Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2017...

The end of 2017 has arrived, and as this will be my last post for the year it’s the perfect time to take a look back over what I’ve accomplished genealogy-wise during the past 12 months. Personally I wouldn’t say I’ve done a lot, which is why I love GeniAus (aka Jill Ball’s) Accentuate the Positive Geneameme.  Not only is it a wonderful way to review your past year of genealogy, but it’s done in way so that you don’t focus on the ‘I didn’t get to do this … or look for that’, but rather focus on what you DID do. Previously Jill has used the following words as an intro to the Accentuate the Positive Geneameme, which explains it well: “I feel that a lot of my geneablogging friends are too hard on themselves; several have reported on their successes this year but quite a number have lamented that they haven’t achieved as much as they set out to do or that they haven’t blogged with the frequency they envisaged.  I invite you to take part in this activity by responding to the following statements/questions in a blog post. Write as much or as little as you want. Once you have done so please share your post’s link in a comment on this post or to me via social media.” As this applies to research that I’ve done in 2017, and life has been rather busy with little research done throughout the year, my responses are less than I’d like, but still some is better than none. Accentuate the Positive 1.  An elusive ancestor I found was … This would have to be my (yet-to-be-100%-proven-but-95%-sure) convict , William Cosgrove. ‘My’ William Cosgrove turns up in Adelaide, South Australia, and...

The Heirloom Geneameme

It’s geneameme time, but I can’t take any credit for this one as it began by me sharing post from The Family Curator blog, on “Top 5 Family Heirlooms They Actually Want to Inherit” … if you haven’t read it, take a moment to do so, as it’s a great post. Anyway a comment on that from fellow geneablogger Jen of the Conversations with Grandma blog said … “An idea for a Geneameme Alona? “Five heirlooms in my family”? Or similar.” So wallah … we have a new geneameme. For the “Heirloom Geneameme” simply pick 5 of your family heirlooms, and write a post about them. Sounds easy? I found it harder than I expected. Well firstly let’s define what an heirloom is. The dictionary says it’s “a valuable object that has belonged to a family for several generations.” Now those who’ve been following me for a while, will know that one side of my family are hoarders. But in the good ‘everything is an heirloom sense’, not in the ‘junk piled to the ceiling sense’, so we have a house FULL of heirlooms. The other side  of my family … well, we have a couple of photos. Anyway having so many, certainly makes it challenging to choose … and I changed my mind about fifty two times (before, during and even after writing this). But here are five of my family’s heirlooms (in no particular order) … RANDELL FAMILY BIBLE This bible was owned by my great grandparents Ella Alice Sinkinson and John Beavis ‘JB’ Randell who married in 1899. It is huge, it is heavy (I’d guess about 15kgs), and is starting to fall apart … so great care is needed when handling it. The publication date of...

My Own Ancestral Places Geneameme...

What places do your ancestors come from? That was the question I asked when I created Ancestral Places geneameme. And I know it’s taken me a while, but I finally got around to doing my own response to the geneameme. But as there’s no time limit, that’s not a problem. The idea is to list places that are relevant to your ancestors. Most of those listed below are birth places, with a few residences, and a few places of death listed as well. And apparently I have no places for X and Z as yet … maybe one day! Anyway compiling the list has made me realise that I REALLY (and I mean REALLY) must get to entering information from “THE PILE”, as I know I have more precise details for many, but they’re not entered into my genealogy program. So I do need to take (or should I say “make”) some time to work my way through the giant pile of unentered paperwork. But it’s been a great exercise to do, and it’s interesting seeing multiple families from the same place – often from different lines. So it makes you wonder, did they know each other? I’ve chosen to include a number of Mr Lonetester’s branches here as well as my own, even though I’m not actively researching them … I still felt they should be mentioned, so did so. A Antwerp, Belgium (Godschall-Johnson) B Babington, Somerset, England (Richardson) Bere Ferres, Devon, England (Treffry) Berry Pomeroy, Devon, England (Randell) Bunbury, Western Australia, Australia (Elphick) C Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia (MacDonald) Cranford, Northamptonshire, England (Robbins, Holland) Cudlee Creek, South Australia, Australia (Hannaford, Kelly) D Dover, Morris Country, New Jersey, USA (Trewartha) Durham, England (Todd) E Epping Forest, London, England...

The Ancestral Places Geneameme...

As family historians we come across all sorts of interesting people and places during our research. In this geneameme I wanted to focus on the places. The countries, the states, the counties or provinces, as well as the parishes, the towns and villages. Our ancestors have a connection to these places. 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 yet (see my letter ‘I’ and ‘N’ examples below). I still have more research to do on those lines. It doesn’t have to be where your ancestors were born, but it does have to be a place that they were associated with. For instance they lived or worked in that place. Name the letter, followed by the place (town/parish/county/state/or country), and the surname/s associated with that place. I’ll be surprised if anyone can list places for all A-Z, but you never know. And if you want to double up on letters, that’s not a problem, go right ahead … after all this really is a cousin bait list detailing the surnames and places your ancestors are from, that you’re researching. EXAMPLE ENTRIES: C – Cudlee Creek, South Australia, Australia (Kelly, Hannaford) H – Helsingfors/Helsinki, Finland (Winter) I – Ireland (McGrath?) K – Kenton, Devon, England (Randell) L – Lancaster, Lancashire, England (Hayhurst) M – Modbury, South Australia, Australia (Phillips) N – Netherlands (Beecken) So geneabloggers, the challenge has been set, who’s up for the Ancestral Places Geneameme. Feel free to join...

Five Faves Geneameme

It was a few weeks ago that Jill Ball (aka GeniAus) put the word out on her latest genealogy blog challenge, the “Five Faves Geneameme“. She writes … “To participate in this meme simply pen a blog post sharing details of five books written by others you have found most useful in your geneactivities. Use the above graphic to decorate your post if you wish. Please let me know via a comment on this post or via another form of social media when your post is done and I will add it to a compilation that I will publish on this blog in early June.”   May was a busy month for me, so it didn’t happen. But I’ve decided to take up the challenge, albeit a little late. But better late than never. I am a booklover. I love books and I love libraries, not to mention secondhand bookshops too. And I will confess I’ve never got into the whole ebook thing. I much prefer a paper book to read. Anyway others who’ve already taken up the challenge found narrowing it down to “just” five titles is really hard. While I don’ t have 1000s of books like some do, my collection would be in the 100s, and they range from reference books (reading old handwriting, lists of old diseases etc), battalion histories, family histories, histories of towns and counties, books with transcripts, royalty, heraldry, placename books, books of old maps and more … including diaries! So thinking about those that I use the most … here’s my list: BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF SOUTH AUSTRALIANS 1836-1885 Compiled by the South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society Anyone who is researching ancestors in South Australia prior to 1885 NEEDS to use...

What’s on Your Genealogy Bucket List?...

Every year about this time, I am reminded of one thing that’s on my ‘genealogy bucket list’ that I haven’t done, and that’s go to Who Do You Think You Are? Live in England. It does claim to be the world’s biggest genealogy event, however that title now goes to RootsTech. But still at over 10,000 attendees, it’s a giant event that is deserving of second-place. And one that I do hope to get to someday. So while I was thinking about genealogy bucket lists, I came across “The Bucket List GeneaMeme” created by Jill Ball back in 2012. I am always up for a good geneameme, but for whatever reason I didn’t take part in this back then, so I’m playing along now. 1. The genealogy conference I would most like to attend is … PARTLY DONE. RootsTech was always top of this list, which I have been to three times now. But Who Do You Think You Are? Live is a close second, which I’m still to do. So that one’s still on the “bucket list”. 2. The genealogy speaker I would most like to hear and see is … PARTLY DONE. This is a tough one, as I have seen and heard so many great speakers, though I know there would be so many more that I haven’t heard yet. So my answer is more along the lines of those I know, that I’d love to sit and listen to all day: Judy G. Russell, Paul Milner, Thomas MacEntee, Helen V. Smith, Shauna Hicks, Chris Paton. I have heard from others that Blaine Bettinger and David Rencher are also incredibly great speakers and very inspiring. So hopefully one day I’ll get to hear them in person....

So. Much. More. Research. To. Do!...

It is said that ‘genealogy never ends’. You get one generation back, then you suddenly double the number of people to research on the following one. Not to mention following the the siblings, and the side branches as well. So it’s true … it doesn’t. And anyone who says it does, should take part in this “Ancestor Tally” or “Ancestor Tracking” geneameme which I’ve seen on a few blogs now (Twisted Twigs on Gnarled Branches, and Michael Dyer’s Family Sleuther), so I thought I’d play along and see what my 15 or so years of on-off research shows. In short it shows that I need to spend a whole lot more time researching! So the idea is to count up the number of direct line ancestors you can identify going back10 generations (starting from yourself). So I sat down, printed out a 10 generation ancestral  chart (4 pages so it wasn’t too bad), counted them up generation by generation … and wallah … I have the numbers, which I then also converted to percentages. As you can see from the numbers I’m not doing too bad till I reach my the 7th generations (4x great grandparents). Part of that is probably due to the fact that I just haven’t entered some info (I really find the search more interesting than the entering, do others find that too?), but it does also highlight that a LOT more research is still to be done. It’ll happen bit-by-bit. Another name here, another date there, or something verified so I can add it in. We all know it’s a slow process. That’s just the way of proper genealogy.  GenerationRelationshipNo. in GenIdentified% 1Self11100% 2Parents22100% 3Grandparents44100% 4Great Grandparents88100% 52x Great Grandparents1616100% 63x Great Grandparents322681% 74x...

My Life in Five Photos

Can you show your life in five photos? I’m not sure if I can, but I’m going to try. I have taken this idea from a Facebook friend who participated in a “five photos of me, over five days” challenge. But true to my usual self, I decided to give it a little twist. The original rule of this Challenge was to post “5 five photos, 1 per day, on Facebook that were photos of yourself that are more than 15 years old.” I have ignored the 15 years old bit, and have decided for “My Life in Five Photos”, that they can be “of me, or showing something about me” and I’ve decided to do them all as a single post. And obviously it’s not going to show you “ALL” of my life, but rather just a few different aspects of it. I haven’t called this a geneameme, but I would love for others to take up the idea, and share a few photos of their life. 1. Apple Orchard – 1975 My grandpa had an apple orchard in the Adelaide Hills, and as my mum worked there, the orchard was my playground prior to starting primary school at age 5. So getting completely dirty was just part of my daily routine. And yes, that is dirt all over me and my clothes!   2. Broken Arm and Cemetery – 1976 I love this photo for various reasons. Firstly because I was getting my photo taken (hence the big grin), secondly it’s the only photo I have of me when I had a broken arm, and thirdly (and favourite reason) is that this photo was taken on the front lawn of my family’s house at Cudlee Creek, showing the Cudlee...

The “When I Was Young” Geneameme Collection...

It was early April when I introduced the world to my “When I Was Young” Geneameme. I had a lot of fun creating it, and even more fun answering the questions, though a few of them did stretch the brain cells at times. Some of those who participated were wanting to read the posts by others who took part, so I agreed to do a “Collection” post … listing all that I know of who took part in the geneameme … so here you are. ? – Andersonology https://ellen2321.wordpress.com/2015/04/12/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-april-4-11/ https://ellen2321.wordpress.com/2015/04/21/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-april-18/ Alex Daw – Family Tree Frog http://familytreefrog.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/the-when-i-was-young-geneameme.html Alona Tester – Lonetester HQ https://www.lonetester.com/2015/04/my-own-when-i-was-young-geneameme-responses/ Anna Matthews – Tripping Over My Roots http://trippingovermyroots.blogspot.com/2015/04/when-i-was-young-part-1.html http://trippingovermyroots.blogspot.com/2015/04/when-i-was-young-part-2.html Bill West – West in New England http://westinnewengland.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-when-i-was-yoiung-genea-meme-part-1.html http://westinnewengland.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-when-i-was-young-genea-meme-part-2.html http://westinnewengland.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-when-i-was-young-genea-meme-part-3.html Carmel Galvin – Earlier Years http://earlieryears.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/when-i-was-young.html Carrie Smith – Under the Nut Tree http://underthenuttree.blogspot.com/2015/04/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-when-i-was.html Charles Hansen – Mikkel’s Hus http://charles-mikkelshus.blogspot.com/2015/04/for-this-weeks-mission-should-you.html http://charles-mikkelshus.blogspot.com/2015/04/saturday-night-fun-when-i-was-young.html http://charles-mikkelshus.blogspot.com/2015/04/saturday-night-fun-when-i-was-young_18.html Chris Goopy – That Moment in Time http://thatmomentintime-crissouli.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/when-i-was-young-lonetester-alona-has_5.html Daniel Dillman – Indiana Dillmans http://indianadillmans.blogspot.com/2015/04/when-i-was-young-part-1.html#axzz3ZvFRB4SG http://indianadillmans.blogspot.com/2015/04/when-i-was-young-part-2.html#axzz3ZvFRB4SG http://indianadillmans.blogspot.com/2015/04/when-i-was-young-part-3.html#axzz3ZvFRB4SG Dorene – Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay http://graveyardrabbitofsanduskybay.blogspot.com/2015/04/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-when-i-was.html Fran Kitto – TravelGenee http://travelgenee.com/when-i-was-young-geneameme/ Jennifer Jones – Tracking Down the Family https://jonesfamilyhistory.wordpress.com/2015/04/03/geneameme-when-i-was-young/ Jill Ball – Geniaus http://geniaus.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/when-i-was-young-geneameme.html Kerryn Taylor – AncestorChasing http://ancestorchaser.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/when-i-was-young.html Lauren Waters – Original Kin https://originalkin.wordpress.com/2015/04/06/the-when-i-was-young-geneameme/ Linda Stufflebean – Empty Branches on the Family Tree http://emptybranchesonthefamilytree.com/2015/04/when-i-was-young-geneameme-part-1/ http://emptybranchesonthefamilytree.com/2015/04/when-i-was-young-geneameme-part-2/ http://emptybranchesonthefamilytree.com/2015/04/when-i-was-young-geneameme-part-3/ http://emptybranchesonthefamilytree.com/2015/04/when-i-was-young-geneameme-part-4/ Lois Willis – Lois Willis Genealogy & Family History http://loiswillis.com/?p=3908 http://loiswillis.com/?p=3944 http://loiswillis.com/?p=3989 Melody Lassalle – Research Journal Genealogy Blog http://www.researchjournal.yourislandroutes.com/2015/04/sngf-when-i-was-young-part-1/ http://www.researchjournal.yourislandroutes.com/2015/04/sngf-when-i-was-young-part-2/ Nancy Hurley – Indiana Ties http://www.indianaties.com/2015/04/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-i-was.html http://www.indianaties.com/2015/04/saturday-night-genealogy-fun.html http://www.indianaties.com/2015/04/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-i-was_18.html Pam Carter – My Maine Ancestry http://mymaineancestry.blogspot.com/2015/04/when-i-was-young.html Pauleen Cass – Family History Across the Seas https://cassmob.wordpress.com/2015/04/09/when-i-was-young-geneameme/ Randy Seaver – Geneamusings http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/04/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-when-i-was.html http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/04/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-when-i-was_11.html http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/04/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-when-i-was_18.html Sharon Fritz – Strong Foundations http://shazlex.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/when-i-was-young.html Susi – Ancestor Seekers by the Root Bound http://ancestorseekersbytherootbound.blogspot.com/2015/04/randy-seaver-sent-us-challenge-from.html Susi (Susan C. Jones) Pentico – GenealogyWise http://www.genealogywise.com/profiles/blogs/more-questions-from-randy-from-lonetester-hq-saturday-night Thankyou to everyone who...

My Own “When I Was Young” Geneameme Responses...

A few weeks ago I starting thinking about writing down some childhood memories. After mulling it over for a while, it resulted in the “When I Was Young” Geneameme. which I posted a few days ago. I’ve been really pleased that others have embraced the idea, and have decided to take part, including Randy Seaver as part of his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun activities. So as a number have been busy documenting their childhood memories, I thought I’d better get my butt into gear and get my own response to this geneameme done. So if you’d like to know a little about my childhood read along … 1. Do you (or your parents) have any memorabilia from when you were a baby? (ie. baby book, lock of hair, first shoes etc.) I do have a my baby book that mum filled in and I have my baby bracelet. I can’t believe I ever had a wrist that tiny. 2. Do you know if you were named after anyone? Sort of. Dad knew a lady called Alona and liked the name, and eventually convinced my mum that it should be my name. My middle name Margaret, was after mum’s friend who died young.  3. And do you know of any other names your parents might have named you? I have heard that mum wanted to call me Deborah. Not sure how I’d have gone with that name, but I do remember getting frustrated that I couldn’t get anything with my name on it, so Deborah would have been an advantage. 4. What is your earliest memory? The earliest thing I can date would be me breaking my arm when I was three. I still remember doing it (falling backwards while...