Do we under-estimate the significance of serendipity in our research: those felicitous timings of people, place or discoveries? Or do our ancestors really want us to know something and make sure we find it? Many years ago, one of my relations told me that my great-grandparents, Duncan McCorkindale and Annie Sim, had lost twins as … More Serendipity meets Genea-generosity
Do you ever have the feeling that your more distant branches on the family tree are rather like Swiss cheese, full of holes with tenuous structure? Please bear with me while I think online – I’d be interested in any feedback other genimates can offer. I’ve been revisiting my McCorkindale (aka McCorquodale and many variants) … More Thinking “out loud” online
This week’s Sepia Saturday focuses on old books and the treasures (photographic or otherwise) found in them. I don’t think I’ve ever found photos tucked away in old books but we did find a group photo behind another picture from my Grandparents’ house and I talked about that in my Moustaches and Mystery post recently. … More Sepia Saturday 210: Award-winning relatives
“Some days are diamonds” as John Denver once sang. This morning I received an email from my 3rd cousin, Sheila, in Canada. We share common ancestors Duncan and Annie McCorquodale (various and many spellings). I had sent Sheila a link to an amusing parking sign for McCorkindales and she repaid me with a gold mine! … More Some days are diamonds for Cairndow
What an opportune topic for Sepia Saturday 187! Regular readers will know I’ve only recently returned from interstate where I’ve been helping my mother to move. In the process we’ve unearthed a number of liturgical memorabilia. The first find, which I hadn’t seen before, was a New Testament given to my grandmother when she left … More Sepia Saturday 187: Prayer books, bibles and missals
Why we pursue our family history is a common question among geneabloggers and other genealogists. I’ve reflected on this over the years and have never had an entirely satisfactory response to that question. Why I continue with it is so much easier: the search continues and the questions remain. I can’t simply say “my family … More Fab Feb Photo Collage Festival: Day 7 – Grandparents and family history
I don’t usually participate in the Saturday Sepia posts as I’ve often felt I don’t have enough suitable old photos. However the moment I saw the prompt for #158 I knew I had to take part (even though the photo has been hand tinted). After all it did feature Scottish pipers of which I have more … More Saturday Sepia on Sunday – Pipers
I am participating in the A to Z 2012 blog challenge throughout April. My theme is a genealogical travelogue or a travel genealogue (I’m not sure which). My goal is to hand down the stories of the important places in our family history, and some travel memories, to our family. S is for Sandon (Hertfordshire, … More S slips into Sandon and Strachur
Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun last weekend was Two Degrees of Separation. Obviously I’m not having much fun on Saturday nights that it takes me to Tuesday to respond to this challenge, which rather intrigued me. So, how far back in time could I go with my ancestors by using an ancestor I knew … More Two degrees of ancestral separation
I’m not a great one for lists and New Year’s resolutions so I didn’t formalise what I wanted to do at the start of 2011. This may have been a mistake because there have been times when I felt I’ve swirled along without a clear direction whereas I’m usually fairly good at being task-oriented when … More 2011: the Genie year in review: SLOBR
Family history across the seas 