gathering dust

I am trying to pin down my 4th great grandparents, Mary Clifford and John Green. They are ongoing vexations and I've written a little about my searches previously .  Right now I am trying to track down Mary's death which I am assuming occurs sometime after her arrival in the colony in 1833 and John's death in 1868. Thirty-nine Mary Green's died in the colony between those years. Some can be immediately crossed out given their age listings but that still leaves a lot of Mary's to seek out and discount. She's not listed in the family bible, on John's death certificate or Louisa's marriage certificate. I'm waiting on Louisa's death certificate and trying to track down the death of the other daughter Ann. Their son Thomas died in Tassie as a convict so he is no help in this instance. This may take awhile.

If every there was a reason to not ignore the non-related associates when researching your family history... In my research they serve up the juiciest stories. A few weeks ago I was following a lead on my maternal side for my 5th great grandmother Mary Ann Gunther (b. 1815 d.1903), the baptisms of her and her siblings in the Wesleyan Church in 1821, when I noticed an seemingly associated record and as I am want to do, followed the breadcrumbs. It seems that Mary Ann's father Ebenezer Brown Gunther's (b. 1785 d. 1827) second wife - Charlotte von Escher - was a widow. Nothing terribly unusual, but google, fabulous google, threw up this fabulous tidbit for her first husband from the Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser : INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT, April 23. EXTRAORDINARY CASE. General John Maximilian Von Escher was opposed by Mr. ANDREWS and Mr. ADOLPHUS, for three creditors. The prisoner, examined by Mr. Andrews, staled, that he had come to England in February, 181...

I've posted about this before  but another couple of hours following published family trees of the Royal and famous has turned up another gem. Robert the Bruce is not only my 22nd Great Grandfather  x 2, but he is also my 23rd Great Grandfather. It goes like this: Me, My Mother, Her Mother, VM Tulloch, daughter of LW Tulloch, son of LT Tulloch, son of John Tulloch, son of Ann Elizabeth Sutherland, daughter of Anderina Jamieson, daughter of Ann Tarrell Fordyce, daughter of Andrew Fordyce, son of Hugh Fordyce, son of Andrew Fordyce, son of Alexander Fordyce, son of Margaret Bruce, daughter of Elizabeth Gray, daughter of Marion Ogilvy, daughter of Helen Sinclair, daughter of Henry Sinclair, son of William Sinclair, son of Elizabeth Douglas, daughter of Margaret Stewart, daughter of  Robert III of Scotland, son of Robert II of Scotland, son of Majorie Bruce, daughter of King Robert I of Scotland (Robert the Bruce) So the point of pedigree coll...

I've just been a little busy what with my new job and all. Yes that's right, I started a new job at the end of March working for a transcription company who does court reporting etc, and I love it. Generally it is only a part time role but there was a big project I was assigned to so for five weeks I left home at 7:30 in the morning and got home at 8:30 at night completely exhausted. Weekends I slept, or this last weekend, threw myself head first in to getting the project done by Monday as it was due on the 1st. What has this got to do with genealogy, history or research you ask? Well it has had some flow on effects: Disposable income. I've ordered my AncestryDNA kit and have been splashing out on BDM transcriptions. I've also brought a lot of books because, well I like books.  A renewed interest in legal proceedings and associated records. Perfect timing considering the release of all those juicy criminal records on FindMyPast this month. I'm learning a l...