Hi everyone!
It's time to get to know another one of our wonderful WikiTreers. This week's member is Fiona McMichael.
Fiona became a Wiki Genealogist in July 2016. She is a key member of the New Zealand Project and it's new membership coordinator.
When and how did you get interested in family history?
Visiting my grandmother regularly as a child sparked my interest in family history. She had a huge, hand-coloured photograph of her grandmother, and her father's All Black cap in the hall cupboard. She told stories about her other grandparents and their hardships as early New Zealand settlers. My father, too, was a great storyteller. He was a Scot and an ancestor had been Covenanter martyr in the Scottish borders in the 1680s.(Unfortunately, I have not added that branch to the tree as the actual connections have been lost.)
What is your genealogical research focus?
My focus is mainly New Zealand genealogy. I will look for sources in the United Kingdom, but anything pre-1841 can be quite difficult to verify with names like King, Edwards and Grey. My own family is complete, so I branched sideways. New Zealand settlers were quite small in number and records are reasonably good. My memory for names often allows me to backtrack connecting up different branches. Surprisingly, my humble farmers were linked to some of New Zealand's early movers and shakers. Now, I tend to work on the New Zealand maintenance categories, ending up down rabbit holes - but that's the fun.
Do you have a favorite brick wall breakthrough story?
My most satisfying brick wall was https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gray-30113. He "disappeared" from English records after the 1851 census. While working on a completely unrelated family in the NZ settlement where my great great grandmother had emigrated, "William Grey" was mentioned in a marriage. Months later, I discovered a headstone in Wiltshire where coincidentally William's death by drowning was engraved. Unfortunately, the NZ records I would expect to see - a death certificate, a factual newspaper article, a will, a coroner's inquest - do not exist. It was not until I sighted his daughter's marriage certificate, that I could be sure I had the right William Grey. It changed the whole family narrative about how my gg grandmother ended up in New Zealand.
Which projects are you involved in?
The only project I belong to is the New Zealand Project. I see WikiTree as the perfect place to build a database of New Zealand family history because we are all so interconnected - for me 12-20 degrees. I've recently been appointed as Project Co-ordinator for membership, and I see my role as trying to keep people involved and contributing. The development of the Discord Kiwi Crew server established by the other PC, Campbell Braddock, who runs our challenge team, has been instrumental in members developing real connections so we can help each other out, both with research and dealing with the technicalities of the WikiTree interface.
How can others help the New Zealand Project?
The New Zealand Project has some committed volunteers. While there is always a need for profile creators and sourcers, our real need is for more active people with expertise in Māori whakapapa and tikanga.
What inspires you to contribute so much of yourself to WikiTree's mission?
My immediate family are not terribly interested in family history.
WikiTree gives me the opportunity to share the results of something I enjoy doing with a wider audience. I love getting emails from distant family members giving me extra little snippets of information.
What is your favorite feature or function on WikiTree?
I'm really enjoying using the new Tree Apps despite not being super-computer savvy. While I initially thought the CC7 idea was a bit of a gimmick, I do appreciate seeing the numbers go up. The next improvement would be a weekly list of the details of those profiles.
Do you have any tips for someone who wants to get more involved in our community?
Find a project which interests you and join the Discord chat. You'll get to know fellow WikiTreers who may provide instant feedback and answers to questions. Be open to learn more and be prepared to give things a go even if you think they are out of your comfort zone. There will always be someone to ask.
