The Tree of Me

This morning I was listening to the radio and a woman was being interviewed about and was playing a button accordion. It made me think of the accordion in my cupboard. Accordion belonging to either Knox or John Moore, Wallangarra Internet research leads me to believe that it is a Vienna model Hohner diatonic accordion made in Germany. The melody is played on the row of buttons on the right. There are two buttons on the left for bass and chord accompaniment. Only one of the three draw stops at the top remains. One day when I was probably about 10, my uncle Matthew Moore (1907-1981) gave me the accordion which had belonged to someone in the family. Now of course I can't remember who owned it. It was either his father Knox Moore or his grandfather John. Did it come with the family when they emigrated from Ireland or did they have it when they lived and worked in the sugar mills in Greenock, Scotland? Perhaps it was purchased after they came to live in Australia. I may hav...

My 5g grandparents John Milroy and his wife Jane McCarlie are buried in Stoneykirk, Wigtownshire, Scotland. I had seen a photograph of their headstone but I just had to see it myself. The short drive from Stranraer was along narrow county lanes. Unfortunately it began to rain but I was not to be deterred. Almost at Stoneykirk Stoneykirk My previous research on Google maps had shown that St Stephen's Church and graveyard was tucked away behind two houses in Stoneykirk. St Stephen's, Stoneykirk, Stranraer Unfortunately it began to rain and became quite miserable so we were forced to abandon the search for John and Jane. If I had been able to access the image I had of the headstone it would have given me a clue to its specific location. My plan (unbeknown to my husband) was that I would return early the following morning before we caught the ferry to Belfast. The headstone was easy to locate the following morning. It had been on my husband...

Last year, I travelled overseas to a wedding in Paris. Afterwards I simply had to continue with my genealogy research, but where to go? As Ireland was going to be one of the stops and the ferry from Scotland to Northern Ireland leaves from Portpatrick, the nearby towns of Stranraer and Newton Stewart had to figure in the itinerary as my father's Scottish ancestors lived in this area. As soon as we arrived in Stranraer, I immediately went to the local museum and purchased a copy of Memorial Transcriptions in Stranraer, 2 Sheuchan Cemetery. The Sheuchan Cemetery is located in Leswalt High Road, Stranraer alongside the High Kirk. High Kirk, Leswalt High Road, Stranraer The index revealed names from my Fleming family so I was delighted to discover that my great, great, great grandmother Jane Milroy and her husband James Fleming were buried there. The visible gravestone map in the booklet showed exactly where I would find the headstone. Fleming family headstone, Sheuch...

I grew up in the small border town of Wallangarra and members of my family lived there from the very early days of settlement. Recently I was alerted to a postcard on eBay of James McCook's Royal Hotel. When I saw the postcard I knew I had to have it. Jas McCook, Royal Hotel, Wallangarra, c. 1914-1915? Reverse of postcard Starting with the reverse of the postcard I wanted to identify the 3 people mentioned. Polly was easy. She was my great-grandmother Mary Moore (McColm) (1885-1939). Mary is readily identified with the McCooks and the Royal Hotel. My grandfather, her second son, was born there in January 1909 and Mary's husband Knox was the nephew of Rosetta McCook, wife of the proprietor. The Moores lived and worked at the hotel. A search on electoral rolls has identified Elizabeth and Christopher Noye living in Warwick with their daughter Alice Elizabeth. Alice was born in 1889, so she, rather than her mother, was probably Polly's friend. ( Ancest...

I have been researching my family for over 40 years but thanks to Trove I have a new branch to add to my family. I searched for Knox Moore (my g grandfather and a ggg uncle had the same name) in Trove as I have done many times before. I was rewarded with a funeral notice for Isabella Taylor, his sister. This was big news to me. The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), 19 Aug 1911, p. 6 . I purchased her death certificate and yes, she was the daughter of John Moore and Margaret Glen, the sister of John and Knox Moore. Which leaves me to wonder, how many more Moores are there?

Congress 2018 Finally I have time to sit and reflect on a fantastic four days last week. I am very pleased with my decision to take two days LSL and attend Bridging the Past , the 15 th Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry. I was always going to wait until I retired to do something like this. My takeaways and homework include: Avoid being sucked into the never-ending hole - only when you start writing do you see the gaps in your research Don't forget about the Government Gazettes and Journals on Trove If we don't tell the stories of those who came before, the history will be lost in just three generations Don't forget to revisit the Historical Land Records Viewer Phase my DNA to work out maternal and paternal lines Check our Scotland's Places in more detail Download Phillamore's Atlas from archive.org Learn more about clandestine marriages Check out Dusty Docs Add more of my family images to Flickr ...

When my great great grandmother Margaret Jane Moore (Henry) died on 1st August 1923 her death certificate stated that she had two deceased sons. Margaret Henry had  married John Moore on 21 September 1871 at Ballymoney, Antrim, Ireland. Upon her death she had 5 surviving children. Knox            b     c1873     Ireland Rosetta         b       18 February 1875     Ballymoney, Ireland Elizabeth      b       1884     Glencoe, NSW, Australia James            b      1887     Queensland Margaret       b       1889    Brisbane, Queensland My previous research had discovered two sons not mentioned on her death certificate. John             b       28 December 1872  Dervock, Ballymoney, Antrim James...