The Tree of Me

A few days ago I spoke about the Anderson's Reunion which was taking place over the Australia Day long weekend at Wallangarra. I wish to devote this post to part of Sunday afternoon. As it was Australia Day, we paused to listen to two former employees of Anderson's - Dennis Scanlon and Mac Riding. Dennis performed his poem You Know You're in Australia which he has allowed me to print below. Then he and Mac sang Advance Australia Fair . Both were moving renditions and I'm sure all of us there were moved by the performances. You Know You're in Australia If you've ever watched the Southern Cross, blazin' in the sky Gazed in awe at the majesty, of a wedge tail circling high Seen the break the big waves make, as they roll in at Bondi: Then old mate, you know you're in Australia If you've camped at Koscziusko - skied the new season's snow Been in the New England - seen the autumn glow Or if you walk right up Cape York and there'

From my cousins Loretta and Kelvin Today is the third  anniversary of my blog  Genealogy Matters to Me . It doesn't seem that long ago that I bit the bullet and finally decided to start a serious blog. Last year I rummaged around for one of my 2nd birthday cards to show, so I went back to the box and looked through my 3rd birthday cards. (I know I have hoarding issues but sometimes things come in handy.) Looking through the cards I was delighted to see that I actually saw some of the people who sent me cards last weekend - a half century since they were sent to me. I know I shouldn't make any promises I can't keep for the year ahead but I really would like to complete Shona Hicks   52 weeks of genealogical records challenge. Wish me luck!

Week 3 of   Shauna Hicks  challenge for 2014. This means I'm 3/52 finished. Will I get to the end? We all have copies of wills that "give devise and bequeath all my real and personal property of whatsoever nature and wheresoever situate unto ....." But what items make up the personal property ?These are the interesting aspects of wills. Over the years the wills I've collected highlight many differences between families. In many, the proceeds are given to the spouse and later shared equally among all children. In others, some children are given significantly smaller proportions. Did they upset someone in the family? Perhaps they had been given a helping hand earlier in life. Who knows now? In some families there was absolutely no doubt about who was going to get what. So what has been specifically willed in my extended families? Jacob Scheef left his working horses, working bullocks, farming implements and machinery to all his sons (except my husband's gra

This weekend will be a weekend for reminiscing. I am going to Wallangarra to attend a reunion for employees of Anderson's Meatworks. My father was the manager during the 1970s and early 1980s and we have a series of photographs taken at the works in the 1950s which detail the work that occurred in each department. My mother decided to put together  a small book for the occasion using these photographs and information from many other sources. Book to be launched January 25, 2014 A sneak preview of one of my favourite photos in the book. Boning at Anderson's, Wallangarra c1950s The books will be for sale from this weekend. I'll add purchase details to this post when they come to hand.

Apparently today, the 23rd January 2014 is National Handwriting Day. I didn't know such a day existed until it came up in a Facebook post. This got me thinking about a possible blog post. I have original examples of handwriting dating from the early 1800s amongst my personal possessions. I have photocopies of other early writing as well. However, I thought about a dictation. I had hoped to find three examples but could only come up with two. I must have tossed my Spelling book! The first is a copy of a dictation test given to my great, great uncle James Moore when he applied to join the Queensland Police Force in 1909. The results of this test indicated that his writing was "Fair". Queensland State Archives A/40562  AF 3092 The second example comes from his nephew, my grandfather's brother Matthew Moore. It is taken from his Qualifying Examination Tablet dated 10th November 1922. I was very fortunate to find this sample. In 1990 I was at Jenning

This geneameme comes from Cassmob  who has issued a 2014 Australia Day Challenge.   The geneameme comes in two parts: one to test whether your family is ridgey-didge and the second to show us how Australia runs in your veins, without any flag-waving and tattoo-wearing. Shout it out, be proud and make everyone wish they lived in this wide brown land of ours. My first ancestor to arrive in Australia was :  Patrick Flynn who arrived on the Southworth in 1821. A few more years until our family can celebrate its bicentenary.  I have Australian Royalty (tell us who, how many and which Fleet they arrived with) :  Unfortunately no one arrived early enough to be on one of the numbered fleets. However, Patrick Flynn (see above), James Agnew (see below) and Thomas Mylan 1824 Prince Regent all arrived courtesy of the British government. I’m an Aussie mongrel, my ancestors came to Oz from :  England, Ireland and Scotland Did any of your ancestors arrive under their own financial steam

I'm now ready for week 2's challenge in  Shauna Hicks  challenge for 2014. Week 2 - Internal Migration The subject of internal migration in Australia is one that has always interested me, especially as it highlights the extreme differences between my husband's family and mine. All his ancestors lived in northern New South Wales and the distance I had to cover headstone hunting in the 1980's was only one and a half hours from north to south. They arrived in Australia, made their way to the New England area (some taking longer than others) and settled.  This had to do with the purchase of farming land. My family, however tend to be travellers. My headstone search has taken me to NSW, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia just for direct ancestors. Some of my families moved short distances often, others very long distances. One family story involves my great great grand parents Peter and Elizabeth Ogden. The Ogdens came from Liverpool, England b

I have decided that I need a challenge to get me blogging again on a regular basis. So I was pleased this morning when I saw  Shauna Hicks  personal blogging challenge for 2014. Each week Shauna intends to blog about a different genealogical record. I have tried a weekly blogging challenges before and have never lasted more than about 6 weeks, so my aim this year is to improve on this. Week 1 - Military Medals Last week's challenge is about military medals. In my direct line I have no one who fought in any recent wars. However, my parents did have uncles who fought in both the First and the Second World Wars. William Vesey Dawson 1892 - 1974 - Brisbane 1914 William Vesey Dawson was born in Gladesville on 29th May 1892. His family later moved to the north coast of NSW and it was there that he joined  the 5th Australian Light Horse Regiment on 25th October 1914. He served with this regiment at Gallipoli but it was to be later in the war while he was with the  Camel

Today, 3rd January marks the centenary of the death of William Thomas Seabrook who was born in Melbourne in 1881 and was tragically drowned while trying to rescue Muriel May Hunter in dangerous surf at Point Lonsdale in Victoria. William Thomas Seabrook 1881-1914 The following is a copy of what I have previously written and can be found on the Brighton Cemetery website. William (Will) Thomas Seabrook was born in 1881 at Hawthorn, the sixth of ten children born to William John Seabrook (1846-1914) and Mary  née   Mason (d 1912).  As a young man Will was a member of the South Yarra Presbyterian Gymnastic Club, later becoming an instructor with the club.  In 1901, he joined the Victorian Scottish Regiment Association.  In 1905 he was a colour sergeant and by 1914 he held the rank of captain.  He worked for the estate agency business of “Sydney C. Arnold and Company”.  According to family sources, Will was described as “a well-proportioned, muscular young man, who took an int