I have a personal philosophy in relation to record keeping - I've been following it at work for years and apparently at home too. It has come in very handy, and regardless of how much people laugh at my philosophy, I'm sticking to it. It is:
Never throw anything away ever!
I am Maureen Martin from Sydney, NSW, Australia. A very proud 1st generation Australian with roots that go back to Scotland, England and Ireland.
It was my mother who first started tracing her, and my Dad's, family.
I remember her with her cassette player and her cassette tapes listening to what her Uncle Andy and Aunty Kitty sent back (after she taught them how to use a cassette player and make recordings).
I still have those cassette tapes and am planning on having them converted to CD (and maybe MP3 too) in the near future.
I remember my 1st trip to Salt Lake City to the Family History Library in 1992 when Mum asked me to go to look up some records for her and handed me a print out of the tree she had created - and when I spent a few wasted hours not knowing what I was doing and not knowing who to ask. I didn't find anything, but it was also likely back then, that I was a little resentful about doing my mother's errands for her.
After Mum passed away in 1996 her research languished for a while and then my sister tried to pick it up. She bought a cheap family tree programme on CD from the local bookstore to load onto her computer and tried to make it work. Back then my sister was even more of a Luddite than I was, so she asked me to help her understand the programme.
And that's when I was hooked.
.JPG) |
| At Buckingham Palace 2010 |
And haven't things changed in the nearly 20 years since? I'm no longer a Luddite - look at me now, a facebook page, a blog and 2 twitter accounts (one for work one for personal).
I am Family History obsessed - my trip to Salt Lake City in 2012 (when I joined up with the Ancestor Seekers crew for 5 days) was much more fruitful - as have been my family visits to the UK and Canada. I have found many, new "ancestors" and met many new cousins.
I love the research and detective work around Family History - one of the traits that also got me the job I have held for the last 15 years. I want to know things. They may not have anything to do with what I do now, but the information will come in handy one day to help make a connection or tie up a loose end. I can spend hours (days, months) tracking down a record I know exists.
The majority of my family records are in Scotland and England - we do branch out a little to the US and Canada - and of course Australia where I am from. I also have Irish roots on both sides of my family, and that is the part I have yet to explore.
What else is ther about me? I am a published photographer (1 pic way way back in 1988) and also a published scrapbooker (2 different publications - but again, some time ago now). I am also a mad, crazy sports nut - with season tickets to both the New South Wales State baseball and cricket teams' games. I go to Rugby League games in the winter and will watch just about any sport going on the TV.
I am Family History obsessed - my trip to Salt Lake City in 2012 (when I joined up with the Ancestor Seekers crew for 5 days) was much more fruitful - as have been my family visits to the UK and Canada. I have found many, new "ancestors" and met many new cousins.
I love the research and detective work around Family History - one of the traits that also got me the job I have held for the last 15 years. I want to know things. They may not have anything to do with what I do now, but the information will come in handy one day to help make a connection or tie up a loose end. I can spend hours (days, months) tracking down a record I know exists.
The majority of my family records are in Scotland and England - we do branch out a little to the US and Canada - and of course Australia where I am from. I also have Irish roots on both sides of my family, and that is the part I have yet to explore.
What else is ther about me? I am a published photographer (1 pic way way back in 1988) and also a published scrapbooker (2 different publications - but again, some time ago now). I am also a mad, crazy sports nut - with season tickets to both the New South Wales State baseball and cricket teams' games. I go to Rugby League games in the winter and will watch just about any sport going on the TV.
No comments:
Post a Comment