Thursday 30 May 2013

The Great Parchment Book site now live

Thanks to Iain McCulloch (@sempaiscuba) for a tip off that the Great Parchment Book website is now live.

Last year I blogged a story about a project involving an extraordinary holding of the London Metropolitan Archives which was being conserved and digitised. The document in question was the Great Parchment Book of 1633, a survey compiled in 1639 by a Commission instituted under the Great Seal by Charles I , which lists many of the British planters who colonised Ulster, particularly around Derry and Coleraine, in the early 17th century (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/derry-parchment-book-conservation.html).

The Great Parchment site is now live at http://greatparchmentbook.org and can be searched for names, places and occupations of those involved. I've had a brief look so far, and it looks like there's a lot to get stuck into. The following fascinating video on the book's conservation helps to give a flavour of the offering:



The transcription work is ongoing, so keep returning to it for updates, but so far, it's a job well done - have fun!

Chris

My new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, is now available from Pen and Sword. My next Pharos Scottish course, Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers, starts May 15th - see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/scotland-1750-1850-beyond-oprs-starts.html. Time to smash a few brick walls...!

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