The National Archives at Kew. Image by author. My husband and I went to The National Archives (TNA), Kew, London, several years ago as part of a visit to the United Kingdom. My husband had several documents to review, but I was unsure what I would do. It suddenly struck me I could look for documents on my only convict, Robert Bland. Robert is not my blood relative but married my great-great-grandmother, Ann Porter. I already had the court documents from Scotland, so what else could I find at TNA? I searched for Robert’s name, and there was a record – for a petition for pardons.[1] Serendipit ..read more

By Stephanie Ryan. An issue which can torment researchers of pre-21st Century times is the missing letter: the failed communication, the lost opportunity to contact a friend, relative or business. What critical love letter, piece of family news, financial assistance, secrets, or other life-changing messages were lost? Why was it such a problem? What was the fate of the lost messages and parcels? Sunday Mail 30 October 1932 p15. For the 19th and most of the 20th Century, mailed messages, newspapers and goods were a vital link around the Australian continent as well as to and from the rest of ..read more

By Linda Kuhn. Albert’s grave at Mackinlay. Authors collection. I have always been interested in the “forgotten” people on my family tree, those who were single, or married but left no descendants and those who died young including the many unnamed infants. Those who led ordinary lives and left little behind in the way of possessions or stories to be remembered and passed down. One such person was Albert George Loftus, the brother of my two times great-grandmother Alice Loftus. The Loftus family, John and Mary with their four surviving children, had arrived in Rockhampton, Queensland aboard ..read more

Many Queenslanders will have heard about Henry Readford, commonly known as Harry Redford. He is remembered in legend, in legal precedent, in written histories, in monuments and sculptures. His epic droving trip with stolen cattle from Bowen Downs in central Queensland to South Australia has been marked through modern day Cattle Drives.  In contrast, his wife of 30 years, Elizabeth has disappeared from history, without a photograph being located to remember her. Elizabeth Jane, my great grandaunt, was born in 1839 in Richmond, New South Wales as the second daughter of Richard Skuthorpe and ..read more

By Catherine Thompson. Richard Francis Thompson about 1914. From authors collection. It was May 1949 when my paternal grandfather, Richard Francis Thompson known as “Dick” died at the age of 63, leaving my grandmother, Eileen Evans, a widow for the next 35 years. There were no wedding photos although I do have individual studio portraits of them that were taken either before or after the occasion. I vaguely recall a story, that my grandparents met at a dance. My grandmother seated in the balcony of a dance hall waiting for someone to ask her to dance, when Dick arrived and attracted to the y ..read more

High School Rural Youth Leaders badge. Recently I received a reply to one of my blogs asking if I was the teacher at Nanango State School who had started a High School Rural Youth Club at the school back in the early 70s as they were writing the history of Junior Farmers/Rural Youth in Queensland. Of course, that was me! The first thing they asked me to do was to find any relevant badges that I had of that time so I went fishing through all that stuff that I can’t bear to throw out because of the wonderful memories.  There I found badges representing many different stages of my life&nbs ..read more

By Andrew Redfern. The study of family history often conjures images of solitary researchers poring over dusty archives or staring intently at computer screens into the early hours of the morning. This picture, though accurate in its depiction of the genealogist’s dedication, misses a crucial aspect of the endeavour—the vibrant undercurrent of collaboration that makes genealogy not just a personal quest but a collective journey. Family history is indeed a team game, a multifaceted exploration that thrives on the collaboration between family members, fellow genealogy enthusiasts, and the dedica ..read more

For many years, I have had two foolscap pages of old yellowing print text. The text is a copy, and it was made using some form of copying process which was available in the early 1900s. Glued to this text are two original illustrations. A number of years ago I discovered the text and illustrations had been published as an article in the The Queenslander in August 1907. The Queenslander was the weekly newspaper of the Brisbane Courier which had news and feature articles geared to rural readers. The article’s title was ‘Relics of Early Explorers’ and covered two, what they termed, ‘relics’ of ea ..read more

Madam, a circulating library in a town is as an evergreen tree of diabolical knowledge!  It blossoms through the year! Richard Brinsley Sheridan. LOCALLY AVAILABLE IRISH GENERATED SOURCESOther sources, once only available in Dublin, such as the Tithe Applotment Books, together with the ancillary Tithe Defaulters listings, Griffith’s General Valuation of Rateable Property in Ireland 1848-1864, and the Index to the Prerogative Wills of Ireland 1536-1810, are available online or held in microform and CD versions. Two other resources beloved by researchers include the Catholic parish records ..read more

Madam, a circulating library in a town is as an evergreen tree of diabolical knowledge!  It blossoms through the year! Richard Brinsley Sheridan. State Library of Queensland (SLQ) Although the State Library of Queensland is a reference rather than a circulating library as recommended by Sheridan, the produce of this evergreen tree for those researching Irish people is a profusion of flowers and fruits. As part of a far-reaching forest, the available opportunities ensure that a full harvest will take many seasons as this collection covers Irish who resided in Brisbane, elsewhere in Queen ..read more