Sunday 6 March 2016

Genealogy Cruising & Back Home - Genealogy Notes 27 Feb - 7 Mar 2016

I am finally back home after three weeks away on the 10th Unlock the Past genealogy cruise. Read about Days 7-12 here (also has a link back to Days 1-6 if you missed it) and I am still to write Days 13 to 18 plus my overview report. Should both be finished by the end of this week.
Scottish pipe band bravely playing in the rain as we left Dunedin, New Zealand
I came home with seven new Unlock the Past research guides which I am looking forward to reading:
Paul Blake - Discover Protestant Nonconformity in England and Wales
Christine Clement - Migration to New Zealand (2nd edition)
Cathy Dunn - Norfolk Island 1788-1814
Thomas MacEntee - The Genealogy Do-over Workbook
Chris Paton - A Decade of Researching Ireland 1912-1923
Chris Paton - Discover Scottish Church Records
Helen Smith - Google the Genealogist's Friend

It was a fantastic trip but always good to be back home. A pile of mail to sort through, washing and shopping to be done and I won't mention the weeds in the garden. Obviously not much rain while we were gone as some plants have died or are looking a bit dried out yet those pesky weeds thrived. After adding a bit of bird seed to the feeder our Rosella and Lorikeets have welcomed us home.

While still in Perth I sent off my April blog and article to The In-Depth Genealogist and realised I have been writing for Going In-Depth for just over 12 months (with three months off for my accident). Time flies when you are having fun.

And fun is the operative word at the moment. I was super excited to see that Findmypast put up the Irish Roman Catholic parish registers while I was away. I have only had a little time to explore but already I have found some of my missing Finn and Beakey ancestors (and all variations of those two names). The interesting thing is that some of the Finns were indexed as Funn, not a spelling I have previously considered. So I need to do some more searching and then let Findmypast know so they can consider text correction for the entries. The writing is really poor and you wouldn't make the connections without my prior research and knowledge of the families.

Sadly my direct ancestor, great great grandfather John Finn is remaining elusive. But I now have more of his brothers and sisters so perhaps he is not too far away!

My priority this week is definitely the new National Family History Month website which has languished while I was away. Lucky for me the designer is patient. A couple of friends are trialing the new events page which will save me a lot of time adding events in the lead up to August. No more cut and paste and I will be free to do other things. Sponsors have also been fantastic and I can't wait to share that news with everyone. Not long now.

Looking forward to some more normal weeks ahead not to mention some personal genealogy time to follow up things from the cruise. Until next time.




2 comments:

  1. Great that you have discovered some rellies on the Irish sites. Don't you just hate those pesky weeds,

    ReplyDelete
  2. No rest for the wicked. Look forward to seeing the new NFHM site.

    ReplyDelete