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 :

• 10 easy steps to grow your family tree : Expert tips from Who Do You Think You Are? genealogist Laura Berry
• Blood on the tracks : The shocking accident records of Victorian railway workers
• Know your place! : How to conduct local history research
• Boer War ancestors : How to trace them online
• Reader story : Ash James' grandfather was a secret agent in Egypt in the First World War
• Around Britain : County Durham research
• And more...
  

Week 38 (Sept. 16-22): Symbol

The prompt for Week 38 is 'Symbol' which links to last week's theme of 'Tombstone' and has me thinking more about my collection of family headstone photographs and especially the symbolism included in the various monuments.  While the majority of the examples in my collection are fairly plain, there are still many symbols included.

The following are some of the more common symbols found on gravestones and their meanings.

ANCHOR - a symbol of hope, or the deceased was a seaman.
ANGEL - a guide to Heaven.
ARCH - symbolizing a triumphant entry into Heaven or victory over death.
ARROW - symbolizing mortality or martyrdom.
BEEHIVE - symbol of abundance in the Promised Land or piety or domestic virtue or faith.

BELL - a symbol of religious faith or religion.
BIRD - a symbol of eternal life, spirituality, Messenger of God, or peace.
BOOK - a symbol of the Divine Word or the deceased's lifetime accomplishments.
BURNING FLAME - a symbol of eternal life or resurrection.
BUTTERFLY - a symbol of resurrection.
CELTIC CROSS - a symbol of faith and eternity.
CIRCLE - a symbol of eternity, life never ending.
CLOUDS - a symbol of the Divine abode, Heaven.
CROSS - a symbol of faith and resurrection. Many military markers, in particular for Veterans of World War I, have a cross etched into the gravestone.
CROWN - a symbol of glory of life after death.
DOVE – a symbol of love, purity, resurrection and or the Holy Spirit.
EAGLE - many gravestones of Civil War veterans were engraved with images of eagles.
FINGER (pointing downward) - a symbol of calling the earth to witness.
FINGER ( pointing upward) - symbolizing the pathway to Heaven or the deceased found Heavenly reward.
FISH - symbolizing spiritual nourishment, faith, or deceased was a Christian.
FLOWER - a symbol of immortality. 

FLYING BIRD - a symbol of rebirth.
GARLAND - symbolizes victory over death.
GRIM REAPER - a symbol found on many early gravestones, meaning the inevitability of death.
HANDS (CLASPED) - a symbol meaning farewell and the hope of meeting again in eternity.
HARP - a symbol of hope.
HEART - a symbol of love, devotion, joy, and/or mortality.
HOURGLASS - a symbol of the swift passage of time, as in the shortness of life on earth.
LAMB - a symbol meaning innocence; used primarily on an infant's or a child's gravestone.
LILY - a symbol of purity and/or chastity.
MYRTLE LEAVES - a symbol of undying love and/or peace.
OAK LEAVES - a symbol of faith and virtue and/or endurance.
OBELISK - a symbol quite popular during the 1880's through the 1930's, meaning rebirth, connection between earth and Heaven.
OLIVE BRANCH - a symbol of peace, forgiveness, one's humanity.
OPEN GATES - a symbol of afterlife and the deceased's soul entering into Heaven.
PYRAMID – a symbol meaning resurrection, eternal life, enlightenment, spiritual attainment.
RAINBOW – a symbol of union, fulfillment of the promise of resurrection.
ROPE CIRLE - a symbol of eternity.

ROSE - a symbol of love, victory, triumph, and/or purity.
SCYTHE - symbol of a life cut short, death, or the final harvest.
SHEAF of WHEAT - a symbol of old age, a fruitful life.
SKULL - a symbol used in the early to mid-1800's representing mortality and or penitence. A winged skull meant that the deceased ascended into Heaven.
SLEEPING CHERUB - a symbol of innocence used primarily on an infant's or a child's gravestone.
SWALLOW – a symbol of motherhood, the spirit of children, or a symbol of consolation.
SWORD - symbolizes the deceased's military service.
SWORDS (CROSSED) - symbolizes that the deceased died in battle.
TREE – a symbol of life, knowledge, the fall of man through sin, or human frailty.
TREE STUMP - symbol of a life interrupted.
TRUMPET - symbol announcing the resurrection of the deceased's soul entering into Heaven.
URN - symbol for the soul, immortality or penitence.
WHEEL - symbolizes the cycle of life, enlightenment, spiritual power.
WREATH of ROSES - a symbol of Heavenly joy and bliss.

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 : 

• Women making medical history : Celebrating 150 years of medical education
• Researching the social & family history of unrelated cohorts
• Lives on the ocean waves : Tracing your mariner ancestors before 1914
• Lives of service : Researching 19th century soldiers
• Belle of the ball
• Your 6 step plan to thorough (brick wall-smashing) family history
• How Ancestry Enhanced Shared Matches can help you
• Which (DNA) test is right for you?
• Spotlight on... York and District Family History Society
• Helping you discover your family story
• Your questions answered
• Photo corner
• Diary Dates
• And more....
  

Trove Tuesday - search Tips part 2

 A useful addition to your search toolbox in Trove is the Near search, using the tilde key.

~ (near)

•        Get results where keywords are found near each other, setting the 'distance' between your keywords.

–       “John Argent”~2

–       This example will give you results with the keywords ‘John' and ‘Argent' within two words of each other. 

–       This single search will cover “John Argent”, “John T. Argent”, “John Thompson Argent”, “Argent, John”, “Argent, Mr John”, etc.

–       It will also include matches with a different middle name or initial, increasing irrelevant matches

•        Note: There should be no space between the tilde ~ and the phrase.

Another great way to maximise useful search results in Trove.

Week 37 (Sept. 9-15): Tombstone

The theme for Week 37 is 'Tombstone', and the information to be found on tombstones and in cemeteries cannot be discounted.  From visiting cemeteries in person to finding online cemetery records to uncovering photos of headstones, I have had some wonderful finds.

The photograph above is the Mulholland family plot in Eurobin, Victoria.  The plot includes two main headstones and several plaques.

The main headstone is for my great great grandfather David Mulholland who died 10 April 1902, age 71 and his wife Eliza Jane who died 30 October 1925, age 95.  Also included on the headstone are three infant children - Samuel Thomas, died 28 April 1879, age 3 months ; Margaret died 5 September 1885 age 10 years, and an unnamed infant son who died 26 January 1887 age 10 days.

The second, smaller headstone is 'erected to the memory of the beloved children of David and Jane Mulholland who died at Boggy Creek.'

Sadly, the three children named on the headstone all died as infants within a few weeks of each other - Henry Mulholland, died 29 January 1872 aged 4 years 8 months, Margaret Jane Mulholland who died 2 February 1872 aged 6 years 4 months and Thomas Mulholland who died 14 February 1872 aged 1 year 2 months.  A stark reminder of the perils of childhood and how disease could carry off several family members in rapid succession - all three died of diphtheria.

Trove Tuesday - Search Tips part 1

To get the most out of searching Trove, there are a number of search tips you can use to optimise your results.

Phrase searches

•        Enclose search terms in quotes, eg:

–       “John Argent"

–       "South Australia" elections

Wildcard searches

•        Specify wild cards or truncate word endings with an * , eg:

–       math* tutor*

Boolean searches

•        Use AND, OR and NOT and brackets to create boolean expressions. You can use a minus sign next to the word in place of NOT, eg:

–       (cats AND dogs) NOT rabbits

–       “Moreton Bay" -Brisbane

When looking for articles on the death of my great uncle Norman Clark in a shark attack, I use his name as a phrase search "Norman Clark".  This looks for both words, together, as a phrase.  Just searching Norman Clark, without the quotes, brings back any article with the two words anywhere in the article, even paragraphs apart.  I then add a boolean term - AND shark - to only include search results that also contain that word.

So the search "Norman Clark AND shark bring back 278 results - articles from all over the country.

A treasure trove indeed!

Family Tree US Magazine

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

Inside this month's issue : 

• 5 questions with: Steve Little - AI Program Director, NGS
• 100,000 Digital Books
• New and improved : Genealogy software
• Digitized records roundup
• Guidelines for AI and Genealogy
• MyHeritage launches new sub
• Heirloom Hunting
• Defying the Odds : One woman finds records of her family when she expected none.
• Family Inheritance : These five tasks will help you turn the boxes of materials you inherited from family into an organized archive.
• Memento Mori : These death-related heirlooms may seem macabre by modern standards. But they hold details that are valuable to modern genealogists.
• Treasure the Register : Tap into valuable Standesamtregistern—German civil vital records
• Flash Back : Handwritten details on the back of a photo suggest an unexpectedly complex immigration story.
• Cemetery Records
• Finding Newspapers at Chronicling America
• DNA Matches Without a Family Tree
• Obituaries