Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2020 i Family Tree UK

Welcome As family history fans, new or long-standing, we all share one thing in common: that desire to enlist all sorts of resources on our quest to make new discoveries, and to piece together the treasured stories of our kin…. On our mission to trace our families and learn about our ancestors’ lives we family history sleuths scour the web. We read long, long into the night, delve into archival treasures, plan genealogy road trips, grapple with new software and with old handwriting – and of course now there’s DNA to explore too… DNA has become such a mainstream topic, and its use is going to have such far-reaching implications for each and every one of our lives, that the more we can educate ourselves about DNA the better. So,…

The Genealogist YOUR FREE RECORDS At Family Tree we’ve teamed up with UK family history website TheGenealogist.co.uk to offer you selected free sources from its extensive online collections. Read on to learn about the census and other genealogy records you can search today for free… 1901 Census search Search for your ancestors in the Isle of Man in the 1901 Census. Will records Get free access to the Suffolk Calendar of Wills 1383-1604. Browse or search this digitised copy of A Calendar of Wills relating to the County of Suffolk Proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury Between 1383 and 1604, which was published in 1913. Details appear under alphabetically listed parish, plus there is a section on Suffolk wills that do mention parishes, as well as those in nearby…

AN INTERESTING ADDITION EXPLORING YOUR GENETIC HEALTH Medical DNA testing for family historians DNA testing is a very well-established tool for family history research, but some of the companies now also provide health and trait reports. Debbie Kennett takes a look at how these newer tests can add to our knowledge While the health and trait reports are not going to help with your family history research they can potentially be an interesting addition to your DNA portfolio. Health reports are currently sold direct to the consumer (DTC) in the UK by both 23andMe and MyHeritage. The 23andMe test costs £149 and the MyHeritage test costs £179. Ancestry announced the launch of AncestryHealth, a new genetic health testing service, in October 2018, but this product is currently only available in the…

FAMILY TREE LIVE 2020 WE ARE BUZZING – COME & JOIN US! What will you discover at Family Tree Live? Come and revel in the wonderful world of family history at Family Tree Live. It’s your chance to immerse yourself and take new steps to enrich your family tree research. From documents to DNA – what will you learn more about at this year’s show? From learning how to read old documents, to exploring the ever-evolving world of DNA. Whether speaking to the numerous passionate experts on hand, and being informed and inspired by their specialist knowledge, or shopping for your essential family history supplies – you are sure to have a fabulous time at Family Tree Live 2020. Things to look forward to • Solving your research brick wall –…

GENETICS BACK TO BASICS RESEARCH ZONE What is DNA? DNA analysis is an important tool in genealogy, but what actually is DNA? What does it look like, and how does it work? Simon Wills explores the science behind who we are, and explains why we are not identical to our ancestors or siblings DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid is a remarkable molecule. It carries pieces of information from our ancestors, going right back to the first primates that climbed down from the trees, and even beyond that to the earliest forms of life. Each human being has DNA that is about 99.9% the same as anyone else, so only a tiny proportion of this giant molecule is responsible for establishing the genetic components of our individuality. Chimpanzees are not our ancestors but…

DNA DEFINED JARGON busted Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) This is the person (or more often the couple) that you and a match share. For example, I’m descended from a John Povey born 1857 in Oldbury. I find a match, ‘Bob’ on my testing site who is descended from a Samuel Povey born 1849 in Oldbury. I’m able to verify that Samuel and John are brothers and their parents are Thomas and Hannah Povey. ‘Bob’ and I’s MRCA is therefore Thomas and Hannah Povey. This information will also allow me to work out the relationship Bob and I have, whether 3rd cousins once removed, 4th cousins or something else!…

MASTERING THE ART OF COLLABORATION CONNECTING WITH NEW KIN DNA & diplomacy Genetic genealogy has opened up a brave new world for family historians, but it’s not always plain sailing. Dr Penny Walters discusses how using good old-fashioned tact and diplomacy is as important as ever when you make those enticing DNA matches ʻIʼm so angry; someone has been nicking all my photos from my tree and adding them to her tree, so Iʼve messaged her with a piece of my mindʼ ʻIʼm not sure if my grandmother knows that my grandfather was married before, so Iʼm going to ask herʼ ʻIʼve got a list of my DNA matches and have sent messages, but nobody ever replies; theyʼre so rude; why did they do a DNA test?ʼ What has diplomacy got…

BITE-SIZE FAMILY HISTORY 60-MINUTE RESEARCH The lunch hour genealogist Being busy doesn’t mean you have to neglect your favourite hobby, you can still learn in your lunch break! Squeeze just 60 minutes of family history into your daily routine and you’ll soon start to see your tree blossom. It’s time to tuck into Rachel Bellerby’s genealogy treats Know-how in under 100 words! Genetic genealogy Genetic genealogy uses DNA testing and analysis in combination with traditional genealogy. DNA genealogy tests have allowed millions of people to trace their origins and these DNA results can be uploaded to genealogy websites, where the results can be compared with those of other people. Where there is a DNA match, it’s possible to use traditional family history records to work out how two people with a…

BUILDING A FAMILY HISTORY WEBSITE Ian’s 10-step action plan Have you published a family history website or blog? Share the details with us and yours could feature in a future article 1 Think about your motivation for creating a website 2 Visualise your target audience – is it family members or wider? 3 Make an outline plan of the content and create a Word document of words for each initial page 4 Collate some images that will fit a DL envelope format to use as banners on the website 5 Think of a name for your website and identify a unique domain name 6 Decide your website’s style. Take a look at Google Fonts (fonts.google.com) for typeface ideas. Decide a colour palette. Look at other websites for what you like…

FAMILY HISTORY READS Books Karen Clare explores some of the latest reads of interest to family historians TRUE WW2 STORIES Seducing and Killing Nazis by Sophie Poldermans At the start of 1940, Hannie Schaft and sisters Truus and Freddie Oversteegen were ordinary Dutch teenagers, studying and hanging out with friends, but when the Netherlands were occupied by the Nazis, these girls were anything but. They took up arms against the enemy, learning to shoot and kill unsuspecting Nazis and collaborators, attacking and bombing railways and strategic places, stealing identity papers, gathering useful information and helping to protect local Jews and children. Dutch lecturer and author Sophie Poldermans first began investigating the young resistance fighters’ heroic story as a teenager herself, growing up in their home city of Haarlem, and interviewed…

WHAT’S ON DIARY DATES Find or post diary dates at www.family-tree.co.uk/Events for FREE or email them to editorial@family-tree.co.uk FEBRUARY 2020 Start 3 & 4 February e-Courses Online: Pharos Tutors’ courses starting in February begin with Barbara H Baker’s So You Think You Know FamilySearch – A Guided Tour (4 weeks, £41.99) on 3rd. And from 4 February Julie Goucher will be presenting her Introduction to One-Name Studies (5 weeks, £49.99). • www.pharostutors.com 5 February Talk Peterborough: Sophie Mitchell will talk about Peterborough Coroners’ Records at Peterborough District Family History Society’s (FHS) meeting. Thanks to the transcription work of member Toni Martin MBE, many of these are in the archives. • 7-9pm. Salvation Army Citadel, 1203 Bourges Boulevard PE1 2AU; www.peterborofhs.org.uk 7 February Talk & display Kew: The National Archives (TNA)…

ALL ABOUT FAMILY HISTORY NEWS Karen Clare reports on the latest genealogy news. Got a story to share? Email editorial@family-tree.co.uk ‘War Detectives’ appeal to trace kin of WW1 soldier A small group known as the ‘MOD War Detectives’ is appealing for help in tracing the relatives of a Northumberland soldier killed during the First World War in a bid to identify his remains and provide a military burial. Officially called the Ministry of Defence Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC) Commemorations team, the MOD War Detectives investigate the discovery of the remains of British soldiers, sailors and airmen on former battlefields worldwide, from WW1 onwards. The team combines military history research with genealogy skills to try to identify casualties and trace living relatives, in the hope they will provide DNA…

UNDERSTANDING GENETIC GENEALOGY DNA TEST BENEFITS Genetherapy Graham S Holton and Alasdair F Macdonald explain the principles of DNA and how testing can benefit the genealogist Y-chromosome Y-DNA testing has a number of advantages and disadvantages, but unfortunately has become rather overshadowed in the last few years by the huge surge in autosomal DNA (atDNA) testing. The Y chromosome is only carried and passed on by males, which makes it very useful in researching specific surnames. Since mutations in Y-DNA are more frequent than those in mtDNA, some of these can act as markers to distinguish the branching of families. The other major advantage is that the Y chromosome is passed down the male line almost intact, giving it an advantage over atDNA in terms of the length of time for…

DIGGING DEEPER INTO DNA LIKE TO JOIN A DNA PROJECT? Getting involved in genetic genealogy projects If you’re thinking of joining, or perhaps even starting, a DNA project, Iain McDonald has some useful advice to help you get the most out of the experience and be well prepared Genetic genealogy means comparing your DNA to others’, but the goal of projects is not to find new matches between people. Projects allow a group of people to explore common interests and share research to further their common goals. Projects are normally about connecting genetic testers, to work out how they are connected, and when and where their ancestors lived. What defines a project? Projects come in a variety of forms. They may focus on a specific lineage (male-line Y-DNA, female-line mt-DNA, or…

FORENSIC GENEALOGY DNA DETECTIVES Solving crimes with DNA The use of public DNA databases by criminal investigators has caused controversy in recent times, however, the positive outcomes can outweigh the concerns – and hobby genealogists can play their part in putting a bereaved family’s loved ones to rest. Dr Nicola Davies reports on the use of genetic genealogy in solving cold cases The difficulty of determining the identity of a deceased individual or the perpetrators of violent crimes has resulted in many cold cases – those cases where progress has literally gone cold due to lack of evidence. However, recent technological advances involving DNA are bringing these cases into the light and helping to finally solve them after many decades. One notable case from the US is ‘Belle in the Well’…

Your FREE Family Tree Ultimate Kit Get it when you subscribe to Family Tree on direct debit for just £10.99 a quarter SUBSCRIPTION FORM FOR UK SUBSCRIBERS, please return your completed form to our simple freepost address: Family Tree subscriptions, FREEPOST: WARNERS GROUP (FTRE) FOR EUROPE & THE REST OF THE WORLD, please return your form to: Family Tree subscriptions, Warners Group Publications Plc, The Maltings, West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire, PE10 9PH, UK What’s inside The Ultimate Kit? ‘Family Tree’ archive box: Perfect for storing your ancestor keepsakes and treasures How to write your family history: A practical workbook showing you how to write up your research, with useful charts, logs and interview sheets My Family Tree chart: Essential for getting organised and displaying your family history ‘Family Tree’ magazine…

REIGNITE YOUR GENEALOGY PASSION! FAMILY HISTORY REBOOT GET EXCITED ABOUT YOUR ANCESTORS AGAIN! Are you returning to family history after a break? Rachel Bellerby presents a five-step plan to reignite your love of genealogy, including top tips from Family Tree’s online community 5 EASY STEPS TO SUCCESS Most of us will have taken a break from our ancestors at some point. Whether it was a lack of time, money or even hitting a brick wall and getting discouraged, it’s possible you’ve left your family tree behind for months or even years. But at some point the genealogy bug is likely to bite again and you’ll be ready to pick up the threads of your research and immerse yourself in the lives and times of your ancestors once more. Read on to…

RESEARCH & REMEMBER JEWISH FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH YOUR holocaust ancestors Jeanette Rosenberg provides a guide to researching members of your family who lived through or were murdered by the Nazis in World War II, as we mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the death camps The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of millions of Jews by the Nazi regime during World War II. From the time they came to power in Germany in 1933, the Nazis used propaganda, persecution, and legislation to deny human and civil rights to Jews. They used centuries of antisemitism as their foundation. With the outbreak of WW2 in 1939, Germany invaded Poland, subjecting around two million Polish Jews to violence and forced labour. Thousands of Jews were…

IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS Your Family Tree Academy Document Challenges Now it’s time to put your research skills to the test. Each month through 2020, we’ll show you some documents and ask you a variety of questions relating to them. The documents themselves are just the starting points and you’ll need to look at other sources to find all of the answers. This month, our Family Tree Academy tutor David Annal has chosen three documents found in his own family ‘treasure chests’. Document A John Hulme – Birth Certificate First steps Looking at Document A, can you find John Hulme’s birth in the GRO index? Document B Stanley Bullock – Soldier’s Service and Pay Book ENJOYING LEARNING WITH FAMILY TREE? Don’t miss our online courses at https://familytreeacademy.thinkific.com/Learn at your own pace…

SOLVING AN 87-YEAR-OLD MYSTERY WITH DNA TRACING A BIRTH FAMILY Finding Leslie Linda Gough tells how, growing up with an absent mother and no knowledge of her father, Sheila Morton’s family history was a mystery – until a simple DNA test helped her connect with a birth family that very nearly never existed…. READER STORY In August 2017, 87-year-old Sheila Morton did something for the very first time: she learned the name of her father. Up until then she knew absolutely nothing at all about him. She hadn’t been abandoned by a known man, there was simply a blank space on her birth certificate, which her mother had not attempted to fill with any information. A life in showbiz Sheila’s mother, Pattie Barry Furniss, was an unorthodox character who performed as…

HAVE YOUR SAY Your letters Brick walls smashed, coincidences occurring, & a few wise words about wills Demolished after decades! I’ve finally demolished a brick wall I first encountered when I began researching my family in 1983. It’s no big deal: umpteen genealogists do it every day, but for me it was the last significant ancestor I needed to identify. The birth certificate of my father’s maternal grandmother Agnes Dunlop in 1853 named her mother, but her father was recorded as ‘Reputed: John Dunlop, Farmer’. It’s a common surname in the farming community in the area where Agnes was conceived and over the years I’d come to accept my chances of identifying him were remote. But I recently took advantage of an introductory offer to sign up to Ancestry.co.uk and…

NEWS MOVERS & SHAKERS Susie Douglas, the founder of Twitter’s #AncestryHour, looks back to the 1920s and forward to the coming decade… The festivities are over and here we are not only in a new year, but at the start of a new decade! With the release of the 1921 Census almost within sight and many other records emerging from their 100-year closure period, it seems appropriate to speculate on what we may discover about the lives of our ancestors during the 1920s. The ‘Roaring Twenties’ began with a post-war boom that saw radical changes in the economic, social and political landscape. Primary education was now free and the school leaving age was raised to 14. The Labour Party formed its first Government in 1924. Women threw their corsets away,…

CHOOSING BETWEEN TESTING COMPANIES AT-A-GLANCE DNA TEST COMPARISON CHART Which test is right for you? DNA testing is revolutionising the genealogy world and has now become an essential tool in any family historian’s toolbox. There are several different tests and testing companies to choose from, however, and here professional genealogist and DNA detective Michelle Leonard will help you with making the correct choices After deciding to take a test, the most important question to answer is ‘what are my goals?’ as this will determine which test you should take. Do you want to: Verify your family tree? Break a brick wall? Identify a mystery ancestor? Connect with new cousins? Discover your ethnic make-up? Perhaps you are simply curious and have no specific goal in mind: I call this ‘fishing trip testing’.…

TRACING BACK TO THE ICE AGE UNLOCKING CLUES FROM LONG-DEAD SKELETONS Investigating Ancient DNA The discovery of a skeleton in a car park in Leicester in 2014 and its identification as the remains of English king Richard III was one of the biggest stories in archaeology and genealogy of recent years. John Cleary shows the many ways that Ancient DNA investigations are transforming archaeology, anthropology, history and genealogy too Leicester University’s ground-breaking project saw DNA extracted from Richard’s 530-year-old bones and matched to two living people, who were traced through brilliant genealogical detective work down 17 or 19 generations from Richard’s sister, Anne of York, through the all-maternal line so sharing mitochondrial DNA with Richard. Ancient DNA (aDNA) is DNA recovered from the dead (except for recently deceased, which is forensic…

ILLEGITIMATE ANCESTORS PROVING CONNECTIONS WITH DNA Identifying Dad – 220 years on Family historian Rebecca Rix reveals how she unveiled the identity of an 18th-century ‘base born’ baby’s father… then used DNA to prove it READER STORY It’s frustrating not to find the baptismal record of an ancestor born before the start of civil registration in 1837, especially if you think you know the when and where of the event. You start to wonder if the baptism took place elsewhere and hope the record will show up some day. Or maybe the event was missed from the parish transcripts you’ve had to rely on in place of the parish register. Or, worst of all, the parish clerk or curate failed to write it in or no baptism took place, leaving you…

IT’S TIME TO UNLOCK THE STORY OF YOUR GENES BECOME A DNA SUPER-SLEUTH! Your DNA Workshop TAKEN A DNA TEST? Now what? Welcome to the DNA Workshop, the new series in Family Tree! In every issue of Family Tree, DNA adviser Karen Evans will be helping you gen up on your genes, so you can: • Learn practical skills with the DNA case studies • Try it out for yourself with our task of the month • Discover the latest tools, books, blogs and must-have kit to take your DNA learning further It’s time to unlock the story of your genes … DNA is as fascinating as it complicated. In the DNA Workshop we’ll aim to give you practical advice in understandable wording. So, whether you’ve taken a test, or are…

KNOWLEDGE & RESOURCES THE SOCIETY ONLINE SCENE Spotlight on… the Virtual Genealogical Association Amber Oldenburg and Jenny Hawran introduce one of the world’s newest family history societies, formed with the concept: virtual meetings & conferences. Any time. Any place… The Virtual Genealogical Association (VGA) is a global organisation that was formed on 27 April 2018 with the mission to serve family history enthusiasts of all levels, especially those: whose circumstances make it difficult to attend local genealogical society meetings who prefer online presentations, special interest groups, conferences, and socialising with an interest in connecting, networking, and mentoring with global genealogists. The idea for the Virtual Genealogical Association came to Katherine R Willson (President of the VGA) while she was working with her local state societies. She was made aware that they…

BECOME PART OF THE FAMILY TREE FAMILY! The Family Tree SUBS CLUB EXCLUSIVE OFFERS! Welcome to the Family Tree Subscriber Club. When you’ve joined Family Tree not only do you save money on your favourite family history read, you can also enter the ‘Subs Club’ competitions and offers – only available to subscribers to Family Tree WIN! THESE DNA GEMS! We’ve got two great DNA-themed hardback books to win this issue, which are hugely entertaining as well as informative! In Unravelling The Double Helix: The Lost Heroes of DNA, Professor Gareth Williams reveals the full fabulous cast of real-life ‘heroes and villains’ who make up the story of DNA – and they might not always be who you expect. This rip-roaring history is published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson (2019, RRP…

BUILDING A FAMILY HISTORY WEBSITE INTRODUCING THE ‘NEWTON-LEE FAMILY STORY’ Techy tips for family historians Through the coming year, genealogy website specialist Paul Carter will be mentoring three lucky readers who submitted entries to the Family Tree ‘Win a website’ competition last summer. As they each work on creating their family history website with Paul, we hope these hints and steps will inspire you to create your own family history website too I an Newton is the second of our competition prize winners who I am helping to start up a family history website this year. While there are tasks common to most website projects, each has a different ethos and content structure. By following the progress of the three website projects over the course of the year, you will be…

Researching at home Researching your family history begins at home, and a bit of time spent establishing a firm base before you set out can prove immensely rewarding as your research progresses. David Annal takes you through those first steps to starting your family history FIRST STEPS IN FAMILY HISTORY There is no better way to begin your research than to write down what you already know about the family, starting with yourself and adding the names and other significant details of your closest relatives. Drawing up a simple family tree will give you a good idea of the gaps in your knowledge and should help you to focus on the first questions that you want to answer. Get organised It’s important to get organised right from the start. The…

DIGGING DEEPER TRACING BRANCHES Twiglets Diarist Gill Shaw charts the rollercoaster ride of researching her family history O penshaw, Manchester, 1871. Whatever it was about life in Cheshire (or perhaps dramas at the Cock Inn…) that made my 2x great-grandfather Martin Leah pack up and leave his birthplace, Broken Cross, I will never know, but we’re here now, so let’s see if we can uncover anything more about the family’s time in the big city. From the 1871 and 1881 Censuses I already have a couple of addresses – Cornwall Street and Turton Street, both of which run off Ashton Road – but I’m hoping the Manchester Rate Books collection at Findmypast.co.uk might fill in the gaps. OK, we’ve 46 results for a Martin Leah, starting in 1872, so let’s work…

DISCOVER RESEARCH SOLUTIONS YOUR FAMILY MYSTERIES SOLVED Your questions answered With our experts Jayne Shrimpton and David Frost Canadian connections Q I have been researching my family for more than 20 years. The one person I am having difficulty with is Arthur Henry Hingley. I am so frustrated because I cannot find when and how he died. Nor can I find the birth certificate of his son Arthur William Hingley. Arthur Henry Hingley was born on 6 April 1860 in Dudley, Worcestershire. He married Alice Jewkes on 11 December 1880 in St Edmund, Dudley. They had a daughter, Annie Jukes Hingley, on 26 February 1882. The family emigrated to Canada where they arrived on 2 February 1887. I have the passenger list and a Canada census entry from 1891. My…

THOUGHTS ON… DETECTIVE WORK Dotting the i Diane Lindsay pops the detective hat back on to chase up a genealogical trail that’s gone cold… and eventually realises the clue’s in the small print It’s the head scratching, eye watering, mind-boggling detective work that really sums up my joy in family history. Even though it often seems like self-torture, a small crumb of progress, a modest air punch and a few words in the working log makes it all worthwhile. I’m grateful these days for any sniff of a clue or hint of a link. Even negative searches are good, if dull. Either way, there’s just enough to keep me digging away in that exhausted but blissful haze of genealogical promise. It’s always a treat though, to get my teeth into something…