This post uses the Geneameme 2016 list as a border around which to reflect on my 2016 that was. In doing so my paddock is fenced by just a few of the suggested Geneameme 2016 talking points.
Ruth feels at home when she turns west onto the Hamilton Highway. I also feel the same tension disappear when I put city driving and drivers behind me. But for me the feeling of being safely home comes much later in my journey. That feeling of home doesn’t start until I have crossed the Paradise bridge. If it’s early in the night I look for home lights peeping through the plantation at the far corner of the Horse Paddock. But on I go. It’s when I turn right at Campbell’s Paddock that I feel a sense of home.
It may appear that I may have done little in 2016. Yet I have travelled in time to Campbell’s Paddock. It may seem that the year was full of obstacles, detours, Cheshire cats and afternoon tea parties. The reality is that not only 2016 but some of the preceding years have set the scene for 2017 quite nicely. Each year has over 360 days through which to travel before turning the corner at Campbell’s Paddock. It’s when my “driver reviver” reflection time starting at about day 360 that a year falls into place.
2016 wasn’t about laying any notable achievements on the table for all to see. 2016 was all about winding through the path that is my family history research. 2016 was about reviewing, planning and revisiting my research methodology and the tools I use. In this way 2016 was just another family history year. Nevertheless, there were a couple of highlights in 2016.

18 It was exciting to finally meet Clare and Mary.

It was coffees in one of Melbourne’s arcades that were the highlight of 2016. I met my Salter cousin Clare first. Then I met our cousin Mary. I had heard a lot them from Aunt Agnes when she came to stay with my grandparents over the summer. It was delightful to meet Clare in person some forty years after listening to the stories Aunt Agnes used to tell. These meetings with relatives and listening to their stories is what I enjoy most about family history. 2016 was a double delight when I met another Salter cousin Mary and listened to her in amazement. Mary is following in the footsteps of our great grandfather Charles Salter. But until 2016 she wasn’t aware that she is doing so. Is that genes? Perhaps. More likely, it is the tradition of Christ’s Hospital that has filtered down the generations.

1 Some elusive ancestors I found were the Salter children in boarding school at census time

Mary’s visit caused me to review my research into my Salter ancestors. Charles Salter was at Christ’s Hospital at the time of the 1851 census. I have now found his missing siblings and cousins who weren’t home at census time. They were also away at school. Plotting their whereabouts on Google Maps gave a nice little snapshot of where they went.

10 A social media tool I enjoyed using for genealogy were closed Facebook groups

It’s sad that the potential of closed Facebook groups hasn’t captured more attention from family history researchers. Two closed Facebook groups I am enjoying are Amy Johnson Crow’s course 31 Days to Better Genealogy (for the second years) and the Genealogical Society of Victoria’s one for their GSV Writers Circle.
The planning I did in 2016 has set up 2017 with just four simple goals. Now to polish each those goals into smart genealogy goals.
I wonder how different my Geneameme 2017 will be?