hearing loss

Day Four – Thirteenth Australasian Congress on Genealogy & Heraldry

kira0030

My notes grew less and less as the Congress went on.  In Stephen Young‘s keynote Descendancy Research; when you can’t climb up your family tree, branch out I did make a note to ask my Mum about a conductor’s baton she has which used to be mounted on the wall of the house I grew up in.  I’m not sure where it is now and I also don’t know whose it was and what its importance is.  When I find out from Mum I’ll post it here.

I said hello to John Kitzmiller on the escalator going home Friday and he made this observation about Adelaide, “There aren’t many police cars driving around” which struck me as an unusual observation at first.  I’m just used to there not being many police cars around but I guess being from the USA John isn’t.

Over the three days I was at Congress I bought a nice bunch of goodies.  I like to buy a number of small things rather than one big thing so here is my list.

Forensic Genealogy by Colleen Fitzpatrick

Forensic Genealogy by Colleen Fitzpatrick

 

Car sticker - Caution I brake for cemeteries

Car sticker - Caution I brake for cemeteries

 

Uleybury School and students

Uleybury School and students

I don’t remember which stand these were on but they had packs of cards for sale.  I was looking at one with a picture of Uleybury School, here in South Australia, and the lovely lady at the stall said that they had a card with a picture of school students.  In the bottom picture are two of my great uncle’s sisters in law Kathleen and Doris Taylor.  I am thrilled to have found this!!

 

South Australian Government Gazette 1851

South Australian Government Gazette 1851

 

Cousin Jacks and Jennys - The Cornish in South Australia

Cousin Jacks and Jennys - The Cornish in South Australia

 

Inside History Magazine

Inside History Magazine

I subscribed to Inside History for 6 months.

Finding Your German Ancestors - A Beginners Guide

Finding Your German Ancestors - A Beginners Guide

 

The Annals Of Bendigo Vol 3 1892 - 1909

The Annals Of Bendigo Vol 3 1892 - 1909

I also ordered Volume 1 of the Annals of Bendigo but unfortunately Volume 2 isn’t available on cd.  I had only ever seen these in Bendigo Library so I’m thrilled to be able to own them even if it’s not the full set……yet.

There was also another copy of Inside History and Australian Family Tree Connections magazine in our conference bags so I’ve got stacks to read and enjoy!!

Thirteenth Australasian Congress on Genealogy & Heraldry Adelaide 2012

kira0030

I wasn’t able to make it to the first day of the Congress because I was setting up my art exhibition.  Here are some of my notes and impressions of Day Two.

 

Day Two

I didn’t write any notes about Jenny Higgins’ keynote talk other than to say that she was a bit hard to hear and understand.

World War One Recruiting Poster

World War One Recruiting Poster

These posters were being given out by the South Australian State Records in the exhibition hall.

Ref No. GRG 32/16/9

I wonder if my Grandfather saw these posters before he joined up.

World War One Recruiting Poster

World War One Recruiting Poster

 

Scottish Research Online – Barbara Baker

For anyone who wasn’t familiar with the websites Barbara was talking about they could’ve come out of this session rather confused as she switched back and forth between slides of Ancestry, Family Search and Scotland’s People.  There wasn’t always time to read the slides either.  It would’ve been good to see everything about Ancestry and then move on to the next site.

I did pick up some tips and new places to search for my Scottish ancestors- http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/, look at Wills and the Coat of Arms Register on http://scotlandspeople.gov.uk/, http://www.electricscotland.com/, http://british-history.ac.uk/, http://www.happyhaggis.co.uk/ and to look at  http://scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/ for the Farm Horse Tax records.

Horse Tax Record

Horse Tax Record Book

 Family Search Indexing – Stephen Young

The room for Stephen’s talk didn’t have much light on the speaker so it was difficult to lip read him.  I enjoyed Stephen’s talk about all the records Family Search indexes and about how to help with the indexing.  One tip that I noted was this:

“A farm labourer worked with animals and lived on the farm.  He usually stayed there a long time.  An agricultural labourer however worked in the fields, didn’t live on the farm and moved around from farm to farm or went to work fairs to gain employment.”  I have a number of ancestors listed as ‘agricultural labourers’ or ‘ag labs’ as they’re known but haven’t come across any farm labourers in any censuses yet.

Fascinating Facts & Figures From Five Countries – David Holman (keynote)

I thoroughly enjoyed David’s talk as I’m sure many people did going by the audience’s laughter.  David shared figures of the most common surnames and forenames in different countries.   He also spoke about uncommon and funny names and combinations of fore and surnames.  I didn’t write anything down because I was so interested and entertained by what David was saying.

David Holman

David Holman

I had to leave early for work so I didn’t get to hear any more talks but did spend some more time and money in the exhibition hall.  I’ll write a separate post about what I bought.