Lilian's Tree

 This year my research has been hap hazard, a best. While things have been found and research done, I felt that I could have achieved more, if I had been organised and to that end I've started planning for 2024. I've set-up a folder, containing 12  coloured dividers and each section is for one ancestral family. I've made a document, for the questions I am asking, so I know where the research is heading. Each one is in the same colour as the divider. I've also have the same set-up on the computer, for when I'm in a repository, researching.  Time will tell, if I stick to the plan but, at least I'm organised.

 Back in 2021 I wrote a post about Henry Nicolls, you can read it here  Henry   This lead me to wonder about Elizabeth his first wife, but not enough to do anything then. In the past couple of weeks I've done some research on Elizabeth and while I still haven't found out what happened to her, what I found has been very interesting. Searching for any information about Elizabeth, I find her birth/baptism recorded twice on the New South Wales, (1) 6576 Vol 1B and 2) 439 Vol 10). The first one has missing information and the second one includes them and reads; Christian Name: Elizabeth When born: 2 September 1823 Date of ceremony: 9 May 1824 Where ceremony performed: Parish of Post Macquarie Where registered: St. Thomas, Port Macquarie Father: John WHITEHEAD Mother: Esther Abode: Port Macquarie Quality or profession: Prisoner Very interesting. A search of records has shown that both John and Esther were convicts. John arrived on the Elizabeth (1) in 1820 and Esther on the Mary Ann(

In my two previous post about Adelaide Ironside,  (read them both through these links,  Adelaide   and Famous ) I said that I would do another post and well here it is, somewhat late. In 1987 Jill Poulson wrote a book about Adelaide titled Adelaide Ironside, The Pilgrim of Art. The book is a beautiful account of Adelaide's life and her art. Adelaide was born in Sydney in 1831 and died in Rome in 1867. She was Australia's first woman artist to study overseas and defied the time to become a professional artist. After her death, Adelaide's body was taken to London and buried with her mother, in West Norwood Cemetery, London. In 1985 a headstone was placed on the grave. A search of Find-a-Grave doesn't show any memorial photo. Today her painting, The marriage at Cana of Galilee hangs in the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Here is a link to her entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography,  Adelaide Ironside  

It seems, of late that there  are  people, both here and overseas that want to re-write, whitewash or even obliterate history because it isn't 'correct' in this day and age. BUT WHY? I acknowledge that there have been things in the collective past of this country, Australia, that if they happened today would have us all demanding justice, and rightly so. We shouldn't 'gloss over them', as if it was insignificant, nor should we forget the past.  We can't go back and change anything. In the October edition of the UK magazine Family Tree,  www.family-tree.co.uk  columnist, Diane Lindsay discusses the television program, Who Do You Think You Are?   She mentions that the people were shocked by their ancestors past. Diane then goes on and makes this statement, that I think is very relevant. " We might and should individually regret and collectively apologise for the shameful parts of the past, but it wasn't our fault or our shame and we can't mend or,