Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2020 i Family Tree UK

Welcome Spring is in the air and Family Tree Live is fast approaching! Are you curious to find out about the genealogy treats and learning experiences we’ve got lined up for you? Turn to page 47 without further ado… Within the pages of Family Tree magazine, the bewitching world of family history never ceases to amaze me. The heart-warming (sometimes even heart-stopping) reader stories and letters that you send in; the experts’ sage advice and insights on how to find those vital ancestor clues we’re after; the huge variety of paths down which our family tree tracing can take us… Well now, at Family Tree Live 2020 (being held at Alexandra Palace in April), for two whole days you can immerse yourself in this captivating pastime. To help you plan…

GENEALOGICAL MISCELLANY Dear Karen Karen Clare is wowed by information about the numbers of family burials readers have found in a single churchyard or cemetery… and unearths a few more surprising tales in this issue’s column of genealogical gems BARKING UP THE RIGHT TREE Writing this while looking out of my window at an ominously grey and gloomy sky, I’m rather in need of cheering up. Thankfully reader Amanda West has come to the rescue with a glorious find she made in the General Register Office marriage indexes that put a big smile back on my face. Amanda, from Sunbury on Thames, wrote in after spotting in the September quarter for 1855 that Henry Wooff had married Ann Barker! Not only did that give me paws for thought (whoops, a…

FIRST STEPS IN SURNAME RESEARCH BECOME AN EXPERT ON YOUR NAME! How to start a ONE-NAME STUDY Our family surnames are packed with stories, clues and connections about our roots. Here surname guru Julie Goucher explains how to research a surname and shed new light on your family’s past Setting the scene For most people, starting a surname study or one-name study stems from their own ancestry – a family name that piques your curiosity. It is either an unusual surname, perhaps a ‘foreign’ one, or one where there is a brick wall, where focusing on the surname is an opportunity to attempt to dismantle that obstacle. I have written previously in Family Tree about my own Orlando study. This is an example of a name that comes under the ‘foreign’…

DIGGING DEEPER TRACING BRANCHES Twiglets Diarist Gill Shaw charts the rollercoaster ride of researching her family history In that little lull between ordering a BMD certificate and its arrival, random loose ends often pop into my mind. What about such-and-such, what happened to so-and-so, how come I overlooked that record set? Now, waiting for the death certificates of my 2x great-grandparents Martin and Mary Leah, I ping awake at 4am with one word in my head. Newspapers! I’ve forgotten to check the newspapers at Findmypast. Searching this collection online can be a fun but frustrating business, and it usually takes me several attempts at trying different keywords before I find the right name, at the right time, in the right location – if there’s anything to be found at all, of…

MAKE THIS THE YEAR TO LEARN MORE! IN 4 STEPS How to book your show tickets to Family Tree Live 1 Simply go to https://familytr.ee/ftlivebook – which will take you to the Ticket Factory website 2 Search for ‘Family Tree Live’. Choose the day(s) you wish to attend. Click ‘GET TICKETS’. Select how many you want, enter subscriber discount code if you have one, and follow the on-screen instructions. Click ‘ADD TO BASKET’ 3 If you wish to book lectures or workshops, use the search bar again to go to ‘Family Tree Live’ and browse the listings (in running order by time and day), or search by the speaker or tutor’s name. Click ‘GET TICKETS’ to book as before 4 Once you’ve made all your choices, click ‘My BASKET’, scroll…

ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY RECORDS LIFE-SAVING ANCESTORS Honouring family heroes People from all walks of life were recognised for bravery by the Royal Humane Society. Simon Wills explains how you might find an unexpected hero among your ancestors RESEARCH ZONE In 1881, Abraham Hart Youngs from Brighton dived fully-clothed from an open boat to save a young man who was drowning in a rough sea. Abraham had been a coastguard and was used to rescuing people. He was an expert swimmer at a time when many people couldn’t swim, and during his life he is credited with helping to save 170 people from a watery grave and had received four life-saving medals. Saving yet another life was remarkable enough yet, incredibly, in 1881 Abraham was 79 years old! To honour this amazing…

DISCOVER RESEARCH SOLUTIONS YOUR FAMILY MYSTERIES SOLVED Your questions answered With our experts Jayne Shrimpton, Mike Sharpe, Mary Evans, Graham Caldwell and David Frost Curious about my father’s WW1 war years Q I am very keen to learn more about my father’s WW1 war years. I have a photo of him that I hope may hold clues. Jean Sutherland A Roderick Fraser Sutherland is wearing the cap badge of the Royal Regiment of Artillery and his attire tells us that he is associated with horses, noted by his spurs and ammunition bandolier. The photograph can be dated to the end, or just after the war, because he has two inverted long-service chevrons and a wound stripe on the lower part of his left arm. The woman in the picture looks older…

KNOWLEDGE & RESOURCES Spotlight on… THE SOCIETY SCENE Somerset & Dorset Family History Society Patricia Spencer introduces a society that spans two counties with strong links and offers a lively events programme and helpful research centre Like many other family history societies, the Somerset and Dorset Family History Society (SDFHS) was founded in the mid-1970s. The group was formed after several like-minded people first came together to record gravestones and other monumental inscriptions in local cemeteries, and to transcribe parish registers. Most lived in the area around Sherborne, in Dorset, and Yeovil, only five miles away, but in Somerset. Since the two counties have always had strong links, when the society was launched at Yeovil in September 1975, it was a natural step to include both counties in the name. From…

THE FAMILY TREE NOTICE BOARD Topic to talk about The first step to encouraging your family and friends into family history is talking about it – keep it general, fun and get the memories flowing. With Mothering Sunday coming along soon (22 March) this month’s topic has got to be the women in the family tree. Prompt of the month: what were your mother’s favourite songs and sayings? Free to read Enjoy the digital library at www.archive.org free of charge for finding books, audio recordings and more, such as the Illustrated Poems & Songs for Young People pictured above Quote of the month ‘Mothers are the rocks of our families … let us pay respect to the women who carry out the hard work of motherhood with skill and grace, and let…

ALL ABOUT FAMILY HISTORY NEWS Karen Clare reports on the latest genealogy news. Got a story to share? Email editorial@family-tree.co.uk Hospital project seeks name search help Two researchers are appealing for help in tracing the names of thousands of people who passed through the doors of a military hospital in Hampshire during its 115-year history. Julie Green and Brenda Findlay, of Netley Abbey near Southampton, are independent researchers gathering information about the past lives and times of the Royal Victoria Military Hospital (Netley War Hospital) and its cemetery. Brenda runs the Netley Abbey Matters website at www.netleyabbeymatters.co.uk while Julie manages the Royal Victoria Hospital Netley website at www.netley-military-cemetery.co.uk and their joint current project is to collate the names of the staff, patients, civilians, family members and medical students who walked…

CONNECTIONS TO THE PAST COINCIDENCE OR INHERITANCE? Is there such a thing as ancestral memory? Kim Cook looks at the possibility that we may inherit more from our ancestors than we realise! Have you ever visited somewhere for the first time and felt a sense of déjà vu? Perhaps you turned a corner and found that the view was, oddly, just what you expected, even though you’d never been there before. Has someone in your family taken up a hobby or an occupation way outside what family and friends expected, and then proved amazingly good at it? Many people in these circumstances have later discovered that the strangely familiar place, or the odd choice of hobby or career, is connected to a place or occupation that features in their family history.…

DISCOVER, CONNECT, BELONG GENEALOGY – IT’S GOOD FOR YOU! Discover the mental health benefits of family history research Family history research is not just an absorbing and fascinating hobby, it’s also good for you. Well, isn’t that great to hear? Dr Kim Fleet explains the benefits Often when people start researching their family tree, they are warned that they might encounter facts about their ancestors that will upset or alarm them, such as ancestors who lived in workhouses, suffered illnesses and poverty, or were criminals or victims of crime. Certainly family historians need to be aware that they might uncover uncomfortable details about their ancestors, and have a strategy for how they will deal with that information. However, undertaking family history research brings a number of positive mental health benefits that…

JOURNEYING TO NEW LIVES GLIMPSES OF ADVENTURE Working in the Outposts of Empire Stephen Wade looks at the emigrants from British shores in late Victorian and Edwardian days, and turns back the pages of the past – investigating a shipping line handbook – to get a glimpse of our ancestors’ travels and adventures through their own eyes In 1855 the painter Ford Madox Brown produced The Last of England, a picture showing a young couple on board ship, wrapped in thick winter clothing, looking back at the receding shores of their native land. The work was influenced by the emigration of their friend Thomas Woolner, who had gone to start a new life in Australia. Brown saw such a journey as being unpleasant in many ways, including the problem of coarse…

Family Tree Live lectures & workshops Saturday 18 April 2020 Explore our exhibitor listings Shop til you drop, genealogy style! The opportunities to stock up on family history supplies and advice are endless at Family Tree Live. From essentials for your home archive, to books, apps, courses, DNA kits, professional researchers and family history societies there will be so much to explore! Programme details correct at time of going to print: please check www.family-tree.co.uk and www.theticketfactory.com for the latest details…

Tips for searching genealogy websites Researching online: part 1 Once you’ve examined any old family documents you or your relations may hold, the next step is to begin exploring the web. Follow David Annal’s beginner guidelines below Once we’ve established a firm base for our research by getting as much information as possible from old family documents and relatives we can begin to embark on our journey of discovery. While you definitely can’t do it all online, it’s undeniable that the internet is now by far the best starting point. Try before you buy – then sign up You’ll probably want to subscribe to one of the major genealogical sites, which, as far as the UK is concerned, means Ancestry, Findmypast and TheGenealogist. Each of them offers access to different…

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! Clan If you have Scottish (or sometimes Irish) ancestry, sooner or later you’re likely to come across reference to your family belonging to a clan. A clan is a kinship group, sometimes (but not always) with shared descent from a founder member, whose descendant may be the present-day clan chief. ‘Septs’ are surnames or clans that are associated with a particular clan, usually because of historic links relating to…

FAMILY HISTORY READS Books Helen Tovey & Karen Clare explore some of the latest reads of interest to family historians Women’s Lives and Clothes in WW2: Ready for Action by Lucy Adlington ‘This book is an impressionistic history – a patchwork of lives,’ so writes Lucy Adlington in her introduction. But what pieces of the patchwork. Each fragment, each memory or anecdote has such resonance, set against the backdrop of war. Spanning the lives of the one billion women who lived in the WW2 era, the book covers British women’s lives and clothing on the Home Front, yes, but also their uniforms – and the clothing of women around the globe. These include concentration camp inmates, resistance operatives, SAS staff, women in post-atomic Japan, and those imprisoned in wartime Changi.…

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 MARCH 2020 Start 2 March e-Courses Online: Pharos Tutors’ courses starting in March with places remaining begin with Chris Paton’s Scottish Research Online (5 weeks, £49.99) on 2nd. From 4 March, Peter Christian will present Researching Online for Advanced Genealogists (4 weeks, £62/£76) and from 17 March Julie Goucher will be tutoring Practicalities of a One Name Study (5 weeks, £49.99). Janet Few ends the month with the first session of her course, Are You Sitting Comfortably? Writing and Telling Your Family History on 31 March (5 weeks, £49.99/£64.99). • www.pharostutors.com 2 March Day course Kent. The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies (IHGS) is running a Heraldry day course, which will…

THOUGHTS ON… PARISH PLEASURES Gift that keeps giving Diane Lindsay ponders four decades of family history, which is still providing nuggets of gold in a brand new era I often refer to family history as the hobby (call that lifestyle!) that never stops giving. No matter how long you’ve been researching, and how thorough you think you’ve been, going back over the same ground is never wasted time. Take parish registers for instance. Once, we had to travel to see the originals in Diocesan Registries, if they had been deposited, and then only if we had a clue where to look. Archivists soon realised the precious tomes were being handled far too often and gave us microfilm instead, often blurry, sometimes incomplete, for which we were all profoundly grateful at the…

NEWS 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… 1841 Census search You can search and use the 1841 Census for Pembrokeshire to find your families who lived in this beautiful, rural, coastal Welsh county. Education records Get free access to Chigwell School Register 1653-1907, digitised within the 1907 publication, Chigwell Register, together wth a Historical Account of the School by the Rev Canon Swallow. It includes details and biographies of masters, pupils, governors, prizes and other records of this independent Essex school. How to use the records…

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 FREE GIFT WORTH £25 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…

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! 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… NA 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 simply curious to learn more, read on!…

BUILDING A FAMILY HISTORY WEBSITE Introducing ‘The Tallow Candle’ Techy tips for family historians Through this year, genealogy website specialist Paul Carter is 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. This issue we meet our third winner… Introducing ‘The Tallow Candle’ The motivation for starting a website project can come in many forms, much like why we each took that first step on our family history journey. While there will be commonality in our stories, each is unique and special to us. This is why we chose Karin Meek as our…

MAKE YOUR COMPUTER WORK FOR YOU BEGINNERS’ GUIDE TO FAMILY HISTORY PROGRAMS Family history software: An introduction As family history enthusiasts, our time is precious, and using a family history program can be invaluable for helping to us to keep organised, create great research, and enjoy the process, says Helen Tovey. Read on to see how family history software might help you too… Family history software exists for a reason – to help keep our research in an organised, shareable format. If you’re looking for something to help you: grow a family tree, complete with ancestor pictures and stories; keep track of your documents and sources; get the tools you need to create reports, websites, lists and much more, then it sounds as though you need a family history program. Why…

SOUNDSCAPE TUNE IN TO THE PAST ORAL HISTORY ARCHIVES EXPLORED Digging up mining stories Mine the rich seams of the National Coal Mining Museum for clues, to gain a glimpse of the memories of miners’ work, homes lives & communities T 1921 Census records 990,400 of our ancestors in England and Wales as working in coal mining – at a time when the population was 38 million. This gives you an idea how high the chances are that you might have a miner ancestor (or more likely, if you do, rather than one you’ll find many, it being employment that impacted on the whole community). The National Coal Mining Museum makes both for an educational, enjoyable day out – and, for those keen to conduct research, be sure to explore the…

HAVE YOUR SAY Your letters Connections, memories, and one good genealogical turn … leading to another Dartmoor Prison I was fascinated seeing the full page reproduction dated 1815 of Dartmoor Prison (FT January 2020). It reminded me that sometimes the prominent figures and events of the past can touch our everyday lives. Let me explain. Daniel Asher Alexander was the principal architect of Dartmoor Prison. He was also the principal architect of Maidstone Prison, both of which are still in service today. Daniel Asher Alexander, architect and engineer amongst his many roles and achievements, was also the surveyor to the London Dock Company between 1796 and 1831. As surveyor to Trinity House, he built a number of lighthouses. When he retired he settled in Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight.…