Showing posts with label 52 Ancestors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 52 Ancestors. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Week 12 (Mar. 18-24): Technology

How wonderful is technology, and how fortunate are we to have so much knowledge and so many resources for family history at our fingertips?

As I am writing this post I am taking a break from watching presentations from the wonderful RootsTech conference.  While I was not able to attend in person, technology has made it possible for me to attend virtually, both on the days of the conference itself and then allowed me to continue to enjoy more sessions online in the days and weeks that followed.

Technology has also seen more and more data and records digitised and made available online, a boon to researchers worldwide.  While not everything is available this way, for people researching family from the other side of the world online records are a huge help in our research.

Covid-19 changed all our lives in so many ways.  Genealogically speaking, the biggest impact for me was the loss of face-to-face meetings.  I missed chatting face-to-face with Genea-mates and the networking and idea sharing that goes hand in hand with meetings and conferences.  Online meetings were just not the same.

Despite the down side of online meetings, however, the rise of virtual conferences has allowed me to attend inter-state and overseas meetings that I would never have been able to attend in reality.  The genealogical community has pulled together, made use of the internet like never before, and was huge part of providing so many of us isolated at home with interest, stimulation and contact.  Technology made it all possible.

#52Ancestors

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Week 11 (Mar. 11-17): Achievement

The prompt ‘Achievement’ has started me thinking about all the various immigrant branches of my family have achieved in their new lives in Australia.

For whatever their reasons, my original Australian immigrant ancestors made a huge leap of faith to leave their homelands and travel to a distant country, most with little chance of returning if their new lives proved less than they hoped.

Some travelled singly, more in family groups, but for all it was a monumental decision.  In the colonial years of Australia, travel from Europe could take months, and for most visiting relatives ‘back home’ was out of the question.  They travelled in the knowledge they would likely never see those they left behind again. 

Communication was challenging as well.  My maternal ancestors all emigrated to Australia well before the telephone, so letters were the main form of communication, and it would take months for post to make its way across the globe.  Low literacy levels would also have complicated – or prevented – much communication.

My great grandfather, James Nicholas Clark, was born in 1856, just as the family emigrated to Australia.  The family first arrived in Port Sorrell, Tasmania, where the family lived for at least 12 years before they crossed Bass Strait and settled in Victoria.

I also have Irish ancestors who travelled singly to Australia in the 1840s, settling as farmers at Eurobin in northern Victoria.  They came out well before the potato famine to make new lives in the colony.

Then there is my German branch of the family tree.  Carl Friedrich Beseler, known in Australia as Frederick, was born around 1810 in Hanover, Germany.  He was a shoemaker in Germany and a farmer in Australia, arriving in Adelaide on 1 April 1848 with his wife and 5 children on the ship Pauline from Bremen, Germany.   The family lived in South Australia for 7 years before travelling overland to Victoria, where they settled near Ercildown.  Several members of the family are buried in Learmonth Cemetery. 

How brave were these people to make the leap into the unknown to travel to the other side of the world in search of better lives?  Establishing themselves and their families in their new homeland and building successful lives was an achievement indeed.

#52Ancestors

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Week 10 (Mar. 4-10): Language

Language is something which constantly evolves, with words over time taking on new meanings and new words constantly added to any vocabulary.  This is something we need to be aware of in our family history research - what a particular word meant 200, 100 or even 20 years ago may not be what it means today.  Similarly, what was acceptable language years ago may not be acceptable or commonplace today.

This change in language is particularly clear in newspapers - not merely the language itself but also what was acceptable in reporting and how events were reported.

My great uncle Norman Clark died at the age of 18 when he was taken by a shark off Middle Brighton Pier on Feb 15th 1930.  He was the first swimmer to be killed by a shark in the bay for over 50 years, and was killed in full view of hundreds of people as there was a boating regatta taking place at the time.  The incident was reported in numerous papers around Australia - not just the Melbourne Argus but papers like the Rockhampton News, Launceston Times, Adelaide Advertiser, Brisbane Courier and Western Australian Mail.  Below is one of the many (over 70!) newspaper reports which appeared in papers around Australia in the days after Norman's death.
 
 
 
Just looking at the language is fascinating - I doubt it would be allowed today to describe a young man's death in a shark attack as a "thrilling struggle".  This sub-heading does highlight how language much changes - not just the basic meaning of a word but also how it is used.  At the time of this headline 'thrilling'  more closely meant 'dramatic' rather than 'exciting', and certainly what was acceptable when reporting such a tragedy back in 1930 is not what our newspapers would publish today.

The description of the attack is graphic and would not be reported in such a way today - it simply would not be acceptable.  Even reporting the victim's full name prior to all family members being notified - I have a subsequent report from the Adelaide Advertiser in which his older sister is interviewed and reveals that she found out about her brother's death by reading about it in the newspaper while she and her husband were on holiday in Adelaide.

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Week 9 (Feb. 26 - Mar. 3): Changing Names

Our ancestors changed their names for a variety of reasons.  By far the most common was a surname change for a woman upon her marriage, but there were many other reasons a person might change the name they were given at birth.  From using a preferred nickname, name contractions, altering names to fit a new home, or completely changing a name to escape the past - there were many reasons you might find an ancestor under a different name.  

We also need to remember that it was often a clerk, secretary, enumerator or other official who recorded names on official documents, and mistakes were often made and not corrected.  The name was recorded as the recorder heard it, and so spelling variations abound. They all can make tracing your ancestors that much more challenging.

There were the commonly used spelling variations, abbreviations and diminutives.  For example, if you don’t know that Polly was a diminutive of Mary or that Nellie was a diminutive of Ellen and Eleanor and Helen, you may struggle to find your ancestors’ entries.  Harry for Henry, Bill for William, Fred or Alf for Alfred, Dick for Richard, Charlie or Lottie for Charlotte, Maggie, Meg or Maisie for Margaret.  Elizabeth was another extremely common name with multiple diminutives - Eliza, Liz, Lizzie, Betty, Betsy, Beth, Bessie, Lisbeth, Liza - the list goes on.  

I have one female ancestor, baptised Elizabeth, who was known throughout her life as Betsy.  This was the name she used in census records, her marriage record, her children's birth/baptism records and on her death certificate and burial records.  The only time I can ever find her referred to as Elizabeth is at her own baptism. 

Naming patterns were common in many families, although they are by no means a reliable way of predicting the names of children.  Traditionally, the first son would be named for the paternal grandfather, the second son for the maternal grandfather and the third son for the father.  For females, the first daughter would be named for the maternal grandmother, the second daughter for the paternal grandmother and the third daughter for the mother.  Providing, of course, these names were not the same.  

For my German branch of my family tree, anglicization of names when they emigrated from Germany to Australia saw the entire family change their names.  Friedrich became Frederick, Suatus became Susetta and eventually Susan, Heinrich became Henry, Margaretha became Margaret, and so on.  It helped to family to fit in with their new homeland.

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Week 8 (Feb. 19-25): Heirlooms

A few years ago I posted about my experience of my sister and I cleaning out the family home after the deaths of our parents - our father in 2013 and mother in 2015 - and the importance of knowing the stories behind the many treasures tucked away in cupboards and drawers, or out in the shed.

Cleaning out the house, we came across treasures in every corner.  A hand tinted photo of my mother as a child, a box of slides and negatives from early in our parents' marriage, a small garnet brooch that belonged to my great grandmother, a bronze alligator nutcracker made by my grandfather, and so much more.  

Before the family house was sold, I took the opportunity to take cuttings from several plants I could not take with me.  One of these was a hares-foot fern that lived in our old, falling down greenhouse.  The original hares-foot belonged to my grandmother.  Before she passed away, my mother took a cutting from her plant, brought it home and potted it.  It thrived in our greenhouse and by the time my parents passed away it had overgrown its pot, attached itself to the wooden shelf the pot sat upon, and was firmly attached to the shelf.  Clearly it was not moving with me to my new home.  So much as my mother had done, I took a few cuttings, potted them and hoped for the best.


These two little cuttings have thrived.  They quickly outgrew the little pots I had started them in, and have since been transplanted to bigger pots.  They sit, one in my main bathroom and one in a stand in my dining room, and I think of my mother and grandmother whenever I see them.  I have recently taken a new cutting from one of these plants and potted it for a friend.  And so the heirloom hares-foot fern continues on, hopefully for many years to come.

Saturday, February 17, 2024

Week 7 (Feb. 12-18): Immigration

As we research our family history, we all want to trace our ancestors movements, especially when they emigrated between countries.  As an Australian of British and European descent, tracing how and when my ancestors made the journey out to the colony is fascinating to me.  It can, however, be extremely challenging - it appears several of my ancestors might have swum out to Australia!

For a couple of my ancestors, making the assumption that they moved directly from A to B let me astray, in one case for several years.  The family of my great grandfather, James Nicholas Clark, came from Bristol in England.  They left England at about the time James was born and eventually settled in Melbourne, Australia.  It took me several years of fruitless searching for their immigration details before I widened my search to find the family first arrived in Launceston, Tasmania, which is where James was born shortly after they arrived.  The family spent at least 5 years in nearby Port Sorrell before travelling across Bass Strait to settle in Melbourne.

So why is it so difficult to find some of our ancestor's immigration records?

  • Consider alternate spelling of their name.  The clerk who recorded their embarkation or arrival was unlikely to ask about spelling and just recorded the name as he heard it.
  • If the person travelled in steerage/was an unassisted immigrant/was a crew member who jumped ship, the details recorded about them may be scant or non-existent.
  • Females, children, servants and steerage passengers were frequently left off the passenger lists altogether.
  • Did they migrate in stages?  Not everyone went straight from A to B – some visited other points along the way, sometimes taking years to arrive at their final destination.
  • Prior to 1852, ship's masters were not required to record the names of unassisted passengers travelling from Britain to the Australian colonies.
  • Port Phillip District of New South Wales was established on 10 April 1837.  Victoria was not proclaimed a separate colony until 1 July 1851.  Check NSW records if your ancestor arrived earlier.
  • After 1923 records of people arriving by sea and air are held at the National Archives of Australia.
  • Not all records have survived the passage of time and remained legible.

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Week 6 (Feb. 5-11): Earning a Living

Back when I first began researching my family history, I was fortunate to be able to have several long chats with relatives about their lives.  Several chat were with my Great Uncle Russell Clark, and below is a transcription of a conversation we had about his early working life.

At the age of 14 I gained my “Merit Certificate” and that gave me the opportunity to take on a full time job. Frank Marriott, a vegetable grower in Centre Road, Bentleigh offered me one and so I went working in his garden. Fifty six hours per week, milk a cow night and morning before breakfast, mow a large lawn Saturday afternoon before being allowed to go home for the weekend. Ten shillings a week and my keep. I had a hut away from the main house and near the large shed where horses were kept and chaff etc. stored. I had a “crystal set” which was a wireless but in order to get any stations one had to have a long aerial suspended from something high. I was lucky because I ran a wire from the top of the double story feed shed down to my hut. With the crystal set right I could get both 3DB and 3LO. I was made!!!! I spent four years with Frank. I had my 18th Birthday there and my Mother purchased a bicycle for me. I believe she paid five pounds for it. From then on I was able to ride home on occasions and later on again I rode to work every morning and I kept wonderfully fit. Hurlingham Park was next door to where we lived and I played football there for the Brighton Vale Football Club and actually captained the side for a season.

My brother Lennie (one year older) was apprenticed to a butcher. Meekhams was their name and they had a shop on the Nepean Road near Union Street from memory. As time went by I used to do some part time work for them. I would unfold “Heralds” and “Suns” (newspapers) place them flat in a pile then roll them up and tie a string around them. They were used in the shop to wrap the meat. I got threepence an hour for that, not much but enough to get me into a matinee at the Brighton Theatre on a Saturday afternoon.

However I eventually left that job at Marriott’s garden and started work at the “Metropolitan Gas Company” where I remained until the outbreak of the Second World War. I then rode my bike from Brighton to South Melbourne, riding along Nepean Highway to Elsternwick, down towards Elwood and across to St Kilda, along the beach to nigh on Port Melbourne where the Gasworks were located. Those days we worked on a Saturday morning so a long ride on the bike six days a week. I used to also get some overtime working some evenings and again on a Saturday afternoon to earn a little extra. At the age of 21 years I was earning the princely sum of four pounds six shillings and eight pence per week. To supplement this payment I had by then joined the Militia and when I was due for annual holidays (one week per year, later to become two weeks) I arranged for my holidays to coincide with an annual Military Camp at the Mobilization Stores at Seymour. This was also a paid job. So I would have my break from the Gas Company and spend that time “under canvass” doing a supplementary paid job. This was all to earn extra income.

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Week 5 (Jan. 29-Feb. 4): Influencer

The prompt for Week 5 of #52Ancestors is 'Influencer', and it brings to me the influence of family.  I believe that the influence of family in how we each develop as individuals cannot be underestimated.  Spending the first few years of my life on an isolated sheep station with the only other child being my older sister has had a huge influence on my life, and increased the influence of my parents on me.

My parents always spoke to us in adult language - no baby talk for us - and took questions seriously.  If we asked, obviously we were interested and deserved a serious answer.  Having little opportunity for education themselves, my parents truly valued learning and as a child I can recall my parents slowly paying off a children's encyclopedia for us. 

Then we moved to the town of Moama, one of our first stops was the local library.  Both my parents loved to read and taught my sister and I to love books and reading from a very early age.  A Sunday morning tradition as young children was to spend time snuggled in our parents bed being read to before getting up for breakfast.  We always had books around, and we knew we had been truly naughty if our parents took away the book we kept beside our beds to read quietly if we woke up early. Throughout my childhood and into my teens in the evenings if there was nothing we specifically wanted to watch on TV we would sit together, each with puzzles or handcraft projects, taking turns to read aloud to each other.  I can recall being about 12 years old at a sleepover with friends when I first realised not all families read aloud to each other like this!

my sister and I both arrived at primary school already well able to read ourselves, and while our peers were learning their letters my sister and I were already independently reading for ourselves.  Fortunately our teachers were quite happy for us to visit the school library to borrow more advanced books rather than limiting us to the readers in our classrooms.  It is hardly surprising that this early influence resilted in my choosing to become a librarian as my career.

Saturday, February 3, 2024

Week 4 (Jan. 22-28): Witness to History

Just as we research our ancestors, one day (hopefully) our descendants will research us.  What do we have to tell them?

Over the past few years we have all lived through historic times.  Have you recorded your feelings and impressions?

The Covid19 pandemic has been a major historical event.  For all of us who have lived through it, there will be memories of Covid, both positive and negative, that stand out.  There are new routines, changes in how we live, work, communicate, shop, relax, learn, and more.  We all have seen stark images of police blockading state borders, empty streets at midday in our cities, supermarkets during panic buying or opening with stripped shelves.  Then there are the more personal experiences - business closures and work stand downs, learning to work from home or change our daily routines.

There have also been the positive experiences.  Teddy bears and rainbows in windows, people standing at the end of their driveways on ANZAC Day, clap for carers, support we have received from friends colleagues and neighbors, the joy of getting out and about after lockdowns ease.  For many of us the simple pleasures in life have taken on new significance as we rediscover them after the trial of lockdowns.

Here are a few questions you might consider when recording your personal experiences of Covid-19.

  • What are you most grateful for during this covid-19 crisis? 
  • What are some of the images that will stay with you of the pandemic?
  • What have you missed most during full or partial lock-down? 
  • What changes have you seen in your life over the last few months? 
  • Have you been participating in virtual gatherings with friends or family?
  • Have you taken up new hobbies during the lockdowns? 
  • Are you cooking or gardening more? 
  • How have the closures affected your local community? 
  • Have in-person meetings been replaced with virtual meetings via Zoom, Skype etc? 
  • Do you enjoy the virtual meeting format? 
  • Are you working from home instead of in your usual place of work?
  • Have you had to cancel travel plans for pleasure or family? 
  • Have you/others been wearing masks when out and about in your area?  
  • Will you change your lifestyle after this experience? 

Locally, I have also experienced a historic flood that heavily impacted my local community.  Many homes in the district were flooded, businesses closed, people evacuated, roads cut.  The community pulled together magnificently to help each other sandbag and protect properties whenever they could.  The impact was still enormous, especially in the small community of Rochester which saw the majority of homes and businesses flooded.  15 months later a significant proportion of residents are still living in caravans and temporary accommodation as they struggle to complete repairs to their homes.  Again, the memories of this disaster need to be recorded. 

We have all been witness to history, and we should all be considering how we will record our memories and reactions to these events.

Monday, January 29, 2024

Week 3 (Jan. 15-21): Favorite Photo

The prompt for Week 3 is 'Favorite Photo', and it is hard to choose just one 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.

Saturday, January 27, 2024

Week 2 (Jan. 8-14): Origins

The prompt for this week is 'Origins', which tends to make me think of the origins of my family in Australia, and why my ancestors made the momentous decision to leave their homelands and families and make the journey to Australia.

On my paternal side, our history in Australia is a short one.  My father's parents were born and married in England before deciding to try their luck in Australia, arriving here in the early 20th century.  They arrived as a newly married couple, with all ten of their children born in Australia.  In their early years the family moved several times around Victoria, with the children dispersing around the southern states as they established their own families.

On my mother's side our Australian origins go back further.

My great grandfather, James Nicholas Clark, was born in Bristol, England or possibly Launceston, Tasmania around 1856, just as the family emigrated to Australia.  James’s younger sister Annie Amelia Clark was born 31 March 1857 in Port Sorrell, Tasmania, where the family lived for at least 12 years before they crossed Bass Strait and settled in Victoria.

Then there is my German branch of the family tree.  Carl Friedrich Beseler, known in Australia as Frederick, was born around 1810 in Hanover, Germany.  He was a shoemaker in Germany and a farmer in Australia, arriving in Adelaide on 1 April 1848 on the ship Pauline from Bremen, Germany.  Passengers listed were Frederick Beseler, Shoemaker, Mrs Beseler and 5 children.  The family lived in South Australia for 7 years before travelling overland to Victoria, where they settled near Ercildown.  Several members of the family are buried in Learmonth Cemetery. 

I would like to know what prompted these families, with young children in tow, to pack up and move halfway around the world, settle in one state of Australia, then pack up and move again several years later.  Land in their homelands would have been difficult and costly to acquire, so the prospect of cheap land for farming may have been a big motivator in both cases.  Many Germans also emigrated for freedom from religious persecution.

Then there are my Irish ancestors, who left Ireland a few years before the potato famine.  Again, I suspect Australia represented the chance for a better life, a chance to own land and improve the family's living conditions.

For whatever their reasons, my original Australian immigrant ancestors made a huge leap of faith to leave their homelands and travel to a distant country, most with little chance of returning to their homeland if their new lives proved less than they hoped.

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Blogging Challenge

This year I have once again decided to participate in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks blogging challenge run by Amy Johnson Crow.  I have done this challenge a few times in the past, and although I an a few weeks late in starting I hope to catch up fairly quickly.

On to week one (January 1-7), the prompt for which if 'Family Lore'.

I have always enjoyed listening to the family stories told by my parents and other family members, and have several notebooks filled with a variety of stories, many told from the perspective of multiple family members.  

Once I started researching in earnest, I set about finding any records for many of the stories I had been told, and was able to prove - and disprove - some of them.  Others generated no official records and remain family lore.  The best were anecdotal, bringing to life details of my family's lives that without the stories I would know nothing about.

A favourite is my maternal grandmother's first visit to my parents after they married.  My mother was a city girl, born in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton.  Grandmother was born in Brighton, married there, lived her entire life there, and died there.  At the time of my mother's marriage, my grandmother had never been further north than the Melbourne City Baths.

In her early 20s my mother 'went bush', leaving Melbourne to take up a post as a governess on a remote sheep station near the rural town Mildura, over 500km north of Melbourne.  It is here that she met my father, and after their marriage moved to the sheep station 'Para' where my father worked.  Situated on the Darling River, Para was approximately an hour's drive north-east of Mildura, much of the drive on dirt roads.  For my grandmother, mum might as well have been living on another planet.

When my sister was born, Grandmother decided it was time to visit her daughter and new granddaughter, so she boarded a train and made the journey to Mildura, where my parents met her for the drive out to the station homestead.

I have heard the story of this journey from my father, mother and grandmother.  All agree on the shock my grandmother felt at the distance and isolation.  The open spaces daunted her and the concept of the nearest neighbor being almost 30 minutes away was utterly foreign.  'Are we there yet?' was frequently asked.  It was a complete culture shock.

Grandmother eventually reconciled herself to my mother's choice to live in country areas, and was much mollified when my parents moved to the town of Moama (at least we had proper neighbors and decent plumbing!), and was a regular visitor throughout my childhood.  The story of her first visit, however, remains a favourite part of our family lore.

Thursday, December 29, 2022

#52Ancestors - Week 52 - Looking Ahead

This is the last week of the 2022 #52Ancestors challenge, and I am pleased that I have kept up with the weekly topics throughout the year.  It has been a great way of revisiting various areas of my research, looking at topics from a different angle and thinking about my research in new ways.

The final theme is looking ahead, and for me this involves making plans for the year ahead, deciding where I will focus my next research efforts, looking at upcoming meetings and conferences and talks and making plans for research trips and visits to archives.

As my local community slowly recovers from the catastrophic floods of 2022 and the cleanup continues, we are all looking ahead to 2023 and hoping for a little less drama - the last few years have been scarred by Covid, floods, fires and other catastrophes, and we are all hoping for a little peace!

Genealogically, I am looking ahead to attending more meetings and conferences, hopefully in person but online if necessary, and furthering my research.  I hope to catch up with geneamates I haven't seen in person for a while and share the frustrations and successes of the last few years.

A huge thank you to everyone who has participated in the #52Ancestors challenge in 2022, and I am looking forward to participating in a similar blogging challenge next year.

Monday, December 26, 2022

#52Ancestors - Week 51 - Perseverance

For genealogists around the world, perseverance is a quality we all need to develop.  It keeps us searching for elusive records, checking through near-illegible handwritten records, following elusive trails through name changes, fudged birth dates and outright lies and deception.  Perseverance is a must.

A long running mystery for me that required perseverance to overcome, 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 a deaf-mute) 4, Alice May 3, Alfred Edward 2 and William Henry 4 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.  In New Zealand, I found a record for an 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 Australia 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.

It took further perseverance to continue the search.  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.

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.

Perseverance indeed.

Monday, December 19, 2022

#52Ancestors - Week 50 - Traditions

Every family has their traditions, and as we approach Christmas it is time for me to observe a few of my own family's festive traditions.

While my family has always had the traditional Christmas tree, wreath and turkey for Christmas lunch, some of our particular traditions were more unique to us - like watching "The Muppet's Christmas Carol" on Christmas Eve.  It is a tradition that we have had since I was a child and we watched it one Christmas on TV.  Much searching from my mother produced a video of the film and even as teenagers the tradition of watching "The Muppet's Christmas Carol" on Christmas Eve prevailed.  It continued as we became adults and spent Christmas with our parents, was tolerated by baffled partners and friends, and after our parents passed was continued by my sister and I.  Eventually while on a cruise I located a DVD copy (in April!) and after explaining the significance to several bemused holiday aquaintances, that night seven adults sat in front of a television and watched the brilliant Michael Caine, so shiningly evil as Scrooge before he finds the spirit of Christmas, as he seamlessly interacted with his Muppet costars.

Some of my Christmas traditions have also changed over time.  After the year of my tinsel-obsessed cat caused in a rather expensive Christmas day visit to the family vet,  tinsel no longer features in my festive decorations.  The same cat has also implemented the rule that my Christmas Tree is put up undecorated for a week until he has finished treating it as his own personal climbing gym!

Below are some unusual Christmas traditions from around the world.

Giant Lantern Festival, Philippines

The Giant Lantern Festival (Ligligan Parul Sampernandu) is held each year on the Saturday before Christmas Eve in the city of San Fernando.  Eleven barangays (villages) take part in the festival and competition is fierce as everyone pitches in trying to build the most elaborate lantern.
Originally, the lanterns were simple creations around half a metre in diameter, made from Japanese origami paper and lit by candle. Today, the lanterns are made from a variety of materials and have grown to around six metres in size, illuminated by electric bulbs in a kaleidoscope of patterns.

Gävle Goat, Sweden
Since 1966, a 13-metre-tall Yule Goat has been built in the centre of Gävle’s Castle Square for the Advent, but this Swedish Christmas tradition has unwittingly led to another “tradition” of sorts – people trying to burn it down. Since 1966 the Goat has been successfully burned down 29 times – the most recent destruction was in 2016.

Krampus, Austria
In Austrian tradition, St. Nicholas rewards nice little boys and girls, while Krampus is said to capture the naughtiest children and whisk them away in his sack. In the first week of December, young men dress up as the Krampus (especially on the eve of St. Nicholas Day) frightening children with clattering chains and bells.

Kentucky Fried Christmas Dinner, Japan
Christmas has never been a big deal in Japan. Aside from a few small, secular traditions such as gift-giving and light displays, Christmas remains largely a novelty in the country. However, a new, quirky “tradition” has emerged in recent years – a Christmas Day feast of the Colonel’s very own Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Not sure this will catch on elsewhere!

The Yule Lads, Iceland
In the 13 days leading up to Christmas, 13 tricksy troll-like characters come out to play in Iceland.
The Yule Lads (jólasveinarnir or jólasveinar in Icelandic) visit the children across the country over the 13 nights leading up to Christmas. For each night of Yuletide, children place their best shoes by the window and a different Yule Lad visits leaving gifts for nice girls and boys and rotting potatoes for the naughty ones.

Saint Nicholas’ Day, Germany
Not to be confused with Weihnachtsmann (Father Christmas), Nikolaus travels by donkey in the middle of the night on December 6 (Nikolaus Tag) and leaves little treats like coins, chocolate, oranges and toys in the shoes of good children all over Germany, and particularly in the Bavarian region. St. Nicholas also visits children in schools or at home and in exchange for sweets or a small present each child must recite a poem, sing a song or draw a picture.
But it isn’t always fun and games. St. Nick often brings along Knecht Ruprecht (Farmhand Rupert). A devil-like character dressed in dark clothes covered with bells and a dirty beard, Knecht Ruprecht carries a stick or a small whip in hand to punish any children who misbehave.

Norway
Perhaps one of the most unorthodox Christmas Eve traditions can be found in Norway, where people hide their brooms. It’s a tradition that dates back centuries to when people believed that witches and evil spirits came out on Christmas Eve looking for brooms to ride on. To this day, many people still hide their brooms in the safest place in the house to stop them from being stolen. 

Venezuela
Love Christmas, but think it could be improved by a spot of roller-blading? If the answer is yes, visit Caracas, Venezuela this year. Every Christmas Eve, the city’s residents head to church in the early morning – so far, so normal – but, for reasons known only to them, they do so on roller skates.
This unique tradition is so popular that roads across the city are closed to cars so that people can skate to church in safety, before heading home for the less-than-traditional Christmas dinner of ‘tamales’ (a wrap made out of cornmeal dough and stuffed with meat, then steamed).

Day of the Little Candles, Colombia
Little Candles’ Day (Día de las Velitas) marks the start of the Christmas season across Colombia. In honour of the Virgin Mary and the Immaculate Conception, people place candles and paper lanterns in their windows, balconies and front yards.
The tradition of candles has grown, and now entire towns and cities across the country are lit up with elaborate displays. Some of the best are found in Quimbaya, where neighborhoods compete to see who can create the most impressive arrangement.

Cavalcade of Lights, Toronto
In wintry, wonderful Toronto the annual Cavalcade of Lights marks the official start to the holiday season. The first Cavalcade took place in 1967 to show off Toronto’s newly constructed City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square.
The Square and Christmas tree are illuminated by more than 300,000 energy-efficient LED lights that shine from dusk until 11 pm until the New Year. On top of that, you’ll get to witness spectacular fireworks shows and engage in some outdoor ice skating.

Monday, December 12, 2022

#52Ancestors - Week 49 - New Horizons

New Horizons is the theme for this week, and I immediately think of those brave ancestors of mine who sailed off to new horizons as they emigrated to Australia.  For many is meant leaving their homelands and extended families forever for a strange place with strange customs, strange landscapes and strange animals.  For a few it even meant learning a new language.

What prompted these people to take such a step?  For my father's family, his parents left England within weeks of their marriage in 1907 to sail to Australia to start their married life.  Frank and Rosa (Pike) Green married 10 October 1907 and arrived in Australia 1 December 1907.  They enjoyed a much faster and safer journey than other ancestors who emigrated in earlier years.  The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 had given ships from Europe an alternative route to Australia and by the early 1900s, steamships had become the established method of transport. No longer dependent on the strong winds encountered on the 'Great Circle' route, many shipping lines by this time travelled via the Suez Canal, reducing the length of the journey to Australia to 35 or 40 days. My father's parents were lucky indeed.

For my mother's side of the family, most branches travelled to Australia in the 1840s and 1850's, a much longer and riskier voyage.  A diverse group, they came from many different places.  The Pummeroy family travelled from London to Melbourne around 1849.  The Davis family came from Kent, also to Melbourne, making the voyage in 1853 with wife Margaret tragically dying at sea giving birth to twins, neither of whom survived.  The Beseler family came from Hanover in Germany, emigrating from the port of Bremen to Adelaide in 1847 before moving overland to Ercildown, where they settled to farm.  The Flowers came from Glamorgan in Wales to Melbourne in 1863.  The Clark family came from Bristol around 1855 to settle in Port Sorrel, Tasmania for over 15 years before moving on to Melbourne, and the Mulhollands and McCraes came from Ireland in the 1850s to settle on farmland near Bright.

For all of these families, their new horizons in Australia  were permanent, with no return to their homelands so far away.  They built new lives, raised their families and spread out across their new homeland.

Monday, December 5, 2022

#52Ancestors - Week 48 - Overlooked

A danger for any genealogist is overlooking something - an obscure resource, a hidden set of records within a bigger database, a spelling variation or change of name.  Overlooking any of these things can mean we miss vital records that could help progress our research.

Another danger for the family history researcher is overlooking facts that just don't fit.  In earlier posts I have listed some of the overlooked but quite obvious errors that I have seen all in online trees : 

  • Children cannot be born before their parents. 
  • Children cannot be born to a mother who is 6 years old.  Or 94 years old.  
  • Children are highly unlikely to be born to a father who is 89 years old.  While this MAY be biologically possible, it is unlikely and deserves a bit of fact checking. 
  • A child cannot be christened 2 months before they are born. 
  • A woman cannot marry 3 years after she has died. 
  • A man cannot enlist in the army 5 years after he has died.

Overlooking opportunities to further our research can be another huge mistake.  The opportunity to question older relatives should not be overlooked when the chance arises - it may not happen again.  The chance to visit a cemetery or library or other place for research when travelling should also not be overlooked.  Revisiting our own research to see if we can spot overlooked errors or areas that need further investigation is another common error.

So don't overlook the value of revisiting your research and see what you may have overlooked.