Lilian's Tree

I have taken on a Spring School course from the University of Tasmania (UTAS), Writing Family History. While I missed starting, last week due to the work in my study, I have caught up and am looking forward to this weeks lectures. Done in two, three week blocks means we have a break over the Christmas period. From the course outline, the topics are set out using the formula of how, who, where, what and when. These are then broken down into a series of between three or fours lectures, per week, that we can both listen to or download. This week is the How part and deals with developing our writing skills, (something I need help with), and I'm considering the topic, Conversations with the Past. It should be very interesting as I have several ancestors I'd love to have a conversation with. Parallel to this lot of study is my ongoing genealogy course, with a new subject about to start. Well it keeps me busy! I don't think the study will be fully 'done' Christmas bu...

Today is our Ruby Wedding Anniversary, 40 years! We have had our ups and downs, like all married couples. Raised two incredible daughters, who in turn married wonderful men and have delighted us with four amazing grandchildren. We give thanks for them, they are blessings. But with the passing of 40 years, I've dugout our wedding photos. Years ago I transferred them from a sticky page album to an archive one and in that I wrote out our guest list. Reading that and looking at the photos, I pause to reflect on those who have gone.   60 people at our wedding and 22 have now gone. Sixteen of them family members. My Mum, widowed in 1958, passed away in 2006. The Uncle, who 'gave' me away, also gone. Paul's Mum and Dad, wonderful people, they had  57 years together, before Mum passed away in 2006. Six years latter Dad went to be with her. Our Best man, Paul's brother, Gary and their Auntie Joan, both taken by cancer.  Our Minister, as well. When we married, ...

Well the washing is done, dried and put away. The food was unpacked straight away and the bags put away and now even the suitcases are away. Photos uploaded, mail collected, Christmas ham ordered, now to blog! We left last Tuesday (17th) and made Echuca our overnight stop. It made for a long drive but we had several rest stops along the way. Went to The Mill, a tapas bar for dinner, wonderful! We had never tried tapas before and really enjoyed it. Wednesday morning we took a paddle steamer ride on the Murray River. While this was our second paddle steamer ride, it was our first going upstream. The Murray River. Enjoying morning tea. From Echuca we drove through to Bendigo, with lunch at the Boardwalk Restaurant, beside Lake Weeroona. Then onto the Bendigo - Maryborough road and a pleasant drive through the Victorian countryside. After a stroll through Maryborough and an argument with Navman, we made it to our accommodation, Donkey Tales, at Daisy Hill. As the na...

We have had seven days away, in Maryborough, Victoria. Our Granddaughter was racing, for her school team, in a Human Powered Vehicle or HPV. Her team did really well! When I'm more organised, I'll write some more and add photos. Now for a cuppa, Lilian

What, if any, family tree program do you use?  How do you find it?  Do you have your tree online, and with who?  Is there any problems with having it online? I use Brothers Keeper by John Steed and find it really good. Having the paid version gives me access to different report types and they are useful. It is the only program I use and I'm looking for one I can use for clients, as I don't want to mix families. Brothers Keeper allows you to split data bases, so I could use it, at a pinch.   I have tried My Heritage and am now getting bugged to update etc. I also, ages ago, put a small section of the tree on Ancestry, but took it down as I wasn't sure about them. FamilySearch has provision to have your tree with them and I'm considering it, so feedback would be great. Any ideas would be most welcome. Bye for now, Lilian.

Back on 1st October, I wrote about a book I had been give and the interesting note inside it.  I haven't had any success in finding any descendants but I'm going to keep looking. Thinking I might contact local family history groups, to see if they can help. Bye for now, Lilian

Like the rest of the world, I really feel for the people caught-up in the Paris tragedy. When we were there in July the security was very high. I have joked that I saw more armed troops on the streets of Paris than in Greece and Turkey, combined. I didn't feel unsafe, just a bit more cautious of what was going on around us. How this happened is something that the French authorities will have to look at but it has brought home to me that we should be very thankful that we don't have any land borders. I found security, boarding a plane about the same as here but at the other end, we just walked out of the 'secure' area and no-one stopped us. People were also walking into the area and meeting people, no-one stopped them. We need to be vigilant but not let these thugs stop us from enjoying life, because if we do, they win. Bye for now, Lilian

Well my study is painted and I've got my computer back on the desk, but how long I'll stay in the room depends on the paint smell. It's pretty bad. After I got the USB of family photos, I cropped individuals out of groups, named them and added them to the my family tree program.  Still got a few individuals to do but I've been able to do my grandparents, their children and grandchildren. Some of the great-grandchildren are also done and one great-great-grandchild too.  I had to re-do some of the documents, as there was a problem with the location but that is done too. Will have to do my husbands side as, to quote him, "if you don't, the tree will be lopsided and might fall over." Love him to bits! Bye for now, Lilian

I'm not one for passing on the old chain letters, that we would sometimes get. (Remember those?)  I also don't usually copy and paste things from Facebook, (that say to pass it on) but on Friday I was having a bit of fun, with a friend and did just that. You had to work out a message and then follow the instructions. Now I'm being 'blamed' because a 'friend' also followed the instructions, struth!  I have no doubt that most of my friends would have worked out the message and gone, 'so that is what it means' and then left it, fine. What are your thoughts on the 'chain letter' post that come up on Facebook? Do you ignore, like I usually do or pass it on? Bye for now, Lilian.

Two weeks ago I attended the Royal Australian Historical Society's annual conference. It was good to catch-up with friends, promote the family history group and hear very interesting speakers. The topics were broad, covering migration, from our convict beginnings to the migration of today. Sunday started with presentations of awards and then a panel discussion and this is where it became interesting. New South Wales is looking at decreasing the number of Local Government Areas, (LGA) and something that I hadn't considered is what happens to local family/local history groups, with the restructuring?  While the council I live in will stand alone and out groups are safe, there are several others that are facing problems. Problems that were raised were, What if the LGA is divided between two other LGA areas?   You would loose your groups identity. What happens if the LGA is absorbed by its neighbouring LGA? If your group is in a council owned building, will you be a...

My study is nearly empty and things are scattered throughout the rest of the house, making it hard to find anything. The painter arrives next week and the carpet at the end of the month, new bookcases, to put together are in the lounge room and the third bedroom is packed with boxes. It will be great to have it fresh and tidy. We minded our darling grandson, overnight on Sunday and it was great. James is such a cutie and is learning is numbers, pointing them out on the DVD player, phone, clocks, boxes. He also recognises letters and points them out too. My cousin, Ruth, sent me an USB full of old family photos. A wonderful look back at family weddings or just candid shots of the family. Fantastic! Have you made copies of your photos and given them to other family members? Not only is this a good way of keeping in touch but it means that you have a copy, off site, encase of any mishaps. This is also good for your research, too. My plan is to make copies of the group photos and t...