The Courier-Mail (Australia) has an article by Patricia Karvelas, about the newly installed Indigenous Affairs Minister, Mal Brough, and the revelation that he has aboriginal ancestry. He discovered this after researching his family genealogy, and if his genealogy research holds up, it would make him the “first federal Aboriginal indigenous affairs minister”.
Excerpt:
“People who are interested in the family tree have looked back and they come to a stumbling block, they come to a stop point. That’s just the way it is.”
Mr Brough said this was a common experience for people around the world.
“This is a common experience for people regardless of their heritage because obviously records weren’t so good, and I guess people often try and look back to see where they came from.”
It doesn’t matter where you are from, or who you are descended from, it seems like genealogists the world over have the same basic problems – brick walls.