Geniaus in Print

Inside History Issue 7

Travelling down the freeway to the South Coast a number of weeks ago I was having a chat online via my android tablet with Cassie Mercer from Inside History magazine. I mentioned to her that I wouldn't mind writing for the magazine. Within the week  I got a message from Cassie asking me if I could write an article within a few days. Of course I could; I immediately set to tapping out some notes on my keyboard. As much as I love my android I don't have a plug-in keyboard for typing up long articles on it so always turn to my laptop for long writing assignments. I edited my 1800 words down to just under the required 1200 and emailed it off.

During my career as a teacher, librarian and IT guy I wrote many articles for journals and newsletters and when I was president of my professional association I seemed to be always writing. This new assignment was my first foray into the world of genealogy writing so I was understandably nervous.

I so enjoyed working with Cassie who kept me in the loop at all stages of the publishing process, provided lots of positive reinforcement and lavished me with praise once my task was completed. Since I bumped into Cassie last week at State Records Open Day and she told me that the magazine had been delivered to her I have been anxiously waiting its arrival in my mailbox. On Tuesday and Wednesday others tweeted that they had received their copies and I received messages from Twitter Pals that they had read my article.

Snippet from My Article

The Inside History magazine was waiting for me when I got home this afternoon. I was thrilled to see my article in print and was delighted to be published in the same edition as Hazel Edwards who was one of my heroes with her "Hippopotamus books" when I was a children's librarian. I have heard Hazel speak on a number of occasions and particularly enjoyed her Antarctic stories. If you ever meet her ask about her parcel collection experience.

I love my Android tablet and will be talking about it at the Rootstech 2012 Conference in Salt Lake City. Fellow genies Shelley from Canberra and Tanya from the North Coast have generously helped me with material for that presentation.

If you are an Android user or would like to know more about my Android Adventure I'd love to hear from you. Meanwhile, might I suggest that you visit your local library or newsagent and grab a copy of the Inside History magazine that is brimful of great reading. Here's a sneak peek.

First Titleholders of Land in the Nineteen Counties of NSW

Geoff Cannon

Geoff Cannon reports that his wife says he always has either a map or beer in his hand.


At this morning's meeting of The Hawkesbury Family History Group Geoff Cannon from Maitland NSW spoke of his love affair with NSW maps and of the work that is a result of this liaison. 


Geoff kept the huge audience enthralled as he shared his knowledge of County and Parish maps in NSW. With his casual and down to earth approach he made a difficult topic enjoyable and easy to comprehend.


Geoff's work started many years ago with a plan map of Maitland in the Hunter region in NSW. He then procured all of the parish and town/village maps for that County. Geoff compiled on cards an index that listed the original titleholders of every land grant in the County.


Once he finished Geoff moved on to the neighbouring counties and Sydney, purchasing and indexing all of those maps. He plans to index 19 counties and anticipates publishing the last instalment of his work within five years. After attending a technology Conference of the Royal Australian Historical Society in Wollongong Geoff applied and was successful in gaining a grant to help him publish his work. 


His first work published 1997 was the result of 20 years research. He has since published further indexes on CD and in print. A listing of Geoff's publications and where they can be found in Australian libraries is on the Trove website.


After speaking about his work Geoff turned his attention to the Parish of St Matthew that includes Windsor, home of The Hawkesbury Family History Group and shared information about the first landholders in that area with the group. He indicated that before 1800 there had been 39 recorded grants in the Parish of St Matthew.


Geoff finished his talk with a poem by John Dunmore Laing about place names in NSW. I wish I would have asked for a copy of this, I will seek it out and share it via this blog when found.


I have only been to two meetings of this group so far and have thoroughly enjoyed the presentations by Geoff today and Karen Rogers last month. I am sorry that I will not be able to hear next month's presentation by Cassie Mercer from Inside History Magazine.