Quite some time ago, I found a family story among the British Newspaper Archives on Find My Past. It’s taken me ages to get to it, but I finally transcribed the whole story[i]. It involved the prosecution of my great grandmother’s brother, William Sim aka Sym, for feloniously shooting Hugh Cowan on 12th July 1872. … More The Backrow Shooting Case 1872
It may be winter but it’s sunny and warm-ish in South-East Queensland right now – and it’s also less than a year until the Waves in Time 2019 Conference being held on the glorious Sunshine Coast from 24 to 26 May 2019. Behind the scenes a lot has been happening to ensure you have a … More Catch a Genealogy Wave in Queensland
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been something of an ostrich in recent times. Legalese makes my brain fry and my eyes cross so the implications of the GDPR or Global Data Protection Regulation have turned me into a cross-eyed ostrich. However, the internet’s boundaries are porous and we don’t always know where our … More Ostrich-ing the GDPR
In the aftermath of #Congress_2018 and as Caloundra Family History Research gears up for the 2019 Queensland Conference, Waves in Time, it seemed appropriate to re-post a story I wrote for the Worldwide Genealogists a few years back in 2015. I’d be interested in your views. To conference or not to conference? That is indeed … More To conference or not to conference
After all the anticipation and excitement, #Congress_2018 has come and gone in a flash. There was certainly a buzz around Sydney’s International Convention Centre as a record number of genealogists came together to learn, meet new genimates, and have fun. Amidst the whirl it’s sometimes difficult to appreciate just what you’ve learned until you take … More Having fun at Congress 2018
Amidst the celebration of St Patrick’s Day, I’ve been reflecting how big a deal this was when I was a child, thanks in part to the religious divide. We would wear green ribbons to school (like the modern charity-fundraisers), little shamrock buttons, and have St Patrick’s Day concerts with all the old Irish songs. On … More Proud of my Irish roots
It’s finally here – the event Down Under Genies have been excitedly anticipating – the AFFHO Congress 2018. And it’s going to be huge with 600 attendees – the largest ever held. I guess that reflects the pulling power of Sydney and the growth of our obsession hobby. This will be my 5th Congress (Brisbane … More Congress 2018: Coming ready or not
Tomorrow is International Women’s Day and Kiva has been aiming to lend to 10,000 women around the world. Women help to leverage their families’ security and progress by maintaining their own business, supporting their husbands in theirs, and helping to fun their children’s education. Our Kiva Genealogists for Families group has a tradition of lending … More Kiva’s 10,000 women
It’s that time of the year when those who are #NotatRootsTech feel the deprivation of fun, learning and seeing their genimates. This year there are attendees from many (40-50) countries as well as all of the states of the USA. Among them are many of my Facebook friends, blogging friends, and genimates I’ve met in … More Missing RootsTech 2018?
This blog reached its 8th blogiversary milestone during the past week. It seems appropriate to post on a topic that has been on my mind for many months. In recent times it seems I’m sometimes enjoying family history less, rather than more. On reflection, I think this is because I feel like I’m caught in … More Reflections on Slow Genealogy
Family history across the seas 