50 genealogy blogs you need to read in 2013!

Inside History’s 2nd Annual Genealogy Blog Awards are here! With the help of geneablogger Jill Ball, we’ve compiled our best 50 blogs from around the world. Get ready for “a glorious and unforgettable ride”. Drum roll, please…

What makes a geneablog great? Many people’s responses to this question via Twitter and Google+ have guided the choices here for Inside History’s 2nd Annual Genealogy Blog Awards.

The suggestion that most struck a chord was from Caroline Pointer who wrote, ‘Ones that take me on a glorious and unforgettable ride. And all the other stuff everyone else suggested.’ Our respondents looked for elements such as accuracy, commitment, consistency, content, originality, photographs, tone and writing style, while a few people touched on the technical aspects of a blog like a clean appearance, and no junk ads. Alona Tester suggested, ‘useful bits like blog archives [and] search, subscribe and share buttons’. Blogs that are easy to find, access and navigate rated highly here; blogs are a collaborative medium so bloggers need to make it easy for readers to interact with their audience. The relevance of these features varies from blog to blog depending on their style and purpose.

Surprisingly, no-one suggested passion, which is an extension of commitment. When examining the blogs for this list, commitment from an institutional or commercial blog, or passion from a personal blog rated highly. A blogger does not have to post daily to have commitment, but it needs to be on a regular basis be it daily, weekly or monthly. Readers also need to know what to expect, and this should be communicated in an About page on a blog. Other static pages such as calendars, contact details, disclosures and other relevant information also add value. Originality was the feature that received the most mentions and this has been a big factor in determining the awards. In the words of one respondent, we were looking for blogs that contain more than ‘simply press releases’. It’s great to see new blogs being launched all the time in the geneablogging world, and some of these are included here, such as Irish Genealogy News and Jax Trax.

The following list of Inside History’s top 50 blogs for 2013 is divided into categories and is listed in alphabetical order rather than rank or order of merit. So without any further ado, let’s reveal which blogs from around the globe made it onto our must-read (and must-follow) list for 2013…

Institutions:
Stay up to date with what some of our leading institutions are doing when it comes to family history. Here are a few that we like to read:

1. Archives Outside, archivesoutside.records.nsw.gov.au
2. Australian War Memorial, www.awm.gov.au/blog
3. Dictionary of Sydney, trust.dictionaryofsydney.org/category/blog
4. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, blogs.slq.qld.gov.au/jol
5. Kintalk, Auckland City Libraries, kintalkfamilyhistory.blogspot.com
6. Manly Families, Manly Library, manlyfamilies.blogspot.com
7. Moonee Valley History, mooneevalleyfamilylocalhistory.blogspot.com.au
8. Perth History Centre, community.perth.wa.gov.au/historycentre
9. Public Record Office Victoria, prov.vic.gov.au/publications/blog
10. National Library of Australia, blogs.nla.gov.au/the-eloquent-page
11. The National Archives, blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Organisations Want to be the first to know when new records or techy features are released? Here are our favourite blogs from genealogy organisations:

12. Ancestry.com.au, blogs.ancestry.com/au
13. Billion Graves, blog.billiongraves.com
14. FamilySearch, familysearch.org/blog
15. findmypast.com, blog.findmypast.com
16. Geneanet Genealogy Blog, genealogyblog.geneanet.org
17. Gould Genealogy and History News, www.gouldgenealogy.com
18. Legacy Family Tree, news.legacyfamilytree.com
19. MyHeritage Blog, blog.myheritage.com

Niche topics and societies Some blogs are smaller in scope, but have a largesse of informative posts on the topic at hand. Here are some examples:

20. Genealogists for Families Project, genfamilies.blogspot.com
21. Local History Newslink, Maitland NSW, localhistorynews.blogspot.com
22. The Empire Called and I Answered, empirecall.blogspot.com
23. Genealogical Society of Victoria, genealogyworld.blogspot.com.au
24. Ku-ring-gai Historical Society, kuringgaihs.blogspot.com

Personal genealogists As every researcher knows, family history is a labour of love, whether it’s a hobby or a career. Here are our favourite personal blogs:

25. Anglo-Celtic Connections, anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com
26. A Rebel Hand, rebelhand.wordpress.com
27. Auld Genealogy, auldgenealogy.blogspot.com.au
28. Australian Genealogy Journeys, ausgenjourneys.blogspot.com
29. Backtracking, boobookbacktracks.blogspot.com.au
30. Chloe Okoli, chloeokoli.com
31. Dear Myrtle, blog.dearmyrtle.com
32. Family History Across the Seas, cassmob.wordpress.com
33. Family History Fun, scotsue-familyhistoryfun.blogspot.com
34. GenBlog, genblogjulie.blogspot.com
35. Genealogy’s Star, genealogysstar.blogspot.com
36. Geniaus, geniaus.blogspot.com
37.Jax Trax, jackievanbergen.blogspot.com
38. Kylie’s Genes, blog.kyliesgenes.com
39. Lonetester HQ, www.lonetester.com
40. Mad about Genealogy, madaboutgenealogy.com
41. Now and Then, lynnwalsh.wordpress.com
42. Strong Foundations, shazlex.blogspot.com.au
43. Stumbling Through the Past, stumblingpast.wordpress.com
44. Western District Families, mywdfamilies.wordpress.com

Professional genealogists We love these blogs that offer a regular glimpse into the work being done in the family history world:

45. British Genes, britishgenes.blogspot.com
46. Shauna Hicks, diaryofanaustraliangenealogist.blogspot.com
47. Geneabloggers, geneabloggers.com
48. Irish Genealogy News, iirish-genealogy-news.blogspot.com
49. Jayne Shrimpton, jayneshrimpton.tumblr.com
50. The Family Recorder, thefamilyrecorder.blogspot.com

Issue 14: Jan-Feb 2013 is now available!

Outlaws and legends: the January-February edition (issue 14), our crime special, has arrived!

• Ned Kelly’s secret love? A descendant of the iconic bushranger’s alleged flame puts forward his case
• Discover your family history to trace lawbreaking ancestors with Shauna Hicks’s guide to criminal records
• Delve into 1930s murder mysteries with award-winning crime authors Stephen Orr and Sulari Gentill
• We introduce the early Australian convict indents that have been digitised in colour for the first time
• Was your ancestor a Remittance Man? Helen Leggatt shows you how to find out
• Inside History readers share tips for deciphering tricky handwriting on historical documents
• Plus there's much more, including opportunities to network with other genealogists, giveaways, and book and app reviews!

And much more – in fact, 76 pages of terrific features, practical information on genealogy, chances to network with other family historians, and book and app reviews. On sale now online - click here to buy!

 Issue 14 is available in newsagents nationally - click here to see where. If your local newsagent doesn't stock us though, then they should be able to put a standing order in for you from Gordon & Gotch [G&G] - our title number is 11904 and G&G is on 1300 650 66, if your agent asks.  Once your newsagent sends in your request, we'll make sure that our next Issue 15: Mar-Apr 2013 is sent there for you!

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From Australia’s most iconic bushranger through to First Fleet convicts and 1930s murder mysteries, Issue 14 of Inside History takes a walk through the dark alleyways and shady backstreets of our nation’s past.

Of the many outlaws and legends in Issue 14, Ned Kelly — our cover boy — is one of the most famous, divisive and intriguing. In an exclusive interview, we hear from a descendant of Ned’s alleged secret love, who puts forward his case and reveals his spine-tingling discoveries about the Kelly gang.

Delve into your own family history mysteries with our report of Inside History readers’ best tips for deciphering historical documents: they should help you crack the code. Along with our investigation into the scandals of remittance men, our guide to criminal records by renowned genealogist Shauna Hicks will see you snooping through the archives to uncover your ancestors’ dastardly deeds.

The chilling crime fiction story idea that inspired grisly real life murders in the 1930s West Australian outback is recounted by author Stephen Orr. Meanwhile, author Sulari Gentill discusses the importance of historical research to her crime fiction writing, where fact and fiction are interwoven.

Cracking open the case of the Eureka Stockade, we examine a long-standing myth surrounding the uprising using clues and tipoffs from historical sources. And, of course, what crime edition would be complete without an appearance by our convict forebears? We trace early convicts’ attempts to sneak around the colonial justice system, as revealed through records.

Family history sleuths and armchair detectives alike will appreciate the latest edition of Inside History. This issue will set your mind ticking and pulse racing as you examine some of the most famous, and infamous, cases and characters from Australian history — and perhaps uncover outlaws and legends in your own family history.

Packed as always with in-depth family history research advice, the latest news and events, and features on Australia’s social history and heritage, Inside History is a bi-monthly magazine for people who are passionate about the past. It’s available from newsagents nationally, on iPad via Apple Newsstand, and for Android and desktop computers through Zinio. Or subscribe and have it delivered straight to your door.

For more information please contact:
Cassie Mercer, Inside History magazine
phone: 02 9590 9600 | email: cass[at]insidehistory.com.au

Found: Rare maps from the Macquarie era

In issue 13, Robin McLachlan from Charles Sturt University shares his exciting finding exclusively with Inside History.

Robin’s recent discovery of two Macquarie-era maps shed new light on the inland city of Bathurst in New South Wales. Robin made the discovery while researching at the State Records NSW in Kingswood, Sydney. One of his current research projects is Bathurst’s bicentenary in 2015, and in particular, the site of the first flag staff, erected by Governor Lachlan Macquarie in 1815. It was this search that led Robin to two maps of a lost city in inland New South Wales! The maps or plans, to be more correct, reveal the location of the town of Bathurst, explains Robin. “Now, you’ll say that Bathurst  is not a ‘lost city,’” Robin says. “That’s true, but the two plans - SR1293 and SR1294 – that I’ve found at State Records are for an earlier Bathurst, the one mapped out in 1815 on the orders of Macquarie. The present-day town of Bathurst was not surveyed until almost 20 years later. These plans are for another Bathurst, a lost city that never was.”

Although undated and unsigned, both plans carry later notations provided by the Surveyor General’s staff. SR1293 was thought to be the work of “Sur(veyor) G.W. Evans probably 1815”. SR1293 is pictured below.

Source: Courtesy Robin McLachlan and State Records NSW

On SR1294 a later hand has written “By James Meehan Probably 1821 FB189”, with the postscript “Or 1815 FB107”. FB107 refers to Field Book 107, used by Meehan in May 1815 at Bathurst. An expert comparison of the plans with field books may offer more evidence. A date of 1815, however, seems plausible given the marking on SR1294 of the “intended” location of “Govt House”. By 1817, Government House was built. SR1294 is pictured below, with Robin’s typed annotations.

Source: Courtesy Robin McLachlan and State Records NSW

The painting below shows Maquarie’s camp at Bathurst in 1815. The watercolour is attributed to professional artist John Lewin. The scene is described in Henry Colden Antill's, "Journal of an excursion over the Blue or Western Mountains of New South Wales to visit a tract of new discovered Country, 1815". The entry for 5 May(pp.36-37), describes the scene: "The spot which was chosen for the Governor's large tent was upon a little rising ground about three hundred yards from the men's huts; a small tent was placed on each side with a clear space in front upon which a small flag staff was erected. This was a delightful spot for a town, commanding a view of the surrounding country to a considerable extent...".

Source: Courtesy State Library of NSW

Read more about Robin McLachlan’s discovery and his plans to find the original Bathurst in issue 13 of Inside History.

Hidden: A Rookwood Sculpture Walk 2012

Hidden: A Rookwood Sculpture Walk is an on-site sculpture exhibition in Rookwood, the largest cemetery in the Southern Hemisphere.

Rookwood is a favourite of ours and it's fantastic to see Derek Williams and his talented team showing more of the community why that's so. So, very happy to be one of the sponsors, we went to today's opening expecting great things and we weren't disappointed. We've included a couple of photos below but we don't want to ruin it, when you see it for yourself! We loved the little pot of Rookwood honey and packet of Forget-me-not seeds being handed out, with the words "Fostering new life..." printed on them.

One of the quotes from the today that has stuck with us is, "Talking about death, is really talking about life". That is something that all historians and particularly family historians understand very well.

With a truly thought provoking subject, Hidden invites audiences to explore the Necropolis whilst admiring the 37 evocative works that feature amongst the graves. These works will address themes appropriate to the site, such as grief, loss, memory, death, mourning, spirituality, religion and heritage as well as the culture around memorial, eulogy, burial and ceremony.

The outdoor sculpture walk is again featured amongst the graves in one of the best heritage sites of the cemetery. With views of the city on the horizon and a site rich with ornate and elaborate headstones dating back to the late 19th and early 20th century, visitors are given a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in a unique and captivating setting.

Cost: FREE
Date: Saturday 1 September - Sunday 14 October
Where: Starts at northern end of Hawthorne Avenue - click for map
When: Open sunrise to sunset

Inside History magazine is very happy to support the Hidden: A Rookwood Sculpture Walk in 2012 and be part of Sydney Fringe.

Wondering when to go? Rookwood Cemetery is having an Open Day on September 23. That would be the perfect day to enjoy the sculpture walk and much, much more. See you there!

Useful links:
[1] Free registration for free Rookwood deceased database
[2] Society of Australian Genealogists Rookwood Online Database
[3] State Records NSW Archives In Brief 69 - Cemetery records
[4] Hidden Stories - films about Rookwood

Follow the blue Forget-me-not flower prints on the path 

Applause by Nerine Martini

Gift: Rookwood honey and packet of Forget-me-not seeds 

 Bea by Jane Theau | Click to read more on Bea Miles

From Jane Theau, this year's winner. "Bea Miles was a larger-than-life Sydney Character who stood on street corners reciting Shakespeare from memory. She was notorious for taking long taxi riders and stepping out of the cab without any thought of paying. I have a soft spot for Bea as we perch on distant branches of my family tree, and we attended the same school; her exploits were often recounted to me by my grandmother. Bea had a momentous funeral at Rookwood Cemetery in 1973, complete with jazz band, and was the inspiration for the movie, Lilian's Story".

Top 10 things you didn't know about Sydney

1. Sydney businesswomen in the 1790s
2. Our earliest known film 
3. 6000-year-old discovery in Alexandria
4. Tamarama rollercoaster
5. The mortuary train 
6. Sydney’s (unofficial) queen 
7. Our hidden lake
8. The man who was hanged on Fort Denison 
9. “Professor” Parker, the “champion of Australia”
10. Coffee Culture

1. Sydney businesswomen in the 1790s
One of the earliest female business owners in Sydney was an Irish convict called Jane Maher. She was one of a handful of licensed bakers in Sydney in 1799. Jane’s “Bakehouse on the Rocks” was situated between Lang, Grosvenor and York Streets in the city. Her partner, Edward Turley, also an Irish convict, ran a sly grog shop ‘round the back of the house. Their trades before transportation? He was a highwayman, she was a madam of a brothel. (Both are Cassie Mercer’s GGGGG grandparents).

2. Our earliest short film: Le Patineur Grotesque 
Australia’s earliest surviving film was shot in Prince Alfred Park, Surry Hills, and dates back to 1896. Patineur Grotesque, aka The Burlesque Roller Skater is one-minute-long comedy act by French filmmaker Marius Sestier, and features a cigar-smoking man on rollerskates lifting his jacket to reveal a white hand on the seat of his trousers. A French film historian attributes Patineur Grotesque as the forerunner to the work of Charlie Chaplin and Max Linder. Featured in issue 11 of Inside History, part of the film can also be viewed at http://aso.gov.au/titles/historical/patineur-grotesque/clip1/

3. The dugong, the axes and the canal
During the construction of the Alexandra Canal in 1896, humble Alexandria revealed a surprising archaeological discovery: a large dugong skeleton bearing curious cut marks was uncovered, along with Aboriginal weapons. Recently radiocarbon-dated to about 6,000 years, the skeleton bears evidence of the region’s long history of human habitation – and, presumably, dugong-hunting!

Sources: ‘A Submerged Forest: Discoveries at Shea’s Creek’, Singleton Argus, 8 August 1896

‘AMBS celebrates National Archaeology Week’, Australian Museum Science Bytes blog

4. Tamarama beach had its own rollercoaster
Tamarama Beach was the scene of Australia’s first rollercoaster. The Switchback Railway opened in 1887 and was a diving, plunging, hold-your-breath circus attraction above the sands near the waterline.

Source: Kimberly O’Sullivan - Waverley Council’s historian

5. The mortuary train
As Sydney’s cemeteries became increasingly full in the 19th century, a macabre railway service began operation in 1867. Twice-daily funeral trains picked up coffins and mourners from Mortuary Station on Regent Street en-route to Rookwood Cemetery. The structure, complete with cherub and gargoyle sculptures, connected cemeteries from Sutherland to Newcastle.

Image: State Records NSW, Mortuary Railway Station c.1865

6. Sydney’s (unofficial) queen 
A brass breastplate presented by Governor Macquarie in the early 1800s declared Cora Gooseberry the ‘Queen of Sydney and Botany’. Following the death of her famous husband, Bungaree, Cora became well-known throughout Sydney for the government-issued blanket and clay pipe she sported, frequenting inner-city pubs right up to her death in 1852.

Sources: Significant Aboriginal People in Sydney, City of Sydney 

Cora Gooseberry: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gooseberry-cora-12942

7. Our hidden lake
Under St James railway station is a lake measuring about 1km long, 10m wide and up to 5m deep.  St James Lake runs through an old disused railway tunnel built in the 1920s.  The water is beautifully clear, having been filtered through the surrounding sandstone walls.

8. The man who was hanged on Fort Denison
In 1796 Irish convict Francis Morgan was hanged and gibbeted on Pinchgut (now called Fort Denison) for committing murder in the colony. He’d been originally transported from Ireland after being convicted in Dublin of manslaughter after giving a man “a mortal wound on the head with a stick”. Morgan’s body was still swaying in the breeze on Pinchgut four years later.
Source: A Nimble Fingered Tribe by Barbara Hall; see www.irishwattle.com

9. “Professor” Parker, the “champion of Australia”
George Parker was a self-styled professor who became a celebrity after he was awarded the title “Champion of Australia” in front of 2,000 spectators at the inaugural Grand Assault D’Armes at Dawes Point Battery, Sydney, on 13 November 1858. Known for “feats of swordmanship” the professor went on to travel through New Zealand to perform and show off his skills.

Source: Margot Riley, curator, State Library of NSW

Image: the man thought to be Professor Parker is on the cover of issue 11 of Inside History.

10. Coffee Culture
While 21st-century Sydneysiders are renowned caffeine addicts, our forebears were tea-drinkers. Australia’s first coffee seeds arrived aboard the First Fleet in 1788 yet failed to grow in the climate. Though Parisian-style coffee palaces were popular in the 1870s, only with post-WWII European mass immigration did our modern coffee culture really start to percolate.

Sources: Dictionary of Sydney, www.dictionaryofsydney.org

Garry Wotherspoon, ‘A Rich Brew’, Inside History, Issue 6

Sands Directory - Researching your house's history

I know you're enjoying the new ABC series, Who's Been Sleeping In My House, and want to find out more about your house! I know we are and do!

The essential sources to assist in your investigation of the history of your property are the Sands Directories. These were the city-wide address book of the day in use in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria. In Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia a similar directory was in use, and were published by either the Post Office or H. Wise & Co.

Sands Directories | Source: Royal Australian Historical Society Library, Sydney

Sands Directories: Sydney and New South Wales, Australia, 1858-1932
Each issue of the Directory listed householders, businesses, public institutions and officials of the entire Sydney area. The two major components of the Directory were the 'Alphabetical' and the 'Suburban' sections. The first consisted of a single alphabetical sequence of the names of householders, business houses and major organisations, with the address of the associated premises attached. The suburban section provided similar information arranged variously by suburb, locality or local government area as the Directory developed.

The street-by-street listing of householders in Sands is useful for undertaking research on the history of properties. The type of information included is:

• Householder's name and title,
• Street number and house name,
• Householder's occupation or type of business

They are useful in listing the residents of a building, although they may not necessarily be the owners of the property. They also help confirm the date of the house. The easiest way to do this research is to simply take a later volume of the directory and go back until your house no longer appears. You may come across a reference to the property being "vacant" or "house under construction". If so, it's likely your house will appear the following year. The first year in which a property appears in Sands may be considered an indication of when a piece of land was first developed but be cautious, the first listing may in fact be after a period of omission e.g. if the property was vacant for some time.

However, directories are not without their problems. Information was often a year behind and inclusion in them was not compulsory - the fee for being listed putting many off. Other problems identified by the Royal Australian Historical Society, says the society's librarian Donna Newton, include:

• Street names may change
• Street numbering sometimes absent in the early Directories
• Street numbering may change
• House names could change regularly
• Listing may not indicate a change of use or redevelopment
• Sands is not a legal document - the information was collected by Sands' agents who called door to door - and is open to error
• If a property was vacant, then the Sands' agent could not collect information for the site

Where do I find a Sands Directory?

As with all research, start with your local library. These fine institutions may have hard copies or microfiche of the originals, and will likely have free access to Ancestry.com.au or findmypast.com.au, which both have Sands records from various states as part of their collections.

Use the amazing Trove to find a library near you stocking the directory.

Beautiful hard copies of the Sands Directories are available at the Royal Australian Historical Society, at History House, 133 Macquarie Street, Sydney and of course, you can find the Sands at:

• State Library of New South Wales
• State Records NSW, see Archives in Brief 116 - Researching your house or property

Directories across the states:

• Queensland. Post Office Directories. Published 1868 - 1949
• South Australia. Sands and McDougall's. Published 1884 - 1973
• Tasmania. Post Office Directories. Published 1890 - 1948
• Victoria. Sands and McDougall's. Published 1862 - 1974
• Western Australia: Post Office Directories. Published 1893-1949

The staple sources for most family history research should also not be overlooked in house history research. And while census returns, electorial roles and birth, death and marriage certificates may repeat a lot of information you'll find in the rate books and directories, they may just add that detail which brings your house to life. Good hunting!

Sydney Theatres & public halls

We were enjoying fruit cake and tea with our nan, Rita, over the Queen's Birthday long weekend and got talking about how good Sydney's cinemas were in the "old days".  It was the 1940s, Rita was in her 20s, and you would get a movie and a live orchestra for just 2/-6 in "old money".

The conversation deepened as the rain started outside; we talked about Sydney's picture halls and theatres, and settled on Rita's favourite, the Prince Edward theatre. She told us story after story of movies watched, ice creams eaten, what she wore, but couldn't recall which street it had been on, so we promised to find out when we got home.

The next day I caught up with Christine Yeats from State Records NSW and we got talking about underutilised archives in the collection and what should she pull out but "Archives in Brief 36 - Theatres and public halls". Strange how different streams collide! This collection offers some wonderful insights into the history of the stage and silver screen in Sydney, including registers of licences, inspections carried out by the Board of Fire Commissioners, seating plans and more.

It truly is amazing what your archives hold. The State Records NSW reading rooms are located at:

[1]  Western Sydney Records Centre. 143 O'Connell Street, Kingswood
[2]  Sydney Records Centre. 2 Globe Street, The Rocks, Sydney

How do I use the reading rooms? Find out at State Records NSW online or ask directly on 02 9673 1788. Happy reading and see you at the movies! Oh, and we found out that the Prince Edward was located between Castlereagh and Elizabeth Streets in the CBD!

Follow State Records NSW on twitter at @SRNSW and facebook at State Records NSW, we do and look forward to their updates.

State Theatre Sydney | Source: City of Sydney