Month: August 2009

by

NEGLECTING OUR PAST

I have been reminded once again of how much Australians neglect our past. I have thought this for a long time and my visit to the Nabiac/Failford Cemetery reconfirmed my thoughts on the matter.

In the case of cemeteries the state of a cemetery quickly betrays this state of mind. Generally the lawns are very poorly maintained and most of the older (and a good number of the younger) graves are very poorly maintained. If there are gardens and/or lawn plantings – these also will be neglected.

When it comes to trying to read a headstone, generally speaking, the older the headstone the more difficult it is to read. Most of the older headstones are in varying degrees of decay (so to speak).

This neglect is not limited to cemeteries. In my travels around the country I have seen many examples of our heritage being allowed to fall into further ruin through neglect.

I really do think that the majority of Australians do not appreciate our heritage and history. Perhaps we are still too young as a country.

Advertisement
by

NABIAC/FAILFORD CEMETERY VISIT

I have been to the Nabiac/Failford Cemetery now, but failed to photograph all of the headstones in the cemetery. I will need to return in the next couple of days to complete the project. I will probably also visit the Bulahdelah Cemetery and photograph the headstones there.

I probably still have about one fifth to one quarter of the cemetery to photograph. I have come across a number of headstones that I recognize from my family history research, which is the main reason for taking the photographs.

by

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

This television show has been around for a while now, but I have only just now watched the very first episode of the Australian version. The episode was about the family history of Australian actor Jack Thompson. It was a very interesting presentation and I think the show will certainly ignite the interest of many people in researching their own family history. I’m a fan of the show now, for sure.

I believe there is also an English version of the show. The Australian version is available on DVD and is shown on SBS television.

by

OFF TO NABIAC CEMETERY

Sometime this week I’ll be heading to the cemetery near Nabiac, just south of Taree on the Pacific Highway. I believe the cemetery is located at Failford to the north of Nabiac.

What is the point of this particular trip to Nabiac? It will be same goal as that for the weekend (just passed) trip to the Coolongolook Cemetery – that is, to photograph the headstones in the cemetery for my family history research.

Following the trip to Nabiac I’ll probably pop up to Tinonee and visit my brother and his family.

by

IMPROVEMENTS TO WEB SITE

Every so often I feel the need to change the appearance of the web site and to try and improve it as much and as best as I can. I have once again arrived at this point – a few changes are coming and underway.

 

I don’t expect that there will be wholesale changes across the entire site, but I would expect that there will be some fairly noticeable changes, particularly to the home page. I’m hoping to get the site a little more interactive and to encourage visitor collaboration and participation in the compilation of my (our) family history.

 

Visit the web site at:

Kevin’s Family – Online History Site

 

The Tracing our History community is already in place – though I am the only member at the moment. This social network community provides a fantastic opportunity for family members to communicate and interact with each other, as well as contributing to our family history research.

 

Visit the site at:

Tracing our History

 

I am also hoping to set up a collaborative family tree site, which will allow visitors (members in a secure, password protected site) to provide updates and corrections to research already compiled. I hope to add this feature as soon as possible, but not until I have completed work on the gedcom file (which is still a little way off) with which I will create the site. I am heavily leaning toward either Geni or Famiva at this stage.

 

The front page of the web site will also contain an RSS feed of this Blog and news from other of my social networking sites, Blogs, Twitter, etc.

 

So please feel free to visit Kevin’s Family – Online History Site.

by

VISIT TO COOLONGOLOOK CEMETERY

Yesterday I visited the Coolongolook Cemetery, which is to the north of Bulahdelah and south of Nabiac and Taree on the Pacific Highway, in New South Wales, Australia. I did this to photograph the headstones in the cemetery for future reference as I continue to research my family history.

 

100_0079web

 ABOVE: Coolongolook Cemetery Sign

 

I would have taken about 200 photographs during my visit and these will be added to my database of cemeteries and headstones that I am developing as part of my family history research. Eventually I hope to be able to cross reference the headstones with what is known of family in my family history research. It would be great to be able to have a photograph of the headstone marking the final resting place of those in my family tree. That is the goal anyhow, as well as being able to glean any additional information that I can to assist me in compiling my family history.

Eventually I also hope to have the photographs of Coolongolook Cemetery and the headstones contained therein on my family – online history site.