Genealogically Speaking.

William Gow was born on the 21st of May, 1868 in Cairn, Muthill,...

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:16:00 +1000

William Gow was born on the 21st of May, 1868 in Cairn, Muthill, Perthshire, Scotland (see birth certificate above). His parents were William Gow & Jean Drummond. He was the youngest of 5 children.

William left Scotland and travelled to Australia in 1886 by himself when he was 18. His brother Robert was already in Sydney. Growing up in Scotland, he learned how to be a landscape gardener. When he arrived in Sydney on October 5^th, 1886, he became a landscape gardener at the home of Sir Adrian Knox, a barrister and chief justice.

William was only supposed to stay in Australia for 2 years, however, much to his mother’s dismay, he remained here.

He joined the police force in Sydney in November 1896. On his application form, he stated that he had been a gardener and fruit grower for 14 years.

On the 14th of December, 1904, he married Elizabeth Croal. In late August 1905, they had a son, Adam, who sadly died after being alive for only 24 hours. On February 2nd, 1910, they had another son - William David Drummond Gow (My Grandfather, known as David throughout his life).

William Gow was well known throughout the Traffic Department of the Police for 16 years. In 1912, he resigned and returned to farming. He was requested to reconsider his decision but believed farming was his true occupation. In late early 1913, William, Elizabeth & David moved from Sydney to Gumma, near Macksville, NSW where they lived & owned a farm. One of their favourite things that they grew were tomatoes.

William remained in Gumma until his death in 1943. He passed away at ‘Jalna’ private hospital in Macksville on the 28th of November, aged 75.

The picture above, left to right, is David, William & Elizabeth. Most likely taken in the late 1930’s/early 1940’s.

If William had returned to Scotland after 2 years, I probably wouldn’t be here, writing this. So William, I thank you.

Happy 145th Birthday!

Speaks for itself, lol.

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:45:22 +1000

Speaks for itself, lol.

Mappy Monday

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:25:09 +1000

Dyer’s Loop Road, Bowraville, NSW, Australia.

My Nanna grew up on a farm on this road - in fact, quite a few of my ancestors and relatives owned farms on this road. Dyer’s Loop Road is named after her father, my Great Grandfather, James Albert Dyer.

Graces Road was named after the Grace family, some of whom were Nanna’s cousins. A recent drive up there in January revealed that Graces are still living there.

My paternal great grandmother, Eva Florence Dyer nee Mackay, died on May 14th 1976, 37 years ago...

Sun, 19 May 2013 20:35:30 +1000

My paternal great grandmother, Eva Florence Dyer nee Mackay, died on May 14th 1976, 37 years ago last Tuesday.

My other paternal great grandmother Elizabeth Gow nee Croal, died on May 16th 1952, 61 years ago last Thursday.

A few more birth & death anniversaries coming up this month…Keep an eye out for those!

My Great Grandparents James Dyer & Eva Mackay, with 4 of...

Sat, 11 May 2013 18:53:49 +1000

My Great Grandparents James Dyer & Eva Mackay, with 4 of their 6 children on their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1963.

L-R: Aunty Vera, Uncle Noel, Uncle Claude & Aunty Enid.

I have 2 major assignments due next Friday. There is so much genealogy I wish I could be doing...

Thu, 09 May 2013 19:31:46 +1000

I have 2 major assignments due next Friday. There is so much genealogy I wish I could be doing instead. Sighh. I got a new camera a couple of weeks ago too. I’m really keen to start doing video blogs about my genealogy…but…assignments first!

Wedding Wednesday. The wedding certificate for my Great Great...

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:26:32 +1000

Wedding Wednesday.

The wedding certificate for my Great Great Great Grandparents Donald Mackay & Jane Gilliban Walker.

My Great Great Great Great Grandparents Mercy Catt & Silas...

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:05:52 +1000

My Great Great Great Great Grandparents Mercy Catt & Silas Gill.

Mercy Catt
Born: 1808, Beckley, Sussex, England.
Died: 1885: West Kempsey, NSW, Australia.

Silas Gill
Born: 1806, Beckley, Sussex, England.
Died: 1875, Kempsey, NSW, Australia.

They married in Beckley, England on 20 June, 1826 and arrived in New South Wales on 11 October, 1837 on the vessel “Augusta Jessie.”

Legit. It never ends. Researching, finding documents, adding...

Sun, 05 May 2013 20:49:26 +1000

Legit.

It never ends. Researching, finding documents, adding photos, going to cemeteries, looking for that one ancestor who is proving to be quite difficult to track and new records being released each year…..

It never ends, and I’m so glad it doesn’t.

Happy 97th Birthday in Heaven Nanna! This is a photo of my Nanna...

Fri, 03 May 2013 16:35:29 +1000

Happy 97th Birthday in Heaven Nanna!

This is a photo of my Nanna & I in late 1993/early 1994 just after I turned 3.

It’s her first birthday since she passed away 11 months ago. Hard to believe she’s been gone for almost a year. I miss her so much. There are so many things I wish I could tell her. Nanna, I hope you’re having a lovely day in Heaven with Poppa.

3 May 1916 - 4 June 2012 <3

Lest we forget.

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:10:32 +1000

Lest we forget.

Tasmanian Birth, Death & Marriage Records now online!

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:27:48 +1000

Tasmanian Birth, Death & Marriage Records now online!:

Finally! This is awesome news! Have Tasmanian ancestry? FamilySearch have put images of Birth, Death & Marriage records online and you can access them for FREE! They cover the period 1803 - 1933. The only downside is they aren’t indexed yet so you will have to trawl through the pages, but if you know the approximate date of the event, you shouldn’t have any problem finding your ancestor! I shall definitely be exploring this more tonight!

Check out Gould Genealogy’s post about it in the link above.

You can browse the records here.

One page from my Great Grandmother Elizabeth Croal’s...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:03:04 +1000

One page from my Great Grandmother Elizabeth Croal’s birthday book.

April 17 - Fred W. Jeater.

That would be Frederick Walter Jeater (1866 England - 1945, Sydney), the brother-in-law of my Great Great Aunt Margaret Croal.

Alexander Croal, my 1st cousin 3 times removed. He was my Great...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:42:17 +1000

Alexander Croal, my 1st cousin 3 times removed. He was my Great Grandmother Elizabeth Croal’s cousin.

Born: 1878, Scotland.
Arrived: 1883, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Aged 5.
Died: 1916, Sydney. Aged 38.

He was part of the 19th Battalion of Newtown, NSW. He enlisted on 14 May 1915 (see enlistment form above). He left Australia for Egypt with the 2nd Reinforcements in June 1915. After 4 months at Gallipoli, Alexander was hospitalized with jaundice but later contracted pulmonary tuberculosis whilst in hospital at Helopolis. He was sent back to Australia in January, but died at the 4th General Hospital in Randwick, NSW on 14 July 1916.

My Grandfather, William D. D. Gow, on the right, with one of his...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:28:01 +1000

My Grandfather, William D. D. Gow, on the right, with one of his RAAF mates. 1940s.

The Mystery Of Jeannie Gow

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:03:50 +1000

The Mystery Of Jeannie Gow:

Here it is! My story of how I discovered & solved the 100 year mystery of what happened to my Great Great Aunt Jeannie Gow.

I plan on scanning and uploading images of the documents I used later.

Enjoy! :D

"Family Ties - How to unlock the secrets of your ancestry."

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 22:31:34 +1000

"Family Ties - How to unlock the secrets of your ancestry.":

Here’s the link to the Courier Mail’s article about family history which I was interviewed for in 2012.

I just realized I hadn’t posted it here. I shall endeavor to take a photo of the actual newspaper clipping and post it here soon.

I was so lucky & fortunate to have this opportunity. I never thought my passion for genealogy would result in something like this. It was amazing. And hey, I’d never been in the newspaper before! I would love love love to have another opportunity like this. If it wasn’t for Ancestry.com.au contacting me via Twitter, I would not have been able to have this wonderful opportunity. THANK YOU ANCESTRY.COM.AU! :D

76th Squadron, RAAF, World War 2.My Poppa’s in...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 22:15:12 +1000

76th Squadron, RAAF, World War 2.

My Poppa’s in there…somewhere.

My Poppa! William D. D. Gow (1910 - 2003). He was part of the...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 22:12:54 +1000

My Poppa!

William D. D. Gow (1910 - 2003).

He was part of the 76th Squadron of the RAAF in World War 2.

He was a very handsome man!

todayinhistory: April 14th 1865: Lincoln shotOn this day in...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 22:03:17 +1000

Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

Lincoln's death bed in Petersen House

Funeral procession in New York (one of the children in the second floor window of the second building is supposedly future President Theodore Roosevelt and his brother)

todayinhistory:

April 14th 1865: Lincoln shot

On this day in 1865, the US President Abraham Lincoln was shot in Ford’s Theatre, Washington DC while attending a performance of ‘Our American Cousin’. Lincoln died the next day. He was shot by Confederate sympathiser John Wilkes Booth who escaped but was later tracked down and killed. Lincoln is often considered one of the greatest American presidents for his pivotal role in leading the Union to victory during the American Civil War and ending the practice of slavery. Lincoln was the first President to be assassinated and his death was widely mourned across the nation.