By Pauleen Cass. With the tsunami of genealogical data available online it’s tempting to just keep adding more and more facts and branches to your family tree. It’s also tempting to ignore the context of the data – to not look beyond the page you’ve landed on. Do you assess what you’re seeing, whether it’s a transcription or an image of the original document? All this data adds to what you know about your families but does it tell their … Continue reading
By Annalies Nutley. I can easily list a multitude of reasons, or rather joys, that my profession as a Genealogist brings; not only to me but a lot more often to my clients. There are certainly times I will exclaim a loud “YES!” when I uncover information that I know will delight the client and their family. There are also times when my hand goes to my mouth and I quietly say “Oh my gosh…” because of a newly found … Continue reading
By Sue Bell. How many times over the last few months have we heard the words ‘Spanish flu’? We have heard them from historians reappraising its effect on the world; health professionals who have been making comparisons with its treatment and that of COVID-19; and statisticians comparing the grim rates of death. But what was the impact on individual families and the stories that have been told within these families about this time? My husband’s grandmother, Alida Sleewijk Visser (née … Continue reading
With bells clanging, the fire brigade raced down James Street in Fortitude Valley from their Brisbane Headquarters carrying the new Ajax ladder as a call had come through that premises on the corner of James and Arthur Street were on fire. By the time they arrived the building was well and truly ablaze but thankfully there was good water pressure and with the aid of the new ladder, the firemen brought the fire under control fairly quickly. This was the … Continue reading
By Shauna Hicks. Since 16 March I have been mostly at home except for food shopping and medical appointments. There has been some reading, cleaning, and gardening but mostly I have had the luxury of spending more time on my own family history. I have tidied up paper files, sorted and tried to identify family photographs, cleaned up computer files and directories, worked through DNA matches, undertaken some new research on various sites and completed some serious writing of stories … Continue reading
