Mossie's Musings

Purpose  If you find a NSW birth, marriage or death record listed on Ancestry , you can purchase a transcript by a direct link to  Marilyn Rowan's NSW Transcription Service . I purchase transcripts this way as they cost less and you receive them quickly. The current price is $17.50 and I generally receive the transcript within three to five business days as the process is more automated.  NSW birth, marriage and death registrations When your search for a NSW birth, marriage or death produces a result on Ancestry as shown in the first image, select View Record to see the second image. You can purchase the record by selecting Order Record . The first time, you'll see this message which will take you to the portal for NSW Transcription Service. So the request for the transcript has been added to the cart. At this point, you can either choose to continue searching or checkout . Checkout will take you to this screen when you will create an account or log in to your existing ...

These notes accompany my presentation for Hawkesbury Family on 8 March 2023.  Others are welcome to use these notes for their personal research. Please contact me at chrisw9953[at]gmail[dot]com for  other uses.  My aim is to encourage all participants to use both traditional research and DNA evidence so we don't miss any "vital" evidence. In 2023, genetic genealogy is an essential part of our family history toolbox. You can register for "First Look at AncestryDNA" which I'll be presenting by Zoom for the Society of Australian Genealogists at 7.00pm on Tuesday 28 March  HERE. Genetic genealogy has exploded since 2015:- AncestryDNA has become the leading testing company since it entered the Australian market in 2015. Currently, over 80% of Australians test at AncestryDNA and 25% of these people test or transfer to other testing sites and GEDmatch.  My HeritageDNA is the second most popular testing site.  There's been more than a 700% increase in testers in...

Update August 2025 - Upload to MyHeritage no longer available. As this is the site where most Australians will get the second largest number of matches, I would suggest testing there prior to testing at 23andMe when you have exhausted your AncestryDNA research. Australians are taking commercial DNA tests to- find biological parent/parents, solve family mysteries generally who's my great-grandfather to great-great-grandfather, verify their genetic pedigree (and often finding it's not the same as their social pedigree) and establish ethnicity. Louise Coakley (aka "genie1") is an Australian genetic genealogist with an excellent website.  You can read about genetic genealogy  HERE. Testing at any of the major commercial DNA companies gives useful ethnicity estimates.   However, if you're testing for any other reason, my first step would be to take an autosomal test.  Often called cousinship tests, you'll get matches across all your ancestral line.   They're of...

Below are the links to blogposts you can read to follow up on the content of our session on 20 November 2022:- First Look at AncestryDNA  - this includes the activities covered in the session DNA testing strategy for Australians Let's talk tree terminology How your DNA can help identify human remains and solve cold cases You can read my approach to "grouping"  HERE  and  HERE.  Click  HERE  to watch a 30 minute video I've recorded on the Leeds Method and my "twisted" Leeds Method. You can register for another great DNA session presented by the Society of Australian Genealogists at 7.30pm on Thursday 24 November 2022  HERE. Read about Nathan Dylan Goodwin's books  HERE. You can read more about my great-great-grandmother, Jane Feeney,  HERE.

Below are the links to blogposts you can read to follow up on the content of our session on 6 November 2022:- First Look at AncestryDNA  - this includes the activities covered in the session DNA testing strategy for Australians Let's talk tree terminology How your DNA can help identify human remains and solve cold cases You can read my approach to "grouping"  HERE  and  HERE.  Click  HERE  to watch a 30 minute video I've recorded on the Leeds Method and my "twisted" Leeds Method. You can register for another great DNA session presented by the Society of Australian Genealogists at 7.30pm on Thursday 24 November 2022  HERE. Read about Nathan Dylan Goodwin's books  HERE. You can read more about my great-great-grandmother, Jane Feeney,  HERE.

Below is a case study for participants in the Society of Australian Genealogists AncestryDNA 2021 and 2022 Follow Up meetings in October 2022 . Please contact me at chrisw9953[at]gmail[dot]com for  other uses.  How is Hilary related to three siblings? Please be prepared to discuss this case study- What are the possible relationships between Hilary and the three siblings? Do we have enough evidence to support these possible relationships "beyond reasonable doubt"? What actions would you recommend to Hilary and the three siblings to gather more evidence? What do we know? Hilary was born in 1959 in London, England. She was adopted in the same year.  Hilary has tested at AncestryDNA to find her biological father. Hilary has DNA matches with three siblings -  Sibling 1 - 237cM, Sibling 2 - 181cM, Sibling 3 - 102cM. From her AncestryDNA matches, Hilary knows she's related to the three siblings on her paternal line.  From their AncestryDNA matches, the siblings kn...

Below are the links to blogposts you can read to follow up on the content of our session on 21 September 2022:- First Look at AncestryDNA  - this includes the activities covered in the session DNA testing strategy for Australians Let's talk tree terminology How your DNA can help identify human remains and solve cold cases You can read my approach to "grouping"  HERE  and  HERE.  Click  HERE  to watch a 30 minute video I've recorded on the Leeds Method and my "twisted" Leeds Method. You can register for another great DNA session presented by the Society of Australian Genealogists at 7.30pm on Thursday 24 November 2022  HERE.