As we move into our third year of the Covid 19 pandemic, I have been thinking a lot about my English Midland ancestors who lived through many epidemics of cholera and smallpox. In fact, it is extremely lucky that I am even here writing this guest blog post. In August 1832 my 4G grandparents both died in Wednesbury, Staffordshire in the cholera epidemic that swept the Midlands that year. Edward Brookes aged 42 years and his son Elijah aged 14 … Continue reading
Amazing how fast these guest blog posts for GSQ come around. Each time I am left thinking ‘what will I write about this time’. This month’s choice is the word Discovery. When I talk about how fantastic Discovery is to my U3A genealogy students, they immediately think that I am talking about the Discovery television channel. Was that your first thought? Be honest. For me, Discovery is the amazing online catalogue of The National Archives (UK). It has so many … Continue reading
First a confession – I have been on Twitter since 2009 so yes I am a fan. Why? There are numerous reasons. By following key genealogists, I can get the latest news on Australian, English, Scottish or Irish research, DNA updates or even what is happening at local record offices and archives. I can chat to geneamates, or find out about upcoming webinars or what books to put on my reading list. Time spent varies depending on what else is … Continue reading
by Shauna Hicks I am just home from a recent genealogy cruise to Alaska from Seattle in the USA. There were other GSQ members on board as well as many other genealogists from Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Canada and the US. You are almost certain to know someone else and if not, it does not take long to make new friends or find people researching the same names or places that you are. I travelled alone and shared the … Continue reading
Congress was held at the International Convention Centre, Darling Harbour in Sydney over four days from 9 March to 12 March 2018. There were over 600 attendees plus exhibitors and it was wonderful to catch up with friends from all over Australia and to make new friends. Given the numbers, it was hard to locate people that you did want to chat to. There were numerous plenary sessions, and a choice between four talks at other times and even a … Continue reading
