Lilian's Tree

 I went looking for some family graves, at Rookwood Cemetery, this morning and as one does, I found an interesting one and have done some research on this poor person.        George HALSE, died 8 September 1900. George was injured in an explosion on Spectacle Island, in the ordnance depot.. Now I hadn't heard about this island, so that was my first search, using Google Maps. Spectacle Island is situated in Sydney Harbour, near Cockatoo Island.  You can read about the island here,  Spectacle Island But I was more concerned about George and onto Trove I went and the articles paint a gruesome picture. This article tells what happened.  Daily Telegraph, Monday 10 September 1900, Page 6. This article is the inquest. Evening News, Tuesday 11 September 1900, Page 4. George is buried in the Royal Navy Section, Rookwood, DD_Zone B/#/568, far from is birth place in England.

  I my previous blog post, Theory , I speculated that the parents of Margaret Kidston NICOL, were John NICOL and Janet GRAY. Well… The spelling of NICOL has been consistent in the documents I have found but some trees and documents have had the spelling NICHOL. I search using both spellings.   Research Question. Who are the parents of Margaret Kidston NICOL born 1820? What I found. Well scrap the year of birth. I really should stick to what is in front of me and really review the documents. Like: ALL the census records, on Scotland’s People, from 1851 through to 1891 have Margaret’s place of birth as being Gargunnock, Stirlingshire, with her age range being from 36 in 1851 to 76 in 1891. Making a year of birth being 1816. Her 1893 death certificate has her age as 79, and no place of birth. Making the year of birth as 1816.   I found a birth for Margaret NICHOL, daughter of John NICHOL and Margaret ROBERTSON in 1816 in Stirling. On Margaret’s marriage certificat

  https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/guides/research-guides/forenames#Forenames%20and%20naming%20patterns   The spelling of NICOL has been consistent in the documents I have found but some trees have had the spelling NICHOL. I search using both spellings.   Research Question. Who are the parents of Margaret Kidston NICOL born 1820?   Information. 1)    Death Certificate: Statutory Deaths, 578/00 0179, parents given as William NICOL and Jane HARGRAVES. 2)    The Morrison Family Tree on Ancestry by lbowman222, (a distant cousin), has the parents as Henry NICHOL and Catherine BRINGING. Theory. Margaret’s parents are John NICOL and Janet GRAY. Working it out. 1)    Using Scotland’s People, I searched for the marriage of William NICOL and Jane HARGRAVES in a 15-year period from 1805 to 1820, there were no results. I then searched for the birth of Margaret, with the above parents, using the same timeframe, there were no results. 2)    Using Scotland’s People, I

 Disclaimer. I haven't looked into this, these are just my thoughts. Chatting to a friend, a fellow Genealogist, we were discussing our ancestors ages, when I pondered this question. Did our Ancestors actually celebrate their birthday? We all have Ancestors that changed their ages, frequently. Changed the date, month and place of their birth, and we go off on tangents looking for the records in a new place. BUT    What if they really didn't know the full details of their birth? While the parents might have had them baptised, registered the birth, would they have kept a paper copy of such documents? Families might have had the Family Bible, with such information but what if they were so poor that they didn't?  Think of this, as children our parents told us it was our birthday, we didn't have the proof, until we needed it later. Would our Ancestors have done the same thing? Some of us have Ancestors that could neither read or write, so any documents with such details coul

 2023 was a good year. Our health remained good and we did a big road trip in May, (now planning 2024's). I also returned to church and joined a Growth Group. Love being back. I've read, attended talks, classes, lunches, did genealogy research, did heaps of reading, did some sewing and knitting and managed to keep a journal for the whole year. Surprised! What will 2024 bring? I've a new journal to start, a trip away with one of our granddaughters, lunches and classes booked. We are planning our next road trip. I've started a Photo a Day, on Facebook, will see how I go. No theme just what catches my eye.  Jill Ball posted a link to this blog  Jennifer's Best Bookish Blog,  Bookish Blog  and it's given me some ideas for my 2024 reading. I'm going to use  StoryGraph   to record my reading for 2024. GoodReads will still get used but I thought I'd try something different and my granddaughter suggested this one. For 2024 I've made each month a different re