Family Tree Frog

Ashcombe gardens and maze Janine Adams from Organize Your Family History  challenges genealogists to do this regularly, and boy do I need this!  Basically - to quote Janine -  you commit to doing 30 minutes of genealogy research /organizing/whatever for 30 days in a row (i.e. the month of November). The “rules” of this challenge are very fluid. For example, you could decide that, for you, 30 minutes daily translates into 15 hours of activity over the course of the month.  So I'm going to try and do this for the next 30 days.  Wish me luck! What am I going to do? Well for a start - organize all the photos I took in Melbourne last month. What photos? Let's step back a bit and I will put this in context.   Last month, I finally made it to Melbourne - something I'd been planning all year. I had to postpone it once - originally scheduled for May, but all my nearest and dearest in Melbourne were going overseas then so we rescheduled to October. My primary ...

    Eye colour Have you ever thought about the eye colour you've inherited?  Robert and I were discussing this the other day.  Where did we get our blue eyes from?  I think I got them from my Dad on the Conner side (English).  My mother had hazel eyes.  After meeting the McLoughlins (Irish) a few years ago, I realise I could have got my blue eyes from them too.  And a bit of research into military records shows the Forfars (Scottish) and Carretts (English) could be candidates too.   Robert thinks he got his blue eyes from his paternal grandmother.  She was a HINDE (English) but her father was a DUNCAN (Scottish) so maybe it's from that side.  Robert's eyes are a pale blue which you can see in my daughter Isabel's eyes.  My eyes are a darker blue which my son inherited from me. I remember both my maternal grandfather Tom and my paternal grandmother Ethel had brown eyes.  I didn't meet the other two grandparents and am ...

Continuing the correspondence between Walter and Colin McKenzie.  If you've just tuned in you may want to read the introductory post here. Colin has written in pencil on the top of the letter "Recd. Monday 31st May" and next to Walter's date on the letter "Sunday" My Dear Colin I have just received your letter tonight and am so glad you have done so well in selling my land.  You have got a deposit that will save any trouble about the purchaser giving it up.  You say you sent a wire well I never got it. I got into Sydney all right and stayed at the Acadia (sic) Hotel which was a real decent place and it was the only place I could get. We sailed from Sydney about 4pm on Wednesday 19/5/20 and landed in Melbourne about midday on Friday. I have got a good cabin with a port hole in it which is more than a lot of people get and I have nice cabin mates in fact I have got the pick of the 3rd class cabins.  Our cabin is in the starboard side of the shi...