By Joan Riek Driving into Gympie along Brisbane Road, you cross over Pengelly’s Bridge. This bridge with its predecessors makes for a fascinating tale. When I was nine my family moved to a property of four acres, bordered on two sides by Deep Creek, and then fronted the main road which went over Pengelly’s bridge as it is now. However, on the north-eastern corner of the property bordered by Deep Creek were the remains of previous bridges. This was always … Continue reading
By Joan Riek. Have you ever thought about obtaining the will of your ancestor? It can be very useful. It also gives you an insight on family relations, which sometimes cause controversy. Recently I was doing some researching, or could you say re-researching of a relative John Trew. In an earlier post I stated how I thought I had finished researching him. In John’s will[1] he leaves everything to his first daughter, Nellie, whom he states is living at Hiram … Continue reading
I’ve previously written about putting our ancestors’ lives in context so that they become more meaningful, especially when we’re writing a family history or a biography of a particular ancestor. The importance of context came home to me earlier this year when I read a book which focussed on events in a particular period. It caused me to think (yet again) about how to write up my research. 1960s montage For instance, can you remember where you were, who … Continue reading
What colour is your elephant? A family history is like an elephant – huge and impossible to digest in one piece. One way of reducing the writing task to a manageable level is to consider it a compilation of smaller parts or chapters rather than as a whole. Also you don’t have to do everything in one sitting – pick one part at a time. It helps to set aside a regular time for writing – no phone calls, social … Continue reading
I recently presented a paper entitled Moments in time: British ancestors in history at GSQs mini-seminar Putting your ancestors in context. As part of this presentation I had developed a timeline of significant events in British history which probably impacted on our ancestors’ lives. Several attendees expressed interest in the timeline and so I distributed an extended version. The timeline may also be included in Generation. When I was developing the timeline, there seemed to be some broad headings … Continue reading
