The Tree of Me

For the past four years I have been a teacher on an excursion to Canberra. One of our visits is to the National Museum of Australia . I love this museum. Each time I go I find something I haven't seen before. I particularly enjoy three of the permanent exhibits. Circa is a short film depicting the history of Australia from ancient times to the present day using objects from the collection. So many of these objects and scenes bring an "I remember that" moment. It is always the first place I take my group. The second section I really enjoy is Australian Journeys . This section tells the story of immigrants through personal objects. There is always something that our students can connect with. The third exhibit which strikes a chord with me is called Eternity It is called Eternity after Arthur Stace who wrote the word eternity in chalk on Sydney streets for 35 years. This gallery discusses the lives of 50 Australians. There are ten words which are used to highlight...

Currently I'm on a holiday in England. Before I left I agonized about whether to bring my MacBook Pro with me. However, I erred on the side of common sense and left it at home. Into my bag I popped my iPad. How has it proved invaluable? 1. Each evening I download the photos I've taken onto my iPad so at least I have another copy. I could also upload them to my flickr account but I haven't had time. 2. I have a copy of my Reunion files on my iPad. Any changes I make (I've already made several) can be transferred to my main machine when I get home. 3. My daughter has lent me her SIM card so Internet access has been simple and well used. 4. I have had access to free wifi on several occasions. 5. Google maps has been getting a thorough workout. 6. My app Feedler has enabled me to keep up to date with all the blogs I follow. 7. I've been able to easily reply to a few work emails that were important. 8. My Lonely Planet travel apps have been very useful. 9. Th...

When my daughter suggested that we catch a train from London to Glasgow, hire a car and drive to Edinburgh via Loch Ness I couldn't have been more delighted. Little did she know that although my great grandfather had been born in Antrim, Northern Ireland he and his family lived in Greenock (not far from Glasgow) before they emigrated to Australia. Our TomTom, which we called Lorraine led us straight to 52 Wellington Street, Greenock, West Renfrewshire. At the time of the 1881 Scottish census this was the home of John Moore, his wife Margaret and their two children Knox and Rosetta. John's brother Knox and his wife Jane and their sons John and James lived next door at number 54. Both John and Knox were sugar house employees. Wellington Street, Greenock Outside the house where my great great grandfather Knox Moore lived with his parents John and Margaret in 1881. Research of course always leads to more questions which necessitate further research. 1. Has the ...

For the past few days I have been staying in Renhold, the village in Bedfordshire, England where my husband's Dawson ancestors lived. Elis Hare Dawson was born on 14 December 1821, the first child of Thomas Dawson and his wife Betsy Hare. Thomas and Betsy had been married in 1820 at Old Warden a few miles from Renhold. I had a reference to the baptism of Elis Hare. The reference was in the Renhold baptisms but indicated that the baptism took place at Old Warden. This was something of a mystery. I went to the Bedford Archive to investigate. Upon arrival I asked to see the specific register. They told me the baptisms were on microfiche and I would need to use those as the originals were not to be used. I told them that the information indicated that it wasn't a baptism but instead a reference to the baptism and that it was the last entry in the book. I showed them the screenshot I had taken from their online catalogue. The original baptism register for Renhold was gi...

Have you ever wondered like me why you can remember the names of so many ancestors and family members, where they came from, what ship they arrived on and seemingly thousands of other facts about your families? Have you ever wondered why you often can't remember other simple facts and figures at all? The answer was given to me at the weekend while I read an article in the Easter Weekend Edition of The Sydney Morning Herald - Love is a Battlefield by Bob Carr (Minister for Foreign Affairs). The article was about Bob's cousin Len, an American Civil War expert. The bell ringing moment to me was this paragraph. "We are left with the Barry Jones explanation : the more facts you know, the more facts adhere. If you love the subject enough, your memory absorbs every detail." SMH News Review April 6-8 2011, p. 15. So now, like me, you know why. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I am currently in England visiting my daughter who is working in London. Naturally I decided I would have to spend some time on genealogical pursuits. The problem was where would I choose for a few day's retreat from London? In the end I decided to go to Northampton to visit the grave of Caroline Chisholm. Caroline is known as the immigrant's friend. She was a well known social reformer of her day. Why is Caroline significant to me and my family? You may recall that Caroline Chisholm was on the original $5 note in Australia. As well as her image there was a picture of a ship. That ship was the Waverley . Caroline agitated at the Home Office to reunite the wives and families of convicts with their husbands and fathers. On 22 June 1847 she wrote that she ‘had just left the Home Office and had obtained a passage per Waverley for forty-nine souls.’ SMH 9 August 1847, extract from letter 30 March 1847. My great great grandmother Matilda Agnew, her older siblings James, Joh...