The Western District Families family is in the process of moving house and it’s been a slow process.

Things are going to get a lot busier over the next month so I’m not sure if I’ll get an August Passing of the Pioneers post out.  It also means I, unfortunately, won’t take part in the National Family History Month Blogging Challenge during August.  There’s a new topic to write about each week during August and two I’m really keen on.  The first is due from today, and although I’ve started a draft, I won’t make it.  The next topic I’m interested is Week 3 so I’ll see how I go because it will be a reboot of an earlier Western District Families post so some of the work is already done.  Alex Daw will post a list of the weekly contributions at her Family Tree Frog blog, so why not check out what some of Australia’s leading geneabloggers are writing about.  Week one is on the link here.

Over on the Western District Families Facebook page, we have just finished a virtual historic tour of the Henty Highway.  There was so much history along the way, it took three months to “travel” 160 kilometres from Cherrypool (below) to Portland’s History House with posts most days.  It certainly took longer than I expected but now it’s ended, I can spend more time on our move.

The tours are good fun and a great way to learn more about Western District towns and families, and I always find new stories ideas, but they are incredibly time consuming.   The Mount Everest of the Western District highways is the Princes Highway taking in towns such as Colac, Warrnambool and Port Fairy.  In the most recent tour, it took two weeks just to “travel” from North Portland to South Portland, so I think the Princes Highway might be one for next year…in fact, it could last a year!  During August for National Family History Month, I’m inviting everyone to share a photo of their Western District family to the page.

The Hamilton’s WW1 chapter of Western District Families has been quiet since April.  I was getting out about five bios a week in the lead up to Anzac Day taking the total number to around 130 biographies.  I have only a small group of men still to research from the various Hamilton outdoor WW1 memorials.  After we have moved and settled, I’ll get back into it. I’ve got a few ideas on improving the Hamilton’s WW1 page and I’ll also move on to some of the Honour Rolls from around the town.

With all the new story ideas I have from the Henty Highway tour, the many drafts waiting for completion, including three cemetery posts, and more Hamilton enlistments to write about, I think I need to speed up this moving process.  Time to swap the bullocks for some engine power.

 

Each year when writing a post to mark the “birth” of Western District Families, I describe the occasion differently whether it be blogiversary, anniversary or birthday.  After finding the traditional gift for a sixth anniversary is candy, I settled on an anniversary this year.  So, Happy 6th Anniversary Western District Families.

The idea of candy took my mind straight to my cousin “Sweet” Daisy Diwell, an employee at MacRobertson’s Chocolates in Fitzroy and to a Trove Tuesday subject the “Sweet-toothed Fox” a nocturnal visitor to the MacRobertson factory who feasted on the delights within.  Next, I thought of chocolate boxes, particularly the beautiful MacRobertson’s Chocolate boxes.

MacRobertson chocolate boxes are not all that comes to mind. I often think of Forrest Gump and his chocolate box while I’m researching, particularly the men of Hamilton’s WW1.  Starting with the name of a man I know nothing about, I then delve into his life never knowing what I might find.  So many times I’ve been surprised at what’s under the lid when I lift it.  Researching family history generally is much the same.  If you’re lucky, when you do lift the lid you’ll find something like this…

When I began reflecting on Western District Families’ year, I felt I hadn’t achieved a lot. Looking at the “Home” page and the low numbers of posts, it would seem not much has happened. Then I thought about why that was the case and only then realised how much I had achieved.  As well as being very busy on the home front, Hamilton’s WW1 has been time-consuming with most stories taking several hours of research and writing.  At the same time last year, I had seventy-five biographies and it’s taken a year to add another forty-three but it’s been worth every moment.

As well as the lists of Hamilton enlistments and posts about Hamilton’s WW1 memorials, Hamilton’s WW1 now has 118 biographies of enlisted men. Each includes a family history, photos and links to relevant online records. Those 118 men make up most of the names of the Hamilton War Memorial and Hamilton’s Anzac Avenue combined, so by this Anzac Day, I hope to have available a full biography of each man.  And not forgetting the nurses, I am also close to finishing the first biography of a WW1 Nurse who trained at Hamilton.

Passing of the Pioneers and the associated Pioneer Obituary Index achieved a milestone in the past year, with 700 pioneer obituaries now indexed.  As I’ve been looking for an opportunity to highlight some of the female pioneers, Women’s History Month was perfect to look back at ten of the women who were Passing of the Pioneers subjects over the past five years in  “Wonderful Women of the Western District” Part 1 and Part 2

The Facebook pages, Western District Families and Hamilton’s WW1 continue to grow.  I’ve been delighted to see the interest in the WDF page as it nears 3300 “likes” up from 2000 at this time last year.  During the year, I’ve led the page followers on three virtual historic tours of Western District highways which have been great fun. The wonderful memories shared by those following brought another dimension to the posts. Last month the page’s theme was Women’s History Month and this month, we are remembering the enlisted men and women of the Western District. Then it will be time for another virtual historic tour, this time along the Henty Highway.

A personal achievement was successfully completing a Diploma of Family Historical Studies with the Society of Australian Genealogists, a goal for some time. The task was to complete a 20,000-word family history using a range of sources.  Of course, I chose the Harman family because I knew the most about them.  It was a valuable exercise for my family history research. When I started Western District Families, I soon learnt writing a narrative about family members leads to new discoveries but writing a family history such as I did took it to another level. Now I have a broader knowledge of the family and more understanding of their motivations and emotions but there is still more to learn. It’s something I’d like to try with some of my other families…if I ever get the time.

So that’s the year all wrapped up in a bow.  When you lift the lid on your next box of chocolates I hope you are pleasantly surprised at what you find inside.

 

Five years ago today I published my first Western District Families post:

 

It was interesting to revisit 2011 and reflect on where Western District Families (WDF)  is today.  The post also shows how far Trove has come in that time with The Argus and The Camperdown Chronicle my only online newspaper sources for Western District material.  Soon after the Portland Guardian and Horsham Times arrived. Thankfully the number of Victorian newspapers available at Trove has grown, particularly those of Western District origins.  Trove’s growth as helped Western District Families continue and thrive.

Since WDF’s last birthday, I’ve only published twenty-five posts but have been far from idle. In June last year, I launched the Pioneer Obituary Index and it’s been an amazing success with the names of over 600 Western District pioneers now listed. Passing of the Pioneers is having a break but will return in the second half of the year on a monthly basis, so apologies to those who look forward to those posts.

Sharing stories of disaster in Western District’s past was something I wrote of in my first post.  Last month came the story of the Big Flood of 1946. It is now the most viewed post at WDF, knocking the long-time leader, Portland Old Cemetery Part 1 from top spot.  Another post, written in 2013 has hit its straps in the past year. In The News – January 15 – 19, 1944 tells the story of another Western District disaster, the 1944 bushfires. It is now in WDF’s top five most popular posts.

Introducing WDF to Facebook in October 2012 has been a big step forward in taking the stories of pioneering families and local history to a broader audience. It was thrilling when the Western District Families Facebook page passed 2000 followers recently. Ignoring Facebook’s constant invitations to promote my page in exchange for cash, it came about because there is a huge interest in where we came from and what our towns were like in the past.

Another big event for WDF was the launch of Hamilton’s WW1 in April last year. I have since added Hamilton WW1 War Memorials, the stories of seventy-five Hamilton soldiers and last week, Hamilton’s WW1 Nurses received their own page.  Another five soldier profiles are almost ready to go but unfortunately my goal of reaching one hundred stories by Anzac Day will not come to fruition. Currently, I’m concentrating on stories of the men from the Hamilton War Memorial and Anzac Avenue, those who never returned.

Last year I took Hamilton’s WW1 to Facebook and although the subject attracts a niche audience, with some help from the WDF followers and members of the I’ve Lived in Hamilton group, Hamilton’s WW1 has reached 234 followers. It’s so good the stories of Hamilton’s soldiers are getting out there. Many of the men had long been forgotten.

Exciting news came in September last year when the State Library of Victoria contacted me to include Western District Families in the National Library of Australia’s Pandora Archive.  How could I say no to that?  It means WDF posts now show in search results at Trove and if Western District Families ever ceases to exist, it will always be available at Pandora.

Thank you to everyone who follows Western District Families.  I’m proud my blog has gone beyond a read for relatives and family historians and is reaching people who may never have visited a history blog before.  A recent email from a Western Victorian bookshop asking if WDF  is a book following a customer inquiry has shown me how far WDF has come in five years.

Happy Birthday Western District Families. 

With the help of my two-year-old self and Santa, may I wish you a Merry Christmas.  Thank you for reading, following, liking and commenting throughout the year.  Your lovely feedback is always encouragement to keep Western District Families rolling along.

Over the past two weeks on the Western District Families Facebook page, I’ve posted my Western District Christmas series.  It was interesting to read the posts again, ranging from the 1850s to the 1950s and chart the changes in a Victorian Christmas over 100 years.  Also interesting were the societal changes and the highs and lows of each decade and how Christmas changed as a result.  When thinking about how your ancestors may have celebrated Christmas, considering such factors will give you a more realistic idea of what their Christmases were like.

Also noticeable was the rise of commercialism and the changes in the media’s focus on women and their portrayal of women. The arrival of the Australian Women’s Weekly is an example, with it projecting an image of the ideal homemaker.  At Christmas the pressure mounted for women to meet that idealised expectation as they stressed over recreating the Weekly’s suggested Christmas dinner menus.

If you would like to read a Western District Christmas 1850-1950, it is in two parts,  A Pioneer Christmas 1850s-1890s here and a Western Victorian Christmas here.  Each link opens with the most recent post first.  For Pioneer Christmas that is the 1890s and for WD Christmas, you will find two general Christmas posts followed by 1950s-1900.  If you scroll to the bottom of each page you will find the earliest posts to start reading.  They are best read from the 1850s to the 1950s to fully appreciate the evolving celebration of Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Well, that snuck up on me.  It’s Western District Families’ 4th Blogiversary.

Western District Families’ fourth year was the quietest to date and I don’t like to promise much more in the blog’s fifth year, but I’ll try.  I’m off to a good start with a new tab at the top of the page, “Hamilton’s WW1” and two more planned, another WW1 related and an index of the Passing of the Pioneer obituaries.  The monthly Passing of the Pioneer posts are having a short break while I get the two WW1 projects up and running, but the prospect of having the pioneers indexed is exciting.  It will certainly make my research easier and I hope it will help you too when searching for relatives among the obituaries.

There’s not too much to report on the top five posts for the year, something I’ve done in past years, except the Old Portland Cemetery – Part 1, continued to keep up its popularity. It was good to see the July Passing of the Pioneers post making it into the top five for the year and the post on the Western District enlistments of the 8th Light Horse Regiment B Squadron from January.

Almost all of my posts over the past four years would not be possible without the resource we all love, Trove.  Now there is an opportunity to give something back to Trove with the Inside History/NLA  Pozible campaign to raise funds for the digitisation of the Hamilton Spectator (1860-1913).  My pledge was a win-win  Not only will it boost the Spec’s chances of digitisation which, as a Western District researcher, is huge, but I also get to support Trove, a free resource that maybe we sometimes take for granted. For for me, a visit to an overseas newspaper archive site always reminds me how lucky we are to have Trove.  The Pozible campaign runs until 25 April and with pledges only just reaching the halfway mark, now’s a perfect time to give a bit back to Trove.  Plus it would my make my blogiversary month so much better knowing that at least ten years of the Hamilton Spectator at Trove was just around the corner.  This is the link if you would like to pledge – www.pozible.com/project/191002

You may remember the National Library of Australia and Inside History Magazine running a poll last year to select a newspaper for digitization for the Trove website.  After vigorous voting, thanks greatly to the people of Hamilton past and present, the Hamilton Spectator (1860-1913) came out the winner.  Now it’s fundraising time.

With a target of $10,000, Inside History Magazine are conducting a Pozible campaign to raise funds for the digitisation of the ‘Spec’.  A pledge of just $25 will enable about a week of the ‘Spec’ to be digitised.  One hundred dollars digitises around a month of ‘Specs’.

If you are a self-confessed “Trovite”, this is a great chance to give a bit back to the wonderful free resource that is Trove.  For those of you with an interest in Western District history, the digitisation of the Hamilton Spectator is an important addition to Trove, complimenting the likes of the already digitised Portland Guardian and Horsham Times. The Spectator was (and still is) an important and respected voice of the Western District.

To pledge – Go to  Pozible – Inside History Supports Trove.  There are just twenty-four days left to make your pledge.

That time of year has rolled around again…blogiversary time.  Yes, Western District Families is three today and it’s party hat time.

At first glance, my blogging year seemed uneventful.  With much time taken up with study and family, and little left to write the type of posts I enjoy.  But when I look back over the 100 or so posts of the past year, when at times I’ve felt as though I was in a tug of war with demands from everywhere, I didn’t too badly.

I managed to write posts that are now among my favourites of the past three years including Sweet Daisy, stories of The Vagabond, the Muddy Creek Reeds, Claremont, Portland and  Skipton, the Local Horse, each requiring plenty of research to sink my teeth into.  I also enjoyed writing the post that evolved while cooking, Stretching My Genealogy Muscles.

There has also been the ever dependable Trove Tuesday posts. This time last year I had written 33 Trove Tuesday posts and in the past year another 49 have evolved. I particularly enjoyed learning about Aaron Weller, who in 1897 was Victoria’s oldest man.  I know some you are missing the Trove Tuesday posts, but they’ll be back.  Another regular, Passing of the Pioneers, is still going strong and I will keep up the posts over the coming months.  I haven’t counted for a while, but the number of pioneer obituaries is nearing 500.

There were some other highlights such as The Hamilton Spectator (1914-1918) arriving online at Trove.  Also the birth of the Western District Families Facebook page  now with 162 members.  And of course,  the re-incarnation of the “I’ve Lived in Hamilton, Victoria” Facebook group , with 2590 members. It has been huge, bringing me new friends, new research ideas and an increased knowledge of Hamilton and district.

But the biggest highlight once again was Western District Families inclusion in Inside History magazine’s 50 top genealogy blogs.  To have Western District Families recognised with 49 fantastic blogs from Australia and overseas definitely takes the cake.

 

So what’s been popular this year?  The Top 5 includes two new posts, another only 13 months old and two old favourites.

•  Portland Cemetery Part 1 – Almost two years old but still going strong…don’t forget Portland Cemetery Part 2, languishing at the bottom of the pops.

• A Pleasant Distraction – Introducing the Hamilton Facebook group and an insight into the gathering of Hamilton social history that has resulted.

• The General Hewitt – Portland Bay 1856 – First posted in March 2013, this post tells the story of the ship’s arrival in Portland Bay and the events in days after, along with some of the passengers who made the Western District their home.

• Muntham Station – A You Tube clip, produced for the sale of the former Henty property, spurred me on to share a little of the history of the former Henty property.

• The Fastest Ship in the World – The story of the voyage of  Marco Polo in 1852.  Three years in the Top 5.

It is also great  to see the Links page getting many views and lots of clicks.  I hope you found a useful Western District link.

Western District Families has really moved forward in the past 12 months.  Views to the blog have almost doubled and at the last blogiversary had 64 followers, today there are 144. I would love to get back to the usual two posts a week, but while I’m working on my Diploma thesis I will be limiting my output here, but I’m looking forward to the second half of the year when I can share some more stories of our Western District Families.

Thank you to everyone.