Category Archives: cemetery

“Grab & Go” or “Go Slow”

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In true 21st century style, we are all tempted to do a “grab & go” run on our favourite paid genealogy site. Each site regularly brings new records online and more and more people join the sites. Then there’s all those trees to trawl for common relatives or ancestors. Certainly, this strategy can quickly add branches and information to our trees. However, do we stop and reflect on what we’re seeing and whether it’s substantiated by solid records? This tree-snob … Continue reading

Remembering Jane.

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We gazed across the paddock to the area along the bank of Duckworth Creek where we understood Jane Heffernan had been buried in January 1877. The need to reach our next destination on time, fences and long grass prevented my cousins and I from looking for the exact spot where local people believed some trace of graves remained. Jane Heffernan’s death at about 37 years old followed two days after the birth of twins. The twins were also buried near … Continue reading

The Sinking of the Sovereign: a family tragedy

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‘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

Grave Journeys

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By Jill Ball aka GeniAus My husband and I love to travel to distant lands where we enjoy visiting sites of historic interest or natural beauty. We don’t mind a dab of architecture either. While we often visit cemeteries, graveyards and memorial parks on our geneajourneys we also visit cemeteries for pleasure. Cemeteries tell so much about the life, history, and customs of the places we visit. The monumental masonry can be spectacular or quirky and the landscapes can range … Continue reading

What I’ve Learnt as a Taphophile.

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A what, I hear you ask? Put simply, a taphophile is someone who takes a keen interest in visiting cemeteries, looking at gravestones, who spends time recording epitaphs and taking photos. As a relatively new family historian of just over 5 years I have definitely become an avid taphophile visiting close to 40 cemeteries so far here and overseas in an effort to trace family, husband in tow to take photos, hold back long grass so I could record details … Continue reading