Letters to the Editor

Genealogy has many different elements and there are probably just as many different viewpoints about most of them, so there should always be lots to write about.
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August 2010 Letters

ANYONE FOR TENNIS?
Dear Editor If only they had written the names on the back of photos…remembering, that one-day, we will be known as ‘they’! I am referring to the amazing photo in Anyone for tennis? [p20 May 2010]
   Sadly, there was only one ‘possibly known’ person and another ‘could be’. Sadder still, I believe there is probably no-one alive today who might be able to recognise any others in the photo. Hopefully, someone will have photos in their collection that may help solve the problem for Mrs C Riding of Bathurst NSW.
   There are many ‘possibles’ as there were many families whose roots were in Molong NSW… who all inter-married. Lillian POCKNALL née SHREEVES (the only person recognised in the photo by the sender) son Ivan, married Ruth BURGESS, granddaughter of William Chapman BURGESS and Caroline FROGLEY. Caroline FROGLEY née BURGESS is my children’s great, great aunt.
   In an endeavour to help in this cause I perused the book Families of Molong and District written by Aileen Roberson of Molong NSW (who is also a FROGLEY descendant). I think a clue is to find a member of the GRIFFITHS family who may have similar faces in their photo tin!
   It is in my plan to name all of my photos and scan them but it is a very time consuming exercise…. but if I don’t do it my children will have absolutely no idea who the people are as is the situation in this and I imagine millions of other instances. ‘Unknown’ is an awful word to see on the back of any photo.
   If only I had done it at the time…if only there were more hours in the day...if only I had more time. Life is one big IF….and if only I could still play tennis!                                                   Georgie Frogley (by email)


BRIDGET CHRISTINA EVA MADDEN
Dear Editor I just want to thank you and your readers for the phenomenal response to my request for assistance in researching my grand-aunt (Bridget Christina) Eva (MADDEN) HALL [p26 June 2010].
   So far, over 28 people have offered assistance and many of those have completed research on my behalf and produced information that is priceless to me.
   One reader even went as far as to photograph the gravestone for me. I have sent a ‘hank you’ to all via email.
   I am now in contact with Eva’s family and they are delighted with the information and assistance provided by you and your readers.
   Thank you for all your help.                                                                 Kieran O’Connell, Ireland (by email)

 

MISINFORMATION
Dear Editor Once again I am writing on the topic of ‘misinformation’ that has been commented on in recent editions of your most informative magazine and I must vote in defence of the age of the internet and its information content, be it ‘true blue’ or ‘downright misleading’.
   I started researching my family history in the late 1970s when just finding out about my my great-grandparents was difficult and involved persuading elderly British relatives to travel into London to search the GRO indexes, then applying for each certificate at great expense via complicated bank cheques and a few months of waiting. Similarly, when the NSW BMD Index was released on microfiche I remember how wonderful it was and journeyed to Sydney to line up with dozens of other people to view a few microfiche one at a time on the limited number of machines. How times have changed.
   Since the advent of the internet and the many public and commercial sites, most of which are free at local public libraries or LDS Family History Centres, researching information is all now a complete breeze. I can view swags of the real parish register entries, including those critical marriages with associated information for my London, Norfolk, Yorkshire and Durham ancestors, as well censuses from 1841 to 1911, and my great-grandparents' passage to Kansas in 1851 with the younger 5 of their 10 children which was a complete surprise to me. I have broken so many brickwalls in the last few years that would never have been possible before.
   Yes, I have many letters from elderly relatives in the 1980s which gave me a few clues to the extended family, but nothing in comparison with the information I have gained since, especially that in the digitised newspapers in Australia, Britain and America, remembering of course that much in a newspaper is as inaccurate as those pesky incorrect trees people publish. One of my former trees is up there, with that totally incorrect branch that was shared with people before I lopped it off as ‘not ours at all’. So be it, I am just one member of hundreds if not thousands in my family, and am not the sole owner of any information gathered from the public domain about its various members. Discovering the errors on those published trees is so much more easily done these days for those that are really keen rather than those with a passing interest who are unable to resist the blatent encouragment to enter ‘their’ tree whenever they log into some of the commercial sites.
   I remember hearing during the late 1990s of a DNA study undertaken by a university in England on cystic fibrosis and as part of the study a voluntary blood sample was taken from each parent and child. The researchers were somewhat surprised to find that a much larger percentage of fathers than they had predicted could not possibly be the parent of the afflicted child. It posed a dilemma for them, as they could not reveal this fact to the parents which would have been highly unethical. So where does that leave us in tracing our paternal lines? Humans have erred or, more sadly, been sinned against since Eve and a certificate purporting that child A is the daughter or son of B and C might just as easily be a fabrication but, blood related or not, they were still a much loved family member.
   So what family history boils down to for those of us who love it, is that it is a wonderful hobby. The most enjoyable part is the thrill of the chase and discovering likeminded souls on a similar expedition who also get excited on finding that great-great uncle James was the captain of the first lightship off Constantinople, not just a lighthousekeeper; that great-great-great aunt Hannah liked to list her father as her husband in two censuses just to stop the indignity of that busybody censustaker discovering she was a single Mum with two children who ran an illegal betting shop; and the final proof that grandfather Edward had indeed attended Dulwich College as he claimed, but the school had denied over the last 30 years until recently, when his entry records were finally unearthed - his win in the college piggy back race in the 1880s as reported in the newspaper that gave me my evidence.
   Like all my ancestors, one day I will die and I don't particularly care what my children will do with the massive amount of research I have accumulated over the years. They certainly wouldn’t have room to house all the paperwork, but I have just had such a wonderful time doing it and using it as a guide to various interesting holidays around Australia and the world. Once I get around to writing ‘that book’ and they read it, they will never have the opportunity to know the sheer joy of discovering the family's past for themselves.
                                                                                                                       Gillian Kendrigan (by email)

PETERS DIGGINGS
Dear Editor Congratulations! Your magazine continues to live up to its name.
   One of your Victorian readers made a connection with the photograph of my great-grandmother you kindly published on p2 of the May 2010 magazine.
   The letter I received explained that the birthplace of my great grandmother, Peters Diggings, no longer appears on any maps due to the transient nature of ‘gold towns’. All that remains of Peters Diggings are a few lumps and bumps in the paddocks, the bases of a few chimneys and a grave with a headstone. Located now in the rural parish of Carapooee Victoria, the Diggings are about 12km south east of St Arnaud, which itself is about 250km north west of Melbourne and half way between Bendigo and Horsham.
   Your reader also very kindly provided me with the name and address of the ‘local historian’ and the St Arnaud Historical Society, c/- St Arnaud Post Office, St Arnaud Vic 3477.
   I have written to the reader to express my thanks and delight in receiving this information, but am also keen to share it with your readers. Keep up the great work!.
                                          Philip Marston (by email)


THE NAME GAME

Dear Editor While reading Philip Marston’s article The Name Game in the July 2010 magazine, the name CRAVEN jumped out at me as my great-grandfather had that name as one of his christian names. I had never thought of ‘surnames’ being used in future generatons as ‘first’ names.
   I have wondered why he had such strange names and, given that he had two ‘surnames’ as his christian names, it's now evident that he may have been named after his grandparents. Unfortunately my research has had to come to a standstill for the present time so I’m unable to confirm this.
   My great-grandfather, Thomas Craven Baldwan BROWN/E, was born in 1863 in Mt Pleasant, Glusburn, Yorkshire, England and died in 1938 in Hornsby NSW. I have contacted Philip Marston in case there is a family connection between my ‘Craven’ and his William CRAVEN.
   Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed his article and it has given me a new ‘insight’ into the names of our ancestors..
                                                                                                             Irene Green (by email)

LETTER OF THE MONTH

 

GUEST SOCIETY

Dear Editor On behalf of the Tinonee Historical Society Inc I am writing to let you know that being featured on page 43 of the May 2010 magazine has been very beneficial to us. As a result of the article we have received numerous requests for family history and have also received some further research material for our archives.
   The magazine had only just arrived and the next day we had two enquiries, one from a lady in Yanco NSW and another from Childers in Queensland. They had only received their magazines that day and were able to make contact with us and it was a great surprise for two of our members, when the information from Childers arrived, to learn that they were connected with the lady.
   Once again, many thanks for featuring our Society and Museum in the magazine.
                                                                                                                     Pam Muxlow, Hon Secretary
                                                                                                                  Tinonee Historical Society Inc

 

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