Lilian's Tree

Saturday April 12 - K Katoomba -   (Co Cook)  33°43’S 150°19’E Katoomba is 102km (63mi) west of Sydney and is 1,017m above sea level. Home to the iconic Three Sisters, a rock formation on the escarpment. Their names are Meehni (922m), Wimlah (918m) and Gunnedoo (906m). You can read about them here Three Sisters                                                    The Three Sisters and the Jamison Valley. Kedumba or Katta-toon-bah is an Aboriginal term for "shining falling water" or "water tumbling over hill"    and takes its name from a waterfall that drops into the Jamison Valley.   Kootingal -  (Co. Inglis) 31°03’S 151°03’E Aboriginal meaning Sisters. On Sandy Creek. Village gazetted first as Ragill, then Kootingal. Kootingal was the place where my father0in-law was born, on the family farm. The cem...

ANDREW ALEXANDER HUNTER MAGILL   Andrew, known as Sandy, was born on Friday 17 April 1885 [1] , at Swamp Oak Creek, to Samuel Hunter Magill and Margaret Towers. Sandy was their sixth child and third son. His baptism took place on Wednesday 13 May 1885 [2]  at St Nicholas Church, Tamworth. His sponsors were Conor and Maria Martin, how they are related, I’ve yet to determine. The family lived at Kootingal, 18kms from Tamworth on a property call  Pine Ridge . It is here that Sandy grew up, eventually taking over the farm from his father. On Tuesday 29 October 1907 [3] , he married Edith Pearl Amelia Millar, at The Presbytery, Roman Catholic Church, Tamworth. Edith was the daughter of Ralph Millar and Amelia Jane Hughes. They raised a family of 10 children, Margaret 1908, Andrew 1909, Ralph 1911, Edith 1914, Samuel 1916, Patrick 1918, Edna, Nora, John, Mervyn. Andrew and Edith on their wedding day. Andrew died on Saturday 3 February 1945 [4] , at the B...

Ancestral Places Geneameme Elsie Minnie Ironside and Frederick Charles Sigrist. My husband's side. Alona Tester from http://www.lonetester.com/2017 started this idea, that we look at where our ancestors places of birth or where they worked. “It doesn’t have to be where your ancestors were born, but it does have to be a place that they were associated with. For instance they lived or worked in that place.” says Alona, in her blog. This got me thinking and using my Brother’s Keep family tree program, I did a list of places, with events attached to them. Some were vague, like Sydney or Ireland, some were precise, like Denison Street, Woollahra. So below is a list of some of the places, associated with both the Abberton, my side and the Magill, husband’s side of our family tree and the names that go with them. I didn't get the full A-Z. A – Ayr, Scotland, (Galbraith). Arncliffe, Sydney NSW, Aus, (Abberton.) B – Ballinaykill, Co Galway, Ireland...

Have you used maps, in your family tree research? Aren’t they fantastic? Maps have been used for centuries, from the first explores, crude maps to the modern day, satnav. I remember back in the 1960’s or early 1970’s, when either a Gemini or an Apollo astronaut, took a photo of Australia, from space. It was on the front page of the newspaper, with the banner heading. ‘The Mapmakers Got It Right!’ How they would have marvelled at how far we have explored. I first used old land title maps to locate the family land in Kootingal, NSW and being shown the original ones to use. They were cloth like and very heavy, to turn the pages. Now days I search them online.   Looking at the maps for my own home, I can trace back from my small piece, through the original sub-division to the bigger land grant and it is fascinating to see then development of the suburb. There is a feature on the NSW Lands Department website, that allows you to look at your area, now and then you can see...

 I don't know about you, but I find cemeteries fascinating! Weird, I know but it isn't just from being a genealogist. Here is a selection of tombstones, of family members. Margaret (nee Towers)  and Samuel Magill. Margaret was born at Windsor. Samuel was born in Belfast, Ireland. They are in the Kootingal Cemetery, near Tamworth, NSW. Andrew, born 17 April 1885. Son of Margaret and Samuel, he is buried near them in the Kootingal Cemetery. Edith (nee Millar), born 30 July 1955. She died, visiting family in Adelaide and was brought back to Sydney at buried in the cemetery at Waverly. She faces the ocean and the view is beautiful. Where are your ancestors buried? Anywhere interesting? Bye for now, Lilian.