Follow Friday - An accumulation of my weekly research - 4

Time is what we want most, but... what we use worst.

William Penn

Yes, this is me to a "T".  Grand plans but they always seem to fall to the wayside.  It is a couple of weeks since I shared my weekly research finds.  One area that I have spent considerable time on has been setting up my Evernote  account and as I have out lined in my blog on Evernote I must report it has been rewarding.

As for my other research, I have been sidetracked a little by an email from a lady who is researching the Rushworth Family from Yorkshire and Lancashire.  This is a branch of my husbands family tree and goes back to George Rushworth (1801-1884) and his wife Martha Halstead (1805-1845). My husbands great great grandmother was their daughter Elizabeth Rushworth (1841-1947). The Rushworths lived in the towns of Colne, Barnoldswick, Spotsland, Burnley and Stacksteads, Lancashire. It is so exciting when someone contacts you and you find a whole new source of information and photos connected to your tree. 

To assist her with her research I sent a list of research sites that I had found useful and interesting for family tree research in these areas.  On the off chance they may be of interest to other researchers here is some of the sites that I have found useful.

Lancashire Family History and Heraldary Society, http://www.lfhhs.org.uk/index.htm

UKBDM (UK Birth, Deaths and Marriages), http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/

Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society, http://mlfhs.org.uk/index.php

GENUKI Lancashire Site, http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/

Lancashire Family History Societies, http://www.ancestor-search.info/FHS-Lancashire.htm

Lancashire Archives, http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/web/?siteid=4528&pageid=30539&e=e

Lancashire's Criminal Past, http://lancashirehistory.wordpress.com/

A Vision of Britian Through Time, http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/index.jsp

The Barnoldswick Historical Society,  http://www.barnoldswickhistorysociety.co.uk/welcome.html

Burnley a Town among the Lanchashire Pennine Hills, http://www.jacknadin2.50megs.com/index.html

The Lancashire Lantern (great source for photos), http://lanternimages.lancashire.gov.uk/

Colne, http://www.pendle.net/colne/

The History of Colne, http://www.colne.towntalk.co.uk/about/history

These links are only the tip of the iceberg.  This is an area that I am very interested in and if anyone has any other resources they would like to share with me that have information on Lancashire especially between 1800-early 1900's I would greatly appreciated it.

Follow Friday - An accumulation of my weekly research - 3

Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday - Author Unknown

Oh yes Friday is here again!!! and as usual, there are a lot of things on my to do list that have not been ticked off!! (Hence my opening quote), I am definitely not Robinson Crusoe!!!

I did manage to finish my story on my grandmother Eliza Hazel Palin and have to reflect that writing these short histories of my female ancestors is taking longer that I thought. I have found that I am getting caught up in the stories of their times and the events they lived through.  What is becoming even more obvious to me is the huge holes in their stories, all that information that has been lost along the way.  It makes me wish I had taken more time years ago to gather the stories while there were people around to tell them.  All very well in hindsight you might say.

My biggest project this week has been reading and learning about the online application called Evernote.  So far I am quite impressed with its different applications and plan to write next week on how it can be a useful tool for the genealogy research.  If you are interested in checking this application it can be downloaded from http://evernote.com/.

Earlier this week I did get sidetracked researching one of my husbands great uncles that fought in WWI, so this week I will share with you a few useful sights if you are planning to research a member of your family that fought in the Great War.

The Australian War Memorial; http://www.awm.gov.au/

Role of Honour: Search site http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/roll_of_honour/

ANZAC's Diaries: http://www.anzacwebsites.com/gallipoli/diaries.htm

The ANZACS: http://www.lighthorse.org.au/

Gallipoli and the Anzacs: http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/

Indigenous Australians at War: http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/collections/exhibitions/iaaw/home.html

The Australian Light Horse Association:  http://www.lighthorse.org.au/

Australian at War: http://www.australiansatwar.gov.au/default.html

National Archives: Army WWI: http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/defence/service-records/army-wwi.aspx

Australian WWI Nurses:
http://www.travel-nurse-information-australia.com/World-War-1-Nurses.html

Evernote - Will this be a useful tool for my genealogy research?

I am sure I am not on my own when it comes to having bits and pieces of their geneaology research in a number of places.  I try very hard to keep the all the pictures, files, useful links, newspaper clippings, emails and letters from other researchers and so on,  in some kind of ordered manner.  However, I must admit the amount coming in is often far greater than the time I have to sort them. 

I am hoping I have a solution.  I am an avid follower of Paul Higgins site on Emergent Futures and receive his monthly news letter which gives a great summary of new innovations and trends.  In the last newsletter there was an interesting article on his Favorite Applications.   The first application was on  Evernote.  Now I have to confess, when I first purchased my Ipad (which I love) I madly downloaded many of the new apps, that were going to make my life easier and fun.  One of these apps was Evernote as it came highly recommended by many.  I did set up an account and after a brief look at its applications, didn't get back to using it.

Now after reading Paul Higgins article, I have decided that this could be the tool that I can use to tie all my research together. 

This tool allows you to store your notes, pictures, develop check lists, maps, clip interesting articles, etc.  Then the bonus is that you can now access all the items you have saved at any time on your Ipad, phone, or laptop. 

I can see great potential for this app with family tree research so I plan to explore this further, and make an effort to learn the full value that this tool has to offer.  Watch this space as I share my progress.

Follow Friday - An accumulation of my weekly research - 2

Where did the week go??

This week I have had writers block and have spent most of my spare time searching the web, looking at blogs and sites that write about or provide information on the history of women.

 The focus of my research is not Womens fight for "freedom and rights", eventhough I do agree this is important, but more on their achievements, way of life, interests and escapades.

I was pleasantly surprised at the abundance of interesting blogs and helpful sites available.  Here is a brief summary of some of my interesting discoveries:

Blogs

Womens History Network,   http://womenshistorynetwork.org/blog/

Scandalous Women,  http://scandalouswoman.blogspot.com.au/ , What a great title, and amusing read.

Women's History Sources, http://womenshistorysources.blogspot.com.au/, This is a collaborative blog that serves as a current awareness tool for anyone who is interested in primary sources at archives, historic sites and museums, and libraries

Womens of History, http://womenofhistory.blogspot.com.au/, Dedicated to the women who have graced the pages of history, from ancient to modern times

Writing Womens History, http://writingwomenshistory.co.uk/, Weird, wonderful and random bits of women's social history.  (I have really enjoyed reading some of these stories, and look forward to reading more)

Websites

The Womens Library,   http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/, is a cultural centre housing the most extensive collection of women's history in the UK

Notable Women Ancestors, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nwa/grandma.html, stories and photos about everyday women.

National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame  http://www.pioneerwomen.com.au/default.html, I like their slogan "History is her story too...".

The Australian Womens History Forum, http://womenshistory.net.au/

National Womens History Museum, http://www.nwhm.org/about-nwhm/.  I like the quote on their home page, "A better world awaits the generation that absorbs what women and men have to share about life from a joint perspective. Together, all things are possible."

This list is just the tip of the iceberg, if you have any that you sites that you have found interesting please let me know.

Follow Friday - An accumulation of my weekly research

As I research my family tree and information for my blogs I find that each week I discover new and interesting resources. I save these links into my Delicious Account as described in by blog "Delicious and Genealogy - A Great Family Tree Research Tool" .   To follow on from this I though it would be a good idea to share my weekly discoveries with other family tree researchers by posting a weekly summary of the sites that I have stumbled upon over the past week.  So here goes!!  I hope you find some useful information or resources in my first of my weekly, "Follow Friday - An accumulation of my weekly research" posts. I would also like to encourage other researchers to share related sites that they have come across in their research.

The focus of my research this week has been on the life of Women in Broken Hill, are a number of sites that I have found both interesting and useful as I search for more background information on my maternal grandmother Edna Hazel Palin who was born in Broken Hill.

 

Unbroken Spirit : Women in Broken Hill :

http://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/bh/bh-home.html

This site includes some great pages with a history of women, and stories of influential women and a wonderful collection of old photos. 

History of the Trades Hall Broken Hill 

http://www.brokenhilltradeshall.com/history.htm

Broken Hill City Library Archive Service

http://www.bhlibrary.org.au/archives.html

Broken Hill Cemetery

http://www.brokenhill.net.au/Cem.php

  

The Australian Women's History Forum

http://www.womenshistory.com.au/default.asp 

The Australian Women's Register

 http://www.womenaustralia.info/index.html

History of Broken Hill - ABC Series

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/01/21/3118060.htm?site=brokenhill

Australian Women’s Archive Project



Women assaulting Strike Breakers in Broken Hill



One of the things that I enjoy most when researching my family tree, is that nearly every day I discover a new resource, blog or web page that leads me to discover whole new dimension in understanding our past and identity.    I have recently started another blog, "The Other Half of My Family Tree: stories of my female ancestors" in which I plan to write stories about the women in my family tree. 

 

Dust Storms in Broken Hill



As most genealogical researchers  know, due to a number of factors, it is harder to find information on our grandmothers and great aunts than it is to research our male ancestors.  Yesterday, I was searching the Internet for a story on my maternal grandmother Edna Palin, (1910-1957) when I came across a new web site. 

 I was looking up “women’s history, Broken Hill” and  came across the Web Page “Unbroken Spirit, Women in Broken Hill.  Imagine my delight! This site is dedicated to telling the story of the women from the mining city of Broken Hill, the city that I, my mother, my grandmother were born in.  The women of Broken Hill lived in one of the harshest environments imaginable.  They lived through dust storms, droughts, extreme temperatures and a volatile political environment that saw years of strikes and picket lines. Yet they managed to raise their families, support their husbands, establish health care, schools, and even theatre groups.    

Women's Memorial - Broken Hill

Along with a large collection of images from these times, the site provides a list of Women in Broken Hill.  This list includes the story and details of Dr Franziska Schlink (1910-1965)  who not only was  my mother and grandmother’s doctor, but was the doctor present at my birth at the Broken Hill Base Hospital.  Dr Schlink’s story is fascinating, and I must write a story on her at a later stage.

As I found my way around the “Unbroken Spirit, Women in Broken Hill” web page I discovered that it was linked to the Australian Women’s Archive Project.  How had I not come across this before??

 For anyone who is looking to research and gain a better understanding of the legacy and history of Australian Women this is a wonderful resource.  The purpose of this Project is to preserve The History of Australian Women as outlined by the site.

“Records about women provide the basis of all the work of the Australian Women's Archive Project. To ensure records are available in the future, AWAP promotes the keeping and care of personal records and encourages individuals and organisations to deposit records appropriately in available archives and libraries.”

I hope my new discovery is of help to other family tree researchers and perhaps you will consider contributing to the evergrowing resources of the Australian Women's Archive Project.

TROVE continued - Updated List of Digitalised Australian Newspapers

Today, I would just like to make a short entry with some more information on the wonderful work that National Library of Australia has done with the their project to Digitalise Historical Australian Newspapers. As I have described in previous blogs, I find the TROVE web site an invaluable resource.

I was excited to read on the Genealogy and Historical News website that there was now a new updated list of all the newspapers that have been digitalised through the generosity and funding of a number of organisations.  If you are interested in seeing this updated list it is available on the Genealogy and Historical news at this link, http://www.gouldgenealogy.com/2012/07/update-on-troves-historical-australian-newspaper-digitisation-program/

In my previous blogs on Angus Shepherd and the benefits of TROVE I remark on how this resource has helped me so much with researching my family tree.  It is also interesting to read some of the comments that readers have added to the bottom of the article which include

"I have found this the most valuable tool for me research and know all the obits, family notice etc. just add a whole dimension to my research…"

and

"For genealogists, it adds another medium from which we can piece together our family trees. So often more is gained from a newspaper account of BDM & funeral notices have led us to many a resting place of a long lost relative. Papers of long ago where full of personal information especially country happenings which has put a personal touch to my family tree. Thanks so much to all the great work."

Thank you to the Genealogy and Historical News for sharing this updated list with us.  Spread the word to all family tree researchers.  TROVE is a most valuable research tool.

TROVE

In my last blog I spoke about the joys of assisting a friend into making the first steps towards researching her family history and how we used TROVE to search for some more details on her great great grandfather. Over the past few years I think I would have to rate TROVE as one of my most valuable research tools.

The National Library of Australia has developed TROVE as a free search engine that gives us access to a variety of collections in Australia and some overseas collections that relate to Australia.  These collections include Australian Newspapers, photos, articles, maps and books. No matter what your are researching, whether it be your family history, social conditions of a certain era, history of occupations, CWA recipies or sporting history as a few examples,  with just one click on trove.nla.gov.au you are able to find the most amazing collection of related material. The huge bonus to all researchers is that this information is free and accessible to all.

You can easily register as a user by going to this site https://trove.nla.gov.au/signup.  As you delve into the records you are able to tag articles of interest under you membership for later reference. Much of the TROVE content is digital and comes from libraries, cultural and educational institutions all around Australia.
When a researcher searches the site they are taken straight to the source, giving them immediate access to the information they are looking for.
As I look on family tree research as not only the collecting of the dates of birth deaths and marriages but also the collecting of family stories I find Trove to be one of the most valuable tools in my family research. There have been many occasions when I have used it to check a story that has been passed down in the family.  Often the discovery of a birth or death notice will provide that long searched for link to other members of the family or a place of birth.  However, what I find most exciting is that you are able to access stories about the towns and the times that your ancestors lived in, and some of the historical events that they lived through. 

Try your luck with TROVE.  The possibilities are endless.  Some of the areas I would suggest looking in are advertisements for sales of properties, family events, probate notices, court cases, obituaries, WWI and WWII notices or the names of towns that your families lived in. Small snippets from these types of searches have provided me with a rich source of information on where my ancestors came from, their occupations, life styles and important events in their lives.

TROVE also provides family tree researchers with the opportunity to share their discoveries and look for other researchers with similar interests on their forum.  If you are interested in using this resource it is very easy to register at this site  http://trove.nla.gov.au/forum/faq.php

I hope you find this resource as rich and rewarding as I have and please share your TROVING stories.

Happy Troving

The Family Tree Grows

In the late 1980’s our family moved and all my family tree research was packed into boxes to be shipped off to our new home.  Over the next 10-15 years, though I still kept my eyes and ears open for new family information, I didn't have time for any serious research and so these boxes virtually, stayed sealed.  With two young boys starting school, and a family business, there wasn't a lot of spare hours for digging around our family tree roots.

It was interesting though, I had unofficially become the keeper of the family history.   Members of the family would forward on anything they thought I might be interested in.  Also when another member of the family started to delve into the family history, they would be referred to me.  So during this time, my boxes of family memorabilia grew, and gathered dust in our spare room. 

It was almost 15 years later when both my boys had left home and we had moved home again that I finally started to find the time to start digging back into the mysteries of my family tree.  By this time there were numerous online genealogy sites such Ancestry, Genes United and My Heritage. Initially I took a starter package with Genes United. I signed up and was hooked.  I started pulling out all the notes, old pictures  etc and entering the data into my family tree. We invested in a scanner and my poor dear husband scored the task of scanning the reams of photos and certificates.

The feedback that I received from my on-line tree was phenomenal.  I couldn't wait for the next instalment of "hot matches" to come through, so I could make contact with others researching similar trees. I was starting to acquire a large address book of family tree contacts and it was great to be able to share stories, documents and photos.  Over the next few years I invested in a couple of on-line genealogy site memberships, trying them out to see which I found the best.  Now I do my main research and record keeping on Ancestry, but have a number of other memberships with other On Line Family Research sites as I find that some offer advantages that others don't and it also widens my access to other researchers. A word of caution, memberships can become expensive so be careful to look for the option that best meets your needs and budget. 

However, despite my joy at the influx of new information on my family history, a dilemma was developing.  The more information, pictures and documents I collected the harder it was to keep it in order.  I needed to find a way to put all the information into logical order!!  this was not an easy task and I hope to share this learning experience with you in later blogs.