This month we welcomed guest speaker Margaret Jenkins for our opening segment ‘Writing and Sharing Our Family Story’.  Margaret’s story of the writing and publication of ‘A Press Missionary’, the life of her great grandfather, Thomas Allard Pettit, was fascinating.  

A diary, written by Thomas during his journey to Australia by ship in 1884 and found in a ‘rarely if ever opened trunk in a rarely if ever used room’ after her father’s death, became the catalyst for a post retirement family history journey. Margaret chose the title ‘A Press Missionary’, to reflect Thomas’s life as a journalist, skilled businessman and civic leader with a penchant for reviving old newspapers and starting new ones across Victoria.   Thank you for sharing your story and experiences with us, Margaret!

In 'Pains and Gains’, Barry described how, frustrated with the usual research avenues, he had tried a simple Google search for the names of his GG Grandparents. Up came both names on the same page, unfortunately the dates were three decades out. He also investigated each name and found that there were fifteen women with the same name as his GGGM, but none of the dates matched the era. He also discovered that a lot of his GGGM’s family migrated to Canada. 

David described working on his wife’s family history and correcting some errors in preparation for a cousin’s reunion in March 2023. He had a further gain when he located a photograph showing three generations of the family, complete with names, which is such a bonus! His pain for the month, the Virtual Irish Treasury is not really working for him. 

Margaret, still to hear France about her enquiry, brought along promotion material for the sale of her impressive childhood home, Annamult House in Kilkenny, Ireland.  

Bev, after listening to Graham’s story last week, had found herself speculating – “was there no marriage certificate for her great grand-parents because her great grandfather’s first wife was in a psychiatric institution?"
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This month’s topic, ‘Occupations’, encouraged us to look into the occupations of our forebears and to reflect on whether there were patterns which have been passed down. David’s reflections on the topic led him to look at the bigger picture, of what might be happening and changing in society over time. Both David and Marg reflected on the opportunities that have opened up for later generations, given the start that many of our ancestors had.  We are hoping that members who didn’t make it to the session are able to share Occupations stories next time. 

Jane’s presentation “Some ethical issues which can arise during family research” was thought provoking, but a little rushed as we were already over time.  We agreed that Jane should begin our October session, taking us through the slide show again to allow time for discussion.
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October’s Topic – ‘From the Bookshelves’ A book/books which has/have historical significance in terms of your family/family research...

• Do you have any books on your bookshelves which belong to, or remind you of your ancestors; can you remember the books on your parents and grandparents’ bookshelves? Browse through your bookshelves, or through memories of bookshelves in days gone by, selecting a number of books to write a little about which are related in some way to the lives of your forebears.

OR

• Have you read any historical fiction or non-fiction books which are relevant to your family story? (If not, perhaps you could Google to discover some). Who wrote them, and how did they relate to your family history, and what impact did they have on you?

 
Bev Lee, Barry O’Connor and Jane Rushworth

​​Graham began this month’s segment on ‘Writing and Sharing Family Stories’.  In recording the histories of his fifteen original ancestors’ arrivals in Australia in 'Leaving the Shore', Graham has given each person context, placed himself in their shoes and produced enjoyable and engaging stories.  Graham brought a beautifully crafted model sailing ship as a ‘prop’, along with family research books from his library to share.

​Barry O’Connor, whose recent contact with a cousin resulted in considerably more family information, provided suggestions on organizing new information. During the circulation of the family history book Barry has shared with his family, David recognised Barry’s cousin, Frank O’Connor.  David and Frank worked together some years ago but had recently lost contact. Email addresses have been exchanged!

​Andi Stevenson described how she has used her family data, including photos, to create a fascinating family tree. Copies have been printed and framed to be gifts for extended family members.

While keen to share information, Andi is mindful that not all family members share her level of interest.  Using photographs in the framed family tree has stimulated interesting talking points with other family members, for example, the noting of similar facial features and the development of photography over time.

​In our ‘Pains and Gains, Tips and Tricks' segment, Andi described locating the property in Belfast Street, Brunswick where her ancestors once lived (though sadly the original house is not there). David attended the Wodonga Family History open day; Graeme discovered a relative with a connection to the East India Company and Marg reported that, despite going to a great deal of trouble to send a stamped self-addressed envelope to Paris for information on her relatives, she has still not received a response.  Perhaps Jane’s friends, soon to be in Paris, will be able to assist! 

Malcolm described an enjoyable lunch recently at the Mitchelton winery where he presented his cousins with the family history he had written for them.  He also brought along a 1900 half sovereign in a small container handed down from father to son, through four generations so far. The story attached to this coin, is that when the current holder is ‘broke’, they can use the half sovereign, which remains quite valuable, to get themselves out of trouble.

During the break we celebrated National Family History Month with afternoon tea - lots of slices, muffins and chocolates brought along by class members to share! ​

Stories on this month’s topic, ‘Correction’, were shared after the break. David P reported having written a letter to correct information in a recent article in the Guardian. The article referred to his great grand uncle, Thomas Austin, then of Winchelsea, having imported 24 wild rabbits in 1859, influencing the spread and DNA profile of rabbits in Australia.  Keen to set the record straight, David explained that, according to his mother and other family historians, the imported rabbits were a mixture of 17 wild and 7 domesticated rabbits. 

Bev described making corrections after discovering that ‘her’ Ellen Frances was not the proprietor of the Ellen Frances Hotel, but the proprietor of the Farmers Arms Hotel in Violet Town, while Marg described finding several errors in a handwritten copy of her paternal side’s family tree going back to her great great grandfather James Ryan.

Malcolm provided a text-book example of how a mistake made in one tree can be perpetuated in others, warning of the need to be vigilant if an unexpected person turns up in a family tree; while Barry discovered information causing him to correct and reassess his GGF’s wealth at the time of his death. 

Graham’s story described realizing that the reason a marriage certificate wasn’t available for a marriage was almost certainly that a first wife had experienced mental illness, which meant that remarriage wasn’t possible.

​Andi worked us through a sequence of BMD registrations in which she had found an error, while Jane spoke about research by PHD historians on Churchill Island which has uncovered contradictory information, with subsequent corrections not being accepted well by local people.

For August’s alternate Topic - ‘Member’s Choice’ – David H shared valuable information on the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland - a project to recreate the Irish Public Records Office records.  The website includes David’s slide show presentation and the post below details David's suggestions of links about the Virtual Record Treasury to follow up, along with Graham, Barry and Andi’s suggestions for creating, writing and sharing family histories.

As Jane commented in her notes, “it was a lovely session, and fun to catch up with likeminded sleuths”.

Next month’s topic is ‘Occupations’… Looking at occupations of your forebears, are there any patterns? Describe them and try to find out about the circumstances surrounding them. Do you see any links in terms of yourself and your generation?   Next month’s session includes Margaret Jenkin’s approach to writing her family history and a presentation by Jane on ethical issues which can arise during family research. 

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Bev, Jane and Barry