Genealogy notes 28 Jun - 3 Jul 2013 genealogy seminars & reviews

It's been a big week for genealogy. On Sunday I went to the annual Genealogical Society of Queensland seminar which had a program of Irish heritage in the morning and immigration in the afternoon. As usual I've written a review of the day and you can read the review here. A copy of the talk I gave on 19thC immigration is on my Resources page, scroll down to Presentations. The great thing about genealogy seminars is that you can meet up with old friends and meet new ones, or help solve someone's brick wall, or at least try to.

It was with real pleasure that I saw Helen Smith's smiling face in the audience and at lunch I had the chance to chat. Her first words to me - haven't seen anything about the Burstows in the Diary for a while? Immediate guilt on my part as Burstow is my one name study and Helen is the Queensland rep for the Guild of One Name Studies, she's researching the name Quested. I shouldn't really feel guilt as National Family History Month is taking up a lot of my spare time at present and there is now less than four weeks to August. Still I would like to get back to working on the one name study!

I also caught up with one of Max's cousins - it turns out that we are related by marriage! My gg grandfather's  (Anders Gundersen) second wife (Ann Pollard) was the younger sister of their ancestor (William Pollard). So it was nice to get that information to add into both of our family databases. Max's family seems to be the flavour of the month as I also received an email from Scotland from another one of his more distant cousins on the Jarvis side, so I've been swapping information with them too.

We have had a spell of wet and cold weather here (for a change) so I've spent the time writing up all the reviews that I had previously promised people. There are five new reviews on the Resources page of my website, scroll down to Reviews to see the following:

• Hazel Edwards OAM, Authorpreneurship: the business of creativity
• Carol Baxter, Captain Thunderbolt & His Lady: the true story of bushrangers Frederick Ward & Mary Ann Bugg
• Cathy Dunn, Norfolk Island Deaths 1st Settlement 1788-1814
• Merle D Grinly, Queensland Ship Deserters 1861-1911 
• Merle D Grinly, Queensland Transmissions of Real Estate by Death 1878-1940
• Merle D Grinly, Wallangarra Quarantine Registers 1918-1919

Some great new genealogy resources here so check them out if you have Norfolk Island or Queensland research interests and Hazel's book is a must read if you are a writer or thinking about becoming an author. Carol's book is simply a good read.

Last Diary I mentioned that I would be doing a Q&A on National Family History Month on Inside History's Facebook page on 18 July - that has now been changed to 25 July so amend your calendars! I will be talking about my 31 genealogy activities for researchers during NFHM and I am also going to have 31 activities for genealogy and family history societies to do during August. None of it is compulsory but it will give people some ideas on what to try during the month and don't forget to check the NFHM web calendar to see what events are on near you. I'm adding events most days lately.

In the coming week I'll be finalising my two talks for Chinchilla and continuing with NFHM activities including launch arrangements and adding events to the NFHM website. It's a gorgeous day here on Bribie Island, sunny blue skies and the temp going up to 24 today so I'm heading out to do a bit of gardening and enjoy that winter sunshine. Until next time.

Genealogy notes 20-27 June 2013 free Irish searches & more

We have just said goodbye to yet another lot of friends visiting us - so many of our friends now seem to be holidaying up here and escaping the cold down south. While I love catching up with everyone it does take me away from my laptop and then I go into email and internet withdrawal. I'm not sure if it's the approach of National Family History Month in just four weeks time or if people seem to do more genealogy when it's colder but there is certainly lots happening at the moment.

Don't miss the findmypast free Irish records searching from 27-30 June - this is to commemorate the loss of almost all of the 19thC Irish census records. To quote from their media release the  "‘Ashes to Archives’ initiative which will provide Australians free access to its Irish Birth, Death and Marriage Records. Available from 27 until 30 June, 2013 Australians will not only have free access to over 21 million Irish birth, death and marriage records, but also plenty of useful resources for piecing together their Irish ancestry, notoriously one of most difficult genealogies to track." 

Another new website to check out is the new Unlock the Past cruises website. Their media release says it all but in short there will be more cruises with different itineraries, prices to suit everyone and I'm already tempted by the Baltic cruise in 2015. I've got ancestors from that part of the world and I've always wanted to go there. Although regular readers will already know I'm a genealogy cruise addict. I find them more preferable than a land based genealogy conference as everything is on board and you don't have to travel to the venue each day or wonder where you will eat that night.

It was nice to see that I'm already listed as a blogging partner and I'm one of the presenters on the Feb 2014 cruise to southern Australia. I'm particularly excited to be catching up with Chris Paton again and meeting Thomas MacEntee for the first time, although I feel like I already know him from various social media interaction over the years. There are other new speakers as well as some of the regular favourites so it looks like being another great cruise. Roll on February!

I'm starting to get back into Queensland mode having connected up with Brisbane's Living Heritage Network. It's a great way to quickly see heritage locations within Brisbane and also outside Brisbane. So many places to revisit and even some new ones. I'd also forgotten about the Brisbane History Group and it's good to see that they are still organising events and looking into Brisbane's history. I probably should also rejoin the Royal Historical Society of Queensland too although it's a bit far to be attending meetings.

National Family History Month in August is keeping busy at the moment - the main task is putting all the events into the web calendar and I expect that will get a bit busier between now and August. The launch is under control and I've got all my travel plans organised for my trip to Melbourne to attend the 10th anniversary of Family History Feast at the State Library of Victoria and then on to Canberra to speak at the Heraldry and Genealogy Society of Canberra and attend the National Archives of Australia's advisory committee meeting on the centenary of WW1.

Of course before I do all that jet setting, I'm off to Chinchilla in two weeks for two talks, together with Sue Reid from the Queensland Family History Society. Max and I will also visit Miles while we are out that way. Why? Because that's where his dad met his mum, at the Miles Hotel during WW2. We got some nice photos of his parents from his Aunty Joyce while we were in Bundaberg -the handsome soldier and the hotel keeper's daughter!

But more immediate is my talk on Sunday at the annual Genealogical Society of Queensland seminar. The presentation is all done and I've been contemplating a hair cut but I think I'm in the 'grow in long again frame of mind'. One day I might find the perfect hairstyle for me but I'm not holding my breath.

I should also mention that I've done my final article in a 12 part series for Irish Lives Remembered on Irish Loved Ones Missing Downunder. That will be in the July issue but June is now on their website. I don't really know where the last 12 months went but moving from Victoria to Queensland and being homeless for five months was a big part of it. Looking back now I can't believe that I managed to keep the series going while travelling.

Finally I've been asked to host a Q&A session on National Family History Month for Inside History's regular  Thursday night Facebook session. I haven't done one for ages but it will be a good opportunity to do a last minute plug for NFHM and get people checking the web calendar for events near them. It will be on 18 July so put that date in your diaries. Inside History is one of the many sponsors for NFHM and we are grateful to their support.

July is going to be a big month but I'm hoping to be a bit more regular with this Diary just to keep people informed of what's happening out there. If you can spread the word about NFHM in any way I will be very grateful. Until next time, happy genealogy searching.






  

Genealogy notes 9-19 June 2013 lots of genealogy news

The last ten days have been full of genealogy news and events and I've had a hard time trying to keep us as our visitors stayed for ten days and then we had two other lots of friends visit on consecutive days. So I'm behind with the housework and gardening but that can wait as I need to catch up with all my genealogy before I forget! Where to start?

I almost missed Ancestry's free British records over the June long weekend because with people in the house, I wasn't logging on every day. Findmypast have secured the rights to publish all of the registered wills from New South Wales from 1800 to 1952 so I can't wait to see that project finalised! Also FMP have some free seminars coming up in August in Melbourne and Sydney with Joshua Taylor.  Bookings are essential and it almost makes me wish I was still in Melbourne. The best way to find out about all these free offers and what is happening is to subscribe to the free e-newsletters from Ancestry and Findmypast (and of course you need to find time to read them)!

The other free e-newsletters I like to get and read regularly are the ones from the various State archives and there is always information about new records and resources. For example, Public Record Office Victoria now has a new guide on Looking For A Person which is quite useful - Provguide 31.

At night after everyone was tucked up in their beds, I at least had some time to peruse the latest books in the Unlock the Past (UTP) publications series. I was particularly excited by some of these titles as they are on my own areas of research interest. Neil Smith has two new publications - Finding the Family Redcoat: Tracing Your British Military Ancestors in Australia and That Elusive Digger: Tracing Your Australian Military Ancestors and I'm really looking forward to reading both of those. Noelene Kyle is a long time friend from my Queensland Family History Society days and she has a new book out titled Finding Florence, Maude, Matilda, Rose: Researching and Writing Women into Family History and at first glance this looks like a great overview of all the places to look for women. Another must read. Graham Jaunay has another book out on Tracing Your English Ancestors which is arranged by types of records and the final UTP book that I have to find time to read is Rosemary Kopittke's Scotland's People: the Place to Launch your Scottish Research. All publications are available from Gould Genealogy & History.

I've been steadily plugging away at promoting National Family History Month and keeping sponsors up to date with what is happening. Events are slowly going up on the web calendar and yesterday I did a blitz on Facebook to encourage more Likes and to remind people to put their events into the web calendar. There are some great prizes from the sponsors for the genealogy and family history societies who put their events into the calendar and help to promote NFHM. I'm lucky to have genealogy mad friends because they all hit Like and have helped to spread the word more. It's a bit like ripples in the pond but at least the message is getting out there. I'm doing two talks in August - one in Canberra and the other here on Bribie Island and the details are on my website under Services & Events.

More immediate is my talk at the annual Genealogical Society of Queensland seminar which is on 30 June so I've managed to do a draft presentation on Immigration in the 19thC (including those who swam). Now all I have to do is finalise it and make sure it fits within the allotted time (the hard part). I'm looking forward to catching up with all my GSQ friends. In July we are heading out to Chinchilla for a one day seminar organised by the Chinchilla Family History Society and they have asked for two of my more popular talks. But I always need to refresh my talks as websites change so often and there is always new information to include.

I've been following up on some of the new info from Max's Aunty Joyce that we got a couple of weeks ago in Bundaberg and it now looks like that I might be related to some of his cousins through a marriage back in 1885. Talk about six degrees of separation! His Spencer family is from the same village as my mother's family back in the 1850s so I'm starting to wonder how many more connections we might find. When his brother visited, he brought up their father's WW2 albums (four in all) so I have to find some time to go through them and compare them to his National Archives of Australia army dossier. No rest for genealogists!

What I am finding is that my new home is quite a distraction and it's like being on a permanent holiday at the beach. Currently the sun is shining, the sky is blue and it is warm outside. For the last week I have even been having a daily swim (admittedly in the middle of the day) even though we are in the depths of winter. It makes me wonder why we lived for so long in Canberra and Melbourne when we could have been back here in sunny Queensland! No more minus 8 degrees and sliding on the ice and frost to get the morning paper for me although locals are telling us that we will acclimatise and by next winter we will be looking for our jumpers! 

Perhaps the turtle doves know something too. When I go for my swim there are about four doves who regularly line up on the pool fence and watch me swim. Are they simply sitting there soaking up the warm sunshine or are they asking themselves who is this mad woman who has taken up residence? I'm actually planning to put a table and chair up at the pool so I can work up there and I certainly enjoy reading by the pool but the deck chairs are a bit too comfy and I have a tendency to dose off in all that warmth!

Well it's almost swim time again so if you haven't Liked the National Family History Month Facebook page please do so and if you have a genealogy event in August please add it to the web calendar. The more we spread the word about NFHM in August 2013 the more events we will have to choose from and it will be a great month for genealogy in Australia. Plus don't forget that New Zealand also has NFHM and their main celebration is the Family History Fair in Auckland 2-4 August 2013. Happy researching until next time.