Last weekend the Society of Australian Genealogists, (SAG), ran one of their ‘Lost In’ weekends, I have been to ‘Lost in Goulburn’ weekend, in 2011 and their one at the NSW State Library, in 2012. Since then they have held ‘virtual’ weekends and they have been wonderful. These are usually one hour talks with good breaks between. Enough time to get a drink etc.
The blurb, SAG put out read; ‘Lost in England and Scotland. A weekend of webinars to help you advance your English and Scottish family history.’ As two of the speakers were in the UK, the session times reflected that, with the UK based speakers, presenting at 6.30pm.
Martyn Killion kicked of the weekend with a talk on what you need to know before you undertake English and Scottish research. This short talk was very informative and gave me some ideas as to how to re-do some of my research.
Alison Wolf’s talk on what SAG holds, in relation to England and Scotland, plus the way the library is set out, was interesting. Alison showed us how to use the library catalogue, both for books and images. I will have to make more use of the library as it holds many useful resources.
After a dinner break, the webinars continued.
6.30pm here made it around 11ish in Scotland and Chris Paton was the speaker. His topic was Down and out in Scotland. Exploring the hardships our ancestors faced. Based on his book ‘Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis.’, this talk gave a very useful overview of how our ancestors were treated, if they were in trouble. This talk has given me some wonderful websites to search.
After a quick break, Chris was back with the last talk of the day, The Godly Commonwealth: Discover Scottish Church Records. Based on his book, of the same name. Wow, I didn’t know Scotland had gone through such turbulent times and how they affected record keeping. This was a real eye-opener. I must now sit and re-read the book and it might sink in.
Sunday in Sydney dawned, cool, grey and wet, the perfect day for spending time, listening to webinars.
It was an 11.30am start, with Cora Num, presenting English censuses and how to find, understand and use them. I had previously looked at Scottish census but will now re-visit the English ones. Don’t think I’ll find much as the English Lass, was here in Australia in 1839.
After a quick lunch break, Kerry Farmer, present Scotlands People and Scotlands Places. I have used and found heaps using Scotlands People, I hadn’t used Scotlands Places. These two websites provide access to all manner of records, from the usual births, deaths and marriages, to tax rolls, valuation rolls and more.
Rosemary Kopittke has a book out called, ‘Scotlands People; The place to launch your Scottish research.’ Well worth a read.
After a two hour break, where it was suggested; ‘time for house work… or some research… or your afternoon nap!’ The webinars continued.
Heather Garnsey talked about Pre 1837 English parish register research and how we might locate the records we need. This one will be very helpful, for me, as I try to locate Charlotte.
Our last session of the weekend started at 6.30pm, with our English speaker, Janet Few, presenting Til death do us part: Causes of death 1300 – 1948. Based on her book, this talk looked at the diseases and accidents that are an integral part of our family history. Janet talked about the symptoms, treatment and prognoses, not always good.
The ‘Lost in Weekend’ was fantastic, well organised and well presented. I’m looking forward to many more weekends like this.
Bye for now, Lilian
