The Writer

History and family history have always been present throughout my life in some way. Whether it was sitting at my Grandma and Grandpa’s kitchen table as a young girl looking at old photos of my ancestors, visiting historical places like the Swan View Railway Tunnel or Fremantle Prison or even high school and the immeasurable joy that I felt when first learning the history of the Ancient Egyptians. It was always there, it just took me a while to realise it.

Now that I have realised, my passion for genealogy and history has grown in leaps and bounds. I am always thinking about my research and I am often at my happiest trying to solve a family mystery, working on my family tree or hunting through the newspapers in order to find the next clue or piece of information to add to my collection.

Along with my family tree research, I also focus on writing posts for this blog. Writing these posts forces me to focus and because of this, quite a few of my discoveries have been made simply by choosing to write an ancestor’s story. It is also through Finding Family (and ancestry.com.au) that I have met some wonderful, likeminded people, many of whom turned out to be my distant cousins. Forging connections such as these and collaborating on theories and research makes what I do even more worthwhile and I thank them for all their help and support.

My future goal and dream is to somehow turn what I love into a career. Whether it be through writing or research, one day I want to be able to do this full time. Until that day, I will continue to follow and live my dreams until I discover the pathway I wish to take.

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. – Louisa May Alcott

Some of my tips for researching your family tree:

• Think outside the box.
• Don’t leave it too late to ask questions and talk to older relatives. They are your link to the past and their memories may provide you with fascinating stories or even your next clue.
• Focus on all children and descendants, not just your direct ancestors.
• Search through the newspapers on Trove. Seriously. It’s run by the National Library of Australia and you can access the newspapers for FREE! Take advantage of it because not all countries have resources such as this.

For more historical stories, be sure to visit and follow The Dusty Box.