Don't forget Rootschat!

I've titled this 'Don't forget Rootschat', because that is exactly what I did. Rootschat (www.rootschat.com) is an online genealogy based discussion forum, covering the various countries in Britain and Ireland, and has a vast wealth of expertise.

I made a huge DNA discovery a couple of nights ago which looks like it could break a longstanding brick wall of mine from Northern Ireland (concerning my Watton family from Coleraine). Whilst Googling for additional material to support this discovery an old thread that I subscribed to many years ago about the family on Rootschat popped up, so I posted a short status update. Today I received an incredibly useful follow up, with another member suggesting a book and a resource back home that might assist further. I have now bought the book, and hope to pursue the resource when I can get a chance to visit.

There are many discussion forums online that can equally help, but Rootschat has always been one of the best. I'm looking forward to spending a few more hours on its over the next few days!

Chris

Pre-order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) for just £11.99 at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. Details of my genealogical research service are available at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

New Glasgow themed genealogy discussion forum

I've been informed via Twitter about a new genealogy discussion forum being developed for the west of Scotland, called Glasgow Genes, which is available at http://wosgenealogy.boards.net.

The site is very embryonic, and is not yet live, but in time may build up to be a useful resource. If you have Glasgow connections, it might be worth keeping an eye on its development.

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 1912-1923, Discover 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.

TalkingScot discussion forum

I've not been on the site in a few years, but I have just noticed that the TalkingScot discussion forum is still going strong online at www.talkingscot.com.

It has various useful threads discussing Scottish genealogical subjects and more, and I believe it is still free to access.

If you have never visited, why not pop in and have a look?!

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 1912-1923, Discover 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.

Rootsweb temporarily down

The Rootsweb website (www.rootsweb.ancestry.com), including  all of the mailing lists that it facilitates, is closed temporarily, with the homepage showing the following:

"We're currently experiencing a temporary website outage due to Rootsweb hardware failure. Rest assured, our development and web operations teams are busy working to securely restore the site as quickly as possible. Our initial expectation is to have the site back up and running on or around March 15, 2016. We apologize for the disruption and thank-you for your patience. We will provide other updates here as we have them."

(With thanks to Louise Gibson from Burnie, Tasmania, for letting me know)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover 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. My Pinterest account is at https://www.pinterest.com/chrismpaton/.

New Your Family Tree magazine website

After a recent change of ownership, Your Family Tree (Your Family History overseas) magazine now has a new dedicated website online at www.yourfamilytreemag.co.uk.

Access to the magazine's online forum is currently not available via the site though this should hopefully become available again within the next few days.

YFT 157 will be out on June 9th , and will include an article by yours truly on the ScotlandsPeople Center in Edinburgh.

(With thanks to Your Family Tree via Facebook)

Chris

The latest British GENES podcast is available at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/podcasts.html. For details on my latest book Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, and my other genealogy guide books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Scottish Genealogy Club forum launches

A new discussion forum has been set up for Scottish family history called the Scottish Genealogy Club, located at http://scottishgenealogyclub.org.uk.

It is totally free to join, and simply requires registration, though some paid for look up services are available (the site does describe itself as not for profit). The site's aims are at http://scottishgenealogyclub.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3

Other forums dedicated to Scottish ancestral research include Talking Scot (www.talkingscot.com), ScotFamTree (http://scotfamtree.b1.jcink.com) and the Scottish component of Rootschat (www.rootschat.co.uk).

(With thanks to the SGC)

Chris

Now available for UK research is the new second edition of the best selling Tracing Your Family History on the Internet: A Guide for Family Historians. And for those wishing to take Scottish ancestral research a bit further, my next Pharos course, Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Records, commences May 14th 2014.

FindmyPast to respond to Q&As on new site

Many subscribers to the new version of FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) have been up in arms over the recent changes imposed to the system - see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/new-findmypast-goes-down-like-lead.html.

Who Do You Think You Are magazine's Jon Bauckham has now announced on the magazine's forum that the results of a Q&A session with FindmyPast will be published fairly soon, hopefully by Monday. He is requesting that readers' questions be submitted to him as soon as possible on the forum at www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/forum/topic10499-20.html or by email to him directly via jon.bauckham @ immediate.co.uk.

(With thanks to Bob20002000 via email)

Chris

Time to find your inner Irish...! All the best online Irish genealogy resources can be found through my book Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet - in print and ebook formats. "Very useful, makes me wish I was Irish!" - Saint Patrick, patron saint.

Lost Cousins forum

The Lost Cousins website at www.lostcousins.com is developing a user forum for subscribers - full details are available in the latest newsletter at http://www.lostcousins.com/newsletters/newyear14news.htm.

UPDATE: Due to cancellations, there are also still two spaces available on the Genealogy in the Sunshine event in March, at which I will be one of the speakers - details in the newsletter!

(With thanks to Peter Calver)

Chris

My latest book, Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records, is now available from http://www.gould.com.au (print) and http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html (ebook), whilst Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet is available at http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-History-on-the-Internet/p/3889/.

WDYTYA Magazine forum app for iOS and Android

From Who Do You Think You Are Magazine:

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? MAGAZINE LAUNCHES FORUM APP

The meeting place for sharing and chatting about researching British family history

Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, Britain’s bestselling family history title, announces the launch of its WDYTYA Forum App that enables genealogy enthusiasts to use its popular online forum on the go.

Free to download and available now on both iOS and Android devices, WDYTYA Forum gives people instant access to hundreds of fellow genealogists, known affectionately by the magazine as ‘Genies’, who are on hand to assist others with their queries and help solve family history problems from photo identification to elusive ancestors. The app also offers a vibrant meeting place for members to discuss anything from episodes of Who Do You Think You Are? to the latest record release.

Sarah Williams, Editor of Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, commented: “Our forum is fast becoming the number one meeting place for those researching British family and now it’s even more accessible and easy to use. The collective knowledge of its members is a force to be reckoned with in family history.”

While the browser version of the Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine forum will continue to be available at www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/forum, logging in through the new app will offer members the added benefits of being able to receive notifications on the move, share photos straight from their device and make the most of a sleek and more user-friendly interface.

WDYTYA Forum is available now free on the App Store and Google Play.

(With thanks to Sarah Williams)

Chris

My latest book, Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records, is now available from http://www.gould.com.au (print) and http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html (ebook), whilst Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet is available at http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-History-on-the-Internet/p/3889/. My next Pharos Scottish course, Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs, starts Nov 13th - see http://pharostutors.com.

ScotFamTree launches SFT Families

The ScotFamTree discussion forum has announced that it is has launched its SFT Families facility, which allows you to upload your family tree file (in Gedcom format) to the SFT forum. The SFT Families facility is open to subscribers only. All uploaded trees are fully searchable.

I've had my eye off the ball with SFT for a wee bit as it previously had some issues with the platform on which it was hosted, but this all seems to be resolved now and the site is once again back up and running in full flow at http://scotfamtree.b1.jcink.com.

(With thanks to Evelyn at SFT)

Chris

My latest book, Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records, is now available from http://www.gould.com.au (print) and http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html (ebook), whilst Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet is available at http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-History-on-the-Internet/p/3889/. My next Pharos Scottish course, Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs, starts Nov 13th - see http://pharostutors.com.

Top Dog genealogy discussion forum

I've had a note from Guy Etchells alerting me to a new discussion forum, that may be of interest to readers. It is called Top Dog (Tracing Our Past Discovering Our Genes) and available at www.genealogy-specialists.com.

UPDATE: I have had an update from Jan Pearson on the project: "...we are hoping to go live either later today or tomorrow. Once we do, people will be more than welcome to register and use the forum for free".

(With thanks to Guy and Jan)

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...!

ScotFamTree March offer

The ScotFamTree forum is offering all members free access to look-ups from its resources throughout March, no matter which tier of membership has been signed up to, including Tier One (free membership). From the forum:

All Mad March Tier One members are entitled to 4 specific enquiries per person throughout the month of March......but please feel free to use all available look ups on the site

The forum itself is accessible at http://scotfamtree.b1.jcink.com - further details on how to subscribe are available at www.thesft.moonfruit.com.

(With thanks to Evelyn at SFT)

Chris

Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit  http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.

November's Lost Cousins newsletter

The latest edition of Peter Calver's Lost Cousins is now online at www.lostcousins.com/newsletters/midnov12news.htm and carries an assortment of articles on various topics of interest.

One piece of news that caught my eye was that the National Archives at Kew is trialling a new online forum called the National Archives Online Community (http://community.nationalarchives.gov.uk/), which will apparently be going beyond its current test phase and opening up to the public from early next year.

(With thanks to Peter)

Chris

Having a Christmas present crisis?! Check out my range of genealogy books at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html - perfect for the family historian's Christmas stocking...!

Talking Scot forum back up

The Scottish family history discussion forum Talking Scot is back up and running at www.talkingscot.com following a couple of months of serious disruption. The site has now moved to a new server, so normal service should now be resumed.

Chris

British GENES on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES and Twitter @chrismpaton

Scotland's Greatest Story research service www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk and www.facebook.com/ScottishGenealogyResearch

Talking Scot forum down?

The Talking Scot discussion forum at www.talkingscot.com appears to have been down for the last few days, although some pages on the main website are still accessible (Societies, Sources, Libraries, Registrar, Census).

In the meantime, if you're stuck for somewhere to have some Scottish genealogical banter, other forums including strong Scottish content are the new version of ScotFamTree (www.scotfamtree.org.uk) and Rootschat (www.rootschat.com).

If I hear any more on TS, I'll let you know.

UPDATE (30 JAN): Managed to have a quick look at the forum yesterday, but it seems to be down again. I was able to read that users were finding the issue to be intermittent, but the moderators are working on it.

Chris

ScotFamTree returns

The ScotFamTree forum, Scotland's friendliest family tree forum, had a bit of a rough time in recent months in trying to relocate to a new site address. The good news is that it is now back up and running at full steam at www.scotfamtree.org.uk and one of its members, Pamela McGowan, has put together a wee video to explain a bit more about what the site can offer.

ScotFamTree describes itself as a forum - I tend to think of it more as an online based family history society, which has meetings drawing members to Scotland from across the world twice a year. I had the great pleasure last year of actually giving a talk at its AGM in Perth, and there is a winter meeting coming up soon on February 4th. If you have Scottish interests, you'll find friendliness, humour and complete irreverance there in equal amounts, or as I like to say in my native Norn Irish - it's great craic!  Over to Pam....


(With thanks to Pam) 

Chris