The Story So Far

This blog should really have been started a couple of years ago, when I first got interested in my family history but, you know what they say... better late than never!! So, hopefully without boring you to tears, this post will try to BRIEFLY cover how I uncovered some of my early discoveries and what my trategy for the next few moths will be.

To set the scene I am researching all branches of my tree- an insane undertaking I know. Names I'm researching include HASKI, POPPEL, SLONIMKSI, DAVIS, SCHLOSSMAN, GREENBAUM, EIZENBERG, DIAMOND/ DIMANT, MANDELSHTAM, ROTHBAUM and CYPRES... in countries as diverse as EGYPT, TURKEY, LATVIA, LITHUANIA, POLAND, UKRAINE, ENGLAND and AUSTRALIA.

First and foremost I must thank Reike Nash and the good folk of the Australia Jewish Genealogy Society for getting me started on this amazing odyssey. Many years ago Reike posted my mother a chart of our Eizenberg family - my mother's maiden name. Reike had been researching them for several years as she was an Isenberg. To my amazement we were all from the same branch - a group of five brothers who had left Wyszkow in Poland in the 19th Century.

I also found a cache of letters from my great grandfather, Arthur DAVIS, to my great grandmother, Jane Sarah ROTHBAUM, written during their courtship and the early part of their marriage. I'm still transcribing them so you'll have to stay tuned for the full story but they certainly paint a vivid and intimate picture of their relationship.

So far, mainly using the wonders of the Internet and the wonderful work of other family members, I've managed to put together a fairly comprehensive tree going back, on my mothers side, to all my 2nd great grandparents and even 3rd great grandparents, Solomon & Harriett SCHLOSSMAN (read their story here: http://followingfadedfootprints.blogspot.com/2009/06/solomon-schlossman-hawker-miner.html) On my father's side it's a bit trickier as they have only been in Australia since 1948 and the Egyptian records are notoriously hard to access.

The main resources I'm using online are Ancestry.com, state and national archives, NSW and VIC BMD registers and the indispensable databases and messageboards of JewishGen.  I keep revisiting these resources, discovering more new references or recontextualising references I've already found. Also, the unbelievable guides and lists created by the legends at Avotaynu.

The State Library of NSW is also a great place to hang out - particularly the Mitchell wing. One of the best things I've found to date is a large hand coloured photograph of my John Davis and Solomon Schlossman - my 2nd and 3rd great grandfathers - with the large gold nugget the found in Rheloa (See the aforementioned link re Solomon)

Later this year I take this show on the road. I leave for the UK on August 15 and for three months will be traveling around Europe and the Middle East trying to find the faded footprints of my ancestors.

This blog will be used to note daily discoveries and process (some days I might not find anything!!) Please feel free to leave your comments, suggestions and tips. If you find a relatives name somewhere here leave me a comment and I'll get in touch. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I am.