Accentuate the positive – a reflection on my 2022 genealogy year

 

Once again, Jill Ball has thrown out the challenge to pause and contemplate the year past in the context of all things family history.  I started the year with incredible focus and grand plans (a trip to Office Works for new stationery was involved) and maintained that for quite a few months. Work got in the way for periods of time (as it does) but on balance, it’s been a rather successful year with some brick walls busted, some new tricks learned, a few pleasant surprises, and a long-awaited research trip undertaken.  Thanks, Jill, for once again encouraging us to focus on the all the fun and achievements, not the ‘to do’ list.

1. I was happy to go back to live theatre and dance performances after a covid absence. Not family history related but it was great – for me and all the wonderful folks who work in the creative arts.

2. In 2022 I was particularly proud of being project coordinator/editor (which involved writing an introduction) to publish a long-forgotten manuscript Yabba Yabba of Widgeon and Kummera by Sarah Midgley with an accompanying contextual essay by Dr Ray Kerkhove. This was a project undertaken in my professional capacity but a labour of love involving many out of work hours spent delving into someone else’s family history.  It features some of the earliest firsthand writing about the Mill Point settlement on Lake Cootharaba near Noosa and was released in conjunction with an exhibition of Aboriginal dolls made by Sarah Midgley.

3. A new software package or web application I embraced was the New South Wales Land Registry Offices Historical Land Records Viewer. It’s convoluted and took a while to master but… oh! the treasures to be found!

4.  My sledgehammer did great work on this brick wall: finally zeroing in, with as much confidence as possible, on the identity of my maternal great-grandfather’s parents.  The parents’ names recorded on his death certificate had long proved elusive with good reason – they did not exist. Some focused revisiting of past research, a lot of lateral and logical thinking and diagram drawing, a handy DNA clue, and some advice from Janet Few (see #19 below) has, as definitively as possible, established the mother. And I’m pretty close on the father too (see #10 below).

5. A new genealogy/history book that sparked my interest was Manorial Records for Family Historians by Geoffrey Barber. Second edition published in 2018 so not necessarily new, but new to me. I’m still reading so can’t yet give a review.

6. A geneasurprise I received was an email from a lady who had some years ago purchased some postcards of views of Rockhampton to satisfy her nostalgia for her hometown. She was having a sort out/declutter and had decided to move the postcards on. One of these postcards was addressed to my gr-gr-aunt Eva Dow and via some googling she found my connection to Eva, tracked me to my place of employment, and made contact to see if I would like this treasure. Duh! Of course. She duly posted the postcard to me and along the way we have enjoyed a lovely email correspondence.  This should not actually have been a surprise as I have been reunited with items associated with this relative (who passed away in 1969) six times (so far) over the past 14 or so years. But each time this has happened, my mind has been a little bit blown.

7.  In 2022 I finally met the town of Broken Hill and some of the many amazing volunteers who are the keepers of its history at the various family history and historical societies and museums in this fascinating town. My grandfather and his siblings were born there while their father was running a furniture emporium during the town’s heyday at the turn of the century.  All family members had moved on by 1930 but I did still find a few tidbits to add to the story.

8.  Locating the graves of a great-grandfather and a variety of other relatives in West Terrace Cemetery in Adelaide gave me great joy. Obviously, it’s always great to find ancestors resting places but this was extra-special as a second-cousin (who is male and under the age of 50 years) came with me voluntarily and enthusiastically and was really engaged with the who’s who once we found them. And did some weeding and was frustrated by the condition of the graves. And for added fun all this was accomplished while I was between connecting flights through Adelaide Airport.

9.  I am pleased the Covid situation caused me to change my work habits and continue working from home even after it wasn’t a requirement. So many benefits.

10. I progressed my DNA research by revisiting the Y-DNA results of an uncle and using some lateral thinking and different search strategies to cross-reference to my Ancestry.com DNA matches and made progress in breaking down a brickwall related to a maternal great-grandfather’s paternity (see #4 above). Ironically (or amusingly), the surname of the likely suspect is actually Wall. And this lot of Walls are intermarried with Stones. Not kidding.

14. I got a thrill from opening someone's eyes to the joy of genealogy ... not sure about ‘opening eyes to the joy’ but I’m always gratified to be able to facilitate workshops with experts like Shauna Hicks and Eric Kopittke on a range of topics for our local community through my professional role that hopefully open up new resources and research pathways.

15. The best value I got for my genealogy dollars was taking a Pharos Tutors course.  The range of new resources and research ideas that I learned about was phenomenal.

16. A DNA discovery I made was finding a previously unknown (aka illegitimate) quite close cousin in 2021. He is most likely a first cousin to my father (i.e. we believe his father was an illegitimate half-brother to my grandmother).  This was naturally very intriguing, but it was almost better to discover he lives 5 km from me and he and his wife have become lovely friends who I catch up with regularly, which qualifies this 2021 event for inclusion in 2022 reflection.

17. I enjoyed my first post-Covid face-to-face event because there’s just no substitute for catching up with kindred spirits in person.

18. A fabulous event I attended was the Scottish Indexes Conference. These are online, free (although a donation is appreciated) and held in such a way that the times aren’t outrageous for us in Australia. So many interesting and/or informative speakers.

19. I'm happy I splashed out and purchased a subscription to The Genealogist. The Map Explorer tool and links to tithe records is amazing and makes it possible to pinpoint locations of ancestors’ residences. I’ve barely scratched the surface of the possibilities and capabilities but it will prove invaluable and a worthy investment in preparing for an upcoming research trip.

 19. I got the most joy from being the lucky winner of a one-on-one brick wall busting session with English family historian Janet Few. Firstly, because I don’t think I’ve ever before won a major prize in a competition and this was a particularly good one! Secondly, Janet is amazing in her knowledge and experience, and as an added bonus lives in the area that my brickwall was related to. See #4 above.

20. Another positive I would like to share is ... the excitement of making the decision mid-2022 to some of my long service leave in 2023 and spend and extended period in the UK visiting the haunts of my ancestors, spend time in some archives learning more about said ancestors, and meeting up with some cousins of varying degrees.