Lilian's Tree

 Back in January I wrote about what I was 'planning' for this year. You can read it here,  What will it bring, As a year 2022 was better in some ways, as were weren't locked-down and were able to travel but in other ways, it was difficult. Rain, rain and more rain, with some towns, even now still under flood warnings, seems to have been a main topic of conversation. The brutal invasion of Ukraine, still has the world holding its collective breath. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth 11, platinum jubilee, was a piece of history that probably won't be seen again, followed by her passing in September and the accession of Prince Charles to King.  Closer to home, I did do what I said I would.  No A-Z Blogging Challenge and my total of blogs reached 31, for the year. I did do blogs for both Women's History Month and National History Month. No Goodreads Challenge, but I read and wasn't worried about meeting a target. Some weeks I hardly read, while others I read several books...

  Jill Ball reminds us to do this each year, so here is my 2022  1. I got the most joy from, the Coffee 'n' Chat group I started in 2020, during Covid, via Zoom. It is still going strong and I love the chats we have. 2. The Covid situation gave me an opportunity to, tidy up files, work on my tree and play with DNA. 3. I managed to attend a face to face event at,  FHDU at Castle Hill, this first genealogy event I've been to since Rootstech in 2020 4. My main focus this year was on a One-Place Study that I've started on a cemetery at Mummell, NSW. 5.  A new piece of technology or skill I mastered was, my new phone. It took some time to get the photos off the phone and onto the computer. 6. A geneasurprise I received was, when a cousin showed up in my DNA results, I hadn't  know she had tested. Yes, it does prove that we are cousins! 7.  A Facebook Group that helped me was. History Goulburn, with information for my study. 8.  My 2022  social med...

 I'm undertaking a One-Place Study, of the Roman Catholic Cemetery, Range Road, Mummell. I've set a time period of 100 years, from 1852 to 1952, found 39 deaths in that timeframe, buried there. Well I thought there were 39, then it became 38 and now today it COULD be 37. My Problem. 16 December 1893, James McAleer died, he was buried 17 December 1893. Now here is where it gets confusing. I have four different transcripts of his headstone and a photo of the headstone, and they all say he was buried in Mummell R.C. Cemetery. BUT,  His death certificate, the book of burials I have  and his obituary all say Crookwell. I've yet to physically walk around the cemetery, to check the records but the photo is from the local family and historical society, so it should be correct. The other details, on the headstone regarding his wife Eliza, are all correct. A problem that will require some more researching and the asking of interesting questions, like; "Was he really buried in Cr...

 While I was away, this week, I purchased a wonderful book, Burials in County of Argyle, NSW, 1856 - 1918. Compiled by The Goulburn District Family History Society, Inc. I'm using it in my One-Place study and have found it fascinating, to browse through. Gruesome, you might think but not really.  Having found the ones relating to my study, I then turned to those who had died in the area, not just the ones buried in the cemetery. Now Mummell is a small area and in those years the population would not have been very large, today it is tiny. It is a farming area. I found 149 deaths in this 1856 -1918 time frame.  A quick breakdown gave me 84 deaths between the ages of 0 and 20, 65 deaths between the ages of 21 and 90.  There were none over 90. Then my husband asked for under 40 and over 40, that worked out to be 102 deaths under 40 and 47 deaths over 40. I will break it down further, into sex for each of the age groups as well. It is very interesting to study these figu...

 Last week I sent four days in Yass. It was a girls week away to celebrate a birthday. Rain and flooding had us revising our plans, to visit different small towns but that didn't stop us enjoying ourselves. On Tuesday, after wandering around the interesting shops in Yass, (and spending some money), we went into Canberra, and browsed the little quirky shops in the Gold Creek area and enjoyed a lovely lunch.  Wednesday saw us on a full day wine and chocolate tour. Disappointment from the start as we weren't informed that the chocolate shop wasn't open on a Wednesday. The wineries were lovely and being mid-week, the staff had time to spend with us and explain their various wines. I stocked up on some I had tasted before and also bought a nice wine for Christmas. Lunch was a disappointment, with all three meals being lukewarm to cold.  Thursday saw us explore more of Yass, walking beside the flooded Yass River, safely, then finding a high hill and seeing a different part of t...

 September was an interesting month, with the death and funeral of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11. I watched the funeral, from Westminster Abbey and found it to be a very moving but personal service. September also saw Paul and I spend two nights away, in Goulburn, this was so we could see the tulips at the Hilltop Tulip Farm, Old Federal Highway, Sutton, just the Sydney side of Canberra. They were beautiful, with low  border plants giving more colour to the beds. Not all were in bloom but then they have to last for a full month, so it is understandable, to stage the blooming. These few photos don't do justice to the farm. Home in time for the NSW & ACT State Conference, Riding the Waves of Time. This year it was still a virtual conference and was very well done. I gave a talk on different websites. That weekend also had Paul and I on grandparent duties, with Master 8 and Miss 7 sending two nights with us. Wonderful! I managed a trip to the NSW State Archives, at King...

 5:11am Friday 9th September 2022 and my mobile phone pings with an incoming message; "I know it's early but not sure if you know yet the Queen has died." Well if I wasn't awake before I read the message, I was after. It was the beginning of a day, that wasn't 'normal' but life still went on. Now on Sunday 11th September, I am able to write how I feel about this momentous occasion. Friday, social media, television and radio all had the same thing, like in a continuous loop, for the television stations, everyone who had an opinion expressed it and the reality  sank in. The Queen was dead. I had bought a pair of sock, with crowns and corgis for the Jubilee, so I wore them, my way of honouring Her. I reflected on the time I had, had a glimpse of Her. 1963, as a school child, in Hyde Park, Sydney, and again in 1970, when she was here for the bicentennial of Captain Cook's discovery of this country. Fast forward to 2019 and this was my selfie with Her Majes...

 This week Alex Daw has asked us to celebrate what we have done, this month Study. Finished my DNA subject with the National Institute for Genealogy. Third month of Essential Speaker Skills, through Family History Academy. Attended. Afternoon tea at Government House, Sydney, to celebrate the 90th birthday of the Society of Australian Genealogists. Hangouts and talks with the Society of Australian Genealogists. Talking Family History, with Fiona and Michelle. Co-ordinated the Writers Group, with the Society of Australian Genealogists. Co-taught a class, at the research centre and co-ordinated the Australian Interest Group, via Zoom for Botany Bay Family History Society. Research . One of my half-sisters married a G.I., so I've spent time researching him and found some really useful information. Added that I had verified my research, on two Ancestry trees. Went through my hints and  DNA matches on both Ancestry and My Heritage. (Also did this for the three DNA kits I manage.) Ex...

  Tips. My main tip for breaking down brick walls is perseverance! It took me thirty years to break mine. Go back over old records or data sets to see if anything new has been added, that might help in breaking down the wall. This leads to my next tip; Date your work. I do this so I know the last time I worked on it, downloaded a document, or added to my tree. You know instantly if it is old work or new. Write down where you found a document etc. or where you have searched. Reply to emails or website messages. File it straight away, be it paper files or computer files. You will then be able to find it again. But my best tip is ENJOY yourself on this genealogical journey. It can be fun, frustrating and enriching.

Week 2, Travel. Well travel has been a bit light on since Covid-19 'travelled' the world, stopping us from travelling, so I've selected different photos, each with a story themselves. Callan Park. While this looks like a beautiful building, it was once a lunatic asylum. Here for several years, before being sent to Newcastle, my great-grandmother, Mary Ann GALBRAITH, nee GRANT resided. Suffering from what we would now call depression, caused by the sudden death, (overseas) of her husband, leaving her with a shop to run and two boys to look after. It became to much for her. A birthday treat, in 2017 of a 4-WD drive wilderness trip in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, saw me asking the driver if we could stop at Hartley Cemetery and search for several graves. He thought it was fun and so we stopped at two cemeteries and found Hubby's ancestors graves. Berrara, just out of Sussex Inlet on the NSW South Coast, a place that we would holiday at, most years when the children ...

Alex Daw has set us another great challenge for Family History Month. Week 1. Who do I think is the most respected or impressive member of my family tree? This is this week’s prompt but I’m taking a slightly different tack and going with an ancestor named August.   My great-grandfather, August Frederick Conrad JASPER was born, not in August to be given that as a name but in December! 3 December 1846, to be exact, in Heidenoldendorf, Germany. His parents were Toens Simon Herman Christoph JASPER and Wilhelmine Friederike KESSEMEIER. August was baptised on 13 December 1846 and then nothing about him until he arrives in South Australia on 29 March 1876, on the Dilbhur, having left London on 29 December 1875. Listed as a brickmaker, aged 29 years. Looking at the passenger list he and one other were listed as brickmakers. He again proves to be elusive, with nothing until a small newspaper article in 1880, where he has taken his employer a Mr Sampson to court for back wages ...

 August is National Family History Month and this year I thought that I'd have a look at my ancestors occupations. I've gone back to my 2x Great Grandparents. While I have gaps, (and so far I've been unable to find the occupations), it is interesting that it's not until my grandparents that I have the occupation of the women listed.  Some like Ann Cameron, my 2x great grandmother is listed as an old age pensioner, on her death certificate. Likewise Isabella Vaughan, my great grandmother is given as living privately, when she re-married. What did your ancestors do? Name 2xGreat Grandparents Occupation        Thomas Abberton 1790-1829 Farmer Bridget Halleran 1800 Matthew Torpy 1799-1833 Farmer Bridget Good 1816 George Nicolls   Elizabeth Drew   Michael Enright   ...

 A good friend and I spent the weekend quilting. Me more so as her machine died. (She has ordered  new one, as the old one was over 20 years old.) I stayed Saturday night, so we could start early Sunday. We had so much fun, lots of giggles, some wine and a delicious roast dinner, Saturday night. Bliss. Below is my two quilt tops I finished. The bright one I started in 2016, so it got its two borders, yesterday. The one with the square panels, was started on Saturday and finished, Sunday. Very pleased with my effort. The Christmas stitcheries were finished last week and now to sash them with purple ribbon and the tree fabric will be the backing.

  This year, 2022, marks 70 years since Queen Elizabeth 11 ascended the throne and commentators have been saying that for most people, she is the only monarch we have known. (I’m talking Commonwealth countries here.) This got me thinking, “ How many monarchs did my ancestors have in their lifetimes?”   I’ve gone back to my 2xGreat grandparents and worked it out. I have two German 2xGreat grandparents, so while I have included their names, I haven’t included any monarchs. MONARCH (numbered for ease of recording) 1) George III 25 October 1760 – 29 January 1820 2) George IV 29 January 1820 – 26 June 1830 3) William IV 26 June 1830 – 20 June 1837 4) Victoria 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901 5) Edward VII 22 January 1901 – 6 May 1910 6) George V 6 May 1910 - 20 January 1936 7) Edward VIII 20 January 1936 – 11 December 1936 8) George VI 11 December 1936 – 6 February 1952 9) Elizabeth II 6 February 1952 - present Name/Monarch Number 1 ...