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Showing posts from June, 2015

Sepia Saturday 285 : 27 June 2015

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The Floral Clock, Hove PT3194 Alan from Sepia Saturday says: The hotel in our theme image is never around the corner (or always around the corner) depending on how you look at things. It is an old postcard of the Chittenden Hotel in Columbus Ohio and put me in mind of postcards, hotels, buildings and - of course - corners.  Today's image was the only postcard that I could find that vaguely fitted the theme.  The postcard was sent on Tuesday 28 September 1971 to my maternal grandfather when we were overseas.  Transcription is as follows: Dear Dad This is a rare commodity!  Masses of cards on Brighton but not on Hove.  Took two photos of the shop & bought some of their cakes for afternoon tea.  Leaving Hastings, where we're staying, on Sat., for two weeks in London. Love Barb, Jim & Alex xxx First of all I googled Floral clock Hove PT3194 and found a slightly different postcards to mine here .  Isn't it interesting how just a tiny shift in po

What's On ? - Friday 26th June - Thursday 2 July

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Lawnton Cemetery Tour 2015 Here's what's happening around Brisbane local and family history wise over the next week.... Friday 26 June - 9:30-11:30am - Toowong Library Toowong and District Historical Society's guest speaker will be Lisa Jones of the Queensland Police Museum. Lisa will speak about the Queensland Police Museum and the history of the Queensland Police Service. For more details click here. Saturday 27 June  - 10:00am-11:30am at the  Queensland Family History Society At each meeting, we demonstrate the  Family Tree Maker®  program . If you wish, bring your personal computer, tablet or smart phone and follow us on the big screen.  For more info click here. Monday 29 June - 9:00-11:00am - Toowong Library Learn how to search the genealogical records and use family history tools available on Ancestry.com , the world’s largest online family history resource. Presented by the Genealogical Society of Queensland. Bookings required.  Tuesday 30 June -

Great news!

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Image taken from page 9 of 'Charpentier's Illustrated Guide to Southsea, the Dockyard, Isle of Wight, etc' dated 1892 courtesy of British Library on Flickr - No known copyright restrictions Now, I just have to let those of you who read my blog here , that I did actually hear back from the lovely folk at Portsmouth History Centre this week.  How about that?  Aren't I lucky?   They said: I have found the record of your great grandfather, Edward Connor in the registers of St James's Hospital. I can confirm the date of his admission was 5 th May 1897 & he was discharged on 3 rd May 1899, as you have already discovered. The details given, in vol. ref H8/4/4/5 are as follows: Age : 69 Marital Status: Married Employment: Fitter, HM Dockyard Previous place of abode: Imbecile wards, Portsea Island Union (now known as St Mary's hospital - Alex's note) Form of mental disorder: Dementia Supposed cause of insanity: Senile dementia

Sepia Saturday 284: 20th June 2015

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Alan Burnett of Sepia Saturday says: Our prompt this week couldn't be more self-explanatory if you were to type it out in capital letters. If you have any old pictures that relates to the theme image, just post your posts on or around Saturday 20th June 2015. I cannot see a typewriter without thinking of my mother.  She adored her Olivetti which you see here on her desk.  Many of her letters were typed on this although she had beautiful writing as well. I can't remember what happened to the Olivetti.  It certainly did a lot of work.  My mother was a prolific letter writer and she typed my father's thesis or theses over the years as well as her own University essays and assignments and I probably typed a few of mine on it as well. I have had to doctor this photo I am afraid as it wasn't black and white originally but colour.  I have cropped the original and used the Holga effect in Picasa to make it more dramatic. This is the photo before

What's On? - Saturday 20 - Friday 26 June

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What's on offer this coming week in south-east Queensland family and local history wise? Saturday 20 June - 9:30am - 11:45pm - Genealogical Society of Queensland GSQ  leads the pack with  Did my ancestors wear pink dresses for afternoon tea? - Using newspapers for family history – presented by Judy Lofthouse Cost $12 for members $17 for non-members (includes morning tea) To find out more click  here. Tuesday 23 June - 10:00am - 11:00am - Strathpine Library A Genetic Look at Family History -  Learn how genealogists use medical, genetic and DNA testing to enrich family history research, with expert Ann Swain. Free but bookings essential.  For more info click here. Tuesday 23 June - 1:00- 4:00pm - Bracken Ridge Library Bracken Ridge Family History Group .  Are you interested in researching your family history or genealogy? Come along to swap research tips or seek advice in family history. Everyone welcome - no bookings required.  Free.  For more info click

Sepia Saturday 283 : 13 June 2015

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Alan from Sepia Saturday says: Our Sepia Saturday theme image this week shows a group of construction workers celebrating the completion of a railway tunnel on the Irish rail network. It might prompt you to dig into your own photographic archives and come up with photographs of tunnels, construction projects, or dates carved into the stonework. It might also prompt you to share some other image which you feel is connected in one way or another to the theme image. Barbara Conner (nee McLoughlin) Leith Waters 8 August 1971 Cor blimey - for some reason it was very difficult to find a photo to match this week's theme.   I know it's not railway or construction but my mother's pose is kind of imitating one of the construction worker's stances to the right of the prompt image. Now - my father labelled the photo above Leith Waters - I wonder if it is more properly called the Water of Leith?   Here's another one of me in Bath Abbey  Wells Cathedral I thi

What's On - Saturday 13 - Friday 19 June

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Bird Feeding Hour at The Polish Place Mount Tamborine What's on offer this coming week in south-east Queensland family and local history wise? Saturday 13 June - 9.00am - 12:30pm - Qld Baptists' Conference Centre QFHS leads the pack with their Ireland to Australia: Researching Your Irish Ancestors seminar - Presenters are Dr Richard Reid and Mary King .   Cost $15 for members $20 for non-members (includes morning tea) To find out more click here. Tuesday 16 June - 6:00-7:30pm - John Oxley Library Reading Room The Vital Track - 150 Years of Railways in Queensland - speakers Greg Hallam, Historian at Queensland Rail, and Dr Geraldine Mate, Senior Curator, Transport and Energy at The Workshops Rail Museum .  Cost ?  Free!  To book click here . Thursday 18 June - 10:00-11:00am - Garden City Library History of the World War II Eagle Farm Airfield Join historian Peter Dunn as he discusses the fascinating history of the Eagle Farm Airfield during World

Lunacy? The perils of family history and conjecture

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Today's post is really about pure conjecture and pondering and I'd be grateful for any observations on my perusing and conclusions. Yesterday, as a result of meandering about the web and visiting many genea-blogs and genea-videos - in particular What's New at Ancestry on YouTube - I was reminded to search the Card Catalogue under the Search Tab at Ancestry to look at the latest additions to particular areas of research.   It's not really one of the latest additions to the UK or Hampshire records having been published on Ancestry on 25/11/2014 - UK, Lunacy Patients Admission Registers, 1846-1912 - but it was 4th on the top of the list by date added - and let's face it - the most interesting title.   And yes, I think I've found my 2nd great-grandfather Edward Connor on the admissions list.  Of course I can't really be sure as there is no identifying information but I think the timing is right. Some of you may remember that I posted about Edward h

Sepia Saturday 282: 6 June 2015

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Alan Burnett of Sepia Saturday says: You might need to give a good deal of thought this week to the theme image before making your move and posting your post .....The man in the photograph is a famous musician, so you can put the games away and get the concertina out if you so wish. Whatever you decide to go with it will be a gambit we all look forward to examining. I enjoy participating in this blogging meme when I am able.  I do put a lot of thought into it and embarrassed how long it takes to put a post together.  I have blogged about chess before because I remember my maternal grandfather Tom McLoughlin liked to play chess quite a bit.  You can read my previous post here . Today I will post what I think is a new photo though.  Probably self-consciousness has prevented me from posting it in the past. Here I am playing chess with my grandfather. Alex and Tom playing chess at Nungara Street circa 1970 scanned at 600dpi I thought I would conduct a bit of a scanni