I have talked a number of times about the Diploma of Family History I am doing through the University of Tasmania. One of the units I did was Place, Image, Object which discussed the idea of the meanings behind each of these for a genealogist. The major assignment for this unit was to create an object biography that outlined the…
Today, being Remembrance Day, I felt it fitting to remember my ancestors who served in World War I. The brave men and women who served in the first world war (and of course all subsequent wars) are to be remembered for their bravery and sacrifice. The families at home need to be remembered as well. This war had a terrible…
Well, I’m currently in the very, very early planning days of Family History Holiday to the UK. I was born in England as were my dad and brother. Mum wanted to return to Australia so we came when I was quite young. I’ve always wanted to go back and look around. Discover my roots so to speak. My passion for genealogy…
Today I am going to compare two highly popular genealogy websites – Find My Past vs Ancestry. These sites allow users to conduct genealogical searches and access historical records in relation to their ancestry. They require people to join, and whilst you can build your family tree and search for free in order to access the full records, you require…
As the ship made its way out of the River Thames, Isabella reflected on how they had got to this point. She would never have voluntarily made this trip, however since the day George was transported she knew this is what they had to do. They had hoped he would be jailed in Scotland but given his previous conviction, the…
The convict ship “Stag” departed England, bound for Fremantle, on the 27 January 1855. George Brand was one of 85 convicts onboard. George was 33 years old and did not consider himself a handsome man. He had scraggly brown hair that was lightly balding, a sallow complexion with grey eyes and whilst quite tall at 5’ 8” he was a…
Over the past week, I have released the story of George Brand: A Convict Success Story. If you missed this series, you can read about him at the following links. For those of you who have already read them, I really hope you enjoyed hearing about George and the Australia convict system that he became a part of. If you…
Freedom or Something Like It On 3 April 1856 George received his Ticket of Leave, after only 11 months in the Swan Settlement, and he went to work for Charles Crowther in the Greenough area.1,2,3,4 The below register shows the money that came to George on his release to start the next stage of his life as a ticket of…
A Western Australian Convict On 2 February 1855 George departed for Western Australia with 224 other convicts onboard the “Stag”, which sailed from London with Surgeon Superintendent Caldwell on board.1,2,,3,4 They arrived in Fremantle on 23 May 1855, the fourteenth convict ship to arrive on its shores.1,,2,,3 The Swan River Settlement in Western Australia was founded by free settlers on…
George Brand in Prison The first records of imprisonment that can be found are of George being sent from Edinburgh Prison, Scotland to Millbank Prison, Middlesex, England on the 13 September 1852.1,2 Millbank Prison was opened in 1816 as the national penitentiary but the design was so poor that even the guards would get lost.3,4 Due to this, the decision…