On his mother’s side he is researching his great, great,
great grandfather Thomas Griffiths who was sailing schooners out of Hobart
between 1839 and 1850 before being lost at sea, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean
sailing to San Francisco.
He spent 18 years preparing maps and building databases for
the NSW Office of Water and was involved in a family company selling GIS
(Geographic Information Systems) software, as well as providing consulting and
training services.
He has also been a user of the Historical Land Records Viewer (HLRV) since 1999 and is now using it to research historical land records to enhance family research.
It became evident that this Spatial knowledge could be used
in genealogical research. Using maps and investigating areas of historical
geography would enhance family stories by finding information beyond names and
dates. He has used many alternate sources to determine the locations where his
ancestors were born and lived.
Jeff also has an interest in digitising records and images
due to the large photographic collection left by his wife’s maternal grandfather who was
a professional photographer with a studio at Ashfield. He left a legacy of
glass negatives, photo albums, celluloid negatives, diaries and 16mm movies.
This collection is now being digitised.
He has lived at Gymea Bay for the last 56 years with his
wife Roberta. He is a Fellow of the Society of Australian Genealogists and a member of Botany Bay Family History Society and Newcastle Family History Society.
Many are the changes
in technology in that time.