Finally finding a black sheep!

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I have several ancestors in my family who could be considered troublemakers or ne’er-do wells; the problem is deciding who would be the one to write about for this blog post. It must be William Nelson McCann, aka William McCann Neilson, he is fascinating, but I need to sort through the pile of newspaper clippings I have on William to write coherently. William Nelson McCann (my 2nd great-granduncle) was born on 27 September 1837 in Launceston, Tasmania, the son of … Continue reading

Queensland State Archives: Finding teachers

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It’s funny what you find along the way! Recently I was researching my 2nd great uncle, Thomas Baines, an Irish school teacher who emigrated to Queensland. Now, I am one of the ‘new kids on the block’, as far as genealogy is concerned, so the Queensland State Archives (QSA), although not completely unknown to me, was not a place where I felt comfortable to do my research. However, if I was ever going to give a correct account of my … Continue reading

The Old Collegians’ Cup

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Do you get sidetracked reading old newspapers? Is Google your friend? Does this eat up your valuable research time?  I know it does for me, I get lost between those black and white lines.  BUT sometimes you hit the jackpot.  This is what happened to me recently when I was looking for information on my Great Uncle – Robert Seymour Reid. Robert was born in Beechworth, Victoria on 9 June 1873[1] to Patrick Reid and Amy Sophia Freame.  Patrick, a … Continue reading

Henry White: From Bletchingley servant to Mongarlowe orchardist

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The sixth child of William Jennings White and his wife Mary made his appearance on the last day of January, 1823. The couple baptised this baby Henry in the Bletchingley Parish church on 2 March 1823. William Snr was a cordwainer and the family lived in one of the Stychens Cottages in Stychens Lane on the left as you enter the village from Redhill direction. These cottages were built by by John Perkins, the local land-owner, in Henry’s words ‘so … Continue reading

They didn’t hold property but they could vote

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I continue to hear fellow family historians say that they won’t bother searching early Queensland Electoral Rolls because they believe their ancestor was poor so didn’t own property, and therefore wouldn’t have been able to vote. So a very valuable resource is being ignored because researchers do not realise that residence (generally for six months) was a qualification our male ancestors could use to vote. The residence qualification has been very useful in tracing one of my early Queensland families. … Continue reading