Part of the worldwide genealogy/family history community
ISSN 2253-4040
Quote: “Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it you have got to start young” – Theodore Roosevelt
Contents
Contents
Do you want to receive this newsletter every month?
Preserving and Sharing your Genealogy
DNA Testing for Family History
Did you Know? Some hints and
tips in FTDNA that may interest you.
More Famous New Zealanders You have Probably Never Heard Of
Who was Henry Wylde
Leveson-Gower BURNS?
Books about Immigration
Voyages and Seafaring Ancestors
Invercargill – The First (or Second) Blacksmith
From our Libraries and
Museums
Auckland Family History Expo 2023
The mixed blessing of a fingerprint
Updates to New Zealand Historical Birth and Marriage Indexes
British Army records: Where to find them online
Three ways to prove your family tree is correct
How to use a research timeline to solve a family history problem
Scottish family history: finding a baby's father
To Unsubscribe, Change your Email Address, or Manage your Personal Information
Editorial
Hello fellow hermits.
Greetings and welcome to another issue of the FamNet newsletter.
My article a couple of month’s ago has got people talking. I have had many conversations lately about safeguarding your valuable research. But readers are talking about what to do with their research so that it gets passed on to the next generation or two. The people I’ve been talking to about this have no obviously interested descendants to hand the research too and, consequently, they are exploring interesting alternatives. I have recommended making the volume of paperwork minimal by digitising it and making sure they write their own story. But they are thinking about their problem. Maybe I have avoided a few post-wake bonfires.
Once again, we have an interesting newsletter. The articles are varied. The jokes are funny although they are not the main reason for reading the newsletter. You can contribute an article – don’t wait for an invite. Just contact me.
I hope this month’s issue occupies some of your time and you find something valuable.
Peter Nash
Do you want to receive this newsletter every month?
This newsletter is free. There are not many free newsletters of this length in New Zealand. I am biased but it should be an interesting read.
To subscribe is easy too. Go on - don't misspell it as I have, twice already. https://www.famnet.org.nz/
The front page is lovely, but click on [Newsletters]. A page opens showing you a list of all the past newsletters, you can click the link to read one that you’re interested in.
Like the front page, the newsletters page has a place where you can log on or register. It’s in the top right-hand corner. Put your email here and click [Continue]. If you aren’t already on our mailing list, there will be a message “Email not in database” and a button [New User] appears. Click this and follow the dialog to register. It’s free and easy. You should receive a copy every month until you unsubscribe.
Robert has assured me that he will not send begging letters to your email - apparently, he has enough money at the moment. You will not have to put in your credit card number. You will not be charged a subscription.
Tell other genealogists so they can enjoy the newsletters too.
Regards
Regular Contributors
From the Developer
Preserving and Sharing your
Genealogy
To me, there is little point in spending a lot of time researching your
family history unless you share it with your family at least. And if you do, you will probably want to
collaborate with others with overlapping family trees to share information so
you learn from each other, and you can keep your tree up to date. We have always promoted FamNet
as a good option to preserve and share your genealogy, and our agreement with
FamilySearch that will see our data incorporated into FamilySearch when their
new system is ready means that your work, including pictures and documents
linked to your people (“scrapbook”), will be preserved indefinitely.
Many of you
have put copies of your family trees into FamNet, but
have you kept them up to date? A reader suggested to
us that we should send out emails to those of you with trees in FamNet that haven’t been updated for a while suggesting
that they might like to update them. I
will try and find time to do this, but first I’m just putting out a general
call to all of you who have data stored in FamNet –
if it hasn’t been updated recently, can you have a look at it and see if it
needs updating. If so
you can update it by resubmitting a GED file from your desktop system, or you
can update it online. Well perhaps –
there is a complication.
Many of you
will remember that a year ago FamNet went off the air
for a couple of months, coming back in time for the September newsletter. The reasons for this and what we did to
recover are described in famnet.org.nz/newsletters/FamNet/September_2022/Newsletter.htm#_Toc113022367. To summarize what I wrote then, I kept a
full copy of the database locally, but for the on-line copy I had to trim the
database to under 10GB – it was about 60GB – or pay more than we could afford,
so I had to be fairly ruthless in deciding what to keep on line. Every family tree that included at least one
attached scrapbook item, plus a few others are there, but it is quite likely
that yours was not one of them. Have a look and let me know if it’s missing and
you want me to bring it back. We’re currently
well under the 10GB limit, so I’m sure I’ll be able to restore trees from the
full backup for people that ask me to.
Telling your story: Index
1. Writing your story as notes, or with Word.
2. Embedding pictures in Word documents.
3. Saving Documents for Web Publication.
5. Sharing your Story: Managing your Family Group
6. On Line Editing: More Facts, Family, GDB Links
7. Comparing and Synchronising Records
9. Merging Trees. Part 1: Why Bother?
10. Merging Trees. Part 2: Adding Records On-Line
11. Merging Trees. Part3. Combining Existing Trees
12. Finding Your Way Around FamNet (Getting Help)
13. FamNet – a Resource for your Grandchildren
14. FamNet’s General Resource Databases
15. Updating
General Resource Databases
16. Privacy
18. Linking trees
20. Uploading Objects to your Database
21. Bulk-uploading Objects. FamNet resource: Useful Databases
22. Publishing Living Family on Family
Web Sites
23. Have YOU written your family story yet?
24. Editing and Re-arranging your Family Tree On-line.
25. It’s the Stories that Matter
26. Using QR Codes for your Family History
27. What happens to our Family History when we’re gone?
The Nash Rambler
I
love filling holes
For many months I have not done much research into my
own ancestry. I have talked a lot, talked more, consumed a coffee or two, read
some genealogy magazines, researched for others, given a lecture or two, drank
more coffee, attended a meeting or two, given research advice, talked more etc.
but never opened my Family Tree Maker program or the pile of “must research”
folders on my “tidy” desk. To be honest, like a lot of people I have spoken to,
I was bored with my ancestry. Oops! I mean ancestry research because my
ancestors are a very “interesting” bunch. I suppose that, after over 30 years
research, I must experience a period or two of research boredom. I was a bit
like the words of my favourite Wordsworth’s poem:
|
I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden …….. holes |
Holes!!!!
What do I mean when I say “holes”?
Well my patient, well-meaning coffee mate asked me a question about the computer program I use. I could not answer immediately so I went home and opened my Family Tree Maker program and found the answer. I then looked into my index on that program and noticed I had a lot of holes i.e. empty spaces for births, deaths and marriages. This was particularly true in the ancestry of my lovely and patient lady wife. I had to fix this situation – the holes must be filled.
I started on my mother-in-law’s maternal line. I must admit one of the reasons for the poor state of my records for this line is that it involves at least one Carter–Carter marriage and most lines in the 1800s were in London or the now outer suburbs of London, mainly Kent. In particular Alfred John CARTER, born about 1860 somewhere in northern Kent. Every census where I could find him, he was born in a different parish and different year. It has been some years since I did much research on him and I was startled by the amount of London material that has appeared on line for London. I had found nine of his children. I have not found his birth or his mother’s name and his father was, allegedly, James CARTER – do you know how many James CARTER men lived in London in 1861? Searching the English birth indexes on the official website I found six births for Alfred John Carter between 1858 and 1862 and only one in Kent in 1861.I should point out that every document I have found of him, including census records he is always Alfred John not Alfred only. This birth is highly likely to be an illegitimate birth with a mother named Susannah CARTER. I have ordered this birth certificate.
I then explored the family trees on Ancestry.com and found a couple with a few thousand entries and a few sources. They appeared very similar (i.e. one may have copied the other) and I printed one off and studied it. The compiler seemed to grab facts from out of the air and I could not verify a lot of them. There was a CARTER-CARTER marriage (unverified yet), a son, Alfred John, born about the same time as a marriage to a William SMITH (unverified yet) but has the surname CARTER not SMITH. This has got me hooked. I have to prove or disprove this theoretical (at the moment) family. I am awaiting the arrival of the only official birth certificate of Alfred John CARTER born in Kent in 1861 – hopefully with a mother, Susannah.
But there was one startling fact that emerged from this theoretical family – Alfred John had a girl, Susan Maria, his eldest child, born and died in 1881, obviously after the census of that year. I proved that this fact was correct. My wife was named Susan Maria and this child was her great aunt. There are no other girls named Susan in her ancestry, yet, and we have wondered for a long time where her name came from. Of course, we never asked her mother where that name came from and it is now too late for that exercise.
The evening after I found and verified this birth, I was watching a rugby league match. It must have been a boring match because I had a eureka moment – naming patterns. The eldest girl was Susan Maria – Alfred John’s mother being Susan??? And his wife’s mother Maria (true). I rushed to my computer and found his eldest son was George Albert – George was the father of Alfred John’s wife. Don’t ask me who Albert was! Maybe!!!!!!!
So I now have a theory. I have generated a lot of facts. I have generated a family tree. All needs proof. At the moment it hangs together by a naming pattern.
Of course, things hang on the fact that:
His birth was registered
His name was Alfred John not Alfred
The naming pattern theory
My coffee drinking mate hasn’t blown this theory apart (yet)
I have a lot of work to do. My computer is running hot. I’m hooked again!!!!!.
Gosh I love filling holes.
DNA Testing for Family History
From the editor: Gail has written quite a series on DNA Testing. You will see them all on the FAMNET website and they are a must-read, particularly if you are considering or have had a test done. They are easy to read and not too technical. Click Index so far to see these articles
Did you
Know? Some hints and tips in FTDNA that may interest you.
1. After you join FamilyTreeDNA.com
(FTDNA), whether it is via a transfer of your autosomal results processed by
another firm such as Ancestry or MyHeritage or
23andMe, or a via a test you have purchased from FTDNA, you have a raft of
tools and information available to you?
These are all available in your FTDNA account also called your Dashboard or
called your Home Page. A good habit to get into is to slowly move
your cursor over anything and everything in your Home Page and see what links
are hiding in behind the words.
2. You can join projects whether they be Surname projects or Geographical projects or Haplogroup Projects or YDNA Projects or mtDNA Projects. There are also Cultural Projects plus Autosomal or Family projects. Some projects require you to give reasons for wanting you to join. If you come across this, please try and actually answer whatever questions are in the narrative. Stating your surname or your most distant known ancestor is not enough. You are wanting the Administrator to allow you to join so think about what will help your case. [See #10 below]
3. Administrators have total control over the project(s) they run. Always provided they stay within the boundaries of the rules and policies set down by FTDNA. For example, no Administrator can charge you for joining their project, even if they have a private project away from FTDNA for which they are often personally paying.
4. All project Administrators are volunteers. Some Administrators run numerous projects whereas some have just a few. Some projects are huge and can take some time to load, whereas others are very small. Some Administrators have been doing this ‘job’ for years and some are new. Some will respond to any email or question you might have within a few hours, some may take days or even weeks. If you have not received an answer within say a fortnight, write again ensuring you have correctly copied their email address. If there is still no answer, contact a 2nd Administrator (or co-administrator). If there is still no answer, contact FTDNA.
5. Some Administrators do not enable you to see the genetic results of the members who have joined the project – on the basis that their members have asked for total privacy. But this does not stop you from writing to the Administrator or even joining the project. However, ask yourself why you would want to join such a project when a primary purpose is to learn from and see or compare the other results to your own.
6. From time to time, a project will put out a request seeking donations. This is to aid others in the project who do not have the funds required for needed upgrades. The most needed upgrade for a male is the Big Y 700. The most needed upgrade for a female is the Full Genomic Sequence for the mtDNA test.
7. Males are also encouraged to get the Full Genomic Sequence mtDNA test and everyone is able to get the Autosomal test (also called Family Finder and atDNA). (But not children!)
8. Each project has what is colloquially known as an ‘In-house Forum’ – its actual name is ‘Activity Feed’. It works like Facebook but there are no emailed notifications. Instead, you have to rely on logging into your FTDNA Home page to learn whether there has been a message placed in the ‘Feed’ of a project you have joined. Questions get posted; photographs get posted; hints and URLs get posted. Whatever the members choose. The Administrators have sole charge of these forums and because they can take up a lot of time, some Administrators do not make them available.
9. In your Dashboard depending on what you have
tested, you will find the ability to see your matches for that test.
Personally, I find the match pages for these slow to load, so I opt to use
‘Advanced Matches’ which you will find further down your Dashboard.
Once there, open it and
a. Check the boxes for the test(s) you have taken (YDNA or Family Finder or mtDNA).
b. In the surname box input the first three letters of the surname you seek – you can leave this blank.
c. Filter for the project you hope they will be in AND that you have also joined.
d. Finally press Run report.
This can be done for each separate project you have joined.
10. To join a Project, log into your FTDNA Dashboard and look up in your top Navigation Bar. Hover your cursor over ‘Group Projects’ and select ‘Join a Project’ from the drop-down menu. The first thing you will see is likely to be a box with a number of projects listed within it – these are recommendations by FTDNA for you to join based on information you have already provided in your account. If the various names mean little to you, continue scrolling down and you will come to the alphabetised categories of projects:-
Surname Projects
YDNA Geographical Projects
mtDNA Geographical Projects
Dual (YDNA and mtDNA) Geographical Projects
mtDNA Lineage projects
YDNA Haplogroup Projects
mtDNA Haplogroup Projects.
Click on the alphabet beginning of the project name you wish
to consider joining (the number means there are a specific number of projects
in the list) and scroll down to the name that you want.
As an example if you choose Dual (YDNA and mtDNA) Geographical Projects and then select N, you will
see there are two New Zealand Projects. Each is seeking different
information so do please read the narrative for each. At the time of
writing (June 2023), there are 11,722 projects.
To actually join the project, PLEASE first read the
narratives available to you. (You can also look at what else is in the
project if you press the light blue URL near the top.)
When you are ready, press the orange Join
and follow your nose.
You can join as many projects as you want! But please do not join one for a short time and then leave – that just wastes everyone’s time. Make certain you actually wish to join.
I have been doing these
newsletter articles for many years but I need your input please.
What topics do you want me to write about?
What do you want me to expand on to aid your knowledge?
Would you like a case study? Male or female? Might you volunteer?
Chinese Corner
Today’s
Proceedings
SUMMING UP BY THE CORONERMore Famous New Zealanders You have Probably Never Heard Of
Who
was Henry Wylde Leveson-Gower BURNS?
FALSE PRETENCES. NEW ZEALANDER SENT
TO PRISON. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, November 21. Henry
Wylde Leveson-Gower BURNS, aged 47, said to be a native of New Zealand, was
sent to prison at Camborne last week on charges of obtaining money by false
pretences from Mrs E. B. HOOPER, wife of the Rev. G. B. Hooper, of the Rectory,
Camborne, and from Mr Joseph HEALE, of the Unicorn Inn, Camborne.
Mrs Hooper said that on Tuesday, November 11. the accused
came to their house and asked to see the rector, who was out at the time. He
asked to come inside, and they entered the drawing room. The accused said he
wanted 5s to send a wire to London, as his money was due. He later said the
telegram would cost 4s 5d, and witness eventually gave him 4s 6d.
Constable Scantlebury said when
he saw Burns after complaints had been made by Mr Hooper, the accused said he
had not sent a telegram, but had “gone on the booze.” Joseph Heale, licensee of the Uniform Inn, Camborne, said on
Saturday, September 27, the accused came to his hotel and had some drinks. In
conversation the accused represented that he was connected with Messrs Holman
Bros., Ltd., Camborne, and Messrs Bickford Smith and Co., Ltd., and said he
also had business connection with another firm at Liskeard whom witness knew.
The accused said he was a shareholder with the firms. The accused then asked if
he could change Ł1, and later witness found that the accused wished him to
advance Ł1. The accused offered him an I.0.U. and said he would repay the sum
on Monday.
TRAMPED THE COUNTRY. Sergeant Sloman
said he made inquiries of the two firms mentioned and found that accused was
not a shareholder in either. Burns pleaded “guilty” to the charge of obtaining
money from Mrs Hooper, but “not guilty” on the second charge. He said that when
he went to the rectory, he had had a fair amount of liquor, and was rather hazy
as to what took place. He emphatically denied mentioning the names of the firms
at the Uniform Inn. He offered an I.0.U. to Mr Heale
as a sign of good feeling. He had tramped Scotland and the Midlands trying to
find work, and he was not entitled to the “dole.” The bench sent the accused to
prison for one month on each charge, the sentences to run concurrently.
This appeared in the Otago Daily Times of 5 January 1931.
I couldn’t find a Henry Wylde Leveson-Gower BURNS born around 1884 however there is a birth for a Henry Wylde Monteath BURNS born on the 3 December 1888 in Christchurch to banker and later sharebroker Benjamin Henry Burns and his wife Alice May nee GOWER who had married in Shanghai before coming to New Zealand. They were a society couple well known in Christchurch. Henry attended Whanganui Collegiate from 1902.
In July 1909 the Timaru Herald[1] reported that at the Waimate Police Court, Henry W. M. BURNS and Henry PRESTON were charged with theft of hams, from the storeroom of Messrs Meyers and Jones. Accused pleaded guilty and were fined 40s each, in default 14 days. The fines were paid. For the crime, the Police Gazette recorded Henry Wilde Monteith Burns was a labourer, about 5’10”, fresh complexion, light brown hair, grey eyes, medium nose and square build.
When Benjamin Henry Burns died in 1932 it was recorded that his son Mr H W M Burns was in England,[2] but when Alice Burns died in 1948, an obituary noted that she had lost her eldest son Archibald Gower Burns, in the 1914-18 war,[3] but there was no mention of son Henry.
[1] Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13965, 28 July 1909, Page 4
[2] Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20564, 4 June 1932, Page 16
[3] Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25521, 15 June 1948, Page 2
Guest Contributors
Ken
Morris
Books
about Immigration Voyages and Seafaring Ancestors
WHAT WAS THE VOYAGE REALLY LIKE ~ Shauna Hicks 2015 $15.50 43 pages
MIGRATION TO NEW ZEALAND ~ Christine Clement 2nd Ed 2016 $17.50 67 pages
TRYING TO FIND YOUR SEAFARING ANCESTORS ~ Ronald Parsons 1988 $2.50 12 pages.
These slim volumes from ‘GOULD’ publishing in South Australia, albeit being relatively expensive in relation to the number of pages, they did provide me with some interesting information and leads for further research. As a ‘want to be author’ I’m well aware of the time that goes into researching for a book on family/ancestry and history, and as an author of a book on a like subject as these, suggest “you do it for the love, not the money”.
WHAT WAS THE VOYAGE REALLY LIKE
The chapters cover: why they came, what ship and what type, what was the voyage like, how to find shipboard diaries & logs, what happened on arrival, what happened to the ships as well as museum sources. There is a slight emphasis to Australian sources, but still research sources for NZ migration.
There is a select bibliography, a list of web sites and an index.
MIGRATION TO NEW ZEALAND
Has sections on pre 1840, 1850s & 1860s, the1870s, 1880s-90s, 1st 30 years of the 20th century and through to 1970. Each section is divided into each of the settlements established in the period, with details of where the settlers came from as well as the ships. There are more ‘foreigner groups’ mentioned both earlier and that I remember as a child in Tauranga in the 1940’s, where the ‘only foreigner’ was a Greek family who had a fish & chip shop, we then had quite a few Dutch families, most from Indonesia who didn’t want to go back to Europe and then several Latvian families. They all add to experience and degrowing up.
There are sections of specific source data both written, electronic for: passengers, ships & diaries; immigration; newspapers; biographical; NZ sources, libraries and museums. I found some helpful leads.
TRYING TO FIND YOUR SEAFARING ANCESTORS
Seafaring folk are some of the harder to track down. This ‘book’, being predigital sources, does give a number of leads which are now, in some cases, available online. In the 1800s the UK instigated a number of certificates & registers for various classes of seafarers : captains, officers, mates, engineers, seamen and where these are available they provide a wealth of information, unfortunately their availability can be hit & miss and are located in a number of archives.
For a particular ship I have found the Crew Lists/Voyage Logs in the MHM in St Johns, New Foundland, the Archives in Pembrokeshire, Wales, & possibly in the Archives in Liverpool and London. The documents I’ve got so far have the officers & crew, the voyages, cargos, what seamen were paid (Ł3/5/- per month) and ratings as to their performance. At the end of a voyage the report had to be lodged with the appropriate authorities and if in a foreign port with the UK Consul or agent, a reason not all made it back to archives.
The National Archives (UK) have data sheets on where to look for information, is helpful but not always user friendly but are a start.
Robina
Trenbath
Invercargill – The First (or Second) Blacksmith
OBITUARIES – sometimes the end is a great place to begin: Martha and William BROWN were my late husband’s 2 x great grandparents.
So, from
her obituary2 all we really know about Martha is that she was the
wife of a blacksmith, arrived in Dunedin in 1858, was a mother and a ‘damn good
sort’ (in the kindest term of the phrase) around the neighbourhood.
|
|
|
1979: After my father-in-law died, I began to collect source documents for William BROWN and his daughter, Mrs. McKENZIE. My mother-in-law would always have a story to tell when I shared the records with her. But there were never any photographs.
2009: When our daughters’ beloved nana passed away, a dusty album was discovered, on top of her old wardrobe. Their Poppa had never been a great talker but here were the early photographs of him and his siblings. Poppa Mac was born in Invercargill. Though he was a carpenter most of his life he left school early to be apprenticed to a saddle-maker. That made sense: his great grandfather had been a blacksmith, while his father (WW1 veteran) and uncle were bootmakers. But I digress… back to the William’s Brown.
1841 – 1851 England Census: William Brown’s father was…William BROWN* (1793-1878). N.B. Skip a generation and his grandfather was William BROWN too (this William married Elizabeth ANDREWS on 18 Jul. 1751 at Burford, Shropshire). For 300 years the Browns were all baptised, mostly raised to be blacksmiths, married & mostly died in Burford, Shropshire. William Snr.* occupations were variously soldier/joiner, wheelwright & carpenter.
1817: On 28th August 1817 William Brown Snr. (aged 23) of Ledham, Salop (Salop is the ancient name for Shropshire) attested to join 46th Foot Soldiers South Devonshire Regiment4. Image: ancestry.com.au.
William BROWN: baptised 1832 at Burford, Salop England. His parents were William (1793-1878) and Elizabeth BROWN (nee AMPHLET 1799 – June 1840). He was the 6th of their 11 children (the last, born November 1839). A young, widowed father with 11 hungry mouths to feed - tough times. Yes?
In the 1851 Census William was recorded as being 19 years of age (= b.1832) and his father (56) occupation = carpenter along with his brother Thomas (17). William & his brother Charles (15) are both listed as being blacksmiths. Another brother, Richard (11) though a scholar, would in the 1861 census have his occupation as blacksmith.
1856 - May 8: Certified Copy of an Entry of Marriage: Given @ the General Register Office Marriage of William Brown/ Blacksmith to Martha Lewis @ Burford, County of Salop. N.B. 1841 & 1851 England Census’: Martha Lewis cannot be reliably identified.
1857: Eliza was William & Martha’s firstborn, @ Tenbury, Shropshire; the only one of their 8 children born in England.
Query: We all know how to use the GRO UK INDEX. Right? Let’s know if you don’t.
1858: ‘Nourmahal’ London to Dunedin – 5 May: Captain Brayley. Steerage: Brown William, wife and daughter. 164 Immigrants, including 6 blacksmiths.5.
2022: Sometimes you ‘get lucky’. A descendant of William BROWN shared this portrait.
I never neglect to trawlNzetc.Victoria.ac.nz. Here’s what I found
1. Occam’s Razor: Britannica.com
2. PERSONAL/ The ‘Southland News’ says: Mrs Martha Brown… In Evening Star, Issue 12368, 5 December 1904, Page 4. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
3. ABOUT PEOPLE / Mr William Brown: In Southland Times, Issue 14577, 18 November 1910. Page 6. Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
4. Guide to the Records of the War Office (as filmed by the AJCP). TROVE/ nla.gov.au.
N.B. TROVE: Give yourself over to many Sundays exploring this amazing site. ‘A Joint Copying Project – AJCP’ is a brilliant start for military & convict records (i.e. on board medical register of those who were sick, their illness and treatment etc.) You may never find this ‘stuff’ anywhere else…and it’s free! Phew! 3 April 2023: An injection of funding has saved its mooted closure!
5.Nourmahal: Plymouth 8th Feb. Otago Witness 1858, May 15. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
6. William Brown 4 Generations. Photograph acknowledgement JudyJh3/ ancestry.com.au
An
Invitation to Contribute:
I have a number of people that contribute occasional articles. These appear irregularly if and when the authors send them to me. I use them to bulk up each month's newsletter. The more we have the more "rests "I can give my much-appreciated regular columnists.
This is a way that a person can get some of their writing published. Of course, we are all writing up our research results, aren't we? I have always said that every genealogist is an expert in some small piece of history, resources or research methods.
We circulate this newsletter to about 7,000 subscribers worldwide but is read by many more as it is passed on to other readers and LDS research centres. Every month I get feedback on my poor attempts at writing and I have now made many "new friends", albeit digital ones, I have even had some very helpful assistance in my research.
Why don't you contribute an article?
My basic requirements:
1) The column must be in English
2) The column should be no longer than about 1,200 words
3) The article should be emailed to me in a Word document format
4) The subject should be genealogical or historical in nature
Do not be afraid about your "perceived" bad English. The article will be edited, in a friendly manner, by me and then Robert. Then all columnists and a few valuable proof-readers get to read the newsletter before it is emailed out. You’ll be paid $0 for your article, which is on the same scale that Robert and I pay ourselves for editing and publishing the newsletter.
From our
Libraries and Museums
We are offering a forum to our libraries and museums to publicise their events, and to contribute articles to this newsletter that may be of interest to our readers. Auckland Libraries makes good use of this free service, let’s see if other libraries and museums take up this offer.
For readers of this newsletter: please bring this to the attention of your local libraries etc, and encourage them to participate.
Auckland Libraries
Are you interested in family, local and social history, the stories of Aotearoa New Zealand, the Pacific, and beyond?
Then why not come along to one of our fortnightly HeritageTalks | Waha pū-taonga and hear more about both our personal and our shared heritage?
These talks are given by experts in their field and can provide valuable insight into our histories and our cultures.
When: Wednesdays, February to November, 12noon - 1pm
Where: Central City Library, 44-46
Lorne Street, Auckland City Centre , Whare Wananga, L2
Cnr of Kitchener & Wellesley Streets . Also online via
Zoom Cost: Free
Bookings: https://www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/Pages/family-and-local-history-events.aspx
For queries contact Research Central ph 09 890 2412.
Wednesday 19 July 2023 12pm-1pm
HeritageTalk: Italian Gem with Giuseppe Gallina
Portrait of a lady with a dog, artist Lavinia Fontana, c1590s. Mackelvie Trust Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1956. M1956/3/1. Photographed by Giuseppe Gallina.
The Renaissance in Italy: the study of ancient books that led to a flourishing of stunning art and to the end of the Italian principalities. The speaker also presents a Renaissance portrait, held in the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, and attributed to Italy Lavinia Fontana, one of the very few Renaissance European woman painters.
About the
speaker
Giuseppe Gallina is Italian and has been living in
New Zealand since 1993. He loves Italian history and enjoys learning from
historians. Giuseppe is also studying Italian art history.
He was a member of Toastmasters International from 2008 to 2017, where he learned the skills of public speaking, and in 2013 he started delivering speeches at other organisations. Giuseppe has spoken twice for Auckland Libraries’ HeritageTalks programme.
Wednesday 26 July 2023 12pm-1pm
HeritageTalk: Search, save, research and write: How to use DigitalNZ
National Library's DigitalNZ website began in 2008 with a purpose: to bring the wealth of Aotearoa's digital content into one easily searchable place.
DigitalNZ is primarily a search service that aims to make New Zealand digital content more useful and easily discoverable. We pull together over 30 million items held by over 200 heritage, media, government, and research organisations. Find out how to search DigitalNZ, then use the story tool to collect, curate or write about the things that interest you. You can even upload your own images!
About the speaker
Kelly Dix is an online engagement manager in the National Library’s Digital Experience
team. Her primary role is to help connect people with heritage collections and
taonga through DigitalNZ.org. She has previously worked at the New Zealand
Fashion Museum, Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki
Paenga Hira and Learning Media.
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Enjoy our podcasts - recorded events and presentations
https://soundcloud.com/auckland-libraries
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Auckland Family History Expo 2023
WHERE Fickling Convention Centre, 546 Mt Albert Rd, Three Kings, Auckland
Fickling Convention Centre is adjacent to Three Kings Reserve and has some on-street parking on Mt Albert Rd and in side streets. If you are able-bodied we suggest public transport or street parking in surrounding streets. This multi-functional venue is wheelchair-friendly and has accessible toilets.
WHEN Friday 11 August 2023
5pm-8.30pm
Saturday
12 August 2023 8.30am-5.30pm
Sunday
13 August 2023 8.30am-4.30pm
COST Free
Friday 11 August 2023: Opening event $25 per person. Booking is essential. Book tickets via Eventfinda.
Saturday 12 August 2023: Free entrance for all. No booking required.
Sunday 13 August 2023: Free entrance for all. No booking required.
Auckland Council Libraries and the Genealogical Computing Group (an interest group of the NZ Society of Genealogists) proudly present a weekend-long event covering a wide range of topics on researching genealogy and family history.
Take advantage of our free seminars, from beginner to advanced, computer-based tutorials, ask-an-expert sessions and research assistance on Saturday 12 August and Sunday 13 August.
Bring your laptops to take full advantage of the workshops and tutorials.
Our
international guest speakers will be joining us virtually via Zoom. Our New
Zealand speakers will join us in person.
Ancestry is the proud platinum sponsor of the 2023 Auckland Family History
Expo.
FamilyTree
Maker, Genealogical Computing Group and Auckland Council are gold sponsors of
the Auckland Family History Expo.
Find out more on the Auckland Libraries website and book tickets for the
opening event on Eventfinda.
Nga mihi | Kind regards
SEONAID
Seonaid (Shona) Lewis RLIANZA | Family History Librarian
Central Auckland Research Centre, Central City Library
Heritage and Research
Auckland Libraries - Nga Whare Matauranga o Tamaki Makarau
Ph 09 890 2411| Extn (46) 2411 | Fax 09 307 7741
Auckland Libraries, Level 2, Central City Library, 44 - 46 Lorne Street, Auckland
Visit our website: www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz
@Kintalk on Twitter / Auckland Research Centre on Facebook
News and Views
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From the Editor: Because of space restrictions and copyright issues I cannot put the complete articles in this newsletter so here are some URLs that are worth looking at. Just click the heading.
The mixed blessing of a fingerprint
Chinese poll-tax certificates at Archives New Zealand are unique records of adversity and bravery
Updates to New Zealand Historical Birth and Marriage Indexes
British Army records: Where to find them online
Three ways to prove your family tree is correct
How to use a research timeline to solve a family history problem
Scottish family history: finding a baby's father
In conclusion
Book Reviews
Help wanted
Letters to the Editor
Dear Peter,
I have been
catching up with newsletters as I have had months of intense work load. Some
comments on a few.
The 12th Countess
of Seafield
She is related
to me by marriage as my aunt married Percy Evans, grandson of Major George
Evans who married Louise Corry and who emigrated to Oamaru as did his son Eyre.
I have been adding the family to WikiTree gradually,
so here is George:
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Evans-29499
I'll add his other siblings eventually once other projects are
completed.
John
Turnbull Thomson (1821-1884) ‘Surveyor Thomson
Most times
I go out I pass the Thomsons Bush area named in his honour, see:
https://icc.govt.nz/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Thomsons-Bush-colour-brochure.pdf
There is also a
Turnbull Thomson Park in Invercargill.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnbull_Thomson_Park
Keeping
Your Family History Research Safe and Accessible
I am
fortunate to have a nephew who is passionate about family history to whom I can
leave my materials and those from my mother and other family members that I
inherited.
But the best place to put my research is on WikiTree,
which you didn't mention. Not only the bare facts but complete stories can be
added for family, friends or anyone else. Last month the New Zealand Project
starting adding Mayors. I did the 17 Mayors of the Borough of Wanganui where I
was born. Several of them would have been known by my grandfather through the
St Andrew Kilwinning Lodge, and one was a relation of my first husband, Arthur
G Bignell:
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bignell-463
Perhaps you
can let people know about this alternative to FamilySearch which as far as I am
concerned is only useful for its extensive records collection.
In addition, and the reason for my work load, I employed two university
students over the summer holidays to help me with all my records. One
diligently scanned photos, slides, cards, papers and
anything else I could find, and the other typed information into spreadsheets
and trip books and the like into documents. It's not completed as there is a
lot that I need to do including correcting the words that ended up wrong
because they can't read hand writing easily. Much of the material wasn't needed
once I had captured the information and has either been given to others who can
use it or disposed of.
I back up
to three PHDs including one that goes everywhere I go in my handbag.
My goal is to
go through all my remaining cartons of papers this year (and that includes
those from my research business which were packed up in 2005 and have moved as
I have moved around the country). This is in addition to continuing to write my
memoir, write profiles for WikiTree and research my
own and other people's families.
Diane
Wilson
We were all
sorry to learn of Diane's death this month. The New Zealand Project has created
a profile for her and added her to our list of Notables, see
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Poland-1191
I do enjoy your newsletter.
Margaret
Advertising
with FamNet
Every now and then we get requests to put an advertisement in the newsletter. I have therefore created a new section which will appear from time to time. Advertisements will be included only at the Editor's discretion and will be of a genealogical nature.
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