As family historians, we avidly search for details about our ancestors from records about their births, deaths and marriages, immigration documents, electoral rolls and census records etc, and then pad out the details of their lives using various other documents and newspaper articles. If we’re lucky there will be family tales passed down through the generations or someone may even have a collection of photos that they are willing to share. Hopefully … Continue reading
They say that every picture tells a story. My picture, the only one I have of my grandfather and his sisters, and its associated story was one of those featured at the February Writing Group meeting. The simple caption ´Arthur Stirland, front centre, with sisters Edith and Emily, with their respective husbands Albert Hall and Joseph Evans – taken c. 1915-1919‘ does not do justice to the narrative that I wrote: My paternal grandfather, Arthur Stirland, sits front and centre … Continue reading
My previous post was about my dad, Joe Stirland. One of the images included in that post was my mum and dad’s wedding photo from August 1946 (see my post of 21 September 2020). I had copied this photo from my mother’s collection on one of my trips back to England. As is typical of group wedding photos, the groom’s parents are placed on ‘his’ side, whereas the bride’s parents are placed on ‘her’ side. When the post was being … Continue reading
By Lee English. This is a tale, partly in his own words of my Uncle Walter. As my husband and I walked into the room, we heard, ” Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday, dear Walter, Happy Birthday to me. I’m 91 today, I’m 91 today, hip-hip-hooray.” Uncle Walter was doing what he loves best – singing. Uncle Walter lives in a retirement village in Nerang, SE Queensland, where he has become a firm favourite with the other residents and … Continue reading
By Peter Cass. Wos’it like, then, eh? Wos’it really like? Living with a Family Historian (FH), that is. (Dropping poor Michael Caine imitation.) Herewith some reflections and anecdotes, probably somewhat muddled because they include events from Pauleen’s (aka the FH in question) pursuit of her family history, far more sporadic forays into mine, and the involvement of our daughters. For Pauleen, the journey began in the mid-1980s, with an enquiry at the Genealogical Society of Queensland stand in an Historical … Continue reading
