The Ulster Historical Foundation, has announced (via its newsletter) that it will soon be uploading more than 27,000 records from Church of Ireland burial and marriage registers in Counties Antrim and Down.
The earliest records will be from the 1660s from Blaris (Lisburn) CI and from the 1680s from Comber CI, as well as records records from the 1700s from Ardkeen, Carrickfergus, Donaghadee, Down, Dromore, Glenavy, Magheralin, Aghalee, Ballinderry, Ballyclug, Ballyculter, Ballyhalbert, Ballymacarrett, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Ballyphilip, Bangor, Drumballyroney, Finvoy, Larne, Kilkeel and Kilmore. The records are being transcribed Emeritus Research Director Dr Trainor, and will be made available at www.ancestryireland.com/search-irish-genealogy-databases/.
(With thanks to the UHF)
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, 19 June 2014
Geneabloggers Facebook page
Those who keep genealogy themed blogs may be aware of Chicago based Thomas MacEntee's Geneabloggers site (http://geneabloggers.com), listing a range of blogs from across the world (including this one!). Well now Thomas has set up a closed Facebook group for genealogy bloggers at https://www.facebook.com/groups/geneabloggers/.
You need to be approved to participate, but Thomas hopes the page will help bloggers share resources, tips, how-tos and more - essentially it's an all for one and one for all self-help facility. Great idea!
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.
You need to be approved to participate, but Thomas hopes the page will help bloggers share resources, tips, how-tos and more - essentially it's an all for one and one for all self-help facility. Great idea!
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.
Lanarkshire FHS Local & Family History Show - Sat 23 AUG 2014
I've mentioned this event before, but a formal press release has now been issued for the Motherwell based family history fair being organised by Lanarkshire FHS in August (I'll be one of the speakers at the event, but don't let that put you off!). I should add, last year's event was the best Scottish family history fair event I have ever been to, so this is once again going to be a cracker!
LANARKSHIRE FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY
LOCAL AND FAMILY HISTORY SHOW AUGUST 2014
Following the success of last year’s Local and Family History Show, Lanarkshire Family History Society (http://www.lanarkshirefhs.org.uk) will be staging another event this summer, as part of Homecoming Scotland 2014.
Celebrating Scotland’s Heritage, which takes place on Saturday 23rd August in Motherwell Theatre and Concert Hall, will be a great day out for anyone interested in local or family history, with keynote speakers, more than 50 exhibitors and many free activities for children.
Lanarkshire FHS is delighted to announce that four high profile speakers will be taking part in the event;
Historian, author and broadcaster Dr Fiona Watson is a member of the Academic Advisory Panel on the Battle of Bannockburn. A Research Fellow at the University of Dundee, Fiona has written widely on the Wars of Independence. To mark its 700th anniversary, she will speak about the Battle of Bannockburn, challenging many of the perceptions about this iconic Scottish battle, from why it was fought to what difference it made.
Dr Bruce Durie is one of Scotland’s premier authorities on genealogy, known particularly for his teaching, writing and broadcasting. He started the much-acclaimed Genealogical, Heraldic and Palaeographic Studies Programme at the University of Strathclyde. Bruce will lecture on Scottish Heraldry, including guiding us through the way to blazon (describe) arms, exploring their relevance to genealogy and explaining the workings of the Lyon Court.
Dr Irene O’Brien is City Archivist for Glasgow as well as Chair of the Scottish Council on Archives. She looks after Scotland’s largest civic archive, the Mitchell Library, and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of its records and how they can help us discover more about our ancestors, the lives they lived and the world they inhabited. Irene’s talk will be on Family History at the Mitchell: The Family History Centre and the Website.
Chris Paton is a professional genealogist, lecturer and author, well known in the UK, Canada and Australasia. Originally from Northern Ireland, with both Scottish and Irish roots, Chris will speak about Irish Resources for Family History. While many of the nation’s primary records were lost, Chris will show that not only has a great deal of information survived, but much of what is available is increasingly being digitised and put online.
Some of the major names from the worlds of genealogy and local history will be attending, including the online forum RootsChat.com, FamilySearch.org, the Mitchell Library’s Family History Centre, the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments Scotland (RCAHMS) and its online presence SCRAN, genealogical supplies companies My History and Genealogy Printers, and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), making a much-appreciated trip across the Irish Sea for the Show.
The World Heritage site of New Lanark, Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life, the David Livingstone Centre and Hamilton’s Low Parks Museum are some of the local attractions being represented on the day. Lanarkshire Yeomanry, the Lanarkshire Police Historical Society, Scottish Genealogy Society, Scottish Local History Forum, Scottish Monumental Inscriptions, Scottish DNA and the Universities of Strathclyde and Dundee will also be there.
Family History Societies from throughout Scotland will include Glasgow & West of Scotland, Renfrewshire, West Lothian, Dumfries and Galloway, Moray & Nairn, East Ayrshire and Troon. Heritage groups from both North and South Lanarkshire will display artefacts, photographs and other aspects of their research; while local schoolchildren will showcase their work, including Hamilton Grammar School’s WW1 Memorial Art Project.
As well as the main speakers, there will be workshops on Starting Your Family Tree – aimed both at adults and at parents with their older children (aged 10-15); and a presentation by the Head of Public Services at PRONI on the records held there, both on and off-line. Free one-to-one advice will be available for those just starting out in family history research or who’ve hit a “brick wall”.
Children’s activities will include storytelling, face painting, hand loom weaving and a quiz; there’ll also be the chance for youngsters to have photographs taken in historic costume or with an owl (additional charge). Food and refreshments will be available all day and there’s free parking at the venue.
Tickets will be on sale from July through the Show website http://lfhsshow2014.weebly.com/ or by post from Lanarkshire FHS, c/o North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre, 1 High Road, Motherwell ML1 3HU. Entry is £2 per person, with talks costing £4 each or £14 for all four. Buying one or more talk tickets allows free entry to the show. Children under 12 are admitted free with a paying adult.
Local and Family History Show 2014 ‘Celebrating Scotland’s Heritage’
Saturday 23rd August 2013
9.30 am to 4.30 pm
Motherwell Concert Hall and Theatre, Civic Centre, Motherwell ML1 1AB
(With thanks to Elizabeth Irving, Press & Publicity Co-ordinator for Lanarkshire Family History Society, and member of the Scottish Genealogy Network)
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.
LANARKSHIRE FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY
LOCAL AND FAMILY HISTORY SHOW AUGUST 2014
Following the success of last year’s Local and Family History Show, Lanarkshire Family History Society (http://www.lanarkshirefhs.org.uk) will be staging another event this summer, as part of Homecoming Scotland 2014.
Celebrating Scotland’s Heritage, which takes place on Saturday 23rd August in Motherwell Theatre and Concert Hall, will be a great day out for anyone interested in local or family history, with keynote speakers, more than 50 exhibitors and many free activities for children.
Lanarkshire FHS is delighted to announce that four high profile speakers will be taking part in the event;
Historian, author and broadcaster Dr Fiona Watson is a member of the Academic Advisory Panel on the Battle of Bannockburn. A Research Fellow at the University of Dundee, Fiona has written widely on the Wars of Independence. To mark its 700th anniversary, she will speak about the Battle of Bannockburn, challenging many of the perceptions about this iconic Scottish battle, from why it was fought to what difference it made.
Dr Bruce Durie is one of Scotland’s premier authorities on genealogy, known particularly for his teaching, writing and broadcasting. He started the much-acclaimed Genealogical, Heraldic and Palaeographic Studies Programme at the University of Strathclyde. Bruce will lecture on Scottish Heraldry, including guiding us through the way to blazon (describe) arms, exploring their relevance to genealogy and explaining the workings of the Lyon Court.
Dr Irene O’Brien is City Archivist for Glasgow as well as Chair of the Scottish Council on Archives. She looks after Scotland’s largest civic archive, the Mitchell Library, and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of its records and how they can help us discover more about our ancestors, the lives they lived and the world they inhabited. Irene’s talk will be on Family History at the Mitchell: The Family History Centre and the Website.
Chris Paton is a professional genealogist, lecturer and author, well known in the UK, Canada and Australasia. Originally from Northern Ireland, with both Scottish and Irish roots, Chris will speak about Irish Resources for Family History. While many of the nation’s primary records were lost, Chris will show that not only has a great deal of information survived, but much of what is available is increasingly being digitised and put online.
Some of the major names from the worlds of genealogy and local history will be attending, including the online forum RootsChat.com, FamilySearch.org, the Mitchell Library’s Family History Centre, the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments Scotland (RCAHMS) and its online presence SCRAN, genealogical supplies companies My History and Genealogy Printers, and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), making a much-appreciated trip across the Irish Sea for the Show.
The World Heritage site of New Lanark, Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life, the David Livingstone Centre and Hamilton’s Low Parks Museum are some of the local attractions being represented on the day. Lanarkshire Yeomanry, the Lanarkshire Police Historical Society, Scottish Genealogy Society, Scottish Local History Forum, Scottish Monumental Inscriptions, Scottish DNA and the Universities of Strathclyde and Dundee will also be there.
Family History Societies from throughout Scotland will include Glasgow & West of Scotland, Renfrewshire, West Lothian, Dumfries and Galloway, Moray & Nairn, East Ayrshire and Troon. Heritage groups from both North and South Lanarkshire will display artefacts, photographs and other aspects of their research; while local schoolchildren will showcase their work, including Hamilton Grammar School’s WW1 Memorial Art Project.
As well as the main speakers, there will be workshops on Starting Your Family Tree – aimed both at adults and at parents with their older children (aged 10-15); and a presentation by the Head of Public Services at PRONI on the records held there, both on and off-line. Free one-to-one advice will be available for those just starting out in family history research or who’ve hit a “brick wall”.
Children’s activities will include storytelling, face painting, hand loom weaving and a quiz; there’ll also be the chance for youngsters to have photographs taken in historic costume or with an owl (additional charge). Food and refreshments will be available all day and there’s free parking at the venue.
Tickets will be on sale from July through the Show website http://lfhsshow2014.weebly.com/ or by post from Lanarkshire FHS, c/o North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre, 1 High Road, Motherwell ML1 3HU. Entry is £2 per person, with talks costing £4 each or £14 for all four. Buying one or more talk tickets allows free entry to the show. Children under 12 are admitted free with a paying adult.
Local and Family History Show 2014 ‘Celebrating Scotland’s Heritage’
Saturday 23rd August 2013
9.30 am to 4.30 pm
Motherwell Concert Hall and Theatre, Civic Centre, Motherwell ML1 1AB
(With thanks to Elizabeth Irving, Press & Publicity Co-ordinator for Lanarkshire Family History Society, and member of the Scottish Genealogy Network)
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.
Land and People in the Northern Highlands: The Strathnaver Conference
New of a conference on the Clearances in Strathnaver in September:
Land and People in the Northern Highlands: The Strathnaver Conference
Bettyhill, Thursday 4th - Saturday 6th September 2014
In 2014 it will be 200 years since the Clearances in Strathnaver associated with Patrick Sellar. It will also be 300 years since the renowned Gaelic poet Rob Donn was born in neighbouring Strath More. The confluence of history, archaeology and literature inspires this interdisciplinary conference which examines the relationship between land and people in the northern Highlands. The keynote speakers are Professor Eric Richards, from Flinders University, Adelaide, and Professor James Hunter, from the University of the Highlands and Islands. Panel sessions will inspire discussion on the literature of Rob Donn, emigration, politics, and the changing economy and society of the far north from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. This conference is funded by the generosity of the Carnegie Trust, as part of the Carnegie Professorship which has allowed Eric Richards to be based at the UHI Centre for History for a three month period.
Programme
Thursday 4th September
1pm Arrival, Registration and Lunch at Bettyhill Village Hall
Keynote Speaker – James Hunter (University of the Highlands and Islands)
‘“Savages from Scotland”: The North American Dimension of the Sutherland Clearances.’
Coffee and presentation on the work of the MacKay Country Project
Panel 1: The World of Rob Donn
William McKay: ‘Jacobites at Heart?’
Ellen Beard: ‘Rob Donn, Iain Tapaidh, and Gray of Rogart’
Margaret McKay: ‘Rob Donn’s World Transformed: Durness, its Land and People 1760-1820’
Evening Session:
Jim Johnston – ‘10,000 Years in Strathnaver: An Illustrated Talk’
Strathnaver Museum visit
Friday 5th September
Keynote Speaker – Eric Richards (Flinders University, Adelaide)
‘Not the Highland Clearances: Other Responses to the Highland Crisis’
Coffee and presentation on the work of the Strathnaver Museum
Panel 2: Agents or Victims of Change?
Malcolm Bangor-Jones: ‘Tacksmen and Small Tenants: Strathnaver in the 18th Century’
Alison T. McCall: ‘“The Woman MacKay” - Politics and Protest in Helmsdale and Brora in the wake of the Education (Scotland) Act 1872.’
Iain MacKinnon: ‘To Bridge the Great Divide – Transcending Historiographic Division over how to Interpret the 18thand 19th Century Highlands and Islands.’
Packed lunch
Field Trip:
Part 1: The Clearance Township of Rossal
Part 2: Settlement and Industry on the North Coast
Conference Dinner: Bettyhill Hotel
Saturday 6th September
Panel 3: Governing the Land
Annie Tindley: ‘“Castle Government”: the Psychologies of Land Ownership and Management in North Sutherland, c. 1860-1911’
Ben Thomas: ‘“The Clach” – The life and times of Alexander MacKenzie’
Iain Robertson: ‘Landscape, Environment and Protest: the Land Wars in the North after 1914’
Coffee
Panel 2: Northern Emigrants
Pamela Sharpe: ‘The Highland Clearances and Emigration to Van Diemen's Land in the 1820s: Dissecting the Details of a Case Study’
Marjory Harper: ‘From the Northern Highlands to the “Great White North”: The Perception and Practice of Emigration from Sutherland and Caithness since 1774’
12.30pm Lunch and Depart
Registration fee:
Standard: £35
Student/unwaged: free
Speakers: free
Day visitors: £10 for Thursday; £15 for Friday; £10 for Saturday
The registration fee includes:
Teas and coffees
Lunch on Thursday, Friday and Saturday
Minibus from Inverness to Bettyhill on Thursday and return from Bettyhill to Inverness on Saturday
Friday fieldtrip
The registration fee does not include:
Dinner on the Thursday night
Conference Dinner on Friday night (£20)
Accommodation
Transport to Inverness
For booking form, transport and accommodation details contact: Dr Elizabeth Ritchie elizabeth.ritchie@uhi.ac.uk
(With thanks to Jane Harris via the Linked In page of the Scottish Genealogy Network)
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.
Land and People in the Northern Highlands: The Strathnaver Conference
Bettyhill, Thursday 4th - Saturday 6th September 2014
In 2014 it will be 200 years since the Clearances in Strathnaver associated with Patrick Sellar. It will also be 300 years since the renowned Gaelic poet Rob Donn was born in neighbouring Strath More. The confluence of history, archaeology and literature inspires this interdisciplinary conference which examines the relationship between land and people in the northern Highlands. The keynote speakers are Professor Eric Richards, from Flinders University, Adelaide, and Professor James Hunter, from the University of the Highlands and Islands. Panel sessions will inspire discussion on the literature of Rob Donn, emigration, politics, and the changing economy and society of the far north from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. This conference is funded by the generosity of the Carnegie Trust, as part of the Carnegie Professorship which has allowed Eric Richards to be based at the UHI Centre for History for a three month period.
Programme
Thursday 4th September
1pm Arrival, Registration and Lunch at Bettyhill Village Hall
Keynote Speaker – James Hunter (University of the Highlands and Islands)
‘“Savages from Scotland”: The North American Dimension of the Sutherland Clearances.’
Coffee and presentation on the work of the MacKay Country Project
Panel 1: The World of Rob Donn
William McKay: ‘Jacobites at Heart?’
Ellen Beard: ‘Rob Donn, Iain Tapaidh, and Gray of Rogart’
Margaret McKay: ‘Rob Donn’s World Transformed: Durness, its Land and People 1760-1820’
Evening Session:
Jim Johnston – ‘10,000 Years in Strathnaver: An Illustrated Talk’
Strathnaver Museum visit
Friday 5th September
Keynote Speaker – Eric Richards (Flinders University, Adelaide)
‘Not the Highland Clearances: Other Responses to the Highland Crisis’
Coffee and presentation on the work of the Strathnaver Museum
Panel 2: Agents or Victims of Change?
Malcolm Bangor-Jones: ‘Tacksmen and Small Tenants: Strathnaver in the 18th Century’
Alison T. McCall: ‘“The Woman MacKay” - Politics and Protest in Helmsdale and Brora in the wake of the Education (Scotland) Act 1872.’
Iain MacKinnon: ‘To Bridge the Great Divide – Transcending Historiographic Division over how to Interpret the 18thand 19th Century Highlands and Islands.’
Packed lunch
Field Trip:
Part 1: The Clearance Township of Rossal
Part 2: Settlement and Industry on the North Coast
Conference Dinner: Bettyhill Hotel
Saturday 6th September
Panel 3: Governing the Land
Annie Tindley: ‘“Castle Government”: the Psychologies of Land Ownership and Management in North Sutherland, c. 1860-1911’
Ben Thomas: ‘“The Clach” – The life and times of Alexander MacKenzie’
Iain Robertson: ‘Landscape, Environment and Protest: the Land Wars in the North after 1914’
Coffee
Panel 2: Northern Emigrants
Pamela Sharpe: ‘The Highland Clearances and Emigration to Van Diemen's Land in the 1820s: Dissecting the Details of a Case Study’
Marjory Harper: ‘From the Northern Highlands to the “Great White North”: The Perception and Practice of Emigration from Sutherland and Caithness since 1774’
12.30pm Lunch and Depart
Registration fee:
Standard: £35
Student/unwaged: free
Speakers: free
Day visitors: £10 for Thursday; £15 for Friday; £10 for Saturday
The registration fee includes:
Teas and coffees
Lunch on Thursday, Friday and Saturday
Minibus from Inverness to Bettyhill on Thursday and return from Bettyhill to Inverness on Saturday
Friday fieldtrip
The registration fee does not include:
Dinner on the Thursday night
Conference Dinner on Friday night (£20)
Accommodation
Transport to Inverness
For booking form, transport and accommodation details contact: Dr Elizabeth Ritchie elizabeth.ritchie@uhi.ac.uk
(With thanks to Jane Harris via the Linked In page of the Scottish Genealogy Network)
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 Genealogy Solutions
There are many companies offering products to help store genealogy records, but I've not come across an Irish one before, so this may be of help if you are over the water. County Waterford based Irish Genealogy Solutions has a new website at http://www.irishgenealogysolutions.com/ offering all sorts of goodies for sale, including binders for Irish Roots magazine.
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.
Nicky Campbell at WDYTYA Live Glasgow
From Who Do You Think You Are Live (www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.com):
Nicky Campbell's coming to the Glasgow Show!
We are very excited to announce Nicky Campbell will be joining us at Who Do You Think You Are? Live in Glasgow.
Nicky has long held an interest in his family history, which started before his appearance in the Who Do You Think You Are? Adoption Special in July 2007.
Born in Edinburgh in 1961, Nicky was adopted a few days after he was born. Although he has discovered his biological heritage is Irish, Nicky still considers himself a Scot. Nicky has researched both his biological line and his adoptive family history. It’s his adoptive line which Nicky researched in the special issue of the show.
The well-known television and radio personality will be entertaining us in SoG Studio 1 on Friday 29th August.
If you want to ensure you don’t miss Nicky’s workshop at the show, you are able to pre-book a seat for just £2 when booking your tickets to the show.
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.
Nicky Campbell's coming to the Glasgow Show!
We are very excited to announce Nicky Campbell will be joining us at Who Do You Think You Are? Live in Glasgow.
Nicky has long held an interest in his family history, which started before his appearance in the Who Do You Think You Are? Adoption Special in July 2007.Born in Edinburgh in 1961, Nicky was adopted a few days after he was born. Although he has discovered his biological heritage is Irish, Nicky still considers himself a Scot. Nicky has researched both his biological line and his adoptive family history. It’s his adoptive line which Nicky researched in the special issue of the show.
The well-known television and radio personality will be entertaining us in SoG Studio 1 on Friday 29th August.
If you want to ensure you don’t miss Nicky’s workshop at the show, you are able to pre-book a seat for just £2 when booking your tickets to the show.
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.
Lancashire Vagrant Passes 1801-1835 including Irish poor law removals
Ancestry has released a new collection for Lancashire in England, entitled
Lancashire, England, Vagrant Passes, 1801-1835, available via http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=6882. The collection will be of particular interest to those with Irish ancestors who moved to England and were forcibly removed back home to Ireland. The following is Ancestry's blurb on the collection:
The burden of relief for the poor fell to parishes, so to keep their outlays at a minimum, English parishes kept a close eye on migration. The Poor Law Act of 1601 restricted the burden of relief for paupers to their parish of “settlement,” and several subsequent Settlement Acts defined who had the right to settlement in a parish. While the laws changed over the years, place of birth, steady employment or apprenticeship for some length of time, marriage, owning or renting property of £10 per annum or more, holding an office in the parish, or paying the parish rate were criteria used to determine right of settlement.
Individuals (or families) deemed vagrants could be transported back to their parish of settlement. Anyone able to support themselves or their family who neglected to do so was considered a vagrant, as were unlicensed peddlers, prostitutes, beggars, fortune-tellers, the homeless, gamblers, and criminals.
This collection includes lists of people being transported back to their place of settlement in Ireland. Lancashire received more than their share of Irish immigrants, as other parishes often passed them to Lancashire to be shipped back to Ireland from Liverpool. Soldiers and sailors returning from wars often returned home and found themselves being passed back to their parishes of settlement, and you’ll find the names of many of them, as well as their wives and children, included in these records.
The lists varied somewhat over the years, but in general they included the name of the vagrant, date shipped, description (e.g., vagrant, discharged soldier, soldier's widow, etc.), whether accompanied by a wife and child(ren), number of passes (per family), allowances and expenses, and the name of the ship. In some cases, they also listed the parish from which the vagrant was passed.
Note that poor law removals of Irish folk from Britain can also be found in lists on the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers website at http://parlipapers.chadwyck.com (accessible through subscribing institutions, including the National Library of Scotland's Licensed Digital Collections at https://auth.nls.uk/ldc/), with some also freely available from the 1860s and 1870s on Raymond's County Down website at www.raymondscountydownwebsite.com.
Ancestry also has additional removals lists, for example in London via the London, England, Selected Poor Law Removal and Settlement Records, 1828-1930 at http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=2651.
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.
Lancashire, England, Vagrant Passes, 1801-1835, available via http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=6882. The collection will be of particular interest to those with Irish ancestors who moved to England and were forcibly removed back home to Ireland. The following is Ancestry's blurb on the collection:
The burden of relief for the poor fell to parishes, so to keep their outlays at a minimum, English parishes kept a close eye on migration. The Poor Law Act of 1601 restricted the burden of relief for paupers to their parish of “settlement,” and several subsequent Settlement Acts defined who had the right to settlement in a parish. While the laws changed over the years, place of birth, steady employment or apprenticeship for some length of time, marriage, owning or renting property of £10 per annum or more, holding an office in the parish, or paying the parish rate were criteria used to determine right of settlement.
Individuals (or families) deemed vagrants could be transported back to their parish of settlement. Anyone able to support themselves or their family who neglected to do so was considered a vagrant, as were unlicensed peddlers, prostitutes, beggars, fortune-tellers, the homeless, gamblers, and criminals.
This collection includes lists of people being transported back to their place of settlement in Ireland. Lancashire received more than their share of Irish immigrants, as other parishes often passed them to Lancashire to be shipped back to Ireland from Liverpool. Soldiers and sailors returning from wars often returned home and found themselves being passed back to their parishes of settlement, and you’ll find the names of many of them, as well as their wives and children, included in these records.
The lists varied somewhat over the years, but in general they included the name of the vagrant, date shipped, description (e.g., vagrant, discharged soldier, soldier's widow, etc.), whether accompanied by a wife and child(ren), number of passes (per family), allowances and expenses, and the name of the ship. In some cases, they also listed the parish from which the vagrant was passed.
Note that poor law removals of Irish folk from Britain can also be found in lists on the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers website at http://parlipapers.chadwyck.com (accessible through subscribing institutions, including the National Library of Scotland's Licensed Digital Collections at https://auth.nls.uk/ldc/), with some also freely available from the 1860s and 1870s on Raymond's County Down website at www.raymondscountydownwebsite.com.
Ancestry also has additional removals lists, for example in London via the London, England, Selected Poor Law Removal and Settlement Records, 1828-1930 at http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=2651.
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.
Phillimore's British parish maps added to Ancestry
There's a fairly major addition to Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) in the form of a new collection entitled Great Britain, Atlas and Index of Parish Registers, located at http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=8830. This is in fact a reproduction of The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers, published by the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies.
The Phillimore maps are incredibly useful for England, Wales and Scotland, not only showing the historic early 19th century boundaries of established church parishes (the Presbyterian based Church of Scotland and the Anglican church in England and Wales), but also indicating when the known surviving parish records commence their runs.
One of the things that may be a surprise to some is to see a parish or county split into two unconnected parts - in Scotland, look at the map for Ross and Cromarty, for example, where various areas within Ross are noted as 'part of Cromarty', whilst in Perthshire, a split parish example is Logierait, which is in two parts, separated by the parishes of Dull and Fortingall, and where you will see a line resembling a stretched H joining the two parts as a visual aid to highlight the fact.
Although the collection title mentions indexes, the index pages from the book have not been digitised, only the maps themselves (in fact, these appear to have been digitised separately from the standalone maps on sale from the IHGS). Instead, the indexes have been made into a searchable database, allowing you to locate certain parishes via the search box. In the book, the indexes carry considerably more useful information per parish, including for England and Wales, the registration district it is to be found in, the coverage on the IGI, whether covered by Boyd's marriage index, and much more. The database, however, merely provides information on parish, county, country, map reference, if registers have been deposited, the registration district it was located within from 1837-1851, and the map reference. This last reference is not great though, in that there are no grids on the maps, as in the book, with Ancestry noting "The maps we have available do not have the grid printed along the sides. All maps have a grid range from A1 to M10, with the letters falling along the longest side."
The Scottish indexes in the database are similar, despite being more limited in the book, though the final term returned, 'parishes within this registration district', is a bit moot - in most cases, when civil registration was introduced in 1855, the parish became the registration district, so this will in most cases just repeat the name of the parish.
A thoroughly useful collection. Although online, I would still recommend to those working professionally as genealogists that you buy a copy (though it is expensive), but for most folk, the online presentation of the collection is a huge release - check out where your ancestors lived, you may find that the landscape was not carved up quite as you imagined 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.
The Phillimore maps are incredibly useful for England, Wales and Scotland, not only showing the historic early 19th century boundaries of established church parishes (the Presbyterian based Church of Scotland and the Anglican church in England and Wales), but also indicating when the known surviving parish records commence their runs.
One of the things that may be a surprise to some is to see a parish or county split into two unconnected parts - in Scotland, look at the map for Ross and Cromarty, for example, where various areas within Ross are noted as 'part of Cromarty', whilst in Perthshire, a split parish example is Logierait, which is in two parts, separated by the parishes of Dull and Fortingall, and where you will see a line resembling a stretched H joining the two parts as a visual aid to highlight the fact.
Although the collection title mentions indexes, the index pages from the book have not been digitised, only the maps themselves (in fact, these appear to have been digitised separately from the standalone maps on sale from the IHGS). Instead, the indexes have been made into a searchable database, allowing you to locate certain parishes via the search box. In the book, the indexes carry considerably more useful information per parish, including for England and Wales, the registration district it is to be found in, the coverage on the IGI, whether covered by Boyd's marriage index, and much more. The database, however, merely provides information on parish, county, country, map reference, if registers have been deposited, the registration district it was located within from 1837-1851, and the map reference. This last reference is not great though, in that there are no grids on the maps, as in the book, with Ancestry noting "The maps we have available do not have the grid printed along the sides. All maps have a grid range from A1 to M10, with the letters falling along the longest side."
The Scottish indexes in the database are similar, despite being more limited in the book, though the final term returned, 'parishes within this registration district', is a bit moot - in most cases, when civil registration was introduced in 1855, the parish became the registration district, so this will in most cases just repeat the name of the parish.
A thoroughly useful collection. Although online, I would still recommend to those working professionally as genealogists that you buy a copy (though it is expensive), but for most folk, the online presentation of the collection is a huge release - check out where your ancestors lived, you may find that the landscape was not carved up quite as you imagined 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.
Wednesday, 18 June 2014
New British circus history book - coming soon
I've been asked to give the following a quick plug:
BENEATH THE BIG TOP: A Social History of the Circus in Britain
by Steve Ward
Published 30th September 2014
Pen & Sword Books Ltd www.pen-and-sword.co.uk £12.99
‘Exhaustively researched yet so very accessible, Steve Ward gives us a front row seat in in the greatest show of all’ (Kevin O’Keefe; Circus Minimus and AYCO)
2014 marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Phillip Astley, the founding father of the circus; a very British institution.
Steve Ward reveals the stories beneath the big top during the golden age of the circus and the lives of circus folk, which were equally colourful outside the ring.
* In the centenary year, read about the impact of the First World War and how circus performers used their skills in the trenches
* Learn about Pablo Fanque, the first black circus owner in Britain
* Discover why circuses became taxed almost to extinction during the early 1900s
* Uncover the secrets of strongwoman Sandwina and how circus allowed women to work on equal terms with men
* Learn about the infamous murder of a well- known circus owner
NB: Copies are already available for pre-order on the Amazon website and will also shortly be available for pre-order through Pen & Sword (www.pen-and-sword.co.uk)
(With thanks to Steve Ward)
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.
BENEATH THE BIG TOP: A Social History of the Circus in Britain
by Steve Ward
Published 30th September 2014
Pen & Sword Books Ltd www.pen-and-sword.co.uk £12.99
‘Exhaustively researched yet so very accessible, Steve Ward gives us a front row seat in in the greatest show of all’ (Kevin O’Keefe; Circus Minimus and AYCO)2014 marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Phillip Astley, the founding father of the circus; a very British institution.
Steve Ward reveals the stories beneath the big top during the golden age of the circus and the lives of circus folk, which were equally colourful outside the ring.
* In the centenary year, read about the impact of the First World War and how circus performers used their skills in the trenches
* Learn about Pablo Fanque, the first black circus owner in Britain
* Discover why circuses became taxed almost to extinction during the early 1900s
* Uncover the secrets of strongwoman Sandwina and how circus allowed women to work on equal terms with men
* Learn about the infamous murder of a well- known circus owner
NB: Copies are already available for pre-order on the Amazon website and will also shortly be available for pre-order through Pen & Sword (www.pen-and-sword.co.uk)
(With thanks to Steve Ward)
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.
Talk - Book borrowing in 19th century Belfast
From PRONI in Belfast (www.proni.gov.uk):
LUNCHTIME Talk: Reading Belfast – Book Borrowing in the Nineteenth Century – Dr Pamela Emerson
When: Thursday 10th July, 1pm – 2pm
Where: PRONI
Long before the opening of the Free Public Library in Royal Avenue in 1888 the inhabitants of Belfast were able to borrow books from organisations and commercial premises. This talk, based on archived documents, newspapers and street directories, examines some of the places the avid reader could acquire reading material during the nineteenth-century. It also explores the genres of books that were available and focuses on a private reading group to discover some well known local figures who enjoyed such a pastime. For more information about this event, please click here.
Admission is FREE, but booking is essential. Email: proni@dcalni.gov.uk or Tel: 028 90534800
(With thanks to Gavin McMahon)
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.
LUNCHTIME Talk: Reading Belfast – Book Borrowing in the Nineteenth Century – Dr Pamela Emerson
When: Thursday 10th July, 1pm – 2pm
Where: PRONI
Long before the opening of the Free Public Library in Royal Avenue in 1888 the inhabitants of Belfast were able to borrow books from organisations and commercial premises. This talk, based on archived documents, newspapers and street directories, examines some of the places the avid reader could acquire reading material during the nineteenth-century. It also explores the genres of books that were available and focuses on a private reading group to discover some well known local figures who enjoyed such a pastime. For more information about this event, please click here.
Admission is FREE, but booking is essential. Email: proni@dcalni.gov.uk or Tel: 028 90534800
(With thanks to Gavin McMahon)
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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