The Tree of Me

The is the first post in my new series of blog posts - From my Bookshelf. I treated myself to a couple of books for Christmas - not that I need an excuse! Small Lives - Photographs of Irish Childhood 1860-1970 which is edited by Aoife O'Connor arrived this morning. This book contains a wonderful collection of images taken over a hundred and ten year period in Ireland. Images include those from the city and country, those from wealthy families and extremely poor ones and those at work and at play. The differences between the rich and poor are often quite distressing. As usual when I looked at this book I made a note of things that I hadn't been aware of or had not stopped to think about. Which photographs made me think of specific Irish families in my family?  What did I find interesting? Although I knew that little boys were often dressed in dresses, I was surprised to see boys as old as 12 dressed this way. I had not stopped to think about what happened ...

This is a Trove Tuesday post. Although the Tenterfield Star or the Stanthorpe Border Post have not been digitised yet for Trove , I am amazed at how much I can find about my family from Wallangarra in the Brisbane Courier. Another browse last night found this. The lesson about snake bite must have been a popular one at the time. I have a school exercise book belonging to my great uncle and in it he writes a composition about a boy getting bitten by a snake and treating it himself. McCall's sister Jane who was in fact 2 years older than William, was bitten by a death adder on 26th August 1893 and died on the way to a doctor. She was buried on her parent's property, just north of Wallangarra. William McCall later married Catherine McCaul who was my great great grandmother's niece. 

Thought I'd share a New Year's card from our family collection. It was sent from Robert and Ann Waters to their daughter Julia, husband Albert Scheef and their young daughter Vida. Vida was born in 1916 and as her brother Albert was not born until 1918 this card was sent in either 1916, 1917 or 1918.

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...

This week I had to go to Lismore for a couple of days for work. This morning I took the opportunity for an early swim at the local pool. Later in the morning I remembered that I had a photograph of my grandfather Don Dawson taken in what I had been told was Lismore. From memory there was a war memorial and some sort of large army vehicle and I thought I had been told it was somewhere near the pool. All I had to do was find the specific location. I decided that I wanted a then and now photograph. I'd get my photo taken in the same place as my grandfather. Now where was the photo taken? There is a memorial at the pool and a large army gun. However, when I searched through the images on my computer and found the photograph there was no similarity as you can see by the images at this site. Don Dawson A search of Trove has uncovered an article in The Argus about the unveiling of the War Memorial in Lismore. Unfortunately it doesn't mention its exact location in Lismore. ...

This week my Trove Tuesday post revolves around James Agnew - son of James and Ellen (Alicia) Agnew of Cooma. The first mention of James Agnew in Trove occurs in a list of emigrants arriving by the ship Waverley from Dublin in 1847. He is one of the 2 sons of Alicia (who was know as Ellen in Australia) Agnew. Alicia and her family joined her husband James Snr in Australia in 1847. Her sister-in-law Catherine who is also mentioned below did not arrive on the Waverley but came the following year on the Success . Sydney Morning Herald, 9 November 1847, p. 3 Some time between 1847 (when he was about 13) and 1885 James Agnew left Cooma and headed south to Sandhurst in Victoria. His family lost track of him there and the following advertisement was placed in The Argus in 1885 by his younger sister Matilda who was anxious to contact him. The Argus, 24 Aug 1885, p. 1 Reading this now, I would have loved more detail. When did he leave the Monaro and when did the family last h...

My previous Family Home post showed the childhood home of Catherine Ellen Dawson . After leaving Tasmania Catherine moved to Melbourne with her mother and siblings after the death of her father Dr William Lee Dawson. Catherine married Gustav Baumgarten in Melbourne on 30th November 1876. They lived at Pleasant Bank Vineyard at Barnawatha.  According to the Cyclopedia of Victoria they had 180 acres of vines, 465 acres of agricultural and grazing land and a further 300 acres under cultivation.   During 1908 the Baumgarten family moved from Barnawatha to Moolan Downs, near Meandarra west of Dalby. They left a thriving business with an established homestead and moved to western Queensland. One of their first tasks when they arrived was to build the dwelling shown below. Original dwelling at Moolan Downs - c1908 The second house at Moolan Downs The final homestead at Moolan Downs One can only admire our early pioneering families. Gustav died at Moolan Downs...