Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2021 i Family Tree UK

You’re 1 (or 2) in a million (or more)… Well I’m just blown away by the excellent articles in this issue’s Family Tree. From Chris Paton’s rigorous round-up of a vast collection of records to help you trace your ancestors’ whereabouts and land records in Ireland; to Lisa Edwards’ extremely poignant and perceptive investigation into the lives and homes of some of her kin who lived life literally on the breadline in Victorian Liverpool. They are lives that I recognise from several branches of my own family tree – and it makes you just stop and think about how relentlessly harsh it must have been for them, and just how lucky we are to be here today. Which brings me on to another topic this issue: Chris Broom’s reflections on…

NEWS NEW APPOINTMENTS AT AGRA The Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (AGRA) has made two new appointments to help develop their online presence The two new appointments, both permanent posts, are communications officer and social media officer, to be undertaken by Jane Roberts and Joe Saunders respectively. Jane is a history graduate and AGRA Associate. In addition to her genealogy work, she is a former family history columnist for Yorkshire nostalgia magazine Down Your Way. She also edited the Huddersfield and District Family History Society journal. Joe works as a freelance historian on family, house and local history research projects. He is an Associate of AGRA and a Trustee and Outreach team member of the British Association for Local History. Antony Marr, AGRA Chair, said: ‘We are constantly…

ALL ABOUT FAMILY HISTORY WYAS CREATE ONLINE MEDICINE EXHIBITION West Yorkshire Archive Service (WYAS) has created a new exhibition that explores the changing nature of medicine in Yorkshire from 1700 through to World War Two From common colds to cholera, the stories of medical practitioners and their patients taken from documents cared for by WYAS have been shared online for everyone to explore. They tell of a ‘medical marketplace’ when searching for treatment for a rotten tooth or a broken bone involved choosing between an array of possible practitioners. Our ancestors would have been familiar with the barber surgeon, who trained through experience; the apothecary with an array of herbal remedies; and perhaps heard unsettling tales of the procedures carried out by unlicensed practioners commonly known as ‘quacks’. Explore the…

STRUGGLES OUR ANCESTORS FACED QUICK FAMILY TREE My great, great, great grandparents Robert Thornhill (dock porter) baptised in Flookburgh 31.03.1807 and buried in Liverpool 20.11 1891 Margaret Donovan baptised in Liverpool 18.09.1811 and buried in Liverpool 11.12.1874 My great great grandparents William Thornhill (dock labourer) baptised in Liverpool 07.12.1840 and buried in Liverpool 03.10.1896 Ellen Roach baptised in Liverpool 07.10.1838 and buried in Liverpool 0. 04.1914 My great grandparents Peter Jorgensen Smidt (Ships Carpenter) baptised in Hejls Denmark 13.07.1873 and died in Govan 26.02.1929 Mary Smidt (nee Thornhill) baptised in Liverpool 11.11.1879 and buried in Liverpool 19.11.1968 My nan Ellen Smidt born 27.01.1905 in Liverpool and died July 1975 Slough…

DIGGING DEEPER Twiglets TRACING BRANCHES RIBOLDI RIDDLES In this month’s column, Gill Shaw’s Riboldi family research takes an unexpected turn when a trawl through the newspaper archives reveals a court case with more to it than meets the eye… I don’t know where I’d be with my Irish ancestors if it weren’t for the British Newspaper Collection at FindMyPast. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Every time I think I must be coming to the end of random Riboldi mentions in the Limerick press, I find a new treasure. This time – perhaps unsurprisingly, seeing as he seems to have taken over the family carving, gilding and mirror-making business after his father’s death – it’s Joseph junior, my 3x great-uncle, who’s hogging the limelight. Not that this particular role is one…

UP YOUR GENEALOGY GAME! BECOME A BETTER FAMILY HISTORY SLEUTH Putting it into practice Challenge If your research has ground to a halt as you are not sure which of two (or more) people by the same name are your ancestor, then put David Annal's tactics into practice: 1. Identify all people of the relevant name and place 2. Sort them into possible family groups 3. Track down original records to verify your details 4. Compare signatures found on said original records The take-aways? There are key, valuable lessons that we can learn from David’s research. Firstly, we learn the value of looking at original records goes way beyond simply circumnavigating transcription errors. It provides us with the chance to compare our ancestors's signatures. In addition, looking at the originals…

A PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW OF THE PAST FAMILY HISTORY – WHY IT MATTERS WHAT ARE THE CHANCES? What are the chances? This is the question that professional genealogist and educator Chris Broom asks when reflecting on the unique set of ancestral lucky breaks and fateful moments that have led to each of our own existences I came to genealogy by what was to prove a double-edged twist of fate. In 2010, my late father was diagnosed with a terminal condition and given between two and three years to live. He died on 1 January 2013. Shortly after his fateful diagnosis, he called me and asked whether there was anything I could do to help him unearth the identity of his biological parents. He had been adopted at an early age, but had…

A NATURAL DISASTER IN ITALY THE VICTIMS & THE HEROES YOUR ANCESTORS & EUROPE’S WORST EARTHQUAKE Many British people were caught up in the Messina earthquake in Italy in 1908. Simon Wills helps you find out if your ancestor was there. At about 5.20 in the morning on 28 December 1908, Europe’s worst earthquake took place. The epicentre was the Straits of Messina – a narrow waterway separating the toe of Italy from the island of Sicily. Two towns on either side of the Straits experienced the greatest damage: Messina in Sicily, and Reggio di Calabria on the Italian mainland. They were both popular holiday destinations. The timing of the incident meant that most people were asleep, and the local buildings were not built to withstand an earthquake. These two factors…

ALL ABOUT FAMILY HISTORY NEWS CWGC TO CARE FOR BRITISH NORMANDY MEMORIAL Rachel Bellerby reports on the latest genealogy news. Got a story to share? Email editorial@family-tree.co.uk The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) will maintain the new British Normandy Memorial from October, after it was opened in June following five years of work by the Normandy Memorial Trust. The memorial commemorates by name more than 22,000 service personnel killed while serving under British Command in Normandy in 1944. Now it is open to the public, CWGC has been appointed to ensure the Memorial’s upkeep in the coming years. Its gardeners, stonemasons and other specialist staff will take on the routine maintenance, inspections and care of the iconic site. Claire Horton CBE, Director General of the CWGC, said: ‘We are delighted that…

New records available for the ‘queen of the suburbs’ TheGenealogist has announced the release of more than 50,000 Lloyd George Domesday Survey records for the Borough of Ealing in west London The 52,429 records relate to Ealing just before World War I, covering the towns of Acton, Ealing, Greenford, Hanwell, Northold, Perivale and Southall, as well as the area of Hayes, Norwood and part of Hammersmith. The area’s ‘queen of the suburbs’ label relates to the fact that it was once halfway between city and country. The records can be very revealing for family historians as they give details of houses and other buildings owned in the area by our ancestors at a time when the Government surveyed Ealing in the period between 1910-1915. You can search by name, street,…

RESEARCH STRATEGIES GET TO GRIPS WITH IRISH RECORDS IRISH LAND RECORDS Family historian Chris Paton provides an overview of some of the key resources available for Irish based land research Whilst our Irish ancestors may have regularly come and gone throughout history, the landscape of Ireland itself has towered over all of their stories as a constant. At times the story of the island has intruded into their stories directly, motivating our ancestors’ passions and struggles for justice, whilst at other moments it has stood by passively, silently observing. If we ignore the landscape of our Irish ancestors, we will be ignoring one of the most crucial elements of their ancestral stories, and a key family history resource. When carrying out family research in Ireland, we usually start with the civil…

A NATIONAL DISGRACE SOLDIERS’ LIVES ‘ON THE PARISH’ SOLDIERS DISCHARGED AS ‘LUNATICS’ Whilst researching the Royal Victoria Military Hospitals, Brenda Findlay came across numerous instances of soldiers being discharged from medical care and thrown on the mercy of the parish. Here she recounts her findings and the light that they shed on the treatment of former servicemen in times gone by I have written before about my search for the folk who passed through The Royal Victoria Military Hospitals at Netley Abbey, Hampshire and pleased to say that I am still receiving enquiries and stories via my website – www.netleyabbeymatters.co.uk. My search continues and I now have just over 11,000 names on the database, which the Museum of Military Medicine, recently moved from Aldershot to Cardiff, has agreed to take over…

SUBSCRIPTION OFFER Choose… Offer 1: pay just £3.99 a month on a rolling subscription (no on-going commitment) Offer 2: pay just £3 for the first three issues, then £10.99 quarterly (for an annual subscription lasting 12 issues) Offer 3: one-off payment £19.99 for 6 issues (no on-going commitment) (Family Tree is posted in compostable packaging) Family Tree is for people who love family history. Sign up today and we’ll help you • Learn about the latest websites & resources • Grow your family history research skills • And dig deeper into the stories of your family Subscribe and you’ll receive Family Tree delivered straight to your doorstep HIBERNATE WITH YOUR FAMILY HISTORY THIS AUTUMN & immer se yourself in family history discoveries when you subscribe to Family Tree 3 EASY WAYS…

UNLOCK THE STORY OF YOUR GENES ENLISTING DNA ON YOUR FAMILY HISTORY QUEST UNLOCK THE STORY OF YOUR GENES Your DNA WorkSHOP Welcome to the DNA Workshop! In every issue DNA adviser Karen Evans will be unpacking a reader case study, helping you learn how to use your DNA research at home. It’s time to unlock the story of your genes… READER SUE GOT IN TOUCH FOR KAREN’S ADVICE ON A BRICK WALL THAT SHE FEELS COULD CRUMBLE IF SHE CAN ONLY PROVE A PARENTAGE PUZZLE SUE WRITES: I had hoped that my Ancestry DNA results would solve at least one brick wall, and the brick wall that looks as if it will crumble is the parentage of my 2x maternal greatgrandmother, Sarah Gray (1816-98), born and died in Mere, Wiltshire. There…

You’ve not signed up for our FREE enewsletter? NEWS, ADVICE & OFFERS By signing up to our enewsletter you will receive regular, but not too frequent emails from the Family Tree team with family history news, advice & offers SUBSCRIBER PERKS Even if you subscribe it’s worth registering on the Family Tree website, so that you can view our subscriber only videos and benefit from subscriber only prices JOIN TODAY! It’s easy to register or login to your Family Tree account here: https://www.family-tree.co.uk/account/register. If you subscribe to Family Tree use the same email address to link your account REGISTER TODAY AT: https://familytr.ee/registertoday…

DISCOVER RESEARCH SOLUTIONS YOUR FAMILY MYSTERIES SOLVED Your questions answered With our experts Jayne Shrimpton, Graham Caldwell, Antony Marr & David Frost Comparing likenesses across time Q Please could you confirm whether the lady wearing a skirt and blouse in the single portrait could be the same person as the elderly lady sitting next to the groom in the wedding scene. The single lady is my grandmother, Margaret Fenn (née Kuliczkowski), the daughter of a Polish army officer who, like many others, fought alongside the dissidents during the 1830 Warsaw Revolution. Unfortunately they were defeated, many escaping to France and then the UK. Joe Fenn A Thank you for sharing a little of your interesting family history! It would be useful to have been advised of your grandmother’s birth and death…

SHARING YOUR VIEWS HAVE YOUR SAY Your LETTERS Tales of an unidentified soldier father, surname sleuthing and the sorry story of a ‘bad’ servant Do you recognise this man? Let us tell you a lovely story with a special request. During the First World War, an 18-year-old refugee girl with her family in the Belgian town Poperinge (Ypres Salient) meets a British soldier of a regiment stationed in the area. It must have been at the end of 1917, early 1918. He quickly became her charming prince, as can be seen in the photograph taken with five of her girlfriends and another soldier. On 11 November 1918, a baby was born who was declared under the name of his mom and called André (Andrew in English). What happened? Had the…

JOIN THE FAMILY TREE FAMILY! DISCOVER 4 GREAT BENEFITS OF SUBSCRIBING TO FAMILY TREE Video Library | Study Club Meetings | Exclusive Enewsletter | Save on Family Tree courses & publications 1 JOIN THE FAMILY TREE STUDY CLUB Join us on Zoom on the second Monday of the month, 6.30pm. See page 40 for further details about the club meetings. For any queries, please email helen.t@family-tree.co.uk 2 VIEW THE FAMILY TREE VIDEO LIBRARY! View our growing collection of family history videos, presentations and information in the Family Tree video library 3SAVE £££S ON FAMILY TREE COURSES & PUBLICATIONS 4RECEIVE THE EXCLUSIVE MONTHLY ENEWSLETTER Each month we send subscribers family history information, and bonus free family history research aids – as a thank you from us HOW TO GET THE FULL…

SEE BRITAIN THROUGH THE EYES OF YOUR ANCESTORS UK’s largest collection of historical local photographs now available to search on Findmypast Will you find your ancestor’s home, street or place of work? The 300,000 historical photographs chronicle more than a century of British daily life in Victorian, Edwardian and 20th-century Britain and are now available to search online at FindMyPast. Spanning two centuries (1860 to 1970) and covering more than 9,000 cities, towns and villages across the UK, the collection provides both family historians and history enthusiasts alike with the opportunity to step back in time to witness sights and scenes from the nation’s past. Available to search by date, location and keyword, the resource captures thousands of individual streets, landmarks, landscapes, businesses, buildings and…

THE FUTURE OF FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETIES The new President of the Family History Federation, Dr Janet Few, is keen to see family history societies embracing the technology and the tactics that will ensure their success long into the future. In a recent interview with Family Tree, Janet Few expands on her ideas, and thoughts on the ways in which family history societies can benefit from virtual meetings – from larger audiences, to enabling members from worldwide to attend. Such an approach has the advantage of enlarging the pool from which committee members may be recruited too. In addition it may also open the doors of family history societies to the new and younger online communities of genealogists – a topic about which Janet Few is very passionate. Listen to Janet…

NEWS ADD CONTEXT AND COLOUR TO YOUR CENSUS FINDS Three of the UK censuses at FindMyPast now have a tool that automatically matches a location to relevant content from the Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales 1895 Now live on all 1891, 1901 and 1911 English and Welsh census transcripts, the new tool automatically matches relevant content from the Gazetteer to the locations recorded on individual census returns. By ‘zoning’ each entry of the 1895 Gazetteer, Findmypast have been able to create a feature that brings the locations revealed by these censuses to life in vivid detail. With more than 25,000 individual entries and colour maps of every English and Welsh county, as well as maps showing political boundaries, railways and geographical features, the Gazetteer includes concise facts about each…

VICTORIAN ATTITUDES TO MENTAL HEALTH STRUGGLES OUR ANCESTORS FACED ALCOHOL INSANITY: Lisa Edwards shares a poignant story from her family history research, demonstrating the harsh attitudes that existed towards those living in grinding poverty through no fault of their own Victorian attitudes to mental health and the long-reaching consequences on our families Recently for my day job we were looking at the 19th- and early 20th-century Temperance Movement within Buckinghamshire and the contemporary notion of a ‘dry January’, where abstinence is for the month alone. As I began reading about the early campaigns and medical ideas to improve health and morals by avoiding the ‘demon drink’, it struck me that those crusades had actually impacted on my own family and the repercussions for descendants were enormous. I had researched my ancestors…

KEY TOOLS & TACTICS A MINI GUIDE TO FAMILY HISTORY STARTING OUT ON YOUR FAMILY TREE Welcome to the wonderful world of genealogy. We’re so pleased that you’re curious to start learning more about your family’s story. To follow are a few simple tactics with Helen Tovey to help you begin In tracing your family history you will learn so many fascinating new things. These tactics below are to help you make the most of your research time and energy and have the most fun along the way. What do you wish to find out? This is a great question to ask – ‘What do you wish to find out?’ as it will keep your thoughts organised: you are setting yourself a RESEARCH GOAL. You can break your goal down into…

UPA YAOSUAR GENEALOGY GAME! BECOME A BETTER FAMILY HISTORY SLEUTH Seeking that incontrovertible link… Improve your family history search skills with the Family Tree Academy. This issue, David Annal takes us through a case study that highlights the value of viewing original records ESSENTIAL SEARCH SKILLS TO MASTER The Family Tree Academy is here to help you grow your genealogy skills. The aim is to help teach more about the search skills and source know-how needed to step up your family history research. In this issue, Family Tree Academy tutor David Annal discusses the steps he took to solve a research problem that many of us will have encountered – that of two possible candidates for our tree, but the inability to work out which one is our ancestor… Case study…

TALES STRANGER THAN FICTION FEATURING ROOSEVELT, CHURCHILL & KING EDWARD VII In search of a FAMILY LEGEND Clare Kirk goes in search of a 120-year-old family legend of a royal affair and a love-child who became a silent movie star. After untangling a mind-boggling tree and sifting through unreliable evidence, has she finally uncovered the truth? Do you have an unsolved family mystery? You might think that the secrets have been buried with your ancestors, never to be revealed. Or perhaps, you wonder if there is any substance at all to the stories you’ve been told. But you could be in for a surprise revelation! My recent experience shows that the truth could be out there, just waiting for the right circumstances to bring it to light. Alfred’s letter My story…

BECOME A DNA SUPER-SLEUTH! HOW ACCURATE ARE ETHNICITY REPORTS? Sue’s ‘Scottish’ question refers to ethnicity reports and their accuracy in showing where our ancestors hailed from. Ethnicity estimates can only be as reliable as the companies’ data. Ancestry does not look at your tree and the surnames it contains to estimate your ethnicity, so however Scottish or otherwise they may sound it will have no relevance on your results. All DNA test providers estimate ethnicity by comparing your DNA with a panel of DNA from people with known origins (who are known as the reference panel in Ancestry’s case.) They then look to see which parts of the customer’s DNA are similar to those from people represented in groups in the reference panel. As they define more regions, so the…

Books & co AUTUMN READING Histories, biographies & more A selection of intriguing reads, reflecting the many facets of family history interest, with Helen Tovey & Rachel Bellerby ‘For Every Sailor Afloat, For Every Soldier at the Front’: Princess Mary’s Gift, Christmas 1914 by Peter Doyle Many of us will know of the little brass tin, gifted by Princess Mary, 107 years ago, to the men in the trenches and serving at sea in 1914. Iconic, and symbolic of those idealistic early days of the war perhaps, the tin was treasured at the time, and in the intervening decades has reached a somewhat mythological status. Professor Peter Doyle, South Bank University, turns his attention to this iconic artefact and recounts the unfolding events, and stupendous efforts, that were made to ensure…

CUMBRIA FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY THE SOCIETY SCENE Spotlight on… Cumbria Family History Society John Steel, webmaster for the society, introduces its varied activities The Cumbria Family History Society was founded to help members carry out their genealogy research and our area of interest is the modern county of Cumbria, which is the old ceremonial counties of Cumberland and Westmorland and a part of Northern Lancashire and North Yorkshire. Society Activities The society was established in 1976 and when the first newsletter was published in November of that year, there were 48 members of the society. This has grown over the years to well in excess of 1,100 members in 2021. We hold a number of gatherings over the year with the main one being our annual 3-day conference at Crooklands held…

Coming next in Family Tree YOUR PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WRITING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY GREAT AUTUMN GENEALOGY PROJECT! A taphophile’s delight Take a tour of the history Highgate Cemetery PLUS: The latest instalments from genealogical wordsmiths Gill Shaw, Diane Lindsay & Paul Chiddicks Global environmental catastrophe The impact of the Laki eruption of our ancestors worldwide AND all your regular favourites: the Family Tree Academy, Q&As, news & readers’ letters… DECEMBER ISSUE ON SALE FROM 12 NOVEMBER…

THOUGHTS ON… DREAMING OF ANCESTORS Richard Veesy My Regency Hero Diane Lindsay has been dreaming of her ancestors once again, and stumbles on a delightful little coincidence of family birthday dates… as you do Do you ever find an ancestor, usually one you’re fond of, suddenly popping into your mind for no good reason that you can explain. I do, often. One morning this week, I was in a boringly recurrent dream where I’m wandering about some blasted heath like mad old King Lear, when out of the blue, Richard Veasey, my three times great-grandfather strolled into view. I can’t exactly claim to have seen him face to face, more’s the pity, because at that point, the dog woke me up sticking his nose in my ear asking for biscuits. The…

IT’S BACK! THE FAMILY HISTORY HANDBOOK 2022 Over the past few years the Family History Handbook has been a total sell-out – subscribe to secure your copy. The Family History Handbook 2022 includes: The Family History Directory The Family History Explorer Guide HOW TO GET YOUR COPY The 100-page A5 Family History Handbook 2022 will be available to readers as a print or digital publication, available worldwide, priced £5.99. Print subscribers to Family Tree will receive the Handbook with the January issue of Family Tree, included as part of their subscription Not a subscriber? Turn to page 42 for details of the Family Tree subscription offers…