Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2020 i Family Tree UK

How will you spend your family history time this spring? Whether writing, researching or reflecting on your family history, or involving fellow family members at home or over the web, sharing memories or copies of old photos… there are many enjoyable things to look forward to when doing family history from home. That’s not to forget the very difficult circumstances we face today, but to enlist the help of our favourite pastime, to get through these days and pass the time in a happier, maybe even more productive, way. It’s easy to feel a bit isolated at the moment, but family history really does help us make connections, doesn’t it, reminding us of bonds with our ancestors, and finding new kin and friends online today. We’ve got a bumper guide…

BRITAIN IN THE 1800S & PRE-WWI VICTORIA’S LONG REIGN & LEGACY Getting back to the Victorians & Edwardians So long was Victoria’s reign that it took in a whole sweep of history; and so distinctive was her character that she, with her husband Albert, have come to define many of the key facets of the era. Stephen Roberts explores the history and genealogical connections of Queen Victoria, her reign and her successor to the throne, King Edward VII When the future Queen Victoria was born, on 24 May 1819, at Kensington Palace, she was to be named ‘Alexandrina’. Curiously, it wasn’t even the princess’s parents who chose the name, it was the heir to the throne, the Prince Regent. The name honoured the baby’s godfather, the Tsar of Russia, Alexander I.…

IT’S TIME TO UNLOCK THE STORY OF YOUR GENES BECOME A DNA SUPER-SLEUTH! Your DNA Workshop TAKEN A DNA TEST? Now what? Brand new to this DNA family history thing? Here is how you begin… Start building your family tree. Having a family tree will help you make sense of who fits where in your family when you look at your DNA results. See our family history getting started info at www.familytree.co.uk/getting-started 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.…

GADGET KNOW-HOW FOR GENIES TECHNICAL ADVICE How to keep track of your family history searches Genealogy tech guru Paul Carter has some extremely handy hints to help us all keep our research calm, orderly, easy to refer to and enjoy TECHY TIPS for family historians The ever-growing resource of digitised records at our fingertips has transformed the way we research our family history. However, this transformation comes at a price, as without the methodical recording of our searches and discoveries that are so essential to thorough research, it’s easy to lose track of the steps taken. Think how we researched in the pre-internet world, and indeed still do with non-digitised records residing in an archive. The process is slowed down, we are forced to turn pages, scan indexes and browse volumes…

DISCOVER RESEARCH SOLUTIONS YOUR FAMILY MYSTERIES SOLVED Your questions answered With our experts Jayne Shrimpton, Wayne Shepheard, Mike Trenchard, Graham Caldwell and Shauna Hicks Piecing together the story of Charles Bagwell aka ‘Jack’ Q I am a member of the Gold Coast Family History Society. I have photos that were amongst many taken to Canada and the USA in 1903, by Charles John Bagwell born 1875 (known as Jack to his siblings). I am wondering if they could be of Charles himself and his parents, as they seem to be all taken at the same time and have the same backing. The family story is that when he left England he also took off with some of the inheritance, or part of the will, and relatives were always searching for him.…

HAVE YOUR SAY Your LETTERS Delving into divorce records, boyhood memories & a remarkable find by a mudlark Piecing together a broken family My great-aunt, Florence Macleay Hora, married William Vazie Simons in 1893. He was a widower with four children, and was born in 1825, 40 years older than Florence and four years older than her father, who (as I know from old letters) was not pleased! William died on 16 May 1897, and their son, William Vazie Simons, junior (always known as Vazie in my family), was born posthumously on 5 February 1898. Florence died of breast cancer on 16 March 1909, aged 43, leaving Vazie an 11-year-old orphan in the care of two of his father’s relatives. Vazie went to school at Christ’s Hospital, served in the…

THOUGHTS ON… WELCOME TO BOB’S HQ When John met Hannah She knows she put it somewhere but Diane Lindsay just can’t, right at this minute, put her finger on that crucial bit of evidence her new-found DNA cousin is now patiently waiting for I have a really comfy computer chair in my study. Plus a nice little fan heater for when He Downstairs decides he’s about to expire from central heating (or from the bill, or both!). I have two monitor screens, a cosy desk lamp, a temperamental rural internet speed, and even (dare I say it?) a kettle and hotel-type tea making supplies, should I not wish to break the spell of earnest family history. Also, as I write, I have a fat, grumpy old cat snoring theatrically behind me,…

ALL ABOUT FAMILY HISTORY NEWS Rachel Bellerby reports on the latest genealogy news. Got a story to share? Email editorial@family-tree.co.uk CORONAVIRUS CLOSURES Family historians around the world are settling in for a time of home-based research as major archive and museum facilities close their doors during the Coronavirus pandemic Following government advice, museums, libraries and archives around the UK have begun to close their doors until further notice, following similar closures in mainland Europe. Jeff James, Chief Executive and Keeper of the UK National Archives, announced on 17 March: ‘In a time of national effort, it is important that we play our part: by protecting what is valuable, maintaining what is essential and by working flexibly to carry out our duties in new ways.’ All scheduled events at the Archives…

CLOTHING FOR POORER ANCESTORS EVERYDAY WORKWEAR HOW WOULD OUR POORER ANCESTORS HAVE DRESSED? Learning how the poor clothed themselves opens a door onto the world of earlier generations who strived to make ends meet, writes Jayne Shrimpton To form a clear picture of our ancestors’ daily lives, we must consider their economic position and living conditions. Before modern state welfare provision, many people were what we might term ‘poor’, struggling to meet basic physical needs – rent, fuel, food, light and clothing. The working classes at large could encounter major fluctuations in circumstances, from relative comfort to financial distress and distinct shifts might occur over time within the same household. Typically, when there were several children to feed and clothe, and/or if the breadwinner was out of work, then families…

ADOPTION & DNA MY COUSIN KAREN DISCOVERING ME Having been adopted in 1961 at the age of six weeks Beverley’s ‘roots’ were borrowed from her adoptive parents. Her recent DNA test revealed a connection to our very own DNA advisor Karen Evans. Read on for Beverley’s story… I had a whole host of aunts, uncles and cousins. I had a nanna and a grandad on my mum’s side but my dad’s parents had died long before I was brought into the family. Throughout my life there were moments when I wondered: Who am I? Where am I from? These were often during health checks for one reason or another. The questions – What’s your family history? Any history of…? always had to be answered with – ‘I don’t know – I’m…

IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS Your Family Tree Academy Document Challenges Now it’s time to put your research skills to the test. Each issue 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. Our starting points for this month’s challenges are all entries in early census returns. Document A Harriet Green – 1841 Census of Awre, Gloucestershire I How old was Harriet at the time of the 1841 Census? II What was Harriet’s mother’s maiden name? III What happened to Harriet on 17 August 1857? Document B Thomas (Henry) Lister, Registrar General – 1841 Census of St Margaret’s, Westminster IV What was the full…

Books & co A selection of the latest family history reads with Helen Tovey & Rachel Bellerby AUTHOR INTERVIEW I Want You To Know We’re Still Here ‘I’ve been living with this story most of my life… Now is the time to tell it’. Helen Tovey spoke to author Esther Safran Foer about the intergenerational family story she’s told, the memories she keeps, and her hopes for the future… With both parents Holocaust survivors, the past for Esther Safran Foer was traumatised terrain, hard to face, even harder to talk about. Questions and mysteries swirled through her childhood memories: the puzzle of why she had two birthdays; her father’s sudden and untimely death in America when she was just eight years old; the fragments of history – places, faces, communities…

The Family Tree SUBS CLUB EXCLUSIVE OFFERS WIN! A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND Discover a medieval event for every day of the year with Toni Mount’s round-up of happenings from the Middle Ages, taken from diaries, letters, court rolls and old recipes. • We have one paperback copy to give away, courtesy of Amberley Publishing (RRP £10.99, ISBN: 9781445694443). WIN! WHITE STAR LINERS AT WAR Weaving together the ship histories and the human stories, Patrick Mylon tells of the role played by the White Star lines ships during wartime. A poignant account illustrated with rare imagery. • We have one paperback copy to give away, courtesy of the History Press (RRP £19.99, ISBN: 9780750988117). How to enter For our book prize draw, please e-mail subscriberclub@family-tree.co.uk with ‘May…

AWESOME ONLINE RESEARCH IMPROVE THOSE ONLINE SKILLS YOUR BUMPER GUIDE TO ONLINE RESEARCH Whether you’ve just dipped your toe into the world of online genealogy or had your tree on the web for years, there’s always more to learn. Judith Russell takes us through the key websites you need for family history and explores how to perfect your search strategy Few family historians envisage an end to their research. Perhaps the focus switches to another family branch or individual, but there is always scope for finding out more. All researchers take stock occasionally, consider how much has been achieved, and review the options for moving forward. Sometimes, the choices for developing your research online seem overwhelming, so here we aim to help you focus on the next steps. Organising your research…

THE LIVES OF YOUNG TEXTILE WORKERS A YORKSHIRE MILL TOWN CASE STUDY Children at Work Wayne Shepheard takes a look at the involvement of young workers in the textile trade, using a West Yorkshire mill town as a fascinating case study Family historians may find that children in many of their ancestral families were employed in factories rather than attending school. The exploitation of youngsters was widespread in both Europe and the New World until enlightened authorities undertook to change laws, disallowing such activities. This article arose from another investigation I did about a major flood in 1866 in the West Yorkshire area of Ripponden (Shepheard, 2019b). One outcome of that review was the realisation that, as counted in the 1861 Census records, children comprised a major part of the workforce…

HOW TO WHILE AWAY THE HOURS WISELY TIPS FOR A BETTER DAY Stuck indoors? You don’t need to be stuck for ideas! It’s uncertain times, isn’t it? But as a family history enthusiast you never need be bored at least. We asked people in the Family Tree Academy Facebook group what they were going to be doing with their family history while self-isolating. Here we share their tips, and hope you find them inspiring for your own projects this spring too. Catching up with family I would suggest skyping older relations and putting names to faces in old photos. Guy Etchells My Mom died back in October, so we had taken months to empty hers (and Dad’s) home. We each spent different weekends with them doing some family care until…

TRACING BRANCHES 19-year-old Joseph Leah at the ‘smythy’ in Henbury, Cheshire, on the 1871 Census Joesph and Mary A Leah, with three small sons, on the 1881 Census at Davies Street, Openshaw Joseph Leah in the Probate Calendar. He left effects of £7,558 19s 10d, one of the highest sums on the page Entries in the rate books for Manchester showing members of the Leah family – properties including a wheelwright’s shop Local newsagent shut up shop? Switch to a subscription or a digital edition of Family Tree today. See page 50 for more details or visit www.family-tree.co.uk…

Tips for researching in the field Plan trips to archives & ancestor homelands Follow David Annal’s advice on making the most of your research in record offices and the great outdoors - once it’s safe to do so again! Despite the huge advances in online access to genealogical resources in the past 20 years, it would be wrong to think of family history research as an entirely desk-bound hobby. There are record offices to visit, graveyards to explore and ancestral homes to discover. Seeking answers in the archives It’s true that many of the most important resources are easily accessible online but the millions of records on websites such as Ancestry, Findmypast and The Genealogist represent just the tip of a vast iceberg. Our record offices and libraries have literally…

WHAT’S ON DIARY DATES DISCOVER LEARNING EXPERIENCES TO ENJOY FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR OWN SOFA! In the light of Covid-19, the majority of events that we had all looked forward to attending this April and May have been cancelled. To try and help you keep busy, learning and entertained, ‘Diary dates’ will be taking a bit of a different format this issue. We have included some May dates, and others that are not time-sensitive LEARN ANY TIME, ANYWHERE THIS SPRING TAKE A COURSE Now, is perhaps a very good time to dedicate your time to a course. The genealogy world is very fortunate that it has a vast range of learning experiences. Distance learning Plus free taster The distance learning courses at the Institute…