Diary is Back : Australia & New Zealand Genealogy Notes January 2021

It's hard to believe that the last time I wrote Diary notes was in mid October 2020. 

Between cancer treatments and covid restrictions, I seem to have lost my blogging spirit. There were many times that I have gone to write something but didn't quite make it. The other night on #ANZAncestryTime on Twitter, I was a little embarrassed when @geniaus tweeted she always liked reading Diary. 

I think Diary lost its way a little when I stopped flitting around from conference to conference, and giving talks here there and everywhere. The awful truth is that my life at home is not that exciting. So I have been thinking what purpose does Diary serve now in 2021. 

As life returns to normal, there are some in person events as well as virtual conferences. Plus I am always doing something with my own personal history - either new research or trying to make it all virtual and writing up those family history stories.

No more excuses - Diary is back. 

Books

Nathan Dylan Goodwin's The Chester Creek Murders is next on my reading list. You can't go past a good genealogical crime mystery.

Genie friend Jenny has given me this book on Wicklow to read. Not one for going to bed with unless you are trying to knock yourself out when you doze off! It weighs half a kilo.

Bribie Genealogy

Bribie Zoom Genies are no more - we have merged with the Bribie DNA for Genealogists group to form Bribie Genealogy. We are an informal group meeting at the Bribie RSL once a month - 38 people turned up to our inaugural meeting and there were quite a few apologies too. 

March will be bigger again I suspect as we have Pauleen Cass as our first visiting guest speaker and she will be talking about Irish ancestors. Can't wait.

The group can be contacted via bribiegenealogy@gmail.com or we have a Facebook page - we are mainly for people living on Bribie Island and the mainland side of Pumicestone Passage. 

Conferences

Let's not forget RootsTech Connect 2021 now just two weeks away in late February. It's free and virtual so why not register and enjoy a wide variety of speakers and subjects. I am honoured to be one of the speakers with a talk on Digging Deeper in Australian Archives. 

FHDU 2021 in March 2021 is now virtual and there are four streams to choose from or select all four. 

Prices vary so check out the website for the program and price structure. I have two presentations to record in the next few days - much prefer live audiences and the positive vibes in the venue. 

DNA

Not much has happened on the DNA front - I really need more close cousins to test so that I can work out all those non parental events. But slowly chipping away at Dad's biological families. 

Louise Coakley's monthly DNA newsletters are a must read for all the latest news on the testing companies, blogs to read and webinars to watch. 

Downsizing Project

This has continued even though I stopped writing up my progress. I am still weeding paper files, scanning photos and documents, tidying up my genealogy software and adding sources, and writing up the family histories. 

I think writing up the histories is becoming my preferred way to pass on my research. People are more likely to read the history than try to work it out from the database. Yes the software can print out all kinds of reports and includes images and citations but it seems artificial to me. Still writing it up is a lot of work too when you consider I have over a dozen immigrant ancestors. Currently working on Carnegie @ Pumicestone (front page at left and just over 15,000 words!

Talks

Over the next few months I am doing a series of talks in Moreton Libraries, (Bribie, Burpengary and Redcliffe) and for Noosa Libraries on the Sunshine Coast. To book a place you need to go to the Library websites.

It will be so good getting out and about again and talking to people about genealogy and family history.

What's New in Australia & New Zealand

A lot of work seems to have been done during 2020.

The easiest way I find to see what has been added recently to FamilySearch is to check by location. If you go to Location (use the map on the Records home page) and select Australia. Open up the list of 33 Indexed Collections and you can see what was added in 2020 and there are even some additions already for 2021. South Australia now has school records, prisons, passenger lists and wills and probates. 

Remember too that not everything is indexed yet in FamilySearch. Scroll down to the Image Only Collections and there are another four collections mostly for Tasmania.

Of course, Ancestry, Findmypast, MyHeritage and The Genealogist have all been adding to their collections. The easiest way I find to keep us is to subscribe to the free enewsletters. 

Until next time happy searching. Stay safe and well.

Shauna

#ANZAncestryTime, DNA, Webinars & Talks - Genealogy Notes 1-14 Oct 2020

It has been a huge fortnight with so many things happening. Time truly flies when you are doing family history or Zooming around the world. 

The Australasian Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists has been reactivated and I am the new Chapter Representative. Currently reviewing bylaws and regulations and working out a social/professional development program for members. Happily there are a number of others who want to assist. Zoom will make it much easier for Australian and New Zealand members to meet so monthly meetings are now an option. Before we were rather limited to genealogy conferences where a few of us were able to attend and have a get together. Looking forward to progressing the Chapter over the next 12 months.

#ANZAncestryTime 

This is the new must follow Twitter tag for Australia and New Zealand genealogy. It happens every Tuesday night from 7-8 pm Brisbane time. Just use a time converter to make sure you have the right time for your place. 

What is it? It is where a group of enthusiastic genealogists come together to pose a series of questions over the hour. Everyone at home answers the questions with their tips, resources and expertise. It is the fastest hour I have ever spent. To try and keep up with all the posts I use TweetDeck so that I can follow the hash tag and still tweet myself and see any notifications that mention me. 

One thing about getting involved with these events is that it does force you to learn new technology (TweetDeck in my case) and you get to learn from a wide variety of other genealogists. Even though it is set for Australasian time, people follow from all over the world.

Why not join us next Tuesday night?

Blogs

Still not doing any blog writing but I have managed to do this Diary almost on the fortnight.

I think part of the problem is that I'm being tempted by all these Zoom meetings and webinars, instead of writing. 

Conferences

I have registered for the Family History Down Under 2021 conference in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast. Now booked out under current Covid restrictions. If Queensland eases restrictions, the venue will be able to host more people. Fingers crossed.

Also happy to accept being an Ambassador for the conference. Let's hope Queensland stays relatively Covid free and we can get all together again next year. The sessions are also being recorded before hand, just in case it becomes a virtual event. 

So hard to plan anything for next year and overseas travel is certainly not on the agenda.

DNA

Mary Finn and
James Carnegie on their
wedding day in 1906

It was exciting to see a first cousin once removed turn up in MyHeritage on Dad's maternal side. This will help me to further identify my Carnegie/Finn families. We share 11 segments and 197.6cM. They triangulate with my brother and I in a number of places.

Remember to go back and check for any new matches. 

New Resources

Another plus for me was seeing the City of Westminster, London Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1558-1812 and the Marriages and Banns 1754-1935 appear in Ancestry's latest additions. That's almost 4 million records. 

Also in Ancestry, the England and Wales Death Index has been expanded from 1989 to 2019. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have access to recent death indexes in Australia?

Talks 

Thanks to the magic of Zoom I was able to listen to Cyndi Ingle on Building a Digital Research Plan courtesy of the Temecula Valley Genealogical Society in the USA. It was a great session and I always learn something new. 

My own sessions with the Bribie Island Zoom Genies continue and the weekly sessions certainly keep me busy. We are having an in person workshop this week for something different, although we still have to abide by all the covid regulations. 

The  Deniliquin Ute 2012

I am also excited to be hosting a couple of talks for the Deniliquin Genealogy Society - not as good as their usual Deniliquin Genealogy Expo which was cancelled due to Covid 19 - but it will still give the weekend a genealogical buzz. 

Sessions are on Irish Resources and DNA Matches Using Host Tools.

Webinars

I watched courtesy of Legacy Family Tree Webinars Blaine Bettinger's Advanced DNA Techniques: Deductive Chromosome Mapping and found it very useful. I have Mum and my brother's DNA so I will be trying this out. I will need to watch it again as it is definitely not for beginners. Finding time will be the problem.

What's Coming Up?

Next week is my last cancer treatment and another operation in early November. By Christmas I will be looking forward to 2021 and all the exciting things already on my agenda. I definitely feel more positive and excited. Queensland has been lucky in that the effects of Covid 19 have been minimal in this state apart from the initial lockdown at the beginning. 

Just checking the calendar and I also have the Genealogical Society of Queensland's annual seminar and this year it is Irish Ancestry on 24 October via Zoom. I even purchased raffle tickets virtually. Dad's side is mostly Irish with a bit of Welsh and Scots so I'm hoping to learn some new tips and resources. 

Until next time, happy researching and remember #ANZAncestryTime every Tuesday on Twitter.

  

Online genealogy, back ups & other news - Genealogy Notes 21 Sep - 1 Oct 2020

Our first visit to Norfolk Island in 2007

Still trying to break free from my Covid fog and days that just seem to run into each other. I know it is Tuesday because that is when we have our genealogy Zoom sessions here on Bribie. But the other days could be any day. 

But there is a lot to be excited about coming up in 2021 with conferences both in person (Sunshine Coast and Norfolk Island) and virtual. 

But first my last week or so.

Back Ups

Like many people I do a back up of my computer files and genealogy databases on the 1st of every month. Sometimes I may back up during a month if I have done something substantial but otherwise it is a could habit to get into. First of the month, back up.

Blogs

It was nice to see my last Diary post mentioned in Interesting Blogs in Friday Fossicking at That Moment in Time 25 Sep 2020. Chris' round up of blog posts is always interesting and covers a wide variety of subject areas.

Conferences

My AFFHO Meritorious Service Award
- would be nice to get another personal 
chance to wear this.

Family History Down Under 2021 has a new venue in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast and the program has just been released. I paid my early bird registration this week as attendee numbers are limited by the new venue and covid regulations. Of course that may change again if we can move past covid in 2021. 

The AFFHO Congress is on Norfolk Island in 2021 which should be covid free but it is so difficult to make future plans amongst the uncertainty of travel plans. 

I love visiting Norfolk Island and would like to see what the program is before I make any decisions.

On the virtual front we have RootsTech 2021 which is going to be massive with so many people and countries participating around the world.

New Resources

Ancestry, Findmypast, FamilySearch and MyHeritage have all added new records to their already super databases. Now might be the time to check again for any missing ancestors or families that have been tricky to find. As more and more records are indexed, it can be easier to locate them, especially if they are not where you think they should be. People did move around.

Talks

I have another Facebook Live session with MyHeritage on 12 October at 4pm Brisbane time. 

Plus my weekly Zoom sessions with our little Bribie Zoom Genies. For something difference we will be hiring the Bribie Arts Centre for a 3 hour in person workshop on a number of topics. Members will be bringing their laptops for hands on searches or genealogy software questions. Should be fun and good to see people in person although we do have to meet all the covid requirements. 

Twitter

Ancestry Time Australia and New Zealand @ANZAncestryTime is starting up on Tuesday 6 October from 7 pm Brisbane time. Come along and join everyone for a live hour of genealogy on Twitter. Other time zones for around the world are on the home page.

What's Coming Up?

I have a couple of clients at the moment keeping me busy. 

Me in Oct 2019

I am also one of the moderators for the new @ANZAncestryTime and I'm not too sure what that involves, but I will be there every Tuesday night 7 pm Brisbane time.

My revamped website is almost in the final stages. Some of you might have seen some of the changes throughout the year - what should have been a lot quicker kept getting delayed by my illness, broken shoulder and family losses. 

I am really looking forward to moving on post cancer. What a difference a year makes - only one more treatment to go!

Another thing some of you may have noticed, earlier in the year (before everything else happened) I set up a Facebook page for my business. 

The intention is to separate out my personal life from my genealogy life although I suspect the two are intertwined. We shall see.

Until next time, stay safe and well and have fun genealogy searching.