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.
   We want to know your reactions to new products, new legislation, new fads, whether recent or proposed changes are for the better or not … in fact, we want to know what you think about everything connected with genealogy in Australia and New Zealand.
   The writer of the Letter of the Month wins a prize provided by Unlock the Past www.unlockthepast.com.au

January 2012 Letters

ANDERSON-HARDAKER
Thanks for publishing my letter so fast and for letting me know about the reply - its great since we are related!                                                                                                                             M Anderson by email
The reply was received 3 days after the December 2011 magazine was posted!

DIVERSE LIFESTYLES
I have almost completed my first year with your amazing magazine. We're having a wonderful time reading about the diverse lifestyles of our early arrivals.
   I enclose my subscription renewal and am looking forward to the next 12 months.
               Marlene Rose, Qld

 

EAST COAST HERITAGE MUSEUM
Thank you for publishing the information on the opening the East Coast Heritage Museum and Vistor Centre.
   I was pleased to have been able to attend; a wonderful evening with 3-400 locals, some from more distant places in Tasmania and several from mainland Australia.
   The old building was the school house 1860-1924 and then became the War Memorial Institute. With renovations to the old building and sympathetic additions this ediface will now hold the East Coast Heritage Museum, Glamorgan Spring Bay Historical Society Inc., War Memorial Room, Community and Education Room and Visitor Information Centre.
   It is intended that the Museum will not be static but have changing displays. Currently there are several artifacts relating to the thylacine or Tasmanian tiger; a skull cast on loan from the Queen Victoria Museum and pin cushion jaw bone from the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and animal trap. The pin cushion dates from circa 1900 and is known to have been made by a former east coast resident, Emily Farrer (1857-1940). George Merediths whaling collection is held by the museum. His daughter-in-law, Louisa Anne Meredith née Twamley (1812-1895) was an English author and miniaturist, watercolourist, engraver, poet, writer and botanist and her reputation was already well established when she arrived in Van Diemens Land in 1840. Her illustrated books about Tasmania, which display a romantic and exotic quality, did much to popularise Tasmanian plants. The museum holds a silk brocade dress, an 1780s (yes, 1780s) dress of her mothers, reputed to have also been worn by Louisa Anne.
   The War Memorial Room has a set of World War I campaign medals, Légion dhonneur and record of the three Dilger brothers killed in this war. There are also military uniforms, other memorabilia including a piece from the Nazi regime. Included in this room is a wonderful billard table built for the 1880 Melbourne Exhibition.
   Of most interest, perhaps, to genealogists are the family and local records held by the Glamorgan Spring Bay Historical Society Inc. The township of Swansea was settled by English gentlemen, their families and servants of Meredith, Amos and Buxton in 1821. The Quakers, the Cotton family followed in 1823. The area that became the township of Triabunna saw settlers in 1820s. There is information on the military settlement at Waterloo Point (Swansea). A database is being compiled of the convicts assigned in the area and those who were at the several probation stations on the east coast. The probation stations include Rocky Hills (near Swansea), Darlington on Maria Island, Paradise near Orford, Long Marsh, Bicheno and Buckland. Another ongoing project is the soldiers database.
   I do hope the details are of interest to some of your readers.                                           Maree Ring by email

 

MARIE OR MARIA LE NOBLE
I so hope you may be able to help. I work in a small local studies library in the capital of Jersey, St Helier, and have been following up the career of a convict deported to Tasmania in 1846. She committed the most notorious murder that century in the island by killing a parish official (early honorary policeman) named George Le Cronier. She was a married woman, but despite this somehow managed to wed a free man in Australia, a widower with children called William Norman. The couple themselves had no children.
   I have been in touch with Anzestry who have been most helpful, and they checked all the Tasmania records for her death. We know Norman pre-deceased her. No joy. I have also been able to contact a couple of descendants from Normans first marriage and they seem to think she owned land in Cullenswood, and I have contacted TAHO on this again with no joy.
   There is a book currently being written by an internationally known author partly on the subject of this murder, and I have been happily involved in assisting in the background research for his forthcoming book. I so wish I could find a way to add closure on Marie or Maria Norman (née Le Noble) and would appeal to your magazine researchers and readers to help us solve the mystery.
                           Anna Baghiani by email


REMARKABLE RESPONSE
I do not think the two stories I researched and wrote that have been published this year in AFTC were in any way remarkable, but the response has been remarkable. Never have I had such a response from any story I have had published in any magazine or on any website.
   It may possibly be due to the inclusion of my postal and email addresses, or it could be you have an increased number of readers.
   May I take this opportunity to pass on our very best wishes to you and your staff for the coming Christmas season.                                                                                                                         Harry Willey by email


SERENDIPITY AND BEYOND
What a lovely surprise it was to open my December 2011 magazine and find my story, Serendipity and Beyond, in it. Thank you for publishing it.
   The day after I read it I got an email from a lady who had been so touched by the story as it took her back in time to her growing up years when she used to visit Stonehouse with her parents to collect timber for their bakery ovens. The email and its contents brought me more pleasure than actually writing the story. It makes all the work, and frustration, worthwhile.
   There are a couple of things I would like to add to the story:
1. I omitted to mention that Stonehouse is still standing and is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.
2. Since writing the article I have definitely ascertained that the Williams family who built Stonehouse are in
    fact related to my fathers family, that has been a bonus learning that.
   Once again thank you for your wonderful magazine, I look forward to getting it each month. I have my newsagent trained so well that he hands it to me as I walk in the door.
   Merry Christmas to you and your staff.
                                                                                         Glenda Bone-Gault by email

LETTER OF THE MONTH

 

SOMEONE STOLE MY ANCESTOR

I try to be very accurate when I claim people as my ancestors. To achieve this I obtain at best a copy of a primary source, or at worst a copy of a transcript. How people can claim ancestors based on flimsy or no evidence escapes me.
   One Sunday afternoon I was re-doing some research on a Naphtali (spelt in a variety of ways) Vine, my ggg grandfather and father of William Vine of Poole, Dorset. As I was perusing one of the electronic family history databases, I came across a family story of Naphtali Vine, father of William Vine married to Elizabeth Eleanor of Poole, Dorset, who had a number of children and grandchildren.
   Hang on, there was only one person with the name of Naphtali Vine, living in Dorset at that time in the 19th century, and his son William Vine was married to Mary Ann. So I went back to check why and what I had assumed, and there in the parish records was the marriage of William Vine and Mary Ann, and Williams father was Naphtali (spelt slightly differently). Researching a bit further, there is a parish record of the marriage of William Vine and Elizabeth Eleanor of Dorset, and Williams father was John.
   I can understand how this might have happened: two people with the same name, actually born in the same year and probably related, living in the same town in England at the same time. Some basic research revealed a listing for a William Vine, and his father Naphtali, and that was good enough for them to put on their family tree, without any further checking.
   In pursuit of accuracy I contacted the writer of the family history story and brought to their attention that, in my opinion, an error had been made and I would be willing to confirm my claim. That was a few months ago and to date I have not had a reply. I can leave a comment with the story, but that doesnt alter the fact that my ancestor has been used by someone else who didnt check their information.         
Kevin Dudeney by email


AND THE PRIZE IS ...

 

      
     published by Unlock the Past
      www.unlockthepast.com.au

 

 

Your views on these – or any other genealogy topic – are most welcome
 

Letters to the Editor
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