Monday 27 March 2017

TheGenealogist releases London educational records

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

TheGenealogist Launches Various London Educational Records

TheGenealogist has just released a batch of London school and university records to join its ever growing educational collection.

Researchers can use this new data to find ancestors who attended or taught at a variety of Educational establishments within London between 1831 and 1927. Also listed are the names of those who held high office in the institutions, such as the patrons; deans; visitors and professors, in the case of universities and the principles, masters and governors in the case of the schools.

This release covers the names of those who graduated from the University of London between 1836 and 1926 - while for King’s College London, it also provides a list of Fellows from 1847 to 1920, registered students for 1920-1921 and those awarded degrees in 1920 and 1921 as well as the prizes given at King’s.

With a number of school records, joining this London release, researchers can also find old boys who served in World War I. For example it is possible to track down men serving with the colours in the Great War in the case of the Old Wilsonians, as listed in The Wilsonian Magazine. For those Old Alleynians and Old Haberdashers, who perished in the war, their names and often a photograph are recorded in the First World War Roll of Honours for both Dulwich College and the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hampstead School.

The list of records included in this release are

● University of London Historical Record 1836-1926
● The Skylark Magazine from Haberdashers' Aske's Hampstead School 1918
● The Wilsonian Magazine April 1914-April 1919
● University College School, London Register 1831-1891
● Royal College Of Chemistry, Royal School Of Mines And Royal College Of Science Register Of Associates
● Record of Old Westminsters Vols 1 and 2 earliest times -1927
● King's College, London Calendar 1921-1922
● Dulwich College War Record 1914-1919

These records and more are available at TheGenealogist.co.uk

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Friday 24 March 2017

Forces War Records free tutorials

From Forces War Records (www.forces-war-records.co.uk):

Forces War Records – 5 FREE military genealogy tutorials are now online and available to download

With 10 million records covering over 300 years of conflict, and thousands of new records being added daily, there’s always something new to find on the site. But there’s so much more to gain from a visit to Forces War Records. The military and genealogy specialists have a wealth of knowledge and information to help anyone rese
arching their family tree, or with those with military queries.

These 5 free guides have been put together in-house and are free to all, perfect for complete beginners to advanced researchers:

1: Understanding your ancestor's record
All the details of your ancestor's record made easy

2: Breaking down brick walls
Renowned historian Simon Fowler gives his top 10 tips to get your family tree started

3: Trench Traumas & Medical Miracles
If your ancestor was wounded in WW1, this is what his medical journey would have been like

4: How to trace your POW ancestor
Want to know if your ancestor was taken a prisoner and what would have happened to him?

5: Quick guide to requesting WW2 records
Struggling to find your WW2 ancestor's record? Here's to get hold of them.

They can be downloaded here: https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/free-tutorials

(With thanks to Jennifer Holmes)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Strathclyde University appoints genealogy research fellow

A press announcement from the University of Strathclyde's Genelogical Studies Department (http://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/centreforlifelonglearning/genealogy/):

Honorary Research Fellow Appointed

Dr Iain McDonald has been appointed as Honorary Research Fellow in the Genealogical Studies Department, University of Strathclyde.

Iain comes originally from an Aberdonian family, and began his interest in genealogy 15 years ago, whilst trying to identify any family connection to the Lords of the Isles. Unfortunately, there was no connection, but the process led to an avid interest in Scottish genealogy, and the early history and movement of the Scottish people.

By day, Iain is an astrophysicist, working at the University of Manchester. By night, he has been using physical, statistical and mathematical techniques to develop tools, for both conventional and genetic genealogy.

His speciality is in estimating the dates of male-line (surname) relationships from commercial genetic tests, and using these to construct models of population movements between mainland Europe and the British Isles over the last 5000 years.

Tahitia McCabe, Course leader said: “we are delighted to have Iain on board and look forward to utilising his expertise and knowledge of the technical aspects of DNA testing as applied in genetic genealogy”.

For further information on our study pathways including an online 8-week Introduction to Genetic Genealogy course, please contact us at scosh@strath.ac.uk

(With thanks to Tahitia)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Saturday 11 March 2017

Holy Land tour and genealogy conference

Unlock the Past (www.unlockthepast.com.au) has announced a tour and conference in Israel, in partnership with MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com):

Adelaide, South Australia, 8 March 2017 – Unlock the Past announces another innovative event – a Holy Land tour and associated genealogy conference (Israel).


10-day Holy Land tour - 23 October – 1 November 2017
http://www.theisraeltours.com
This is organised in partnership with the Israel Travel Centre. It is a general Holy Land tour timed around, and taking in, the
31 October centenary commemoration of the Charge of the ANZAC Light Horse on Beersheba on 31 October 1917.

The general tour will visit many places of Christian/biblical interest, as well as later Christian and general history – Caesarea built by Herod the Great, the Sea of Galilee, Nazareth, Jerusalem (2 days and 2 nights), the Dead Sea, Masada (the last stronghold of the Jewish rebellion against the Romans) and Abrahams Well and Visitor Center, Beersheba ... and more.

The battle of Beersheba was part of the wider British offensive collectively known as the third Battle of Gaza. … The final phase of this all-day battle was the famous mounted charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade. Commencing at dusk, members of the brigade stormed through the Turkish defences and seized the strategic town of Beersheba. The capture of Beersheba enabled British Empire forces to break the Ottoman line near Gaza on 7 November and advance into Palestine – from the Australian War Memorial.

2-day genealogy conference – Tel Aviv 1-2 November 2017
This is separate from, but immediately follows the tour. Unlock the Past is organising this in association with Israeli based MyHeritage as conference sponsor and host. It will feature 12 main presentations on a variety of topics – British Isles, Europe, Jewish genealogy, DNA, War in Palestine and MyHeritage’s technologies for genealogy.

Presenters include Caroline Gurney (England), Daniel Horowitz (Israel) and Judy Russell (US) … and others yet to be announced.

Follow developments and discussion - on the tour/conference Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/1414447581955223/.

Unlock the Past
Unlock the Past was established in 2009. It is the event and publishing division of Gould Genealogy & History which has served family and local historians since 1976. It is a collaborative venture involving an international team of expert speakers, writers, organisations and commercial partners to promote history and genealogy through innovative major events and a new publishing brand. It also maintains general and events directories online.

MyHeritage – www.myheritage.com – is the fastest-growing destination for discovering, preserving and sharing family history. MyHeritage is available in 42 languages. Learn about content, technologies, and services at MyHeritage designed to help you discover new information about your family and to find previously unknown ancestors.

(With thanks to Alan Phillips)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Feb 21st 2017 - details at http://pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Middlesex tithe maps and quarter session records on TheGenealogist

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

TheGenealogist releases Quarter Session Records and Middlesex Colour Tithe Maps

TheGenealogist is adding to its Court & Criminal records by publishing online a new collection of Quarter Session rolls and books from Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Surrey and Middlesex covering dates from as far back as the 16th century and up to, in some cases, the Victorian period.

Also released at this time are the Middlesex Colour Tithe Maps to join the grayscale maps of the National Tithe records already available on TheGenealogist. This latest issue covers parishes in the County of Middlesex and will allow researchers to view the plots where their ancestors may have owned or occupied land at the time of the survey which took place at the start of Victoria’s reign.

The Quarter Session records were produced by local courts traditionally held at four set times each year. Being made up of two or more justices of the peace and presided over by a chairman, they sat with a jury at Epiphany (in January), Easter (March/April), Midsummer (June/July) and then at Michaelmas (September/October).

* Find the names of people before the courts that include those indicted, witnesses, as well as the names of the Justices of the Peace and the Clerks

* Some of the earliest records in this release reach as far back as 1549 for Middlesex and 1591 in Worcester

* Indictments can range across a wide number of offences. These include Larceny, Housebreaking, Assault and Riot, Running Unlicensed Alehouses, Receiving Rogues and Not Going to Church on Sunday

We may be amazed at some of the cases that came before the magistrates. One example we found was in 1613, before the Worcestershire Justices, where Margaret Lewys stole ‘an old towell’ at Feckenham. Other proceedings include one involving Daniel Steane who was fined 20s at a private session at Wolston, Warwickshire in 1631. His indictment was for ‘selling less than a full quart of his best ale for a penny’ - showing us that consumers, back then, were equally as concerned with short measures of alcohol as they are today.

Searching these new records, for your ancestors, may also find them appearing in the many Orders handed down by the JPs. These can include the names of people at the bottom rung of society who were in need of financial help from their communities. An example of such, from the Easter 1625 session in Warwickshire, is the case of Anne Harte of Hampton in Arden. Her husband having been ‘pressed for a soldier out of this county and have left her destitute of maintenance and one child’, the Justices of the Quarter Sessions made an order to the effect that Hampton in Arden pay her 4d weekly and find her work; plus, if she were to get sick, the parish officials were to pay her more ‘until this court take order to the contrary’.

Orders for the upkeep of illegitimate children can also be found in these records. In Michaelmas 1632, Katherine Singleton was to have ‘10s out of the treasury towards the keeping of a bastard child’ that had been left with her by a man who had promised to pay her to look after the child and had not returned.

From riotous Luddites to the gentry sitting on the bench, all echelons of society can be found in these fully searchable Quarter Session records for Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Surrey and Middlesex. To search these and the many other records, including the National Tithe Records on TheGenealogist, go to: www.thegenealogist.co.uk

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Feb 21st 2017 - details at http://pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.