Sunday Snippets is intended to be a look back at the previous week in the genealogy/family history side of my life. I’m sure that some weeks there will be little, if anything, to report, and I did slip last week and forgot to publish my Sunday Snippets post so this one is looking back at the past two weeks.
Family History Month
August was family history month in Australia. Yesterday I attended the closing ceremony zoom meeting. The main topic of conversation was Connections 2025, the Australasian conference, being next in March next year at Brisbane, that I’m planning to attend.
April Blogging from A to Z Challenge
I have participated in this challenge every year since 2015, but not always on Tracking Down The Family. I have also done the challenge on my lifestyle blog a few times, and once on my book blog and One Place Study. When I total it up, 2024 will be the 15th time that I’ve participated.
The A-Z Challenge, requires bloggers to post every day in April, except Sunday, to a chosen theme. Some bloggers choose not to have a theme and that’s ok too. I always like to begin the challenge prepared, as the first year, I began with very little preparation, and it was a nightmare trying to cope with posting every day and catching up with other participants during the month.
I have chosen my theme, and over the past week, have spent quite a bit of time planning, researching and beginning to draft my posts. It’s early days yet, but it seems to be coming together quite well. Also, I have been known to change my mind about a chosen theme, as the challenge gets closer, so anything could happen.
Scottish Indexes
The Scottish Indexes Conference was on yesterday, and as usual I was looking forward to spending eight hours indulging myself in learning more about Scottish research.
This free conference began at the beginning of covid when we were in lockdown, and genies weren’t able to visit archives and research centres. The kind people as Scottish Indexes decided we needed a conference, many people had more time than usual for research.
From memory, I think the Scottish Indexes conferences were held monthly during covid. As they were so popular, they continued after we came out of lockdown and even after the pandemic was over. They are now held a little less frequently, about four times in the year. The conference that was held yesterday was the 25th.
This conference came along at exactly the right time for me, as I had decided to use my extra time in lock down, to research the Scottish side of my family. I had been putting it off, as I wasn’t at all confident with the differences of researching family history in Scotland. I have attended all 25 conferences and have learnt more than I ever expected from a variety of knowledgeable presenters. I always make sure I schedule Scottish Indexes early, so nothing clashes.
The presentations that will be most beneficial for my research were:
Chris Paton - Scottish Burghs and Trade Incorporations
Emma Maxwell - Criminal Ancestors: piecing together their story from a variety of sources
Robert Urquhart: Parochial Matters: parishes, districts and counties
I get the email reminders from Scottish Indexes so really should do the conference some time.
You should Jo. It’s amazing that they are still free