The Tree of Me

Thanks to Geniaus for finding this challenge from Bill West . 1. Find a poem by a local poet, famous or obscure, from the region one of your ancestors lived in. It can be about an historical event, a legend, a person, or even about some place (like a river)or a local animal. It can even be a poem you or one of your ancestors have written! Or if you prefer, post the lyrics of a song or a link to a video of someone performing the song. 2. Post the poem or song to your blog (remembering to cite the source where you found it.) 3.Tell us how the subject of the poem or song relates to your ancestor's home or life. I can immediately think of 2 possible posts. I grew up in Tenterfield so Peter Allan's, Tenterfield Saddler could be a good choice. However, last year I went to Northern Ireland and was very fortunate to be shown around the Castledawson, Bellaghy area by Eugene Kielt from Laurel Villa in Magherafelt. Laurel Villa Guesthouse in Magherafelt is often the...

I was alerted a couple of months ago by Trevor McClaughlin from Macquarie University in Sydney and author of From Shamrock to Wattle about an book Murder Trials in Ireland 1836 - 1914 that had been published in 2009 by an Irish colleague, W.E. Vaughan. Trevor thought I would be very interested in the book as my ancestor James Agnew and his brother Henry had been convicted in Londonderry in July 1836 for having employed Patrick Toghill to take away the life of Henry McWilliam. I immediately ordered the fairly expensive book from The Book Depository and eagerly awaited its arrival. I have not been disappointed. Although I haven’t read all the book yet, it is littered with post it notes and markings throughout the book (I never used to write in books!). It has really helped me to gain a better image of Ireland at the time and how the legal system worked. Vaughan’s chapters include: an introduction discussing the scope of the study, apprehending a suspect, committal, indictment and arra...