Skip to main content

Knowing our family history



Back in the 1990's our son was sent for genetic testing with regards to his Autism.  Sitting in the specialists office my husband and I realised how little we knew about our family history.  As far as we knew back then, my husband was a mix of Dutch Indonesian, Portuguese, Japanese, Austrian and Scottish ancestry while I believed my family were predominately Irish with some Scottish on my mother's side.  The specialist actually commented that I had a face like a road map of Ireland! 
To us our family trees were tiny saplings with a couple of branches and questionable root systems.  I could tell you that one of my Great Great Grandmothers was almost 105 when she died in the 1970's, that a Great Great Grandfather was a hero during the Gundagai floods and found a major gold mine but I couldn't tell you their names or any other details about them.  My husband's family was even more of a mystery! The Second World War, civil unrest, death, divorce and discord had all impacted on his family and some of his Grandparents details were all that we knew.  We both left the meeting determined to find out more, we would get in touch with family and sort it out in no time at all!
That was the beginning of my journey to know my family history.  Today the journey continues and it has become a passion and lifelong research project for me now.  



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sunday's Obituary: William Henry Bell

William Henry Bell the son of William Bell and his wife Eleanor (nee Sneed) was born in 1840.  My connection to him is that he is my 3rd Great Grand Uncle.  In 1862 he married Catherine Campbell at Berrima.  William died on the 3rd April 1914 at Wingello, New South Wales and was buried at Marulan General Cemetery. Source: Obituary. (1914, April 11). The Scrutineer and Berrima District Press (NSW : 1892 - 1948), p. 2. Retrieved November 9, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article133369164 Transcript: Obituary. The death occurred suddenly on Friday, 3rd instant, of an old and highly respected resident of the district, Mr. William Bell, of Wingello, at the age of 73.  Deceased was born at Pomeroy, near Goulburn, and was a sawmill proprietor, living at Wattle Farm, Wingello.  He had been complaining of feeling unwell, and previously had medical attention.  Death was due to heart failure  He leaves a wife and large family.  The la...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Kendall Children.

I started this post a while ago and was going to finally finish and post it yesterday however our four grandchildren came over and I got sidetracked.  Our grandchildren range in age now from six down to one;  they are so full of life (each of them lights up a room when they enter it) and we feel extremely blessed to have them in our lives.  After spending the afternoon researching this post, their arrival made this tragedy even more poignant for me and so I appreciated their company even more than usual and hugged them a bit tighter too!  This morning I woke up to a cold, wet and windy Wagga day and the thought of three little girls out in August weather like this, in light weight dresses with no shoes or jumpers impacted on me even more. Those poor babies! One of the girls was found still clasping her doll that she had carried with her over the whole tragic journey. When my husband and I were looking around the Wagga Wagga Monumental Cemetery some time ago we came a...
9 comments
Read more

Thursday’s Titbit: From Liverpool to Quebec

 In a recent post I was finally able to reveal my husbands Martin family connection with Canada (see here ),   My husbands great grandfather William Martin, his first wife Mary (nee Adams) and their children James, Alexander and Margaret departed Liverpool, England and arrived in Quebec, Canada on the ship Brooklyn on the first of October 1879. Canada, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1865 - 1935 Name Birth Year Arrival Date Arrival Port Departure Port Vessel Maggie Martin 1 Oct 1879 Quebec, Quebec, Canada Liverpool, England Brooklyn Mrs Martin abt 1855 1 Oct 1879 Quebec, Quebec, Canada Liverpool, England Brooklyn James Martin abt 1877 1 Oct 1879 Quebec, Quebec, Canada Liverpool, England Brooklyn Alex Martin abt 1878 1 Oct 1879 Quebec, Quebec, Canada Liverpool, England Brooklyn Wm Martin abt 1855 1 Oct 1879 Quebec, Quebec, Canada Liverpool, England Brooklyn Source: Passenger listings for Martin. Canada, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1865 - 1935.  Retrieved from  Ancestry.com Af...
Post a Comment
Read more