24 years ago

On St Patrick's Day I remember my first visit in 2001 to Ballyfoyle, Kilkenny, and the home of Patrick Kealy, my Great-Great-Grandfather.

It was the birthplace of my Great-Grandmother Mary Kealy who emigrated to New South Wales.
#genealogy #familyhistory #ireland

Standing at the gate of an ancestral home in Ballyfoyle, Kilkenny

Networking News

Sometime last year I was speaking with Jess Dowdell who is responsible for community education at Lake Macquarie City Council. Jess  indicated that there was a huge interest in family history from people who visit the Lake Mac Libraries and that she would like to organise an introductory course to be delivered through the libraries.

In these days when many people research their family history independently and mostly on the internet they do not belong to local societies but turn to their local libraries for help. Sometimes the local libraries need help in giving appropriate assistance.

As the president of the local family history group at Lake Macquarie  I felt that although we could deliver such course it would put a strain on our resources especially during Covid times. I thought that it would be worthwhile to organise such a course through a larger organisation with access to a stable of experienced presenters. I put Jess in contact with the Executive Officer at the Society of Australian Genealogists (The SAG) and they entered into some discussions. As a result Jess, on behalf of Lake Macquarie Council, invited The SAG to deliver a course for them.  As a local genie I was included in the event planning via zoom and email and hopefully contributed some useful ideas to the course outline which was curated by Education Officer, Vanessa Cassin, in consultation with SAG Officers.

Yesterday I was thrilled to walk into the Speers Point Library for the first of a six part series to be delivered at the that library over the coming months. I and the 30+ participants were greeted with smiles from Jess and Vanessa who would deliver the presentation. I was accompanied by Karen our Treasurer from the Lake Macquarie Family History Group, we were able to chat with the participants about their research, distribute a small flyer outlining our activities and most importantly lend Vanessa a hand during the practical component of the session.

Vanessa Cassin, Education Officer from The SAG

I congratulate Jess on the organization of the event (the afternoon tea was scrumptious) and  the airconditioned library with onsite parking and the Library Service’s Family History Collection was  a perfect site. Vanessa was a knowledgeable presenter who was able to speak without notes and just a small number of slides that gave structure to her presentation and reinforced her messages to attendees. Vanessa engaged the participants with her warm and friendly manner and she answered questions when they arose thus giving a collaborative element to the presentation. It was not just chalk and talk. Vanessa's presentation was supported by copious notes that were printed and distributed by Council staff.

I was proud to be involved in this collaborative exercise between a local authority, a local family history group and the premium genealogy society in Australia. Now that The SAG has developed this course I hope that other local government bodies or smaller family history groups will work with SAG to deliver this course in person or via Zoom. 

Socially distanced and engaged learners at Speers Point Library

GeneabloggersTRIBE

You may have noticed the new GeneabloggersTRIBE image in the sidebar of my blog.

Just minutes ago Thomas Macentee announced "GeneaBloggers.com and GeneaBloggersTRIBE.com have agreed to streamline features to meet consumer expectations and provide blogger support. 

You can read the full story here: http://www.geneabloggers.com/announcing-new-initiative-geneabloggerstribe-com/. 

I am proud to announce that together with Caitlin Gow I am representing Australia in the new GeneabloggersTRIBE Leadership team. Our transitional leaders Pat Richley-Erickson and Laura Hedgecock have worked tirelessly over the past ten days or so to lead and build our team.

L-R GeniAus with Caitlin Gow

Please visit the GeneabloggersTRIBE website to read all about it and meet the members of the team.

Sharn's FindMyPast Interview

Sharn White, a fellow Rootstech Ambassador, invited me to join her in her interview with Ben Bennet from FindMyPast in the Rootstech Video Studio.

As Sharn is still flitting about visiting family in the US she gave me permission to upload the video to Youtube and share it around on social media.  THANKYOU, Sharn.

Thanks also to Ben Bennet, whom I first met at Rootstech several years ago when he was part of the Familysearch organisation.

What is TapGenes? - A Rootstech Interview

 FamilySearch describes TapGenes, winner of the $45,000 cash prize in the Rootstech Innovator Challenge:

TapGenes provides the tools to identify the genetic thread that ties a family together. Founder, Heather Holmes, got the idea for TapGenes after her father became very ill and the family struggled with multiple roadblocks to share his family medical history that impacted his treatment, care, and recovery. Heather made it her mission, if her father got well, to make sure this kind of frightening and desperate episode would not be faced by other families.

Because I had other commitments at Rootstech I was unable to attend the finals of the Innovator Challenge so, while I had played with some of the entries, I didn't know much about the eventual winner, TapGenes.

When I was hanging around in the Media Hub on the last day of Rootstech, the lovely Chad Schumaker from Familysearch asked me if I'd like to interview a representative from Tapgenes... in five minutes time. I asked Kirsty Gray who was with me at the time if she'd like to join in and we quickly prepared our interview approach. We asked very simple questions and just let the interview flow. If you, like me, don't have an understanding of TapGenes and what it offers then take a look at our video.

Your Official Blogging Team

Although we are in regular contact on various social media channels your Official #AFFHO Congress Bloggers rarely meet in person as we live in three distant corners of Australia.  So when we meet up "in the flesh" there is lots of excitement.

Shauna, Jill and Pauleen proudly wearing our blogger beads

If you are at Congress and you see one of us please say G'day  ....  and if you want to know about geneablogging ask one of the 30 bead wearing bloggers at Congress all about it.

And don't forget to keep visiting the Compilations of Blog Posts from Congress at http://geniaus.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/geneabloggers-at-congress-posts-from.html where you'll find link sto as many blog posts as I can find from Congress 2015.

Hack Genealogy Interview

I can't tell you how excited I was when Thomas McEntee invited me to submit responses to a list of interview questions for publication on his new site "Hack Genealogy", a site that provides information on emerging technology inside and outside the genealogy industry.

Thomas is also the brains and brawn behind Geneabloggers, a site that lists almost 3000 genealogy blogs. That he selected this old Geneablogger from downunder for one of his initial interviews was a real honour for me.

It's now a week since the interview was published on Hack Genealogy and although I have thanked Thomas on other social media sites I have not yet posted a thank you here on this blog.

Thank you, Thomas, not only for the honour you bestowed upon me but also for bringing Australian genealogy to the notice of people all over the world.

The Interview: http://hackgenealogy.com/jill-ball-hack-genealogy/

For Australians who would like to meet Thomas you will have a chance on either the 4th Unlock the Past Genealogy Cruise in February or on his Australian tour before and after the cruise. I am thrilled that I will be able to catch up with Thomas on the cruise.

The Final Rootstech Interview - in which the tables are turned

With the Sistas in Zion at Rootstech

It seems like eons ago that I was in Salt Lake City for the Rootstech Conference. While I was there I had an opportunity to interview, in a proper television studio, people from the world of genealogy. I posted most of these videos on my Youtube Channel as I was travelling. Then I boarded a cruise ship where the connection was not good enough to allow  me to post the last interview. Now I am home after an eight week holiday I am posting that last interview.


This  is quite different from the rest  of my Rootstech interviews as in it I take on the role of interviewee and am questioned by the delightful and lively Sistas in Zion, Sista Beehive and Sista Laurel.

Alona at Rootstech

One of the Australian contingent at Rootstech was young Australian geneablogger, Alona Tester, author of the Lonetester blog.

In this interview Alona told me how she came to blogging and about the three blogs she writes. I had a fun time interviewing Alona, one of the fresh young faces of geneablogging.

Good things come to those who wait...

From time to time since February I have tried to accomplish a task but have failed dismally.  I finally managed it today.

Back in February I conducted two video interviews at Rootstech. One I uploaded from the conference hotel to Youtube with no issues . The other slightly larger file just would not upload for me. When I got home I tried again - Failure. I tried a few video converters I found on the web - Failure. Every few weeks I would have another try - Failure.

Yesterday Thomas MacEntee on Facebook mentioned a video conversion program,  Prism Video Converter http://www.nchsoftware.com/prism/index.html. I downloaded the software and thought I would have a go. My first effort produced a file that was going to take over 300 minutes to upload to Youtube - Failure. So I played around a bit and found a setting to compress the file; I didn't quite know what I was doing but I did it anyway. Hey Presto - I ended up with a .avi file that was 1/10th the size of my original. Thank you, Thomas.

The video quality is not as crisp as on the original but it's way better than many files on Youtube. As with the video with Darrin Lythgoe I am embarrassed by my facial expressions and hand waving. Perhaps I need some Botox to stabilise my face!

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, I announce the delayed release of my video with Diane and Walt from Flip-Pal.

Spine Tingling Stuff

Sometimes one is bowled over by a presentation or talk. That was my experience earlier today. Thanks to Cassie Mercer from Inside History Magazine who invited me to this talk which was part of The Free History Group Series at Randwick Library. 

Paul O'Keefe and Geniaus at Randwick Library

Last week I wrote of my disappointment with the recent Keynotes at the 2012 Genealogy Congress in Adelaide; today I heard a talk that left the presentations in Adelaide for dead. At this event at Randwick Branch Library in the Sydney's Eastern Suburbs I sat beside two geneabloggers, Sharn White  and Shauna Hicks who were similarly affected by the talk "The Girl Who Loved Ned Kelly".


Paul O'Keefe is the great-great-grandson of Ettie Hart, the girl that he posits was notorious bushranger Ned Kelly's lover. Having heard Paul's talk I tend to agree. Family stories handed down through the generations in Paul's family had told of Ettie's liaison with Ned Kelly but these were only stories. Paul has spent the last ten years carefully researching this story and has amassed an enormous amount of evidence to support his theory.


Paul delivered his amazing and controversial story with passion, warmth and humour. His talk was illustrated with a rich collection of images that seamlessly integrated with his words to add a visual dimension to the story. The only criticism I have is that Paul read his story but this was only its second public airing. Once he becomes more comfortable he will be able to connect even more with his audience. Today he held the audience in the palm of his hand; some of his revelations caused shivers down my spine. 


In my recent post about keynotes I stated that "I expect a keynote to do more than one of these things: Inspire, Challenge, Educate, Engage, Entertain and Inform." Paul's talk delivered on each of these. Genealogy and Local History Societies and Local Libraries in Sydney should be forming a line to book Paul for their meetings. After the talk I felt like going out, hiring a venue and promoting Paul. His talk centered on one of Australia's most infamous characters, it challenged history and it demonstrated that thorough research can pay dividends. 


Paul's contact details can be found on his website Neducate.


The best things in life are sometimes free.

Trove Talk at Hornsby Library

I got quite a shock yesterday when someone at my family history group told me they had read about my forthcoming talk at Hornsby Library in a local paper and they had read that it was on yesterday.

I have checked the local papers and found one snippet about my talk in The Bush Telegraph that has the correct date of May 4th and a couple of references to it being on another date. The Library website also has it listed at 4th of May so I need no longer panic, I just hope no-one turned up on the incorrect date.

Snippet from The Bush Telegraph

If you are within cooee of Hornsby and would like to learn about Trove I'd love to share my experiences with you.

Genealogy 2.0 Session at Rootstech

On with the show

In full flight

Audrey Collins

Amy Coffin

Jill Ball

Listening is thirsty work

The Butterflies are breeding

I love communicating and teaching  about the few things I know but, when faced with a new venue or audience, I get incredibly nervous and the butterfies start multiplying in my intestines.

I am excited to be stepping up in the world of genealogy to present two talks at The Society of Australian Genealogists in the first part of the year. I am thrilled to have been put on their program and hope that I do justice to the task at hand.

My first gig is on Saturday February 19, the topic is Anywhere Anytime Genealogy , further details can be found here. I will have just returned from the Rootstech Conference in Salt Lake City so hope to be abe to share news of new gear that I discover on that trip. For those who would like to learn more about the application of technology to genealogy Carole Riley is presenting a morning session at SAG  Do you Google and Twitter? while I am scheduled for the afternoon.

On the morning of March 26 I will be presenting Get ready to Google in which I will endeavour to share ways in which one can produce better results from Google for family history. Bookings can be made via the link on the  SAG website.

In order to kill off the butterflies I am getting my first presentation together right now.