Tracing Family Branches

 Today's throwback photograph is of my Great Grandmother Ada Louisa Stevens nee Jones (b.1891 -d.1961). I have been told that she was a very good dancer and taught many young people to dance in her day. More posts mentioning her can be found here and here . Ada Louisa Stevens nee Jones I used MyHeritage.com MyHeritage.com to colour enhance the photograph and got the result below. Ada Louisa Stevens nee Jones It also allowed me to enhance her face.  I can definitely see echoes of her in some of her descendants!

 Thirty two years ago today my wonderful Grandfather Roy Thomas Stevens died in Cootamundra, New South Wales.  He was a wonderful man and I have many precious memories of him.  He loved fishing and Batemans Bay was a favourite holiday destination for him and my Nan. He is greatly missed and dearly loved. Roy Thomas Stevens (b.1923 - d.1989)

 On Friday while on our way to another of my husbands medical appointments in Canberra we made a detour and stopped at Jugiong so I could visit the Jugiong General Cemetery where my great great great Grandfather James Henderson is buried (post to come about this soon).  We had not stopped there on our last visit to Jugiong (see here ) as my husband was in too much pain to do so. After deciding to grab something to eat and drink first, we parked near the Jugiong rest area to have our brunch, which was delicious again from the Long Track Pantry.  I walked over afterwards to have a quick look at the Sergeant Edmund Parry memorial and take some photographs and noticed the plaques on the back of the white pillars that make up the Jugiong War Memorial.  I had never previously stopped to look at it and was surprised to see the names of my Grandfathers brothers and other relatives listed there. Once I got home and had a good look at all of the names on these plaques, so many...

Back in November last year while coming home from one of my husbands medical specialists appointments in Canberra we finally stopped and had a good look at the Jugiong Catholic Cemetery.  Many of my maternal grandfathers family are buried there and I had been wanting to explore it for many years!  When I was a child we would frequently go on wonderful day trips to the Murrumbidgee river at Jugiong, passing the cemetery on our way to our families favourite spot on the river.  I knew family members were buried there but was not overly curious about it, as getting to the river and having a swim were my top priorities at the time.  The cemetery had been recently mowed on the day we went there and so it was easy to find my way around it.  It is quite steep in places and I would recommend wearing good hiking shoes if you are going to explore it. It is a beautiful cemetery and I hope to explore it further some time in the future as we had to cut the trip short as my hu...

Today’s photograph is of my Mother and my Father’s sister taken in 1967.  Mum would of been twenty years old and Aunty Nita thirty at the time.  Aunty Nita, who was the last surviving sibling of my Father’s family sadly passed away last month. From left: Judy Donnelly née Stevens and Nita Longstaff née Donnelly

Today's post involves my 2nd Great Aunt Bridget Greene nee Stevens husband William James Greene.  He was the son of John and his wife Pamaly Greene nee Curll and was born in Gundagai, New South Wales in 1870.  In 1897 he married Bridget Stevens and together they had seven known children.  Bridget apparently died somewhere around 1915 (see more here ).  William then ended up in Queensland where he married for the second time to a Mary Florence Levy in 1916.  William and Mary had two known children.  William is recorded as being buried at the Wagga Wagga Monumental Cemetery, location Roman Catholic No. 2a, however his grave is unmarked. Source: Family Notices (1931, April 29). Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW : 1911 - 1954), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142770263 Transcript: FUNERAL NOTICE THE Relatives and Friends of MRS. WILLIAM JAMES GREENE and FAMILY, of The Rock, are kindly invited to attend the funeral of her late d...

I took a research trip to the Wagga Wagga Monumental Cemetery to see where Laura Stevens (see post here ) was buried.  My efforts to try and confirm that she is my missing relative have thus far not been successful.  The cemetery authorities have no record of her burial in this cemetery (see here ) and there is no marker for her grave there either.  I was informed that that council only took over management of the cemetery in 1969 and prior to that the records were maintained by the various Churches with many records being lost or poorly kept.  Many of the graves in this cemetery are unmarked or in such a state of disrepair that you can no longer determine who is buried in that position. I was not surprised that Laura Stevens grave was unmarked as she was a cook and laundress at Oberne Station, Humula and no family were with her when she died.  The Deputy Coroner had filled out her death certificate with most of her personal details being recorded as not known ...

After spending weeks with an ankle to groin brace on my left leg due to my tibial plateau fracture and doing not very much at all I decided to do something productive for a change.  This resulted in my deciding that as I have lots of free time on my hands I will restart my family tree again instead of having bits of information and random trees all over the place.  I started inputting information and rediscovered a bit of a puzzle, that twenty two years after starting my tree I still have not got answers for!  What happened to my Great Grand Aunt Bridget Green/e nee Stevens? Various trees have her death occurring in 1910 without any further details or evidence but that clashes with the newspaper articles that have her acting as Bridesmaid for her sister Clara's marriage to Robert Colbert in February 1911 at Cootamundra, New South Wales, Australia. Source:  WEDDING BELLS. (1911, March 10).  Albury Banner and Wodonga Express (NSW : 1896 - 1938) , p. 45. Retr...