Author Archives: Lorraine Digney

One very small sentence

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One very small sentence – ‘Brother in N.S.W.’ And so began the search for one ‘William Spooner’ who morphed into one ‘Patrick Toohey’. ‘Say what, that doesn’t make any sense!’ I hear the cry. But it will… be patient… I’ll explain. It was 1856 and that short, nearly illegible line scratched onto the immigration record next to the name of Eliza Butler (nee Spooner/Spunner) ‘brother in N.S.W’, was to lead one merry ‘family history dance’ some 164 years later. Eliza … Continue reading

In praise of reading ‘Guides’

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Example: U.K. Census Records After being side-tracked for far too long I finally got around to researching my Phillips/Dunning English line. I had all the birth, deaths and marriage material that I needed to begin, so looked to see what the U.K. Census records had to offer in fleshing out these ancestors. I decided to read the ‘Guide’, you know the adage ‘read the instructions’, this is found on the U.K. National Archives website, https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/census-records/ What a treasure of information. … Continue reading

THE THINGS YOU LEARN AT G.S.Q.

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LOOKING FOR THE “J” IN JAMES J. PICKUP? My research into the birth of James led me to the New South Wales Births Deaths and Marriages Family History Research page i.e. https://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/Pages/family-history-research/family-history-search.aspx Just hit the “start searching” button. Select what your looking for a birth, a death or a marriage. In this instance a “birth”. Type in what you do know and a ballpark date. I searched for : Name Fields>>James J. Pickup :  Father>> John :    Mother>> Mary :   Date … 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