Searching ancestry via Skype.

So i’ve written letters to everyone in the phone book, i’ve bombarded the internet with many posts, i have a website and this blog. How else can i find more folks possibly related to my ancestry.

Skype has a IM (instant messaging). Simply go to ‘Directory’, which is down the bottom left hand side. Click on it and then add the surname your interested in ‘Gambrill’ for example and click search. A new box will appear with the search underway and further options. What you can do in here is specify which country, language, male, female etc.

Once you have a list of names click on the ‘i‘ under the heading ‘profile’ – this will bring up options for that person – choose the ’send IM’ and compose a message then send it. Do this to as many folks that you see could be related. Now, in order for them to recieve your message they must allow in their settings to recieve IM’s from anyone, some folks will have this enabled, others wont so its pot luck but being proactive and leaving no stone unturned is what makes a difference.

What are you waiting for?

Woodnesborough 1838, Dilnot and Taylor.

Working out just where my convict William Gambrill from was the day he stole from John Dilnot. I have narrowed it down to is 4 places.

According to the Woodnesborough Tithe award schedule John Taylor employed and accomodated William at one of these property numbers – 278, 279, 276, 281, 283 but which one?.  No’s 279 and 281 can be dismissed  because according to the map i have from the 1830’s, it doesnt contain a cottage on it. No’s 283 is a public house,  so he wouldnt of lived their so that leaves 276 and 278 both of these have a cottage as shown in map below – so he probably was at one of these places in Marshborough Rd, Woodnesborough.

From John Taylors place, he went to John Dilnots house to steal, pre-planned? not sure.  According to the Woodnesborough Tithe award schedule John had properties at numbers 465, 496 (not on my map), 449, 462, 463, 465. So which property did William steal from, Well, from what i can see there was house on 2 properties – no’s 463 (Foxborough Hill Road) and 465 (Drainless Rd). So chances are William went to one of these 2 houses.

BMD Documents and photos for Gambrills

WORK IN PROGRESS…..

Basic and essential for each and every person in a ancestry tree is a Birth/Marriage and death certificates as well as a  photo. What i have below is a list  for all of William Gambrills 70 or so grandchildren and his 15 children and, those that came before William (Paternal line and wife(s)) are also listed. So its my aim to get everyone a BMD doc and a photo. (Needless to say that some folks wont have a photo)

Please note that i may have mistakes or unfinished information please let me know.

Y means i have it, N means i dont, NA not applicable.

Those that came before William:


PHOTO BIRTH MARRIAGE DEATH





William Gambrill (1821-1888) Y Y YY Y
George Gambrill (1790-1837) N N Y Y
Ann Turner (1790-1834) N Y Y N
George Gambrill (1761-1832) N N YY N
Sarah Wood ( ???? – 1783) N N Y N
Sarah Goldfinch (1755-1834) N N Y N
George Gambrill (1720-1810) N N N N
Elizabeth Finn (????-1767) N N N N
George Gambrill (1682-1765) N N N N
Denis Elgar (1687-1773) N N N N
George Gambrill (1654-1693) N N N N
Elizabeth Jourdan (1654-????) N N N N

His Children:

PHOTO BIRTH MARRIAGE DEATH
Benjamin Gambrill (1866-1935) Y N N N
Elizabeth Gambrill (1863-????) N N N N
Frederick J Gambrill (1879-1898) N N N N
George T Gambrill (1874-1952) N Y Y N
Harriet Eliza Gambrill (1848-1920) N Y Y Y
Henry John Gambrill (1871-1951) Y N Y N
Mary Jane Gambrill (1863-1877) N N NA N
Richard Gambrill(1850-1932) N N N Y
Ruth Alice Gambrill (1858-????) N N Y N
Sarah Ann Gambrill (1861-1949) N N N Y
Sophia J M Gambrill (1852-1917) N Y Y Y
Susanna Gambrill (1868-1958) N N Y Y
Theodore Gambrill (1854-1939) Y Y Y Y
William C Gambrill (1845-1892) Y N Y Y
William E Gambrill (1877-1926) N N YN N

His Grandchildren: (birth surname)

PHOTO BIRTH MARRIAGE DEATH
Ethelene Australia Gambrill (1880-1974) Y N N N
Clive William Gambrill (1882-1882) N N NA N
Arthur Ransley Gambrill (1883-1968) Y N N N
Annie Melville Gambrill (1885-1961) Y N N N
Wesley Charles Gambrill (1888-1972) Y N N N
Walter Gavin Gambrill (1891-1972) Y N N N




Leslie John Holden (1872-1953) Y N N N
William Hessal Holden (1873-1948) N N N Y
Arthur E Holden (1875-1877) N N NA N
Edith E Holden (1878-1878) N N NA N
Eva Annie Holden (1879-1967) N N Y N
Frederick Charles Holden (1881-1899) N N N N
Bertram Ransley Holden (1883-1966) Y N N N
Ruby F Holden (1886-1958) N N Y N
Minnie May Holden (1888-????) N N Y N




Edith May Smith (1873-????) N N Y N
Amy Smith (1874-1959) N N N Y
Francis John W Smith (1876-????) N N Y N
Robert Smallwood Smith (1878-1963) N N N N
Carlton Smith (1880-????) N N Y N
Ruby Beatrice Smith (1882-????) N N N N
Hilton Scarborough Smith (1884-????) N N N N
Athur C Smith (1886-????) N N N N
Eva M Smith (1888-????) N N N N
Leila I Smith (1891-????) N N Y N




Darcy Bertrude Gambrill (1878-1958) Y Y Y Y
George Edgerton Gambrill (1881-1940) Y N Y N
Ruby Gwydir Gambrill (1883-1975) Y N YN N
Pearl Elinor Gambrill (1885-1893) N N NA Y
Arthur W T Gambrill (1887-1942) Y N N N
Edwin Horace Gambrill (1891-1972) Y Y Y Y




William Card Worsley (????) N N N N




William James Gambrill (1891-1951) Y N N N
Cecil E Gambrill (1893-????) N N N N
Gladys M Gambrill (1894-????) N N N N
Frederick G Gambrill (1895-????) N N N N
Alfred C Gambrill (1897-????) N N N N
Elsie M Gambrill (1898-????) N N N N
Arthur B Gambrill (1901-????) N N N N
Stanley Norman Gambrill (1903-1974) Y N N N
Harriet Myrtle Gambrill (1900-1972) N N N N




Arthur J Ross (????) N N N N
Victor E Ross (????) N N N N
Ivy M Ross (????) N N N N
Walter H Ross (????) N N N N
Laura E Ross (????) N N N N
Ruby E Ross (????) N N N N




Leslie Thomas Gambrill (1900-1982) Y N Y N
Alice Maud Ruth Gambrill (1895-1971) Y N N N
George Henry Gambrill (1896-1978) Y N N N
Horrie R Gambrill (1898-1899) N N NA N
Fred John Gambrill (1898-1974) N N N N
Edward William Gambrill (1902-1958) N N NN N
James Barry Gambrill (1907-1985) N N N N
Arthur Charles Gambrill (1912-1950) N N N N
Sydney Etherton Gambrill (1915-???) Y N NN N
Alfred Smedley Gambrill (1917-1989) Y N NNN Y
Ellen Martha Gambrill (????) N N N N




Murial Gambrill (1910-????) N N N N
Walter Stanley Gambrill (????) N N N N
Mirium J Gambrill (????) N N N N
George Maxwell Gambrill (1912-2003) N N N N
Mona S Gambrill (????) N N N N
Donald T M Gambrill (1911-1998) N N NN N
Reginald E Gambrill (????) N N N N




Blanch Gambrill (1923-1996) N N N N
Doris E Gambrill (1912-????) N N N N
Beryl Isabel Gambrill (1914-….) Y N N N
Arthur F Gambrill (1916-????) N N N N
Olive E Gambrill (1917-????) N N N N

Convict William Gambrill Collage

These are pretty much all the images i currently have for my convict William Gambrill b.1821 Kent UK, d.1888 NSW Australia.

William Gambrill place of Residence.

My convict ancestor William Gambrill lived in Harris Street Sydney which is mentioned on his death certificate, he is also listed as being in Macquarie Street, Sydney and this is shown on his first wife’s death certificate. I’m wanting to compile a list of places William Lived in NSW, including house number and a get a  photo (current day or old) of the house.

Below is Harris Street – but where in this street did he live?

Harris Street NSW

Ann Turner baptised October 3 1790 Woodnesborough

Well i got hold of her baptism. Ann is William Gambrills mum.

She was born in Woodnesborough to Thomas Turner and mother Elizabeth. Top section of the document is where she is mentioned. Following on from her baptism, i cant seem to find her on any census in Woodnesborough, and previously i had her death date in 1864, but the Canterbury Cathedral dont have any info for her then so they sent deaths in 1869 and a few years after that but they seem to be incorrect. I have another document that maybe, and i stress maybe, of Ann’s husband George, and it says he is widowed and this document is from 1837 – now Ann had her last child i believe in 1831, so she may of died sometime between then.

Ann turner baptism (Custom)

Voice recording your current ancestry

For sometime i’ve been wanting to catch a bit more of the my current ancestry, whats happening right now. Not really wanting to do a hand written diary thing, nor did i want to just jot down stuff on the computer. So then it dawned on me to record my voice in snippets. I could also do a video dairy, but wasnt keen to go that far, perhaps later on sometime.

So whats the easiest, best way to record in continual short snippets? Well, that i dont know but i have Audacity on my computer which does voice recordings.

Simply create a file name like, ancestry2009, or ancestryNovember2009. All’s you need to do to record something is press the record button, and chat away, best to mention what the date is each time you do this. An example of my first was that i talked about playing hide-n-seek with my boys. The eldest one was looking for us and so my younger boy and i hid in the corner behind the cupboard, he sat close to me with my hand across his upper chest. When the elder one finished counting and came looking for us, i could feel my little boys’ heart thumping hard, racing in anticipation of getting found. This really was a great moment for me.

I think its these little snippets of moments that happen whislt we are alive are worth keeping a record of, and a good way to preserve this is to voice (or video) record them.

Ancestry, what about yourself?

Whilst you are alive you are busy researching all the dead folks in your tree its easy to forget about yourself and the valuable documents etc that you can collect over the years and put away.

Giving the next person whom will take over your ancestry a headstart when your 6 foot under with a few boxes of your very own goodies is more than they could possibly ask for.

Here are a few suggestions for your Ancestry box, some based on my own collection:

1) Speeding fines, and make sure you ask for a copy of the photograph.

2) Airline tickets – and bits and bobs associated with you trip(s)

3) Passports – keep them all.

4) School Stuff – reports, certificates, end of year school mag, etc…

5) Your children – start from newborn, the day they get the armband on in hospital put that away when you take it of the baby’s arm. Keep their hair from the first hair cut, keep their teeth that the tooth fairy is supposed to take away, stuff associated with birthdays, school stuff and so on.

6) Drivers license test,  keep your report (particularly if you failed) Any old drivers license or other types of (photo) ID etc..

7) Work references and any newspaper or paper media that you/your business were featured in for one reason or another.

8) Videos and Photos – throw everything onto disc. May need to re-check on whether computers in 10 or 20 years can read the format but i’m sure somewhere, somehow that will always be possible. At the moment my little one asks us everynight for ‘talking’ (his idea not ours) – this means at bed time one of us sits with him and he really opens up about his day at school, thoughts etc. This is something special and so we have started to video record each night.

9) Dairy/Letters and documents for kids/wife/husbands  birth/death/marriage/divorce etc, and also your house/car/boat/plane/rocket journey ticket stubs and wedding menu, guest list etc. Anything that could be of ancestry value when your long gone.

10) Kids christmas toy list/letter that they write to send to Santa.

Get one of those preserving boxes i think they are called, label the box and simply put all ancestry goodies into it and over the years you’ll have a fantastic collection of stuff.

Have you started?

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