A Snow White Dome

When fiddling on my blog today I noticed that, in my header image, I had brown or pepper and salt coloured hair. Nowadays my dome is snow white.  My branding should reflect the person that I am. 

I liked my old image that showed me waving while frolicking in the ocean. I liken my genealogy environment to a body of water where I can swim - a place where I can relax and have fun, play in the shallows or dive deep, it's somewhere that can throw up challenges and surprises. 

When holidaying in Vanuatu earlier this year I was enjoying a swim in a glorious lagoon when Mr Geniaus snapped a photo of me enthusiastically waving and showing my white hair plastered to my head. The image shows me in a happy place as I am when playing in my genealogy world. 

Over I went to Canva where I created a new header using their Blogger Header template. I've uploaded the completed image to the blog. While I may tweak it over the coming days it will remain basically the same until I next fiddle with my branding.  Next task is creating a new header for the Geniaus Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/geniauspage

The new header - created with Canva

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.

_____________________________________________________________________

21 April 2016

My geneassistant is hard at work in the geneacave.

A clearer view

Among the surprises I received at Christmas was a new tech toy that promises to enhance my participation in online events. I have set up and had a couple of test runs with my Facebook Portal Go.  

What's in the Box?

The device, a charger, power cord and minimal instructions came in the box

The device which is heavy for its size is covered in fabric and has a carrying handle built into the back

It was easy to set up and the battery didn't take too long to charge

My Facebook Portal Go appears to have all the features of my the Google Nest mini I won at Rootstech a few years ago and so much more. I need to spend some time getting to know it. As it doesn't have a keyboard I won't be using it to write and publish blog posts but I can use the keyboard on its touchscreen for simple internet browsing.

I will mostly use the Portal, which connects via my home wifi to to the world, for Zoom and Facebook live sessions but one can also use it on other similar platforms. The inbuilt video camera which is angled to give a positive view of one's face is far superior to my external webcam and that in my laptop. It sent a very clear image to those I connected with. Those connections tell me that the inbuilt microphone picked up my voice well and that I came through clearly.

Testing out the browser I found it was quite easy to connect and view some sessions from The Genealogy Show on the device. 

Bring a Shared Plate - Seriously!

I am nervous about going out in public during this pandemic and trust that those places I visit take a responsible approach to our safety during the pandemic. I steer clear of sites that don't appear to be CovidSafe.

This morning when going through my Facebook stream I saw an announcement decorated with Christmassy symbols from a local historical society giving details of their General Meeting this coming week. 

When I read some of the text in the announcement I was flabbergasted and fuming. Members attending were exhorted to "Bring a share plate of Christmas cheer"! I could not believe I was reading this in the light of the new outbreak of Covid19 in our State. When planning events we need to ensure the safety of all who are attending. Perhaps the people at xxx Historical Society have a Covidsafe food handling plan in place, perhaps they don't. I'd like to know.

I thought long and hard and tried to be kind when I left this comment on their post "Sorry to be a party pooper but I just have to comment. Let's encourage our communities to embrace CovidSafe practices and discourage shared plates."

This advice comes from "Gathering Safely" on our NSW Health website:
"Think about how you share food. Rather than having common platters, give each person an individual portion." I notice that this is how the Newcastle Family History Society managed their afternoon teas responsibly last week.

We had a similar event at Lake Macquarie Family History Group which was our first face to face event since March. Prior to the event we circulated our CovidSafe plan to members and asked them to BYO food and drink. 

I am aware that we are living in a pandemic and  while knowing  that we reside in a safe area away from Sydney I recognise that people in our area travel to Sydney and conversely people from our area travel to Sydney. There is no place for complacency. Those of us who hold positions of responsibility in community organisations must lead the way and provide a safe environment for any event we host. 

I decided not to name and shame the  local Group in the hope that they see my comment and amend their plans. I am hopeful that they will do so.

Hunter Valley Pioneers

Years ago one of the websites I used when trying to track down my ancestors from the Hunter Valley was Pre 1900 Hunter Valley Pioneers which I believe was owned by Patricia May.  That useful website seems to have disappeared.

Patricia May was the compiler of a wonderful CD, Pre 1900 Hunter Valley Pioneers, which contained details of many Pioneer Families who settled in the Hunter Valley before 1900 and the names of several thousands of their descendants. Patricia was also the List Administrator for the

AUS-NSW-Hunter Valley mailing list on Rootsweb which has been made redundant.

Last week when I was down a rabbit hole on Facebook I came across this new to me Facebook Group "Hunter Valley Pioneers", https://www.facebook.com/groups/2188965821424253.  The Group description is "Family histories of pioneer families who settled in the Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia during the 1800's." Other Hunter historical records will be added over time." As my first ancestors in the Hunter,  Denis Tierney and Elizabeth D'arcy settled in the Dungog/Williams River area around 1840 I applied to join the Group. 

My membership was approved so I spent a bit of time this morning exploring the Group whose administrator turns out to be Patricia May who has obviously recognised the power of Facebook Groups for sharing information and facilitating connections in the geneasphere. 

The best news is that Patricia has generously shared the files from her CD as .pdf documents to members of the group. If you have Hunter Pioneers in your tree it will be well worth your while to join the Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/2188965821424253. 

Christmas Greetings from Katherine

I posted this on my Facebook Page today but then decided that it is worthy of a blog post.

Delivered to Carey Bay

In my mailbox today. Thanks to genimate Katherine R. Willson for the beautiful homemade Christmas card that arrived downunder today. As a labour of love Katherine creates over 400 handmade cards which she mails to genies all around the world. I am thrilled to have received one of these artworks.

If you don't know Katherine, a professional genealogist from Michigan, she is one of the powerhouses behind The Virtual Genealogy Association, https://virtualgenealogy.org/, of which I am a proud member. Katherine also produces the free list of Genealogical and Historical Groups on Facebook, https://moonswings.files.wordpress.com/…/genealogy-on-faceb….

You can read more about Katherine on her website, https://socialmediagenealogy.com/.

A Local Facebook Page

I chaired my first committee meeting as President of the Lake Macquarie Family History Group this afternoon. I was thrilled that they agreed to my proposal to have a Facebook page for the Group. So you can guess what I have been busy doing this evening. https://www.facebook.com/lmfhg/

Four of Each

I've been tidying up my hard drive and found this that I posted on Facebook a year ago. Thinking that my descendants might find it interesting in the future I am posting it here where it will be backed up on Pandora.

A few days ago my genimate Paul Milner indicated that these four genies might respond to the statements below: Michael Leclerc, Diane Loosle, Jill Ball, Paula Warren. I was so pleased to see myself lumped in a group with those geneastars that I had to respond. In comparison my life is rather tame compared with Paul's.

Four places I’ve lived:
1 Potts Point, NSW, Australia
2 Vaucluse, NSW, Australia
3 Maroubra, NSW, Australia,
4 Bronte, NSW, Australia (all four a stone's throw from Sydney's harbour and beaches)

Four places I’ve worked:
1 Student nurse, Randwick, NSW, Australia
2 Librarian, Waverley, NSW, Australia
3 IT Guy, Dee Why, NSW Australia
4 Medical Receptionist, St Leonards, NSW, Australia

Four places I’ve been:
1 Nuuk,Greenland
2 Iles du Salut (Devils Island)
3 Murmansk, Russia
4 Havana, Cuba

Four things I love to eat:
1 Cheese
2 Prawns
3 Smoked Salmon
4 Australian or NZ lamb

Four People I think will respond:
1 Brenda and Charlie B
2 Pauleen Cass
3 Sharn McDade White
4 Caitlin Gow

Four favorite drinks:
1 Diet Coke
2 Champagne
3 Cafe Latte
4 Sparkling Mineral Water

Cousins Baited

I have been in contact with two distant cousins who share my convict ancestor Elizabeth Phipps for around 25 years. We found each other some time last century and shared and communicated for a while.

Then, when along came DNA which proved that we really were cousins, we resumed communications. One of the cousins set up a private Facebook Group where we discuss our research on Elizabeth, her descendants and the paternity of her children. We are hoping that one day we will have a connection with a distant cousins that will give us some clues to solve our paternity problem.

The cousins follow my GeniAus Facebook page and saw that I was to be presenting a talk on "Cousin Bait" at SAG so they signed up. They were baited! I can add this new method of baiting cousins to future presentations.

Please don't tell the other genies who came along to my talk yesterday but meeting Lyn and Leonie, who travelled from outside Sydney to hear and meet me, was the high spot of my day. I'm sure we will see each other again soon.

Leonie, Jill, Lyn

Virtual Genealogy Association - New South Wales Chapter

I know that several of my genimates have joined The Virtual Genealogy Association  and are enjoying the educational program of webinars served out as part of their membership (Great value for $US20 per annum). Already there is an impressive library of a dozen webinars on a wide range of subjects given by an international team of experts.

What you may not realise is that there are closed Facebook Groups for Chapters within the organisation where members with shared interests can chat and collaborate. Most of the US States have Chapters for members with interests in a particular States.  International Chapters include those for BeNeLux, Canada, Ireland, Norway and South Africa. In Australia we have had Chapters for Queensland and Western Australia and now there is a Chapter for New South Wales for which I am an administrator.

If you are a member of the The Virtual Genealogy Association  how about joining me in The Facebook Group (please only apply if you are a financial member).

Back on Deck

On deck with Mr GeniAus

After my trip to Salt Lake City for Rootstech and the immensely successful Congress_2018 in Sydney I fell in a heap due to an unwanted souvenir I must have brought back from Salt Lake City.

I went down with the Influenza B bug and spent ten days in bed before Mr GeniAus and I took off on our recent Asian adventure (8 countries in five weeks). I usually schedule a a few blog posts to cover the time I am away on holidays but this time, because I was feeling so poorly I neglected to do so. So this poor old blog has been dormant for a while.

I did manage to keep in touch with genealogy news while I was away and posted something nearly each day on my GeniAus Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/geniauspage/). I use this medium to share  interesting announcements, news and posts that I encounter in my geneareading each day. If you have not yet liked this page you might find some useful gems here and get a dose of GeniAus when I am unable to blog.

Now I am playing catchup and am replying to emails and messages I received while away. I have found several new cousin connections via DNA and some have found me via my website. A few www.geniaus.net. folk have reached out for help and I have tried to assist them.

Once I have cleared my commitments I hope to resume regular blogging.

It's time for a page

Last week I prattled on about changes to my social media use.

In particular I said that I was rarely using Google+ to share interesting announcements, news and posts that I came across in my geneareading each day. Lately I have been sharing these in a mishmash of ways to Twitter, Facebook Groups and Pages, on my own Facebook stream, sometimes Google+ and in mentions on blog posts.

I have also not been collating my Friday GeniAus Gems posts lately as these took me several hours to put together and I would rather have a more immediate and less time consuming way of sharing others' blog posts that strike a chord with me.

I notice that a number of my readers no longer use RSS feed readers to curate their blog reading. Some people rely on Facebook notifications to learn about new posts. I also sometimes forget to promote my posts so they only reach the audience who have subscribed to my blog.

Usually an early adopter I have resisted using Facebook as my main vehicle for sharing. This morning, after realising that I had shared stuff all over the place via different avenues, I decided to join the swim on Facebook and try to restrict most of my geneasharing to one place that is easily accessible on mobile devices.

I am about to make a new GeniAus Page on Facebook that I will use for sharing my GeniAus' Gems. It will be useful for sharing those snippets that I feel are important but that do ot warrant a blog post.

.... Half an hour has gone by and I now have a page. Please Like my page to see my posts at https://www.facebook.com/geniauspage/.

Thwarted by a Dodgy Connection

Update: (Thanks to my genimate Shelley from TwigsofYore)
Why I am able to access these extra search functions is because I have the AncestryDNA Helper extension installed on my Chrome Browser. I didn't realise that this was giving me the extra search functions - Worth having.

--------------------------
Yesterday in response to a question put to me in a Facebook Group I decided to provide a response by video.

The Question

Firstly I spent an hour or so trying to get my Logitech webcam to work to no avail so I had to resort to the webcam on my laptop that provides a mediocre image. As my webcam is 5 years old I hopped online, read a slew of reviews and purchased a new model. I was wanting to broadcast screenshots so I wasn't so worried about my blurry image that appeared at either end of the broadcast.

I got set up made a first attempt at recording my response. On replaying this effort I discovered that the images of my screensharing were not displaying. The ADSL connection at our new home is dodgy. I moved my gear into the living room to be closer to the modem in case that helped. Attempt two wasn't any better.

I then went back into my geneacave and tried again. This effort was slightly better but there were still patches of the video where I am prattling on unsupported by my screenshared images. I think anyone who watches this video right through should be able to grasp what I am on about. I mulled over whether I should delete this recording or make it public. I opted for making it public in the hope that it may be of use to someone even though it is mediocre.

View it here:

A Question of Paternity

Something that has frustrated me and some of the 2000+ descendants that I have identified of my convict ancestor Elizabeth Phipps  is that we don't know the paternity of the children she bore. The likely fathers are fellow convicts James Westbrook (her partner in crime) and William Magick.

DNA has confirmed my line of descent from Elizabeth. It has also enabled me to connect to around twenty 2nd, 3rd and 4th cousins on that line (some previously unknown to me), add more branches to my tree and include more of Elizabeth's descendants in my database. This is rather useful when trying to fathom out those treeless matches on Ancestry and FTDNA. I keep a list of Elizabeth's descendants surnames close by and if a new match has one of those surnames I have a starting point for communication.

Just recently I have lopped a branch off my tree and added another one because of a conversation I am having on Facebook with others who are also curious as to Elizabeth's relationships. One of my 3rd cousins set up, in August, a Facebook page for Elizabeth's descendants who are interested in solving our mystery. As I have been having a break from research I only found the page about a week ago.

This closed group, ELIZABETH PHIPPS - London to Richmond, New South Wales, Australia 1814, only has 28 members about 6 of whom are engaging in discussion and sharing resources, thoughts and ideas. Membership of the group has made me revisit my research with a critical eye.

William Magick had a family in England before being transported to New South Wales. I am hopeful that as more people take DNA tests we may be able to compare results from William's first family descendants and Elizabeth descendants to solve this paternity problem. What do you think of our chances?

One of my purposes in writing this post is to let other Phipps descendants (some of whom I know follow this blog) about the Facebook Group where they may discuss this issue with fellow descendants.

101 Reasons to Attend #congress_2018

When I was in at SAG the other day I was chatting with a couple of the bods there and they indicated  (probably because they know I am a loudmouth) that I could assist in promoting the 15th Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry, www.congress2018.org.au, at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Darling Harbour, Sydney next year.

I jump at any opportunity to promote genealogy downunder and my beautiful city of Sydney so I will use my blog and other social media to share my enthusiasm for Congress. I have only attended the last two Congresses in Adelaide and Canberra (real work previously got in the way) and have found them to be energizing and enriching education events. Since Thursday I have been ruminating on how I can spread the word and decided on a series of blog posts which I will share on social media (it would be helpful if you could share them too and use the hashtag #Congress_2018). I decided on 101 Reasons to Attend #congress_2018  as the header for this topic. I don't know if I'll manage 101 but  I'll give it a shot.

Over the past few years we have witnessed the rise and rise of Facebook as a communication channel for Genealogy so I  have set up a (Unofficial) Facebook Group for Genimates at #Congress_2018. The main purpose of this page will be to connect and communicate with genies who may be interested in attending or hearing about Congress. It will be a place where we can share Congress related news and ask and answer those questions no-one else has yet asked.

If you can suggest a reason to attend Congress please send me a few lines of text (and maybe a pic or two) and I will turn it into a guest post in this series.

A Son's Family Tree

It's always heartening to discover a descendant is interested in family trees.  I was therefore delighted to see this post from my son on Facebook recently.

Before we sold my mother's house last year my son took a rough cutting of her frangipani tree. It looks as though a piece of her tree will live on in my son's garden.

A Genetic Geneameme

Doing the rounds on Facebook is a Geneameme created by The Genetic Genealogist, Blaine Bettinger. Rather than posting a response on Facebook I am posting my response here.

If you are not on Facebook and would like to take part you too could copy the questions and paste them on your blog. Here is my contribution.

1. First person you DNA tested? Myself
2. What was your own first test? MtDNA and Autosomal

3. Year you took your first test? 2015 (although I had the kit at home since 2011) I was a sceptic - now converted.

4. What was your most recent test? Ancestry

5. Have you done full mtDNA genome? No

6. What is your mtDNA Haplogroup? K1a10a

7. Any exact mtDNA matches? Not yet

8. Max Y-DNA markers you/male relative tested? 37

9. What is your father’s Y-DNA Haplogroup? I wish I knew. Too late to test him

10. Any exact Y-DNA matches? Not yet

11. Tested at all of the Big 3 Companies? Just 2

12. Have you had a whole-genome test?  No

13. About how many tests do you control/administer? 4 (but I have 5 more in the wings)

14. Do you use GEDmatch? Yes

15. Favorite GEDmatch tool? The whole site

16. Were you able to test any of your parents? Yes, my Mum

17. Were you able to test any of your grandparents? Too late

18. Age of the oldest person you’ve tested? 93
19. Are you all done testing relatives? No way
20. If you could ask ANY one ancestor to test, living or dead, who would it be? All of the offspring of Elizabeth Phipps so I could determine their paternity and work out who my male ancestor is on that line.

Monday Memories - The Typewriter

Over the weekend my son shared a post on Facebook that he has given me permission to post here.

He wrote "Found a Remington Travel-Riter Deluxe on eBay ..... just like my grandfather's old one. The kids are as obsessed as I used to be ......"

And he shared a picture of  two of the grandkids playing on the typewriter.

My son also sent me a couple more photos of the typewriter. One of the cover and one of it sitting on Uncle Jack's desk that is at my son's home.

My  Dad loved typing and, as a cranky old man, he spent hours sending letters of complaint to government departments, the police, the press and anyone else he could think of. I had forgotten how my kids loved playing with Dad's precious toy.

What my son doesn't know is that playing with typewriters is in the genes. 

When I was a a child we used to visit my grandmother's home each Sunday and I loved to play on the typewriter there that my Aunty Kath rented when she was learning to type.

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.

A Welcome Invitation

Usually when I receive an invitation to join yet another Facebook group my reaction is "ho hum not another group"!

Yesterday as I was travelling on the train to the city an invitation came through that brightened my day. It was from Jen Coates who has set up a FB group just for Australian Local and Family History Bloggers. What a fab idea at a time when several of my blogging mates are taking a sabbatical from blogging, we all need a little encouragement and support to keep going. As one member of the new group has said " I need some motivation to blog more often and this may help. I got out of the habit of blogging regularly a few years when I was studying and have not managed to get myself back into it to the same extent."

As I was travelling into town I added some of my mates to the group and on the way home added a few more but I didn't know how to send invitations to the many bloggers I know via Google+ and other social media channels. It's pleasing to see the way that the members of the new group have embraced the concept and it would be great to see membership grow.

Jen describes the group "I have had something like this in mind for a while as there seemed to be no place to discuss issues that were common only to history web writers. 
I would be very happy for everyone to introduce themselves once but I don't see this page as promotional as this would merely double up on the multiple avenues already available and we would be preaching to the converted!
I see this page as a resource for creative history writers."

If you fit the above criteria and would like to join the group you could try clicking on this link and seeing if it gives you an option to request membership.

Hope to see you in the group soon.