In this edition, we feature a variety of family stories from our members, and plenty of practical tips for researching and writing your own family history.

In ‘The steadfast wife’, Jane MacIsaac recounts the hardship and heartache encountered by Jessie and John Pearson in their efforts to make a living and raise a family on remote properties in rural Victoria and New South Wales. June Torcasio tells the story of her mother’s first cousin, Dr Hilda Burn Kershaw, who graduated from Melbourne University in 1917 and became one of the earliest women doctors in Perth. Hansard is a familiar term to many Australians, conjuring images of parliamentary debates. When Ancestor’s own graphic designer, Janette Wickham, found a ‘Hansard’ in her family tree, she was keen to find out if he was linked to the Hansard.

In ‘Researcher be wary’ Cheryl Griffin shares a cautionary tale of researching people with the same name whose stories were mixed up during their lifetimes, and in subsequent histories. Clare Claydon outlines the history of a slipper chair and how it came to take up residence in her home. And in our ‘How to section’, Jane Macisaac outlines the potential for visual materials to support your family narratives, such as the example on our cover.

Our feature Council Member for September is Rod Van Cooten, long-term volunteer with the GSV IT team, who shares snippets of his Dutch ancestry. From the Writers Circle writing exercise ‘An ancestor’s death’ come three different stories about drowning. Jackie van Bergen discovered that the circumstances of her 2x great-grandfather’s death were quite different from what her grandmother had told her. In 1876 Sally Johnson’s 2x great-grand uncle was lost in a shipwreck, and Sherrie Wentworth tells a poignant tale of accidental drowning on a rural property.

Research Corner explains the value of Sands & McDougall directories for finding residences and businesses in old Melbourne, while in Getting it Write, Jackie van Bergan and Alison Dennison explore ethical issues in writing up family history, and approaches to resolving them.

Emma Hegarty
Editorial team