The group decided to forego our April 28th session to provide members with the opportunity to attend Benalla Family Research Group’s Australian Heritage Festival ‘Lone Graves and Other Curiosities’ sessions being held from the 26th to 29th April. ​

Members agreed to present stories for both April and May’s topics ‘They were there when….’(April) and ‘Obituary’(May) at our meeting on 26th May – ideally both, but one would be fine. 

‘They were there when’…. “Did someone in your family tree experience a significant news, historical or cultural event first-hand?  Share your understanding of what may have been their experience”

‘Eulogy/Obituary’ Write a eulogy for an imagined funeral (or an obituary for a newspaper) for someone in your family tree you never, or barely met (preferably at great grandparent level or earlier), based on your research and any family stories passed down about them.


Bev Lee, Barry McDonald, Wendy Sturgess

David began our ‘Pains and Gains, Tips and Tricks’ reports, describing finding out more about a Great Uncle who was a saddler in Wangaratta. It is believed that when the Kelly gang was captured, they had some of his Great Uncle’s saddles, however he had not sold them any! 

Asha described finding details of her grandmother; while Bev displayed a photo of St Carthage’s Church in Lismore NSW taken during the recent devastating floods, explaining that her father had married his first wife there in 1924.  Bev also spoke of genealogists’ deep concern about the loss of photographs, documents, and memorabilia during the floods.

Wendy described visiting the bush nursing home in Pyramid Hill where she was born and the grave of a baby brother who died there.   Robyn described finding mention of relatives who eventually came to Australia from Skye when reading the ‘Low Road’, a family history book she had borrowed from Wendy.

Marg’s gain - re-joining Ancestry.  Pain - she has not used it yet!  
 
Barry’s gain?  The photo of his parents’ wedding, previously thought lost, has been found and should be in Benalla by the weekend so he can scan it and finish two family histories, after almost three years of research.

Elly described a family history full of passion and pain, intriguing us all.  Her gain – finding a lot of documents related to her mother, her pain, continuing mystery surrounding her father.

Graeme shared details of a Great Grandfather who fought in many theatres of war. He is buried in a lone grave which is now on Aboriginal designated land. His GGF has a musket ball still in his body which could be of historic significance. Graeme is not sure what to do next, however will contact local Aboriginal elders to see what can be done.  Graeme also shared symbols he is using to assist him to track and follow up people and events in the family records he is creating.

Jane’s role as the Secretary of the Benalla Family Research Group is already proving to be of great value to the class.  Jane shared news of Benalla History Week events from the 26 – 29 April (keep an eye on the website for details) and news of a free Zoom webinar this week ‘Discovering Trove’.
 
Our Family Story topic for sharing after the coffee break was ‘Hunch’.  Following a hunch to try a different variation of a person’s name – ‘Jas’ instead of ‘James’; ‘Annabella’ instead of ‘Annie’; ‘…1st Duke of Kingston upon Hull’ instead of ‘General Hull’ – resolved what had been frustrating problems for three class members. Following a hunch based on our session on DNA last year by Jim Burnell proved worthwhile, as did pursuing a hunch gleaned from reading an article about German citizens interned in Australia during WWI.  Inserting an advertisement in The Belfast Telegraph newspaper proved to be another successful hunch, unearthing Irish relatives and leading to treasured outcomes.  Finally, a hunch related to a mystery surrounding the paternity of a family member was found in a very small newspaper report of a 1906 trial.  This named a possible candidate whose history has proven easy to find.  Next step–the trial transcript!

Our April 28th session has been cancelled to provide members with the opportunity to attend Benalla Family Research Group’s Australian Heritage Festival workshops.  April’s topic, ‘They were there when….’ “Did someone in your family tree experience a significant news, historical or cultural event first-hand?  Share your understanding of what may have been their experience” will be shared along with May’s topic ‘Obituary’ at our May meeting. 
​
Bev Lee, Wendy Sturgess, Barry O’Connor

Thank you all for the range of ideas, dates for our diaries, links, tips and other matters shared at our March session on Thursday!  Here's a list of 'follow ups' as promised -

Benalla Family Heritage Group and the National Trust's Australia Heritage Festival 

Benalla Family Research Group is once again participating in the National Trust's Annual Heritage Festival, providing a program of workshops and events over four days from Tuesday 26 to Friday 29th April.  Details are being fine tuned and will be forwarded when available  We are aware that the session at our usual 'fourth Thursday' time slot includes a presentation by class member Barry O'Connor.  It was decided to cancel our April session that afternoon to provide the opportunity for class members to attend if they would like to.  Each session costs $5.  Members are encouraged to select at least one session across the four days and perhaps report on learnings from that session in 'Pains and Gains, Tips and Tricks' in May!  

TROVE (1) Our New, Shared 'Practice' Account 

Trove  https://trove.nla.gov.au/ - we now have a shared 'practice' account for our classes.  If you weren't in class - let me know and I'll give you the log in and password.  

Hints - 

• Use Advanced Search and select 'phrase' when looking up names.  No luck? Try different spellings, or eg. Mr. J. B. Hamilton if looking for names, Harry instead of Henry, etc....  It can take a while to find people...be patient... and stoic as sometimes there won't be anything to find...yet!
• When you find an article you want to keep - consider downloading it as a PDF (or image, or text)  (There's a little download link with a downward arrow on the side menu).
• If the digitized text is scrambled, try correcting and saving the changes you want to make!.  Click on the pen near the text you want to correct to open the text for saving, then press Save or Save and Exit when you have completed your corrections.  (You need to have signed in to our account, or your own, to do this).
• Create Lists to store entries for future use.  Find and click on the bullet list link on the side menu.  The first time you use it you'll add both the new 'list' file folder and the first document information and save them at the same time.  After that, it is easier.  A list of file folders you have set up should appear and you just need to enter and save the new document into the listed file folder.  You can always find your lists by clicking on the details under our U3AFamilyResearch2022 details at the top of the screen.  

If you would like to take part in a one to one or small group session on this, let me know and we'll set a date.  

TROVE (2) 'Discover Trove' Zoom Webinar on 30 March

From Jane - "This is the link to register for the 'Discover TROVE' session on Zoom on Wednesday 30th March from 1 to 2pm:
https://fb.me/e/1nrmoxoZD"   Jane has invited class members to join her group at Benalla Family Research Group to watch the session.  Church Street opposite the Faithfull Street T intersection.

After finding out more details at https://www.nla.gov.au/whats-on/events/webinar-discover-trove it seems worthwhile to provide the opportunity for U3A members to view the webinar at U3A on our large screen. I've registered for the session and will screen the webinar on the large screen in the U3A Meeting Room from 1 to 2 pm, followed by review of the session and practice. It's a 'fifth' Wednesday, so there's no other booking for the room. All welcome.

Risks Associated with Introduction of .au Domain Name Change 

Wendy shared a notice she had received about possible risks associated with the new domain name change to .au endings. Here's the link if you would like to follow this up - https://www.cyber.gov.au/acsc/view-all-content/alerts/new-domain-name-changes-could-leave-your-business-or-organisation-risk


Bev 

Bev Lee...    'a sense of place'  ... father's first marriage ... St Carthages, Lismore...

Wendy Sturgess...  'a sense of place' ... revisiting Pyramid Hill

At our first session in late February, we welcomed four new members and Jane’s return.
 
There was much to share in the ‘Pains and Gains’ reports which commence our sessions.  Margaret Boyle began by updating us on finding news of her mother, who had left her family during the war when Marg was a toddler.  Marg kept us spellbound describing her joy at being able to share stories about her mother with a surviving half-sister discovered following a DNA test. 

Other reports also featured ‘connections’ – whether with others working on the same families; with family historians when visiting local historical societies; or with Facebook user group members discussing issues of interest.  Barry O’Connor finally got to look at the rate records at Swan Hill and discovered the facts about the actual land holdings of his Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother O’Connor. He also managed to track down some possible information on where his parents first met.  

Our Family Story topic for sharing after the coffee break was ‘A sense of place’. Members shared stories of places important in the lives of their forebears, including Deniliquin, Echuca, Kilmore, Scotland, including the Isle of Skye, the beautiful highland valley of Glenesk, Portree and more; the #3 and #69 tram routes in Melbourne, even ships traversing the high seas.  Stories featured included the lives of farmers, crofters, sheep stud owners, blacksmiths, ships doctors, hotel keepers, stone masons, mariners, those in the Flinders Lane rag trade and more.
​
The list of Topics for 2022 was distributed .  The topic for our next class on March 24 is ‘Hunch’.   The brief – ‘Sometimes when researching we find ‘a black hole’, however have a fairly strong hunch about a possible resolution of the problem.  Our dilemma - we don’t want to record it if the evidence isn’t strong enough.  Describe a fairly strong hunch you continue to have during your research.  Who does it involve, why do you think it might apply; what is stopping you from including it in your family tree.  (If you have resolved a hunch, you could describe this instead.)’

Bev, Wendy and Barry

Following a three-month break, there will be lots to share on Thursday 24 February in the ‘Pains and Gains’ reports which commence our sessions. 

Our Family Story topic for sharing after the coffee break is ‘A sense of place’. The brief – ‘Write about a place which was important to a number of your forebears.  Why did you choose this place?  How did it feature in their story, why was it important to them? 

Share your reflections in 150 to 400 words (no penalties for exceeding), accompanied by a photograph/s, hopefully captured close to the time in which the place featured in one or more of your ancestors lives’.  Oral presentations fine too!  

​
Bev Lee

Family Story topics to begin the year,  remembering of course the preface – “from 150 to 400 words or thereabouts (no penalties for exceeding), oral presentations fine too!”  

February - ‘A sense of place’
Write about a place which was important to a number of your forebears.  Why did you choose this place?  How did it feature in their story, why was it important to them?  Share your reflections in 150 to 400 words, accompanied by a photograph/s, hopefully captured close to the time in which it featured in one or more of their lives. 

March - ‘Hunch’
Sometimes when researching we find ‘a black hole’, however have a fairly strong hunch about a possible resolution of the problem.  Our dilemma - we don’t want to record it if the evidence isn’t strong enough.  Describe a fairly strong hunch you continue to have during your research.  Who does it involve, why do you think it might apply; what is stopping you from including it in your family tree.  (If you have resolved one, you could describe this instead)

April - ‘They were there when….’
Did someone in your family tree experience a significant news, historical or cultural even first-hand?  Share your understanding of what may have been their experience.

Universal ‘Back Up’ topic – if a topic doesn’t inspire you or you have writers’ block!
‘A Ha Moments’ and/or ‘Disappointments’
What stand out among the memorable ‘a ha moments’ and/or memorable ‘disappointments’ you have experienced while doing family research?  Pick one (or two) and write about it, explaining when it happened, who in your family tree was involved, what effect it had on you.  It may be an ‘a ha moment’ or ‘disappointment’ you have felt for the person involved, or for you as you negotiated your family research journey. 


Bev Lee 

Commencing our November session with ‘Pains and Gains’ again led to shared problem solving and lots of encouragement and ideas for next steps.

Bev reported on using the Ryerson Index, an index of death notices in Australian newspapers, for more recent death notices details.  Robyn described having trouble locating traces of the family name ‘Delargy’, however reported locating some new evidence on Wikitree which she is validating.  Barry has been using the Irish search information supplied by Elizabeth at the last session. While unable to trace his GG Grandfather’s records, he has been able to confirm some information about his GG Grandmother. His search continues.  Jan continues searching for evidence of the Keon family from the Irish websites but has had no luck to date.  Andi went to Wunghnu Cemetery searching for family graves, finding a ‘Mills’ grave-stone, but no other family members. It has been found that three family members drowned in the same boating accident, however Andi found nothing in the cemetery records of their resting place. 

David became immersed in shipping passenger lists while researching and locating the passenger list for William Hinds. He shared fascinating findings based on his research into the ‘Thomas Arbuthnot’; noting that the lists were segregated into male and female; highlighting financial details such as the passage cost was £19 and sharing his conclusion that the income earned by the ship’s owner/s was significant. Marg went to Malmsbury on the day lockdown ended as planned, meeting a helpful and informed local historian who had located extensive family history for her.  Marg also located a possible contact in Ireland for information on the Ryan family and sent an email. There has been no response to date. Wendy gave the group a new search site called Ancestorian, which is free. The site has information from various regional groups and appears to be a valuable research tool.

After the break we shared stories on the November topic ‘Census’, using Census results, or records which would enable us to form a census-like view, to describe what might be happening for a family in our tree across the decades.  Robyn was able to track her maternal great great Grandfather Norman McIntyre family across 70 years using largely Scottish census results; while Barry had by necessity to use Electoral Rolls which are the closest thing to a census list of names in Australia during the 1900’s.  Bev’s search took her from Lincolnshire to Indiana, with the US Census records from 1860 to 1880 helping her develop a picture of her great grand uncle’s life in America.  You can read these and other ‘Census’ stories on the website. 

At the end of the session, we firmed up our ‘course description’ and plans for next year.  Our current group will continue to be offered for members who already working on their family tree.  Social distancing regulations permitting, we are adding a hands-on segment to some of our sessions and offering a new ‘Beginners’ course in 2022.  Comprising up to three one-to-one sessions in Term 1 transitioning to small group sessions in Term 2, Family Research – Beginners is designed for members who would like to start an online tree or gain confidence in using an online tree they started years ago.  

Wendy Sturgess, Barry O’Connor and Bev Lee

Footnote - as discussed during today's session....

Following on from last month's presentation on Free Irish Records, Elizabeth has sent us the handout she promised on websites which we may found useful - I've attached this below.  

Elizabeth also provided a USB containing the Word document of her talk and the images of the documents handed out in class.  I've incorporated the images of the records  into the text and worked with Elizabeth's feedback to prepare a second document which reflects the effort she put into preparing her  presentation and the case studies she developed drawing on her own family records.   I hope you find it useful as a review of the session and that Elizabeth is able to draw on it in future if asked to do a similar presentation. 

Bev Lee

Irish Geneology drawing upon Free Irish Records - presentation by Elizabeth Kearns to the Family Research group, U3A Benalla,  on October 28, 2021 (large file)

'Free Irish Records' - handout of useful websites,  Elizabeth Kearns 29 October 2021