Ambassadorship in Australia

There was a flurry of activity on the internet when Alan Phillips announced that Unlock the Past would be staging a huge geneaevent on The Sunshine Coast in March 2021. After the roaring success of DNA Downunder in Sydney last year Alan committed to giving us Family History Downunder, a world class genealogy conference with well regarded international speakers.

As someone who loves attending geneaevents overseas I have been privileged to hear each of the international speakers on the image to the right. Being able to hear them all under the one roof is a real treat for Australians.

I was one of the enthusiastic genies who took advantage of the opportunity to register for this event when it was announced. I hear that several hundred genies have already registered. You too can register at https://www.familyhistorydownunder.com/#booking-form and take advantage of the Earlybird Prices.

The good news in my mailbox was that I have been appointed as an Ambassador for this event so my blog is now featuring a new badge in its sidebar. While there are some perks to this appointment there are added responsibilities. Having been an Ambassador at similar events I find that I cannot comfortably manage being a Presenter and Ambassador so (when I had a whisper that I may be an Ambassador) I did not go ahead with an application to speak.

If you are considering attendance at the event remember to join the Facebook Group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/FamilyHistoryDownUnder, where you can ask questions and meet genimates prior to the conference.

Faceless no more

I have been preparing my slides for the webinar on Online Books that I am presenting next week for The Society of Australian Genealogists.

I was browsing through an online .pdf copy of  Parramatta and District Soldiers in the Great War, 1914-1919. Mr GeniAus on seeing the image on my desktop asked whether there were pictures of his Ball Ancestors in the publication.

I had used the publication several years ago for another purpose but didn't think to check for photos of  Grandfather James Ball or Great-Grandfather, John James Ball. Mr GeniAus immediately fired up his laptop and entered the term "Ball" into the publication's search box. He was rewarded with three Ball images. The first was for Fred Ball, brother of James and the second was of James. We had previously seen copies of these images in local newspapers via Trove.

The third image was of "Pte. J. Ball Sen of Liverpool", John James Ball. We have been researching the Ball family for thirty years and this is the first photo we have found of John James. We were both gobsmacked and annoyed with ourselves because we had first looked at this publication several years ago but had blinkers on as we were consulting it for a different purpose.

Needless to say we are both excited that John James in no longer  a Faceless Ancestor. Now we can look again at the few unlabelled Ball images we have to see if we can identify more for John James' gallery.

Trove Tuesday - Denis the Undertaker

I knew that my Tierney ancestors lived in Mackay Street, Dungog up until the 1830's when my Great-Grandmother, Mary Tierney (nee Kealy) died but I am not sure when they first lived on the site.

My Troveing this morning took me to the map below that indicated that number 21, in Mackay Street on the map, was the site of "Tierney, undertaker etc." I knew that my Great-Great-Grandfather, Denis Tierney as wel as being a carpenter and wheelwright acted as an undertaker, so can presume that the Tierneys were in Mackay Street from at least 1867. I have visited this site to photograph the Tierney home that is still standing.

1934 'LOOKING BACK INTO THE PAST DUNGOG FROM 1855 TO 1867', Dungog Chronicle : Durham and Gloucester Advertiser (NSW : 1894 - 1954), 17 July, p. 4. , viewed 04 Feb 2020, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article141475471

Spruiking in 2020

From time to time I deliver online and face to face presentations to fellow family historians and other other groups interested in learning about family history. I am an amateur family historian but I aim to take a professional approach to the preparation and delivery of these talks.

I don't submit formal applications to present at many events because I find some of the application processes quite tedious and, at my age, I am not anxious to embark on a speaking career.. However, I usually respond in the positive to invitations to present at venues that are within a reasonable distance of home and they don't interfere with my travel schedule. I love sharing my passion and enthusiasm for family history and technology with fellow researchers and curious folk.

I have just updated the Presentations page on this blog with my confirmed talks and there are a couple more engagements that I will add when details are finalised. I look forward to meeting new genimates at these events especially at THE Genealogy Show in Birmingham, UK in June where I  will represent Australia.