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

Open Thread Thursday: the benefits of blog reading and why I blog

18 November, 2011

Thomas McEntee of Geneabloggers fame has raised the question of why we blog and why so few family historians/genealogists follow one or more blogs. A recent survey by the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston revealed that blog reading and engagement is followed by less than 40% of genealogy researchers. There are a couple … More Open Thread Thursday: the benefits of blog reading and why I blog

My “Most Wanted” family member: who was James Sherry?

17 November, 2011

Geniaus raised the Saturday challenged initiated by Thomas McEntee On his Destination Austin Family Blog, which in turn revived Craig Manson of GeneaBlogie‘s meme from 2009. For today I’m going to focus on my “most wanted” family member and leave the surnames to Surname Saturday. Ever since I started family history all those years ago, one ancestor has provided me … More My “Most Wanted” family member: who was James Sherry?

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.

First sighting of my elusive Gavin family in Dublin, Ireland…alleluia!

7 November, 2011

For years I’ve been trying to locate something, anything about one of my families while they were still in Ireland. Despite evidence on their shipping records, their death certificates, obituaries etc, the Irish lives of Denis Gavin and his wife Ellen nee Murphy have remained elusive. The daughter who arrived with them on the Fortune … More First sighting of my elusive Gavin family in Dublin, Ireland…alleluia!

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