Trove Tuesday - A lightbulb moment

This morning while listening to a webinar on Government Employees hosted by State Records NSW I had a lightbulb moment.

For several years I have been interested in my Great-Great Grandmother's brother, Rev. Michael Harrington Ryan. I have previously searched Trove and British and Irish newspapers for mention of this chap and have looked at resources in The National Library of Australia and the National Library in Dublin, Ireland. I have gathered quite a bit of information on his life but, as one day I want to tell his story, I want more.

When John Cann was talking about Government Records in the webinar I recalled that M H Ryan had some Government appointments to penal colonies under the jurisdiction of NSW and gaols in NSW. John mentioned that keyword searches in Trove will return results from the NSW Government Gazette. Now I haven't done any Trove searches on the good Reverend since the Gazettes became available. So what did I do? I ditched my task of editing and distributing minutes of a Family History Group and fired up Trove.

I have tagged several articles in Trove with M H Ryan's name but I prefer Lists because I find them easier to find through searches. As I didn't have a list I set up a new one for Michael Harrington Ryan which I have made Private for the moment. I was then ready to search.

Was the hunt successful?

It certainly was although I had to use a range of search terms to find articles. I had previously found reports of some of these events in Trove newspapers but many of the results I found today are news to me and will add more to the story of my great (x2) grand-uncle.

Below are just some of the snippets I found relating to Michael Harrington Ryan.

1872 'Index page', New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900), 31 December, p. xxvi. , viewed 27 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225844670

1877 'Government Gazette Notices', New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900), 30 January, p. 451. , viewed 27 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223127406

1877 'Government Gazette Appointments and Employment', New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900), 27 July, p. 2869. , viewed 27 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223536564

1879 'Government Gazette Appointments and Employment', New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900), 4 February, p. 473. , viewed 27 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223657987

1879 'Government Gazette Appointments and Employment', New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900), 7 February, p. 528. , viewed 27 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223658141

Government Gazette Appointments and Employment (1883, July 20). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900), p. 3903. Retrieved August 27, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article221655477

1887 'In the Supreme Court of New South Wales. ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION.', New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900), 15 November, p. 7682. , viewed 27 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article219929328

Trove Tuesday - I love Trove

This morning @TroveAustralia tweeted:

After reading that Tweet I realised that I hadn't been loving Trove on #TroveTuesday much lately. Sure I had been searching for articles and correcting the text in some of them. I also included some slides about Trove tags and lists in an upcoming presentation about "Cousin Bait". 

In my talk I will be showing people how to use tags as cousin bait and how to search for ancestor tags. I always try to tag posts about my ancestors. My search for my grandfather "Frank Duncan"brings back 65 results most of which are tags I attached to articles about Frank. 

I love lists on Trove. I use the CurryAus list to keep track of articles I find for my CurryAus surname study. I can add and edit notes to the items in the list. This is useful when I have added the details from an article to my database, I can keep track of articles I have not yet worked on. 

List result from a  simple Trove search for CurryAus

The results for lists show up on the main Trove results page, note that my blog is included under the Archived website category. 

Result for simple Trove search for CurryAus

One can also just search the lists. When I search Lists for Curry I found more than mine. Some of these lists directed me to articles I could add to my list.

Results for a Curry search in Trove Lists

Trove Tuesday - 40th Brthday

This week one of the GeniAus offspring celebrated his 40th birthday. The celebrations lasted all day with a trip to the movies, a Mexican lunch, a game of ten pin bowls, a two hour karaoke session, a Thai dinner, then back to his home for cake, coffee and chat. We oldies settled for the karaoke, Thai and cake.

I wondered how other Australians celebrated their 40th birthdays so turned to Trove.

"JUDGE ON 40th BIRTHDAY" The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954) 21 March 1952: 2. Web. 18 Jun 2018 .

"HASSETT HAS 40th BIRTHDAY" Narandera Argus and Riverina Advertiser (NSW : 1893 - 1953) 3 September 1953: 4. Web. 18 Jun 2018 .

"JOINED ON 40th BIRTHDAY" The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954) 24 July 1917: 12. Web. 18 Jun 2018 .

"Chaplin's 40th Birthday." Advocate (Burnie, Tas. : 1890 - 1954) 18 April 1929: 2. Web. 18 Jun 2018 .

Trove Tuesday - A Modern Kitchen

Today the GeniAus family is having a new kitchen installed. While some of the finishes in the new kitchen are different many of the features are similar to those in this Modern 1940 kitchen.

1940 'MODERN KITCHEN', Northern Star (Lismore, NSW : 1876 - 1954), 24 April, p. 10. , viewed 08 Jun 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article95505629

Text:
MODERN KITCHEN

To keep the kitchen spotless has always entailed endless
work for the average housewife. In the kitchen there are
many acids and corrosives which are a danger to the ordinary
enamel fittings, such as sinks, drainers, stoves, etc.

The kitchen illustrated provides a solution to the home builder
who desires comfort and utility in his kitchen.The sink is of stain-
less steel cast in one piece with a continuous draining board, while
the end benches with cupboards under have stainless steel tops of
mirror finish.

The fronts of sinks and cupboards are faced with acid resisting
sheet porcelain enamel, with doors flushed face to match. The elec-
tric stove is recessed in the wall and has its own electric exhaust
ing fan for fumes and gas exhaust and is carried out in porcelain
to match cupboards.

Walls round sinks and stove are tiled in deep cream tiles with
jade green inlay bands, whilst the floor is covered with strip jade
green rubber covering. Elevated cupboards over drainers allow space
for crockery storage with flush faced fronts, and all fittings, in-
cluding refrigerator, are so placed to allow of good circulation and
a minimum amount of walking during the working of the kitchen.

Cream Venetian blinds cover the long low window and complete
a scheme of which the housewife should be proud.

Trove Tuesday - Family History Blogs

I have been thinking about blogs and blogging this week so I thought I'd take a look at Trove and see what Family History Blogs I could find. I am always on the prowl for new to me Australian genealogy blogs to follow.

Firstly I restricted my search to "Archived websites (1996 – now)"  and entered the following in the search box.

I was rewarded with "at least 3,058 sites containing 2,058,694 page versions". On the first page of hits I saw many blogs and websites that I recognised.

I then selected "Blogs" from the narrow by keywords option on the left of the page. My list of hits was reduced to:" at least 553 sites containing 224,899 page versions."

Did I find anything new to me? I knew all the blogs on the first list of twenty including some that are dormant. Isn't it good that their content is preserved on Trove.

On the second page I started seeing blogs that I wasn't familiar with. One was weird, one from a writer and one about hair loss and other random stuff. I kept going...

The first gem I found was Great War Nurses from the Hunter  , although dormant this blog has many interesting articles.

Are you my father? How I spent my life searching for truth diarises a woman's search for her biological father. This blog hooked me in with well written and riveting story that I spent over  two hours reading each and every post.

I was thrilled to find Camden History Notes as my convict ancestors Patrick Curry and Ellen Moore were there from 1828.There were lots of articles on the Camden area.

Scrolling thhrough15 pages of hits I found lots of blogs that I know including three of mine but little else of interest. I need to use some other search terms to find more genealogy blogs.

Trove Tuesday - Fifties Carols

I have recently been to several end of year celebrations featuring Christmas music these ranged from a traditional Anglican Festival of Lessons and Carols to an outdoor community singalong under the stars and a preschool Christmas concert. On my trips to the shops I have also been assaulted by Christmas music whenever I visit.

As a child I remember singing carols at school, hearing Christmas music on the radio and listening to Bing Crosby singing about a White Christmas on our record player but I cannot remember ever attending a function devoted to Christmas Music. Of course we sang a few carols at Midnight Mass. I turned to Trove to see what was going on when I was a youngster in the 1950s.

It was pleasing to find that carols were being sung in public all over the nation.

1950 - Emerald, Victoria

1950 'ST. LUKE'S CHURCH OF ENGLAND', Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 - 1954), 16 December, p. 5. , viewed 12 Dec 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164501056

1951 - Tasmania

1951 'CHRISTMAS CAROLS', North-Eastern Advertiser (Scottsdale, Tas. : 1909 - 1954), 14 December, p. 7. , viewed 12 Dec 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article149413982

1952 - Port Augusta, S.A.

1952 'Port Augusta Carols December 21', The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), 3 December, p. 5. , viewed 12 Dec 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47516398

1953 - Queensland

1953 'CAROLS BY MOONLIGHT', Pittsworth Sentinel (Qld. : 1919 - 1954), 3 November, p. 3. , viewed 12 Dec 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198512847

1954 - Maitland, NSW

1954 'Maitland 'Carols' On December 17', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 22 October, p. 10. , viewed 12 Dec 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article134094984

I also discovered that Carols were being sung in the Domain in Sydney in 1950.

1950 'Carols By Candlelight', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 15 December, p. 7. , viewed 12 Dec 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18191555

Trove Tuesday - The Rivers

Genies know that it pays to revisit one's Trove searches again and again.

My Dad grew up around the NSW country town of Canowindra where his father, Tom Curry, was a farmer. I knew that Grandpa managed a property called Fairview and another called Benevento in the district but until a few minutes ago did not know that in 1932 he also managed a property called The Rivers.

Today I ran the Trove search "Curry Canowindra" to see if I could find any new stories on the family. The first post blew me away as it described in great detail the property where the family worked, told me about my grandfather's activities and delivered a photo of Grandpa. The photo is very precious as we have very few closeup images of Tom. I can see some family resemblances in the picture even though it is of poor quality.

1932 'PLENTY OF LUCERNE', The Farmer and Settler (Sydney, NSW : 1906 - 1955), 26 May, p. 9. , viewed 29 May 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article117352000

The post is rather long so I have just shared the first paragraphs and the photo. The remainder can be read here: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article117352000.

Trove Tuesday - Yet more Pusells

We are regularly advised to return to online sources such as Trove and redo our searches. I certainly remind people to do this when I am giving presentations. So I am about to practice what I preach.

My maternal grandmother's maiden name was Pusell and I believe that nearly everyone with that surname is a descendant of my convict ancestor James Pusell.  I 'll do a simple search for Pusell and see if it turns up anything new.

The first article is a wedding report for Mum's second cousin, Horace Keith Pusell. It gives me plenty of new information to add to my Family Historian database.

1948 'PUSELL—KIRK.', National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW : 1889 - 1954), 24 December, p. 4, viewed 29 September, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article161677431

The second entry is another wedding coincidentally it is for Keith's sister, Kathleen Mavis Pusell, to Ronald Collins and it is from the same newspaper "National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW : 1889 - 1954)" which  I assume has been recently added to Trove.

I had previously seen the next few entries on the list but this one from the National Advocate about Terry Pusell was new to me. I wonder if it is the same Terry Pusell that was an Altar Boy at Keith's wedding?

1951 'BATHURST CYCLING.', National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW : 1889 - 1954), 2 April, p. 4, viewed 29 September, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article161398438

The next article from 1926 about Mum's first cousins comes from another newspaper, "Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954)".

1926 'The Pusell Boys.', Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954), 12 August, p. 28, viewed 29 September, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article155948184

What I found is that ten of the twenty hits on the first page of results for my Pusell search were new.

Isn't that awesome!

Trove Tuesday - Pusells and Pandora

As I am wanting to keep the #trovetueday activity alive and the hashtag relevant I am posting something from our Nation's Treasure Trove today.

Genealogists turn to Trove for newspaper articles but Trove can lead us to many more resources. When I logged on this morning I didn't know what I'd search for but then I thought about Pandora, Australia's Web Archive, that is searchable via Trove. I know that my blog and those of some of my Genimates like Shauna and Pauleen are archived by Pandora.

I wondered what results a simple search "family history" would return in results from Pandora. I got an incredible number of hits, the results telling me there were "at least 1,216 sites containing 793,414 page versions". That's quite a bit of material on family history.

Some of the sites that are archived on Pandora and searchable via Trove

Then I started thinking about my ancestors and wondering if within those results I might find something new about them.....and I did.   I often use the surname Pusell in my searches as anyone with that name in Australia is related to me. So I added Pusell to the search string.

The results can be seen below. The first link was to my blog but the second and third were new to me and haven't turned up in the previous Pusell searches I have done on Google.

The third result was the most exciting for me as it took me to a blog I didn't follow (now rectified) that contained a very sharp image that included my Grandmother's brother, James Pusell, and his son George Pusell. The blog, Old Images of Rylstone District, that aims to "share historical information depicted in photos and images of old scenes of the Rylstone District" has a collection of 690 images.

In the photo I found there are some chaps named Cole. As James Pusell was married to Annie Cole I suspect that these men may be relations.

I need to investigate the second link as I don't know of a Samuel Pusell!!!

I hadn't thought of  the Pandora Archive as a potential source of ancestor information. I have been enlightened on this Trove Tuesday.

Now I need to spend some time constructing search strings for my ancestors with pesky names like Curry and Smith and also to search for articles on ancestral towns and villages.

An Anniversary for #TroveTuesday

Three years ago I wrote about a new hashtag and blogging prompt for geneabloggers and Troveites downunder. As turning three is an auspicious anniversary I am republishing that post from 2012.

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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

I read on Twitter yesterday of a new (to me) blogging prompt with a real Aussie flavour.

Amy Houston of the Branches, Leaves and Pollen blog was busy on Twitter promoting Trove Tuesday, where she said "Aussie bloggers - join me on "Trove Tuesday" & write a blog post about a treasure you've found on Trove! @troveaustralia @geneabloggers".

Twitter  21 August 2012

What a great idea, Amy. I've missed the boat for this week but will try to get a post ready for next Tuesday.

Are any other Australian Geneabloggers going to take up Amy's invitation? 

Is there a future for #TroveTuesday?

Yesterday on Twitter I sparked some discussion about the #Trove Tuesday hashtag which was quite timely as it is three years this week since Australian geneabloggers started writing about Trove and highlighting one or some of its resources in a blog post. They would then post links to these articles to various social media with the hashtag #trovetuesday. This tag has been taken up by various other Australian agencies when praising Trove.

I have noticed over the three years that I personally and as a blogger for two societies have been publishing #trovetuesday posts that the number of posts has dropped to a trickle. Yesterday (I had the day wrong) I published a post for my family history group which drew this response from David.

I did a search and discovered that our hashtag (the geneacommunity got it first) has been used by a market and bakery in the UK. After I posted a cheeky reply several other Australians chimed in with thoughts about the use of various hashtags for posts about Trove.

The subject of our discussion also weighed in with an opinion.

I say we take the beach umbrella approach where there is room for all (including a lottery in the US) and keep #trove tuesday alive. I will be continuing to post using the #trovetuesday hashtag (and that is not influenced my the fact that I have several posts scheduled on my blogs into 2016).

As Carmel suggests we can use #troveAu when posting on another day.

Geneabloggers I'd love to see the #trovetuesday hashtag being dominated by posts about our nation's treasure, Trove, once more. How about embracing it once more.