Category: Local History

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (on Monday): Thanksgiving for family history blessings

21 November, 2011

Randy Seaver at Genea-musings set this week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun exercise: a special Thanksgiving Edition. In Australia we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but that’s no reason why we shouldn’t give thanks for the wonderful people and information we encounter in our family history searching. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to: 1)  … More Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (on Monday): Thanksgiving for family history blessings

52 weeks of personal genealogy and history: Week 46: Politics not one of my favourite things

20 November, 2011

The topic for Week 46 in Amy Coffin’s and Geneablogger’s 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History series is: Politics. What are your childhood memories of politics? Were your parents active in politics? What political events and elections do you remember from your youth? If I was to go all Julie Andrews in Sound of Music, … More 52 weeks of personal genealogy and history: Week 46: Politics not one of my favourite things

Third Annual Great Genealogy Poetry Challenge to honour my father: The Trains by Judith Wright

19 November, 2011

Geniaus has brought to my attention, the Third Annual Great Genealogy Poetry Challenge initiated by Bill West. Bill has challenged genealogists world-wide to source a poem or music which is relevant to their family’s history as follows: 1. Find a poem by a local poet, famous or obscure, from the region one of your ancestors … More Third Annual Great Genealogy Poetry Challenge to honour my father: The Trains by Judith Wright

Surname Saturday meme: Names, Places and Most Wanted Faces

19 November, 2011

Geneabloggers set this Surname Saturday meme last Saturday but with family commitments last weekend and coming in late, I decided to wait until this week.  This meme is a revival of an old topic by Craig Manson of Geneablogie. How The Meme Works To participate, do the following at your own blog and post a link … More Surname Saturday meme: Names, Places and Most Wanted Faces

Remembrance Day: honouring the Australian-born Diggers with German ancestry

11 November, 2011

A couple of my family’s fallen Diggers, James Augustus Gavin and William Rudolph (Robert) Kunkel, were remembered in earlier posts. Today I want to focus on the service of the Australian Diggers in World War I who were descendants of the mid-19thcentury Dorfprozelten immigrants, five of whom gave their lives and another 17 served in … More Remembrance Day: honouring the Australian-born Diggers with German ancestry

52 weeks of personal genealogy and history: Week 45: High School: I’m a proud All Hallows’ girl

10 November, 2011

The topic for Week 45 in Amy Coffin’s and Geneablogger’s 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History series is: High School. Describe your middle and/or high school. Was it a large or small student body? Is the school still in existence today? How has it changed since you went there? Earlier this year I wrote … More 52 weeks of personal genealogy and history: Week 45: High School: I’m a proud All Hallows’ girl

Down the rabbit hole with McCorkindales and the tragedy of the steamer Pearl.

9 November, 2011

Monday’s task was to try to find my grandmother’s niece, Ida McCorkindale and siblings, in the newly released Commonwealth Electoral Rolls on Ancestry. I’ve looked at ERs before for her and her siblings with limited results and I was optimistic that with the wider range nation-wide she’d turn up. This time was both a win … More Down the rabbit hole with McCorkindales and the tragedy of the steamer Pearl.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Week 44: primary school, church, nuns and migrants

5 November, 2011

The topic for Week 44 in Amy Coffin’s and Geneablogger’s 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History series is: Elementary (Primary) School. Describe your grammar/elementary/primary school (or schools). Were they big or small? Are any of these schools still in existence today? If so, how have they changed since you went there? This is going to … More 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Week 44: primary school, church, nuns and migrants

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Week 43: Worst subjects

4 November, 2011

The topic for Week 43 in Amy Coffin’s and Geneablogger’s 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History series is: Worst School Subject. What was your worst or least favourite subject in school and why? The first thought that came into my mind with this topic, was “Chemistry”. Imagine my surprise when I went back to … More 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Week 43: Worst subjects

Reading The Northern Miner: human tragedy and stories

29 October, 2011

The other afternoon I was reading The Northern Miner newspaper from Charters Towers, an old mining town in North Queensland where one branch of my family had lived for some decades. I had ordered the microfilm in on an inter-library loan from the National Library of Australia to follow up some information on a friend’s … More Reading The Northern Miner: human tragedy and stories