Bingo!

 

 

How are you going with your Family History Bingo card for August, National Family History Month? One more day to go and I had hoped to achieve them all but some are still languishing.

There have been so many great posts this week and I was particularly impressed by Jill Ball's bucket list, Pauleen's questions about succession and Claire's take on where she was and what was happening during the Census at various times in her life.

I've had an extraordinarily busy week with babysitting for four days, bookclub one night, bridge another night, lunch with Dad and his partner for their birthdays and a sewing workshop.  Not much family history got done let me tell you!

And so today, I vowed to make a start on a few fronts

Plan a Research Trip

This has not happened.

Record an oral history interview 

Nor has this.

 

Cap Badge for Navy - Edwin Conner born 1869 Portsea, England died Sydney Harbour 1927

Preserve a family heirloom

I spoke to Dad today about plans for Father's Day this Sunday.  We agreed Sunday is likely to be way too busy to try and book a restaurant so we are just going to get together for morning tea on Saturday which will be perfect.  Following on from our fun afternoon testing out the Shotbox and its capabilities and photographing his grandfather's medals, I thought it might be wise to get them out of a box and perhaps into something like a shadow box or framed display where they could be seen and appreciated.  He agreed and said we should also have some kind of didactics underneath each medal with a bit of family history - nothing too expansive but enough that people understand why they have been kept.  I'm excited about this plan and have found a couple of places that would seem to be able to help us.  

There is this place or this place.  Of course, if you have used somewhere and found it satisfactory please let me know.  It would need to be in Brisbane.

Order a certificate

My certificates really are driving me nuts at the moment.  I am still operating from a handwritten checklist and need to transfer this to an Excel spreadsheet toute-de-suite.  My study looks a right mess now as I have sorted through all the filing to be done to make sure I don't re-order a certificate I have ordered previously.  I am also having problems with the lever arch folders I keep the certificates in.  The clasp keeps going out of alignment which is super annoying.  Maybe I need to think of a different way of storing them e.g. something like this at Goulds.  I'm going to have to start a Xmas wish list, I can tell.  Perhaps I really need to buy the most expensive Lever Arch File and see if that makes a difference.  Maybe there is a reason the cheap ones are cheap!

In the meantime I have ordered the death certificate for my 3rd great grand-mother Isabella SINCLAIR nee BIRRELL from Melbourne registry office.  I would have order certificates from NSW Registry Office but with the lockdown they are experiencing significant delays. I was able to order a digital certificate immediately and discovered the following.

Isabella Sinclair died 14th January 1891 at 37 Best (or West) Street in the City of Fitzroy.  She was aged 74 years and died of Intestinal Obstruction.  Dr Fox saw her on 13th January.  Her father was listed as James Burrell (Farmer).  Christian name of Mother not known.  Maiden surname Menzies.  She was buried on 16th January 1891 at Melbroune Cemetery certified by by W.G. Apps.  The Minister was F. Usher and the witness was L.J. Apps.  She was born in Fifeshire in Scotland and had been in Victoria 37 years.  She was married in Invercargill Scotland at about the age of 24 to Peter Sinclair.  Her children were listed as Isabella about 36, Annie about 34, Margaret, 32, Helen, 30, James 28 and Emma aged 26.  

The new and interesting piece of information from that certificate is that she was from Fifeshire which I did not know before.  But can I find anything on Scotland's people that is near the mark?  No.  

 I feel there is a clue (but it could be a red herring) in that there is a Donald BELL living as part of the Isabella (nee Birrell) and Peter Sinclair household in Inverary in 1841.  

 

Photo from Flickr by Sandy Stevenson Cemetery Upper Lower Largo East Neuk of Fife  https://flic.kr/p/bvH5Lj

 

I found a James Birrell who married an Agnes BELL in Largo in 1813 which would fit in with Isabella's birth which was meant to be around 1817.  An Agnes Bell dies in Wemyss in 1823 but there is no age or relations given to determine if it is the same one.  There is a James Birrell who married a Margaret Gibb in 1823.  Are they the same James Birrell?  In the 1841 census James Birrell (married to Margaret) is listed as a salmon fisher.  (There is an account of the salmon stakenet fishery in this free ebook.    I also found this blog which bears further investigation.

 

The children of James and Margaret have similar names to Isabella Sinclair's children's names.

The children of James and Margaret

David

Ann

James

Isabella

Janet

Margaret 

Elizabeth

Helen

The children of Isabella and Peter Sinclair

Isabella

Annie

Margaret

Helen

James

Emma

I suppose they are reasonably common names but that's the closest I can get.  If anyone has any suggestions on other research I could do I would welcome them.

Well this is my last post for #NFHM.  Thank you everyone who has participated so enthusiastically and a big thank you to the lovely Chris Goopy who collated all the blog posts for us so we could find them easily here.  I'll announce the winner of the quiz competition at the end of the week :)

Don't forget there's a discount on QFHS membership this month for new members will you?

And don't forget to register for the NSW Family History Conference next month here.