Where it all began
My Grandfather died when I was 11.
A few years later, I was helping my grandmother sort through some old papers – she was perched on a ladder reaching up to the top of the wardrobe, and I was perched on the end of her bed, ready to catch her if she lost her balance (she didn't).
Pulling out a tatty old piece of paper from a box, she leaned down and handed it to me, saying, "You might be interested in this". That tatty old piece of paper was the marriage certificate of her grandparents – my great great grandparents – who were married in St Francis Church in Melbourne in 1871.
My Nanna knew me well - I couldn’t resist a mystery. I still can’t resist a mystery, and I’ve been researching my family history ever since.
I took the marriage certificate home with me, wrote a big #1 in the top left-hand corner of the age (in pencil, of course!) and filed it away. It was the first document in a folder that would become my Genealogy Resources folder.
Back then, there were no computers or internet, so it was off to the library to read some books and figure out how to trace my family tree. I enrolled in a few Family History courses, joined the Genealogical Society of Victoria, and I was hooked.
My Family History Journey
When I first became interested in my family history, researching consisted of talking to people (I was lucky that I had three grandparents still living), poring over microfiche and microfilm readers at the local library, reading through the hundreds of entries in the GRD (Genealogical Research Directory) looking for people researching the same families, writing letters, and applying for certificates via snail mail with an application form and a cheque.
Times have certainly changed, with so many records so easily accessible today.
The saying goes, “It’s the journey that’s important”, and I am deeply grateful for the genealogical journey I’ve been on and all the lessons I’ve learned along the way!
My research philosophy
When undertaking any research, my primary goal is to get it right. Family history is a deeply personal exploration, and it is imperative that ancestors and their stories are correctly identified and represented.
The Internet - a blessing and a curse
With the advent of the internet and websites such as Ancestry, Find My Past, and My Heritage, anyone can get online and immediately access records that I could only dream about when I started my research.
But it can be overwhelming if you don't know what to look for or where to find it, and at times very misleading if you are unfamiliar with good research practice. Without proper due diligence, you could easily identify the wrong John Smith as your great-grandfather!
I use all the online sources available and am always cautious and judicious with how I use the information I find there.
Never let a good story get in the way of the truth
Stories are at the centre of all family history research – without them we are left with nothing but names, dates, and places.
And stories are often where we start our research. I never would have thought to delve into the history of circus communities at the turn of the 20th century if my grandfather hadn't told me the story of his cousin Ethel, supposedly a contortionist in the circus.
It was a great story. I hoped it was true, and the scientist in me wanted evidence. It took about 30 years, but I eventually found the evidence, and that story my grandfather told me has so much more meaning and significance for me now that I know it was true. Family history is at its best when stories and evidence combine to create an inspiring, personal, detailed, and authentic narrative.
You can read about some of the fascinating stories I have unearthed here in my Story Archive.
Experience and qualifications
Having learned my craft from first principles and over 40 years of researching my own and others' family history, I have a wealth of experience in nutting out intractable mysteries and breaking down brick walls.
Through researching my own family, I have extensive knowledge of Australian, English, Scottish, Irish, Channel Islands, and New Zealand records. I have also researched in other areas, such as the USA and South Africa.
I am accredited with the Australasian Association of Genealogists and Record Agents (AAGRA), and have a Diploma of Family History from the University of Tasmania and a Bachelor of Applied Science from RMIT University. My scientific background has ingrained in me what I like to call a healthy scepticism, and I am tenacious in searching for evidence to validate stories or assumptions as I progress my research. All my research is meticulously referenced.
I have published articles in Ancestor (the journal of the Genealogical Society of Victoria). I am a member of several Genealogy and Family History societies, including the Genealogical Society of Victoria, the Society of Australian Genealogists, the South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society, the Society of Genealogists (UK), Jersey Heritage, and the Dumfries & Galloway Family History Society.
