Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2017
The fabulous and amazing Jill Ball from Geniaus has invited us once again to reflect on our Geneayear. What a great tradition. Here are the questions with the proviso that we Accentuate the Positive and stop lashing ourselves for those things we didn't get round to or achieve:
1. An elusive ancestor I found was
Thank goodness for death notices. I discovered my ancestor Peter Sinclair was a librarian at the Parliamentary Library in Melbourne on this blog post here.
2. A great newspaper article I found was
I reckon I found a photo of my maternal grandmother and her twin sister at Randwick Destitute Asylum in The Star in 1908 as per this blog post here.
3. A geneajourney I took was
I had hoped to go to the NSW Family History Conference in Orange this year but we mustn't be maudlin. By all accounts it was fantastic. Shauna Hicks reports on it here.
4. An important record I found was
Peter Sinclair's death certificate and will and probate.
5. A newly found family member shared
I got to meet a fellow researcher on my husband's side of the family, Jane Wolfe, at the Footsteps in Time conference on the Gold Coast this year in May. She kindly invited us to a mini-family reunion of the Hindes (descendants of the Duncans) at Nerang Cemetery in October to witness the unveiling of two pioneer headstones she commissioned for Rose and William Duncan. To quote from Jane's email:
The stone used is Numinbah granite and the bronze plates commemorate their pioneering work in the timber industry, education and establishing the district. The research and work having the headstones made was done by Kerry McGrath and Joan (and Jack) Rudd. Kerry and Joan are also direct descendants of Rose and William.
While I wasn't able to attend, my two sisters-in-law and my brother-in-law were very pleased to be able to do so.
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| Photo by Jane Wolfe 2016 |
Jane has also reminded me that there will be a Last Post Ceremony in Canberra next year on Sunday 10 February for Private Thomas Hinde. I wrote about Thomas and his brother Edward here.
6. A geneasurprise I received was
Look what you find when you google things...for those of you who don't know, I just started working for the City of Gold Coast Library service. Now I have another reason to go and have a look at the Burleigh Heads Library ASAP!
7. My 2017 blog post that I was particularly proud of was
I hosted a Geneameme for National Family HIstory Month and found that the All the Rivers Run mini-meme was quite popular with Bloggers. I certainly enjoyed finding and looking at all the pictures of the rivers that my ancestors would have identified with as part of their familiar "home" landscape.
8. I made a new genimate who
see above
9. A new piece of technology I mastered was
As a Librarian I always seem to be learning new technology but for the purposes of this exercise I am going to talk about technology I used for recording and transcribing oral history. I attended the NLS symposium in Canberra earlier this year. You can read all about it on my other blog here. I learned to use an app called Wave Pad. To assist with transcribing I used an app called Speech Notes. It's not perfect of course but it does grab about 50% of what it hears which is better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick, as they say.
10. I joined
My father used to be a member of SAG years ago so as a Xmas present last year I joined us both up because I'd heard so much about their online seminars et al. I also joined the Yass & District Historical Society.
11. A genealogy event from which I learnt something new was
Bill Kitson's session on Hydrographic Surveying of the Queensland coast 1860-1880 at the Footsteps in Time Conference. My father and I have ancestors in the Navy (Conne/ors) and this was much of their work so we were fascinated by this account. Our interest was piqued particularly when Bill started mentioning someone by the name of Edward Richard Connor who joined the Navy in 1861. Our ancestors also used the name Edward quite frequently. We can't find a connection yet but I haven't given up hope. Bill will publish a book on this subject soon but in the meantime you can get a sense of the subject here on the Fraser Coast Libraries blog.
12. A blog post that taught me something new was
There are so many bloggers that I follow but without a doubt the one who impresses me most in terms of the sheer volume of stuff that she manages to keep on top of is the lovely Chris from That Moment in Time.
14. I taught a genimate how to
I taught lots of genimates how to blog!
15. A brick wall I demolished was
16. A great site I visited was
My father and I finally got to see the MacArthur Museum....something we had wanted to do for ages.
And while I was doing the Photo essay course I was referred to this site which I find just fascinating even though I don't have any American ancestors (to my knowledge) who would have been involved in the Civil War.
17. A new genealogy/history book I enjoyed was
This book isn't necessarily new but it was new to me.....Men and a River: Richmond River District 1828-1895 by Louise Tiffany Daley. I haven't finished it yet but it is very well written indeed. And sorry, but I can't stop at one book. Another book I thoroughly enjoyed dipping into and am fully resolved to read more is 100 Canberra Houses: A Century of Capital Architecture by Tim Reeves and Alan Roberts - beautifully produced and fascinating stuff.
18. It was exciting to finally meet
See Point 5 - Jane Wolfe !
19. I am excited for 2018 because
We have Congress in Sydney this year and I get to do a little bit more of my Diploma in Family History with UTAS.
20. Another positive I would like to share is ...
There are so many positives I can't stop at one!
I continued to study my Diploma of Family History through University of Tasmania enrolling in and completing two courses - Photo Essay and Oral History. These courses continue to make me look more closely at my work and evaluate what I do and how I do it.
As part of National Family History Month I agreed to participate in a radio interview with fellow QFHS member and Beginners course teacher Charlotte Sale to spruik the value of joining a society like QFHS with all it has to offer. It was great to see the new ABC Studios at Southbank, although I was somewhat stage-struck, I confess ,when confronted with a microphone.
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| Charlotte at the ABC Radio Studios Southbank |
I contributed to the 31 Links in a Chain stories theme held by QFHS as part of National Family History Month in August. My story is here.
Some of you may know that for the past couple of years I have been part of the teaching team at QFHS delivering a course called Finding Your Family. We ran two courses in 2016 and two in 2017. The greatest joy for me this year was that my sister-in-law Patricia came along to the last course and embraced family history with the kind of zeal known only to fellow geneaenthusiasts. It is so lovely to have a partner in crime now who absolutely "gets" the complete absorption this hobby has for us She has set up her study rather like a detective in New Tricks....you don't have to watch all of the clip below but I did have a bit of a giggle for the first few minutes. I do enjoy watching all these old dogs bumbling their way about in the new world - and this episode features my favourite topic - libraries!
I hope that your year has been equally fruitful and rewarding and may I take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for the Silly Season.
Speaking of Silly, here's something a friend shared on Facebook recently which I hadn't seen before....I do love a good Hallelujah chorus! Particularly with lots of shaking and jumping ;)
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