English / Irish Interest Group
Aims and Objectives
The Group’s aim is to assist members with their research
into their English or Irish ancestry through discussion, guest speakers and
acquisition of resources.
The Group’s final meeting for 2007 is on 9 December
2007
from 10am – 2.30pm
English/Irish Group activities in 2007
The English/Irish Group has had an interesting group
of speakers in 2007.
Associate Professor Stephen J. Craig-Smith gave an interesting
talk in April on researching his Smith ancestry by investigating family folk
lore and using resources such as trade directories and land records. Click
the following link for a report on the talk: Notes
from English/Irish Group meeting 1st April 2007.
At our June meeting, Group Convenor Pauline
Williams spoke about researching occupations with special reference to coalmining
ancestors. The first part of the talk which focussed on researching occupations
in general appeared in the September edition of Generation. The follow-up
article focussing on coalmining ancestors will appear in the December edition
of Generation.
At our August meeting, member Joan McGrath talked
about her Irish research.
The guest speaker at our October meeting was Rosalind Craig-Smith.
Rosalind talked about her 26-year search to find her missing great-grandmother.
The reason why her great grandmother was unknown to the family was
that she was in an asylum. Rosalind talked about the difficulties of
finding ancestors in institutions and the stories behind their reasons for
incarceration are often quite sad. Local knowledge, talking to relatives
and persistence were the hallmarks of Rosalind’s search. She now treasures the photo of
her great-grandmother. Rosalind also outlined her success in researching
her Irish ancestors in County Mayo and is grateful that her ancestor thought
to record his place of birth in that county rather than the generic Ireland.
Planning for 2008 will shortly be underway and suggestions for guest
speakers are always welcome. Please contact convenor Pauline Williams
on pstirland@hotmail.com.
Meetings
All financial members of the Genealogical Society of Queensland
Inc. are invited to attend our meetings which are held on the first
Sunday of every second (even numbered) month. A gold coin donation is
appreciated and this is used to acquire resources for the Library.
The Library opens at 10.00 am, with a short meeting at 12 noon
and a guest speaker at 1pm. The library closes at 2.30 pm.
The meetings are informal as our members prefer to have general
discussions in a friendly and open format. This gives us the opportunity
to share knowledge and glean information from helpful hints provided by other
members.
Suggestions regarding workshops and guest speakers are always
welcome!
Members are advised to bring their own lunch as no shops are
open. Facilities to make tea or coffee are provided at a minimal fee.
New Members are always welcome!
Suggestions, information, and shared knowledge can make your
research a little easier!
Come and join the Group!
