Who Do You Think You Are Magazine

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: 

• Parish registers online Discover where to find parish registers for every region of the UK
• Agricultural shows How agricultural show records can help you find your ancestors
• Reader story My ancestors survived a massacre by Border Reivers
• Victorian crime and punishment What happened to criminal ancestors in the 19th century?
• Surnames Trace the history of your family name online
• Devonshire ancestry How to trace your family history in the county
• And more...
  

 

Week 14 (Apr. 1-7): Favorite Recipe

I have commented before on the family recipe book, primarily created by my sister.  One of the more fun jobs while we were cleaning out the family home was emptying out Mum's recipe drawer.  While the drawer contained a few proper cooking books, and some complete magazines, it was primarily a combination of loose snippets torn or photocopied from old magazines and books, and hand-written recipes from who-knows-where.  Many had notes written on them - things like substitutions of ingredients and notes on who particularly liked the dish.  There were also a number of recipes written out by others and given to Mum - by several different friends and relatives, judging by the assorted handwriting.  She even had a little A5 folder with hand-written favourites stored inside.

Included in that recipe drawer were the details of so many dishes we remembered from our childhoods - some with fondness and some with a shudder!  My sister and I spent an entire afternoon sorting through these scraps of paper, reading them out to each other and sharing our memories.  Yes, there really WAS a recipe for Dixon Street Chicken!  Do you remember Mum's spaghetti and mince casserole?  We also covered a few memorable kitchen disasters, like the time I set fire to the kitchen cooking toast - the pop-up toaster didn't pop and I had stuck my nose in a book, and didn't notice the flames climbing up the kitchen wall.  I have since been forbidden to touch printed material while cooking.  Then there was the time Dad put some eggs on to boil and got distracted by an unfinished project in the garden.  By the time he came inside the pot had long boiled dry and almost burned through the bottom - who knew exploding eggs could travel so far?

Food, cooking and mealtimes are such an important part of our families, and so often discounted.  What was your favourite home-cooked meal as a child?  Do you have the recipe, and do you ever cook it for yourself as an adult??  Do you remember any cooking disasters - either your own or that of another family member?  Having them written down with all our memories and stories attached to each recipe is something I treasure, and such a simple thing to create.  If you a looking for a Family History project, maybe a family recipe book is something to consider.

 

#52Ancestors  

Really Useful Podcast Series 3, Episode 3

Episode 3 of the new series of the Really Useful Podcast is out now! The episode discusses the historical migration of people within Britain, including the kind of movements you might find in your family tree, and how we can research migrating ancestors.

 
The episode is described on the web page :

"People in the past moved about a lot more than we might think. In this episode our guests discuss the historical migration of people within Britain, including the kind of movements you might find in your family tree, what this can tell us and how we can research migrating ancestors.

Joe is joined by Janet Few, historical researcher, writer, speaker and President of the Family History Federation;  Jane Hough, amateur genealogist and blogger and Gill Thomas, professional family historian specialising in Welsh records and chair of the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives."

New Titles on Trove

The titles below have recently been digitised and made available in Trove. Note that the year range listed for each title is an indication of what's currently available in Trove, and not always the full year range the item was published.

New Victorian Titles

• Benalla Standard (1932-1940) 
• Essendon and Flemington Chronicle (1882-1894)
• Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (1888-1900) 
• Essendon Gazette (1900-1905) 
• Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (1905-1913) 
• Gippsland Farmers' and Glengarry, Toongabbie and Cowwarr Journal (1923)  
• Hampden Guardian and Western Province Advertiser (1871-1872; 1874-1877) 
• Healesville Guardian and Yarra Glen Guardian (1900) 
• Journal: Glengarry, Toongabbie and Cowwarr journal (1923-1929)
• Lawloit Times (1910-1929)
• Ouyen Mail and Central Mallee Advertiser (1911-1913)
• Ouyen Mail (1919-1930)
• The Sun News-Pictorial (Melbourne, Vic. : 1922 - 1954; 1956)
• Sunraysia Daily (1937-1942) 
• Western Press and Camperdown, Colac, Mortlake and Terang Representative (1866-1867; 1870)
• Yarrawonga Mercury and Lake Rowan, Tungamah and Mulwala News (1882) 
• Yarrawonga Mercury and Mulwala News (1882-1892, 1894-1897) 
• Yarrawonga Mercury and Southern Riverina Advertiser (1897-1905, 1920-1927)

Week 13 (Mar. 25-31): Worship

Religion has played a major role in the lives of our ancestors, and how they chose to worship had the potential to impact their lives in many different ways.  The church, faith and religion were central to the lives of so many, and had the potential to impact where people lived, how they earned a living, who they married, even whether they could own land or work in certain professions.

My 3xGreat grandparents Carl Friedrich (Frederick) and Susetta Beseler made the momentous decision to leave their homeland and emigrate to Australia.  Large numbers of Germans emigrated to Australia and the United States, mainly for economic and religious reasons. Many emigrants were of the Lutheran faith.

The Lutheran Church in Australia had begun in 1838 with the arrival of about 500 migrants from Prussia, led by their Pastor, August Kavel. They were sponsored personally by George Fife Angas of the South Australian Company, who had taken pity on their religious plight and the persecution they were facing in Prussia and other areas of the Germanic Federation.

In Essex, England, the Fordham All Saints church was originally built in approximately 1340 and restored in 1861.  In 1965 it was designated a Grade 1 listed building.  It was my father's family church for many generations and their home was only a short walk away.

As in many small villages, the Church was at the centre of village life.  Many of the records I have for my family centre around the church - baptisms, weddings, funerals, Sunday School, fundraising and poor relief - and several such events were not only to be found in the church records but also reported in local newspapers, such as the funeral above.

#52Ancestors 

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

The Family Histories Podcasts

The wonderful series of The Family Histories Podcast recently released an announcement that it has begun recording its seventh series, to be released later in the year.  The identities of the guests for this series have not yet been released, so we are still waiting to hear that areas will be discussed and which ancestor each guest will be exploring.

The release is below :

'The seventh series of The Family Histories Podcast has now entered production, with microphones having been switched on this week to record.

Host Andrew Martin returns for another seven episodes, with seven guests (we’ll reveal who, later), telling fascinating life stories, and pitching their annoying brick walls for us to solve.

He’s joined again by John Spike as missing Hungarian poet, revolutionary, and (shh: secret time machine) assistant, Sándor Petofi.

Series Seven is expected to arrive on all the usual podcast platforms during May 2024."