The National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk) has launched two new collections online, trench maps from 1915-1918 and Scottish rolls of honour from the First World War. The institution has a blog post outlining the new collections, with the respective links, at http://blogs.nls.uk/familyhistory/
(With thanks to Hazel Stewart at the NLS)
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.
Monday, 7 July 2014
Saturday, 5 July 2014
Deaf and dumb in Glasgow
An article from four years ago, in which a client contacted me for help to resolve a brick wall case using DNA - but where DNA was not in fact the answer to solving the problem...
I recently had someone get in touch who had a brick wall problem over an ancestor by the surname of Campbell - a missing birth from Glasgow in the early 1810s. The ancestors in question had moved to England in the mid 1850s and had taught at a deaf institute in Manchester and then Doncaster. He had married prior to moving south and had had two children in Scotland, but when he died his death certificate did not name his parents, and there were no details on his wife's maiden name. The English census records stated he was born in Glasgow circa 1810, but there were five or six different possibilities on ScotlandsPeople (and that was just for Church of Scotland registered events). Without his wife's maiden name he could not find the marriage, and the children's births were also not found. There was a possible 1851 census entry in Scotland which could not be confirmed as being the couple, as the information was limited (the children were not yet born).
In desperation the client had taken a DNA test, thinking that as it was a 'clan name', that might help. In his original approach he actually sent me the results of his test and asked me to interpret them for him. Before doing so I asked him to confirm a few points. He was from Glasgow? Yes. He taught at a deaf institute? Yes. Was he deaf himself? Absolutely. So who taught him? Ah...
The DNA test was going to be a very long shot indeed, so I suggested he park that for the moment and concentrate on what he already knew. It was entirely possible that he had been taught in Glasgow as a deaf child - if so, where would that have happened? The first thing I did was to search the online British Library 19th Century Newspaper collection to see if I could find any mention of a deaf institute in Glasgow. In fact, I not only came up with details of such an organisation, by a stroke of good luck I actually found an announcement of the ancestor in question having a dinner held in his honour! In a Glasgow Herald article from 1856 I discovered how he had been presented by the Deaf and Dumb Society "with a Sum of Money, as a small tribute of their gratitude and respect for him as their Sunday Meeting Teacher, on the eve of his Departure for England.” A few tributes followed, with the article then stating that “their guest had taught them for the past seventeen years”, and he was wished every success for “a missionary field of similar character in Manchester”.
Knowing he had been connected as a teacher to the Glasgow based society, I looked on the internet for any kind of additional information about the organisation, and found a site at www.gsedd.org.uk/history.html which provided a brief history for it. The Glasgow Society for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb had been formed as a satellite operation in 1819 to an earlier body instituted in Edinburgh. A check of the NAS catalogue (www.nas.gov.uk/onlinecatalogue) confirmed that the Edinburgh records were held at the archive but not those for Glasgow. Unable to find the records for Glasgow listed on any other catalogue (NAS, NRAS and SCAN), I therefore decided just to call the modern day society, details of which were on the website. It turns out that the modern day version is no longer a school, just a fund issuing grants for those seeking to assist deaf/blind people. The fund is administered by a chartered accountants in Glasgow, and with nothing to lose I asked, "You don't happen to have the records by any chance, do you?" The answer was that in actual fact, they did! I asked for permission to come in and see them, which was granted.
When I visited, I was immediately given some annual reports from the 1830s and 1840s which had been published in book form. I sifted through them and found a couple of earlier letters written by someone as a pupil sharing the same name as the teacher, including one discussing how whilst playing with his (named) brother at the Broomielaw he very nearly drowned on one occasion, but nothing to confirm that he had in fact been the man who later moved to Manchester. After an hour ploughing through them I asked the accountant responsible if there might be any actual original minute books or any kind of school admission rolls? She disappeared for five minutes and returned with a minute book from the very beginning of the society's existence. As I worked my way through my eyes nearly popped out of my head - the detail was extraordinary. I soon established from the minutes that the pupil was indeed the same person as the teacher. The Campbell boy had started off as one of the society's first eight pupils - his father was noted as a shoemaker from Partick, and after finishing school he was taken on initially as a Sunday School teacher, and later as a full teacher at the school. Combined with the AGM minutes I found enough detail to conclusively prove which birth record was the right one, and managed to take the family back a few more generations.
DNA tests are a wonderful tool for genealogy, but there is often a hype about how they can be used. In this case the test ended up being completely unnecessary. Sometimes it is worth putting yourself in the position of the person at the heart of your brick wall and trying to imagine what life must have been like for them. As in this case, it just might point out an option that didn't at first present itself on the face of it.
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.
I recently had someone get in touch who had a brick wall problem over an ancestor by the surname of Campbell - a missing birth from Glasgow in the early 1810s. The ancestors in question had moved to England in the mid 1850s and had taught at a deaf institute in Manchester and then Doncaster. He had married prior to moving south and had had two children in Scotland, but when he died his death certificate did not name his parents, and there were no details on his wife's maiden name. The English census records stated he was born in Glasgow circa 1810, but there were five or six different possibilities on ScotlandsPeople (and that was just for Church of Scotland registered events). Without his wife's maiden name he could not find the marriage, and the children's births were also not found. There was a possible 1851 census entry in Scotland which could not be confirmed as being the couple, as the information was limited (the children were not yet born).
In desperation the client had taken a DNA test, thinking that as it was a 'clan name', that might help. In his original approach he actually sent me the results of his test and asked me to interpret them for him. Before doing so I asked him to confirm a few points. He was from Glasgow? Yes. He taught at a deaf institute? Yes. Was he deaf himself? Absolutely. So who taught him? Ah...
The DNA test was going to be a very long shot indeed, so I suggested he park that for the moment and concentrate on what he already knew. It was entirely possible that he had been taught in Glasgow as a deaf child - if so, where would that have happened? The first thing I did was to search the online British Library 19th Century Newspaper collection to see if I could find any mention of a deaf institute in Glasgow. In fact, I not only came up with details of such an organisation, by a stroke of good luck I actually found an announcement of the ancestor in question having a dinner held in his honour! In a Glasgow Herald article from 1856 I discovered how he had been presented by the Deaf and Dumb Society "with a Sum of Money, as a small tribute of their gratitude and respect for him as their Sunday Meeting Teacher, on the eve of his Departure for England.” A few tributes followed, with the article then stating that “their guest had taught them for the past seventeen years”, and he was wished every success for “a missionary field of similar character in Manchester”.
Knowing he had been connected as a teacher to the Glasgow based society, I looked on the internet for any kind of additional information about the organisation, and found a site at www.gsedd.org.uk/history.html which provided a brief history for it. The Glasgow Society for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb had been formed as a satellite operation in 1819 to an earlier body instituted in Edinburgh. A check of the NAS catalogue (www.nas.gov.uk/onlinecatalogue) confirmed that the Edinburgh records were held at the archive but not those for Glasgow. Unable to find the records for Glasgow listed on any other catalogue (NAS, NRAS and SCAN), I therefore decided just to call the modern day society, details of which were on the website. It turns out that the modern day version is no longer a school, just a fund issuing grants for those seeking to assist deaf/blind people. The fund is administered by a chartered accountants in Glasgow, and with nothing to lose I asked, "You don't happen to have the records by any chance, do you?" The answer was that in actual fact, they did! I asked for permission to come in and see them, which was granted.
When I visited, I was immediately given some annual reports from the 1830s and 1840s which had been published in book form. I sifted through them and found a couple of earlier letters written by someone as a pupil sharing the same name as the teacher, including one discussing how whilst playing with his (named) brother at the Broomielaw he very nearly drowned on one occasion, but nothing to confirm that he had in fact been the man who later moved to Manchester. After an hour ploughing through them I asked the accountant responsible if there might be any actual original minute books or any kind of school admission rolls? She disappeared for five minutes and returned with a minute book from the very beginning of the society's existence. As I worked my way through my eyes nearly popped out of my head - the detail was extraordinary. I soon established from the minutes that the pupil was indeed the same person as the teacher. The Campbell boy had started off as one of the society's first eight pupils - his father was noted as a shoemaker from Partick, and after finishing school he was taken on initially as a Sunday School teacher, and later as a full teacher at the school. Combined with the AGM minutes I found enough detail to conclusively prove which birth record was the right one, and managed to take the family back a few more generations.
DNA tests are a wonderful tool for genealogy, but there is often a hype about how they can be used. In this case the test ended up being completely unnecessary. Sometimes it is worth putting yourself in the position of the person at the heart of your brick wall and trying to imagine what life must have been like for them. As in this case, it just might point out an option that didn't at first present itself on the face of it.
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.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission revamp
From the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (www.cwgc.org) newsletter:
On 7 July, the CWGC is launching an exciting range of new digital services on its website.
These include:
the launch of the Discover 14-18 website - to help people visit our cemeteries and memorials and understand their history
the launch of our First World War casualty archive documents online
and enhancements to Search Our Records
While the enhancements are taking place, users may experience some disruption to our normal web services but we hope that, with the changes, users will find the experience of searching through our records even more fascinating than before.
The full newsletter is at http://newsletters.wizontheweb.co.uk/t/ViewEmail/r/AB220701C1B56F1C2540EF23F30FEDED/F090797B09DF142E23B7CB3C95A53812
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.
On 7 July, the CWGC is launching an exciting range of new digital services on its website.
These include:
the launch of the Discover 14-18 website - to help people visit our cemeteries and memorials and understand their history
the launch of our First World War casualty archive documents online
and enhancements to Search Our Records
While the enhancements are taking place, users may experience some disruption to our normal web services but we hope that, with the changes, users will find the experience of searching through our records even more fascinating than before.
The full newsletter is at http://newsletters.wizontheweb.co.uk/t/ViewEmail/r/AB220701C1B56F1C2540EF23F30FEDED/F090797B09DF142E23B7CB3C95A53812
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.
Thursday, 3 July 2014
"Huge amount" of Irish content to join British Newspaper Archive soon
Earlier today I asked the British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) via Twitter,when it was planning to release any further Irish material - because, let's face it, we've been getting scraps really since the whole thing started. I've just received the following response:
"We're already on the case - a huge amount of material from across Ireland coming later in the year!"
Watch this space... Updates will apparently be posted at http://help-and-advice.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/forums/243704-newspapers-we-should-add-next/suggestions/5991140-irish-newspapers-prior-to-1922
(With thanks to Ian Tester)
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.
"We're already on the case - a huge amount of material from across Ireland coming later in the year!"
Watch this space... Updates will apparently be posted at http://help-and-advice.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/forums/243704-newspapers-we-should-add-next/suggestions/5991140-irish-newspapers-prior-to-1922
(With thanks to Ian Tester)
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.
Irish BMD indexes and PRONI catalogue update
Two things to keep an eye out for later today on the Irish front -
1) Irish civil birth, marriage and death indexes are due to be uploaded to Irish Genealogy (www.irishgenealogy.ie) - these are more detailed and more complete than previous online offerings, though sadly not a pay-per-view system as yet for the original images, as with the GRO Northern Irish system
and
2) The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland catalogue at www.proni.gov.uk should have an update to its catalogue today, so always worth re-doing any old searches, in case something new pops up!
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.
1) Irish civil birth, marriage and death indexes are due to be uploaded to Irish Genealogy (www.irishgenealogy.ie) - these are more detailed and more complete than previous online offerings, though sadly not a pay-per-view system as yet for the original images, as with the GRO Northern Irish system
and
2) The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland catalogue at www.proni.gov.uk should have an update to its catalogue today, so always worth re-doing any old searches, in case something new pops up!
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.
Off for a dander...
I'm heading over to Ireland for a week (BIG 50th bash in County Tipperary!), so blogging may be intermittent over the next few days. Will try to sign in when I can though!
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.
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 - Tales from the Victorian lunacy panics
The latest podcast from the National Archives at Kew (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) is entitled Inconvenient people and how to find them: Tales from the Victorian lunacy panics, a 46 minute lecture by Sarah Wise.
It can be listened to at http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/inconvenient-people/ or downloaded for free from iTunes.
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.
It can be listened to at http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/inconvenient-people/ or downloaded for free from iTunes.
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.
Wednesday, 2 July 2014
Dundee GPO time casket to be opened
The ScotlandsPeople Centre (www.scotlandspeoplehub.gov.uk) is reporting that a time casket created in 1914 by the GPO in Dundee is to be opened this year on August 4th, in accordance with the creator's wishes. The McManus Art Gallery and Museum is now co-ordinating efforts to locate descendants of Dundonian GPO workers from the day who served with the armed forces, to witness it being re-opened (this event will be for invited guests only).
The casket's existence was discovered by Janice A. Kennedy in Dundee whilst carrying out family history research, and she has written an article for the ScotlandsPeople centre, which is online at http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/Content/Help/index.aspx?r=2291, along with details of how to get in touch if you have a GPO connection to Dundee.
(With thanks to @ScotlandsPeople)
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.
The casket's existence was discovered by Janice A. Kennedy in Dundee whilst carrying out family history research, and she has written an article for the ScotlandsPeople centre, which is online at http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/Content/Help/index.aspx?r=2291, along with details of how to get in touch if you have a GPO connection to Dundee.
(With thanks to @ScotlandsPeople)
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.
Tuesday, 1 July 2014
Who Do You Think You Are? Story
FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) and Wall to Wall Television, the independent production company which produces Who Do You Think You Are for the BBC (and which owns the format) have a new project on the cards, launching soon. Here's the release:
Findmypast and Wall to Wall are to celebrate 10 years of Who Do You Think You Are? by launching a commercial website and online product the Who Do You Think You Are? Story website.
In celebration of the brand’s tenth birthday, leading family history site, findmypast.co.uk has teamed up with Wall to Wall to create Who Do You Think You Are? Story. This site will allow all fans to create their own personalised Who Do You Think You Are? story quickly and easily, and share it with friends and family.
Fans simply need to add in the details they know about their own immediate family, and Who Do You Think You Are? Story will create a unique visual experience. Not only will it feature key events in their own family's history, but it will also pull in important contemporary issues which would have had an impact on their lives.
Wall to Wall has commissioned Findmypast to draw on its extensive archive of historical records, British newspaper cuttings, exclusive images, war records and much more, so that the commercial site Who Do You Think You Are? Story can bring history to life. The site will go live in the next few weeks but fans can sign up to receive news of the site's launch from today at http://www.whodoyouthinkyouarestory.com.
The site has been designed to cater for those who have done little or no family history research as well as those who have already started their own research.
The site will launch soon, though no date has been set as yet.
(With thanks to Alex Cox)
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.
Findmypast and Wall to Wall are to celebrate 10 years of Who Do You Think You Are? by launching a commercial website and online product the Who Do You Think You Are? Story website.
In celebration of the brand’s tenth birthday, leading family history site, findmypast.co.uk has teamed up with Wall to Wall to create Who Do You Think You Are? Story. This site will allow all fans to create their own personalised Who Do You Think You Are? story quickly and easily, and share it with friends and family.
Fans simply need to add in the details they know about their own immediate family, and Who Do You Think You Are? Story will create a unique visual experience. Not only will it feature key events in their own family's history, but it will also pull in important contemporary issues which would have had an impact on their lives.
Wall to Wall has commissioned Findmypast to draw on its extensive archive of historical records, British newspaper cuttings, exclusive images, war records and much more, so that the commercial site Who Do You Think You Are? Story can bring history to life. The site will go live in the next few weeks but fans can sign up to receive news of the site's launch from today at http://www.whodoyouthinkyouarestory.com.
The site has been designed to cater for those who have done little or no family history research as well as those who have already started their own research.
The site will launch soon, though no date has been set as yet.
(With thanks to Alex Cox)
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.
Scottish Highlander Photo Archive update
I've just been in touch with Adrian from the Scottish Highlander Photo Archive (www.scottishhighlanderphotoarchive.co.uk), and he's kindly given me the following update on the site's holdings:
Passed the 7,000 images online mark in January (now 7430). Several hundred military portraits taken by Paterson were returned to the archive around the same time too. None of these have been digitised yet, but there are hundreds already online from our own archive for anyone looking into their soldier forbears.
Also have access to the James Nairn Colour Collection... slowly uploading to the site, which may be of some interest. There's some early shots (1959-60) of kids at Halloween parties held at Carroll House Orphanage - www.scottishhighlanderphotoarchive.co.uk/SearchResults.aspx?q=james+s+nairn&Submit=Search
(With thanks to Adrian)
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.
Passed the 7,000 images online mark in January (now 7430). Several hundred military portraits taken by Paterson were returned to the archive around the same time too. None of these have been digitised yet, but there are hundreds already online from our own archive for anyone looking into their soldier forbears.
Also have access to the James Nairn Colour Collection... slowly uploading to the site, which may be of some interest. There's some early shots (1959-60) of kids at Halloween parties held at Carroll House Orphanage - www.scottishhighlanderphotoarchive.co.uk/SearchResults.aspx?q=james+s+nairn&Submit=Search
(With thanks to Adrian)
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.
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