gathering dust

So I am in quarantine. My lovely NZ Cruise was ended early by the COVID-19 global pandemic and today we received notice that there were cases aboard the ship . So now instead of a preemptive quarantine, I am a close contactee. I am fortunate in that work is setting me up to work from home and for the moment I feel well (if a little paranoid), but the situation did remind me that I am certainly not the first of my family to be quarantined after a ship board outbreak. Charles Robert Muffett, alias Robert Moffitt (c. 1811- 23/11/1890) was one of the unlucky souls aboard the Bussorah Merchant in 1828, the first ship quarantined at what would become the North Head Quarantine Station. I do not know whether he was one of those with small pox or whooping cough or if he, like me, was one of the relatively healthy ones.  My journey was however a much more delightful one than that of my ancestor, a voluntary one that included 3 course meals and scenic tours of New Zealand. Robert's ...

My first introduction to you was a baptism record from Wellingham, Norfolk in 1806. I was rather excited as I had just found your parents marriage and finding you, the sister of my first Muffett in Australia was an added bonus. I was a little confused when I later ran into you in East Dereham, Norfolk being baptised again six years later. But researching what 'publicbly baptized' could mean I decided that yes, this was your christening - the one with family and friends - and being around 20 kms from your original appearance was happy with my reasoning. But last night, last night you threw me a doozy. Another baptism, 6 November 1808 at St John the Evangelist, Smith Square in Westminster of a Jane daughter of Robert & Sarah M*ffet also born the 6th of November 1806? Is this you as well? Your brother does claim to have been born in London and when he informed the registry of your younger brother's death he stated that he too was London born. Their c...

Yes, yes, I am aware that it is now 16 days into 2015 but the truth is between finishing my Masters, getting the results - I passed of course - Christmas, New Year and the beginning of this week; I kind of just collapsed. In a heap. And did a whole lot of nothing. Well, if nothing is defined as eating too much, drinking too much and reading a whole lot of novels. But thanks to Janelle, over at Janelle's Family Tree Addiction , I was back into the swing of things by the 13th. You see Janelle was lovely enough to organise a day trip and tour of the State Records Office at Kingswood. So spurred into productivity I preordered 4 probate packs but didn't think about what further I might want to look at. One can only be so organised when one is still off in the land of novels and general laziness. The tour of the archives lasted about an hour and was a brilliant look at the masses of buildings, shelvings and infrastructure needed to house the State Archives and the Government Doc...

I am at the State Library today to do something I am afraid to admit I have been avoiding for years. The day started well enough, a quiet carriage that was actually quiet meant a rather enjoyable trip in to the city. The weather was pleasant enough to make the walk up Macquarie Street enjoyable. I reached the library in good time and proceeded to futz around with books on the history of Maitland and Camden I'd preordered in order to see if I could shed some more light on John Philip Gail . I looked through the pioneer registers on the open shelves and lamented that the one I was after was not on the shelves. Then I could procrastinate no longer. I put in my microfilm request slip and ducked off to the cafe for a sandwich and a fortifying cup of tea. A half hour later and the microfilm was waiting for me on the collection shelves. Scone Advocate January to June 1958.  General unease as I slipped the reel onto the reader, I spent some time reading advertisements. "Oh look...

Last night I was fortunate enough to be a participant in the first GeniAus Hangout on Air , it was a lot of fun and will be a great collaboration and learning resource. One of the questions I got to throw out into the ether was what do you do when you come across an absolute bog standard name, in my case John Green. So what do I know about John Green. John Green is   the father of Louisa Green (b. 21 Jul 1821 - d. 27 Jun 1897) Before he passed away, I was fortunate enough to be in contact with Ken Muffett  who had devoted a lifetime to researching the descendants of Louisa and her husband Charles Robert Muffett in Australia. He had passed along some images of a Family Bible. Muffet Family Bible, from the collection of the late Ken Muffet Someone, and it appears to be a similar hand to that of the Family Register, has kindly written on the death information page. Starting then with the information given about Louisa, there is a Louisa Green christened in Oakley,...

As a codicil to the post  Burial in the Bush , I offer the poem written by M.L.M in remembrance of the departed Eliza. "Advertising." Goulburn Herald (NSW : 1881 - 1907) 11 Dec 1886: 5. Web. 14 Oct 2013 < http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article99908550 > In Loving Remembrance OF ELIZA MUFFET, Who departed this Life on November 9th 1886; Aged 27 years and 11 months, A life of suffering she bore From infancy till death, But now she is set free from all - A home in heaven she hath, Through all those many years of pain Her loving parents o'er kept A watchful eye, when she awoke And also when she slept. It would be very wrong to grieve, To wish to have her here again, For now we know she's safe above, Where sorrow is unknown. And when our life on earth is done,  We hope to meet her there, And with the angels praises sing - In that bright land no partings are. November 17th.        ...

I did have a different item prepared for today - an article containing a lovely sketch of one of my forebears - however, during one of my general surname searches I came across this essay. ESSAYS, SKETCHES, &c. (1886, November 20).  Goulburn Herald  (NSW : 1881 - 1907), p. 6. Retrieved September 30, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article99903863 Mr & Mrs Robert Muffet are my 3x great-grandparents, their eldest son Charles and his wife Mary Matilda (nee Reader), referred to in the article as Mrs Charles Muffet are my 2x great-grandparents. The funeral is that of their daughter Eliza. There is a published tree of the descendants of [Charles] Robert Muffett & Louisa Muffett [nee Green], a copy of which originally helped to feed my love of family history (I'm on page 72). No mention of Eliza's disability is mentioned. I wonder if it was not known or just conveniently forgot?

In amongst the certificates and photographs documenting the family is two pages of hand-lined yellowing paper, covered in a careful script. My Nana gave it to my Father and I when I was 15 and first asked about my Grandfather (Walter Thomas Muffett, 9/4/1916-13/3/1958) and family history. She'd kept it for how much it represented his sense of humour, a trait that is certainly evident amongst his children and grandchildren. It is Old, but Still Good On the assumption that "a laugh will always win,"I am indebted to Albert Falk for the following. If anyone can read it without a laugh, I'll go quietly I had twelve bottles of whiskey in my cellar, and my wife told me to empty the contents of each and every bottle down the sink or else -- So I said I would, and proceeded with the unpleasant task, I with withdrew the cork from the first bottle and poured the contents down the sink, with the exception of one glass, which I drank. I extracted the cork from the second...

I headed to my parents for the Australia day long weekend, as not only was it Australia Day but brother #2 turned 40 on the 25th and an appropriate bash had been organised to celebrate. I'll admit it, he is and always had been my favourite brother. Sorry brother's #1 & #3, it's not like you didn't know this anyway. Brothers, #1, #2 with me on shoulders, and #3 In any case, 40 is a big birthday and sharing the love of history and family history that both Dad & I have, we (that should really be I, as I pretty much steam-rolled over Mum & Dad to get my way) I decided that it would be a nice thing to give my brother copies of the family photos. That is, all the family photos we could find. Dad and I spent the 25th pulling the house apart and spent the better part of the evening scanning as many as possible. The portraits of our grandfather and two of our great-uncles were printed and framed as the main present and an CD included of all the rest. Dad ha...

One of my major historical interests is the history of education, something to which my shelved PhD project will attest, so it has always been a pleasure to know that one of my ancestors at least placed great stock in educational opportunity. The letter below with a family bible was given to Charles Robert Muffett of Rosevale, Windellama by the children who attended the schoolroom he built on his property. I was pleased then to find a mention of this school in the SMH REPORT OF THE COUNCIL OF EDUCATION. (1880, May 4). The Sydney Morning Herald  (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 3. Retrieved December 4, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13459378 One day I am going to have to trek out to Kingswood and look at the records held about the school by the State Archive. I'm sure it will be fascinating.  You can find all the #TroveTuesday posts over at  Branches, Leaves & Pollen  or search the hashtag on twitter.

One of the things I have been using Trove for is to find out more about places that are mentioned to me by various family members or that come up in the course of research. One such place is Cowra Experimental Farm. According to Nana (dad's mum) her husband, Walter Thomas Muffett ( 9/4/1916-13/3/1958) , had spent three years at Cowra Experimental Farm before they married. The photograph below was taken there. Cowra Experimental Farm sometime between 1934 &1937 - My grandfather, W. T. Muffett on far right. I knew vaguely, that an experimental farm is a sort of cross between an agricultural college, a working property and a science lab, from Trove I was able to find newspaper articles (such as the one below) on it's opening in 1905, and on its continued successes over the next 50 odd years at agricultural shows, irrigation improvements and in developing new hybrids of wheat. Experimental farms have played an important role in the development of Australian agriculture...