Geniaus has asked geneabloggers to accentuate the positives of our blogging year that was 2012 with the help of a geneameme she devised. I jumped at the chance because everything about my 2012 blogging year has been positive. During a year where I struggle to draw many positives on a personal level, Western District Families has been both uplifting and a great escape thanks to the wonderful feedback I have received and friends I have made in 2012 thanks to blogging. I have excluded a couple of the points as there were not applicable to my year but maybe next year.
Accentuate the Positive 2012 Geneameme
1. An elusive ancestor I found was Rosanna Buckland. Well, I had already knew about her but I found the elusive information I have searched high and low for.
2. A precious family photo I found was of Susan Harman and another of my great-grandmother Edith Diwell and her sisters as young girls. Thank you to newly found family members Janine and Judy for sharing these with me.
3. An ancestor’s grave I found was Rosanna Buckland, well at least I now know which cemetery she was buried in, but a missing headstone, like so many other graves at the Old Cavendish Cemetery, stops me from pinpointing her grave.
4. A newly found family member who shared – there are so many. One of the great positives of blogging this year was the number of new family members I found (or who found me) and I intend to post about my new cousins in 2013.
5. A geneasurprise I received was from Daryl Povey with an early Christmas present, Rosanna Buckland’s obituary
6. My 2012 blog post that I was particularly proud of was Everybody Happy, about my third cousin 1 x removed, Rupert Hazell. Two posts that were not genealogy related but I am equally proud of were about Western District racing history. They were Alice Hawthorne – The Western Mare and a post about The Parisian, the 1911 Melbourne Cup winner with a Western District owner.
7. My 2012 blog post that received a large number of hits or comments was Alfred Winslow Harman – Stepping Out of the Shadows. This post was assisted by a much appreciated mention in a Trove News forum of April 24 . According to WordPress, the post which received the most comments was William Hadden – Wealth for Toil – Australia Day.
8. A new piece of software I mastered was – The closest I came to new software was my recently updated Family Tree Maker software.
9. A social media tool I enjoyed using for genealogy was Google +
10. A genealogy conference/seminar/webinar from which I learnt something new was at the 2012 Weston Bate Lecture at Sovereign Hill, Ballarat. The topic was the Lost Soldiers of Fromelles presented by Tim Whitford and Lambis Englezos. I have an interest in the Lost Soldiers which I can hopefully revel in 2013 and I found Lambis and Tim’s presentation incredibly moving. Their fantastic style of presentation also made it interesting, amusing and thought-provoking. If you get the opportunity to hear Tim and Lambis speak, take it.
11. I taught a friend how to – It was a work friend actually. I must bore them sometimes, but I helped one girl find her grandfather’s WW2 service records and request a copy.
12. A genealogy book that taught me something new was Unlock the Past’s Digital Imaging Essentials. To tell the truth I bought it for Mum for Christmas but I did sneak a peak before I wrapped it.
13. A great repository/archive/library I visited was Hamilton History Centre…fantastic. A new one was Portland’s History House
14. A new genealogy/history book I enjoyed was a 2004 publication, but new to my bookshelf, The Potato Village, Mount Eccles near Macarthur by Beverley Ross.
15. A geneadventure I enjoyed was a trip to Hamilton which included research at the Hamilton History Centre and the Old Cavendish Cemetery
16. Another positive I would like to share was Western District Families inclusion in the Inside History Magazine Top 50 genealogy blogs which was a thrill. Also, the interest in Western District Families in 2012 has been really encouraging with 25,000 views this year and 55 followers. Thank you to everyone.
To top it off, last week I received the results for the Certificate of Genealogical Research I have studied with the Society of Australian Genealogists and I passed with a distinction. I’ll be starting the Diploma of Family Historical Studies in 2013 which I’m looking forward to.
I almost forgot, Trove Tuesday has been great fun – thank you Amy for the idea.
What a lovely post to read in these ladt few minutes of 2012.
Thankyou and cingrstulations Merron on a geneasuper year.
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Sorry about typos. I am sitting in the dark watchibg the Proms.
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You’ve had a year of happy discoveries Merron, Congratulations! May 2013 bring you many more.
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Thank you Pauline and thank you for your support in 2012. I hope you and Mr Cassmob have a great 2013.
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Your comment about 2012 being a year with “not many positives on a personal level” struck a cord with me. Fingers crossed for smoother sailing in 2013! But you must be proud of all your genealogical achievements. And thanks for reminding me that I need to get a copy of the book ‘Digital Imaging Essentials’.
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Thank you so much Judy. I hope you have a happy 2013 too. About “Digital Imaging Essentials”, maybe you will think again after reading Jill’s review https://twitter.com/katewatts_/status/288591519160627200/photo/1 , but Mum’s a beginner and I think it will be useful to her.
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Thanks for bringing Jill’s review (on http://geniaus.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/digital-imaging-essentials.html) to my attention. I will borrow the book from a library and save my hard-earned dollars for something else (maybe the 2nd edition of “Google Your Family Tree”).
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