Genealogy Notes 10-12 August 2013 - NFHM update and a new sponsor competition!

I have to confess to a laptop/social media free day on Saturday - it was all building my new vegie gardens and swimming in the pool to celebrate this absolutely incredible August weather we are currently having. You would never know it is winter here on Bribie Island although my memories of Brisbane in August are cold westerly winds especially at Ekka time! So having had a day of relaxation I'm now back in the excitement of National Family History Month.

First I need to share some more news from one of our sponsors, the National Archives of Australia. Regular readers will know that I have just returned from a meeting of the centenary of WW1 advisory committee. I've always been interested in the Boer War as Mum had two uncles who served in both the Queensland colonial contingents and also in the Commonwealth contingents. What I didn't know was that NAA has put the contingent lists for their Boer Ward records into ArcHive their exciting new website that allows researchers at home to help transcribe the documents and make them more accessible to everyone.

Well there are 187 Boer War records waiting to be transcribed! You can search for whatever kind of records that you might like to work on. It's a bit like an Aladdin's cave - too much choice but all good! NAA even gives a rating for difficulty eg easy or hard but looking at some of the 'hard' ones as a long time researcher I can easily read the handwriting (but then I did work in archives for a long time too). Most of these appear to be nominal rolls which make for fascinating reading while you transcribe. Why not register and give it a go!

Now for the National Family History Month update. I've added a few more entries but I think most events are now on the web calendar. I've seen references to events on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, blogs and list servs so it looks like there is a lot of genealogy going on this month! I was going to try and capture all the references but there is just too much but Geniaus aka Jill has added a widget to her blog to show all the tweets for #NFHM13 throughout August. Read her blog post about it here.

There is a late sponsor - Momento which is a online photo book company and they have offered a $150 voucher for a NFHM competition. So I have placed the competition details on the NFHM home page and I've decided to get everyone to help me think of great ideas for NFHM 2014. As national coordinator for the first time this year, it has been a steep learning curve and I've built on existing practices as well as introducing some of my own ideas. But I'm sure that there are lots of other great ideas out there so put your thinking caps on and submit an entry.

I know I have international readers so I'm sorry to say that the NFHM competition is only open to individuals in Australia. If anyone wants to submit an idea/comment please do so but you won't be eligible for the prize this year. Also entries must be within the competition time frame and must include your name and postcode. It will be drawn on 30 August when the NFHM sponsors' prizes for genealogy/family history societies are also drawn.

I rather like the idea of a competition for individuals but at this stage I'm not sure how much work I've just let myself in for. Still it's a learning experience and someone will be an excited winner. I'm looking forward to 30 August and the prize draw and notifying all the lucky winners. But that will also mean NFHM will be over and that's a bit sad but we can all start planning and looking forward to NFHM 2014. (A little birdie has told me that it will be a month again next year so that's fantastic news!)

We have more Melbourne friends arriving for a two day stay so I'm going to be a bit busy entertaining them here on beautiful Bribie Island but I hope everyone continues to have a great genealogy month with all those events across Australia and if you are stuck for something to do, don't forget my 31 Activities for Researchers & Societies for NFHM! Until next time.

Genealogy notes 4-9 Aug 2013 NFHM seminars & talks

Last Sunday I headed to Brisbane airport for what proved to be a hectic few days in Melbourne and Canberra. I'm glad I made the effort to attend the 10th anniversary of Family History Feast at the State Library of Victoria and it was a great opportunity to catch up with my Victorian genealogy friends and colleagues. I have written a  review of the day and it's significance to me on my website and if you haven't already seen it, you should read my Family History Feast Melbourne Aug 2013 blog. Why should you click on that link? The day had a military theme and all five talks were great and there are lots of links to follow up from the talks.

While in Melbourne I also took the opportunity to catch up with friends and dinner first night was in that iconic British pub The Elephant & the Wheelbarrow in Bourke Street and the second night was at Cookie after happy hour drinks at The Moat. One thing about Melbourne there is no shortage of good places to eat and drink and the weather was reasonably kind and not too cold and wet.

Then it was off to Canberra where I was the NFHM guest speaker at the Heraldry & Genealogy Society of Canberra. Before the meeting I was shown there new (to me) premises at Cook and I was very impressed with all the rooms and meeting areas. Almost made me wish I still lived there but then I remembered how cold it was outside! My talk was on Google Tools and as well as talking about various tools, I highlighted some of the changes to searching recently. I do miss the use of the ~tilde facility and I have trouble finding things that I once found easily and now that I know the various filters are under Search Tools that helps too. But I do wish websites didn't change all the time - I never seem to be able to find things again or perhaps I just need to practice more! As usual I placed a copy of the presentation on the Resources page of my website, scroll down to Presentations.

While in Canberra I managed dinner with friends at Timmy's Kitchen one night and the next night at Taste of Himalaya, both at Manuka and within easy walking distance of my motel which had copies of the National Library of Australia's quarterly magazine The Library in the foyer. Great idea to bring the NLA to the attention of tourists and other travellers. But if you can't get to Canberra, you can still download The Library for free here.

I also managed lunch at Belluci's at Manuak with a long time friend who is convenor of this year's Australian Society of Archivists conference which is in Canberra on 15-17 October. I'm planning to go to the 2013 conference and it was great to chat about the program and speakers plus the social events that are great for networking. I've missed the last couple of ASA conferences so I'm really looking forward to catching up with old friends and colleagues.

My primary reason for being in Canberra was to attend the National Archives of Australia's advisory committee for the centenary of World War One. I arrived early so that I could check out their two current exhibitions Design 29: Creating a Capital (all about the selection of Griffin plans for Canberra) and Banned which is a fascinating look at books that have been banned in Australia. I knew about the more well known ones but I was surprised at how many were detective stories or looked to be detective stories judging by cover and title.

The advisory meeting provided an update on NAA's planned new website Discovering ANZACS (previously titled Australians at War) which is now a joint project between them and Archives New Zealand. That's a very exciting project and I can't wait to see that launched. There were reports from others including an update on Australian War Memorial projects and the convenor mentioned Inside History Magazines' project to have a database of all WW1 centenary projects - it's called World War Onelink. I managed a plug for National Family History Month as well and I think we definitely need to have a military theme next year.

Then of course it was back to the airport for the long trip home made even longer by delays at Brisbane airport which meant we didn't leave Canberra on time. While wandering around the Qantas lounge waiting to board, I found Issue 3 of the National Museum of Australia's magazine The Museum. It's a glossy publication which show cases their various collections and exhibitions and I must find time to visit there again on a future visit to Canberra. Most times I seem to fly in and fly out! Good news - it's online and some of the articles are free too - click here.

Anyway after finally given the go ahead to board and depart Canberra, Brisbane airport was still having delays and we must have been ordered to fly on past Brisbane as we continued heading north and as we passed Redcliffe I got a bit excited. We were going to fly over Bribie Island and I could see the different suburbs, the canals and the bridge but then we turned and flew back down over Moreton Island before heading into Brisbane. I obviously wasn't meant to get home early as someone forgot me and I sat around the arrivals/departures pick up area for quite a while. After a long day I eventually made it back  home to Bribie.

Today is another one of those glorious sunny, warm, blue sky winter days and I'm going to go for a nice walk and if the pool's warm enough I might even have a swim! Although I do need to sort out all the info I bought back and follow up on all those good research ideas - I wonder when the next rainy day is? Continue to enjoy National Family History Month and I hope you are having as much genealogy fun as I am! Until next time.

Genealogy notes 27 Jul - 3 Aug 2013 National Family History Month

I live a normally busy if not hectic lifestyle but this last week has completely tuckered me out! It's only the third day of National Family History Month and I'm exhausted but it's a fantastic feeling. I've put up so many new events on the NFHM web calendar although we still don't have anything happening in the Northern Territory yet. Hopefully that might change as the month progresses.

I was also busy finalising everything for the launch which was on Thursday in Brisbane. It was a fantastic day - we travelled to Brisbane early so that we could collect Kerrie Gray, President of the Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations (AFFHO) from the airport on our way through to the National Archives of Australia, Brisbane Office for the launch. I've done a blog post on the various speakers and also gave an account of the changes to NFHM 2013. The winners of the 2013 Nick Vine Hall awards are also included and don't miss all the news from National Archives of Australia. You can read about the launch and speaker talks here. NFHM is quite different from previous years and I think that we have more events than ever before but I haven't had time to count them.

The last few days have seen me give three radio interviews about NFHM - one with Christy-Lee Macqueen, Mornings Presenter with ABC North West, one with Ed Cowlishaw on Riverland Today with ABC Riverland and Mallee and one with Natasha Mitchell on the program Life Matters on ABC National. That was an interesting one hour session titled Framed: the family portrait. There is something a bit nerve wracking about doing live to air interviews - I always have the fear that the questions will be tricky or that I will have a complete mind freeze. But they all went well and I was amazed at how many people actually heard the shows, especially the Life Matters session. I'm not a big radio person myself but others obviously are.

I'm now about to pack for my trip down south. First stop tomorrow is Melbourne where I will be attending Family History Feast at the State Library of Victoria. This will be a bit of a trip down memory lane as it is the 10th anniversary since Anne Burrows (SLV), Anne Piggott (NAA) and myself (then PROV) started what has become a must attend event in NFHM. This year is another full house which is fantastic and myself and the two Annes will celebrate over dinner that night. Really looking forward to catching up with them.

From Melbourne I'm heading up to Canberra (another one of my old homes) to be the NFHM speaker at the August meeting of the Heraldry and Genealogy Society of Canberra (HAGSOC). I'm having dinner with a few of my old HAGSOC friends before the talk so I will have to stick to one glass of wine with dinner or there won't be a talk! On Wednesday I'm catching up with an old colleague from NAA and on Thursday it's a meeting of the NAA's advisory committee for the centenary of WW1 which should be interesting. I love hearing about all the projects on the go for next year.

Somehow I will try and blog these events while I'm on the road and I know I did say that I would be doing blog posts on my 31 activities for researchers and 31 activities for genealogy/family history societies during NFHM but there may be a bit of a delay. Once I'm back on Bribie Island I'll be able to catch up again.

It's been great to see all my social media friends promoting NFHM and I really think that by the end of August everyone will know what genealogy and family history is all about. Thanks everyone. I'm also learning new skills and managed to put up some photos of the launch on the NFHM Facebook page and the number of Likes has gone up to 434 which is still a long way short of the 1000 Likes I would like before the end of August. The NFHM sponsors have all been fantastic in helping to promote the month too.

Have I done any of my own genealogy in the last week? Not a lot but one thing that was interesting is that I visited the genEbooks website (one of the NFHM sponsors) and noticed that they have a free ebook each month. So I registered which is a simple process, selected the free ebook and proceeded to check out and within a minute or so I had received the ebook via email. I also did a survey for the Unlock the Past genealogy cruises and by leaving my name I received a 50% discount on an ebook before 31 August. So when I come back I will take up that offer but sadly it will probably just go into my virtual pile of ebooks to read. The good thing is that they don't gather dust like the pile of real books I have to read!

Breaking news from AFFHO! Our Australasian Really Useful Information Leaflet is now available. This is a free, 20 page initiative of the UK based Federation of Family History Societies in association with Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations and the Society of  Australian Genealogists.

Well I have to go and finish packing and this afternoon I've been invited to a Tupperware party and I don't think I've been to one of those in over 20 years if not longer.It's a gorgeous day here on Bribie Island and I also have to water all my new herbs, flowers and other plants as they are predicting even warmer, dry days while I'm away. I'm trying not to think of those much cooler temperatures in Melbourne and Canberra!

Enjoy the next week of NFHM and remember to keep checking the web calendar as events might still be added as the month progresses! Happy researching.

Genealogy notes 20-26 July 2013 National Family History Month talks & travels

It is hard to believe that National Family History Month (NFHM) is now only a week away but obviously I'm not the only one who leaves things to the last minute. I have been kept super busy all week adding new events to every state except unfortunately the Northern Territory. I haven't found anyone up there doing anything yet. Check out the web calendar on the NFHM website for events near you.

As well as that, I have finalised my 31 activities for researchers and 31 activities for genealogy/family history societies for NFHM and the details and lists are on my the Resources page of my website. The lists are a prompt for people to undertake a range of family history related activities throughout August to further their own research and knowledge. I will also be blogging about each activity (when I get the time) to give you further ideas as well, not to mention progress my own family research. You can do as few or as many activities as you want. I would love to see others blogging about any or all of the activities over the month. Don't forget to let me know how you go.

Last night I was Inside History Magazine's guest on their regular Thursday night Q&A on their Facebook page and I'm very grateful for the opportunity to promote National Family History Month. I was kept busy over the hour answering various questions about the month and the type of events that are being held. Inside History Magazine is one of NFHM's key sponsors and their sponsorship is appreciated.

As it is now just over a week till I head south, I've also been busy working on my talk for HAGSOC in Canberra.I'm totally reworking my Google Tools talk - I started out just changing a few slides and then went on to the major revamp. There are just so many things I could focus on and keeping to within the time frame is always a challenge. I'm also doing the same for my talk It's Not All Online which is at the Bribie Island Library on 30 August.

I've been doing a massive tidy up and toss out/give away in the study again. A lot of the material is out of date or superseded by changes in technology and online access but I do find it hard to part with old genealogy magazines. The temptation is to start rereading the old UK genealogy magazines but at least now there are all organised again by title and date instead of still inside the removal boxes. Of course it also means that I end up with more things on my to do list as I follow up hints in the magazines.

On the domestic front I've managed another couple of swims as the water temperature is hovering around 22 degrees and it has been warm and sunny and it really is hard to believe it is the middle of winter. The choko vine from next door continues to fruit almost overnight and we simply can't eat or give away that many chokoes. So I came up with the brilliant idea of doing choko pickles which is another first for me. Not something high on my bucket list but the desire to make my own pickles has always been there. Surprisingly they are absolutely delicious and the neighbours liked them so much, they have put in an order for my mango chutney when the mangoes come back into season! I wonder if any of my female ancestors were into doing pickles and chutneys? It must come from somewhere.

Today is a bit wet and drizzly so we are off to the pictures to see the Lone Ranger. I used to love the Lone Ranger and Tonto as a kid so it will be interesting to see what they've done with the story line. Next time I write NFHM will be upon us. Happy days!

Genealogy notes 12-19 July 2013 seminars, cruises & #NFHM13

This past week has been a bit more like my life of old - where I did genealogy seven days a week! The trip out to Chinchilla was good and we tend to travel off the main highways to see more of the real countryside. So we usually stop at Yowie Park in Kilcoy for lunch and to watch the amazing bird life around the lake. For those not familiar with a yowie, check out Wikipedia entry for yowie.

The Coff & Co bakery opposite Yowie Park has some of the best pies we've ever eaten. In the last year we have probably stopped there at least four times and have never been disappointed. Next stop was Chinchilla where we were booked into the very convenient Downtown Motor Inn which was across the road from the RSL which was the venue for the seminar.

Sue Reid, former President of Queensland Family History Society presented two talks on using online newspapers and I had heard both of these earlier in the year at a QFHS seminar. But it's amazing how much more you take in on hearing something a second time. Sue concentrated on the big four, Trove, Papers Past, the London Gazette (with links to the Edinburgh Gazette and Belfast Gazette too) and the London Times via the National Library of Australia's e-resources.She had a handout which saved some mad scribbling down of URLs and I was again reminded that I really should look for my American and Canadian families in the many newspapers Sue included in her talk.

My two talks were on Trove and other NLA treasures and Google for Genealogy and as usual I put the slides up on my website Resources page, scroll down to Presentations. By the end of the day there was information overload but I think they will all be spending more time on their computers in the coming weeks. One brave person is also following me on Twitter. Both Sue and I had a range of Unlock the Past books for attendees to check out and I spent a few frantic moments signing my books!

The next day we left Chinchilla and went out to Miles which is where Max's mother and father met during WW2. She was the daughter of the Windsor Hotel licensee and he was the handsome soldier working in the area. If he hadn't gone in for a beer they might never have met and Max would not be here. It always makes me think to consider how random it was for some of our ancestors to actually meet up. As luck would have it the Windsor Hotel has recently changed hands and it was not open. However, an enquiry at the bottle shop soon saw us permitted inside to have a look at the downstairs rooms and the old photos on the wall. We also have some old photos of the family's time in Miles but it was good to walk around the streets and get a feel of what life was like back then. We also spent quite a few hours at the Miles Historical Village which has some amazing buildings and collections. We even found Max's Uncle Len's police uniforms and record of his career there!

We hadn't been able to contact Max's cousin in Kingaroy so we ended up spending the night in Esk and had a great dinner at Sticky Fingers (fantastic name for a restaurant). The next morning we explored the various antique shops in the main street and I managed to pick up some quirky things for the house. From there we went to Wivenhoe Dam and then on to Somerset Dam before arriving back at Yowie Park in Kilcoy for afternoon tea. The local tourist info centre was having a plant sale and I managed to pick up a few more bromeliads for our rainforest out the back.

Then it was home to Bribie Island as the next day we were having a luncheon cruise on the Lady Brisbane which is recreating the trips of the Koopa to Bribie in the pre bridge days. As Max's family used to come over on the Koopa we again felt like we were walking in our ancestors footsteps. It was fascinating to see the bottom end of Bribie from out in Moreton Bay - as a sand island it is very flat but it almost disappears off the horizon the further out you go. It was also good to see Brisbane's skyscrapers in the distance too. It's a small world on Bribie and we knew a few people on board so we all went for coffee after the cruise.

Most of my time at home has been spent on National Family History Month adding events to the website, liaising with sponsors and making sure the launch is progressing. It seemed ages away a little while ago but is now only 12 days away. There are some great events across Australia so I hope everyone can get to at least one event. I'm also going to be putting up my 31 activities for researchers and 31 activities for societies next week so everyone will have something to do in August.

This morning I went to my local newsagent just to see what genealogy magazines they have in store and I was pleased to see that they had Australian Family Tree Connections and Inside History Magazine - both active sponsors of NFHM. There were also some UK magazines as well and I couldn't help myself, I bought the May issue of Family Tree Magazine. After I got home I made a cup of coffee and settled down to have a good read and who is looking up at me from the page? None other than my friend Jill Ball and Thomas Macentee in a photo taken at Rootstech 2013. How's that for serendipity! I'm looking forward to meeting Thomas on the 4th Unlock the Past genealogy cruise next February and of course Jill is another one of the speakers on the cruise. In fact there are going to be quite a few Geneabloggers on that cruise. Can't wait for that.

I've received some more book royalties from the sale of my books published by Unlock the Past and I've received an exciting publishing offer which I'm still considering. The last part of my series on Irish Loved Ones Downunder was published in the July issue of Irish Lives Remembered - that 12 months went very quick. I suspect I won't get too much personal genealogy done in the next few weeks as NFHM will take up most of my time. Plus I have genealogy trips to Melbourne and Canberra coming up too but more about that next time. Happy searching.

Genealogy notes 4-11 July 2013 State libraries for genealogy

Well we have farewelled yet another house guest, this time someone we used to know in Canberra but who is now living on the Gold Coast. It always surprises me that people living in Queensland have never been to Bribie Island but then I think I like it as a secret little hideaway!

As usual having people in the house takes me away from the laptop and genealogy pursuits and this time it made me completely forget that it is Diary's anniversary! Two years ago on 1 July 2011 I started up Diary of an Australian Genealogist to prove to someone that it was very easy to set up a blog and keep it going. Time has gone quickly but then lots of things seem to happen in my life. Two years ago I was still working full time and had more time for genealogy and social media  whereas now I'm part time and living in a beach paradise with lots of other distractions.

Still I do manage to get to some great genealogy events and yesterday I attended the local Bribie Island family history group meeting where old friend and colleague Stephanie Ryan was talking about the genealogy resources at the State Library of Queensland where she is the Genealogy Librarian. It was a bit of a walk down memory lane for me as I first went to work at SLQ in 1981 and I went back to work there in 1990. Both times I left to go and work at Queensland State Archives. It was also good to see that SLQ still supports researchers who live outside the capital city, all too often regional and rural people miss out on personal visits although I can understand that there are time and travel costs involved. We just need that 'beam me up' technology!

Anyway enough of memory lane, it was great to hear Stephanie mention the AJCP (Australian Joint Copying Project) which has to be one of the most under-utilised resources for genealogy and she definitely invoked memories when she mentioned the A2 series of microfilm which was a joint copying project between SLQ and State Records NSW back in the 1970s. It is really good to know that they are currently working on a better index to all the wonderful material that relates to pre separation Queensland (1824-1859).

Stephanie mentioned all the useful family history information guides which are all online and nice to see that they have been recently updated. All too often you see guides which are out of date! There are more online indexes at SLQ than I realised so I have a bit of exploring to do just in case any of my families are mentioned. I have been using the Library's One Search to find information so I was interested to hear that you can also still search the former online catalogue as well. Like most things it can be useful to search both as sometimes the results vary.

I recently applied for my SLQ library card which gives me access to the Library's e-resources at home and I really must make the trek down to Brisbane and check out the new building. It has changed a lot since I last worked there in 1994. The trouble is I expect I'd want to spend more than a day there as there is just so much available for both Australian and UK genealogy.

National Family History Month has been keeping me busy with lots of events being added over the last week. It's only three weeks to launch so I'm expecting the next weeks to be busier than ever. I'm looking forward to the announcement of the Nick Vine Hall awards at the launch and I hope that genealogy and family history societies have nominated their journals this year. It is good to recognise the enormous effort all the editors do to bring new information and stories to society members.

Finally I would like to say that it was wonderful to see that Diary was listed in Jill Ball's 50 Blogs You Need to Read in the current issue of Inside History Magazine. It was a great anniversary present although I expect Jill doesn't remember it has been two years this month. We obviously have similar interests as many of the genealogy blogs she listed are ones that I try to look at on a regular basis. It's divided up into Institutions, Organisations, Niche Topics and Societies, Personal Genealogists and Professional Genealogists. However there are some that I haven't seen before so there's another thing down on my list to do - check them out! If you are looking to find some good blogs to read check out Jill's list and they are not all Australian, some overseas ones as well.

I'm off to Chinchilla for the weekend for the genealogy seminar with the Chinchilla Family History Group and I have a number of historical villages on my list of things to do while I'm out that way. At least that gives me something to write about next Diary! Until next time, try and find some time to do your own genealogy.

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.

 

Genealogy notes 27 May - 8 Jun 2013 - discovering relatives & photos

Well our two weeks of travel went well but I was surprised to find that for most of the time I was without mobile phone access (thank goodness that contract is up in August) and even my wi fi struggled just outside of Bundaberg even though we were only a 5-10 minute drive from the CBD! As it was a family history trip I wasn't too concerned with online access as we were kept busy visiting places our ancestors lived and talking to relatives and looking through old photo albums. I've come home with some cute baby photos of Max, photos of his parents in their courting days not to mention their wedding photo and even some photos of his maternal grandparents. His maternal grandmother's photo album has ended up with his aunt's eldest daughter who lives in Kingaroy so there is another trip on the horizon as that is the album most likely to have photos of their Bribie Island home and holidays there.

My Flip Pal mobile scanner got a work out and the batteries went flat but having learnt from past mistakes I had another set of batteries on hand! Now of course I have to upload all the images to the laptop, tag and label them which all takes time. However the trip proved you really do need to track down all the oldest living relatives because you just don't know what they may have that relates to your own direct families.

The trip down the Mary River as part of the anniversary celebrations for the 140th anniversary of immigrant ships to Maryborough was great and it wasn't hard to imagine what my Norwegian ancestors thought as they sailed up the river so long ago. There is still not a lot of development along that stretch of the river and it was amazing to see the flood debris so high up in the trees courtesy of the dreadful floods earlier this year. What really brought home the extent of the floods to us was the sight of a wrecked yacht in the middle of a cane field. The Maryborough Family Heritage Research Institute has already started planning for next year's anniversary celebration and we may try to attend again just because we had so much fun this time.

Of course coming home meant that I had lots of emails to catch up on and I was pleased to see a few more events for National Family History Month. Some states have quite a few events now but others have yet to list any. It was great to see Australian Family Tree Connections feature the NFHM banner in their June issue and in Genealogy News there is a piece on NFHM and the suggestion that local genie societies have a display at their local newsagents who usually stock all kinds of genie magazines. It certainly sounds a good way to advertise your society and perhaps even gain a few new members.

I have to put a few things into place next week which I hope will also capture researchers and societies attention and get more people talking about what they are going to do this coming August! Stay tuned.

One of the exciting pieces of news for me was the announcement that Queensland now has cheaper certificates ($28) and historical images ($20) which can be downloaded direct from the website. I haven't had a chance to try out the new QLD BDM website yet but I've always been a fan of Victoria's BDM online access and the ability to instantly follow a lead without having to wait for a certificate to be posted. Although you have to be careful to not get too carried away!

As usual I have my e-newsletters  to catch up on and I only wish I had some way of retaining a lot of this information easily although I do save them for searching later, assuming I can remember what newsletter I read it in.Not to mention the time it takes to look at all the URLs mentioned and going off on tangents!

For those who like to follow my travels we spent two days at Mooloolaba (where we almost ended up buying) and visited Underwater World and did a cruise on the canals which was fascinating. It even goes near Jake and Elle's home (runner up in recent My Kitchen Rules) and it just goes to show that local tourism benefits from having celebrities in the area. From there we were heading up to Hervey Bay (where the MKR winners were from) but we decided to spend a night in Tin Can Bay and visit Rainbow Beach as well.

We are members of Top Tourist Parks so we booked into the Tin Can Bay Tourist Park for one night and ended up staying for three nights as there is more to do in Tin Can Bay then you initially think. Next time we visit we will have to take the boat so that we can explore the waterways more. The owners advised us that it is actually easier to get to Fraser Island from there than going up to Hervey Bay so we booked into a Fraser Island Adventure Tours day tour to Lake McKenzie. It is only an 8 minute barge trip from Inskip Point to Fraser Island so definitely a quicker trip but I still managed to spot two dolphin pods on the way over.

The 4WD trip up the beach was great but it got a little bumpier once we started heading inland. We had a great BBQ at the lake and even spotted a dingo walking around Central Station (another tourist and picnic area) and as we came back out onto the beach for the trip home there was another dingo eating a coconut (or at least that's what it looked like). It was a great day and the bird life was amazing and you do have to watch those kookaburras - the man next to us had his BBQ sausage taken off his plate while the guide was busy warning us to watch out for them!

From our caravan park it was an easy walk to the foreshore and again the bird life was amazing and a guided walking trail helps you to know what the local trees are as well as some of the history. We also went down to the wild dolphin feeding at the Barnacles Dolphin Centre and this is a real draw card for tourism to Tin Can Bay. I hadn't realised they even did it there as I usually think of Monkey Mia in WA and Tangalooma here in QLD. It was a big crowd on Saturday morning and from there we headed up to Maryborough in time for the anniversary celebrations. Then we had a few days in Bundaberg before heading home.

It's great being able to travel and do genealogy things together but now that I'm home it's time to knuckle down as I have a talk on immigration records coming up at the end of the month for the Genealogical Society of Queensland and then two weeks later it is out to Chinchilla for two talks on Trove and Google. See my website Events page for details. They are predicting rain all next week so that is perfect weather to do some family history research and writing. I hope you find the time too!

Genealogy notes 16-26 May 2013 anniversaries & family visits

Well the other half's trip to his brother fell through so there was no 4-5 days of pure genealogy bliss by myself but I've managed to get a few things done. I'm off this week to Maryborough for the 140th & 150th anniversary of immigrant ships into Maryborough, Queensland. My Gundersen ancestors arrived on the Humboldt in 1873 so I'm participating in a cruise down the Mary River to Hervey Bay (the trip in reverse). The anniversary celebrations have been organised by the Maryborough Family Heritage Research Centre and the cruise leaves on Saturday there will be displays of family tree charts and other memorabilia associated with the various voyages.

I've also spent a bit of time (well ok a lot of time) on Trove looking up reports on the arrival of the Humboldt. I did look at newspapers back in the old microfilm days but it's obvious that I didn't pick up everything! It is so much easier now just putting in a keyword, a date or even the name of the newspaper. I'm really looking forward to the trip and the anniversary celebrations.

From Maryborough it's on to Bundaberg to visit Max's 92 year old aunt and hear her stories of the Burstow family on Bribie Island. I've dragged out the Flip Pal mobile scanner just in case she has any photos or documents. It's funny if I don't use something regularly I forget how to use it! Still the scanner is easy to use and it's just a matter of getting back into the swing of scanning. Something I should seriously do when we get back.

Max's brother is bringing their father's WW2 photo albums up with him when he visits in June so I'll definitely have to do those. That also reminds me that I still have to get my Uncle Gordon's WW2 albums from Mum to scan. I'm starting to hope that Bribie Island does have a winter so that I can stay indoors and do some of these tasks but so far the weather has been absolutely perfect and we are still in shorts and t shirts and I even went swimming a day or so ago.

I'm still rolling out National Family History Month but there is still only a trickle of events coming in even though I know of societies who have already organised NFHM events - but they haven't added them to the calendar yet. I'm hoping a full page advert in the next Australian Family Tree Connections will get people started to talk about it more (thanks to AFTC for their sponsorship) and I know that other sponsors Ancestry.com.au and findmypast.com.au are both featuring NFHM in email newsletters to their subscribers.

I've been spending some time working on new research guides but you can spend a lot of time thinking and writing and still have little to show for it at the end of the day. Then when I think I have all my URLs up to date I find something has changed - still I would never want to go back to researching pre internet!

The events section of my website has been updated to show what talks I have coming up June to December 2013 and it's a bit quieter than usual for this time of year but then people don't know me as much up this way! I'm happy to have two talks in NFHM - in Canberra with the Heraldry & Genealogy Society of Canberra and also here on Bribie Island at the Bongaree Library. The thought of Canberra in winter brings back some chilly memories for me but it also coincides with a WW1 advisory committee meeting at the National Archives of Australia. It will be a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and colleagues. And of course there is the launch of NFHM in Brisbane so August will definitely be a travel month.

I've just downloaded our photos from the cameras and put them on the chargers and am now about to back up the laptops in preparation for the trip. I've got a small pile of genealogy journals and magazines that I wanted to catch up on not to mention all the e-copies on my laptop and tablet! It's only a short but busy trip but I'm still hoping for a few hours of quiet time. Housework in a caravan doesn't take as long as at home!

As I walk in my ancestors footsteps this coming week, I hope you all find time for a little genealogy research too! Until next time wish me luck on finding some old family photos this trip.

Genealogy notes 3-15 May 2013 hooked on digitised newspapers

Well the last fortnight has made me realised what's wrong with living in paradise! Living on Bribie Island is like being on a permanent holiday - the weather has been fantastic so lots of swimming, fishing, walking, biking etc not to mention the pubs and clubs with their cheap meals and free entertainment. Not surprisingly we have had three lots of visitors in the last fortnight (funny no one ever visited us at Hoppers Crossing) so not much genealogy has been done!

As we are about to head off to Bundaberg to visit an elderly aunt to capture her memories of holidays to the family cottages here on Bribie Island in the 1920s and 30s, I have spent a bit of time on Trove looking for bits and pieces on the Burstow family to help stimulate her memory. Although on the phone she seems totally with it for someone who is approaching her 92nd birthday but then her sister is heading for 103 this year and she is an inspiration! Definitely good genes in that family.

But Trove, although wonderful, is a trap. I managed to spend the whole day looking for info on the ten Burstow children and their families and I found all kinds of information which then sparked searches in online BDMs for both Queensland and New South Wales, as well as online cemetery databases in Brisbane and Moreton, not to mention the Queensland State Archives and State Records NSW. In fact I had so many leads I then spent the next day doing more Trove searches and before I knew it, it was dark and I was fumbling around in the dark trying to remember where the light switches were. Two days gone!

If the other half hadn't out bike riding and fishing I probably wouldn't have spent so much time but now that more regional newspapers are online in Trove, I really need to do that kind of searching with all my families.

We went to the Bribie Island historical society meeting and I was fascinated to chat with someone who knew a lot about my Carnegie ancestors and what is in the Society's database on them. It seems they know info I don't and of course, I have info that they haven't but I have promised them copies. When I was doing this research back in the 1970s and 80s the Society didn't even exist and it wasn't established until 2008 which is quite late for a historical society. Most local areas have had a historical society for decades. Again this highlights that you do need to revisit your research as things change, especially over 35 years.

The other thing I realised after going through my paper files of documents on the Carnegie family is that I haven't put all the info into my family history program and I've forgotten a lot as well. There are lots of things I could follow up now that weren't easily searched way back then. So as I sort my info out for the historical society, I'm also going to input the data myself and follow up some of the new leads. If I do that for all my families, my son's and my partner's, I'm going to need more than another 35 years!!

But what has been really nice about this massive overdose of genealogy research over the last few days is that I'm still as passionate about it as I was when I started back in 1977. The only real difference is that now it is more instantaneous and you can follow that trail now instead of waiting for the mailman!

I still have some research enquiries, reviews and articles to do and I'm procrastinating there because I really like the research more than writing but I do need to keep this part time business moving along. Plus I'm partway through a couple of new books which I should finish but I seem to get to a certain point and then I start to procrastinate over the finish. I'm obviously not an athlete as I'd never get to the finish line!

The other half is planning a trip to see his brother and will be away for 4-5 days which will be the perfect opportunity for me to catch up on the business side of things or will I succumb to the lure of Trove and my own personal research?

On the reading side I simply loved the latest edition of Inside History magazine with its Irish theme. I only have two more parts to my Missing Irish Loved Ones Downunder for Irish Lives Remembered which is a bit sad as I've loved doing that series. I took out two books on medieval genealogy from the local library as I love that period of history and have a few Cornish lines that wander into that era. Research and reading - probably my two biggest time consumers!

Lastly just a quick mention of National Family History Month - I've finished the campaign letter and poster and sent it off to all key genealogy and family history umbrella groups for further dissemination but sadly no influx of events on the NFHM calendar yet. The campaign letter and poster will next be sent to key historical society bodies and archives and libraries as I'm hoping to raise the profile in a variety of sectors. So don't forget to make your local society aware of NFHM and ask them to do an event this year even if it is something as simple as calling the August monthly meeting 'NFHM meeting'!

Well that beautiful sunshine is calling me for an afternoon walk to the beach - it's either that or bring up Trove again and I really should get some sun and exercise after the last few rainy days. Until next time happy searching.

Genealogy notes 20 Apr - 2 May 2013 military tributes

Well the last two weeks have flown and we enjoyed our time in Maryborough although getting both the caravan and the motorbike back took us a few days. We also decided it was time to finish unpacking the boxes we had hidden inside wardrobes and cupboards. So with laptops unplugged we have been sorting ourselves out more in the new home and also tackling the garden which is a lot more high maintenance than our previous place.

The upside of this was that we found Max's outdoor work boots which we have looked everywhere for (but not in amongst the photo albums which is where we found them). How they ended up in there will probably remain a mystery but the unpacking of all his photo albums meant time out for a trip or two down memory lane. It also reminded me of how much I still have to scan as I haven't even finished my own photos and albums! Now hoping for some cold rainy days but today is simply gorgeous and I have other things to catch up on.

I have managed to get some genealogy in and participated in the Trans Tasman ANZAC Day blog challenge and my entry this year was on John and Sarah Finn's three sons, John, Robert and Denis Patrick who all enlisted and served overseas in France during WW1. You can read their stories on my website here.

While reading the latest Lost Cousins enewsletter (they have been going for nine years now, amazing how quickly that has gone) I realised that I've never added Max's families to this database. No one has ever contacted me about my own families but he seems luckier than me so that's another job on the never shrinking genealogy to do list.

After we got back from Bali Max had a 'spooky' incident in that he saw someone who looked just like his brother walking down the road here on Bribie. He stopped because the resemblance was too great not to ask a question or two. It turned out that the man and his wife were visiting from England and had been staying with friends at Ningi and it was their last day before leaving. Not only was there a strong visual resemblance but his surname was Spencer, the same as Max. How incredible that the surname was the same!

The sad thing was he didn't know his family history but his daughter had been doing some research. So when Max came home to tell me about this almost surreal incident, the first thing I asked was 'what was his name, address, how could we contact them' etc but in his excitement Max hadn't thought to ask but he did give them his name and email address so let's hope they contact us when they get home. Although I might add his Spencer names into Lost Cousins and see if I can find the daughter. Nothing like that ever happens in my family!

Most of my spare genealogy time has been spent on National Family History Month 2013 contacting sponsors and organising prizes for our lucky drawer for genealogy and family history societies who enter their NFHM event on the web calendar and promote it as part of NFHM. It's looking good so far and I already have almost a dozen events on the calendar but only from Queensland and Victoria.

I have almost finished the 2013 campaign letter and flyer which I will be emailing out to libraries, archives, historical societies and genealogy and family history societies next week. With a $0 budget I will be asking people to print their own flyer to put on their noticeboards and to spread the word about NFHM to their own networks.

I'd also appreciate it if all my online friends could mention NFHM to their societies or libraries because word of mouth is also a great way of spreading the news that all of August will be focused on genealogy and family history! Not to mention those great prizes for participating societies.

The other thing I have been working on is the list of 31 genealogy activities for individuals and 31 activities for genie societies - this will be optional and people can choose how much or how little they want to do during the month.

On the good news front the local Bribie Island branch of the Moreton Bay Region Libraries has said that they would be keen to do something in August for NFHM so that is great. We are still organising a date for me to give a talk and they will probably do other talks as well. So one library on board, more to follow.

More good news is that the National Archives of Australia Brisbane office have agreed to hold a launch for NFHM so I'm busy arranging a speaker and thinking about a program for the launch. It will be nice to see the launch held outside of Melbourne where it has been launched for the last six years. Also nice that I'm organising it for my home town and I can invite all my old genie friends!

Next week is shaping up to be the busiest genie week I have had in some time. On Monday there is the Bribie Island U3A family history meeting, and on Tuesday and Thursday the Bribie Island family history interest group (no website) meets and on Wednesday night the Bribie Island historical society meets. They are all monthly meetings but just happen to all fall into the one week in May!

I'm still surrounded by unpacked boxes in my study so enough rambling and back to the unpacking I go! At least next week I'm guaranteed genealogy time with all those meetings to attend - stay tuned and happy researching.

Genealogy notes 14-19 April 2013 Immigration anniversaries

This post on Diary is coming live from Maryborough Queensland where I am currently staying onsite at the Ulysses AGM 2013. Regular readers will know that Max is the motorbike enthusiast not me but while he is out riding, I can usually be found doing genealogy! This is my first full time AGM mainly because it was also an opportunity to visit the area where my Norwegian gg grandparents lived when they first arrived in Queensland.

While chatting to my long time friend Kay at the Maryborough Family Heritage Research Institute, she reminded me that 2013 is the 140th anniversary of the arrival of the Humboldt into Maryborough carrying my Norwegian ancestors Anders and Aase Gunderson. Sadly their two children died on the voyage out and we can only imagine their grief and their confusion arriving in Queensland, a land very different from where they came from in Norway.

The Humboldt wasn't the only ship arriving in 1873 and to celebrate their 140th anniversaries plus the 150th anniversaries of the ships arriving in Maryborough in 1863, the Institute is organising a cruise on the catamaran Spirit of Hervey Bay (normally does whale watching tours during Jul-Nov) down the Mary River followed by dinner at the Hervey Bay Boat Club at Urangan and a bus trip back to Maryborough! It's on Saturday 1 June and we simply couldn't resist this commemorative event so we have booked two seats and will travel back up this way in late May. Descendants from the various ships are being encouraged to send in family trees for display on the day so I need to get onto that when I get back home next week. Anyone interested should contact the Institute.

The weather has been absolutely perfect here and we visited the Maryborough Heritage Markets on Thursday and witnessed the discharge of the cannon at 1pm (a regular event). Only this time there were hundreds if not thousands of Ulysses members also checking out the markets and Maryborough's various heritage sites. There was even a competition for the best themed Ulysses shop front window which were good to see and most places were offering discounts to members as well.

Max even made it into the local Fraser Coast Chronicle after he test rode one of the latest Honda Gold Wing motorbikes. He was so excited we bought 3 copies of the paper and ordered the photo from the newspaper! It will look good in his family history.

There are almost 4000 Ulysses members at the AGM so that's a fair bit of money they are contributing to the local economy at shops, accommodation, petrol stations, hotels and where ever else one spends money. When we went down to Hervey Bay for the afternoon, the Esplanade was simply swarming with motorbikes exploring the Bay. The Maryborough Show Grounds is an excellent venue with lots of casual dining places, a temporary restaurant Bayfusion serving excellent meals, an internet kiosk, and even an IGA.

There are a huge number of traders selling all sorts of motorbike stuff but there are also fishing, massage, soaps, clothing and other trade stalls. Most attendees are in tents but there are also quite a few caravans, motorhomes and other RV vehicles. Others are staying off site at motels and other accommodation venues. The AGM dinner has seating for 1200 also on site in a temporary pavilion and the Piazza also seats about 1200 for more informal dining and happy hour.

I'd like to see a genealogy conference organised like that!

I came up here thinking I would get lots of research done but I've spent more time sight seeing and talking to people. I did manage to send off my next installment on Irish Loves Ones Downunder to Irish Lives Remembered and I've been working on my 2013 Trans Tasman ANZAC day blog challenge by Kintalk (held every year). This year it will be on my father's three uncles John, Robert and Denis Patrick Finn who all went to WW1.

Kay also lent me Bryan Sykes The Seven Daughters of Eve (the astonishing story that reveals how each of us can trace our genetic ancestors) but I don't think I will get that finished before we leave. I'll have to bring it back when we come up again for the immigration anniversaries.

Needless to say I haven't had much opportunity to do anything more with National Family History Month 2013 but hopefully people are starting to think about how they can get their local society, library or archive more involved now that it is over the whole month of August.

Next week is also shaping up to be a busy one but at least I will be home with the computer set up all the time! I know it doesn't take that much time to get the laptop out and set up the modem but when it's a beautiful day like today, the temptation is to be out and about. Or even have a quick Nana nap (these late nights are a bit taxing)! Till next time.

Genealogy notes 6-13 Apr 2013 National Family History Month

Well the last week has flown and all the things I thought I would do, I didn't end up doing. It turned out to be visitor week first with my brother coming up for a couple of days and then 3 friends from where we used to live in Melbourne. They are travelling by motorhome and motobike on their way up to Maryborough on the Fraser Coast for the Ulysses 2013 AGM there next week. As it is so wet here on Bribie Island, they are having a few dry nights with us and then will all be heading up to Maryborough together tomorrow. So next week's Diary will be live from Maryborough, Queensland not to be confused with Maryborough, Victoria in the central goldfields area!

I haven't done much personal genealogy this week as I have been wearing my voluntary coordinator hat for National Family History Week  and I'm pleased to announce that this has just been extended to the whole month of August! This also brings us into line with New Zealand who have had a NZ National Family History Month for some time.

So now we have to remember National Family History Month (NFHM). The last week has seen me struggle to learn how to manage a Joomla website and emails plus the website content. All so different from my own website but I seem to have done all the changes and I must thank the previous coordinator Lesle Berry for all her help with my numerous questions this past week. The only things not changed yet are the domain name and the Facebook page name which both take a bit longer to do.

As NFHM doesn't have it's own blog (yet although I'm hesitant to start yet another blog) I will briefly outline here what will be happening. I will be approaching various sponsors (or hopefully some will approach me) for prizes to go into a big draw for all genealogy and family history societies who put a NFHM event into the NFHM event calendar. Each Australian state and Territory has its own calendar and there is also one for New Zealand. Societies don't have to be a member to enter into the prize draw. I'm hoping this will encourage more societies to repackage their monthly meeting or a library open day into a NFHM event/s.

I would also like to see lots of libraries and archives hold an event/s over the month as well and remember it is important to add these events to the NFHM event calendar so that everyone can see what's on in their local area. Don't forget to check the surrounding postcodes as there may be a great event in a neighbouring suburb.

To keep enthusiasm and awareness high throughout the month I'm working on a list of 31 activities for individuals to help further their own genealogy research and another list of 31 activities to help genealogy and family history societies raise their own profiles and hopefully attract some new members over the month. It would also be good to have more societies join AFFHO (Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations).

As well I'm hoping that all my geneablogger friends will be doing their blogging,  Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and whatever other social media they are into. I think this is a great opportunity for us to really make genealogy and family history a focus during August because for me a week was too short and it was over before I realised it. Plus there were often competing events in the shorter time period. Now it will be a true feast of genealogy over 31 days as I'm sure some of the physical events will also appear in attendees blogs and other social media.

I'm happy to take on any suggestions and already I have had one person ask that headstones and the information on them be highlighted. This is a great idea as I have some wonderful examples in my own research of information I would never had known if not for the tombstone.

Well I have to get back to packing for Maryborough, so put your genealogy thinking caps on for what you are going to do in NFHM in 2013 and don't forget to ask your local societies, libraries and archives what are they doing. Don't forget to add the events to the NFHM calendar and if you haven't yet ticked Like on the Facebook page, please do. I want everyone talking genealogy and family history in the lead up to August this year. Please join me! Till next time safe travels!

Genealogy notes 27 Mar - 5 Apr 2013 Canberra news

Well it's been busy on the home front and my recent visit to Canberra has made life even more hectic but I'm fast realising that my life in retirement on Bribie Island is never going to be less than action packed. Over Easter we finally go to do the 6 hour eco cruise on The Ferryman and I just love sailing past my Scottish ancestors home on the Toorbul side of Pumicestone Passage. As there was 6 hours of sailing we went almost to the tip of Bribie Island and could easily see Caloundra. The bird life is amazing and must have been even more amazing back in the 19thC before the settlers arrived.

It's a great trip and amazing value as it also included morning tea (hot cross buns, chocolate ones no less), a delicious roast chicken and salads lunch  (and I must get the wombok salad recipe it was amazing) and afternoon tea with home made cakes which were so good. I don't think we have ever eaten so much in a single place before! Well done Ferryman and I hope others do the trip because the 6 hours goes very quickly with so much to see. Definitely worth a day trip from Brisbane.

Easter was also a time to catch up with family and a visit to Mum ended up with us coming home with a car load of pot plants and all her African violets as Mum is no longer able to care for them. This was all great for our new home but it did mean that we then had to spend a couple of days planting them out in our orchard/rainforest or repotting them for indoors! My son has also been doing amazing things in his new house and has tackled his overgrown yard with amazing vigour and it is good to see them settling into their new home. We also took the opportunity to give them a few more boxes of our unwanted goods but no matter how much I declutter, we still seem to have heaps of stuff.

Before I left for Canberra I sent in to the local newspaper a small article on my Carnegie family at Toorbul hoping that they might publish it. They say it pays to advertise and I was really excited to find that it was published in the Island and Mainland News  and they included the two pictures of my ancestors tombstone in Toorbul cemetery. It's the only one left in the historic cemetery. This also led to me being contacted by the Bribie Island Historical Society and I will be going to their next meeting on Wednesday. So I'm really looking forward to that.

While in Canberra I met up with the president of AFFHO to discuss this year's National Family History Week and I have big news there but all the members of AFFHO have to be notified first so stay tuned. All I can say at this point is that NFHW 2013 will be bigger and better than ever before and I hope everyone will also follow us on Facebook NFHW as well as putting their events on the website calendar. I will also need everyone's help to promote it as we are operating on a real shoe string budget this year. Still I'm a firm believer in the power of social media and I know I have some great online geneafriends.

But now for the real reason for my Canberra trip. I'm on the National Archives of Australia's advisory committee for the centenary of WW1 so we were there for a progress report on their new Wartime Australia website. The draft pages look fantastic and are user friendly so that everyone can add in their own stories. It was also good to hear about the activities being undertaken by other State Archives and places like the Australian War Memorial. It's going to be easier than ever to trace our military ancestors and most of these projects and activities will start to roll out in 2014 and then continue through to 2018.

Another new website and exhibition planned by the NAA will feature forced adoption stories and they are calling for expressions of interest for anyone interested in assisting with the project. It is due for launch in 2014 on the anniversary of the Government's formal apology. Read the media release for full details.

While sitting in the Qantas Club waiting for my flight home I was really surprised, and delighted to find the new paper issue of NAA's Your Memento Highlights Vol 2. This paper edition features the more popular stories from their Your Memento free online e-magazine and I do have to say that I prefer reading the paper issue. All too often with the digital notifications, I file the e-mag or e-news and then don't go back to read it whereas the paper copy sits there in a pile on my cupboard making me feel guilty until I read it.

Also spotted was a new glossy paper magazine from the National Museum of Australia simply called The Museum: Behind the Scenes and Vol 2 is a great read with some really good photos and stories. I'm only sorrow that I didn't see Vol 1 but all is not lost. The issues (some articles only) are also online and Vol 3 is now out as well! Like libraries and archives, museums are also great places to find background information and context on our ancestors and where and how they lived.

An email from the local Bribie Island Family History Special Interest Group (no website) also got me quite excited as it included news from the local Bribie Island (Bongaree) Library. They have a series of free genealogy talks planned for the rest of the year under the banner Finding Your Family: Who Are You? There are workshops on handwriting (reading all that old colonial writing), Irish ancestors, beginners sessions and even a session on Bribie's WW2 bunker and other military records. So I will be booking in for most of those! For those interested see their what's on calendar.

I rejoined the Genealogical Society of Queensland and received a very nice welcome back including a paper journal which has joined the pile on the cupboard! I also received my renewal notice for the Genealogical Society of Victoria and as I like using their online resources, I will be renewing but I am glad that I am a lifetime member of Queensland Family History Society as that is one less subscription to pay. Still being a member of key societies is so worth while and really does help further your family research not to mention make new friends.

Instead of buying the family Easter eggs this year, I decided to take out another $25 loan with the Genealogists for Families project and as I had received repayments on previous loans, I was able to make two further loans to needy families overseas. I'm still surprised how easily this project sustains itself. Once you have made a few loans the repayments then allow you to fund still more loans. Of course you can take back the repayments if you want, but I've never missed the original $25 I used for my first loan so why not let it keep on helping others. Occasionally I make additional loans to mark special occasions like Christmas and Easter and since I joined the Genealogists for Families project I have made 28 loans! So that's 28 families I have helped with whatever their loans were needed for.

As usual I have made this Diary too long and I really am going to have to do it more regularly (like I used to before the big move)! I've got a genealogy to do list beside me that I really must tackle. Plus the other half has just left for fishing so now is the perfect time to do some research - trying to decide what new lead to follow up is the problem. There's so much new information out there! Wish me luck and as always, best wishes with your own research.