Commonwealth Virtual Institute in March 2020

From the ISBGFH:

THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR BRITISH GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORY
PRESENTS COMMONWEALTH VIRTUAL INSTITUTE

The ISBGFH is pleased to announce their Virtual Institute which will run from March 16-19, 2020. The theme for this Institute is Researching in Commonwealth Countries. Each day of the Institute will feature 4 presentations on a particular Commonwealth Country:

Monday March 16 – Canadian Research presented by Kathryn Lake Hogan, UE, PLCGS. Kathryn is a Canadian professional genealogist who revels in teaching people how to find their ancestors in Canada. She is the founder and owner of the Canadian-based genealogy business, Looking4Ancestors.

Tuesday March 17 – South African Research presented by Sue McNelly. Sue is a professional genealogist based in Phoenix, Arizona, with over 16 years of experience. Born in South Africa to her English father and South African mother, Sue’s roots are predominantly English with a little Scottish, Irish and of course South African, to add to the mix. Sue is the owner of KindredPast, a genealogy company focusing on research in South Africa, England, and the Isle of Man.

Wednesday March 18 – British India Research presented by Emma Jolly. Emma Jolly MA is a professional genealogist and writer. Based in London, Emma writes regularly for family history publications and is the author of four books. Emma's media work includes radio and television appearances, as well as research for British and Swedish television channels, independent production companies, and national newspapers. She also edits the monthly newsletter of the Society of Genealogists. Emma specializes in genealogy problem-solving, tracing living relatives (alongside DNA test analysis), London history, social history, women's history and the British in India.

Thursday March 19 – Australian Research presented by Kerry Farmer. Kerry Farmer is a researcher, presenter and teacher in genealogical studies. She is on the Board of the Society of Australian Genealogists and convener of their Education Committee. She is Director of Australian Studies for the National Institute for Genealogical Studies, developing their Australian Records courses.
**Please note that this will be a late afternoon/evening series given the time zone differences**

$70usd per day. $249usd for all 4 days.
Registration allows you access to recordings of the presentations until April 30th
To register: https://isbgfh.wildapricot.org/

(With thanks to Christine Woodcock)

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.

Ancestry offers free access to Ireland, UK and Commonwealth records

From Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk):

What better way to bring your family closer together than our Easter Free Access weekend?

From 30 March to 2 April, you’ll be able to search millions of UK, Ireland and Commonwealth records – all completely free*. Start in Britain then head off to Australia, Canada, or wherever, and spend four full days finding long-lost family all over the Commonwealth.

Enjoy FREE Access to millions more records including these highlights:

NEW Historical Photographs and Prints
Explore more than 40,000 images, capturing defining moments in history and displays of everyday life.

Birth, marriage and death indexes
Find family among the vital indexes covering England and Wales as far back as 1837.

Commonwealth records
Get access to everything from Australian Electoral Rolls to Canadian Census records.

Plus much more

* Access to the records in the featured collections will start on 30 March and will be free until 2 April 2018 at 23:59 BST. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using a paid Ancestry.co.uk membership

(Note that you will need to register for a free account if you do not have one)

Chris

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

TheGenealogist adds names from 53 new War Memorials

From The Genealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

TheGenealogist adds another 15,000 names from 53 new War Memorials

In time for Armistice day TheGenealogist has added to their War Memorial records on the website so that there are now over 383,000 fully searchable records.

This latest release includes war memorials from Worcestershire and South Yorkshire as well as some further monuments from Australia,Canada, London and various other British counties. A more unusual one added in this release is from Olds, in Alberta, Canada - the memorial is a Sherman tank!

Fully searchable by name, researchers can read transcriptions and see images of the dedications that commemorate soldiers who have fallen in the Boer War, WW1 and various other conflicts.

These new records are available as part of the Diamond Subscription at TheGenealogist.
Read our article on War Memorials that reveal WW1 heros, The neglected Sheffield soldier finally recognised, at: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2017/war-memorials-that-reveal-ww1-heroes-681/.

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

Chris

My next 5 week long Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course commences Nov 6th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. 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.

Free access to Ancestry for Easter

From Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk):

FREE ACCESS—BIGGER THAN EVER*

Bring your family closer together this Easter with our extra-special, bumper free access. For four full days, until 28 March, you can hunt through billions of records from all over the UK and the British Commonwealth—from Australia to Canada—and uncover even more of your unique family story.

*Access to the records in the featured collections will be free until 28 March, 2016 at 23:59 GMT. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using an Ancestry.co.uk paid membership. To see a full list of the records in the featured collections please click here.

To gain access visit http://www.ancestry.co.uk/cs/free-access.

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/.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office records 1782-1982 workshop

The National Archives at Kew is running a workshop on Tuesday 22nd July entitled From mandarins to mandates, an overview of Foreign and Commonwealth Office records in The National Archives. The workshop "will look at records of the Foreign Office from when it was established in 1782, through to the merger with the Commonwealth Office in 1968 and up to the latest releases of records for 1982."

For further details visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/events/mandarins-to-mandates.htm.

Chris

Now available for UK research is the new second edition of the best selling Tracing Your Family History on the Internet: A Guide for Family Historians, whilst my new book British and Irish Newspapers is also now out. And FindmyPast - please reinstate the original Scottish census citations on your new site.

TNA podcast - The Cold War in British Guaina

The latest podcast from the National Archives at Kew is entitled The subversion of Cheddi Jagan: the Cold War in British Guiana, 1953-64, a talk from Clem Seecharan lasting an hour and three minutes.

You can listed for free at http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/the-subversion-of-cheddi-jagan-the-cold-war-in-british-guiana-1953-64/ or download from iTunes.

Chris

My new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, is now available from Pen and Sword. My Scottish land and church records ebooks are available at http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html, whilst my next Pharos Scottish course, Scottish Research Online, starts Sep 4th - see http://pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. Time to smash a few brick walls...!

Compensation for crimes of the British Empire?

There was an interesting story in the Guardian yesterday about the possibility of thousands of Kenyans being paid compensation from the UK for apparent torture against them during the Mau Mau insurgency in the 1950s, as the British Empire collapsed. If successful, it could open the doors to similar claims from other parts of the former empire, and would be the first time that the UK made such a payment for official crimes committed during British imperial rule.

For the compensation story visit www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/05/mau-mau-victims-kenya-settlement - for an earlier story on the efforts to hide relevant FCO documentation which might "embarrass HMG or other government", see www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/apr/18/sins-colonialists-concealed-secret-archive.

Shocking as it is, there is tragically likely to be a family history element to this - who committed or sanctioned the apparent torture? Sometimes the past can be more uncomfortable than we may dare hope for...

Chris

My new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, is now available from Pen and Sword. My next Pharos Scottish course, Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers, starts May 15th - see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/scotland-1750-1850-beyond-oprs-starts.html. Time to smash a few brick walls...!

Forthcoming 5th release of colonial records

The National Archives at Kew has announced a forthcoming fifth tranche release of colonial records, this time containing material Ceylon, Kenya, Malta, Mauritius, New Hebrides, Nigeria, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Palestine, Sierra Leone and Singapore. They will be available in the reading rooms at the facility from Friday 26 April 2013.

For further details visit http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/832.htm

Chris

My new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, is now available from Pen and Sword. For my other genealogy books, please visit  http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.

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

More old Asian colonial photos placed online

The National Archives at Kew (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) has placed hundreds of early photographs of Asia dating back to the 19th century online as part of its Asia Through a Lens project. The images have been sourced from the Colonial Office's Photographic Collection. For further details, visit http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/768.htm

Chris

Scottish Research Online - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 26 SEP 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)

Third tranche of colonial records to be released

The National Archives in Kew (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) is to release a third tranche of colonial records from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on September 28th. A guide will also be made available on that date detailing the contents of the release.

For more information visit http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/763.htm

Chris

Scottish Research Online - 5 weeks online Pharos course, £45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 26 SEP 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)

TNA podcast - British colonial records

The latest podcast from the National Archives in England is entitled Colonial lives, careers and policies: researching printed papers of the British colonial governments. From the site:

The printed papers of colonial governments held by the Colonial Office, including government gazettes and sessional papers of colonial assemblies and parliaments, contain a wealth of detail for historians and genealogists. This podcast outlines the content of the printed papers from the first half of the 19th century to the end of empire; a rich but underused resource.

The speaker is Dan Gilfoyle, and the talk runs to just under 33 minutes in length. To listen visit http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/colonial-lives-careers-and-policies-researching-printed-papers-of-the-british-colonial-governments/ or download from iTunes.

Chris

Check out my Scotland's Greatest Story research service www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
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)

Further colonial records released

The National Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) in England has released a second tranche of colonial records, covering Basutoland, the Cameroons, Ceylon, Cyprus, Fiji, the Gambia, Gilbert and Ellice Islands, and Gold Coast. The records are sourced from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, catalogued under FCO141.

The news announcement is at http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/746.htm, whilst a guide to the new release is available at http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/migratedarchives-2.guidance.pdf.

Chris

Check out my Scotland's Greatest Story research service www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
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)

TNA podcast - colonial records

The National Archives has placed a new podcast online entitled An introduction to the first tranche of colonial administration records released at The National Archives. The talk by Dr Edward Hampshire concerns the new release of the 'migrated archives' and also has an accompanying PDF document with further information available.

To access the podcast and PDF file visit http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/an-introduction-to-the-first-tranche-of-colonial-administration-records-released-at-the-national-archives/. The talk should also be available via iTunes.

Chris

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

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

Colonial records released at TNA

The National Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) has granted access in its reading rooms to the first batch of records from its new colonial records acquisitions, aka the 'migrated archives'. The first release includes material from Aden, Anguilla, Bahamas, Basutoland, Bechuanaland, British Indian Ocean Territories, Brunei, Cyprus, Kenya, Malaya, Sarawak and Seychelles, with a guide on their use available to read at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/migrated-archives-guidance.pdf.

For more on the story visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/700.htm

Chris

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

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

Colonial administration records to be released

The National Archives will begin to release Foreign and Commonwealth Office colonial administration records for Aden, Anguilla, Bahamas, Basutoland, Bechuanaland, British Indian Ocean Territories, Brunei, Cyprus, Kenya, Malaya, Sarawak and Seychelles on Wednesday 18th April 2012. The record will not be online, but available in the reading rooms, although a user guide will be made available on the website. There will also be two tie-in talks on the day at the archive.

The full story is at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/687.htm. Further information on the records set is also available at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/colonial-administration-records.htm

(With thanks to @UKNatArchives)

Chris


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

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