2015-04-20



I have the pleasure of introducing to you Anne Young and her two blogs, Anne’s Family History and Avoca During World War I. In her family blog, Anne strives to “add definition and colour to some of the events in [her] family’s history beyond mere names, dates and places.” The high level of research accompanied by photos and documents that readers admire in her family blog continues in her new blog recording the history of Avoca, a small town in the goldfields of Victoria, Australia.  Anne is also a regular contributor to the Worldwide Genealogy Blog.

A Little About Anne

“I was born in Adelaide, South Australia, and grew up in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. A few years ago we moved to Ballarat, 100 km (70 miles) north-west of Melbourne, Victoria. My ancestors and my husband’s came to the Ballarat district in the mid nineteenth century.”

How Anne Got Started in Genealogy

“My father, his grandfather and other members of his family have been interested in their family history. Because to some degree my family history had been documented but nothing had been researched on my husband’s side, I concentrated first on my husband’s forebears. I started my research in the very early 90s when my children were small.”

Anne’s Thoughts About Blogging

“I started my blog in 2012. I wanted to write about some of the details of our forebears’ lives and make sense of some of the sources beyond merely recording facts and dates on a family tree. There is a great amount of primary material to understand. The explosion of digitized records and the digitization of newspapers have made a wealth of information easily accessible.

“My blog is a record for my children and any others who may be interested in our family stories. My children do actually read my blog so it is a good way for me to pass on family history.”

Anne’s Advice to New Bloggers

“Just start writing! Don’t over complicate the story. You don’t have to tell somebody’s whole life story in a blog post; just an incident from their life can be interesting. I find newspaper articles very useful as a starting point for a post. I also enjoy the themes posted by the Sepia Saturday blogging team. I also enjoyed the self-imposed task of writing for 26 days in April set by the A to Z Challenge. This year I am taking part in the 52 Ancestors challenge.

“Suggestions for posts come from other Bloggers. Last year I wrote about immigration in response to a meme proposed by fellow blogger Pauleen Cass.”

Anne’s Favorite Blog Posts

Australia Day:  Climbing Our Family’s Gum Tree, the story of Anne’s immigrant ancestors

Anne’s Time with Ancestors

“For all my blog posts I review and extend the research I have already done. This may take at least a day and sometimes more than a week. I now do research for other people and can get very busy on research on other people’s family trees.”

What Anne Loves Most About Genealogy

“Constructing the tree is like working on a jigsaw puzzle, and I enjoy working out who is related to whom, and discovering more about who they were and what they did.”

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Please take a moment to visit Anne at Anne’s Family History and leave her a comment letting her know you stopped by. Thank-you, Anne, for letting us inside your blogging world.

© 2015, copyright Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

Wendy Mathias is a retired teacher who divides her time between her home in Chesapeake, Virginia and Smith Mountain Lake.  She enjoys researching her family and digging for the story behind old family photos for her blog Jollett Etc. Are you a genealogy blogger who would like to be interviewed for the “May I Introduce To You . . .” series? If so, contact Wendy via email wendymath@cox.net.

May I Introduce to You . . . Anne Young is a post from GeneaBloggers.com. All rights reserved.

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