The Tree of Me

I lived for some time during my childhood in Tenterfield. Prior to the advent of Trove I  spent many hours trawling though both hard copies of old Tenterfield Stars and digital copies at Dixson Library at the University of New England. The Tenterfield Star is not yet on Trove so many finds are serendipitous. Such was the one about the land sale in the street I lived as a teenager. The Tenterfield Star, undated The Parkfield Estate Land Sale The sale of the Parkfield Estate sub-division, which has occupied public attention for some weeks past, took place yesterday on the ground. There was a good attendance of local buyers, but not so many from a distance as had been anticipated. The large barn fronting Pelham-street, was utilised as a   sale-room, in which also a very substantial luncheon was laid out.   I wonder if the barn was on the block where I once lived? I also query my poor referencing with this undated newspaper clipping. Pelham Street is...

I love it when Trove allows you to find events that would not be easily discovered without a random search. This post concerns my great grandfather, Philip Richard Merchant of Tenterfield. His story made both the Brisbane and Sydney papers. Sydney Morning Herald, 12 March 1931, p. 10 DRAGGED BY A HORSE TENTERFIELD, Wednesday Late yesterday afternoon Philip Merchant, a married man with 11 children, a resident  of the Tenterfield district, suffered severe in- juries when he was dragged several hundred yards by a horse. He was riding on a cart- load of wood, and, when he attempted to jump off, his foot became caught in the reins, tearing the winkers off the horse and causing it to bolt. Merchant was dashed against three telegraph poles. His condition is critical. Philip survived this accident. He died 20 years later in Tenterfield aged 68.

Thanks once again to Geniaus for coming up with theAccentuate the Positive 2012  geneameme .  At this time of year many geneabloggers take stock of what they have achieved or not achieved in the previous twelve months and set themselves goals for the coming year. I have been reading several of these posts this week. I feel that a lot of my geneablogging friends are too hard on themselves; several have reported on their successes this year but quite a number have lamented that they haven't achieved as much as they set out to do or that they haven't blogged with the frequency they envisaged. You are a bunch of highly motivated people who have made great strides in the genealogy sphere. Let's share the good news. My response Perhaps I had been one of those who lamented about the lack of progress this year. So for the last hour (or more) I have sat here contemplating my efforts and I have to admit they are not so poor. I just wish I had more time to devote to this ex...

For at least 20 years I have always know that my great great grandmother, Sarah Jane Merchant nee Hooton was buried in an unmarked grave in the Church of England section of Tenterfield cemetery. I had never bothered to look for her specific resting place. Two weeks ago, I went to Tenterfield for a few days and decided to take some photos for Billion Graves. Instead of looking for family headstones in a methodical way I wandered around to the headstones I knew well. I took lots of photos and was content. Later I thought I should really check out other more distant family members in the cemetery. I searched my Reunion database for those who had died in Tenterfield. I already had the burial places noted so copied them down and went back for a more ordered search. Included on my list was Sarah Jane. Imagine my surprise when I compared her location to other family members. There she was, between her two eldest children, James Joseph Merchant and Harriet Baker. Joe Merchant died i...

Many years ago I had trouble finding the death of my great, great, great grandmother Sarah Matilda Collins, formerly Merchant, nee Neal. It was in the days of handwritten indexes and I simply couldn't find her. However, quite unexpectedly the local newspaper,  The Tenterfield Star came to the rescue. I knew the date of the death of her son, Thomas Hugh and his death was reported thus. The Tenterfield Star, Tuesday Morning, 2nd December, 1902. Local and General News Death News was received on Saturday of the death of Mr Thomas Merchant of Drake, whose illness we reported in the last issue, as also did we report the death of his eldest son in West Australia.  Deceased leaves a wife and family in Tenterfield. I had lost trace of his son Albert (who by the way wasn't the eldest son), so naturally went to the previous week's news. The Tenterfield Star, Friday Morning, 28th November, 1902 Local and General News Death We much regret to record the death of a promising young...

I was fortunate last weekend to spend several hours at Dixson Library at the University of New England. Although I love using Trove, it only covers major newspapers up until 1954. Dixson Library has an almost perfect collection of newspapers from the north of NSW. While searching for family information I continually came across the deaths of small children. This has got me thinking this morning about children who have died unnecessarily in my family. This week my posts will be in their memory. Tommy Scheikowski (c1946 - 1955) BOY FOUND DROWNED AFTER NIGHT SEARCH A nine years old boy was found drowned in a shallow waterhole beside a causeway in Rouse-Street North on Tuesday morning, after police had made a search for the boy throughout Monday night. The boy, Tommy Scheikowski, of George-street, had been missing from his home since Monday afternoon. Mrs Scheikowski told police that she first noticed her son was missing at about 3 p.m., but did not take any notice, as the boy usual...