My friend Jill aka Geniaus has made a list of her ideas of Christmas gifts for genealogists.  I liked her list so much I thought I’d make one of my own.  I love all the no cost ideas Jill has in her list – family stories, photocopied birth, death and marriage certificates, scanned photos, certificates or awards, newspaper clippings, postcards and letters.  I would love to receive any of these!!

Some of my own ideas are-

• credits for Scotland’s People or  Roots Ireland
• money towards Ancestry and Find My Past subscriptions
• money towards certificates and transcriptions
• help when grave hunting in large cemeteries
• genealogy society membership
• genealogy trip companion
• genealogy bookshop voucher
• magazine subscriptions
• polypropylene sleeves
• archival paper

There are probably lots more but these are all I can think of at the moment.

For the last two months I’ve been working on the Saving Graves Australia website.  A big thanks to Peter Applebee for hosting the site.

For many years cemetery authorities across Australia have undertaken the practice of removing headstones and memorials and re-using graves on which the lease has expired. Concerned citizens are now coming together to raise awareness about this practice, share their stories and lobby governments for legislation changes.

 

If you haven’t heard about this please check it out and join one of the Facebook groups.

 

I saw this post on Facebook by Alona from Gould Genealogy and thought it would make a good blog post.

While we all think about writing our own history, few of us actually sit down to do so, as it’s not an easy thing to do.

But rather than writing a book, why not write Life Notes! Break it down into topics or lists, and just write down things like the houses you lived in, the various cars you owned over time, the places you went for holidays and the pets you had and so on … and then even if your book never gets written, the information has been preserved.

I’m starting with some of the homes I’ve lived in.

16 Jenny Ave, Dernancourt, Adelaide, South Australia. 1969 – 1973.

Corner of Flaxley Rd and Strathalbyn Rd, Flaxley, South Australia. 1973 – 1987

If you click on the picture to see it bigger you can just see under the peeling paint where a previous owner had painted Flaxley Corner on the roof.

This picture is of the opposite side of the house from the one above.

Uno Station, near Iron Knob, South Australia.  Governess job 1987.

Flinders Island, South Australia. Governess job 1987.

Callanna Station, near Marree, South Australia.  Governess job 1987.

Cawkers Well Station, near Wilcannia, New South Wales, Australia. Governess job 1988.

Hood St, Wilcannia, New South Wales, Australia 1988.  I worked at the local school.  It was at this house I learnt to chop wood for my wood stove which I used for heating and cooking.