Belfast's Back To Our Past event - talks schedule

Back To Our Past will be going to Belfast on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th February 2018 - and I'm delighted to say that I will be giving a talk at the event, my first ever back home in Northern Ireland, so looking forward to it immensely! There are lots of great speakers attending over the two days, with the schedule now released and available online at www.backtoourpast.ie, where you can also book tickets and check out vendors in attendance (including a few chums crossing the water from Scotland!). Here's the programme:

Friday 16 February 2018

10.30 Getting Started with your Family Tree
Ann Robinson
North of Ireland Family History Society
Join us for a few pointers on how to start off your family history research. Learn about the unique and extensive resources of the North of Ireland Family History Society, its research library and how the society can help you make progress with your family tree.

11.30 Genealogical Resources at the Linen Hall Library
Samantha McCombe
Linen Hall Library
Samantha McCombe, Librarian of the Linen Hall Library, will give an overview of the Library’s Genealogy Collection which covers family histories, gravestone inscriptions, surname directories, memorial records, army lists, clergy records, and, unique to the Linen Hall, the Belfast News Letter’s Birth, Death and Marriage Index from 1737 –1863, and the Blackwood Pedigrees, over ninety volumes of handwritten family trees, compiled by Reginald Blackwood and indexed by surname. Together, these general and unique resources give researchers a number of fascinating ways to discover more about family history.

12.30 Digitised Church Records at PRONI
Liam O’Reilly
Public Records Office of Northern Ireland
This talk will highlight recently digitised church records which are available in the PRONI Search Room. It will show users how to navigate the catalogue, highlight the digital process, what is available and future plans.

13.30 Researching 18th Century Ancestors in Ulster
William Roulston
Ulster Historical Foundation
As anyone who has attempted to do so knows only too well, tracing one’s ancestors in Ulster prior to 1800 can be both challenging and frustrating. The aim of this talk is to highlight some of the available genealogical records of the 1700s. These include surviving church records, including the often overlooked administrative records relating to the different religious denominations in Ulster, records relating to the occupation of land, and records that may reveal whether we have an ancestor who took up arms in the 1798 Rebellion.

14.30 The Remarkable Sons of Killyleagh
Clive Scoular
Author
This small County Down village has produced many outstanding sons over the centuries - this will be an opportunity to hear the stories of their lives and the contributions they made - and are still making - to the world and society in general.

15.30 The 1718 migration to New England: perspectives from 2018
Linde Lunney
Royal Irish Academy
The talk will tell the story of the first group migration from the north of Ireland which actually got to the New World, at least, the first that we know about. But what do we know that our ancestors didn't know? And why is the 1718 story still important after 300 years?


Saturday 17 February 2018

10.30 Your Family Tree at PRONI – Getting Started
Janet Hancock
Public Records Office of Northern Ireland
This talk will explore key sources for starting your family history research at PRONI. Using real examples, it will talk you through some of the pitfalls and the strengths and weaknesses of PRONI’s archives.

11.30 Using Newspapers – a glimpse into the past
Catherine Morrow
Libraries NI
Come along and hear how newspapers can help you research your family. Discover how you can access old newspapers at a number of venues across Northern Ireland and learn how they can unveil details of your ancestors' lives.

12.30 Finding the Irish in Scotland
Chris Paton
Scotland’s Greatest Story research
From the vital records and censuses, to records of hardship and success, the impact of the Irish in Scotland has been well and truly documented. In his first talk in Northern Ireland, genealogist Chris Paton, originally from Carrickfergus but resident in Scotland for over twenty years, discusses how to look for Irish settlers across the water through a variety of resources available both online and offline.

13.30 Guide to Online Sources for tracing your Irish Ancestors
Brian Mitchell
Derry Genealogy Centre
This talk provides an overview of online sources to explore in tracing your Northern Irish roots.

14.30 Online PRONI Resources
Stephen Scarth
Public Records Office of Northern Ireland
This talk will highlight the major online resources that PRONI makes available via the web including wills, valuation revision books, street directories and PRONI’s new map viewer.

15.30 Scottish Sources for Genealogy and Family History
Stuart Coles
Association of Scottish Genealogists and Researchers in Archives
Designed for beginners, it will focus on how to use online resources for tracing Scottish ancestors and use illustrated case studies.

I'll hopefully see you there!

(With thanks to Martin McDowell)

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.