Category Archives: Bell family

Mary Isabella Moffatt.

GSQ Blog Posted on by

Paris has been in the news! It is a city synonymous with romance and referred to as the city of light. However in my family it does not necessarily have such favourable connections because two of my ancestors, Mary Isabella Moffatt and Marmaduke Charles Alexander Bell (more about him in another blog), died in Paris many years apart and in very different circumstances. Mary Isabella Bell was born in the town of Tullamore, King’s County, Ireland (now County Offaly, Republic … Continue reading

Relics of Early Explorers

GSQ Blog Posted on by

For many years, I have had two foolscap pages of old yellowing print text. The text is a copy, and it was made using some form of copying process which was available in the early 1900s. Glued to this text are two original illustrations. A number of years ago I discovered the text and illustrations had been published as an article in the The Queenslander in August 1907. The Queenslander was the weekly newspaper of the Brisbane Courier which had … Continue reading

The Sinking of the Sovereign: a family tragedy

GSQ Blog Posted on by

‘Mary, there is no hope for us now; we shall go to heaven together.’ These were the last words Robert Gore spoke to his wife, Mary, before they and their two young children drowned when the Sovereign, the steamer on which they were travelling to Sydney, sank off Stradbroke Island in March 1847.  Robert Gore was my great, great uncle and he and his wife, Mary, and two brothers and his widowed mother arrived in Sydney from Ireland on the … Continue reading

Little Daddy

GSQ Blog Posted on by

How do you engage children in family stories or in fact any stories? I have been contemplating this recently and luckily was able to attend an interesting talk by Kate Simpson, a children’s author during the GSQ Mini Seminar on 4 June, Sharing Family History: telling, writing. In her talk, she spoke about preserving stories for the next generation of your family and the importance of knowing your audience and making sure your story was focused on their age and … Continue reading

The Marmadukes.

GSQ Blog Posted on by

What’s in a name? In my quest to track down ancestors, I have always concentrated on using the last name as a searching term. I never thought the first name would be useful. However, because first names are often passed down through generation after generation, I have discovered that they may provide a clue to finding missing ancestors, particularly if you have come to a dead end. For years I have struggled to find any records of my Bell ancestors … Continue reading