Friday 9 October 2015

52 Ancestors #41 - Joseph Emanuel Antoney - a 1st cousin twice removed

This post is for Week 41 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge - 2015 - by Amy Johnson Crow from No Story Too SmallPrompt for Week - colourful.

Colourful, what does that mean? Does it mean they wore colourful clothes? Or, does it mean they were 'colourful characters'? I think I'll sort through my family file for the characters.  After sorting through and considering this one and that one I have decided on a 1st cousin twice removed - Joseph Emanuel Antoney AKA Manny the Murderer.

Manny was born in Walkerston near Mackay, Queensland on the 2nd April 1900 to Manuel Silva (Emanuel) Antoney and his wife Annie Marie McLaughlin, he was the only child of that marriage. He married Kathleen Judith (Kitty) Coren in Sydney in 1940 and by the time of the murder he was divorced though I have been unable to find the divorce papers at this time.

Thursday 8 October 2015

52 Ancestors Week #40 - birthdays in October

The theme for the first week in October is: what ancestor has a birthday in October? So I thought ... I'll just go to my Legacy program and generate a report about birthday's in October. Simple I thought, there won't be many. I already  knew my son, Sean Patrick, was born on the 15th October 1971 in Seymour, Victoria and my favourite maternal grandmother, Dorothy May, was born on the 4th October 1898 in North Eton via Mackay, Queensland. How wrong I was. The report is six A4 pages, ranging from fourteen individuals born in October with no date to lists for each day of the month in October. It must have been the time of year for my ancestors to have children. I will have to think about this a little more.

So, 16 on the 1st, 9 on the 2nd, 8 on the 3rd,11 on the 4th including my grandmother Dorothy May, 10 on the 5th, 6 on the 6th, 9 on the 7th, 11 on the 8th, 13 on the 9th, 12 on the 10th, 6 on the 11th, 7 on the 12th, 7 on the 13th, 11 on the 14th, 12 on the 15th including my son Sean, 9 on the 16th, 11 on the 17th, 11 on the 18th, 7 on the 19th, 13 on the 20th, 13 on the 21st, 15 on the 22nd,  16 on the 23rd, 6 on the 24th, 14 on the 25th, 11 on the 26th, 13 on the 27th, 5 on the 28th, 9 on the 29th, 12 on the 30th and 14 on the 31st - so fairly evenly spread over the month with a grand total of 349 ancestors born in October. 

They are spread over several countries - Australia, in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, the ACT, Tasmania and Western Australia; New Zealand the North and South Islands; England, Middlesex, Northumberland, Somerset, Surrey, Hampshire, Lancashire; Northern Ireland in Londonderry and Armagh; Republic of Ireland in Dublin; Scotland in Argyll; Barbados; Trinidad and Tobago; United States, California, Iowa, Oklahoma and Missouri.

Happy Birthday to all 349 ancestors born in the month of October.

Tuesday 6 October 2015

After the conference ...

For those not in Brisbane or in Queensland the In Time and Place conference - Family, Local and Social History - took place over the weekend.  Alex Daw has written a brilliant summing up of the conference on her blog Family Tree Frog  so I don't have to - thanks Alex. It was great to catch up in person with some of my blogging genie friends - putting a face to a name - sharing stories - gossiping of course and just catching up with people. It makes all the hard work being part of the organising committee worth while when it all come together.

Another challenge that I have undertaken is a One-Name Study on my Proverbs family. This is all thanks to Helen Smith and her encouragement so it was wonderful to have the opportunity to chat with Helen about what to include and what not to include. Do I include the children of a Proverbs mother married to a Walcott? Do I follow them further etc? The takeaway message from Helen was it is up to me to decide and that future researchers would possibly appreciate my research. So with that clarity - it's up to me - off I go on the Proverbs name. I haven't even thought of the possible variations yet - that's further along. 

I wonder if I will ever be able to prove or disprove the family myth that the two brothers, Thomas and Johannis were escaping Cromwell and opened their bible on the ship at Proverbs and decided that they would go by that name. Imagine if they opened the bible at Deutoromeny or Ecclesiastes? Wish me luck!


Thursday 1 October 2015

I'm back ... sort of

I'm back in the land of blogs - well sort of - I have been busy recovering and becoming involved in the Genealogical Society of Queensland (GSQ) again. GSQ had decided to move from our current premises when our lease expires on November 30 so as you can imagine I have been busy with that planning.

Also, this coming weekend the In Time & Place Conference is being held jointly with History Queensland and Queensland Family History Society. I have been on the planning committee for months now and will be mightily relieved on Sunday afternoon when everything is finished.

Then there is the GSQ Annual General Meeting on Saturday 10 October - as the Secretary I have a lot of work to complete for the meeting.

Then we move - I dread the packing and then of course the unpacking. I wake up in a cold sweat at night with visions of lost items, broken equipment, worn out volunteers - the list goes on.

SO, after the conference, the AGM and the move I should be able to totally relax over the Christmas-New Year period.

Ahh, I forgot to add that while on library duty at GSQ last Thursday I twisted on a chair and dislocated my hip - so much fun with paramedics and pain medication and off to the Wesley emergency Centre - a "twilight anaesthetic" of the wonderful ketamine and midazolam - and the hip was put back in. As my medical people say - you are so fortunate that anything possible will happen to you - my surgeon is furious as this particular prosthesis is supposedly not able to be dislocated - well it has happened twice since surgery - of course I am not too happy either. 

Will let you know about the conference.