TELL US ABOUT...Family History
Posted on by Debbie

Tell Us About…Family History

Welcome to another Tell Us About…post

This month our Tell Us About prompt is Jill’s choice: Family History – which is an interesting topic with so many options for stories to share!

My husband has been doing our family history, for both sides of the family, for over 40 years now. He goes through periods of being immersed in it all and then he needs a break but it’s an ongoing activity which ultimately he enjoys.

I enjoy hearing of his finds and appreciate all his efforts in getting things sorted. He is a Mathematician who enjoys puzzles so it’s not surprising that he likes unravelling these histories.

My mother has also been looking at our family history and they’ve bonded over talk of birth/death certificates, census results, family members, official records, Trove articles, shipping records, migration, skin colour and the list goes on…I just listen in from the sidelines and enjoy the stories they discover 🙂

Genealogy is like doing a jigsaw puzzle without the box top.

Quote I found on the internet

Unexpected visitors leads to unexpected connections

Years ago when I was working in the prison system as the Senior Correctional Education Officer, basically the manager of education services, I met a lot of others in similar roles in various gaols around the state.

One of these special people was a teacher called Sharryn from Grafton in the northern part of NSW – she may be tiny in stature but she’s big in passion for all things Union related, (we were both involved in the NSW Teachers Federation), and education for inmates.

I met Sharryn at various meetings and conferences throughout my 22 year career and we became good friends, despite our catch ups being few and far between. Considering I finished in the correctional system in 2016 and I hadn’t seen her for years, thanks to social media I was still aware of what she was up to. So it was great to get a message from her in January this year, saying that she’d be visiting the Tumbarumba area to ride our amazing rail trail and could we catch up.

Sharryn and her husband Rob stayed with us for three days. I hadn’t met Rob and she hadn’t met my husband before, but we all got on really well.

Debbie and Sharryn in Tumbarumba
Debbie and Sharryn in Tumbarumba
Sharryn and Rob in Tumbarumba riding our rail trail
Sharryn and Rob in Tumbarumba

Over the course of their visit we talked a lot about families, sharing updates on our children and grandchildren as friends are want to do. In the course of these discussions, a few random gems standout – and spoiler alert, these would later turn out to have great significance.

  • I mentioned how I’m related Australian singer and song writer Troy Casser-Daley
  • Sharryn mentioned her new granddaughter’s name is Olive which is an old family name for them
  • Grant mentioned how my father’s family came from up north near Grafton where they live
  • I mentioned I had French heritage
  • Both families have Aboriginal heritage

Towards the end of their visit I had a message from my mother asking me would I be keen to take a DNA test as she was interested to see what it would show up given my father’s interesting lineage. So we then talked DNA testing and family history.

At about this time things got very interesting as all these previous discussions started to gel. When I mentioned my French connections and the fact that my father’s family came from Northern NSW, Rob asked me what the French name was.

I said ‘Duroux’ and they both just stared at me for a few seconds before exclaiming that was the name of their daughter-in-law Kyrili, who had a baby daughter called Olive.

Olive is a big name in our family as we have been traced back to Jenny Olive, who is my great-great-great-grandmother. Jenny was an Aboriginal woman who had 6 children including Mary Anne Olive who was married to Frenchman Jules/Gilles Duroux. Mary Anne is my great-great-grandmother and Jules/Gilles my great-great-grandfather.

Jenny is also Kyrili’s great-great-great grandmother which means:

I am related to Sharryn and Rob’s grandchildren, via their daughter-in-law Kyrili.

How amazing is that??

So that means Kyrili is also related to Troy Casser-Daley, we both come from French and Aboriginal heritage and we are in fact 3rd cousins and also 4th cousins once removed – I don’t quite get how I can be both but the Mathematician explained how inter marrying between families and two lines on the family tree make this work! I believe him.

We rang my mother who confirmed some of the names of family members and we rang Kyrili who knew much of the family story and also confirmed names and details of the family trees, especially the significant ones of Jenny Olive and Jules Duroux.

What a fabulous end to a great visit, all of this really just came out of general discussion on family. Just goes to show doesn’t it??

Another interesting thing is Sharryn had never known that I have Aboriginal heritage!

Every family tree produces some lemons, some nuts and a few bad apples.

Since then I have done my DNA (spit) test and am eagerly awaiting the results, which should be very interesting and should bring up a match to Kyrili (I think she’s had hers done too) and maybe a few others.

DNA test kit
DNA test kit

We’ve all been busy looking into the past and my sister found this story, Jilnguungga: Flash Fiction on author Kylie Fennell’s blog. Kylie has a note saying the story is based loosely on Jenny Olive, who she mentions is her great-great-great grandmother. I’m yet to make contact with Kylie but it seems we both share Jenny Olive, as does Kyrili!

Have you got an interesting story to tell too? Why not join us?

we are family quote

What is ‘Tell Us About…’ about?

Tell Us About…is a monthly opportunity for bloggers to showcase their creativity, created by Gail from ‘Is This Mutton’ – another great blogging friendship group! Each month one of the co-hosts will choose a theme to focus on, and everyone is welcome to join us. The linkup can be found on Gail’s blog – Is this Mutton.

My fellow Tell Us About blogging friends have all done a post on this topic, so click on the links in each blogger’s summary below to see what they’ve written.

  • You’re reading my post – I hope you enjoyed it 🙂
  • Gail from Is this Mutton (UK) was an early uploader of DNA to find more ancestors. Has it worked? 
  • Jill from Grownup Glamour (Aus) explores her family roots and like many Australian families there is a mix of early free settlers and convicts.
  • Marsha from Marsha in the Middle (USA) Marsha’s great-great-uncle was the eleventh President of the United States, she thinks.  She also thinks her dad could have gotten into West Point if only her Grandma Rose had pulled some strings.  Read more about what Marsha thinks she knows on her blog.
  • Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper (UK) goes slightly left field and instead of writing about a distant ancestor found in the family tree she tells us about the process of writing a story about her mother, and a mystery….. She hopes that this qualifies as family history! 
  • When Sue from Women living Well After 50 (Aus) looked at this month’s Tell Us About prompt, she didn’t think she would have much to write about.  Then she discovered a surprise ancestor in her family tree and is planning to do some digging……
  • Suzy from Suzy Turner blog (Portugal) – uncovers her ancestor Sammy Morton, revealing a surprising past that inspires her creative ventures and sparks connections to pop culture icons like Adam Ant. Find her post on her updated blog.

Have you got some great family history stories too? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for reading my post, I’m so glad you’re here in my world.

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You can also find Deb’s World here – let’s stay in touch!

Everyone has a story to tell!

Debbie - mother of a 40 year old

Deb is a young-at-heart & active 60+ blogger/retiree, after being made redundant from her 22-year career managing education programs in a men’s correctional centre (jail). She now spends her time reading, blogging, riding her ebike and travelling. Deb was awarded a Bravery Award from the Queen when she was 17 after a tragic accident – a definite life changing moment! She is married with 3 grown-up daughters & has 4 grandchildren. You can read more of Deb’s story here

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39 Replies to “Tell Us About…Family History”

  1. It’s a small world! Great story Debbie. I’ve been researching my family tree for about 20 years, but it’s slow going… I’ve done a Dna test too and found more family online.

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  5. It sounds like you had a great visit, Debbie, and what a fun surprise to discover your family connection. My mother loved working on genealogy, so I did quite a bit of research with her. I also did a DNA test, which did not bring any surprises and lined up nicely with the family tree I created with my mother.

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    1. Thanks Christie, life is full of surprises I’ve decided and none ore than finding out my colleague and i have a family connection! I’m hoping for some interesting results from my DNA test so I hope I won’t be disappointed.

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  6. What a surprise to find family connection through someone you know but had no idea of that connection. Goes to prove what a small world it is.

    Your family background is fascinating , no doubt you will be anticipating those DNA results.

    I haven’t done mine but my sister has , mostly English, no surprise there as we have either convicts or settlers.

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    1. Yes Jill it was very hard to believe but we had it confirmed from a few different sources! It’s a very small world at times. Yes the DNA results will hopefully make interesting reading when they come back. I don’t think we’ve had a convict yet but it sounds like youb have quite a few! Thanks for the fab prompt 🙂

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  8. Pingback: Surrounded – Equipoise Life

  9. Gosh that’s an amazing coincidence, isn’t it? I’d have been squealing with excitement lol!!

    It’s so cool that your family has been looking into your ancestry over the years, it must get so exciting every time you discover something new!

    Hugs

    Suzy xx

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    1. Yes Suzy there was a bit of jumping up and down going on at the time!! A massive coincidence! It’s taking a long time to get to the bottom of some of the history but it keeps my husband and mother busy and they’re happy to do it so I just encourage them 🙂

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  10. That’s an amazing story! There may be more truth in the old meme “6 degrees of Kevin Bacon” than we actually thought! Interesting to find too you have links to native Australians. My DNA is entirely UK and a tiny percentage of Nordic, which means I am probably very distantly linked to the Vikings!

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    1. I know Gail, I thought of that 6 degrees of separation meme too! Yes I can imagine you could have some Viking heritage, my cousin is desperate to finds some Viking in his DNA, he certainly has the look going on! It was great to share this story for this timely prompt 🙂

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  11. That’s a great stroy!! I do think we have more in common with people than we realise, we just never know the right questions to ask! The world is very small in a lot of ways, we just don’t see it.

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  12. My favourite topic Deb. I could contribute so many family stories as I write them on my family history blog often. Your story is very interesting and the family connection with your friend is amazing. I had my DNA done, many years ago and as expected there were no surprises, but there have been many connections made due to testing. I am fairly sure there may be surprises for you and most probably more connections. I will look forward to reading about that.

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    1. I thought of you when we had this topic Jen and knew you’d have masses of stories to tell as you share on your blog! I’m keen to see the results and wouldn’t mind a surprise or two 🙂
      It was such a fortuitous visit with my colleague and we are still amazed at the serendipity of it all!

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  13. Debbie, this was fascinating! How utterly amazing that someone you’ve known for years would just happen to visit, and you all would just happen to talk family lineage only to discover these family connections! You now have a whole lot more people for whom to buy Christmas presents…hahaha!! Seriously, this is so wonderful for you. My little brother was the last Rose on our particular branch, and he didn’t have any biological children (his wife does). So, our branch will terminate. That saddens me. I’m currently on Ancestry.com and having a frustrating yet ultimately exhilarating time finding my ancestors! I have really enjoyed this prompt!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    1. Hi Marsha, isn’t it a fabulous true story? It was so bizarre at the time and I’m so glad I got to write about it for this fabulous prompt. I can’t wait to read everyone else’s posts on this prompt.

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    1. It’s such an interesting test to do Barbara and I’m really looking forward to seeing the results, although I’m not sure what to expect. Your mix sounds good, do both your mother and father have those two connections?

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  15. what a great story Debbie! Some people don’t believe in coincidences but honestly how can this not qualify as an amazing coincidence that you have know each other all these years, only to find your are linked through your families heritage! Thanks for sharing

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    1. I know Janine, it really was such an amazing moment when we realised we were talking about the same family connections! So blown away and I’m glad I was able to share it for this prompt!

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  16. This is such a COOL story. What are the odds hey? Astronomical one would think that your friend’s daughter in law would end up being related to you. Great that you connected with your friend and I guess all your PR about that great trail is paying off if people are making trips to bike it. Bernie (PS I had already started a post that plays into this Tell us About)

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    1. Thanks Bernie, it’s been a great discovery as you can imagine and has helped fill a few holes but also made some of the digging harder with many more names now in the mix that weren’t known before. Our rail trail has been a great addition to our town in so many ways!

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  17. Isn’t Family History fascinating, Deb? Although I haven’t actually done mine, I have two cousins on both sides of my family who have and they have given me the information. My cousin has had her DNA done and after you mentioned you had also gone through the testing, I might too. I will be interested to hear of your results. It was a terrific prompt this month. x

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    1. Thanks Sue, it’s so good when someone else has done all the hard work, so well done to them and for sharing it with you! It’s been a great prompt and I’m keen to read everyone’s posts. The results take about 6-8 weeks to come back so I’ve still got some time to wait but I’ll share them for sure!

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