Week 19 (May 6-12): Preserve

The prompt of ‘Preserve’ has me thinking about how we, as family historians, can preserve the documents, photographs and other items we possess for future generations.

As technology evolves and changes, new storage methods are developed and older methods become obsolete.  Many of us have come across old videocassettes, floppy discs and other obsolete storage mediums that we can no longer easily access – or access at all – that may hold family memories that are otherwise lost.  Maybe cleaning out an older relative’s house, or tucked away in an archive or repository, or even in our own homes.  A crashed hard drive or broken smart phone can also result in instant loss of treasured memories. 

Moving such treasures onto new storage mediums before the old once a completely obsolete or deteriorate beyond saving is something we should constantly consider.  Recently I spent several weeks of my space time converting an old box of slides and negatives into digital photographs using a device I purchased from a local camera shop.  While I still have the slides and negatives – now stored in more appropriate archival containers – also having digital copies will help preserve these precious family memories.

Can you imagine losing your treasured family photos, videos and documents? In the digital age that we live in, it doesn't just take a natural disaster to wipe your records.   How safe are your photos and other treasures?  How prepared are you for a fire, flood or other catastrophe?  How often do you back up your digital photos - and how safe are your backups?  As we accumulate photos and documents and records as we research our family history, it is important that we consider how we will preserve these items, even if they are ‘only’ copies.  One day the originals may no longer exist, so even copies need to be preserved.

So take some time to consider the preservation of the various items you have, physical or digital, and how you will keep them safe and accessible for the future.

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 :

• Genealogy websites tested WDYTYA? readers give their verdicts on Ancestry, Findmypast, MyHeritage and TheGenealogist
• Online tree traps Why you shouldn't believe everything you read online
• Reader story Lucy Parker on how she traced her Norwegian ancestry
• The history of elections Think politics is turbulent these days? Discover the elections our ancestors lived through
• House history Where to find old photos of your house online
• Shropshire Our complete guide to tracing your ancestry in the county
• And more...
  

Week 18 (Apr. 29-May 5): Love and Marriage

This week’s theme of ‘Love and Marriage’ closely echoes, for me, the previous theme of ‘Step’.

Throughout history, love and marriage has never been straightforward.  Marriage was often a necessary transaction which had little to do with love, and more to do with economics, bloodlines and necessity.

Frequently the death of a spouse had life-changing consequences for the family left behind.  A woman, the death of her husband could mean the loss of his income and protection.  A widow could be left virtually destitute, with little or no inheritance of her own, struggling to raise children without means to find employment to support them.  Remarriage could be an economic necessity, especially if she did not have family nearby who were willing – and financially able – to support or take in her and her children.

For a man, the loss of a wife could also be difficult.  Becoming a widower could leave him with young children he would struggle to look after, especially if he had to keep working.  Perhaps a spinster or widowed sister or cousin might be available to step in and help, or he might have the funds to hire a housekeeper and nanny.  Again, a swift remarriage could be a necessity to provide someone to care for the house and children while he was working.

Such marriage and remarriage could result in very tangled family lines.  In last week’s Step I wrote about my 3xGreat Grandfather Thomas May, who married 4 times, with his final wife being the widowed mother-in-law of one of his daughters.  A complex relationship in my family tree.

Another complex relationship was that of my Aunt, Mavis Pummeroy, and Aunt Thelma Clark.  Mavis, born in 1924, married Ernest Horton on the 15^th of September 1947.  Her Aunt Thelma, born in 1914, had married Clarence Horton, Ernest’s brother, on the 6^th of April 1935.  Thus these two women were not only aunt and niece, but also sisters-in-law.  Love and marriage could create complex relationships indeed!

On the Record at the National Archives

Latest episode of On the Record just dropped! 

'Pauper Voices' brings together findings from a major research project into the lives of the poor, 1834 - 1900. Hear unique testimony from a group whose voices are often absent from history.

 
The podcasts is described by the site "It's often impossible to find direct accounts of poor people in the historical record, especially the further back you look. But an extraordinary collection containing thousands of letters written by people in poverty between 1834 and 1900 provides an insight into their lives.  In this episode, Chloe Lee speaks to specialist Paul Carter about letters held by The National Archives which were addressed to the Poor Law Board, the British central poor law authority. Together they use these accounts to glimpse into the factories, the workhouses and slums in which so many vulnerable people lived out their lives.  This podcast is based on the research In Their Own Write, a major AHRC-funded project, running from 2018 to 2021, which uses letters from paupers and other poor people, and associated manuscript material such as petitions, sworn statements and advocate letters (those written on behalf of paupers) to investigate the lives of the poor between 1834 and 1900. The Project was led by Professor Steve King (Nottingham Trent University) and Dr Paul Carter, (The National Archives).

This series of podcasts is brought to you by the National Archives UK.

Anzac Day

Week 17 (Apr. 22-28): War

Russell Nicholas Clark, WW2

The prompt for Week 17 is War, and as the world watches the devastation of war in Ukraine and in Israel ans Palestine, the tragic reality of war is right in front of our eyes.  Living in Australia, so relatively isolated and seeing so little major conflict strike our shores, it truly hits home how fortunate we have been.

 

My family was extremely lucky, in both world wars and other conflicts, to have most of those who served not only come home, but come home fairly unscathed.  One second cousin was killed in France in World War 1 ; one uncle died in the Merchant Navy in World War 2.  All the other relatives who served – my father, uncles and great-uncles and more recently several cousins - returned safely to their loved ones.  While they all had to live with the memories of the conflicts, they were mostly uninjured by their experiences and able to rebuild their civilian lives. 

Leonard Clark, WW2

 

So many others were not so fortunate.  Numerous Australian families endured the loss of loved ones on foreign soil, or the return of family members forever scarred by their service.  So many who returned faced a lifetime of ruined health or years of recovery and rehabilitation.  My family has been lucky indeed.

 

ANZAC has very much become a part of our national vocabulary.  Many of the people who lived though that campaign were ordinary volunteers, just as Australia’s current veterans were ordinary volunteers.  They put their daily lives on hold to serve and protect us all, most with very little clear idea of just what they were volunteering for.  Even as a young child I was taught the significance of ANZAC Day, attended services, and spent my pocket money on ANZAC Day badges, many of which I still have in a container at home, which I still add to annually.

Ernest Green, WW2 postcard from Egypt

Through the National Archives of Australia I have downloaded several family WW1 records and ordered those from WW2 -  the NAA has indexed and digitised Boer War and World War 1 dossiers, which you can search and view online for free. World War II dossiers have been indexed but will only be digitised if a family member has requested it.  Other websites include Discovering Anzacs Whichallows you to add your stories and images, and the Australian War Memorial, which has databases like the WW1 Embarkation Rolls and WW1 Red Cross files.  Researching  newspaper reports in Trove has also been a gold mine, with news of enlistments, farewells, news from the front, even a few letters home were published in local papers.

Family Tree UK Magazine

The latest issue of Family Tree UK magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue :  

• How’s it going, genealogy-wise?!
• RootsTech roundup 2024
• Mapping the Development of a Place Through Time
• How Should We Deal With Our family secrets?
• Family History of the AI Era
• Bogus Coats of Arms
• Pull -out & keep bow-tie chart
• DNA TEST comparison guide
• The Ulster Historical Foundation
• Stranger than Fiction : you can’t believe everything you read in the papers
• Photo corner
• Your Questions Answered
• Diary Dates
• Your letters 
• And more...