Lilian's Tree

 The Society of Australian Genealogists ran a five week course on WeAre.xyz, starting in July. I was wary of a new genealogy platform BUT I'm converted. I've been doing my One-Place Study on the cemetery at Mummell for several years and hadn't found the right platform for what I wanted to do, i.e. list and write about the people buried there. This program has given me the opportunity to do just that and I have spent weeks collecting facts and information on the people and entering it into the relevant sections. It has also allowed me to connect people to each other, through creating family trees. I've enjoyed it so much that I've started another study, this one on the Kootingal-Moonbie General Cemetery, but it will take a bit longer to do. This link is to the WeAre.xyz site. you do need an account but it's up to you if you want a paid one.   WeAre.xyz This is the link to the Mummell Cemetery site.   Mummell Cemetery

 November, the year is flying by. When I thought of this idea, 12 months ago, I didn't have any pre-conceived ideas, other than research questions. That changed when we went away and I changed the idea to question or task. Well it seems to have worked, so here is the November update. This month was my One-Place Study. The Roman Catholic Cemetery, Mummell. I have 64 people on my Master List for the cemetery, 39 of which I have done my research on. I'm thinking of adding another 20 names to the list, as they fall in the public era, except for newspapers.  This month I expanded information on some of the 39, looked at the priests, undertakers and doctors mentioned on the death certificates, to see what I could find. Surprisingly not a lot. I have a query into the Catholic Dioceses, in Canberra about the priests, but think a trip to Goulburn, to the library and Historical Society is on the cards. The list of 39, I hope to publish on the Mummell Cemetery Blog, early next month, wil...

 The Society of One-Place Studies gives blogging prompts for each month. This month's prompt is #OnePlaceArchives. Today I ventured into the city and went to the Society of Australian Genealogists to view records that they hold on both the cemetery I'm researching and the people buried there. I ordered the records I wanted to look at and they were waiting on a table for me and then the fun began. Like all good repositories of records they records I viewed gave me more questions than answers. I found two more bodies! BUT I did confirm that the one I thought was buried elsewhere is actually in Mummell cemetery, hence a question answered. A bit about the society. Last year it celebrated it's 90th birthday, being the first society of its kind in Australia. Aside from the records they hold, there are a wide range of talks, classes and chats available . The staff and volunteers are very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful, making a visit worthwhile. This link will take you to the...

 Back in January I wrote about what I was 'planning' for this year. You can read it here,  What will it bring, As a year 2022 was better in some ways, as were weren't locked-down and were able to travel but in other ways, it was difficult. Rain, rain and more rain, with some towns, even now still under flood warnings, seems to have been a main topic of conversation. The brutal invasion of Ukraine, still has the world holding its collective breath. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth 11, platinum jubilee, was a piece of history that probably won't be seen again, followed by her passing in September and the accession of Prince Charles to King.  Closer to home, I did do what I said I would.  No A-Z Blogging Challenge and my total of blogs reached 31, for the year. I did do blogs for both Women's History Month and National History Month. No Goodreads Challenge, but I read and wasn't worried about meeting a target. Some weeks I hardly read, while others I read several books...

 I'm undertaking a One-Place Study, of the Roman Catholic Cemetery, Range Road, Mummell. I've set a time period of 100 years, from 1852 to 1952, found 39 deaths in that timeframe, buried there. Well I thought there were 39, then it became 38 and now today it COULD be 37. My Problem. 16 December 1893, James McAleer died, he was buried 17 December 1893. Now here is where it gets confusing. I have four different transcripts of his headstone and a photo of the headstone, and they all say he was buried in Mummell R.C. Cemetery. BUT,  His death certificate, the book of burials I have  and his obituary all say Crookwell. I've yet to physically walk around the cemetery, to check the records but the photo is from the local family and historical society, so it should be correct. The other details, on the headstone regarding his wife Eliza, are all correct. A problem that will require some more researching and the asking of interesting questions, like; "Was he really buried in Cr...

 While I was away, this week, I purchased a wonderful book, Burials in County of Argyle, NSW, 1856 - 1918. Compiled by The Goulburn District Family History Society, Inc. I'm using it in my One-Place study and have found it fascinating, to browse through. Gruesome, you might think but not really.  Having found the ones relating to my study, I then turned to those who had died in the area, not just the ones buried in the cemetery. Now Mummell is a small area and in those years the population would not have been very large, today it is tiny. It is a farming area. I found 149 deaths in this 1856 -1918 time frame.  A quick breakdown gave me 84 deaths between the ages of 0 and 20, 65 deaths between the ages of 21 and 90.  There were none over 90. Then my husband asked for under 40 and over 40, that worked out to be 102 deaths under 40 and 47 deaths over 40. I will break it down further, into sex for each of the age groups as well. It is very interesting to study these figu...

Ancestral Places Geneameme Elsie Minnie Ironside and Frederick Charles Sigrist. My husband's side. Alona Tester from http://www.lonetester.com/2017 started this idea, that we look at where our ancestors places of birth or where they worked. “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.” says Alona, in her blog. This got me thinking and using my Brother’s Keep family tree program, I did a list of places, with events attached to them. Some were vague, like Sydney or Ireland, some were precise, like Denison Street, Woollahra. So below is a list of some of the places, associated with both the Abberton, my side and the Magill, husband’s side of our family tree and the names that go with them. I didn't get the full A-Z. A – Ayr, Scotland, (Galbraith). Arncliffe, Sydney NSW, Aus, (Abberton.) B – Ballinaykill, Co Galway, Ireland...

                                       William Patrick and Julia May Abberton. Whilst these two aren't twins, I have chosen to do them together as I know so little about them. William was born 10 May 1873, being Thomas and Mary's 14th child  and their 5th son. On 11 May 1898 he married Mary Catherine Carter. Mary was born 17 February 1867 and died 6 September 1937. They added to the large number of grandchildren by having six children. Thomas William, born 4 December 1898, married Jeanetta Goodwin on 26 May 1919. They had a son and a daughter. Thomas died in 1968. Leopold Joseph (Leo), was born 17 April 1900. He married Hilda Isabella Graham on 3 December 1927. Hilda died 16 January 1977. They had two daughters. Leo died 19 November 1964. A daughter, Violet  May was next, born 9...

Twins Boys, John and Matthew Abberton. Thomas and Mary’s 12 th and 13 th children were twin sons, John James Samuel and Matthew Joseph. The arrived on 28 February 1871, giving Thomas two more sons, to go with the nine daughters, (eight still living), he had. Not much is known about these two men. They didn’t marry or have any (known) children. The family rumour has it that they did have ‘liaisons’, with some of the local indigenous women, so who knows. But it is only a rumour. From my research, I think that John stayed on the farm and Matthew got a job. Documents from the Australian National Archives have John taking over the post office at Mummell and it ‘being in a deplorable state, that it recommended that it be closed.’ Thomas and Mary had run the post office from a shed on their property, their daughter having taken it on after Thomas’s death. Matthew appears to have worked for the railways, at Goulburn. In what capacity I’ve still to discover. Both men were ...

Family Friday;   Thomas ABBERTON Thomas was born c1830, in Ballinakill, Co Galway, Ireland, to Thomas Abberton and Bridget Halleran. I know that Thomas was sponsored by his brother Patrick, of Goulburn, NSW and that he arrived in February 1852*, with his sister Anne, on the Joseph Somes. It would appear that they had another brother, James and sister, Catherine. This pair arrived in 1854* on the Caroline. Thomas married Mary Torp(h)y in the St Peter and St Paul’s Roman Catholic Church, Goulburn, on 22 July 1854*. Mary had arrived, with her mother and siblings, in 1850* (As this was during the time of the Great Famine, in Ireland, 1845 -1852. It is probably safe to assume that that was the reason they left and came to New South Wales.) Thomas and Mary settled at Mummell, some 23km from Goulburn. They raised a large family of 15 children, including four sets of twins. Two children died young, an un-named female twin in 1859 and Julia May, in 1879 aged four years. Of ...

Mummell Estate. Below is a engraving, published in 1857 of the Mummell Estate, near Goulburn. My ancestor, Thomas Abberton, settled in Mummell in around 1852/3 after he had arrived form Ballynakill, Co Galway. He and his wife Mary Torp(h)y raised a large family, ran the post office and donated land for the school. I found this when I did a Trove search of Pictures, Photos and Objects. Trove isn't just about news papers and this week I thought I'd take a look at something different. (This engraving is out of copyright.)      http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138443946 Happy Trove Searching, Lilian.

I went down to Goulburn, last Wednesday and from there went out to Mummell. Mummell is where my Grandma, Louisa Abberton nee Nichol taught school. The building is still standing and I have been trying to contact the owner. Well he was there and showed us around and gave us some more history of the area. I didn't realise that it was such a big community, in the 1880's. Now to do some more research on it!

Just adding some family info about my Abberton side and I hope I can make a connection. Thomas Abberton came from Ballinakill, County Galway, Ireland, to Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia. He married Mary Torphy/Torpy and they had 15  children. They lived just out of  Goulburn in a place called Mummell.