Tracing Family Branches

 I recently posted about my Great Uncle Harold O'Connor (see here ) and how he died and was buried at Bourke in New South Wales, Australia.  Unfortunately due to circumstances it will probably be some time before I am able to visit and pay my respects at his gravesite and I am unaware of any family member visiting it since his death, as most were unaware of its location until recently.  Thankfully though one of my Mother's and our families dearest friends was recently in Bourke visiting her daughter there and not only paid Harold's grave a visit but also took the time to repaint the cross and took him some flowers.  We are blessed to have Sue and her daughter Leisa in of our lives and are very thankful for their efforts 💓 Harold O'Connor's grave at Bourke Cemetery Harold O'Connor's grave at Bourke Cemetery Harold O'Connor's grave at Bourke Cemetery Harold O'Connor's grave at Bourke Cemetery

 A lot of happy dancing has been happening here lately, as I have finally broken down the brick walls around my husbands grandfather William Allardice/Allardyce Martin, who it turns out should have been known as William Wallace Martin.  I have previously posted about William here , here , here , here , here , here ,  here , here , here , and here . I discovered some years ago that there was a problem with William Allardyce/Allardice Martin's personal history, in that the real William Martin born on the 16th August 1900 in Glasgow to William Alexander Martin and his wife Elizabeth nee Allardice was alive and well living in Canada long after my husbands grandfather had died in Singapore.  This information led me to two different options either William Martin was using someone else's identity or there had been a serious mix up somewhere along the way.  I am happy to now report that it seems there had indeed been a serious mix up at some point early in William'...

 Today’s snippet concerns Helen Murray nee Stillfried, my husbands paternal great grandmother.  In an advertisement found here in the Singapore Standard on the 11th June 1951 found at NewspaperSG, she gave notice that she was applying for naturalization. The advertisement was also published in the same newspaper on the 12th June 1951. NOTICE NATURALIZATION NOTICE is hereby given that Mrs. Helen Murray of 342 East Coast Road, is applying to the Governor for naturalization and that any person who knows any reason why naturalization should not be granted should send a written and signed statement of the facts to the Colonial Secretary, Singapore.  Mrs. Helen Murray 342 East Coast Rd. More posts mentioning Helen came be found here , here ,  here , here , here  and  here .

Life has been very busy of late and this blog has been rather neglected yet again unfortunately .  Our house renovations have started in earnest and are moving along nicely, in spite of all the wet weather we have had lately!  Our new roof is nearly finished and it is such an improvement.  We have also started Homeschooling the grandchildren recently, which is proving to be very beneficial for all and so much fun! My father's Uncle, Harold James O'Connor was born in Cobar, New South Wales on the 10th May 1897, the fourth son of Michael O'Connor and his wife Elizabeth Phoebe nee Walker.  Dad told me a number of stories about his Uncle Snowy, one of which I have previously posted about Harold here .  According to Dad Harold had ended up in Bourke, New South Wales.   I found a death registration for a Harold O'Connor who died at Bourke in 1971, many years ago and put it on my wish list of BDM certificates.  On Mother's Day this year my son order...

This post involves the new Ancestry Ethnicity Inheritance feature again.  As a result of both my Mother and I having had our DNA tested through Ancestry I was able to compare the estimates we received with this feature.  The results we received were as follows: Ancestry Ethnicity Inheritance estimates for Tracy Drake, April 2022 Source:  https://www.ancestry.com/ My Mothers results My Mother's Ancestry Ethnicity Inheritance estimate, from April 2022. Source:  https://www.ancestry.com/  

 The new Ethnicity Inheritance feature on Ancestry is live and it was fun to compare my husbands results with mine.  Phil has a much more colourful and diverse heritage than me, as is evident from these results.  Ancestry Ethnicity Inheritance for Tracy Drake, April 2022 Source: https://www.ancestry.com/   Ancestry Ethnicity Inheritance for Philip Drake, April 2002 Source: https://www.ancestry.com/

My son Matthew has recently come over to the dark side and is currently studying for his Diploma of Family History, which of course has made me very happy! While researching for a recent assignment he uncovered new information on my Grandfathers first wife Marie Rose Thomson who was known as Rose or Rosie to her loved ones. I have previously posted mentioning her  here ,  here ,  here  and  here . Matt wanted to find out what happened to Rose after her marriage to his Great Grandfather Mervyn James Donnelly and he has allowed me to share some of his findings.  He found that the information that I had been given on Rose's fate by her extended family members some years ago was incorrect.  I had been told she died in the 1940's, but her parents death certificates and Family Notices in the newspapers do not reflect this as being fact.  In fact she is not listed on either parents death certificate as being deceased prior to their deaths and they died i...

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Easter!  Unfortunately it has been a while between posts due to a myriad of things going on here at the moment! A household of nine people is a busy place normally but when you throw in another round of household Covid (which decided to infect a new person every week for over a month), a new Labrador puppy and major house renovations into the mix, it is even busier!  The house now has a new traffic flow upstairs and a new bedroom, but the really big changes do not start in earnest until next month, just in time for winter!   I have not been totally idle when it comes to my genealogy research though!  My private and public family trees have been getting some serious attention and the mountain of research that has needed filing properly is almost done.  I also recently helped one of my cousins locate her biological grandmothers grave in Melbourne; which had been impacted by an unfortunate transcription error, that than...

 Today's snippet involves my great grand uncle James Albert Worldon.  James was the son of James Baker Worldon and his wife Flora (nee McDonnell).  He was born on 4th February 1904 and died on the 4th of December the same year.  James was buried in the North Gundagai Cemetery in the Church of England Section (see here ).   Source: Trove. ALL ABOUT PEOPLE. (1904, December 7). The Gundagai Independent and Pastoral, Agricultural and Mining Advocate (NSW : 1898 - 1928), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121738521 Transcript: On Sunday Mr. and Mrs. James Worldron, Spring Flat, lost a 10-months old child through congestion of the lungs. NSW BDM Birth Index WORLDON JAMES A 3472/1904 JAMES FLORA A GUNDAGAI NSW BDM Death Index  WALDRON JAMES A 13283/1904 JAMES FLORA A GUNDAGAI Source: Birth and Death registration for James Worldon/Waldron.  NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages.  Retrieved from  https://familyhistory...