Trove Tuesday, PNG & other news - Genealogy notes 51-21 Jan 2016

Well it is now official, my website has been archived by the National Library of Australia into Pandora. This Diary was added a few years ago and I can now put this button on both sites to indicate that they are in Pandora. There are some great websites there and while some are still current, many are archived because they are no longer in existence. Why not check out what's already in Australia's web archive, Pandora!

I have been working on my talks for the next Unlock the Past genealogy cruise which leaves in about three weeks. As usual I am amazed at how many websites have changed since I last checked links or how much has been added to sites. It is so distracting because I often hive off to check something out instead of  working on the presentation. I remember we used to joke about genealogy being never ending back in the 80s - that was a self fulfilling prophecy especially with the introduction of the internet.

Gordon Price, WW2

The other distraction re genealogy cruising is that Unlock the Past have started advertising their July 2017 cruise to Papua New Guinea which has long been on my list of places to visit. My uncle Gordon, a Rat of Tobruk. spent time their during WW2 (read Gordon's story here) as did Max's father and my grandfather Henry Price was also sent there in WW1. Read Henry's story here. So a strong family and history connection ties us to that part of the Pacific. No surprises that I booked a cabin this week!

It was only after I had paid the deposit and confirmed everything that I realised I would be away for the start of National Family History Month 2017 which is  due to launch in Sydney. Well perhaps I won't be the voluntary coordinator by then or I do what I inadvertently did in 2015, not attend the launch. I have to get through NFHM 2016 first before I need to make those decisions. My approach to sponsors is going well and most of last year's sponsors have agreed to sponsor again which is fantastic.

I am currently looking at web proofs for the new revamped NFHM website - so hard to make those design type decisions. I like a bit of that one and a bit of the other one which of course doesn't help the designer. But I will say it looks 100% better than the old website. All will be revealed soon and the site will be open for new events in February. The launch is in Perth this year so definitely spreading the word across Australia.

Although I have no new resolutions for 2016, I have always wanted to participate in Trove Tuesday blogging. Lots of other bloggers have been doing it for years but rather than commit myself to every Tuesday I am going for at least one Trove Tuesday post a month. More if time permits. My first ever Trove Tuesday post was on my great grandfather James Carnegie and I found a fantastic report on his retirement from Brisbane River Ferries in 1946. Read the whole story here.

The really bright spot in the week was a royalty notice from Unlock the Past for the 3rd quarter of 2015. My biggest selling guide was Where Do I Start? closely followed by my Tracing Mining Ancestors guide. Book sales still outnumber e-book sales and I even have a few overseas sales which is interesting. So print publishing not quite out of the picture yet.

With a guest arriving tomorrow I have spent time gardening, cleaning and decluttering rather than researching or writing. Sad but true. But next week it will be back to more research fun.  In the meantime it is the Australia Day weekend although some people do have to work on the Monday before the holiday on Tuesday.

This Australia Day I am going to pick one of my first immigrant ancestors who I have not written too much about yet. Herbert William White came out from Wiltshire in the early 1880s and married a South Australian of Cornish descent in Charters Towers, Queensland. Stay tuned for his story!

Enjoy Australia Day and the coming week. Good luck with any genealogy searches. Until next time.

Pandora, Aussie blogs & other news - Genealogy Notes 8 - 14 Jan 2016

Wow the second week of 2016 went past in a blur and with all my rehabilitation I didn't get time to do much. But it was a week when three good things happened from a genealogy viewpoint and just a shame I couldn't write about them all at the time.

First up I was alerted to a blog post by State Library of New South Wales about the second edition of my book What Was The Voyage Really Like? It was fantastic to see one of my books being used to help people who go into SLNSW. It is part of their popular questions blog series. Thanks to a number of geneabuddies I was alerted to the post otherwise I might have missed it. Read their post here. My books are for sale online through Gould Genealogy & History and are part of their Unlock the Past guide series.

The second piece of good news was a couple of days later with an email from the National Library of Australia asking permission to archive my website Shauna Hicks Historical Enterprises into their web archive Pandora. This is a great honour and I was thrilled. This Diary blog was added to Pandora back in 2013 so now both my websites will be available into the future.

Through Facebook posts I discovered that many Aussie geneabloggers have been added to Pandora recently which is a fantastic recognition of some great blog writing on genealogy in Australia. Congratulations to all those selected. Unfortunately the Library can't archive everybody but this is a great start.

I am a member of a closed group on Facebook for Australian Local & Family History Bloggers and GeniAus compiled a list of everyone's blogs and it is amazing at just how many blogs there are. Not everyone fits the criteria for membership of this group so there are other Aussie genealogy related blogs out there. We could easily spend all day just reading blogs! If you are short of time I always check out GeniAus' GAGS (GeniAus' Gems) - read her round up for 15 Jan 2016.

That might be my excuse for not doing any blog writing myself yet but it is more that other things have higher priority just now. Every time my specialist says it is a 12 month rehab program I just want to say bring on 2017! Perhaps the first month is the hardest and it will get easier.

Back to my good news. The third item was a message from the Post Office to come and collect a parcel. A bit late for Christmas so I went down and was very pleased to discover that I had been sent a lovely tote bag from The In-Depth Genealogist for being part of their writer's team for Going In-Depth, their digital genealogy magazine. It is the only one of its kind in Australasia although some of my Aussie geneamates going to Rootstech in February will bring one back too.

I will get to Rootstech one year but this time I am on the Unlock the Past genealogy cruise around New Zealand and southern Australia in Feb/Mar. While at the post office I was surprised to find another parcel waiting for me.  Yes my tickets and booklet for the cruise so not long now, less than four weeks. I just have to finalise my eight talks before then!

One news item I picked up this week was the release of WW1 hospital diaries by the National Archives UK. It is not only UK forces but also Australia, Canada, India and New Zealand. Read more about the records here.

Next week is busy. I have a good friend from Canberra coming up for a visit over the Australia Day weekend so it will be a great catch up and she can see our lovely Island. My friend is going to Rootstech so I might see if she will bring me back a souvenir! Another visit to the surgeon, not so thrilling but a routine 4 week check up. And as we have a visitor coming, I really should do some housework which has been neglected since my December hospital visit. Or should I just call up the cleaners we used when I had my broken elbow (which is still in therapy mode too)? Decisions decisions.

Have a good geneaweek and check out some of the Facebook sites for Australian genealogy or follow some of the Aussie geneabloggers - always lots of tips and new resources to follow up. Until next time.

New Access Releases, Book Reviews & Other News - Genealogy Notes 1-7 Jan 2016

Happy New Year and welcome to 2016. Diary has had a bit of a makeover and when I can decide on a personal new look, I will post a new image of me too.

I love the first week of January because BDM Registries and State Archives open up another year of records to access. Already I have some new data from Queensland BDMs which I then use to search Trove. This often allows me to pin down an exact date of birth, marriage or death (assuming I haven't already found it in Trove) or to discover the names of children born in collateral lines.

This year Public Record Office Victoria received some excellent coverage from ABC News with their new releases for 2016 but then with a headline 'Bigamy Madness Murder: 75 year old files opened' it was sure to get people's attention. If you missed it, read about it here.

What this means is that we should all have a look to see what's new. A bit time consuming every yearas I have research in most States but there are lots of exciting new finds waiting to be discovered.

I finished my book reviews - somehow they take longer to write up than actually reading the books. Both were a great read and as usual I could not put down The America Ground: a genealogical crime mystery by Nathan Dylan Goodwin. It is the fourth Morton Farrier, forensic genealogist story and I can't wait for the fifth. Read the review here.

The other review was Hazel Edwards memoir, Not Just a Piece of Cake: Being an Author which was easy to read and inspirational. It triggered many memories from my own life and family experiences and it shows that memoirs do not have to be written from birth onwards in chronological order. Read the review here.

So far I am sticking with my resolution to not commit myself to anything ongoing this year but I have been very much tempted by Dear Myrtle's Finally Get Organised weekly checklists for 2016. The first week looks good so I will probably follow on an ad hoc basis rather than signing up.  The benefit of registering is that it does make you more aware of keeping up with the checklists and how much you do always depends on you but with last year's health issues dragging into 2016 I need to be more of an observer.

There are other great blogging participation programs out there so have a Google or check Geneabloggers. A real Aussie one is Trove Tuesday where people blog about their finds on Trove every Tuesday using the hash tag Trove Tuesday. Speaking of Trove, there are lots of great new titles coming up in the next six months. Have a look here to see what will be available by June 2016. The North Queensland papers will be fantastic for my own research.

Where I am speaking between January and June 2016 is now on my website Services & Events page and although I have only have three events listed I am giving ten talks! The second half of the year will be busier including talks during National Family History Month.

Speaking of which, this coming week I have to really start thinking about National Family History Month in August and the new website we will be showing off at the end of January. There has been a good response from some of our usual sponsors but I still need to follow some up and of course, new sponsors are always welcome. I feel sure that our new logo and website will make NFHM 2016 the best ever yet.

It's been a big week with some welcome rain and for the first time in the three years we have been here, we have seen green frogs. Full grown not just babies so very exciting and I have to report they are not the easiest to photograph. Every time I tried to take a photo he hopped further away, it was almost as if he knew.

A big day of gardening down the back revealed a dreaded cane toad, thankfully we have not seen many. It was humanely dispatched according to RSPCA guidelines. The coming week will be warming up so I'm planning on staying inside and doing some genealogy research in the new resources. Have a good genealogy week and hopefully some exciting discoveries! Until next time.

Townsville Cemeteries & Other News - Genealogy Notes 24 - 31 Dec 2015

Well the last week of 2015 went quickly in the blur of Christmas, Boxing Day and the lead up to New Year's Eve. Not a lot of genealogy happened but I did receive some contact from distant cousins on different family lines. One had found my website and blogs on the Jeffers family from Portadown, Armagh and the other my Finn family via Facebook.

Perhaps my most fantastic genealogy discovery in all of 2015 was the family bible of my GGG grandmother Sarah Fegan nee Cane. I only got to see this wonderful treasure because a distant cousin on a collateral line had read my blog posts on the Finn and Fegan families of County Wicklow, Ireland. We met, exchanged information and I held this bible in my hands and felt a connection to someone who had only been a name with basic information on my family tree. It was a fantastic moment.

I have lost count now of the number of times I have made contact with people I suspect I could never have tracked down (at least not easily) simply because they have done a Google search. It really is fantastic but I know lots of people who have no online social media presence. Imagine how much we could discover if everyone blogged their stories or posted interests on social media.

The other wonderful thing about Facebook for genealogy is that 'friends' post links to new resources or to things they have discovered which can be of relevance to my own research. Just this week the link for the Townsville cemeteries was in a Facebook post by the Queensland Family History Society and my mother's family were from Charters Towers and then Townsville. Mum's sister Alice died in 1920 as an infant but I was never sure which city and as it was not a direct line I had not purchased her birth or death certificates. A quick check of the Belgian Gardens cemetery list revealed that Alice Dorothy Price was buried there and that she was only seven months old at the time of her death.

A bonus was that she was buried with her aunt Elizabeth Ann Price who had died at the age of 26 years. I had purchased Elizabeth's death certificate as I was curious to see what she had died of. Therefore I knew she was buried in Belgian Gardens but not that she shared a grave with the niece she never lived to see. There were other Price family members there and I was able to add new information on collateral lines. It was good to revisit this family and I probably would not have done it without the Facebook prompt.

I finally wrapped up my personal genealogy blog challenge 52 Weeks of Genealogical Records in 2015 - it was a hard decision to combine the final nine topics but I want to start 2016 fresh. Read Final Post to discover the remaining topics. Thanks to everyone who followed this blog challenge and commented with their own tips and sources.

 I love this time of year as my hibiscus blooms really well, although it has been very dry. The incredibly windy conditions, coupled with the dry spell, means that we have lost quite a few palm fronds so there is a bit of garden work coming up this weekend. I also need to repot my orchids after their beautiful blooms in 2015, they seem to have doubled in size since I last looked.

Early morning or late afternoon jobs which mean that I can settle down in the heat of the day to catch up on my reading of e-journals. When one of my subscription journals comes in, I download and save to read another time. I'm usually busy doing something else to read them immediately.

But so often I forget to go back and read - it is not like the physical pile of journals, magazines and books which is a constant reminder to catch up. I need a better system to work out what my e-reading priorities are - perhaps if I do a list as they come in and then cross the issue off when I have read it? Does anyone have a system that works?

I have avoided any new resolutions or aspirations for 2016 as 2015 was so full of unexpected events that totally hijacked my genealogy intentions, as well as every other aspect of my life. At this stage I am going to go with the flow and embrace the opportunities as they come up and thanks to my social media presence, I suspect I will be very busy with lots of great genealogy discoveries in 2016.

May everyone have a fantastic genealogy adventure in 2016. Until next time.

What's Coming Up in 2016 - Genealogy Notes 16 - 23 Dec 2015

It was the second last week of 2015 and what seems to have been pretty much  a regular thing for 2015, I spent most of the time at hospital, with doctors and specialists and all I can say is that I think nurses are pretty wonderful people. In fact anyone associated with helping people get better are fantastic and all dedicated to their jobs. Until you see them all in action you don't really appreciate the effort of everyone to keep our hospitals moving along smoothly.

My plan for 2016 is not to see so much of them (fingers crossed) but while I was 'hanging around' I did start to think about all the good things coming up in 2016.

First up is the Unlock the Past cruise to New Zealand and Australia (10th cruise) for those booked on that geneafest of speakers and talks. Check out the program here. If you are not on board, don't despair as there will be a number of bloggers who will be bringing regular updates via Facebook, Twitter plus their blog posts.

If you are lucky enough to live near one of the ports of call, then you can attend the day sessions and hear international speakers Judy Russell and Paul Blake. Simply called the Judy Russell and Paul Blake Downunder seminar tour with Unlock the Past, it visits Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. To see who is actually presenting at each venue visit the website for more details.

We were spoilt for genealogy conferences in 2015 and the only major one in 2016 is the NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies' annual conference in Camden, New South Wales in September.  The theme is Cowpastures and Beyond. I'd like to get to that one if I can but it is a long drive or a flight to either Sydney or Canberra and then hiring a car. A lot easier when they are closer to home or there are major transport options. However when I lived in Canberra I loved visiting Camden so it would be good to see it again. The dates are penciled in the diary.

What is with us every year is National Family History Month in August and 2016 will see a new logo and website as we have contracted our friends at Inside History Magazine to undertake the work for us. I can't wait to see the new look. Quite a few of our 2015 sponsors have agreed to be part of it again so that is fantastic news too. But of course NFHM is only a success if societies, archives and libraries put their events into the NFHM web calendar so stay tuned for the announcement of when it opens for bookings and the new website is live.

History Queensland is not having a conference in 2016 but there will be another in 2017 and I have been asked to be on the planning committee so there will be meetings to attend in 2016. I am also on the Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations' committee through NFHM so a few Skype meetings for that throughout the year too.

In addition many of the genealogy and family history societies around where I live have regular education sessions and meetings with guest speakers so there is usually something happening that I can attend. Have you checked out what societies are nearby and what their 2016 programs are? Don't forget local libraries and archives also may have education days. Some may be free and some pay to go but usually you learn lots and its a chance to chat with other like minded researchers.

In person events are great but there is also lots online with free webinars, free podcasts etc as well as paid events and on most days all the links posted on Facebook or Twitter by genie friends would keep me fully occupied if I so chose (but someone has to do the housework). So lots of genealogy things to do coming up in 2016.

During my enforced bed rest I managed to read both Nathan Dylan Goodwin's The America Ground and Hazel Edwards' Not Just a Piece of Cake: Being an Author. Both were great reads and I have yet to write the reviews. I also have to finish writing articles for Inside History Magazine and The In-Depth Genealogist as well as finish my Australian Church Records module for the National Institute for Genealogical Studies all by the New Year. Not being 100% well is a pain in more ways than one. I'm almost nodding off as I type this and it is only 10.30 in the morning. Still several hours to go before my afternoon nap!


Flowers cheer me up and I know it is a while since I actually spent time 'smelling the roses,' but they seem to have undergone a major colour transformation since I last received any. Still the roses are bright and colourful and that will be my mantra into the New Year.

My last Diary post of 2015 will be in a week's time and I wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas with your families and friends. May Santa be genea generous and if not, try Trove as you are bound to find something you like there on the family! Until next time.

New family discoveries & other news - Genealogy notes 8 - 15 Dec 2015

This Diary was written in Adelaide where we have been visiting family and friends for a few days. Very dry here with some very cold mornings and hot days. The extremes in temperature remind me of when we lived in Melbourne whereas Brisbane does not have those wide variations in a single day.

Fred and Doug Spencer

On most visits to Adelaide we visit one of Max's older relatives and talk about the family history, On this trip she surprised us by bringing out photo albums we had not seen before. The motto here is 'keep on asking' because even though we have visited lots of times and asked lots of questions each time, this was a first.

Sadly most photos were not identified and she could not remember who people were. But there was one of Max's father Doug as a young boy which he had never seen before and quite a few of his grandmother at an older age.

One photo took my eye - it was a family sitting outside a house - a mother with a baby on her lap and two young boys either side of her. On the back someone had written Ada, Clint, Fred and Tom but no date. If Fred was the baby then Clint was his half brother from Ada's first husband and Tom was her stepson from her second marriage. It helps that there is only one Tom and one Clint in the family as that helps to date it around 1911-1912 but it is hard to guess the boys' ages. Because Tom is in the photo we believe it is in Adelaide and not Tasmania where Fred was born. If this is correct it helps date when the family left Tasmania for South Australia but not why.

On the back is Ada Clint Fred Tom

I took some images with my camera not having the Flip Pal with me this trip but next visit we will definitely have to spend some time scanning the photos, even the unidentified ones in case something else turns up later.

Now to try and prove our theories. Coincidentally we have arranged to visit one of Tom's sons in Brisbane on our way home. We only recently tracked them down and perhaps they also have some photos or other family information to prove this is the right Tom. Stay tuned.

We also went out to Hamley Bridge to visit a long time friend and it was sad to see the devastation caused by the huge Pinery fire the other week. So much farm land burnt out and so many houses destroyed. It was good to see that Blaze Aid was in town and helping the farmers rebuild fences and other similar work. I had not heard of Blaze Aid before but it is fantastic that they all volunteer their time to help communities get back on their feet after devastating fires.

Perhaps the biggest genealogy news of the week was that Ancestry will not be selling their popular genealogy software Family Tree Maker after the end of 2015 and they will only be supporting existing versions through to the end of 2016. Read more about it here Ancestry to retire Family Tree Maker genealogy software.

I don't use Family Tree Maker so the decision does not impact on me but others have been upset. What has surprised me is the number of people who don't seem to have a copy of their own data outside of Ancestry and Family Tree Maker. I have my full family data offline and only some parts of it online in Ancestry, My Heritage, Genes Reunited and Findmypast so that distant family members can find me.

The other exciting news is that Queensland State Archives has a new Executive Director and State Archivist, Mike Summerell who commences on 7 March 2016. Mike is coming to Queensland from his current role as General Manager at Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland. Prior to that he was head of the Holdings and Discovery directorate within Archives New Zealand.

Heading home today and back to a more normal routine. Hard to do much when staying with others, and doing family and touristy things. We will do a quick visit to Mum's on the way through and discuss who's doing what for Christmas Day lunch. This year we will have all the family at Mum's - there are only nine of us (all adults no littlies) so not a big gathering but great that we can all be there.

Have a great genealogy week although I suspect most will now be caught up in the holiday season. If visiting family, remember to keep asking about photos and other family memorabilia - I'm certainly glad we did this trip! Until next time.

Good News, Bad News & What's New - Genealogy Notes 29 Nov - 7 Dec 2015

Some weeks are just so busy it is hard to keep up with everything. But first the good news. The winner of the Momento Christmas competition which featured in the last two Diary posts was Liz Pidgeon from Victoria. Many of you will know Liz as Infolass on Twitter and if you are not following her already have a look. Liz has some great tweets as she is Local & Family History Librarian at Yarra Plenty Library. Congratulations Liz and I hope you enjoy creating your photo book.

Although we have been living here for three years now (where did they go), we still hadn't managed to visit The Abbey Museum. Last weekend they had their Christmas markets and free entry to the Museum. I love markets especially if you are looking for special home made gifts for Christmas and who can resist free entry and saving money. It was really good seeing the Museum again and after trekking around all the stalls we settled down to a nice Devonshire tea and scones.

Finally caught up with my son for a belated birthday lunch at their place. They moved into their new home the same day we moved into ours which was a coincidence but at least it helps us to remember the date. They have done an amazing amount of renovation and it is incredible what a new kitchen does for a place. Built in wardrobes, paint and carpets have turned their old fixer upper into something really nice.  But at our age we just wanted something to walk into and not do too much to, apart from the gardens.

The good news about that trip to Brisbane was that just a couple of streets away from my son's place we passed the new premises of the Genealogical Society of Queensland. So I already know where it is and I can't get lost. The bad news is that it is still over an hour's drive even using the ring road around Brisbane.

The Bribie Island Historical Society committee had its last meeting for the year and I now have my committee member badge. The Christmas party for members is this week then no more meetings until February next year.

While on bad news the other night as I was shutting the laptop down I had a blue screen of death which I haven't seen in years. I have been doing a lot of writing for the Church Records course in the Australian certificate for the National Institute for Genealogical Studies and hadn't bothered to back up as I was working on all the modules every day. That blue screen made me feel real sick but luckily it restarted and I spent the next hour or so backing up onto different remote hard drives. I usually back up weekly but I might start doing it daily at least until I finish that course.

There has been no problem since the blue screen, but the laptop has been in almost constant use for the last 3 1/2 years so perhaps it is time to start looking for a new one. Or should I go back to a desktop now that we are permanently settled again?

Hazel Edwards (whose memoir Not Just a Piece of Cake: Being an Author I am currently reading) has done a review of my research guide Discover Your Sporting Ancestors: It Was Not All Work and No Play and the review is available on Good Reads. Quite a few of my online (and in person) friends also use Good Reads but I am only just discovering how it works. Sadly I have already found more books that I want to read, somehow I am just going to have to make more reading time.

As I do each year, I like to look back on what I have done during the year. So it was interesting to reread my Genealogy aspirations 2015 for the first time since I wrote them last December. Little did I know that my partner would break his leg in two places and I would break my right elbow with surgery to pin it back together again. So not surprisingly my aspirations were a bit off.

The good folks from Momento are letting me extend my photobook voucher so that is still going to happen. I did visit Wiltshire before breaking my elbow in Germany and I did start Thomas MacEntee's Genealogy Do Over but I couldn't keep up the pace. I think I need to do just one family at a time. Almost 40 years of research is not redone quickly!

Similarly cataloguing my books into LibraryThing still needs to be completed and I still have a few (nine to be exact) weeks of my personal genealogy blog challenge 52 Weeks of Genealogical Records in 2015 to complete in 2016.

On the plus side I did a lot of things that I didn't expect to do genealogy wise. My DNA test with Ancestry sent me down a path that I have no idea where it will lead. It also led to my best talk ever on Love Sex and Damn Lies so perhaps it was meant to be. I hope my brother likes his DNA test kit from Family Tree DNA for Christmas! There's more but I will put it all together in my 2016 Aspirations.

Christmas shopping still awaits me and fortunately we are a fairly small family and most of us don't want gifts. It is more the young ones we get presents for but as we are young at heart, we have the Christmas tree up, and the front yard decorated with tinsel and solar lights. Good luck with all your end of year tasks and try to fit some genealogy in, especially if you are visiting relatives. Until next time