Lilian's Tree

 This year I've tried a structured way to research by setting a family line or task each month and I've found it has really helped. It is now December and my last wrap-up for the year. My December research was a mixed bag as I decided to continue with the research into my One-Place Study. I now have 67 names on the main cemetery data-base and of those only six are to recent to be able to obtain death certificates, etc. This leaves me with 61 people to research. I've found that the families seem to have inter-married, as the community was small. I'm adding the names to a family tree data-base and hope that this will give me a clearer picture of the connections. My Ancestry DNA, threw up several good, close DNA matches and I've sent time checking them out and adding them to my Ancestry Tree. I have also went back through the previous 11 months worth of research, double checking that all was correct. I've enjoyed my research, this year and the fact that I stayed fo...

 Ancestry has released their new Ethnicity updates and added a new tool for us to use. Now I don't usually dissect my results to closely but today, and with the new tool, I thought I would.  I first looked at my Ethnicity results and this time there was a change, interesting but I'm still more Scottish than Irish.  Now in September 2021, I was Scotland   - 47% Ireland      - 41% Sweden & Denmark   - 7% England & Northwestern Europe - 5% So what has changed, not much except I've 'lost' my England and Northwestern Europe bit but I can see where its gone.                                                                                                              ...

 As I mentioned in my post on  5 January  I wasn't setting goals and had picked the word RECHARGE for 2022. Since then my husband and I have had some time away, in a cabin on a farm and have come home refreshed and recharged. Our view. I read, took heaps of photos, we did go out and about, when it wasn't raining and also sat and looked at the view.  I'm looking at maybe doing a writing course BUT it has to be what I want, not a 'one size fits all' course and it won't happen until after I finish the two DNA subjects I start next month. They are something I'm really looking forward to. We had out youngest grandchildren, Master 8 and Miss 6 come and stay and they have become so independent, that it was lovely to see. They still love bedtime stories from Granddad and heaps of cuddles from both of us. I've been adding to my family tree, checking out Ancestry's ThruLines, sorting out months worth of emails and tiding up DNA matches on Ancestry. I feel good...

            The Elusive George Galbraith I'm having fun trying to find George, he has me searching through Ancestry, FindMyPast, FamilySearch and Scotland's People looking for any hint as to who he belongs to. Last Sunday I mentioned Agnes Galbraith and looking into her cause of death, well I found her death. Agnes died of Consumption on 17 November 1867 at the age of 25 years. Okay, she is now ruled out, fully. I have also contacted Find A Grave asked if someone is able to check the inscription, in regards to George. I hope I get a reply. I've found more information and records relating to Janet Galbraith. She is on the 1881 Scottish Census, at her mother's residence, with Thomas Gray and George Galbraith.   Had I found him? Nope, Janet and Robert named their son George Galbraith Gray. (big sigh as I thought I'd found him.)  In all Janet and Robert Gray had eight children, not just the two I thought, last week. They are; Robert b 1863 S...

Each year, Jill Ball challenges us to Accentuate the Positive, making us reflect on the previous year. Mine is short and sweet, this time but I did have an amazing time in England, Scotland and Ireland, walking in my ancestors footsteps and discovering some amazing places. Neither of my blogs relate to genealogy but are interesting reads. A Family Member I found was,  my half-sister’s son, daughter and some of their children.     It was 30 years of searching, solved with an Ancestry DNA test.   A geneajourney I took, this year I went to Ireland and Scotland and walked in my ancestors’ footsteps. An emotional journey.       A new piece of technology I played with was WATO, on the DNA Painter site.     A genealogy event from which I learnt something new  DNA DownUnder, three days of DNA. Learnt about WATO (what are the odds),   how to find connections, when there is no tree and found that what I’...

It is still a waiting game, for relpies to my Ancestry messages. (Insert a sigh, here.) I had Shelley Crawford from Connected DNA, re-do my matches, but only as far down as 30 cM's and I'm thrilled with the results. This is what Shelley does, she finds connections. The first picture is what she did for me, back in January, using all of my Ancestry DNA matches, then.                                                                                                    This is 654 nodes and 1,524 edges. As you can see it is FULL of connections, making it difficult to see exactly what is what. This one is this week and only to 30 cM's.                             ...

When I did my Ancestry DNA, last year, I had a really good match come up.   This was it. 1st–2nd Cousin Shared DNA: 731 cM across 29 segments   I was thrilled as she was on my Paternal side. So I sent her a message, asking how we might be connected and waited, and waited and waited. Nothing back, so I waited some more and then sent another message and started waiting, again. I searched her tree and couldn't see a link but then she showed up as a link to a very close family member, as well as several others on my paternal side. I left it sit on the 'to be done' list and went away. Now I'm back I'm going to try and find our connection. Another close family member has joined Ancestry and yes is a connection to her.  I've also had a message from another connection, CH  and it is through him that I'm going to work. Method or madness??? Using ConnectedDNA, I sorted my groups, numerically, largest to smallest. Went to Ancestry and printed off...

A few weeks ago I asked Helen to answer some DNA questions, for me, here are her answers. Thank you, Helen. 1)        How many years have you be doing genealogy research and why did you start? I have been researching for 32 years. I had always had an interest as my father was English but I started research in earnest to stop my mother plaintively complaining that she never knew her grandfather (due to a family split which is a whole another story!).   I found out one thing then another and was hooked! 2)        When did you first use DNA, in your research and why? I did my first DNA test in the days when blood was required. Then did a mitochondrial test with Ancestry which while interesting did not help me much. It was not until autosomal testing started that I found DNA to be a useful genealogical tool for me personally though I had been trying to entice some Quested males to do a YDNA test for my ...

(names have been changed, for privacy.) Thirty-four years ago, I started this crazy, exciting, sometimes frustrating genealogy journey. This is part of that journey and one I am thrilled to have taken. My Dad, Matthew A, had been married and had three children, before he was widowed and then re-married, to my Mum.  Those three children have been a big part of my research, for most of that time. (They were all adults, when he re-married and I never met them.) During the 1980's I did meet the husband, Trevor, of one of the daughters, Patricia and two of their children, Kyle and Tess. I was then told that there were three other children, Maggie, Trevor Jnr and Alice, but they had been adopted out.  I spent many hours searching for them but being in the 'present', had no luck. Fast forward to November 2018 and the Society of Australian Genealogists, Lost in DNA weekend. Jill Ball said to me, you need to do an Ancestry DNA test, before you go to Birmingham, you will find...

I've been playing around on Ancestry and looking at different hints, on side branches to find connections etc.  Well today I was looking for Jessie James, no not the outlaw but my great aunt. Jessie was born Jessie  Elizabeth Grant on 18 Febuary 1868 at Ballarat, Victoria. In 1891, in Sydney she married Charles Frederick James and they had three children, Beatrice, 1893, Victoria May, 1896 and Frederick, 1898. It is the near marriage of Victoria May, that I found. It would appear that on 13 June 1916, John Laver, son of William Robert Laver(s)(dec) and Alice Miller(dec)  and May Victoria James, were to be married. They were both listed as living at 44 Bucknell Street, Newtown. He was said to be 25 and May, 21. What Happened???? The image I have shows CANCELLED written right across both pages, with nothing else written, either on the certificate or in the margins. Just the details, required for the paperwork. Discovering this has sent me off, searching bot...

Today is #GenealogySelfieDay and this is my second photo. Like Shelley Crawford said, ' If only I could participate in genealogy selfie day without actually posting a selfie.'  I fully agree with this statement!  The idea was to take a selfie and then write a blog. Here I am. I have been 'doing' my family tree for 34 years, last month and about two or three years into it, I met children of a half-sister. She was from dad's first marriage.  It transpired that she had given several children up for adoption. The children I met wanted me to look for them and while I could have done so, I felt it better if they searched for the siblings.  I heard nothing more. Fast Forward, to Wednesday 29 January 2019.  I have only just done my Ancestry DNA and ther are still matches coming through.   I also made a decision to skip over those, without trees and concentrate on the ones, with trees, first.  On Wednesday morning I hit 200 matches, a second cous...

Way back in October 2013, I took my first DNA test, with FamilyTree DNA and wasn't surprised by the results. In fact I was disappointed, until friends explained that it confirmed my paper trail. Ethnicity Estimate, British Isles    87% Scandinavia    10% Trace                 3% Nothing happened until RootsTech 2017 and a new testing company, LivingDNA, came on the scene. So in May 2017, I again scraped my cheek and sent it of for testing.  Again I wasn't really that surprised with the results. Ethnicity Estimate, Europe             98.8% Central Asia       1.2% February 2018, saw me take a test with MyHeritage, only to find that both FamilyTree DNA and MyHeritage use the same testing company. Something I wish I had known before I tested. My results weren't that different. Ethnicity Estimate, Europe      100%    Thi...

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...

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,...

The Guild held its Surname Retreat at Juniors on Hawkesbury, Lower Portland, NSW, this past weekend and it was great. I'm relatively new to the guild and wasn't sure that this was for me. Wrong! Everyone was welcoming and I learnt heaps. Have a look at their website www.one-name.org Friday in Sydney was windy, I'm talking about 100km+ winds in some areas, plane flights cancelled or delayed and the airport closed for a time, so it was windy. I don't like driving in wind, especially to somewhere new but of I set. Now Lower Portland is near Windsor, approximately 90mins from my place. Lower Portland is approximately 30mins from Windsor, not a short drive. I was fine until I got to the turn off and from there was frightened. A narrow, windy road, strong winds and then the road turned to gravel, not a good mix but I made it.                            ...

Tuesday 7 February 2017 @ 11.45am. After  Sunday it was time to get down to the serious side of being here, Research in the Library! I didn't take note of the opening hours, so rocked up at 8.30, only to find the opened at 8.00. Still they don't close until 6.00pm. Plenty of time! I was going to concentrate on my German Ancestry but even with the guides I have, it is very difficult. Seriously considering asking a researcher to do it for me, one who speaks and reads German. This was on Level B1, so for my English, Scottish and Irish Ancestors, it was down to Level 2. Plenty of familiar faces, down here! Frustrating!!!! I know that the FamilySearch record says he is on this microfilm but it says To Be Continued!   Re-shelved it and went to Level 3 for Mondays with Myrt. Pat and I during my session. It was great to catch-up.   After this I went for a walk, then back to my room and rechecked my research, yes I had it correct. Back into the l...