Fitzy & Wippa’s Family History
Ancestry’s Brad joined Nova 969 radio hosts Fitzy and Wippa on their morning show this week and told them a little bit about their family history. Wippa was hoping to find royalty in his family tree and in a way he did…his mother’s side is riddled with what many Australian consider to be royalty…convicts! Click the arrow above to play the interview.
Audio clip from Nova 969 breakfast show with Fitzy and Wippa.
The England and Wales National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1966 records are particularly interesting as they show where and when your ancestors died and the value of the estate they left behind.
Now I don’t know about you, but none of my ancestors left too much money behind, but there are a few famous faces in these records who had larger estates than the average person.
Have you made any new discoveries in our probate records? Share your discovery on our Facebook wall!
The 1911 England & Wales Census contains over 36 million records and a wealth of information for family historians.
I was having a look through the records and found a Mr William Joylance Court. His occupation is listed as a Barrister at Law and he is shown with his wife Mary and 2 daughters, Evelyn and Dorothy. Also listed are his 10 staff members including a butler, valet, footman, housekeeper, two ladies maids, head housemaid, kitchen maid, housemaid and scullery maid.
How big a house would you need for all these people? Well, the wonderful 1911 England Census tells you! On the back of the schedule, there is a space for the number of rooms. As you can see from the image below, the Roylance Court household had 26 rooms!
What have you found in the 1911 England and Wales Census? Leave a comment below or post on our Facebook Wall.
Who Do You Think You Are? returns for a fourth series this week as six more Australian celebrities trace their family tree, uncovering secrets and stories from the past.
Comedian Shaun Micallef was never told much about his family’s past and is worried that his ancestors will all be a bit boring leading dull lives. He begins his journey by investigating his maternal line. One of his mother’s relatives has been researching a family tree and sent them a copy.
It leads Shaun to a most unexpected place, Turkey, and the discovery that his great, great, great grandfather on his mother’s side fought in an epic battle and had a brush with one of the most famous women of the eighteenth century.
What he discovers on his father’s Maltese side of the family will amaze him even more. His father Fred had never previously opened up to Shaun about his wartime experiences. For the first time, Shaun goes to Malta where he unearths the root of his father’s buried childhood memories. His new knowledge provides a unique gift for his father.
Discoveries further back on the Micallef line will be the most surprising of all. With little information about his great grandfather, Shaun is determined to find out who he was. Through the help of a distant cousin, he gets a vital clue. As he uncovers details of how his ancestor died in the First World War, Shaun soon discovers he was part of one the biggest sea-battles in history. The revelations mark an end to generations of secrecy in the Micallef family and a new chapter in his relationship with his father.
About Shaun Micallef
Shaun Micallef is one of Australia’s most popular television personalities. Currently the host of Talking About Your Generation, Shaun will soon be seen hosting the new show, Mad As Hell, on the ABC. Shaun began his TV career as a writer and actor before moving onto his own sketch show, The Micallef Programme, sit-come Welcher & Welcher, talk show Micallef Tonight and news satire Newstopia. Shaun has worked in film, stage shows, radio, and written two books. He’s also won four Logies.
Tune into SBS at 7.30pm on Tuesday 27 March to see what Shaun discovers. Want to discuss the show? Join us on Facebook or add #WDYTYA to your tweets.
International Women’s Day is celebrated every year on the 8th of March and this year’s theme is “Connecting girls, inspiring futures”. We want to hear about the inspirational females in your family tree.
Is there a female ancestor whose story has inspired you in some way? A female family member whose actions many years ago have changed you or inspired you?
If so, we want to hear about them! Simply click on Submit Your Story and tell us about your inspirational female. Stories should be no longer than 250 words.
If you have any photos of the female involved in your story, you can submit them too. Just click on Submit a text post and you will see an option to Submit a Photo.
We look forward to hearing your story.
The 1930 US Census is the largest census released to date and contains a wealth of information including the names of people in the house at the time, their descriptions, education, place of birth etc.
But one piece of information you may not find on other records is if there was a Radio Set in the house. This gives an insight into your ancestors’ adaption of technology and how they would have spent their free time.
Radio became common in the US in the 1920s so would have been growing in popularity in 1930. I wonder what the equivalent would be today? Perhaps a smart phone or tablet computer?
Remember, you can search all 123 million records in the 1930 US Census for free from Friday 17 February to Tuesday 21 February 2012. Click here to begin searching.
On 9 November 1916, Charles Victor Barratt (my great grandfather - pictured above) boarded the ship “Argyllshire” and departed Fremantle as a soldier in the Australian Military Forces. He left behind his family, his friends, his country and the life he knew. He also left behind his sweetheart, Matilda Maria Crampton (my great grandmother).
Throughout the time he was away fighting, the couple constantly wrote to one another. In one instance, Charles sent Matilda a photographic postcard of himself and on the back wrote an acrostic poem.
You will notice the first letter of each sentence spells out “Your Own Soldier Boy”.
To my Darling Kitty
With Deepest Love
From Vic
Feb. 26 1917
Yours for ever
Our hearts as one
Until death do us part
Remember me
Our savior watcheth us both
We shall always pull together
Never doubt my love
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
Old friends are better than new
Like the ivy I cling to thee
Dear ones far apart
In the Lord do I trust
Ever of thee I’m fondly dreaming
Rose of my life
Beloved girl my pledge I’ll keep
Oceans wide divide us dear
Your sweet face is always beside me
Ever Yours dear girl
Vic
In spite of these difficult circumstances their love endured and on 24 September 1919 (three months after Charles returned home) they were married.
Jessica Barratt
In 1935, my grandfather packed up his family and moved from Tasmania to Melbourne in hope for a better life. They found a home in Richmond and in the same year my father joined the Militia. He worked through the day and did training of an evening.
In 1937 a family of three boys and one girl moved into the house next door. The house was a terris house with a brick wall joining the two together.
Dad’s younger sister Betty became friends with the girl next door, Dulcie. Dad took an interest in the girl because she had red hair. Dad loved red hair. He would ask Betty questions about her, so Betty told Dulcie.
Dad wanted to get to know Dulcie better so he asked Betty to ask Dulcie if she would like to have a coffee with him. Betty then would go to the wall and pass on the message. Dulcie was on the other side returning a reply. These messages continued until Dulcie and her family had moved to another house near by.
They began dating, married in 1939 and had nine children together. My father passed away in 2007 aged 88 years, leaving behind 23 grandchildren and 34 great grandchildren and four great, great grandchildren. He is still very much missed but often thought of with loving memories. As for me, I am dad’s youngest daughter telling his story :)
My grandfather, James Johnson, thought that the lady he was dating was too old for him. So he went to England to visit some relatives, hoping she would forget him. After a while James began to feel the cold in England and decided it was time time go home to Australia. Agnes Hurlston, the lady he had left behind, got wind of this and was waiting at the docks for him. The photo above is of them on their wedding day and the rest is part of my family history. Without her love, I wouldn’t be here.
Carolyn Harris
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