Jan 13

Winter Holiday 2017

I received a promotional email from MSC Cruises a few weeks back with a very tempting offer - and at a bargain price: A 17 night repositioning cruise from Genoa, Italy to Dubai. It was just too good to pass up! Since the cruise departed in early December, I decided to add a few days in Switzerland beforehand, so the family could enjoy The Alps in winter and hopefully have some fun in the snow. So we flew to Zurich on Emirates then caught the train to Luzern where we stayed the first night. Read more [...]

Mar 24

Emigrants from Kreis Züllichau (Brandenburg)

For family historians with an interest in the Prussian district of Züllichau, Frankfurt (Oder), compiled below is a list of about 2,000 emigrants, sorted alphabetically by surname. I believe the source of the data was the book The Old Lutheran Emigration at the Middle of the 19th Century, by Wilhelm Iwan, published in 1943. My Henschke ancestors are about half-way down. The list may be downloaded here:  Download Emigrants List First Name Surname Age Occupation Place of Origin Destination Year Heinrich Abraham 34 Haeusler Niedewitz Sued-Australien 1857 Anna Read more [...]

Nov 19

Summer Holiday 2016

A visit to Australia and Tanzania via the scenic route Zawadi wanted to spend the summer holiday in Tanzania with Amani and Malaika this year. I was long overdue for a trip to Tanzania too, but I also wanted to go to Australia. Since Zawadi and the children left a week or so before my leave started and because I was in no particular hurry, I decided to take the scenic route to Australia then Tanzania. So I flew to Dubai with Fly Dubai and then Air Astana to Almaty, Kazakhstan. I've long wanted Read more [...]

Jun 04

Searcy Baptisms in Nottinghamshire

For anyone who's also researching SEARCY/SEARCEY ancestors from Nottinghamshire, below is a consolidated list of all the baptisms from 1682 onwards: Christian Father's Fathers' Mother's Mother's Date Parish Abode Profession Name Christian Surname Christian Surname Baptism / Name Name Born yyyy mm dd Mary James SEARCY Mary 1682 Read more [...]

Nov 01

A Visit to the Old Kakoschke Farm

A Visit to the Old Kakoschke Farm (or what's left of it anyway) 2015 marked the centenary of the death of the original Aussie Kakoschke - Johann Friedrich Wilhelm, better known as Jack. In September, my brother Lex and I had the opportunity to visit the ruins of the old Kakoschke family home, out on the plains in the Hundred of Lindley, near Morgan in South Australia. It's such desolate countryside. The only things that thrive are crows, saltbush and shingleback lizards. It's hard to imagine Read more [...]

Oct 23

European Vacation 2015

We had a very enjoyable trip to Europe this summer. The trip began with Swiss Airways flights to Milan and ended with flights home from Berlin on Swiss as well. And they were the only flights on the whole trip - all the rest of our travel was by train and cruise ship. (I'm not a fan of flying any more, so this suited me just fine.) After arriving in Milan we caught a Trenitalia train to Florence. Florence is a lovely city and we walked and walked until I had blisters, just soaking up the scenery. Read more [...]