Friday, December 20, 2024

The Thoughtful Ancestor

Earlier this year I was delighted to find that one of my submissions for the Connections2025 Conference had been accepted.

My topic is: The Thoughtful Ancestor: leaving a large footprint for future generations

Image by bobschwenkler from Pixabay

The Synopsis: Researchers spend enormous amounts of time, effort and money on their projects but, if they have not made arrangements before they are dead, the fruits of their labour are likely to end up on a rubbish dump.

The purpose of this presentation is to make attendees reflect on their practices and to guide them in making decisions to ensure that their work is preserved for future generations.

In this presentation I hope to cover: Evaluating your collections, Cleaning up your files, Documenting your wishes, Appointing a successor: person or institution, Writing up a clear summary of your collection, Leaving funds for curation.

I'm aiming to make this a practical presentation with many suggestions for leaving a large footprint. In addition to a physical footprint I will mention the emotional legacy we leave for our descendants.

I feel a serious case of nerves approaching as I strive to put together a talk worthy of the event. When I peruse the program I see that I am in the company of esteemed and experienced presenters.

On my recent return from overseas I created a Powerpoint file to use as a mind map/plan for my presentation. It's time to give up dabbling and get moving as my file is due to be uploaded in less than than a month. I am now in serious research/preparation mode.

My presentation is after lunch on the last day of the conference so the audience members are likely to be suffering from information overload. I will have to make it light and lively to keep them engaged.

There are a few speakers I would really like to hear at the event but as we are scheduled at the same timeslot I will have to miss Andrew Redfern and David Ryan. I hope there is some audience left for me!

Roll on March.

Thursday, December 19, 2024

Accentuate the Positive 2024 Geneameme

Back in 2012 when I decided to publish the first Accentuate the Positive Geneameme I said:

"At this time of year many geneabloggers take stock of what they have achieved or not achieved in the previous twelve months and set themselves goals for the coming year. I have been reading several of these posts this week.

I feel that a lot of my geneablogging friends are too hard on themselves; several have reported on their successes this year but quite a number have lamented that they haven't achieved as much as they set out to do or that they haven't blogged with the frequency they envisaged.

You are a bunch of highly motivated people who have made great strides in the genealogy sphere. Let's share the good news."

For the 2024 challenge I was going to be lazy and use the prompts from 2012 but on reading them realised there was no mention of AI, DNA or Zoom in the 2012 list. Blogging has also waned in popularity and Twitter has gone off the rails. I have therefore modified my questions.

I invite you to take part in this activity by responding to the following statements/questions in an online post. Write as much or as little as you want and complete as many statements as you wish. If you wish to take part and don't have a blog email me your responses and I will post them here on the GeniAus blog.

Once you have done so please share your post's link in a comment on this post or to me via email to jillballau@gmail.com. I will, later in January, compile a list of links to your contributions here on this blog.

Remember to Accentuate the Positive - please delete the statements that are not relevant to your situation.

1. Google provided an answer to

2. I was the recipient of genearosity from

3. This headstone gave me some extra information

4. An useful record I discovered was

5. A newly found family member who shared

6. A geneasurprise I received was

7. My 2024 post that I was particularly proud of was

8. DNA helped me to

9. I was pleased I upgraded

10. Although Face to Face events have returned Zoom has

11. I dipped my toes into

12. I connected with

13. By dipping my toes into AI I was able to

14. I was honoured to

15. I found this presentation most useful

16. A great repository/archive/library I visited was

17. I got the most value from this book

18. It was exciting to finally meet

19. A geneadventure I enjoyed was

20. Another positive I would like

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Genimate Judy is returning downunder

Over the past few years I've had the opportunity to hear Judy G Russell, The Legal Genealogist, speak on genealogy topics on three continents. I managed to nab Judy for an interview at Rootstech in 2016 where she spoke to me about her genealogy journey and her first trip downunder.

I have been fortunate to have several opportunities to socialise as well as learn from Judy.

Judy enjoyed an Aussie Pub meal with genimates on her first visit to Sydney 2016
Back L-R: Rosemary, Judy, Helen, Melissa, Lilian
Front L-R: Kerry, Alona Jill

After one of Judy's presentations in Sydney I wrote this:

It is rare that I lavish praise on genealogy presenters but Judy is excellence in presentation personified. She knows her subject, she looks professional and acts professionally (although we casual Aussies encouraged her to discard her jacket in the 36c heat), she oozes passion and enthusiasm, injects humour into her presentations, involves her audience : she delivers on all counts. I am sometimes concerned at the quality of presenters that are sent down under, Judy (and a couple of others are exceptions). https://geniaus.blogspot.com/2016/02/judy-sailed-in.html

I was so thrilled to hear that Judy, who was a keynote at Congress 2018 in Sydney, would be presenting again at Connections2025 (aka known as Congress) in Brisbane.

This recent media release for the organisers of Connections2025 tells more of Judy's story.

Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Don't dilly-dally

Hope to see YOU in Brisbane

25 Stackpole Street Wishart, QLD 4122
PO Box 1467, Carindale Qld 4152
www.connections2025.org.au
convenor@connections2025.org.au

Brisbane | 21 – 24 March 2025

EARLY BIRD – ends 30 November 2024

If you are still to register for Connections Past-Present-Future consider the following:

The daily registration fee for the conference is $260, if you register for the Friday only it does not include the Meet and Greet, which would be an additional $33.
If you register for two days of the conference only, the registration fee is $520.
If you register for all three days of the conference it is $515, and this includes the Meet and Greet and with Early Bird registration the price is $395.
The Conference Dinner, which is on Saturday night, is an additional $66 at Early Bird pricing.
Masterclasses on the Saturday and Sunday are filling fast and are $75 per class.
Lunches are of your choosing, but you do need to be aware of the venue’s trading restrictions. Early Bird pricing on lunches provided by the venue is $25. See below.
Parking is $10 on Friday and is free on Saturday & Sunday. See Conference Parking
Tours on the Monday are Optional.

Sunday, September 22, 2024

More Deaths and Burials

One of my observant offspring noticed that, on my family site, I still have marked as "Living" some people who are actually "Deceased". Mea Culpa.

What excited me was that one of my offspring was actually looking at my website!

I explained that, while I note recent deaths in the main tree in Family Historian on my laptop, I only upload a gedcom file to the website every so often. I was horrified to find that my last upload/update to my TNG site was nearly a year ago.

In addition to recent deaths I have been working through my database to identify people born before the 1930s for whom I don't have death records. Using a variety of tools I have been able to update many records. I have also been able to find and add birth registration details for people born prior to 1924.

Today, instead of searching for more records, I created new gedcom and uploaded it to my site. I hope my descendant will be proud of me!

Following are some statistics captured from my website, www.geniaus.net, after the upload

Description	Quantity
Total Individuals	11,884
Total Males	6,255 (52.63%)
Total Females	5,575 (46.91%)
Total Unknown Gender	54 (0.45%)
Total Living	6,302
Total Families	3,945
Total Unique Surnames	2,471
Total Photos	76
Total Documents	3
Total Headstones	0
Total Histories	0
Total Recordings	0
Total Videos	0
Total Sources	472
Average Lifespan1	61 years, 183 days
Earliest Birth (John Chatfyld)	Abt 1530

Longest Lived1	Age
Rita Mary Cecilia Nott	104 years
Lilian May Nelson	104 years
Kathleen Mary Large	101 years
Jean Mary Gowans	101 years
Josephine Emily Lynam	101 years
Margaretha Johanna Haver	100 years 318 days
Annie Joan Hogan	100 years 219 days
Irwin Morris Godden	100 years 78 days
Isabella Catherine Gowans	100 years 23 days
Martha Ann Auty	100 years

Thursday, September 12, 2024

A Picnic with Patrick

Yesterday on a sensational spring day husband and I stopped for a picnic lunch at Curry Reserve near Camden, NSW. This park, which is on the edge of the historic town was gazetted as a reserve in 1976, is special to me. On the recommendation of the local Council it was named after my 3xGreat-Grandfather, Patrick Curry, an Irish convict who had been assigned to the Macarthur family of Merino fame. Patrick is one of my favourite ancestors.

It had been several years since our last visit; we were surprised to find a lovely updated park. As we sat and watched local children playing in the beautiful water park I reflected on Patrick's life 200 years ago. I wonder what Patrick would think of this lovely facility for local families close to the area where he farmed on the banks of the Nepean River. I recalled Paddy's words to Caroline Chisholm "I have reared a large family in comfort, want for nothing."

I am sure Patrick would not have been able to imagine the 21st century facilities at Curry Reserve but he would have been honoured to be associated with the site.

Lots of opportunities for cool fun

Barbeque area

Modern facilities building

Proud to visit this important family site

Thursday, August 29, 2024

Kiva

Together with a number Genies from around the world I am a member of the 'Genealogists for Families' Project on Kiva.

We believe that our small deeds can make a big difference to families who are less fortunate.

Our motto is, 'We care about families (past, present and future)'

This morning I received a summary of my activity on Kiva for January to June 2024

My Kiva Activity

I loaned some of that $US41.59 this morning to Ukashatu in Ghana.

Lending with Kiva is such a rewarding activity as one knows the identity of the borrowers and can see how the funds are being expended. I encourage you to join our team

Click here for details

Thursday, July 25, 2024

A Late Night Night or an Early Morning

In a recent post I shared my excitement about being chosen as a subject for a Wikitree Challenge.

As the event, The 2024 WikiTree Challenge 11, will be launched on zoom at 2am tomorrow (my time in Australia). My immediate issue is do I go to bed early and set an alarm for 1:30ish or do I try and stay awake? I'll see how my day pans out.

Promo for the WikiTree Challenge

I'm now sitting in my geneacave dealing with a range of emotions:

* Gratitude for the invitation to have my family chosen as the focus of this project

* Delight to have a light shone on my band of ordinary ancestors and forebears that includes labourers, convicts, indigenous Australians, Irish immigrants, sportsmen and a pioneering priest.

* Appreciation for the Wikitreers who have signed up to work on my tree

* Apprehension as my sometimes dodgy research will be on show to a band of experienced genealogists

* Embarrassment that my Wikitree is not too deep or wide

* Pride that Australian Genealogy research is the focus of the eventt

* Excitement that the volunteers may learn a little about Australian History as they climb my tree

* Joy that my tree is receiving the love it deserves

* Suspense as I ponder on what the volunteers may dig up

Roll on 2am.

Wednesday, July 17, 2024

CareyBay2283

I know a time-poor genealogist who is easily drawn into undertaking new projects. Sounds like me!

It's ten years since I joined the Society for One-Place Studies (SOPS). This is a niche online society for those who have a passion for a particular place be it a road, a cemetery, a village or a town and wish to undertake a project that studies both the family and local history of their place/s. I have admired these researchers, some of whom study more than one place and feel One-Place Studies are a worthwhile exercise. Family and Local History go together like a horse and carriage.

It wasn't until I moved to Carey Bay seven years ago that I found my place. I cannot find any books, publications or websites dedicated to this small suburb on the shores of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales. Carey Bay deserves to have a home for its where its history can be collated, hared and preserved.

While I have been gathering material on the past and present residents of Carey Bay since Covid times. I only recently sought out information about its environment and history. I now have quite a collection of newspaper clippings , photos and stories that I must put into order and share with the community. My project will also give me a place to share some of the hundreds of photos I have taken from our pad on the Lake.

I finally bit the bullet and registered a study in April this year. You can see its profile on the SOPS website here. There's no going back.

I hope that some of my GeniAus friends will pop over and pay a visit to my project at https://careybay2283.blogspot.com/.

I will announce new posts on my social media platforms and, when I have published a reasonable chunk of information to the site I will share it on local platforms

Saturday, July 13, 2024

Much needed help coming my way

This blog has taken a back seat while I was out of the country in May and June. As part of our holiday we took a five day BackRoads tour of the WW1 Battlefields. This was our second such tour but it was superior to the last one we took. With its focus on Australian involvement in the conflict it was a wonderful learning experience that gave us much insight to the bravery and sacrifices young people and their families back home.

Since arriving home I have been sorting our travel photos, working on my family history and one-place study and hosting and attending a few genealogy events.

I was thrilled to see a notification from Wikitree appear on Facebook this week about an event that will have a focus on my family. A few months age I was invited by the genies at Wikitree to be a participant in one of their 2024 Wikitree Challenges, I sat on this information until I saw the announcement.

Announcement from Wikitree

I am a little apprehensive as my Wikitree has been suffering from a lack of nourishment. It is not my main tree and does not include all the distant cousins I have in that tree on my laptop.

A kind Australian Wikitreer looked over my tree yesterday, made a few cosmetic changes and fixed a few references. I'm grateful for her arboreal efforts. I am extremely pleased to have been chosen for this challenge and look forward to seeing what the volunteers dig up. Meanwhile I will make sure I have included the recently deceased and a few extra aunts and uncles on my tree.

I think that I am the first Australian who has been a focus of this challenge so, as well as helping me find cousins, the volunteers on my case will have an opportunity to use Australian records and learn about genealogy downunder.

Roll on July 25.

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

April AtoZ Challenge Conquered

Over the last few years I have taken up the April AtoZ Blogging Challenge several times.

As I did in 2023 I participated in the challenge on my personal blog jillballau. My topic Gods' Houses may be of interest to my genimates so I am posting a list of links to my 26 posts published in April below. I hope you enjoy some of my travel snaps.

Monday, April 22, 2024

A Wish CameTrue

Back in 2012 I penned a post about Paper Overload in which I lamented about the practice of many speakers to provide handouts, reference lists in hard copy. I said" My plea to presenters is to offer an alternative to hard copy handouts. PLEASE."

When I happened across that post this morning I thought about current practice and realise that many speakers provide links to soft copies of their handouts to attendees or event organisers.

The cynic in me thinks that this turnaround is due to Covid when we turned to digital delivery of genealogy education. It was impossible to provide physical copies of handouts when we were operating in an online world.

I hope the reason is because more genies have embraced technology over the past twelve years and are realising the benefits to the community of saving paper.

The image I used in 2012. Source: kathrynbutler.blogspot.com

Sunday, March 17, 2024

24 years ago

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

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

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

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Save the Date : Connections2025

G'day Genimates,

I am sharing this Save the Date notice on behalf of our friends at The Genealogical Society of Queensland – GSQ. We encourage you all to follow the Connections 2025 Facebook page for event updates and to show your support to help make this a wonderful, engaging event for history aficionados all over Australia and New Zealand.

SAVE THE DATE: March 21-24, 2025.

The Australasian Conference - Connections 2025 - will be held in Brisbane over four days in March 2025. Hosted by the Genealogical Society of Queensland, the conference combines the 17th Australian Conference on Genealogy and Heraldry (also known as Congress) and the 5th History Queensland State Conference.

Connections 2025 is a must do event for family and local historians. Visit the Conference website for more details and watch this blog for regular updates.

Some of the 650 Delegates enjoying High Tea at the 2018 Congress in Sydney

I am honoured and thrilled to be the NSW Ambassador for this event. I have attended and enjoyed the the last four Congresses and have found them to be enriching, entertaining educational events. The bonus is that I met up with old friends in person and had opportunities to forge relationships with new-to-me genimates.

I am hoping to see a strong cohort from New Wales and to meet many genies from beyond our State in Brisbane. The event will have an international flavour, I already know of genies attending from The Netherlands, The United Kingdom and The United States.

With your help we can make this an affair to remember.

Cheers, Jill aka GeniAus

Thursday, February 1, 2024

The Big News

This morning I posted on social media news of the 17th Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry (otherwise known to genies as Congress) & 5th Queensland History State Conference.

As the NSW Ambassador I am thrilled to let you know that the comprehensive website for the combined event, Connections2025, has now gone live. The website gives details of the dates, site, accommodation and keynote speakers plus a program outline. Information for prospective speakers is also available.

Connections2025 Website

I have been fortunate enough to attend Congress in Adelaide, Canberra, Sydney and Norfolk Island. Congress is the premier live event on the Australasian calendar. Once again we will have an opportunity to see and hear speakers from home and abroad, catch up and meet new genimates and talk to sponsors and vendors.

Back in 2018 there was a bumper crowd at the last Congress before Covid. As Covid was still around and travel difficult in 2022 numbers were down in Norfolk Island.

Brisbane in 2025 with its international and domestic airports and other good transport options offers us an opportunity to have the best event ever. Mr GeniAus and I are already planning a road trip/geneajourney that will haveConnections2025 as its highlight.

Please consider joining us at Connections2025.

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Big News

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Accentuate the Positive 2023 - Responses

Thanks to the wonderful genies who have supported this exercise. A shoutout to Jennifer Jones who was the first to submit a response for 2023 and to Bobbie Edes and Linda Stufflebean for enquiring if I would be running the challenge this year.

It warms my heart to see so many genies reflecting on their practice and realising that they have made progress during their geneayear. It is important to reflect/assess/evaluate our research and practices.

I hope I haven't missed any contributions. If I have please let me know and I will add your link. If you fancy some reflection I'm always happy to receive new contributions as documents, in emails or in blog posts.