By Shauna Hicks. GSQ has scheduled me for two guest blog posts a year. Every time my turn comes around, I struggle for a topic. What is going to interest other family historians? This time I’m going to write about something that I’m working on now with my own family history. And that’s trying to tell my own story. We spend lots of time researching our ancestors, but we also need to remember that in 100 years or so, someone … Continue reading
Weather? What Weather? Many Australians are still recovering from the latest floods, bushfires, and storms. Our unforgiving climate has battered settlers since their arrival. For tens of thousands of years, indigenous Australians have wrapped their lives around the seasons. History is alive with weather related sliding door moments. As the Spanish Armada in 1588 fled north from the English attack, their only route back to Spain was to sail around the north of Scotland, keeping well out to sea. However, … Continue reading
Many moons ago I tentatively knocked on the door of Ian Irvine, a second cousin of my dad’s. The door opened with a welcome and I fought back a lump in my throat, as gentle speaking Ian reminded me so much of my deceased father. Ian was my introduction to many in this family and I dedicate this story to now deceased Ian, Lex and Amelia; grandchildren of Hugh Irvine. I am grateful I spent many hours with them in … Continue reading
By Stephanie Ryan. Who first purchased the land where our families grew up, which, in its homes, streets and suburbs, became the background of their lives? When did this land become part of the suburbs? How do I trace its history? State Library has hundreds of estate maps showing first sales of residential blocks in Queensland. In this estate map the sketch of the local area puts the streets in context. Cheap, easy transport was a selling point when private … Continue reading
This tale begins with the landing in Brisbane of the vessel Ariadne on 3 January 1864, that turbulent year for the city with two major fires in Queen Street.[1] One of the passengers on Ariadne was James Carothers, a young 19 yr old lad from Fermanagh.[2] The young lad worked hard and by 1870 he had established a farm at Bulimba Point; Bulimba had been serviced since 1850 by Samuel and Matthew Buckley operating a rowing boat. In 1864, John … Continue reading
