Sepia Saturday this week is all about imposing buildings and a very ladylike game of tennis. It seems apt therefore that it immediately brought to my mind, the Catholic High School I attended with its emphasis on ladylike behaviour – sadly I’ve let that fall by the wayside over the years. This photo was taken … More Sepia Saturday: Of schools and tennis
One of the things I like about Sepia Saturday is that it makes you think about how the image might relate to your family’s stories. This week’s image just didn’t ring bells for me even though there are farmers on my tree. It took until Sunday for me to have a lightbulb moment. I may … More Sepia Saturday: Railway maintenance
This past weekend’s Sepia Saturday theme brought to mind a story I’ve been intending to write up about a prize winning racer in my Kunkel family. Family discoveries can come from all sorts of cryptic clues. They may even reveal hidden stories – if we’re lucky. One such came to light over great grandson of … More Jack Bishop: A champion bike racer
This post was inspired by this week’s Sepia Saturday theme of “I am asking you to feature your tributes to all of those who are keeping us safe at the moment by featuring your old photographs of carers of all types and all times”. Admittedly it’s now more Sepia Monday but I wanted to include … More Spanish Flu and Ithaca, Brisbane
Reading for me is like food and water – an essential experience in life, and one I can’t imagine being without. I’m so grateful to my dad for sharing his love of reading with me. Not because we shared books but because I saw his example of reading being a pleasure even though, in retrospect, … More Of Reading and Religion
One of the things I’m inordinately and illogically proud of is that I am a true maroon Queenslander. All but one of my immigrant ancestors arrived in Queensland and remained here, being part of the communities that built up the colony and then the state. Queen Victoria signed the Letters Patent to make Queensland a … More Queenslander!
Without a doubt, we all owe a debt of gratitude to our immigrant ancestors, because without their courage either we would not be here or our lives would be completely different. There are many characteristics we might associate with them: integrity, inspiration, intelligence, independence or initiative. Unless they were “doctors, lawyers, or Indian chiefs”, as … More Inspiration and Influence of Immigrants
One of the most important things we can be grateful for is the gift of good health. Not everyone is so fortunate, but my DNA health inheritance has been predominantly healthy. Those health issues which I have had to deal with have been responsive to good medical care – how very grateful we can be … More Gratitude for Health
It’s funny how when writing about ancestors in the past, it seems easy to be objective and base stories on discovered facts. When writing about more recent people and events, the concern is a lack of objectivity. Having said that, I’ll continue with the story of Dad’s working life which will inevitably be from my … More A numbertaker? Say what?!
We’re not long home from a week of genealogy indulgence…what’s not to like about genie-adventures? Especially when they take you on a road trip! First up was two days at the Unlock the Past Roadshow in Brisbane with Scottish/Irish guru Chris Paton, German expert, Dirk Weissleder and local speakers. Learning new strategies and sources for … More Genea-learning and touring
Family history across the seas 