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 , meeting a new cousin at the SAG Lost in DNA weekend. I also had an email from another cousin, in New Zealand, who had read

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 human

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 back into England. There will be blog post

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.                                              Callan Park, where my Great-grandmother spent time.

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 exhibition Rome: City and Emp

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.