Genealogical Society of Queensland - GSQ

30/01/2026

First phone call made on the 28 January 1878 was from Brisbane to Ipswich. Story thanks to The Dave & Malou Channel

30/01/2026

Reminder about the Scottish Indexes Conference, tomorrow, Saturday 31st January, thanks to Scottish GENES Blog.

⏰Synchronise Watches!⏰

We want as many Scottish family history enthusiasts as possible to attend the Scottish Indexes Conference, no matter which timezone you are in.

To achieve a timezone-friendly event we run for 16 hours! Don’t worry you don’t have to be online all day.

Each presentation is shown twice, once between 7 am and 3 pm UK time, then again between 3 pm and 11 pm. You can come and go throughout the day.

The schedule is now available on our website for 7 timezones:

➢UK Time (GMT)
➢New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT)
➢Australia Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT)
➢Eastern Standard Time (EST)
➢Central Standard Time (CST)
➢Mountain Standard Time (MST)
➢Pacific Standard Time (PST)

📖Coming up at the January 2026 Conference:

'How did my Scottish ancestors get married?' by Tahitia McCabe, Head of the Strathclyde Institute for Genealogical Studies

'Taking The High Road' by Andrew Armstrong, genealogist at Relatively Scottish

'The Edinburgh Public Dispensary, Patients and Doctors' by Daisy Cunynghame, Heritage Manager & Librarian at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE)

'Dive Deeper Into Scottish Church Records' by Alison Spring, genealogist at Scottish Ancestral Research

'Crofter ancestors and the Crofters Commission records' by Jane Harris, retired genealogist

'Using DNA for Family History Research - A Beginner's Guide' by Chris Paton, genealogist and author

'Locating Scottish Burial Records' by Emma Maxwell

Scottish Genealogy Q&A hosted by Graham and Emma Maxwell, genealogist and co-founder of Scottish Indexes

29/01/2026

Ten 100-year-old predictions for 2026 that are scarily accurate. Blog written by Ellie Ayton for Findmypast What do you think?

In 1926, a journalist predicted what the future would look like in 100 years. For some things he was far off the mark, but for others, he was spookily correct.

29/01/2026

Robert Burns of Scotland, poet and lyricist. From North Ayrshire Heritage and Cultural Services For more about burns and his music; https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Burns
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Burns
And to listen to one of his songs, My Heart is like a red, red, rose. https://tinyurl.com/muyd3mkh

29/01/2026

As Judy Webster - Genealogy points out, always go back to the original document. Thanks Judy. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KwcgEXYq5/

29/01/2026

I just had to pass this one on to you. For all those who have ancestors who worked for the railways in the early days. The animation is so realistic! Thanks to The Dave & Malou Channel.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/171MGc4Htw/

29/01/2026

A few weeks ago, we had a post about the St Helena Community in Moreton Bay, off Brisbane. For a small fee, one could get their ancestor's penal record. Yesterday, my 26 page report turned up. It was not only the court case and a list of the naughty things he had done to get there, and while there, but the kind Belinda Daly also put together a family tree and info. What a wonderful resource. Thankyou St Helena Community.

28/01/2026

Scotland is the home of castles. Images thanks to Scottish Heritage

Scotland is home to more than 2,000 castles, many of which still stand today, showcasing the country’s rich history, clan traditions, and royal heritage. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

28/01/2026

Ireland's Tithe War: Income for Protestant Clergy with Steep Price, written by Joe Gannon in 2016. From the blog collection of TheWildGeese.irish

There are many noble traits in the Irish character, mixed with failings which have always raised obstacles to their own well-being; but an innate love of just…

28/01/2026

January 1846 saw the first reported deaths of the Great Hunger. From the Great Irish Famine Commemoration Memorial

January 1846 saw the first reported deaths of An Gorta Mór (the Great Hunger) (1845-1852). The Potato Blight had almost totally destroyed the summer potato crop of 1845.

The potato was the staple food of Ireland’s peasant poor; accounting for 80 percent of the population. The blight resulted in widespread deaths from starvation, over one million people died, while up to two million more forced to flee hunger and eviction through emigration, mostly to the United States, Canada and then Australia.

Image: ‘Victims of the Irish potato famine arriving in Liverpool England’ – Illustrated London News July 6 1850

27/01/2026

Lighting the streets of Fethard in the 1880's. Thanks to Tipperary Studies

We forget how dark towns were at night in the past.
In Fethard for example in the 1880s there were around 25 street oil lamps.
In October 1884 they were lit on 19 nights and used just over 40 gallons of oil and several feet of wick.
A man was employed to light and extinguish these lamps each day.
For more see Michael O’Donnell’s - Lighting the streets of Fethard 1870-1914 in Tipperary Historical Journal (1998).
https://tipperarystudies.ie/tipperary-historical-journal-1998/