Tuesday 28 July 2015

Time for a Break





I am taking a break while I go on holiday. 
We are going to celebrate my mothers 90th birthday with about 50 family and friends.



 


When I get back I will be working on my genealogy research.  If I come across anything I think may be of interest, I will post.

Thank you for following me and reading my articles.

Dianne

Monday 27 July 2015

Australia Genealogy Resources

(and some New Zelaand and Tasmania)

My 2x great grandfather, George King of Loddiswell and Woodleigh in Devon, chucked it all when he was 30 years old, and moved his young family to Canada. He is the only one of his family to do so, as several of his other siblings moved to Australia.


Brothers Thomas, Henry and Clement, as well as their sister Mary with her husband Thomas Symons Blake, made the move with government assisted passage.

Who with an adventurous soul could resist free or assisted passage:

   

Of course the Gold Rush may have had something to do with wanting to immigrate to Australia also.  This is what must have enticed Thomas, who became a miner in Victoria.

In doing my research I have come across some resources that may help you tell the stories of your Australian ancestors, and I share them with you.


Relevant Links

The Australasian July 22, 1865 (Melbourne Newspaper)

The history of the Australasian colonies (from their foundation to the year 1893)

A history of the Australasian Colonies (from their foundation to the year 1911) 

The Australasian Medical Gazette (several years) - marriages and deaths at back

The Australasian Journal of Pharmacy (several years) - check personals in back

Australasian tokens and coins; a handbook 1921

Australasian sheep & wool, a practical theoretical treatise 1900

The wool marks directory of Australia (owners, address, etc) 1889

The Laws of the Australasian Colonies as to the Administration and Distribution of the Estate of Deceased Persons - 1884

The home of the blizzard; story of the Australasian Antarctic expedition, 1911-1914

The Australasian annual digest: being a digest of cases decided by the High Court 1905

A digest of Australasian Mining Cases - 1897

Australasia, illustrating the progress of the Australasian Colonies, to 1853

Australia in arms, a narrative of the Australasian Imperial Force w/maps

Austral English; a dictionary of Australian words, phrases and usages with those Aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language and the commoner scientific words that have origin in Australasia - 1898

A short dichotomous key to the hitherto unknown species of Eucalyptus - 1898

Guide to the health resorts in Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand 1888

The Cyclopedia of South Australia : an historical and commercial review - 1907

Southern Australia City Directories 1864-1899

Southern Australia City Directories 1900+

The Victoria Post Office Directory 1866

The Victoria Post Office Directory 1869

Trade Directory of South Australia 1919

Trove - Newspapers, letters, maps, etc

Australia BMD exchange

Claim a Convict - Australia

List of permanent officers of the Commonwealth Public Service 1920 + 1922

Methodist Memorial Service for Queensland Methodist Soldiers 1919

Ancient Order of Foresters, Adelaide (Trove)

Handbook to Australasia 1859

The trooper police of Australia; a record of mounted police work in the commonwealth from the earliest day of settlement to the present time -1912

 



For other links, click on Australia, New Zealand or Tasmania in the labels column on the right.

Monday 20 July 2015

Summer Camping



This is the time of year when parents pack up the car with kids, dogs, tents, sleeping bags and an assortment of camping paraphernalia and head out of the city.

When my Dad was young his family went tent camping on the Maine coast just south of Portland at a place called Bayview. They went there for several summers and created lots of fond memories. They set up two tents with a dining area in between.





When I was young our family used to go tent camping at Meacham Lake in the Adirondacks. Either family friends or my mothers parents would sometimes camp with us. What comes to mind is the smell of the canvas tent, the campfires that kept the bugs away, and the raccoon paw prints on the table in the mornings.

The Internet Archives holds many books on "camping and tramping" and also places to go like this camping guide for Australia



At Internet Archive search using keywords "camping" and perhaps the area you think your ancestors may have camped.


Relevant Links

Camp Cookery:  How to live in Camp 1878

Camp Temagami, a summer camp for men and boys, Ontario 1915

Birthplace of the American Vacation (Smithsonian article)

Rock Spring Campground, NC - History Vol 1

Rock Spring Campground, NC - History Vol 2

Easter Camp (Naturalists Club), Adventure Bay, Brunny Island, Tasmania, 1922








 Related post:  Raiden Goes Back in Time

Monday 13 July 2015

Oyer and Terminer



The following publications have to do with Assizes, Curia Regis (King's court) and
Oyer and Terminer. These are names for court proceedings, civil and criminal cases, including treason and felonies. Other names are Courts Leet and Courts Baron.


Throughout you will see, for example, vjs viijd.  These are fines in roman numerals that were used at the time. In this case it stands for 6s 8d, or 6 shillings 8 pence (1/3 pound).

My ancestor John Singleton was occupying a house in Preston, Lancashire and the branches of a neighbours tree were hanging over his house.  The neighbour was to cut the branches but he didn't, and in the follow-up was being fined 6s 8d for every month they were not cut.  This is the entry from the Courts Leet of Preston 1653:


We find and present Evan Rogerson hath not performed the 5th presentment of the last Leet in cutting his wood which hanges over Henry Wilson's house in the ffryergate (Friargate), in the possession of John Singleton, and he therefore according to the presentment aforesaid forfeited his fine of 6s 8d, and we do amerce him in every month the same continues undone in 6s 8d.

John was mentioned in the court books again in 1669 because his unmuzzled dog bit the butcher's wife and daughter, for which he was fined 13s 4d. Every week thereafter that the dog was unmuzzled he was to pay an additional 6s 8d.

In the Court Leet record of October 1732, George Singleton, along with 12 other neighbours, were charged with selling ale and beer from their homes without a proper license. They were fined 20 shillings each.

I also have Syngleton (Singleton) ancestors mentioned in the Lancashire Assize Rolls for the year 1269.


Check back of the publications for a nominal index.


Relevant Links:

Preston (Lancashire) Court Leet records 1653+, Pub. 1905

A Calendar of the Lancashire & Cheshire Assize Rolls 

Three early assize rolls for the county of Nortymberland, sæc XIII (Latin)

Three Yorkshire assize rolls for the reigns of King John and King Henry III

Autumn assizes, 1876: the courts of Oyer and Terminer and general gaol delivery of ssize and Nisi Pruis - Schedule for the Province of Ontario

The Expenses of the Judges of Assize Riding the Western and Oxford Circuits

Staffordshire Assize Roll : 56 Henry III

Northumberland pleas from the Curia Regis and assize rolls, 1198-1272

Curia Domini Regis - Cumberland, Derb', Devon, Dorset (Latin) Vol 1

Curia Domini Regis - Cumberland, Derb', Devon, Dorset (Latin) Vol 2

Courts Baron and Courts Leet of Manchester, K

Records of the Baron Court of Stitchill (Scotland) 1655-1807

Rolls of the assizes held in the Channel Islands in the second year of the reign of King Edward II, AD 1309 (Pubished 1903)

Cases decided in the Court of Oyer and Terminer, Deleware 1800's

Cases of High Treason at a Court of Oyer & Terminer, Dublin 1803, Vol 1.

Cases of High Treason at a Court of Oyer & Terminer, Dublin 1803, Vol 2

Trials for High Treason in Scotland: held at Stirling, Glasgow, Dumbarton, Paisley and Ayr, in the year 1820

Report and testimony from Grand Jury, Oyer and Terminer, Nov-Dec 1868, concerning election irregularities - New York




Related post: Do the Crime, Do the Time


Monday 6 July 2015

Daughters of the Empire



Patriotism is the seed that started the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire in 1900 Canada when Margaret Polson recognized a need for support of soldiers leaving to fight with the Empire forces in South Africa.  She encouraged women to join her cause and the first chapter was formed in Fredericton, New Brunswick on January 15, 1900.  The next month in Montreal the constitution, aims and objectives were reviewed.  The name chosen was "Federation of the Daughters of the Empire" and their motto was "For Queen and Country".

Chapters opened quickly across Canada, then children's chapters, later called Junior Chapters.  In 1901 the head office moved to Toronto. There soon opened a Daughters of the British Empire USA branch, in 1908.



After the Boer War, not only did the Federation organize a welcome home dinner for the soldiers and provide them with assistance as needed, they contacted their sister organization, Guild of Loyal Women, in South Africa and arranged for the care of war graves of fallen Canadian soldiers, particularly in isolated places.


IODE Rose Ball, King Edward Hotel, Toronto 1911 (Wikipedia)
Do you have a Daughter of the Empire among your ancestors? You can do a google search for the IODE in your area. They may even have photos in their archives. Also do a newspaper archive search for Daughters of the Empire.

Saturday 4 July 2015

Happy 4th of July



Happy Independence Day to our friends in the USA.

Today I think of my many ancestors who migrated to the USA to work for the railroads, work in factories, or to farm. 

Thursday 2 July 2015

Oh Canada



Yesterday was the 148th birthday of Canada. Most city celebrations were yesterday, but some were postponed to today because of bad weather. Some lucky people have the rest of the week off, making their celebrations last over the weekend.

Originally named Dominion Day, the name was changed to Canada Day in 1982.



Here are some interesting books that genealogists with Canadian ancestors may find useful in their research.


Relevant Links:

The Story of our Country : a History of Canada for Four Hundred Years

One Thousand Facts about Canada 1904

Five Thousand Facts about Canada 1908

The Canadian Album: Men of Canada, or Success by Example - Vol 1-5 

Dominion Day, St Catherines Canada 1915

Dominion Day celebration Saint John 1899

Canadian Corps Championships, Dominion Day, France 1918




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