Monthly Archives: November 2018

Looking back

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We research our ancestors and often complain as to Why didn’t they write the names on the back of the photos, take photos of their homes, cars, children, pets, workplaces? Why didn’t they write their stories of their childhood, their schooldays, how they met their partners, got their first job, etc etc? Judy Russell gave a presentation Just Three Generations in which she discussed how quickly oral history and family information can be lost in just three generations — from grandparent … Continue reading

Two great grandfathers in a park

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Have you ever had serendipitous moment while doing your family history? I had decided to write in this blog post about my maternal great grandfather, Harry Weedon Hardwicke, who I briefly mentioned in my previous blog post.   He was born in Tasmania, the thirteenth child of Elizabeth and Charles Browne Hardwicke. I haven’t been able to find his birth or baptism certificate but we know that he moved to Townsville, Queensland where he met his future wife Louise Christina Amy … Continue reading

Census substitute or historical snapshot?

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by Bob McAllister I thought that I had become quite adept at using the 1939 Register since it became available in November 2015 [1]. After all, it was just like a census released early with the bonus of full dates of birth offset by the absence of place of birth – valuable, but hardly exciting. However, in the last few days I have come to view this resource in quite a different light. It began at the GSQ Annual Seminar … Continue reading

A tale of six Irish sisters (the very condensed version)

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Between 1855 and 1872, six daughters were born to an impoverished Irish family. Five of these sisters left Ireland and made their way across the world with three emigrating to Australia (one returned home to Ireland after 13 years away), two to the United States of America while the sixth sister remained in Ireland. These young women were born in County Carlow (Irish: Ceatharlach, meaning place of cattle) which lies in the south-east of Ireland and is 84km from Dublin. … Continue reading