In search of my Prussian great grandfather

Video of the presentation by Peter Brinkworth from the 2018 German-Australian History and Heritage Conference in Adelaide.
There are three options for this product:

1) Video Rental Only

2) Video Rental and PDF ebook to keep

3) PDF ebook to keep

A presentation on the process used to discover the life and times of the presenter's great grandfather (Ernst Siekmann) who came to South Australia in 1853. He was not aware of his existence until 1978 when a brief description of his life was published in a book of my (Brinkworth) family history. There were some obvious errors, and in 1980 Peter began to investigate Ernst's origins. It was not until 2002, when Peter had retired, that he began his quest to discover who Ernst was. That quest took Peter to libraries and archives both in Australia and in Germany, and led him to contact and visit living relatives in Germany. The release of that wonderful resource Trove finally opened the floodgates of information about Ernst's life, culminating in the writing of a prize-winning book about Ernst's life and times.

About the Speaker

Peter Brinkworth formally retired from Flinders University in 2002 after a career as a teacher and lecturer in mathematics and curriculum studies. Since then he has developed an interest in family and pioneer history, and has undertaken research into his ancestry, resulting in the publication of three books. Currently he is a member of the Pioneers Association of SA Inc., and Editor of its journal "The Pioneer". He is also an active member of the German Heritage Research Group, which focusses on the history of Germans in (South) Australia.