2008-2021: Posts from the Past

Thirteen years ago on this day I wrote the following here" http://geniaus.blogspot.com/2008/11/why-add-yet-another-blog-to-crowded.html.

Why add yet another blog to the crowded blogosphere?

I thought I would like a place to share progress, reflections and resources as I solve my genealogical jigsaw so here goes - another blog is born.

I've been researching the family on and off for the last 20 years and, with retirement looming, hope to finally get organised and solve some of my mysteries.

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So here I am 13 years later reflecting on my life as a geneablogger. 

My original purpose to share progress, reflections and resources as I solve my genealogical jigsaw remains but my posts are fewer as I now use other platforms, currently Facebook and Twitter, to share short newsbites. Although I don't post so often I am committed to blogging as a means of recording family stories, reflections and opinions.

As my blog is preserved in The Australian Web Archive at Trove Australia I can indulge in a trip down memory lane and view posts from the past. Please join me as I meander down memory lane.

The header image is missing from this capture. If I remember correctly it included a photo of a family wedding.

From 2017 those lovely green notices have disappeared from the results of my Trove searches, maybe I worked some magic to make it disappear!

I also note that the header on my blog is the same one I still use - perhaps it is time for new branding. That's one of the advantages of blogging - it is a dynamic platform that one can adjust to reflect current times and trends.

Jottings, Journeys, Joy - A Big Footprint

I run hot and cold with my personal blog jillballau: Jottings, Journeys, Joy. 

This morning I had to enlist the help of that blog's archive on Trove to find out when I had actually written my first post. Over the years, I have added some predated posts to the blog and integrated the posts from another earlier Men at Work blog into it.

After a a bit of digging I found my first post was on 4th July 2012. Here is what I said:

Do I really need another Blog? Am I suffering from Blogarrhoea?

I don't need another blog but ...........my active blogs Geniaus and Android Genealogy are targetted towards my friends in genealogy. Sometimes I'd like to post about my travels, the books I've read, the things that bug me and the performances I've seen. Sometimes I'd just like to share a photo that doesn't fit in with the theme of my Men at Work blog. I don't want to clog up my genimates blog feeds with off topic posts that could be regarded as spam.  

When I am travelling I publish a few photos and updates to Facebook and when something tickles my fancy I write about it there too. Aggregating these Facebook items in one stream is not easy.

Recently I have been following and enjoying Jackie van Bergen's new blog, Jax Trax. As a genealogist I see the value of leaving a personal blog like Jackie's as a resource for future generations. Jackie's blog has been the catalyst for my decision to pollute the blogisphere with yet another blog.

Look out blogisphere here comes jillballau.

The current Covid lockdown has given me time to evaluate  jillballau which is not very popular in the blogisphere. Firstly I thought about my purpose, I have realised that, while the visits and comments from friends and strangers may massage my ego, my purpose was stated succinctly in that first post where I said "I see the value of leaving a personal blog like Jackie's as a resource for future generations".

I have recommitted to that purpose. It is important to me that I leave a big footprint behind for the generations of the future. I am honoured that jillballau is preserved in The Australian Web Archive on Trove so I know what I post will be preserved. 

Back in June I wrote a post Unloved in which I promised to give my neglected blog some attention. I have been plugging away over the past few weeks giving it some much needed attention.

Among the things I have done is modify the static pages on the blog by adding pages for my travel map and books read which had previously been in widgets in the sidebar. I have renamed all the sexist "Men at Work" tags to "Workers". I have changed and added many other tags and selected some popular tags, that reflect the main themes of the blog, for a Topics widget on the home page. I have gone back through my 4 Terabytes of photos and found many of the folders of resized photos previously shared on FaceBook which I am cheekily sharing in predated posts to preserve the chronological nature of the blog. 

The blog is rich in images with many posts having 20+ images and few words, my pictures tell many stories. I have tried various tweaks to get the posts to load faster without success. Hopefully with better internet speeds in the future this will be fixed.

I apologise to the ancestors and DNA matches who I have been ignoring but, as my biological clock is ticking away, I am taking some time to focus on my story. Reliving my jottings and journeys has given me much joy during this lockdown. 

How's your Footprint?

I was shocked to learn over the weekend of the death last month of my 3rd cousin, Michelle Gilliver-Smith. at the age of 55. Michelle was one of the first genealogists with whom I collaborated in snail mail days. We reconnected through DNA in 2017.

I had learnt of Michelle's death via the Facebook page of the Tomaree Family History Group Nelson Bay Inc. where Michelle, a longterm member, had been responsible for the website and newsletter. 

By putting her name into a Google search I found Michelle's death notice online and copied the details into my genealogy software. While at Google I found more mentions of Michelle including a comprehensive work, education and volunteering history she had entered on her LinkedIn Page, I made a note of this information. Michelle also had a summary of her career posted on a Wix site she had created. The LG Professionals page had a page long profile of Michelle in which she talked about her interest in Genealogy.

I looked at my DNA matches on Airtable where I record matches of kits I manage, I could see that Michelle had first tested with FTDNA and uploaded those results to Gedmatch, she later tested with Ancestry. On each of these sites Michelle had uploaded comprehensive family trees. Michelle was also a contributor to the Familysearch Family Tree. Geni.com and Wikitree.

Michelle was active on social media with accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. My Google search returned a comment from Michelle to Princess Cruises telling them how much she enjoyed her cruise on Diamond Princess in 2013! Also on the Google search I learnt of Michelle's donations to charity, found a couple of photos of her and some journal articles she had written.

Michelle who died at a relatively young age has, because of her commitment to her family history and use of online resources and social media sites, left a valuable footprint for future generations of our family to discover her story. As this blog is preserved in the Australian Web Archive on Trove (where there are already several mentions of Michelle) I have written this post to add to that footprint.

https://pixabay.com/photos/beach-sea-footprints-sand-water-5455896/
How's your Footprint?