Anne’s Family History

09/09/2025

Good advice as to how to retrieve information from the Monument Australia website via the Pandora archive at Trove

Send a message to learn more

09/09/2025

At the end of last month I spoke at the closing ceremony for Australian and New Zealand Family History Month organised by the Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations (AFFHO). My subject was ‘blogging for family history’. This is a post based on the notes for my talk:

August is Family History Month in Australia and New Zealand. Every year, to celebrate it, the Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations (AFFHO) organises lectures and events and other…

22/08/2025

Just over 250 years ago some of my Dana cousins responded to the Lexington Alarm of 19 April 1775. As the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence approaches on 4 July 2026 I plan to explore my relatives involvement in the American Revolutionary War and surrounding events.

The Battle of Lexington, 19 April 1775, Oil on canvas by William Barns Wollen, 1910. National Army Museum, London. Retrieved through Wikimedia Commons. On the night of 18 April 1775 British troops …

23/07/2025

Looking forward to presenting at the AFFHO Family History Month closing ceremony on 31 August

Opening and Closing Ceremonies Awards • Prizes • Guest Speakers Scroll Down to view Presentation Outlines,Speaker Biographies & Prize Details. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER OPENING CEREMONYFriday August 1: 5.00PM AEST, via Zoom Summary of event – Gabriella Tsiprou FHM Coordinator, AFFHO Welcome – D...

19/07/2025

Here’s some more about Catapodi the forger, who I mentioned in my recent posts about John Roberts, alias Colin Reculist, forger and Sarah Best transported for stealing a cotton counterpane value 5 shillings. ‘Colourful character’ doesn’t begin to describe him. Catapodi, Roberts, and Sarah Best are not relatives but I became interested as John Roberts was hanged at the same time as Henry Weston, a gambler, my first cousin five times removed.

Here’s some more about Catapodi the forger, who I mentioned in my recent posts about John Roberts, alias Colin Reculist, forger and Sarah Best transported for stealing a cotton counterpane va…

16/07/2025

Currently researching Caroline Chisholm. She was on the $5 note until 1992. I learned about her in school. I think though that many younger Australians have not heard of her :(

24/06/2025

I would be very grateful if you could take my quick survey: Have you heard of Caroline Chisholm? Did you learn about her in school? I would be really interested to know how widely she is known.

08/05/2025

The cost of WW2

An animated data-driven documentary about war and peace, The Fallen of World War II looks at the human cost of the second World War and sizes up the numbers ...

08/05/2025

80th anniversary of VE day - remembering one of my cousins

Today is the 80th anniversary of the end of World War 2, at least in the European theatre. Victory in Europe Day (VE Day, from midnight on 8–9 May 1945), celebrates the formal acceptance by …

07/05/2025

Gordon Gray Carruthers Hawkins (1887-1915), my second cousin three times removed, was one of 1423 men fighting for the British Empire who died on the Gallipoli peninsula on 25 April 1915; 748 who died that day were Australian and 153 of these were from the 7th Battalion.

Gordon Gray Carruthers Hawkins (1887-1915), my second cousin three times removed, was one of 1423 men fighting for the British Empire who died on the Gallipoli peninsula on 25 April 1915; 748 who d…

30/04/2025

Looking back at the April challenge

The A to Z Blogging Challenge is a friendly annual blogging event. Participants post every day of April except Sundays: 26 times, with a contribution for every letter of the alphabet. This year, 20…

30/04/2025

My final entry in the 2025 April A to Z blogging challenge

My sixth great uncle Zachary Philip Fonnereau (1706 – 1778) was the sixth of the ten children of a wealthy linen merchant named Claude Fonnereau (1677 – 1740) and his wife Elizabeth Fonnereau née B…