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…

Video: Technology for Genealogists Meme

NEW VIDEO: A TECHNOLOGY FOR GENEALOGISTS’ MEME!

Check it out & don’t forget to hit that like button! :D

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

My Response to a Geneameme!

This Geneameme was created by Jill at Geniaus. What a great way to end National Family History Month for 2013! It’s been fun y’all!

1. What are the titles and URLs of your genealogy blog/s?

My genealogy blog is called Genealogically Speaking.  

2. Do you have a wonderful “Cousin Bait” blog story? A link to a previous blog post might answer this question.

In July, someone contacted me after seeing a post about my Great Great Great Grandparents Daniel Guyton Smith & Louisa Clementine Brister. She googled their names and my post came up. Turns out she’s also a descendant! Woo! Now we talk via twitter, e-mail and Facebook! :-D

3. Why did you start blogging? Is there someone who inspired you to start blogging?

I’m Gen Y, and growing up I have always had various personal blogs especially when I was in high school. I’ve had my personal Tumblr since 2009ish. Last year I just randomly decided I wanted to blog about my genealogy too. 

4. How did you decide on your blog/s title/s?

I knew I wanted it to have genealogy somewhere in the title, but I also wanted it to be clever & different. I was going back and forth with my boyfriend & in my head tossing up ideas. Somehow I thought of Genealogically Speaking & I absolutely love it!

5. Do you ever blog from mobile devices? What are they?

I’m yet to blog on Genealogically Speaking from a mobile device, but I probably will as I’ve recently acquired a new phone, a Samsung Note 2. The note taking facility on it is wicked, and I’ve also created a genealogy section on my phone.

6. How do you let others know when you have published a new post?

My twitter, and now more recently, my Facebook page.

7. How long have you been blogging?

I’ve been genealogy blogging since Nov 26, 2012.

8. What widgets or elements do you consider essential on a genealogy blog?

Definitely the tag function! It allows you to see any posts with that tag - a great way for discovering new blogs to follow.

9. What is the purpose of your blog/s? Who is your intended audience?

The purpose of my blog is to document & talk about my personal genealogy, and anything genealogy related that I find interesting! Intended audience – anyone that’s interested!

10. Which of your posts are you particularly proud of?

Hmm! There’s a photo I posted of my Great Great Great Great Grandparents graves that’s attracted a bit of attention, which was very surprising. 

But I really love the post I did about the Father/Daughter genealogy day I had with my Dad earlier this year. 

11. How do you keep up with your blog reading?

I’m a bit on the slow side with my blog reading especially when I’m really busy at Uni, but I’ve added the blogs I read a lot to my favorites. This new Paper.Li thing is really cool too!

12. What platform do you use for publishing your blog/s?

Tumblr. I did create a WordPress, but I found it too confusing, lol. 
[7 Feb '14 Edit: Now using Blogger!]

13. What new features would you like to see in your blogging software?

I’m actually not sure!

14. Which of your posts has been the most popular with readers?

The one I mentioned above – the photo of my Great Great Great Great Grandparents graves.

15. Are you a sole blogger or do you contribute to a shared blog?

Sole blogger, though I’d love to contribute to a shared blog one day!

16. How do you compose your blog posts?

If it’s a long one, I’ll write it in Word first, and then copy & paste, and add the pictures etc. Otherwise, I’ll create it straight from Tumblr.

17. Do you have any blogs that are not genealogy related? If you wish please share their titles and URLs.

I do have my personal blog, but as it is more geared toward my generation, I will keep it to myself for now ;)

18. Have you listed your blog/s at Geneabloggers?

Sure have!

19. Which resources have helped you with your blogging?

Geneabloggers definitely! They’re amazing. And of course those who read my blog, and share it on twitter – y’all rock! I just love being part of the genealogy blogging community! Oh, and I can’t forget the NextGen Genealogy Network. Their support is wonderful too!

20. What advice would you give to a new Geneablogger?

Definitely find a platform you feel comfortable using. You don’t have to be all fancy schmancy, and you don’t want to use anything too challenging – at least not straight away! Find your feet, just start blogging, and have fun!

I’m hoping that over the coming years, I can influence more young people into the world of genealogy! You’re never too young to start :)