G’day cobbers, how’re you going? Hope you’re feeling grouse. Australia Day is coming up so it’s time for another dinkum-Aussie challenge. Since quite a few of us are gearing up for the next Unlock the Past cruise, I thought I’d make it a quick and easy geneameme for those who wish to participate, eh.
Let’s see how deep your roots go into our Aussie soil. Do you have Australian Royalty?
If for you Australia Day is Survival Day, tell us your family’s story and show up our Johnny-come-lately status.
The geneameme comes in two parts: one to test whether your family is ridgey-didge and the second to show us how Australia runs in your veins, without any flag-waving and tattoo-wearing. Shout it out, be proud and make everyone wish they lived in this wide brown land of ours.
Feel free to add and subtract and even add a short story at the end. The world’s your oyster, so have a go! C’mon Aussie C’mon C’mon.
CLIMBING YOUR FAMILY’S GUM TREE
My first ancestor to arrive in Australia was:
I have Australian Royalty (tell us who, how many and which Fleet they arrived with):
I’m an Aussie mongrel, my ancestors came to Oz from:
Did any of your ancestors arrive under their own financial steam?
How many ancestors came as singles?
How many came as couples?
How many came as family groups?
Did one person lead the way and others follow?
What’s the longest journey they took to get here?
Did anyone make a two-step emigration via another place?
Which state(s)/colony did your ancestors arrive?
Did they settle and remain in one state/colony?
Did they stay in one town or move around?
Do you have any First Australians in your tree?
Were any self-employed?
What occupations or industries did your earliest ancestors work in?
Does anyone in the family still follow that occupation?
Did any of your ancestors leave Australia and go “home”?
NOW IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU
What’s your State of Origin?
Do you still live there?
Where was your favourite Aussie holiday place as a child?
Any special place you like to holiday now?
Share your favourite spot in Oz:
Any great Aussie adventure you’ve had?
What’s on your Australian holiday bucket list?
How do you celebrate Australia Day?
I’ve just realised that entirely coincidentally I came up with 26 questions for 26 January…how bizarre is that!
Feel free to post your responses any time in the coming week and I’ll collate them on the Australia Day holiday. Please leave a message about your post in the comments (WP.com doesn’t like linky lists). Otherwise use twitter tag #ozday2014. Thanks for joining in mate.
Thanks to Rebel Hand for inspiring me for the midnight inspiration to set up this challenge, following in the 2013 steps of Helen Smith and Shelley from Twigs of Yore in 2012 and 2011. ( Psst, there’s still scope for someone else to add another, non-geneameme, challenge for the day).
Family history across the seas 
I’m struggling to keep up with my own blog challenge and getting organised for the genealogy cruise but I can’t go past a geneameme and I’ve participated in previous Australia Day challenges – so count me in!
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I know what you mean Shauna…I had one of your themes to write today but then this started whirring in my head. Shouldn’t take too long to complete.
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Sounds like fun, hard to ignore the challenge. So will have to give it a go
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Great Diane…look forward to seeing what you write.
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Hi Pauleen here is the link to mine http://www.shaunahicks.com.au/australia-day-challenge-2014/ and now I can have some lunch and a swim! A great challenge thanks.
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Excellent – we could have a State of Origin competition as well with this challenge 😉 Enjoy the swim…beach I assume.
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Hi Pauleen, my contribution is at http://ancestorchaser.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/australia-day-challenge-2014-cmon-aussie.html.
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Pauleen, you’re amazing! Count me in. Mind you, as a mere pom, I’ll have to think about my answers to part two… 😉
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It’s all your fault of course Frances, after that midnight question. I’m sure you can come up with some answers to Part 2: we’ll let in the “odd” Pom or two 😉 you do after all have royalty so deference is required.
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Hi Pauleen, here is my contribution: http://www.exploringfamily.com/australia-day/australia-day-challenge-2014-aussie/
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Thanks for joining in Maureen…Look forward to reading your responses.
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Hi Pauline
Am new to your blog. Cannot resist quizzes like this. Not sure where to put my summary? 🙂
My blogs don’t have a place for this.
Jenni
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Jenny, if you want to put it into a post I could either copy it on to mine, with reference to your blogs, or refer people to the comment.
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Pauleen, my post is here. http://genealogymatters2me.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/australia-day-challenge-2014-cmon-aussie.html
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Thanks for participating Sharon -I’m off to have a read 🙂
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Great idea. I’m not remotely Australian (being from that other Country your cricket team love to annihilate at the moment) though my parents seriously considered emigrating back in the late sixties before I was born. Oh, so close. 🙂
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Almost but not quite Pete 🙂 hey, so we’re on a winning streak right now, your time will come again 😉
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We can hope!
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I’m working on it – a good (and timely) way to convert my blog back to a geneablog after my travels.
And a good way to prepare for the geneacruise.
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Great Jackie..what adventures you’ve had lately. I look forward to hearing about them while cruising.
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Hi Cass, looking forward to meeting you too.
Here’s my BIG response to your BIG geneameme:
http://jackievanbergen.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/australia-day-challenge-2014.html
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Here is my challenge blog post Pauleen, it took me a while to do this as a lot of the questions I’d never thought about before. Thanks for setting such a thought provoking challenge!!
http://blog.kyliesgenes.com/2014/01/australia-day-challenge-2014/
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Thanks for joining in Kylie…glad you enjoyed it. Originally I thought it was quick and easy then realised it had a few “curlers” in there. It’s fascinating to see the differences in family migration experiences.
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Mine is now here:
http://jenniib-blog.blogspot.com.au/p/blog-page.html
Great idea. Interesting to tally up the ancestors along these questions. Thanks for putting this up Pauline.
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Glad you could join in Jenni. The questions were off the top of my head, and some of my own stats surprised me. Off to look at yours now.
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I have played along in part – http://anglersrest.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/australia-day-challenge-2014-cmon-aussie.html
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Glad you could join in Julie, since you’re an honorary Aussie!
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Hi Pauleen, finally finished mine. http://familystoriesphotographsandmemories.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html
Have a good Australia Day!!
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Thanks Diane…good to read your story and will comment there (read last night, but not commented) Happy Australia Day to you also.
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Here’s mine!
http://genealogically-speaking.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/australia-day-challenge-2014.html
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Thanks Caitlin. I enjoyed reading your post though I’m a bit horrified you support the Blues!!
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Well, my friend, I didn’t think I’d make it before the day, but here it is… I have cheated a little and left a few things to be added as I can, so hope that I’ll be forgiven for that. You do like to make me think… all comes from memory, so if there are ‘minor’ changes later on, remember I told you so. I’m looking forward to reading all the others..
http://thatmomentintime-crissouli.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/australia-day-challenge-2014-cmon.html
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I think this kind of cheating is a reasonable approach. I often go back and add to stories if something strikes me. After all I’m also recording the stories for my family. So pleased you could join in, as you’ve added another layer of immigrant experience.
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I think a bit of ‘cheating’ is a perfectly Aussie kind of approach – laid back – she’ll be right!
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🙂
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Thank you Pauleen. I haven’t been blogging or researching for a while (yeah too much work) but I really enjoyed bringing together the information that I have into one post. Thank you and Happy Australia Day. Sharon
http://shazlex.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/australia-day-challenge-2014.html
P.S I decided against going on the Genealogy Cruise this year (went last year) but now I am regretting that decision!
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Welcome back to blogging.
Shame you aren’t coming on the cruise – would have been good to meet you and find that family link that just must be there somewhere!
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You read my mind Jackie!
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Yes I’m sorry you’re not coming too Sharon…never mind there’s only so much time and $$ to go around. Family history, blogging and life don’t always fit together well…the latter tends to get in the way. Never mind, there’s always another day.
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We WILL meet one day (that includes you too Jackie)
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That’s what I’m looking forward to most Sharon…meeting people, and also learning. What fun! We’ll meet one day.
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Here’s mine, Pauleen, late-ish for you but only just the 26th here!
Thanks again for setting such an interesting challenge.
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No problems Frances, I’ll be putting it all together tomorrow, the public holiday…gives people some breathing space.
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You’re a star.
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Finally finished Pauleen – here is my contribution
http://luckyllama.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/australia-day-challenge-2014-climbing.html
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Thanks Linda. Off to have a look in a minute.
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Hi Pauline – thanks for the challenge. It was really useful for me to organise all the bits of information. One of the things I set out to do was to know all our ancestors who came to Australia and when they came – still a work in progress. My response http://ayfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/australia-day-climbing-our-family-gum.html
Happy Australia Day
Regards
Anne
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Thanks Anne, I enjoyed how you responded to the questions so I’m glad it was useful to your own research as well. So much for my thoughts it was a quick meme 😉
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I love Anne’s graphics! What a great idea.
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Yes they were great weren’t they! I was especially interested in how she had immigrants across so many years.
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Count me in!
http://twigsofyore.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/australia-day-2014-climbing-family-gum.html
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Thanks Shelley- look forward to reading it!
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I have updated my summary to include the journey duration. Longest seems to be a 13 month trading trip my great great grandfather Henry William Wardle took as crew member of the cargo ship Avondale (430 tons) from Gothenburg Sweden to Port Melbourne, via South Africa, trading along the way. He’d been at sea since he was 13 and arrived in Melbourne at the age of 30.
The other journeys range from 121 days (another crew member) down to 50 days in 1921.
Very interesting analysis exercise. (I love stats)
It’s here: http://jenniib-blog.blogspot.com.au/p/blog-page.html
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Thanks for the update Jenni….13 months!! That has to be a record I would think. I’ve been surprised how the length was sometimes longer despite it being a later journey…shows the significance of the weather.
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Thanks Jill. I like gum tree as an Aussie tree term. Often for my own tree, I compare it to a Moreton Bay Fig.
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