G2G: Quest for Great-Grandparents: Australia Edition

Question

The series that started with "Can you help connect a Delaware Governor?" has been wildly successful, linking up a bunch of unconnected branches in jig time. However, it may be time to take a slightly different approach, for a couple of reasons:

First, when I made a suggestion that we could do with some more variety in our Relationship Finder Quick Links page, Chris said that it was a good idea, but the thing is that that page uses the Relationship Finder. So unless somebody is a cousin of the person they're checking (at least, as far as has been mapped out on WikiTree), they're not going to find a relationship. (Granted, people do have the choice of using the Connection Finder if the Relationship Finder doesn't get a hit, but the primary search is the Relationship Finder.) Therefore, it's not really enough if a notable is connected to the main tree through a long and meandering trail of connections. Chris believes that, for a list to be useful on that page, each person on it needs to have at least one line going back as far as their great-grandparents. 

Second, many people find trying to connect people to the main tree too hard a task to attempt. With roughly 3,300 people born since 1 AD for every profile on WikiTree, they find the odds of trying to link up a branch to the main tree simply too daunting. But this challenge may be less daunting: finding, sourcing, and creating profiles for the ancestors of a particular person, going back only three generations.

For the first attempt at this sort of a challenge, I have chosen former Prime Ministers of Australia. All of the people on this list (except for one) are already connected to the main tree, but most of them do not have a full set of great-grandparents listed on WikiTree.

For those former Prime Ministers who don't already have 8 great-grandparents listed on WikiTree (or have "Unknown" people listed within 3 generations), your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is to seek out, source, and add profiles for as many missing great-grandparents as you can find. As you add a new great-grandparent, please post a message here, so we can keep track of how we're doing.

Name	Connected?	Great-Grandparents on WikiTree	Working On
Edmund Barton	Yes	2
Alfred Deakin	Yes	6
Chris Watson	Yes	0
George Reid	Yes	6
Andrew Fisher	Yes	6
Joseph Cook	Yes	2
Billy Hughes	Yes	4
Stanley Bruce	Yes	7
James Scullin	Yes	0
Joseph Lyons	Yes	4	Al Orton
Earle Page	Yes	6
Robert Menzies	Yes	8
Arthur Fadden	Yes	4
John Curtin	Yes	6
Frank Forde	Yes!!!	1	Virginia Miltrup
Ben Chifley	Yes	6
Harold Holt	Yes	8
John McEwen	Yes	6
John Gorton	Yes	8
William McMahon	Yes	6
Gough Whitlam	Yes	8
Malcolm Fraser	Yes	8

If you can add sources, photos, or biographies, add siblings, children, aunts, uncles, etc., or improve the profiles of these former Prime Ministers or their family members in other ways, so much the better!

P.P.S. If this challenge intrigues you, and you think you might like to try your hand at connecting unconnected branches, there are threads for that, too:

• Can you help connect a space traveller?
• Can you help connect a Rhode Island Governor?
• Can you help connect a Connecticut Governor?
• Can you help connect a goodie maker?

Comments

I thank all of you who have been working on this challenge. I just checked and updated the numbers for the great-grandparents on WikiTree, and they have definitely gone up. We now have at least one great-grandparent listed for all but two former Prime Ministers. Good on ya!

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Update: This challenge is not actually complete yet, but the wonderful people who have been taking part have managed to connect and find at least one great-grandparent for enough people that we have been able to add a list of Australian Prime Ministers to the Relationship Finder Quick Links page. WikiTreers rock!

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Is this correct for the parents of Scullin's wife

https://www.geni.com/people/Michael-McNamara/6000000028032370379

Answer 1

I've picked up the Frank Forde connection challenge.  Wish me luck.  Made it to grandparent level, now on to the great grandparents

Comments

Good on ya!

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Thank you for adding Frank Forde's great-grandfather, Virginia. (More great-grandparents would be better, of course, but once we get him connected, he'll be set to be included in a Relationship Finder list.)

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Pleased to report we have connected Francis Forde to the main Wikitree through his sister https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Forde-411 who married Edward Caffery, but still only one great grandparent. The rest lost in the bogs of Ireland. John

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John, congratulations!  That is really great.  I agree, the bogs of Ireland were challenging!!

I can see how much work you put into this one.  Hoorah!

Virginia

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Thanks Virginia, I think I was adding to a profile you had added. There are lots of Aussie PMs with missing Irish ancestors if you want to add to any of the trees that Greg has built up.  John

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Thank you, John!

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Good to work alongside you both!  

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I have edited the tags on this thread to add "Ireland", in hopes of attracting the attention of people who have access to and experience with Irish sources.

Answer 2

I spent some months building up the families trees of all Australian Prime Ministers up to John Howard but this table shows how many I got stuck on. The Irish descent PMs are particularly hard.  John Cherry

Comments

Thank you for doing that, John. It was pretty clear to me that somebody had put a lot of work into Australian Prime Ministers. There are other countries (with larger populations than Australia) with few or no heads of state or heads of government that I could find profiles for on WikiTree. Compiling this list was a positive pleasure in comparison!

Answer 3

I will see if I can find out more about Joseph Lyons. No promises, I can but try.

Comments

Thank you, Al.

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Two more great-grandparents for Joseph Lyons push this challenge to 66.3% complete, which leaves it in third place. In terms of people left to find, it's in a three-way tie for third place, with 62.

Answer 4

I found an emigration record of Melbourne harbour to Otago, New Zealand, for a married couple Mnichin (birthname of Watson's mother) from 1863, but there was no unmarried person with them, so I don't think those were her parents. I link the record here, maybe someone else knows how to go on "Australia, Victoria, Outward Passenger Lists, 1852-1924," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2PW-3NVW : 17 March 2018), Minchin, born , emigrated 1863; citing series VPRS 948, Public Record Office Victoria, North Melbourne; FHL microfilm 284,492.

There is also an "Ireland, Petty Sessions Court Register" entry for Mnichin in 1864, but you need a Find My Past subscription to see the actual picture. "Ireland, Petty Sessions Court Registers, 1828-1912," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKST-GX52 : 10 April 2018), Minchin, Tipperary, Ireland; records extracted by Findmypast and images digitized by FamilySearch; citing Court, Tipperary, Ireland, The National Archives of Ireland, Dublin.

Answer 5

I added also some aunts and uncles to Edmund Barton. Even though that won't help to find his great-grandmother on the Barton line, it adds some profiles and gets possibilities to new connections.

Comments

Great initiative!

Answer 6

John Gorton now has all eight great grandparents.

Comments

Ah, yes. I should probably explain that, in my scoring, I don't count ancestors whose names (given name or last name at birth) are unknown. 

I was going to say, "Once somebody finds the Last Name At Birth for Emma Rose's mother, we can count her." But looking at her profile, I see that her name was Beswick, and the profile manager just needs to edit her Last Name At Birth.