Week 6 (Feb. 5-11) Favorite Photo

The prompt for Week 6 is 'Favorite Photo', a prompt I have answered in previous years,and as always it is hard to choose just one photo from my collection.

Over the years I have been quite fortunate in accumulating old family photographs from a variety of sources.  Many are copies of photos held by family members, while others have come from libraries and archives, local history societies, distant relatives and heritage projects.  While the bulk of my collection are good digital scans I also have a number of original photos that I have inherited.  All my originals have been scanned for future preservation and happily shared with fellow family members.  I have also detailed who, where and when in as much detail as I can for each one - my pet hate is the anonymous photo of nobody-knows-who included in an album of family members.

One of my favourite family photos is the one below of my father Peter with his siblings and their father, Frank Walter Green.  Dad was one of 10 children and to the best of my knowledge it is the only photo of all 10 siblings together, which makes the scanned image I have even more precious.  And yes, one of the brothers does have a beer bottle balanced on his head!  That would be Ernest, known to all as Squib, the second eldest of the Green siblings.  If there are any relatives out there who have another photo of all 10 siblings together, I would love to hear from you and am happy to share copies!

Another favorite is the wedding photo of my great great grandparents James Nicholas Clark and Pricilla Veronica Mulholland.  Dating back to 1898, it is one of the oldest photographs I have from my mother's side of the family, and I am lucky to hold the original of this photo too.

Finally, there is the tinted studio photograph of my mother as a child.  Aged 5 years old, this photograph was taken to be sent to my mothers older brother James, or Jimmy, in 1947.  Jimmy was in the Merchant Navy at the time, and this photo chased him around the world before being delivered to his ship only days after he was killed in an accident in Argentina while they were picking up a load of horses to be taken to Poland.  Jimmy is buried in Argentina, and the photo was returned to his mother in an unopened letter included in his effects, making the photo even more precious.

Website Wednesday - Holocaust Reunion Project

The mission of the Holocaust Reunion Project is to harness the power of commercial DNA testing, combined with expert genealogical research, both to reunite Holocaust survivors and their children with living relatives and to illuminate the family history that has been lost to genocide.

The Holocaust devastated the Jewish community in countless lamentable ways. But its deepest cut was the literal rending of families: the loss of millions of irreplaceable parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins. And while numerous agencies and organizations support survivors and honor the legacy of the Shoah in myriad ways, there is surprisingly very little focus or energy put towards restoring what was actually taken: family.

Genealogical research, and specifically commercial DNA testing, can do precisely this. DNA can unlock mysteries and make crucial connections, often linking survivors to living relatives they did not know they had. DNA matches can also open the door to help survivors reconstruct their shattered trees and reclaim their lost history, often reconnecting lines of communication severed by the Holocaust.

Initially piloted at the Center for Jewish History in November 2022 and launched as an independent non-profit in 2024, the program serves three primary functions:

• To distribute free DNA tests to the survivor community, as well as raise awareness of the potential of testing to reconnect separated family members. 
• To provide free expert genealogical research exclusively to Holocaust survivors and their families. Co-founders Jennifer Mendelsohn and Dr. Adina Newman specialize in solving complex cases, such as hidden children, unknown parentage, or cases where people are first learning of hidden Jewish history from DNA testing. 
• To educate and empower the survivor community – and the greater Jewish community–to investigate their own history by teaching them how to analyze their DNA results and locate pertinent records. Several myths circulate around both DNA testing and the availability of Holocaust records, which thwart would-be researchers from delving into their past, robbing them of the opportunity to reclaim their family history.

 

Week 5 (Jan. 29-Feb. 4) A Breakthrough Moment

A breakthrough moment in my research was the mystery of my great-aunt Alice May Pummeroy.  According to the Victorian Birth Index, Alice May Pummeroy was born in Carlton in 1897 to Alfred Henry Pummeroy and Eliza (Beseler).  Alice was only 3 years old when her father died of pneumonia, leaving his widow destitute with 4 young children -  Edith Margaret (who was deaf and mute) 4, Alice May 3, Alfred Edward 2 and William Henry 2 months.  Eliza took in washing to support her family, and the local ladies benevolent society gave her 3 shillings a week in assistance.  All the other siblings can be traced through electoral rolls and other records, but Alice disappears, and for several years I searched for her in vain.

Eventually perseverance paid off.  My breakthrough moment came when I found a record in New Zealand for a May Alice Pummeroy marrying David James Moorhead in 1918.  Looking in New Zealand for May Moorhead, I located several electoral roll listings before she disappeared again, reappearing in Victoria as May Alice Moorhead in electoral rolls from 1950 to 1980.  David James Moorhead is recorded as dying in Victoria in 1951, age 77.  His death certificate lists him as being born in Christchurch, New Zealand. 

There is no death notice for Alice May (or May Alice) Moorhead in the Ryerson Index or in the Victorian Death Index, nor was there a will with the PROV.  A fellow genealogist sent me another piece to the puzzle, with a death notice and cemetery record which shows May Alice Moorhead died 1st September 1989, age 92, in Salisbury North, South Australia.  She was cremated at Enfield Memorial Park, SA.  Her death certificate confirms she is my great aunt.

Why she chose to move from Melbourne, Victoria to South Australia I don't know - possibly she had children or friends who settled there and she moved to be closer to them.  All her siblings lived and died in Victoria - she was the one who travelled away.  This just goes to show that people can change their names, move to places you don't expect, and you just need to keep looking and broaden your search if you don't find them where you expect them.  Your breakthrough moment will come.

Website Wednesday - Accredited Genealogists Ireland

Accredited Genealogists Ireland (AGI) is the accrediting and representative body for professional genealogists on the island of Ireland (Ireland and Northern Ireland). The Association was established in 1986 to set a high standard of work among its members and to protect the interests of its members and their clients.  To qualify for membership, a genealogist’s work is reviewed by an Independent Board of Assessors.

In addition to working as professional genealogists undertaking commissioned research, many members also share their expertise through lectures and courses on genealogy, both in Ireland and internationally. They contribute to the field by publishing books on genealogy and history, and their knowledge is often sought after for appearances on TV and radio programmes. 

Since its foundation, AGI has maintained its position at the forefront of Irish genealogy advocating for the preservation of and maintaining access to records for genealogists and family historians in the future.

Late last year, Accredited Genealogists Ireland (AGI) released two additional free publications in its Irish census records series: “1911 Census of Ireland: a guide for family history researchers” and “Beyond Form A: unlocking the hidden depths of the Irish census“. 

Who Do You Think You Are Magazine Feb 2026

The latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue : 

• Illegitimate names
• Historians trace Birmingham almshouse residents
• Ancestry adds UCL records
• University to compile first ancient Celtic languages dictionary of Britain
• Cambridgeshire Archives acquires 18th-century land ownership document
• Become a Pro with Ancestry - is it worth the cost of upgrading?
• Case study : tracing an RAF crew 
• Solving DNA dilemmas 
• ‘My Grandfathers fought on opposite sides in WW2’
• Irish Teaching Records 
• Free British resources 
• Go Further - More free sites worth their weight in gold
• And more...

 

Week 4 (Jan. 22-28) A Theory in Progress

Theories about our ancestors' lives are all well and good, until they lead us astray.  Following a theory too closely, however, can mean we don't look for records in the right places. 

One such example was the family of my great grandfather, James Nicholas Clark.  From information in marriage and death records, James was born around 1856, and his family came from Bristol, England and settled in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia.

For years I searched the Victorian immigration records for the family's arrival.  For years I searched for James's birth or baptism in and around Bristol.  My theory in progress was that the family travelled from Bristol to Victoria sometime around 1870, when they first appeared in St Kilda records.  That was my theory in progress.  Of course I was wrong!

After discovering that the German branch of my family had emigrated from Hamburg, Germany to Hahndorf, South Australia before travelling overland into Victoria to settle, it struck me that perhaps my Clark family had also arrived in a different colony in Australia before moving to Victoria, and I began looking further afield.  A new theory in progress!

There I found them, arriving in Launceston, Tasmania in 1855, where the family lived for at least 12 years before they crossed Bass Strait and settled in Victoria.  An unnamed male child, almost certainly my great grandfather James Nicholas, was registered in Launceston in 1856, and James’s younger sister Annie Amelia Clark was born 31 March 1857 in Port Sorrell, Tasmania.  Annie was followed by several other children also born in Port Sorrell.

This prompted me to revisit several other theories about my family and explore possibilities I had not previously considered.  It pays to check your theories and think outside the box. 

Website Wednesday - The Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland

The Huguenots were members of the French Protestant Church, many of whom, in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, left their homes in France to escape persecution. More than 50,000 of these refugees came to the British Isles and, in 1718, a French Hospital was founded in London. In 1885, the directors of the Hospital created a Society to promote the publication and interchange of knowledge about Huguenot history.

The original ‘Huguenot Society of London’ has since been renamed 'The Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland', and an Irish Section with its own website has been established. Both sections of the Society aim to form a bond of fellowship among those who respect and admire the Huguenots and seek to perpetuate their memory, and membership is open to anyone wishing to join.

The Huguenot Society provides a variety of resources that can help those searching for their ancestors: its own publications, substantial collections of family history material in the Huguenot Library and leaflets providing guidance. Further support and information is available for the Society’s members.