Tracing Family Branches

This has been a milestone month for my blog as it has reached over 50000 page views! I was not sure which would happen first for me this year, my turning fifty or reaching the 50000 page view mark (by the way I hit the half a century mark first 😉) but I am grateful and delighted that both goals have been achieved. I thank everyone who reads my blog for doing so and hope that it has been and continues to be informative and entertaining for extended family members and others! Upon reaching this milestone I took a good look at my blog and realised that the name didn’t really fit properly, as I have pushed past most of our families branches roots in Australia and ventured overseas to various parts of the globe and so I have renamed it ‘Tracing Family Branches’. The new title is a bit of a play on my first name and I believe it better reflects the content and direction of my blog.
My passion for genealogy continues to grow and I am so glad that I decided to pursue this interest back in 1996! To the unknown distant relative who came to my Nan and Grandy’s home one weekend when I was primary school age seeking family history information, thank you for igniting my initial spark of interest all those years ago and my deepest apologies that my Nan refused to share her knowledge. She was the most wonderful Grandmother anyone could ask for, but unfortunately for you she was fiercely protective of her family and its secrets! Her parents did not marry until the year she turned three in a time when being illegitimate still carried with it a major stigma. I found out years after her death that she had used a birth extract certificate during her lifetime rather than her full birth certificate when she could, as the extract didn’t reveal the full circumstances of her birth and thus less people would know. My hearts breaks for her thinking that she suffered at such an early age from the judgement and prejudice of others and that it had such a long term adverse affect on her. She was an amazing woman who lived for her family, she was loving, loyal, fiercely protective and like all of us human. If I am half the grandmother to my grandchildren that she was to me I will be very happy!

My Nan (Glennie 'Mariė' Stevens nee Battye) and I in the 1970's

Trove Tuesday - The Murder of Patrick McCooey

These articles involve my 5th Great Grandmother Ann Puckeridge (nee Maund) and her son William Puckeridge (my half 4th Great grand Uncle). Ann was born in England and married her first husband Joseph Puckeridge around 1796. There are records of two children being baptised in St Marylebone, Middlesex, England for this couple Sarah (1799-?) and James (1800-?). Their lives took a turn in 1800, when Joseph was sentenced to death for stealing scotch ticking, this sentence was later remitted to transportation for Life. In 1801 Joseph, the convict and Ann his free wife arrived in Australia on board the ship Earl Cornwallis , their English born children's fate is unknown. They went on to have the following children in Australia: William (1802-1877), John (1804-1885), Ann Sawyer nee Puckeridge (1806-1882), Mary Ann (1809-1818), Richard (1812-1881), Joseph (1814-1857) and Henry (1817-1819). Joseph worked as a brickmaker in Australia and died in Sydney in 1818. In 1820 Ann married J

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 across a very sad he

Trove Tuesday - Death of a Centenarian

The year I turned twelve my Great Great Grandmother Flora Ann Worldon nee McDonnell passed away just two months short of her 105th birthday. She was born at the Inn owned by her Father and Uncle at Five Mile Creek, Gundagai in 1875; the ruins of which can be still seen today near the 'Dog on the Tuckerbox' and lived a full and interesting life. Growing up she had always been part of the family folklore. I have always known her to be my oldest ancestor at the time of their death but now it seems that my 5th Great Grandmother Ann Costello nee Hogan at 105 years of age has overtaken her for top ranking. There do seem to be some embellishments and discrepancies in the article however, she had been in Australia for only twenty nine years not over half a century and her immigration files have her birth year c.1798 rather than c.1782 that would be required for her to die in 1887 aged 105, so more research is required for verification of her exact age. Source: DEATH OF A CENT

Tracing Family Branches

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