Friday 30 September 2016

Family Tree Maker flash drive offer

Oh this isn't fair. I don't need this, but I want it - confound you Software Mackiev!!!

FTM appears in a flash!

Let's face it – fewer and fewer computers have disc drives these days. So we've created a distinctive alternative to DVD's for you. Our new 4GB FTM flash drive, made of natural wood, comes with a copy of the latest FTM installer on it. For those moving files between computers we've also included 2GB of storage space and our FTM Moving Kit that provides everything you need to open any FTM tree file ever created – all the way back to files from version 1.0 that came on floppy discs in 1989. The flash drive costs £15 plus £4.95 shipping (so £19.95 total). If you already have FTM 2014 or Mac 3 and you'd like an FTM flash drive to call your own, just visit the Replacement Center (see below) to order.


The Replacement Center is open.

We get requests just about every day from FTM users for replacement copies. Sometimes it's because they've had a hard drive crash and need to reinstall. Or they're just moving to a new computer and have lost their installation disc. Whatever the reason, our new Replacement Center is there to help. It's entirely online and open 24/7 so FTM 2014 and Mac 3 users can get a new link emailed to them day or night, 365 days a year. Without having to beg. Or even explain why they want it. And isn't that really how it ought to work anyway?


Getting to the Replacement Center

1. Go to support.familytreemaker.com
2. Click "for additional assistance" at the bottom of the page.
3. Click the Replacement Center tile.

(With thanks to Software Mackiev via email)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Book offers from Ulster Historical Foundation

From the Ulster Historical Foundation (www.ancestryireland.com):

For those of you looking for your Ulster Ancestors before 1800 the Fighters of Derry is one of the best sources currently available.

First published in 1932 William R. Young's Fighters of Derry for decades been one of the most overlooked works on the Siege of Derry and as a local genealogical resource.

For information on those who were involved in the siege of Derry in 1689 and events during the Williamite War in general, Fighters of Derry is the best source available.

This important publication lists the names of some 1,660 individuals who defended Derry or were associated with William of Orange; for many of them brief biographical sketches are provided. This book provides a real insight into settler society, particularly in north-west Ulster, in the late seventeenth century. Also included in this book is a list of 352 Jacobites, again with biographical sketches for many of them.

This new edition has seen the index revised and substantially extended.

To order go to: www.booksireland.org.uk/store/all-departments/fighters-derry-deeds-descendants


Special Book Deal for those of you looking for pre-18th century ancestors

Priced at just £37.99 (RRP £47.97) this combination of books offer some of the best historical and genealogical texts relating to the 17th century.

For information on those who were involved in the siege of Derry in 1689 and events during the Williamite War in general, Fighters of Derry is the best source available. Men and Arms is essentially the first ‘census’ of English and Scottish settlers in the nine counties of Ulster and the Ulster Port Books is an underrated source for those interested in this period.

For more information please go to: http://www.booksireland.org.uk/store/all-departments/fighters-derry-men-arms


Complete Set of Ordnance Survey Memoirs

The Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland provide a uniquely detailed history of the northern half of Ireland before the Great Famine. Learn not just about the houses of your ancestors, but the type of work they did, the schools they were educated in, the churches where they worshipped, the roads they got about on, and more.

For the first time ever get the complete set of memoir volumes (over 40 volumes) for just £129.99 (plus P&P) A saving over over £200! For more information please go to: http://www.booksireland.org.uk/store/all-departments/complete-set-volumes-1-40-ordnance-survey-memoirs?mc_cid=8dc3606f72&mc_eid=%5bUNIQID%5d.

Chris


For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Irish Famine Eviction Project

From the Irish Newspaper Archive (www.irishnewsarchive.com):

The Irish Famine Eviction Project is a study by Dr Ciaran Reilly to document evidence of evictions during the years of the Great Irish Famine. Dr Ciaran Reilly; author of several books on The Great Irish Famine is the chief coordinator for this extraordinary project. Dr Reilly’s vision is to create a dedicated online resource listing GPS coordinates for famine eviction sites and to create a better understanding of the actual people involved in the evictions. It is hoped that the Irish Famine Eviction Project will shed new light on numbers, locations and background stories of those involved. 500 Sites listed so far - see https://irishfamineeviction.com/eviction-map/.


We Need You!
Sponsored by Irish Newspaper Archives the project will use primary and secondary source information to research, gather and catalogue evictions. One of the goals is to collaborate with individuals, societies and libraries across the world. We are looking for any informaiton of evictions, locations and local folklore. To help researchers Irish Newspaper Archives are offering 30% of monthly and yearly membership. Discount code - IFP30

Profile: Dr Ciaran Reilly;
Dr Reilly author of several books has embarked an a project to help shed light on the number of people and locations of evictions that took place during the Great Famine. View his profile at https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/wp/dr-ciaran-reilly-irish-famine-research/

To submit your own research for inclusion in our project you can email your findings to famineeviction@gmail.com or tweet us @famineeviction

Irish Newspaper Archives are proud supporter of all Irish Research and to help any research into the Famine Evictions we are offering 30% of monthly and yearly membership valid till 31.10.2016
Code IFP30

(With thanks to Andrew Martin)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

British Army Worldwide Index 1851 added to FindmyPast

Latest additions to Findmypast (www.findmypast.com):

British Army, Worldwide Index 1851

The British Army Worldwide Index 1851 contains over 156,000 records and index and covers over 300 regiments serving around the world.

A wide range of ranks is represented from privates and drivers to captains and lieutenants. The index was created by Roger E. Nixon using regimental muster books and pay lists, part of the War Office records, held at The National Archives. Each transcript will provide you with an archival reference from the original source and will reveal your ancestor's service number, rank, and regiment, as well as where his regiment was serving at the time the record was created.

The regiments in this collection were serving in Malta, Hull, West Indies, Ireland, Pakistan, Canada, Honduras, and more places around the world. The index includes the names of 92 hired black labourers serving with the Corps of Military Labourers in Port Louis, Mauritius, as well as over 12,000 records from members of the Royal Artillery.


Billion Graves Cemetery Index

Records have been added to the following country pages:

Over 1,4 million new additions to the United States Billion Graves Cemetery Index
Over 110,000 new additions to the Canada Billion Graves Cemetery Index
Over 107,000 new additions to the Australia Graves Cemetery Index
Over 19,000 new additions to the England Billion Graves Cemetery Index
Over 16,000 new additions to the New Zealand Billion Graves Cemetery Index
Over 10,000 new additions to the Scotland Billion Graves Cemetery Index
Over 3,000 new additions to the Ireland Billion Graves Cemetery Index
Over 600 new additions to the Wales Billion Graves Cemetery Index


Warwickshire Burials

Over 1,000 records from Witton Cemetery in Birmingham (formally known as Birmingham City Cemetery) have been added to our collection of Warwickshire Burials. The entire collection now contains more 1.1 million records and includes monumental inscriptions from Clifton Road Cemetery in Rugby.

Further details are available on the Findmypast blog at https://blog.findmypast.com/findmypast-friday-2023253630.html

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Times of India travel notices from 1861 online

From the Families in British India Society (www.fibis.org):

Times of India arrival and departure notices for 1861 have been uploaded to the FIBIS database website. The data consists of 1974 arrivals and 1508 departures, a total of 3482 passengers.

Our thanks go to David Edge and his wonderful team of volunteers!

View Times of India departure and arrival notices (http://search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_browse_sources.php?mode=browse_components&id=985)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Thursday 29 September 2016

More on the new ScotlandsPeople website

I've had a chance to have more of a play with the new ScotlandsPeople site at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk and remain impressed with the new version of the site, although there are a few gremlins that need to be sorted out.

My initial concern when I saw some of the early design concepts last year was that the site might sacrifice the PC experience for the tablet experience, but in fact, I think they have found a happy compromise. There are seveal new features, some useful videos - and some new records, which is the key thing!

First up, the new records:
  • Divorce record (indexes)
  • Civil partnership records indexes
  • Civil partnership dissolutions indexes
  • Non-conformist presbyterian denominations indexes and images

The biggest is of course the last, with over 150,000 records added from the following denominations:
  • The Reformed Presbyterian Church
  • The Original Secession (or First Secession) Church
  • The Associate Synods (Burghers and Antiburghers, and the Auld Licht Burghers, New Licht Burghers, Auld Licht Antiburghers and New Licht Antiburghers)
  • The Relief Church
  • The United Secession Church
  • The United Presbyterian Church
  • The Free Church

(See http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/kirk-history.html for a quick history as to how they all came about!) 

Whilst a detailed list of actual churches and parishes featured from all denominations (including Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic) is availableon the site at https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/guides/church-registers#Parishes, there is no list of the year range for the nonconformist entries at present - only the general catalogue number for all of the records as noted by the National Records of Scotland. Some searches are also not returning results for records that I know to exist - for example, none of the baptismal entries for my Paton family are showing up in the Blackford Free Church records in the late 1860s and 1870s. So teething troubles would seem to be at play. Not all nonconformist records have been added yet - and most of those that are there are baptism registers for now. Kirk session records will be added in due course with a subscription option, rather than a credits option. For more on some early gremlins visit Fergus Smith's blog post at http://www.oldscottish.com/blog/september-29th-2016.


One thing that does seem to have gone completely in the new site, unless I have missed it, is the ability to view search results by way of a map as opposed to a list. This feature in the previous version of the site was something that many of my overseas Pharos courses students have often commented on as being useful.

There are some nice touches - I have no problem with the price increase to £7.50, because the balance is that index searches are now completely free, as are views of the Register of Corrected Entries records, though these unfortunately still remain searchable as a follow up to an initial find in a birth, marriage or death record, and not as a database in their own right (which would allow a second bite at the pie if an original register image was for some reason misindexed, which has happened to me in the past). The 1881 LDS Scottish census transcription is also now free to view (as are its English and Welsh equivalents on FamilySearch).

The help and support material I have read so far has been of a high standard, as you would expect from the NRS. So I remain very positive about the new site - let's just sort those teething issues out!

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Wednesday 28 September 2016

Ancestry adds Newcastle upon Tyne electoral registers and German records

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added the following collection to its English records holdings:

Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Electoral Registers, 1741-1974
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=60918
Original data: Newcastle electoral registers. Tyne & Wear Archives, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

Please note that no registers were produced during the war years 1916, 1917 and 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943 and 1944. In this collection, the registers for the years 1960-1964 are also missing.
Note: This index was created using text recognition software. Records were not transcribed.

For further details please visit the collection's web page.

If you have German ancestry, the following datasets have also been added:
  • Teltow-Fläming, Germany, Marriages, 1874-1923
  • Schwäbisch Hall, Germany, Deaths, 1876-1950
  • Mittweida, Germany, Marriages, 1876-1921
  • Altenburg, Germany, Births, 1874-1901
  • Teltow-Fläming, Germany, Births, 1874-1903
  • Mittweida, Germany, Births, 1876-1905
  • Schwäbisch Hall, Germany, Marriages, 1876-1922
  • Altenburg, Germany, Marriages, 1876-1920
  • Mittweida, Germany, Deaths, 1876-1950
  • Teltow-Fläming, Germany, Deaths, 1874-1968
  • Schwäbisch Hall, Germany, Church Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1559-1829
  • Mittweida, Germany, Residence Registers, 1895-1905
  • Schwäbisch Hall, Germany, Births, 1876-1903

Further details at http://www.ancestry.co.uk/cs/recent-collections

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

New ScotlandsPeople website is launched

From ScotandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk):

NEW SCOTLANDSPEOPLE WEBSITE LAUNCHED BY NATIONAL RECORDS OF SCOTLAND



ScotlandsPeople - the website which helps people search for their Scottish ancestors online - has been revamped and relaunched with a new look and a number of new features.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) operates ScotlandsPeople, which has on average 3.4m site views a year and around 1 million unique users since its launch in 2002.

As part of the most extensive upgrade to the service since 2010, users will be able to search statutory record indexes including birth, death and marriage certificates for free for the first time. Users will now only be charged if they wish to view or download a record image.

The new site also features an improved web design which allows customers to access ScotlandsPeople across digital devices, and an enhanced search function which allows them to locate and view records with greater ease.

Chief Executive of NRS, Tim Ellis said:

“ScotlandsPeople is internationally recognised as the place to start any personal journey into Scottish ancestry. At National Records of Scotland, we’re excited about the new site and look forward to helping both budding and expert genealogists to find out even more about their heritage.”

“In addition, we’re keen to develop ScotlandsPeople further and will continue to engage with users and listen to their feedback over the coming weeks and months.”

The launch also marks the start of a new chapter for ScotlandsPeople in another important way; all customer relations will be undertaken in-house by NRS for the first time. Technical support for ScotlandsPeople is to be provided by international technology company CACI Limited. The previous site was built by FindMyPast Limited who ran ScotlandsPeople for 14 years.

Greg Bradford, Chief Executive of CACI Limited said:

“CACI is honoured that National Records of Scotland chose us to help them build their new integrated, secure website. 

“By putting the user at the centre of the design, NRS and CACI have been able to create an easy-to-use site that delivers fast and accurate search results. We hope the users agree that the new site delivers a richer and more seamless customer experience.”

Jay Verkler, CEO of Findmypast Limited said:

“Since the launch of Scotlandspeople back in 2002, Findmypast and NRS have helped millions of people learn more about their Scottish heritage and the service has garnered acclaim from genealogists from all around the world.

“We wish NRS every success in the future and will continue to maintain the strong relationship that has led to the development of this fantastic service.”





Notes for Editors:

The new website is separate from the records system used in the ScotlandsPeoples centre in Edinburgh and in the local history centres across Scotland

Customers will not be charged as they formerly were - to search an index relating to the Birth, Death and Marriage Register, Old Parish Register or Open Census records. Customers will not be asked to pay a fee until they wish to view an image.

The cost has increased from £7 for 30 credits to £7.50 for 30 credits. Thirty credits will enable customers to purchase 5 images at cost of £1.50 per image of a document.

The new charging structure allows free access to the record indexes for everyone.

ScotlandsPeople compares favourably to similar services provided by agencies in other parts of the United Kingdom; while births, marriage and death indexes are free to search in England and Wales, images are not available to view and customers have to purchase certificates at £9.25 per certificate.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) is a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government. Our purpose is to collect, preserve and produce information about Scotland's people and history and make it available to inform current and future generations. Our work underpins the fabric of Scottish society: telling the story of our nation http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/about-us/what-we-do.

About CACI Ltd

Established in 1975, CACI employs more than 850 staff in the UK and Europe providing business information systems to public and private sector clients. CACI Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of CACI International Inc., an IT services company publicly traded on the NYSE and employing over 21,000 staff across more than 120 offices globally. www.caci.co.uk

(With thanks to Richard Holligan)

COMMENT - LOTS to get to grip with here - including new nonconformist presbyterian records, divorce indexes, civil partnerships and dissolutions records which have been added, and a new pay structure. Will have a play and report back!


Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

PRONI stakeholder forum update

I was unfortunately unable to attend the most recent stakeholder forum at the Public Record Ofice of Northern Ireland (www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni), but I have been kindly sent the minutes from the meeting. The following are a few highlights from current developments of interest for family historians:

New accessions to PRONI include papers of the Belfast Naturalists Club (with cataloguing to commence in early 2017), and a smaller collection relating to the life of Samuel J Edgar and the York Street Flax Spinning Company (one of my lot worked there, should be a useful set to look up!).

A significant amount of cataloguing was completed in the summer months on the Londonderry Papers (D3099), and likewise, cataloguing is ongoing on the papers of the Irish Council of Churches (D4602).

The new GIS mapping application (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/latest-news-from-proni-user-forum.html), which provides OS maps with historical information overlays, should be released imminently.

The archives new Rules and Fees legislation should come into force on 16th November 2016, though final approval has still be passed at the Assembly. This will be the first time that they have been revised since 2009, and amongst new changes there will be clearer rules, a Code of Conduct, and a new table of fees. Most significantly for users, photocopying will no longer be offered, with visitors allowed to use their own equipment to photograph documents, subject to signing a copying and declaration form. To be allowed to do this, users will have to sign an undertaking about copying and copyright awareness before any documents are issued.The facility to obtain high quality copies will still be available.

A conference with the Western Front Association is to be held on the 8th October 2016. A £10 admission fee will be charged by the WFA to cover lunch.

PRONI now has four terminals providing access to GRONI's Geni service, offeirng access to digitised civil registration birth, marriage and death records, up to the present day (unlike the online service, which has imposed closure periods for each category). See http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/proni-search-room-offers-access-to.html for more on this story.

Finally, PRONI’s new Director is Maeve Walls.

(With thanks to Gavin McMahon)

Chris
 
For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Living DNA launches service

I've been asked to share the following press release from another new kid on the DNA block, Living DNA, at www.livingdna.com:

New DNA test offers people an HD view of their past

28th September 2016 - Somerset, UK

The world’s first DNA ancestry test which allows people to break down their British ancestry to any of 21 regions in the UK and see how their worldwide ancestry has evolved over history has been launched.

Living DNA has been developed in partnership with over 100 world leading genetics experts, including the team behind the People of the British Isles Study 2015 – the first fine-scale genetic map of the British Isles. The new platform is designed to give people the most accurate and detailed estimate of their extended family tree, stretching back thousands of years.

From a simple saliva mouth swab kit, the new test uses the latest DNA testing technology to analyse over 680,000 DNA ‘markers’, and unlock a person’s genetic code to their past. Instead of looking at pieces of DNA in isolation, Living DNA analyses distinct sections of ‘linked DNA’, and then matches those findings to latest academic research using sophisticated software.

Results are displayed on an interactive online platform, breaking down an individual’s ancestry to over 80 worldwide regions, including 21 UK regions – more than any other company.

In addition, Living DNA’s product is the only one of its kind which allows users to look back over multiple generations to see their ancestry throughout human history, and discover when they shared ancestors with people throughout the world. Most other ancestry tests only look at people’s recent family history, typically going back 4 or 5 generations at most.

David Nicholson, managing director of Living DNA, comments:

“Compared to other ancestry tests out there, Living DNA is like viewing your family history on a high definition TV. By combining the latest DNA testing technology with the most robust academic research, we can give users the most accurate picture of their estimated ancestry.”

The ability for people to explore how their extended ‘ancestry family’ has changed over time is a key feature of the new product, according to Mr Nicholson:

“Our understanding of where we come from as individuals depends entirely on how far back in history we look. Our goal is to put people’s past into context in a way that has never been done before, and let people view their ancestry throughout history, to show how everyone in the world is ultimately connected.”

One of the key academic collaborators Living DNA has worked with in developing its new test has been Dr Dan Lawson from the University of Bristol, one of the authors of The People of the British Isles Study 2015 – the first fine-scale genetic map of the British Isles.

Dr Lawson has been instrumental in helping to develop Living DNA’s ground-breaking software which can now match an individual’s DNA to one of 21 regions in the UK for the first time.

“This is a whole new approach to DNA ancestry testing, and it is highly personal,” explains Dr Lawson. “No other method – either in scientific literature or in the field of personal genomics – can identify the ancestry of a single person to the level of regions within the UK.”

Living DNA’s test itself is run on a custom-built “Living DNA Orion Chip”. It is one of the first bespoke DNA chips in the world to be built using the latest GSA technology from market leader Illumina, and tests over 656,000 autosomal (family) markers, 4,700 mitrochondrial (maternal) markers and 22,000 Y-chromosomal (paternal) markers.

A lifetime membership to Living DNA costs £120, including a swab kit, the DNA ancestry test itself and access to a personalised, interactive results platform. Test results typically take 8-12 weeks before they are available, and a bespoke coffee table book of the results costs an additional £39 plus postage and packing. A membership also includes free lifetime updates to people’s results as new ancestry research and population groups are added to the platform and as science evolves.
Quotes

"Compared to other ancestry tests out there, Living DNA is like viewing your family history on a high definition TV. By combining the latest DNA testing technology with the most robust academic research, we can give users the most accurate picture of their estimated ancestry."
David Nicholson, managing director, Living DNA

"Our understanding of where we come from as individuals depends entirely on how far back in history we look. Our goal is to put people’s past into context in a way that has never been done before, and let people view their ancestry throughout history, to show how everyone in the world is ultimately connected."
David Nicholson, managing director, Living DNA

"This is a whole new approach to DNA ancestry testing, and it is highly personal. No other method – either in scientific literature or in the field of personal genomics – can identify the ancestry of a single person to the level of regions within the UK."
Dr Dan Lawson, University of Bristol

COMMENT: The tests being carried out are for autosomal, Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA tests. The press release says that they test "over 656,000 autosomal (family) markers, 4,700 mitrochondrial (maternal) markers and 22,000 Y-chromosomal (paternal) markers". The mitochondrial DNA follows the maternal line - mum's mother's mother's mother's  etc DNA. Y-DNA follows the paternal line, i.e. your surname line, the father's father's father's father's etc DNA. The autosomal test is for a type of DNA that you inherit from both parents, which can be useful for finding close matches within a few generations on either side. All have their uses. I've not taken the test, so have no idea how it compares to other suppliers such as FamilyTreeDNA or DNA Ancestry.

A minor gripe is that the company tells you they test across the British Isles, but keeps asking you in its video "how British are you?". Ahem...! (Stand down, Ireland, STAND DOWN!!!).

DNA guru Debbie Kennett (who knows more about these things than I ever will!) has a very favourable review of the test at http://cruwys.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/living-dna-new-genetic-ancestry-test.html.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Military Archives events during Dublin Festival of History

From Military Archives (www.militaryarchives.ie) in Dublin:

Military Archives is delighted to participate in Dublin Festival of History 2016, which is running from 23 September to 8 October 2016. Members of the public are welcome to email militaryarchives@defenceforces.ie to secure a seat at ‘History, Memory & the Archives: sources for the Revolutionary period in Military Archives’, an illustrated lecture by Commandant Stephen MacEoin, Officer in Charge, Military Archives. The event will take place in the auditorium located in the historic Guard Room, Cathal Brugha Barracks, on 3rd October at 3pm; early booking is recommended.

We are also involved in a number of outside events during the festival. Please see http://dublinfestivalofhistory.ie/calendar/category/programme-2016/events-in-libraries/ for more details.

(With thanks to Military Archives at http://www.militaryarchives.ie/en/news-events)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Tuesday 27 September 2016

Baby born in Mexico to three parents

I've commented on this before (http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/uk-to-allow-creation-of-three-parent.html) with regard to UK legislation which will facilitate this also, but the era of three parent babies may be now well and truly upon us. New Scientist magazine has announced the successful birth of a baby five months ago in Mexico, facilitated by a team from the United States using the controversial technique to overcome the challenges posed by a prospective mother's mitochondrial disease.

For more on the story please visit the New Scientist website at https://www.newscientist.com/article/2107219-exclusive-worlds-first-baby-born-with-new-3-parent-technique/.

Genealogy could be about to get a whole lot more interesting...

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

FamilySearch - Tasmanian births and US Revolutionary War pension indexes

FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org) has added the following indexes to the following existing collections:
  • United States Revolutionary War Pension Payment Ledgers 1818-1872
  • Australia Tasmania Civil Registration of Births 1899-1912
  • Australia Cemetery Inscriptions 1802-2005
  • Find A Grave Index

Full details and collection links via http://media.familysearch.org/collections-update-week-of-september-26/.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Monday 26 September 2016

New ScotlandsPeople website launch delayed again

Just posted on ScotlandsPeople Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ScotlandsPeople):

Update on new ScotlandsPeople website

As most of you will be aware, the new ScotlandsPeople website was scheduled to launch today (Monday 26 September).

While every effort has been made to meet this deadline, it has become apparent that we need a bit more time to test the new site and satisfy ourselves that it is completely ready for launch.

We now expect the new ScotlandsPeople website to go live within the next few days.

Remember, once you log-in to the new site for the first time you will see that your credits, saved images and searches are all be available.

Thank you all for your continued patience and support. We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused and look forward to welcoming you to the new site soon.


Comment: On days like this I am glad I am also half-Irish - I've plenty to be getting on with there!

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

GB1900 British maps crowdsourcing project launched

From the National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk):

Help save GB place names from being lost for ever

A new online project – GB1900 – is calling for volunteers in Great Britain to help make sure local place-names can live on rather than be lost for ever.


GB1900 aims to create a complete list of the estimated three million place-names on early Ordnance Survey maps of Britain. It will be a free, public resource, of particular use to local historians and genealogists.

The project partners include the National Library of Scotland, the National Library of Wales, and the University of Portsmouth.

On their new GB1900 web site, http://www.gb1900.org/, volunteers will work on digital images of all the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey County Series maps of the whole of Great Britain, at six inch to one mile scale (1888-1913). These maps show not just every town and village but every farm, hill and wood – and include names for most of them. The site’s software enables contributors to mark each name by clicking next to it, and then to type in the name itself. They can also add any personal memories they have of the place. To ensure correctness each name needs to be identically transcribed by two different volunteers.

The final list of place names will be not just the most detailed gazetteer ever created for Britain, it will be the world’s largest ever historical gazetteer. It will be released under a Creative Commons licence, making it usable by everyone without charge, and will be of great value for family and local historians.

GB1900 Project website: http://www.gb1900.org/
Further information: http://www.nls.uk/news/press/2016/09/place-names-volunteers

(With thanks to Chris Fleet)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Thursday 22 September 2016

New ScotlandsPeople site launches Monday 26th Sept

Looks like it is definitely happening this time...! The current view on the ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlsandspeople.gov.uk) website:


Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Australian historian seeks participants for family history study

I've received a request from Dr Tanya Evans, MRes Director, Senior Lecturer and President of the History Council of New South Wales, with regard to a study that she is currently working on comparing family historians and the meanings of family history in Australia, England and Canada. Her request was to ask if I could participate - I mentioned I was none of the above, but an Irishman living in Scotland, and the response was, yes, I want that too!

Tanya's research will involve collecting survey data and a handful of oral history interviews. Her last book on family history in Australia, called Fractured Families: Life on the Margins in Colonial NSW, won the NSW Premiers' History Award in community and regional history. She has also written 2 books on the history of illegitimacy in England.

If you are happy to participate, please contact Tanya at Tanya.evans@mq.edu.au and she will email a consent form and the survey. I completed the survey late last night, it will take a wee while to work through, so I'd allow at least an hour. There were some very interesting questions, I certainly found it a worthwhile exercise.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Wednesday 21 September 2016

Australian history and genealogy expo 2016

Australian based firm Unlock the Past (www.unlockthepast.com.au) is hosting the country's first ever national expo in Adelaide on Friday 7th (10am-5pm) and Saturday 8th October 2016 (9am-4pm). The event will be held at Immanuel College, 32 Morphett Road, Novar Gardens.

The following is a summary of what to expect:

Expo overview
• 100 exhibitors
• 11 main theatre feature presentations
• 25 classroom presentations
• 62 short mini-theatre product demos, tutorials, etc. (free)
• micro-theatres at exhibitor stands—product information, demos, tutorials, etc. (free)
• one-on-one consultations with experts (free)
• over $3000 in prizes from exhibitors and sponsors

Eight reasons to be at Australia’s first national expo
1. Australia’s first ever national history/genealogy expo
2. see 100 organisations and product and service suppliers in one place—the largest number ever for any history/genealogy event in Australia
3. choose from 98 topics from 47 speakers in 25 different time slots—the largest history/genealogy program ever offered in Australia
4. low cost admission—affordable for enthusiasts & casual visitors
5. one-on-one consultations with experts
6. special offers from many exhibitors
7. South Australians—attend a major event your own city
8. interstate visitors—an excuse to visit friends/relatives, do some research or just visit SA—enjoy a major expo

Program
The expo offers a wide ranging program — DNA, Google, engineering history, genealogy computing, health history, migration, military history (WWI, WWII), online data (Ancestry, FamilySearch, Findmypast, GenealogySA, MyHeritage, Ryerson Index, newspapers online), oral history, old photos, Australian research, overseas research (English, Scottish, Irish, German/European), sporting history, writing history ... and more.

Registration
Each registered attendee will receive a registration kit with information and special offers from exhibitors and sponsors as well as entry into the prize draw.

Meals and refreshments
Food will be provided by Vili's Mega Van—located close to the entrance to the venue. A good variety of food will be offered—more details on web site. A coffee cart will also be there. You are at liberty to bring your own food if you wish.

For more information, please visit www.unlockthepast.com.au/events/australian-history-genealogy-expo-2016.

COMMENT: In addition to the expo, Unlock the Past runs genealogy conference cruises, and also produces a series of genealogical guide books, including my latest book for them, A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy. You'll find all of the firm's books for sale there, as well as info on the cruises, and just about anything and everything on all aspects genealogical from the many venfors in attendance. I've been to a previous regional expo run by the company in Parramatta a few years back, as well as many other events hosted by the firm across the country in the last few years, and they are always good fun, with some great speakers - have fun!

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Religious occupation records now on TheGenealogist

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

New Occupational Records now on TheGenealogist

If your ancestor held a prominent position in a religious organisation then you may find them in amongst a number of recent releases at TheGenealogist.co.uk. The new records include:

* The Year Book of The Church of England in the Dominion of Canada 1926 & 1935 - These year books contain the details of the members of clergy in Canada.
* New Zealand Methodist Union Index 1913 - Listing details of Methodist Ministers and their placements in New Zealand up to 1912.
* Catholic Directory 1867 & 1877 - Directories of Catholic Clergy with addresses for England, Scotland and Wales.
* Biographical Dictionary of English Catholics 1534 to 1885 - This work by Joseph Gillow gives biographies of prominent Catholics which often include details of their family, education and achievements.
* Shropshire Roman Catholic Registers 1763-1837
* The Roman Catholics in the County of York 1604
* Various Catholic Record Society volumes - These include a variety of interesting records including various Catholic Church registers, memoirs and letters of prominent Catholics and Recusant Rolls.
* Jewish Year Books 1896-99, 1901-8, 1910-11, 1918-21, 1925, and 1928-39 - These year books list the details of prominent people within each synagogue, obituaries, Jewish officers in the Army, Navy and Auxiliary Forces, Ministers, MPs, Peers, and even Jewish 'Celebrities' of the time.
* Jewish Synagogue Seatholders in London for 1920, 1922, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1937
* The Clergyman's Almanack 1821 & 1822 - These Almanacks list archbishops, bishops, dignitaries, MPs and Peers.
* Register of Missionaries 1796-1923 - A register of the missionaries and deputations of the London Society of Missionaries. This book includes many details about each missionary, as well as listing their wives (including their maiden name).
* Durham Diocesan Calendar 1931

These records compliment an already wide range of religious occupational records such as Cox's Clergy Lists and Crockford's Clerical Directories, Jewish Seatholders, Catholic Registers, and Directories already on TheGenealogist. Diamond subscribers can access these records by going to the Search tab on the home page - scrolling down to Occupational Records and then selecting the type of records that they are interested in.

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Tuesday 20 September 2016

Latest British Newspaper Archive additions

The latest releases on the British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) over the last 30 days:

Barnsley Chronicle, etc. 1866 - 1871, 1873 - 1877, 1879 - 1888, 1891 - 1892, 1894 - 1896, 1898 - 1909
Belfast Telegraph 1902
Birmingham Chronicle. 1819 - 1822, 1824 - 1827
Brighton Guardian 1877
Brighton Herald 1833, 1873, 1877, 1881, 1889
Buxton Herald 1951
Cork Constitution 1863, 1874 - 1875, 1877 - 1878, 1893 - 1894
Coventry Evening Telegraph 1939
Dartmouth & South Hams chronicle 1869, 1871 - 1874, 1894 - 1896, 1899 - 1909
Dundee Advertiser 1895, 1897, 1899
Durham Chronicle 1824 - 1831, 1834 - 1837, 1839 - 1855, 1857 - 1859, 1868
East & South Devon Advertiser. 1874 - 1878, 1882 - 1884, 1886 - 1887, 1890 - 1894
Globe 1804, 1811 - 1812, 1818 - 1819, 1821
Kentish Gazette 1814
Leeds Mercury 1921 - 1926
Norwich Mercury 1727, 1846 - 1848, 1854, 1856 - 1884, 1896, 1899 - 1904
Preston Herald 1863 - 1876, 1882, 1900 - 1901, 1912, 1914 - 1918
Roscommon & Leitrim Gazette 1852 - 1862, 1864 - 1873, 1876 - 1880, 1882
Tyne Mercury; Northumberland and Durham and Cumberland Gazette 1802 - 1808, 1815 - 1822, 1826
Warwick and Warwickshire Advertiser 1823 - 1827, 1830 - 1831, 1837, 1866 - 1871, 1878 - 1891, 1897 - 1911, 1913 - 1914, 1916 - 1918, 1929, 1931 - 1934, 1939 - 1956
Waterford Mirror and Tramore Visitor. 1862 - 1868, 1872, 1884 - 1886, 1888, 1891 - 1892, 1896 - 1906
Waterford Standard 1897, 1899, 1901 - 1911, 1928 - 1932, 1937 - 1950
West Surrey Times 1856 - 1857
Western Morning News 1860 - 1861, 1865, 1867, 1869 - 1870, 1883 - 1885, 1892 - 1893, 1896 - 1905, 1907 - 1909, 1914 - 1919

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Monday 19 September 2016

National Archives of Ireland completes genealogy site collections

Last week the National Archives of Ireland (www.nationalarchives.ie) added several major new digitised record sets to FindmyPast (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/free-national-archives-of-ireland.html). The same records have now been added to the archive's own digital collections site at www.genealogy.nationalarchives.ie - all are completely free to access.

The newly added collections are as follows, each with its own dedicated URL address for direct access, and descriptions as detailed on the site:

Prerogative and diocesan copies of some wills and indexes to others, 1596 – 1858
http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/dw/home.jsp

Before 1858, grants of probate and administration were made by the courts of the Church of Ireland (the Prerogative Court and the Diocesan or Consistorial Courts). Almost all of the original records were destroyed in the Public Record Office in 1922. Most of what appears on this site are indexes to the original wills.

For the pre-1858 ecclesiastical courts, will books containing copies of the originals survive for the Prerogative Court (1664-1684, 1706-1708, 1726-1728, 1728-1729, 1777, 1813 and 1834) and some Diocesan Courts – Connor (1818-1820 and 1853-1858) and Down (1850-1858). The will books for Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry are in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

The records can be searched by name, date, residence and district or diocese.


Diocesan and Prerogative Marriage Licence Bonds Indexes, 1623 – 1866
http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/dm/home.jsp

If your ancestors marry in Ireland between 1623 and 1866, they may have been married by licence rather than by banns. Marriage licences were granted, on payment of a fee, by the ecclesiastical courts of the Church of Ireland. The original records were destroyed in the Public Record Office explosion of 1922, but indexes survive, and record Protestant marriages as far back as 1623.

The indexes will give you names of spouses, year of marriage and diocese.

(NB: I didn't see this on FindmyPast a few days ago, but this collection is also now available there at http://search.findmypast.com/search-world-Records/ireland-diocesan-and-prerogative-marriage-licence-bonds-indexes-1623-1866)


Catholic qualification & convert rolls, 1700 – 1845
http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/cq/home.jsp

Throughout the eighteenth century, restrictions enacted by the Penal Laws were relaxed for those Catholics who took the Oath of Allegiance to the King and renounced their religion for that of the established Church of Ireland. In the majority of cases this was not a sincere renunciation of the Catholic religion, as it was the only legal means whereby a Catholic could obtain basic civil rights.

In 1774 an Act was passed to permit the King’s subjects, of any religion, to take an oath at the local assizes (courts) “to testify to their loyalty and allegiance to him, to promote peace and industry in the kingdom.”

These names were then registered in the Catholic Qualification Rolls according to surname, first name, address, and date of qualification. Occupation is sometimes also supplied. The rolls cover the period from 1700 to 1845, with most entries after 1800 dealing with naturalised citizens. Over 50,000 people are listed.

The Rolls can be searched by name, date, county, residence and diocese. The county, residence and diocese entries are not consistent; sometimes all three appear; sometimes only one.


Valuation Office house, field, tenure and quarto books 1824 – 1856
http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/vob/home.jsp

The printed volumes of the Primary (or Griffith’s) Valuation, the record of Ireland’s first comprehensive property tax, have been available online for many years now, and are a crucial part of the genealogical infrastructure for the mid-nineteenth century. But the records which underlie and inform the printed valuation have never been digitised until now, and they contain more information about households and landholding than can be found in the printed version.

There are four distinct kinds of books involved, and our former Director, Frances Magee, who has worked on these records for years, has written descriptive notes on each of them to clarify their functions and the information they contain. Begin with her General Note, and move on to the four descriptions linked below.

General Note
Field Books
House Books
Tenure Books
Quarto Books

These records contain over 2 million names. They provide a comprehensive assessment of the rental value of Irish lands and property from the mid-1820s to the mid-1850s. The books reveal where and when individuals rented or owned property and provide rare glimpses of life in pre-famine Ireland.



Shipping agreements and crew lists, 1863 – 1921
http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/cl/home.jsp

The records of the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen consist of crew lists, and agreements with seamen regarding wage rates, conditions of service and related information, of ships registered in what is now the south of Ireland between 1860 and 1921. They came to the National Archives in 1971 and 1978 from the Board of Trade in Britain.

The shipping records contain much useful information, including

Crews: Name, age or year of birth, town or district of birth, last ship served on, port to which she belonged, date and place of discharge from previous ship, date and place of joining present ship, capacity in which he joined, if service discontinued, cause, date and place.
Ship: Name, registered number, port of registry, date of registry, owner’s name and address, dates and places of arrivals and departures.
Log: Date of event logged, occurrence situation by longitude and latitude, amount of fine or forfeiture inflicted.
Wages: Amount of wages per calendar month, share or voyage.
Provisions: Scale of provisions to be served to the crew each day given with weights per day for bread, flour, coffee, butter, water, beef, peas, sugar, tea, port.
Apprentices: Name, age, date of indenture, port of indenture, date of assignment, port of assignment.
Births: Date, name, sex, parents’ names, mother’s maiden name, occupation of father, nationality and last abode of parents.
Deaths: Of crew: name, agreement reference number, net wages paid. Of passengers: date of death, name, age, sex, occupation, parents’ names, cause of death.

The records are searchable by name, vessel name, departure port, date of event, age, town/county of origin, year of birth, year of death, place of death.



Will Registers 1858 – 1900
http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/wr/home.jsp

This series comprises over 550,000 records, forming the largest collection of surviving wills for the post-1858 period for what is now the Republic of Ireland. The registers allow researchers to explore the pages of the wills to discover where their families lived, what assets they had, if they were left to relatives, and if not, to whom.

Readers can connect these records to the already available Calendars of Wills and Administrations to get concise information about amount of assets, executors and beneficiaries.

These records are also major resources for social and economic history, providing, as they do, hitherto untapped information about financial and property assets, family relationships, family economic development over time, and gender and class relations. Our Browse feature will allow easy access to information for each county, thus facilitating local studies.

And don't forget the other free to access collections already available on the site:
  • Census of Ireland, 1901 and 1911, and pre-1901 survivals
  • Census Search Forms, 1841 – 51
  • Tithe Applotment Books, 1823 – 37
  • Soldiers’ Wills, 1914 – 1918
  • Calendars of Wills and Administrations, 1858 – 1922


COMMENT: Mark this day in your diary. Say whatever farewells you need to say to your loved ones, before you lock yourself away for the next few weeks to look at all of this. Then go and play.

Well done NAI; well done Ireland!


Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Friday 16 September 2016

ScotlandsPeople service announcement

Second time lucky, hopefully, for the launch of the new ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) website:

Service announcement for the ScotlandsPeople website

ScotlandsPeople will be offline from 23.59 (BST) on Wednesday 21 September until Monday 26 September. This downtime is essential as we work towards the launch of our new ScotlandsPeople website.

Customers visiting the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh or using one of the local family history centres will be able to access records as usual on Thursday 22, Friday 23 and Monday 26 September 2016.

You will be pleased to note that once the new site is launched, all of your credits and saved images from our existing site will be available.

We are sorry for the inconvenience this may cause you and thank you for your patience.

Thank you.

(With thanks to ScotlandsPeople)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Lincolnshire parish records updated on FindmyPast

In addition to announcing its new Irish collections (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/free-national-archives-of-ireland.html), FindmyPast has announced an update to its Lincolnshire parish records:


ADDITIONAL RECORDS & FEATURES FOR EXISTING SETS

Lincolnshire Baptisms

Our collection of Lincolnshire baptisms are now available to search by name, year, place and parent's names. Lincolnshire baptisms contains over 1.9 million parish records dating from 1538 to 1911 and will allow you to discover your ancestors birth year, baptism date, location and parent's names. Each record consists of both an image and a transcript of the original document.

Lincolnshire Banns
Lincolnshire banns is now available to search by name, year, spouse's name and location. The collection contains over 121,000 records covering banns read in Lincolnshire parish churches between 1538 and 1911. The records allow you to discover your ancestor's residence, banns date, spouse's name' spouse's residence and location. Banns are the announcement of a couple's intention to marry and were read out in the parish church on three Sundays, three months before the intended marriage date.

Lincolnshire Marriages
Our Lincolnshire marriage records are now available to search by name, spouses name and location. The collection now contains over 933,000 records and covers more than 650 locations across the county. Discover your ancestor's age, birth year, residence, marriage date, location, father's name and spouse's details as far back as 1538.

Lincolnshire Burials
You can now search our Lincolnshire burial records by name, birth year, burial year and location. Lincolnshire burials contains over 1.4 million records covering more than 300 burial places across the county. Discover your ancestor's age at death, birth year, burial date and burial location.

Lincolnshire Parish Register Browse
Browse over 5000 parish registers containing more than 4.4 million records of baptisms, marriages and burials from all over Lincolnshire.

See https://blog.findmypast.com/findmypast-friday-september-16-2016-2006112242.html for further information.

Chris


For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

TheGenealogist adds Nuneaton and North Warwickshire parish records

The following press release is from The Genealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

TheGenealogist adds to its growing collection of Parish Records with the release of those for Nuneaton & North Warwickshire.


* Released in partnership with the Nuneaton & North Warwickshire Family History Society there are over 454,000 new fully searchable records of individuals

* Allowing the researcher to discover more than 300,000 people recorded within the baptisms from this area in the heart of England

* Family historians can also discover the details of over 90,000 individuals from marriages and nearly 60,0000 people listed in the burials of Nuneaton & North Warwickshire

Nuneaton & North Warwickshire FHS worked with TheGenealogist to publish their records online for the first time, making 454,525 individuals from baptism, marriage and burial records fully searchable.

"The officers of Nuneaton & North Warwickshire Family History Society are delighted to be working with The Genealogist to bring their collection of baptism, marriage and burial transcriptions for north Warwickshire online…” John Parton (Chairman)

With some of the surviving records reaching back into the 1700s this is an excellent resource for family historians to use for discovering Nuneaton & North Warwickshire ancestors.

The records are also available on TheGenealogist’s Society website FHS-Online.co.uk where societies get 100% of the income.

“This new initiative will provide for those researchers preferring online access, while allowing us to continue offering the data on CD. NNWFHS members have opportunity to take out an enhanced subscription which includes access to the data." John Parton (Chairman)

This is an ongoing project with the society working on transcribing many more records.

“We’re delighted to welcome NNWFHS to both TheGenealogist and FHS-Online. This release adds to the growing collection of parish records on both websites. These partnerships help societies boost their funds whilst bringing their records to a much wider audience, through online publication.” Mark Bayley (Head of Online Development)

If your society is interested in publishing records online, please contact Mark Bayley on 01722 717002 or see fhs-online.co.uk/about.php


(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Thursday 15 September 2016

Ancestry adds Glasgow electoral registers 1857-1962

A major new resource for those with connections to Scotland's largest city, Glasgow, has just been added to Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) in the form of the city's electoral registers from 1857-1962. From the site:

About Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, Electoral Registers, 1857-1962

This database contains yearly registers listing names and residences of people in Glasgow, who were eligible to vote in elections. These year-by-year registers can help place your ancestors in a particular place and possibly also reveal a bit about property they owned.

Historical Background
Electoral registers are lists of individuals who are eligible to vote during the time the register is in force (usually one year). Registration for voters in Scotland has been required since 1832, and registers were typically published annually. Restrictive property requirements denied the vote to much of the population for years, though these were eased somewhat in 1867 and 1884 through the Second and Third Reform Acts. There were also requirements when it came to local elections that varied from burgh to burgh (e.g., residency), and voters had to petition to be added to the electoral registers.

Property restrictions were finally removed for men in 1918, when most males age 21 and older were allowed to vote. The franchise was extended to some women over age 30 in 1918, but it was not until 1928 that the voting age was made 21 for both men and women. Thus, the number of names listed in the registers increases with the expansion of suffrage in Scotland.

Searching the Registers
Electoral registers typically provide a name and place of abode, and older registers may include a description of property and qualifications to vote. Registers were compiled at a local level, with names appearing alphabetically within wards/districts. Many of the registers in this database have been indexed electronically, which allows you to search them by name, but if you’re searching for a somewhat common name it will be helpful to know the area in which your ancestor lived to narrow your results.

It is worth noting that Parliamentary Division boundaries may have changed over time. If you are looking for a particular parish or place, you may find it useful to search using the key word field rather than try to browse the image sets which are listed by Division.

Note: This index was created using text recognition software. Records were not transcribed.

To search the collection visit http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61020



(With thanks to @GlasgowLib on Twitter - it too has the announcement, and details on how to access the records in the city's libraries - at http://www.glasgowfamilyhistory.org.uk/ExploreRecords/Pages/ancestry.aspx)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

RootsTech 2017 conference registration open

Registration is now open for the next US based RootsTech conference, which takes place from February 8th-11th 2017. From the site:

200+ Breakout Sessions
Get ready to have the ultimate learning experience. With over 200 breakout sessions for all levels of experience, the only challenge will be deciding which to attend.

Expo Hall
Come interact with hundreds of family history and technology exhibitors in the expansive expo hall and discover the latest products and services being offered in the industry.

Innovator Showdown
Watch today’s up-and-coming industry innovators compete before a panel of renowned judges and a live audience for unmatched global exposure and over $100,000 in prizes.

There are also details of the opening event:

Thursday, February 9, 2017, 8:00 p.m.
An Evening of Music: “It Runs in the Family”

Kick off RootsTech’s 2017 at the beautiful Conference Center at Temple Square and listen to featured musical guests: Oscar “Andy” Hammerstein III and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with the Orchestra at Temple Square.

To register, visit http://www.rootstech.org/rootstech-2017  - the early bird price for registration is US$159. 

(With thanks to @RootsTech via Twitter)

UPDATE : Here's the full press release

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA (September 15, 2016)—FamilySearch International has announced that registration to RootsTech 2017 is now open. RootsTech is an annual family history and technology conference where guests of all ages are inspired to discover, preserve, and share their family roots, heritage, and stories across generations—past, present, and future. In 2016 the event attracted more than 28,000 attendees in-person from all 50 US states and 30+ countries. RootsTech 2017 will be held February 8–11 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The popular Innovator Summit and free Family Discovery Day are also open for registration. The website for registration is RootsTech.org.


The 4-day conference will offer attendees a full lineup of inspiring and well-known keynote speakers, over 200 informative sessions, including hands-on computer labs taught by industry professionals and leaders, interactive activities and helpful exhibitors in the expo hall, and entertaining evening events, all designed to inspire and empower personal family discoveries. Early bird discount pricing is available for a limited time on 4-day passes at just $159 and $189 for the RootsTech plus Innovator Summit pass. Passes for the Getting Started track start at $49 for a single day and $69 for a limited 3-day pass. All passes include access to the popular expo hall and morning keynote sessions.

Starting off the 4-day RootsTech conference is the Innovator Summit, a unique 1-day conference designed for serious entrepreneurs, developers, and innovators interested in giving their creative ideas traction in a growing multi-billion-dollar industry. The event also offers attendees the opportunity to interact and connect with industry influencers, executives, and investors. The Summit will include a morning general session (the keynote speaker will be announced soon), over 20 classes, the Innovator Showdown semi-finals, and more. Innovator Summit ONLY passes are available at the discount price of $99.

Along with the Innovator Summit, the Innovator Showdown returns to RootsTech with $100,000 in prizes. Innovators and entrepreneurs from around the world and from any industry are invited to compete with their latest products or services that enable individuals to discover, preserve, and share their personal and family stories, memories, or ancestral connections. The top 5 finalists will be invited to present their product or service on the main RootsTech stage before a panel of judges and a live audience on Friday, February 10, just after the morning keynote session.

Registration for Family Discovery Day is also now open. The event takes place on Saturday, February 11, 2017, and is designed for families and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This free and fun 1-day event includes inspiring messages from Church leaders, engaging classes for families, youth, and young single adults, and evening entertainment to inspire and help families and members discover, preserve, and share their family connections. Family Discovery Day attendees will also have access to all the interactive activities and exhibitors found in the RootsTech expo hall. Event details, including speakers and classes, will be made available soon at RootsTech.org. Registration is required.

(With thanks to FamilySearch)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

FindmyPast's Knowledge Base

FindmyPast's UK website, at www.findmypast.co.uk, is little different these days to its overseas counterparts in terms of offerings, look and feel, with only the subscriptions packages themselves really differing from country to country.

It offers various help resources and videos to help folk get started, but in the past, when FindmyPast was solely a UK based website, it offered a useful help resource for those carrying out English and Welsh research (and some limited assistance for those based elsewhere in the UK), called the Knowledge Base. This includes a vast amount of useful information on everything from English and Welsh registration districts to information about British based overseas records collections, for the army, consular service and more.

Whilst much of this information is not on the current FindmyPast platform, it can be still retrieved easily on the Internet Archive (www.archive.org) - for example, if you visit https://web.archive.org/web/20120830154313/http://www.findmypast.co.uk/help-and-advice/knowledge-base/births-marriages-deaths/index you can see the various topics listed in the bottom left hand corner of the screen - click on each link to view the relevant content (some pages have links to online hosted PDF files of use also; those links I have tested so far are still valid).

NB: Many old websites can be similarly retrieved from the Internet Archive - simply type in the website address of interest in its Wayback Machine, and if a copy of the site has been cached in the past, it should still be available.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

National Library of Scotland facility opens in Glasgow

The National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk) has opened a new facility at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall. The following is the press release:

Scotland's past comes alive at Kelvin Hall

A 21st century doorway into Scotland's past opens today (14 September) in Glasgow's iconic Kelvin Hall, offering visitors the opportunity to explore countless treasures that cannot be viewed anywhere else.

For the first time, people in the west of Scotland will have easy access to the world class collections held by the National Library of Scotland, whose role is to preserve and protect the memory of the nation.

Visitors to the National Library of Scotland at Kelvin Hall will be able to explore — for free — 100 years of Scottish life on film and video held in the Moving Image Archive as well as having access to the Library's extensive digital collections including maps, books, manuscripts, reference works and business information. Content can be individually selected and viewed on some 50 screens set throughout the building.

There is material on almost every topic and examples include:
  • One of the earliest films of Glasgow trams from 1902
  • Films of holidays 'doon the watter'
  • The first Scottish film to win an Oscar — the 1960 documentary 'Seawards the Great Ships'.

Visitors will also have access to a vast electronic library of information being made available in Glasgow for the first time for personal research and academic study. This material can only be consulted on National Library premises and includes:

Millions of e-books on every subject imaginable
Millions of journal articles published across the United Kingdom
Millions of historic websites archived as part of the UK Web Archive.

In the Library's digital gallery visitors will be able to view and explore:
  • The last letter of Mary Queen of Scots
  • Manuscripts by Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott
  • The Scottish science hall of fame
  • The history of golf in Scotland.

In addition there will be a discovery area with fixed displays on life in Scotland both past and present looking at Scots at work, at home and how they have had fun down the years. The Library also has access to a 120-seater purpose built cinema at Kelvin Hall which will be used for special film shows and author events for the public.

The move to Kelvin Hall extends the Library's reach out of its historic home in Edinburgh for the first time while providing people in the west of Scotland with an exciting new visitor experience with the capacity to support research and learning as well as being a place of entertainment and inspiration.

It is part of the reinvention of Kelvin Hall as a cultural, academic and sporting complex of international significance. The project is a unique collaboration between Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Life, the University of Glasgow and the Library and follows a £35 million refurbishment of one of Glasgow's best loved buildings.

'Kelvin Hall has been reborn and we are delighted to be an important part of this new leisure and cultural centre,' said National Librarian Dr John Scally. 'Our collections tell the story of Scotland down the centuries and we want to connect as many people as possible to the riches, knowledge and information held within them. They cover all aspects of human endeavour with unlimited opportunities for education, entertainment and inspiration.'

He added: 'The first thing people will see when they visit us at Kelvin Hall will be a 12-screen video-wall showing films from our Moving Image Archive that records 100 years of life in Scotland. People will also be able to use our digital collections giving them access to many rare and original items covering centuries of Scotland's history and culture. And of particular significance is the fact as Scotland's legal deposit library we are able to offer Glasgow millions of electronic books and journal articles previously only available in our buildings in the capital. We have something for everyone and we look forward to welcoming people to the National Library of Scotland at Kelvin Hall.'

See the Library's Kelvin Hall page for further information, including details of opening times. (Available at http://www.nls.uk/using-the-library/kelvin-hall)

(With thanks to the NLS at http://www.nls.uk/news/press/2016/09/library-opens-at-kelvin-hall)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.