Tuesday, 20 July 2021

Trove Tuesday - Obits tell family stories

Some obituaries published in local newspapers are veritable gold mines of genealogical information. The following articles snipped from Trove tell of the lives and families of former Speers Point residents.

1922 'SPEERS' POINT.', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 3 January, p. 5. , viewed 20 Jul 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140995143

"SPEERS' POINT" Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954) 15 May 1926: 3. Web. 20 Jul 2021 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article138164614>.

1920 'SPEERS' POINT.', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 27 May, p. 7. , viewed 20 Jul 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article138821307

1921 'SPEERS' POINT.', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 13 July, p. 8. , viewed 20 Jul 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article141071880

1922 'SPEERS' POINT.', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 3 January, p. 5. , viewed 20 Jul 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140995143

Sunday, 18 July 2021

Rockin' and Rollin' with Rick

Our meeting at Marmong Point yesterday was filled to Covid19 capacity for our guest speaker Rick Pointon. We were concerned that we may go over our limit of thirty but we kept to that number. Thankfully we were able to broadcast the talk to other members via zoom.

Rick the Storyteller

Rick, who had a long career in the music world in Newcastle and beyond, regaled us with stories from his new book Hey Rock 'n' Roll. There were lots of nods and laughs plus spontaneous applause when Rick burst into song with I've been everywhere (Around Newcastle) Click on previous link to listen to the original recording on Youtube.

While Rick gave many in attendance a trip down memory lane there were extra special memories for members Elspeth, Helen and Jenny whose family members featured in Rick's tales. Rick's beautifully produced book is brim full of stories and peppered with stunning photos of memorabilia from his collection, it can be purchased from many local bookshops and newsagents.


The strong message we family historians gained from this event is that we all have stories to tell, we need to take a leaf out of Rick's book and write and preserve our stories for future generations. 



Tuesday, 13 July 2021

Trove Tuesday - Lake Macquarie

 Traipsing through Trove last night I came across this poem, published in 1948, written by 11 year-old Janice Hughes of Speers Point.

1948 'Lake Macquarie', Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954), 29 June, p. 4. , viewed 12 Jul 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article134316232

Gulls noon-day dinner in Carey Bay - April 2020


Monday, 12 July 2021

General Meeting - 19th July 2021


We look forward to seeing members and welcoming our guest speaker, Rick Pointon, at our monthly meeting next Saturday 19th July. All attendees will be required to wear masks.


 

Tuesday, 29 June 2021

Trove Tuesday - The Catholic Community at Toronto

 The Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932) provides quite a number of references to people who supported the Catholic Community in Toronto. 

1915 'NEW CHURCH AT TORONTO.', Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), 11 November, p. 21. , viewed 29 Jun 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article115596896


1915 'NEW CHURCH AT TORONTO.', Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), 18 November, p. 12. , viewed 29 Jun 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article115595452

The following clip shows the first few paragraphs of a very long post. The remainder can be read here:http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article115596929

1915 'A HANDFUL OF CATHOLICS.', Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), 11 November, p. 16. , viewed 29 Jun 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article115596929


1917 'Toronto.', Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), 16 August, p. 6. , viewed 29 Jun 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116732974




Monday, 21 June 2021

Numbers increasing at the Hall

The attendance at our monthly meeting on Saturday was the largest we have had this year. We saw some members we hadn't seen in person since pre-Covid times, had a couple of visitors call in for research advice and personally welcomed three new members. The atmosphere was busy, warm and friendly.

Our President facilitated our morning Discussion Group on Organising and Saving our Family History Stuff , tasks that we don't find as exciting as chasing down our ancestors.


In the times between our our organised sessions members could be found researching on our computers, collaborating over their research problems and enjoying the opportunity to have a convivial chat with fellow genies.

Local author, Greg Ray, entertained and educated us in his afternoon presentation with Stories of The Great War related to people from the Hunter Region. You can read more of Greg's stories on his blog, https://www.phototimetunnel.com/blog

Greg and his co-author Sylvia had brought along some of their books for sale, three of which we purchased for our library. When these are processed they will be available for loan by members. In the interim you may wish to borrow these titles which we already hold in our library. 

Newcastle, the missing years : photographs of Newcastle in the 1930s and 1940s
Destination Newcastle : featuring photographs from the Ken Magor collection

We were pleased that the eight members who joined us via zoom were able to see and clearly hear Greg's talk. We hope that we have solved the sound issues previously experienced with our hybrid, in person/zoom, meetings.

Tuesday, 15 June 2021

Trove Tuesday - Sergeant (Sgt) Thomas Frederick (Tommy) Pickering

Found via Trove on the Australian Memorial website was this image of 

Sergeant (Sgt) Thomas Frederick (Tommy) Pickering, 9 Squadron, RAAF, of Coogee, NSW. Sgt Pickering was killed in a training accident at Lake Macquarie NSW on 5 March 1942.Further digging on Trove found no reports of the incident other than a death notice.

1942 'Family Notices', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 10 March, p. 10. , viewed 15 Jun 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17791720

 Tommy is remembered on this website, https://aviationmuseumwa.org.au/afcraaf-roll/pickering-thomas-frederick-411376/.