Family history across the seas

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been catching up from the family excitement and visits in December and January. Then I discovered that some of the parish registers for the Catholic Archdiocese of Würzburg had been released online at Matricula, so I’ve been busy straining my brain, and my eyes, exploring the records for my ancestral village of Dorfprozelten.

ROOTSTECH 2025

But there’s to be no rest ahead, as the annual RootsTech conference is being held in Salt Lake City from 6 to 9 March – just two weeks away! While most Aussies won’t be able to attend in person, we have a great opportunity to hear a range of free presentations online either “live” or recorded. Even better, the who experience is free – no registration cost, flights, insurance or hotel fees!

All that you need to do is sign into your free Family Search account (or create one), check out the offerings available online, and create your own schedule of the talks that interest you.

I’ve been to two RootsTech conferences – in 2015 and 2017 – and they are mind-boggling in scale, but at least with online availability you don’t have to miss out on all the fun and learning. If you have a family tree online with Family Search you can also see whether you have any “Relatives at RootsTech”. The entry point is https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/

CONNECTIONS 2025

Probably even more exciting for those of us Down Under is the triennial AFFHO Congress for Australian and New Zealand family historians from 21 to 23 March. This year’s event has the theme of “Connections” and that will certainly be a high point as many of us are excited to connect with each other again. It’s going to be so fun to see many of my genimates again in person!

Connections 2025 is being hosted by the Genealogical Society of Queensland and is being held in southern Brisbane.

The conference program has so much to offer with a diversity of topics along the three themes of:

Diaspora – Migration in all its forms

Looking ahead – what are the opportunities

Local History and its impact on our research

You can see the program here:  https://www.connections2025.org.au/conference-program

Or https://www.connections2025.org.au/_files/ugd/c37eaa_1d80259f3bf94e76a001a2f1a7fd5bf4.pdf

HATS, BEADS and RIBBONS

My geminate, Jill aka GeniAus, asked what hats we might be wearing at Connection 2025. Jill has also offered a great prep-list for those attending.

My own “hats” will be:

Learner: this is why I attend conferences. To update my skills, challenge myself and expand my knowledge. To this end, I’ve booked myself into two of the Master Classes, one with Judy G Russell on Ethics (a topic I’m very keen about) and Hamish Maxwell-Stewart’s Guide to Digitising the Past, which I feel sure will be inspiring and challenging.

Speaker: I will be speaking about the emigrants from the village of Dorfprozelten in Bavaria and how they made their new homes in Australia. “Title: Leaving home, Finding home: Bavaria to New South Wales and Queensland. Synopsis: This presentation will explore what happens when a large cluster of families and individuals (66 adults and children) leave a small Bavarian village for the distant eastern shores of New South Wales.”

I’m pleased that I’m scheduled to speak on Friday afternoon as that means I can engage fully with other talks afterwards.

Genimate: As I said, I’m really looking forward to catching up with “old” friends and making new ones.

Blogger: I’m making no promises about blogging in detail, but again connecting with other bloggers is always a highlight for me. Like Jill, I’ll be wearing my blogger beads – do come and say g’day.

Social Media: Jill has asked us to use BlueSky as our social media app as it’s become a hub for genealogists worldwide. My handle is @cassmob. The link sign on my sidebar or the blue butterfly icon below will take you to @cassmob.bsky.social

I look forward to meeting you there.

• Bluesky