Category Archives: ship

Researching a Merchant Seaman.

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Finding a “mariner” in your family tree, might sometimes lead you to discover that he was in fact a merchant seaman.  Other terms you might see are merchant mariner, officer in the merchant navy, merchant navy seaman, master mariner, etc.  These are more often than not, some of the hardest ancestors to research, due to the fact that very few records exist.  In fact, after 1858 you will not find anything until the First World War began in 1914, because … Continue reading

The Kate and her companions who brought immigrants into Brisbane.

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Stephanie Ryan State Library of Queensland A researcher was intrigued to learn that her ancestors, who arrived by the Susanne Godeffroy and Melmerby in 1865, Wansfell in 1866 and Royal Dane in 1869, all made the trip from Moreton Bay to Brisbane in the Kate. What was the Kate? What was the journey from the bay to Brisbane like? The Kate, a 150-ton iron, paddle-wheel steamer especially designed for Brisbane’s bay and river trade, was built in 1864 at Newcastle-on-Tyne … Continue reading

Treasures in the Trove – September 2015

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Assume – as genealogists, we are told not to, but to prove all our assertions by rigorous application of solid genealogical methodology.  Assumptions – we are told not to make them, but to back up our claims and cite our sources.  What, however, could possibly happen if we did, in fact, challenge some of our most basic genealogical assumptions?  For instance, what actually constitutes a family tree chart?  What content, layout, format should be included, or not, for a document … Continue reading