Finding My Convict Ancestor
In Search of Orphan Annie
Continuing with the Magic of Sixteen theme, let me share something that still gives me goosebumps — we have a convict in the family! Yes, discovering a convict in your family tree is like striking genealogy gold! When I first uncovered the story of my great-great-grandmother Annie, I couldn't believe my luck. Here was this incredible piece of history right in my own family, and I knew I had to share it.
During the Covid-19 lockdowns, I dedicated time to finding out when and how Annie arrived in Australia. Did she swim? It was beginning to seem that way. Then I made an amazing discovery: not only did I have one convict in the family, but I had ‘two’! Actually, make that three! So, I wrote a book and shared it with my family and friends.
Fast forward to 2024, I wanted to turn these fascinating historical pieces into a story that would grab my family and friends' attention. That's where NotebookLM1 came in handy — an AI research assistant that helped me shape Annie's story into a podcast series.
Finding a convict ancestor is like striking genealogy gold - especially when that ancestor is a ten-year-old girl imprisoned for counterfeiting coins with her father. This isn't just any story; this is my great-grandmother Annie's story
The story follows Annie Greene, and trust me, her life was anything but boring. At just ten years old, she's thrown in prison with her father for making fake coins. Then her father gets shipped off to Van Diemen's Land (that's Tasmania nowadays), leaving Annie, her mother, and siblings behind in England.
But that's just the beginning. Annie and her sister Matilda ended up in a Tasmanian orphanage after their convicted mother was also sent to Australia.
This podcast is a snippet of what life was really like back then - the poverty, the crimes, the punishments, and how people kept going despite it all. It is based on my self-published book, "In Search of Orphan Annie" where I document everything I was able to find out about Annie's life.
Follow Annie's journey on my blog at jenealogyscrapbook.com and uncover the ups and downs of her incredible life. Sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes inspiring, but always real.
In Search of Orphan Annie by Jenny MacKay is not available for sale. I have created a pdf version, which I used for NotebookLM.
Note: AI can make mistakes. In the AI world, this is called hallucinate. In the podcast, there are some minor hallucinations, but on the whole it has done a great job of pulling the story from my 177 page PDF.
NotebookLM (Google 2023), https://notebooklm.google.com/
Convict family leaving England, AI-generated illustration, 6/11/2024, Created using FLUX1.1 [pro]
What a fantastic way to engage with a new audience about your Great Grandmother Annie's life.
"That's where NotebookLM1 came in handy — an AI research assistant that helped me shape Annie's story into a podcast series."
This is truly inspirational for an AI-generated podcast. I am amazed at how the tone of the voices matched the solemnity of the story. I am interested in the creation, customisation and editing process you followed and would love to interview you about that, as a podcast.
Annie and her family's story is a good read/listen. It is interesting to see how NotebookLM handled it.