Dead Man's Penny

I knew about the Dead Man's Penny  which was issued after the First World War to the next-of-kin of all British Empire service personnel who were killed as a result of the war.

I had never sighted one until we visited a museum in a country town today.

This image shows two of these medallions in the Museum collection one of which had been encased in a wooden frame. I was surprised to see how large they are.

Lest We Forget

Facebook Memories

Most days I look at my Facebook memories and share a few as posts on my personal blog. I date these posts retrospectively on the day they happened. This is my way of leaving a record of my antics for those descendants in the future who may want to know about my life.

I thought that this memory which popped up today was more appropriate for this genealogy focused blog.

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21 April 2016

My geneassistant is hard at work in the geneacave.

A Side by Side View of my DNA

As an only child I don't have any sibling with whom I can compare my DNA....but I am fortunate in having a double first cousin who shares my four grandparents. Our fathers are brothers and our mothers are sisters.

Currently lots of genies are sharing their results from Ancestry's new SideView tool that shows which ethnicities we inherited from which parent. Of course I am joining the party. Below on the left are Jane's results and on the right are mine. Our fathers' ethnicity is on the left of the diagrams and our mothers' on the right.

Jane

Jill

It appears that I have more of our Duncan grandfather's Scottish genes and Jane has more of his aboriginal genes. Jane is more Irish  and English than me and I have missed out on the Basque gene.

No wonder we have so many unique matches in the Ancestry database. 

Chatting with the Genies at Cessnock

Yesterday I had a lovely drive of just over 30 minutes along some beautiful country roads to my face-face to face gig with the Family History Group that operates out of Cessnock Library. I didn't get lost, found a parking spot very close to the library and managed to buy some great non-fiction from the book sale in the library before I found my hosts.

On arrival I was warmly greeted by Sandy and group members. I also got to meet the Local Studies librarian, Kimberly O'Sullivan, whose passion for her work comes through in the posts she shares on the library's Facebook page. There is no doubt that the strength of the Local History collection is a result of Kimberly's energy and enthusiasm. 

I was envious when I saw the support the Group gets from Cessnock Library. Their home is in  one of the meeting rooms in a library that is well equipped with technology. The great news is that the group's resources have a home in filing cabinets and a compactus in that room. The Group has a regular weekly meeting there and can book it at other times. 

How I wish our group at Lake Macquarie had similar support from our local Council. That Council doesn't seem to recognise the value of giving a home to a family history group. A set up such as that enjoyed by our neighbours in Cessnock would be perfect.

Resources

Group's Filing Cabinets

Technology in the Meeting Room

Group's Compactus 

Some of the happy Cessnock genies

After meeting the Group members and looking at their facilities we moved to another room that was equipped with a Smartboard on which my powerpoint could be displayed. The technology worked and the library's IT support person was on hand if any difficulties arose.

My presentation

After chatting with the genies for two hours I was a little tired and thirsty but also invigorated by being able to speak in a face to face situation again.

When we returned to the meeting room there was a lovely lunch set up for those present and I was presented with a lovely bag of local delicacies. Thanks Cessnock genies for your warm welcome and amazing hosting. 

I may have had more than my share of egg and lettuce sambos. 

More Bargains

I followed up on  my great haul from the Narrabri Rotary Book Fair on Saturday with this smaller collection of books from the Cessnock library book sale today. 

Each of these titles is in perfect condition. As an old time librarian in who worked in a library that didn't throw anything out I find it amazing to see what is discarded today. 

This bundle of books cost me just $5. 

Quipolly Cemetery

On one of our country drives last weekend we called in at the delightful St Chad's Anglican Church and Cemetery in Quipolly, NSW. 

While there I spent about half an hour snapping pictures of the site and headstones vowing to come back and finish the job on my next visit. I discovered that the cemetery now known as Quipolly Cemetery is still active being managed by the Liverpool Plains Council.

I had intended posting my images to FindaGrave as I didn't think anyone would have photographed that cemetery. Well I was wrong. Someone named Grace had already posted many headstone images to FindaGrave. I was able to add a few that showed the church and its sign. When we visited it had been raining so many of the headstones that are unclear in Grace's images were clearer in my images due to their recent wash. I have added a few of these and will continue to add those of mine that are easier to read. 

Here are a few of my snaps.