The recently launched civil births, marriages and deaths indexes database for the Republic of Ireland on Irish Genealogy (www.irishgenealogy.ie) have suddenly disappeared, with a message since 13.05 yesterday (Friday) now stating "Civil Records Search temporarily unavailable: Further update will be provided."
Rather oddly the category heading itself has disappeared from the menu at the top of the home page, but all other record sets remain accessible at present. Hopefully this is just some sort of blip that will be sorted imminently...
For Northern Irish research, remember that BMD records can be sourced from the new pay per view source from the GRO in Belfast at https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk, whilst for the Republic, BMD indexes from 1845-1958 are freely accessible on FamilySearch at https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347.
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.
Saturday, 19 July 2014
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.
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 - Keeping it in the family
The latest podcast from the National Archives in England has a medieval Scottish link. Entitled Keeping it in the Family, it is a 42 minute talk from Dr Jessica Nelson - here's the blurb:
In a period where politics could not be separated from dynasty and the personal relationships between individuals were crucial to government, women often played a key role in diplomacy. This was certainly the case in relations between England and Scotland in the medieval period, with sisters, daughters and cousins of English kings regularly being dispatched north of the border to forge links through marriage with the Scottish kings. This talk draws on records at The National Archives and elsewhere to illuminate the roles that these women played and discuss what light they can shed on Anglo-Scottish relations.
The podcast is accessible at http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/keeping-family/ or can be 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.
In a period where politics could not be separated from dynasty and the personal relationships between individuals were crucial to government, women often played a key role in diplomacy. This was certainly the case in relations between England and Scotland in the medieval period, with sisters, daughters and cousins of English kings regularly being dispatched north of the border to forge links through marriage with the Scottish kings. This talk draws on records at The National Archives and elsewhere to illuminate the roles that these women played and discuss what light they can shed on Anglo-Scottish relations.
The podcast is accessible at http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/keeping-family/ or can be 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.
Durham Records Online additions
The following records ave been added to Durham Records Online (www.durhamrecordsonline.com)
Blaydon Cemetery burials 1906-1983 (unconsecrated section)
4,844 burials in the unconsecrated section of Blaydon Cemetery at Blaydon in Gateshead district, from 13 Dec 1906 to 10 Sep 1987.
Stranton All Saints marriages 1898-1927
2,495 marriages at Stranton All Saints in Hartlepool district, from Jan 1898 to early Oct 1927.
Ponteland records 1762-1812
At Ponteland St. Mary the Virgin, in the Castle Ward district of Northumberland, from a combination of the parish register and the Bishop's Transcript:
Heworth marriages 1837-1844 plus witnesses added 1813-1837
At Heworth St. Mary in Gateshead district:
274 marriages, filling a gap we had from 1 Jul 1837 through 17 Feb 1844. We now have a continuous block of marriages at Heworth from 1813 through 1908.
1,825 witnesses added to our existing 889 marriages at Heworth from 1 Jan 1813 to 1 July 1837. Now all of our Heworth marriages are complete with witnesses.
Coming Soon:
(With thanks to Durham Records Online)
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.
Blaydon Cemetery burials 1906-1983 (unconsecrated section)
4,844 burials in the unconsecrated section of Blaydon Cemetery at Blaydon in Gateshead district, from 13 Dec 1906 to 10 Sep 1987.
Stranton All Saints marriages 1898-1927
2,495 marriages at Stranton All Saints in Hartlepool district, from Jan 1898 to early Oct 1927.
Ponteland records 1762-1812
At Ponteland St. Mary the Virgin, in the Castle Ward district of Northumberland, from a combination of the parish register and the Bishop's Transcript:
Heworth marriages 1837-1844 plus witnesses added 1813-1837
At Heworth St. Mary in Gateshead district:
274 marriages, filling a gap we had from 1 Jul 1837 through 17 Feb 1844. We now have a continuous block of marriages at Heworth from 1813 through 1908.
1,825 witnesses added to our existing 889 marriages at Heworth from 1 Jan 1813 to 1 July 1837. Now all of our Heworth marriages are complete with witnesses.
Coming Soon:
- Hurworth baptisms, marriages, and burials 1770-1812
- Trimdon marriages 1837-1852
- Merrington marriages 1837-1863
- Stockton St. Thomas burials 1859-1869
- Egglescliffe baptisms & burials 1752-1851, marriages 1752-1812 and 1837-1851
- St. John Lee baptisms & burials 1837-1858
- In the queue: Hart Cemetery, Gateshead Wesleyan Methodists, Gosforth 1762-1846, several South Shields Presbyterian churches, Hartlepool St James, Easington pre-1798, Stockton Holy Trinity, Stockton Friends Burial Ground, Penshaw
(With thanks to Durham Records Online)
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.
LGBTI rights in the University of Glasgow's archive collections
The University of Glasgow hosted a one-day conference on LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex) Human Rights in the Commonwealth yesterday (Friday). To tie in with this the university's Archives and Special Collections took a look at documents concerning LGBTI rights in their collections - for a discussion on findings, visit the university library's blog at http://universityofglasgowlibrary.wordpress.com/2014/07/17/discovering-lgbti-rights-in-archives-and-special-collections/.
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.
Friday, 18 July 2014
Balancing the Books - the finances of an agricultural labourer
Another short article from three years ago, which first appeared on my Walking in Eternity blog. This time it looks at a useful resource, the Statistical Accounts of Scotland, and an entry found within them that sheds light on the finances of those with the humblest of occupations, the 'ag lab', or agricultural labourer...
Balancing the books
Ever wondered what our ancestors earned? The following is an example of an agricultural labourer's income and expenditure, as recorded in the First Statistical Account for Auchterarder in Perthshire, in the 1790s. The family consisted of a husband and wife, and seven children:
Balancing the books
Ever wondered what our ancestors earned? The following is an example of an agricultural labourer's income and expenditure, as recorded in the First Statistical Account for Auchterarder in Perthshire, in the 1790s. The family consisted of a husband and wife, and seven children:
INCOME
Man - 1s. per day for 8 months, and 8d for remainder........£13 17 0
Mother and eldest girl by spinning, 1s 6d per week.............£3 18 0
Eldest boy herding cattle.......................................................£0 18 0
Produce of his acre of ground-
6 firlots of oats, at 13s 6d.....................................................£1 0 3
4 bolls of barley, at 14s.........................................................£2 16 0
6 bolls of potatoes, at 6s 6d..................................................£1 6 0
Sold a calf..............................................................................£0 7 0
TOTAL INCOME..................................................................£24 2s 3d
EXPENDITURE
Rent of house and land, seed & management....................£4 5 0
Cow's grass in summer, 10s; straw in winter 6s................£0 16 0
Fuel, £1 5s; 8 lbs soap, 4s 8d................................................£1 9 8
8 1/2 bolls of oatmeal............................................................£6 3 3
4 bolls of barley meal............................................................£1 17 4
Butcher meat, 18s; 4 pks salt 3s 4d....................................£1 1 4
3 pints lamp oil, 3s 6d; candles 2s 2d..................................£0 5 8
2 stones cheese (cow yielded milk and butter).....................£0 8 0
Molasses for beer, 4s 6d; groats & barley 7s.......................£0 11 6
Potatoes produced and consumed.......................................£1 6 0
Whisky, small beer, & wheaten bread at New Year.............£0 3 4
Needles, pins, and thread.....................................................£0 0 10
Expenses in sickness.............................................................£0 15 0
Father's clothes 10s; 2 shirts, 7s; shoes 10s......................£1 7 0
2 pairs stockings 4s 6d; wear of bonnet & kerchief..............£0 5 6
Mother's clothes 4s; 1 shift, 2s 6d; 2 aprons 2s 3d...............£0 8 9
Shoes and stockings 4s; kerchief, cap, etc 3s.....................£0 7 0
Pair of shoes to each of 7 children........................................£0 14 2
Clothes to 3 youngest, 9s; to 2 next 8s; to 2 eldest 10s......£1 7 0
Shirts to youngest 2s; to 2 next 2s 6d; to 2 eldest 3s 4d.....£0 7 10
TOTAL EXPENDITURE........................................................£24 0s 2d
The Statistical Accounts of Scotland from the 1790s and 1830s/40s provide all sorts of useful information on the environments where our ancestors lived, and can be viewed freely at http://stat-acc-scot.edina.ac.uk/sas/sas.asp?action=public&passback=
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, 17 July 2014
1641 Depositions launch at PRONI on September 9th
The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (www.proni.gov.uk) is hosting a book launch on September 9th to publicise the publication of the first three volumes of the 1641 Depositions by the Irish Manuscripts Commission Ltd. The speaker is Professor Raymond Gillespie of NUI Maynooth. Full details are available at http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/exhibitions_talks_and_events/talks_and_events/1641_depositions.htm.
The 1641 Depositions record the atrocities that were carried out in Ireland during the rebellion of that year by the Irish Catholic population against English and Scottish colonists. There are some 8000 depositions, some recorded shortly after the atrocities of 1641, and others a decade later during a further investigation during the Cromwellian occupation.
The original records have been available in a digitised format for some time on a dedicated website from Trinity College Dublin, located at http://1641.tcd.ie. Until recently, however, this was an early Irish collection for which I thought I would likely never have a use, it seemingly being virtually impossible to connect with family that far back - assuming anyone might be recorded or mentioned in them in the first place. However, with recent developments in online access of Irish records, and through subsequent research at PRONI, I have actually made some extraordinary progress on various lines, including several based in the County Antrim peninsula of Islandmagee - and as such, I have finally established a connection with this period.
I recently uncovered the fact that one line of my family, the Browns of Islandmagee, can trace its origins back to a Robert Brown of the townland of Ballypriorbeg, one of two brothers who arrived from Scotland in the early 1600s (the other is believed to have settled in Carnmoney). Robert had three sons, Hugh, James and Robert, who settled in three separate townlands on Islandmagee. Whilst the 1641 depositions mainly record Protestant witness statements about the horrors of late 1641, they do also record Catholic witness statements about some of the reprisals. One of the most well known stories of the time on this front was the slaughter of members of the Catholic Magee family, for whom Islandmagee was named. Propaganda at the time claimed some 3000 members of the family were driven over a cliff called the Gobbins at Islandmagee, but the truth was that some 50-70 members of the family were murdered in their houses on the peninsula by the Scots, and by troops at nearby Carrickfergus. When some of the Magees fled to seek shelter from the garrison at Carrickfergus Castle, they too were murdered in the town. Well it turns out that my lot were up to their eyes in it with the reprisal - both Robert senior and James Brown were arrested for having apparently been involved in the murder of one of the families in Islandmagee and in the subsequent incident at Carrick.
It's not a glorious story, but the records themselves are incredibly detailed, not only confirming the relationships between all the Browns on Islandmagee at the time, but in providing an image of life in the area in the 1640s and 1650s. The 1641 Depositions are a fascinating record of the time, with the published versions being launched soon, the first three volumes of a planned twelve, almost certain to provide an even greater academic commentary and context to that already available online.
(With thanks to Gavin McMahon at PRONI)
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 1641 Depositions record the atrocities that were carried out in Ireland during the rebellion of that year by the Irish Catholic population against English and Scottish colonists. There are some 8000 depositions, some recorded shortly after the atrocities of 1641, and others a decade later during a further investigation during the Cromwellian occupation. The original records have been available in a digitised format for some time on a dedicated website from Trinity College Dublin, located at http://1641.tcd.ie. Until recently, however, this was an early Irish collection for which I thought I would likely never have a use, it seemingly being virtually impossible to connect with family that far back - assuming anyone might be recorded or mentioned in them in the first place. However, with recent developments in online access of Irish records, and through subsequent research at PRONI, I have actually made some extraordinary progress on various lines, including several based in the County Antrim peninsula of Islandmagee - and as such, I have finally established a connection with this period.
I recently uncovered the fact that one line of my family, the Browns of Islandmagee, can trace its origins back to a Robert Brown of the townland of Ballypriorbeg, one of two brothers who arrived from Scotland in the early 1600s (the other is believed to have settled in Carnmoney). Robert had three sons, Hugh, James and Robert, who settled in three separate townlands on Islandmagee. Whilst the 1641 depositions mainly record Protestant witness statements about the horrors of late 1641, they do also record Catholic witness statements about some of the reprisals. One of the most well known stories of the time on this front was the slaughter of members of the Catholic Magee family, for whom Islandmagee was named. Propaganda at the time claimed some 3000 members of the family were driven over a cliff called the Gobbins at Islandmagee, but the truth was that some 50-70 members of the family were murdered in their houses on the peninsula by the Scots, and by troops at nearby Carrickfergus. When some of the Magees fled to seek shelter from the garrison at Carrickfergus Castle, they too were murdered in the town. Well it turns out that my lot were up to their eyes in it with the reprisal - both Robert senior and James Brown were arrested for having apparently been involved in the murder of one of the families in Islandmagee and in the subsequent incident at Carrick.
It's not a glorious story, but the records themselves are incredibly detailed, not only confirming the relationships between all the Browns on Islandmagee at the time, but in providing an image of life in the area in the 1640s and 1650s. The 1641 Depositions are a fascinating record of the time, with the published versions being launched soon, the first three volumes of a planned twelve, almost certain to provide an even greater academic commentary and context to that already available online.
(With thanks to Gavin McMahon at PRONI)
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.
Victoria, Australia, Assisted & Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839–1923 on Ancestry
From Nicole Edwards, via the British GENES Facebook page (www.facebook.com/BritishGENES):
Digitised images of assisted and unassisted passengers lists for Victoria, Australia 1839 -1923 are now available on ancestry.com. Previously, a trip to the Public Record Office Victoria in Melbourne was required to view these on microfilm. There are some very happy family historians in Australia today! http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db.aspx?dbid=1635
Access via Ancestry in the UK is at http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=1635 - the collection is entitled Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839–1923.
(With thanks to Nicole)
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.
Digitised images of assisted and unassisted passengers lists for Victoria, Australia 1839 -1923 are now available on ancestry.com. Previously, a trip to the Public Record Office Victoria in Melbourne was required to view these on microfilm. There are some very happy family historians in Australia today! http://search.ancestry.com.au/search/db.aspx?dbid=1635
Access via Ancestry in the UK is at http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=1635 - the collection is entitled Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839–1923.
(With thanks to Nicole)
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, 16 July 2014
UK naturalisations, Kindertransport and Holocaust records on Ancestry
Several new sets of records available on Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) that may be of interest.
UK, Naturalisation Certificates and Declarations, 1870-1912
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=9156
These naturalisation records have been sourced from the National Archives of Kew Home Office series HO 334
And via the World Memory Project (part of the World Archives Project):
Great Britain, Holocaust Records From The Religious Society of Friends, 1933-1942 (USHMM)
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=3814
UK, Selected Records Relating to Kindertransport, 1938-1939 (USHMM) (in German)
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=3815
UK, Holocaust Records from the British Federation of University Women, 1938-1951 (USHMM)
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=3801
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.
UK, Naturalisation Certificates and Declarations, 1870-1912
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=9156
These naturalisation records have been sourced from the National Archives of Kew Home Office series HO 334
And via the World Memory Project (part of the World Archives Project):
Great Britain, Holocaust Records From The Religious Society of Friends, 1933-1942 (USHMM)
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=3814
UK, Selected Records Relating to Kindertransport, 1938-1939 (USHMM) (in German)
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=3815
UK, Holocaust Records from the British Federation of University Women, 1938-1951 (USHMM)
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=3801
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.
British GENES' WDYTYA Live tickets offer
Who Do You Think You Are? Live (www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.com) is coming to Glasgow from August 29th-31st 2014, the first time that the show has left London since it was first established in 2006. Having been based in London for so long, it's quite possibly a show that many British GENES readers in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England might have yet to visit - so what's the big deal?
The London based Who Do You Think You Are? Live event has been the world's largest family history event since its creation. Although branded around the television series of the same name, for most visitors at the event it is a chance to get some ideas of how to start their family history research, to get help with brick wall problems for those already under way, to meet some of the main genealogy records vendors, to engage with relevant family history societies for research and to attend a packed talks programme with some of the most knowledgeable speakers in their respective fields. To date I have attended all bar the very first event in London, and it it is because it is such a unique event that I repeatedly make the trip down south each year. Next month, however, I'm just down the road from the event, which will be held at the SECC in Glasgow!
To gain an idea of what to expect, my report from the London show this year in February is available at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/wdytyalive - and here's the video the organisers used to explain what to expect to those attending that event:
The SECC venue is a little smaller than the above, but the Who Do You Think You Are brand, combined with the forthcoming new series (I have a possible start date, but sworn to secrecy just now!), should make this an equally exciting event. I'll certainly be there, giving some talks, taking part in some panels and helping on a stall, but more on that in due course...
The organisers have kindly given me a unique code for British GENES readers to get discounted tickets - here's the deal:
We have a special offer: you can get two tickets for just £24 by quoting CP24* when booking on www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk or by phoning 0844 873 7330.
*£2.25 transaction fee applies. Offer ends 15 August 2014. Usual on door price is £18 each. (Calls cost 6p per minute from a BT landline plus network extras.)
Keep an eye out for some more news soon on the show - and on the new series itself!
And if you're desperate for some advice sooner than that, leave me a question for a live web chat on Who Do You Think You Are magazine's forum this Friday, from 1pm-2pm - see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/who-do-you-think-you-are-magazine-web.html
(With thanks to Mark Mulcahy and Sarah Williams)
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.
To gain an idea of what to expect, my report from the London show this year in February is available at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/wdytyalive - and here's the video the organisers used to explain what to expect to those attending that event:
The SECC venue is a little smaller than the above, but the Who Do You Think You Are brand, combined with the forthcoming new series (I have a possible start date, but sworn to secrecy just now!), should make this an equally exciting event. I'll certainly be there, giving some talks, taking part in some panels and helping on a stall, but more on that in due course...
The organisers have kindly given me a unique code for British GENES readers to get discounted tickets - here's the deal:
We have a special offer: you can get two tickets for just £24 by quoting CP24* when booking on www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk or by phoning 0844 873 7330.
*£2.25 transaction fee applies. Offer ends 15 August 2014. Usual on door price is £18 each. (Calls cost 6p per minute from a BT landline plus network extras.)
Keep an eye out for some more news soon on the show - and on the new series itself!
And if you're desperate for some advice sooner than that, leave me a question for a live web chat on Who Do You Think You Are magazine's forum this Friday, from 1pm-2pm - see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/who-do-you-think-you-are-magazine-web.html
(With thanks to Mark Mulcahy and Sarah Williams)
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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