Do you have a mystery in your family history? Is there a question mark over part of your ancestry? As an individual it’s frustrating not being able to fill in those blanks. I know, because I have them in my own family tree. And, as a historian and genealogist it’s particularly frustrating not being able to answer those questions or find the information and records that can break down that...
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Family history mysteries
Read MoreKeeping it in the family tree
Read MoreHow much do you know about your family tree? It doesn’t come as a shock to most people that they know very little about all the ancestors that make up their family. Quite often we know a few generations back from us – parents, grandparents, and maybe great grandparents. But can you name any of the others who came before you? We search, dig and find ourselves down rabbit warrens...
Who is Born & Bred’s service for? A story about the family history-curious in all of us. (Part 1)
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Read MoreRecently, someone asked us, “who is Born and Bred’s service for?” And, the short answer, is “everyone” and especially those history-curious – anyone wanting to learn more about their family history, grow their family tree or maybe find out the history of their home, building or business premises. Over two weeks we’re going to tell you a little bit more about two of our most recent clients who capture many...
How to start your family tree
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Read MoreHave you ever wanted to know how to start your family tree on your own? The world of history, research and genealogy can be an overwhelming one, but we are here to give you some tips and tricks about working from the roots up (see what we did there?) and beginning your family tree all on your own. With absolutely anything, we all have to start somewhere. Whether that is...
Why do research into a building’s history?
Read MoreWhat could possibly be that interesting about bricks and mortar that you would want to do research into a building’s history or a houses history? Well, that’s the thing, these buildings and houses – be they a family business or a home that generations of the same family have occupied – can be priceless. Don’t worry that the property prices are on the rise, there is no value that can...
Three reasons your family history is getting nowhere
Read MoreHave you been plugging away at your family history and feel like you are getting stuck? Don’t worry, it can and does happen to all of us. Sometimes it feels like those ‘brick walls’ just won’t budge an inch. With so many records at our fingertips now it can be exciting (and overwhelming) being able to search so much and with such ease. However, because more records are available it...
Secrets of the housekeeper
Read MoreIt was about 8pm on Sunday 17 December 1922 and an 18 year old Ruby Anderson had been screaming out in pain for about an hour. Her father, Thomas, no doubt worried, went to fetch the horse and trap from the paddock to take Ruby into Geelong Hospital. As it was a Sunday, there would be no doctor available for a house call, especially at this late hour. Thomas was...
Love triangles and lunacy
Read MoreFor seven months, John Wilson rode the tram line between Carlton and Prahran working as a conductor. He directed travellers, punched their tickets and often carried a razor in his pocket. John was engaged to Stella Marks, a 23 year old servant who worked for Mrs Mary Fox in St Kilda but had been living in Collingwood with Mrs Annie Reid. The only problem was that Stella was actually in...
Floating body of evidence
Read More***WARNING: this post contains confronting and/or upsetting themes*** ‘The nails and cuticles were coming off. The hair loose from the scalp, patches of greenish brown all over the body…the string of her nightcap was tied round her throat tolerably tight’. This was how Catherine Lyfield was found when her body was exhumed from the Merri River near Dennington, south-west Victoria. Lying in the outhouse of the Shamrock Hotel in Port...
Drug dens and “boring” family trees
Read MoreI was tasked with a project from my grandmother; “I know nothing about my fathers’ side of the family”. This was not a statement, but a not so subtle quest for her genealogist granddaughter to undertake. She wanted me to get a move on with my own family tree. My grandmother hails from South Australia and made the move to Victoria in the 1950s, met my grandfather and never left....
Prostitutes and vagabonds
Read MoreProstitution. Vagrancy. Insufficient means. Just a few of the punishable crimes Phoebe Harris was imprisoned for in her short life. Phoebe Harris’ story is not an unusual one for the time. That doesn’t mean it is any less sad. Born somewhere between 1862 and 1865 in England, by the time she was in her early-twenties, Phoebe was charged with her first offence and sentenced to two months of hard labour....
All is not as it seems: family trees and lore
Read MoreEvery family tree is made up of many branches; each ancestor holds their own timeline and individual story. Sometimes these stories, or part thereof, can be uncovered and we can put ‘flesh on the bones’ of an ancestor. Sometimes the stories we’re presented with when beginning a family tree can be sad, traumatic and downright confusing. But what we need to try and heed is that these stories need to...
Truth or Dare: Desertion and Divorce in one family tree
Read MoreNothing screamed ‘scandal’ like an article in Truth – a sensational and melodramatic tabloid which specialised in the reporting of scandalous events around Australia. In 1916 desertion, perceived adultery and eventual divorce was just the story to be featured in the Melbourne publication of Truth, particularly if there were titbits of disgrace for either or both parties. In May 1916, after almost 15 years of marriage Thomas Spry petitioned for divorce from his...
Family trees and Google mysteries
Read MoreThe internet is a great and powerful tool. Google answers any and all of our questions, from determining the currency of Ghana to advice on how long to cook the Christmas turkey. However, there are pitfalls to the electronic encyclopaedia that many of us use on a daily basis: you can’t believe everything you read online! Someone came to us with a quandary; they had just started the exciting journey...