#AFFHO Congress 2015 - Part 4

Day Three of AFFHO Congress 2015

Sunday began with Kerry Farmer’s talk, Migration Schemes to Australia.  Migration schemes were schemes where financial incentives, often subsidised passage, were offered to encourage migrants from the British Isles to come to Australia, instead of the US & Canada which were cheaper alternatives.  Different migration schemes were in place at different times during the 19^th & 20^th centuries.  Different schemes had different selection criteria to attract desirable immigrants - those with certain skills, in particular age groups or in required occupations.  The number & type of immigrant could be controlled as needed by varying the assistance or incentive & the selection criteria.  Kerry outlined some of the different migration schemes that have been in place, both before & after federation – who the immigrants were, why they were desirable at the time, what incentives were offered, how the scheme was financed, and where to find further information.

A Different Kind of DNA Talk, presented by Colleen Fitzpatrick, presented some information that I was already familiar with, however Colleen used some analogies that really strengthened my understandings of DNA.  The analogy she made between our DNA & manuscripts that were hand-copied was probably the strongest – the more a manuscript was copied, the more likely there was to be a mistake, just like when DNA is copied from parent to child.  She also introduced me to cladograms, which are visual representations of Y-DNA results that show how individuals are related.

Perry McIntyre’s second presentation was ‘The infernal villain will be sent away’: Convict Case Studies from the National Archives of Ireland, Dublin.  Perry told us about the Chief Secretary’s Office Registered Papers in the National Archives of Ireland, which are the equivalent of Australia’s Colonial Secretary’s Correspondence.  This resource is currently being digitised but most of the documents have been transcribed, meaning they are searchable by keywords & names.  To illustrate how CSORP can help us in our research, Perry presented some case studies of people that came to the attention of the authorities for their criminal activities.

After lunch I attended Pauleen Cass’ talk, Harness the Power of Blogging for Your Research or Your One Place Study.  To illustrate how blogging gives genealogists unique opportunities to bring descendants from a particular group of emigrants together, Pauleen presented two case studies from her own research that focused on migration networks: one from Ireland & one from Germany.

The final talk for the day was Bring Your Ancestors to Life: Using Court of Petty Session Records, presented by Shauna Hicks.  Shauna uses the term ‘petty sessions’ as an umbrella term for a wide range of court administered records.  These records were usually for minor criminal offences but the Court could also sit as Small Debts Courts, Police Courts, Licensing Courts, Children’s Courts & Coroners Courts.  Different colonies / states used named their Courts differently & also had variations in the Court’s responsibilities over time.  Shauna used Queenland’s State Archives to show the wide range of a court’s responsibilities & what types of records can be found.  Most State Archives have an online guide to the court records they hold. 

#AFFHO Congress 2015 - Part 3

Day Two of AFFHO Congress 2015

I missed the morning sessions on Saturday as I wasn’t feeling very well that morning.  I had been planning on going to Pauleen Cass’ talk The Marriage of Local and Family History – A Bridge to the Past, & Paul Milner’s Scotland - Maps and Gazetteers for Research.

So my first presentation for the day was by Jenny Joyce, The UK Gazettes – A Treasure Trove of Information for Family History.  Jenny used a variety of examples from the gazettes to illustrate the range of resources that are in the gazettes & how they can help you research ancestors, events & the social history of an area.  She also demonstrated how to access the gazettes online.

I attended the lunchtime session, Volunteering at The National Archives, by Roger Kershaw.  He presented an interesting list of the social, emotional & work-related benefits of being a volunteer at the archives.  Roger also displayed some data that showed how many hours were spent on a project by volunteers & compared it to how long it would have taken a paid employee to complete the same work & how much it would have cost the archives to pay that employee.  What can be achieved by volunteers (the whole ‘crowdsourcing’ concept) is staggering!  It costs almost nothing & is done in a fraction of the time, allowing more resources to be accessed by anyone online.

The afternoon keynote address was by Richard Reid, If You Ever Go Across the Sea to Ireland: Realities of 19^th Century Ireland.  I have ancestors from several Irish counties.  Richard really put the scope of emigration from north-west Donegal to NSW from 1859 - 1865 into perspective.  My 3^rd great grandfather emigrated from this area in 1861.  The richness of his descriptions of the conditions in Dunfanaghy & the wider area of Cloughaneely inspired me to buy his book, Farewell my Children so that I could learn more about the area specifically & emigration from Ireland around this time in general.

Kerry Farmer’s talk was Learn More from Autosomal & X-Chromosome DNA.  I had my DNA tested about 2 years ago but I haven’t really been able to do anything with it so far.  After listening to Kerry’s talk, I know that if I can get my parents’ DNA tested it will help me determine where segments of my autosomal DNA came from, & then I will be better able to determine how Family Finder matches on Family Tree DNA are related to me by using triangulation and phasing.  The idea of using GEDmatch to create a Lazarus kit for an untested direct ancestor is intriguing.  Again, if I’m able to test my parent/s’ DNA, I’ll be able to use GEDmatch to its fullest potential.  Unfortunately, people aren’t always comfortable ‘giving away’ their DNA for testing.  Kerry’s book, DNA for Genealogists, has just been newly revised & released, so I’m looking forward to using it & her website to look further into my DNA results & see what else I can learn.

The final session I attended for the day was Remembering and Commemorating our Ancestors by Perry McIntyre.  Perry stated that family historians & historians need to work together to construct a balanced written history.  She also showed images of a range of memorials & discussed how & why these memorials were erected to commemorate our ancestors & pivotal events in social history such as the Irish Famine & the diaspora.