gathering dust

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...

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 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...