Tracing Family Branches

Well my intention to blog more frequently this year fell by the wayside yet again as life has been a bit busy of late and so it has been a while since my last post.  Our household has recently expanded as our daughter, her husband, the four grandchildren and their pets are living with us while they save for a house of their own and so we are currently multi generational living like many of our ancestors did. The August 2021 Australian census should be an interesting one for us and hopefully for future generations of our family too!   I hope that everyone had a lovely Christmas! We had a wonderful day with our children and grandchildren.  Children really do make Christmas extra special! China, Isabella and Benji on Christmas Eve

 On Tuesday this week our beautiful Charles Cuthbert Drake, better known as Charlie passed away due to heart failure.  He was the most gentle, loving family member, friend and companion.  He was meant to be our daughters dog (she got him with her birthday money when she was sixteen) but two days later my husband and Charlie had totally bonded with each other and it stayed that way until the end.  My husband had been medically retired from the Australian Army in 2006 after twenty two years of service and Charlie arrived in his life at just the right moment for him and all of us.  Earlier this year he seemed to step back and let our other dog Isabella lead with the support duties instead, passing the baton so to speak but maintaining a close watch to make sure she did everything right.  He passed away peacefully in my husbands arms on Tuesday morning, tended to by an amazing caring veterinarian and surrounded by love. We were blessed to have him in our family...

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Sorry the blog has taken a backseat the last couple of weeks, we have been busy with spring cleaning, gardening, my husbands health issues and the grandchildren.  There have been some new exciting developments genealogy wise though!  My mother finally agreed and has done an Ancestry DNA test!  I really appreciate her doing so and am currently very impatiently awaiting her results as I am hoping they will give more insight into the Stevens line of my family, of which I presently have more questions than answers. If only one could time travel to talk to and DNA test our ancestors!  The DNA would probably reveal more than the talking with some of my ancestors though as they did guard their secrets fiercely! New contact has been made recently with some extended family members that has proved very informative and is always welcomed.  I have also been continuing to work on figuring out where my DNA matches fit in my tree and adding the new information to my trees whic...

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...

Today’s post involves the funeral of my 4th Great Aunt Matilda Thoroughgood née Guymer.  Matilda died on the 1 July 1909 and was buried at the Thurlow Methodist Church Cemetery on the 2nd of July 1909.  Another post mentioning Matilda can be found here . Source:  Family Notices (1909, July 1).  Goulburn Evening Penny Post (NSW : 1881 - 1940) , p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article103676738 Transcript: FUNERAL THE Friends of the late MRS. EDWARD THOROUGHGOOD AND FAMILY are kindly invited to attend her FUNERAL, to leave her late residence, Box Forest, Baw Baw, TO-MORROW (FRIDAY)  AFTERNOON at two o’clock for the Methodist Cemetery, Thurlow. R. SIDNEY CRAIG, Funeral Director, Sloane- Street. Telephone 100

Today’s post involves my 4th Great Aunt Matilda Thoroughgood née Guymer.  The daughter of David Guymer and his wife Marianne née Bentley, she was baptised on the 18th March 1832 at Great Thurlow, Suffolk, England.  In 1850 she married Edward Thorogood/Thoroughgood in Suffolk, England; Edward was born in Haverhill, Suffolk on the 23rd November 1821. The 1851 UK Census finds her living with her husband Edward (who was a shepherd) in the village of Little Thurlow, Suffolk, England.  1851 also saw the arrival of their son Walter Edward Thorogood/Thoroughgood.  The family migrated to Australia in 1853 on board the ship ‘Harriett’, on board were other members of her extended family members.  The Thoroughgood family eventually settled at Baw Baw, New South Wales, raised a large family and lived out their days there. Edward died on the 17 April 1894 and was buried at the Thurlow Methodist Church, Baw Baw (see here ) and Matilda died on the 1st July 1909 and was also bur...

Today’s post involves my 4th Great Uncle Joseph James Bell.  The son of William Bell and his wife Eleanor née Snead/Sneed/Sneyd/Sneid (see more posts here , here , here , here , here  and here ).  Joseph was born in 1853 and died on the 27 August 1928 at Cootamundra District Hospital from Erysipelas. In 1875 he married Mary Ann Jane Williams and together they had ten known children.  The Memoriam notice for him was placed in the newspaper by his daughter Ellen McDonnell née Bell and her family. Source:  Family Notices (1936, August 27).  Cootamundra Herald (NSW : 1877 - 1954) , p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article143971384 Transcript: IN MEMORIAM BELL. - In loving memory of our dear father and grandfather, Joseph James, who passed away August 27, 1928. The midnight stars are shining, On a grave not far away: Where they laid our darling dad Eight years ago to-day. - Inserted by his loving daughter, son-in-law, Ellen and Norman McDonnell, a...