Friday's Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge" - H is for "Homes"

Oh, it is soooo long since I have posted an Alphabet Challenge Story!!!

The Letter "H" is the next in line and today's post is "H is for Homes".  How do we find out about our families "Homes".  I think "Homes" means much more than an address, or the house that our family lived in. " Home" conjures up memories of the people in the house, social customs, social conditions, neighbourhood and neighbours and the events that took place in that house. Our search for our family stories would be so much easier "if only the walls (of their home) could talk". However since the "walls" do not talk, we much look to other means to find out more about how our ancestors lived.

Census- provides a lot of information about a home

1. Accessing the census records of your family will assist with learning a little about their home.  A census record will provide you with details of the address, how many people were living in the home, their occupations, who their neighbours were and their occupations. Once you have located the address, you are able to delve deeper into the history of their "Home".

 2.  A visit to the local court house or Lands Titles Office may provide you with the official records of the house, change of ownership and changes of street names, numbers etc.You may be able to access, Building Permits, that will provide information on additions to the building, Utility Reports will provide information on water, gas and sewerage installation (or if older house if these utilities were not installed).  Insurance records may also provide interesting information,  most notably fire insurance claim forms. These can contain information about the nature of an insured building, its contents, value and  possibly floor plans and details of claims made in the case of a home/house fire.

3. The local Historical Society will be able to assist with background to events, social conditions, employment for the people who lived in and around your ancestor's home.  Check out your local library collection for publications on the historical development of your area. Published histories of the area, often compiled by a local historian or heritage group, will provide valuable background information on building development, social conditions and often include pictures of houses in the area.

My Nanna's Home in Milton, NSW

4. Searching local newspapers can provide records of the home being sold, family events such as births, deaths and marriages. Newspapers can also be good sources for information and town histories. Searching the name of the street that your family lived in can provide stories of events and incidents that would have occured while your family lived there. These stories can add a lot of colour to your understanding of the home life  of your family.

5. Check family letters, scrapbooks, diaries, and photo albums for more possible clues. Photos of the family home can tell us so much, if they were affluent or working class, if they had a garden, laundry, out-house etc.  Did they have a fire place? What kind of building material was used?

6. Family and Neighbours can provide insight and a deeper understanding of the history of a home. Contact your older relatives, their friends and neighbours.  Their memories will be invaluable, take time with them, over a cup of tea to hear their recollections. Show them some old photos/newspaper articles, if you have any, these will help trigger memories and help the stories to flow.

Cassell's New Universal Cookery Book

7.  Finally, another resource which can provide an understanding of life in your ancestors home are recipe books.  If you are lucky enough to have inherited a family recipe book, it will provide information on the foods that were available, how they prepared cooked their food, how resourceful were they when there was a shortage of food and who was responsible for the preparation of the food.

Cook books such as the one seen in this picture (Cassell's New Universal Cookery Book), provide a lot of information on the social background and conditions of the family. This book is aimed at middle class Victorian families, and not only includes recipies, but house hold tips, budgets, descriptions of cooking utensils, and details on the roles of the different members of the house hold domestic staff.  

There are a number of useful resouces that assist you in finding details on your ancesters house, however, in this blog I have attempted to take this search a little further, with resources that will help you to understand more about your ancestors "HOME".

Follow Friday - An accumulation of my weekly research - 9

This week I managed to post my next Alphabet challenge.  G is for Gravestone.  I have to admit that it is taking me a longer to wend my way through the Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge  than I first imagined. The great upside of this project is the discovery of new resources, genealogy sites and blogs as I research each topic. When I started the post G for Gravestones, I thought would be quick and straight forward, but no!! I was amazed at the number of sights/blogs that either provide the history of gravestones through the ages, the different types of gravestones or grave markers, the sad and whimsical stories associated with particular gravestones, the historical events related to particular cemeteries, photos and inscriptions from cemeteries,  war cemeteries and their history and the meanings of the markings and symbols on gravestones to mention a few.

St Michael's, Alnwick

I really have to thank the Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge for providing me with the motivation to explore new and interesting topics. This brings me to the point of today's blog, to share with you some of the sites and blogs I have discovered associated with gravestones, headstones and cemeteries.  I am sure this is just a drop in the ocean so would welcome input from anyone who knows of further interesting sites on this subject.

Australian Cemeteries:

 Australian Cemeteries; http://www.australiancemeteries.com/

Australian Cemeteries Index: http://austcemindex.com/ 

Wikipedia List of Australian Cemeteries: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cemeteries_in_Australia

ozburials: http://www.ozburials.com/

Carol's Headstone Photos: http://carolsheadstonephotographs.blogspot.com.au/

South Australian Cemeteries: http://www.familyhistorysa.info/births-marriages-deaths/cemeteries/burials.html 

Cora Web: Cemetery Records Australia: http://www.coraweb.com.au/cemetaus.htm

  

Other Cemetery Sites

Interment.net Cemeteries on line: http://www.interment.net/

Gravestone Photographic Resource: http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/about.php

Headstone Genealogy: http://www.headstonesgenealogy.com/

International Jewish Cemetery Project; http://www.iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org/

War Graves

War Graves Photographic Project: http://twgpp.org/

World War 1 & World War 2 Cemeteries Overseas:     http://www.dva.gov.au/commems_oawg/OAWG/remembering_war_dead/WWI_WWII/Pages/cemeteries%20overseas.aspx

American Cemeteries Around the World: http://www.appreciationflag.com/cemeteries.html 

The Canadian Headstone Project: http://canadianheadstones.com/links.htm

World War 1 Cemeteries: http://www.ww1cemeteries.com/

Other Sites
History from Headstones: http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/about.php
How to do a Headstone Rubbing: http://www.ancestryprinting.com/headstone.html
Tips for Photographing Gravestones: http://www.genealogy.com/64_gravestones.html
Exploring Cemeteries: http://anthropology.si.edu/outreach/Teaching_Activities/edcemetr.html
Gravestone Symbolism: http://www.graveaddiction.com/symbol.html
History of Headstones: https://mysendoff.com/2012/07/a-history-of-headstones/
The Association for Grave Studies: http://www.gravestonestudies.org/faq.htm
Historic Graves: http://historicgraves.com/

Blogs
Carol's Headstone Photos: http://carolsheadstonephotographs.blogspot.com.au/
Mad about Genealogy: Gravestone Photos: http://www.madaboutgenealogy.com/grave-stone-photos-2/
A Grave Interest: http://agraveinterest.blogspot.com.au/
Buried in History: http://buried-history.livejournal.com/
Cemeteries of Dancing Rabbit Creek:  http://cemeteriesofdancingrabbitcreek.blogspot.com.au/
Grave Encounters: http://graveencounters.blogspot.com.au/
Headstones and Family History: http://headstonesandhistory.blogspot.com.au/
Sleeping Gardens: http://sleepinggardens.blogspot.com.au/

Friday's Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge - G is for Gravestone

Picture this!!  Warm summer day, husband armed with camera, wife wending her way through the overgrown graves of the country cemetery of Braidwood in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.  “Oh we should get a picture of this one” she calls, as her husbands, wipes the sweat from his brow, brushes away the flies and snaps another picture of an old crumbling headstone.  Yes my husband laments as he tells this story to sympathetic friends.  The trials of being married to someone who is constantly on the look out places to research the family tree even if it means tramping through long grass and avoiding the insects, spiders and snakes who have made the local cemetery their home.

This story leads me to my next post for the  on Friday's Family History through the Alphabet Challenge , for the Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge.  G is for Gravestone!!  I guess there are many families who have someone who likes to wander amongst gravestones searching for information on passed relatives.  In pre-internet days I found searching cemeteries a most valuable resource and much to my children’s dismay would plan a family excursion or holiday around the possibility of being able to check out the local cemetery for further clues.  

The gravestone, or headstone, or tombstone is a grave maker.  It can be made of stone, marble or in the cases of those without sufficient funds it could just be a small wooden cross. The gravestone not only marks where our ancestors were buried, it is a memorial to past family members and it's inscriptions can provide information on the deceased name, date of birth and death, names of family members who mourn them and possibly a small quote that will give some indication of their personality, or standing in the community.  Often a number of family members a buried in the same grave or in close proximity to each other, thus providing information of family links and relationships.

While researching information on gravestones I came a cross a quote that describes the importance of graveyards as a place for research, "Graveyards are outdoor museums and the most accessible source for studying the local community and its history.".

If you are just starting to research your family, a visit to the local cemetery is a great way to begin your search.  The local cemetery, or cemetery of the town that your family came from is one of the most accessible sources of information on local history and our heritage. The inscriptions on the gravestones contain information of generations of families, with details of their relationships, friends, neighbours, tragedies, religion, occupations and memberships of different societies. The size, and more elaborate gravestones may also indicate the status or wealth of a family member.

To finish this blog on "G is for Gravestone" I would like to share with you two of my favorite gravestone pictures.  The first was taken on the day (mentioned above) that my husband and I traipsed through the Braidwood Cemetery and found the grave of my Great-Great Grandfather Lynn Shepherd II and the second one is taken thirty years ago, when I visited the cemetery in Nelligen with my parents and took a photo my father standing behind the gravestone of his father and my grandfather Malcolm Michael Shepherd. 

Gravestone of Lynn Shepherd (1829-1903) Braidwood Cemetery

Malcolm Michael Shepherd (1892-1932)

Wordless Wednesday - Charles Henry Palin 1871-1957

Charles Henry Palin

Running with the theme of Wordless Wednesday I have posted a picture to complement my post  on Family History through the Alphabet Challenge - F is for Freemasonry.  This is a photo of my great grandfather Charles Palin in his the regalia that he wore as a member of the Manchester Unity Order of Oddfellows, in Broken Hill, New South Wales. The Manchester Unity Order of Oddfellows, was fraternity with similar background and connections to the Freemasons Lodge.

Friday's Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge - F for Freemasonry

Did you have a grand father, great uncle or male relative who was a member of a Freemason fraternity??

As a small girl, I remember  my father dressing up in his dinner suit once a month with his small black brief case and heading off to the local Masonic Hall.  Nothing like "men's secret business" to spark the curiosity of a child. When I asked him where he was going he would advise that it was a place where a group of men met in friendship and to look at ways to benefit our community.

Black Brief Case that Held Freemasons regalia

Yes this weeks post on Friday's Family History through the Alphabet Challenge , for the Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge, is going to be "F" is for Freemasonry.  Besides my father, a number of my male ancestors were members of  "lodges", all stemming from the a Freemasonry background.  Lodges played a strong part in the social life and fellowship of males in the early history of Australia and this continues  to the present day.  Exploring their involvement provides you with a little more understanding of your forefather, how they socialised, their companions and their engagement with their local community.

The Freemasons are members of one of the largest and oldest fraternity in the world. The origin of the  movement is not clear but it is thought to have originated in the Middle Ages amongst the groups of stone masons involved in the building of the castles and churches of that era.  There is some suggestion  that they were influenced by the group of Christian warrior monks called the Knights Templar, whose role was to help protect pilgrims making their trips to the Holy Land.  The fraternity of Freemasonry expanded with groups springing up in communities all around the world. These groups were made up of men from all levels of society bound together by a mutual understanding of equality and brotherhood with an overlying philosophy of high moral standards.

Apron worn by Freemasons

The first Grand Lodge was created in 1717 in England.  This was the first formal organisation of the Freemasons.  Other countries followed on with this example and Grand Lodges were created in many geographical areas as the administrative body of Freemasonry and the local organisations were called lodges. The "Masons" or "Freemasons" have played a significant role in western culture for hundreds of years through their leadership and community involvement, with many members holding significant offices in government, business and public service.  However, in the majority of cases Freemasons are everyday members of small-town communities working to uphold the traditions and principles of their fellowship. Due to their secretive nature they have often been surrounded by a shroud of mystery and curiosity over the years.

In Australia, the first Freemason to set foot on Australia is thought to be Sir Joseph Banks in 1770.  Members of military lodges brought Freemasonry to Australia and The Australian Social Lodge No 260IC was the first lodge to be established in Sydney, Australia with their first meeting being held on the 4th of January 1830. The United Grand Lodge of New South Wales was officially established in 1888.  In the years to follow Grand Lodges were started in all of the Australian States.

Freemasonry and Family Tree Research

Members from the Oddfellows Lodge in Broken Hill

Contrary to popular belief, the Freemasons of today are very supportive of those who are wanting to research members of their family who were involved in the fraternity.  Most of the Grand Lodges have their own Museum and for a small search fee will look up details of past members. The information that you will be able to find is generally the age when your ancestor joined, their address and occupation at the time of joining and sometimes there will be photos of members.

A very useful site is the Library and Museum of Freemasonry in the United Kingdom, and they provide a great array of resources for researchers who are looking at the history  and the people involved in the Freemasonry movement. 

 If you are interested in researching your family members who were members there is a link to a very informative document Information Sheet About Freemasonry and Family History which is designed to assist genealogists. This site also provides researchers with contact details of other Grand Lodges around the world.

Follow Friday - An accumulation of my weekly research - 8

This week I have been busy researching how my ancestors were employed and the different resources that assist in finding how and where they were employed for my post "Friday's Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge - E for Employment".

 I was struck by the number of great resources that look at how our ancestors were employed and definitions of the unusual occupations of yesteryear. Boy, there are so many unusual occupations!!

So  in this weeks (or should I say month's) summary of my research, I would like to share with you some of the links, books and blogs that look at the employment and occupations of older generations. These links provide some fascinating reading on the unusual employment and occupations that were part of every day life for our ancestors.

Books

 

Colin Waters, Dictionary of Old Trades, Titles and Occupations, 1999,MRM Associates Ltd, Reading, kindle version http://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Trades-Titles-Occupations-ebook/dp/B005K009WO/ref=tmm_kin_title_0

Jane Hewitt and Paul Jack Hewitt,(2011)  Dictionary of Old Occupations, Kindle edition, http://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-of-Old-Occupations-ebook/dp/B004WG347O

Cora Num, Occupational Records in Australia, http://www.coraweb.com.au/occupdetails.htm

Helpful Links 

GlobalGenealogy.com, Unusual Occupations in Canadian Census Records,  http://globalgenealogy.com/globalgazette/gazrr/gazrr323.htm.  

Roots List of Occupations: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usgwkidz/oldjobs.htm. 

Old Occupations in Scotland: http://scotsfamily.com/occupations.htm.

Hall Genealogy Web Site, Old Occupations: http://rmhh.co.uk/occup/index.html. 

The Black Sheep Index, http://web.archive.org/web/20101005021948/http://www.blacksheepindex.co.uk/ .

Tripod Genealogy, http://genealogyfix.tripod.com/jobdesc.html.

Genealogy Quest, http://www.genealogy-quest.com/glossaries/occupations1.html.

Occupations and Education, Ancestry.  http://www.ancestry.co.uk/cs/uk/occupations.

Old Obscure Occupations:http://www.worldthroughthelens.com/family-history/old-occupations.php.

 NSW Archives, Professions and Occupations: http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/short-guide-10/short-guide-10.

The 1891 "London Census" Transcription, Victorian Occupations. http://www.census1891.com/occupations-a.htm.

 United Kingdom and Ireland Occupations, Genuki, http://www.genuki.org.uk/bigOccupations.html.

  
Blogs

Old Job Descriptions: http://www.familyhistoryquickstart.com/old-job-descriptions/
Family History Finder: Old occupations, http://familyhistoryfinder.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/old-occupations.html
Family Research by Jody, Old occupations, http://familyhistoryresearchbyjody.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/old-occupations.html.
The Olive Tree Genealogy, Obsolete Occupations in Genealogy, http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/misc/occupations.shtml.
Genealogy Insider, Our Ancestor's Odd Jobs in Genealogy Records, http://blog.familytreemagazine.com/insider/2012/08/28/OurAncestorsOddJobsInGenealogyRecords.aspx .

Friday's Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge - E for Employment

It is pouring rain outside today, so what better opportunity than to finish of my next blog in Friday's Family History through the Alphabet Challenge as part of my attempt to complete the Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge.

Today's challenge is "E" and this post was inspired my recent blog on sisters Mary Ann and Emma Jane Weston. As I put their stories together, part of my research involved looking how they, their husbands and other family members were employed.  The "Employment" of our ancestors helps us develop a more colourful picture of the circumstances of their lives.  So my Alphabet Challenge for today is "E for Employment".

There a number of different resources that can assist you with discovering how your family members were employed.  Here is a brief summary of some resources that are useful.

MC for Thomas Lee and Emma Jane Weston

1.  Birth, Death and Marriage Certificates:
Birth certificates generally list the occupation of the child's father, for example on Emma Jane Weston's Birth Certificate , her father is listed as a house painter.  Marriage certificates can give details of how the bride, groom and parents of couple are employed.  On Emma Jane Weston's certificate her husband Thomas Lee is described as a gold digger. (I believe this is literal, and not that Emma Jane was wealthy, he he.)

1851 Census Barnoldswick, George Rushworth and family

2.  Census: Census records provide us with a mine of information on how families were employed often listing the occupations of all family members and their neighbours. The census page from the Barnoldswick, 1851 Census  on the left shows how all of George Rushworth's family is employed.  It is obvious from their occupations that the main industries for this district were related to weaving and the textiles.

Military Record for Malcolm Michael Shepherd

3. Telephone, Post Office and Trade Directories:  These are another useful resource, which provide in alphabetical order, details of where family members lived and sometimes their occupations.  An example of a directory that is very useful for Australian Research is the Greville's Post Office Directory. I was able to find Emma Jane Weston's Uncle, Alfred Weston on the 1871 Greville's Directory abd confirm that he had moved to this district and was employed as a miner in Araluen, a mining community, in the Braidwood district of southern New South Wales.

4. Military Records: My recent blog "D is for Dog tags" outlines some of the wonderful information you can find when you access your ancestors military records. The front page of a soldiers record will give you details of their employment prior to their enlisting. An example of this can be seen from the front page of my grandfather Malcolm Michael Shepherd's military record.  His occupation is listed as a carrier in the Braidwood district.

Immigration: Mary Anne and Emma Jane Weston 1856

5. Immigration Records/Ship Logs: Emigration/Immigration and Shipping Lists are another useful resource.  When researching Mary Anne and Emma Jane Weston I was able to find out that they were employed as housemaids in London prior to travelling Australia on the "Kate".  These details were shown on the New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896 .

6. Letters, Obituaries and Newspaper Articles:  Finally,  the careful examination of the documents related to your family history that you have collected can be rewarding.  Often, when you reread a letter, obituary or newspaper article you are able to find clues to how your forefathers were employed. Old receipts or accounts from a family business will also provide you with clues. If you do not have newspaper clips or obituaries, Trove is a useful site for accessing these.  If you are new to Trove, a post from last year, TROVE, outlines how to register and the wonderful benefits it provides for family tree researchers. By searching the Trove you are able find feature articles, business advertisements, obituaries and death notices etc. These articles provide great clues to how your ancestors were employed.

I hope that you find these few hints helpful when looking for how your ancestors were employed.  Family tree research is more than names and dates, lets find out a little more more about how they felt, who their neighbours were and what was their life like!! 
 

Friday's Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge" - D is for "Dog Tags"

Well it is the end of the week and as promised here my next post in Friday's Family History through the Alphabet Challenge which is my attempt to complete the Gouldgenealogy Challenge,  Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge.

With the first three letters,"A","B", and "C" ticked off, it is time to tackle "D".  Again I wracked my brain for something that I had used to assist in the research of my family tree that started with D.  Then it came to me "Dog Tag" or as it was originally called in Australia "Identification Tag".

"Dog Tags" is the informal name for identification tags that are worn by armed service personnel.  The primary use for the tag through history has been for the identification of the dead and wounded, and advice of essential basic medical information such as blood type and inoculation history and relevant religion.  The term "Dog Tag" is an American term and wasn't used in Australia until around the time of the Vietnam War.*

The first conflict that records the use of "dog tags" or identification tags was the Boer War of (1899-1902).  The Australian and British forces were issued with a strip of tape that was to be carried in the pocket of their tunic to assist with identification if they were wounded or killed during battle. It was found that this tag was not always carried and from 1906 the troops were issued with tin disks that had their details stamped into them.  This practice was continued for the troops in WWI, with soldiers issued with two fibreboard discs, one to remain with the body, the other to go with the soldiers belongings when they were sent home.*

Identification Tags - Malcolm Michael Shepherd WWI

 It was found that the fibre board discs tended to rot in wet conditions so by the time of WWII the discs were made of metal and the cotton tape which hung around the neck was replaced by leather thong, or metal chain that wouldn't disintegrate in the extreme weather conditions of jungle warfare.*

Now, you may ask how do these tags assist you with your family research?  If like me you are lucky enough to inherit or have access to your father, grandfather, uncle, or great uncle's identification tags you can use the information on them to trace all the details of their involvement in the relevant military conflict.

 The tags of my grandfather Malcolm Michael Shepherd, provide me with the following details: his fathers name, religion, the town he came from and his service number and battalion.  From this information I am able to access the complete digital copy of his military record.   This information can be found on the Search Page of the Australian War Memorial Web Page.

Inserting your ancestors service number and name into the search boxes will enable to access to a digital copy of their complete military record which can be downloaded or if you prefer you can for a fee order a copy to be sent to you.

These records hold a mine of information, which can include: height, hair colour, next of kin, your ancestors signature when he signed up, the name of the ship they embarked on, a complete record of where he was stationed during the war, if he was wounded, if they went AWOL, the medals they received, the name of the ship they returned to Australia on and any correspondence that was written to family or from family after the war.

 I have accessed a number of  our family's members military records and have to say, besides being extremely interesting, they have helped me solve a number of family history puzzles.  One of my husbands family members had met and married a lady he met in England at the end of the war.  In his ditigal record I found: was record of the marriage, and a letter from his commander giving him permission to marry. Another record that amused me was for one of my great uncles who was a bit of a larrikin. His report showed he was up on charges for stealing a crate of beer and that he received the penalty of being confined to barracks for a month for this crime.

So if you are lucky enough to have or can access your ancestors identity tags or "dog tags" make use of them and they will allow you to uncover the story of their military involvement and give you a better understanding of some of the hardships they endured.

_______
*  Australian War Memorial Encyclopedia,  http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/dog_tags.asp, viewed 12/1/13.