Theme Reveal 2020 #AtoZChallenge - GeniAus Blog

I'm a bit late to the party but that is because I just decided to come along. I was supposed to be on a cruise in the South Pacific during April but the cancellation of the voyage due to Covid-19 has afforded me an opportunity to participate in the challenge.

The theme reveal was due on the 16th March so I am a few days late. Here goes

I've been convalescing from surgery at home for the last two months so I've been spending time revisiting research done years ago. Since that time new resources have come online so I have been able to update my records for these ancestors who deserve to have their stories told. As anything I write on this blog is backed up and preserved on Trove's Archived websites zone by the National Library of Australia the stories I share in this blog will live on.

So that this challenge will not be as onerous as I have found it in the past I will be sharing short posts on some of the 2,000+ descendants I have identified of my 3x Great-Grandmother, Elizabeth Phipps. Elizabeth Phipps 1785-1869 was a convict who was transported to New South Wales in 1814 per Wanstead. Many of these short stories will include newspaper reports from Trove's  Digitised Australian Newspaper Collection.

If you are elderly like me and practising social distancing to help flatten the curve how about joining me in the challenge.

Trove Tuesday - Crowds outside St Mary's

In recent weeks I have been using Trove to help me hatch, match and dispatch folk in my family tree for whom I only have year dates from vital record indexes for these events. I find Trove invaluable for confirming dates and places and providing extra details of births, weddings and deaths of  the Australian leaves on my tree.

One of the interesting articles I came across referred to the marriage of Thelma Margaret Farrell to Angus Hundy at Mudgee in 1944. Thelma shares my colourful convict ancestor, Elizabeth Phipps. While the article didn't give the Bride's full name I knew from the date of the article that it was referring to Thelma. It seems as though the wedding caused quite a stir on the streets of Mudgee, NSW.

1944 'Mainly About People', Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954), 4 September, p. 2. , viewed 17 Mar 2020, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article156240345

In case you were wanting further info on the event the following article will tell you a little more.

944 'Personal', Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954), 31 August, p. 3. , viewed 17 Mar 2020, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article156237083

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. 

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.