Google For The Wise Genealogist

May 24, 2012kira0030

I’m currently studying Google For The Wise Genealogist with the National Institute For Genealogical Studies.

Genealogical research is a satisfying pastime for the family historian and a rewarding occupation for the professional genealogist. To support the needs of both amateur family historians and aspiring professional genealogists for reliable and comprehensive education we have designed a series of courses (Basic, Intermediate, Advanced and Electives) leading to various Certificates in Genealogical Studies with specialization in various countries.

The National Institute for Genealogical Studies in affiliation with the Continuing Education, University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto provides web-based courses for both family historians and professional genealogists.

This week’s module is on Google Maps and Panoramio. This is a map I created, for my assignment, which shows the possible route my Buring ancestors took when they went from Berlin, Germany to Adelaide, South Australia. I know that the ship, the Princess Louise stopped at Rio de Janeiro on the way to Adelaide.

View Berlin To Adelaide in a larger map

I never knew before that you could embed a Google map in a blog or website. Yay, I love maps, so you can expect to see a lot more maps in my blog.

Albert Gustav Adolph Buring

May 20, 2012May 20, 2012kira0030

Albert Gustav Adolph Buring was my great, great uncle. Affectionately known by me as AGA he is one of my favourite ancestors. I have nothing firm to base this bias on except that he was a teacher and I love to teach and have a great respect for teachers and there are lots of records of his life and work so it has been relatively easy to piece together his whereabouts and his jobs.

I had just been talking about him with Pauleen from Family History Across The Seas as she also has a favourite ancestor whose name she has abbreviated to WEH.

This is the earliest photo I have of AGA, it’s from a larger family photo, I’m not sure when it was taken.

Albert Gustav Adolph Buring in 1931

I found this photo today in an article in the Cyclopedia of Tasmania, on findmypast.com.au, about Princes Street State School of which AGA was the Head Master in 1931. I’m unsure as to how long he was Head Master for there.

Princes Street State School Hobart, Tasmania

I’m putting all the details from this article and the other information I’ve gathered on his profile page of my family tree – Albert Gustav Adolph Buring.

I like the layout of findmypast.com.au and being a smaller record set, of just Australian records, I don’t have to trawl through a heap of irrelevant results before I find what I’m looking for. They have very interesting records too;

post office and trades directories
armed forces and conflicts
churches and religion
education and work
institutions and organisations
newspapers, directories and social histories
census, land and surveys
life events
travel and migration

I have a subscription so if you would like me to look something up for you please let me know.

Volunteering

May 17, 2012May 17, 2012kira0030

I take my hat off to all volunteers everywhere!! Growing up we were encouraged to be involved in our community, it wasn’t viewed as anything unusual or different, it seemed to me that everyone did it. Mum was involved in the Country Women’s Association, our school things, table tennis club and the local Technical And Further Education College council and probably more that I can’t think of at the moment. Dad was in the Country Fire Service and heavily involved in the local football and cricket clubs. He played cricket for years, coached junior teams and then became an umpire.

The tiny locality of Flaxley where I grew up

My sister and I played netball, table tennis and tennis and our brother played and umpired football and played tennis and table tennis. I don’t remember if he played cricket or not, I’ll have to ask him. In playing these sports we were involved in the helping out too. It was just a natural thing, I don’t remember talk about voluntary jobs and paid jobs being different things. My sister and I were in St John Cadets also. As a result I’ve always been involved in ‘helping out’ and it’s grown to be a passion in my life.

Flaxley Methodist/Uniting Church, our youth group was often involved in helping out too.

I love working with an amazing bunch of people at Teen Challenge SA Inc, we’re all volunteers, with a great sense of purpose and calling to do the work we’re doing. Teen Challenge provides residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation for young people as well as a range of other programs including – housing, community centres, youth programs, work programs, emergency financial assistance, counselling and more.

One day a week I run a community program through Teen Challenge which is open to people of all ages – I teach art classes and will be teaching computing again soon too and we have a shared lunch.

In genealogy I like to help people where I can. In July I’ll be running a two day workshop, with my sister, about online genealogy and next school term I hope to be running some regular classes on online genealogy too. I use the BillionGraves app on my Android phone and photograph headstones which are uploaded to the BillionGraves website for everyone to access.

I don’t tend to classify things in my mind as paid and unpaid. If it’s something that I’m passionate about, such as helping people, and I can make a real contribution, then I’ll do it.

I didn’t want this to be an ‘I do this and I do that’ kind of post but just to highlight the great work done by volunteers everywhere and that we were raised to ‘do our bit’.

Using Small Clues To Find More Information

May 15, 2012May 15, 2012kira0030

William Burnett Willison's Enlistment Form

On my grandfather, William Burnett Willison’s, enlistment papers for World War I is the question –

Do you now belong to, or have you ever served in, His Majesty’s army, the marines, the Militia, the Militia Reserve, the Territorial Force, Royal Navy or Colonial Forces?

His answer – “23rd Barossa L.H. 3yrs still serving. Salisbury R.C. 2yrs.

In the rest of his service record it shows that he was in the 9th Light Horse Regiment, 22nd Reinforcement so it’s logical to assume that 23rd Barossa L.H. means 23rd Barossa Light Horse. By looking on the Australian Light Horse Studies website I found that there was a Militia unit the 23rd Barossa Light Horse and that B Squadron covered the Salisbury/Para Hills area where William was living.

23rd Barossa Light Horse

Salisbury R.C. stands for Salisbury Rifle Club. I discovered this when I found many newspaper reports of John Reid Willison, William’s brother’s, involvement with the club.

So William was already proficient with horses and guns before enlisting.

John Reid Willison Rifle Shooting 1915

I went to the Len Beadell Library in Salisbury yesterday which has a good little local history room. There I found a Salisbury Rifle Club scoring notebook which contained the following entry:

Salisbury Rifle Club Scoring Notebook c1920s

The last entry on the page is for A. Willison – Andrew Alexander Willison, John and William’s younger brother. There was also a photo of the Salisbury Rifle Club with John Reid Willison in it however I can’t reproduce the photo here without permission from the library. John was also in the Salisbury Mounted Infantry but I have been unable to find any other records of this unit.

Salisbury Rifle Club 1984

The Salisbury Rifle Club can trace its beginnings back to the Munno Para East Mounted Rifles.

I wonder how the Light Horse and the Rifle Clubs worked as I’ve said above, William listed both in his previous military service, was one for the horsemanship and one for the shooting or did they both do similar things? Does anyone know any more about these groups?

==============================================================================

P.S. I just found this link on the Australian Light Horse Studies website too.

http://alh-research.tripod.com/Light_Horse/index.blog/1993176/9th-australian-light-horse-regiment-embarkation-roll-22nd-reinforcement/

2986 Acting Corporal William Burnett WILLISON, a 31 year old Farmer from Parra Hills, South Australia. He enlisted on 6 June 1916; and at the conclusion of the war Returned to Australia, 25 September 1919.

Merry Month Of May Music Meme

May 11, 2012kira0030

Paul Young

Song(s)/Music from your childhood: The Gypsy Rover, The Scottish Soldier, Sunday School songs
Song(s)/ Musos from your teenage years: INXS, The Police, A-Ha, Paul Young, Culture Club, Michael W Smith, Kenny Marks, Keith Green, Elvis, Don Francisco, Robin Mann, Kairos Youth Band, Dire Straits
First live concert you attended: sat outside Sting concert at Memorial Drive, Adelaide
Songs your parents sang along to: Mum – opera, operetta etc Dad – country & western, Irish/Scottish folk songs.
Song(s)/Music your grandparents sang/played: Grandma – classical and opera all the time, I liked some of the classical but not the opera.
Did your family have sing-a-longs at home or a neighbours: We all sang on car trips – as I said before The Gypsy Rover, A Dashing Young Stockman Lay Dying etc. and around the piano at Christmas.
Did you have a musical instrument at home: A piano all us kids had piano lessons, my sister learnt the Trombone for a while and then the recorder – she was very proficient and played Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Sopranino recorders.
What instruments do you play (if any): Flute (failed at Piano LOL)
What instruments do you wish you could play: Saxaphone and Piano
Do you/did you play in a band or orchestra: Played my flute and sang in a band called Guiding Light – played for churches, concerts, Senior Citizens etc.
Do you/did you sing in a choir: have sung in a few choirs
Music you fell in love to/with or were married to: late 80s early 90s pop
Romantic music memories: wish there were lots 🙂
Favourite music genre(s): too many to list – pop, classical, spiritual, hymns, Christmas Carols, rock, folk music, folk rock/pop, country, country/rock, contemporary Christian music.
Favourite classical music: Vivaldi, Mozart
Favourite opera/light opera: I LOVE Gilbert & Sullivan
Favourite musical: Oklahoma, Jesus Christ Superstar (was in a production of this great show)
Favourite pop: Beatles, Dire Straits
Favourite world/ethnic: African Gospel music
Favourite jazz: none
Favourite country or folk: The Seekers, Josh Woodward, Kasey Chambers,
Favourite movie/show musical: Grease
Favourite sounds tracks: The Little Mermaid
What music do you like to dance to: pop, Aussie – for Bush Dancing
What dances did you do as a teenager: the Madison, Thriller, bush dancing
Do you use music for caller ID on your mobile: No
What songs do you use for caller ID:
What songs do your children like or listen to: pop, rock, contemporary Christian music
Favourite live music concerts as an adult: Don Francisco, friends’ bands and friends who are solo artists, Anthony Callea
Silly music memories from your family: my daughter’s funny mondo greens (mishearing and singing the wrong lyrics)
Silliest song you can think of: Peter Coombe’s Spaghetti Bolognese
Pet hate in music/singing: music tooooooo loud and I have to turn my hearing aid off.
A song that captures family history for you: Christmas Carols
If you could only play 5 albums (assume no iPods or mp3) for the rest of your life, what would they be: Best of Damien Leith, The Murphy Brothers, Vivaldi Flute & Recorder Concertos, Best of Michael W Smith, it’s so hard to choose Best of Simon & Garfunkel.
Favourite artists (go ahead and list as many as you like): These are the ones I haven’t mentioned yet – Beatles, Chris Tomlin, Courtney Murphy, Murphy’s Lore, The Murphy Brothers, Cold Play (I’m listening to them now), Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, The Fureys, Billy Thorpe, Simon & Garfunkel, Third Day, loads and loads more…… Megan Washington, The Cockroaches, The Wiggles, Mike & The Mechanics, Genesis, Phil Collins, Pete Murray, Split Enz, Crowded House, Guy Sebastian, Redgum, Midnight Oil, Ry Cooder, ABBA, Elvis, Andrew Lloyd Webber (writer), and more …………………..