#MyColorfulAncestry

My geneamate J Paul Hawthorne (GeneaSpy), did a little thing last week that went viral on social media in the geneaworld. He created a spreadsheet showing five generations of birth places, but what made it more interesting was that the birth places were color-coded. J Paul was kind enough to share a Dropbox link to his template so we could all do one...and we sure did! Since last Thursday, my news feed on Facebook has been flooded with these pretty charts. You can access J Paul's template by clicking through to his blog post.

I had a lot of fun creating mine! Please note that it includes my maternal Grandmother's adoptive family.

5 Generation Chart of Birth Places (Template courtesy of J Paul Hawthorne)

That's right - I'm a first generation Queenslander!

I decided to use the same template but for death places instead. I think it is neat to look at the two images side by side. It makes it easier to see where people moved to compared to where they were born.

5 Generation Chart of Death Places (Template courtesy of J Paul Hawthorne)

Thank you J Paul, for creating a fun activity and filling our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter feeds with colorful ancestry charts. 

Have you done yours? Don't forget to use #mycolorfulancestry when sharing it on social media. 

#GenealogySelfie Day!

In the lead up to RootsTech this week (I wish I was going again), Geneabloggers and Conference Keeper have proclaimed February 1st as #GenealogySelfie Day.

The official announcement on the Geneabloggers website states -

"Peruse your list of 'genealogy' friends and you’ll most likely find that many use a photo of an ancestor, or a baby picture, as their profile pic. It adds quite the variety to your friends list, but you wouldn’t know them if you ran into them in the vendor hall at a conference, or sat next to them at a workshop. And with RootsTech just around the corner, there’s an opportunity to possibly run into thousands of them in person!

ConferenceKeeper and Geneabloggers are delighted to offer a solution. They are officially proclaiming February 1st as #GenealogySelfie Day – a day for social folks who love genealogy to snap a picture of themselves and share it on Facebook and/or Twitter with the hashtag #GenealogySelfie. It will be fun to put faces to names, and increase the chances of recognizing one another at RootsTech and other upcoming events and conferences." 

As I am writing this, it is just after 9pm on the 1st. Here is my #GenealogySelfie. Actually, make that #GenealogySelfies!

#GenealogySelfie

 More like #SillyGenealogySelfie

I will be sharing my genealogy selfie on my social media accounts. If you feel like snapping a selfie, don't forget to use the hashtag #GenealogySelfie. If you are not feeling creative, don't worry! A simple selfie is a-okay!

But first, let me take a selfie!

Cousins Galore!

Last week, Randy from Genea-Musings posted this Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Challenge:

1)  Take both sets of your grandparents and figure out how many first cousins you have, and how many first cousins removed (a child or grandchild of a first cousin) you have.

2)  Extra Credit:  Take all four sets of your great-grandparents and figure out how many second cousins you have, and how many second cousins removed you have.
HINT:  Make a Descendants Chart with your genealogy software program!

3)  Tell us the grandparents and great-grandparents names, but don't give the name of living cousins unless you want to. 

4)  Are there any of those lines that you don't know all of the cousins names?  Do you care? 

5)  Tell us about them in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook or Google+ post of your own.  Be sure to drop a comment to this post to link to your work. 

I love my cousins. However, I have no first cousins on my Dad’s side. They’re all on my Mum’s side and live in Texas, so the time that I get to spend with them is rare and extra special for me. The last time I saw my cousins was in June/July 2012, the last time I was in Texas.

Grandparents

1A. William D. D. Gow & Eunice Hazel Dyer had 2 children – my Dad & Aunt. My Aunt has never married nor had children. Hence, no first cousins on this side.

First Cousins & First Cousins 1x Removed
2nd Jan 2011, Texas, USA.
Grandad's 80th.

1B. Nancy Robinson & Herbert K. Renfrow had 3 children – my Aunt, Mum & Uncle.

Aunt Molly has 2 daughters, and my Uncle David has 4 daughters. That’s right, no male first cousins! My brother is the only grandson. Both Molly’s daughters have children. One has 3 boys, and the other has 2 boys. David’s eldest daughter has 2 children – a girl & boy.

1C. My Step Grandmother, Vivian Young, had 2 children – my Step Aunt & Step Uncle.

My Step Aunt has 1 daughter while my Step Uncle has no children.

Total

First Cousins: 7
First Cousins 1x Removed: 7

Great-Grandparents

2A. William Gow & Elizabeth Croal had 2 children – William (my Poppa) & Adam. Adam only lived for 24 hours, so no cousins there.

2B. James Albert Dyer & Eva Florence Mackay had 6 children – Claude, Eunice (Nanna), Earle, Vera, Noel & Enid.

Claude never married nor had children.

Earle had 1 daughter, Lorraine. I met her for the first time at his funeral in 2011. Lorraine has 3 children who I also met at the funeral.

Vera had 5 children – Noela, Shirley, Terry, Peter & Brian.
Brian died when he was 24. I am not sure if he had a child before he died or not.
Noela does have children but I have no idea how many.
Shirley has 2 daughters who both have children and a son who died in his 20’s.
Terry has 2 children, who between them have at least 6 children that I know of.
Peter, well, he has a son that I know of. That son might have children. I think Peter has been married a couple of times so he probably does have more children.

Aunty Vera’s family is huge itself and I have never been able to keep up. I still need to get her to write down a list of all of her descendants for me.

Noel had 3 children – Dawn, Rodney & Stephen.
Dawn passed away a couple of years ago. I am not 100% sure if she had children. I think she did, but not sure. Rodney & Stephen both have children but I do not know how many.

Enid had 4 children – Debbie, Gregory, Kerry & Leonie.
Leonie died when she was a baby.
I think Gregory might have children, but again, not sure.
Debbie has 3 children that I know of.
Kerry has 2 children, one of which has 4 children, and the other I’m not sure about.

Thus far,
Second Cousins (definite): 14
Second Cousins 1x Removed (definite): 10

Who knows what the actual numbers are though!

2C. Wiley Durwood Robinson & Maud Ella Sharp only had one child, my Grandmother, Nancy.

2D. Roscoe Eugene Renfrow & Ethel Eva Thompson had 4 children – Flora Nell, Roscoe Eugene Jr, James Calvin & my Grandad.

The Female Cousins.
Mum is the adorable little girl front right.

Flora Nell had 3 children – Becky, Betsy & Peggy.
Becky has 2 daughters. Between them, they have 5 children.
Betsy has 2 sons. One has 2 children.
Peggy has a daughter and son. The daughter has 1 son.

Roscoe Eugene Jr had 2 children – Terri & Larry.

Larry does not have any children.
Terri has a son and daughter. The son had his own son born in January this year.

James Calvin had 2 children – James Calvin Jr & Michael.

James Calvin Jr. has 3 daughters. One daughter has 2 children, one has 3 and the other has 1.
Michael has 1 son.

Thus far,

Second Cousins: 12
Second Cousins 1x Removed: 15

Total
Second Cousins: 26
Second Cousins 1x Removed: 25

The actual numbers are going to be much higher.

I seem to be more clued up with cousins on my Mum’s side of the family even though I rarely see them! While I was doing this, I updated my tree on Ancestry.com by adding second cousins once removed who I had not listed. I definitely have some homework to do on my Aussie side though.  

A Timeline for William Gow.

Over at Young & Savvy Genealogists, my blogging partner Heather, recently posted about a new timeline tool she discovered. I've just had my first go at making one and I love it! I chose to make it for my Great Grandfather, William Gow. I knew I had a lot of information I could add to it. It was slightly time consuming, but fun and I definitely want to create more. If you'd like to have a go at making one, check it out here. It's definitely worth it!

Paton-MacEntee Down Under in Brisbane.

How do I even begin? Saturday, the 1^st of February was a big day for little me! Last year, when I found out that Thomas MacEntee & Chris Paton were coming to Brisbane in conjunction with the 4^th Unlock The Past Cruise (it begins tomorrow), I knew I had to go.

I pre-purchased my ticket for the full day online for an excellent price of $39.50. Even Mum was impressed with the price! Normally I work Saturday mornings, so I was very glad that the boss gave me the day off to attend (Thanks Mark! :-D).

The event was held at the Broncos Leagues Club in Red Hill. I don’t know my way around that part of Brisbane. Thankfully Dad & I did not get lost on the way, as he dropped me off right on the dot at 9am. I must say though, I never thought I’d set foot in the Broncos Leagues Club because I’m a Blues supporter. Upon arrival, I lined up with my ticket in hand. I was very excited, yet also quite nervous because it was my first major event with other geneabloggers present, and because I knew I was going to be the youngest there. My stomach felt like it was competing in the gymnastics at the Olympics! When I got to the registration table, I saw fellow geneablogger Helen Smith. She said something like “Finally! In person at last!”

Caitie & Helen

After entering the room, I had a look at a few of the stalls. There were people from organizations including History Queensland, Genealogical Society of Queensland, Queensland Family History Society, Queensland State Archives (QSA), State Library of Queensland, Findmypast, Guild of One Name Studies and Gould Genealogy & History. I spent some time talking to Susan who as at the QSA stall. I mentioned that I had been there recently with my Mum, and Janet Prowse (Executive Director of QSA) had taken us on a behind the scenes tour. Susan knew who I was immediately and told me that she had read my article on Scotlands People!

A few minutes later I was approached by another fellow geneablogger, Alex Daw. I didn’t know she was attending so it was a pleasant surprise to meet her. While I was chatting with Alex, another lady Michelle approached me and told me that she loves what I’m doing and really enjoyed my video on the Queensland State Archives. We also had a good chat for a few minutes. It was getting close to 10am when Thomas MacEntee’s first talk was due to begin so I found myself a seat. I was just checking the usual social media when the man Thomas MacEntee himself (the genius behind Geneabloggers and HackGenealogy), came up to me and asked if I was Caitlin. All I remember from the conversation is that he told me he had some things for me. Not even 5 minutes later, I heard an accent behind me. I turned around – Chris Paton was sitting right behind me! And guess what? He too asked if I was Caitlin! I’m still blown away by the fact that with Thomas and Chris I didn’t need to introduce myself. They both recognized me, and knew who I was.

Thomas’ first talk focused on Building a Genealogy Research Toolbox. This was about different ways of storing your research in some sort of a ‘container.’ A great idea that Thomas mentioned is to put an ‘If Found’ file on your USB. He said that at one library, 50 lost USB’s are found each day. That made me wonder how many USB’s are found at my University on a daily basis. I was also persuaded to give Evernote another try. I have it installed on my phone, but don’t use it that much. I also realized just how much I need to organize my bookmarks on Google Chrome. I’ve got university, genealogy and random things bookmarked in a much unorganized list.

Geneabloggers Goodies

I spoke to Thomas after his talk and he gave me a few Geneabloggers goodies – 3 badges and a ribbon. I’m so excited to have these. I will definitely be wearing them to University. My lecturers are going to love the ‘Keep Calm & Cite Your Sources.’

Chris’ first talk was about Irish Land Records. My Great Great Uncle’s wife Mary Ryan was from Ireland, however, her background is still a mystery to me. My Great Great Uncle John Gow also moved from Scotland to Ireland. I’ve always struggled with Irish Records, and noted down some ideas that will hopefully provide me with some new information about Mary & John.        

After that, Rosemary Kopittke gave us a brief overview of MyHeritage. I was recently given a 12 month subscription to MyHeritage but have not really used it yet. My interest in it was sparked when Rosemary mentioned the statistics and graphs it can generate about your family tree. Being a Math Tutor, and doing Statistics at University last year, I was very intrigued by this. I shall definitely be having a play around with it. Next was a brief demonstration of the Flip-Pal Scanner. Those who follow me on Facebook, Twitter & YouTube would know that I received one for my birthday last year. I took this opportunity to make an early escape for lunch with Alex and her colleague Pat. We enjoyed a nice meal at the 88 Restaurant & Bar and had a wonderful conversation about life, work, genealogy and the future.

After lunch, the prize draws occurred. There were over $1200 worth of prizes, and I believe there were about 15 won in Brisbane. Sadly, my raffle ticket number was not called. However, Alex did win the Queensland Family History Society prize – the Queensland Passports Index 1915 – 1925 CD.

Thomas’ second talk was You use WHAT for genealogy? Thomas taught us about many unusual tools that we either hadn’t heard of or didn’t think they would be useful for genealogy. One great tool I learned about was EasyBib, a source citation generator. If only I’d known about this years ago! Because I’m a University student, referencing and bibliographies are an everyday occurrence. I’m definitely going to give it a go this semester. I’m always looking for new ways to make source citations easier. Another website Thomas showed us was Wolfram Alpha, a computational search engine. I immediately thought my Dad would love this. As it turned out, he already knew about it.

I took the opportunity in the break to have some photos taken. I also purchased Chris’ booklet Discover Scottish civil registration records which he kindly signed for me, and picked up a few fact sheets from the State Library of Queensland stall.

Caitie & Chris Paton

Geneabloggers 

Caitie & Alex

Thomas MacEntee & Caitie take a selfie.

Chris’ second talk was on Scottish Inheritance Records. I listened intently as 80% of the ancestors of my Australian side came from Scotland. Gosh, Scottish inheritance records are confusing! I learned a lot though, and have got some new avenues to search such as the Calendars of Confirmation & Inventories 1877 – 1959.

I had another chat with Chris, Thomas & Helen each. Thomas and I talked about RootsTech in 2015 which is my goal to attend. I then had to have a bit of a de-brief sort of moment with Helen because my mind was going craaazy. And with that, the day came to a close.

Something that Chris noted about me in his blog post was “she seemed bemused at the interest in her from many of us.” It’s true! I know I put my adventures in genealogy out there on social media for the world to see, but I still have trouble understanding just how far it reaches. I never ever thought my passion and love for genealogy would become what it is now, and provide me with the opportunities I’ve had and continue to have. The support and friendship is truly amazing.

Thank you Unlock The Past for this wonderful day, and a special thank you to Thomas, Chris, Helen & Alex for making this young geneablogger very happy.

If I could put how I was feeling that day into one gif (and am still feeling), I think it would be this one. Seems appropriate, yes?

Australia Day Challenge 2014

Earlier this week, Cassmob posted an Australia Day Challenge geneameme. I think most of you know by now that I love geneamemes, so of course I had to have a go! Anyone can participate, and you don't have to live in Australia. This geneameme made me do some real thinking and digging through my family tree - I even discovered two new siblings of my Great Great Great Grandmother Jane Walker.

CLIMBING YOUR FAMILY’S GUM TREE

My first ancestor to arrive in Australia was: William Wright in 1823.

I have Australian Royalty: I have two ancestors who were convicts – William Wright & Elizabeth Graham. William was transported to Australia in 1823 on the ship ‘Surry’. Elizabeth arrived in 1833 on the ship ‘Buffalo’. It just so happens that two years later they married.  

I’m an Aussie mongrel, my ancestors came to Oz from: Mostly Scotland & a little bit of England.

Did any of your ancestors arrive under their own financial steam? William Gow in 1886, and David Croal & his family in 1883. The others were assisted.

How many ancestors came as singles? 3 – William Gow, my Great Grandfather &  my 2 convict ancestors.

How many came as couples? None.

How many came as family groups? 6

Did one person lead the way and others follow? William Gow’s older brother was already in Sydney when he arrived.

What’s the longest journey they took to get here? The longest journey I’ve been able to establish is 154 days which was traveled by my convict ancestor William Wright.

Did anyone make a two-step emigration via another place? Nope.

Which state(s)/colony did your ancestors arrive? New South Wales.

Did they settle and remain in one state/colony? Yup, New South Wales.

Did they stay in one town or move around? A couple stayed, a few moved. Those that moved generally stayed within the general New South Wales Mid-North Coast area.

Do you have any First Australians in your tree? No.

Were any self-employed? Yes – most of them were farmers.

What occupations or industries did your earliest ancestors work in? Farming, the Police Force & the Railway.

Does anyone in the family still follow that occupation? No.

Did any of your ancestors leave Australia and go “home”? Nope.

NOW IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU

What’s your State of Origin? Queensland. However, when it comes to the rugby, I'm a Blues supporter. Dad's from New South Wales...

Do you still live there? Sure do. Brisbane to be specific.

Sydney Harbour, January '12

Where was your favourite Aussie holiday place as a child? Sydney. My Dad grew up there, so we always visited my Grandparents & Aunty 4 or 5 times a year. I’d pretty much done all the touristy things by the time I was 15. It’s like a second home to me.

Any special place you like to holiday now? Mid-North Coast of New South Wales – Coffs Harbour, Macksville, South West Rocks etc. It’s the area that my Grandparents grew up in, and it’s just a beautiful part of Australia.

Share your favourite spot in Oz: Brisbane, Sydney & the Mid-North Coast of NSW will always be favourites. I haven’t really been anywhere else in Australia.

Road trip to Coffs Harbour, NSW, January '13

Any great Aussie adventure you’ve had? We went to Coffs Harbour in January 2013 and spent a week there. Dad & I had a father-daughter-genealogy-day, & we visited my Great Aunt who we hadn’t seen in a few years. That was a pretty special trip for me.

What’s on your Australian holiday bucket list? So. Many. Places. I’m dying to go to Melbourne!! I’d like to go to the South Coast of NSW, The Northern Territory, Tasmania, North Queensland & Western Australia one day.

How do you celebrate Australia Day? We don’t really do anything too exciting. We just enjoy the day, usually at home & watch the tennis. I also listen to Triple J’s hottest 100. 

Accentuate the Positive 2013 Geneameme

Jill, a.k.a GeniAus, has challenged us to think about our genealogy achievements this year by responding to the following set of questions. We can write as little or as much as we like.
Enjoy! ^_^

1.  An elusive ancestor I found was    

This year I didn’t find any elusive ancestors. However, I am still on the trail of my Great Great Aunt Jeannie Gow (who I found last year!), and what happened to her children after she died.

2.  A precious family photo I found was

The Smith Family, taken in Union County, Mississippi, in 1906. It is of my Great Great Great Grandmother Louisa Clementine Smith nee Brister and many of her descendants, including my Great Great Grandmother Mary Frances Renfrow nee Smith.

Smith Family, Mississippi, 1906.
Image from my personal collection.

My Great Great Grandmother, Mary, is the lady in the 2nd row, 2nd from the left, with the little girl in front of her. The little girl is my Great Great Aunt Launa. My Great Great Great Grandmother Louisa is also in the 2nd row, 4th from the left.

3.  An ancestor’s grave I found was

I found so many of my ancestor’s graves at the beginning of the year in January when I was in Bowraville, NSW. Many of my Nanna’s family are buried there including her parents, brothers-in-law, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, great grandparents etc. I also found my Great Great Uncle’s grave, as well as his wife and children’s graves in July.

Here’s a photo of me & my Great Great Uncle Robert Gow’s grave. He’s buried at Macquarie Cemetery in Sydney, and is buried with his daughter Myrtle.

Grave of Robert Gow & his daughter Myrtle Gow.
Macquarie Cemetery, NSW.
Image from my personal collection.

I’d been trying to find his grave since I started researching my family history in 2009! My Nanna & Poppa (Robert was his Uncle) are buried at Macquarie too. Poppa died in 2003…and this whole time Robert has been buried quite close to him. Robert’s name never came up in the online index for Macquarie Cemetery because his last name was listed as ‘Tow’. That has now been fixed, and no future descendants of Robert’s or mine, should have difficulty finding him in the index!

4.  An important vital record I found was

The birth certificate of Martin McFarlane, Great Great Aunt Jeannie’s youngest child. He was only 2 when she died. A lovely lady who got ‘hooked’ on my article about Jeannie in Scotlands People did some more research and found Martin’s birth certificate which I had been unable to find. The census records I have list his name as Malcolm….

5.  A newly found family member who shared

Carolyn who provided me with the Smith Family photo above, and Carole (a relative of the husband of my relative), who provided many photographs of my Gow ancestors.

6.  A geneasurprise I received was

Oh goodness! Three of them are Scotlands People wanting to publish my article, Thomas MacEntee interviewing me for How I Hack Genealogy & Shauna Hicks inviting me to the launch of National Family History Month.

7.   My 2013 blog post that I was particularly proud of was

This one: http://genealogically-speaking.tumblr.com/post/40646846450/father-daughter-genealogy-day

8.   My 2013 blog post that received a large number of hits or comments was

This photo for some reason: http://genealogically-speaking.tumblr.com/post/53801147267/the-gowan-young-plot-at-white-church-cemetery

9.  A new piece of software I mastered was.

10. A social media tool I enjoyed using for genealogy was

Facebook, Twitter & Google+.
Oh, and Google Hangouts which is a new toy for me (well, most of us I think). Yay for Pat (DearMYRTLE) & Jill’s (GeniAus) Hangouts!

11. A genealogy conference/seminar/webinar from which I learnt something new was

I attended the launch of National Family History Month this year! I learned about The Hive, which is the NAA’s new thing where you can transcribe records for them, particularly World War 1 records.

12. I am proud of the presentation I gave at/to

13. A journal/magazine article I had published was

Scotlands People published my article on my Great Great Aunt Jeannie! You may find it here:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/Content/Help/index.aspx?r=2212

14. I taught a friend how to

Use the Victorian BDM website!

15. A genealogy book that taught me something new was
16. A great repository/archive/library I visited was

The Queensland State Archives! I went on a private behind the scenes tour which was amazing! Check out my video review here.

17. A new genealogy/history book I enjoyed was

18. It was exciting to finally meet

SHAUNA HICKS!!!! :D

19. A geneadventure I enjoyed was

The Father/Daughter genealogy day I had with my Dad in January, the cemetery day I had with my Aunt in July & the tour of the Qld State Archives I had with Mum in November.

20. Another positive I would like to share is

Thank you for all your support and friendship this year. It means a lot, especially to a young one still trying to find her way in the genea-world. I love being a part of this wonderful online community, and I’m hoping to meet a few of you in 2014. ^_^

LET’S BREAK THOSE BRICK WALLS IN 2014! *karate-genea-chop*

And just because it’s been an awesome year…

Reader Geneameme

I love books & reading, so I decided to do the Reader Geneameme. Check it out & go hit that thumbs up button pretty please! :)

(Image Source: Fanpop)

Video: Ancestors' Geneameme

NEW VIDEO: THE ANCESTORS’ GENEAMEME!

This was super fun to do! Let me know if you’d like me to do any other challenges such as naming as many ancestors as I can in a minute or 5 minutes etc. :-D

Father-Daughter Genealogy Day.

3rd January 2013.

While spending a week at Coffs Harbour, NSW during the holidays, Dad & I took the chance to have a genealogy day. My Nanna grew up in Bowraville, & my Poppa in Macksville - both of which are about 90 minutes away.

Main Beach, Nambucca Heads, NSW. Jan '13.
Image from Author's personal collection.

First Stop: Nambucca Heads.
My Poppa was a lifesaver at the main beach in the 1930’s. My Dad & Aunty also remember camping & visiting one of Nanna’s Aunts there. The road down to the beach is a very very steep hill. Dad & I walked down it…and then back up!

Second Stop: Macksville.

My Poppa grew up about 10-15 minutes outside of Macksville in Gumma. His father is buried in Macksville Cemetery. Sadly, we didn’t make it to the Cemetery on that day, but it’s in my diary for our next trip. Dad & I drove out to Gumma to see where my Poppa grew up. We couldn’t find the exact place his house & the farm was, but we got pretty close. It was my first time there. I was pretty amazed at how far out it was from Macksville. In the early 1900’s, it would have been quite a journey to get to Macksville. My Poppa went to primary school in Macksville, and also went to school in Nambucca Heads I believe.

Mary Boulton Cottage, Macksville, NSW. Jan '13.
Image from Author's personal collection.

One of his longtime school friends, Mary Boulton, donated her house to the Nambucca Shire Council. It wasn't open when we went past, but it's something on the to do list for next time.



Third Stop: Bowraville.

This little town, where my Nanna grew up, is about 30 minutes North West of Macksville. In the days of my Grandparents, it would have been much longer. People in Bowraville did not travel far to marry. The same family names keep popping up in my tree. Cousins married cousins, siblings in one family married the siblings in another family. Two of my Nanna’s cousins on her Dad’s side married her Aunt & Uncle on her Mum’s side. You name it - it’s probably in my tree.

Dad & I stopped for lunch at the Coach House Inn, which is in the main street - High Street. Dad kept joking that we had Burgers in Bowraville! Lol. Then it was off to Bowraville Cemetery. I had been wanting to go there ever since I started researching my family tree in 2009. I don't think Dad had ever been there either! It’s a pretty little cemetery. I must say though, that I am related to at least 80% of the people buried there, and perhaps at least 50% of the people who still live in Bowraville.

Bowraville Cemetery, NSW. Jan '13.
Image from Author's personal collection.

I finally got to say hello for the first time to many relatives & ancestors, including my Great Grandparents, my Great Uncle, & my two Great Uncles-in-Law. It was amazing! I could have spent all day there.

Bowraville Cemetery, NSW. Jan '13.
Image from Author's personal collection.

After that, we drove off to see the property where my Nanna grew up. It’s out the back of Bowraville on a dirt road. What is that road called you ask? Dyers Loop Road. It’s named after my Great Grandfather James Albert Dyer & his family!

Dyers Loop Road, Bowraville, NSW. Jan '13.
Image from Author's personal collection.

We saw the property that my Nanna grew up on. The original house isn’t there anymore - hasn’t been for a long time. It burnt down and the owners rebuilt. What we noticed though, is that it now has a number! It did not have a number in the past. It’s a very cute sign too.

We kept driving for a while, dirt roads and all. We saw a wallaby with a joey, & we almost hit a cow. We eventually ended up in Argent’s Hill! Argent’s Hill is named after the Argent family, and yes, we are connected to them. There is nothing in Argent’s Hill except a house, an old warehouse-community-hall-type-building and an old church. There is a cemetery where more of my ancestors are buried, but we couldn’t find it. I can’t even find it on Google Maps! We turned around and made our way back to Bowraville. Dad was so delighted when the road became sealed again.

After passing through the main drag of Bowraville once more, it was time to start making our way back to Coffs Harbour. But not without a detour - Dad decided that he wanted to go to Bellingen. I’ve always wanted to go there, so, naturally, I agreed. It took about 30-45 minutes to get there. We were only there for about 15 minutes just driving around, but from what we saw, it’s very beautiful and they have done a great job at preserving the history of it. They do have the Bellingen Historical Society after all. Definitely a town I want to go back to & explore.

And with that, the Father & Daughter Genealogy Day came to an end and we headed back to Coffs Harbour with many photos & stories to share.