Review -  Ethical Issues in Family Research

​Case Scenarios - 'Family Secrets' - mentions of crime, mental health issues
Jane's Slide Show Presentation - to be added/refer Family Research web page

Theme - Irish Records

Last week we spent some time trying to locate and understand the role of Townlands in Irish Records (https://www.townlands.ie/), as Elizabeth will mention Townlands next week.  

Looking for Counties, Parishes and Townlands-- where to begin? 
https://www.genuki.org.uk/big then click on county, then keep drilling down into records 
https://www.townlands.ie
Griffith Valuations data - https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml
(actually - https://www.askaboutireland.ie looks well worth dipping into!) 

Some leads/examples for our next session:  
Julie - County Tipperary / Townland - Clogharailymore Captain Goold /
Val - County Offaly (Kings County) -   House - Ballyieghan
Dawn - Andrew Crawford - County Donegal; wife from County Down

Our first session in October featured guests Margaret Jenkins and Graham Jensen who spoke about researching, writing, printing and sharing their family histories. 

Inspired by finding a journal in a rarely opened trunk in a rarely opened room in an old family home, Margaret’s absorbing record of her great grandfather’s life, 'A Press Missionary--the life of Thomas Allard Pettit', has found a home in libraries in Gippsland and on the bookshelves of family and friends.

Graham encouraged us all to reflect on why we undertake family research.  He described his own reasons, his two year immersion in researching and writing, and his rationale for titling his book, 'Leaving the Shore'.  Each chapter features a key person listed in order of their arrival in Australia; with a particular favourite of Graham's being James Weavers, the first of his ancestors to arrive in Australia.     ​

"Pains and Gains"   Julie's eagerly awaited DNA results arrived with news of  unanticipated Nordic genes passed down the line through her Scottish great grandfather, leading to encouragement by Bev to open a Scotland's People account.  Val continues to search Trove for family news from the past, is  working on a third 'bios' of key people in her tree and is now adding photographs to the text and keen to master adding photographs to ancestry.com.  Robyn recommended the book 'Hell Ship' when reporting on her story for "From the Bookshelves" and resolves an issue she had been struggling with after making contact with a relative in Southhampton which had helped to resolve an issue which she had been struggling with. Helen is chuffed at having been able to trace one 'line' back to before the 13th Century.   Scotland's people proved useful this month for Helen, who was able to verify that the birth certificate illegitimate person on her family tree had the father's name listed and his role as informant of the birth listed, a rare occurrence in such cases.  

Bev receives a message from a person researching her great grandfather which increased her awareness of the role local historical societies can play in family research.  Extracts from the diaries of Ethel Freame, a cousin of her great grandfather, provide a disarmingly honest account of the daily life of his mother, sisters and brother in England two decades after he had migrated as a goldseeker to Victoria.  The diary had been located through the Gillingham Museum and Historical Society in Dorset, England -   Ethel Freame - A Gillingham Traveller.  While Bev felt that she didn't really like Ethel much after reading the diary extracts, Julie provided a useful analysis from the perspective of feminist history of Ethel perhaps being shackled, frustrated and possibly rather cynical about the world around her.  

With the menacing and imminent flood affecting numbers at our second 'hands on' session, we added an extra session on October 20.  A busy session working with mentors Judy Barry and Bev Lee, lots was achieved, new areas identified, while at the same time enjoying time spent together chatting about family research (floods, earthquakes and more!)  Areas to keep practicing for review in future sessions - adding photographs and other media to the Gallery Page of ancestry.com 'Profiles', clicking on the profile imaging to link to and crop photo of the person for the profile, and Scotland's People.  

At our next session on Thursday November 3 we are hoping that Elizabeth Kearns will be our guest speaker on 'Free Irish Records'.  Bring along a story of 150 to 400 words about either something/someone featuring in our current research, or from the Family Research group's topic list, 'From the Bookshelves'.  


Bev Lee

During our first session after our August break we welcomed new member Robyn, who brought along one of the five Arch folders she has developed to store records for her family.  Robyn said that she enjoys and learns a lot by reading through them.  Helen reported back on travels to Ireland in which an 8 day isolation for Covid sadly inhibited chances for family research.  Val described taking a complete break from family research while holidaying 'up north' for a month, then coming back and to find her skills in using Trove had deserted her!   

Following Dawn's presentations in July on writing and sharing a family history using the My Heritage book report feature, we  previewed the geneological report Malcolm Sanders developed and had printed for his cousins. We also checked out David Hall's informative and thought provoking presentation on the Virtual Records Treasury of Ireland,  a recently launched project to recreate the records of the destroyed Public Records Office in Dublin. Here are links suggested by David:

• A news item covering the project.https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/irish-virtual-record-treasury
• A review by Irish Genealogist John Grenham.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-FAfkJBX-o&t=6s  (Other YouTube posts, that look to be very useful.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh1WNp17x-hGdMdbpChrE6Q)
• A brief outline of using the site.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0PSa_Ugb3c
• The site itself.https://virtualtreasury.ie/'

Malcolm and David are both members of the Family Research class - thank you for developing and these resources, Malcolm and David!

In news via a message from Julie, Ancestry have a half price promotion on at the moment, including DNA,  Finally, news from Bev via Scotland's People that  the time consuming process of digitising the 1921 Census is almost complete and should be available by the end of the year.  

With Robyn keen to check out the downloadable photo restoration app Hotpot.ai, we worked on some before and after images of Helen's half brother John, then some photos with scratches across faces to demonstrate that while the free hotpot.ai version is suitable for simple restorations; it doesn't handle scratches on people's faces well, leading to distortions in the image.  Mentor Judy Barry suggested working on the scratches on faces beforehand, then applying Hotpot.ai.

In discussing learning needs for the remainder of the year, we decided to include a 'hands component'.  We  talked about writing and sharing stories each class, with Robyn reading her stories 'There's No Place Like Home' and 'Occupations' from the Family Research topic list. Helen then read out a story she is currently drafting about a colourful character in her family who designed the sleeve for the drum on the cover of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band!  The suggestion is to prepare something of between 150 and 400 words to share at the '1st Thursday' session, either drawing from the Family Research Group monthly topic or something you are currently working on.  

Julie returned to class in our second session, delighted at her tech savvy daughter's interest and support in helping her to develop her family tree on ancestry.com and fired with enthusiasm to develop it further!   

The second session was largely 'hands on'.  Class members identified what they wanted to work on, then spread out, using PC's/laptops/phones to work on particular learning needs, with Judy and Bev providing mentoring support.  The hands on component was warmly received and will continue on the '2nd Thursday' session for the rest of the year. 

Our guest speaker on Thursday 6 October at 1pm will be Graham Jensen.  Graham has a particular interest in the creative writing of family history and will speak on researching, writing, printing and sharing his family history, 'Leaving the Shore'.  

Bev Lee

Family Research – Beginners small group sessions will resume in Classroom 2 on Thursday 1 September.  Perhaps mysteries will have been resolved, brick walls hurdled, while members have been away!  

​Members who had one-to-one sessions earlier in the year are invited to ‘touch base’ to arrange a follow up session – 0478 607 838 or bevlee47@gmail.com.

Bev Lee

In July’s ‘Pains and Gains’ segment, Val was delighted to report that old Word files have been successfully retrieved and she has written two ‘chapters’ based on ‘Irish John’ Hernan and another key character for her family story.  Helen’s DNA results arrived – confirming her understanding that her family is largely of Scottish origin. 

This month we reviewed programs which convert PDF files to Word – especially pdf2go (https://www.pdf2go.com/pdf-to-word) - and the growing use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in photo restoration.  The free Hotpot.ai (https://hotpot.ai/restore-picture) program was applied to improve a photo of Helen’s brother taken when he was a child, removing scratches and then ‘colorising’ it. 

Other problem-solving included rectifying ancestry.com records (for a stepfather mistakenly listed as a biological father) and the tricky process of downloading and inserting images from Trove into family stories. 

Work is continuing ‘one to one’ with members new to family research using ancestry.com.  Going back to the generation which emigrated or were transported to Australia often develops family stories and themes very similar to the family stories and themes developed on ‘Who do you think you are’. 

With members travelling overseas and interstate over the next month or so, the small group is taking a break in August and will resume on Thursday 1st September from 1 to 4pm. 
​
Bev Lee

'Housekeeping - rolls, apologies'

'Pains and Gains'

New Goals?    Particular learning needs for today?

'Review' - Dawn's session on My Heritage - follow up handout from Dawn  

Tweaking Old Photographs #2

"​Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. The term may also be applied to any machine that exhibits traits associated with a human mind such as learning and problem-solving."

"The free Hotpot AI (https://hotpot.ai/restore-picture) program restores pictures by automatically performing scratch removal, face enhancement, and color sharpening. What used to require trained professionals hours can now be accomplished in seconds.   The service repairs both color and black & white photographs."

There is a limit to what it can do -

• there is a limitation in pixel size - it needs to be under 1280x1280
• while it is effective on scratch removal, the program is unlikely to work well on scratches on portrait/people in close up where the scratches are on the faces:  "The Lee Children photo" 

However it worked quite well on Julie's photo in which the people weren't in closeup - 

"While this service automates photo restoration, it cannot replace experts for demanding restoration jobs.   It is designed to help consumers with lightweight requirements while helping professionals save time on difficult restoration requests."  
​https://hotpot.ai/restore-picture

If you don't have access to advanced programs such as Photoshop, or if you are are beginner, you will often find 'Paint', which usually comes with Microsoft programs such as Office 365, a good place to start in making changes to eg. spots and blotches on photos.  Work on these first, preferably in a larger sized photo which you work on in an enlarged state, then reduce the photosize to 1280 x 1280 pixels or thereabouts and apply it to Hotpot AI - https://hotpot.ai/restore-picture

More reading -  Article - Reviews 4 AI photo restoration programs, with top recommendation for 'Photoglory' 
www.makeuseof.com/restore-old-photos-best-software/

This month the small group class reviewed the goals and focus areas they had written down when entering the course and felt they had definitely made progress.
​
In our Pains and Gains segment, Val reported working with tech savvy family members so that her writing up of family history saved in Word many years ago doesn’t need to be retyped.  The shipping record for ‘Irish John’ Hernan remains elusive, however Val now knows more about his early years in Australia.  Julie reported greater luck with shipping records, demonstrating quickly finding the shipping list she was looking for in South Australian Shipping Records.  Knowing the name of the ship was a great help!  Helen is awaiting DNA results and resolving family mysteries concerning her biological grandfather and adoptive brother.  Dawn has continued to find documents which add depth to her research, and in one of our sessions shared her enthusiasm and expertise in using My Heritage with the group.

Judy Barry introduced photo restoration this month, describing the work she had done on restoring a series of old photos.   We talked about Paint as an accessible tool for those who don’t have access to Photoshop; then, at Dawn’s suggestion, checked out the new photo restoration feature in My Heritage. 
 
Bev shared a Trove newspaper extract this month citing the bravery of her great grand uncle, Port Phillip shipping pilot, Captain Henry Taylor, in acting to save the lives of the passengers and crew of the vessel Earl of Charlemont in 1852.  Mentor Judy Barry suddenly exclaimed … ‘My ancestors were on the shipwreck of the Earl of Charlemont!!!’  What a coincidence!

It has been a most enjoyable semester working with the small group class; working one to one with beginners commencing their family tree and working alongside mentors Judy Barry and Barry O’Connor.


Bev Lee

Last session we  reviewed the forms describing goals and focus areas when entering the course, and in general all felt that they had already achieved most if not all of these. 

• Val has still to find the shipping list for ‘Irish John’ Hernan’s arrival, however she now knows much more about his early years in Australia. 
• New goals are being shaped, with Julie identifying her next quest to also relate to shipping lists.  Fortunately, family records to date suggest the name of the ship, which is half the battle, unless it is wrong of course! 
• Helen is off to England for compassionate reasons for six weeks, however during this time is looking forward to meeting other people researching her family tree.
• Dawn showed evidence of an enormous burst of energy drawing upon wills from the Public Records Office and lots of other documents

  
A theme touched on during discussion was to be aware that because many eg. Trove articles will feature men's stories, we could fall into the trap of writing women out of history (refer author Dale Spender).  We need to remember ‘Her Story’ as well as ‘His Story’….  

Another theme touched on was interviewing--a beautiful 1961 interview of 100 year old ‘Mrs Blake’ from the ABC archives resulted on lots of discussion. 
 
As part of introducing the advanced Family Research group, Bev shared an 'Obituary' story from their 'Family Stories' blog on her great grand uncle, shipping pilot Captain Henry Taylor.  In her story, Bev contained an extract of a newspaper clipping citing Henry’s bravery in relation to saving the lives of the people on the vessel Earl of Charlemont in 1852 or 3, when suddenly Judy burst out with glee ‘My ancestors were on the shipwreck of the Earl of Charlemont!’  

Today's session will include:

• any pains and gains over the week
• Dawn's presentation on using My Heritage as a basis for producing first a geneological report, and then expanding it to produce a book.​
• Judy's presentation on restoring photos​
• Play Time!   Practice re using photos on ancestry etc - q and a, etc.
• Coming up with some personal goals related to using photos....
• Planning for next semester - monthly themes - eg. identifying people in photographsclothing/hairstyles; using Irish Records guest speaker; other????

Possibly mid 1870's, Sydney, Bev's great grand uncle (inset)...'it's a long story!'

Minnie Hooper, Dancer and Choreographer for JC Williamson - poss 1897 - 1900

JC Williamson Pantomime Company c 1898 w Ruby, Vilet and Lily Hooper...

Baptismal Certificate c 1910 referring back to 1896 baptism...

Queen Anne's Private Hospital, Benalla c 1908-1914 -  now called 'Budgerygunyah'

c 1918 - Charles George Beech Hooper; Emma Hooper nee Taylor; Ruby Hooper, Beatrice Hooper (standing)  Brittanica, Carnegie, Victoria.

Pains and Gains, Tips and Tricks - sharing 

​Bev -  Story for 'They were there when...' and a look at the Family Stories page of the other group

Review - a look at our original goals, learning needs, focus areas...

Agenda items from class:

Looking at our online presence - state of play

Conducting Interviews for Family Research

Reading:  What's Your Story?  Conducting Interviews for Family Research
Video:  the value of interviewing!

Next session--Theme--Photographs in our research - a range of angles!   Bring along some photographs as a basis for discussion and practical tasks which you need help with.

The small group class, which meets on the 1st and 2nd Thursday afternoons, has been firming up their understanding of Trove and the State Library’s catalogue, particularly British and Irish newspapers.

Mentor Judy Barry, a whiz at coming up with resources using the State Library’s links to ‘British Newspapers’, recently confirmed the family story that Dawn’s husband forebear really did fall into (and freeze to death in) an ice pit.  The paper--the Royal Cornwall Gazette of Friday 11 September 1840. ​

We’ve also been looking at discussion forums such as RootsChat and Facebook genealogy related groups.  While Facebook groups have replaced the use of discussion forums to some extent, discussion forums provide a valued archive from which it is easy to access early posts. 

Dawn has continued to find resources to add to the book for her husband and family she showed us at our last session.  A ‘second edition’ has already been printed, and we suspect it may not be the last!  Helen, with the support of her husband and sister, has decided a DNA test may be the way to resolve a family mystery and recently applied for then sent off a test.   Val is closer to finding out more about the arrival of her great grandfather, ‘Irish John’ Hernan, since discovering that he worked on an experimental farm at Somerville, near Keilor, before shifting to Winton to farm in the early 1860’s.   Julie is soon to head out on an excursion to old family sites in the north east – homes, cemeteries and more –with her mother’s youngest sister and their daughters.

One-to-one sessions are continuing for beginners who may go on to join another small group and for members for whom individual sessions are the most workable option.  Although we can get ‘carried away’ solving mysteries during these sessions, the aim of the one-to-one sessions is for members to develop skills to work independently.
​
Bev Lee

Review of using State Library Resources to locate articles in British Newspapers

We decided to become efficient in the art of opening the State Library Catalogue and discovered that being registered, signing in, and then searching for 'British Newspapers' was an effective way to independently find the Gale Library Resources on Judy's sheet.  

If you have signed in and opened the State Library Catalogue you will be able to click on the links in Judy's Melbourne Library and State Library Resources for the State Library and they should open.

The role of Discussion Forums such as Roots Chat - 

Over recent sessions we have opened up a discussion forum based on a particular geographic area - Caithness in Scotland - and noted how it provided useful information for Helen.  

Another example:  Knowing my grandfather's cousin had been a nurse during World War I, I wondered if there might be a military record for her; indeed whether nurses were incorporated into the UK/Scottish military record system.

I put in a search for 'war records of scottish nurses in WW1'  which resulted in a suggested link to a Roots Chat forum:  

​https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=856156.0

Quite often other people are curious to find the answer to the same question!

To join most geneology related groups on Facebook you need to
1.     Have a Facebook Account
2.  Request to join the group, often explaining why, then wait to be accepted. Demonstration - Bev to join the Facebook groups Wendy recommended.  

New Projects - 

Helen - family of her adopted brother John

• Mother - Ivy Doris Littlewood - son Peter Littlewood- now John Henry Milne - 
• she married and became Ivy B...

Dawn

• Share You Tube clips - see below
• More about Isle of Wight context and confectionery business
• Westmore William's bowling history - 

​

Highly Recommended - My Heritage On Line Introduction to Genealogy Course (Free) 

Today's class may change focus to working intensively together on family trees as we have had two apologies, and mentor Judy Barry is also an apology.

Pains and Gains, Tips and Tricks, 'Show and Tell'
Report backs on progress since our last meeting.

Review of using State Library Resources to locate articles in British Newspapers
Hint -

• Open up Judy's document Melbourne Library and State Library Resources and, if you haven't already done so, download it and open it so it is ready in the background.
• Sign in to the State Library (or register if necessary) so it is open in the background.
• Go to the open document from Judy and click on the program you want eg.
• Put in your search terms - Bev - 'Frances Whittuck Hooper', 'Hugh Crutwell', 'Minnie Hooper'.

Remember -  If you are signed in to the State Library and click on the links on the opened pdf document the links should open very easily.

Practice Examples:  From the group ...

Review of the Duck Duck Go search engine to discover links to useful discussion groups, indexes and other resources for Helen using the search terms “Donald Cormack” elizabeth wick -

• http://forum.caithness.org/showthread.php?152016-Cormack-and-Sutherland-families
• http://garypatton.net/st.clair_family/D25.htm
• https://www.myheritage.com/names/alexander_cormack
• http://garypatton.net/st.clair_family/D28.htm
• https://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/findfamily.php?name=Cormack ​

Review/More on PROV - Public Records Office, Victoria website and Online registration procedures selected from the explanatory videos on line -  https://prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/where-start​

Review/More on avoiding duplication of ancestors in ancestry.com.  Barry O'Connor's suggestions on a way to do this "Finding the Alphabetical List of Names on Your Tree". 

Facebook and other online sites and groups:  
Sites which have old Photographs in geographic areas

•  "Spirit of Leither's public group -https://www.facebook.com/groups/183540425746927/​  - my 1904 collection (my father was born in Leith in 1904)  
• 'Old Time Photos of Yester Year' - https://www.facebook.com/groups/672164369508943
• 'I grew up in Clayton/Clarinda' - https://www.facebook.com/groups/432559840258226​

Facebook groups with a Family History/Geneology focus
Check out the blog from last year based on Wendy's choices:  Researching using Facebook Groups with similar interests - u3abenalla.weebly.com/family-research/family-research-searching-for-fb-groups-with-similar-interests  (Note that I have yet to seek membership of these groups)  Here are some I do belong to:

• Irish Geneology Ancestors Research - https://www.facebook.com/groups/278441113273195
• County Roscommon History and Heritage - www.facebook.com/groups/1472395016266649
• Australian Family History Geneology Research - https://www.facebook.com/groups/857021777735534
• Geneology Victoria Australia - https://www.facebook.com/groups/GenVicAus
• Irish Geneology - https://www.facebook.com/groups/402752829736679

 
Dilemma for today -  The emotional highs and lows of family research - what to do if someone asks you to remove something from your family tree.  (Bev's example - Gladys)

More on Trove Lists?   More practice with students demonstrating - did you get time to watch the full video?  If class keen, continue to watch video on Trove Lists with a view to finish watching it at home before our next session.  

While participants currently working ‘one to one’ are just beginning to develop their family tree, they all remember and draw upon stories told by family members and their own memories of grandparents, great uncles and aunts.  They generally discover old family documents and photographs in old suit-cases or tucked away in boxes of varying sizes.  It is not long before they begin to make discoveries and develop a deeper understanding of their family history – with one beginner currently immersing herself in British Census records describing the many generations of her family who worked in the steel industry in Sheffield, England; while another beginner is discovering ancestors transported to Tasmania and a generation- spanning mining connection to the Maldon area.

The small group class which meets on the 1st and 2nd Thursday afternoon had in common that they had a well-developed set of resources and had started working on their family tree.  However, all had mysteries to be solved, information to be found, hopefully by developing a better understanding of using online records and family tree programs.  It has been exciting to watch them making gains in terms of their initial goals and, in doing so, strengthening their understanding of ancestry.com, Trove, BDM, Scotland’s People, Census records, British Newspaper collections and more.
​
Dawn Stephens recently achieved her goal of producing a book about her husband’s forebears for family members.  The result impressed us all!  Dawn incorporated a My Heritage genealogical report followed by engaging ‘case studies’ following her husband’s paternal line, along with lots of photographs across the generations.  Dawn’s choice of satin paper, paper weight, colour and cover worked beautifully - we were all keen to get details of the online printing firm involved!  

Bev Lee

Report backs on progress at our second session in April included Judy's findings for Dawn on Westmore Stephens.  We moved from 'What' Judy found...to 'How' Judy found the resources using the State Library's British Library newspaper access features and other lateral examples of how Judy finds links!

​We completed our overview of Judy's handout Melbourne Library and State Library Resources by having a closer look at the State Library Resources listed on page 2.  (Hint - If you click on the links on the opened pdf document and are signed in to the State Library the links should open very easily).

Judy also demonstrated her use of the  Duck Duck Go search engine to discover links to useful discussion groups, indexes and other resources for Helen using thesearch terms “Donald Cormack” elizabeth wick -

• http://forum.caithness.org/showthread.php?152016-Cormack-and-Sutherland-families
• http://garypatton.net/st.clair_family/D25.htm
• https://www.myheritage.com/names/alexander_cormack
• http://garypatton.net/st.clair_family/D28.htm
• https://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/findfamily.php?name=Cormack ​

We also checked out the PROV - Public Records Office, Victoria website and Online registration procedures.  A wide range of records are available at PROV - as country residents, it's particularly important to preapre by accessing and ordering as much as we can online before we vist.  There are many explanatory videos on line -  https://prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/where-start​

When beginning to use Ancestry, it's not too long before we begin to suspect that we've duplicated some of the ancestors on our tree.  It's a good idea to review and if necessary edit ancestors on our trees from time to time - check out Barry O'Connor's suggestions on a way to do this "Finding the Alphabetical List of Names on Your Tree". 
 
Dilemma for today - finding a one month old child born 'out of wedlock' to a young family member discovered when researching the Welshman's Reef Cemetery not mentioned by other people working on the tree.  

We had touched on using Trove lists again during the session, so concluded by beginning  to watch this video on Trove Lists with a view to finish watching it at home before our next session.  

Report Backs on progress since our last session - the pains, the gains, the tips, the tricks!

Tip (Bev) - News of the UK Census for 1921 - English census records for 1921 are now available on Find My Past - need to register/log in; easy to manage; appear to cost $4.80 per certificate - gives enough info to suggest close to the mark records before needing to pay.  (Trial William McGovern  b 1911 in Sheffield)  Note - ​https://www.freecen.org.uk/ provides free census results from 1841-1911; doesn't provide whole census for family, but will find person with info on fam/surname. 

Resources: 

Genograms - useful work arounds when "it all gets a bit confusing"  (Bev)

Drawing up a Genogram as a 'mind map' when relationships are unclear and easily confused can be most helpful.  Handouts.

2.   National Library of Australia Resources: particularly Trove:

​Trove -  'Discover Trove' - Webinar last week - most of the content is available now through this link on You Tube

"This webinar will provide an introduction to searching Trove for new users, highlight changes and additions to Trove for returning and long time users, and share some useful tools and tips for navigating Trove and it's holdings.

​Contents: 00:00 - Introduction 00:40 - What is Trove? 01:50 - Searching Trove - Basic Search - Newspapers and Gazettes 08:35 - Digitised Newspapers and Access Conditions 09:20 - Searching Trove - Basic Search - Magazines and Newsletters 09:20 - Searching Trove - Basic Search - Magazines and Newsletters 11:58 - Navigating Trove Transcription Text 12:55 - Downloading from Trove 15:18 - Viewing Images on Trove - Images Hosted on External Websites 17:16 - Viewing Images on Trove - Filtering to Online Only Results 19:13 - Searching Trove in Languages Other than English 21:30 - Finding more Information - Help Pages 22:40 - Finding more Information - Contacting Trove Support 23:18 - Conclusion

National Library of Australia Resources:

National Library of Australia Homepage: https://www.nla.gov.au/
​Trove: https://trove.nla.gov.au/
Trove Support: https://trove.nla.gov.au/about/contac...
Digital Classroom: https://www.nla.gov.au/digital-classr...
Catalogue: https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/
Ask a Librarian: https://www.nla.gov.au/askalibrarian
Get a Library Card: https://www.nla.gov.au/getalibrarycard/
Past Webinar Recordings: https://www.nla.gov.au/content/past-w...
Subscribe to our National Library eNewsletter and learn about upcoming learning webinars. https://www.nla.gov.au/news/enews"

Using past focus questions from the floor and online resources, problem solving using online and other resources.

Val: In search of John Hernan's arrival in Australia .... could this be him...unlikely but a good story - adding an article to a list on Trove - ​trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32152651?searchTerm=John%20Hernann 

An Introduction to Trove Lists - a wonderful way of organising resources on Trove as your research using Trove Intensifies.   Explanation and 'Case Study'/practise.  

SHOW AND TELL:  COMING UP!

‘Family Research – Beginners’ is quite a thrilling course to convene.  It’s full of discoveries and stories about heroes and villains, secrets, mysteries and more!  I sometimes think we should be filming episodes of ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ for our class members, with of course, a similar budget for trips overseas and employment of local genealogists to assist them with their search!  

The small classroom’s new Smart TV/PC technology is proving a great asset to our class, with the large screen easy to view when making and discussing new discoveries and learning new skills on ancestry.com, Trove and Scotland’s People.
 
Our goal of providing three one to one sessions for each class member is well underway, though a few members are still to commence these.  Thanks go to Judy Barry, Barry O’Connor and Wendy Sturgess for assisting me in mentoring our beginners this month.
​
Bev Lee

U3A members have arrived at Family Research - Beginners with baskets or folders full of resources collected during a family research ‘burst of energy’, sometimes recently, sometimes decades ago.  Some baskets have also included books or documents donated by other family members, or their own first effort at writing about their family.    Most importantly, all brought along stories passed down over generations.

It is always a question of where to begin!  This year we have asked class members to identify and focus on a person or family branch of interest which still needs work, or where there is a particular family mystery, ‘black hole’ or roadblock.

Using this person or family branch we are using the new computer and large screen in the small classroom to develop understanding of ancestry.com, both in one to one and small group sessions.   Lots of sharing of ‘practice wisdom’ gained in past paper-based family research is occurring along the way. 

Hints invariably appear as soon as a core person and father’s name are used to establish the tree. 

It isn’t long before we are reading through source documents which shed light on the person, family mystery, or family branch which is the focus for research.  Census results, baptisms, photographs, are reviewed and considered carefully before being accepted and added to the tree – with others ignored or added to the ‘maybe’ shoebox for future reference.  During the process, some class members have discovered a tree commenced once as a ‘free trial’ is still available on ancestry! 

We’re very pleased to welcome experienced family researcher Judy Barry as a mentor for the beginners’ group.  Thank you for offering to be a mentor, Judy, and for the rich, thoughtful contributions you are already making.  Thanks to Wendy Sturgess and Barry O’Connor, who will also be supporting the beginners’ group.

Bev Lee

Resources to support Session 3 included:

Resources available through 'Family Tree Maker' - for example  www.familytreemagazine.com/websites/ancestry-help/best-ancestry-tips-tricks/

Library Resources
Using Resources at the Melbourne Library and State Library of Victoria (PDF) (Judy's Handout)
Using your Benalla Library account to access documents through ancestry.com (Julie McNeill)

Be Connected - 'Researching Family History' - an introduction to the units.

Simple Family Tree Sites

• Familyecho.com: a free, web-based tool for drawing up a basic family tree
• Heridas - an online site with a free version

Sites with hints and record linking  
ancestry.com.au  - (continued) What can Ancestry.com offer to people who have already done a lot of work on their family tree drawing on original documents, family stories, photographs and more, but have not previously used online resources to assist them in their research?  A focus on - other people who are working on the same/similar family tree/members; source documents to support research.

Using Census Records 
Helen's family research quest demonstrated the contribution made by accessing census records - here's a video you might like to watch on using the English Census Records:

Goals of session

To clarify expectations & framework for Semester 1 - reading/discussion of the Course Handout

To establish core direction - - Why are you here?  Which particular aspect of your family history most intrigues you, is the most mysterious? Task:  write a  'focus sentence' to guide your journey? - Sharing by group members and report backs.

To establish the key people in a family tree/genogram up to great grandparents .
*  Using Grandparents' family names to organise research according to 'Sides' eg. Bev's blog pag https://www.leedevittfh.weebly.com.  Many people set up A4 Arch Folders to organise work to commence their research based on the four grandparent family 'sides'.
*  Worksheet - activity - complete  'Family Research - Beginner's Focus' - worksheet 

To clarify current skill levels - Complete 'Background Information--New Members' worksheet. 

Case Study/Brief Presentation - Marg B's Quest to Find Her Birth Mother 

Towards Presenting Our Family Research #1
Sample Geneological Report using My Heritage (PDF) prepared after several 'one to one' sessions.  It's a fairly formal report but a good base for future research and story telling.  
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Useful Resources for Family Research #1 
Judy Barry presented a handout listing resources she has found useful 
FAMILY HISTORY RESOURCES AT MELBOURNE CITY LIBRARY
LINKS TO RESOURCES AT THE STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA 

Introduction to Using Online Resources #1
What can Ancestry.com offer to people who have already done a lot of work on their family tree drawing on original documents, family stories, photographs and more, but have not previously used online resources to assist them in their research?  A focus on - other people who are working on the same/similar family tree/members; source documents to support research.

Case Study/Introductory 'workshopping' of Helen's Newport Family Tree via  ancestry.com.au  drawing out key principles, related ancestry trees; source documents eg. census, marriage records. 
 
Clarifying and sharing purpose/direction - Sharing of focus sentence from worksheet.. 

Follow up -  We will meet again next Tuesday (2nd Tuesday) and there will also be contact with some class members re setting up first one to one appointment. 

‘Family Research – Beginners’ will meet for a small group session from 1 to 4 pm on Thursday 3 February in Room 2, the small classroom opposite the U3A meeting room.  For the remainder of Term 1 members will have ‘one to one’ sessions with the goal of setting up or recommencing work on an online family tree.  This will be followed in Term 2 by small group sessions on the 1st and 2nd Thursdays.  
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Bev Lee

New in 2022!  Family research mentoring and small group workshops for members who aren’t familiar or confident with online genealogy programs such as ancestry.com. 

In Term 1, participants will meet ‘one to one’ with a mentor with the goal of setting up or recommencing work on an online family tree. 

​This will be followed in Term 2 by small group sessions in the small classroom opposite the U3A meeting room.  

A small team of mentors from the Family Research class led by Bev Lee will provide tuition and support to new learners - all welcome!


Bev Lee 5762 8171  0478 607 838  bevlee47@gmail.com

Over time I have heard class members tell stories of the support they received when they established contact with, or visited, local historical societies.  I recently received a message via my blog from a person researching my great, great grandmother, Frances Emily Hooper nee Freame, and my great grandfather, George Charles Beech Hooper.

Hi Beverley, thank you, I really enjoyed reading your blog and seeing the old photos.

I thought I would drop you a line as I have just purchased the Part One transcription of the diaries of Ethel Freame (23 FEB 1860 - 2 MAR 1952 Gillingham Dorset). Ethel was a first cousin of George Charles Beech Hooper. Ethel really liked George’s brother, Peter Mortimore Hooper (5 Dec 1851- 22 February 1937) and writes about him. I could send you some extracts if you like.

I was wondering if you could tell me why George emigrated to Melbourne? His parents seem to have been well to do.

Looking forward to hearing from you,
Alice (Sydney AUS)

I replied to Alice, confirming that I would be interested in reading some extracts, resulting in her sending me extracts from a book located via the Gillingham Museum and Historical Society in Dorset, England. 

The extracts about the Hoopers selected by Alice in Hooper Extracts from Part 1 of Ethel's Diaries provide a disarmingly honest description of daily life of my great grandfather's mother, sisters and brother in England in the late 1880's and early 1890's, over two years after he had migrated to Australia as a 'goldseeker'.  I'm not sure I would have liked Ethel!   Had she not liked me, this would definitely have been taken up with some vitriole by Ethel in her diary

The access to and sharing of Ethel's diaries exemplifies the role that local history societies can have in giving information about a family, in this case the museum/historical society in the town of Gillingham, in Dorset.

Ethel Freame - A Gillingham Traveller - https://www.gillinghammuseum.co.uk/post/the-gillingham-historian-march-2022 


"Using Local Histories for Genealogy"   Family Tree Magazine

Town, county and other local histories rank among the best sources for biographical information about your ancestors. If your ancestor was a prominent citizen or an early settler, you might find a biography with details of family, occupation, religious affiliation, education and military service. Even if your ancestor isn’t mentioned by name, you might still gain clues for further research.

Here are a few of Family Tree Magazine's favorite tips for finding your ancestors in local histories.

Google your ancestors
A quick Google search could turn up references to your ancestor in county and local histories, including matches in Google Books, the largest online book collection. To focus just on Google Books, use the Advanced Book Search. For exact matches, enter the name in the Exact Phrase box. To focus on the most relevant matches, add a place name, like 'Bath', in the Title box.

My simple Google Search for Frederick Robert Crutwell brought up "Bath Records Office – Archives and Local Studies" Cemetery Records for both Frederick Robert and his father Robert:
https://www.batharchives.co.uk/cemeteries/bath-abbey-cemetery/frederick-robert-cruttwell

Search other online book collections
Enter a name in the search box on HathiTrust and select the full-text option to find the name anywhere in the digital library. Put quotations marks around the name to search on the exact phrase. In the results, click on the link for a match’s Full View. Then search the text of that book for the name. Internet Archive also has a huge collection of digitized books. Click on the orange icon that looks like an open book to search just ebooks and texts. Then select Text Contents to search for the term anywhere in the books.

Check specialized genealogy book collections 
The FamilySearch Digital Library has over 500,000 genealogy books, including local histories and yearbooks. If your public library subscribes to HeritageQuest Online, you can log in through your library’s website to search 28,000 family and local history books. Both of these sites are free. All the major subscription genealogy websites also have local histories. 

Find local histories in print
To find local histories that aren’t online, check WorldCat, a catalog of the holdings of over 10,000 libraries worldwide. Once you find a promising book, you can request it on interlibrary loan or get copies of the pages that pertain to your family.

See article in the March/April 2022 Family Tree Magazine for more tips and advice for accessing local histories"  -  Download PDF
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​Bev Lee