Family Tree Frog

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 d...

Can you guess where I am? Canberra..my old home town for the 14th Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry. It's a bit chillier than Brisbane...but nicely so. Yesterday I attended 7 sessions. Josh Taylor was first up with a keynote address. Josh is the President of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the Data Strategy Manager US and Canada for findmypast.  What an engaging speaker he is. He spoke about how to engage 21sters in family history. The answer? Share your stories. Make it social. Next session was with Carole Riley about following the gold. I suspect that my ancestors were at the diggings in some capacity...either digging or profiteering from those who were digging.I learned the importance of investigating place names and going wider in your research rather than just your direct ancestors. Cora Num's session on workplace choices was pre-recorded due to last minute misfortune and Cora's inability to attend in person. W...

Very recently I caught up with a new-found cousin.  We've started exchanging information - as cousins do.  I sent her some stuff with a bit of an apology....."Found this the other day, not sure if it's ours...." - that sort of thing. "This" happened to be some items from Griffith's Valuations.  "What are Griffith's Valuations?" my cousin replied. Right then, better get my facts straight hadn't I? What? The Griffith's Valuation of Ireland 1847-1864 is an invaluable resource and census substitute because it lists where people lived and what property they held.  This valuation was based on the productive capacity of land and the potential rent of buildings.  It is arranged by county, barony, poor law union, civil parish and townland.  It lists every household head and occupier of land in Ireland.  This site offers a family name search and a place name search.  There is free access to d...

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...