57. Hiatus & what it helped me to deal with (inc. vent of frustrations).
The past couple of years, I've been in quite the hiatus, as stories ran sort of quiet.
I sat on a couple of (ok, a few) projects, that's been quite the "ongoing" story or is now the case of "never ending"??
Though I have just come back from a trip to Adelaide, South Australia that has reinvigorated my mind again.
With the view of searching for a "instinctive story", I went to Adelaide, looking to see if there were communications between 2 cousins. This story was just a pure "gut feeling", with a story on why my lineage didn't become an "Adelaidean" so to speak.
I was looking for historical connections to 2 Colonial Families (Newenham's & Pitman's) & as I sit here now, I found more than I bargained for, because I found another family story to Kapunda with the Blood family (which wasn't known till 2 weeks after the trip).
I sat on a couple of (ok, a few) projects, that's been quite the "ongoing" story or is now the case of "never ending"??
Though I have just come back from a trip to Adelaide, South Australia that has reinvigorated my mind again.
With the view of searching for a "instinctive story", I went to Adelaide, looking to see if there were communications between 2 cousins. This story was just a pure "gut feeling", with a story on why my lineage didn't become an "Adelaidean" so to speak.
I was looking for historical connections to 2 Colonial Families (Newenham's & Pitman's) & as I sit here now, I found more than I bargained for, because I found another family story to Kapunda with the Blood family (which wasn't known till 2 weeks after the trip).
This Adelaide trip was absolutely instrumental to understanding my distant lineages mindset, it answered my question (about communication between 2 Cousins) in the most mind boggling way.
It wasn't directly answered, I had to put it together & read between lines. Just after the trip, 1 document I found in the Cork Archives - dated in 1824 that was sent from Dublin to France, unbelievably validated the trip. Family notes I have that were written in Australia - that is roughly dated to 1867, said the exact same thing, but with a twist of "cousinage". Family names mentioned in both documents validate that they knew each other & were talking together through "Cousin Networks" (The old "I know a Cousin who knows a Cousin" trick).
But that's for another blog entry later.
So the hiatus, was from lot of research that went nowhere. It just was not giving me results, only similar or even duplicated results. Became quite frustrating, where I wholly knew technology & people were there to help, but I wasn't progressing past what I knew.
The Washington Letter story has taken me on quite the path of history - from an American POV & it's Australian tragic tale. I want to document it's hidden story, because there is one.
But it a harsh reality has taught me something very, very harsh, in where I wasn't sure whether to continue the project or just stop it completely. Why? Because I couldn't get anyone interested in it.
I tried scholar's who were very well versed in this historical field, I tried local & overseas History Professors, I tried TV stations. All failed.
I watched the Ken Burn TV Series of the American Revolution & I bought books to understand, only 1 small but very important part of this story.
I learnt quite the harsh reality, it was only my project & mine alone.
I am not an acclaimed writer, I never went to get a diploma in writing or journalism, never took part in University degree's, never went to lectures on how to document history.
And yet, I can come up a blog documenting history to some finite details that nobody else knows.
I realised that I didn't have that "secret handshake" to becoming a historical writer. You know, those letters after your surname that apparently means something.
Everytime, I went to contact someone of knowledge & gave specific details of interest, I got ghosted (no reply). This was all the way from US historical persons, to local historians near me.
To even prove a theory, I contacted an academic person, who wrote a historical piece on a known artistic person, she even gave a lecture with presenting this information. This document, was of great importance to me & is under lock & key in a University Library, where it can only be accessed by persons with "academic" interests - that is not in the eye of "Plebs".
I am not an acclaimed writer, I never went to get a diploma in writing or journalism, never took part in University degree's, never went to lectures on how to document history.
And yet, I can come up a blog documenting history to some finite details that nobody else knows.
I realised that I didn't have that "secret handshake" to becoming a historical writer. You know, those letters after your surname that apparently means something.
Everytime, I went to contact someone of knowledge & gave specific details of interest, I got ghosted (no reply). This was all the way from US historical persons, to local historians near me.
To even prove a theory, I contacted an academic person, who wrote a historical piece on a known artistic person, she even gave a lecture with presenting this information. This document, was of great importance to me & is under lock & key in a University Library, where it can only be accessed by persons with "academic" interests - that is not in the eye of "Plebs".
Because I am not of the "academic" mind & didn't have letters after my name, the reply was not forthcoming, even a mere "you have to join this society or perform a certain function to get access", which was a thought not even entered into.
Now as I look back on it, the turning point of this "secret handshake", the above is true still, but as I went to visit my multiple cousin Michael Collins Persse, it took a couple of visits to get him acquainted with me - why I was there - what was the purpose of the meeting etc etc.
I still remember vividly, the very moment this barrier of the "secret handshake" dropped.
As we were talking, I showed Michael a photo of my Mother & Michael immediately stopped conversing (you could of heard a pin drop). Michael's "mouth hit the floor" - so to speak. He couldn't believe what he was seeing in a photograph. I didn't fully understand this moment until well after this visit. From that point on, Michael opened his arms to me & involved me into his life.
Why did Michael involve me? What was this photograph of, that made Michael immediately stop?
Now as I look back on it, the turning point of this "secret handshake", the above is true still, but as I went to visit my multiple cousin Michael Collins Persse, it took a couple of visits to get him acquainted with me - why I was there - what was the purpose of the meeting etc etc.
I still remember vividly, the very moment this barrier of the "secret handshake" dropped.
As we were talking, I showed Michael a photo of my Mother & Michael immediately stopped conversing (you could of heard a pin drop). Michael's "mouth hit the floor" - so to speak. He couldn't believe what he was seeing in a photograph. I didn't fully understand this moment until well after this visit. From that point on, Michael opened his arms to me & involved me into his life.
Why did Michael involve me? What was this photograph of, that made Michael immediately stop?
Quite simply, 1 person of historical significance & a close cousin to Michael.
It was none other than : Lady Gregory (Augusta Persse).
It was none other than : Lady Gregory (Augusta Persse).
Michael, had seen a newer version of "Lady Gregory" in the photograph of my Mother.
This is what stopped Michael in conversation. He couldn't believe it.
I'll let you be the judge (this was not the photo of what I showed Michael, but has the same effect).
This is what stopped Michael in conversation. He couldn't believe it.
I'll let you be the judge (this was not the photo of what I showed Michael, but has the same effect).
This was my initial success to learning the problems of the "secret handshake" into the historical realm.
