From the Archives - Between the covers

This post first appeared on the GeniAus blog on 25 August 2011. We have subsequently visited the cousin on several trips to the UK, whenever we visit he usually gives us an item or two from his Gowans collection. That's Genearosity.

Patience pays off

My subscription to MyHeritage ran out a couple of months ago. I usually cancel the automatic renewal of subscription option because I don't want to pay the full price to renew. Within a couple of days I was phoned by a pushy marketer from Israel offering me a piddly discount off the full price of the $AU349 to renew. This has been followed up over the intervening weeks with several emails offering other smallish discounts. On the last occasion my renewal was due I hung out for a discount of around 50% before I renewed. I renew when the price represents reasonable value to me.

I only use MyHeritage for DNA Matches and Searching for Records. I totally ignore the other features like photo enhancement and others' online trees. Without a subscription I can still see my DNA matches and access from home the subscriptions from a genealogy society and public library to which I belong to explore the records on MyHeritage. 

A full subscription of MyHeritage is not worth $AU349 to me. It is a nice to have but not a must have subscription. Recently there was a discount of around 50% offered to Rootsmagic users which I was going to take up but I missed the closing date. Currently there is a discount offer of  around 50% through the Family History Federation which I have been considering.

I like to have a basic tree on MyHeritage  to make it easy for DNA matches to work out how we might relate but one of the emails I received from MyHeritage recently told me my tree was too large and I would have to renew to keep my tree in the site.  I also received an offer on 12th August to renew at up to 49% discount. I ignored that offer and put in a request for  my tree to be removed and received confirmation that this would happen in the next few days.

You'll never guess what was in my email box this morning. 

I paid up straight away. At $AU95.98 I am pleased to have MyHeritage back in my genealogy toolbox. (And they haven't removed my tree yet!!)

2021 #AtoZChallenge Y is for ...Your ancestors in their social context

  I've been researching my family history for over thirty years. Along this genealogy journey I have been supported by hundreds of books, many of which I have listed on my Librarything page. 

During the 2021 #AtoZChallenge I will be writing about two of my passions, books and family history. I'll be taking a trip down memory lane and revisiting some of those books that have enriched my genealogy experience.

I must admit that I haven't picked up, Your ancestors in their social context : proceedings of the 13th Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry, Adelaide 2012, for around nine years.

This 590 page paperback contains the papers from the AFFHO Congress, the first I attended, in Adelaide in 2012. It is an example of a genre that today is often delivered as a .pdf download online or on a CD or USB drive. 

This particular publication is more useful than some similar works as it has a decent index. As many of the articles are well referenced it provides a good springboard to further reading on the topics covered. While some of the articles are dated, especially those referring to technology,  there are many that are still relevant to today's researchers. 

Highlighting this resource has reminded me that the collection of Conference Proceedings I have on my shelves or hard drive could  have answers to some of the questions for which I need answers. I must remember to refer to them occasionally!

2021 #AtoZChallenge T is for ...To minister : the story of War Memorial Hospital, Waverley, 1918-1988

  I've been researching my family history for over thirty years. Along this genealogy journey I have been supported by hundreds of books, many of which I have listed on my Librarything page. 

During the 2021 #AtoZChallenge I will be writing about two of my passions, books and family history. I'll be taking a trip down memory lane and revisiting some of those books that have enriched my genealogy experience.

While this hardcover book, To minister : the story of War Memorial Hospital, Waverley, 1918-1988, would have limited appeal to most people it was a book that I hunted down through secondhand sites. Its lack of popularity is evidenced by the fact that I am the only person with it listed on a Libratything account!

The book is important to me because it is where I started my life's journey having been born at the War Memorial Hospital over 70 years ago.

Copied here is what I wrote in a blog post in 2012 when I took delivery of the book:

"I reported in my Trove Tuesday post last week that I found details of a book, To minister : the story of War Memorial Hospital, Waverley, 1918-1988, about my birthplace, War Memorial Hospital, Waverley on Trove.

I located a few copies of the book on Abe Books and ordered one from Jo's Books, Gerringong. The book, that was in excellent condition, arrived within a few days and I am thrilled with it. Written by a former Matron of the hospital, Betty Green, it tells the story of the hospital from the planning stages through to 1988. The book is illustrated with floorplans, maps, copies of documents and photos and gives an excellent overview of the Hospital's activities and history. The stories about the people associated with the hospital add warmth to the cold facts presented through the work.

Gingerly I showed my purchase to Mr Geniaus (he doesn't share my love of book buying) who spent quite a while thumbing through the book. He saw photos of quite a few local identities that reminded him of stories associated with them (he would be a good subject for oral history interviews about Waverley personalities). Mr Geniaus was quite impressed  with the book which he has picked up a few more times during the week.

What makes the book an excellent genealogical resource are the lists of names it contains that include Members of the Council/Board of the hospital, Matrons, Student Nurses, Pupil Nurse Aids and Doctors associated with the hospital.

I have yet to read the book from cover to cover but I know that I will enjoy it."

Thanks to Trove, a resource that leads one to more than newspaper articles, for directing me to this book.

J is for ...A journal of a tour of discovery across the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, in the year 1813

 I've been researching my family history for over thirty years. Along this genealogy journey I have been supported by hundreds of books, many of which I have listed on my Librarything page. 

During the 2021 #AtoZChallenge I will be writing about two of my passions, books and family history. I'll be taking a trip down memory lane and revisiting some of those books that have enriched my genealogy experience.

It didn't take me long to read this modest little book that contained the 1813 Journal of Gregory Blaxland, one of the trio of explorers who forged a way over the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney.

 William Cox who later in that decade was commissioned in 1814 with supervising the building of a road over those Blue Mountains, employed one of my convict ancestors, James Westbrook, as a brickmaker on that project. Although he is not mentioned in Cox's journals Westbrook was granted, in 1818, a mitigation of his sentence for his work. 

When I was working on a project for my local FHG with this book .A journal of a tour of discovery across the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, in the year 1813 I took a break and read it. 

It was most interesting to me as it was a contemporaneous account and primary source that described the conditions of the area in which my ancestor later travelled. 

One can now purchase facsimile copies of the book from Sydney University Press. 

F is for ...The Family Historian's Enquire within

 I've been researching my family history for over thirty years. Along this genealogy journey I have been supported by hundreds of books, many of which I have listed on my Librarything page. 

During the 2021 #AtoZChallenge I will be writing about two of my passions, books and family history. I'll be taking a trip down memory lane and revisiting some of those books that have enriched my genealogy experience.

I find it interesting that many Australian researchers with ancestors from the UK and Ireland adopt, as bibles, works on methodology written by Americans for American markets. I tend to look to the Old Countries to buy howto and reference books from experts who live in those areas.

In my personal library I have several books on methodology that are written by British, Scottish and Irish experts. One reference book I refer to regularly is The Family Historian's Enquire within by English genealogist, Janet Few. In her introduction Janet refers to this book as a "Help desk" and this is how I use it. I could use Google to find some of the answers contained in Janet's book but the advantage of this work is that is an authoritative source. Janet knows what she is talking about. 

Arranged in alphabetical order this book gives explanations of  a few words up to a couple of pages for terms we may come across in our research. The 6th edition which I have on my shelves contains much relevant information. I purchased my copy of this book from The Society of Genealogists on a visit to London. It is one of a few Few books on my shelves.

If you don't know about Abraham Men, Feoffees or Water-Gavils this book may be for you.

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

Not just three days - A whole year of online learning

I had a crazy three days during the RootstechConnect online event.

As a Rootstech Ambassador I had a commitment to discuss and comment on the event via my social media platforms so, as I didn't have time to blog, I was busily communicating with genies all over the world via my GeniAus Twitter.

As an administrator of the Australians at RootstechConnect Facebook Group I was kept on my toes  communicating and responding to questions from members of that group most of whom had never experienced a Rootstech event. Having the event online conquered the "Tyranny of distance" that hampers the educational development of many my genimates downunder. 

I took the opportunity to set up a Chat Group on the RootstechConnect website for Aussies at RootstechConnect so I spent quite a bit of time responding to comments in that forum. I found that most of our Aussies used our Facebook group to communicate as it offered the ability to have nested posts and to more easily respond to an individual. I found the embedded chat most useful for asynchronous communication with speakers at the event.

Due to family commitments, I didn't have time to watch all the keynotes live but I was able to return and watch the remainder later in the week. I managed to watch around thirty presentations during the course of the event but that is just the tip of the iceberg.

A year's worth of learning

When I am away from home at a face to face event I can be selfish and distance myself from living family but when I am at home I put living family first. It was hard balancing the needs of family with the temptations of RootstechConnect. Perhaps next year I will hole up away from home in a resort where I can totally commit myself to Rootstech.

Since the online event I have popped into the Rootstech website on several occasions to catch up on many of the sessions in my playlist. The ability to stop and start the recordings of the sessions and to apply the learning concurrently on our own devices makes for a really valuable learning experience that is practically impossible in a face to face lecture. I found this especially useful for the sessions like these from Dave Annal, Richard K Miller and Alexis Rossi.

What I really love about RootstechConnect is that it is not just a virtual conference but it is an online library of learning experiences that we can access on demand when we either have a particular need to learn or refresh our knowledge on a subject or when we just have a spare hour to absorb new knowledge.

As ambassadors we are encouraged to write a post at the conclusion of the event. This caused me great concern because RootstechConnect is not over, the year of learning from RootstechConnect is only just beginning. I see my role as Ambassador continuing until Rootstech 2022 comes along.

The Chester Creek Murders

I published this review on my Librarything account and, this morning thought I should add it to Amazon, the place where I purchased it. Sadly I am not able to post a review there because I haven't reached the minimum spend to gain permission to write a review! As I am gagged on Amazon I am sharing my review here.

As a member of the Nathan Dylan Goodwin Fan Club with many other genealogists I have been anxiously waiting for the debut of this work. Now that I have read it I am disappointed that I will have to wait for Nathan to recharge his batteries and research and write another tale.

This book was Nathan's best work yet. It is an improvement on his other works on so many levels. I have been critical of the covers for Nathan's earlier books but I loved this one, it set the scene for a real page-turner that held my attention from the first to the last word.

Between the covers I found a believable story populated with interesting characters and many story lines that ended with a couple of cliff-hangers allowing for future works in the series. I felt for the main character Maddie, owner of a genetic genealogy firm who, in spite of issues in her personal life, was able to rally and support her team in identifying through DNA the serai killer in a cold case.

As a genealogist I appreciated the detailed description of the methodologies used to solve the case. Nathan who is an Englishman must have been on a steep learning curve as he learnt about all the resources during the research for the book. To his credit he deferred to some of the top genealogists in the US for assistance. For this Aussie with little knowledge of US resources reading this book gave me a sugar-coated way of learning more on that subject.

I loved that the work was set in the geneamecca of Salt Lake City, a place I have visited on many occasions. Nathan's descriptions of the weather and the areas around Salt Lake were spot on. I noted that he named one of his characters, Kenyatta. Was that a nod to US genealogist Kenyatta Berry? One of the homes he described in South Jordan sounded similar to a genealogists's home I have visited there! Those who haven't been to Salt Lake will get an accurate picture of the place from reading this story.

This work is easy to read with many descriptive phrases. Nathan's prose in US English lends authority to the story and made the characters more believable. Nathan's writing has certainly developed since his first novel.

This book was unputdownable, a riveting story combined with a lesson in genealogy research and a discussion of issues facing family historians.

Highly recommended for family historians, those who love a good mystery and people inquisitive about DNA.

I read the eBook version of this work from Amazon that was priced at just $AU7.50 - great value for 4 hours entertainment, I look forward to the arrival of my hard copy that I will read at a more leisurely pace.

Saving Reverend Ryan

 On Saturday I shared the story of Michael Harrington Ryan, my GGGUncle who was a pioneer priest in Australia, at The Society of Australian Genealogists event : In search of ... My Irish Ancestor.

My Presentation - Slide 1

Although I have been researching my Ryan line since the 1980s it was not until 2012 that serendipity found Michael for me, I was immediately captivated by his story. In my presentation I talked about my discovery of Michael and the chase to find and verify his life story. I shared a few highlights of Michael's life, read excerpts from some of his letters and showed how and where I saved all of the information I have gathered on Michael.

When I volunteered to do this talk I said that I would do a 30 minute presentation, in retrospect I should have been brave and put my hand up for 60 minutes and given a more sedate and complete presentation. Having sat through so many boring presentations about other people's ancestors over the years I was concerned about spoiling the day with a lengthy, tedious talk.

While I tried to mention the many resources I have used in tracking Michael and his family and learning about his life and times I neglected to share a proper list for attendees. The following list details some of the places visited and resources used in my hunt for Michael.  Although incomplete it may be of use to other researchers. It clearly demonstrates that you can't do it all online. 

As for the future I will continue to chase Michael and try to get access to the Catholic Diocesan Archives in Sydney, Hobart, Maitland/Newcastle and Westminster (England) which I suspect have many letters to and from Michael and accurate details of his postings. As these repositories aren't too fond of family historians I will need to spin a good yarn to see their files.

Visits

• Athlone, Westmeath - County Westmeath Local Studies http://www.westmeathcoco.ie/en/ourservices/library/explorewestmeath/localstudies/ 
• Castletown Geoghegan, Westmeath - St Michael's Church and Cemetery
• Castletown Geoghegan, Westmeath  - Old Cemetery
• Dublin - EPIC Ireland https://epicchq.com/
• Dublin - National Library of Ireland https://www.nli.ie/
• Kilbeggan,Westmeath  - Cemetery
• Lagacurry, Ballyliffin,  Donegal - Doagh Famine Village http://www.doaghfaminevillage.com/
• Omagh, Tyrone - Ulster American Folk Park
  https://www.nmni.com/our-museums/ulster-american-folk-park/
• Canberra, ACT - National Library of Australia https://www.nla.gov.au/ 
• Kingswood, NSW - NSW State Archives and Records https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/ 
• Sydney, NSW - State Library of New South Wales https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/

Books and Journal Articles

• Abbott, Vincent  A Parish called Westmeath.  Mullingar,Westmeath :Vincent Abbott, n.d.
• All Hallows' College centenary celebrations at Sydney and Bathurst. [Australia : Catholic Church], 1942 
• Atkinson, Alan Camden : farm and village life in early New South Wales. Oxford University Press, 1988
• Birt, Henry Norbert Benedictine pioneers in Australia. London : Polding, 1911?
• Camden pioneer register : 1800-1920 3rd ed. Camden, N.S.W. : Camden Area Family History Society, 2008.
• Campbell, Harold The Diocese of Maitland, 1866-1966. Maitland, N.S.W. : Th. Dimmock Printers, 1966. 
  
• Clerke, Ron The churchyard cemetery of St John's Camden. Wollongong [N.S.W.] : Illawarra Family History Group, 1989.
• Condon, Kevin  The Missionary College of All Hallows, 1842-1891.  Dublin : All Hallows College, 1986. (Also available online: http://allhallows.ie/cms/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/The-Missionary.pdf)
• Connell, Gretta  Tracing Your Westmeath Ancestors, Glenageary, Co. Dublin Flyleaf Press, 2012.
• Coyne, J. Stirling The Scenery and antiquities of Ireland. London : Mercury Books, 2003
• Crow, Vincent  A history of St Mary's Cathedral Schools. Sydney : Christian Brother's High School, St. Mary's Cathedral, 1984.
  
• Dunleavy, John All Hallows College, Dublin: The alma mater of the church in Victoria.   Footprints, Vol. 28, No. 1, Jun 2013: 20-25
• Grenham, John Tracing your Irish ancestors : the complete guide. 4th ed. Dublin : Gill & Macmillan, [2012]
• Gwynne, Aubrey Father John Joseph Therry : founder of the Church in Australia. Dublin : "Irish Messenger" Office for St. Joseph's Young Priests' Society, 1924
• McCormack, Stan Kilbeggan Past and Present. Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath?] : Stan McCormack, Jim Remembering All Hallows College. Maynooth:St Pauls Publishing, 2017
• McCullough, Joseph A Pocket History of Ireland. Dublin : Gill & Macmillan, 2010.
• McDevitt, John Father Hand: founder of All Hallows Catholic College for the foreign missions : the story of a great servant of God. Dublin : M.H. Gill & Son, 1885. 
• McIntyre Ireland townlands 1901. CDRom. [Spit Junction, N.S.W.?] : PR Ireland, c2009.
  
• Moore, Edmund With Dr Polding to Australia. Downside Review Volume: 32 issue: 1, page(s): 69-92, published: March 1, 1913
• Moran, Patrick Francis History of the Catholic Church in Australasia from authentic sources. Sydney : Oceanic Publishing Co., [189-?]. 
• O'Donoghue, Frances The Bishop of Botany Bay : the life of John Bede Polding, Australia's first Catholic Archbishop. London ; Sydney : Angus & Robertson, 1982.
• O'Donnell, Thomas Centenary of All Hallows College. Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review , Dec., 1942, Vol. 31, No. 124 (Dec., 1942), pp 429-437.
• O'Farrell, Patrick St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, 1821-1971. [Surry Hills, N.S.W.] : Devonshire Press for St. Mary's Cathedral, 1971.
• Reid, Richard Not just Ned : a true history of the Irish in Australia. Canberra : National Museum of Australia Press, 2011.
  
• Records of All Hallows College, Dublin (as filmed by the AJCP) : [M871-874], 1842-1956. [Microform] Canberra : Australian Joint Copying Project, [19--].
• Reid, Richard Farewell My Children : Irish Assisted Emigration to Australia 1848-1870. Spit Junction, NSW : Anchor Books Australia, 2011.
  
• Sheehan, Jeremiah  South Westmeath : farm and folk. Dublin : Blackwater, c1978.
• Sheehan, Jeremiah  Westmeath, as others saw it :being excerpts from the writings of 35 authors, who recorded their observations on various aspects of Westmeath and its people, from 900 AD to the present day. Avila, Moate, Westmeath : J. Sheehan, 1982
• Sheehy, P J Archpriest Therry : the pioneer priest who founded the first Catholic Church in Australia, October 29, 1821. Melbourne : A.C.T.S., [1921]
• Waldersee, Catholic Society in Australia 1788-1860. Sydney : Sydney University Press, 1974.
• Woods, James  Annals of Westmeath, ancient and modern. Sealy, Bryers & Co.: Dublin, 1907.
• Wynne, Roger From Portland Bay to Moreton Bay. Australian Catholic Record, Vol 53 July 1976. pp275-284. 

Online

• All Hallows Missionary College http://www.allhallows.ie/missionary.php
  
• British Library  https://www.bl.uk/
• British Newspaper Archive https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/
• FindMyPast Irish and English newspapers https://www.findmypast.com.au/
• Geniaus' Family Site  http://www.geniaus.net/index.php
• Google Maps  https://www.google.com/maps/
• Immigration Place Australia https://immigrationplace.com.au/
• Irish Genealogy.ie  https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/
• Irish Ancestors https://www.johngrenham.com/
• Michael Ryan letters at AJCP  https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2703075310/view 
• The National Archives, Ireland  https://www.nationalarchives.ie/
• The National Archives, UK   https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
• NSW State Records and Archives https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/
• Patrick O'Farrell  1933-2003  http://www.patrickofarrell.com/
• Society of Australian Genealogists www.sag.org.au
• State Library of NSW https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/
• Tasmanian Archives and Heritage  https://www.libraries.tas.gov.au/archive-heritage/Pages/default.aspx
• Trove Australia (Nearly 200 items from all categories ie not limited to newspapers) trove.nla.gov.au
• Wikipedia  https://www.wikipedia.org/
• Worldcat  https://www.worldcat.org/

From the Archives - July 26 2010

This post is as pertinent today as when I wrote it ten years ago

Monday, July 26, 2010

10 things I can’t live without to support my genealogy addiction

Via My Family History Research, Genealogy Leftovers and Elyse's Genealogy Blog came notification of this meme created by Elyse. "The goal is to write a list of ten things related to genealogy that you can't do without."

Whilst I am a technology addict, I recognise that without people there is no point to genealogy.
Here is the Geniaus list:

1. My Ancestors  who provide the Births, Deaths and Marriages that provide the scaffold for my research and the juicy stories, feded old photos and interesting anecdotes that add interest to that scaffold.

2. My Family and Descendants who provide a purpose for my research. I am trying to record our history for future generations.

3. My Patient Husband who turns a blind to the dust on the furniture and pile of ironing that waits for me as I ignore these for my genealogy habit.

There is no particular order to the remainder of this list - as my needs change so does the importance of the persons detailed from here on.

3. The many Distant Cousins who have contacted me via online forums and the Geniaus website to say hello, offer corrections to my sometimes inaccurate date and generously share photos, certificates and stories.

4. Generous Volunteers who over the years have done lookups for me and given guidance when I have visited genealogical societies throughout the world.

5. Staff of Libraries and Archives Offices who have patiently assisted me with my research.

6. People who read and comment on my blog and website and send compliments via email and Twitter give me positive reinfocement that  encourages me to keep solving my genealogical jigsaw.

7. Volunteer Indexers eg those who do work for Ryerson and FamilySearch and those who index  cemeteries and photograph headstones provide me with  the means to access to many valuable and appropriate resources.

8. My Online Genie Friends who, through a range of tools such as blogs, twitter, wave, provide blogging ideas, encouragement, links to great new resources,great stories and encouragement. 

9. Decision Makers at The National Library of Australia who have a commitment to providing important Australian Resources in an online format. Trove is the most amazing free online resource for genealogical research.

10. The many Registered Members of Trove who are making corrections to the scanned text to better improve access by other users. Whilst I have only corrected 890 rows of text there are  4 volunteers who have done over 4000,000 rows each and are headling for the half million.

Closed Access

I am a member of four local genealogy/family history groups that provide access to print and digital resources for their members. The cost of purchasing, housing and maintaining these collections is high so it is important that members who provide the $$$ for these collections should be able to access them easily.

Two of these groups work with and are supported by their local libraries. Their family history resources are shelved in open access in the local libraries and are available to group members, the local community and visitors to the library during the hours the libraries are open seven days a week.

Family History Resources at a local library

The other two groups have their collections housed in rooms leased from local authorities. One group provides access to resources for sixteen hours per week during the middle of the day. The other group only  provides access on one weekday and one weekend day totalling about ten hours per month. For the remainder of the time the resources of these groups are locked away and not accessible by users.

One problem is that those societies who house their own resources rely on volunteers to open the rooms to fellow members and volunteers are thin on the ground. Sadly some groups don't want to share resources purchased with membership dollars with outsiders.

It makes me so sad to see these valuable collections locked away. Invariably I am otherwise engaged when the doors to these collections are unlocked so I miss out on gaining access.

If I find myself in the area where the collection stored at the local library and find myself with half an hour up my sleeve I can pop in for a quick spot of research.

I wish more genie groups would approach their local authorities and work on ways to make their resources more accessible. 

Mother's Day Gift

My mtDNA results at FTDNA have me flummoxed. 

I really don't understand them at all so I have ignored them since my first match came through in May 2016.  Of the 118 matches on the site not one of them appears to have a connection to me. 85 of these matches share my K1a10a haplogroup but not one of the names on the list of matches looks vaguely familiar. Of the Earliest Known Ancestors nominated by my matches not one rings a bell. 

A map shows me that my mtDNA HVR2 matches number 41 I've clicked on each of those red pins and am none the wiser.  

My mtDNA HVR2 matches

It seems as though I need to upgrade to the Full Sequence test to get more meaningful results....look what appeared on my FTDNA page. Just what I needed!!

 

Of course I signed up - I am saving $US99 on this Mother's Day offer. When the results come in I'll let you know if this was money down the drain or if I have been enlightened!

AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia

I buy very few souvenirs when travelling.

When I was at The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory earlier in the year I saw a map, The AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia, that fascinated me so I parted with $9.95 to buy a copy. "The map attempts to represent all the language, social or nation groups of the Indigenous peoples of Australia."

Still in its cellophane wrapper

I just uncovered the map in a pile of my stuff, I hadn't even taken it out of its cellophane packet, I will rectify that. I thought I'd find out about the story of the map so I consulted Google which took me to the
AIATSIS Website and there I discovered that the map is available online free for all to see.  The online map has a 'magnifying glass' circle that you can move around to highlight selected areas. While I prefer my larger hard copy map the price is right for the online version.

Take a look to determine who were the language, social or nation groups of the Indigenous peoples in the areas where your ancestors lived.

Comfortable outside the Comfort Zone

 It's now two weeks since I moved out of my comfort zone in Genealand and presented a talk on The Joys of History Blogging to a group of Australian History enthusiasts at a local U3A Group.

I was made most welcome by the Group's leaders and as the presentation was in a venue at Hornsby Library with which I am most familiar my nerves flew out the door prior to the presentation.

U3A presentation at Hornsby Library

Many of the 50+ people at the gig had little or now knowledge of blogs and what a useful resource they could be for the reader, researcher and writer. It was pleasing to see how well the talk was received but it was also a little disappointing that, until now, so many people did not have any idea of useful blogs could be in their study of Australian History.

DNA Blogs

As I try to get serious about DNA I realise that, as well as keeping up with news that is shared via social media channels, I must read more in-depth articles.

I find a lot of helpful tidbits and interesting conversations in the few DNA groups I have joined on Facebook.I can read monographs and journals but I want to keep up with the latest findings. The best place to find more current detailed information and opinions are in the blogs written by leading genetic genealogists.

A search on the ISOGG wiki (another beaut resource) returns a long list of genetic genealogy blogs but which should a DNA beginner from downunder follow?

I have created a DNA folder in my RSS reader Inoreader. Listed in the image below are the blogs I am currently following.

Do you see any glaring omissions?

Trove Tuesday - Mining the Government Gazettes

Recently added to Trove were the Digitised copies of the Government Gazettes for New South Wales from 1832 to 2001. As these are goldmines of genealogical data I thought I'd see what sort of information I could glean on my Pusell ancestors and cousins, It's a very simple search as I think most Pusells in Australia descend from my convict ancestor James. 

The examples below from 1868-1987 show how useful the Gazettes are to the family historian.

1868 'APPROVED CLAIMS FOR PRE-EMPTIVE LEASES.', New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900), 15 July, p. 2095. , viewed 22 Nov 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225723891

The following are links to long lists of names that include Pusell.

1885 'In the Supreme Court of New South Wales. ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION.', New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900), 30 October, p. 7077. , viewed 22 Nov 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article219880784

1920 'IN BANKRUPTCY.', Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001), 17 September, p. 5596. , viewed 22 Nov 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article224611413

1925 'IN BANKRUPTCY.', Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001), 6 March, p. 1330. , viewed 22 Nov 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223029471

1951 'Government Gazette Appointments and Employment', Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001), 10 August, p. 2335. , viewed 22 Nov 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article220008797

1968 'NOTICE APPOINTING TRUSTEES UNDER THE COMMONS REGULATION ACT, 1898.—PROCLAMATION', Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001), 26 January, p. 351. , viewed 22 Nov 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article219986993

The following are links to long lists of names that include Pusell.

For some different examples see my TroveTuesday post for The Hornsby Shire Family HIstory Group. 

My Top 10 Genealogy Tools

Back in August before I went other the surgeon’s knife I promised myself that I would respond to a post from Pauleen Cass in which she listed her Top 10 Genealogy Gateways.

Pauleen referred to previous posts by US bloggers James Tanner and Randy Seaver and wondered what other Australians would include on such a top ten list. So that I can answer without being swayed by Pauleen's choices I have chosen not to reread her list yet.

James and Pauleen took a broader view of the topic by listing both genealogy and nongenealogy tools. I noticed that a nitpicker criticised James for including applications that were not really programs. Randy put forward a broad definition of program that I will use " James used the word "programs" to mean applications that perform a specific task on the computer".

I am making two lists of five : Productivity Tools and Research Tools. I have a large suite of tools that I use regularly but these are the most heavily sed.

Productivity Tools

Blogging Platforms - Blogger and Wordpress. I use one of these each day these to maintain my personal blogs and two blogs plus a website for genealogy organisations.

Evernote - I don't use this tool for research notes but  to manage posts for the Geneadictionary and Geniaus' Gems, details of Genimates, for reminders and to store my lists of links.

Family Historian - The genealogy database program that is my workhorse. Here I store all my genealogical data plus lists, research logs, photos and documents. I share selected info online  from here using the brilliant TNG at http://www.geniaus.net.

Google Products - I'm a Google Girl so I use Chrome, Gmail, Google Docs and Google Drive on a daily basis for browsing, communicating, recording, sharing and making spreadsheets. I love that I can access this stuff from a variety of locations.

Inoreader - My choice of RSS tools Inoreader curates my feeds and keeps me in touch with what's happening in the blogisphere.

Research Tools

As a New South Welshman whose ancestors arrived in the colony from 1813 and didn't stray far beyond the State I use New South Wales and Australian resources most days. 


Ancestry Although I have subs to several online databases I find that I use Ancestry more often than  others especially now that I am finding DNA connections there. 

NSW Historical BDM Indexes 

State Records NSW

The Ryerson Index

Trove

As all the above  research tools are continually updated I need to revisit them on a regular basis. 
And now this is done I'm off to compare with Pauleen's post. 

What does your Top Ten look like?

Treating myself

My latest purchase is a book that will hopefully give me guidance for tracking down my elusive Ryans.

Answer to a Facebook Message

I recently got this message in my Facebook stream:

"Hi Jill! Happy Easter!Have you done any blog posts or instructions about how to start a one name study? A man in Vic &  I have *Surname* from County Clare &  we're keen to start a study, but not sure where to start. Thanks".

Well, I have started a Surname study, CurryAus, but even though I am a beginner I have some ideas to share. I thought it would be easiest to do this in a video where I can share my screen so here goes.