Wisdom Wednesday - Expanding your Ancestor's Timeline

Near the end of last year I posted on the Worldwide Genealogy - A genealogical Collaboration  a blog on Using Timelines as a Family History Tool.  This article outlined how to set up a timeline in an Excel using all the important dates and events of your ancestors life. 

Ideally, dates for other family members would be included as well, e.g. birth of children, births/weddings/deaths of siblings, parents and grandparents, moving house etc. This timeline becomes a wonderful tool, giving you a visual picture and reference point of what was happening in your ancestor's life at any individual time. 

The second section part of the blog covered the additional section of the timeline which is placed adjacent to your ancestor's timeline. This timeline depicts events that occurred during your ancestor's life time and that may have influenced the course of their life.  This part of the blog received a number of comments asking for suggestions and resources that would assist with filling out this section of the excel sheet. 

This first part of the timeline depicts the important points in your family member's life, however, the section part helps to put your ancestor's story into context with what is happening around them. It helps you identify the external forces that may have influenced them or perhaps even changed their life. Events such as war, famine, closing down of a mill, changes in law can explain why an ancestor moved town, took up another trade, moved into the poor house or immigrated to another country. for example the "Irish potato famine" in Ireland or "The Enclosure Act" in England. 

In response to the inquiries on "how to source information for the second section of the excel sheet", I am following up on my first blog with details of some of the sources that can be use to build up the information I enter into the excel sheet. 

Part of Annie Shepherd (nee McDonald)'s timeline

Above is a timeline, recently developed to depict the events in the life of my great grandmother Annie Shepherd (nee McDonald) (1869-1955). Here are some of the resources that I have used to build up her story. 

One of the most valuable resources for researching the social history of your ancestors are the online Newspaper's and we are blessed with a number of excellent online Newspaper resources, eg TROVE, the British Newspaper Archive and Free Newspaper Archive for US papers. These sights provide a rich source of information, for example:

• Obituaries - family names, where they lived, occupations, sickness, and if they died in an accident.
• Accidents - if your ancestor died in an accident, it is quite likely you will be able to find an article about the death and the coronary inquest, for example Ralph Shepherd.
• Search newspapers that were published around a major event in your ancestors life i.e. birth, death, wedding, enables you to see what else was happening in their village or district at that time, it can provide an idea of what the weather was like at that particular time or if their family was living in a time of famine or plenty.
• Searching for details on the ship they traveled on, can give you information on the day they arrived at their destination, any troubles that were experienced through their trip, if there was any diseases on board, how many died on the trip, stories of other people travelling on the same ship and what happened when they arrived. 

Some events from Annie McDonald's Timeline 

Another valuable group of records are soldier's War Records. These provide information on enlistment and embarkation dates, the ports they stopped at on their way, where they were stationed, when they were ill or wounded, the hospitals they were treated in.  This information can in turn lead/link you to further discoveries, for example by searching the battles they fought in, the commanders of their battalion, the hospitals they were treated in, the ships they traveled on, diaries of other soldiers in the same battalion and so on.  For example, Private Roy Denning's published Diary, details the days before the landing at Gallipoli, and mentions Annie McDonald's brother Alexander McDonald. His account describes how Alexander was shot while he helped his troops disembark at ANZAC Cove.  

If your ancestor was a teacher the Public School Records can provide information on Public Service Records, school records for teachers, give details of where they taught and a short report on their appointments, complaints by parents and inspections. 

In Australia each state has an online site that provides information of mining leases and land ownership records. These records not only provide information and maps of the land leased or mined but also give details of others people they may be in partnership with or who their neighbours are. By researching these partners or neighbours you can find more information on the people living around your ancestor and events that would have impacted them as well.

Careful examination of  Census Records can be very rewarding, providing details on your ancestors social position, land they own, occupation, number of men they employed, the occupation of other family members. Also, look at their neighbours -  their occupations, did any of the family marry anyone in the same street, were there children the same age living next door,  it is possible that they went to school together, worked together? 

Council websites can also provide background on the history of the area your ancestor lived in. Many council websites have time lines attached outlining important events e.g. opening of buildings, introduction of tramlines, opening of picture theatre, establishment of council. A good example of this is the Leichardt (or Balmain) Council which provides a well resourced historical timeline.

Genealogical and Historical sites also provide wonderful resources on the social history of their district and the events that have impacted on the lives of the people who lived there. A good example of this is Burra History Society in South Australia.

Books and Diaries written about the industry your ancestor worked in, the town they lived in, events they took place in can be a wonderful source of information on the social conditions that your ancestor lived in and experienced. A wonderful example of this for me was when I was researching my husbands great great grandmother Elizabeth Rushworth, I discovered "Memories of Colne - by Margaret Cryer".  This book provided me with a wonderful sense of what the town of Colne was like in the time that Elizabeth was alive. 

Another resource that should be explored are Cousins.  Researching your ancestor's cousins can often lead to further discoveries about the family history, remembering families often lived in close proximity and they shared many experiences and life events together.

Finally, a resource that should not be forgotten are Cemeteries. These are an important part of our past, in fact you could think of them as a social museum providing insight into the times of our ancestors. Not only do they record the birth and death dates of our ancestors, they can enlighten us on relationships, and other family links, other surnames to be researched and sometimes their epitaph will provide you with a clue to an ancestor's personality.  Cemeteries provide clues to the development of the district your ancestor lived in, the cultural and ethnic influences, the dominant religious group and often times of troubles are highlighted when numerous burials are recorded around the same time.

These are just some of the resources that can be used to "plump" out the life time line of your ancestor.  Please share any others that you can think of!

Wisdom Wednesday - 2013 Accentuate The Positive Geneameme

We are approching the countdown to 2014, and it is time for a little reflection on the passed year.  I must thank Jill Ball, from Geniaus for her wisdom in posing a challenge to all genealogy bloggers that encourages us to look back on our achievements of the last 12 months  with  the 2013 Accentuate the Positive Geneameme.  For me 2013 has been a year of many discoveries as well as sometime out in the second part of the year when work and family commitments left little time for research or blogging.  I was feeling a little slack, however, when I reflect, there have been quite a few high moments in my research and blogging. Here goes with my 2013 Accentuate the Positive Geneameme.

1. An elusive ancestor I found was Donald McDonald, my great great grandfather.  While troving on TROVE on Boxing Day, for articles on gold mining in Araluen and Braidwood districts, by pure accident, I came across the obituary for Donald, which confirmed the stories that my father had related to me many years ago.  The family story was that Donald McDonald was from Canada and came to Australia in the time of the gold rush.  However, I had not been able to find any record to confirm him immigrating to Australia from Canada.  The detailed obituary clarifies this story by advising that Donald first went to the gold fields in California and then traveled with a group of American friends to the gold fields in Australia. This group was known as the Yankees and they established quite a reputation in the area of Bells Creek, Araluen. More stories on this to follow in 2014! 

2. A precious family photo I found was a photo of James and Margaret McGregor, with all their family. What a find! or should I say gift! I was visiting my Aunt in November and we were discussing family tree research over a cup of tea, when she gave me a copy of a photocopy of the picture of James, Margaret and all their family.  The bonus was that each person in the photo was named. This photo was the kick in the "butt" that motivated me to get back into my blogging after a 5 month break.  That following week I started my blogging series on the McGregor Sisters.  Thank you Aunty Inara!

3. The Ancestral graves that I found which meant the most to me in 2013 were those of the Nesbitt Family in Alnwick, Northumberland.  Back in the 1890's, pre-internet, it was difficult to find information on family links in England, so I wrote to the post-offices of the towns that I knew our ancestors came from in the hope they would be able to put me in contact with people in the area with the same surname. One of these letters struck gold.  A worker at the post office at Alnwick, gave my letter to his father, who was a member of St Michael's Church parish in Alnwick.  He wrote a couple of lovely letters to me, these letters included photos of family graves, and post cards of Alnwick.  This year I traveled to the United Kingdom to do some family research and visited Alnwick.  It was so exciting to wander around the cobbled stone streets where my ancestors lived, but the most amazing part of this visit was to rediscover these family graves and take my own photos almost 30 years later.

4. A Genesurprise I received was about two weeks after my Aunt gave me the picture of the McGregor family (see above). I received a message on my Ancestry site, asking if I was related to James and Margaret McGregor? It seemed that the stars were aligned for my McGregor Research.  To cut a long story short a volunteer from the Society of Australian Genealogists (SAG) contacted me, advising that they had James and Margaret's bible and if I liked I could have it! I visited the SAG, and to my delight came away with three family bibles.  See my post: Lunch time discoveries in the Rocks. The bonus of this visit was that I finally joined the SAG and I hope to become more involved with them in 2014.

Alexander McDonald's grave

5. My 2013 blot post that I was particularly proud of was about my great-great uncle Alexander Joseph McDonald.  This poignant blog was part of the 2013 Trans Tasmanian ANZAC Day blog challenge and tells the sad story of Alexander McDonald's landing at Anzac Cove on the 25 April 1915.  By the way, Alexander was the son of Donald McDonald mentioned above in my first point in this blog on my most elusive ancestor discovery for this year.

6. My 2013 blog posts that have received the largest number of hits and comments has been the series that I started on "Sharing Memories". I have really enjoyed putting these personal memories, some with old pictures taken my father to paper.  Hopefully I will be inspired to post more of these memories in 2014.

7. A new piece of software I mastered was Evernote.  A couple of years ago I wrote a blog on my resolve to start using Evernote.  This year I made a concerted effort to use my Evernote account.  I have found it invaluable in collecting, and sorting notes, web pages, photos, documents, passwords, scanned documents etc.  I don't know about you but I love every now and then to just randomly search the Internet for bits and pieces relating to my family history, i.e. articles on towns they lived in, maps, occupations, social conditions, events that happened in their lives etc.  I collect and tag these links, saving them in the appropriate family tree file for later reference.

8. The social Media tool I enjoyed using this year! I start a Facebook page for Family Stories, Photographs and Memories.  This has allowed me to link with other genealogy sites on Facebook and has been very rewarding.

9. A journal/magazine article I had published?  None.  However, this would be a challenge I would like to tackle in 2014 if the opportunity arises.

10. A Genealogy Book that taught me something? My recent focus on researching the McGregor family has made me realise that my knowledge of Scottish Ancestry is very limited.  Two books that I found most useful were: Scottish Family History on the Web, by Stuart A. Raymond, and Scottish Genealogy, by Bruce Durie.

11. A great library that I visited in 2013 was the Colne Library, Lancashire. As I mentioned earlier I went to the UK in the middle of this year with the specific aim of researching the descendants of William Taylor and Elizabeth Rushworth. I spent a month in the small village of Foulridge on the outskirts of Colne, Lancashire, and passed many hours in the local Colne Library. The staff were so helpful, assisting me with all my questions, and showed genuine interest in my research. This included pulling out from their storeroom a forgotten box of pictures from the local Ambulance Station that was given to the library when the station closed.  In this box we found an amazing collection of photos highlighting events and important personalities from the Ambulance Station's history.  Included among these were a number of pictures of Elizabeth Taylor (nee Rushworth).

12.  A history book I enjoyed, was A Lancashire Past: A family love story, by J.W. Foulds. This was a delightful story of life in Lancashire in the early 1900's, and provided a great background and some understanding of life in Colne, Lancashire.

13. It was so exciting to finally meet  and reconnect with fellow researchers of the Taylor/Rushworth family tree. I has been writing and sharing information with this researchers for around three years.  It was so much fun to actually embark on family tree research together, as we visited the old family haunts, homes and churches in Lancashire.

14. The geneadventure I enjoyed was of course, my trip to the United Kingdom. I visited the districts of Arnold, Cambridgeshire; Alnwick, Northumberland; Arnold, Nottingham and of course Colne, Lancashire, all towns linked with branches of my and my husbands family tree. I visited so many churches, pubs, farmhouses, library's and museums, met long lost cousins and discovered photos and family graves and records.  It is my plan to sort and write about these discoveries in the new year.

15. Finally, another positive I would like to share. I consider myself a person who dabbles in blogging and writing history, though if I had more time I would like to take my blogging more seriously.  So when I received an email from the Australian National Library that both my blogs, Family Stories: Photographs and Memories, and The Other Half of My Family Tree - stories of my female ancestors, were to be archived in the Pandora Project, I was quite surprised! and a little chuffed. It certainly puts a little more pressure to write articles of substance!

Well that is all for 2013.  I wish you all the best for the New Year and Happy Blogging for 2014.

_________

Resources:
1. 1913 'OBITUARY.', Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 - 1954), 12 April, p. 12, viewed 31 December, 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article85849934
2. http://womenfrommyfamilytree.blogspot.com.au/
3. Society of Australian Genealogists, http://www.sag.org.au/ 
4. http://familystoriesphotographsandmemories.blogspot.com.au/
5. Colne Library, http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/libraries/librarydetails/libsearch1.asp?name=Colne

Sunday's Obituary - William Taylor 1833-1928

Colne Times 3 June 1928

General  regret will be express  in Colne at the death of Mr William Taylor of 62 Alkincoats Road, and formerly of Duke Street, which occurred on Wednesday morning.  Mr Taylor would have been 95 years of age if he had lived until Sunday.  So far as we have been able to ascertain he was the oldest inhabitant of the town. For some time he had resided with his son-in-law and daughter, Mr and Mrs Joseph Hartley, at the above address.  He was predeceased by his wife, who passed away in January of last year at the age of 86.

The late Mr Taylor was born at Burnley, and was a son of the late Mr Richard Taylor, of Lower Hood Hollow, Burnley.  Mr Taylor was formerly in the employ of Colne Corporation, and prior to the incorporation of the borough, of the old Local Board, as Building and Streets Inspector. He held that position for a period of about 20 years, retiring 20 years ago.

Diamond Wedding Ten Years Ago

It is almost impossible to write of Mr Taylor without making reference to his wife.  It will be remembered that Mr and Mrs Taylor celebrated their diamond wedding in July 1918.  They were married at Gill Church, Barnoldswick on July 15th 1858, the ceremony being performed by Rev. J.C. Miller.  They had 16 children, of whom only four are living - two sons and two daughters, one son being in Australia.  They had also had nine or ten grandchildren and some great-grandchildren in Australia.

For many years Mr. and Mrs Taylor were the oldest married couple present at the annual old folk's tea given by the Mayor and Mayoress of the town, but Mrs Taylor was unable to go in 1927, and she died soon afterwards.

It will be remembered that Mrs Taylor was one of the lady veterans of Colne Ambulance Association, and held the position of Lady Superintendent of the Nursing Division for 28 years.  For her ambulance work in the town she was elected an honorary serving sister of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England.  Both Mr and Mrs Taylor had been connected with the Church Colne Parish Church, and the  mission Churches - St James and St George's, Alkincoats.  It is interesting link with the past to recall that Mrs Taylor's parents were married in the Colne Parish Church 110 years ago.

 

Wordless Wednesday - William Taylor

I have just finished writing the second part of my story about Elizabeth Taylor (nee Rushworth)  on my blog "The other half of my Family Tree - stories of my female ancestors".  Elizabeth was married to William Taylor (1833-1928) on the 17 July 1858. 

So taking advantage of Wordless Wednesday I would like to share with you a picture of William. Underneath the photo you can see he has written his name in a beautiful script.  I know that this is his writing as we have a number of letters that William wrote to his son Richard Taylor who came to Australia in the 1880's.  It is quite possible that this photo was included with one of these letters.