Welcome to 2017, a New Year with lots of research possibilities and a brand new GSQ website! Doesn’t it look good! I don’t like the term “New Year Resolutions” as there are so many negative connotations with those words. This is because so many people make them and they don’t last the distance. I do like the idea of setting some goals. One of the problems is to set attainable goals and Amy Johnson Crow has written a great post … Continue reading
Many researchers consider it important to trace their ancestors from birth through marriage to eventual death and final resting place. My focus has been more on my ancestors’ birth, family, including parentage, and what they did during their life. As long as I have a date of death or burial, I haven’t always bought a death certificate to find out actual cause of death or sought out a final resting place; UK certificates are not as informative as Australian ones. … Continue reading
Current DNA research suggests that the descendants of plague survivors share certain genetic changes, described as super-genes, that may extend life expectancy by providing protective immunity and resistance to certain cancers and auto-immune diseases. The theory interests me because two of my Italian ancestors may possibly have died of plague, My 8x-great-grandfather Michele and his son Giovanni died on the same day at ages 85 and 54, respectively. Their deaths could be attributable to factors other than plague – an accident of some … Continue reading
I started my family history research in 1987 following my father’s death. I looked at the people who attended his funeral and wondered not only where all the people I remembered from my childhood had gone, but also who they really were – we often called people aunt and uncle as a courtesy not because they were related. As I had by then migrated to Australia, doing research in England was a slow process and involved many hours of searching microfilmed … Continue reading
‘Lifelong learning’ has been defined as the “ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated” pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. Therefore, it not only enhances social inclusion, active citizenship, and personal development, but also self-sustainability, rather than competitiveness and employability.” In the spirit of this definition of lifelong learning, I’ve been reflecting on some of the things I’ve learnt this year and what lies ahead for 2016. 2015 has been a fairly busy year in terms of conference attendance: AFFHO Congress in … Continue reading
