Month: December 2014

What is a repository?

Miss W. Family History Course , , ,

Research
Photo Credit: Anders Sandberg via Compfight

We are now into week 3 of the family history course and we are about to start planning our major research. As I listened to Dianne Snowden’s lecture about repositories and records, I made some notes and here they are.

What is a repository?

Library, archives, museums, family history society

Cora Num’s website has lots of links to different repositories and record sites globally and locally

Some examples of Australian repositories

National Library of Australia –includes online catalogue to search,  eResources and link to Trove – digitized newspapers

National Archives of Australia – Commonwealth government records from 1901, defence records, photo search, name search

State archives – state Government departments

Repositories including other countries

Australian Joint Copying Project – material from Australia, NZ and Pacific from 1560 to 1984

Family Search – put together by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

List of family history societies in Australia from Cora Num website

Federation of Family history societies in UK

Ancestry – where we will get a one month access soon

 Other record sources

  • To make the most of your research time, you need to know what is kept where.  Always do your homework – what are you looking for and where will you find it
  • Reminder that an index is only a guide – find copy of original record
  • Information only as accurate as the informant gives eg relative better than funeral director

BDM records and indexes – start with yourself and work backwards

FreeBMD – UK site

Graham Jaunay has a guide to what you will find on BDM certificates in each state of Australia

Cora Num – lots of links for Australia BDM records

Electoral Rolls and census records in Australia

Photographs – Jane Shrimpton blog on dating photos

To my readers:

What other record sources have you used especially if it is for countries other than Australia?

 

Getting ready for interview

Miss W. Family History Course ,
Mum, myself and Aunty Marg

Just spent a great hour or so listening to a series of video recordings about how to organize, structure and run an interview. Here are my notes.

Preparing for interview

  • Make them comfortable – their favourite place – kitchen table etc
  • Try to have microphone etc as not noticeable
  • Time of day that works for them – mind is agile rather than after meal or relaxing time

Structuring interview

  • Start interview with a questionnaire by Paul Thompson*
  • Begin with their childhood then progress to parents and grandparents – reminisces lead to more things they remembered
  • Listen to what is being said as more clues will be given to allow further research using other resources

Interviewing techniques

  • Be attentive, listen carefully to ask more questions for clarification
  • Not too long
  • Importance of listening to interview – identify new questions for next interview
  • Bring copies of newspaper etc to next interview re event discussed
  • Use photographs for more info

Life as a narrative

  • As we get older our life becomes a story
  • Allow people to tell own story in own time
  • Ask questions at later interviews – get these from early interviews
  • These questions important to you not necessarily the person you are interviewing
  • Patient, respectful and alert when asking about traumatic incidents

Oral history as part of family history research

  • This began mainly in the 1970s
  • This may not be history – people’s memories might include imagination as well
  • Documents vs oral history
  • Everything is an interpretation of the past
  • Use photographs to jog memory then find newspapers, documents etc for further comparison
  • Oral history important part of some cultures like Torres Strait Islanders and aborigines

*Paul Thompson, The Voice of the Past: Oral History, Oxford University Press, 2000.

Reflection: I hadn’t really thought about all the points mentioned in these recordings. I generally just go in like a bull at a gate asking questions and not developing a structure for the interview. But really mine are often related to a photo my aunt or mother has shown me and so is not an organized interview at all, just a chit chat about a photo.

Question: What is going to be the hardest part of the interview process?

My memories

Miss W. Family History Course, Smith ,

Nan's birthday

So what do I remember of my grandmother and her siblings?

My grandmother was Irene Ellen Gertrude SMITH and she was born on Bruny Island she said. I can only remember her ever living in Warwick Street in a two bedroom house that had a magnificent garden out the back. The kitchen area of the house looked over the garden where, she and her second husband, who we called Uncle Mike, grew vegetables and fantastic flowers. They had a fir tree in the centre of the back garden which was always decorated for Christmas when we would visit. They also had an aviary of canaries and finches in the yard.

When we visited their house we would have meals either at the very highly polished table in the main dining area or we would have a quick snack in the booth area of the kitchen. Nan’s house was always neat and tidy, no dust found anywhere.

Nanny Hydro as we called her, worked in Hobart at …….  and would walk to and from work every day. Once she retired, she still walked into Hobart daily until her eyesight got so poor she was a danger to herself when crossing roads.

I know she worked at the Albion Hotel during the second world war as I have her identity card and clothing ration card from that time with her address at 54 Elizabeth Street.

I know very little about her siblings.

Her sister Madelaine married a BLYTH and they lived on a farm at Breadalbane near Launceston. I can remember visiting and staying there in the long corridors of the house. Then we would get up early to watch the milking of the cows.

Her sister Myra Isabella known as Pat married a GATES and moved to Adelaide. I visited her there once when I was travelling but know little else about her.

Another sister Olga Phyllis lived at Oyster Cove and I know whenever we would travel down there after the 1967 bushfires, my dad would mention that was aunty Olga’s house.

Her brother Jack also lived in West Hobart area and he told me that Captain William Smith’s mother was a princess from Samoa. I have no way of proving that until I know William’s Samoan name.

I don’t think I have met any more of her siblings or their children so I will firstly need to learn where Glen and Alanna fit into the family tree and how we are related.

STOP PRESS     UPDATE        STOP PRESS      UPDATE

I just looked through my family photos box and out of over 200 photos only ten related to the SMITH side of the family. No wonder I can’t remember much. Maybe a visit to dad to scan some photos he might have.

Photo: Uncle Mike, Eric GATES, Pat GATES, Nan and myself at Nan’s birthday party.