Accentuate the Positive 2013

Jill Ball from the GeniAus blog has challenged bloggers to end the year on a high note with her Accentuate the Positive geneameme. I’m in!

Jill provided a list of 20 prompts for response. As this has been a quiet year for me in terms of genealogy I am not able to respond to many of the prompts – but there certainly have been some positives along the way.

A precious family photo I found that arrived in my email inbox was an old group photo of staff in a control room at the Melbourne City Council power station, including my grandfather. My Dad found it in an envelope at his house and emailed a scan to me just three days ago. He thought I would like it. He was right.

A newly found family member who shared their documents and stories is always a wonderful thing! I have been approached by a few this year. I have also provided them with information, including newspaper reports of an inquest of one of their direct ancestors.

A long term contact who is is still sharing their new finds as they make them is also wonderful. I have a few of those as well.

My 2013 blog post that received a large number of hits or comments was my warning to Check your Google Alerts. I only put up five posts during the year and it was a positive that, despite keeping a low profile lately, it appears that people still read when I do post. Thank you for keeping me in your feed.

A genealogy book course that taught me something new was the National Institute for Genealogical Studies course on “Electronic Resources: Using The Internet”. Actually, I found this course very easy as I have had some exposure to the internet before... I even have a blog... The great positive about this was that it was good to start studying again and I think I made the right choice by doing an ‘easy’ course to get back into study mode again. In January I start on the “Australia: Convict Resources” course which I expect to find much more challenging.

Another positive I would like to share is lawn bowls. I don’t play, but I do now hold a set of lawn bowls that were originally owned by my great-great-grandfather and bear his initials. They have been at my Dad’s house and I finally asked to take them (the great-great-grandfather in question was on my mother’s side) a few weeks ago. I brought them home with me on Christmas day.

Yet another positive is knowing that while I have been quiet on the genealogy front, the availability of digitised documents and indexed collections online continues to grow. When I’m ready to get stuck into it again I know there will be plenty of new resources and surprises to look forward to.