Lilian's Tree

Reflecting on a great year. 1  1)  An elusive ancestor I found was, none this year. I mostly added new information, to the ones I have. 2   2)     A great newspaper article I found was a small piece that commented on the passing of my uncle Thomas J Abberton, in World War 2. It was in the Forbes paper and said that he could yodel. 3    3)  A geneajourney I took was a road trip to Ballarat, Victoria. While I was there I searched rate notice books, tramped the cemetery and wandered the street where they lived. 4    4)  An important record I found was the Scottish 1841 census, for Samuel Galbraith. Inching back further in time. 5     5)  A newly found family member shared ,  he is an old family member but we had lost touch. He shared trial information about our mutual ancestor, Simon Grant.     6       6)  A geneasurprise I received was ...

Gundagai, is the place that everyone knows about because of the 'Dog on the Tuckerbox,' but do you know about the destruction of Gundagai, in the 1852 flood? No, I didn't either until I spent a day exploring this town.  Until Cyclone Trace, in 1974, it was Australia's worst natural disaster. Gundagai, in 1852, sat between between the Murrumbidgee River and Morley Creek, on river flats. On the night of 24 June 1852, the Murrumbidgee River burst its banks and inundated  the the town.  This plaque give a good description of the devastation, with only one building left standing, the Old Mill. Newspapers, Empire, 8 July 1852 and The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 July 1852, give vivid descriptions of that night. One such article gives the depth of the flood waters as 14' (4.26m) at the highest part of Gundagai and 30' (9.14m) at the lowest part of the town. See Trove,  https://trove.nla.gov.au/     for more articles. But it was the ...

On a grey, wet and coolish day in Sydney I am writing my Christmas Post early. I have soooooo much to do before we head of to be with family, at Christmas, so,  I would like to wish all my loyal readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you for your support, throughout the year. Now 2019, what will it bring??? The Society of Australian Genealogists will start 2019, with a new President. Melissa Hulbert will take over from Martyn Killion. The FIRST female president in the Society's 85 years. Congratulations! [Not a member, well join.   www.sag.org.au  ] 2019 also see me heading to the United Kingdom, in June to attend The Genealogy Show,    https://www.thegenealogyshow.uk/      Kirsty Grey, of Family Wise, Jill Ball, our own Genieaus and Pat Richley-Erickson, aka Dear Myrtle are the main organisers, of what is promising to be a great conference. From there I am heading to Ireland, Scotland and the ba...

This year I did 12 Ancestors in 12 Months and foud it fun. I also did my own version of the A-Z Challenge and found it became tedious.  So what theme should I go with in 2019? I have had two different thoughts, both can be done ahead of time and scheduled, as I'm away a bit next year and they are both different. This is where I need your input, please. Theme/Idea 1 - A Place a Month. Somewhere, where either an ancestor lived or worked. This might work but I'll have to really see what I have on some of the places. Theme/Idea 2 - A Book a Month. Different books that I have enjoyed or found useful, with my research. I love reading, so this wouldn't be a hardship to do. I suppose I could do both! I'd still blog the other things, like trips and courses. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks, Lilian.                                              Ca...

As Sydney was pummeled by record breaking rain on Wednesday, we postponed our trip to Canberra, until Thursday. So a two night stay  became a one night stay and Thursday was very busy. Heading down the Hume Highway, we made our usual stop at Goulburn Bakery. Good food and drinks and clean loos (always a plus) and Trapper's wonderful daily sayings. Thursday's was no exception. Our first stop was the National Library of Australia,  https://www.nla.gov.au/   for the exhibition  Cook and the Pacific.   To see Cook's actual log of the HMS Endeavour, when he discovered our continent, was wonderful. Instruments he and others used on the three voyages, drawings made of our fauna. maps, that are so detailed. It was very poignant to read Elizabeth Cook's letter asking for assistance, after he was killed.  On until the 10 February 2019, it is well worth a visit. Next stop was the National Museum of Australia,  http://www.nma.gov.au/  for the exhibi...

Mary Ann was born 19 December 1856 in Chartteris, Cambridgeshire, England and baptised in the same parish on 24 August 1862. [1] Why this delay, is not known. How she met Christopher Frederick Sigrist, isn’t known but on 6 May 1883, at St Gabriel’s, Bromley, Middlesex, England [2], they married.  Mary Ann is 25 and Christopher is 24 and is known as Frederick. A daughter, Janetta is born on 10 May 1885, in Bromley [3] . In July 1886 [4] , on board the S.S. Port Victor, Mary Ann and Janetta arrive in Sydney, to join Frederick. The family lived at Woollahra, where Fred had his bakery. Mary Ann would have six more children, Emilia, born 1887, died 1888, Louisa, born 1889, died 1889, Frederick, born 1890, died 1930, Lilly, born 1893, died 1937, Charles, born 1897, died 1897 and William, born 1899, died 1900. [5] Mary Ann died 14 May 1934 [6] , at Lakemba. [1] Details from both the Family Bible and FamilySearch. [2] English Marriage certificate, 152/1883...

I spent time playing around on the Ryerson Index, today and that led me to  a notice in Trove. The Forbes Advocate (NSW 1911-1954), dated Friday 17 March 1944. on page 1 had this lovely tribute to my Uncle Tommy. Uncle Tommy, in more care free times.

Well, for the past four weeks I posted questions, about my blog, leading up to my blogaversary. I thought, 'why not give my readers a chance to win a prize?'  NO ONE has sent in any answers.  (Even checked the Spam folder.) NO ONE said Happy Blogaversary, even though I had a request for all my details, so they knew when it was.

Question 4. When was my first post?   [Only clue 2010] Now you have all the questions, here is the Email address to send them answers to. lily@researchbylily.com.au      Please put QUIZ in the subject line. Good Luck. Bue for now, Lilian

Question 3. What was parked on the street?  [8/2/2017] Bye for now, Lilian

Qusetion 2 Where did I have dinner?     [25/2/2016] Bye for now, Lilian.

Sunday morning dawned grey and cool but nothing would keep intreped genealogists returning to the conference centre, for more DNA talks. I woke early, as is my habit and went for a walk along the forshore of Darling Harbour. This was my view and in amongst the trees, at the back of the photo I spotted this. I'm now on a quest to find out what is it about. The building, opposite my hotel has a very interesting design.  Early morning, on Sydney Harbour. Goat Island is to the right, the yellow shed and Bald's Head, is in the distance, Sunrise was peaking through the clouds and buildings as I made my way back to the hotel and to get organised for the day. Day two of our "Lost In' weekend had the room filling earlier than on Saturday, as we were all aeger to learn more. Heather Garnsey was today's chair and she also gave a short talk on how she broke one of her brick walls, using DNA, but did it?   Louise Coakley was ...

Now the title of this post might have you scratching your head and wondering, 'what is she going on about?'  But if you belong to the Society of Australian Genealogists,  https://www.sag.org.au/   you will know what I'm talking about. Twice a year the Society has 'Lost In' weekends, covering a wide range of topics, some are face-to-face and some are webinars. Both are great. This past weekend was held at the Portside Conference Centre, Sydney, on Saturday and Sunday. Some of the group, early on Saturday morning. The room was filled, both days. The topic for the weekend was DNA and whilst we aren't NCIS Agents, looking for a killer, we are still trying to find that elusive ancestor, who is just out of our reach. Or so they thought! Saturday was a warm, humid day in Sydney, just the sort of day you want, when digging for ancestors. The Society had put together a varied program, so that novices and experts were covered. Martyn Killion was our chair and sta...

 This month is my anniversary of my joining the world of blogging.  For the next four (4) Thursdays I am going to post a question and give a clue as to where the answer might be found. What you have to do is find the answer and the in the LAST post there will be the instructions on how to enter, to win the prize. In the LAST post I will give my email address and the FIRST CORRECT enrty will win. I will be checking the date and time, to be fair.  The prize can only be used in Australia, sorry but it works better for me to do it that way. Drum Roll. Question 1. Where did I go and what did I do?    [look at 23/5/2014] Good Luck. Bye for now, Lilian.

Born 19 November 1920, Died 4 November 1994. Joan was the second daughter of Frederick Sigrist and Elsie Ironside. As a young child, she suffered the loss of her father, when she was six months old and her mother, when she was three. Her and Edna were ‘fostered’ by family members.                                            Joan, as a toddler. She travelled to England, where she worked for a while. Joan was a draughtswoman and she drew the maps for the book, The Sleeping City. The Story of the Rookwood Necropolis.  Joan was also involved with the ‘Friends of Rookwood’, giving tours and taking photos. Taking photos, opera and ballet were her hobbies. She loved the Joan Sutherland. She also painted and one of her works hangs on our lounge room wall. When Joan died in 1994, she was cremated and her ashes are in a special rose garden at Rookwood. (Joan was ...

Friday 26 October and it was an early start, for us as we had to be seated by 8.00am for the Wheelchair Basket to start at 9.00am. And it was well worth it! An interesting fact; wheelchair basketball was first played on 25 November 1946, when a group of American Veterans wanted to become active again, after suffering spinal cord injuries, in World War II. For the details of how it is played, please see my previous post; Invictus Games, For Our Wounded Warriors Part 1,   http://researchbylily.blogspot.com/2018/10/invictus-games-2018-for-our-wounded.html Fast and furious is the only was to describe the two games we saw. Game one was New Zealand v Canada, with New Zealand winning. Again the mateship shone through, with both coahes going to the aid of players, who had tipped their chairs over. They were also cheered, like the players, were. There was also a bit of fun, with a Kiwi player giving the referee the evil eye, and the referee and player laughing about it. Such ...

For three days this week I have been privileged to watch some amazing athletes from 18 counteries. But I digress, as I should first explain what the Invictus Games are. The Invictus Games are the brainchild of HRH The Duke of Sussex, back when he was a serving member of the British Forces, in Afghasistan. He speaks of returning to Britian, by plane, with several critically injured servicemen and the body of a Danish soldier. He later saw the Warrior Games in the USA and from there the idea was born. This link explains it better.     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invictus_Games This link is to the Australian games site.  https://www.invictusgames2018.org/the-games/ (Just a note all sports have been adapted due to special needs of the competitors. These are explained on the website.) Tuesday 23 October and my daughter and I had tickets for the medal rounds of  Sitting Volleyball. Walking from the P1 parking to the Quaycentre was a hike, (yes I know chec...

Last night I attended a writing workshop at Writing NSW,  https://writingnsw.org.au/    on Finding the detail: research tools for writers , presented by Eleanor Limprecht.  Eleanore has written three novels, many articles and reviews and she gave insights into her research. https://www.eleanorlimprecht.com/about/    You can read more about her books on her website. It was held at Writing NSW, headquaters, at Callan Park. On the handout Eleanore had a quote from Paul Auster, an American writer and director, which said, "The truth of the story lies in the detail."   It is the details that we find, for our ancestors that make them real for us and so it should be when we write about them. Eleanor covered topics from Why Research? What are our resources? Types of information. Ways to organise your research. Ethical Considerations. And the one we all struggle with, How to put research aside and write. I found that how she researches, for her novels,...

                                            Next month I’m attending a two day seminar on DNA and as I know next to nothing about mine, I’m spending some time looking at my three DNA test results. This test was done through My Heritage and it didn’t give me any surprises. My paper trail shows English, Irish, Scottish and German heritage, so this is pretty close. (Not a full breakdown shown.) Europe                            100% North and West Europe           82.6% Irish, Scottish, and Welsh       60.4% Scandinavian           ...