Friday 30 November 2012

TNA podcast - Morbidity and Mortality en route to Oz

The latest podcast from the National Archives at Kew sounds a bit of a cracker - Morbidity and mortality on convict voyages to 19th century Australia. It's a 40 minute talk from Hamish Maxwell-Stuart, described as follows:

Between 1803 and 1853 some 67,000 convicts were transported from England and Ireland to the British penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land, later renamed Tasmania. Using a detailed reconstruction of 278 voyages (82 carrying female convicts and 196 male) this talk explores the impact of trans-oceanic forced removal on the health and well being of these unwilling migrants.

To listen, visit http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/morbidity-and-mortality-on-convict-voyages-to-19th-century-australia/ or download from iTunes.

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...! Also now out - new Kindle edition of Tracing Your Family History on the Internet, from http://tinyurl.com/d3vqtz5

More colonial records at TNA

The fourth tranche of colonial administration records, sourced from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, is now available to view in the reading rooms at The National Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk). This particular release contains records from Ceylon, Cyprus and Kenya.

For more details visit http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/790.htm

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...! Also now out - new Kindle edition of Tracing Your Family History on the Internet, from http://tinyurl.com/d3vqtz5

Thursday 29 November 2012

1836-37 Catholic Church directories on FindmyPast Ireland

New release from FindmyPast Ireland (www.findmypast.ie)

Release of the Irish Catholic Church Directories 1836-37

This directory lists all members of the clergy and parishes in Ireland for the years 1836 and 1837 as well as much of the Catholic hierarchy around the world. Over 5,000 Irish Catholic clergymen for this period are included in these two volumes which have been carefully scanned and digitised and are now fully searchable on findmypast.ie

For more information visit www.findmypast.ie/articles/world-records/full-list-of-the-irish-family-history-records/churches-and-religion/irish-catholic-church-directories-1836-37

(With thanks to FindmyPast Ireland)

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...!

More Bolton records added to Deceased Online

From Deceased Online (www.deceasedonline.com)

Records for 4 Bolton cemeteries now available

A full range of records for Astley Bridge and Blackrod cemeteries in the Lancashire town of Bolton have been added to www.deceasedonline.com

Over 230,000 records from four Bolton cemeteries are now available to search; data for the remaining three cemeteries and Overdale Crematorium will be added very soon

Astley Bridge dates back to 1884 and Blackrod to 1887 and the data comprises:
  • Details of all graves indicating those buried in each grave
  • Scans of all burial registers
  • Cemetery maps indicating grave sections

For full details on Astley Bridge and Blackrod, and the other Bolton cemeteries and the crematorium, click here

Astley Bridge includes graves of many prominent local citizens including three mayors, one of whom - Henry Warburton - is famous as co-founder (with his uncle Thomas) of the eponymous Warburtons, one of the UK's biggest bakery brands

Find out more about the remarkable Henry Warburton - master baker, mayor and Bolton Wanderers FC director - in Emma Jolly's latest blog. Register now at: http://deceasedonlineblog.blogspot.co.uk

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...!

PRONI's year 2011-2012

Each year data is collected by PRONI staff and compiled by DCAL Statistics and Research Branch to give an overview of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

The results from this 2011/12 can be viewed via the following link,

www.dcalni.gov.uk/proni_digest_of_statistics_2012.pdf

A brief overview of the 2011/12 findings:
  • PRONI welcomed 5,700 new visitors. Overall visitor numbers have been maintained above the 17,000 mark. These included visitors from England, Scotland Wales, the USA and as far afield Australia and New Zealand. The majority of those were researching family history and genealogy.
  • Among the most accessed documents were graveyard inscriptions from various cemeteries, church records and the passenger records for the Superior, a 19th century transatlantic ship
  • In 2002, it was estimated that there are approximately three million documents stored in the archives at PRONI which fall under the categories of either public or private records. There are 900,000 official government files, 300,000 maps and the remainder are miscellaneous private documents.
  • If all the boxes in the archive were laid down side by side, this would equate to 54 linear kilometres (33.6 linear miles).
  • PRONI’s oldest document is a bull of Pope Honorius the Third, dated 1219.

For further information on the statistics in this report:
Research and Statistics Branch, Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Causeway Exchange, 1-7 Bedford Street, Belfast, BT2 7EG
T: 028 90 515102
E: orla.bateson@dcalni.gov.uk
Website: www.dcalni.gov.uk/index/quick-links/research_and_statistics-3.htm

For further information on PRONI:
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), 2 Titanic Boulevard, Belfast, BT3 9HQ
T: (+44) 028 028 90 534800
E: proni@dcalni.gov.uk
Website: www.proni.gov.uk

(With thanks to Gavin McMahon)

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...!

British Newspaper Archive first anniversary

The British Newspaper Archive celebrates its first anniversary online today, as it reaches 6 million digitised pages of content. When complete by 2021 there will be some 40 million searchable pages available.

For access to the site visit www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

(With thanks to Natasha White)

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...!

Wednesday 28 November 2012

ScotlandsPeople taster sessions

Some forthcoming taster sessions at the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh (www.scotlandspeoplehub.gov.uk)

Family history taster sessions with ScotlandsPeople - 13 December 2012 and 22/29 January 2013, General Register House, Edinburgh

The next ScotlandsPeople family history taster sessions will take place at General Register House on 13 December 2012 and 22/29 January 2013. All three events will start at 1.00pm and finish at 4.30pm.

The sessions will start with a brief presentation about the ScotlandsPeople Centre, followed by a taster session using the computer search system. To round off proceedings, there is another brief talk about the records that are held in the Historical Search Room. Light refreshments (included in the ticket price) are provided during the sessions. These informal events are ideal for people who are new to genealogy or the facilities at the ScotlandsPeople Centre.

There is a charge of £5.00 per place, which must be paid in advance, and seats can be booked by telephone from Wednesday 28 November (9am) onwards. For further information and to reserve a place, please call 0131 314 4300 (option 1).

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...!

Doncaster records added to FindmyPast UK

The British FindmyPast site (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added 543,000 new parish records for Doncaster to its collections. The majority are burial records, though a significant amount of baptismal records are also included.

Full details, including downloadable PDF guides on exact holdings, can be accessed from www.findmypast.co.uk/content/news/doncaster-nov12

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...!

Forthcoming City of London events

From City of London events:

Our History – Ourselves

A day of workshops and talks around researching, collecting, conserving, writing and communicating Lesbian and Gay personal, local and community histories. Peter Daniels’ fourth creative writing workshop, Modern Times, also takes place on this day.

This conference will be held at London Metropolitan Archives on Saturday 8 December from 10 am to 4.30 pm is £10. Booking essential – call 020 7332 3851.

(Purchasing a ticket for this event will give a 20% discount on the 10th anniversary LGBT History and Archives conference which will take place at Guildhall on 16 February 2013)


Focus on Family History at LMA

Starting your family history? Come along to this workshop and learn how to get the most out of digitised family history sources, including our records on Ancestry.co.uk.

This workshop is aimed at beginners.

This event held at London Metropolitan Archives on Wednesday 12 December from 2 to 3 pm is FREE. Booking essential – call 020 7332 3851.


Photographs and Family History

What do photographs reveal about the history of individuals and local areas? How can you date photographs? How can you use photographs to illustrate your own family history? Plus some tips on looking after your photographs.

This event held at London Metropolitan Archiveson Monday 17 December from 2 to 4.30 pm is £8. Booking essential – call 020 7332 3851.


Visitor information for events is available at www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visiting-the-city/archives-and-city-history/london-metropolitan-archives/visitor-information/Pages/default.aspx

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...!

Family History Show episode 12 online

Episode 12 of The Family History Show, with Nick Barratt and Laura Berry, is now online at www.familyhistoryshow.net/the-vodcasts/episode-12-at-the-essex-record-office. This month the duo visit Essex Record Office.

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...!

MyHeritage acquires Geni.com

Major news from My Heritage (www.myheritage.com):

We’re thrilled to announce today that we’ve acquired Geni.com, the Los Angeles-based family tree network. Geni.com is one of the leading family tree websites and it has established a very strong global brand since its inception in 2007. We’re really excited to welcome Geni.com’s talented team to the MyHeritage family.

This is great news all round! As a larger community, the users of MyHeritage and Geni.com can expect to benefit greatly from this acquisition. Users of each website will now receive matches with the family trees of the other website, and MyHeritage’s Smart Matching and Record Matching technologies will benefit the Geni.com users, who will get access to historical records never available before on Geni.com.

This is our eighth and largest acquisition yet. It comes at a time when we’re rapidly growing, adding more records, and offering additional technologies to help you make family history breakthroughs.

The websites of MyHeritage and Geni.com will be kept separate and the users of MyHeritage will not experience any changes in how they use MyHeritage. If you already happen to have an account on MyHeritage and on Geni.com, they will be kept separate.

Why did we buy Geni.com?
Geni.com was launched in 2007, four years after MyHeritage was founded, and quickly became one of the major players in the family tree industry. Although we’ve been competitors all these years, we’ve always had mutual respect for each other. When we introduced MyHeritage to people, we often heard them say “oh, you’re like Geni”. Geni.com grew a very large user base of 7 million registered users (compared to the 65 million users on MyHeritage), who had uploaded more than 135 million profiles to the Geni.com website (compared to about 1.35 billion on MyHeritage). Geni.com was the company that innovated and developed the first collaborative viral online family tree editor, and has pioneered the World Family Tree – a vision (and powerful tool) to combine the family trees of the world into a single collaborative tree, much like Wikipedia (in fact, Geni.com’s original name was Wikigenia).

We bought Geni.com to expand the users and data on MyHeritage, to add Geni.com’s talented workforce to our team, to add the technologies they have built to our assets, and to continue our mission of helping families everywhere build their family tree and research and share their family history online.

With Geni.com’s focus on collaborative family history and the fact they, like us, have users from around the world, we’ll be able to bring even more innovation and powerful tools and services to family history lovers everywhere.

How will the two websites operate?
We will keep the two websites separate and will not move users from one site into the other. MyHeritage will remain a forest of independent private family trees, and Geni.com will remain focused on building a single family tree of the world. Over time (it may take a few years), we will be looking to create more value for the users of the two websites, and will consider building a bridge between them to allow users who wish this to have a tree on both MyHeritage and Geni.com to enjoy the best of both worlds, and have changes made in their tree on one site reflected automatically in the other.

What are the benefits for MyHeritage users?
Buying Geni.com is a huge boost to our family history network – adding a new community with a large amount of high-quality, user-generated family tree content from around the world. This means MyHeritage users will receive more matches, and will have more data to search and find through SuperSearch. Geni.com’s unique projects and discussions will be made available to MyHeritage users. If a long-lost cousin of yours has been building his or her family tree on Geni.com, you’ll now have the opportunity to find each other and be reunited.

You’ll also benefit from a larger team of highly-skilled programmers and family history enthusiasts working together to develop exciting new technologies and products. Together with Geni.com, we form one of the world’s largest genealogy think tanks, spending our days and nights thinking how to develop better tools for family history lovers everywhere. Instead of duplicating many of our efforts we will now be able to develop new products faster and leverage from the unique areas of expertise that each team brings.

How will user data be kept private?
Family trees on MyHeritage will be kept on MyHeritage. We will be reviewing Geni.com’s privacy policy, making it tighter and more private to be more compatible with MyHeritage’s privacy policy. For example, just like living people from MyHeritage are not searchable on Google, we will do the same for Geni.com.

How does this affect Geni.com?
We will continue to operate Geni.com as a separate website based out of Los Angeles and it will maintain the name of Geni.com. We intend to continue to develop Geni.com’s vision for the World Family Tree, and put more resources behind it to help it realize it’s potential. Many benefits are coming to the users of Geni.com thanks to the technologies and expertise of MyHeritage.com.

MyHeritage offers more products than Geni.com, such as DNA tests, and these will be made available very soon to the users of Geni.com. Smart Matching and Record Matching developed by MyHeritage will gradually be made available on Geni.com. We are also excited about the opportunity to work with the more than 100 curators on Geni.com.
How does this affect the family history market?

Combined, MyHeritage+Geni is a major player in the family history industry. This is great news for the wider family history community. Since launching our Record Matching technology in September, we’re now able to offer even more value - engaging a wider community around the world and creating the world’s most diverse collection of family history content.

How big does this make MyHeritage?
With Geni.com under our umbrella - along with WorldVitalRecords.com and FamilyLink.com and our previous acquisitions - we now have 1.5 billion family tree profiles, 72 million registered users and 27 million family trees. Geni.com’s World Family Tree, collaborative projects, discussions and other unique features provide important new resources for family historians.

How many staff will join MyHeritage and who are the key players?
We’re excited to welcome on board the entire staff at Geni, including some extraordinary talent in engineering, R&D and user experience. All 20 employees of Geni.com have joined the MyHeritage team, and together we now have 130 employees in MyHeritage. Geni.com will continue to be managed locally by former Geni CEO, Noah Tutak who is becoming the General Manager for MyHeritage in the USA. Geni.com’s CTO Justin Balthrop and VP Engineering Mike Stangel are becoming VPs of technology and engineering for MyHeritage. David Sacks, Geni’s founder and a legendary visionary in the family history market, who is also the founder and CEO of Yammer, is joining the MyHeritage Board of Directors. Geni.com’s Los Angeles offices will become a new research and development hub for MyHeritage in the USA, alongside our existing content offices in Utah.

How much did MyHeritage pay to acquire Geni.com?
As both companies are private we do not disclose the financial terms of the acquisition.

We look forward to the road ahead as we provide more value for MyHeritage and Geni.com users.

(With thanks to Laurence Harris)

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...!

Irish petty sessions collections extended online

FindmyPast Ireland (www.findmypast.ie) has extended its collection of petty session court records by adding another 2.4 million, notably for Donegal, Mayo, Kerry, Galway and Clare, but with other county collections also extended.

A complete listing of the records now available through the collection is found at www.findmypast.ie/articles/world-records/full-list-of-the-irish-family-history-records/institutions-and-organisations/petty-sessions-order-books-1851-1910

(With thanks to @findmypastie)

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...!

Kindle edition of Tracing Your Family History on the Internet

Visit Amazon to preview the book
I've just noticed that Pen and Sword has released a Kindle based edition of my book Tracing Your Family History on the Internet, which can be downloaded at Amazon via www.amazon.co.uk/Tracing-Family-History-Internet-ebook/dp/B00A7CKS3K/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1354094327&sr=8-16 for £8.23. There is a limited preview available if you are unsure whether to purchase or not.

Coming soon is a follow up book to this work entitled Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, which will be available at Who do You Think You Are? Live at the end of February, prior to its official publication shortly after - more on that soon! It looks there may also be a book signing session for this at the event, though more on that in due course.

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...!

Monday 26 November 2012

CWGC relatives appeal

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is about to carry out some work into several war graves across the UK (including several in Orkney). As a part of this the Commission is trying to trace any relatives connected with several buried servicemen who are listed at www.cwgc.org/media/77096/appeal_for_next_of_kin_261112.pdf

The full story is at www.cwgc.org/news-events/news/appeal-for-relatives-(2).aspx

(With thanks to @CWGC)

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...!

Isle of Wight FHS AGM and conference

The Isle of Wight Family History Society is holding a one day conference entitled Sevententh Century, as well as an AGM, on May 18th 2013. The venue will be the Riverside Centre, Newport, PO30 2QR.

For further information, including the programme, fees and more, visit www.events.onthewight.com/2013/05/18/isle-of-wight-family-history-society-agm-and-one-day-conference.

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...!

Military Archives reading room in Dublin - temporary closure

Claire Santry is reporting that the Military Archives reading room at Cathal Brugha Baracks in Dublin is to temporarily close to public access from December 11th to January 7th.

For more information visit http://irish-genealogy-news.blogspot.ie/2012/11/military-archives-reading-room-to-close.html

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...!

TNA publishes new records collections policy

The National Archives at Kew (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) has published a new records collection policy, outlining what it will be collecting from public records sources, as well as details on how it plans to move to the new 20 year rule for the closure periods of access to certain records (from the previous 30 years).

The new policy is accessible via http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/our-policies.htm.

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...!

National Gallery Archive catalogue online

London's National Gallery now has an archive catalogue online at www.nationalgallery.org.uk/archive/search.

There is also a short survey about the National Gallery Archive, and its new
online search tool at www.surveymonkey.com/s/archive-search-tool-survey

(With thanks to Wendy Archer and Alan Crookham)

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...!

Forthcoming lunchtime lectures at PRONI

From PRONI in Belfast (www.proni.gov.uk):

On the 28th November, Dr Bethany Sinclair of PRONI will be giving a talk at the Linen Hall library entitled, 'Through the archival lens: exploring the textual identity of Tyrone Guthrie'.

The talk features as part of a series of lectures by PRONI staff taking place at the Linen Hall between October 2012 and March 2013. Each talk will take place at 1pm, is open to the public and free to attend.

The other talks in the series are:

'Flowers of the flock: child migration schemes to Australia'
by Ann McVeigh
30th January 2013

'Navigating Lough Neagh and the River Bann: an archival exploration'
by Lorraine Burke
27th February 2013

'Councils and Corporations: Local Government in Belfast'
by Ian Montgomery
27th March 2013

WHERE: Linen Hall Library, Belfast
WHEN: 1pm - The last Wednesday of the month between October 2012 and March 2013
HOW MUCH: Free

(With thanks to Gavin McMahon)

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...!

FamilySearch to soon launch FamilyTree

FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org) will soon be launching its online tree sharing/building programme, Family Tree. For further details visit https://familysearch.org/blog/en/family-tree-service-familysearchorg-coming/

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...!

National Library of Scotland workshops

Twe forthcoming workshops at the National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk):

Getting started at NLS
5 December, 10.30am - 12 noon

Learn how to register as a reader, find your way around the Library, request material and find out about our other services. The workshop also includes a tour of the reading rooms.

If you are planning to register to use the Library after the workshop, please bring evidence of identity such as a current driving licence or a recent utility bill.


Read all about it
6 December 2012, 2pm - 3.30pm

This workshop provides an introduction to the online newspaper resources available at the Library. The session includes demonstrations of a selection of resources and tips on how to search and discover the information you need.

(With thanks to the NLS newsletter)

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...!

Saturday 24 November 2012

Lord Viscount Morpeth's Testimonial Roll to go on tour

Lord Viscount Morpeth's Testimomial Roll will go on a tour of Ireland in February 2013, according to a news item in the Irish Times at www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1123/breaking40.html.

The roll was signed in 1841 by 275,000 Irish people on the departure of Lord Viscount Morpeth as Chief Secretary of Ireland. Ancestry is currently digitising the document, which will become an important online census substitute when launched.

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...!

Friday 23 November 2012

TNA podcast: Adlestrop and Edward Thomas

The latest National Archives podcast from Kew is entitled Adlestrop: railways, poetry and the myths of 1914, about poet Edward Thomas. The blurb on the page states that Adlestrop is "one of the nation’s favourite poems", but I'll be honest and say I've never heard of it! The poet wrote the poem about a railway station in the countryside whilst at war in 1914 - he did not return.

To listen to the podcast visit http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/adlestrop-railways-poetry-and-the-myths-of-1914/ or download from iTunes.

UPDATE: A TNA blog post also ties in with this - see http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/adlestrop-by-edward-thomas/ (With thanks to David Underdown)

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...!

Find My Past series 2 - part 2 preview

From UKTV, news on the second half of the new series of Find My Past on Yesterday, which starts up again in January:

Meet the relatives of history’s greatest men and women in the second series of Find My Past
Find My Past, new and exclusive to Yesterday
Tuesdays at 9pm from 8th January

Chris Hollins is back for a brand new and exclusive second series of the award-winning genealogy show, Find My Past. Each week ordinary British people take an extraordinary journey through the past which links them with some of the country’s key historical events.

This series features The Great Escape, Charles Dickens, Abdication Crisis and the Battle of Trafalgar. Every episode unearths emotional stories, shocking details and facts only a genealogy series can, and reveals how easily anyone can trace their family members back through history.

THE GREAT ESCAPE - Tuesday 8th January
Tanya Millard, a paper conservationist from London, wants to find out more about her relative Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, known as Big X, who proposed one of the most audacious escape plans of any war. His aim was to save a staggering 200 prisoner of war from a Nazi camp situated deep in Eastern Germany.

He worked with seventeen year old student Rebecca Goodchild’s great uncle Ley Kenyon, who played a key role by using his artistic skills to create forgeries of German documents.

Gill Owen’s Uncle Dennis Cochran, was one of the prisoner who attempted to escape from the camp. Both Gill and Tanya will learn how their relatives paid the ultimate price for escaping in March 1944 and how their story inspired a book and Hollywood film.


DICKENS’ DOUBLE LIFE – Tuesday 14th January
This episode of Find My Past goes back in time to the Victorian Era to tell the true story of Charles Dickens. During the nineteenth century Dickens was an international celebrity with journalists camped at his house and fans desperately trying to give him locks of their hair.

Ollie Dickens, the author’s great, great, great grandson discovers that his infamous ancestor had a dark secret that was almost exposed by a fatal rail crash in Staplehurst Kent in June 1865.

Travelling with him was Nelly Ternan, a little known actress. Her relative Marcus Allen will discover that she was his mistress and their secret affair could have destroyed Dickens’ reputation and the sale of his books.

Joy Hillday uncovers her relative Henry Benge’s role in the disaster. Benge was in charge of the team of workmen maintaining the track that fateful day. An official inquiry reveals the tragic consequences of the crash.


THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR – Tuesday 22nd January
The Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 is one of the best known sea battles as the victory ensured Britain’s mastery of the seas for the next hundred years over the French and the Spanish. Three people will find out how they are related to the brave people who aided Admiral Nelson in his defeat of Napoleon’s fleet at Trafalgar.

Alan Abraham discovers that he is descended from Thomas Hardy was the captain of the HMS Victory and implemented Nelson’s infamous battle plan. Bridget Tompsett’s four times great grandfather is Master Gunner William Rivers, who was responsible for ensuring the training of the gun crews.

Jennifer Marriott’s ancestor William Beatty was the surgery that dealt with the appalling wonders without the luxuries of modern operating theatres. Bridget also discovers that she had two other relatives on board Victory during the battle, her William River’s seventeen year old son Rivers Jnr who was saved by having his leg amputated by William Beatty.


SCOTT OF THE ANTARCTIC - Tuesday 29th January
Robert Falcon Scott is Britain’s most famous and celebrated explorer – his tragic-heroic status was cemented by his death in March 1912 in the icy wastes of Antarctic having failed to become the first man to reach the South Pole. This controversial figure’s reputation has recently been undergoing re-assessment and in this timely film, Find My Past looks at his legacy and that of the men who followed him.

This film takes Lucy Scott, the explorer’s great, granddaughter, back to his early days of exploration and brings to life the appalling conditions he would have faced in the Antarctic in one of the coldest winters on record.

Bryony King, the great, great niece of the Chief Scientist, Edward Wilson, uncovers the deep friendship between her relative and Captain Scott that led to Wilson sacrificing his life to stay with his beloved leader to the bitter end.

Through Caroline Oates, the great, great niece of Lawrence Oates we see the huge challenges that faced him and celebrate the ultimate sacrifice Oates made in walking to his death in an attempt to save his comrades.

Don’t miss the exciting discoveries in Yesterday’s exclusive new genealogy series, Find My Past, when the series begins on Tuesday 8th January at 9pm.

(With thanks to Emily Jones)

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...!

Pensions Archives Trust resources

London Metropolitan Archives latest newsletter has an interesting piece about the completion of a survey to determine which pension based resources exist within its vast collections. The story is at www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visiting-the-city/archives-and-city-history/london-metropolitan-archives/the-collections/Pages/pat-research-guide.aspx.

Of particular interest is the Pensions Archive Trust website at www.pensionsarchive.org, something I've not come across before. Well worth a look.

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...!

WW2 Pigeon English stumps GCHQ

A coded message from World War Two, found on a dead pigeon's leg in a chimney, has stumped GCHQ. The full story is at www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20456782.

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...!

Thursday 22 November 2012

More Scottish records for Deceased Online

From Deceased Online (www.deceasedonline.com)

Thousands of memorial inscriptions for burial grounds from the Western Isles to the East coast

Deceased Online continues to grow its collection of memorial inscriptions with the addition of thousands of records in various Scottish counties and areas

The additions to the range of Scottish Memorial Inscriptions (SMI) date back to 1632 and details of the 13 featured burial grounds and cemeteries and their locations can be found on the site

At the same time, two other smaller collections have been added for two Scottish cemeteries which include both memorial inscriptions and photographs. These are Kildalton Kirkyard on the isle of Islay and Roshven Cemetery in the Highlands

Both sets of records are included in the main search indexes

Coming soon:

More burial records for Lancashire, Yorkshire and Scotland...

(With thanks to Deceased Online)

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...!

Celebrity family tree blog on FindmyPast

Genealogist Roy Stockdill has asked me to give his blog on famous celebs' family trees a quick plug, a regular series he does for FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk). He commenced it earlier this year and has so far looked at the following people:
  • Charlie Chaplin
  • Anne Reid, actress
  • Brenda Blethyn, actress
  • Simon Cowell
  • John Craven, TV presenter
  • Victoria Pendleton, star cyclist now in Strictly Come Dancing
  • Colin Dexter, author of the Inspector Morse books
  • Gabby Logan, TV football and sportspresenter
  • Miranda Hart, actress and comedienne.

Roy states that "Miranda Hart has only just gone online yesterday and she's rather interesting because much of her ancestry is in Burke's Peerage. She's very posh!"

The blog is available at http://blog.findmypast.co.uk/tag/roy-stockdill/

(With thanks to Roy)

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...!

Origins - free access to new Middlesex and London records

From the Origins Network (www.origins.net/html-email/ON-nov2012.htm):

New Middlesex & London Burial and Baptism records Search for FREE!

Over 169,100 burial indexes from 1560-1909 and 140,000 baptism indexes from 1538-1882, covering Middlesex and London, are now available for searching on www.origins.net and because it’s the Thanksgiving holiday in the USA, we’re making these collections FREE for the next couple of days! (Until midnight GMT Saturday 24 November). Simply Register or Login to search records and uncover some of your family’s hidden gems.

About the records

Middlesex & London Baptisms Index 1538-1882 records over 140,000 baptisms in Middlesex and London which are not included at Familysearch.org as part of their former International Genealogical Index.
In addition to the father’s name and date of baptism a large amount of other information is included where it appears in the original parish register. This can include mother’s forename and surname, parish, actual address and date of birth.


Middlesex & City of London Burials Index 1560-1909 covers over 169,100 burials for the period 1560-1909.

The index contains surname and forename, age where given in the register, year of burial, parish and additional info, which may include addresses, parents names and other personal details.

This collection can help you locate individuals who were living in London or Middlesex at a particular time. It is also likely (though you cannot be 100% sure) that they had been living in the area where they were buried. So if you suspect an ancestor might have been living in London or Middlesex, searching these records may help confirm this.

(With thanks to Jane Hewitt)

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...!

New additions to ScotlandsPlaces

From ScotlandsPlaces (www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk):

We are pleased to let you know that we have now added the following resources into the ScotlandsPlaces subscription service:
  • Land tax rolls, 1645-1831
  • Ordnance Survey name books for Caithness, 1871-1873
  • Ordnance Survey name books for Renfrewshire, 1856-1857

You will automatically gain access to these when you log into the site to use your subscription. More historical tax rolls and name books will be added in the coming months.

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...!

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Birmingham Archives (almost) year long closure from Friday

Bad news for Brummies - from Birmingham Archives and Heritage Service:
IMPORTANT NOTICE: NOVEMBER 2012

CLOSURE OF THE ARCHIVES SEARCHROOM IN PREPARATION FOR THE TRANSFER OF STOCK TO THE NEW LIBRARY OF BIRMINGHAM

From the week commencing Monday 26th November 2012, the archives search room of Birmingham Archives and Heritage Service will be closed to enable the preparation, packaging and removal of stock to the new Library of Birmingham.

The last day the archives search room will be open will be Friday 23rd November 2012. We will re-open on 3rd September 2013.

We regret the inconvenience this is likely to cause to our users. A new Library of Birmingham website will be launched soon and this will include contact details for the new Library.

For more information visit www.birmingham.gov.uk/archives

(With thanks to Keith Morris)

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...!

Ballymena family history talk

Mary Bradley, Heritage Services Manager Local Studies Department of Ballymena Central Library, will be giving a talk to the Ballymena branch of the North of Ireland Family History Society in The Braid Arts Centre on Thursday, November 29th, at 7.15pm. The subject is the Local Studies Library's holdings, and admission to the talk will cost £1 for members and £3 for non-members. Further details are available from chairman Brian O’Hara on 25656854.

(With thanks to the Ballymena Times at www.ballymenatimes.com/community/family-history-group-meeting-at-braid-1-4507775)

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...!

Above Scotland exhibition in Glasgow

From the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (www.rcahms.gov.uk):

A new exhibition at The Lighthouse in Glasgow, created by RCAHMS and Architecture and Design Scotland, is giving visitors a unique bird's-eye view of Scotland through stunning aerial photography.

Titled Above Scotland, the exhibition is showing how, from our islands to our cities, no part of the landscape has been left untouched and unaltered by its people. Through large-scale images from the National Collection of Aerial Photography, visitors can explore the fascinating histories of how Scotland's places came to be.

Speaking ahead of the launch of the exhibition Jim MacDonald, Chief Executive of Architecture and Design Scotland, said "These fantastic photographs give the visitors to the exhibition an understanding of how our country has developed its settlements in response to the landscape and also how people have shaped the landscape to suit changes in the likes of farming and industry. Seeing our places from above invites us to ask questions about how we use places now and how our plans and developments today respond to or shape the landscapes around us."

James Crawford, author of Scotland's Landscapes, a new book published by RCAHMS, said: "Over the past 10,000 years, every inch of Scotland has been shaped, changed and moulded by its people. No part of the land is without its human story. Sometimes, in just one modern photograph, you can peel back the layers of history to show how hundreds of generations of our ancestors have shaped the landscape we look at today."

The Above Scotland exhibition runs until 23 January 2013 in Gallery 2, The Lighthouse, 11 Mitchell Lane, Glasgow, G1 3NU. The exhibition is suitable for the whole family, admission is free, and opening hours are Monday - Friday, 10:30am - 5pm, and Saturday - Sunday, 12 - 5pm.

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...!

City of York Archives temporary closure from Feb 2013

Thanks to Wendy Archer for the following news concerning the suspension of public access to City of York Archives in early 2013.

City of York Archives is moving from its current storage location at City Art Gallery to allow refurbishment of the facility, and to remove material from the constant threat of flooding. As such, public access to the archives is to be temporarily suspended from February 1st 2013 to allow staff time to prepare the collections for the move. Further information is available at www.york.gov.uk/archives

The closure will only affect original archive documents stored at the Art Gallery. All local history material held at York Explore (York Central Library) will remain available for use as normal. This will include all local history books and journals, trade directories, newspapers, electoral rolls and family history resources. Some archive items are now available on microfilm or as published copies and these will also be available at York Explore. Guides will be published in due course to explain what is available.

The length of the closure is not yet known, but the facility hopes to have answers on that front by Christmas. For regular updates, sign up to the site's York: Gateway to History site at www.yorkgatewaytohistory.org.uk

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...!

Tuesday 20 November 2012

NAI early closure Wed 28th

The National Archives of Ireland (www.nationalarchives.ie) will be closing early to the public on Wednesday 28th November, from 3.30pm, and reopening the following morning at 10am.

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...!

Latest Electric Scotland newsletter

The latest Electric Scotland newsletter is available at www.electricscotland.org/showthread.php/3425-Newsletter-16th-November-2012 and in PDF format at www.electricscotland.com/newsletter/121116.pdf. Amongst the latest book additions to the site is The Isle of Skye in 1882-1883.

(With thanks to Alistair McIntyre)

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...!

York churches history app to be launched

A new app is being launched on November 27th for both Android and Apple devices to help tell the history of the churches within York's walls. For more details visit www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2012/york-church-app/

(With thanks to Wendy Archer)

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...!

Denbighshire Record Office stocktaking closure

Denbighshire Record Office at Ruthin will be closed for a week from December 10th for stocktaking. For further details of this and its Christmas closures, visit www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en-gb/DNAP-6ZQKTQ

(With thanks to Keith Morris)

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...!

Coming Home series 7 starts Friday 23rd

BBC Wales begins a new four part run of family history series Coming Home from Friday 23rd November. The celebrities for this run are Gethin Jones, Fiona Phillips, Robert Glenister, and Katherine Jenkins.

For further details on the programmes visit www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0071nf4

(With thanks to Keith Morris)

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...!

Workhouses exhibition in London

From London Metropolitan Archives at www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visiting-the-city/archives-and-city-history/london-metropolitan-archives/news-and-events/Pages/Workhouse-Exhibition.aspx:

Workhouses: New exhibition at London Metropolitan Archives

Charles Dickens created the popular contemporary view of the nineteenth century workhouse system in his novel Oliver Twist. It’s a bleak picture of punishment, cruelty and neglect. But what do the archives from this period tell us about life in the workhouses after 1834 and the passing of the Poor Law (Amendment) Act?

The act sought to abolish out-relief and ensure that any relief provided by the new Poor Law Guardians was given within the confines of a workhouse. The records provide insights into the ways in which the Poor Law Guardians sought to run their workhouses and deal with the variety of people who had fallen on hard times.

The records at London Metropolitan Archives are a rich source for the social and architectural history of the period as well as for tracing the history of people admitted to the workhouses. Inspired by Dickens and his desire to reveal the horrors of nineteenth century poverty, we’ve searched the records for the stories of real Londoners in the workhouse, from Master to the inmate, to uncover what the archives tell us about their lives.

This free exhibition runs from 24 September 2012 to 10 January 2013, during normal opening hours.

(With thanks to the LMA newsletter)

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...!

RootsMagic 6 released

Rootsmagic has announced a version 6 release of its popular family history software.

For more details on its new features visit the blogged announcement at http://blog.rootsmagic.com/?p=1460

(With thanks to Anne Dyson)

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...!

Scottish blue plaque panel announced

From Historic Scotland (www.historic-scotland.gov.uk):

EXPERT PANEL ANNOUNCED FOR COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUE SCHEME

Historic Scotland has confirmed the membership of the independent panel of experts who will choose the recipients? winners of the Commemorative Plaque Scheme for 2012.

The experts will assess all the nominations submitted before the 12th October deadline and will decide on a maximum of 12 plaques which will be awarded to significant historic figures in Scotland.

The annual Scheme, launched in August by Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop will recognise the contribution of recipients to Scottish society through the erection of a plaque on their home where they lived, or the building that was particularly synonymous with their achievements.

The Scheme will have an annual theme. This year’s theme will mark the contribution of figures from the arts and creative fields to coincide with the Year of Creative Scotland 2012.

The panel’s membership represents a broad cross-section of expertise and disciplines who are well placed to decide on the worthy recipients of the Commemorative Plaque Scheme. A new membership panel of experts will be selected each year in order to reflect the annual theme

The panel will consist of:
  • Jim Tough, Executive Director, The Saltire Society.
  • Professor Seona Reid, Director, Glasgow School of Art
  • Dr Fiona Watson, Historian/Broadcaster, Dundee University
  • Professor Graham Caie, Vice President, The Royal Society of Edinburgh
  • Dr Jenny Wormald, Historian, University of Edinburgh
  • Dr Gary West, Historian/Musician/Broadcaster, Senior Lecturer in Scottish Ethnology and Scottish Historical Studies

Fiona Hyslop said: “I am pleased that we have such an esteemed panel of experts to assess the applications for the Commemorative Plaque Scheme.

“The plaques will celebrate the lives of the people who have made an important contribution to Scotland’s fascinating history and heritage. I am sure that the expert panel will have a challenging task on their hands considering Scotland has a wealth of creative talent in a wide range of disciplines.”

Nominations for the Commemorative Plaques for 2012 have closed.

(With thanks to Paul Spence at Historic Scotland)

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...!

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...!

National Library of Ireland talks synopses now available

From Eneclann (www.eneclann.ie):

In August 2012, the NLI hosted the “20x20” lunchtime series of talks on Irish family history.

Organised by Eneclann and Ancestor Network, the assembled experts included genealogists and broadcasters, librarians and archivists, writers and publishers, academics and a medical geneticist. The wide range of expertise on show every day was a show-case of Irish genealogy at its best.

Each expert held the floor for 20 minutes, and spoke about an aspect of their own work and its relevance for Irish family history. Each talk was followed by a Q&A session, which gave the audience direct access to the speaker.

As the month progressed, it became clear that the lunchtime talks drew a regular home (Irish) audience in attendance every day, as well as overseas visitors attending two or more of the lectures while they stayed in Dublin.

The response from the audience at the end of the series in August was overwhelming, and the most frequently asked question was whether the speakers would provide notes on their talks, or otherwise make them available.

In response to the feedback that we received in August, we are now making available the overheads of each of the talks or a synopsis, available online at the National Library’s webpage, and also on www.eneclann.ie/20x20

We hope that this will become an online resource for all those involved in Irish family history, and will promote knowledge and use of the main collections of historical records for research.

Fiona Fitzsimons, Eneclann.
John Hamrock, Ancestor Network.

(With thanks to Brian Donovan)

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...!

Aylesbury advice sessions from Buckinghamshire FHS

Buckinghamshire Family History Society will be offering free genealogical advice at the Friars Square shopping centre in Aylesbury from Wed 21st to Sat 24th November, from 10.30-17.30 each day.

For further details visit www.bucksfhs.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1108&Itemid=76

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...!

Monday 19 November 2012

Missing from the census?

Audrey Collins from the National Archives has a blog post entitled Missing from the census at http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/missing-from-the-census/ - some wise words of advice should you be unable to find those who have the dashed indecency not to be where they ought to be!

Check out Audrey's own blog also at http://thefamilyrecorder.blogspot.co.uk

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...!

Annoying hard drive failure

I'm definitely having one of those days!

Yesterday I made a somewhat foolish decision to have what some people call "a day off" (it does not happen often!) I took my wife and kids to a place called Dunoon on the Cowal peninsula, not far from Largs via a short hop on a ferry, but bizarrely somewhere we had never visited before, despite being so close. Upon my return I rebooted my computer to check my emails, had a game of Freecell as it all loaded up - and then suddenly it just switched off. On trying to reboot the PC it kept switching off, ending up in some bizarre loop of constant rebooting. I tried a few wee tricks - safe mode, start up disk etc - and still could not get it to start. I took it to the computer shop this morning, and the prognosis is that the hard drive has suffered a catastrophic failure. Bummer.

This time around I have been much better prepared than the last PC failure I suffered, about three years ago. Only three weeks ago I thankfully backed up all my files again onto my external hard drive (bought after the last disaster!), including ten years worth of genealogy research files, various books, articles and more. What I did not back up though were my last few months emails, though thankfully for a while I have been printing off crucial emails, payment notification etc.

Several other things have become handy also - I've been using Google's online calendar instead of one locally on the PC, and have various other files backed up on laptops, iPads and all sorts. The only real disaster was in having to rewrite an article for Your Family Tree that I had spent all of Saturday doing - thankfully on a topic I know like the back of my hand, so easily able to be reproduced today!

So the morals of this story are:

1) Back up your files regularly. (Honestly, don't leave it!)

2) Be wary of the Cowal Peninsula - it may be jinxed. :)

I've transferred all my ops just now to the Battle Bridge (my laptop), and should hopefully be back up and running properly by Wednesday or so. Thankfully a bit of preparation after the last disaster has paid dividends for this one. Not a great lesson one wants to be taught though!

Chris

New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Cambridgeshire FHS exhibition

Cambridgeshire Family History Society will be staging a free exhibition, and also giving free advice on family history research problems, in the exhibition area on the 3rd floor of Cambridge Central Library from November 26th to December 1st, from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. The exhibition will include materials from both Cambridgeshire Archives and the Cambridgeshire Collection.

(With thanks to Eventility at www.eventility.co.uk/cgc/events/allmembers/the-cambridgeshire-family-history-society-exhibition/cambridge-central-library/cambridge/cb23qd/177239)

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Sunday 18 November 2012

Scottish seminar in Quebec

The Quebec Family History Society will be hosting a Scottish Seminar in December, 2012.

Saturday, December 1st 2012

A Genealogical Day in Scotland: 1500-2012 (Seminar)

10:00 am to 3:00 pm - Quebec Family History Society Heritage Centre and Library, 173 Cartier Avenue, Pointe-Claire, QC H9J 4H9

Presented by Jackie Billingham, Susan Gingras and Gary Schroder

Learn about the major sources used in in Scottish genealogical research from civil registrations to Kirk records, and from censuses to probate records. Participants will learn how to correctly use the information available on the Scotland’s People website and what strategies to use when planning a research trip to Scotland.

Fee: $30.00 members; $40.00 non-members.
Reservations are required. Call 514.695.1502 or contact Jackie Billingham at
qfhs.communications@bellnet.ca

(With thanks to Susan Gingras Calcagni)

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Revamped FamilySearch Lancashire wiki page

I've just received the following message from Todd Knowles at the Family History Library's British Reference section:

One of my cohorts, Phil Dunn, has led a team that has totally revamped the Lancashire Page in the FamilySearch wiki. It now includes all the chapeleries and shows which records are available for each. It’s a great tool for those searching there.

The wiki page is:

https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Lancashire


Phil’s blog article about it can be found at:

http://britishheritage4um.blogspot.com/2012/11/finally-lancashire-ancestral-research.html

Regards

W. Todd Knowles
www.Knowlescollection.blogspot.com

(With thanks to Todd)

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Scotsman Digital Archive - public site offline

Ruth Blair has blogged at http://blog.familyhistorysearches.com/2012/11/where-did-the-scotsman-digital-archive-go/ that the Scotsman Digital Archive (www.archive.scotsman.com) is no longer accessible by the public via subscription based access. Ruth describes it as a "sad day for people researching their Scottish ancestry".

To a point. If you live in Scotland, it is actually very easy to subscribe to the site completely free - simply sign up to the National Library of Scotland's Licensed Digital Collections at www.nls.uk. If outside Scotland, you can still sign up if you can provide a Scottish address for the library to post details to help confirm your registration. You can sign up instantly - but if you don't verify the account within a few days you will lose access to this and many other collections.

I am surprised at this development - not long ago I spoke to someone at a fair promoting the site who raised the possibility of the coverage extending beyond the current 1817-1950 period available.

(With thanks to Ruth Blair)

UPDATE:Please see the comment below from an anonymous contributor - all is not quite as it seems.

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Saturday 17 November 2012

Presentations call from BIFHSGO

The following announcement comes from the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO):

Call for Presentations for the BIFHSGO Conference 2013

The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) is seeking proposals for presentations at its 19th annual conference, September 20-22, 2013 to be held in Ottawa at Library and Archives Canada. The focus this year will be on Ireland. Proposals for other presentations besides those on Ireland are also invited as well as proposals for workshops or seminars on the Friday (September 20, 2013). Details on writing the proposals can be found at www.bifhsgo.ca under the Conference heading. Please send your proposals to conference@bifhsgo.ca before January 31, 2013.

(With thanks to Ken McKinlay)

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Wellcome Library - blog and website changes

The Wellcome Library (http://library.wellcome.ac.uk), the library for the medical institute The Wellcome Trust, is moving its entire blog content from the last four years to a new website. Details of the changes can be read at http://libraryblog.wellcome.ac.uk/libraryblog.

(With thanks to @WellcomeLibrary and @ARebelHand)

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Durham Records Online - new records & price and search changes

This is an abridged version of a considerably longer press release from Durham Records Online (www.durhamrecordsonline.com), but hopefully keeps the main points!

What's New at Durham Records Online:

Very detailed Sunderland marriage banns 1816-1823
893 marriage banns at Sunderland Holy Trinity from 8 Dec 1816 to 25 May 1823. These banns are very unusual and interesting because they include information about the bride and groom that is not found in their marriage records.

Heworth marriages 1896-1908
618 marriages at Heworth St. Mary in Gateshead district covering 1896-1908. These are fully-detailed civil-registration-era marriages.

Price increase for fully-detailed civil-registration-era marriages
Fully-detailed civil-registration-era (after 1 July 1837) marriages now cost 2 credits, or twice the price of an individual record if you are using the shopping cart to pay cash for records. We have long been aware that it takes our transcribers considerably longer to type in these lengthy records, complete with bride’s and groom’s ages, fathers, fathers’ occupations, and witnesses. Charging a little more for these records allows us to compensate the transcribers more fairly for their efforts, but we feel still offers good value for our clients. If you pay cash, the price for a single civil-registration-style marriage is now £3 or $4.50, which is still less than 1/3 of what the Registrar’s Office would charge for the same document, and at Durham Records Online, you get the transcription instantly instead of having to wait for a week or two.

Norton Society of Friends burials 1866-1905
23 burials at the tiny Society of Friends (Quakers) burial ground in Norton, Stockton district, from June 1866 to March 1905. Abodes mentioned are Billingham, Coatham, Norton, Smelt House near Howden, Stockton, and Wolviston.

Hetton-le-Hole baptisms & burials 1836-1837
464 baptisms and 233 burials covering 1836-1837 at Hetton-le-Hole St. Nicholas in Houghton-le-Spring district. Abodes mentioned include Brick Garth, Cross Lanes, Downs Lane, Easington Lane, Eppleton Pit, Haswell, Hetton Houses, Hetton-le-Hole, High Downs, Little Eppleton, Low Downs, Lyons, Murton Lane, and Thornley in the parish of Kelloe.

Chester-le-Street baptisms 1813-1851: all details filled in
Hurray ! We have finished filling in all the details for 12,092 baptisms at Chester-le-Street covering 1813-1851. If you have ordered any records from our pre-1852 Chester-le-Street collection, you will know that you immediately get a terse form of the record – an index entry – and then, a few days later, we fill in the details and send you the revised record. Well, for baptisms, there will be no more waiting for details! (We are now hard at work filling in the details of the Chester-le-Street marriage collection, and then will move on to burials.)  If you have purchased a baptism at Chester-le-Street in this period, we recommend you take another look at it to see if anything has been added or changed.

Dalton-le-Dale baptisms & burials for 1798-1812 updated
Added missing details to the following records at Dalton-le-Dale in Easington district:
Baptisms 1798-1812 - father’s occupations were added. ‘Illegitimate’ was added if it had been omitted.
Burials 1798-1812 - death dates and father’s occupations were added, and in some cases, more details of an address.

Witnesses added to Bishopwearmouth marriages 1813-1837
Added 8,725 witnesses to our existing 4,202 marriages at Bishopwearmouth St. Michael & All Angels, covering 1813 to mid-1837 when civil registration started. We have also added any missing details, such as whether the marriages were by banns or licence, a few marital statuses, and we corrected some minor spelling errors in names and place names.

Search with Event Year & Range now works for censuses; other changes to the search form
We have made some changes to the search form to enable more tightly-targeted search results.

Files in the processing queue, not necessarily to be released in this order:
Etherley baptisms & burials 1834-1862
Durham St. Margaret marriages 1765-1797
Hartlepool West View cemetery 1930-1997
West Hartlepool North Cemetery 1856-1869
Stranton Grange cemetery 1912-1919
Monkwearmouth Venerable Bede baptisms 1877-1885
Gateshead St. James baptisms 1865-1879
Lumley baptisms & burials 1861-1867
Sacriston baptisms 1866-1875

Further down the road: records from Tynemouth, Earsdon, Hexham

(With thanks to Holly Cochran)

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Internet Archive continues to add NLS materials

The National Library of Scotland section of the Internet Archive is continuing to add material at a rate of knots, with some 915 directories now available on the suite (at least), some 200 more available than on the NLS's own website. Latest additions include Inverness and burgh directories up to 1931, directories for Ayrshire up to 1924, Post Office directories for Edinburgh and Leith, and also for Dundee, up to 1931, and considerably more. Other holdings include British army, navy and air force lists from the world wars, over 1900 books written in Gaelic, compiled genealogies, and a range of other materials, all freely available.

For the NLS section of the Internet Archive visit http://archive.org/details/nationallibraryofscotland

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Friday 16 November 2012

WDYTYA - John Bishop episode transmission

The BBC has briefly stated on its Who Do You Think You Are page at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007t575 that the postponed John Bishop episode of the series will air on Thursday 6th December. No time or channel is given, but I presume BBC1 at 9pm.

(With thanks to @ancestryUK)

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Podcast - Marjorie's War: Four Families and the Great War

The latest podcast from the National Archives at Kew is Marjorie’s War: four families and the Great War, by Charles Fair. It runs to just over 35 minutes and can be listened to at http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/marjories-war-four-families-and-the-great-war/ or downloaded from iTunes.

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

More Bolton data on DeceasedOnline

Heaton is 2nd Bolton cemetery added to Deceased Online (www.deceasedonline.com)

With over 95,000 burial records, Heaton is the second cemetery managed by Bolton Council to be added to Deceased Online

Following the launch last week of Tonge Cemetery, the inclusion of all data for Heaton brings the size of the database for the area to 211,000 burials

The data for Heaton Cemetery commences with the first burials in 1879 through to 2012 and comprises:
  • Details of all graves indicating those buried in each grave
  • Scans of all burial registers
  • Cemetery maps indicating grave locations*

* Note: The cemetery maps indicate the section where the selected grave is located. Each section or block comprises approximately 100 graves and as many of the headstones incorporate grave reference numbers it is relatively easy to find the searched-for grave using the maps.

Data for five more cemeteries and Overdale Crematorium in Bolton coming soon.

Find out more about the cemeteries and the famous and infamous featured on Deceased Online. Read our blog by historian and genealogist Emma Jolly. See http://deceasedonlineblog.blogspot.co.uk

(With thanks to Richard Gray)

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

The Irish in Britain

FindmyPast Ireland has an interesting blog post at http://blog.findmypast.ie/2012/11/the-irish-in-britain/ concerning the population of the Irish in Britain between 1841 and 1921, as based on the collated statistics from the decennial censuses. The statistic that jumped out at me was that for 1851 Scotland, with 7.2% of the population having hailed from across the water - about 1 in 15 - the highest percentage anywhere in Britain for any of the censuses. When you take into consideration that that is a national statistic, this number itself will grossly underestimate the percentage of Irish folk in the West of Scotland, where most settled after fleeing the Famine. My own family is part of that story, with several migrants from Fermanagh and Derry settling in Glasgow's Bridgeton district.

My next book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, out in February next year in time for Who Do You Think You Are Live, looks at many Irish resources in Ireland. In addition, the British context is also included throughout, with Ireland part of the UK from 1801-1921, and Northern Ireland since then. If you haven't considered considered searching for your Irish relatives in Britain, you may be overlooking some seriously major clues for your research. The discovery of my three times great grandfather in the 1881 English census for Barrow-in-Furness was a game changer in one line of my own tree!

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Thursday 15 November 2012

More colonial records to be released by TNA

The National Archives will be making available a fourth tranche of colonial records available for viewing at its reading rooms from Friday 30th November 2012. This will include records relating to Ceylon, Cyprus and Kenya.

Further details are available at http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/784.htm.

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Genealogy Advisory Service at NAI

Genealogy Advisory Service at the National Archives of Ireland

This Winter 2012/13, the National Archives of Ireland continue their free genealogy advisory service.

From 10am to 1.30pm, Monday to Friday, some of the foremost experts on genealogy in Ireland are on-call in the National Archives to answer your family history queries.

The genealogy service marks the successful collaboration of Eneclann (www.eneclann.ie) and Ancestor Network (www.ancestor.ie), in partnership with the National Archives of Ireland (www.nationalarchives.ie), who bring together the talent and skill of some of Ireland's best known genealogists.

No booking is required, but access to the genealogist on-duty is on a first come, first served basis. Read more at www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-service/

(With thanks to Vicky McAllister)

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Suffolk Record Office closure

Another announcement from the FFHS (www.ffhs.org.uk)

Suffolk Record Office are closing the microform room at Ipswich to allow for some additional shelving to be installed. This will then house the SFHS library as well as material from the collection, which is currently housed in the strongroom. They will be packing up the room on Thursday 6 December and reopening Monday 14 January. There will be no access to the film and fiche during this time, nor will they be producing originals instead.

(With thanks to Beryl Evans)

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

West Sussex Record Office closures

From the Federation of Family History Societies (www.ffhs.org.uk)

The West Sussex Record Office (www.westsussex.gov.uk/ro) will be closed for stocktaking from Monday 3 December to Saturday 15 December inclusive, reopening on Monday 17 December 2012. Over Christmas and New Year, the Record Office will be closed on 25 and 26 December, reopening on Thursday 27 December. It will also be closed on Tuesday 1 January 2013, reopening on Wednesday 2 January.

(With thanks to Beryl Evans)

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Midlands electoral records on Ancestry

Ancestry has launched a new collection - Midlands, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1955. For further details visit http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=2584

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Kent manorial documents on FamilySearch

FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org) has added a new digitised collection, England, Kent, Manorial Documents, 1241-1976. The collection, sourced from Kent Archives, can only be accessed at the Mormon church's network of family history centres.

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)

Tuesday 13 November 2012

Conference - The Gathering: Local History, Heritage and Diaspora

I've been asked by Professor Marion Lyons of the National University of Ireland at Maynooth to try to help spread the word on a forthcoming conference entitled The Gathering: Local History, Heritage and Diaspora, which will be taking place on Saturday 24th November 2012, from 9.30am-4.00pm, at Renehan Hall, Maynooth University (south campus). Here goes...!

A quick summary of the conference aims from Marion:

The purpose of the conference is to bring a number of innovative projects that our researchers are engaged in to the attention of professionals working in the field of genealogy/Diaspora studies, i.e. people who might benefit from hearing about projects that have been developed in order to help Irish emigrants track their ancestors' migrant experiences and journeys.

The emphasis is on specialists show-casing their original work, highlighting the sources that they accessed, how they used them, what they were able to derive from those sources, how they would advise people to go about accessing and using those sources for other research, and in some cases e.g. John Joe Conwell, how one goes about setting up an initiative such as the Reaching Out project.

As part of the event, there will be an opportunity for delegates to view the Morpeth Testimonial Roll and to hear a presentation on what it is, how it might be of use to genealogists as a major census substitute, etc. This will be given by Christopher Ridgway who is curator of Castlehoward where the Roll was discovered.

An important feature of the day's proceedings will be a presentation, made by Mario Corrigan, County Librarian for Kildare, about how local historians, genealogists, librarians, heritage officers and others can help us with the task of identifying the approximately 250,000 people whose signatures or marks are recorded on the Morpeth Testimonial Roll. The hope is to get local communities on board in the coming months to share their knowledge of local history and local families in order to help us identify as many of these people as possible.

And here is the programme for the day:

9.15am Registration
9.30am Welcome & introduction - Professor Marian Lyons (Department of History, NUI Maynooth)
9.35am Opening address: The Gathering 2013 - Tim O’Connor (Chairman, Board of The Gathering)
10.00-10.20am ‘The global Irish family and its history’ - Patrick Fitzgerald (Mellon Centre for Migration Studies, Omagh)
10.20-10.40am ‘Working with the Irish abroad - a perspective from the Department of Foreign Affairs and trade’ - Niall Burgess (Department of Foreign Affairs)
10.40-11.00am ‘The Ireland Reaching Out Programme’ - John Joe Conwell (Community Liaison Officer for the Ireland Reaching Out Programme)
Q & A
11.20am Coffee
11.4 0-12.00 Searching for your lost ancestors: using transmigration studies - Dr Gerard Moran (Department of History, NUI Maynooth)
12.00-12.20 Entrepreneurs, innovators and philanthropists: the Irish imprint on the American Midwest, 1850-1900 - Ms Regina Donlon (Department of History, NUI Maynooth)
12.20-12.40 ‘In search of the Strokestown Famine emigrants’ - Dr Ciarán Reilly (Department of History, NUI Maynooth)
Q & A
1.00pm Lunch & viewing of the Morpeth Roll
2.00-2.20pm The Morpeth Roll: an introduction - Christopher Ridgway (Curator, Castle Howard, York & Adjunct Professor, Department of History, NUI Maynooth) - Chairperson: Professor Terence Dooley (Centre for Historic Irish Houses & Estates, Department of History, NUI Maynooth)
2.20-3.00pm Bringing the Morpeth Roll to life: a challenge for local historians - Mario Corrigan (Executive Librarian, Kildare Library & Arts Services) - Chairperson: Professor Raymond Gillespie (Department of History, NUI Maynooth)
3.00-4.00pm Plenary discussion led by Dr Patrick Fitzgerald
Q & A session: What contribution can local historians make to The Gathering?

Registration fee: €25 (light lunch, tea & coffee included). Advanced booking recommended. For further information and to book, contact the History Department, NUI Maynooth log on to www.nuim.ie/academic/history and follow the links for the conference. Alternatively, tel. 01-7083729 or email history.department@nuim.ie

NB: the booking form gives Friday 16th November as the closing date for receipt of registration forms - but Marion informs me that if people submit their forms by Wednesday 21st November, that will be acceptable

COMMENT: for more on the Morpeth Roll (and this is going to be major folks!), read my post in the Scottish GENES archive at http://scottishancestry.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/1841-document-with-300000-irish-names.html

(With thanks to Marion)

Chris

Scotland 1750-1850 - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 2 NOV 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)