What's in the current issue of Ancestor
March 2023 ( GSV Members can access this journal when they login as a member. Then click on the "Members Area" link)
Kath Rutherford, runner-up of the 2022 GSV Writing Prize, traces the life of her convict ancestor George Robotham, who was transported at the age of seventeen, and left a convict love token for his mother, which is now in the National Museum of Australia. These tokens, created by engraving or stippling a penny, were made by prisoners awaiting transportation, and given to loved ones as a memento. Margaret Vines describes the army career of Sergeant Thomas Hill, in particular his role in the Black Wars in Tasmania in the 1820s and 30s, and his evident desire to remain in Tasmania to raise his family. Merle Pole writes of her ancestor Stephen Stebbins, who was a free settler in 1830s Tasmania and a beneficiary of Lady Jane Franklin’s land rental scheme, and later joined the 1850s gold rush to Victoria. My article about my 2x great aunt Susan(nah) Beaumont indicates how a DNA test set me off on the right track to discover more about her life and that of her descendants. A further three family object biographies introduce us to a hand-written cookbook that reveals a sweet tooth, a child’s wicker chair which has been used by four generations of the family, and a mantle clock which sadly did not make the owner’s fortune.
If you have ancestors who have ‘disappeared’ from the records elsewhere in the world, it could be worth checking to see if they ended up in South Africa. The ‘How-to’ article by Alison Dennison explores the basics you need to know to get started in South African research. Following on from their article ‘Researching Australian First Peoples ancestry’ in the September 2022 issue of Ancestor, Martin Playne, Margaret Vines and Bill Barlow have compiled a book list ’Books on the history of Australia’s First Peoples‘ that may assist with family history writing involving indigenous people. Research Corner demonstrates how to access and search articles in digital journals in the GSV library’s collection.
Barbara Beaumont
Editorial Team