Crissouli’s Geneameme – My Responses
Crissouli, from the As They Were blog, has asked for a few moments of our time to answer some questions. She called them questions, I call it a geneameme … but whatever, there’s a bunch of genealogy releated questions which require answers.
So here’s my responses …
1. What is the most important detail you want to find about your ancestors?
Ooh there’s so many, and each one varies. But I guess each goes down to wanting to know more detail about the person, not just the name and date of someone. But there’s when and how did Samuel Trewartha get from Cornwall to New Jersey? And what happened to his daughter Eliza Trewartha? What did my great grandpa Otto Winter do in the 7 years he was at sea when he allegedly sailed the world several times over, and what was it he did in America that he’d be in trouble for? Then there’s the “why did they emigrate”, and the “where did that one go to” questions for numerous family.
2. Do you buy certificates?
Yes. Definately for all direct reli’s, and for others as I feel the need to.
3. Do you belong to a paid subscription site, if so, which one/s?
Currently I have www.ancestry.com.au (World) and www.findmypast.com (World) and www.myheritage.com. And previously I have also had www.thegenealogist.co.uk and www.origins.net subscriptions, but have let those lapse for the time being.
4. What has been your ‘best’ find?
I can say that there’s two ‘best finds’ that REALLY stand out. One was the obituaries for my 4x great grandma Charlotte Trewartha (nee Phillips) and her husband Samuel Trewartha in a small town newspaper in New Jersey. You can find details of these obits in a post I did earlier.
And the other was receiving a parcel from the Helsinki Archives which was packed with information on my great grandpa Otto Winter. Including his school reports, a sketch of the house he grew up in, and copy of a diary entry from a ships log saying when he jumped ship in England. I was floored by what was included.
And both of these ‘finds’ had me happy dancing for weeks.
5. Who is your favourite ancestor and why?
The two that have intrugued me to date are my great grandpa, Otto Rafael Winter who was a seaman from Finland, and jumped ship in Australia. He intrigues me as I know so little of his life before he came to Australia. And also my 4x great grandma Charlotte Phillips (who married Samuel Trewartha). She was the mother of my emigrating Phillips family to Australia, and she went from being just a miner’s wife in Cornwall, to being a candy shop owner in New Jersey, which I find fascinating.
6. What are you looking for on a regular basis?
Time to research.
7. Do you belong to any genealogy group, or family history society?
I do belong to a few …
South Australian Genealogy Genealogy & Heraldry Society (aka GenealogySA)
Adelaide Northern Districts Family History Group
Gumeracha and Districts History Centre
Cornwall Family History Society
8. Do you belong to any Facebook or other social media genealogy groups? Would you join if there was one available?
I am a member of a few Facebook genealogy groups, as well as a few Google+ genealogy-related Communities, and I’m a big advocate for using social media to enhance your research.
9. Have you ever volunteered to transcribe, index etc.? Would you be interested in doing so?
Whenever I log on to Trove, I do text correcting. That counts doesn’t it?
10. What is your personal reason for being involved with genealogy/family history?
Fascination. The why. The when. There where. The how. AND the stories.
A big thankyou to Crissouli for this geneameme. The questions are REALLY good ones, and certainly made me think which is why this took longer than it should have. And for other geneabloggers, I put it to you why not take part in it, if you haven’t already.
2 Responses to “Crissouli’s Geneameme – My Responses”
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Thank you for participating, Alona… great to read your responses… Wish I’d seen that happy dancing! Then again, maybe not, as i get a tad excited also… and that wouldn’t be a pretty sight.
I do follow your blog, but admit to missing a few… I will have to keep a closer eye on them now as I want to know what happened in those 7 years of Otto Winter travelling the world… 🙂
An interesting collection of ancestors you have… and like you, I want to always know more.
Thanks again… in a while I’ll collate all the responses and let everyone know. It’s never too late to respond… so, if you know others that might like to get involved, please suggest it to them.
One last thing, corrections on Trove certainly do count!
I love learning more about my geneablogging mates. Thanks, Alona, for sharing more of your story.