Lilian's Tree

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           ...

Back in November, last year, posted this piece, very tounge in cheek, as to wether I was really a Pom. http://researchbylily.blogspot.com/2017/11/pondering-my-status-as-australian.html I contacted Family Wise Ltd [ https://family-wise.co.uk/  ] and asked them to look into it for me. Here is their reply, "Following a conversation with the Home Office this morning, it depends on your father’s nationality at the time of your birth. If he was born a British citizen, you would be considered British by descent but only if your father was still a British citizen when you were born." Now I have to contact the Department of Home Affairs and see what they say.  What started as a bit of curiosity, is now something I really want to find out. Watch this space! Just a recap, for those who didn't see the original post. My Dad was born in 1896, when New South Wales was still a British Colony.  While it was called Australia, it didn't become federated until 1901. ...

Late in 2017, I wrote that I was going to do some different things, with my blog in 2018. One was the 12 Ancestors in 12 Months. I'm 10/12ths through that and it has been fun finding interesting bits to post. Two was the A-Z Challenge I did in June. As I said when I finished, I won't do that again. It is hard to find something different and interesting and this year I made it genealogy based and that really stretched me. Third was something to do with my Blogiversary, in November.  Well I've had a conversation with the person and worked out how I can do it, so it will happen. What I'm planning is a series of five questions, about different blog posts. These questions will be posted on different days and you will need to get all the questions and then EMAIL me the answers, in one post. First correct one in wins a prize.  Each time I put up a question, I'll remind you that you have to get all five before emailing me and I won't post the email address until...

Lilian, (Mum) was born on 22 October 1911 [1] , at Regent Street Camperdown, to Arthur Galbraith and Evelin Jasper. She was their second child, with Edith being her big sister. Eight more siblings would follow. Aged 12 months. She was baptised at St Stephen’s Newtown on 22 November 1911, confirmed and had her First Communion, at Holy Trinity, Erskineville on 19 September 1926.                                                               St Stephen's Newtown. Snippets Mum talked about were, attending school at Erskineville Public School, where she and some of the other girls, would ask for help with their work and then pass it on to each other, working in Allen’s Cake Shop, at Erskineville, working in a shoe factory, outings with church friends, trips to Katoomba, with her family and walking home during ‘browno...