Movember Ancestors #2: Arthur Albert Beecken...

The second moustached ancestor I wish to introduce you to for my Movember Ancestors series is Arthur Albert Beecken. I don’t think I’ve mentioned the Beecken’s on my blog before. Not because they’re not interesting, but rather as it’s not a side that I’ve concentrated my research on yet, so I don’t have a whole lot of information. However I do know that Arthur Albert Beecken was born in South Australia in 1877, and served in the Boer War from 1898-1900. And according to the Beecken Family History book, he was the 32nd person in South Australia to enlist in the South Australia Mounted Rifles. In the first photograph Arthur sports a small “handlebar”‘ style moustache, which is sometimes also called a “trucker mo”. In the second he’s changed it up to a stylish “English” moustache with a touch of “pencil” added to the ends. For more an image of the many varying styles of moustaches available, please check visit this page, with another great pic...

Origins … Where Are You From?...

What are your origins? Where are you from? These are questions that are common amongst us genie-folk. And when asked, you know that they aren’t looking for the town where you grew up (well, not usually anyway), but rather where do your roots lie. My origins are mostly English, with a little Irish, a touch of European, and one branch from Finland … all of this heritage is what makes me, ME!! At our shop at work  (Gould Genealogy & History) we have had a big family tree chart of our family up on display. However since our move to a smaller shop in January this year it has remained rolled up, awaiting inspiration on just where we can actually fit it. Well this week, I moved some things around, and up went our family tree chart again. YAY! I must say that after not having seen the chart since January, it was very cool to see it again. And one thing that really struck me was the little map up the top which shows the “places of origin of our ancestors”, and noted just visually useful it is. So standing on a chair, I whipped out my trusty little Flip-Pal scanner (where  would I be without it?), and scanned the map so I could put it here, to show you just how cool adding family names to a map can make your family history. This chart (and map) were created by my dad quite a number of years ago, and while it doesn’t cover every line of my family (by a long way), it is still a great chart. In fact it mostly only follows a few lines on dad’s side of the family, so I’m thinking in all...