Category: News

News, Sources and resources

Join the Wikitree Connect-A-Thon Challenge

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Teams around the world are forming up to take on the challenge of adding more connections to the Wikitree family tree. Sure, it’s a competition with some prizes, must mostly it’s about having fun collaborating on making improvements to the tree.

What is Wikitree?

Wikitree is a free online family tree, where everyone contributes information to a single tree. The tree is formed by creating a profile for each person, then linking them to their parents, siblings, spouses and children. The Connect-A-Thon is all about increasing the number of linkages between people – i.e. connecting people to other people.

Anyone can access the tree and use the information for free. If you register for an account (also free), then you can amend the tree. More information here.

Why use Wikitree?

I have written before about five good reasons to use Wikitree, so I will not repeat them here. However, once you do use it, you will gain an appreciation for how it can help your research and also help you share the results of your research. Plus, it is fun, which gets me back to the subject of this post – the Connect-A-Thon.

About the Connect-A-Thon

The goal is to connect more people by adding missing relatives (non-living). All profiles must include at least one valid source, though more sources are encouraged. Each new profile must be connected to a profile already in the tree. For example, you can add spouses, children or parents to an existing profile. You can then add people to each of those new profiles. Points are assigned for each new connection.

Further information

Instructions for:

If you are working on Australian profiles, you will find useful information on the Australia Project page

If you are a member of the Society of Australian Genealogists, come along to our free online information and planning session about the Connect-A-Thon on Tuesday 9 April. The session will be recorded, if you cannot attend live.

Feature image generated by me, using playgroundai, April 2024

News

Research Methods courses

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The Research Methods courses that I run for the Society of Australian Genealogists will be on again in 2024.

There is a beginners’ course and an intermediate course. The intermediate course is aimed at people who have been researching for about three years or more.

Both courses focus on developing your research skills, so that you can become better at family history. They cover a lot of the content that is in my book, The Good Genealogist, which was published in 2022. The courses go into more detail about the concepts and techniques, and help you practice them by applying them to your family history.

Participants in the intermediate course choose a case study and work on it for the duration of the course. Participants in the beginner course can apply the techniques to any part of their family history. Workshops in both courses allow everyone to share their discoveries and receive feedback about their progress.

These courses will have a bit more DNA content than previous years, as past participants have all been keen to integrate DNA into their research. So if you are thinking of booking and have not yet had your DNA tested, you might like to do so – though it is not compulsory!

Who can attend?

The courses are open to everyone. They are conducted online using Zoom and are not specific to any particular country. The techniques can be applied to any family history research.

Questions?

If you have any questions before booking, please contact me through the Contact form on the About page.

Dates and bookings

Intermediate course, Cohort 1 – January to April

Intermediate course, Cohort 2 – July to October Book here

Beginners course – June to December  Book here Late bookings are accepted. Contact the Society.

More information

For my articles about research methods for family history, go to the Research Methods page.

For articles about resources and tools for family history, go to the Resources page.

Post last updated 11 June 2024

News

Wikitree and SAG ‘7 in 7’ challenge

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The Wikitree and SAG ‘7 in 7’ challenge starts this Friday at 4am Sydney time.

In my previous post, I mentioned that one of the great things about Wikitree is that it encourages researchers to collaborate. One way that is achieved is by participating in challenges. This challenge is a partnership with the Society of Australian Genealogists.

The Society nominated seven people who are important to the Society. Some have material in the Society’s collections and the research conducted during the challenge will help provide context for us to understand and appreciate those materials better. Others were nominated because members of the Society have requested help in researching them.

I am pleased to see that two of the seven are people that I suggested. I am looking forward to seeing what information is discovered, that will help us promote the Society’s collections.

Participants in the challenge will improve the profiles of the seven nominees by adding information and sources, as well as building out their trees by seven degrees in any direction (either blood or marriage connections). Although it is a competition with points to be achieved, the goal is really about working together to improve the profiles of the chosen seven and to have a bit of fun discovering new information. It will also help increase awareness of Wikitree and of the Society.

The seven people are:

  • James Bourn, born about 1774 in County Antrim, Ireland. James was a convict who guided Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson across the Blue Mountains. His family is largely unknown, so it would be great to solve this one.
  • Oliver Heggie, born 17 September 1877 in Angaston, South Australia. Oliver was a film and theatre actor, who appeared in the film Bride of Frankenstein in 1935.
  • Adelaide Ironside, born 17 November 1831 in Sydney, New South Wales. Adelaide was an artist and poet. The Society’s archives holds some letters written to Adelaide.
  • Herbert Rumsey, born about 4 February 1866 in Warwickshire, England. Herbert was a founding member and first president of the Society of Australian Genealogists.
  • Mei Quong Tart, born about 1850 in China. He came to Australia aged nine and became a successful entrepreneur, tea merchant and philanthropist. The Society has a collection of materials about his family in its archives, called the Tart McEvoy Collection.
  • Dora Wicks (nee Tiedemann), born 26 October 1901 in West Maitland, New South Wales. Dora has German and indigenous Australian ancestors.
  • Jess Hill, born 11 April 1915 in Perth, Western Australia. Jess was a genealogist who researched convict women in Australia. Her research, known as “Jess’s Girls” is held in the Society’s archives.
Mei Quong Tart, photo in the archives of the Society of Australian Genealogists, Tart McEvoy Collection

If you would like to join in the fun, you can register here and start researching! Just do not add or alter any of the profiles of the seven until after the challenge commences.

You can also follow along, with updates in the Wikitree forum and on Facebook.

For more of my articles about research methods for family history, go to the Research Methods page.

Methodology, News

My new course: Beginners Research Methods

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Starting to research your family history is exciting, but it can also be a bit daunting. Television shows and advertisements make it sound easy – get your DNA tested then type in a name – but it quickly becomes clear that there is more to it than that. Much more. Especially if you do not have a background in historical research and are not good with computers.

Researching your family history successfully and with enjoyment requires you to learn new skills. You also need to gain new knowledge about ways to find information and how to document it properly.

You can learn to do almost anything by reading books, attending lectures and practicing the techniques. But you risk making mistakes that are not corrected, establishing bad habits and going astray. And then you give up. Or you create a family history that makes no sense and is full of people that are not related to you at all. Yeah, we have seen those family trees all over the internet.

When we start something new, whether it be a new job, learning guitar or researching our family history, it always helps to have someone who can explain things, review your attempts and answer your questions. In my new course for the Society of Australian Genealogists, I will teach you the skills and techniques, but I will also be there for you while you apply the techniques and research your family history for a period of eight months.

After that time, if you need more help, there are a wide range of lectures and other courses offered by the Society. If you are a member of the Society, you can also join the Society’s Facebook group where you will have the support of a wonderful community of genealogists.

The Beginners Research Methods course is suitable for complete beginners and also for those who have already started but need some assistance. The course starts 17 January. Booking and a course outline are available on the Society’s website.