Congress Post 5

Day 3 and there is a noticeably smaller crowd at the 8.30am Keynote address - where is everyone??  At church?  Sleeping in after the full day of talks then the Conference Dinner last night??  You're missing out!!  I'll sleep later.
First up today is Michael McKernan's "Meeting people at war : writing war on the home front".  This is followed by Paul Milner's "Tracing your Pre-WW1 British Soldier", morning tea, Simon Fowler's "Hidden gems : finding and using unusual record collections", Cora Num's "Mapping out families", lunch, Grace Karskens's "Men, women, sex and desire", Pauline Cass's "Harness the power of blogging" (preaching to the converted here), afternoon tea, and David Rencher's "Chasing the poor and landless".  During breaks I visit more of the booths in the Exhibition Hall, chat with fellow genies about which talks they have chosen and how much they have learnt, and am so busy talking that I forget to take a photo of the Exhibition Hall and am almost late to David Rencher's talk after afternoon tea.

The front of the Convention Centre

Congress Post 4

Day 2 of the Congress began at 8.30am with a keynote address by Joshua Taylor from Find My Past "Connecting across past, present and future".  This was followed by Jenny Joyce's "Wills from England and Ireland", morning tea, Paul Milner's "Scotland - maps and gazetteers", David Rencher's "Irish census and census substitutes", lunch, Richard Reid's "Realities of 19th Century Ireland", John Blackwood's "Separation and divorce in Scotland", afternoon tea, and finally Perry McIntyre's "Remembering and commemorating our ancestors".  During lunch the Geneabloggers met to have a group photo courtesy of Jill Ball and Mr GeniAus (thanks to you both, and yes, I am there, I'm just hiding a bit). 

Geneabloggers - photo by GeniAus

A quick break then it was off to the official Congress Dinner in the great hall of Parliament House.  The dinner was one of the highlights of the Congress and again was a masterpiece of organisation, right down to the shuttle buses that took us from the Convention Centre to Parliament house and back at the end of the evening.

Congress Post 3

Day 1 of the main congress began with the official opening at 8.30am and the opening address by Dr Matthew Trinca of the National Museum of Australia in the main Royal Theatre - a huge space that gradually filled up with genealogists.  The three big screens were a bonus for those sitting further back as there was generally a camera on the speaker showing them on the main screen and any slides showing on either side - so no matter where you sat you could still see.

Royal Theatre

After the opening addresses there was morning tea.  All lunches and teas were served at several stations in the main exhibition hall, which was also where all the exhibitor's booths were located.  Breaks throughout the Congress were a great opportunity to mingle and chat, visit various booths, pick up brochures and purchase books and supplies and, if you were not already in information overload, visit the Ancestry Speakers Corner for shorter less formal talks.  You could also go for a short walk in the courtyard behind the Convention Centre or just sit quietly and soak it all in.
After morning tea the concurrent sessions began, with 4 different talks to choose from.  First for me was Cora Num's talk "What can I find using eRecords".  Unfortunately Cora was unwell and could not attend the Congress, but in true soldier on fashion she video recorded all her talks and they were shown on the big screens on the Royal Theatre - a big achievement and congratulations are well deserved by all involved.  Then it was on to Paul Milner's "Buried treasure : what's in the English Parish Chest", lunch, Roger Kershaw's "Tracing free immigrants to Australia", Carole Riley's "Dropbox and Evernote for family historians", afternoon tea, and Heather Garnsey's "The Joint Copying Project" - and that was just Day 1!!  A short walk back to my accommodations for tea and a good rummage though all the goodies in my Congress satchel, then off to sleep.

Satchel, lanyard and name tag, and blogger beads

Congress Post 2

The welcome function in Anzac Hall at the Australian War Memorial has been a blast.  What a great setting for our meet and greet.  After spending the day at the Librarian's Seminar, where most efficiently we had our conference satchels and tags delivered to us, it was off to the War Memorial.

The Australian War Memorial

One of the many World War 1 dioramas

Lancaster Bomber G for George

Congress Post 1

The National Library

I have arrived in Canberra and it is the day of the Librarian's Conference, held the day before the Congress itself begins, at the National Library.  This is a new feature of the Congress, a chance for library staff like myself to get together and discuss things like assisting new genealogists getting started in good research techniques and disillusioning them that all their information is just waiting for them in one place online.

As Genealogy and Family History grow ever more popular libraries have a lot to offer, with many of us offering free access to one or more of the major subscription databases, classes on various family history topics, local history information and assistance in finding that elusive record.

The day was a great start to the congress, my notebook already has several pages filled and it has been great to catch up with so many other librarians.  On to the Welcome function in Anzac Hall at the Australian War Memorial.

As my Canberra internet connection is a bit dodgy, I may end up drafting these posts and uploading them all when I get home.

52 Weeks of Genealogy - Week 33 - Church Records

I am still following Shauna Hicks' 52 Weeks of Genealogy and Shauna has chosen Church Records as her topic for Week 33 - but not the 'church records' I assumed when I started reading her post.

Shauna tells us that "within the broad category of church records there are lots of different kinds of records. For the purpose of this week’s blog post, I am only looking at church publications. This includes newsletters, magazines, journals, newspapers, yearbooks, church histories and so on."

Now I must confess that this is not an area that I have given the time and consideration that I should - an error I will definitely have to remedy.  I have visited my mother's family church in Brighton where my parents married.  I know my father's paternal line were quite involved in church work in the family church at Fordham, Essex, where the family lived for a number of generations.  I also know that several branches of my father's maternal line, who lived in Suffolk, England, were Baptists.  I have not, however, put much effort into locating church newsletters and other publications - and in neglecting this resource I have done quite a disservice to my efforts to flesh out my family history.

This is the great thing about following a challenge like Shauna's 52 Weeks - it encourages me to think about all the different types of records out there and if I am using them effectively, or, in the case of church publications, if I am actually using them at all!  Thanks again Shauna - please click here to read Shauna's full post on Church Records.

The Silver War Badge Records 1914-1920

Was your ancestor discharged from the military because wounds or illness left them unfit to continue service?  They may have been among the 800,000 recipients of the Silver War Badge whose records are now available at Ancestry.com.

In September 1916, King George V authorized the Silver War Badge (SWB) to honor all military personnel who had served at home or overseas since 4 August 1914 and who had been discharged because of wounds or illness. The SWB was a small, circular badge made of sterling silver that bore the king’s initials, a crown, and the inscriptions ‘For King and Empire’ and ‘Services Rendered’. The badge could also be worn by personnel who were discharged because of age. 
 
The SWB was not simply an honor; it also served a practical purpose. At the time, men of military age in England who were not obviously in the service were sometimes accosted or insulted by civilians presenting them with white feathers—a symbol of cowardice—for shirking their patriotic duty. The badge, which was worn with civilian dress, served as an outward symbol that the wearer’s duty to country had been honorably fulfilled. 

Thousands of women appear on the rolls as well, serving overseas in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, which provided cooking, mechanical, clerical, and other support services.  Many others served as nurses.

 One thing to keep in mind as you search for your own WWI ancestor. Millions were wounded in the war—some, like J.R.R. Tolkien, so severely that they never did return to the front—but unless they were discharged, they won’t be on the Silver War Badge rolls. 

For those of you who do not have a subscription to Ancestry, check your local library to see if they have a library subscription.  Ancestry Library Edition is available via our free public internet at all branches of Campaspe Regional Library.