Family Tree Frog

Got mistakes? from kayaker1204 on Flickr 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2012) that invite genealogists and others to discuss resources in the genealogy community including websites, applications, libraries, archives, genealogical societies and more. Genealogy research mistakes are wonderful learning experiences. They can be blessings when they show you how to improve your genealogy research. Which genealogy research mistake in your past has provided the most benefit to your present? How did you discover the mistake and what steps did you take to correct it? Sharing about these experiences will help others who are figuring out their own ancestral paths. Ouf.  This is a difficult post to write.  No-one likes to be thought of as flawed, stupid or dumb.  If you boldly state that you've made mistakes in the past, how will anyone ever trust what you say in the future?  Well, as Amy say...

I do like a challenge.  And yes, I'm late - terribly late....we're almost halfway through the alphabet but I'm sure I can catch up! The wonderful Alona Tester who I met for the first time last week at the Family HIstory Expo has devised this meme - bless her!  At first I was going to use surnames but I think place is a better way to go with this challenge because ultimately I think that's how we can all best connect is through place yes?  The people come and go but the place remains. So - perhaps rather unimaginatively today I am focussing on - yes, you guessed it...Ireland. Now, what I'm amused at is how proudly I assert my Irish ancestry.  When I truthfully look at my ancestry - I am way more English. Of my four grandparents - three were Australian-born and one English-born..Of my eight great-grandparents, three were English and five were born in Australia.  Of my sixteen great-great-grandparents eight were born in England, two i...

SS Cloncurry watercolour by Allan C. Green (1878-1954) It's been a busy week and I haven't nearly achieved all that I wanted to achieve but  did have some success.... First of all I ordered a book from the Maryborough Family Heritage Research Institute which turned up very quickly.  Here is a picture of it..... Now it is a slim volume at 21 pages but didn't cost an arm and a leg ($5 incl. postage) and its authors Judith A. Grimes and Kay F. Gassan had discovered information about The Shenir that I hadn't been able to find, so I was well pleased.  If I have any criticism of the publication it is that it does not cite sources which is a bit frustrating if you want to confirm the information for yourself.  The booklet was published in 1995.  I suspect that the information came from some papers at the Queensland State Archives so I shall investigate further.  But I am pleased to have the book and a bit more information about the arrival of the im...

Extract from Passenger List of Shenir 1883 This post is the attempt to structure thoughts about some recent research on my husband's side of the family ....and also to show some early efforts at scanning using my brand new FlipPal. So...let me show you the FlipPal scanner .... Here it is in it's bright purple carry case which for some reason looks blue in this photo..... Here it is unveiled for the world to see.... So you can see that it is quite small and easy to carry...I don't know what it weighs...okay I'll go and weigh it...it weighs 770g with the carry  case or nearly 2lbs.  Here it is open and ready for business.....see that little screen on the right? That's where you can see your image when you scan it... The image gets recorded on the SD card just under the screen there... And if your computer is old and clunky like mine and doesn't take SD cards, never fear, the FlipPal comes wi...

It's Expo time!  Last night I was on duty at the QFHS stall as part of the Unlock Your Past Expo being held at Centenary State High School Jindalee.   The Expo is still going today and tomorrow so it's not too late to go along and check it out. Today there are sessions about online newspapers and periodicals for family history, Convicts, locating ancestor's place of origin in Germany, Blogs, Google+, TROVE and more! Tomorrow there are sessions on FamilySearch, Mining ancestors, military records, ScotlandsPeople, England and Wales - the census ...and ...well you get the gist ...there's stacks of information. I didn't get to any of the talks but had just as much fun in the exhibition hall meeting fellow bloggers such as Geniaus and Alona Tester and meeting new friends such as Carole Riley and Kerry Farmer.   oh yes, and I bought a Flip Pal...and a purple carry case....    

Photo courtesy of Picture Queensland Group of women and girls watching a man fishing on the Maroochy River, Queensland, ca. 1900-1910 Movies....I've seen a few....this post's title is a bit of a pun on Salmon Fishing in the Yemen which was on my to see list until someone unthinkingly told me the ending yesterday....talk about a spoiler!! Anyway, back to my point.  The photo above is of fishing - not necessarily for trout - and in fact probably not. Why?  Well there is a logic in my meanderings here ...bear with me.  This morning I had the pleasure of attending for the first time the Scottish Interests Group at QFHS .  There was a most interesting presentation on the Scottish Potato Famine - yes, there was a potato famine in Scotland too....this may be one of many reasons that your Scottish ancestors emigrated to Australia or indeed another country.  Here is a link to Professor Tom Devine discussing Scottish migration if you'd like to know more. ...

Photo courtesy of Karva Javi on Flickr I love a good surprise.   The past couple of weeks have been a hive of feverish activity as I struggle to finish my assessment work for Uni , start a new full-time job and stay on top of my commitments to the Research team at the Queensland Family History Society. I finished my last assignment last night for this Semester's course - Information Service Management and hopped into bed wreathed in that sense of virtuousness which is so short lived when one realizes that one still has two subjects to go before one is finished with literature reviews and the like. As a special treat I opened my copy of Inside History which arrived in the post that day and which I had been studiously avoiding reading until the assignment was finished. It looked a great edition from the cover - an article about the Salvation Army Family Tracing Service which I'd only be promoting last weekend at a Library Assistants' Meeting at QFHS.   I was al...

Margaret McLoughlin Communion Memento "Where does the time go?" I ask myself on numerous occasions, as no doubt, do you... Do you remember your first Communion? I remember mine...but only because it was relatively recent i.e. as an adult in my mid thirties.  Crikey!  That's nearly twenty years ago now.... Anyway, back to Margaret McLoughlin's first communion.   The picture above shows a rather quaint treasure that I inherited from my mother.  I'm not quite sure how she came about it but it is kept in a drawer of her old desk with a bunch of photos and other stuff I have accumulated over the years.   I am intrigued by it because it shows the date of her death.   I have so many questions about this.  Who created this memento?  I suspect Margaret.  Maybe a grown-up helped her with the lettering.  Who filled it in after she died?  Is this usual?  Who kept it?  Probably her poor p...

Week 9 – Cemeteries: Genealogists understand the full value of cemeteries and appreciate them in ways most others can’t see. Share a cemetery or cemetery experience for which you are most thankful. What makes this place special? What does it mean to you and your family history? Tingalpa Cemetery 2009 Now this was a difficult challenge this week because there are so many cemeteries that I like and have found over the years. Tingalpa Christ Church (Anglican) Cemetery though will always hold a special spot in our heart because it was the location of my first real break-through in family history at a young age. Thanks to my family history society's Cemetery Room index, I found that my husband's great-grandfather and his wife and their children were buried here.  I remember traipsing all over the cemetery looking for their grave, only to discover that it was the biggest monument in the whole cemetery just about!! The cemetery looks absolutely beautiful these days...

Week 8 – Genealogy Libraries : Genealogy libraries (and dedicated departments in regular libraries) are true treasures in the family history community.  Tell us about your favourite genealogy library. What or who makes it special? Well you probably know what I’m going to say already but yes, the QFHS library at Gaythorne is my favourite Genealogy library. And yes, my experience is very narrow, I realise.  I wish I could astound you with facts and figures about the collection but they are not at my fingertips. Suffice it to say, that I find it pretty hard to beat. You can find the library here. Amongst thousands of records, researchers also have access to: Ancestry (Library Edition) Emerald Ancestors FindMyPast – Australasia FindMyPast – UK FindMyPast – Ireland The Genealogist World Vital Records You can search the catalogue here. The LDS Film Service is available here too.  Don't forget that you can order ...