(Up to) Five Faves Geneameme

Jill Ball at Geniaus has kicked off another geneameme – Five Faves.

To participate, just share a blog post “sharing details of five books written by others that you have found most useful in your geneactivities” and let Jill know about it.

The types of books that I find useful are the ones that give me ideas or provide essential reference material.

I found the first two easy to pick:

Family History Nuts and Bolts: Problem-Solving through Family Reconstitution Techniques by Andrew Todd, third edition This little book was an instant favourite on my first reading. Don’t be put off if you think the title sounds advanced, or the subject matter dry. I would recommend it to genealogists with any level of experience. The book is readable and provides practical methods for both tracking down elusive family members, and making sure you have it right. It’s helpful for projects as ambitious as a one-name or one-place study, or as simple as learning who your ancestor’s siblings were.

Writing Interesting Family Histories by Carol Baxter I’ve read a few how-to-write-your-genealogy books, and this is my favourite. Family history narratives (no matter how well structured and researched) can be dull. If you’re not one for a fictionalised account (for the record, I’m not), what can you do? Carol’s book is choc full of ideas to enliven a family history narrative while keeping it factual.

Then it gets harder to choose. This post had several alternate endings until eventually I decided that I had spent enough time on it and simply wasn’t going to be able to make up my mind!

I will be reading other lists submitted with interest. I think my growing genealogy book shelf is about to expand even more.

Australia Day 2014: Climbing the family gum tree

Pauleen at Family history across the seas has issued an Australia Day Challenge with 26 questions to test Aussie bloggers’ true blue status!

I can’t claim “Australian Royalty” but I do have Australian foundations going back over 150 years. Thanks Pauleen for the challenge!

 

My first ancestor to arrive in Australia was:

Probably John Lee in around about 1846. He seems to have swum here. 

I have Australian Royalty (tell us who, how many and which Fleet they arrived with):

I have no known convict ancestors.

I’m an Aussie mongrel, my ancestors came to Oz from:

England, Ireland and Scotland.

Did any of your ancestors arrive under their own financial steam?

Yes, Robert Couper travelled on his own account with his wife and young son. They arrived on the Dominion in 1852.

How many ancestors came as singles?

About eight.

How many came as couples?

None known at this stage.

How many came as family groups?

About fourteen ancestors altogether.

Did one person lead the way and others follow?

In some cases, yes. Richard Robotham came to Australia about four years ahead of his wife and children. Other families had several (grown) siblings come to Australia at different times.

What’s the longest journey they took to get here?

Hmmm… I haven’t logged this clearly in my database. I might skip this one!

Did anyone make a two-step emigration via another place?

Sort of. One of my ancestors leads a merry dance through the records from Scotland to England to Gibraltar to the Channel Islands then on to Australia – but after all that settled in a different State from his children!

Which state(s)/colony did your ancestors arrive?

Mostly Victoria.

Did they settle and remain in one state/colony?

Generally yes. The ones that arrived in other States travelled to Victoria soon after, and stayed.

Did they stay in one town or move around?

A bit of both. The general picture is that they had a few moves until finally settling in a town.

Do you have any First Australians in your tree?

No.

Were any self-employed?

Yes – Daniel Couper was a butcher.

What occupations or industries did your earliest ancestors work in?

Gold miners, farmers, labourers, a few servants, painter, couper, butcher.

Does anyone in the family still follow that occupation?

No.

Did any of your ancestors leave Australia and go “home”?

None that I know of. I’m still trying to find out what became of James Bennett!

NOW IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU

What’s your State of Origin?

Victoria.

Do you still live there?

No.

Where was your favourite Aussie holiday place as a child?

Pambula, New South Wales.

Any special place you like to holiday now?

We mix our holidays up a bit now. There’s no one special place.

Share your favourite spot in Oz:

Don’t make me choose!

Any great Aussie adventure you’ve had?

I think that what makes an adventure great is the people you share it with. My adventures haven’t been all that adventurous, but I have great memories of little adventures with family and friends to beaches, snow, rainforests, big cities, cultural institutions – we are lucky to have such a broad range of experiences available to us in one country.

What’s on your Australian holiday bucket list?

This is hard. I’m at a stage now where I’m thinking about what places I’d like to share with my children – the childhood memories I’d like them to have - so I think more about favourite places I’d like to revisit. These are the places I grew up in, also the Blue Mountains and Tasmania would be at the top of my list.

How do you celebrate Australia Day?

No special celebration. We sometimes go out to whatever festivities or events are happening around the place. We always eat a lamington or two!

 

I’m so pleased that the Australia Day Challenge has taken on a life of it’s own since I issued it in 2011. I felt sad to have missed it in 2013. It’s great to feel that Australian geneabloggers (and geneabloggers generally!) have such a sense of community.

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.

E is for… Emigrants

I have joined Gould’s ‘Family History Through the Alphabet’ challenge. I can’t promise to participate for every letter (my track record for sticking with challenges is not good!) but I didn’t want to miss out on the fun. Here is my contribution for the letter E.

E is for… Emigrants

It’s so hard to find suitable ones.

As I was browsing the Twelfth General Report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners I came across this passage describing the difficulty in finding suitable emigrants to the Australian colonies:

“… Besides this it is to be remembered that the class of emigrants to which our selections are almost confined, as the only one entirely satisfactory to the colonists, is more limited than at first sight would be imagined. Paupers, as they are called, are below the required class, mechanics arc generally above it; old people are useless; young children inconvenient. Idlers are mischievous in a colony; active people can generally get on at home. Single men are not desired in excess of single women, and respectable single women are not generally anxious to try the risks of a new country. People whose savings would enable them to become employers of labour instead of labourers, swell the evil which they are sent out to remedy. Lastly, the rate of contribution required by us from the emigrant himself was a further and very operative check on the number of applicants.”

Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons.  Colonial Land and Emigration Commission. Twelfth general report of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, 1852.

I was going to make this a stand-alone post called “Old people are useless; young children are inconvenient”, but thought better of it…

D is for… Details

I have joined Gould’s ‘Family History Through the Alphabet’ challenge. I can’t promise to participate for every letter (my track record for sticking with challenges is not good!) but I didn’t want to miss out on the fun. Here is my contribution for the letter D.

D is for… Details

• The details that give us a picture of our ancestors – her black hair just beginning to turn grey, she wore a widow’s bonnet with a black veil.
• The details that are so hard to track down – when did James Bennett (1831-?) die? He was last seen in Avoca, Victoria, Australia in 1883. If anyone knows where he got to, please let me know…
• The details you can use to find more information – if you can’t find a name in online newspapers, try searching for a street address.
• The details you overlooked the first time around – that lead to new information. It pays to revisit your (d is for.. ) documents.
• The details you find – at last! And you do the genea-happy-(d is for.. ) dance!
• The details you pick over (or don’t) – entering every scrap of information in your (d is for.. ) database, getting source citations just so.
• The details you would forget – if you didn’t carry a copy of your database in your preferred electronic (d is for.. ) device!

C is for… Cooper

I have joined Gould’s ‘Family History Through the Alphabet’ challenge a little late. I can’t promise to participate for every letter (my track record for sticking with challenges is not good!) but I didn’t want to miss out on the fun. Here is my contribution for the letter C.

C is for…

Cooper: A craftsman who makes and repairs wooden vessels formed of staves and hoops, as casks, buckets, tubs.

"cooper, n.1". OED Online. March 2012. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com.rp.nla.gov.au/viewdictionaryentry/Entry/41028 (accessed May 24, 2012).

My ancestor, Robert Couper (1825-1898) was a cooper. Although the surname Couper has occupational origins, he was not from a long line of coopers. His father was a shoemaker; his grandfather a farmer and fisherman.

Robert worked as a cooper both in his native Scotland and in Australia, having immigrated in 1852. As well as working as a cooper, he was also a (c is for) contractor. I suspect that he is the same Robert Couper who supplied timber for some government road contracts. Related to the occupation of cooper, he possessed a beer licence.

The Merry Month of May Music Meme

Pauleen at Family History Across the Seas has put up a fun meme – the Merry Month of May Music Meme. The instructions are:

“The Merry Month of May Music Meme: a meme for your amusement.

“Since the whole point of this is to have fun, retrieve memories and generally chill out (very 60s!), feel free to amend/add/subtract. I’m not even going to ask you to do the usual checklist of have done, want to do, don’t want to do. If you feel the urge, go ahead, you know how it works. And, geneabloggers, yes there is still family history value in this: give your descendants a laugh, let them get to know you with your hair down. Don’t forget, anyone can join in – it will make it much more fun.

“I’ll be posting my responses later today and I’m even going to try to be spontaneous – first song/music that comes into my head. If you decide to join in please let me know via the links below (it’s supposed to be fun, so I’m not going to learn about linky-doo-dahs).”

I have linked to songs on YouTube along the way, since I was watching so many as I wrote this! The YouTube links are also relevant as video clips really emerged in my era (“my era” makes it sound so long ago) and I consumed music on TV shows such as “Countdown” or “Sounds” as much as I did on the radio or listening to albums. I have tried to avoid versions with advertisements, but some of them make you listen to five seconds of an ad before you can click Skip Ad.  Don’t feel obligated to watch any of them!

1. Song(s)/Music from your childhood:
   Lots of ABBA. Lots and lots. See 3. and 4.
   There was the usual Purple People Eater as others have mentioned, and similar silly songs. By my childhood “Bananas in Pyjamas” was among them. I remember hearing it on the radio, when we were away on holidays in our caravan.
   The ABC seemed to play “Butterfly Ball” between every kids program.
   Children’s art show Take Hart used what I now know is the beautiful “Cavatina”. That brings back fond memories.
   For something completely different, there was “Up There Cazaly” (I did grow up in Melbourne, after all!).
2. Song(s)/ Musos from your teenage years:
   There were too many songs and acts to think of them all. Off the top of my head, either because I liked them or they were big names are:
   Australian/NZ - John Farnham, INXS, Pseudo Echo, 1927, Ice House, Crowded House, Mental as Anything.
   International - Pet Shop Boys, U2, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Wham!, A-Ha, B-52s – plus all sorts of over-the-top acts that were so prevalent in the 1980s eg Dead or Alive “You spin me round (like a record)”.
3. First live concert you attended: ABBA! It was the Melbourne concert in 1977. I was all of six years old. I had the album. I had the T-shirt. I had the lunch box. I had the socks. I still have the programme.
4. Songs your parents sang along to: My parents both liked ABBA. I remember my Dad singing along to Fernando.
5. Song(s)/Music your grandparents sang/played:
   They had a single of the Baby Elephant Walk, which they played a lot for my benefit. I can’t remember them singing or playing other music, but I remember my grandmother saying she liked The Village People.  
6. Did your family have sing-a-longs at home or a neighbours: No.
7. Did you have a musical instrument at home: We had an organ which my mother was learning to play, and I had a recorder for school.
8. What instruments do you play (if any): None. I once took up the bagpipes, very temporarily. My fingers weren’t long/wide enough to cover the holes on the practice chanter properly. Oh, and I wasn’t allowed to practice within a certain radius of the house. Quite a large radius, as I recall. It was winter. I lasted about two weeks.
9. What instruments do you wish you could play: I think it would be nice to be able to play an instrument but there’s no particular instrument that calls to me.
10. Do you/did you play in a band or orchestra: No.
11. Do you/did you sing in a choir: No, never could hold a tune. I was in a small number of amateur musical theatre productions in my 20s, always in non-singing roles.
12. Music you fell in love to/with or were married to: Our wedding dance was “It had to be you” (Harry Connick Jr).
13. Romantic music memories: Listening to the The Whitlams as background music in the early days of dating my husband. It’s not romantic music, but I still associate it with romantic times.
14. Favourite music genre(s): Very hard to say. Either “Popular” or “Alternative”, with a hint of Latin or Dance.
15. Favourite classical music: I will plead some degree of ignorance on this and the following questions. I do like music in these genres (other than country) but I couldn’t name anything in particular.
16. Favourite opera/light opera:
17. Favourite musical:
18. Favourite pop:
19. Favourite world/ethnic:
20. Favourite jazz:
21. Favourite country or folk: Country is not my thing.
22. Favourite movie/show musical:
23. Favourite sounds tracks:
24. What music do you like to dance to: See 14.
25. What dances did you do as a teenager: We didn’t really have dances that everyone did, unless you count Nutbush City Limits which made an obligatory appearance at each school social.  Slightly post-teens came the Macarena – again, an obligatory once per event.
26. Do you use music for caller ID on your mobile: No.
27. What songs do you use for caller ID your ringtone: I had “Starlight” (The Superman Lovers) as my ringtone on a previous phone. My current phone doesn’t let you use songs as ringtones.
28. What songs do your children like or listen to: My six year old informs me he has outgrown The Wiggles. He has not informed me what he has moved on to.
29. Favourite live music concerts as an adult: I’m not sure why it is, but I have only ever been to three live music concerts. ABBA as a child, 1927 as a teen, and Michael Jackson’s “History” tour as an adult. I’m not so much a fan of Michael Jackson myself. I went with my sister, who was desperate to go but couldn’t talk any of her friends into an overnight trip to Sydney during University exam period. We had terrible seats, but the concert was good.
30. Silly music memories from your family: My sister and I as teens - in front of the TV energetically copying [too embarrassing to say which group] dance.
31. Silliest song you can think of: I’m too Sexy.
32. Pet hate in music/singing: People who sing at you. Don’t sing at me.
33. A song that captures family history for you: Sorry, stumped on this one. 
34. If you could only play 5 albums (assume no iPods or mp3) for the rest of your life, what would they be:
    “Watermark”, Enya
    “Singles”, New Order
    “Discography”, Pet Shop Boys
    “Laundry Service”, Shakira
    “All that you can’t leave behind” U2
35. Favourite artists (go ahead and list as many as you like):
    Too hard! It depends on my mood.

Australia Day 2012 – Wealth for Toil

Last year I was pleased (and astonished) when my timid invitation to join me in Australia Day geneablogging was met with great enthusiasm. I was thrilled to present 22 fantastic responses from bloggers around the world, that provided great examples of quality research and writing with an Australian flavour.

Let’s do it again!

This year I invite you to join me in Australia Day (26 January) geneablogging on “Wealth for Toil”. The theme is inspired by Australia’s national anthem, Advance Australia Fair:

Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We've golden soil and wealth for toil;
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature’s gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In history’s page, let every stage
Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.

Australia Day 2012: Wealth for Toil

To participate, choose someone who lived in Australia (preferably one of your ancestors) and tell us how they toiled. Your post should include:

1. What was their occupation? 
2. What information do you have about the individual’s work, or about the occupation in general?
3. The story of the person, focussing on their occupation; or
   The story of the occupation, using the person as an example. 

Responses may be as long or short as you like, and as narrow or broad as you wish.

Publish your post on or before Australia Day (26 Jan 2012) and leave a comment here or send me an email with the URL. I will create a summary post of the responses.

I look forward to learning how your ancestors toiled!

---

Update: You can find a list of responses to this post here.

The Ancestors' Geneameme

Geniaus is on a geneameme (her term) creating roll! I’m a bit late in joining this one as I only arrived home from a holiday on Saturday night.

She says:

“I invite anyone with an interest in genealogy to participate. If you don't have a blog and wish to participate you can send your responses to me in an email and I will pop them into a blog post on the GeniMates blog. Please let me know when you participate by a comment on this post or by email and I'll collate a list of responses on this blog.

“It would be appreciated if genealogists would let the meme run its course before copying and republishing it with alterations and amendments.”

Here’s my response:

The Ancestors' Geneameme

The list should be annotated in the following manner:
Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize (colour optional)
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type

You are encouraged to add extra comments in brackets after each item.

Which of these apply to you?

1. Can name my 16 great-great-grandparents
2. Can name over 50 direct ancestors
   (About 100 for whom I have both a first and last name, with varying degrees of certainty)
3. Have photographs or portraits of my 8 great-grandparents
   (I would like to. I have photos for seven out of eight. If anyone has a photo that is or even might be James Henry French 1849-1915 who lived in the Avoca, Victoria region, please please please get in touch!)
4. Have an ancestor who was married more than three times
5. Have an ancestor who was a bigamist
6. Met all four of my grandparents
   (This is not possible as all of my grandparents are deceased. I met three of them. My paternal grandfather died before I was born)
7. Met one or more of my great-grandparents
   (Again, not possible, but I would have liked to!)
8. Named a child after an ancestor
9. Bear an ancestor's given name/s
   (I do bear an ancestral surname)
10. Have an ancestor from Great Britain or Ireland
11. Have an ancestor from Asia
12. Have an ancestor from Continental Europe
13. Have an ancestor from Africa
14. Have an ancestor who was an agricultural labourer
    (Probably – my neglected Irish ancestors are described as farmers)
15. Have an ancestor who had large land holdings
    (I think some of them did – I haven’t looked into those records yet) 
16. Have an ancestor who was a holy man - minister, priest, rabbi
17. Have an ancestor who was a midwife
18. Have an ancestor who was an author
19. Have an ancestor with the surname Smith, Murphy or Jones
20. Have an ancestor with the surname Wong, Kim, Suzuki or Ng
21. Have an ancestor with a surname beginning with X
22. Have an ancestor with a forename beginning with Z
23. Have an ancestor born on 25th December
    (my great-great grandfather William Tregonning was baptised on 25 December 1825)
24. Have an ancestor born on New Year's Day
25. Have blue blood in your family lines
    (Not that I know of. Someone once told me that my Carey ancestors descend from Anne Boleyn's sister. I’ve never bothered looking into it until about ten seconds ago when I Googled and found this. So there we have it – I descend from Henry VIII )
26. Have a parent who was born in a country different from my country of birth
27. Have a grandparent who was born in a country different from my country of birth
28. Can trace a direct family line back to the eighteenth century
29. Can trace a direct family line back to the seventeenth century or earlier
30. Have seen copies of the signatures of some of my great-grandparents
    (I have original marriage certificates of some of my great-grandparents so I’ve seen their actual signatures)
31. Have ancestors who signed their marriage certificate with an X
32. Have a grandparent or earlier ancestor who went to university
    (No – I was the first generation to attend university)
33. Have an ancestor who was convicted of a criminal offence
    (Not that I know of – but if I do I would like to know about it)
34. Have an ancestor who was a victim of crime
35. Have shared an ancestor's story online or in a magazine (Tell us where) (Bits and pieces on this blog)
36. Have published a family history online or in print (Details please)
37. Have visited an ancestor's home from the 19th or earlier centuries
38. Still have an ancestor's home from the 19th or earlier centuries in the family
39. Have a  family bible from the 19th Century
40. Have a pre-19th century family bible

The Tech-Savvy Genealogist Meme–extended remix

Geniaus created The Tech-Savvy Genealogist Meme. She came up with 50 items.  John Newmark at the TransylvanianDutch blog expanded the list to 80 (items were renumbered), and also reworded two of her entries. His additions are marked by a (*).

The instructions are:

The list should be annotated in the following manner:

Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize (colour optional)
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type

Feel free to add extra comments in brackets after each item

Which of these apply to you?

1. Own an Android or Windows tablet or an iPad 
2. Use a tablet or iPad for genealogy related purposes
*3. Use a Kindle, Nook, or other e-reader for genealogy related purposes [My tablet functions as an e-reader]
4. Have used Skype or Google Video Chat to for genealogy purposes
5. Have used a camera to capture images in a library/archives/ancestor's home
6. Use a genealogy software program on your computer to manage your family tree
*7. Use multiple genealogy software programs because they each have different functionalities.
8. Have a Twitter account
9. Tweet daily
10. Have a genealogy blog [This one]
11. Have more than one genealogy blog
12. Have lectured/presented to a genealogy group on a technology topic
13. Currently an active member of Genealogy Wise  [I’m a member but I’ve never really taken to it so I would not describe myself as an active member]
14. Have a Facebook Account
15. Have connected with genealogists via Facebook
16. Maintain a genealogy related Facebook Page
17. Maintain a blog or website for a genealogy society
18. Have submitted text corrections online to Ancestry, Trove or a similar site [Love Trove!]
*19. Have added content to a Person Page on Fold3 (formerly Footnote)
20. Have registered a domain name [www.twigsofyore.com]
21. Post regularly to Google+ [although not all that frequently]
*22. Have participated in a genealogy-related Google+ hangout
23. Have a blog listed on Geneabloggers [This one]
*24. Have a blog listed on Cyndi's List
25. Have transcribed/indexed records for FamilySearch or a similar project
*26. Have converted a family audiotape to digital [Don’t have any]
*27. Have converted a family videotape to digital [Don’t have any]
*28. Have converted family movies pre-dating videotape to digital [Don’t have any]
29. Own a Flip-Pal or hand-held scanner
30. Can code a webpage in .html
*31. Can code a webpage in .html using Notepad (or any other text-only software)
*32. Can write scripts for your webpage in at least one programming language
*33. Can write scripts for your webpage in multiple programming languages
34. Own a smartphone
35. Have a personal subscription to one or more paid genealogy databases
*36. Have a local library card that offers you home access to online databases, and you use that access. [If the National Library of Australia counts as a local library… it is in the same city, after all.]
37. Use a digital voice recorder to record genealogy lectures
38. Have contributed to a genealogy blog carnival
*39. Have hosted a genealogy blog carnival [Does the Australia day event count as a carnival or a meme?]
40. Use an Internet Browser that didn’t come installed on your computer
41. Have participated in a genealogy webinar
42. Have taken a DNA test for genealogy purposes
43. Have a personal genealogy website [Had my first genealogy web page 10 or so years ago, a free page hosted by Rootsweb. Now I have my own site at www.twigsofyore.com]
44. Have found mention of an ancestor in an online newspaper archive
45. Have tweeted during a genealogy lecture
*46. Have tweeted during a family reunion
47. Have scanned your hardcopy genealogy files [I’m well on the way but there are still too many gaps to claim I’ve scanned them all]
48. Use an RSS Reader to follow genealogy news and blogs
49. Have uploaded a gedcom file to a site like Geni, MyHeritage or Ancestry [only Ancestry]
50. Own a netbook [it’s lying neglected now that I have a tablet]
51. Use a computer/tablet/smartphone to take genealogy lecture notes
52. Have a profile on LinkedIn that mentions your genealogy habit
53. Have developed a genealogy software program, app or widget
54. Have listened to a genealogy podcast online
55. Have downloaded genealogy podcasts for later listening [That’s how I motivate myself to do the ironing! If Lisa Louise Cooke ever gives it up, my family will be getting about in crumpled clothes.]
56. Backup your files to a portable hard drive [But not as often as I should]
57. Have a copy of your genealogy files stored offsite
58. Know about RootsTech
59. Have listened to a BlogTalk radio session about genealogy
60. Use Dropbox, SugarSync or other service to save documents in the cloud
61. Schedule regular email backups [I should get on to this]
62. Have contributed to the FamilySearch Wiki
63. Have scanned and tagged your genealogy photographs [Well on the way, but I have a better scanner now so I am redoing them]
64. Have published a genealogy book in an online/digital format
*65. Brought a USB device to a microfilm repository so you could download instead of print. [That’s so old school. I upload to Dropbox so they sync straight my home computer.]
*66. Have a wearable USB device containing important files. (Watch, keychain necklace, etc)
*67. Created a map on Google Maps plotting ancestral homes or businesses.
*68. Recorded the GPS coordinates for a tombstone, or ancestral home
*69. Edited the Wikipedia entry for an ancestor, or their kin
*70. Created an entry at FindAGrave for a person
*71. Created an entry at FindAGrave for a cemetery
*72. Uploaded the MediaWiki software (or TikiWiki, or PhpWiki) to your family website.
*73. Have downloaded a video (for genealogical purposes) from YouTube or other streaming video site using KeepVid.com, or in some other fashion
*74. Have transferred a video from a DVR to your computer for genealogical purposes
*75. Have participated in a ScanFest
*76. Have started a Genealogy-related meme at least one other geneablogger participated in.
*77. Have started a Genealogy-related weekly blogging theme other geneabloggers participated in.
*78. Have used Photoshop (or other editing software) to ‘clean up’ an old family photo
*79. Done digital scrapbooking
*80. Printed out a satellite photo from Google Maps of a cemetery, and marked where a tombstone was located on it.

Thanks to Geniaus (and John) for a great meme!

99 Things Genealogy Meme – Aussie style

Geniaus has ‘dinkumised’ (see end of post for explanation*) the ‘99 Things Genealogy Meme’ that Kinexxions put together in 2009, and has thrown open the challenge to both Australian and foreign bloggers to join in.

It sounds like fun!

The list should be annotated in the following manner:
Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize (colour optional)
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type

Here is my contribution:

1. Belong to a genealogical society.
2. Joined the Australian Genealogists group on Genealogy Wise
3. Transcribed records.
4. Uploaded headstone pictures to Find-A-Grave or a similar site.
5. Documented ancestors for four generations (self, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents)
6. Joined Facebook.
7. Cleaned up a run-down cemetery.
8. Joined the Genea-Bloggers Group.
9. Attended a genealogy conference.
10. Lectured at a genealogy conference.
11. Spoke on a genealogy topic at a local genealogy society.
12. Joined the Society of Australian Genealogists.
13. Contributed to a genealogy society publication.
14. Served on the board or as an officer of a genealogy society.
15. Got lost on the way to a cemetery.
16. Talked to dead ancestors.
17. Researched outside the state in which I live.
18. Knocked on the door of an ancestral home and visited with the current occupants.
19. Cold called a distant relative.
20. Posted messages on a surname message board.
21. Uploaded a gedcom file to the internet.
22. Googled my name.
23. Performed a random act of genealogical kindness.
24. Researched a non-related family, just for the fun of it.
25. Have been paid to do genealogical research.
26. Earn a living (majority of income) from genealogical research.
27. Wrote a letter (or email) to a previously unknown relative.
28. Contributed to one of the genealogy carnivals.
29. Responded to messages on a message board.
30. Was injured while on a genealogy excursion.
31. Participated in a genealogy meme.
32. Created family history gift items (calendars, cookbooks, etc.).
33. Performed a record lookup.
34. Took a genealogy seminar cruise.
35. Am convinced that a relative must have arrived here from outer space.
36. Found a disturbing family secret.
37. Told others about a disturbing family secret.
38. Combined genealogy with crafts (family picture quilt, scrapbooking).
39. Think genealogy is a passion not a hobby.
40. Assisted finding next of kin for a deceased person.
41. Taught someone else how to find their roots.
42. Lost valuable genealogy data due to a computer crash or hard drive failure.
43. Been overwhelmed by available genealogy technology.
    (No! Bring it on!!)
44. Know a cousin of the 4th degree or higher.
    (We haven’t met in person though, does that count?)
45. Disproved a family myth through research.
46. Got a family member to let you copy photos.
47. Used a digital camera to “copy” photos or records.
48. Translated a record from a foreign language.
    (I found someone else to do it for me)
49. Found an immigrant ancestor’s passenger arrival record.
50. Looked at census records on microfilm, not on the computer.
51. Used microfiche.
52. Visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. 
53. Used Google+ for genealogy.
54. Visited a church or place of worship of one of your ancestors.
55. Taught a class in genealogy.
56. Traced ancestors back to the 18th Century.
57. Traced ancestors back to the 17th Century.
58. Traced ancestors back to the 16th Century.
59. Can name all of your great-great-grandparents.
60. Found an ancestor on the Australian Electoral Rolls
61. Know how to determine a soundex code without the help of a computer.
62. Have found relevant articles on Trove.
63. Own a copy of Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.
64. Helped someone find an ancestor using records you had never used for your own research.
65. Visited the main National Archives building in Washington, DC.
66. Visited the National Library of Australia.
67. Have an ancestor who came to Australia as a ten pound pom.
68. Have an ancestor who fought at Gallipoli.
69. Taken a photograph of an ancestor’s tombstone.
70. Can read a church record in Latin.
71. Have an ancestor who changed his/her name.
    (If I have an ancestor who changed their name I’d like to find them, but I don’t wish for an ancestor who changed their name)
72. Joined a Rootsweb mailing list.
73. Created a family website.
74. Have a genealogy blog.
75. Was overwhelmed by the amount of family information received from someone.
76. Have broken through at least one brick wall.
77. Done genealogy research at the War Memorial in Canberra.
    (Seems a bit silly that I haven’t since I live in the same city… but there you go…)
78. Borrowed microfilm from the Family History Library through a local Family History Center.
    (Almost, I borrowed it through a local family history society. I don’t mind who I borrow it through, so long as I can borrow it)
79. Found an ancestor in the Ryerson index.
    (No, but I have found relatives)
80. Have visited the National Archives of Australia.
81. Have an ancestor who served in the Boer War.
82. Use maps in my genealogy research.
83. Have a convict ancestor who was transported from the UK.
    (I don’t mind either way, so long as I have the proof)
84. Found a bigamist amongst the ancestors.
85. Visited the National Archives in Kew.
86. Visited St. Catherine's House in London to find family records.
87. Taken an online genealogy course.
88. Consistently cite my sources.
    (You’re not going to check this, are you?)
89. Visited a foreign country (i.e. one I don't live in) in search of ancestors.
90. Can locate any document in my research files within a few minutes. (See 88)
91. Have an ancestor who was married four times (or more).
92. Made a rubbing of an ancestors gravestone.
    (That would be naughty)
93. Followed genealogists on Twitter.
94. Published a family history book (on one of my families).
95. Learned of the death of a fairly close relative through research.
96. Offended a family member with my research.
    (Not that I know of… perhaps I’m just insensitive…)
97. Reunited someone with precious family photos or artifacts.
    (I hope she’s looking after it)
98. Have a paid subscription to a genealogy database.
99. Edited records on Trove.

 

* ‘dinkumised’ will immediately be understood by any dinkum Aussie to be derived from the word ‘dinkum’ - which the Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1992 defines as a colloquial expression meaning ‘genuine, right’. Australian’s will further understand that the genuine or rightness referred to is most frequently used in reference to the Australian-ness of the item being described. So, when Geniaus says she has ‘dinkumised’ the list she means that she has made it genuinely Australian.

Suggestion: Genealogy blog topic for Australia Day (26 Jan 2011)

Australia Day falls on 26 January each year. In 2010 I had a last-minute thought that it would be nice to do an Australia Day blog post. I did a quick search of my database for any events that occured on 26 January, and posted the result. I was surprised and pleased when Geniaus and Carole Riley joined in. If only we'd had more time to prepare!

This year I've given it more thought.

This is the task I've set myself:

Find the earliest piece of documentation you have about an ancestor in Australia. If you don't have an Australian ancestor, then choose the earliest piece of documentation you have for a relative in Australia.

On Wednesday 26 January 2011 post your answers to these questions:

1. What is the document? 
2. Do you remember the research process that lead you to it? How and where did you find it?
3. Tell us the story(ies) of the document. You may like to consider the nature of the document, the people mentioned, the place and the time. Be as long or short, broad or narrow in your story telling as you like!

Would anyone like to join me?

-------

Geniaus has made the brilliant suggestion that we should collate the posts somewhere.

If you join in, please email me (see the About Me page for my email address) with the URL and one short paragraph describing your post. I'll put together a post that collates and links to all the offerings.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2010 - Christmas Foods - December 2

In last year's advent calendar, I wrote about eating a traditional (cold climate) Christmas lunch in the midst of an Australian summer.

That completely inappropriate hot roast lunch is still a big part of what Christmas is about for me, but there is one other food that was a regular feature whenever we had a large gathering of family - Christmas and other occasions. It was my Mum's pavlova.

Any Australian or New Zealander would be very familiar with the pavlova. It's a dessert with a meringue base, topped with cream and garnished with fruit.

My Mum made her pavlovas from scratch, not from a premix "Egg". Usually she would make two. One, I thought of as the adults' pavlova. The fruit topping made it almost a health food, so far as I was concerned. The other was the kids' pavlova. Instead of fruit, my mother topped the kids pav with a smashed up Peppermint crisp.

I have my mother's recipe, but I've never made it. I really should try to some day. I think I'd like to inherit her reputation as the pavlova queen!


This post is part of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories, hosted by Geneabloggers. 

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2010 - Christmas Tree - December 1

The Christmas tree that dominates my childhood memories was tall and bushy. Although it was an artificial metallic one, it was beautiful. The silvery tinsel branches shimmered and the baubles stood out like jewels. I didn't understand it when one year my mother said that the tree's time had come, we needed something new.

Before I sat down to write this post, I dug out a few pictures of that lovely tree. 

Sadly, the photographic evidence does not do my memory justice. The tree is smaller than I recall. Not tiny, but small enough that it is almost obscured in the photos by a child standing in front of it. The silvery tinsel is duller than my memory would have it. The branches.. well, they look like they could put a running child's eye out. The baubles, although there, are not quite as plentiful as I imagined.

Looking at those old photos of myself and my siblings (who wouldn't appreciate me posting picures of them here) there is something else that strikes me about the picture of us sitting around that tree...

It's the joy, shining from our faces.

The photographic evidence confirms it - that tree was beautiful!


This post is part of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories, hosted by Geneabloggers. 

What I Do

Thomas MacEntree at Geneabloggers has started up a new meme where you list the technology you use for genealogy.

Here's my "What I Do":

• Hardware:  3.5 year old AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+ 2613 Mhz 2GB RAM; ancient Dell Inspiron laptop; Asus EEE Netbook.  Considering an upgrade to my desktop system as it's starting to crash now that I'm putting heavier photo editing demands on it.

• External storage:  CDs and DVDs; External hard drive

• Online storage:  Dropbox (free) which I have synced to all the computers mentioned above and my iPhone.

• Backup:  Dropbox; DVDs; External hard drive. Oh yes, and hard copy. Not that I'd want to start re-entering.

• Firewall:  Yes I do thanks

• Virus protection:  Yes I do thanks

• Spyware:  I hope not! I have antispyware software.

• File cleaner:  Ccleaner (free)

• Printer:  Canon Pixma MP470 all-in-one. I'm considering if I want a flashy flatbed scanner, as I'm really enjoying learning to do photo restoration.

• Phone:  Landline and iPhone

• Mobile media:  iPhone

• Music player:   iPhone

• Car audio:  Ummm... the radio and CD player that came with the car... nothing special... can't say I use it for genealogy

• eBook Reader:  Don't use one

• Browser:  Firefox (and Safari on iPhone)

• Blog:  Blogger

• RSS:  Google reader

• FTP: -

• Text editor:  Microsoft Word 2002. I'll upgrade from 2002 at home when they upgrade from 2003 at work. I can't change what they have at work, so I'd rather not know what might be possible with more recent software. The computers at work are frustrating enough as it is! I also have OpenOffice.

• Graphics:  Photoshop Elements 7 + Grants Tools (and a few other plug-ins). It occurs to me that when my son starts school he'll be eligible for student pricing. That takes the price of Photoshop CS5 from over $1000 to under $200 (Australian). Very tempting...

• Screen capture:  Vista's built-in snipping tool, which I only stumbled on by accident. Type "snipping tool" into the search box on the Start menu to find it.

• Social media:  Twitter.

• Social bookmarking:  Diigo (free), but I'm not using it socially.

• Social profile: -

• URL shortener: -

• Office suite:  Microsoft Office Professional 2002. I also have OpenOffice (free).

• E-mail:  Via my ISP; hotmail; gmail

• Calendar:  Calengoo on my iPhone, which syncs with Google calendar

• Accounting:  Had an excel spreadsheet but then I saw how much I was spending on genealogy so I stopped using it. 

• PDF generator:  CutePDF, but it usually fails when creating larger genealogy charts. I guess you get what you pay for. Haven't got around to looking for other options. I'll take note of what others say in their meme submissions.

• Genealogy database: Genbox

• Genealogy tools:  Gensmarts - in particular the "customise records" feature when I've found a new resource.

• Other tech stuff:  iPhone - for all the amazing non-phone things it can do! Roboform to manage all those passwords. Toodledo on the iPhone for my to-do list (free, also accessible by web). Starting to use Evernote (free - desktop and iPhone versions) for note taking and research planning. Wacom pen tablet for photo editing. Yahoo! groups which deserves a post of its own to tell you about what I've done there.

My 16 Great-Great-Great Grands

I'm taking the easy way out with this post and doing the exercise Randy Seaver suggested last Saturday.

The instructions were:
1) List your 16 great-great-grandparents in pedigree chart order. List their birth and death years and places.
2) Figure out the dominant ethnicity or nationality of each of them.
3) Calculate your ancestral ethnicity or nationality by adding them up for the 16 - 6.25% for each (obviously, this is approximate).
4) If you don't know all 16 of your great-great-grandparents, then do it for the last full generation you have.
5) Write your own blog post, or make a comment on Facebook or in this post.

As others have pointed out, if there are 16 they must be GGG Grands, so that's what I'm looking at. If I had to pick a favourite generation of ancestors, it would be my GGG grands. They were the generation (except one) who left their birthplaces and made the long journey to Australia, either as adults or children.

Before I did this exercise, I would have said that I had about the same Scottish ancestry as I have Irish. In fact I have allocated nine to England (56%), five to Ireland (31%) and just one to Scotland (6%)!

I think it’s probably because the Scottish records are so rich, and they are readily available online. It has been very easy to “grow” that part of my tree with little real effort on my part. As a result, I have much more information on my Scottish ancestry than I do for my sadly neglected Irish lines, despite having fewer of them.

To add in a little more mythbusting, there is not one proven convict among them. Yes, Australia had convicts, but we also had many, many free settlers over many waves of immigration. That said, I have no squeamishness about finding a convict ancestor. I'll be a little disappointed if my one current "maybe" is a "no"!

So, without further ado, here they are:

1. James William FRENCH was born in 1824 in England and died at age 72 in 1896 in Victoria, Australia.
2. Ann SPENCE was born perhaps in 1825, at Gibraltar and died at age 76 in 1901 in Victoria, Australia.
   I will count this as England as she was there due to her father’s military movements.
3. William TREGONNING was born between 1824 and 1826 in Cornwall, England and died at age 63 in 1887 in Victoria, Australia.
4. Elizabeth MARTIN was born about 1827 in Cornwall, England and died at age 33 in 1860 in Victoria, Australia.
5. James BENNETT was born in 1831 in England and probably died in Victoria, Australia.
   I still have to pin down a death certificate for this one to make a complete set for this generation!
6. Catherine Lucy DARCY was born in 1830 in England or Ireland and died at age 70 in 1896 in Victoria, Australia.
   Hmmm, obviously need to follow up on pinning down her birth. We'll call her English for now.
   
7. Francis MCMAHON was born in 1842 in Ireland and died at age 83 in 1918 in Victoria, Australia.
8. Ellen KEOGH was born in 1835 in Ireland and died at age 75 in 1908 in Victoria, Australia.
9. John LEE was born in 1822 in London, England and died at age 82 in 1905 in Victoria, Australia.
   One of my fellow researchers has him as a convict. I'm not convinced, the name is too common and the years don't quite fit.
   
10. Susanna BAKER was born in 1840 in Surrey, England and died at age 58 in 1899 in Victoria, Australia.
11. Daniel Miller COUPER was born in 1850 in Caithness, Scotland and died at age 84 in 1935 in Victoria, Australia.
    Came to Australia as a child and went on to become quite the wealthy gentleman!
    
12. Mary ALLSOP was born in 1856 in Victoria, Australia and died at age 82 in 1938 in Victoria, Australia.
    She was the first of my ancestors to be born in Australia. Her parents were born in England, so I will count her as English for this exercise.
13. William STANNUS was born in 1849 in Antrim, Ireland and died at age 75 in 1925 in Victoria, Australia.
14. Isabella Kate ROBOTHAM was born in 1858 in Derby, England and died at age 78 in 1937 in Victoria, Australia.
15. James BLACK was born between 1835 and 1837 in Ireland and died at age 59 in 1895 in Victoria, Australia.
    
16. Frances Gertrude LEWIS was born in 1846 in Ireland and died at age 63 in 1899 in Victoria, Australia.

Disclaimer: I haven't double checked any of the facts above before posting. If you are relying on this information, well, that's up to you I guess... but wouldn't you rather get in touch and find out what else I might know?