Alex from Family Tree Frog blog has set us a genealogy challenge for National Family History Month in August, themed around Australian novels. Week 1 is “Poor Man’s Orange”. What do FANS and angels have in common? Let me take you to Surry Hills in Sydney – a not-so-pleasant area of Sydney back in the … More An Irish family in Surry Hills c1880s
Alona from Lone Tester blog has set us this geneameme for National Family History Month. The ground rules are as follows: What places do your ancestors come from? Using the alphabet how many letters can you name ancestral places for? Some you will no doubt know well, some you may not … at least not … More Ancestral Places Geneameme
Over the years I’ve often written about battles and family members who have fought in them. Today is a little more personal. As a young bride, I went to the then-Territory of Papua New Guinea with my newly-minted husband. Nothing all that strange in that perhaps, as many young women made the same migration for … More Monday Memories, NFHM and Milne Bay
Sleuthing through Trove yesterday for articles on courtesy or good manners, it was interesting to see the results: a mere 46,061 containing the phrase “good manners” and 5391 including both “good manners” and courtesy. Plainly these issues were prominent discussion points over the decades. So today I thought I’d share some of these with you. … More Trove Tuesday: Good Manners
Many people these days are involved with scrap booking or scrapping as it’s sometimes known. They use the craft for all sorts of purposes from cards to travel and family history. While I’m quite visual and like crafts, it’s just a step too far for me to add another hobby to my family history obsession. … More Monday Memories: Scrap books
This week’s Sepia Saturday theme was a “gimme”. I’ve had this photo strip for ages but have never used it because I felt it made my grandfather look a little gormless. However it’s a perfect match this week, so here is Dinny strolling through Brisbane city probably in the 1920s or 1930s (the car would … More Sepia Saturday: Strolling in the City
I’ve recently come to realise that one aspect of our family’s traditional life has faded into obscurity, due to a blend of improved circumstances, general disorganisation, and a social trend to eating out in cafes and restaurants. In our case, I suspect that it was the move to Darwin’s hot humid climate that contributed as … More Monday Memories: Weekend picnics
From the Highlands of Papua New Guinea to the coast, the people celebrate culture and make merry with dances and traditional costumes. For some reason these warriors from Wahgi came to mind when I looked at the Sepia Saturday merry makers. They were at the enormously popular Goroka Show in, I think, 1972. Seeing thousands … More Sepia Saturday PNG Merry Makers
Today is another Sepia Saturday– Monday Memories combined post. The theme this week is sleeping babies, reading and related memories. The image prompt shows a woman reading quietly while her baby sleeps tranquilly. Most mothers would roll their eyes at this, thinking of how tired and busy they were with small children. Perhaps I was … More Tura Lura Lura – hush little bubba
How could I resist this wonderful Sepia Saturday prompt which had passed me by until I read Jollett Etc’s post today? The koala is, of course, a key icon of Australia – they look cuddly and cute, even if all they do is sleep much of the day and between-times munch on a gum leaf … More Sepia Saturday: Aussie royalty – the koala
Family history across the seas 