The Search for Samuel

The first rule of genealogy is to research backwards systematically, confirming what you know and always looking for clues to the unknown. Some ancestors kindly appear in records just where you might expect them and it is easy to get birth, marriage and death certificates, which in turn probably point to their parents. The biggest risk for these ancestors is that you might forget to look for interesting stories along the way.

Other ancestors, like Samuel Etherington, required me to search far and wide in less obvious records. The result was that I learnt a lot more about him than if he had been easier to find.

Family

My mother’s grandfather was William Edward Etherington. I found his marriage to Annie Barbara McNeill (in Surry Hills, Sydney),¹ his marriage certificate listing his parents as Samuel Etherington and Sarah Everett, but I could not find his birth certificate. Eventually I found his baptism, which listed his parents as Samuel and Sarah Etherington, living at King St, Sydney.² Samuel was described as a ‘cabinet maker’.

Unable to find a marriage record for Samuel, I turned to researching other children of Samuel and Sarah, hoping that in those records there might be further clues. For son John I could find a marriage but no birth registered. John’s marriage certificate named his father as Samuel Etherington, a baker.³ I did find a baptism for daughter Emmeline,⁴ which listed her father as Samuel Henry Hetherington, an engineer, living at Miller’s Point. (Cabinet maker, baker, engineer?)

(Samuel’s daughter) Harriet’s baptism certificate listed her father as an engineer.⁵ On Harriet’s marriage certificate, her father was listed as a commercial traveller.⁶ Samuel’s son Alfred died at only 16 months old. On his baptism, Samuel was listed as an engineer.⁷ On Alfred’s death certificate, Samuel was listed as a carpenter.⁸ On the marriage certificate of another son (Frederick), Samuel was described as a clerk.⁹

On all these records, Samuel’s wife was named as Sarah (née Everitt or Everett). Sarah had been baptised at St John’s in Limerick City in Ireland¹⁰ and migrated with her parents to Sydney in 1841.¹¹ I could not find a marriage between Samuel and Sarah, but when Sarah died in 1885, she was described as a widow.¹²

Timeline

Samuel’s origins remained a puzzle – I could not find a record of either his birth in, or immigration to, Australia. In the absence of further family records, I turned to building up a timeline of his addresses and occupations. Some of these details were listed in the birth or marriage certificates of his children, but others came from directories, such as the Sydney, Suburban and Country Commercial Directory, published by John Sands.¹³ Electoral rolls also provided addresses and sometimes occupations.¹⁴ Samuel was variously listed as: an engineer, a builder, a carpenter or cabinet maker, a clerk, a commercial traveller – before the surprising shift to baker.

Other Etherington families?

Fortunately Etherington was not such a common name in Australia, so I began building up family trees of anyone in Australia named Etherington or Hetherington, hoping for clues. As well as birth, death, marriage and address records, I also searched newspapers – made much easier when the wonderful Trove website came online.¹⁵ Among its many collections, Trove contains easily searchable digitised newspapers. In researching all the family, the marriage announcement for son John mentioned that Samuel was ‘late of London’.¹⁶

I decided to extend my search to Etherington families in south-east England, starting with those who had a family member come to Australia. I was hoping for maybe a sibling called Samuel in England who might have disappeared from English records.

In 1857 Thomas and Ann Etherington arrived in Sydney.¹⁷ Searching in the indexes of the NSW State Archives collection (Museums of History NSW website) I found two microfilm numbers associated with their arrival in Australia as Assisted Immigrants.¹⁸ The first film contained the information Thomas and Ann provided when they boarded the ship in England, and this has been digitised. The second microfilm contains information collected by the Immigration Board when Thomas and Ann disembarked in Sydney. This second microfilm was not digitised and I viewed it at the State Archives Reading Room. In addition to the information collected in London, the Immigration Board in Sydney also asked immigrants to give details of their parents. Thomas said that his parents were ‘Joseph and Henrietta, mother dead, father living at Peckham’.

Thomas and Ann had been married in London before travelling together to Australia.¹⁹ Thomas was the son of Joseph Etherington, a builder, and Ann was the daughter of John Etherington, also a builder. In the 1841 English census, I found Thomas living in Southwark (just south of London) with his parents Joseph (a carpenter) and Hetty.²⁰ Also listed in the family were Thomas’ six siblings – including his older sister Anna. Further researching this family, I found that Anna had been baptised in 1824 – on the same day as an older brother Samuel.²¹

I could not find record of a marriage or death for this Samuel, so I wondered if he might be the Samuel Etherington I was seeking?

In those early days of the Internet, I posted enquiries about this family wherever I could. Might there be someone else researching the Etherington family in NSW or else the family of Joseph and Hetty/Henrietta Etherington of Southwark, England? Eventually I received this reply:

Are you looking for information about Samuel Etherington, who married Hester Holmes in England about 1836 and came to NSW? His mother’s name was also Holmes. They used the name Holmes instead of Etherington in Australia. Samuel died in Bombala in 1903.

This exciting reply gave me more research clues – as well as contact with a descendant of Samuel’s sister Anna. Anna’s son had written to the Lloyd’s Weekly newspaper in London in 1903, and that enquiry was re-published in Australian newspapers:

Hetherington (Samuel) landed in Sydney, N.S.W., in 1838, last heard of in 1888, trading as S. Holmes, Steam Flour Mills, Sydney. Sister Anna’s son inquires.²²

Samuel’s son had written back, and Anna’s descendant still has that letter.

Dear Sir, Mr. H.S. Holmes, Tocumwall, New South Wales, Australia, says his father, your uncle, traded for many years as a flour miller under the name of Holmes. He died in Bombala, N.S.W. in April last year. Please let us know if you will write to your cousin.

Anna’s descendant also still has the prayer book that Samuel inscribed and signed and gave to his sister when he visited London in 1855.

With all this information, I started researching NSW miller and baker Samuel Holmes.

While Samuel Etherington was in England visiting his sister, the wife of Samuel Holmes gave evidence at a trial for one of his employees, and noted Samuel’s ‘temporary absence in England’.²³

In 1858 Samuel Holmes gave evidence at an enquiry into the quality of flour in Sydney, and mentioned that he had examined the manufacture of flour in Richmond, Virginia ‘about two years ago’.²⁴ That led to discovering that while Samuel Etherington had visited his sister Anna in England, it was as Samuel Holmes that he travelled home to Australia via North America.²⁵

I tracked the names Samuel Holmes and Samuel Etherington through directories and NSW electoral rolls, gradually adding to the timeline of his addresses and listed occupations associated with both names.

In 1860 a fire broke out in Samuel Holmes’ bakery and mill in King Street, Sydney. The bakery was adjacent to the Prince of Wales Theatre, and the fire not only destroyed Samuel’s business, but also that theatre.²⁶ Two months later Samuel Holmes wrote to the Sydney Council, requesting a reduction on his water rates, given that he was not currently using water in his business.²⁷

Samuel Holmes was declared insolvent several times during his business life (in 1848²⁸, 1862²⁹ and 1871³⁰) before finally being declared bankrupt in 1891.³¹ The file associated with his 1862 insolvency gives great insights into his life, including a David Jones (department store) bill that he was unable to pay. Perhaps Samuel was planning to re-outfit himself following the fire.

Doves’ 1880 map of Sydney³² shows that Samuel Holmes rebuilt his bakery and flour mill adjacent to the newly rebuilt theatre (renamed the Theatre Royal). Once again patrons entered the stalls of the theatre through Samuel’s bakery.

Volume 2 of The Aldine Centennial History of New South Wales includes biographies of ‘prominent inhabitants’.³³ As chairman of the Master Bakers Association, Samuel Holmes is included. This notes that his bakery is ‘the largest as well as the oldest house of the kind in Sydney’ undertaking ‘baking, steam biscuit making and steam flour milling’. Apparently his business also supplied electric light to the Theatre Royal, as well as ‘to light with electricity from the corner of Pitt-street up King-street and round to the new arcade in Castlereagh street’.

I found an illustration of Samuel’s earlier bakery in the Rocks area of Sydney in 1848, in the building that had formerly been the offices of the Sydney Gazette.^{34 35}

In 1897 a newspaper reported that Samuel Holmes had become proprietor of the Bombala Roller Flour Mill.³⁶ In the leadup to Australia’s federation (1901), Bombala was one of the places being considered as a potential national capital. Samuel is mentioned again when there was an attempted robbery of his Bombala house in 1903.³⁷

Finally the death of Samuel Holmes was reported, in Bombala on 10 April 1903.³⁸ His son Henry Holmes was the informant on Samuel’s death certificate, which mentions a second family, but ‘details unknown’.³⁹ Samuel died intestate, leaving more in debts than assets.⁴⁰ He was buried in an unmarked grave in Bombala Cemetery.

When I searched for Samuel’s arrival in Australia, using the clue that his nephew had mentioned (1838), still nothing was simple. Samuel Holmes arrived on the ship Alfred on 31 December 1837. He was described as an ‘unmarried male immigrant’ aged 18 (in fact he was 15) with occupation given as ‘baker and farmer’, and with native place listed as Weeley in Essex.⁴¹ On that same voyage was an Ellen Holmes, listed as an unmarried 25-year-old dress maker, also from Weeley.

When Hester Holmes died in Sydney in 1879, the informant on her death certificate was her ‘husband’ Samuel Holmes of King Street. Her parents were listed as John Holmes, a baker, and Sarah Erith.⁴² In looking at Weeley baptisms, the daughter of John Holmes and Sarah (‘formerly Erith’) was baptised as Helen Holmes.⁴³ So Helen (or Ellen) Holmes became Hester Holmes and Samuel Etherington called himself her husband, Samuel Holmes.

DNA testing and comparison with descendants of the children of the various siblings of Samuel (and also his cousins) have confirmed the above conclusions.

The following timeline puts the story in order.

SE refers to records in the name of Samuel Etherington – SH means in the name of Samuel Holmes.

1822	SE born Southwark, England	baptism21
1837	SH arrived Sydney	immigration41
1840	SH son Henry Holmes born	Henry’s death cert47
1842-1857	SH Holmes children Ann, George, Henrietta born	all died young44 45 46
1848	SH journeyman baker, Glebe Sydney	Insolvency28
1848	SH baker Miller’s Point, Sydney	Fowles34
1850-1852	SH bread & biscuit maker, King St, Holmes children Thomas & Emma	both died young 48 49
1853	SH baker, King St	court case50
1855	SE in London	visiting sister23
1855	SH returns from England to Australia via USA	flour inquiry (Trove)24 passenger list25
1857	SE son Samuel Joseph Etherington born	51
1858	SH baker, King St	directory52
1860	SH fire in King St bakery	26
1859-1866	SE Etherington children Emmeline, John, Harriet, Arthur born	3 4 5
1867	SH baker AND SE cabinet maker, King St	SH directory53 SE birth son WIlliam2
1868-1873	SE children Alfred, Frederick born	7 8 9
1876	SE baker, Buckingham St	marriage of son51
1879	SH Hester Holmes died	42
1885	SE Sarah (née Everitt) died	12
1886	SE commercial traveller	marriage of daughter6
1891	SH bankrupt	31
1897	SH proprietor of Bombala Flour Mill	36
1903	SH Samuel died in Bombala	38 39

The signatures in the names of Samuel Etherington and Samuel Holmes provide further evidence that this was in fact the same person.

References

1. NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages 1891/1380, marriage of William E Etherington & Annie McNeill.back
2. Ancestry.com, Sydney, Australia, Anglican Parish Registers, 1814-2011 William Edward Etherington born 16 Feb 1867, baptised at St Andrew’s Sydney on 2 Aug 1867.
3. NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages 1909/3385, marriage of John H Etherington.
4. NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, 8286/1859 V18598286 121C, baptism of Emmeline Emily Hetherington.
5. Ancestry.com, Sydney, Australia, Anglican Parish Registers, 1814-2011 Harriett Martha Hetherington born 27 Nov 1864, baptised at St Andrew’s Sydney on 19 Jun 1865.
6. NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages 1886/211, marriage of Harriet Etherington.
7. Ancestry.com, Sydney, Australia, Anglican Parish Registers, 1814-2011 Alfred Henry Etherington born 8 Sep 1868, baptised at St Andrew’s Sydney on 27 Nov 1868.
8. NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages 1870/89, death of Alfred Henry Etherington.
9. NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages 1894/402, marriage of Frederick Charles Etherington.
10. “Ireland Births and Baptisms, 1620-1881”, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FRQK-58Q : 5 February 2020), Sarah Everett, 1830.
11. “Australia, New South Wales, Index to Bounty Immigrants, 1828-1842”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FL29-SWP : 13 June 2019), John Everitt, 1841.
12. NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages 1885/1597, death of Sarah Etherington.
13. City of Sydney Archives, Sands Postal Directories, https://archives.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/495003.
14. Ancestry has some relevant electoral rolls at New South Wales, Australia, Historical Electoral Rolls,1842-1864 at https://www.ancestry.com.au/search/categories/auvoters/ but many more are available at the State Library of NSW.
15. https://trove.nla.gov.au/, hosted and published by the National Library of Australia.
16. 1876 ‘Family Notices’, The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), 1 August, p. 1. , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13377536.
17. Museums of History NSW, Assisted Immigrants Index 1839-1896, Reel 2138, [4/4794]; Reel 2475, [4/4967], https://search.records.nsw.gov.au/primo-explore/fulldisplay?context=L&vid=61SRA&lang=en_US&docid=INDEX867787 and https://indexes.records.nsw.gov.au/ebook/list.aspx?series=NRS5316&item=4_4794&ship=Boanerges
18. https://mhnsw.au/indexes/immigration-and-shipping/assisted-immigrants-index/.
19. General Register Office UK, the marriage of Thomas Etherington and Ann Etherington was registered in the June quarter 1857 at West London, volume 1c page 118.
20. Ancestry.com, 1841 England Census, Joseph Etherington, Class: HO107; Piece: 1087; Book: 9; Civil Parish: St Olave; County: Surrey; Enumeration District: 2; Folio: 23; Page: 39; Line: 12; GSU roll: 474669.
21. Ancestry.com, London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1923 for Anna Etherington, London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; London Church of England Parish Registers; Reference Number: P71/JN/016.
22. 1903 ‘KITH AND KIN.’, The Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 – 1955), 16 October, p. 2. , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article80963308.
23. 1855 ‘CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT—MONDAY.’, The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), 4 December, p. 4., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12978754.
24. 1858 ‘THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD.’, The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), 28 June, p. 4. , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13018015.
25. Ancestry.com, New York U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1957 for Samuel Holmes, Year: 1855; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Line: 7; List Number: 963.
26. 1860 ‘GREAT FIRE, AND LOSS OF LIFE.’, Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1875), 4 October, p. 8. , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60499372.
27. City of Sydney Council Archives, Letters Received, CSA078183, A-000292829, No. 806, Letter received from Samuel Holmes of King Street, dated 4 Dec 1860.
28. Museums of History NSW, State Archives collection, Insolvency Index 1842-1887, Samuel Holmes, NRS-13654-1-[2/8821]-1787.
29. Museums of History NSW, State Archives collection, Insolvency Index 1842-1887, Samuel Holmes, NRS-13654-1-[2/9058]-5888.
30. Museums of History NSW, State Archives collection, Insolvency Index 1842-1887, Samuel Holmes,
    NRS-13654-1-[2/9415]-10451.
31. Museums of History NSW, State Archives collection, Bankruptcy Index 1888-1929, Samuel Holmes,
    NRS-13655-1-[10/22724]-3979.
32. City of Sydney Council Archives, Plans of Sydney (Doves) in 1880, Box CSA 058395, Map 5, Block 17, Alt. ID 41, A-00880148.
33. Morrison, W. F. The Aldine Centennial History of New South Wales illustrated, volume 2, Sydney, Aldine Pub. Co., 1888, reproduced at https://www.textqueensland.com.au/item/book/28ee0733e1498b7bdbf4e46d9209415c.
34. Fowles, J, Sydney in 1848, http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600151h.html#p14.
35. Joseph Fowles, From the collections of the State Library of New South Wales, Dixson Library Q84/56],(Opp p.17 (detail), ‘Sydney in 1848 : illustrated by copper-plate engravings of its principal streets, public buildings, churches, chapels, etc.’ from drawings by Joseph Fowles) https://dictionaryofsydney.org/media/62885.
36. 1897 ‘Bombala Items.’, Delegate Argus and Border Post (NSW : 1895 – 1906), 18 March, p. 4. , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article109705030.
37. 1903 ‘An Unpleasant Awakening.’, The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer (NSW : 1898 – 1954), 21 February, p. 8. , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article168027389.
38. 1903 ‘No title’, Bombala Times and Manaro and Coast Districts General Advertiser (NSW : 1899 – 1905), 10 April, p. 2. , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article134132596.
39. NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages 1903/5311, death of Samuel Henry Holmes.
40. Museums of History NSW, State Archives collection, Intestate Estates Index 1821-1913, HOLMES Samuel Henry, INX-53-6110, File no 454, Previous System No [10/27658], Index no 53.
41. Museums of History NSW, State Archives collection, Miscellaneous immigrants index 1828-1843 HOLMES Samuel, INX-55-4374, NRS 5313, Item No [4/4780] page 30.
    Also Ancestry.com.au, New South Wales Assisted Passenger Index, taken from State Records Authority of New South Wales; Kingswood New South Wales, Australia; Persons on early migrant ships (Fair Copy); Series: 5310; Reel: 1286.
42. NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages #1765 in 1879, death of Hester Holmes.
43. Essex Records Office, baptisms at St Andrew’s Weeley, image 19, D/P 407/1/3, baptism of Helen Holmes, child of John & Sarah, late Erith.
44. NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, death in 1847 of Anne Holmes, aged 5 years, # 229/1847 V1847229 32B, daughter of a baker.
45. NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, death in 1852 of George Holmes, aged 8 years, at the home of his parents in King St, # 663/1852 V1852663 38B, son of a baker.
46. NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, death in 1860 of Henrietta Holmes, aged 13 years, at the home of her parents in King St, registration # 602/1860, daughter of a baker.
47. NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, death in 1912 of Henry Samuel Holmes, aged 72 years, at Bombala, registration # 9584/1912.
48. Sydney Early Church Records, microfilm # 993964 (C. of E. baptisms, marriages, burials, 1852-1853 (vols. 38-39)), Parish records for St James, Sydney, Thomas Holmes, born 18 Jan 1850 at King St, Sydney, baptised 1853 at St James, Sydney, son of a Samuel Holmes and Hester, father a baker, seen at the Society of Australian Genealogists.
49. NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, birth in 1852, baptism in 1853 of Emma Holmes, registration # 72/1852 V185272 39A.
50. 1853 ‘SYDNEY POLICE COURT—TUESDAY.’, Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1875), 26 January, p. 3. , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60137814.
51. NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, marriage of Samuel Joseph Etherington, registration # 711 in 1876.
52. Sands Commercial Directory for Sydney, 1858, https://archives.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/1898994, page 163.
53. Sands Alphabetical Directory for Sydney, 1867, https://archives.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/1898988, page 100.

DNA Painter “Cluster Auto Painter”

I’m just playing with the new tool on DNA Painter – ‘Cluster Auto Painter’. I have created MyHeritage clusters for the DNA test results of my Mum & her brother – for both I have a lot of unknown matches. I generated the DNAPainter clusters map, using information generated from ‘AutoClusters’ and ‘Segment info’ on MyHeritage. (Good instructions are given on the DNAPainter site as to how to obtain this information.)

(You need a paid subscription to DNAPainter to have multiple ‘profiles’ or different chromosome maps. A ‘free user’ would have to delete one chromosome map in order to generate another.)

Looking at the results of the ‘Cluster Auto Painter’ tool, when I know how I am related to a match, I can define the cluster including that match as maternal or paternal, and possibly also assign the cluster to the ancestral couple who handed down that DNA.

When all matches in a cluster are unknown to me, I may still be able to define the cluster as maternal /paternal if one of the matches contains an overlapping segment of sufficient size with a match I’ve already worked out. If they appear to lie in the same place on the same chromosome, do the two matches match each other? If so, then they are (probably) either both maternal or both paternal. If it looks like the segments lie on the same place on the same chromosome but the two matches do not match each other, then one must lie on the maternal chromosome of the pair while the other must lie on the paternal chromosome.

Be aware of the threshold (minimum number of centiMorgans to be counted as a match) set on the chromosome browser (eg on MyHeritage). If two segments appear to only slightly overlap there might not be more cM shared than the threshold, so both the matches could be eg maternal but not counted as matching in that location.

I started doing this DNAPainter ‘Cluster Auto Painting’ for my Mum’s matches & could identify almost all her clusters to at least maternal or paternal. Then I used that information in the cluster map created for her brother’s DNA & was able to assign the remaining clusters.

It’s possible there are other connections (between my family and the unknown match) down other lines that I have not yet explored, so “deductions based on deductions” might lead to some errors,  but I have been able to at least provisionally assign my maternal MyHeritage matches to which (of my) maternal grandparents handed down that DNA – and in some cases to an ancestral couple further back.

I don’t know Mum’s maternal grandfather. From Ancestry matches I have identified a few people as definitely on that line. Fortunately a couple of those also have their DNA test on MyHeritage, so I can use this to further define some of the clusters.

The DNA Painter ‘Cluster Auto Painter’ tool does not currently work on Ancestry matches because of the latter company’s not providing matching segment information, but I’m planning to explore how much of the information I work out about MyHeritage matches can be useful in further defining clusters from the other sites that can be input into the ‘Cluster Auto Painter’ on DNAPainter.

Autosomal DNA

Autosomal DNA is inherited by both males and females and received equally from each of our parents.

In commercial genetic genealogy tests our autosomal DNA is compared against a large database of others, looking for identical segments of inherited DNA that may indicate we have shared ancestors.

Some questions that might be answered by an autosomal test include:

• Can I find previously unknown cousins, solely from my DNA?
• Can I look for relatives on all branches of my pedigree (not just my father’s patrilineal or my mother’s matrilineal lines)?
• Can I test the accuracy of the family tree I have constructed?

How does it work?

Autosomal DNA tests examine 22 of the 23 pairs of chromosomes that we inherited from each of our parents.  The remaining pair (called the ‘sex chromosomes’) determines gender. (X-chromosome analysis is often also reported in autosomal tests.)

We inherit about half our autosomal DNA (atDNA) from each of our parents and so about one quarter from each of our grandparents (and an eighth from each of our great grandparents…) – eventually we may not have enough DNA from a particular ancestor to be recognisable.

Close relatives share large segments of atDNA that each has inherited from a recent ancestor in common. More distant relatives may carry smaller sections of identical DNA. Commercial DNA testing companies predict the approximate relationship between genetic cousins based on the size and number of shared identical segments of autosomal DNA. (Very small pieces of atDNA in common are more likely to be coincidental rather than inherited.)

Because of randomness each time autosomal DNA is passed on, even siblings do not have identical autosomal DNA inherited from their parents and the amount of atDNA shared between relatives can vary greatly. As the amount inherited from a particular ancestor diminishes over the generations, eventually two distant cousins may not share enough DNA for a commercial test to identify them as genetic relatives.

While first and second cousins (and closer relationships) should be recognised in an autosomal test, and third cousins are extremely likely to be identified, only around half of fourth cousins will be found by their atDNA. By the time of fifth cousins, only about 10-15% will be recognised and by sixth cousins, only about 2-5% will be identified as genetic relatives.

Because of this, the general rule of thumb is that best results from autosomal DNA tests occur when there is up to about 5 generations back to the shared ancestor. For those hoping to prove relationships beyond third cousins, it may be necessary to test more siblings or first cousins on one side (or both) in order to find a recognisable shared segment of inherited DNA.

Because of this ‘number of generations’ limitation, in autosomal tests it is better to test the oldest living family member (or the one who is in the earliest generation).

What do autosomal DNA test results look like?

The commercial companies’ autosomal tests generally report your matches in the database (and their contact details) with predicted relationships based on the amount of shared autosomal DNA.

Three main companies provide autosomal tests for genetic genealogy. Family Tree DNA calls their autosomal test ‘Family Finder’. 23andMe call their atDNA test ‘Relative Finder’. AncestryDNA also provides autosomal DNA testing.

Family Tree DNA and 23andMe also provide information about the location and size of shared segments.

Currently AncestryDNA does not provide any such chromosome information, directing those who test to look at the public trees of their matches, in the hope that shared ancestors can be recognised. ‘DNA circles’ link people who match DNA and who also have the same ancestor in their family trees.

Family Tree DNA and 23andMe provide ‘chromosome browsing’ tools, showing on which chromosome/s lie any shared segments. Because the test alone cannot distinguish which chromosome was inherited from a mother and which from a father, these chromosome maps appear as images showing only one of each pair of chromosomes. For instance, in the image below the background (dark) chromosomes are mine, and the segments I share with three close relatives are shown overlaying, in different colours.

FamilyTreeDNA: chromosome segments I share with 3 close relatives, compared to my own chromosomes

Simplifying to only showing each pair as a single chromosome means that it might appear as if I match two people in the same area of the same chromosome but maybe I match one on the chromosome inherited from my mother and one on the chromosome inherited from my father. The two predicted genetic relatives may each match me but not each other. I should ask each to check if the other appears in their list of matches.

When a segment is shared between three or more people (meaning at least two besides myself and where each person also matches the others at that same location) then we share the same ancestor – this is called triangulation.

From the websites of all three companies (FamilyTreeDNA, 23andMe and AncestryDNA) one can download the raw autosomal test data in order to upload it to third party sites such as GEDmatch – which provide more tools for chromosome analysis as well as finding matches with those who tested with the other companies.

Admixture predictions are also based on autosomal DNA. Genetic admixture means the interbreeding of mixed population groups represented by our ancestors. This tends to be reported in a summary such as ‘30% British, 20% Northern European, …’. In fact this analysis is based on comparisons against databases which were probably created for other purposes than genealogy and the conclusions may not be accurate.

23andMe call their admixture analysis ‘Ancestry Composition’. Family Tree DNA calls theirs ‘My Origins’. AncestryDNA calls their admixture analysis ‘Genetic Ethnicity’. While these analyses might be interesting, the conclusions are not yet completely reliable.

What to do with the results?

Include in your profile information with the companies the surnames in your ancestry and where those ancestors lived. Contact others likely to be close relatives based on their autosomal testing – starting with those whose surnames or locations you recognise – or where some clue points to the relevant part of your ancestry. You may be able to identify where previously unknown genetic relatives fit into your family tree. Then you can begin to share photographs and information in the same way as with more traditional genealogical methods.

You can also test known second or third cousins in order to identify which portions of DNA you share with them, that must have been inherited from known ancestors, and then see if those same segments are also shared with potential matches identified in the database. This might help identify to which branch of the family a new suggested genetic relative belongs.

By testing the DNA of known relatives, you can also check the family tree you have constructed, to see whether DNA confirms the expected relationships.

Autosomal DNA provides another tool that genealogists can use to find relatives and prove relationships. Its benefit is that it is not restricted to a single line (patrilineal or matrilineal) but instead relates to all branches of our ancestry. Its limitation is that it might not be able to identify relatives with a shared ancestor more than about five or six generations earlier.

DNA from our mother’s mothers

This article discusses the DNA we all inherit from our mother’s mothers (our matrilineal line). This genetic material is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA for short.

Mothers pass mtDNA to all their children but only their daughters pass it on – largely unchanged – to the next generations. Your mtDNA was only inherited from your mother and she inherited it from her mother – and so on – back through the generations. Everyone (male and female) can test mtDNA and compare our mtDNA with others. Those who match us share a direct maternal line ancestor.

Family historians often find it difficult tracing female ancestors because women traditionally changed their surnames with marriage. As DNA does not concern itself with surnames, genealogists can use mtDNA testing as another tool to find maternal ancestors, in conjunction with other more traditional family history research methods.

Some questions that might be answered by a mtDNA test include:

• From what (general) region did my maternal line come?
• My great grandfather married twice. Am I descended from his first or second wife?
• Can I find other people also descended from the same direct maternal line to help my search for my female ancestors?

How does it work?

Human cell                                                       Ring-shaped mitochondria

Other DNA tests examine the 23 pairs of chromosomes that we inherited from each of our parents. Such chromosomes are found on the double helix shaped strands inside the cell’s nucleus. Mitochondria are quite different– they lie outside the nucleus, are approximately ring-shaped and also contain DNA.

Mitochondria also carry variations caused by copying errors that occurred in the past when cells copied mtDNA to pass on to the next generation. Such mitochondrial mutations occur only very rarely so large groups of population share much of their mtDNA.

The first commercial mtDNA tests only examined small areas of the ring (HVR1 and HVR2) which together make up the D-loop area of mtDNA. Matching someone on HVR1 and HVR2 does imply a shared maternal ancestor but that ancestor possibly lived hundreds or even thousands of years ago.

In recent years Family Tree DNA has offered a Full Mitochondrial Sequence test (FMS) of the entire mitochondrial ring – including the Coding Region. Exact matches in a full sequence test share a maternal ancestor who probably lived within a genealogical timeframe – that is, in recent enough generations that we may be able to identify her in our family trees.

What do mtDNA test results look like?

A group of scientists examined and sequenced all the mtDNA of one individual and published those results in 1981. They named those results the Cambridge Reference Sequence (or CRS). A corrected version (sometimes referred to as the revised Cambridge Reference Sequence or rCRS) was published in 1999.

When I have my mtDNA tested, companies report to me where my mitochondrial DNA differs from the standard (rCRS). For each of the areas HVR1, HVR2 and Coding Region I am told the small number of differences that my mtDNA has from the rCRS. I can assume that for any locations not reported, I have the same result as the standard.

My results also include my mitochondrial haplogroup, which provides a summary statement of my DNA and mutations, indicating where I fit into the mitochondrial genetic tree of all humans.

Commercial mtDNA tests also report to me other people who have tested with the same company whose DNA closely matches my own. A ‘genetic distance of 0’ indicates that in the areas we have each tested (HVR1, HVR2 and maybe Coding Region) my mtDNA is exactly the same as that of my match. A ‘genetic distance of 1’ means that there is 1 difference between us – and so on.

Which company to use?

Family Tree DNA is the only company that currently offers a full sequence test of mtDNA for genealogical purposes. They call that test mtFull Sequence or FMS. Family Tree DNA often has sales when significantly discounted prices are available. (The company’s Facebook page is one way to learn about such sales.)

Family Tree DNA also host projects based on mtDNA geographic origins and also mtDNA haplogroups. Projects are managed by knowledgeable volunteers who analyse the similar DNA of large groups of people in order to draw further conclusions.

Joining such projects is free and you can usually join any that might be of interest – such as for those whose maternal ancestors came from a particular geographic region. Once you discover your mtDNA haplogroup, I recommend you also join the relevant mtDNA haplogroup project – others in these projects share maternal heritage, even though they do not share surnames.

What to do with my results?

We all have mitochondria inherited only from our direct maternal line (although only females pass that mtDNA on to their own children). Family historians can look for others who share ancestors with us on that matrilineal line.

In addition, genealogists can consider any female of interest in their family tree and follow her female lines forward through her daughters’ daughters and on to (either gender) in the current generation. By testing the mtDNA of other living family members, we can also look for their mtDNA matches.

I do not try to identify shared ancestors with anyone who has only tested HVR1 or HVR2. Any shared maternal ancestors might have lived thousands of years ago. However if I match exactly with someone who (like me) has tested the full sequence of mitochondria, we have about a 50% chance that our shared maternal ancestor lived within around 150 years and a 90% chance that the shared ancestor lived within about 400 years. In other words, our shared maternal ancestor may have lived recently enough to be found in our family trees.

Because testing of the full sequence of mtDNA has only been commercially available in very recent years, far fewer people have taken that test than (for example) males have tested the DNA of their direct paternal line. So currently the chance of finding someone who shares direct maternal ancestors with us is still small. However as more people take a full sequence test of mtDNA, our chances of finding others related to us on our direct maternal line will increase. As a family historian, I look forward to anything that will help me find my female ancestors and those related to me on that line.

 

Using Y-chromosome DNA

DNA testing does not provide names and so is not a substitute for more traditional family history research techniques. However a genealogist can use DNA testing as another tool to answer some family history questions in the absence of other documents.

Some questions that might be answered by a Y-chromosome (Y-DNA) test include:

• Another man with the same surname lived near my ancestor. Were they related?
• I think my female ancestor had a lover (or a second husband). Can I determine which man fathered her son?
• My grandfather was adopted. I have a theory about who might be his father, can I prove it?
• Can I prove that he and his brother are sons of the same man?

Father-to-son inheritance

Y-chromosome DNA (or Y-DNA) is a particular type of genetic material that is passed largely unchanged between a father and his son. As such, comparing the Y-DNA between two men can answer questions about whether they shared ancestors on the all-male line.

A female like myself who wants to answer the same sorts of questions needs to find a willing male close relative to be tested. I have ordered Y-DNA tests for my father, his mother’s nephew and also my mother’s brother in order to examine my nearest male lines.

In theory Y-DNA follows the path of surname inheritance and so finding a close Y-DNA match with another male who has the same surname is a good indicator that those men share an ancestor.

There are many reasons why a surname might not have been inherited along with Y-DNA. Geneticists refer to these as ‘non-paternity events’, when the father is either unknown or not the person commonly believed. A Y-DNA test could confirm a theory about paternity even when the possible father and son have different surnames.

To look for relationships between men long dead I need to find a living male descendant (down all-male lines) from each of them.

Sometimes that means stepping sideways – for example, researching a brother’s line if some man in the line had no male descendants. In other words, it is necessary to combine the use of more traditional family history research techniques with the new information offered by DNA.

A male with no clue about their father could take a Y-DNA test to learn which surnames occur most frequently amongst their genetic relatives and use these names as possible clues. (Alternatively a different DNA test – an autosomal test – might locate a cousin and that might help identify the father.)

I have also had serendipitous discoveries, when someone who tested with the same company was identified as a Y-DNA match with one of my family and we were able to identify the shared ancestor. Thus I have discovered previously unknown cousins, allowing an exchange of information about family history.

How does it work?

Every cell in your body has 23 pairs of chromosomes, inherited from your parents. The 23^rd pair are the sex chromosomes – males have an X- and a Y-chromosome while females have two X-chromosomes. Note that only males have a Y-chromosome.

In each generation the Y- chromosome (or Y-DNA) of the father is copied (largely unchanged) in order to be passed on to his sons. However occasionally cells make a copying error.

Sometimes the number of repeats of a group of DNA ‘letters’ (called a short tandem repeat or STR) is increased or decreased.

The other mutation occurs only very rarely, when a single DNA ‘letter’ is miscopied (rather like a typo) – this is called a single nucleotide polymorphism (or SNP, pronounced ‘snip’). As both these changes are then transferred to future generations, the Y-DNA becomes rather like an audit trail, recording inheritance on the direct paternal line.

These mutations are illustrated in the diagram below. In the example Man 1 is the father of Man 2. When the Y-DNA of Man 1 is being copied, a SNP occurs when a ‘T’ is accidentally miscopied as an ‘A’. This change is inherited by Man 2 who then passes it on to his descendants.

Man 1 also has a segment of DNA with a short tandem repeat (STR) where the ‘letters’ CTA are repeated 5 times. We say that Man 1 has a repeat count (or allele) of 5 at that point. When that repeating section was copied for passing to Man 2, the number of repeats was increased – so 5 repeats became 6 repeats. By the time that DNA was re-copied and passed to their descendant Man 3, those 6 repeats have mutated to become 7 repeats. Note that Man 3 also continues to carry the ‘A’ variation of the SNP inherited by Man 2.

Inherited mutations (from www.le.ac.uk/ge/maj4/NewWebSurnames041008.html)

A genealogical Y-DNA test reports on certain STRs on the Y-chromosome. Rather than checking the whole chromosome, a male can order a Y-DNA test of certain useful sections of DNA (or markers) – currently available tests examine between 12 and 111 markers. When the repeat counts at those markers are compared against those of another male, a close match indicates that the two men share an ancestor on their all-male or patrilineal line. Depending on how closely they match, an estimate can be made about how many generations earlier their most recent common ancestor (or MRCA) probably lived.

Genealogists should test at least 37 markers. Anything less and it could be that an indicated shared ancestor lived many hundreds or even thousands of years ago.

Genetic genealogy tests also examine the SNPs (‘typos’) on the Y-chromosome. Such SNPs indicate the haplogroup – or where the male tested fits into the broad family tree of all men.

Which company to use?

The US company Family Tree DNA is the main company offering specific STR marker testing of the Y-chromosome with the required level of accuracy required by genealogists as well as having a large database of others’ Y-DNA results for comparison.  This company offers tests of between 37 and 111 markers as well as tools to interpret the results. For under US$170 (at the time of writing) it is possible for males to test their Y-DNA with sufficient accuracy to determine whether two men are likely to share a common ancestor ‘within a genealogical timeframe’ and also receive an estimate about how many generations ago that shared ancestor lived.

You can save money by ordering the Y-DNA test through a surname-specific project. Projects are managed by knowledgeable volunteers who analyse the similar DNA of large groups of people in order to draw further conclusions. By looking at the DNA of enough people with the same surname, it may be possible to identify when a particular mutation occurred. For example you may learn that ‘all those with this particular mutation descend from one brother but those without that mutation descend from the other brother’.

Many projects focus on a common surname but there are also geographic and ethnic heritage projects. Joining projects is free and you can usually join any that might be of interest – such as for other surnames that occur frequently among your DNA matches! Once you discover your Y-DNA haplogroup, I recommend you also join the relevant haplogroup project – those matches share Y-DNA heritage, whether or not they share surnames.

Family Tree DNA often has sales when significantly discounted prices are available. (The company’s Facebook page is one way to learn about such sales.)

Websites
Family Tree DNA
Projects on Family Tree DNA 
Webinars on Family Tree DNA
Family Tree DNA on Facebook
Ysearch   (for those who have tested with another company and want to compare their results against the Family Tree DNA database)

Introduction to using DNA with your family history research

Traditional family history research involves looking for documents that name an ancestor – and hoping that everybody told the truth! By contrast, genetic tools that are now available to genealogists tell the truth but do not name ancestors – however they can be used to find relatives and to check the accuracy of our constructed family trees.

Why use DNA testing?

Birth certificate without father’s name

I have an ancestor who was adopted. When I eventually located his original birth certificate, no father was named. I developed a plausible theory about who his father might have been, but I could not find any record to prove or disprove my idea.

In another case my ancestor, John Etherington, a builder, sits at the top of one of my ancestral lines but I cannot find any documentary evidence that he was related to the John Etherington, also a builder, who lived two streets away. Another ancestor, Samuel Etherington, was reputed to also be the Samuel Holmes who fathered another family. To solve puzzles such as these I needed a different set of genealogical tools.

What is DNA testing?

Genetic genealogy testing is all about comparing our DNA with others. Closer relatives share more DNA in common with us than more distant relatives. Genetic genealogy tests examine the areas of DNA where we differ – and predict approximately how closely we are related.

Sometimes we have a particular theory to check and we know in advance the two individuals we wish to compare. At other times genealogists are ‘fishing’ in the DNA ‘nets’, hoping to find unexpected genetic matches who might share an ancestor with us and who might then have information about unknown family branches. In the latter case there are benefits in comparing with as many people as possible. One way to do this is choosing a company with a large database of other people already tested.

DNA testing companies

Currently the main options for genealogists looking for living genetic relatives are the three US companies Family Tree DNA, 23andMe and AncestryDNA (a branch of Ancestry.com).

• Family Tree DNA is the company chosen by most genealogists – and these tend to respond to family history enquiries. Moreover this company’s website has useful tools available for comparing DNA as well as recorded webinars freely available.
• 23andMe offers genetic health predisposition reports as well as ancestry information. Many of their customers chose the company for those health reports and so are less interested in responding to genealogists. A dispute with the US Federal Drugs Administration (FDA) currently prevents 23andMe from providing health reports to new customers except in the United Kingdom and Canada.
• AncestryDNA tests were released first to US consumers and so most of the people in their database are in the United States. Recently AncestryDNA began offering tests to Australians. AncestryDNA test results can be linked to Ancestry trees.

Ordering a test involves going to the company’s website, selecting a test and paying by credit card and then the kit will be posted to you. Family Tree DNA and AncestryDNA tests involve swabbing inside your cheek (with something like a toothbrush) – in the way we have seen on television crime shows. The 23andMe test involves filling a test tube with saliva. In either method customers then post their completed kits back to the company and some weeks later are advised by email when their results are available online. Customers log on to the company’s website with a userID and password to find their results and matching customers predicted to be genetic relatives.

Which test should I take?

DNA testing is advancing (as well as becoming cheaper!) and so is more available for checking theories about your family history and perhaps even breaking down brick walls you might currently face. This article introduces the options currently available that might be useful to family historians.

Test 1: Y-chromosome tests, for males to test DNA inherited from their father’s fathers

For under US$200 we can test whether two males are likely to share a common ancestor ‘within a genealogical timeframe’, and how many generations ago that shared ancestor probably lived.

This test is valid for any two men who might share a male ancestor – they do not need to have the same surname. When testing with a company that has a huge database of people already tested, I might find a match with some living descendant who shares with me a common ancestor. This is useful for all genealogists but perhaps especially for adoptees.

I have used this test to discern whether two families with the same surname were actually related to each other, in the absence of documentary proof. I have also used this test to check (and refute) a theory about who might have been the biological father of an adopted male. It was necessary to find a living male descendant (down an all-male line) from the adopted male and also to find a living male descendant (down an all-male line) from the hypothesised birth father, and then compare the DNA that each inherited from their father’s fathers.

Y-chromosome tests are only available to males, as only males have a Y-chromosome. Females like me need to ask a near male relative to be tested – a brother, father, or uncle. I have ordered tests for my father and also my mother’s brother in order to examine my nearest male lines. For Y-chromosome tests, I recommend using the company FamilyTreeDNA and testing at least 37 markers.

Test 2: Mitochondrial tests, for anyone to test DNA inherited from their mother’s mothers

Useful DNA tests are no longer limited to males. We all have a different type of DNA (called mitochondria) that we inherited from our mother’s mother’s mother. Previously mitochondrial DNA could only tell us about ancient ancestors and their migratory patterns, but now it is possible to obtain much more recent information. Family Tree DNA offers a full sequence test of all our mitochondria, allowing us to identify people who share an ancestor with us on our maternal line within about 100-400 years. That test is also currently available for under US$200.

Test 3: Autosomal tests, to test the DNA inherited half from each of our parents

We are not restricted to testing only the DNA of our father’s fathers or our mother’s mothers. It is also possible to test our remaining DNA, inherited equally from both of our parents – this DNA is called ‘autosomal’. These tests compare the DNA of our ancestors regardless of gender, because we inherit half our autosomal DNA from each of our parents (and via them, from their ancestors). However as we inherit one quarter of our DNA from each of our grandparents (and so one eighth from each of our great grandparents) eventually the inherited material from any particular ancestor becomes so small as to be difficult to identify.

Consequently, when comparing this autosomal DNA with someone else, our best conclusions are when the shared ancestor lived no more than about five generations ago.

Commercial autosomal tests also report on our likely population origins or admixture, for example, ‘60% British, 20% Scandinavian and 20% Jewish’. The sample databases used for comparison are very small and currently most of these predictions are considered unreliable.

Family Tree DNA calls their autosomal test ‘Family Finder’, while 23andMe calls a similar test ‘DNA Relatives’. Both tests cost under US$100 – plus postage. (23andMe’s postage and handling charges to Australia  adds another three quarters to the price of their kit!) The AncestryDNA test costs Australians under US$150 (plus postage) but if you do not have an Ancestry.com subscription there is an annual cost for accessing your results.

For any genetic relatives identified in their autosomal tests, Family Tree DNA and 23andMe also report on shared segments of the X-chromosome. Females have two X-chromosomes (inherited one from each parent) while males have one (inherited from their mother). When trying to work out which ancestral branch might have passed down the X-DNA we share with some match in the database, genealogists can look at pedigree charts and eliminate any father-to-son branches, as fathers do not pass any X-chromosomes to their sons.

Use the tests in conjunction

The tests can also be used in conjunction. The autosomal ‘Family Finder’ test through Family Tree DNA identifies matches with my DNA and calculates a likely relationship.

One of my matches (described as a possible 3rd to 5th cousin) seemed to have very similar Y-chromosome (father’s father’s) DNA to my mother’s brother. I made contact and by swapping names of grandparents and their parents we soon identified that he was the son of a 3rd cousin to me (and so indeed within the range of 3rd to 5th cousins).

DNA cousins tested

Autosomal testing can be used to check your constructed family tree.

Comparing the autosomal DNA of the three female cousins (Fay, Ann and Maureen) at the bottom of this diagram confirmed my constructed family tree of their relationships back to their shared ancestors.

 

(Spouses omitted after the first generation to simplify the diagram.)

 

 

 

Conclusion

It is not necessary to understand how a car works in order to drive it, but it is necessary to know the functions of driving. In the same way it is unnecessary to understand much about the science of DNA – but it is necessary to understand what sorts of questions can be answered by the different DNA tests so you can use them as tools to aid your family history research.

The most recent DNA tests available to genealogists offer useful information which can supplement traditional genealogical methods. Family trees are still needed to identify ancestors and draw conclusions about relationships. DNA tests can supplement this genealogical research, filling in gaps in the paper trails. With such tools we can test our conclusions and assumptions in constructed family trees by confirming or disproving reputed relationships. As more people are tested and databases grow, commercial DNA tests are even more likely to help us find relatives that we might not have found by traditional methods.

Australian & NZ births, deaths & marriages

The earliest records available in the new colonies were the church records of baptisms, marriages and burials. Many people are missing from these registers – not all records have survived and not everybody had a church ceremony (especially in those places where initially only the Anglican Church was recognised).

In due time, governments needed better records of the people in the colony, so they introduced government-administered registration of births, deaths and marriages – or civil registration. District registrars were appointed and information was reported to them. In an age where many people were illiterate, registrars had to guess how to spell the names. (Remember this when searching for names in indexes – often the reason for not finding someone is because of spelling variations.)

Church ceremonies continued to take place, so it may be possible to obtain a copy of the information collected by the church, as well as the corresponding civil certificate.

As a general rule, the government asked for more information on civil certificates than was contained in the corresponding church record – but sometimes the opposite is true. For example, NSW marriage certificates (especially in the 1860s and 1870s) may not include information such as parents’ names and occupations, even though such information might be found in the corresponding church record.

As English and Welsh civil registration began on 1^st July 1837, the earliest Australasian colonies to issue civil certificates (of birth, death and marriage) followed the English model:

• Birth registrations asked for the child’s name, date and place of birth and the names of the parents
• Marriages registrations asked for the couple’s names, ages, residences and occupations and sometimes details of the fathers
• Death registrations included questions about the deceased’s name, age and occupation as well as the date, place and cause of death

When the Victorian government began civil registration in 1853, they requested more information on certificates. Other colonies (and Scotland) that introduced civil registration later largely followed the Victorian practice of collecting the additional information, such as:

• Birth registrations also asked for the parents’ ages, place of birth and marriage details, and details of previous children
• Marriage registrations asked for the couple’s birthplaces and details of both fathers and mothers
• Death registrations asked for the deceased’s birthplace, parents’ and spouse’s names, marriage details, children’s names and burial place

Some or all of these additional fields of information on Victorian certificates were added in later years to the certificates of the regions that had earlier followed the English style of certificates.

Colonies that followed the English model were:

• Tasmania, earlier known as Van Diemen’s Land (from 1 December 1838)
• Western Australia (from 9 September 1841)
• South Australia (from 1 July 1842)
• Northern Territory was administered by South Australia from 1863 to 1911, so their civil BDM certificates (from 24 Aug 1870) follow the South Australian pattern
• New Zealand (from 1848) – although registration was not compulsory until 1856

The colonies that followed the Victorian model were:

• Victoria (from 1 July 1853)
• New South Wales (from 1 March 1856)
• Queensland did not separate from NSW as a separate colony until 1859, so their earliest civil certificates were issued from NSW (1856-59)
• Australian Capital Territory (from 1 January 1930) – prior to that in NSW records

Even when registration was compulsory, not all births, deaths and marriages were registered and some registrations have been lost (especially in the early years). Perhaps the parties had to travel some distance to the District Registrar, and might not have bothered. They might have distrusted the government and been unwilling to supply the information.

Even if you find the certificate, just because a question is asked, does not mean that the informant knew the answer. Under such circumstances a field might be left blank, or the informant might simply have made a guess.

For example, in NSW the parents were required to register a birth, the minister registered marriages, and it was the responsibility of the owner of a house to register a death. If the parents registering a birth were unmarried, unwillingness to admit this might lead to an invented marriage date. Similarly a young couple might lie about their ages in order to marry without their parents’ permission.

Death certificates are notorious for errors and missing information. The informant might not have known the information – the son of an immigrant might never have met their grandparents, and so might not know their names. If the death took place in a hospital or institution, the owner might not know family details. There are death certificates where even the name of the deceased is unknown.

Each state and territory has their own Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. There are microfiche indexes, CD-ROM indexes and sometimes online indexes. Not all indexes contain exactly the same information, and sometimes an item is missing from one index but present in another. So if you can’t find the entry in an online index, try visiting a library or genealogy society that holds microfiche and/or CD-ROM indexes.

For privacy reasons there is restricted public access to ‘recent’ certificates of births, deaths and marriages. Each state or territory determines their own definition of ‘recent’. Generally more restrictions have been put in place for online indexes than existed at the time of the earlier microfiche and CD-ROM indexes. So if you can access these earlier indexes, you may be able to search more recent indexes than are available online.

When searching indexes, always ensure you write down reference numbers for records of interest, as certificates may be cheaper with reference numbers supplied. For NSW and South Australia it is possible to obtain transcriptions more cheaply than certificates. (Such transcriptions are not legal documents, but as they include all the information on the certificates, they may be suitable for genealogical purposes.)

Victorian online indexes cost to search, however it is possible to obtain a copy as an unofficial ‘historic document’ more cheaply than an official certificate. For New Zealand, obtaining a ‘printout’ of the information on a post-1874 document is cheaper than obtaining a standard certificate.

(This article was written for findmypast.com.au)

These days many of the Australian births, deaths and marriages can be searched on Ancestry.com.au and South Australian and Northern Territory BDM indexes are also available on findmypast.com.au.

• Links to Australian indexes of BDM & transcription agents
• Contact details for Australian Registries of BDM, and costs of certificates (Cora Num)
• Available Australian BDM indexes (Cora Num)
• See also my blog post on BDM certificates & saving money

 

Tracing Jewish ancestors, from London to Amsterdam

I’ve written previously about how I visited the archives and museums in Poznan and Leszno (Poland) looking for further information about my ancestors (Samuel and Isaac SHUTER, sons of Michael) before they migrated to London in 1848.

A recent episode of the TV show ‘Who do you think you are?’ (about actress June Brown) prompted me to look again at ancestors who came to London from Amsterdam – in particular Joseph MYERS. I’d seen books that included hundreds of years of Dutch Jewish records, but at that time I didn’t know how the Anglicized names I was seeing might have appeared in Dutch records.

Harold Lewin’s book (‘Marriage Records of the Great Synagogue London 1791-1885’) has been of great assistance in identifying the marriages of my ancestors in London. For most of the 18th, 19th and even early 20th century, the Great Synagogue in Duke’s Place London was the main synagogue for Ashkenazi Jews (those who came from German and Eastern Europe, as opposed to the Sephardic Jews who came from Spain and Portugal). Because of the use of patronymic names, Jewish records contain not only details of the bride and groom, but also their fathers, and often addresses and sometimes ages. Because the Great Synagogue was the main place of worship for so long, families can be traced back over several generations, perhaps eventually identifying the original family member who migrated to London.

[For those unable to see Harold Lewin’s book, Angela Shire also compiled a book ‘Great Synagogue Marriage Registers 1791-1850’ which might be more readily available and is also available through Amazon.co.uk. Shire’s book has a little less information per entry but additional cross-indexing, when compared to Lewin’s book.]

My 4xgreat.grandfather Joseph MYERS married Rebecca COHEN at the Great Synagogue in London in 1819. From the UK census of 1851, I learned that he was born in Amsterdam, probably around 1792. Harold Lewin’s book provided his patronymic name of Yosef Yozpa b. Shmuel Halevi – Joseph Juzpa, son of Samuel the Levite. Joseph’s sister Anna was enumerated with him in the 1851 and 1871 censuses – records show that she had been born about 1795 in Amsterdam. [In Shire’s book he is given as Joseph Yozefa s. of Shmuel HaLevi.]

That was as much as I knew for many years, until recently I decided to have another look for Joseph in the Dutch Jewish records – and hopefully online.

I found the wonderful website called Dutch Jewry and within that the Ashkenazi Marriage database and the ‘Ashkenazi in Amsterdam’ database.

The Amsterdam Municipal Archives possess a complete set of registers of intended marriages from 1578 to 1811, the year when the present Civil Registry was started. Between 1598 and 1811, 15238 Jewish couples were entered in these books. (http://www.dutchjewry.org/tim/jewish_marriage_in_Amsterdam.htm)

The compilers of the online Ashkenazi in Amsterdam database have gathered together records of circumcisions, marriages, cemetery records and more, grouped into families – allowing researchers like me easy access to information held in a place I cannot easily visit and written in a language I could not read. I still might not have found my ancestor, except that I sent an email to the owners of the site, giving the information I had and asking for advice. I received a very helpful reply identifying that my Joseph Juzpa MYERS, son of Samuel, was likely to be the same person as Joseph Juzpe Kapper, son of Samuel Meyer Kapper – who previously had the family name of Levie-Drukker (Levie referring to ‘of the Levite tribe’ and ‘Drukker’ meaning ‘printer’). When the family had been naturalized in 1811, they adopted the surname Kapper (meaning ‘barber’).

According to those Dutch records, Joseph Juzpe was born 26 January 1793, of parents Samuel Meyer (Kapper) and Mariana Gans. The Dutch records confirmed that his sister Anna was born in 1795 in Amsterdam, and he also had brothers Joseph (probably deceased young), Simon, Meyer, Mozes and Nathan. So far I have followed the Dutch records back on some lines to my 9xgreat.grandparents. It’s not all just ‘names and dates’ either – there are fascinating detailed glimpses of  family members in other records.

Zeeburg Cemetery, Amsterdam

I haven’t yet finished following my ancestors through all the available  information, but apparently at least one of the families came originally from Hamburg to Amsterdam and another from Frankfurt, so there are clear directions about where to look next for earlier generations.

World War 1 centenary projects

Recently I’ve spoken to a number of people involved in projects researching those who enlisted for World War 1. As the centenary of WW1 approaches, the many commemoration projects seem to be running largely in isolation.

Some projects are run in conjunction with local libraries, with volunteer researchers adding information to local studies collections. Other projects aim to produce CDs or books to be sold.

The lack of coordination between the various projects could lead to overlapping of people of interest. Someone might have been born in Mosman, but lived in Ryde at the time of enlisting – and so both areas’ projects might flag the individual as someone to be researched. Indeed that individual may even appear on the war memorial in yet another location, if a family member contributed the soldier’s name to their local war memorial.

When research resources are scarce, it makes sense for there to be some coordination between the projects to identify which individuals are being researched and in which resources. How best to do this? Local studies librarians’ networks allow sharing information about their projects, but what about projects not coordinated by libraries?

One possibility might be adding a small notice onto the Mapping our Anzacs website, which allows submissions of scrapbook entries. Obviously anyone can contribute photos or research about the lives of family members, but it would also be possible to add a scrapbook post that says something like ‘This individual is being researched by the Mosman 1914-18 project – further information can be found at …’

Thus whether the information gathered in research is intended to be freely available at a library or website, or even sold in a commercial publication, anyone interested in that WW1 participant would be directed to further information. Also the various project coordinators could make informed decisions about whether or not to proceed with researching an individual already being considered as part of another project.

‘War memorials in NSW’ includes a spreadsheet of summary information about names on particular memorials. The various projects could consider adding information to those spreadsheets, and also add details of additional memorials to those already included on the site.

Those involved in the various projects should also be aware of the Australian Government Anzac Centenary funding grants and publicity.

What other projects are you aware of?

(My handout for researching World War 1 participants can be found here.)

Passenger lists leaving UK

The following is a blog post I wrote for findmypast.com.au. It appeared on 30 July 2012.

It’s a common experience for genealogists – tracking ancestors forward through the UK censuses – to find that suddenly the whole family seems to vanish from the records. Eventually it might occur to us to wonder, did they migrate somewhere? If so, where did they go?

This is where the collection ‘Passenger lists leaving the UK 1890–1960’ on findmypast.com.au can be so useful. These are the digitised and indexed lists of passengers embarking on long-distance voyages made from all British ports (England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales). If the ship stopped en route at additional ports, such as in Europe, passengers disembarking at those stops are also included. The original documents are held in The National Archives UK in series BT 27 (BT = Board of Trade). Findmypast has indexed together all departures from all British ports, allowing researchers to enter their ancestor’s name of interest and determine the destination.

The most common way of searching for immigrant ancestors is to search the archives of the destination country. But which government archives to check? In the case of passengers to Australia, the individual colonies (and then states) administered immigration separately until 1922, after which immigration control became a function of the Commonwealth Government. (A further complication when looking for immigration records is that, just as today, immigration is typically handled at the first port of call.)

Using findmypast.com.au, there is a better way. Look under ‘Travel & migration’ and select the record set ‘Passenger Lists Leaving the UK 1890-1960’. I was searching for the migration of my grandmother, Olwena KELLETT, who was born in Lancashire in 1901. I entered her name (with first name variants) and searched between 1901 and 1907. It is a free search – not even requiring a subscription to do the search.

I selected ‘name variants’ – which also allows for the fact that some passenger lists only identify people by an initial. I found her in 1905, where she travelled from Britain to South Africa.

The above information is as far as you can go with a free search. It requires a subscription or PayAsYouGo credits to see the transcription of the results or full image of the page. The amount of information available on the passenger lists varies widely over time. Some only have minimal information about the passengers, while others include their dates of birth, occupations, and addresses in Britain before departure as well as their ultimate destinations overseas.

I had already found the record of the family’s arrival in Australia, and had assumed they had travelled on that same ship from London to Sydney. But instead little Olwena travelled with her mother to South Africa first, and then 2 years later the family travelled on to Sydney.

As many of the passenger indexes available in Australia concentrate on ships that came from British ports, ancestors who travelled first to places like South Africa or North America might not be included in the indexes of arrivals in Australia. Looking instead at the departures from Britain might help us understand what happened.

Just as today, not every person travelling was an immigrant. Apart from the seamen, many of our ancestors (such as merchants) travelled for work and people travelled for holidays. Families who had already migrated travelled back to Britain to visit family and friends. In other words, a surprising number of our ancestors appear in passenger lists crossing the oceans. Using the indexes of passengers leaving Britain provides a very useful additional way of tracking their journeys.

DNA tools for genealogists

DNA technology is advancing so rapidly that it is difficult to keep abreast of the advances and possibilities. Moreover rapidly falling prices make genetic testing more affordable and so more accessible. Here are some current options:

Test 1: Y-chromosome tests, for males to test DNA inherited from their father’s fathers

It is now possible for under US$200 for males to test the DNA they have inherited from their father’s father’s fathers, with sufficient accuracy to determine whether two men likely share a common ancestor ‘within a genealogical timeframe’ and how many generations ago that common ancestor probably lived.

I have used this test to discern whether two families with the same surname were actually related to each other, in situations where I have not yet found documentary proof. I have also used this particular DNA test to check (and finally refute) a theory about who might have been the biological father of an adopted male. It was necessary to find a living male descendant (down an all-male line) from the adopted male and also to find a living male descendant (down an all-male line) from the hypothesised  birth father, and then compare the DNA that each inherited from their father’s fathers.

DNA is not related to surnames and so I am not restricted to testing two men with the same surname – the test is valid for any two men who might share a common male ancestor. However when I order this test, if I choose to use a commercial testing company like Family Tree DNA – which has a huge (and growing) database – I might find in their database a match with some living descendant who shares a common ancestor that I did not know about. This is especially useful for adoptees.

The above DNA test is only available to males (as only males have a Y-chromosome). Females like me need to ask a near male relative to be tested. I have asked my father and also my mother’s brother to be tested – this opens up for examination my nearest male lines.

Test 2: Mitochondrial tests, for anyone to test DNA inherited from their mother’s mothers

Useful DNA tests are no longer limited to males. We all have a different type of DNA (called mitochondria) that we inherit from our mother’s mother’s mothers. Mitochondria mutates so slowly that formerly the only conclusions we could draw from our maternal line was about ancient ancestors and their migratory patterns.

However that is no longer true. The company Family Tree DNA offers full sequence tests of all our mitochondria (DNA that is inherited from our mothers) that allow us to identify people who share an ancestor through our mother’s mother’s mothers, within about 200 years. [Thank you Bill Hurst for pointing out that while 23andMe also tests the ‘coding region’ of our mitochondria,  they do not test or give results for all 16,571 locations, so theirs is not in fact a full sequence test.]

When the above matrilineal full sequence tests first became available, they cost close to $1,000. That price has dropped now to under US$300 (sometimes under $200).

Test 3: Autosomal tests, to test the DNA inherited half from each of our parents

We are not restricted to testing only the DNA of our father’s fathers or our mother’s mothers. Since 2010 it is possible to test the remaining nuclear DNA (that is, not the sex chromosomes). This DNA is called autosomal. Family Tree DNA calls their autosomal test Family Finder, while 23andMe calls a similar test Relative Finder. (Again these tests are under US$300 and sometimes under $200.)

These particular tests can check the DNA of our ancestors regardless of gender, because we inherit about half our autosomal DNA from each of our parents (and via them, from their ancestors) and this DNA can also be compared with the DNA of others. However as we inherit about one quarter of our DNA from each of our grandparents (and so about one eighth from each of our great grandparents) – eventually the inherited material from one particular ancestor becomes so small as to be difficult to identify definitively. Consequently, when comparing this autosomal DNA with someone else, our best conclusions are when the common ancestor lived no more than about 6 generations ago.

Use the tests in conjunction

While the above  tests examine separate DNA, the tests can be used in conjunction. When looking at the summary of DNA results for people that 23andMe identified as likely to be my 3^rd to 5^th cousins (identified via the Relative Finder – or autosomal test), I noticed that one of the matches also seemed to have very similar Y-chromosome (father’s fathers) DNA to my mother’s brother. I sent an email and by swapping names of grandparents and their parents, we soon identified that this person was the son of a 3^rd cousin to me (and so indeed within the range of 3^rd to 5^th cousins).

It is not necessary to understand how a car works in order to drive it, but it is necessary to know the functions of driving. In the same way it is unnecessary to understand much about the science of DNA in order to use it as a tool – but it is necessary to understand what sorts of questions can be answered by the different DNA tests so you know how to apply them as tools to aid your family history research.

This field is changing quickly

Because genetic tests available to the public are changing frequently (and certainly the prices are) readers need to beware of relying on conclusions written years ago or by someone who has not ‘kept up’ with tests currently available. This blog post is partly in response to an article I read this week entitled ‘The DNA dilemma’ – I do not agree with many of the conclusions in that piece.

It is no longer true to say that the only available information to be derived from maternal DNA (or mitochondria) is about ancient migrations of peoples – recent relatives can now be found by a full sequencing of the mitochondria (test available from Family Tree DNA for under $300).

It is no longer true that autosomal DNA can only make generalised indicators of race origins. (Autosomal DNA is sometimes referred to as ‘nuclear DNA’ but that is incorrect because the sex chromosomes are also inside the cell nucleus and the autosomes are the other pairs of chromosomes that are not the sex chromosomes.) Nor is it necessary to ‘test each generation in turn’. Autosomal DNA can identify that two people shared common ancestors within 6 generations (and possibly beyond, but it is less accurate beyond 6 generations). Many genealogists will not know all of their ancestors back even 6 generations, and so this DNA test can predict likely distant cousins who may not have been found by a paper trail.

There are differences between the DNA tests used in forensic law enforcement compared to commercial tests. Without going into too much scientific detail, legal forensics examine repeating groups of DNA at certain points on the autosomes whereas commercial autosomal tests examine the autosomal SNPs (something like ‘typo’ mutations). The tests are entirely different. Be wary about confusing the markers referred to in tests of the Y-chromosome (the DNA inherited father-to-son) – which are entirely different to the markers of autosomal DNA examined by forensic law enforcement agents.

Some people have suggested that male DNA studies are only relevant between males who share surnames. That is not true. There are many examples where family trees show a son with a different surname to his father – whether the name was changed by deed poll, by adoption, by remarriage of the mother – or for many other reasons. It is not the same surname that defines two people as father and son. Likewise DNA tests do not take surnames into account, so the test result is just as accurate whether two men share a surname or not.

In my opinion, the most recent DNA tests available to genealogists offer precise information which can supplement traditional genealogical methods. Family trees are still needed to identify ancestors and draw conclusions, however DNA tests can supplement other genealogical research, filling in gaps left by paper trails. With such tools we can test our conclusions and assumptions in constructed family trees as DNA can confirm or disprove reputed relationships. As databases grow, commercial DNA tests are more likely to help us find relatives that we might not have found by ‘traditional methods’.

Memories of war – Anzac Day 2012

Noel Farmer,
19 May 1944

For this year’s Anzac Day blog post, I thought I would share some extracts from a memoir written by my father-in-law, Noel Edward Farmer (1923 – 1999). In December 1941, after waiting impatiently for three months for the Navy to find a slot for a seaman who “knew how to handle boats”, Noel wrote to the Navy to ask if they were aware that Japan had entered the war. A month later a slot at Flinders Naval Depot was found. He was soon appointed a midshipman, although he rose to Lieutenant by the end of the war, and to Captain in the Naval Reserve.

The following extract describes an incident in 1942, when Noel was just 19.

‘Westralia’ went to Brisbane after Aitapee to pick up air force stores. When leaving the Brisbane River the gyro compass system broke down and the Navigator, running along the upper deck to the gyro room, fell over a deck bolt and was badly concussed. Young Farmer, despite or because of his lack of knowledge/experience at that time, was training as Navigator’s assistant and was promptly propelled into the top job – and hence the immediate task of taking a 14,000 ton vessel drawing 30′ through the Barrier Reef and Torres Strait to Darwin with only a magnetic compass. All Navy captains may, and all merchant masters must, unless they have specially qualified for an exemption, take on board a Torres Strait Pilot when making this trip of some 2,000 km – but not my Captain. I had a canvas deck chair placed on the port side of the bridge and spent the next five days there except for toilet visits below. The Captain did somewhat similar and about six days later Westralia berthed safely in Darwin. After about three months, and to my great surprise, the Captain’s secretary handed over a cheque in favour of Midshipman N E Farmer from the Navy in Canberra for about 14 pounds, with a chit attached saying “Pilotage – 1100 nautical miles at 3d per mile”.

This next extract describes a day in 1944, when Noel was aged 20.

It was a grisly day. … The 7th Fleet had a policy that any enemy soldier taken alive in a landing be sent promptly to a designated ship for interrogation. After replacing the originals on our ill fated southern beach with reserve troops I agreed to take two prisoners in my boat to be interrogated. When the prisoners were dragged to the beach they were young, hurt, shell-shocked and stark naked. My boat was beached, bow on, about ten feet from the water’s edge so that anyone boarding had to walk out into water at least one foot deep. The prisoners were in no condition to walk. Their escorts informed me that they were not intending to carry the cretins aboard and began to swing the first by hands and feet to throw him about fifteen feet on to the steel deck.

“Not on,” I said. “Carry them aboard or take them back to your own medics for treatment.” It was the only argument I ever won with a revolver and a threat to shoot US servicemen, if they threw the prisoner aboard – I’ll never know if I would have shot them. For their part they were young, scared, had seen many of their buddies killed and were fearful of their short term future when darkness fell on a slaughterhouse beach.

When hoisted back aboard ‘Westralia’ on conclusion of that eventful day I was told to report to the Captain. He sat me down and handed me a signal from the Navy saying that brother Charles had died.

The final extract describes a time in January 1945, when Noel was 21.

When we entered Lingayen Gulf air attacks increased in fury and desperation. Every second plane seemed to be Kamikaze and after dropping its bomb load headed for its selection of target and tried to crash on its bridge. … As in Hollandia and Leyte, I led the first wave boats to our allotted beach. We kept on unloading troops, equipment and stores forever it seemed from all variety of ships. Our boats crews tried to ignore the fear and death around them – and tried to conceal their own gut feelings from the green troops we carried.

We fed off the land – that is, we broached the stores we carried to meet our needs – and that day I first saw and ate canned grapefruit pieces. I liked them and ate a lot. The US knew how to feed its front line troops. Here we were in Lingayen on day one with guns and bombs going bang, Kamikazes having a suicide picnic and death all about – cruising slowly towards a beach carrying tons of grapefruit pieces for those who survived to eat them.

Lest we forget.

Visit to Adelaide and Congress 2012

I’ve just returned from the 13th Australasian Congress on Genealogy & Heraldry Adelaide 2012, where I delivered one talk (on ‘Which Genealogy Program?‘) and attended more than 20 others. I thoroughly recommend attending genealogy conferences – they provide access to a wide variety of speakers, with the opportunity to ask questions and discuss particular issues in my own family history. Websites are changing daily, and as more information is published online, conferences such as these allow attendees to learn about what is available and what is coming.

In addition there is the ‘buzz’ of spending days with others who share my passion for family history research, often also learning from discussions with other conference attendees. Genealogists are generous with their knowledge and usually keen to support other enthusiasts. Once you start attending conferences, your circle of genealogy friends and contacts grows. A highlight for me at this Congress was meeting up with friends from around Australia and some internationals – some friends I had previously only ‘met’ online.

Morning and afternoon teas, lunches and dinners were all busy times. In addition to looking at the offerings of the exhibitors (purchasing books, trying out websites, asking questions of librarians and society members) I enjoyed catching up with genealogy friends and swapping contact details with ‘new friends’.

So many genealogists gathering in one place provides the opportunity for meetings with some groups, sometimes over a lunch or dinner. I am proud to be a member of ‘Genealogists for Families’, whose motto is “We care about families (past, present and future)”. Through Kiva (a non-profit organisation) genealogists worldwide (and their non-genealogist relatives and friends) are working as a team to help less fortunate families. Kiva’s motto is “empower people around the world by making a $25 loan”. When many $25 loans are combined, borrowers without access to traditional banks can expand their business or support their families, and work towards raising themselves out of poverty. When the loan is repaid we can withdraw the money or lend it again.

Some of the ‘Genealogists for Families’ group in Adelaide met for dinner on the Wednesday (first) night of Congress. The dinner was an enjoyable time, with good food, chatting and much laughter, and when we passed around a collection box for spare coins, enough money was raised for 2 more Kiva loans.

Other nights were busy too: the (Tuesday) night before Congress was a Congress Welcome, Wednesday was the above Kiva dinner, Thursday night was a Lord Mayor of Adelaide’s function for speakers and exhibitors at Congress, and Friday night was the official Congress dinner.

Taking advantage of the trip to Adelaide, I flew over several days earlier in order to have some research time. Arriving on the Saturday afternoon before Congress, I spent Sunday and Monday researching in the State Library of South Australia and Tuesday at State Records South Australia. In addition I made brief visits to the Adelaide City Council Archives, to the Probate Registry – and also to photograph an old house in Norwood where my Grubb family ancestors made soft drinks in the late 19th century (F. C. Grubb soft drinks).

If you’re interested in family history and have any occasion to travel to where ancestors lived, prepare as much as possible before you travel. The time flies when you are actually in that library or archive office. You can be much more efficient if you have already searched online catalogues, and come prepared with references for books, microfiche, microfilms or computer files that you want to check. I had my netbook with my family history database, but I also had prepared reports of all those I knew were in South Australia at some time, so that I could quickly check whether accidental discoveries were likely to be my ancestors or not.

A digital camera is a great asset in libraries and archives offices, to quickly capture images of records found. A USB flash drive is also useful, as sometimes you can scan a document directly to a file. I had my new Flip-pal portable scanner with me (only owned for a week). Although scanning is slower than taking digital photographs, the Flip-pal did an excellent job of scanning & stitching documents and even screen images from microfiche or microfilm seen in the State Library. I was not allowed to use it in the State Archives.

So I’ve returned from a week in Adelaide with many books purchased, records scanned and photographed, pages and pages of lecture notes with clues to follow up for my family history – and also a backlog of emails and work that built up while I was away. One week in Adelaide is going to take me a lot longer than that to process! But it was a most enjoyable time and an experience I would heartily recommend.

The future of genealogy

There are many excited genealogists at present, partly because of the huge RootsTech conference currently running in Salt Lake City. I could not join the 3,000 people attending RootsTech live, but I can still benefit by downloading the syllabi (handouts from the talks) and also by joining the many thousands more, listening over the internet to some sessions being broadcast live.

However this set me thinking about the changes that have already happened in genealogy during my lifetime, and wondering what will happen in the future?

Marian Pierre-Louis wrote a great blog post entitled ‘Top 3 changes in genealogy‘. According to Marian, those ‘top 3 changes’ are:

• Increased visibility, due to eg the increasing popularity of television shows like Who do you think you are? I would add to that – the online advertising of Ancestry.com tells people how easy it is to find your ancestors and that you don’t need to be an expert. (For my views on such advertising, see my earlier post ‘You only have to look‘.)
• Education and outreach, including courses for amateurs and professionals, some face-to-face but many now available over the internet.
• Technology – including blogging, social media like Facebook and the digitisation of records.

When I started my family history research, access to records meant either visiting libraries, archives and genealogy societies in person, or writing letters. It was the sort of ‘hobby’ mainly undertaken by retirees with time on their hands.

Now technology brings access to digitised records and indexes, but also to opportunities to learn from others, even experts in the fields – (almost) wherever in the world you and they might be. Only a few years ago I could not have sat at my desk here in Australia and listened to a lecture being delivered in Salt Lake City.

But the changes in technology bring dangers too:

• Not everybody is able (or willing) to embrace technology, and that will leave behind some people, as more information becomes almost only available online.
• Just as information is made readily available online, so errors are broadcast more widely too.
• Many seem to expect to find all information easily available online, so traditional sources that require more time to explore are being ignored (or at least until they are digitised!)
• Because some questions are answered easily and quickly, many no longer see the need for education and learning ‘how to do research’. So they don’t learn that the first apparently matching record found might not be the right answer. The preferred solution becomes ‘whatever is quickest and easiest’ – and that could well be adopting somebody else’s family tree – warts and all.

So back to my original question – what of the future? Can the number researching their family trees continue to grow at the current rate? Is there a limit?

The average age of genealogists seems to be getting younger and perhaps that is partly because of the attractions of technology and ‘saving time’. Can the current trends continue?

More than one website has attempted to ‘stitch together’ family trees, aiming at one world-wide family tree. Mostly that has been fraught with errors – there are too many coincidentally similar people’s names, dates and places. Considered weighing of evidence and acknowledging that some conclusions are at best unreliable is needed in our own trees, and so I wonder how could any computer program reliably make that decision for us? Apparently there is already one family tree for everyone in Iceland, could that eventually be true for the rest of us?

Is DNA the answer? Certainly DNA tests can already predict the probability that we share a common ancestor with someone, but cannot tell us precisely who that common ancestor must be. More traditional methods of genealogical research are needed in conjunction with the tools provided by DNA.

So – what of the future? Technology will continue to race ahead – that is probably the only thing that is certain. It will become easier, perhaps more fun, to find more records and publish our conclusions. Will those family trees  be any more accurate than now?

What do you think? Can you make any predictions for 20 years? 50 or 100?

Commercial Travellers

Tomorrow is Australia Day and to mark the occasion, Twigs of Yore issued a blog challenge inspired by a line from Australia’s National Anthem, Advance Australia Fair. That third line (“We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil”) inspired Shelley to suggest that we write about the occupation of an Australian ancestor.

Many of my ancestors were salesmen, and while few of them made much ‘wealth’, there was certainly plenty of ‘toil’. My grandfather was born Cyril Leslie Etherington – but he hated the name Cyril, so everyone called him Mick. He was a salesman for much of his working life but in the 1930s and 1940s he travelled around country NSW as a commercial traveller. Carrying sample bags of confectionery, he visited shops and businesses, taking orders for the White Signet Company .

In earlier days peddlers travelled the countryside, carting goods to individuals and businesses, enduring the hardships caused by long lonely journeys, great distances and poor country roads. By the twentieth century many country travellers travelled by rail when possible. The small town of Werris Creek became an important centre for country salesmen because it was located on a railway junction. Stories and songs were written and shared amongst the country travellers, and Werris Creek, All Tickets Please is one.

My grandfather was a great story teller and I still remember songs and poems he taught me as a child, about his life as a commercial traveller. (I wonder what people thought when a 4-year-old girl broke into song with “Just an old beer bottle, washed up by the sea”!)

Away from their homes and families for so much of the time, friendships (as well as rivalries) bonded the CTs (commercial travellers).  My grandfather joined the Commercial Travellers’ Masonic Lodge and attended meetings at Werris Creek. He also joined the Commercial Travellers Association.

The “country travellers” worked together for charity as well. From 1906 various “cot funds” were set up to  raise money for sick children, to fund beds in hospitals. (In 1923 the many cots that had been provided by the CT’s to Sydney’s Westmead Hospital  were placed together in one ward, called the “Commercial Travellers’ Ward”.) Around country towns the commercial travellers held fund-raising events, with floats and parades, accompanied by “chocolate wheels” and raffles.

 In the 1930s my grandfather bought a Reo Flying Cloud for some of his travels. On dirt roads, the car often bogged and had to be pushed out.

Very occasionally, as a treat for my grandmother, my grandfather took her with him on one of his trips. But mostly it was lonely for both of them. After a fire at their home in 1946, my grandmother asked him to stay at home more, so he left country travelling and returned to working in the city.

The Commercial Traveller
Who are those with anxious faces, in the towns and busy places,
Journeying with weary paces, carrying attache cases?
Some are short, and some are tall, some have big bags, others small,
Some are dressed in style (Ye gods!) others down at heel (poor sods).

Tell us pray what is their mission, these who go with such precision –
Who are these poor hapless guys? Listen I’ll put you wise.
These (let me inform you sirs) are Commercial Travellers,
And their mission (it transpires) is pursuing men called buyers,
Who (although not blind at all) cannot see them when they call.
So they go with anxious faces, in the town and busy places,
Journeying with weary paces, carrying their attache cases.

Pity not their lot, my brothers, their reward is not as others.
When they’ve finished this life’s mission, they don’t go down to Perdition.
That’s a fate reserved for liars, thieves, Sales Managers and Buyers,
No, their path on earth was rough, and they were punished quite enough,
As they went with anxious faces, in the towns and busy places,
Journeying with weary paces, carrying their attache cases.

When these poor be-knighted mortals, knock at the Celestial Portals,
Show their card and tell their story, OPEN FLY THE GATES OF GLORY!
They have paid for their transgression, so they have a grand procession,
Led by angels playing lyres, last of all ten thousand buyers,
All by forcible persuasion brought from Hell for the occasion,
March behind them several paces, CARRYING THEIR ATTACHE CASES.

(Author unknown)

Check multiple names and also multiple indexes

I’ve written before about indexes whose titles suggest they are accessing the same records but in fact yield different results (see ‘Multiple indexes are not all the same‘).

However, competition between subscription websites as well as freely available material means that sometimes we now have the luxury of choosing between more than one index to the same information. Especially when those indexes are separately created and not just duplicated, we have an increased chance of actually finding the record we are looking for.

I transcribed some of the 1901 London census and I am well aware how difficult it can be to read the writing. Sometimes I am almost surprised at the amount the indexers seem to have correct! Plus I hope that when researchers find an indexing error they will take the trouble to notify the webmaster (or database or index owner), so a correction can be made, and the general accuracy of the indexes will increase.

I had a reminder this week of the usefulness of multiple indexes. Dr Landsborough took a local census of the inhabitants of Stevenston in Ayrshire (Scotland) in 1819. (A version of this index can be seen on the ThreeTowners website).

We all know that Bill could be William. In Scotland Jessie was interchangeable with Jean, Jane or Janet. Morag becomes Sarah, and Donald could be Daniel.

A Scottish ancestor of mine was Grizel McKENZIE. Over the years I’ve looked for spelling variations of Grizel, but until this week I hadn’t tried looking for the English version of the name ‘Grizel’ – which is ‘Grace’. So the Grizel McKENZIE I was looking for seems to be the Grace McKENZIE who married Andrew SILLARS in Stevenston (Ayrshire) in 1833.

SILLARS is a name that seems to beg mis-spelling – SILLERS and SILAS are common, so when searching an online index I was trying SIL*S. The wildcard * (asterisk) can substitute for none, 1 or more characters. That picked up a number of spelling variations but not all.

That’s when multiple indexes came in handy. For English censuses I might check both FindMyPast.co.uk as well as Ancestry.co.uk but for Scottish censuses I was looking at Ancestry as well as ScotlandsPeople. (You can do a fair bit of searching on ScotlandsPeople before you have to pay). Ancestry only has transcriptions of the Scottish censuses, rather than the full images of the records on ScotlandsPeople, but I have a subscription for Ancestry and so did not have to pay more to search. (Ancestry.com is also generally freely available at libraries.) 

In the 1841 census on Ancestry I found my couple as ‘Andrew and Gaiyle SILLARS’ – I thought that Gaiyle might be a mis-reading of Grizle. But although knowing they were likely there somewhere, I could not find the same couple on ScotlandsPeople – I tried putting a wildcard on the *front* of the name and even that did not find them. In the end I abandoned looking for the surname at all. Fortunately their first names were uncommon so I tried looking for them by first name only, coupled with age and place – and finally I found them – as Andrew and Grizle LILLAY!

So ‘Andrew and Gaiyle SILLARS’ in one index were ‘Andrew and Grizle LILLAY’ in another. Here’s a copy of the image – what do you think?

Andrew and Grizel (Grizle / Grace) SILLARS

Attitude to convicts (1937)

Another historic newspaper report, this time in response to the Celebration Committee’s plans for the 150-year anniversary celebrations of the landing of the First Fleet in Sydney. The Committee decided that for the re-enactment of the landing, and the subsequent parade of floats, there would be no convicts!

THEY PLAYED THEIR PART.

The Celebrations Committee has …decided to ban the birthstain, so far as next year’s pageantry is concerned. No convicts will disembark at Farm Cove, nor in the subsequent procession will there be the slightest reminder that there would have been no Landing except for the need to find a new home for Britain’s surplus prison population. This impressive feat in the bowdlerisation of history has been greeted with varying degrees of derision by correspondent s of the “Herald” and others. Mr. H. J Rumsey, who has boldly called his roll-call of the First Fleet “The Pioneers of Sydney Cove,” suggests that the representation of the settlement without mention of the two thirds who involuntarily participated in it is comparable to the story of Hamlet without the Prince.

…”Conspicuous by their absence,” indeed, will be the “true patriots” who, if they left their country for their country’s good, did a vast amount of good work in the land of their enforced adoption. By discreetly leaving this family skeleton in the cupboard the committee has ensured its attendance at the feast.

…The morals of some of the convicts were in as poor case as their garments. No amount of sentimental whitewashing, by way of reaction to the excessive fastidiousness of the Celebrations Committee can disguise the fact that the convict pioneers included a number of “complete villains,” as even Phillip, who was a humane man for his times and wished to befriend his charges, was forced to admit.

…He [Phillip] pronounced the great body of them “quiet and contented,” and Hunter was able to say in 1812 that “there are many men who have been convicts, and are now settlers, who are as respectable as any people who have gone from this country.” It is a curious commentary on the present ban that convicts were permitted to join in public celebrations from the earliest times, and themselves staged a dramatic performance as early as 1789; 

…The truth is that, not merely was Australia founded on account of the convicts, but that it would have made scant progress in its first 50 years without them. We have, perhaps, more to be ashamed of in our treatment of the aborigines, some of whose pathetic remnants, will stage a corroboree at Farm Cove, than of the penal origins of our country. The brutal transportation system reflected at least as much discredit upon its authors and some of its operators as upon the majority of its victims. It belongs to the old unhappy, far-off things of another age. Yet, as Dr. John Dunmore Lang, whose words are recalled by a correspondent today, wrote in 1875, it is a great historical fact which cannot be ignored. The effort to do so is likely to provoke more ridicule than a candid recognition of circumstances, which, so far from being discreditable to Australia, emphasise the magnitude of our achievement in building up a vigorous, independent, and freedom-loving nation from such unlikely beginnings at Sydney Cove. It would be the poorest sort of snobbery to deny that many men and women who were brought to this country under degrading conditions rose superior to their misdoings and misfortunes, and played their part in laying the foundations of the Commonwealth.

THEY PLAYED THEIR PART. (1937, December 11). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842-1954), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17435749

Attitude to convicts (1891)

Why is it that we are now proud to claim convict ancestors? I was looking in historic newspapers for evidence of earlier views about convict heritage. I found the following remarkable piece in The Queenslander of 7 March 1891:

Whatever changes may be introduced by the advance of Social Democracy, it is doubtful whether pride of birth will ever be eliminated from human nature. There is no sign of it disappearing now at any rate. In Republican France it is just as strong as it was before the Revolution. In America, where there is no titled aristocracy, people are as proud of being descended from somebody who came over in the Mayflower as the Beauforts are of having come over, in the person of an ancestor, with William the Conqueror. In Australia folks have not yet begun to boast of the fact that their forebears came over with the Sirius, or in one of the transports that accompanied that epoch-making vessel. But I have no doubt that will come in time. Most noble origins, from the founding of Rome to the Norman conquest, start from violence and crime, and in a couple of hundred years the convict taint will be blue blood. 

 

An Anzac story rarely told

Anzac Day, 2011 and this morning I was proud to again accompany my Dad to the Dawn Service, to remember those who served, including those who paid “the ultimate sacrifice”.

I want to speak of my Dad’s military service, someone who fortunately returned home again, but who was part of a group that has received very little acknowledgement.

My Dad was a member of BCOF, the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces. He joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as soon as he was old enough, but he was just finishing training when “cessation of hostilities” was declared. When he was sent overseas, it was to Japan, as part of the occupation forces. He served 3 years in Japan, including time in and near Hiroshima, very shortly after that city was hit by a nuclear bomb. He too saw and had to do some horrific things as part of that service (only once has he really opened up and spoken about some of them).

He too has health issues as a result of that military service, but there has been very little acknowledgement for military service “after the war was over”. Only fairly recently was BCOF service even acknowledged at the War Memorial. After his return from Japan Dad joined the Citizen Forces and, when it formed, the Citizen Air Force, as “an original” (one of those who joined in 1948).

Our first thought at Anzac Day may rightly be for the Diggers and the debacle and lives lost in 1915 at what is now known as Anzac Cove. We remember also too many other battles when our young men and women served and perhaps died for their country.

But we should remember also the contribution of all those others who also “answered duty’s call” and served in other ways, the peace makers and the peace keepers.

Lest we forget.

Look at the history

I’ve written a new course on Australian Immigration (free settlers) for the National Institute for Genealogical Studies and have been reminded again about how much is explained by looking at background history.

People refer to the ‘push-pull’ of immigration. The Irish potato famine of the 1840s ‘pushed’ a large number of emigrants. In addition to 1 million dead, another 1 million people migrated from Ireland, causing the country’s population to fall by nearly 25%.

Likewise the pull of immigration: in the 7 years from the start of the Victorian gold rushes in 1851, the population of Victoria increased from 70,000 to nearly 500,000, overtaking the population of New South Wales. Ships arriving in Port Phillip were deserted as passengers and crew rushed off to the gold fields (often before immigration officials had time to record who had arrived).

Not all the numbers are so dramatic but looking at the numbers and considering the history helps understanding.

In 50 years from 1803, 75,000 convicts were sent to Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen’s Land). With convict labour and also emancipated convicts, there was no shortage of labour and indeed the problem was to ensure no unemployment, especially for assigned convicts.

The need was for wealthy settlers to develop employment – and single women. The gender balance was so unequal that for a while the government subsidised the migration of single women. But there was little need for more labourers. By 1860 about 80% of free immigrants to Tasmania had paid their own fares. The total number of free immigrants to that date was similar to the total number of transported convicts.

It was a different story in Queensland. Because of labour shortages, Queensland was a colony founded on assisted immigration (subsidised passages). In the 40 years leading up to Federation (1901), more assisted migrants arrived in Queensland than any other colony and few records remain in Queensland of the arrival of those who paid their own way.

Multiple indexes are not all the same

I’ve been looking at Australian immigration records, and in particular the various indexes that sound as though they are indexing the same records but actually yield very different results.

Some years ago I searched through multiple microfilms until I found the records of John Hoadley and his family, who set out from England as ‘bounty immigrants’ in 1838. Colonists selected suitable immigrants to sponsor, and paid for their fares, in exchange for a ‘bounty’ from the government, which reimbursed part or all of the costs. The new immigrant would then be contracted to work for their sponsor for a time.

Immigration to New South Wales was the responsibility of the NSW government until 1922, and the records are now held by NSW State Records. (Immigration records after 1922  are now held by the National Archives of Australia.)

Anyway back to John Hoadley – he was aged 26, a farm labourer from Chittington Sussex. His wife Mary Ann was a 22-year-old housemaid. They had 2 small children, George aged 1 and Mary Ann aged 2. According to the references supplied, John Hoadley was the son of Amelia Hoadley, a laundress of Blumton, Sussex. His health was good and the local curate attested to his good character.

As I say, I had found their ship and date of arrival by searching through microfilms. When NSW State Records added an online index to their website, that index started from 1844, so did not include the Hoadley family.

When the subscription site Ancestry.com.au released a ‘Bounty Immigrants Index for 1828-1842’, the Hoadley family was missing. (Or were they just wrongly indexed? The original writing is difficult to read.)

Recently I checked a newer Ancestry collection, ‘Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists 1828-1896’ and this time it DID include the Hoadley family. (Why was an 1838 record missing from the 1828-1842 collection but found in the 1828-1896 collection?)

According to the record in the Ancestry collection, John Hoadley “jumped overboard in a fit of delirium … at midnight … Left a widow and 2 children”. I had not known that!

More recently, NSW State Records released ‘digital copies of the Bounty Immigrants lists, 1838-96’ – copies of the original passenger lists, freely available online. Note that these start 6 years earlier than the NSW State Records Assisted Immigrants index. I was pleased to find that the ship ‘Amelia Thompson’ was included – however the digitised images online only include the single men and women, not the families and married couples, so the Hoadleys were left out – again.

Most recently FamilySearch released an ‘Index to bounty immigrants arriving in NSW, Australia, 1828-1842’ – including digital images. Having seen the other records, I expected the FamilySearch image would be a copy of one of those – it wasn’t.

The image on the FamilySearch site is a filmed copy of a card index, including a transcription of all available information – including some I did not know. Poor Mary Ann Hoadley did not only lose her husband on the voyage, her youngest child died at the Quarantine Station 2 weeks after their arrival.

The above was a lesson to me that the indexes and images might sound as if they are all the same, but – for whatever reason – the ancestor you are looking for might be included in one index and missing from another. Or one record might include more information than another. Taken together, all the information tells much more of a story, that I would not have learned if I had stopped looking when I found the name of the vessel and a date.

Parents Unknown

Parents unknown

If a death certificate has the dreaded word ‘Unknown’ – think about other ways of getting the information.

I was looking for the origins of William Etherington, a carpenter who died at Delegate (southern NSW). On his death certificate, not only were his parents listed as unknown, but so were any spouse or children.

Death certificates often have errors or missing information, because the owner of the property where a death occurred was the person required to register the death. The accuracy of their answers depended on who that was and how much did they know.

Next possibility – was there a will naming family members? If so, it might be found in a ‘Probate Packet’ – such files contain information about the property of the deceased and who was to inherit.

Checking the online indexes of NSW State Records (holders of New South Wales government archives), I found no entry for William in the Probate Packet index, nor the index of the Deceased Estate files (generally these contain an inventory of property and possessions).

However there was an entry for William Etherington in the index for Intestate Estates (‘intestate’ means died without leaving a will). The Curator of Intestate Estates determined who was to inherit when there was no will to indicate the wishes of the deceased.

The online index gave a clue that this file was working checking. The comments column included “contains original BDMs”. What an understatement!

William was one of 9 children, most of whom had married (and perhaps remarried) and had children of their own. William’s brother claimed that all his siblings and their descendants deserved to share the inheritance. In evidence there was a family tree (4 generations) along with all the applicable birth, marriage and death dates for everyone named. Not only that, but the file also contained all of the birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial certificates. Most documents were from England and the baptisms and burials were certified by the vicar.

Instant family! And photographing them all with my digital camera cost me nothing. (Fortunately I had a spare camera battery, as there were so many documents.)

I don’t think I have ever before found so many certificates in one file! However it was also a reminder that if the information is missing in the first place you seek, check elsewhere.

Family of William Etherington

Australia Day, past and present

Today is Australia Day and I am thinking how our attitudes to our history have changed over time. My childhood history book referred to Captain Cook ‘discovering Australia’ in 1770. That completely discounted the presence of indigenous Australians here for at least 40,000 years, not to mention all the European sightings of our continent long before Cook.

Then there is the changed attitude to a convict past. Not so many years ago it would have been a dreadful shame to have convict forebears. Now such ancestors are much sought after, as it associates us with pioneers, and we are amused by some of the rogues and think the Kelly gang bushrangers were forced into their crimes. Perhaps some people rewrite their history a bit by glossing over their ancestor’s ‘crime’ (“they were hungry so stole a loaf of bread”). I wonder what misrepresentations our descendants will accuse us of making?

The following is a letter to the editor published in the Sydney Morning Herald  on Thursday 9 December 1937 (page 3, see it  in Trove) in response to preparations for the upcoming 150th anniversary of ‘Australia Day’. At that reenactment of the landing, they chose to gloss over even the presence of convicts in the First Fleet!

AUSTRALIAN HISTORY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD,

Sir,-Dr. Mackaness, speaking at a meeting of the Royal Australian Historical Society last week, said that the 150th celebrations had done much for historical work and research. That may be so. It is interesting to note, however, that Dr. Mackaness made no protest against the inaccurate presentation of Australian history about to be made at the forthcoming celebrations. The landing of Governor Phillip without reference to the convicts, as decided by the 150th Anniversary celebration committee, is in conflict with Dr. Mackaness’s book, “Admiral Arthur Phillip,” just published, and here quoted . . .

“On 25th January at daylight, the Supply, with a company of marines and forty convicts on board, had weighed anchor, but could not leave the bay (Botany) till noon … anchoring the same evening at 7 o’clock, being obliged to turn up … At daylight on 26th January … the marines and convicts were landed from the Supply … The convicts were immediately set to work clearing a piece of land on which to erect the tents … After noon the Union Jack was hoisted on shore and the marines being drawn up to it, the Governor and officers to the right, and the convicts to the left, their Majesties and the Prince of Wales’s health, with success to the colony, was drank, in four glasses of porter, after which a feu de joie was fired and the whole (sic) gave three cheers …”

Here then is the landing scene. Take away reference to the convicts and you have the skeleton which is to be presented at the coming clebrations. Where are the protests of Dr. Mackaness, or the Royal Australian Historical Society? The silence of this society, which aims at historical accuracy, is astounding, while its motto, “Not unmindful of the past,” would appear to be a misnomer, at least as regards the convicts. The official voice of this society is dumb regarding the decision of the celebration committee to ban references to the convict pioneers, when this society’s protest should be loudest.

I am, etc.,

B. T. DOWD. Waverley, Dec. 7.

Early Australian documents

To celebrate Australia Day (26 January) Shelley at Twigs of Yore invited us to write about our earliest documentation for an Australian ancestor or relative.

It might not be my earliest Australian document, but this document dates from Perth in 1832, within 3 years of the new Swan River colony in Western Australia. So these ancestors were certainly Australian pioneers.

Thomas Farmer and his wife Ann and their two small sons arrived at the new Swan River colony (Western Australia) in 1829 on HMS Sulphur. Thomas was a Private in the 63rd Regiment, part of the contingent accompanying the first ship of European settlers to the new colony. Ann was reported to be the first white woman ashore in Western Australia. By 1832 Thomas and Ann had 3 sons, and Ann was pregnant again, when Thomas drowned.

After Thomas’ death, with no other means of support, Ann married again before the birth of her 4th son. Ann was to be widowed twice more, and have 9 children in total, before she herself died at age 64.

Anyway, back to that early document. The following is an extract from C.S.O. 20/155 (microfilm), from Battye Library, Colony of Western Australia.

Enquiry into the causes of the death of Thomas Farmer, a private in His Majesty’s 63rd regiment of foot, taken at Perth in the said colony on Friday the twenty fourth day of February 1832. … Edward Barron, Colour Serjeant of His Majesty’s 63rd Regiment of foot being duly sworn saith –

“Yesterday morning about six o’clock I accompanied the deceased along with … two Privates of my regiment to the Flats to bring back a flat boat …

We had gone but a few yards from the bank when the painter broke. The sea breeze was blowing choppy and drifting the flat on shore on which account I called to Steel to pull his small boat round. He tried but I saw he could not pull it round. Upon which I told him to jump out of the boat into the water knowing he was a good swimmer and lay hold of the painter of the small boat and bring it to me in the flat.

Farmer on hearing me say this said there was no necessity for anyone swimming hereunder he could find bottom and at the same instant he jumped out. He was immediately out of his depth and went down below the surface. I called to Steel to lay hold of him and pull him into the boat. Steel did accordingly pull him into the boat. I ordered Farmer not to jump out of the boat again.

Steel again jumped out and got hold of the painter and as soon as Steel jumped out Farmer again jumped out saying he could find bottom. He immediately struck out but I saw then he could not swim and that he was beginning to paddle like a dog on which I called to Steel to lay hold of him and at the same time I undressed myself and jumped into the water after deceased and was making towards him, and had got within about four strokes of him when he went down. He never came up again. Steel swam round the boat while I dived down after deceased but we never saw any trace of him.”

Ancestor Approved Award

Ancestor Approved Award

I was delighted to be nominated for the Ancestor Approved Award from Pauleen at ‘Family history across the seas‘.

I have been busy preparing for an engagement party, worrying about weather and tidiness – but then came horrifying tales of the floods. How could I worry about rain at the party, when others were struggling with the loss of lives and possessions? Likewise, when I consider the difficulties and personal tragedies faced by some of my ancestors, it puts into perspective my own concerns.

This Award was created by Leslie Ann Ballou at Ancestors Live Here and asks two things of those who receive it:

1. They should write 10 surprising, humbling, or enlightening aspects of their research
2. Pass the award on to 10 other researchers whose family history blogs are doing their ancestors proud.

So here are my 10 surprising, humbling or enlightening findings, in no particular order of importance:

1. I am humbled by the difficulties faced by immigrant ancestors, like David and Jane MOORE and their three small children, who were shipwrecked when the “Sacramento” was wrecked at Point Lonsdale, Victoria, in 1853. They were rescued, but their possessions were lost. Our ancestors faced incredible difficulties leaving their families and settling so far away.
2. I am humbled by the personal sacrifice of the many young men who ‘did their duty’ and fought in the various wars overseas. Whether they died overseas or returned to deal with their memories of war, they were willing to ‘do their bit’.
3. I was surprised and enlightened when I found (via the internet) the relative in England who held a letter from 1903, which detailed how the ancestor I’d long been searching for had also lived under another alias.
4. I was surprised by the number of ancestors who committed bigamy (or else had more than one partner at the same time, with children, and without marrying either partner). It was enlightening to read the detailed report of the Old Bailey Trial of my 4g.grandfather, Thomas MILLS, who married 3 times and was sentenced to transportation for 7 years for bigamy.
5. I was surprised by the number of my ancestors who went bankrupt, and enlightened by reading the detailed accounts of their debts and possessions.
6. Searching the births and then the deaths indexes for NSW, I was humbled and saddened to discover that Thomas and Ann ETHERINGTON lost 9 children in 20 years – one daughter reached 18 years, the rest did not survive to double digits. Then Thomas died, and Ann lived another 30 years as a widow.
7. I am enlightened and fascinated when interviewing elderly relatives, with the details of early lives. For example, an elderly relative spoke of her grandfather’s car and how he would chain a log to the back of his car, to function as a break when he drove down the long slope from Armidale to Tamworth.
8. I was enlightened by 2 reported desertions from the army of an ancestor, William Joseph ETHERINGTON. Orphaned at aged 7, he travelled with his brother to Victoria and enlisted as a drummer boy. When the regiment was to leave Victoria, he deserted and was recaptured. He deserted again in New Zealand 2 years later, trying to get back to Victoria. Police gazettes gave detailed physical descriptions at the time of each desertion, so now I even know how much he grew in those 2 years.
9. I was surprised to discover that my ancestor, James BOND (with a son Felix), belonged to the BOND family whose motto was ‘The world is not enough’.
10. I have been surprised to discover several family members who were not the child of their commonly believed ‘parents’.

Our ancestors are not just names and dates, but were real people, and we understand them better when we consider how we would cope with some of the events in their lives.

And now to nominate 10 other researchers whose blogs are doing their family proud: (I’m sure some of these would have been nominated before.)

1. Shauna Hicks at  http://www.shaunahicks.com.au/shhe-genie-rambles/ (Someone else has probably already nominated Shauna, as she does so much for family history in Australia)
2. Australian Genealogy Journeys at http://ausgenjourneys.blogspot.com/
3. Lyn Dear at http://genealogy-new-zealand.blogspot.com/
4. Carol Baxter at http://www.carolbaxter.com/blog/
5. Family History South Australia at http://familyhistorysa.blogspot.com/
6. Kylie Willison at http://kyliewillison.blogspot.com/
7. Kirsty Wilkinson at http://professionaldescendant.blogspot.com/
8. Blair Archival Research at The Passionate Genealogist
9. London Roots Research at http://londonrootsresearch.blogspot.com/
10. Amanda Epperson at http://scottishemigration.blogspot.com/

Coat of arms / ‘family crest’

Some interesting comments in my last blog post (‘You only have to look’) made me wish I’d replied into a separate blog post, so at least the comments related to the topic.

Someone said in a comment: Those “accept anything they find without question” folks must be the ones who patronize those generic “family crest” suppliers where you get a crest of somebody, somewhere, who happens to share your surname.

I disagreed because I think you can hang anything on your wall that takes your interest, but to say “my great grandfather was …” without sufficient cross-checking to ensure you have the ancestor who belongs to you – well it might be a very interesting family tree, but it’s not yours. And I guess that’s the same point the commenter made about how many people think of a ‘family’ coat of arms.

To be entitled to use a coat of arms you must have either been granted it yourself or be descended in the male line from the original grantee.

My point was that I might know that, and not actually use the arms, but still be interested in them as a curiosity.

However the mention of a ‘family crest’ touched a particular irritation with me. There’s no such thing as a ‘family crest’.

The term ‘coat of arms’ (or ‘armorial bearings’ or just ‘arms’) descends from the days when knights in battles or tournaments wanted to be identifiable, and with the visor of their helmets down, clad in armour, it was difficult to tell friend from foe, so they started to paint the symbols that identified the knight onto a sleeveless linen surcoat, worn over the armour.

Different parts of the armour had different names, and some of those names continue in the words used to describe ‘armorial bearings’ (what we think of as ‘coats of arms’).

The only essential part of the armour was the shield (which could be different shapes & sizes). The crest was ornamentation that might have been worn on top of the helmet and usually was chosen as a bird or beast that the knight thought reflected his martial qualities.

So a crest was optional, but you cannot have a crest without arms. So please – refer to a ‘coat of arms’ not to a ‘family crest’!

Coat of arms

You only have to look

I am irritated every time I hear the ad that says “you don’t need to know what you’re looking for, you only have to look”. Advice like that encourages some people researching their family history to accept anything they find without question, especially when it is the only name that seems to match when searching an index.

The internet is littered with family trees wrongly patched together by people who did not look for corroborating evidence before adopting an ancestor.

Some of my “problem” ancestors took a great deal of hunting, through every available source I could access, before I finally found some record or some descendant or something that provided a clue to a mystery. Then lots of cross-checking was required before I could have some confidence in my conclusion. For example, it took nearly 10 years of  very focussed research before I found the necessary evidence for one ancestor, Samuel ETHERINGTON. (I did also research other ancestors in those intervening years!)

I do believe that any research needs to be focussed and directed. Be systematic in the way you check all the sources you can. Lucky dip research occasionally brings unexpected finds, but without careful cross-checking of details, you won’t know whether that find belongs in your tree or not.

Having said all that, new indexes and newly digitised records are recently being released at such a rate that it is difficult to keep up. Because I was so obsessed with one particular ancestor, I once could be fairly confident that I had checked most of the available sources of information about him. But with more ancestors in my tree and more sources to check (and less time – but don’t get me started on that) – anyway there are bound to be people in your tree that you have not yet sought in unlikely places as well as the more obvious.

Because I’m writing some new courses, I was looking for examples of some lesser used sources. Today I was checking online indexes on the website of the State Records Authority of New South Wales, the archives of the NSW government.

You can’t browse shelves in a government archives (as you might in a library), but you can browse online indexes. Not every sort of record is indexed and not all indexes are online, but a lot of them are.

Today I was checking indexes I don’t usually bother with and was quite surprised at how much I found. I did not know before that John McNEILL was a 1st class porter at Darling Harbour Goods Yard in 1910. Or that two James ETHERINGTONs (father and son) held Publican’s Licenses for the Nell Gwynne Hotel (York Street Sydney) in the 1850s. I found more bankrupt ancestors (and bankruptcy files can contain a wealth of details about daily life).

Which brings me back to where I started. Perhaps I did know what I was looking for, but I was still surprised with what I found. And I am so glad that I looked!

Testing genealogy knowledge

This week I prepared my first exam, for the ‘Australian Births, Deaths and Marriages’ course for the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. I actually found it surprisingly difficult, partly because I remember sitting many exams in the past & finding fault with multiple choice questions where answers could be argued.

How do you measure somebody’s skills at using births, deaths and marriages indexes, and interpreting certificates? I didn’t want all answers to be found in the notes. (Although knowing “What year did civil registration start in NSW?” – 1856 – might be useful, because there is usually more information on a civil birth certificate than the early church records baptism certificate.)

I believe that effectively using BDM indexes is more about your searching skills and being able to analyse and look for clues in the results found. Such skills improve over time – perhaps because after falling into a trap you are less likely to do so next time.

In this exam I tested skills like recognising the possibility of spelling variations, where you won’t find the birth if you search for the name exactly as it appeared in the death index (using a wildcard helps). Or linking that bride named Annie with the birth of a daughter named Ann.

I think these are the real skills of researching family history. Not jumping to conclusions when you stumble on one person who happens to have the right name and is born in the right place, before looking to see if they might have died as an infant and so could not possibly be the groom in a marriage 25 years later.  Alternatively if you look and don’t find, then thinking  about how else to search.

Researchers need to be aware that just because the marriage certificate said they married at age 20, doesn’t mean it’s true. I always start searching a range of dates and increase or decrease the range if necessary. One couple in my family had 5 children and then were married. (The bride was previously married and could not remarry until after the death of her first husband.) I would not have found the marriage if I only looked before the birth of their first child.

One skill that improves over time that I did not test in this exam, is handwriting recognition. (Ironically someone in my family has dreadful handwriting and he is fantastic at helping me interpret old hard-to-read handwriting.)

What do you think of this? (I remember how hard I found this at first, but now it seems not bad.)

DNA journey

I started down the DNA learning path several years ago. My Dad’s father was adopted, & when I eventually found his birth certificate it contained no information about his father. An unusual middle name and circumstantial evidence suggested someone, but with no documentary evidence, DNA seemed a way to test my theory.

I found a grandson of this possible ancestor – son of a son, so a good candidate for y-chromosome DNA comparison with my father. I asked – if I paid for it, would he be willing to have his DNA tested to compare with my father’s DNA? He said yes, but unfortunately the test proved that he and my father were not related. (DNA is often better at disproving rather than proving relationships.)

I used the company Family Tree DNA, which has the largest database for testing and comparison, and now that I am registered, I am advised when others match my Dad’s DNA. I hope that one day I will find someone with the right DNA,who had an ancestor in the right place and at the right time.

Some time later, I had the opportunity to speak to Megan Smolenyak about my problem & confirm my method. I asked Megan for her advice about which company should I use to test my Mum’s DNA.

Females don’t have y-chromosomes so cannot have the y-DNA tests done. However humans have other DNA outside the cell nucleus, called mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Mothers pass mtDNA to all their children, but only their daughters pass it on. I wanted my Mum’s DNA to be tested now and also stored for the future, for as-yet-undeveloped tests. Forensic scientists use mitochondrial DNA now, but for genealogists mtDNA is mostly only used for deep ancestry testing, not for finding ‘recent’ ancestors (those in a genealogical timeframe).

Megan suggested that I have my mother’s DNA tested with the company 23andMe, as they were developing new tests and could offer more information about female ancestors. 23andMe tests give information about genetic health issues, in addition to genealogical ancestry matching – so I took that advice.

These 2 companies that I had used (23andMe & FamilyTreeDNA) offer very different information in their test results. Results from the FamilyTreeDNA tests are tables of numbers, indicating the DNA at specific genetic marker points. There is also a YSearch database for comparing results, and even people who have had their DNA tested with other companies can search this freely – you manually enter the numbers (alleles) at various marker locations and see if the results match anyone in the YSearch database.

The results from 23andMe gave information about genetic health risks and tendencies and general DNA groupings – it required a bit more delving to actually find the numbers that correspond to the (mitochondrial) DNA markers.

Around a year ago, both these companies announced new tests involving autosomal DNA. 23andMe call this ‘Relative Finder’ – FamilyTreeDNA call it ‘Family Finder’. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes in every cell nucleus – 22 pairs of autosomes and also another pair, the ‘sex chromosomes’ (XX for females, XY for males). The autosomes contain bits of DNA inherited from all your ancestors, not just from all-male or all-female lines. You share larger pieces of DNA in common with close relatives, and smaller bits of  autosomal DNA with relatives less closely related.

Both males and females have this autosomal DNA, so now you can find relationships with anyone sharing any common ancestor, not just the all-paternal or all-maternal lines. This new autosomal DNA test has thrown up some new possibilities and new candidates in the search for my father’s father’s heritage. (We already have found a close relative with interesting possibilities.)

However, back to the initial subject. The company 23andMe is offering a special price for the next few days, and some Facebook friends decided to take advantage of it. I agonised whether I should join them, given that I already have tested my father’s DNA as well as my mother’s mitochondrial DNA.

In terms of autosomal DNA, although the test is new, I suspect that the company FamilyTreeDNA is likely to have a bigger database for comparisons. (For me the main value of DNA tests is looking to match with others, and so larger databases are better.)

But 23andMe gives other information – about genetic related diseases – in addition to the study of ancestry. I have decided that both companies’ tests are of interest to me. So now I too have taken advantage of the current special price, and will get my own DNA tested.

Of course there are many other testing companies, and websites with information about DNA. I give talks about ‘DNA for Genealogists’ (my handout can be found on my website). The handout contains information about various testing companies and their information pages, as well as other sites with DNA tutorials, mailing lists and even a DNA Wiki.

For now though, I have joined the ranks of those waiting for a test tube to be posted to me, so I can take the next step in this DNA journey.

Australian BDM certificates & saving money

Australians refer to Births, Deaths and Marriages (or BDM) – in alphabetical order. In UK these are described as BMD (in chronological order) while most Northern Americans refer to Vital Statistics.

I’ve been writing a course on Australian Births, Deaths and Marriages for the National Institute of Genealogical Studies. In Australia births, deaths and marriages are managed separately by each state or territory. While these have some common history there are also differences in the records and indexes available. (Links to the various BDM Registries can be found here.)

The following are some tips for saving money, while searching Australian BDM:

1. Check whether a family member already has a copy of the certificate you want.
2. Most states’ and territories’ Registry BDM indexes online are free to search, although Victoria’s cost & some regions don’t have online indexes.
3. Most states and territories have BDM indexes on CDROMs that can be searched freely at libraries and genealogical societies.
4. Ancestry.com is available to use freely at many libraries, genealogical societies & Family History Centers, so you do not need a personal subscription to check the combined ‘Australian Birth, Marriage and Death Index’.
5. Cross-check details as much as possible before ordering, to minimise wrongly ordered certificates.
6. Check holdings of genealogical societies – someone else might have deposited a copy of the certificate you want.
7. Check the Australasia Births, Deaths & Marriages Exchange in case someone else has the certificate you want.
8. Certificates are often cheaper if you can provide the name, year and registration numbers (and sometimes registration districts) – so check an index first and write down ALL the details.
9. For New South Wales (NSW) and Tasmania, many 19th century church records are microfilmed & you may be able to see them at a genealogical society or library and write down the details yourself.
10. For NSW transcriptions are cheaper than full certificates. Obtain these from Marilyn Rowan, Joy Murrin or Laurie Turtle. Early Church Records transcriptions are cheaper than civil certificate transcriptions.
11. In South Australia transcriptions can sometimes be obtained free from the public libraries that hold District Registers. Note that each library can only provide transcriptions of one district, not others. Some libraries charge for this service and some offer it free. (eg Unley Library holds Adelaide District Register ONLY and will copy for researchers who live too far from the library to visit.)
12. South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society (SAGHS) offers transcriptions of all districts of historic South Australian certificates.
13. For Victoria, historical images of certificates (downloaded immediately as PDF files) are cheaper than certified printed copies of certificates (posted to you).
14. Search Queensland BDM indexes online for free and order online the historical image of a certificate more cheaply than a certified historical certificate here.

Australian Population Statistics

Years ago I studied number theory, and I still find patterns of numbers fascinating, especially when they suggest underlying explanations.

On first glance the Australian Historical Population Statistics on the website of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (Table 1, ‘Population by sex, states and territories, 31 December 1788, onwards’) – well maybe it didn’t look fascinating at first glance. In fact all those numbers look a bit intimidating.

However I am writing a course on Australian Family History (for the National Institute of Genealogical Studies – NIGS) and I started looking more closely at the population numbers, considering them within regions and then within decades. And then patterns began to emerge as the population trends reflected what was happening at the time.

I mean – look at Victoria. It didn’t become a separate colony until 1851 (before that the area was known as the ‘Port Phillip District of NSW’) so there are no statistics for the Victorian colony until 1851. However the new Victorian colony in 1851 had a population of 97,000. A year later this had grown to 168,000 and 2 years later to nearly 284,000. The reason of course was the gold rush, but those numbers echo the stories we read of ships deserted in Port Phillip Bay, when passengers and crew rushed off to the goldfields, often before immigration officials could record who had arrived.

The Swan River settlement in Western Australia was founded in 1829, and at the end of that year, the population was 1,003. Numbers crept up over the next 20 years, including a slight boost in the 1850s and 1860s when the western colony requested convicts for labour (at a time when the eastern colonies rejected convicts because of their gold rush immigration boom).

By 1881 there were still only 30,000 in Western Australia. The numbers continued to grow slowly, boosted by gold discoveries in the Kimberley region in 1885 (although the population actually dropped between 1887 and 1888). Huge finds at Coolgardie in 1892 sparked a major gold rush: in 1892 the WA population was 58,000; in 1894 the population jumped to 81,000 and a year later it passed 100,000.

The Goldfields Pipleline brought water to Kalgoorlie in 1903 and contributed to significant population increase in the new state of Western Australia, especially in the years leading up to World War 1.

South Australia had a population of 546 in 1836, but increased by over 15,000 in its first 5 years.

Northern Territory was called the ‘Northern Territory of South Australia’ from 1863 until 1911, so separate numbers for the NT do not exist before 1911, when it is described as having 3,000 residents. Those numbers creep up until it appears that the population approximately doubled in 1961, from 24,000 the year before to 45,000 in 1961. In fact the explanation is that 1961 was the first year that ‘estimates of indigenous populations’ were included into the totals.

Tasmania’s numbers are interesting in that the population actually dropped each year from 1914 to 1916, and then again in the years 1924 to 1926. The population dropped again in 1941, as well as in each of the years between 1997 and 2000.

Mark Twain attributed to Disraeli the comment about there being “three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics”. We could interpret these population statistics to imply many things. However to me some trends seem to have obvious explanations, while others make me think “I must find out why…”

Busy times – and handouts

I’ve been very busy lately, writing and teaching, but without time to write new blog entries.

At the recent History and Genealogy Expo, run by Unlock The Past,  I gave talks entitled ‘Which Genealogy Program?’ and ‘DNA for Genealogists’.

‘Which Genealogy Program?‘ is the title of the book I wrote with Rosemary Kopittke, and it is available through Gould Genealogy & Heraldry. Actually today I finished the revisions for an updated edition 2 of the book, which will be launched next week at the History and Genealogy Roadshow. Edition 2 of the book includes reviews of the latest versions of Ezitree Plus, Family Tree Maker 2011 and MacFamily Tree.

A second talk I gave at the Expo was ‘DNA for Genealogists’, and a short excerpt from my talk can be seen in this clip. (Having seen it, I realise that I really must learn to trust the remote controls for changing slides, so I don’t need to keep looking down at the computer in order to step through the slides of my presentations!)

I have also attended the ‘Lost in the Internet’ seminar at the State Library of NSW, conducted by the Society of Australian Genealogists (SAG). My topic to speak on there was ‘How Pay-to-view Websites can be Good Value’. A photo from that day can be seen here.

Today Louise St Denis, the Managing Director of the National Institute of Genealogical Studies (NIGS) released some information that will also be announced next week at the Roadshow – I am to be the Director of Australian Studies for an Australian Certificate course run through NIGS. Her announcement can be seen here. The various courses will be released over 2011.

Anyway all that is why I haven’t had time to write about anything in particular, although I have actually been doing a lot of genealogical writing. With all these talks, I decided to make available on my website the handouts from some of the talks I have given in the last few years. (Bear in mind that some of these handouts were prepared some years ago – each shows the date indicating when it was prepared.)

I retain the copyright, but hopefully at least some of the information contained might be useful for others. Handouts include: Arrivals (Immigration); Australian births, deaths & marriages; Australian government archives; DNA for genealogists; Pay-to-view websites; New Zealand research; Publishing personal research to the Internet; Scottish research; Victorian Goldrush; Western Australian genealogy.

Lifelong friends

I was fortunate enough to attend two reunions this weekend, in both cases with friends I’ve known half my life or more. This set me thinking about our ancestors and their friends. When we find a ‘visitor’ or ‘boarder’ staying with our ancestors in a 19th century census, how much effort do we put into trying to track down who that visitor was?

A child might well turn out to be a grandchild (or niece or nephew), and their surname might provide the clue to what happened to missing children or siblings. Often the boarder or visitor is a relative. Just as today, when visiting or moving to a new location, it might be convenient to stay with a family connection. Or perhaps the visitor was a work colleague.

Sometimes we don’t know the reason why the boarder is staying in that particular family home, but they continue to be present at census after census. One such person in my family history is Ralph MORT. In the 1851 census, Ralph and his younger sister Ann were lodging with the family of William and Maria KELLETT, in Preston, Lancashire (England). William was my 3g.grandfather, and in the 1851 census William was listed as a coal carter and Ralph MORT was a (railway) engine driver, so perhaps they knew each other through work. That is the nearest I have found to a possible explanation for their connection.

In the 1861, 1871 and 1881 censuses, Ralph (without his sister Ann) continued to live with the KELLETT family. William KELLETT died in 1883 and his wife Maria in 1889. In the 1891 census, Ralph was listed as the head of the household, living at that same address with KELLETT relatives. In 1901 (again same address) 81-year-old Ralph is back to being a boarder with a KELLETT son as head of the household.

When I ordered a copy of the 1889 will of Maria KELLETT, I had a sinking feeling as I deciphered the names of her heirs. I had never heard of the children that were named and the children that I knew about were not mentioned. I thought I must have the wrong Maria KELLETT – until I interpreted the signature of a witness – Ralph MORT. It was the confirmation I needed that in fact I had the right will and so a number of new children to research as relatives.

Ralph Mort – long-time friend or a branch of the family not yet connected? (Ralph’s will unfortunately does not answer that question.) Either way for me “and Ralph Mort” is like the full stop at the end of this family sentence. He is also an example of why it is worth paying attention to the various lodgers and visitors listed with our families on census nights.

 

William Kellett and Ralph Mort in 1871

 

NSW marriages – missing information?

How disappointing it is to order a marriage certificate for your genealogy research, and when you receive it, find some of the fields blank. In the case of marriage certificates in NSW,all hope is not necessarily lost.

The First Fleet landed in what was to become Sydney on 26th January 1788 and the first marriage took place soon after. (The first baptism and death registered for the new colony actually occurred en route to Australia, in 1787.)

Britain had claimed all the are from 133 degrees east to 135 degrees east for the new colony of New South Wales. That western boundary line passes roughly down the middle of the Australian continent, to the east it included New Zealand and beyond. All this area was originally administered as part of the colony of New South Wales. Boundaries and borders changed over time, and new colonies were created out of land that was previously NSW.

But back to those marriages. The earliest baptisms, marriages and burials in the colony of New South Wales were recorded in the church records. On 1st March 1856 Civil Registration was established in NSW, meaning that the government began administering the registration of births, marriages and deaths, and issuing certificates. The Registry began acquiring the church records.

Between 1856 and 1895, some details (such as details of the parents of bride and groom), were recorded in the church marriage documents but not in the official Registry documents. In 1912 Registry staff began collecting these additional details and adding them into the Registry copies, but the process was never completed.

Most of the surviving 19th century church records have now been filmed and made available as part of the ‘Church and Parish Registers Joint Copy Project’, conducted by the Society of Australian Genealogists (SAG), the State Library of NSW and the National Library of Australia. In addition many church records have been filmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints – check out the Library Catalogue on FamilySearch.

So if you obtain a copy of a marriage certificate which has the parents’ details blank, it would be a good idea to check out the corresponding church marriage record. Often the information was recorded there, but just not transferred into the copy held by the NSW Registry.

NSW marriage certificate 1867

Trove: hidden treasures

Preparing for a class this week I had another look at Trove. Trove is an initiative of the National Library of Australia, designed to “provide a single point of access to the resources of the deep web”, focused on Australia and Australians. Trove’s byline is “one search … a wealth of information”.

Trove itself was first released in May 2009 however some parts of the collections have been available for years, perhaps under other titles. Now they are brought together under a single search. Some are the results of digitisation projects undertaken by the National Library of Australia (perhaps in conjunction with others), but others are links into other collections (such as Open Library or Google Books).

You can log in to the site, in order to personalise the way you search and results found. You can create and save your own lists of useful items, list libraries you are affiliated with, tag or comment (on books, photographs,etc), correct electronically generated newspaper text – and more.

A recent survey showed that about half the users of Trove are family historians (equal to all the other categories combined). There is good reason for that – Trove provides access to information invaluable to family historians who want more than just names and dates.

The Australian newspaper digitisation project has been underway since 2007, making available newspapers published in Australia from 1803  to 1954, covering a range of titles from every state and territory. Now this collection is accessed via Trove. Family historians can search for articles about a family name of interest, or the first reports of a new settlement, ships’ passengers named on their arrival – or anything else you can think of. Searches can be narrowed by location, date, publication, article category – or even whether or not the article is illustrated.

Newspapers often reported on distant events, if those stories were deemed likely to be of interest to readers. In “The Canberra Times” of 1946 I found an article reporting on a fire at the home of my grandparents in the northern suburbs of Sydney. (A reminder not to be too hasty to narrow the location of  the search.)

The “Pictures and photos” collection within Trove includes even more than the Picture Australia collection. Family historians might search for an ancestor by name or a historic photograph of the town where they lived, or even photos of an event witnessed by a family member.

The “Books, journals, magazines, articles” collection provides access to the full text of some books (those held in collections like Project Gutenberg and Open Library). In addition users can search by subject or title for a book, and then find out which libraries in Australia hold that book. Such books can then be ordered by inter-library loan to the user’s local library – often even when the holding library is not itself a lending library.

“Archived websites” provides access to the Pandora collection, in which the National Library has been archiving Australian websites since 1996 – thus perhaps providing access even to pages no longer on the web. (I found a 2001 obituary of an ancestor published in an architecture magazine.) (If you don’t find the page you want in Pandora, also have a look at The Wayback machine.)

Other headings on the Trove gateway provide access to “Diaries, letters, Archives”, Maps, “Music, sound and video” and “About people and organisations”.

This is indeed a treasure trove of information, easily and freely available to anyone prepared to look.

Family funeral

I attended a family funeral today and such occasions prompt thoughts about others “no longer with us”.

In the eulogy we heard about the life of the deceased as well as how they touched the lives of those present. The wake afterwards prompted lots of “do you remember” stories. We looked at old photos and shared recent family photos. We promised to get together before the occasion is another funeral.

Somehow a funeral or wake doesn’t seem the occasion to be taking notes. (I will however be recording tonight what I remember that I learned today.)

The occasion set me thinking about records associated with deaths. Not only death certificates or inquests, but also newspaper announcements of deaths and funerals, as well as obituaries and memorials, monumental inscriptions and cemetery records.

Undertakers / Funeral Directors records can be a source of information not often tapped by family historians. Newspaper death and funeral notices often name the undertaker, and large libraries and genealogy societies often hold Undertakers Records amongst their collections.

Last year I was able to spend some time in the Family Records Centre of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists. That society has a wonderful collection of Undertakers Records (which can be borrowed by members).  This was one entry I recorded in my notebook from the records of C.H. Barker Ltd, Funeral Directors, Onehunga, Auckland, funeral records 1943-1979.

WARD, James Louis d 9-Apr-1947. Residence Milford. Age 79. Mangere Cemetery. Father: James WARD, Mother: Louisa TOOP, Spouse: Harriett RICHES

Another entry I recorded that day was from a 1999 funeral – too recent for me to be allowed to obtain a death certificate.

Registering a death in New Zealand (and in many other places, including Australia) involves filling out forms including about the parents and birth of the deceased. Undertakers books are a source of such information that is often overlooked by genealogists.

So tonight I am sitting thinking about family members “no longer with us”.

RIP Stuart

British Army Service Records

I was searching today through the “Chelsea Pensioners” records on the website FindMyPast.co.uk These are the records of men pensioned out of the British Army, and the records will cover 1760-1913. (Corresponding to The National Archives documents in WO97).

Those of us familiar with searching Australian WW1 service records have been spoilt by free and easy access to digitised records, not only information about where and when our military ancestors served, but including physical description, next-of-kin, previous occupations, date and place of birth and more. Such digitised Australian records can be found by searching the National Archives of Australia website.

Gradually now more digitised British service records are becoming available for those of us unable to visit the reading rooms in London. Amongst these, the subscription site FindMyPast (UK) has a number of military collections including the Royal Marine Medal Roll 1914-1920, Military Births, Marriages and Deaths – and now these British Army “Chelsea Pensioner Records”. The subscription site Ancestry.co.uk has WW1 service records and pension records. The National Archives (UK) website itself has an online database of Trafalgar Ancestors as well as Campaign Medals issued to WW1 merchant seamen on DocumentsOnline.

Many more military service records are available that are not yet online, but the above are some of the sources I’ve found useful. If we take the trouble to look, such digitised records make it much easier to find information about our military ancestors, even for those of us who live a long way from London.

1814 Light Infantry Regiment, Service Record

Historic photos

More on pictures today. I’ve just been looking at PictureAustralia, an initiative of the National Library of Australia and others. PictureAustralia has been in existence for more than 10 years and is still growing as a source of images of “all aspects of Australiana”.

When possible I like to add photos to my family history – photos of people when possible, but also photos of buildings, graves, schools – whatever is relevant and will add interest. Relatives often have acccess to photos that I do not, but I like to look at archives and website collections of old photographs as well.

In the past, one of my favourite sources of such photos has been ArchivePix, the City of Sydney Archives digital photograph bank. This can be found under the “Image Galleries” link (under “History & Archives”) on the City of Sydney council website.

Today I searched PictureAustralia for “21 Buckingham Street” – where ancestors lived 130 years ago. What I found was a photo of terrace houses at 21-25 Great Buckingham Street, Redfern. The “Rights” published on the website advise that the photo can be saved or printed for private research, but permission must be sought if you wish to use it for other purposes. What is interesting is that the photo comes from the City of Sydney Archives, implying that PictureAustralia might be the gateway now for photos from that collection too.

Even individuals may now contribute photos via Flickr to PictureAustralia, allowing individuals to share &/or sell copies of their photos, or perhaps have theose photos “preserved for perpetuity” by picture curators.

An Advanced Search allows users “exact phrase” searching or to select the year or place of interest, or even to select a particular contributor. Looking at the list of Contributors suggests other possibilities to search – including photos from New Zealand.

Not only places but images of people can be found too: A photo entitled ‘BATTLER FROM DOWN UNDER MEETS “THE CHAMP” ‘ is described “Shows Sergeant Graeme Etherington, amateur middleweight boxer from Sydney, squaring off with Jack Dempsey” – interesting!

Film Archives

If a picture tells 1000 words, then what about moving pictures?

I’ve mentioned my ancestor (Leslie) Hay SIMPSON, who played the role of Ned Kelly in the 1934 film of When the Kellys Rode and then was lost at sea in 1937, soon after making the film Mystery Island on Lord Howe Island. The National Film & Sound Archive has many audiovisuals at http://aso.gov.au, including clips from Mystery Island. Hay Simpson can be seen in http://aso.gov.au/titles/features/mystery-island/clip2/ (he’s the drunk with the bottle).

However you don’t need an actor ancestor to find something interesting on film. World War 1 troops heading to the docks in Sydney can be seen in the 1915 footage at http://aso.gov.au/titles/historical/ww1-troops-embarkation/clip1/

Crowds at the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932 can be seen at http://aso.gov.au/titles/home-movies/farey-sydney-harbour-bridge/clip2/

Even educational resources are available. Excerpts from a documentary retelling the story of the Victorian gold rush can be seen at http://aso.gov.au/titles/tv/peachs-gold-eureka/clip1/

Have a look at the offerings on the Australian Screen website. Try entering a town or suburb name of interest, and see if there is historic film footage available. Think about the significant events in which ancestors might have been involved, and even if you can’t identify an ancestor, such historic footage gives you an opportunity to see things through their eyes – and isn’t that one of our goals of  family history research?

Hay Simpson

Expand your search

My great great grandfather, Samuel ETHERINGTON, was a “brickwall” for many years. For only 1 of his children could I find a baptism (in 1859) and that document referred to “Samuel Etherington, engineer”. Every other reference was to “Samuel Etherington, builder”.

Except one – when his daughter Emily married in 1883, her father was named as “Samuel Etherington, baker”. I could not find Samuel born, married or died, nor immigrating – he just seemed to be there, fathering children. I tried all sorts of spelling variations, hunted him through directories, electoral rolls and every other source I could find. I followed the family’s rates payments to local councils. I learned a lot about his life – but not where he was born or died.

Eventually I expanded the search and started researching everyone surnamed ETHERINGTON in 19th century Australia, placing them in families and looking for a Samuel. (Fortunately the name was not too common.) When that didn’t solve the mystery, I expanded the search further, looking for those families’ origins back in England. I found one possibility – Thomas ETHERINGTON (who migrated from England to Sydney) had had a brother Samuel born in England, whose death I could not find.

By this time Internet bulletin boards and email lists were available. Wherever I could, I posted queries – did anybody know anything about this English ETHERINGTON family of Thomas and Samuel? Eventually somebody saw my message who knew someone who knew something – and he put me in touch with a lady in England who held family documents which explained the puzzle.

This lady’s ancestor had received a letter from Australia in 1903, from a Henry HOLMES, who wrote – “you don’t know me but I am the son of your brother Samuel ETHERINGTON, who has been living here in Australia under the name of Samuel HOLMES”. Henry HOLMES was the oldest son of Samuel and Hester HOLMES. With that clue, things started falling into place.

Samuel HOLMES, baker, had 6 children surnamed HOLMES with Hester HOLMES. Samuel ETHERINGTON, builder, had 8 children surnamed ETHERINGTON with Sarah EVERETT. I’m guessing that the dual lives must have been revealed at some point, hence the ETHERINGTON daughter’s marriage certificate, naming Samuel ETHERINGTON as a baker, just before Samuel ETHERINGTON disappeared from the records.

It appears that Samuel eventually abandoned the ETHERINGTON family and moved away with his son Henry HOLMES, until his death (as Samuel HOLMES) in 1903 in Bombala (southern NSW). In 2003 I visited England and saw where Samuel was born in Bermondsey – later that same year I visited Bombala and saw his grave.

Because I had hunted so hard for Samuel, for more than 10 years, I eventually knew a lot about him. When I found that bankruptcy file (mentioned in an earlier blog post) for Samuel HOLMES, it included the signature of Samuel HOLMES, baker. The English ETHERINGTON family had a prayer book inscribed by Samuel ETHERINGTON – what do you think of the 2 signatures?

Samuel Holmes

Samuel Etherington

Debtors Prison

According to the Research Guide “Bankrupts and Insolvent Debtors:1710-1869” on the website of The National Archives (UK):

Until 1841, the legal status of being a bankrupt was confined to traders owing more than 100 pounds (reduced to 50 pounds in 1842). Debtors who were not traders did not qualify to become bankrupt, but stayed as insolvent debtors. Responsible for their debts but unable to pay them, they remained subject to common law proceedings and indefinite imprisonment, if their creditors so wished. … Insolvent debtors were held in local prisons, and often spent the rest of their lives there: imprisonment for debt did not stop until 1869.

Another ancestor of mine, Abraham WOOLF was imprisoned in the Debtors Prison, as this entry from the London Gazette of 1841 shows:

London Gazette, 12 March 1841, p692

Shortly afterwards he came to trial, and fortunately his petition for release was granted. The following entry in the London Gazette gives more background about him – that he was currently a “General Dealer and Cigar Maker” and formerly a “Cigar Dealer and Ladies’ Shoe Maker”, as well as recent addresses:

London Gazette, 30 April 1841, p1135

In the documents at the National Archives in Kew, London, I could follow the progress of his imprisonment, petitions and release, however even the information available online on websites like The National Archives (UK) and The London Gazette tell me more about the life of this ancestor.

Even the price of his braces

I was searching State Records NSW (the NSW Government archives), looking for background information about my ancestor Samuel HOLMES (otherwise known as Samuel ETHERINGTON – but that’s another story).

A “keyname search” (searching almost all the digital indexes) of the NSW State Records led me to the Insolvency Index, which informed me that Samuel HOLMES, a baker of Sydney, was declared insolvent in July 1862.

Insolvency was the inability to pay your debts, and was originally treated as different to Bankruptcy, which involved a  person’s assets being administered and distributed to creditors. Insolvency doesn’t appear to have been particularly unusual – at least not amongst my ancestors – some of whom were declared insolvent or bankrupt a number of times in their lives.

Finding someone’s name in an index should only be the beginning of the story. Almost invariably the full document holds more information than the index entry.

In this case Samuel was also declared bankrupt (in December 1862), and corresponding notices appeared in the NSW Government Gazettes of 1862. The Government Gazette notices were as business-like as any government notice, but the real gems were discovered in the original documents. Those documents can be seen at the Western Sydney Records Centre (of NSW State Records) at Kingswood. In Samuel’s Insolvency file were all the invoices he could not pay.

If Samuel knew in July 1862 that he would be unable to pay his bills, it does not seem to have curbed his spending, as  his September 1862 quarterly account from the David Jones (department store) indicates. This invoice includes: 6 white shirts (3 pounds), 6 Cambric handkerchiefs (1 pound, 5 shillings), 1 pair of braces (4 shillings)  – and even a bottle of scent (another 4 shillings).

Such documents tell so much more about this ancestor (and his fashion sense!) than an unemotional announcement of his debts, and certainly rewarded the effort of obtaining the original records behind the index entry.

Invoice from David Jones, September 1862

Google News Archive Search

I have used Google News for some time, but only recently discovered Google News Archive Search – available at http://news.google.com.au/archivesearch/

An Advanced Archive Search allows you to select a particular date range. You can choose a particular publication (or even just enter the word ‘Sydney’, to check publications with that word in the title). Once you have the search results, a timeline lets you focus on the particular decade of interest.

I searched for “hay simpson” – an ancestor who played Ned Kelly (in the 1934 film When the Kellys Rode) and then was lost at sea when he tried to sail from Lord Howe Island to Sydney. Most of the results found were from The Sydney Morning Herald in the 1930s, reviews of performances and then the search for the missing yacht. However one article was from 2003, when Simpson’s niece found a suitcase of film photographs during a renovation.

Another useful search was  for all of the words scriven and cooperstown. My husband descends from the SCRIVEN family, and one of that family (Elizabeth SCRIVEN) married Alfred Corning CLARK of Cooperstown (son of the founder of the Singer Foundation) and I thought that family were likely to be well-reported in the press.

You don’t need celebrity ancestors to find them mentioned in newspapers, and Google’s News Archive Search is another way to find interesting background stories about family members.

Convicts & Prison Hulks

I made another discovery today, again in Ancestry.com This time I was searching the recent addition to Ancestry’s convict records, the “UK Prison Hulk Registers & Letter Books, 1802-1849”. I found my 4g.grandfather!

Convicted of bigamy, in fact Thomas MILLS married 3 times. He married first to Sarah CUTTRISS / CUTTRESS in 1805 in Ely, then (as Thomas MILLER) he married Rhoda WINNELL in 1813. Finally (as Thomas Ward MILLS) in 1825 he married Ann POCKNELL, before he was taken to Newgate Prison in 1827. (At his trial, when asked about his 3rd marriage he said that – having deserted his 2nd wife – years later when he wrote to her and she didn’t write back, he assumed she was dead and so felt free to marry again.)

There’s a wonderful record of his various trials in the Old Bailey Online records in 1827 (real “he said, she said” comments). Thomas was finally found guilty and sentenced to be transported for seven years. However he never arrived in Australia – three years later he petitioned for pardon and that pardon was granted.

In the collection of UK Prison Hulk Registers on Ancestry.com, it was exciting to actually see the record of him in the hulk York, which was moored in Portsmouth Harbour. According to this document, he served 3 years 11 months and 18 days of his sentence before he was pardoned. The UK Prison Hulk Registers are digitised copies of documents held by The National Archives (UK) in PCOM 4 & HO 9.

This was another reminder about new digitised collections making it easier to access copies of original documents.

Incidentally, Thomas’ son (Robert MILLS – aka Robert CUTTRESS) was convicted of “poaching with a gun” and was transported to Tasmania. Digitised copies of many Tasmanian convict records can be found online at http://www.archives.tas.gov.au.

Thomas Ward MILLS, prisoner on the York hulk

Alien Arrival document

I was preparing to teach a class about Ancestry.com & this prompted me to look at some collections added recently. I was most excited to find the arrival into England of my 3g.grandfather, Samuel SHUTER, from what is now Poland.  I have probably looked for that record, on and off, for about 15 years, but had eventually decided that I was unlikely to find a shipping record from continental Europe to England.

Anyway, I found him – amongst the UK Aliens Entry Books, 1794-1926. The first document was his Certificate of Arrival, 14 Feb 1846, from HO2, certificate 95. The second document was his subsequent arrival on 25 Sep 1854. (HO3 piece 75) This latter was in a book of correspondence, and now I will try to determine if I can obtain a copy of the correspondence referred to in this index.

Anyway, it’s a reminder to me of the new collections being added to sites like Ancestry, and the value of trying to keep checking new collections added.

Arrival Certificate, 14 February 1846