Author Archives: Pauline Williams

Getting your writing ready for publication

GSQ Blog Posted on by

GSQ’s Writing Group has recently been discussing the basics of compiling a printed publication. Depending on the nature of the publication, apart from the main body of the text other components may include a foreword, contents list or table, a preface, appendixes, frequently used abbreviations and maybe a glossary of terms, endnotes. Two essential elements are a list of references or bibliography and an index. Referencing or citation is something we often wish we had done when we were undertaking … Continue reading

My coalmining ancestor Joseph Stirland (1816-1879)

GSQ Blog Posted on by

I have several ancestors named Joseph Stirland. This post concerns my 2 x great grandfather, son of William Stirland and Dinah Hofton. He was born into a coalmining family in June 1816 in Cotmanhay, Derbyshire and, like his father, became a coalminer. He was born at a time and place when men were transitioning from the increasingly mechanised industry of framework knitting to the rapidly developing coalmining industry. The Stirlands and related families were non-conformist and this perhaps explains why … Continue reading

Early migrants to South East Queensland

GSQ Blog Posted on by

As regular readers of this blog will be aware, I wasn’t born in Brisbane, let alone in Australia. At times, I do dip my toes into Australian records, however, and have gradually been picking up more knowledge. As well as my regular activities with GSQ, I also belong to a genealogy group that meets monthly. We take it in turns to set a challenge for the following month and some of these challenges have been awesome in opening our eyes … Continue reading

Bridging the Past and the Future – Congress 2018 – another perspective

GSQ Blog Posted on by

I was one of over 600 delegates at the 15th Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry, held at the International Convention Centre in Sydney from 9 -12 March. The theme for the Congress was Bridging the Past and the Future. Since my return, I’ve been reading quite a few posts by other bloggers recounting what they gained from attending the Congress, including Shauna Hicks’ post on this blog. As we each take something different from any event we attend, I … Continue reading

Writing my family story

GSQ Blog Posted on by

I entitled this post Writing my family story as that is what I’ve been doing over recent months. Regular readers may remember that around three years ago, I prepared a draft family history for my mum’s family. I gave this to her for her 90th birthday. At the time I knew what I had produced wasn’t particularly well-written, but didn’t have sufficient time or information to do a better job. My mum found the long list of citations/references rather daunting; the … Continue reading