Just noticed this offer on the Society of Australian Genealogists website :
"It's a great time to join! We're waiving the $20 joining fee while the 3rd Australian series of Who Do You Think You Are? screens. Just attach this page to the application form available here"
Membership of this premier Australian Society offers many advantages to all with an interest in family history including discounts, a library personned by helpful volunteers, a bookshop stocked with relevant resources and a program of quality educational events.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
"There's one in every family!" or "6 Baptisms, 5 Weddings and a Funeral"
Our children have all been baptised and married at St Mary the Virgin Anglican Church in Waverley, NSW. The Church has also been the venue for some of our grandhildren's baptisms and the funerals of other family members.
St Mary the Virgin is an historic church in Birrell Street, Waverley . There is a short history of the Church at the Waverley Council website. A book on the history of the Church, Through the archway of the years : St. Mary's Church, Waverley, N.S.W., 1864-1964, can be found in the National Library of Australia. A list of the clergy who have served at St. Mary's can be found on the Church site.
The Church was designed by Edmund Blacket, a prominent Victorian architect and personal friend of the first rector, Stanley Mitchell. Blacket, who became the official Colonial Architect 1849-1854, was responsible for tthe design of many 19th century sandstone buildings in Sydney including St Andrew's Cathedral.
 |
| St Mary's circa 1900 (Powerhouse collection) |
 |
| 1983 St. Mary's Christmas Pageant - Rev Terry Dicks and children including my four as angels and Joseph |
In recent times our family has celebrated significant occasions at St. Mary's Anglican Church Waverley. A peek at the tags in my digital family album shows that I have several hundred photographs tagged St Mary's. As well as hatches, matches and dispatches there are photos of social events, confirmations, Christmas pageants and Sunday School events. The picture on the header of this blog is taken at the most recent family wedding at St. Mary's.
 |
| 1986 - Confirmees |
 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 Family Wedding - Rev Beth Spence |
 |
| 2009 Family Christening - Rev Michael Spence |
 |
| St Mary's Organ |
 |
| 1997 Family Wedding |
 | |||||
| St Mary's is a significant place in our family history as so many family events took place in this beautiful Church. |
Sunday, November 28, 2010
A hippopotamus or two front teeth?
I am wondering what is on the gift list of other genealogists this year and am hoping that some of you will share, via your blogs, the top six items on your wishlist.
My top six are:
* An Android tablet (just hope that the Dell model comes to Australia before Christmas)
* A large supply of acidfree A4 plastic sleeves in which to store my documents
* Clear copies of birth, baptismal and marriage certificates from family members
* Labelled copies of any old family photos that relations have stashed away in boxes
* Subscriptions to genealogy magazines from England, Scotland and Australia
* A scanner with a sheet feeder so that I can make short work of scanning all of my documents
What's on your wishlist?
Friday, November 26, 2010
Geniaus' blog popular posts
I am always interested in which of my blog posts creates reader interest. My blogger stats indicate that these are the ten most read posts between July and November. It appears that they fit into two categories: reports on genealogy events and articles in which I state an opinion or talk about myself eg memes.
New readers to the blog might be interested in visiting these posts that have interested other readers.
New readers to the blog might be interested in visiting these posts that have interested other readers.
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Hornsby Family Tree
It's a brief FollowFriday post today as I have been distracted by the birth last night of a new grand-daughter.
I hadn't thought of using Blogger for a family site until I came across the Hornsby Family Tree.
The benefits in using Blogger are that it is free and easy to use and it puts one's information out on the web for search engines and potential relatives to find. One is also able to allow for an element of collaboration and communication by enabling multiple authors and enabling the comments facility.
The disadvantages, when compared with a dedicated genealogy software application, relate to the inability to view data in standard genealogy formats such as charts and trees.
On this blog each post is devoted to one member of the Hornsby family. Where there is further information about other people cited in an entry there is a hyperlink to the entry about that person. There are also hyperlinks to newspaper articles from some of the posts.
The appearance of the blog that has used a simple Blogger template is clear annd uncluttered.
I am always impressed by creative uses of software and was pleased when I found this use of Blogger for genealogy. I look forward to watching the site develop and hope that its presence on the web initiates some worthwile contacts for the writer, Hornsby.
I hadn't thought of using Blogger for a family site until I came across the Hornsby Family Tree.
 |
| Hornsby Family Tree |
The benefits in using Blogger are that it is free and easy to use and it puts one's information out on the web for search engines and potential relatives to find. One is also able to allow for an element of collaboration and communication by enabling multiple authors and enabling the comments facility.
The disadvantages, when compared with a dedicated genealogy software application, relate to the inability to view data in standard genealogy formats such as charts and trees.
On this blog each post is devoted to one member of the Hornsby family. Where there is further information about other people cited in an entry there is a hyperlink to the entry about that person. There are also hyperlinks to newspaper articles from some of the posts.
 |
| Typical post on Hornsby Family Tree |
I am always impressed by creative uses of software and was pleased when I found this use of Blogger for genealogy. I look forward to watching the site develop and hope that its presence on the web initiates some worthwile contacts for the writer, Hornsby.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Saturday at the Roadshow
Quiet Saturday morning traffic enabled me to leave home later and arrive in time for the first talk of the day by Elaine Collins from FindMyPast. Elaine is an experienced and competent speaker who is able to talk comfortably to a large audience. I had missed the first half of Elaine's talk so was pleased to be able to catch it the second time around. Her news that only one subscription will be needed to access the resources of the UK and Australian editions of FindMyPast in the near future was pleasing. It was good to get an update on the resources that are aavailable through one's subscription. I certainly get my money's worth from my annual subscription.
After hearing Elaine I moved to the smaller room to prepare for my presentation that I have reported on in my post Gasbagging about Genealogy.
After my session I stayed on in the room to hear Shauna Hicks deliver "Archives you may not know - but should!" In her presentation Shauna presented a long list of links to archives that may have relevance to genealogists. Her notes can be found here.
After a long lunch break I lined up for my fourth presentation by Dan Lynch. Firstly Dan autographed my copy of Google Your Family Tree and then he posed for a photo with me, thanks Dan. As with his earlier presentations I did not learn so much about the mechanics of Google but I learnt about why some media and google applications can be relevant to genealogists. I tend to steer away from video but, after listening to Dan, am going to explore video as a means to put some context to the lives of my ancestors and distant cousins. Dan suggested that by listening to video one can an idea of how people speak and use language in their locations. He also reminded us that both photos and video found on Google show the physical attributes of places and buildings and will add more context to our research. The best tip for me was, when using Google to search in countries that speak a language other than English, to search with the terms from that country eg use eglise instead of church or frere instead of brother when searching in France. This approach is bound to bring up more hits.
Dan's enthusiasm as a Google apostle was evident through his talk. When people are passionate about their topics it adds an extra dimension to their presentations.
The next speaker I heard, Louise St Denis, was another presenter who was passionate about her subject and who presented with vigour and flair. Her topic "I found it once. Why can't I find it again!" was basically a mini-tutorial on how to cite one's sources according to genealogical conventions. Louise gave a good overview of this meaty topic.
Unfortunately, as an amateur genealogist who has no thoughts of becoming a professional, I would find it tedious to apply these rules to my hobby. I have blogged about this on several occasions as I believe that, for a hobby, as long as a citation leads others back to a cited source does it matter if it is done according to Harvard, APA, MLA or some other method. The most important thing for me is being able to find something again!
Apart from the speakers I'll comment on some other aspects of the Roadshow. I thought that the venue was very good with ample parking, a variety of food outlets, a lift for those unable to climb stairs and plenty of space to for small gatherings. If radio mikes could be supplied for speakers and a shuttle from a nearby station arranged for those who don't drive this would be a near perfect venue.
The warm welcome given to attendeess by Carole Riley SAG Councillor and Professional Genealogist set the scene for the day.
The Roadshow had a small number of exhibitors and, if the hole in my wallet, is indicative of other attendees' spending then the exhibitors were relevant to the crowd. I was able to subscribe to a magazine, buy some books and sign up for The Irish Day at SAG.
I must commend the stalwarts from the Sydney TMG Users Group of which I am a fairly new member; volunteers, Linda Bishop and Faye Cooke, manned the table for the two days of the Roadshow demonstrating to attendees the features of The Master Genealogist software. TMG was the only software package that had a presence at The Roadshow. If I was in the market for software again I would consider this program not just for its merits but becaue there is so much support available to users through the Sydney TMG Users Group and similar groups in other states.
Thanks again to the team from Unlockthepast for feeding my addiction to genealogy via the Roadshow.
After hearing Elaine I moved to the smaller room to prepare for my presentation that I have reported on in my post Gasbagging about Genealogy.
After my session I stayed on in the room to hear Shauna Hicks deliver "Archives you may not know - but should!" In her presentation Shauna presented a long list of links to archives that may have relevance to genealogists. Her notes can be found here.
 |
| Geniaus and Dan Lynch |
Dan's enthusiasm as a Google apostle was evident through his talk. When people are passionate about their topics it adds an extra dimension to their presentations.
The next speaker I heard, Louise St Denis, was another presenter who was passionate about her subject and who presented with vigour and flair. Her topic "I found it once. Why can't I find it again!" was basically a mini-tutorial on how to cite one's sources according to genealogical conventions. Louise gave a good overview of this meaty topic.
Unfortunately, as an amateur genealogist who has no thoughts of becoming a professional, I would find it tedious to apply these rules to my hobby. I have blogged about this on several occasions as I believe that, for a hobby, as long as a citation leads others back to a cited source does it matter if it is done according to Harvard, APA, MLA or some other method. The most important thing for me is being able to find something again!
Apart from the speakers I'll comment on some other aspects of the Roadshow. I thought that the venue was very good with ample parking, a variety of food outlets, a lift for those unable to climb stairs and plenty of space to for small gatherings. If radio mikes could be supplied for speakers and a shuttle from a nearby station arranged for those who don't drive this would be a near perfect venue.
The warm welcome given to attendeess by Carole Riley SAG Councillor and Professional Genealogist set the scene for the day.
The Roadshow had a small number of exhibitors and, if the hole in my wallet, is indicative of other attendees' spending then the exhibitors were relevant to the crowd. I was able to subscribe to a magazine, buy some books and sign up for The Irish Day at SAG.
I must commend the stalwarts from the Sydney TMG Users Group of which I am a fairly new member; volunteers, Linda Bishop and Faye Cooke, manned the table for the two days of the Roadshow demonstrating to attendees the features of The Master Genealogist software. TMG was the only software package that had a presence at The Roadshow. If I was in the market for software again I would consider this program not just for its merits but becaue there is so much support available to users through the Sydney TMG Users Group and similar groups in other states.
Thanks again to the team from Unlockthepast for feeding my addiction to genealogy via the Roadshow.
Gasbagging about Genealogy
In my former life I gave many talks at conferences and seminars and spent quite a deal of time helping teachers come to grips with new technologies and how to apply them to their teaching situations. This week I came out of the closet to give a couple of talks about genealogy and web2.0 tools. As I like teaching and communicating with people with shared interests I enjoyed these experiences.
On Thursday evening at Mosman Library I spoke for 1 1/2 hours on 21st century genealogy and family. I felt at home in a public library as I spent my early working life as a Librarian at Waverley and Randwick Libraries in Sydney. In this presentation I was able to demonstrate how I use a range of Web2.0 tools for my interest area of genealogy, how they can be used to communicate with current family members and be applied to other areas of interest whether it be orchid growing or collecting hats. As no-one went to sleep or appeared to play with their blackberries during the talk I assume that I maintained their interest (or maybe people in Mosman are very polite). Thanks to organiser Bernard De Broglio and the warm and responsive audience at Mosman. Bernard organises a wonderful series of free talks at Mosman - it is worth following the library on twitter and their blog to get news of these events.
I wasn't quite so relaxed for my second gig at The History and Genealogy Roadshow on Saturday. I had a technical hiccup as I was setting up but was rescued by Carole Riley and was able to start on time. I did go prepared with two computers and had my presentation on them, a thumb drive and on the internet just in case. I had tested the setup the previous day but....
When I scanned the faces in the room I became a little more flummoxed as I had some of Genealogy's glitterati watching me. There was Carole Riley, Rosemary Kopittke, Shauna Hicks, Heather Garnsey from SAG and US author and visiting guest speaker, Dan Lynch plus a room full of people like you and me. A hand mike was thrust into my hand - I used this until I needed two hands to hold artefacts and type during my live demonstrations. I can't remember when I last had to use a hand mike - I am used to a lapel mike which gives one complete freedom or a mike fixed to a lectern so at least I can jump about, hold up papers and type from behind the lectern. In classes with hearing impaired students I wore a headset. Talking without gesticulating or visual aids is for me a very difficult task.
The focus of my talk The 21st Century Genealogist was that to be the most effective researcher one can be one needs to use a combination of traditional methods and tools with the new tools provided by modern technology. I compared the activities of the 19th and 20th century genealogist with those of the 21st century genealogist. I then illustrated this with a story of how I used traditional and modern resources to find a clock made by my husband's 3xgreat-grandfather. I then launched into some live demonstrations of useful Web2.0 tools. As time was at a premium in this 45 min presentation I paid very quick visits to a few items the list.
Some time during the talk I ditched the microphone after asking the audience if they could hear me. I was mortified when later I discovered that an audience member had a hearing impairment and missed a lot of my talk. I sought this person out and apologised during the lunch break.
This larger audience was more passive than the Mosman mob but from comments I received later from audience members I think I hit the mark with many of them. The best feedback I got was from another white-haired person who said it was good to have a talk by an ordinary person and by someone whose job is not genealogy.
I thank Alan Phillips from UnlockthePast for giving me an opportunity to share my experiences with the Roadshow attendees.
On Thursday evening at Mosman Library I spoke for 1 1/2 hours on 21st century genealogy and family. I felt at home in a public library as I spent my early working life as a Librarian at Waverley and Randwick Libraries in Sydney. In this presentation I was able to demonstrate how I use a range of Web2.0 tools for my interest area of genealogy, how they can be used to communicate with current family members and be applied to other areas of interest whether it be orchid growing or collecting hats. As no-one went to sleep or appeared to play with their blackberries during the talk I assume that I maintained their interest (or maybe people in Mosman are very polite). Thanks to organiser Bernard De Broglio and the warm and responsive audience at Mosman. Bernard organises a wonderful series of free talks at Mosman - it is worth following the library on twitter and their blog to get news of these events.
I wasn't quite so relaxed for my second gig at The History and Genealogy Roadshow on Saturday. I had a technical hiccup as I was setting up but was rescued by Carole Riley and was able to start on time. I did go prepared with two computers and had my presentation on them, a thumb drive and on the internet just in case. I had tested the setup the previous day but....
When I scanned the faces in the room I became a little more flummoxed as I had some of Genealogy's glitterati watching me. There was Carole Riley, Rosemary Kopittke, Shauna Hicks, Heather Garnsey from SAG and US author and visiting guest speaker, Dan Lynch plus a room full of people like you and me. A hand mike was thrust into my hand - I used this until I needed two hands to hold artefacts and type during my live demonstrations. I can't remember when I last had to use a hand mike - I am used to a lapel mike which gives one complete freedom or a mike fixed to a lectern so at least I can jump about, hold up papers and type from behind the lectern. In classes with hearing impaired students I wore a headset. Talking without gesticulating or visual aids is for me a very difficult task.
The focus of my talk The 21st Century Genealogist was that to be the most effective researcher one can be one needs to use a combination of traditional methods and tools with the new tools provided by modern technology. I compared the activities of the 19th and 20th century genealogist with those of the 21st century genealogist. I then illustrated this with a story of how I used traditional and modern resources to find a clock made by my husband's 3xgreat-grandfather. I then launched into some live demonstrations of useful Web2.0 tools. As time was at a premium in this 45 min presentation I paid very quick visits to a few items the list.
Some time during the talk I ditched the microphone after asking the audience if they could hear me. I was mortified when later I discovered that an audience member had a hearing impairment and missed a lot of my talk. I sought this person out and apologised during the lunch break.
This larger audience was more passive than the Mosman mob but from comments I received later from audience members I think I hit the mark with many of them. The best feedback I got was from another white-haired person who said it was good to have a talk by an ordinary person and by someone whose job is not genealogy.
I thank Alan Phillips from UnlockthePast for giving me an opportunity to share my experiences with the Roadshow attendees.
History of Social Media
The terms Web2.0 and Social Media can be confusing for genealogists. This infographic illustrates that Web2.0 tools are a subset of Social Media. Social Media has been with us in various forms since 500BC.
Click on the graphic below to reveal it in a readable size.
Source : http://blog.skloog.com/history-social-media-history-social-media-bookmarking/
Click on the graphic below to reveal it in a readable size.
Source : http://blog.skloog.com/history-social-media-history-social-media-bookmarking/
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Cemetery Transcription completed
I was pleased to read on the aus-nsw-hills-hawkesbury-hunter-valley Rootsweb Mailing list that the transcribing of The Upper Mangrove Creek - St Thomas Cemetery has been completed and can be found at:
Congratulations to the volunteers in the Hawkesbury who have transcribed many of the cemeteries in that area.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Sleep gets in the way of good intentions
My plan, when I returned from the History and Genealogy Roadshow tonight and had some dinner, was to blog about the event but I am in need of some shuteye. So I'll just give a quick recap and come back and add hyperlinks to this post later.
I arrived a little late for Elaine Collins' talk on FindMyPast but enjoyed what I heard. Elaine outlined some exciting new projects in the pipeline so I was pleased that I had renewed my annual subscription last month. I just need to make time to revisit the site and do new searches for the people in my database.
Louise St Denis from The National Institute for Genealogical Studies packed a lot of content into her talk. She was an entertaining and engaging speaker.
I have a pretty good knowledge of the Google family of products but still enjoyed the three presentations by Dan Lynch that I attended. I learnt a couple of new tricks and was entertained by Dan who is a polished and professional presenter.
As my knowledge of genealogical records is a bit shallow I learnt quite a bit from Jeremy Palmer's talk on "The Parish Chest". It was the best of the three talks I have heard from Jeremy so far.
During the day I engaged in a bit of a twitterthon with Carole Riley, Gould Genealogy and Unlock the Past as we posted tweets during the talks. Those tweets can be found by using the hashtag #HGRS10 in a twitter search.
Genealogy can be a lonely pursuit; events like the roadshow give us a chance to meet and chat with people with similar interests. I was pleased to catch up with people from SAG and the Sydney TMG Users group. I am looking forward to day two of the Roadshow tomorrow when I will have a chance to add more to my knowledge.
Now for some zzzz's
I arrived a little late for Elaine Collins' talk on FindMyPast but enjoyed what I heard. Elaine outlined some exciting new projects in the pipeline so I was pleased that I had renewed my annual subscription last month. I just need to make time to revisit the site and do new searches for the people in my database.
Louise St Denis from The National Institute for Genealogical Studies packed a lot of content into her talk. She was an entertaining and engaging speaker.
I have a pretty good knowledge of the Google family of products but still enjoyed the three presentations by Dan Lynch that I attended. I learnt a couple of new tricks and was entertained by Dan who is a polished and professional presenter.
As my knowledge of genealogical records is a bit shallow I learnt quite a bit from Jeremy Palmer's talk on "The Parish Chest". It was the best of the three talks I have heard from Jeremy so far.
During the day I engaged in a bit of a twitterthon with Carole Riley, Gould Genealogy and Unlock the Past as we posted tweets during the talks. Those tweets can be found by using the hashtag #HGRS10 in a twitter search.
Genealogy can be a lonely pursuit; events like the roadshow give us a chance to meet and chat with people with similar interests. I was pleased to catch up with people from SAG and the Sydney TMG Users group. I am looking forward to day two of the Roadshow tomorrow when I will have a chance to add more to my knowledge.
Now for some zzzz's
@geniaus at work
Sharing an old family chart with the Social media mob at Mosman Library and contrasting it with the spiffy charts one can produce using genealogy software programs and online tools.
@geniaus at work
I had great fun last night talking to a group of Mosmanites about using 21st century tools for genealogy and connecting with family.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Two Men and a Clock
On Monday I blogged in a post 2,000 km to see a clock - was it worth it? about our trip to Melbourne to see a clock made by my husband's ancestor, James Gowans. At the time I didn't post a photo of my husband and his cousin with the clock due to copyright restrictions by the Museum.
Today I received, by email, permission to post my photos to this blog. So here is a photo of the two happy descendants with the clock.
Today I received, by email, permission to post my photos to this blog. So here is a photo of the two happy descendants with the clock.
 |
| Two men anad a clock |
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
A Challenge for Australian Genealogists
There were no Australian blogs among the 2010 Top 40 - let's change that for 2011.
Wouldn't it be great for genealogy in Australia if some Australian blogs could be on the shortlist for voting and then make the Final Forty. For this to happen there needs to be a concerted effort by Australians to nominate their favourite blogs. To get a presence on the shortlist we need to have multiple nominations for a number of blogs in the categories listed below. Please let others know on Twitter and in your Blogs those blogs you have nominated and in which categories you have nominated them. Nominate a Family Tree 40 blog here
- Local/regional history and genealogy: blogs focusing on research in a specific county, state or region. Most library and archive blogs, as well as many local historical and genealogical society blogs, would go here.
- Heritage groups: Blogs focusing on the family history of a specific ethnic, religious or national background (such as African-American, Jewish, Polish, etc.)
- Research advice and how-to: Blogs that primarily explain how to research, analyze photos or perform various family history tasks. The blogger offers tips, strategies and examples; explains genealogical concepts; and writes about how to use new resources.
- Cemeteries: These blogs feature content primarily about cemetery research and visiting cemeteries. Many feature tombstone photos and transcriptions, with information about those interred.
- “My Family History”: Blogs about the blogger’s own roots, including accounts of personal research, their own family photos and heirlooms, stories, recipes, etc.
- “Everything” blogs: Blogs that cover it all—genealogy news, research advice, opinions, local history, family stories, etc.—go here.
- New blogs: Was the blog you’re nominating launched during the past year? Categorize it here, even if it would also fit into another category.
- Technology: Blogs focusing on genealogy websites, software, DNA testing or other aspects of technology as it relates to genealogy.
Monday, November 15, 2010
2,000 km to see a clock - was it worth it?
Two gentlemen grinning like Cheshire cats as they admired a clock made around 1840 in Scotland are the subjects of some photos I took today. As we signed an agreement with The Scienceworks Museum not to publish the photos I cannot post them on my blog.
We are wending our way back to Sydney after spending time admiring and photographing the clock,an important item in the family history of my husband and his cousin. Often the study of genealogy and family history can be a bit dry, finding a treasure such as the clock within cooe of home has added an extra dimension to our study of James Gowans. Mr Geniaus says it was definitely worth the drive and his cousin who we dropped off in Melbourne was full of the superlatives used by English gents such as brilliant and superb.
Our thanks go to Nick Crotty, Collections Manager in the Scienceworks Museum in Spotswood, Victoria, for organising, at relatively short notice, our inspection of the clock.
We are wending our way back to Sydney after spending time admiring and photographing the clock,an important item in the family history of my husband and his cousin. Often the study of genealogy and family history can be a bit dry, finding a treasure such as the clock within cooe of home has added an extra dimension to our study of James Gowans. Mr Geniaus says it was definitely worth the drive and his cousin who we dropped off in Melbourne was full of the superlatives used by English gents such as brilliant and superb.
Our thanks go to Nick Crotty, Collections Manager in the Scienceworks Museum in Spotswood, Victoria, for organising, at relatively short notice, our inspection of the clock.
On the Road Again
I've been neglecting the blog for a few days but have been very busy discussing and sharing family information with various members of my husband's family.
Around eight years ago we connected via Genes Reunited with a branch of the Gowans family from Scotland. We have visited our new cousin in England on a number of occasions and he has finallly made the trip down under. We have been dragging this poor chap all over the countryside to meet cousins and see the sights. We are now en route to Melbourne for a very exciting meeting before we pass him on to his friends.
I have previously blogged about my husband's ancestor, James Gowans, who was a clock and watchmaker in East Linton, Galashiels and Hawick. A serendipitous result of a Google search for "Gowans clock" a few months ago was the discovery that there was a Gowans longcase clock in The Scienceworks Museum in Victoria. So today I am accompanying two rather excited gentlemen on a journey to meet the clock made by their direct ancestor around 170 years ago.
Hopefully I will be back in the bumpy backseat this afternoon blogging about the meeting.
Around eight years ago we connected via Genes Reunited with a branch of the Gowans family from Scotland. We have visited our new cousin in England on a number of occasions and he has finallly made the trip down under. We have been dragging this poor chap all over the countryside to meet cousins and see the sights. We are now en route to Melbourne for a very exciting meeting before we pass him on to his friends.
I have previously blogged about my husband's ancestor, James Gowans, who was a clock and watchmaker in East Linton, Galashiels and Hawick. A serendipitous result of a Google search for "Gowans clock" a few months ago was the discovery that there was a Gowans longcase clock in The Scienceworks Museum in Victoria. So today I am accompanying two rather excited gentlemen on a journey to meet the clock made by their direct ancestor around 170 years ago.
Hopefully I will be back in the bumpy backseat this afternoon blogging about the meeting.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
MapMyFollowers.com
I was alerted this morning in a post from ReadWriteWeb to a new Twitter tool http://www.mapmyfollowers.com that would be useful for geneabloggers who use Twitter. If ones knows where one's followers are then one can tailor tweets to that audience.
I sometimes look at my list of Twitter followers to see where they are geographically but this involves looking at their entries one by one. Mapmyfollowers allows one to use a mashup developed by Scotia Systems . ReadWriteWeb says "that allows you to see where in the world the people who follow you on Twitter are. Up to 1000 at a time can be viewed on a map and there's something magical about the resulting experience."
I logged into MapMyFollowers and, after giving them access to my Twitter account, was able to produce a map within a minute or two.
Additionally MapMyFollowers produces a word cloud of the bios of your followers so that you can gather a little more information about your audience.
What this tells me is that most of my followers have an interest in Genealogy or History and that a large proportion of them are from the US. I hope to connect with more Australian Genealogists soon.
I sometimes look at my list of Twitter followers to see where they are geographically but this involves looking at their entries one by one. Mapmyfollowers allows one to use a mashup developed by Scotia Systems . ReadWriteWeb says "that allows you to see where in the world the people who follow you on Twitter are. Up to 1000 at a time can be viewed on a map and there's something magical about the resulting experience."
I logged into MapMyFollowers and, after giving them access to my Twitter account, was able to produce a map within a minute or two.
 |
| Geniaus' Followers on Twitter |
 |
| Geniaus' Wordcloud |
The Terrible Twos
I have two little grandchildren who are approaching their second birthday and entering the stage known as "The Terrible Twos" where they learn that they can say "NO" with vigour and throw tantrums as they start to assert their their independence.
This blog "Geniaus" is two today. I wonder how its flavour may change as it enters the "Terrible Twos"? I look forward to discovering how this will manifest itself in the coming year.
I thank my regular readers and those who pop by from time to time. I appreciate the comments you make on the blog and via email and the spikes you create in my statistics when a post resonates with you. This blog has brought me some valuable connections from all over the world and has been a means of connecting with newly discovered cousins.
For my newer readers here are the links to my first post and my first birthday post.
This blog "Geniaus" is two today. I wonder how its flavour may change as it enters the "Terrible Twos"? I look forward to discovering how this will manifest itself in the coming year.
I thank my regular readers and those who pop by from time to time. I appreciate the comments you make on the blog and via email and the spikes you create in my statistics when a post resonates with you. This blog has brought me some valuable connections from all over the world and has been a means of connecting with newly discovered cousins.
For my newer readers here are the links to my first post and my first birthday post.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Feedback from the Webmaster - Watson/Canet Family History Site
I get a bit of a buzz when a reader actually comments on something about which I have blogged. I blog mainly for myself but love it when something I have written elicits a response.
In response to my post yesterday about her website Michelle posted a comment. As people who have read the post may not go back a second time to look at the comment I am reposting it. In this comment Michelle answers some of the questions I raised about her site.
Thanks, Michelle, for your comments and your gracious acceptance of my post.
"Dear Geniaus,
Thanks for the feature. I thought I'd answer some of your questions:
Software - the website is entirely coded in HTML, with extensive use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). I use Dreamweaver to develop and manage my websites. CSS allows me to completely change the look of the site by changing one .css file. I used CSS for two reasons, it allows me to update navigation and other standard elements contained on all pages by changing a single .css file and it allows me to better optimise page viewing for text based users including those viewing the site on mobile devices.
The site is nearly completely text based. All this means it loads very quickly and it looks exactly the same on a computer monitor as it does on an iPhone or iPad.
For example the trees are not generated by family tree software but are manually coded tables made using HTML.
This site wasn't so much a replacement for a full family tree but to make my research more accessible and to make it more likely to be harvested and listed in search engines.
What I need to do is to add links to both my blog and to my Ancestry family tree, which is much more extensive.
Cheers,
Michelle"
In response to my post yesterday about her website Michelle posted a comment. As people who have read the post may not go back a second time to look at the comment I am reposting it. In this comment Michelle answers some of the questions I raised about her site.
Thanks, Michelle, for your comments and your gracious acceptance of my post.
"Dear Geniaus,
Thanks for the feature. I thought I'd answer some of your questions:
Software - the website is entirely coded in HTML, with extensive use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). I use Dreamweaver to develop and manage my websites. CSS allows me to completely change the look of the site by changing one .css file. I used CSS for two reasons, it allows me to update navigation and other standard elements contained on all pages by changing a single .css file and it allows me to better optimise page viewing for text based users including those viewing the site on mobile devices.
The site is nearly completely text based. All this means it loads very quickly and it looks exactly the same on a computer monitor as it does on an iPhone or iPad.
For example the trees are not generated by family tree software but are manually coded tables made using HTML.
This site wasn't so much a replacement for a full family tree but to make my research more accessible and to make it more likely to be harvested and listed in search engines.
What I need to do is to add links to both my blog and to my Ancestry family tree, which is much more extensive.
Cheers,
Michelle"
Friday, November 5, 2010
Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Watson / Canet Family History site
 |
| Watson/Canet Home Page |
From each of the entries on the chart there is a link to a narrative about the individual. These range from rather long entries with photos and documents to shorter entries.
 | ||
| Whitley Family Group Chart |
| Site URL | http://watsoncanet.webcon.net.au/ |
| Site Name | Watson and Canet Family History Site |
| Author | Michelle |
| Author's Contact Details | Email Link provided |
| Last Updated | Not evident |
| Age of Site | Not evident |
| Software Used | Cannot ascertain. Appears to use genealogy program on family line pages |
| Persons in Database | Cannot ascertain |
| Time Span | 4 generations for each family line |
| Index of names | Not evident |
| Prominent Surnames | Displayed on home page |
| Password Protected | Free access |
| Details of Living Persons Supressed | Does not appear to include living people |
| Data Sourced | Sources mentioned in individual narratives |
| Search Facility | No |
| Photos/Documents | Photos and relevant documents included in individual narratives |
| Geodata | No |
| Navigation | Site Navigation sidebar on all pages makes navigating easy. Plus smaller menu at bottom of pages |
| Design | Very good elements |
| Extras | 1. Pages for Brickwall ancestors with opportunities for fellow researchers to register details. 2. Links to Places of Interest, Genealogy and Online sites |
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Follow Friday - Australian FamilySites - Reappearing tomorrow
Several weeks ago I embarked on a series of posts in which I aim to highlight, as part of the "Follow Friday"theme, sites where Australians have placed their family trees on the web.
I had a little holiday with the family so haven't posted for a few Fridays. I have selected another site for tomorrow so please take a look then. In the interim I am posting the links to those sites I have already highlighted.
Gransden Family
Hickman History
Judkins and Steel Family History
A Newman Family Tree
Our Family Lines
I am always on the lookout for Australian sites to add to my list on Delicious.
I had a little holiday with the family so haven't posted for a few Fridays. I have selected another site for tomorrow so please take a look then. In the interim I am posting the links to those sites I have already highlighted.
Gransden Family
Hickman History
Judkins and Steel Family History
A Newman Family Tree
Our Family Lines
I am always on the lookout for Australian sites to add to my list on Delicious.
Is It Unverified Data and Will It Always be Unverified?
I subscribe to Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter via RSS but I usually don't comment on his posts as they are about things I read about elsewhere or relate to US affairs.
This morning I read an opinion piece "Is It Unverified Data and Will It Always be Unverified?" by Dick that made a lot of common sense. I encourage you to read it.
In the world of genealogy there are a number of snobs around who appear to look down their noses at those of us whom they think are not professional in our approach to research. I have undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Information Science and Education but choose not to apply rigorous academic standards to my hobby of genealogy. I do it for fun and my interest but choose to share it via my website in the hope that others may gain clues to their ancestry.
In September in my post "I am a name collector" I outlined my thoughts on adding unreferenced or dodgily referenced data to my family tree. I had been a little annoyed by a few articles I had read comparing name collectors with "real genealogists".
And I say Bah Humbug to the "real genealogists" who discount the many "name collectors" who help other by providing unreferenced clues that may help them knock down their genealogy brick walls.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Ancestry
I am quite a fan of ancestry.co.uk (even though the quality of their transcriptions sometimes is a bit dodgy).
With all of my and Mr Geniaus' overseas ancestors coming from the British Isles it is an invaluable resource for us. Earlier this week I blogged about revisitng the ancestors. It was in recently published records that I found some new information on the ancestors.
Chris Paton of Scottish Genes recently shared on his blog the youtube video of the latest ad from ancestry.co.uk. I am sharing it here for those who don't follow Chris' blog as I found it quite appealing.
With all of my and Mr Geniaus' overseas ancestors coming from the British Isles it is an invaluable resource for us. Earlier this week I blogged about revisitng the ancestors. It was in recently published records that I found some new information on the ancestors.
Chris Paton of Scottish Genes recently shared on his blog the youtube video of the latest ad from ancestry.co.uk. I am sharing it here for those who don't follow Chris' blog as I found it quite appealing.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
James RICHARDS and Mary Ann EATON reunion at Richmond, NSW
From time to time I read about family reunions that are about to take place. I read about the forthcoming James RICHARDS and Mary Ann EATON reunion in a Rootsweb (aus-nsw-hills-hawkesbury-hunter-valley) Mailing List post from Michelle Nichols. I hope that she doesn't mind my giving it an extra bit of publicity.
Following are the details from Michelle's post:
Following are the details from Michelle's post:
"I have been advised that there will be a family reunion for the descendants of James RICHARDS and Mary Ann EATON reunion to be held at Richmond Primary School in Windsor Street Richmond on Sunday 21 November 11am-3pm. James Richard c1782-1859 was a convict who arrived on the 'Indian' 1810. He married in 1816 Mary Ann Eaton 1800-1889 who was the daughter of convict parents, William & Jane. Mary Richards also married Isaac Cornwell. Connected names include Eaton, Williams, Eather, Cornwell, Buckton and Durham"
Monday, November 1, 2010
Revisit the ancestors
What a productive morning I've had. I took the advice of a couple of speakers at the recent genealogy expo in Sydney and had a look at the records of some ancestors who had been peacefully resting in my database for a while. New resources, both free and subscription, come online each week and often I forget to make use of them.
I have been looking at these once more and have had some nice surprises. I was able to find a number of marriage details in the NSW Registry Historical BDM indexes that now go to 1959, similarly I found a few deaths. Some of the probate records I found at Ancestry have told me that some ancestors must have squandered the hard earned money of their ancestors. Via the new FamilySearch I found another sibling for my husband's great-grandfather., so I now have a whole new line of Gowans to follow.
Using the Eresources of the State Library of NSW I have tracked down details on some more Gowans cousins and found the immigration details to the US of another 'lost' Gowans cousin. Finding that the Fairfax Newsstore is now free has enabled me to find the death and funeral details of some of my parents' cousins. These articles have given me some birth dates and details of spouses and offspring.
I am so grateful to those speakers at the expo who reminded me to revisit the ancestors.
I have been looking at these once more and have had some nice surprises. I was able to find a number of marriage details in the NSW Registry Historical BDM indexes that now go to 1959, similarly I found a few deaths. Some of the probate records I found at Ancestry have told me that some ancestors must have squandered the hard earned money of their ancestors. Via the new FamilySearch I found another sibling for my husband's great-grandfather., so I now have a whole new line of Gowans to follow.
Using the Eresources of the State Library of NSW I have tracked down details on some more Gowans cousins and found the immigration details to the US of another 'lost' Gowans cousin. Finding that the Fairfax Newsstore is now free has enabled me to find the death and funeral details of some of my parents' cousins. These articles have given me some birth dates and details of spouses and offspring.
I am so grateful to those speakers at the expo who reminded me to revisit the ancestors.