As family historians, we avidly search for details about our ancestors from records about their births, deaths and marriages, immigration documents, electoral rolls and census records etc, and then pad out the details of their lives using various other documents and newspaper articles. If we’re lucky there will be family tales passed down through the generations or someone may even have a collection of photos that they are willing to share. Hopefully … Continue reading
By Pauleen Cass. How do you decide? Over the past few years, I’ve been confronted by the same choices many of us are having to make, or have made, in relation to our family’s belongings and indeed our own, if we’re downsizing. Being family history researchers is a wonderful calling, but at times like this it can also be a curse of sorts. How do we decide what we should keep as part of the family archive, what needs to … Continue reading
Not all our heirlooms are photos, china, jewellery etc. This is the story of one of my precious items, a piece of furniture lovingly crafted by my father for his future family home, just prior to my parents’ marriage in 1939. Some of the items Dad made included a sideboard, a china cabinet, a dining room suite, telephone table with attached seat (almost retro style), a lovely double bed suite with matching duchess[1] and stool. In many of the items … Continue reading
What a year! In February I celebrated my 70 birthday; in early April, Les and I attended the wedding of our youngest daughter Kate to Michael; and by the end of 2021, we will be grandparents to two children. Kate and Michael’s daughter in July and Rachel and her partner Emma’s child in November. My excitement knows no bounds as my dreams will finally be realized when these two are born – I will be a grandmother. On these cold … Continue reading
By Jennifer Harrison. Following the wonderfully successful Irish seminar GSQ conducted in October 2020, it occurred to me that members might benefit from knowledge of a series of books currently in production in Dublin which provide wonderful contextual material for those researching individual counties. Since 1985 Geography Publications have produced substantial volumes under the collective title of History and Society. Each book ranging between 500 and 1000 pages examines an individual county. By the end of 2020 with the issue … Continue reading
