Family Tree Maker England and Ireland tour

From Software MacKiev:

YOU ARE INVITED! UK+IRELAND TOUR

Family Tree Maker is heading to the UK and Ireland this week as we celebrate the arrival of our 30th Anniversary edition, FTM 2019, with two big events in four cities (Click here for an interactive map). The first stop is London for the RootsTech conference (Thursday - Saturday, Oct 24-26) where we'll be showing off new features and a sneak preview of updates on the way. And then three more stops for “insider” events in Belfast (Sunday, Oct 27), Cork (Monday, Oct 28) and Dublin (Tuesday, Oct 29). At each insider tour stop there will be THREE speakers (see list below), FREE conference totes, deep discounts on products, — and we'll be around after the presentations to chat and answer your questions. Hope to meet you along the way!

ROOTSTECH LONDON CONFERENCE

EVENT #1 – ROOTSTECH LONDON CONFERENCE (Thurs-Sat, Oct 24-26) — FREE
Join us for three days of ongoing presentations in our 24 seat stand theatre which is FREE and open to the general public. (See below how to get free RootsTech passes and reserve seats in our stand theatre.) In addition to an in-depth look at our new edition, there will be presentations by the creators of Family Book Creator (Stefan Harms) and Charting Companion (Pierre Clouthier). And of course a SHOW STORE with deep discounts on FTM 2019, Family Book Creator, Charting Companion and more.

STEP 1. Get FREE RootsTech entrance passes.
You can get FREE passes sent by email from RootsTech that will get you into the Exhibition Hall. Just click here.

STEP 2. New Option – Reserve a Seat.
You can reserve a Family Tree Maker theatre seat for certain times each day by clicking here
(and then clicking the red "Select a Date" button). Or just stop by our stand (#310) any time to join the next presentation.

RootsTech Exhibition Hall Hours
ExCel London Exhibition Centre
Thursday 9:45 AM – 7 PM
Friday 9:45 AM – 6 PM
Saturday 9:45 AM – 5 PM

EVENT #2 – UK+IRELAND TOUR – INSIDER SESSIONS (Sun-Tues, Oct 27-29)

Join us on the Emerald Isle as we continue our FTM 2019 Insiders Tour – right after RootsTech in London. We'll be visiting three cities: Belfast (Oct 27), Cork (Oct 28) and Dublin (Oct 29). At each insider tour stop there will be THREE speakers (see list below), FREE conference totes, deep discounts on products, — and we'll be around after the presentations to chat and answer your questions.
blue tote

FREE totes for all presentation attendees.

Advance Tickets Required. Most Insider Tour event tickets are FREE (paid by Family Tree Maker). After the free seats are filled, there will be additional tickets available for a small fee with all proceeds going to the co-sponsoring society as a donation. You do not need to be a member of the sponsoring society – all tour events are open to the general public.

How to get tickets. Click the link below for the session you want to attend:

BELFAST – Sunday, Oct 27
Park Avenue Hotel
Cranthorpe Suite 1
• Morning Session Click here. (10 AM - 12:30 PM)
• Afternoon Session Click here. (1:30 PM - 4 PM)

CORK – Monday, Oct 28
The Kingsley Hotel
Deane-Woodward Suite
• Evening Session Click here. (6 PM - 8:30 PM)

DUBLIN – Tuesday, Oct 29
Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
Helen Roe Lecture Room
• Morning Session Click here. (11 AM - 1:30 PM)
• Afternoon Session Click here. (2:30 PM - 5 PM)
• Evening Session Click here. (6 PM - 8:30 PM)

CONFERENCE SPECIAL PRICES – AT ALL EVENTS
Family Tree Maker 2019 will be on sale for up to 50% off its regular price. We'll also have discounts on Charting Companion 7 which will help you integrate your DNA test results into your family history research, and Family Book Creator which creates a professional quality printed family history book using your FTM tree.

SPEAKERS AND SESSIONS
All tour stops including the RootsTech conference will feature all three speakers and topics:

Mark Olsen (Family Tree Maker Ambassador)
Family Tree Maker 2019 - An In-depth Insiders View

Stefan Harms (Creator of Family Book Creator)
Making a Professional Quality Family History Book

Pierre Clouthier (Creator of Charting Companion)
Using DNA Test Results in Your Family History Research

(With thanks to Mark Olsen)

Chris

Order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. My next Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course starts 4 November 2019 - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

MyHeritage acquires Legacy Family Tree

Press release from MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com):

MyHeritage Acquires the Legacy Family Tree Software and Webinar Platform

TEL AVIV, Israel & SURPRISE, Arizona, August 3, 2017 — MyHeritage, the leading global destination for family history and DNA testing, announced today its acquisition of Millennia Corporation, makers of the popular genealogy desktop software Legacy Family Tree and genealogy webinar platform, Legacy Family Tree Webinars. This is MyHeritage's ninth acquisition to date.

With hundreds of thousands of devoted users since 1997, Legacy Family Tree consistently ranks among the top three most popular and highly rated genealogy software products in the industry. The Legacy Family Tree Webinar platform — which has amassed a large and dedicated fan base since 2010 — draws speakers who are leaders in their field and covers a wide variety of topics, including genealogical research methodology, DNA, and historical records, representing a full array of educational genealogy content.

MyHeritage, which has developed a world-class, global mobile and Web platform for family trees, historical records and DNA testing, used by more than 90 million users worldwide, will now offer its services to Legacy's users.

Legacy Family Tree will retain its full staff and continue developing its software and webinar platform, backed by MyHeritage's resources. Millennia Corporation and MyHeritage have started joint work on a new version of the Legacy Family Tree software — version 10 — which will include the optional capability to sync family trees to MyHeritage’s website and use the free MyHeritage mobile app to make remote updates to their family trees on the Legacy software. Legacy Family Tree version 9 has already integrated matching to MyHeritage's 40 million family trees and to its historical records collection — which surpassed 8 billion records this week.

Legacy Family Tree Webinars will continue to feature diverse and informative content, and will be promoted to the millions of MyHeritage users, to increase the webinars' audience. The webinar platform will also enjoy infrastructure upgrades to support increased concurrent viewership.

“We are very happy with the Legacy Family Tree acquisition as it gives us valuable assets that are highly complementary to our own, and a solid team.” said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “We look forward to providing Legacy's software and webinar platform with useful upgrades, and to welcoming Legacy’s huge user base of experienced genealogists to enhance their genealogical explorations through MyHeritage's services.”

“The more I’ve learned about and experimented with MyHeritage, the more I have felt we need to partner together,” said Geoff Rasmussen, founder of Legacy Family Tree Webinars. “The technology behind their online trees and historical records is incredible — second to none. MyHeritage has positioned itself to become the leader of the future of the genealogy industry and we can be a part of it. It’s the perfect match: our software and webinars combined with their resources, technologies, and international reach will help both of us accomplish our mission — to help the world find their ancestors.”

“I’m excited for us to join forces with MyHeritage,” said Dave Berdan, President of Millennia Corporation. “MyHeritage clearly cares for genealogists and continues to invest in desktop genealogy software, in contrast to one of its major rivals that has done the opposite, shutting down its desktop genealogy software and then selling it off. As we’re passionate about genealogy, our team is happy to have found in MyHeritage kindred spirits and we’re excited about the value that we can create together to benefit millions of genealogists worldwide.”

(With thanks to Daniel Horowitz)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. 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.

Plant a Family Tree software released

I've received the following press release from Miavy Systems:

Miavy Systems has announced the launch of its online family tree builder - Plant a Family Tree (https://www.plantafamilytree.com)

Miavy Systems is the developer of the existing My Family Tree app for Mac OS, and is looking to expand their offerings of genealogical software with this web based online family tree builder.

The Plant a Family Tree builder is targeted towards users looking for a simple and fun editor which is not over-complicated by the in-depth record keeping features which are standard with other genealogical software.

The tool is ideal for beginner genealogists and parents looking to get their children involved in researching and building a beautiful family tree.

The online builder is available free of charge to all users.

Paid accounts are also available at $4.99 monthly for users who wish to store their family trees online to continue editing them later.

Company Bio

Miavy Systems
Founded: 2010
Developer of several apps for Mac OS including "My Family Tree"

Contact:
support@miavy.com
abdulqadir@miavy.com

(With thanks to Abdulqadir Rashik)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102.
For details on my Scottish & Irish genealogy guide books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.
For my genealogy research service, please visit http://www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk.

Family Tree Maker news update

A news update from Software MacKiev on genealogy software package Family Tree Maker:

WHAT'S HAPPENING TO FTM AT THE END OF THE YEAR?

As it gets closer to the end of 2016, we're understandably hearing this question a lot. In large part that's because it was initially announced that FTM would only be supported through the end of December 2016. But that was a million years ago back in December 2015 when it was also announced that brand wouldn't continue at all. All that changed 7 weeks later on February 2nd of this year — the day Ancestry announced that they'd decided after all to sell this wonderful old brand to us. And that together we would be building on what Ancestry had started, including creating a new sync technology together.

So relax. TreeSync® will not stop working at the stroke of midnight this December 31st. And though it will be retired at some point in the not too distant future, before that happens, there will be new syncing technology available to replace it. It's already well into development and we will be starting outside beta testing before the end of the year. And that means syncing as we know it for FTM is going to live on into 2017 and beyond. So if you've been worried about what happens at the end of the year, well you can just stop worrying. Syncing, Search, and Shaky Leaf hints are all here to stay.

WHEN THE BEST CHARTS IN THE WORLD ARE NOT ENOUGH

Family Tree Maker users know that FTM already has the most extensive collection of charts of any leading family history software. But if even that leaves you wanting more, a new plug-in, Charting Companion, provides six unique chart types not found in FTM, including the Descendant Fan (a combination of descendant and family tree fan charts), plus a great collection of embellishments and lots of special print options.

Charting Companion is only the second “plug-in” ever written for Family Tree Maker (the other being Stefan Harms' excellent Family Book Creator). That means you can access Charting Companion from Family Tree Maker menus and it will work directly with your tree files as though it were part of the program. And for a limited time you can get Charting Companion from our new FTM Gift Collection for just £24.95 (regularly £28) by visiting http://www.mackiev.com/store/ftm/offers/gifts/intern.html?edition=uk. Enjoy!

WHAT ABOUT THOSE FREE UPDATES?

When we happily adopted FTM earlier this year, we set out to create free updates that we could wholeheartedly recommend to all current users of FTM 2014 and Mac 3. That work is still in progress, but if you'd like to get your hands on a copy and you're OK with a near-final build, then you can have one any time. Even right now. Just head on over to our Replacement Center (see Getting a Replacement Copy, below).

So, should you get the latest build right now then? Well, it depends. The improvements are mostly in stability and performance. So if FTM is crashing or has slowed to a crawl with large trees, then have at it. Same if waiting is driving you crazy, or you usually download interim updates anyway. But if, like most users, your copy is working just fine, we still suggest waiting for the final build. To be notified as soon as the updates are ready, make sure to sign up for the mailing list at www.familytreemaker.com. For more info on the updates see “Free Updates Coming Soon” below.

JUST THE BEGINNING

We are having the time of our lives in our new role as publisher of this most beloved of family history brands, and we couldn't be more excited about what's coming next. To make sure you are the first on your block to get the latest Family Tree Maker news, sign up for the FTM Mailing List at www.familytreemaker.com. And stay tuned. This is just the beginning.


Jack Minsky
President
Software MacKiev

(With thanks to Software MacKiev via email)

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.

Family Tree Maker flash drive offer

Oh this isn't fair. I don't need this, but I want it - confound you Software Mackiev!!!

FTM appears in a flash!

Let's face it – fewer and fewer computers have disc drives these days. So we've created a distinctive alternative to DVD's for you. Our new 4GB FTM flash drive, made of natural wood, comes with a copy of the latest FTM installer on it. For those moving files between computers we've also included 2GB of storage space and our FTM Moving Kit that provides everything you need to open any FTM tree file ever created – all the way back to files from version 1.0 that came on floppy discs in 1989. The flash drive costs £15 plus £4.95 shipping (so £19.95 total). If you already have FTM 2014 or Mac 3 and you'd like an FTM flash drive to call your own, just visit the Replacement Center (see below) to order.

The Replacement Center is open.

We get requests just about every day from FTM users for replacement copies. Sometimes it's because they've had a hard drive crash and need to reinstall. Or they're just moving to a new computer and have lost their installation disc. Whatever the reason, our new Replacement Center is there to help. It's entirely online and open 24/7 so FTM 2014 and Mac 3 users can get a new link emailed to them day or night, 365 days a year. Without having to beg. Or even explain why they want it. And isn't that really how it ought to work anyway?


Getting to the Replacement Center

1. Go to support.familytreemaker.com
2. Click "for additional assistance" at the bottom of the page.
3. Click the Replacement Center tile.

(With thanks to Software Mackiev via email)

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.

RootsMagic software adds FindmyPast search option

From FindmyPast (www.findmypast.com):

Findmypast helps RootsMagic customers discover more using new feature
Salt Lake City, Utah: 05 April 2016

Family history website, Findmypast, has today announced the start of an important new partnership with leading genealogy desktop software publisher, RootsMagic.

As a result, Findmypast’s vast collection of US, UK, and Irish data has been connected with RootsMagic software, allowing customers to automatically search more than 8 billion historical records.

Names and dates stored in RootsMagic trees will be matched against Findmypast’s databases to directly link customers to relevant records, enabling them to easily expand their research and open up new lines of discovery. Once a potential match has been identified, customers will be notified by a RootsMagic WebHint™ which will direct the user to the Findmypast website.

Automatic record matching is already a popular feature of Findmypast’s Family Tree builder and has made the process of finding historical records for ancestors considerably quicker and easier. Their tree software automatically sifts through billions of birth, baptism, marriage, divorce, death, burial, and census records to provide researchers with new clues, information, and even potential new relatives through a series of on screen icons known as “leads”.

Findmypast’s heritage and rich record collections coupled with RootsMagic’s sophisticated technology will make for a powerful combination, providing customers with new and improved ways of unlocking the fascinating stories within their family. Automatic record matching is already a popular feature of Findmypast’s online family tree and has made the process of finding historical records for ancestors considerably quicker and easier.

Customers already using RootsMagic 7 can easily download the update for free by checking for updates via the RootsMagic main menu or can download the update from RootsMagic.com. New customers and those currently using an earlier version than 7, can try RootsMagic Essentials for free and purchase the upgrade at any time.

The update allows them to build their tree using the RootsMagic software while having access to Findmypast records and searches.

Commenting, Ben Bennett, Executive Vice-President North America and International for Findmypast said:

“We are thrilled to partner with RootsMagic and look forward to the many discoveries that their customers will make using Findmypast’s new record leads. Not only will customers be able to access our best in class records from England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland, but, they will also benefit from our ever expanding US and Canadian collection. It’s partnerships like this that bring together the best software, expertise, and records that are essential to helping more customers discover more about their relatives.”

Michl Booth, Vice President of Rootsmagic, said:

“One of the most exciting new features of RootsMagic 7 is our amazing WebHints and we are excited to add Findmypast’s tremendous library of UK, Irish, and US data in our latest update. With more than 1000 exclusive collections and new additions released every week, Findmypast has records that you just won’t find anywhere else. Personally, almost all of my ancestral lines go back to England and Scotland. So Findmypast’s 1 billion records from the British Isles are especially valuable to me. Having access to these fantastic records from inside of RootsMagic opens up a whole new world of research for our customers.”

The announcement marks the latest step in Findmypast’s drive to put innovation at the center of its business and follows on from the announcement of a raft of global partnerships with leading technology providers, such as Family Historian, Twile and Puzzilla and many others designed to offer customers an easy and engaging family history experience.

(With thanks to Alex Cox)

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/.

My trip to Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2016

Apologies for the lateness of this post, and indeed the lack of posts over the last few days, caused by a combination of full on election campaigning and preparation for a 2 week lecture tour to Vancouver starting this coming Saturday!

Because things are so busy I hadn't originally intended to visit Birmingham this year at all, but I decided at the last moment that that just wasn't good enough! The compromise was a hit and run raid on WDYTYA? Live (www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.com) for one day only, travelling down on the Thursday afternoon and returning to Scotland late Friday evening. Once again, the new venue was a hit with regards to my travel plans, as my train arrived quite literally beside the venue, with my hotel just a 5 minute walk away.

I spent most of Friday walking around and speaking to vendors to try to determine what was new and of potential interest (the only real exception being with the DNA side of things), and also did an impromptu hour on the Pharos Tutors stand (www.pharostutors.com), to help promote our courses. This was the first year in a while where I have not helped out on the Ask the Experts stall or given any lectures, and the first where I did not officially work on a stall, so it was a novel experience to have gone in as a member of the public. I have to say though - and I'm not sure if my different viewpoint was the reason - but I actually felt that this year's show was a bit 'flat'. By this I mean that there seemed to be little by way of any 'oomph' or 'razzle-dazzle' to the proceedings - no major themes (e.g. no 1939 tea-room) from any of the main vendors, no major names in lights for the celebrity talks, and to be honest, not even much by way of ground-breaking major releases. I left on the Friday night thinking that a day there was certainly more than enough. Unofficially I was told that there is now a new management team in place, and if so, I think someone perhaps needs to inform them of the Who Do You Think You Are? part of Who Do You Think You Are? Live - it did used to run off the back of a quite well known family history TV show of the same name. For the first time out of nine times of having attended the event, I just didn't feel that love...

Nevertheless, I did glean some news from the vendors in attendance. Jane Taubman was at work on the Family Historian stand, and told me that version 6.2 is now available, with one major new addition, the ability to search for matches within FindmyPast's website (similar to the shaky leaf matches between Ancestry and Family Tree Maker). I think that might be the first software programme to do this with FMP, so could be useful.

On the Irish front I bumped into Brian Donovan from Eneclann, who told me to keep an eye out for three major releases this year concerning Decade of Centenaries records, one of them coming fairly imminently. He also told me about Eneclann's new Irish Family History Centre venture being established in Dublin as a one-stop spot for tourists to have a go at looking for their roots - there is more on this at www.irishfamilyhistorycentre.com. I also caught up with the North of Ireland Family History Society (www.nifhs.org), who were releasing their latest guide book on research in Derry, so a must purchase item for me, as that's where my great grandfather's family were from!

Ireland was well represented at the event, but disappointingly the only Scottish vendors I saw in attendance were the two universities, although I did bump into some fellow genies. One major revelation on the further education front was an organisation I'd never heard of, something that really surprised me because it has been up and running since 1998. The Family and Community Historical Research Society, or FACHRS for short (www.fachrs.com), was previously affiliated to the Open University, but now operates as a society in its own right, producing an academic journal and running various crowd-sourced research projects through its membership. They seemed very clued up and certainly more at the academic end of the scale, which I was fascinated to hear about - do have a look at their website! They also have a new project book coming out shortly, The British Almshouse: New Perspectives on Philanthropy, edited by Nigel Goose, Helen Caffrey and Anne Langley, which will be £12 and some 400 pages - keep an eye on their website for details.

I also met the Famicity team (www.famicity.com), a French company that has been running for a few years now, and which promises to 'preserve your legacy for the future generation' through a collaborative family tree and timeline hosting site, as a new 'memory keeper'. Having seen a few companies like this come and go I have become somewhat sceptical of digital estate sites (I'm thinking of sites such as Arcalife that came and went in the blink of an eye), and so I did ask the lads on the stall why their offering was any different? The answer, it transpires, is in the people backing the site, they have some serious investment from key players in some fairly major corporations, so this one is certainly a site that is worth keeping an eye on. These guys gave me the impression that it might just happen with them, so I wished them the best of luck with it in the UK.

Possibly the biggest records release announcement was that of the Greenwich naval pension records from FindmyPast (www.findmypast.com), and the renewal of a partnership agreement with the English based Federation of Family History Societies (www.ffhs.org.uk). I did ask a few folk who attended the FMP dinner on Thursday night what was potentially on offer from the company in the near future, and the consensus was 'small beer' by the sounds of it - a few archive collections here and there, but no big mega release seemingly on the cards. Is the 1921 census going to be the next big offering?

On the magazines front I met the new owner of Family Tree magazine, which has now been acquired by Warner Publications. By coincidence, on the magazine's bookstore I met Rachel Bellerby, who I have been sending articles to for over 4 years for a column I write for History Scotland magazine, which is also owned by Warner - when worlds collide! Andrew Chapman was also doing sterling stuff on the Discover Your Ancestors (www.discoveryourancestors.co.uk) bookazine stand, the 5th annual edition now being available for sale at all good retailers.

Finally, I also caught up with Laurence Harris from My Heritage (www.myheritage.com), who gave me an update on the site. One of the newest developments is that they will be using their SmartSearch technology to now do searches within Google Books, as well as through various newspaper collections. Laurence gave me a quick demo, with which I was highly impressed. MyHeritage has been one of those sites for a long time that seemed to offer everything other than what I was needing, but some recent developments have caught my eye (e.g. the Irish censuses can be searched through the site now). I had a bit of a play with the site at the weekend after I returned, and also quite like the look of their charting options and products, so will be keeping a closer eye on its future development than perhaps I have in the past.

So that was it for another year - just a quick glimpse this time! - but here are a few more snaps...

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/.

Family Historian version 6.1 now available

From Calico Pie:

Family Historian 6.1 has been released - the biggest free upgrade for 10 years

LONDON - February 24th, 2016. Calico Pie today announced the release of Family Historian 6.1 – a free upgrade for version 6 users, and the largest free upgrade of the program for more than 10 years.

“There are a number of themes in this release”, explained Calico Pie’s CEO Simon Orde. “Much of it is responding to a long list of requests from our users for detailed improvements of varying kinds. We know that often it’s the small things that make all the difference in terms of usability and we’ve worked hard on getting the details right. But there are some great new features too, like the new Snapshot Manager. We’ve also had genealogists coming to Family Historian from other programs, asking for specific things they need – and we’ve responded to many of these requests too. That means not just improved import, although that is a big part of it, but also feature enhancements. For example, we’ve improved sentence-generation for narrative reports in response to requests from users of The Master Genealogist. We also improved handling of source citation media – primarily in response to requests from Family Tree Maker users. You could see it as a sort of cross-fertilisation, as new users bring influences from other programs. We see that as a very positive thing, and one that has benefitted the program as a whole.”

What's New in 6.1

For full details of new features and enhancements, please see http://www.family-historian.co.uk/features/whats-new-in-version-6-1.

Summary of New & Improved Features

• A new feature called Smart GEDCOM Loading has been added, which delivers big improvements in GEDCOM imports – especially from Family Tree Maker and Ancestry GEDCOM files. The same feature can even be used to recover hidden data in existing Family Historian projects that were previously created by imports from Family Tree Maker or Ancestry.
• Improvements to direct import from The Master Genealogist and Genbox.
• Much improved support for Source Citation media.
• Numerous enhancements to support for witnesses (‘shared events’), including the ability to have multiple roles for witnesses and principals, and to effectively have ‘no-principal’ or ‘multi-principal’ events.
• Improved support for generating sentences in narrative reports.
• You can now add source citations for parent-child relationships (birth or adoptive), as well as spouse relationships.
• Tool to automatically find, and fix links to, missing pictures and other media files.
• A new tool that can automatically take and store daily snapshots of your entire data file, so that you can easily revert to an earlier version if you need to (this is in addition to full multi-level undo/redo within each session). By default, only the 8 most recent snapshots are kept, to ensure that space taken by snapshots never becomes excessive.
• Improved compatibility with companion products, including the option to save Family Historian data files in the popular UTF-8 format.
• And much more…
• How to Upgrade to 6.1

All version 6.0 users are recommended to upgrade to 6.1. To do so, click Check for Updates on the Help menu, when running Family Historian, and follow the instructions. Alternatively, the upgrade can be downloaded from http://www.family-historian.co.uk/downloads/latest-free-upgrade.


To Learn More...

For an overview of the program, why not take the tour – at http://www.family-historian.co.uk/tour.

Family Historian has won numerous awards and accolades from reviewers – see http://www.family-historian.co.uk/reviews to learn more.

Purchase Information

Version 6.1 is free for version 6 users only. Version 6 is available for purchase as a download or boxed. There are also lower-priced upgrade options for version 5 and version 4 users. Please see http://www.family-historian.co.uk/store for purchase options.

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/.

TreeView genealogy software released for PC and Mac

The following press release comes from S&N Genealogy Supplies, concerning its TreeView software package (www.TreeView.co.uk):

Revolutionary new multi-platform Family Tree software for PC and Mac

Market leaders in the family history retail sector S&N Genealogy Supplies have just announced the release of TreeView - a new family history software package designed for Windows and Mac. TreeView is the only software available that supports Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, with access to premium genealogical records and all for just £39.95!

TreeView has been designed by family historians to fill the gap for a powerful, intuitive and feature packed family tree program that is easy to use from the outset. TreeView stores your family tree on your computer with the option to easily sync your tree with TreeView.co.uk and TheGenealogist.co.uk. There is also a free iOS and Android app allowing you to keep your family history at your fingertips! Privacy options for your online tree allows you to retain complete control over your research.

Powerful Features
● Access your data wherever you are by syncing your tree between the software and all of your mobile devices at the click of a button.
● Navigate your family tree using a variety of different views including pedigree, family, ancestors, descendants, hourglass, fan and even a full tree view.
● Create beautiful charts and detailed reports in seconds
● Easily add details of your ancestors by attaching facts, notes, images, addresses, sources and citations.
● View your entire tree on screen, or zoom in to a single ancestor.
● Quickly discover how different people in your family tree are related using the relationship calculator.
● Identify anomalies in your data with the problem finder.
● Map out your ancestors lives - use the map view to track your ancestors’ life events across the world.
● Import or export your family tree using the GEDCOM standard.


TreeView has received praise from both genealogy reviewers and users:

● Chris Paton, professional genealogist, writer and blogger:
○ “One of the most versatile family history software products now available”
○ “Navigating around TreeView is extremely straightforward”

● Nick Peers, genealogy writer and blogger:
○ “It keeps your research file in sync with the web via TheGenealogist hosted tree, as well as your iPad, iPhone or Android device”

Users:
● “I am so impressed with Treeview, I will be using it for my own research, it is so easy and user friendly, and has all the facilities you could wish for.”
● “A comprehensive multi-platform package that keeps your tree backed up online with stunningly versatile charts and reports.”
● “It’s quick to load and speedy in use”
● “I particularly like the mapping facility”

TreeView allows you to create beautiful charts with a variety of ways to present your family tree. Choose from a range of drag and drop charting options and decide which facts to display. Charts include: Ancestors; Descendants; Fan; Circle; Full Tree; Hourglass and Pedigree. The software allows you to personalise your charts by adding photographs and customising the background with an image or a colour of your choice.

You can also create detailed reports in TreeView, including Individual, Family and Narrative reports. These can either be printed or exported as a PDF or RTF file (a cross-platform document that can be opened by most word processors) for further editing.

TreeView is a powerful easy to use family tree program that comes with a host of useful features including charts, reports and maps. You can sync to the cloud and your mobile devices whilst also having the ability to work offline when you have no internet connection. TreeView’s privacy options allow you to keep full control of your data when storing your tree in the cloud, for extra peace of mind.

There are three versions of TreeView available:

● Free Edition - Includes essential features, with no limits on the number of individuals or the amount of data you can add
● Basic Edition (Download only, £24.95) - Adds support for:
○ Charting
○ Reporting
● Premium Edition (CD & DVD, £39.95) - Includes all features of TreeView Basic, plus:
○ 4 Month Diamond Subscription to TheGenealogist.co.uk (Worth £59.95!)
○ Printed Quick Start Guide
○ Cassell's Gazetteer of Great Britain & Ireland 1893 (Worth £16.95!)
○ Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography (Worth £16.95!)
○ English, Welsh & Scottish Landowners 1873 (Worth £36.90!)
○ Irish Landowners 1876 (Worth £12.95!)

Go to www.TreeView.co.uk today and find out more.


COMMENT: I'm quoted there in the press release, as I recently wrote a review of the software for the forthcoming 2016 bookazine edition of Discover Your Ancestors, which should be out soon.

The TreeView programme has been available for a while as an online tool via www.TheGenealogist.co.uk, but with the new software edition it allows you to do the one thing that only Family Tree Maker has so far achieved, and that is to permit syncing between a hosted PC/Mac programme, tablet edition and online version of a tree with one click of a button. This is a feature that I wish many other software packages would adopt also, so major kudos to TheGenealogist team for achieving this.

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/.

Software Mackiev discusses Family Tree Maker plans

A huge thanks to Alona Tester from Gould Genealogy (www.gould.com.au) for flagging up a useful interview road-mapping the future direction of the Family Tree Maker software, which Ancestry has sold to Software MacKiev (https://www.mackiev.com), having decided to no longer support it itself.

At the recent American based Rootstech family history show, genealogy tech blogger Tamura Jones interviewed Jack Minsky, the president of Software MacKiev, to discuss his plans for the product. There are some useful insights in the discussion, one of which is that the syncing technology to Ancestry's trees will be getting a revamp in the near future, so I'm guessing that those with current editions of FTM 2014 may potentially have issues in the future. It is quite a detailed discussion (some of it a wee bit techy in parts), but nevertheless provides the clearest indications of what the company plans to do with the product, and when.

To read the interview visit www.tamurajones.net/NewFamilyTreeMakerFuture.xhtml.

(Original source: www.gouldgenealogy.com/2016/02/family-tree-maker-an-update/)

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/.

Panic over: Family Tree Maker lives

Ancestry (www.ancestry.com) announced on December 9th that it was to discontinue the highly popular Family Tree Maker software (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/rip-family-tree-maker.html). Three days later, in response to Ancestry's own comments responding to how users were taking the news, I stated the following in a subsequent blog post (http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/more-on-ancestrys-planned-cull-of.html):

I've read a lot of comments online from the genealogical commentariat suggesting that this was inevitable, and that this is the way the world is moving, but I've never really been a big fan of self-fulfilling prophecies i.e. it was always going to happen, so it's going to happen. I've seen the Terminator films enough times to know that the future is not set, there is no fate but that which we make, etc...! Ancestry believes it is in its interest to kill off the programme, but Ancestry is nothing without its subscribers. I'd be inclined to watch this space for a bit - there seems to be a lot of genuine anger out there. Is it really so necessary to alienate a huge chunk of that subscriber base on something that seems actually to be so unnecessary? One to watch...

Cue the latest news announcement from Ancestry (via http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/02/02/good-news-for-users-of-family-tree-maker/):

Since our Family Tree Maker announcement last December, we have continued to actively explore ways to develop and support Family Tree Maker and ensure you have choices to preserve your work in ways that matter to you.

Today, I am pleased to announce two options for desktop software that will work with Ancestry.

Software MacKiev
Software MacKiev, with whom we have a long-standing relationship, is acquiring the Family Tree Maker software line as publisher for both Mac and Windows versions. Software MacKiev has been the developer of Family Tree Maker for Mac for more than six years and is thrilled at the opportunity to publish future versions of Family Tree Maker for Mac and Windows.

This new agreement means you will receive software updates and new versions from Software MacKiev, and have the ability to purchase new versions of Family Tree Maker from Software MacKiev as they are released. You will have continued access to Ancestry Hints, Ancestry searches, and be able to save your tree on Ancestry with Family Tree Maker moving forward.

RootsMagic
We have made an agreement with RootsMagic, a leading genealogy desktop software program publisher, to connect Ancestry with the RootsMagic software by the end of 2016. With this new relationship, RootsMagic can serve as your desktop family tree software, while having access to Ancestry hints, Ancestry searches, and the ability to save your tree on Ancestry.

These new agreements will make it possible to preserve your work on Ancestry and Family Tree Maker, and enable future features and benefits to help you discover your family history. Be assured that Ancestry, in cooperation with Software MacKiev and RootsMagic, will continue to support you as you discover your family history.

We ask for your patience as we work diligently through all the details to make these solutions available. Be sure to check back here on our blog as we share more information about Family Tree Maker in the next few months.

For more information on Software MacKiev and RootsMagic, click below:

Software MacKiev: http://www.mackiev.com/
RootsMagic: http://www.rootsmagic.com/

So there we have it. Family Tree Maker lives. Panic over!

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released 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/.

Famberry releases new Family Tree Builder

From Famberry (www.famberry.com):

How building your family tree on Famberry could help you claim an inheritance

London, England (December 18th, 2015) Famberry (www.famberry.com), the private collaborative family tree builder, is pleased to announce the release of a new innovative Family Tree Builder with technology to help you claim an unknown inheritance. Building your photo family tree on Famberry has never been easier with new innovative controls, artistic themes that allow you to customize the look of your family tree and a whole host of other features, including; timelines, personal photo albums and messaging. With Famberry, building your family tree and preserving your family history is truly a family activity.

The new family tree builder gives members the chance to claim a real inheritance that could be worth millions. Each day we check your Famberry family tree against the UK unclaimed estates list and notify the relevant family member if we find indications that they may be entitled to an inheritance. Each inheritance could be monetary, possessions or property and could be worth thousands or millions of pounds.

The free new service is provided as part of complete re-write of the popular family tree builder, which also boasts an innovative family photo album, shared family organiser and a private family social network making it an ideal and cost effective place to preserve and share your family history.

“We have worked hard to innovate in the area of family tree building by talking to users to find out what really matters to them. We believe that our family tree builder is the simplest to grasp on the market.” said Steve Bardouille, co-founder of Famberry.

Famberry’s photo album functionality looks set to bring the family album into the 21st century. Not only can you store up to 2Gb (that’s thousands of photos) for free; your whole family can collaborate to collate and share their photo albums. Full browser screen display of your photo albums, photo swiping, photo tagging and drag and drop re-ordering of your photos means that you not only store your photos but more importantly you can share them with the people you care about automatically.

Not stopping there, Famberry’s flagship family social network has also been re-imaged to allow families to stay in contact with each other, without worrying about prying eyes. Family members can share messages, photos, videos and documents on their own completely private family social network.

Famberry’s free service has no restrictions on functionality and gives a generous 2Gb of photo space to start you storing your family history with your family. For those who want even more for their families, Famberry has introduced new upgrade options. Members can upgrade to a premium account to share up to 50Gb of space with their family and a whole host of additional features for only $7.99 a month or $77 for a yearly subscription. Professional family historians have the option to store up to 1Tb of photos and build unlimited client and personal family trees on Famberry for only $30.99 per month.

“If you have ever been given a family heirloom, you know how precious it is; full of history and significance. Famberry is your family’s digital heirloom, useful today, but even more precious in the future. Start capturing your family story together with your family today.”

About Famberry

Famberry, based in London, England was started in 2013 by families who were frustrated with the lack of privacy and controls on social networks and wanted a place that their family life could be documented, without being sold or shared with unknown third parties. With award winning customer service, Famberry lets you access your family tree, photos and keep in contact with your family anywhere that you have access to the Internet.

(With thanks to Steve Bardouille)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released 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/.

Free software and ebooks from MyHeritage

My Heritage (www.myheritage.com) has announced a couple of major developments worthy of note.

The first is that for those looking for an alternative to the soon to be culled Family Tree Maker software programme, which allows you to sync a tree held on your PC with that on a tablet, My Heritage's Family Tree Builder software actually does the same thing. Until today, it was possible to use the software for free, but only to upload a maximum of 250 people - now they have removed the limit, which effectively means you now have a package for free which does exactly the same thing that FTM did. As FTM's ability to sync with my iPad was the only reason I switched from Family Historian, this is worthy of some serious consideration, not least because it is actually a great programme, I've reviewed it a few times in the past and always liked it. Dick Eastman has the full story at http://blog.eogn.com/2015/12/11/a-special-offer-for-family-tree-maker-users-myheritage-is-offering-the-family-tree-builder-genealogy-program-for-windows-and-macintosh-plus-an-unlimited-size-family-site-for-free/. Dick fully admits that as MyHeritage sponsors his blog, he is biased on this - I'm not, but would totally support his comments, it really is a good programme!

Secondly, MyHeritage has launched a new free digitised book collection of some 150,000 out of copyright books, in a collection it calls Compilation of Published Sources. From what I can see, some of these are available from the Internet Archive and Google Books, but there does seem to be offerings there from other repositories also, so worth bookmarking. You will find the collection at https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-90100/compilation-of-published-sources, and also a short piece on the launch from the US based Family Tree magazine at http://blog.familytreemagazine.com/insider/2015/12/11/MyHeritageLaunchesNewFreeCollectionOfOldBooks.aspx.

(With thanks to Dick Eastman and US Family Tree magazine)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released 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/.

More on Ancestry's planned cull of Family Tree Maker

I think it is fair to say that mankind has not looked favourably on Ancestry's decision yesterday to kill off its highly popular Family Tree Maker programme (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/rip-family-tree-maker.html).

Ancestry (www.ancestry.com) has put out a follow-up blog post to answer some queries concerning its decision and some of the ramifications for current users - this is available at http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2015/12/09/more-information-on-family-tree-maker-desktop-software/

Here are its three key points:

1. We are fully committed to supporting Family Tree Maker through at least the end of 2016 with all available support from member services, including technical issues, product issues, updates and attention to the product. You will be able to use the software, exactly as you do now, including TreeSync, for at least the next year.

2. We are exploring possible relationships with other desktop software solutions that would make it possible for their products to integrate with Ancestry.

3. We are exploring options to bring more reports and related functionality from Family Tree Maker into the online service. Stay tuned for updates on this over the coming year.

Note the phrase at least the end of 2016. In a follow on comment it adds that Towards the end of 2016, we will assess our progress toward a smooth transition for our customers and review our support commitment at that time, and that After January 1, 2017, features that require connectivity to Ancestry, such as TreeSync, uploading and downloading trees and media, and Web Search, may no longer be supported (my emphasis). The company has at present committed to support the product at present for a further year, until January 1st 2017, but theoretically, if the response is so overwhelming that it becomes detrimental to Ancestry's relationship with its customer base, it may well extend that. Theoretically - but we can't really rely on that.

In another point, responding to the question What happens to the family tree I’ve created using Family Tree Maker? Will it continue to be accessible? it responds You will continue to be able to access your data through the desktop software beyond Jan. 1, 2017, however over time there will be a gradual degradation of features. You can always export your tree and save it.

The company has also confirmed that it is not planning to sell off Family Tree Maker.

I've read a lot of comments online from the genealogical commentariat suggesting that this was inevitable, and that this is the way the world is moving, but I've never really been a big fan of self-fulfilling prophecies i.e. it was always going to happen, so it's going to happen. I've seen the Terminator films enough times to know that the future is not set, there is no fate but that which we make, etc...! Ancestry believes it is in its interest to kill off the programme, but Ancestry is nothing without its subscribers. I'd be inclined to watch this space for a bit - there seems to be a lot of genuine anger out there. Is it really so necessary to alienate a huge chunk of that subscriber base on something that seems actually to be so unnecessary? One to watch...

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released 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/.

Family Historian software - 20% discount offer

The Family Historian folk at Calico Pie have sent me details of the following offer for anyone who wishes to switch to its programme:

9th December, 2015 - Calico Pie today announced a 20% discount offer for Family Tree Maker users

Following the recent announcement by Ancestry that Family Tree Maker will be discontinued, Calico Pie has today offered a 20% discount off the price of download licences for Family Historian 6, to users of Family Tree Maker. The offer is open until the end of January 2016.

Family Tree Maker users who wish to take advantage of this offer should visit http://www.family-historian.co.uk/ftm and follow the links. Calico Pie's CEO, Simon Orde, has promised a warm welcome to Family Tree Maker users looking for a new home. "We're getting a lot of enquiries from Family Tree Maker users. We've put up a Frequently Asked Questions page for FTM users. We encourage everyone to download the Family Historian trial and try it out for themselves. If you have questions we encourage you to join the Family Historian User Group website and post them there. All the information and links you need are on the http://www.family-historian.co.uk/ftm page, or the FAQ page linked to it."

Family Historian is a powerful, desktop genealogy program for Windows. It has frequently come first in group comparison tests of top genealogy programs, including emerging as the group test winner in the last two comparisons tests performed by Which? Computing, the prestigious consumer magazine. It has won a Top Rated Genealogy Software award every year for the last four years from GenSoftReviews. It recently won an award from Your Family Tree magazine in a review that heaped praise on the program, concluding: "The crown for best PC software belongs to Family Historian 6 for 2015!".

Family Historian 6 runs on Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7 or Vista.


COMMENT: It's a great programme which I have previously used (and which is still installed on my laptop) - highly recommended. Note that you can download a trial version from the site for consideration.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released 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/.

RIP Family Tree Maker

Ancestry (www.ancestry.com) has announced the forthcoming unnecessary demise of its popular Family Tree Maker software package:

Dear Family Tree Maker™ community,

Ancestry is proud to have made a significant investment this year to bring valuable new content and records to the Ancestry site. In 2015, we’ve made 220 million searchable historical records from Mexico available, more than 170 million pages from the largest collection of U.S. will and probate records, among others. We’ve also introduced new features such as Ancestry Academy, and major advancements for AncestryDNA.

As we strive to provide our customers with the best experience possible, we are constantly evaluating our services and product offerings. True to this focus, we’ve taken a hard look at the declining desktop software market and the impact this has on being able to continue to provide new content, product enhancements and support that our users need. With that, we’ve made the tough decision to stop selling Family Tree Maker as of December 31, 2015.

We will continue to support existing Family Tree Maker owners at least through January 1, 2017. During this time, all features of the software, including TreeSync™ will continue to work. Our Member Services team will also remain available to assist with questions or issues you may have.

These changes are never easy. But by focusing our efforts, we can concentrate on continuing to build great products for our loyal Ancestry community.

It goes on in a similar vein at a dedicated blog post at http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2015/12/08/ancestry-to-retire-family-tree-maker-software/


COMMENT: The world has not ended.

What Ancestry is doing here is hoping that users of its online tree software programme will now abandon hosting their tree data on their PC, and instead keep their data stored on its own dedicated servers.

Yeah, right!

Don't get me wrong. I have my tree stored on Ancestry, as a private tree that only I can access, but for one reason only. Using FTM 2014 I upload all my information via my PC, and with one click can sync it to my Ancestry account. By doing so, I can then instantly upload my changes to my iPad, using the Ancestry app, which allows me to have a portable ready reckoner to hand when I am out and about. My tree on Ancestry is actually set to private - it is merely there as an intermediary step between my PC and my iPad as far as I am concerned. The idea that I am going to wholeheartedly embrace Ancestry's online provision as my only option in just over a year's time is just wishful thinking on its part.

Until about a year and a half ago, I regularly used FamilyHistorian as my PC based software package, a truly superb piece of work. Unfortunately, FamilyHistorian does not offer a one click and everything syncs between devices option to transfer my tree. If it did, I would be back there like a shot. But it didn't and Family Tree Maker did. Now it won't (or, at least, from January 1st 2017 it won't). So what are my options?

• On January 2nd 2017, Family Tree Maker 2014 will still work on my PC. I won't be able to instantly sync from it on my PC to Ancestry and my iPad. That doesn't stop me exporting my data as a Gedcom when I want to update it and to import it into Ancestry if I am still so inclined. I can still upload my changes, just not so easily - which is exactly the same issue I had with FamilyHistorian.  (I should add that when doing client work, I still use Family Tree Maker 2006, which was never broken, never needed fixing, and has some great chart options!). There are other ways to do so, just none so convenient.
• I could use Ancestry's online tree exclusively - but that's not going to happen. Have you seen it lately?! The recent revamp to it was horrendous. Mehhhh! 
• I can switch back to FamilyHistorian, or use another software programme. And why not? FamilyHistorian is actually a much friendlier programme in my book, and there are plenty of others that equally do the job.

Ancestry has taken this decision for business reasons, and be under no doubts that its interest lies firmly with its shareholders, not with its users. If it was interested in its users' thoughts on this, it would have asked them. But that's fine, it is a business, that's what they do. However, the idea that my data will become hosted solely on its platform is just a pipe dream.

So RIP Family Tree Maker, taken away before your time - but other suppliers are available...

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released 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/.

A review of Unlock the Past's recent Baltic cruise

Jane Taubman, a fellow speaker on the recent Unlock the Past (www.unlockthepastcruises.com) genealogy cruise of the Baltic, was sponsored for the event by Family Historian, and as such has written a blog post about her experiences on the cruise for the firm, detailing her time both on board during the conference and on our various shore stops.

Jane has very kindly linked to my own blog posts on in her article, and so the very least I can do is reciprocate! You'll find her post at www.family-historian.co.uk/baltic-cruise-report - and check out her Baltic Splendour photo album/travelogue book at the end of the report!

(With thanks to Jane)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released 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/.

Society of Genealogists events in London

The Society of Genealogists (www.sog.org.uk) in London still has some spaces for the following events:

Sat 14 Nov 10:30-13:00 – DNA for Beginners
This course is aimed at beginners and will explain the three different types of DNA test that can be used as an aid to family history research: Y-DNA testing, mitochondrial DNA testing and autosomal DNA testing, and how it applies to family history research.
A half-day course with Debbie Kennett, Cost 20.00/16.00

Wed 18 Nov 14:00 – The 1939 Register: The Home Front from your Own Home
Findmypast family historian Myko Clelland will describe the 1939 register, one of the biggest family history record sets to be released in recent years. Learn the history behind the records, the details included within, the scope of the project to digitise them and all the search tips and tricks you need to be a 1939 expert!
A one-hour lecture, Cost 8.00/6.40 Note this is a late addition to our programme.

Wed 25 Nov 14:00 - My Ancestor was Catholic
We will learn more about how to use the wealth of historical records available to help you unlock your Catholic ancestors' past.
A one-hour lecture with Michael Gandy Cost 8.00/6.40

Sat 12 Dec 10:30-17:00 - Family Historian Software for Beginners and Refreshers
An overview of this popular and useful software, designed specifically for UK users. Bring your questions along. This course is suitable for Beginners and Refreshers. A laptop is not required.
A full-day course with John Hanson, Cost 35.00/28.00

Full details via the website.

(With thanks to Lori Weinstein via email)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released 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/.