A to Z 2019 CHALLENGE REFLECTION

My A to Z Challenges/Blessings?

Now that the Challenge has ended, I am able to sit back and reflect on all that happened during the month of April. 

It was quite a challenge in more ways than one for me! To commit to blogging everyday except Sundays for the whole month. Guess what? I survived! 

Family History is a passion for me, but not exclusive to all other things. As I have said numerous times in previous posts, I still have a lot of research to do. But finding time is often my biggest problem as I have a few other hobbies! 

The month of April also saw me supporting my husband who is my carer while he underwent a few hospital procedures. He is recovering well and we are grateful to modern medicine, something that few of our ancestors ever had the chance to explore. 

During this time I was also being fitted for new callipers with trips back and forth to my Orthotist. Needless to say I could have done without these fitting appointments. But I am now grateful for my new set of "legs" as the other ones really need to be retired. 

April also brought the blessing of Easter. It also brought special family time with my son, daughter-in-law and 2 granddaughters visiting from another state, for a couple of weeks. This time was shared by all our family, 2 other sons and daughters-in-laws, 4 other granddaughters, 1 grandson and a beloved daughter. 

April saw me everyday except a couple, in my sewing studio making a Double Wedding Ring Quilt for a special couple's wedding. Was this a challenge? You bet it was! But once again I am grateful that I got it finished and gifted. 

While attending this wedding with all of my above family we were also able to have a mini holiday together. Precious time together and many precious memories made at a special wedding and at a trip to the Zoo!  I lost count of the number of times I answered to Mum and Nannie during April. Just another blessing to add to my memories of family and love!

I have posted on this blog before about my University studies in Family History. This allowed me to embark on a learning journey I didn't know I craved. It opened up a whole new experience for me, a "seeking knowledge journey" of unknown ancestors and history.

So what are some of the other things the Challenge proved to me?  

• That "nothing ventured nothing gained."
• That X really is the hardest letter for me. 
• You! To everyone who followed this blog Thank You!
• Thank you to all who participated, I enjoyed reading your posts. 

All in all it was fun. I hope you have picked up on my subtly placed "Bold" formatting.

Z is for ...

Z is for…

I thought X was a hard one to write about!  

As far as I can see I have absolutely nothing Family History related to do with “Z”! 

So as far as I can see Z is going to have to be for… Z at the end of the A to Z Challenge! 

I started this challenge with high hopes of completing it and I am happy to be at the end with this Z, even though I have nothing to write about. 

I looked up genealogy words starting with Z and did’t have much luck. I found the following: 

zincographer
A designer who etched in relief a pattern on zinc plates used for printing.

zitherist
A player of a simple, flat many-stringed instrument; rare: a bard or minstrel.

Well as you have probably guessed by now I haven’t found a Zincographer or a Zitherist in my Family Tree. 

I guess I could always take up the playing of the Zither! Then again maybe not, I have enough hobbies! 

So thank you for reading and I look forward to seeing other’s “Z” posts.

Y is for ...

Y is for … 

I haven’t as yet found any Y christian names in my Family Tree.  

So what am I going to write about for a Y.

“Years”, of course. 

We as Family Historians have many numbers running around in our heads, which often turn into “years”. We deal in years with monotonous regularity.  

Our ancestor’s lives are made up in years. Our research depends on us finding years of birth, death,marriage, schooling, voting, traveling, immigrating….to once again name just a few. 

The more years we can find the more we can tell about our ancestors. The years give us background for putting flesh on the bones of our ancestors by way of stories.  Year dates can give you a place to search for social history to add interest to your family's story if you don’t have a lot of facts.  

When I see building facades with year numbers on them, my thoughts immediately start trying to connect ancestors to that time frame. It is amazing how many times I have caught myself thinking “so and so” was born or living at this time. I find that since starting my Family History journey, I can recall many years, without to much trouble.  Although I do tend to sometimes to mix them up!  

Family Historians I feel, view years in a far different way than the normal population. I know I do!!

X is for ...

X is for... 

This is a joke, right? 

X is for...? Well this is supposed to be a challenge and X certainly meets this criteria!

The only thing I can think of to write about for this challenge without cheating and checking what other Family Historians have written about is...

X

This was often the mark made by our ancestors who were not blessed with the luxury of a formal education. Many an “X” appears instead of a signature on shipping lists, muster forms, census forms, marriage, birth, death applications to name just a few.  

But as my research is still in it’s early days( I have only been researching for about ten years after all) I have not found an “X”.  

Yet!  

I look forward to reading some other's "X" posts.

W is for ...

W is for... William, Wilson, Wedding, Wills, Wells.

As I am writing this in the car after attending a beautiful wedding on the weekend, I guess the most suitable subject for this challenge is Wedding. 

I have spent the last three months sewing a Double Wedding Ring Quilt for this couple. It gave me great pleasure creating this quilt but believe me it was a challenge! I spent many an hour sewing and thinking. 

Thinking of other weddings, my own included. My husband and I were married on a bright stifling hot summer day over 43 years ago. I think it was about 40degrees in “the water bag” so the saying goes. 

I had 3 bridesmaids and all my nieces and nephews involved in the wedding party. This consisted of 3 flower girls, 3 accompanying page boys, 2 pageboy ring carriers and one just sitting page boy(he couldn't walk yet) and 2 nephews who were ushers! It truely was a family affair! 

Weddings are such a great occasion. To me it is a joining of more than just two people, it can be the joining of whole families. This special  wedding on the weekend was a combination of two cultures, Australian and Vietnamese, and it was done so well.

I am sure there have been many special and different weddings in my Family Tree, I wish more had been documented over the years though!

V is for ...

V is for ...Valma, Vera, Vanessa, Victoria. 

I am going to write about another favourite Aunt. I really only have memories of two aunts and I have already written about one for the L challenge. I had other aunts but I don’t remember them.  

Aunty Vera was my mother’s eldest sister. She was born in 1911, married in 1942 and died in 1980. 

What do I remember about Aunty Vera? I remember her smell, I am not sure what scent she wore but I remember she always smelled the same and I loved it. 

Aunty Vera was always well made up. She never went anywhere without putting on her “face” and “lippy”!  

As a teenager I remember when she visited us and stayed over she would always give me access to her makeup bag. 

The treasures I would find there. My Mum wasn’t into makeup other than face powder and her signature red lippy.

But Aunty Vera had the works...the cleanser, toner, blushing sticks, multitude of lipsticks, foundation and much more that I can’t remember. 

I remember her staying with us when I was a teenager and being allowed to use her makeup. She had this roll up stick of “something” I am not sure what it was exactly, but it was applied to the face. I used it every day she was there and I thought I was the “bees knees”! 

Aunty Vera was also tall and elegant. She epitomised the word lady!

U is for ...

U is for....

Well U is for a lot of things, but unfortunately not much relating to Family History. I have one Ursula in my Family Tree, but once again as she is a living relative, I will not write about her.

So my “U” word will be University.What does University have to do with Family History I hear you ask? For me a lot. 

University was the biggest influence in the creation of my Family History Blog.

To be more precise The University of Tasmania. Tasmania is a state of Australia and is a little island on the southern most tip of Australia. 

I started this journey of learning in July 2015. I saw a post on Facebook advertising a Diploma of Family History. As I was retired and dabbled in Family History research it sparked my interest. So of course I had to read more and I clicked on the link. 

The initial unit of the course was of short duration and the last assignment was due at the end of September. As my husband and I were going overseas in the October of that year, this looked good. 

The course was free. I have never turned down a bargain. So this also looked good! 

The course was fully online. I am Mobility Challenged so I do like online things. So this definitely looked good ! 

The course was on Family History. How could I not do this, I asked myself?  

So I signed up and I began a wonderful learning journey. I had only gone to school to the age of 16 in 1971. I was apprehensive and nervous. How was an old duck like me(60years young) going to cope with University?  

Once I started I soon found many of my fellow students were of the same vintage or older than me. As it was fully on line we came from all around Australia. 

Two and a half years and a total of 8 units later found my husband and I and a cheer squad of my eldest sister and a dear friend travelling to Tasmania for my Graduation Ceremony to receive my Diploma in Family History. 

University taught me many things, not only helpful in my Family History journey. It taught me that I am never too old to undertake a challenge. It awakened a thirst for knowledge that I really never knew I had.  

University for me was an outlet for my “little grey matter” to come out and play.

T is for...

T is for…Taylssa, Terencce, Thedore, Thomas, Timothy, Tobias, Toli. 

As most of the above “T” ancestors are either still living or have already had posts written about them, I will diverge to another of my favourite “T” words. 

T is for … Trove! 

In Australia we are very fortunate to have access to an incredibly large free online search engine. It was created by the National Library of Australia. 

It has many categories that can be searched leading you directly to the source and not just a list of websites. The most fascinating and largely used category ( especially by the Family Historian) is the Digitised Newspapers from the years 1803 to 1954. But there are many other categories worth checking out. While writing this post, I logged into my Trove account and in the last hour there had been 19,039 searches. 

The only problem with Trove is that it can be a great time waster. Many a time I have logged into Trove to look up just one thing, and found myself hours later happily saving  many things that I have found but hadn’t planned on. 

If you haven’t discovered Trove yet, do yourself a favour and check it out.

https://trove.nla.gov.au

S is for...

S is for … Samuel, Stanley, Stanville, Samantha, Sarah, Sandra, Saxon, Susanne, Steven, Stephen, Stella, Sharlyse, Sonja, Ship, Surname to throw out just a few! 

My maternal grandfather was a Samuel Stanley Briggs. He named his house Stanville and had a courier business called SS Briggs Carriers. So he contributed quite a lot to the “S” theme. I have written a couple of short creative non fiction stories featuring Samuel Stanley. These can be found under Weekly Writing Activity, so I won’t elaborate further here. I do have a fair bit of research yet to do for this line of my family. For those who have kept up with my writings you will notice a familiar theme …. I have much research yet to do! 

Another “S” word that causes me grief is Ship. I have spent so many hours scrolling through ship passenger lists, looking for elusive ancestors arrival in Australia.  Many a time I have thrown my hands up in the air and exclaimed “Surely they didn’t swim here!” They are notorious for just listing passengers as Mr or Mrs, without Christian name or even initials. NOT very helpful in trying to find an ancestor.  

So seeing that I am still keeping up with this Blogging Challenge I will sign off now. 

R is for ..

R is for …Ralph, Rebecca, Robert, Robin, Ruth, Ryan, Ruby. 

Today’s letter is a no-brainer for me. 

Ruby Florence Brandt was my darling mother. 

She was born Ruby Florence Briggs in 1917, married my father in 1941 and died in 1996. 

One of my cherished memories of my mother is her never ending ability to make things, a real homemaker. She was an avid sewer. She sewed clothes, home furnishing, made dolls and dolls clothes and many other things. You name it and my mother could usually make it up for you. 

I remember a childhood of never having to go shopping for clothes, mum took care of that as she made it for me. 

I remember wedding dresses being made for myself and my sisters. I remember her giving me tips about dressmaking and sewing. Not that I really took much notice at the time, but it has stood me in good stead over the years in my journey with the sewing machine. 

They say we turn into our mothers and as I get older I realise that I am more and more like her. 

 I am fine with that!

Q is for ...

Q is for… lots of things but not many relating to Family History. 

I have one name on my husband’s Family Tree beginning with Q.  

This name is Quartermain and funnily enough the Chrisitan name Demaruis was featured in D is for…

As I am only just hanging in there by the skin of my teeth with this blog challenge I still haven’t any relevant information on this particular person, because I still haven’t done any research on her! 

While writing this I have realised that a particular Q word has been hindering my writing efforts. I have been making a Quilt for a wedding present on the 26th of this month.  

So I guess I could say Q is for ... quilt, as it is interrupting my blogging time!

P is for ...

P is for… Peter, Patrick, Patterson, Paul, Pollyanna, Passenger List, Paternal Line, Pedigree Chart, Primary Source,.

Well were should one begin?  

I have written in other posts on this blog about my paternal ancestor Peter Brandt killed in action in 1917 during WW1. 

I have documented his story in Uni essays and in some short stories. 

Last year my husband and I visited Kings Park in Western Australia. We were moved by the Avenue of Trees, dedicated to Servicemen and Women. There are many trees with plaques attached with the names of men in battalion and units. On enquiry we were told that Peter did not feature amongst any there. 

This sparked my interest and I researched how I could get a plaque for my Peter. After doing my Uni Essay on Peter I found that I had a connection with him. Being single and 42 years old when he enlisted and 43 years old when he died, I was sad that there was no-one to remember him and felt I had been given the opportunity to rectify this situation.  

After corresponding with the Avenue Memoral Committee and filling out the relevant forms I now have a date for the dedication service of Peter’s plaque. It will be placed with others from his battalion. The dedication service will take place on the 18th May.  

Unfortunately we are unable to make the trip back to WA for the service but I do have a nephew that will attend on my behalf.  

I am now happy and content that I was given this opportunity.

O is for ...

O is for…. Oswald, Owen, Oliver, Obituaries, Occupation, Overwhelming, Offspring, Overload.

Oh, Oooh, what to write for O.

I have not done any research on these names in my Family Tree. So I am at a loss as to what to write.

I have read my share and probablly someone else’s share of obituaries though!

When you find a good obituary they can sometimes lead to very interesting information worth researching. There may be stories about the deceased and often names of offspring that you are unaware of. If the obituary has been written by someone close to the deceased it can lead to a wealth of information for the researcher.

I have many ancestors that chose to name their offspring after themselves. It is when researching these particular ancestors that I run into information overload, finding myself with two Oswalds who are very similar in their search parameters! It is here, usually late at night that I throw up my hands, completely overwhelmed and go to bed!

N is for ...

N is for … Nellie, Nicholas, Nannie/Nan. 

There aren’t many “N” names in my Family Tree. But my favourite would have to be when I am called Nannie or Nan by my beautiful grandchildren! 

My mother was called the same by my children. I remember before the birth of my first grandchild I researched extensively the different names for a Grandmother. I trolled the internet trying to decide what I would choose. I was thinking that I would like something unique but I couldn’t make up my mind! 

Then during a conversation with my eldest son, the father-to-be I mentioned my dilemma. He looked at me with a confused expression and stated you will be Nannie of course! I was honoured and the decision was made.  

So much for my research!

M is for ...

M is for…Magnus,Mabel,Mac, Maria, Mark, Martha, Martin, Mary, Matilda, Matthew, Max, Maxwell, Meg, Micah, Michael, Minette, Muriel, Marcia-Me!


Magnus is a collateral ancestor and I haven’t found a lot of  information on him. I thought it would be a good time to do some research on Magnus Ernest Brandt, with this letter. But it is amazing how soon I realised that there is never any quick searches in Family History so this Magnus will have to wait until another day. I know when he was born and died, but that is about it. Stay tuned, I will get around to him eventually. He does appear in some of my creative non fiction stories about Louisa, though. 

Most of the other “M’s” are living relatives and I will not write about them without permission. 

So the next person of interest and who I have a fair bit of information on, is Marcia-Me!

Marcia Ruby Brandt daughter number four was born to Garvice and Ruby,  in 1955. 

I was blessed to marry my husband in 1975 and we have 3 wonderful sons and a gorgeous daughter. Our sons all married and along with 3 beautiful daughters-in-law gave us 6 granddaughters and 1 grandson. 

I am a keen Family Historian and completed a Diploma in Family History in 2017. But I am constantly learning in my journey of Family History and this journey will never end. 

I am very thankful for today’s technologies and the internet. As I am mobility challenged, the internet is a great asset as I find getting to Libraries and research repositories a challenge. It is great to be able to research from the comfort of my own lounge room. I know that the internet has it’s drawbacks and limits but for me it is a godsend. 

When not dabbling in Family History, I can be found in my Sewing Room. I love Patchwork and Quilting and at the moment most days see me playing with some form of sewing. 

I also love painting and along with three friends meet weekly for support, laughter and sometimes we work on our painting projects! I mainly dabble in acrylics and pastels. I love painting gifts for my family and I must admit that I am fast running out of wall space for the projects that I keep instead of giving away. 

My latest hobby is writing. It was during my Diploma that I found I enjoyed the challenge of the written word. Being an avid reader, I soon found that I was able to write without too much effort., although this challenge is testing me! The writing units in the Diploma were my favourite units, so with the tuition and experience gained from these, my Family History Blog was born.

But I have to say that the over-riding passion for me would have to be my family.  

J is for ...

J is for… Jessy, Jesse, Jess, Jessie, Jack, James, Jane, Janet, John, Jonathan, Joseph, Judith, Jemma, Janyce, Jessica.

J names seem to be very prevalent in my Family Tree. 

I have often wondered on the different ways a name can be spelt. When it comes to my Family Tree it would seem that there are a few varieties.

I have a 2 x great aunt who’s birth and baptismal records have her listed as Jessy Kingston Briggs. 

When she was married the newspaper report has her down as Jesse Briggs. (Which is obviously incorrect as this is the male spelling of the name.) 

She appears on her children birth records online, as Jessie Kingston Roberts, Jessy Kingston Roberts and just Jessie Roberts. I am beginning to think that this Jessie wrote on forms whatever took her fancy at the time! Or there is the possibility that her husband filled in the forms and wasn't that crash hot in the spelling department.  But I am tipping that her Birth records are probably on the money. There will need to be a lot of investigative strategies taken to prove the real spelling of her name. But as she is a Collateral ancestor I will save that up for another day.

The next peculiar spelling of a name was by my own parents! My eldest sister was given the name of Janyce. It is an unusual spelling and it does seem strange that our parents chose this variation. 

But for now as I am behind in these posts, I will keep this short and sweet and get onto the next letter.

L is for ...

L is for… Lillie, Lily, Laurice, Laura, Leilani, Lorna, Lucy. 

Most people have a favourite Aunt. I have two one for L and one for V. 

Because this is a post for L…. I will deal with that one only ! 

Aunty Lorna. 

She was one of my Dad's two sister and I have fond memories of her. 

I remember staying at her house with my Mum and Dad. I don’t remember my Uncle George very much though.  

Aunty Lorna loved cards. Especially the card game of Canasta. You knew you were good if you ever came close to winning a game though. 

I can remember playing a card game of Newmarket with 1 and 2 cent pieces with her and Mum and Dad. I think it was my first foray into gambling. The stakes were high but no-one ever got to keep their winnings it just went back into kitty for the next time we played. But I do remember the thrill of counting those 1 and 2 cent pieces if I won!

I remember the very strong friendship that Aunty Lorna  had with my Mum. After my Dad died Aunty Lorna and Mum even went on holidays together. 

It reinforces to me that you don’t have to be born to the same mother to be sisters.  

So my L is for Lorna.

K is for ...

K is for… Kingston, Kate, Kylie, Kerry, Kay. 

There is no contest with this letter as to what I will write about…it has to be Kingston.  

My first ancestor on Australian soil was Lieutenant Thomas Rowley in 1792. He was granted a convict housekeeper Elizabeth Selwyn and they had five children, although no records have been found that he married her. 

Thomas acquired quite a few Land Grants over eleven years, the earliest of these he called Kingston Farm in 1793.

There are many references to Kingston in my Family Tree. 

Many generations of my ancestors were either born, lived or died at Kingston. 

Obviously Thomas and his partner Elizabeth and their children resided at Kingston. Thomas’ death record show him at Kingston in 1806. Elizabeth’s death records show her still there in 1843. 

Their fifth child Eliza married Henry Sparrow Briggs in 1826 and records show them living and dying in Kingston. 

One of their sons Frederick Henderson Briggs my Great Grandfather married Fanny Sarah Perigo in 1866 and they lived and died in Kingston. 

One of their sons my Grandfather Samuel Stanley Briggs was born at Kingston. 

I have so much research to do for all these ancestors, it will keep me out of trouble for quite awhile.

Not only did the original Thomas and Elizabeth name their farm Kingston, many ancestors carried the name as well. 

Henry Sparrow Briggs and Eliza named one of their daughters Jessy Kingston Briggs. 

Frederick Henderson Briggs and Fanny named one of their twin daughters Lillie Kingston Briggs. 

Why was Kingston so important and relative? 

I have a theory that Thomas may have come from a place called Kingston in England. There are records on Ancestry listing a Thomas Rowley living at Kingston upon Thames . The publication date is 1792, but he arrived in Australia in 1792. 

So once again it will need a lot of investigative work done before I can accept that this is indeed my Thomas. But it is a possibility.

I is for...

I is for… Isabella, Isabel, Isaac, Information, Immigration.

Isabella/Isabel feature quite often in my Family Tree. I have five ancestors at last count with this name.

My Maternal Grandmother was Isabella Galvin. Born in 1878 at Moore Creek, in the district of Tamworth, she was a farmer’s daughter with eleven brothers and sisters.

She married George Henry Brandt in 1907 at Parramatta. The marriage records show that her residence at the time of the marriage was Parramatta. I will need to research how and why her family found themselves in downtown Parramatta after the farm life of rural Tamworth.

This is the beauty of Family History you never run out of information to look for. 

Information Overload is often an ailment of many a Family Historian, but it is usually not the information that we set out to find!

What can I say about Immigration. Living in Australia I have many ancestors who immigrated. Whether they were transported o’er the seas or looked for a better life from whence they came, immigration played a big part in shaping my Family Tree.  Australia is a place of immigrants from all backgrounds.  A real melting pot of flavour!

H is for

H is for… Henry, Harold, Harriet, Harrison, Happy Birthday, History.

I have a few Henry’s on my Family Tree. But the most interesting would have to be my Henry Sparrow Briggs!

What sort of name is Sparrow? Sparrow is such an interesting name it would be a shame to elaborate here with the H’s! I think I will leave my Henry Sparrow ancestor for the S is for…! 

I have found with Family History that I now view history in a whole different way. History can tell us so much about our ancestors. When I have found information and records a little bare on the ground in my research I am able to glean information from reading social history of the time. This can lead to researching a different way, also it can help with writing Family History narratives. By knowing the social history of my ancestors it can help with putting “flesh on the bones” when writing a scene.

I have four children from four different families who share a birth date the 9th of January. The first is a great niece in 2001. Then I have a (H) great nephew in 2014, a granddaughter also in 2014 and lastly another (H) great nephew in 2016. If it wasn’t for my interest in Family History, I doubt that I would ever have noticed this fact. It seems that the 9th January is indeed a Happy Birthday.

How about you? Do you have a particular Happy Birthday date that keeps popping up over the years?