The Book of Me, Written by You: Week 2

It’s a tad bit late, but here’s Week 2 of The Book of Me, Written by You.
This weeks prompt was ‘Your Birth.’ You can find more details about this weeks prompt & the 15 month challenge from the creator Julie here.

I am my parents’ first child. I was the first grandchild for my paternal grandparents, but the fourth for my maternal grandparents. My due date was sometime in early December, however, my mum was having issues with high blood pressure. So, in November, the doctor decided it was time for me make an entrance. My entrance into the world occurred in Brisbane, Queensland. I was born 2 weeks early via a caesarean on Friday, the 23^rd of November, 1990, around 3pm. I was a tiny baby, weighing only 5 pounds & 1 or 2 ounces. When I went home, I was just under 4 pounds. A week later, I was 6 pounds. My Dad fondly & often remembers that I fit nicely on his forearm. I had a little hair when I was born, but I’m actually not sure what my eye colour was. My eyes are brown, so I’ve always assumed they were brown when I was born.

I have plenty of photos of me as a baby! I think my parents went a bit crazy with the camera, but hey, I was their first child. Sorry bro! Haha.

This is one of my favourite photos of me as a baby.

Watching State of Origin with Dad, 1991, Brisbane.

I’m watching my first State of Origin game with my Dad in 1991. For those of you that don’t know what State of Origin is, it’s an epic three Rugby League games between Queensland & New South Wales. Whoever wins at least 2 out of 3 wins State of Origin for the year. Currently, Queensland has won 8 years in a row. My Dad is from Sydney so he barracks for New South Wales, and that’s what he’s taught my brother & I to do. New South Wales are known as the Blues, hence the blue suit I’m wearing.

In late 1991/early 1992 we moved to Virginia, USA for about a year. I had always thought that I learned to walk in Brisbane or Sydney. Wrong. I learned to walk in Virginia! I’m half American, so part of me feels quite proud that I took my first steps on US ground. Well, it was probably carpet. This carpet below in fact. Here I am playing with my Mum’s makeup.

Virginia, USA 1991/1992

I’m not a twin, but sometimes I wished I had a twin when I was little. I do have a younger brother though. He was born 3 years & 6 weeks later in January 1994. When he was born, I had recently turned 3. My Dad took me to the hospital to see Mum & my new baby brother. After a few hours, it was time for Dad & I to go home. Mum and bro had to stay in hospital for a couple more days. I was NOT happy about this! I threw quite a tantrum, stating that “I want to take my baby brudder home!” (My th’s were d’s then). I cried & cried all while Dad carried me through the hospital, to the car, and all the way home.

Well, I wasn’t expecting this to be so long, and it’s not entirely all about my birth. Ah well :)

Acrobatics with my brother.

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

Donald Walter Croal: An Independent.

It’s a Federal Election here in Australia today. I haven’t been able to discover much about my ancestors’ political views, nor do I know of any who were in political parties, except one guy, my Great Grandmother’s cousin Donald Walter Croal. He was born in 1886, Sydney, New South Wales, to parents Alexander Croal & Margaret Munro.

Donald Walter Croal
From my personal collection

In 1919, he ran as an Independent Candidate in the by-election for the New South Wales state seat of Petersham. He did not win, as you can see below. He received only 2.91% of votes.

[Source: New South Wales Parliament]

In 1925, he decided to try his luck at the Federal level. Things did not really go to plan. His nomination for the Federal seat of Parkes was rejected by the Commonwealth House of Representatives. Why? Because he refused to pay the fee required when he submitted his nomination papers.

Below is a letter Donald wrote to the House of Representatives regarding this matter.

Letter from Donald W. Croal to Commonwealth House of Representatives

And this is the response he received -

The last paragraph: “The Chief Electoral Officer reports that although you tendered a nomination you declined to comply with the requirements of the Electoral Act by furnishing the required deposit. In the circumstances there was no alternative to rejecting your nomination.”

Here’s some more information below which includes the relevant piece of legislation mentioned above.

So, he refused to pay the nomination fee! With that, Donald returned to try things at the State level again. In 1927 he ran for the New South Wales seat of Dulwich Hill as an Independent. He did not win this one also, as shown below, with 0.88% of votes.

[Source: New South Wales Parliament]

He doesn’t make an appearance in the world of politics after that.

Donald never married, and died in Sydney in 1967.

The Book of Me, Written By You: Week 1

I have decided to participate in the new blogging prompt ‘The Book of Me, Written by You’ which was created by Julie Goucher from Anglers Rest. Over the next 15 months weekly prompts will also be delivered by Thomas MacEntee at Geneabloggers. If I feel it is to private, I won’t post it here, but we’ll see :)

Prompt 1: Who are you?

Ask yourself 20 times “Who are you?” Each time you should give yourself a different answer. – Geneabloggers.

1. Daughter

2. Sister

Caitie & her baby brother, 1994/1995.

3. Girlfriend

4. Best friend

5. Niece

6. Granddaughter

Caitie & her Nanna, 1994.

7. Australian

8. Criminology Student

9. A God Mother

Caitie & her God Daughter Amelia, 2013

10. A young Genealogist

11. A math tutor

12. An introvert

13. An avid book reader

14. Half Texan

Flying over Mexico en route to Texas, 2012

15. Road trip & plane travelling lover.

16. White chocolate girl.

17. Coffee addict

18. Music fan

19. Soccer fan.

20. A dreamer.

21. Happy.

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 :)

An Assumption Confirmed...

In my video about my Great Great Grandfather David Croal, I assumed that he had been buried at sea after committing suicide by jumping off a ship, whilst he was travelling from Sydney to New Zealand.

A distant Croal cousin of mine has just found another newspaper article about David’s death, and according to the last sentence, he was buried at sea the day he died, the 13th of May, 1893.

Source: Papers Past

Video: Why I Love Genealogy.

NEW VIDEO! 

I didn’t have topic planned, so I talked about why I love genealogy, how I caught the gene bug, and mentioned a few other things :)