Was the Ulster Covenant signed in blood?

Tomorrow sees the one hundredth anniversary of the signing of the Ulster Covenant, signed around the world by half a million folk on September 28th 1912 against the prospect of a Dublin based Home Rule parliament for all of Ireland. BBC Northern Ireland has an interesting piece at www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-19746073 about one piece of Covenant lore, namely that prominent Unionist Major Fred Crawford signed the document in his blood.

A forensic test determined to recognise the iron content of blood has now returned a 90% confidence that the signature was not in fact made in blood - though some Unionists are still holding onto the 10% uncertainty factor!

Whatever the politics of it all, the Covenant is still an important genealogical resource, particularly if your ancestor signed it outside of Ireland, for in many cases the address column was actually filled with the place of origin in Ireland - my own great grandfather Robert Currie, for example, signed the document in Glasgow, and gave Knockloughrim in County Londonderry as his place of origin. The census from the previous year, and in previous decades, simply listed him as from "Ireland".

To view the original signatures of the Ulster Covenant, now held at PRONI, and digitised and made available online, visit www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/ulster_covenant.htm.

And if you are wondering, nine men who signed it in China were not part of a Chinese Orange lodge, but members of a Royal Naval vessel! :)

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)

National Library of Scotland - Special Collections Reading Room

The National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk) has this week opened a new Special Collections Reading Room at George IV Bridge.

To see what is now available, visit http://blogs.nls.uk/rarebooks/?m=20120921

Shiny! New! Yay!

(With thanks to @natlibscot)

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)

Plumstead Cemetery records on Deceased Online

From Deceased Online:

VCs, Royal Arsenal workers and mayors among 56,000 burial records

All records for Plumstead Cemetery in South East London are immediately available on www.deceasedonline.com

Opened in 1890, Plumstead is the third cemetery in the Royal Borough of Greenwich to be included on the Deceased Online database.

Located on a hillside, the cemetery has fine vistas across London. It features many interesting graves and memorials including two former Mayors of Woolwich and two recipients of the Victoria Cross; Private Thomas Flawn and Gunner Alfred Smith.
There is also a memorial to victims of accidental explosions at the Royal Arsenal, (opened in the late 17th Century) which was located in nearby Woolwich.

You can read more details about this cemetery and many others within the 'database coverage' section on www.deceasedonline.com

The data for Plumstead Cemetery comprise:

• Computerised records
• Grave details indicating those buried in each grave
• Scans of burial registers
• Cemetery maps indicating grave locations
• Some photographs of memorials and headstones

Find out more about the cemeteries and the famous and infamous featured on Deceased Online. Read our new blog by historian and genealogist Emma Jolly.

See: http://deceasedonlineblog.blogspot.co.uk

(With thanks to Richard Gray)

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)

FamilySearch adds Welsh parish register indexes

A couple of days ago, in a post about this blog's first anniversary, I asked for a bit more Welsh news. Since then I've been on something of a run with it...!

FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org) has just added free to access indexes for several collections of Welsh parish registers, each of which links to the images of the same collections on FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk). They are located in the United Kingdom and Ireland category of Historical Records.

The counties catered for are Brecknockshire, Carenarvonshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Glamorganshire, Merionethshire, Monmouthshire, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire. All apparently cover the period from 1538 to 1912.

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)

Pembrokeshire Record Office Move

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

Pembrokeshire Record Office Move

The public search room is no longer available to visitors.

The Pembrokeshire Record Office is on track to move in to its new home on the former site of Prendergast Junior School in Haverfordwest at the end of this year.

Work preparing for the move has been going on for several months in the background at the Record Office - based in Haverfordwest Castle - while maintaining a public service for historical research.

The relocation itself is a major project and includes the transfer of the County Archive which fills over two and a half kilometres of shelves in the repository of the current building.

To facilitate the move it will be necessary to close the public search room to visitors temporarily from the early autumn.

It will be ready to open again to the public at the new site early in 2013.
The new building - which reflects significant investment by Pembrokeshire County Council - will offer an increased level of service.

Significantly improved facilities including a larger, better equipped visitor space, rest area, better reprography facilities, archive conservation studio and meeting/education room.

During closure the office will respond to written and telephone enquiries in line with the County Council's policy on dealing with external communications.

Any questions concerning the service and, in particular, the temporary closure of the public search room may be directed to:

The Pembrokeshire Record Office,
The Castle,
Haverfordwest,
SA61 2EF.
Tel. 01437 763707; fax 01437 768539; E-mail record.office@pembrokeshire.gov.uk

(With thanks to Beryl Evans)

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)

Streets of Inspiration talk in London

News of a forthcoming talk in London:

Streets of Inspiration - Dickens and Holborn, Camden and St Pancras
A Free Talk by Tudor Allen, Archivist

Tuesday 2nd October 2012 at 7.15 pm (doors open at 6.45 pm)

At Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre, 2nd Floor, Holborn Library, 32-38 Theobalds Road
London WC1X 8PA

(With thanks to Emma Jolly)

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)

Genealogists for Families - first anniversary

The Genealogists for Families initiative, initially set up in Australia but now with worldwide participation, is one year old today. The project is a micro-loan scheme run through Kiva which allows family historians to help people around the world with start-ups in various business ventures. So far 215 genealogists have participated, with over a thousand loans already made to the tune of some $28,500. I've made a few loans myself, and once they are repaid I re-loan the money to other start-ups. If interested in joining in - and you don't have to be a professional genealogist to do so! - please take a look at the page on this site entitled Kiva (see top menu bar), where all the relevant details can be found.

Happy Birthday Genealogists for Families! And do check out the project's own blog post at http://genfamilies.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/year-1-genealogy-benefits-and-team.html

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)

Ainon Chapel memorial unveiled

A new memorial has been unveiled at Ainon Chapel grounds to replace the 40 headstones knocked down during redevelopment last year in a memorial garden owned by Tonyrefail Working Men's Club, causing immense upset to many of those whose relatives had been buried within the grounds. The new memorial, funded by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, has been produced with help from Glamorgan Family History Society, and also includes many additional names of those buried in the grounds with no headstone.

The BBC has the story at www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-19702996

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)

Glamorgan and Anglesey archives closures

The following archives in Wales will be temporarily closed on the following dates:

Gwynedd Archives Service, Caernarfon RO (www.gwynedd.gov.uk/gwy_doc.asp?cat=3693&doc=12971&Language=1&p=1&c=1) - closed 8th to the 15th October. Reopens Tuesday 16th.

Anglesey Archives, Llangefni R.O (www.anglesey.gov.uk/leisure/records-and-archives/) - closed 5th to the 9th November. Reopens Monday 12th.

(With thanks to Keith Morris)

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)

Scottish Genealogy Society workshops

From the Scottish Genealogy Society (www.scotsgenealogy.com):

Family History Classes

Following on the success of our Taster Sessions, the Society has put together a programme of workshops to assist members/non-members to delve deeper into their Scottish family history. Apart from the Beginners classes, these modules go beyond the usual birth, marriage and death information. The classes will be held, mostly on a monthly basis, at our Family History Centre at 15 Victoria Terrace and will cost £10 each. The schedule is as follows (all dates are Saturdays from 10am-12pm):

6 October
Beginners: This module is just what it says - for beginners. Ken Nisbet, who has many years of experience in researching family history will take this class.

3 November
Maritime: John Stevenson, our resident expert on all things maritime, can help if you have a query on anything regarding the Royal or Merchant Navy.

1 December
Emigrants: With so many ancestors emigrating to the far flung corners of the British Commonwealth and beyond, this is an important part of Scottish family history. Ken Nisbet can help you find the best sources of information to help you trace their whereabouts.

Other classes are planned for next year but have still to be confirmed. For further information or to book a class, please call 0131 220 3677 or e-mail: scotsgenpublicity@scotsgenealogy.com

(With thanks to Ken Nisbet)

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)