QFHS Snippets - July 2011 Volume 11, No. 7

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Dear [member]

Congratulations to the honourary members of the QFHS Management Committee for the 2011-2012 Financial Year. Our society prospers due to the generous contributions of time by volunteers.

A reminder that QFHS membership subscriptions are now due for renewal.

You can learn how to research the history of your house with a guide produced by the Brisbane City Council.

Two websites relating to New Zealand cemeteries and gravestones are now online.

Enjoy reading the diverse articles, and remember to let us know your thoughts at: snippets@qfhs.org.au

Happy researching!

Table of Contents

  1. About This Newsletter
  2. QFHS Gaythorne Centre
  3. QFHS Dates to Remember
  4. QFHS Management Committee 2011-2012
  5. Open Day, Saturday 30 July 2011
  6. Open Day Video Project
  7. 694 Scottish Directories to 1911 Available!
  8. Findmypast.com.uk. Discount for QFHS Members
  9. Queensland State Archives 2011 Saturday Openings
  10. Advanced Archives Search
  11. Free Taxi Service to Queensland State Archives
  12. 140th Anniversary of Toowong Cemetery
  13. The Lord Mayor's Helen Taylor Award for Local History
  14. Researching the History of Your House
  15. Index for Maryborough Obituaries
  16. John Douglas Kerr Award
  17. Gill Reunion
  18. Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children now Online
  19. New Zealand Cemeteries Website
  20. Hunting Kiwis Project
  21. UK Ship Passenger Records
  22. England Jurisdictions 1851
  23. British Library Creates Online Digital Newspaper Archive
  24. Database for UK Burials and Cremations
  25. English Accents
  26. Records of Britain's Everyday Heroes Go Online For the First Time
  27. Victorian Occupations
  28. Memory Lane
  29. Illustrated London News Historical Archive 1842-2003
  30. London Lives 1690-1800
  31. The Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674 - 1913
  32. Nottinghamshire's Medieval Records Published Online
  33. Ireland Genealogy
  34. Wicklow Church Records Now Available
  35. Ulster Genealogy and Migration Studies Autumn School
  36. New Local Family History Society for Breconshine, Wales
  37. Lower Canada Land Petitions (1626-1865) Database Now Available
  38. City of New Westminster Museum and Archives' Database Goes Online
  39. United States 1890 Census Computer
  40. Who Had the Best American Civil War Facial Hair?
  41. New Online Tool uses Google Maps to Show Historical County Boundaries
  42. Researching Your Newton, Massachusetts Roots
  43. Illinois Database of Freed Slaves
  44. Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, Cemetery Records Available Online
  45. Mocavo Genealogy Search
  46. Greek Island of Kastellorizo
  47. Săpânţa: The Happy Cemetery
  48. Kate Middleton is Related to a King and Ellen DeGeneres
  49. Cyndi's List Launches a New Web Site
  50. Getting the Story of a Man's Life Right, at Last
  51. Michael Davis Locates 23 Half-Siblings in Search for his Father
  52. Survivor Reunited with Long-Lost Family Artifacts
  53. Disappearing Historic Records Sometimes Return
  54. WWII Vet Becomes a Newlywed At 99
  55. July's Jollies
  56. Acknowledgements

1.    About This Newsletter

Snippets is a monthly publication of the Queensland Family History Society Inc. (QFHS). QFHS Website http://www.qfhs.org.au/

Please do not click on reply to contact Snippets - the 'click on reply' facility is strictly for 'un-subscribing' to the mailing list.

You are encouraged to contribute items which you feel would be of general interest to the family historian hunting for that illusive relative. Humorous items and items relating to the technology of using computers in genealogy are also welcome. Submit your BRIEF items supplemented by hyperlinks to additional details.

Snippets will rarely include items of a commercial nature and only then when they are likely to be of interest to a majority of our readers.

Submit your items to us via: snippets@qfhs.org.au

2.     QFHS Gaythorne Centre

Our address is:

    58 Bellevue Ave
    Gaythorne QLD 4051
    QFHS library - (07) 3355 3369

For details about QFHS Centre, including location map, transport etc, click here: http://www.qfhs.org.au/location_hours.htm#Library

3.     QFHS Dates to Remember

QFHS Monthly General Meetings are held on the third Wednesday of the month (but not in January and December), at the QFHS Library, and start at 7:30pm. Attendance is free, and visitors are welcome.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 20 July.

Annabel Lloyd, who is an Archivist with Brisbane City Council, will discuss 'Floods of Brisbane'.

________________________________________

QFHS Daytime Meetings are held on the first Monday of the month (but not in January and December) at 20 Marmont Street, Geebung from 10am - 12 Noon.

The next meeting will be held on 4 July.

Contact Maureen Mutton on 3265 4378 if you would like to attend.
________________________________________

Central European Group

Meetings are held 10am - Noon on the 4th Saturday of each odd-numbered month. A $2 donation goes toward purchasing relevant records.

The next meeting will be on 23 July at the QFHS library.

For further information, contact Eric Kopittke on (07) 3376 4339 or email kopittke@tpg.com.au or centraleuropean@qfhs.org.au
________________________________________

English West Country Group

This group researches the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset. Meetings are held from 12 Noon - 2pm at the QFHS Library, on the fourth Thursday of the odd-numbered months.

Next meeting: Thursday, 28 July.

For further information contact Robert Browning on (07) 3359 9801 or email: robertbb2@bigpond.com
________________________________________

Family History Writing Group

These meetings are held from 9am - 11am at QFHS Library on the third Saturday of odd-numbered months.

Next meeting: Saturday, 16 July.

For further information contact FHWriters@qfhs.org.au OR Robert Adamson on (07) 3266 8353 OR Sue Reid on (07) 3378 2278.
________________________________________

Family Tree Maker User Group

These meetings run from 10am - 11:30am at QFHS Library and are held on 1st Friday each month except January and last Saturday in each even-numbered month except December.

The next meetings will be held on:
For further details, please contact Kerri Kleidon or Joe Greaves via e-mail on: familytree@qfhs.org.au
________________________________________

The Master Genealogist (or TMG) User Group

After being hosted for more than six years by QFHS member, Peter Collins, the Brisbane TMG User Group has become a welcome addition to the Society's special interest groups. The group caters to the needs of all users, from novice to advanced. The group meets in the QFHS Library on the third Saturday of each month (except December) at 1:30 pm.

Next meeting is 16 July.
For a limited period, new members to the group will have the opportunity to purchase The Master Genealogist v7 Gold Edition at a bargain price.

For further information, contact George Kearney on 0438 073 344 or Kevin Haley on (07) 3359 7491.
________________________________________

Irish Interest Group

Meetings are held from 10am - 12 Noon at QFHS Library on the second Saturday of the even-numbered months (not December).

Next meeting: 13 August. The topic for this meeting will be "Using the Internet for Irish Research". This will cater especially for those members who are just starting or about to start using the internet for Irish Research.

The topic for the October meeting is "Catholic Church Records".

For more information about Irish Interest Group contact Mary King on (07) 3205 3353 or email irish@qfhs.org.au
________________________________________

Scottish Interest Group

Meetings are held from 10am - 12 Noon at QFHS Library on the second Saturday of odd-numbered months (except January). Donations to buy more Scottish resources are welcome.

Next meeting: Saturday, 9 July.

For further information: Email scottish@qfhs.org.au OR phone Sam on (07) 3266 9131
________________________________________

Welsh Interest Group

This group meets on the fourth Sunday of the odd numbered months from 10am - 12 Noon at the QFHS Library.

Next meeting is: Sunday, 24 July.

Contact Paul Wood on welsh@qfhs.org.au for further information.

4. QFHS Management Committee 2011-2012

Congratulations to the honourary members of the committee for the new year. The office bearers are as follows:

5. Open Day, Saturday 30 July 2011

To celebrate National Family History Week, Queensland Family History Society will be holding its annual Open Day on Saturday, 30 July 2011. The Open Day will take place from 10am until 3pm at the Library and Resource Centre, 58 Bellevue Avenue, Gaythorne.

Visitors are invited to 'bring an ancestor' to research using the resources of the Library. Encourage your friends, family, and neighbours to bring a name, birth date, death date, or just anything they might know about their ancestors.

Volunteers will be on hand to assist in the research. QFHS's regional Special Interest Groups will be available to speak to visitors about their specialised countries. There will be presentations from Family Tree Maker and The Master Genealogist User Groups

Open Day-QFHS Members' Information
Members are invited volunteer to assist on Open Day by acting as researchers, guides, or in providing talks on specialised areas of the Library. All offers of assistance will be most welcome. Please contact the Secretary Bev Young at: secretary@qfhs.org.au

Members are also asked to note that the Computer Room and other areas of the Library will be in use on Open Day and research opportunities for members will be limited. Thank you for your understanding on this.

6. Open Day Video Project

To promote our Society at Open Day on 30 July, we would like to produce a slide show showcasing ancestors researched using QFHS resources.  To do this, we would like members to provide us with a photograph of a person, family, home, place etc with personal details, and the source/s used.  The photograph does not need to have been located at QFHS.

If you have a scanned photograph you would like to share, simply select/copy from your pictures and attach to an email to: secretary@qfhs.org.au Should you have an actual photograph but not a scanner, we can scan it for you. Let us know if we can help. Information to include - name of person/place, date of birth and death, relationship to member, member's number, inscription, QFHS resource used etc.

Please submit your photographs as soon as possible.

7. 694 Scottish Directories to 1911 Available!

Now we have your attention, can we also get you to help? This major resource has become available due to the National Library of Scotland allowing free download of these images. QFHS Inc's TAG team have taken advantage of this wonderful offer, with over 500 already downloaded. 

But putting these in a usable form on the QFHS network requires a vast amount of work cataloguing and grouping them. Some members from our Scottish Interest Group are currently assisting with parts of the cataloguing task; but with so many to do we need more hands on deck to make them available within a reasonable time frame.

This is something anyone with a computer, and Internet access, can do.  You don't need to be a Brisbane resident to help! It's all done by email.  So our country members can join our band of volunteers and help progress this great task.

As well as your computer and the Internet, you will need a reasonable familiarity with Microsoft Word and Excel programs and how to cut and paste from one to the other.  Step-by- step instructions are provided.

A side benefit, if you have special interest in Scottish research, is that you will have prior access to peruse all these directories at your leisure.

If you can help, or would just like to know more details, please email CD cataloguer Dawn Montgomery on: dawnem22@hotmail.com with 'Scottish Directories' in the subject line.  Many thanks in advance!

8.  Findmypast.com.uk. Discount for QFHS Members

The QFHS now has a subscription to Findmypast.co.uk, and they have offered our members a discount of 15% towards membership.  To take advantage of this discount, simply key in the word "FMPSAVE".

Check it out at: http://www.findmypast.co.uk/home.jsp

9. Queensland State Archives 2011 Saturday Openings

In 2011, Queensland State Archives will be open to the public on the second Saturday of every calendar month from 9am to 4:30pm. The 2011 Saturday opening dates for the next three months are:
Queensland State Archives are located at 435 Compton Road, Runcorn, Queensland. For more details, go to: http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/research/hours.asp

10. Advanced Archives Search

Discover how to get the best out of Archives Search, Queensland State Archives' online catalogue, with a seminar on Tuesday, 19 July from 2 pm. This seminar will teach you more advanced techniques to locate records of interest and will give useful tips for finding what you want. For more information, and to book, call (07) 3131 7777.

11. Free Taxi Service to Queensland State Archives

For those who find it difficult to get to the Queensland State Archives (QSA), there is a taxi service for researchers available every Tuesday. Information can be obtained at:  http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/findus.asp#taxi To book taxi travel to QSA, phone (07) 3131 7777.

12. 140th Anniversary of Toowong Cemetery

A re-enactment of the military funeral cortege of Governor Samuel Wensley Blackall will take place at Toowong Cemetery commencing at 10am on Sunday, 24 July 2011.  In addition, the Peter Jackson Memorial restoration unveiling will commence at 2pm.  The main entrance will be closed for the day, but onsite parking will be available via Richer Street, Toowong.  All enquiries to: 0417 404 960.

13. The Lord Mayor's Helen Taylor Award for Local History

Brisbane City Council invites history students or independent researchers to submit applications for research projects that further the understanding of Brisbane's history or heritage. A grant of $10,000 is available to support a project that provides insights into Brisbane's past and contributes to developing the city's distinctiveness and sense of identity. Projects that are suitable include:
The successful project will take a creative approach to making the research available to the community through developing a website, publishing a book, developing a performance or possibly creating an exhibition of artefacts or artworks.

The award honours the work of the late Helen Taylor who combined research skills and writing history with a passion for making history accessible to the community. Applications close midnight on Monday, 1 August 2011. For details about the award or to obtain copies of information and application forms, visit: http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/ and go to 'Community Support' and click on 'Grants & awards'.

14. Researching the History of Your House

Brisbane City Council's research guide, 'Your House Has a History: Keys To Unlocking Its Past', will help you discover the history of your home. The guide gives you 10 methods you can use to research the history of your home. Each method focuses on a different research topic and gives you easy-to-follow steps and tips about specific research issues. The guide also uses pictures and documents of a typical suburban Brisbane house as a case-study to illustrate the research process.

You can download a copy of the guide at: http://bit.ly/jFdXse

15. Index for Maryborough Obituaries

The Maryborough Family Heritage Research Institute has indexed obituaries from the Maryborough newspaper "The Alert" between 1928 and 1939. (1938 is missing)

This index can be downloaded from: http://www.treeroots.com.au/Alert%20Index.pdf  The State Library of Queensland has the newspapers on microfilm.

16. John Douglas Kerr Award

The John Douglas Kerr Award for Distinction in Research and Writing Australian History, 2011 was awarded by the Royal Historical Society of Queensland and the Professional Historians Association (Queensland) at the Queensland Day Dinner at the Queensland Club on 6 June 2011 to Geoffrey Bolton. Geoffrey Bolton's vast body of work, particularly that on North Queensland was applauded.

17. Gill Reunion

Jack Gill was born in Portland, Victoria in 1888. He was the son of John Gill and Grace Pearce; both from Cornwall, United Kingdom. Jack rode a motor bike to Queensland c1914 and married 1 Alice Irving and 2 Tassie Ryan. He fathered 3 daughters and 3 sons and died aged 57.

All descendants are invited to attend a reunion on the first weekend in May 2012.

For more details, contact Veronica O'Brien (nee Gill) on telephone: (03) 9742 4291 or via email: vtobrien@bigpond.net.au

18. Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children now Online

The Registers for the Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children covers the years 1852-1915. It is a collection of more than 6,000 hand-written entries documenting the admission and departure of children in the asylum's care. Previously the Society for the Relief of Destitute Children, the Randwick Asylum was first occupied in 1858. Its purpose was to care for abandoned children or children whose parents were considered 'dissolute characters'.

It could house 800, and generally accepted children between the ages of three and ten who weren't eligible for the orphan schools or whose parents weren't capable of caring for them. The Randwick records paint a picture of a time of significant hardship for many young Australians. These records are available to UK Heritage Plus and World Deluxe members of ancestry.com

To find out more about the Randwick Asylum's records, visit:  http://www.ancestry.com.au/

19. New Zealand Cemeteries Website

Recently updated, this site now includes a new version of Google Maps that includes Streetview which allows visitors to view the area remotely. The website is dedicated to recording burial places in New Zealand and those New Zealand servicemen overseas. It includes all cemeteries, Urupa, family gravesites, lone burials and historical burial sites. It also includes photographs of many sites and links to other websites with burial records, articles on the cemeteries etc.

Go to: http://nzcemetery.kiwicelts.com/index.html

20. Hunting Kiwis Project

This website records the inscriptions from earthquake-damaged gravestones in New Zealand - and posts them online. This mammoth task undertaken by Helen Leggatt is a work in progress with many cemeteries being fully searchable.

Go to: http://genealogyjourno.wordpress.com/

21. UK Ship Passenger Records

This database includes people onboard ships departing British ports for long-distance voyages across the world from 1890 to 1960. Initial searches are free, detailed searches require purchase of a subscription.

You'll find the passenger records at: http://bit.ly/lbhK4i

22. England Jurisdictions 1851

This is a very interesting site. It includes interactive England county maps showing parishes, districts, probate courts, dates of parish creation, dates of extant records and more.

Go to: http://maps.familysearch.org/

23. British Library Creates Online Digital Newspaper Archive

The British Library is one year into its plan to digitise 40 million news pages from its vast 750 million collection, housed in Colindale, north London. This autumn, the library will reinvent its website, to allow amateur genealogists and eager historians to browse 19th-century newsprint from their home computer.

About half a million newspaper pages have been scanned to date. Fewer than a dozen staff clean, copy and upload roughly 8,000 pages a day - about enough to cover a football pitch. When it goes live, the site aims to display more than 1.5 million pages, with 4 million pages uploaded by the end of next year.

You can read more at http://goo.gl/El9CM

24. Database for UK Burials and Cremations

Deceased Online is the first central database of statutory burial and cremation registers for the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland - a unique resource for family history researchers and professional genealogists. The database, holding records mainly from the 1850s onwards, can provide invaluable information for researching family trees, and can reveal previously unknown family links from other interments recorded in the same grave. Searching is free and is pay-per-view for certificates.

Go to: http://www.deceasedonline.com/

25. English Accents

Increased mobility and the ubiquitousness of television and radio have done surprisingly little to homogenise the distinctive accents and dialects that characterise the different parts of the country. Some are spreading; some retreating. Some are mutating; some are even getting stronger. But, overall, the pronunciation and prosody of spoken English seems to vary as much as ever across the country of its birth.

You can read more at: http://www.economist.com/node/18775029

26. Records of Britain's Everyday Heroes Go Online For the First Time

Family history website findmypast.co.uk has published the records of over half a million men who served in the British militia, the precursor to the United Kingdom's Territorial Army. They colourfully portray what the British Militia looked like, detailing the height, weight, chest size, complexion, eye colour etc.

These records can be researched using the subscription website at the QFHS library or via subscription at: http://www.findmypast.co.uk/

27. Victorian Occupations

This is a collection of the occupations or job descriptions of the people living in London in the 1890's.

You'll find the old occupations at: http://www.census1891.com/occupations-a.htm

28. Memory Lane

Look at the website of the Francis Frith Collection to see old photographs of the places where your ancestors lived. You can also browse the memories contributed by website visitors about the places featured in the photographs.

Check it out at: http://www.francisfrith.com/

29. Illustrated London News Historical Archive 1842-2003

At this website, you can search the complete full colour archive of this iconic illustrated newspaper. Great artists and contributors including Rudyard Kipling, Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie brought the news of the world to readers for over 160 years.

The Illustrated London News Historical Archive provides complete access to every issue of this illustrated newspaper for a period of 160 years. The contents are fully searchable, and users can browse individual issues, including specials and supplements. Over the course of its history the newspaper reported on all the great events of the day, including wars, royalty, social events, science and exploration. Coverage is from 1842-2003.

Check it out at: http://www.nla.gov.au/app/eresources/item/4206

30. London Lives 1690-1800

This fully searchable edition of 240,000 manuscripts from eight archives and fifteen datasets, gives access to 3.35 million names. What was it like to live in the first million person city in modern Western Europe? Crime, poverty, and illness; apprenticeship, work, politics and money; how people voted, lived and died; all this and more can be found in these documents.

Go to: http://www.londonlives.org/

31. The Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674 - 1913

Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674-1913 is a fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published; containing 197,745 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court.

For more information go to: http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/

32. Nottinghamshire's Medieval Records Published Online

This register of medieval court rolls, surveys and maps has been released online for the first time. Information about 200 Nottinghamshire manors is now accessible. The register, with documents dating back to the 13th century, was funded by The National Archives.

Manors were agricultural estates compromising a village whose inhabitants would work the land for the estate's lord. The manorial documents, which pre-date Parish records started in 1538, include such details as the hanging of a thief, men accused of sheep theft and a fight in 14th century Mansfield.

Enjoy searching at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-13856086

33. Ireland Genealogy

Ireland Genealogy is an exciting new website for anyone doing Irish Family History Research. Researchers have spent two decades transcribing the hand-written pension application forms (green forms) that give essential information from the 1841 and 1851 censuses for the whole of Ireland. This website has recently been upgraded from the old website 'pensear.org'.

Check it out at: http://www.ireland-genealogy.com/

34. Wicklow Church Records Now Available


The Irish Family History Foundation's Online Research Service are pleased to announce the availability of an additional 95,000 church marriage records from the Wicklow Family History Centre for Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland parishes in Co. Wicklow.

Enjoy searching at: http://wicklow.rootsireland.ie/

35. Ulster Genealogy and Migration Studies Autumn School

If you are interested in finding out more about your Ulster ancestors or wish to explore the history of Ireland's Northern Province, this is the perfect opportunity in which to do so. From 9 - 15 October 2011, you will be assisted to carry out research for yourself as well as discover the history of Ulster first-hand through excursions to some of the province's most historic sites. In the evenings you can relax and enjoy some entertaining and enlightening talks and discussions. This is a unique activity holiday which caters for all abilities and levels of interest.

The school's itinerary can be viewed at: http://www.ancestryireland.com/autumnschool

36. New Local Family History Society for Breconshine, Wales

A new local and family history society for Breconshire was established in June 2011 - The Breconshire Local & Family History Society (BLFHS).

The BLFHS has launched its own website, which you can find at:  http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wlsblfhs/

37. Lower Canada Land Petitions (1626-1865) Database Now Available

The updated online database of Lower Canada Land Petitions (1626-1865) has just been released. It includes digitised images of the actual petitions for all individuals listed in the database. Corrections to entries, including suggestions received from users, have also been integrated into this updated version.

The database is available at: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/lower-canada/index-e.html

38. City of New Westminster Museum and Archives' Database Goes Online

A new addition to the City of New Westminster, British Colombia's web site allows anyone to search the city's history and photographs from a smartphone, tablet computer, laptop, or desktop system. Not only can users search the database but they can also share with others and comment on photographs and other records.

The database has more than 4,000 descriptions, primarily of photographs, but that's only a fraction of the total collection. The site will grow as descriptions are added.

The database can be accessed by going to: http://archives.newwestcity.ca/

39. United States 1890 Census Computer

The 1890 US census tallied 63 million people. Read how cutting-edge technology (at that time) was used to compile the information.

Have fun reading at: http://bit.ly/jpElqS

40. Who Had the Best American Civil War Facial Hair?

Among the many officers who fought in the U.S. Civil War, who wore their beard, moustache, mutton chops or sideburns the best? At this website, you can learn about the contestants before casting your vote for your favourite display of Civil War facial hair.

Check it out and vote at: http://bit.ly/iMprhZ

41. New Online Tool uses Google Maps to Show Historical County Boundaries

How often have you tried searching for an ancestor's historical records for a given county, only to later find that you were searching in the right place but the wrong county? Boundary lines have changed frequently throughout the history of the United States. In order to find records, you must know the county in which your ancestor lived in the year of interest. The result is that there's a very good chance that you are sometimes looking in the wrong county for some of your genealogical records.

A new tool has been created to help genealogists find the correct county for the year of interest. The software tool displays data from the Newberry Library's Atlas of Historical County Boundaries on top of Google Maps at: http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/project.html

Users simply type in any place in the United States and any year to see the map of county boundaries. You can then click any county on the map to see the specific history of the boundary changes, and type in different years to see the boundary changes over time.

You can read more about this new mapping tool and read step-by-step instructions at: http://goo.gl/PDL49

42. Researching Your Newton, Massachusetts Roots

Recently, the City of Newton made researching family history much easier by scanning and uploading a great deal of archival documents onto their website. Located on the Genealogical Research page of the city's website are historical vital records, which include records of births, deaths and marriages.

These records, which go all the way back to 1635, are now available at: http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/city%20clerk/genealogy.html

43. Illinois Database of Freed Slaves

The state of Illinois has compiled a database that can provide a lot of help to genealogists. A freed slave was required to carry a certificate to prove he or she was free and not a runaway. Those certificates, called "free Negro bonds," had to be submitted to the county and, today, provide some of the information included in an online database. The Servitude and Emancipation Record Database covers the years 1722 - 1863 and contains historical records; many of them documenting freed slaves who settled in Illinois.

You can find the database at: http://www.ilsos.gov/GenealogyMWeb/servfrm.html

You can learn about the database in an article at: http://goo.gl/BDFwA.

44. Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, Cemetery Records Available Online

Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, cemetery records are now online, with all Riverside Cemetery records are available to view.

You can find more than 9,000 burials of Riverside Cemetery at: http://www.mt-pleasant.org/depts/cemetery/records.htm

45. Mocavo Genealogy Search

This new North American genealogy search engine is available at no charge. It searches hundreds of thousands of genealogy web sites looking for the words you specify. Web sites searched include thousands of genealogy message boards, society web pages, state historical societies and much, much more.

Go to: http://www.mocavo.com/

46. Greek Island of Kastellorizo

In 2004, it was estimated that this island produced some 30,000 Australians. Much of the information on this site has been obtained from newspaper, cemetery and official records. Numerous photographs and media items can be viewed on this website.

You have to register to view items of interest and it is free. Go to: http://www.castellorizo.org/

47. Săpânţa: The Happy Cemetery

A blogger in Budapest, Hungary has taken pictures in the village of Săpânţa in the far north of Romania. The most popular activity in the village appears to be drinking, and the fact is well illustrated on the tombstones.

You can read more and view the many pictures at: http://horinca.blogspot.com/2010/07/sapanta-happy-cemetery.html

48. Kate Middleton is Related to a King and Ellen DeGeneres

Much has been made of Kate Middleton's pedigree: the coal in her veins, the Ellen DeGeneres connection, and the tattooed uncle. Genealogist William Addams Reitwiesner has amassed thousands of British records and plotted out the family lines to discover that Kate Middleton, Ellen DeGeneres and Prince William himself, share a common ancestral couple: Sir Thomas Fairfax and Agnes Gascoigne. That makes them all 14th cousins.

You can read more about the family connections at the following two sites: http://bit.ly/jJ0le0

49. Cyndi's List Launches a New Web Site

This website has recently received a major upgrade to celebrate 15 years of service. It now has improved navigation, a custom database, and a custom administrative interface. Searching will now be quicker and easier.

You can find the website at: http://cyndislist.com/

50. Getting the Story of a Man's Life Right, at Last

Lt. M. K. Schwenk's first name was Milton, not Melton, as his obituary said. His great-nephew, Dr. Daniel A. F. Schwenk, a retired dentist from Walpole, N.H., wrote to The Times last month, pointing out what he said were several errors in the 264-word obituary published on June 29, 1899. "It's a tad late" to bring them up, said Dr. Schwenk, who found the obituary online.

But it is never too late to set the record straight! There is always time to revise, polish and perfect, even if pinning down the details about Lieutenant Schwenk after so many years turned out to be less than straightforward.

Read more about the errors being righted at: http://nyti.ms/lGVlkn

51. Michael Davis Locates 23 Half-Siblings in Search for his Father

Not long ago, the names on the headstones were no more meaningful to Michael Davis than any others in Woodland Cemetery.  Now, they are family. Down from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Davis stood in the otherwise empty graveyard off Orange Avenue where seven of his half brothers and sisters are buried. They are a small part of an extended family that he never knew existed until 2009. What began a year earlier as a search for his dad's whereabouts, decades after being abandoned, turned into the discovery of a bizarre and sometimes brutal family history.

Read about this interesting story at: http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=12179

52. Survivor Reunited with Long-Lost Family Artifacts

Earlier this month, 94-year-old Elsie Hirsch Levy received an astonishing phone call from Buettelborn, Germany, the town her family had fled during the Nazi era. The excited caller was Levy's school classmate, Marie Beisswenger, with whom Levy has been in frequent contact. In 1941, before Levy's parents were deported by the Nazis to Theresienstadt, a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, a fellow neighbour had received a box from them for safekeeping.

The neighbour passed away in 1987, leaving "The Box" in the hands of her daughter. Interested in seeing these artifacts returned to their owner, the neighbour's son went about trying to fulfill this mission. Referring to names of persons on the backs of the photos, he helped track down their rightful owner.

More on this fascinating story at: http://bit.ly/knttwx

53. Disappearing Historic Records Sometimes Return

Genealogists rely on many different types of historic records and documents to learn all they can about their ancestors. More often than one would think, coveted records are missing. Where they are, no one knows. Unfortunately, records often succumbed to fire in the days when they were kept in frame buildings such as town halls and even at the local general store. Other records were destroyed during war or sometimes they were inexplicably misplaced or stolen.

The town of Rupert, Vermont lost all its early land records when the clerk, a Tory, fled to Canada in 1780 with them. Last month professional genealogist Sandra Hewitt's father was shopping at a Philadelphia used book store and spotted Brooklyn's "Bonds of Guardianship, Volumes 1 through 4," dating back to 1830.

Read about the recovery of the volumes at: http://bit.ly/jtQyqG

54. WWII Vet Becomes a Newlywed At 99

A 99-year-old World War II veteran recently became a first-time groom after a lifelong search for the right bride. "I never met the right woman until I met Virginia," Gilbert Herrick said of his 86-year-old wife, Virginia Hartman.

Enjoy reading about the late bloomer at: http://bit.ly/jy2GHS

55. July's Jollies


A cousin a day keeps boredom away.
A computer is a typewriter with an attitude.
A day without genealogy is like a day without coffee.
A family history shows you have lived!
A family reunion is an effective form of birth control
A family tree can wither if nobody maintains its roots.
A family tree has many branches; not all have the same last name.
A generation that ignores history has neither past nor future.
A good name is more desirable than great riches.
A great many family trees were started by grafting
A great oak is only a little nut that held its ground.
A job is nice, but it interferes with genealogy research.
A COMPLETE Genealogy just can't be...there's always more!

56. Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all those who have taken time out to send items of interest to our "Snippets" mailbox at: snippets@qfhs.org.au

The more we receive, the more frequently we can produce a Newsletter. If your submission does not appear in this issue, we will try to include it in a future edition. Please note that reference to any product does not imply endorsement. Members are cautioned to evaluate products prior to purchase.

Pauline Macfarlane

Disclaimer: This newsletter is produced in good faith, and information received is deemed to be accurate, but the editor takes no responsibility for incorrect information supplied. [Editor's note: The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editor or of QFHS]

Permission to reprint articles from QFHS 'SNIPPETS' NEWSLETTER is granted unless specifically stated otherwise, provided: (1) the reprint is used for non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) the following notice appears at the end of the article: "Previously published in QFHS 'SNIPPETS' NEWSLETTER" with the appropriate date and volume number (eg QFHS 'SNIPPETS' NEWSLETTER January 2009 Vol 9 No. 1). The last six months issues of Snippets are available from: http://www.qfhs.org.au/snippets.htm

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