max spent four hours there but that included time chatting to old diggers).

Those of us on the tour didn't have that luxury and I found that one of the most moving exhibits was a map of Darwin which then has virtual Japanese planes flying over and dropping virtual bombs in the two raids and you see just how much of Darwin and the harbour was bombed as these big red/yellow splotches cover the map. The realistic re-enactment in the theatre is both audio and visual and almost leaves you a little shell shocked at the end (there is a warning outside that advises about the bright lights, noise and so on). A must see addition to any visit to Darwin.

With the morning gone we returned to either the city centre or the hotel for lunch and then out to the Australian Aviation Heritage Centre for the afternoon. I have been there many times so I stayed behind to write the Day 3 blog and caught the bus again later to go to the Northern Territory Library for the talks. Perhaps what I found the most staggering when I went to the Aviation Heritage Centre was the magnificent B-52 bomber which is just so huge. The Centre has all kinds of aircraft as well as other displays and is a must see museum even if you aren't a plane addict!

As I suspected by the end of the day some people on the tour were too hot, tired etc to attend three hours of talks at the Library. Perhaps if the talks were at the hotel we might have got more of the tour people attending. However, the talks were also free to Darwin residents so there was still a good turn-up at the Library. As it is inside Parliament House everyone and their bags must be screened on entry - I never beep at the airport but I did there! As we were a bit late getting there, the talks started a bit late as well.

First up was Dr Tom Lewis OAM who talked about the Myths and Perceptions of the Raids on Darwin 19 Feb 1942 and  I had an idea of what he would be talking about as there was an interview with him about this topic in the NT News anniversary souvenir which I had read. As a professional historian, Tom gets frustrated/annoyed at the errors/misperceptions/myths about the bombing that are repeated and he pointed out numerous examples and what the 'truth' was using documented sources. In particular he looked at the comparisons with Pearl Harbour.

I was not totally comfortable with Tom making fun of, almost ridiculing the 'amateurs' or 'not for profits' he was using as examples and I don't think he really should have named and shamed at a public talk. I could see the point he was making but I still found myself hoping that none of those people were present. As someone with a history background I can understand his frustrations but with my archives and libraries background, I am also aware that these 'amateurs' and 'not for profits' are also sometimes the only ones interested in events/subjects and without their keenness to capture stories/save/donate records etc, we might not have anything for future generations. I see our job as to educate and encourage use of documented sources and citations whenever possible and in family history the rule is to have at least two pieces of evidence to confirm every fact. No doubt this difference in viewpoints could be debated much further, much like all the disputed points of Darwin's military heritage.

Brad Manera was next and at first I wondered where he was going with his talk on an overview of war and Australia's role in the Empire under threat. He started with the marines/soldiers that guarded the convicts and reminded us that most of them had military experience in the American revolutionary war, the Crimea and so on. He moved on to NSW sending a contingent to the Sudan (and I loved his reference to Charlton Heston at Khartoum) and from there to the Boer War and the colonial/Commonwealth contingents. Then to Gallipoli and the Western Front and one thing that particularly struck me was his explanation of the various war memorials across Australia for WW1. The reason that Australians did build such elaborate WW1 memorials was because we couldn't visit the graves of our husbands and sons as they were buried overseas in foreign countries and we needed somewhere to mourn. He had slides showing images of the various places which made it that much more poignant. It was a great overview and could have been longer.

By the time it was my turn to speak it was just after 6.30pm and a number of people left then but it was still a good crowd (not sure what the overall numbers were) and those staying were more interested in family history than military history. My talk was on Discovering Your Military Ancestors in Australia and I have promised to put a copy of my presentation on my website on the Resources page but haven't had time to do that yet (within the next week). Strangely enough my talk was a good follow on to Brad's as my family examples all fitted into the places/battles that he had talked about and put a real person with family into those horrific situations at Gallipoli and the Western Front. I even held up my Uncle's 'kidney' dish to show how war time souvenirs can also help to trace a relative's war experiences. I was pleased that three Darwin people came up and said how much they enjoyed the talk and two said they were also going to next Saturday's family history seminar, again at the Northern Territory Library.  I also received good feedback from people that night at the hotel and the next day as people caught up with me.

I think my presentation may have been better placed at the start of the tour so that those who didn't know me, could have chatted to me about their family history problems earlier than the last day. I have even taken some problems away with me and will get back to people by email although it's always better to have a personal chat and discuss results if you can.

It was after 7.30pm by the time I finally caught up with Max for dinner and there was a thunderstorm imminent so we drove up Smith Street looking for inspiration and dinner. We saw Hot Noodles and couldn't resist and had Sweet Chilli Quails for entree and Curry Laksas sitting outside while the rain came down in torrents. By the time we finished a terrific meal, so had the rain and we drove back to the motel. It's an 8.30am start tomorrow as we are heading down to the Adelaide River area for a full day of touring various military attractions. Stay tuned.

Genealogy notes 19 Feb 2012 - Day 3 Darwin battlefield tour

The 70th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin on 19 Feb 1942 also marks the introduction of the Bombing of Darwin Day into the Australian calendar of military events. It's good to know that the 19th of February will be remembered every year in a formal way just like ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day.

The Sunday Territorian had a wonderful 32 page souvenir wraparound which is full of moving personal stories, great photographs and contributions from the Prime Minister, Chief Minister and the Lord Mayor of Darwin. So I made sure to get a copy of the newspaper early as I did not want to miss out. NT News also has a special multimedia presentation on their website.

Along with just about everyone else in Darwin, we attended the main commemorative service at 9.30am, although a little later than that due to the usual last minute delays. Everyone attending was given a program and a very handy City of Darwin/1942 Frontline Australia hand fan and a free bottle of water which was great to see and much appreciated. Obviously there were not enough seats for everyone but huge screens had also been erected for those who couldn't get close enough to see in person. Fortunately the area has lots of trees for people to sit/stand under as well.

We managed to find a place to stand at the back of one of the seating areas with a screen just in front so we had a great view and it was easy to hear too. Next to me was a very elderly man on his own and he looked like an old digger and I was concerned to see him standing when just in front of us there were a number of families with very young children occupying chairs. I started thinking that one of the parents should put a child on their laps and give the old man a chair. Well my thoughts must have communicated with the parents as after about a half hour, one of the fathers offered me a seat. I immediately offered it to the old man and he said no, I should have it. After insisting, and holding the chair for him so that he could shakily sit down, he gave me a big smile and a thank you.

As  we started going through the program and listened to the speeches I could see him trying to discretely wipe the tears behind his dark glasses and felt my own eyes misting up as I sensed his memories. I don't know if he was one of those personally caught up in the bombing of Darwin on that fateful day as he was reluctant to talk but when he got up to leave during the wreath laying, he thanked me and gave me that big smile again and wandered off on his own. I'm so glad that we decided to stand next to him and in some strange way it made the whole ceremony that much more personal for me.

As I mentioned earlier there was a program and Ray Martin was the Master of Ceremonies and was on stage with all the official dignitaries including the Governor General, Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, Chief Minister, Lord Mayor and so on. The Darwin Choral and Australian Army Band Darwin sang I Am Australian and the air raid sirens went and a RAAF PC3 Orion Aircraft flew over. A very realistic re-enactment was then staged by the Australian Army and one of the other freebies given out were ear plugs to minimise the noise. Within a few minutes it was very easy to appreciate how loud and scary it would have been for everyone in Darwin on that day.

The Lord Mayor then welcomed everybody and the Governor General, Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition all gave speeches and then there was the wreath laying ceremony which took quite a while as so many people wanted to lay wreaths. The local guest speaker was next and Mrs Ada Mumford told the audience of her own personal memories of that day and it was a very emotional moment for her. A commemorative prayer followed and then there was the minute's silence (which some people don't seem to understand means that you do keep quiet and don't talk). The ceremony concluded with the first verse of the national anthem Advance Australia Fair (and the words were on the program which was handy as a lot of people around us didn't seem to know the words).

We then wandered back to our hotel and a cup of tea in air-conditioned comfort. Overall I found it very moving and it must have been even more so for all those with personal connections to Darwin on that day. Nothing else was planned for the group and it was a free afternoon and evening although there were other events that people could attend.

Personally I would have liked to have had another talk or two in the afternoon as it was so hot and people might not have wanted to walk into the shopping area or wherever. It is always hard when you are on bus trips as you don't have your own car to easily drive somewhere. Tomorrow there are three talks scheduled from 4-7pm after a big day touring various museums and it might have been preferable to have one of those on Sunday. I'm also an early dinner person so perhaps that's part of my thinking that 7pm is a late finish.

I know how hard it is putting these programs together to try and please everybody (not quite possible anytime) so Unlock the Past and Mat McLachlan Battlefield Tours are to be congratulated on the program so far. Everything has gone quite smoothly and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. Stay tuned.