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Surveying Success: The Hume Family in Colonial Queensland

Dr Hilary Davies launched her book Surveying Success: The Hume Family in Colonial Queensland at the Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying on 19 November 2011. This case study of middle-class social mobility in colonial Queensland is an in-depth biography of an important Queensland family and reveals the workings of colonial society against the economic and political backdrop of the late 19th century.

After serving in the merchant marine with the P&O Line, Walter Hume migrated to Queensland from England in 1862 to train as a surveyor. Soon he was joined by his widowed mother and four siblings, then in 1866 by his fiancée, Katie Fowler. The varying fortunes of each family member reveal how personality, background and the social, economic and political conditions in the colony determined their success. Walter and Katie Hume coped with isolation from family and the deaths of five infants while working to establish their financial future, secure promotions for Walter and create a place for themselves among the colonial elite. They attained the ideal middle-class family life with Walter’s career success providing sufficient income to educate their children overseas, reside in elite homes and engage in genteel and philanthropic pastimes. In 1901, following almost four decades of service in the Department of Public Lands, Walter returned to England with his family and commenced travelling widely. They visited family and friends from India to Argentina, returning once more to Queensland in 1907 where they noted many changes since federation.

Copies are available via the Brisbane History Group website http://www.brisbanehistory.asn.au/bhgpub.html for $35 plus postage or through Boolarong Press @ www.boolarongpress.com.au

My email is: moc.lleszo@sucofniyrotsih

The Heritage Talks : Preserving Surveying History

The Heritage Talks :  Preserving Surveying HistoryWednesday  9 November 2011 ,  10 am - 11:30 amProfessor Bill Kitson, Emeritus Curator, will talk about how the Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying came to be. Free, morning tea included. Bookings are essential for catering purposes  please email museum.pinerivers@moretonbay.qld.gov.au<mailto:museum.pinerivers@moretonbay.qld.gov.au&gt; or phone (07) 3285 7213.

This will be the final Heritage Talk for 2011 - please keep an eye out for our exciting Heritage Talks program for 2012!

The Heritage Talks: An Early Pastoral History of Moreton Bay

Moreton Bay's resident walking encyclopaedia of local history,

Leith Barter, returns to talk about the early settlers and land owners of the area.

Morning tea included. Bookings are essential for catering purposes.

Date: 14 September 2011

Time: 10.00am - 11.30am

Location Pine Rivers Heritage Museum - Old Petrie Town, Dayboro Road, Whiteside
Cost: Free
Contact: Marie Trebilco
Pine Rivers Heritage Museum
Ph: (07) 3285 7213
museum.pinerivers@moretonbay.qld.gov.au link opens email message

Using Land Records for Family History Research Workshop

As part of Family History Month Kaye Nardella from the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management will be hosting a presentation at Arana Hills Library on the various land records and maps held by the department that may be useful for all family historians.Dates / TimesArana Hills Library, 29 August 2011, 10.00am - 11.00amCost noneBookings - Bookings for this event are required.Contact Arana Hills Library(07) 3351 3401AranaHills.library@moretonbay.qld.gov.au 

Irish Landed Estates Court Rentals 1850-1885

Landed Estates Court Rentals 1850-1885

Stuck with your Irish research? Try the Landed Estates records on Find My Past Ireland.

The Landed Estates Court “Rentals” are an important source for Irish family history, as they provide extensive information about land occupation in the mid-nineteenth century, often including information back to the 18th century. They were printed to facilitate the sale of bankrupt estates and include information about tenants, the lots they rented, the terms of their tenancy, as well as a map specifying the boundaries. More than 500,000 tenants are recorded in these documents dealing with more than 8,000 estates throughout the country.

By the mid 19th Century many of the large Irish estates were in serious financial difficulty. Land owners found themselves legally obliged to pay out annuities and charges on their land, mainly to pay mortgages or ‘portions’ to family members contracted by marriage settlements and/or wills of previous generations. All of these payments had to be met, before the owner/ occupier could take an income from their estate.

Read more about these records on the www.findmypast.ie site.