‘Pains and Gains’
David: had been attempting for some time to get a program that would show his family tree in a compact, but readable format. He came across a program called ‘edraw’ which he has modified to suit his requirements.
Andi: unearthed some buried information, after "Upotipotpon station" was advertised for sale a few months back. Visiting the Real Estate agent hoping to visit it, the fellow she spoke to asked, did she have a family connection? Andi said yes, her great-great-great-aunt died there.
Barry: did not have any further information on his family history, however he did uncover some very interesting information about Arthur Baird. In 1942 Arthur encouraged a young staff member to continue their studies. As a result of this Connie Jordan became the first female licenced engineer for QANTAS.
Deb: found details from the death certificate of Mary Stewart, which led her to a number of family graves in Box Hill cemetery. This discovery has led to further details about the family.
Dawn, who has been working on her husband’s family history, brought along copies of family history books prepared by family members from her family that appear to contain some detailed history which will be useful to her as she moves on to explore her own paternal and maternal family history.
Family stories were mostly on the ‘ANZAC’ theme:
Bev: focussed on the war service of her father Anthony ‘Tony’ Lee who was assigned to the 7th Division Signals and served in the Middle East and later New Guinea. Bev also circulated a copy of a listing from the National Archives which gives details of medals, and when and where they were awarded.
David: presented details of the Hall and Dillon families who served in both the 1st and 2nd World Wars.
Deb: had researched and written thoughtfully about the wartime experience of her Grandfather and his three brothers who all enlisted in September 1915, and also spoke of his two sons who had fought in WW2.
Barry: had previously written about the aftermath of the wars, however during more detailed research on the family history, uncovered a detailed account of the units that his father served with during WW2. This was as story very similar to Bev Lee’s father, as they both served in the Middle East initially, and were then transferred to New Guinea.
Almost all of the recollections of returning servicemen highlighted war related physical and mental health issues, often suffered for many years.
Andi chose the ‘Traits’ topic and gave details of how DNA results impacted on various family members.
Topics for our next class -
The clue or evidence that opened up my family story… Describe a piece of evidence which, when found, resolved a problem or enabled your family research to move on or consolidated it in some way. If you can remember the details, share your process in doing so with us and the avenues it opened up.
“Out of my usual comfort zone…” Write about a branch of your tree which (or an ancestor who) has taken you out of your comfort zone (and perhaps current subscription level) into international records or a rather remote source of records. What did you discover that led you on this new journey, what committed you to pursuing it, what did you find out if anything? How did this help 'round out' your family tree. Was the journey worthwhile?
Barry O’Connor