Some weeks ago Julie from Angler’s Rest challenged us all to join her in the February Photo Collage Festival. It seemed logical to combine this with the Family History Writing Challenge hosted by The Armchair Genealogist, Lynn Palermo which inspires us all to write at least 250 words a day throughout February. As I’d already … More Fab Feb Photo Collage Festival – the intro
Daniel (38) and Winifred O’Brien arrived in Queensland on board the Florentia on 29 April 1853. Accompanying them on the voyage were their children Mary 18, Ellen 16, Denis 13, Sarah 12, Hanora 9 and Daniel 2. The family came from Tipperary and on the immigration lists Daniel stated his parents were Denis and Mary … More Sepia Saturday: shops and genealogy mazes
The 2013 Australia Day challenge was initiated by Helen of the blog From Helen V Smith’s Keyboard. The challenge is to talk about our first ancestors to arrive in Australia, male or female, or perhaps both. My initial reaction hovered around my “swimmers” George Kunkel and his wife Mary O’Brien. While George may have been … More Australia Day 2013: The Kents from Sandon, Herts
This photo is among some we inherited from Mr Cassmob’s father, probably one he rescued while living in Rocky. We know it’s not one of his family because it’s from Queensland, probably in the 1880s, whereas his family were from Victoria <gasp! horror!>. It’s such a delightful photograph that it would be wonderful if someone … More Wordless Wednesday: mystery photo from Lundager Rockhampton
The other day I was reading Sharon’s post on Family Statistics. I’ve done statistics on groups of emigrants from Bavaria or Ireland but not my own family’s migration history. I’ve also “mapped” my ancestral places of origin but now how or when they came to Australia. Having realised this omission, and considering my first arrivals … More My family’s migration statistics
Back in 2009 I submitted a series of articles to the Queensland Family History Society’s Q150 project, Queensland Founding Families. If you have access to this book it is well worth looking at to see if there are any mentions of your pioneer families. I’ve decided to include my Dorfprozelten emigrant stories on this blog to … More Dorfprozelten emigrant stories
It’s funny how even a cryptic image like this Sepia Saturday prompt can stir one’s memories. After a brief “hmmm” moment my sub-conscious brought forth the connection. For me this image was a straight path back some fifty odd years. My image today has been chosen from Australia’s wonderful Trove site. While it dates to 1929, a … More Sepia Saturday 160: The Gabba
We all know the thrill of seeing an ancestor’s signature for the first time. Somehow it makes them seem that much closer to us. In her Heirlooms podcast Maria (from Genies Down Under) suggests leaving a sample of your handwriting for descendants, perhaps even some of your family history. Quite honestly this would be a … More Running Writing Heirlooms
This month I’ve been honoured, and very delighted, to have the Genies Down Under podcast 16, on researching offline, dedicated to my Beyond the Internet series, a lovely compliment to start the year! I was very chuffed when Maria asked if she could mention me and make reference to my posts. When you’ve put a lot … More Genies Down Under
A year or so ago I wrote how ice skating was one of my teenage pleasures. At the time I could find little about the origins of an ice rink that existed at Mowbray Park, South Brisbane in the 1960s. Those searches had left me unsatisfied so with today being Trove Tuesday it seemed only … More Trove Tuesday: Let’s go ice skating
Family history across the seas 