My husband and I went to The National Archives (TNA), Kew, London, several years ago as part of a visit to the United Kingdom. My husband had several documents to review, but I was unsure what I would do. It suddenly struck me I could look for documents on my only convict, Robert Bland. Robert is not my blood relative but married my great-great-grandmother, Ann Porter. I already had the court documents from Scotland, so what else could I find … Continue reading
My great grand-uncle James Porter arrived in the frontier settlement of colonial Brisbane in Queensland in 1849. He emigrated with his parents and siblings, including my four-year-old great-grandfather, Robert. James was fourteen on arrival, young enough to be amazed by the difference between colonial Australia and his birthplace of Scotland but old enough to remember his early perspectives. He wrote sixty-two years later in 1911, that his memory was better for events that occurred in his younger days than in … Continue reading
My great-great-grandfather Thomas Muir married three times, and I am unclear what this says of his character. I have no image of him as he was born in Inverness, Scotland, in 1806.[1] Photography did not exist for most of his life, and he and his family were too poor for a portrait or sketch. I picture Thomas as of medium height, with grey hair and a beard. My long research of the Muir family helped me visualise Thomas from my … Continue reading
I am the guest blogger this week at GSQ giving the other bloggers a rest over the holiday. I have been doing family history for about forty years and I thought I start to write some stories about my research. My topic for the blog is my father’s aunt, uncle and cousin who lived for a couple of generations in nearby Toowoomba. Charles and Flora Porter were children of Darling Downs pioneers. Charles was the youngest son of James Porter … Continue reading
This is my first blog for GSQ and I thought I would share my passion for family history and combine it with my research on Queensland First World War nurse. This is the story of Violet Stirling who joined the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and was a nurse with the AIF Violet Jane (Jean) Stirling was the eldest child of James Thomas Stirling and Annie Porter. She was born in North Branch on the Darling Downs on 24 June … Continue reading
