Lilian's Tree

Has anyone got a Margaret Towers on their tree, who married a Samuel Magill in 1868?  Margaret is proving elusive. On her death certificate her parents are listed as James and Catherine but her marriage certificate doesn't show parents. I have tried all sorts of variations on spelling and surname and keep drawing a blank.

I've misplaced a death certificate and am annoyed! I know that I have it as I enter certificates onto a spread sheet, number it and then file it in a folder and its not there. Margaret Towers married Samuel Magill in 1868. I have the marriage, his death, kids info but can't find her death certificate. I suppose that it gives me an incentive to go through my filing cabinet and do some culling, the problem there is that most of my laundry in in my study. Tradie comes next week for that. Well back I go to look for it.

Well I'm still without my laundry! Two tradies have been and promised us quotes. Both have said that they emailed it to me, one did arrive but doesn't cover what we want done. The other well... I will start looking for another tradie this week. It is strange that I miss the tub so much but where else could I wash the gardening dirt off, without having to clean the bathroom sink.

Yesterday I attended a lecture, by Joy Murrin at the Society of Australian Genealogists. Joy is a transcription agent and she spoke on how to get the most out of the NSW Birth, Death and Marriages Index. Her tips and examples were great and I learnt heaps. Yesterday was my third Saturday, in a row that I had attended a lecture and all were fantastic. The one on how to write for publication was interesting because of they way articles have to be set out etc. I also attended one on education, a topic I enjoy, as my Grandmother was a teacher.  I really recommend attending lectures, talks etc. about genealogy as you come away with very useful information. Most  societies structure the pricing so that members pay one fee and non-members a slightly higher one. Better yet, join a society and enjoy all the benefits of membership. The magazine Australian Family Tree Connections lists "What's On" in all states, so have a look.

Well I have found out that the ship only went to Fremantle and that all the passengers were sent to Northam. I found a web site that has wonderful information about the camp; http://northamarmycamp.org.au/ Reading it has given me insights into what life was like there,

I'm doing the history of my house and I know that the original owners arrived on this ship on 24 August 1949. It arrived in Fremantle and some 1,566 were put on trains to Northam. any help in finding out how many were on the ship and how my 'family' got to Sydney? They bought the house in 1953, so they can't have been to long in WA. I do have them at Mulgoa just before they got the house.

Well I'm without a laundry, as such. We have been talking about redoing it for the last 38 years, (that is how long we have been here) and on Sunday my darling did just that. He removed the tub, part of the wall and a cupboard. It might not seem like much but as the plumbing has to go into the wall cavity, it's a lot. I've still go access to the taps for the machine, so I can do the washing. I hope the tradie is able to do that job soon. Will keep you posted.

Cold, my fingers are  freezing, which makes it interesting to type. My genealogy studies are going well and I'm loving the topics. I've done some research for family and uncovered wonderful information.  Still working on my tree, an ongoing exercise! I've spent time at the NSW State Archives looking at old documents and gleaning information from them. Had a Eureka moment when I found a great-great grandfathers birth in Germany and was then able  to view a copy of the original document. We also treated ourselves to eight days in Singapore and come home exhausted. I had been to Singapore in 2007 and wanted to go back and see more, well we did.  The zoo, bird park and Raffles were on our 'to-do' list and they were great. I've also been knitting and quilting. Just the thing for cold days and nights!