Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2022 i Family Tree UK

Following the announcement last year that the Association of Genealogists & Researchers in Archives (AGRA) had instituted an annual bursary award in memory of Associate Dr John Burt, they have revealed the first bursary under the scheme has been awarded to Associate Dr Sophie Kay (pictured far right). She will use the money towards funding her studies with the IHGS. A spokesperson for AGRA explains that Dr John Burt (near right) was an Associate of AGRA, based in Scotland. His sudden death last year came as a great shock to all at the Association. His enthusiasm and willingness to help made a huge impact on the organisation and all his colleagues. Well-loved and much respected in both the medical and genealogical communities, AGRA wished to recognise his work in the…

The release of these records – made possible thanks to MyHeritage’s collaboration with the Museum of Jewish Heritage –A Living Memorial to the Holocaust and its affiliate, JewishGen, a leading website for Jewish genealogy – constitutes the first instalment of a licensing agreement that will ultimately make almost all of the JewishGen records accessible on MyHeritage. The records in these collections will benefit from MyHeritage’s matching technologies, which automatically match historical records with the 83 million family trees on MyHeritage. Also, JewishGen records were available to search and view in English only, however, now international users will benefit from MyHeritage’s Global Name Translation Technology™, which allows individuals researching in other languages, such as Hebrew, Russian, or Greek to search and view these records, with the names translated into their native languages.…

CLICK HERE Armed Forces Day 26 June 2022 Enter the Family Tree ‘Trace your military ancestors’ competition: https://familytr.ee/afdcomp Tune in to an interview with military historian Graham Bandy as he shares military history advice on how to research the cap badges, uniform clues and regiments of our ancestors: https://vimeo.com/693053307 The records have been added to www.scottishindexes.com. Their ongoing project to open up historical criminal records to help people trace their family history is moving on apace and opening up more stories to the global research community. These latest prison records are predominantly from the prisons of Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Paisley, with some updates to other prisons around Scotland, meaning that the database now includes over 30 prisons across Scotland. Emma Maxwell said: ‘I love the stories people uncover in…

My brick wall has stood for more than a decade. I start this article with that confession, after which you can decide whether to ignore advice given by an abject failure, or to indulge your innate curiosity as a family historian and continue reading. My association with the wonderful world of genealogy began twelve years ago by virtue of a double-edged twist of fate. My late father was adopted into the Broom family at an early age, but was never remotely interested in knowing about his birth parents until he was diagnosed with a terminal condition in 2010 and given between two and three years to live. Not long after that fateful pronouncement, he phoned to tell me that he’d like to discover more about the circumstances of his birth…

As genealogists, we rely on official records. Birth, marriage, death and census records – the core records we all use when researching our family history – are public records for which our ancestors were obliged to provide information by force of law. The rules applying to the creation of these records are governed by statutes – Acts of Parliament – passed at Westminster. In the case of BMDs, the relevant Acts are the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1836 for England and Wales, and the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1854 for Scotland. It’s a truism in genealogical research that in order to properly understand a record, you have to understand the context in which the record was created. By that I don’t just mean the sociohistorical…

The holiday accommodation was booked. Record office catalogues had been searched. Documents to ‘handle’ were ordered and those ‘to view’ listed. The rules were read, readers’ cards set up etc. We made a plan to visit the locations geographically, from west to east, over our days away – maps, postcodes etc. noted. There was a lot to see over a relatively small distance between Goring on Sea and Cuckmere Haven, Sussex. Our ancestors were from two families: the Barretts and the Reddings. William Barrett b.1804 at Landulph (our 2x great-grand-uncle) and Thomas Redding b.1799 in Fowey (our 2x great-grandfather) were both coastguard boatmen, born in Cornwall. William Barrett married Mary Ann Redding (b.1820, Fowey) and Thomas Redding married Ann Polwin (b.1799, Mullion). 21 June: The journey begins We set off…

QIn February 2022 family historians from around the world took part in an online genealogy writing event. Here’s a glimpse of how it went, with quotes from some of the participants. “Jane pulled the shawl tighter around her shoulders...” (Stefanie Smith) My body might be sitting on a sofa, wrapped up in a comfy blanket but my brain is somewhere else entirely. I’m on a steamer, heading for New Zealand. I’m sitting in a baby’s room, staring at an empty crib. I’m trying to stifle a rising feeling of panic, as my belly grows and swells with the life inside it. I’m caring for a sick mother or disabled father. I’m getting married, and I know my husband is a drunk. I’m giving birth in the sweltering heat of a…

Searching the 1939 Register on TheGenealogist allows researchers to take advantage of some powerful search tools to break down brick walls. For example, you can find ancestors in 1939 by using keywords, such as the individual’s occupation or their date of birth. You can also search for an address and then jump straight to the household or, if you are struggling to find a family, you can even search using as many of their forenames as you know. Visit www.thegenealogist.co.uk…

ESSENTIAL SEARCH SKILLS TO MASTER The vast majority of the records that we use to research our family history are handwritten. Many of them, particularly from the mid-18th century onwards, include manuscript entries, completing pre-printed forms or pre-printed pages in a register, but many more are entirely handwritten: wills, for instance and pre-19th century parish registers were normally written on plain sheets of paper or in plain notebooks. It is therefore crucial that, as family historians, we should learn to read the various styles of handwriting that we’re likely to confront in the course of our research – and that we should learn to read them well! The problem is that handwriting, by its very nature, is prone to a huge degree of variance, not just from one era to…

Making DNA work FOR YOU PAUL WRITES: I have taken a DNA test with Ancestry.co.uk and I have found three DNA matches who mutually match each other and also myself. These three matches descend from two sisters, Lucy Robbins who was baptised in 1813 at Beckington, Somersetshire and Prudence Robbins who was baptised in 1804 also at Beckington. These two sisters had a brother called James Robbins who was baptised at Beckington in 1796 I strongly suspect that this James Robbins is my 5x great-grandfather. The problem The problem I have is that the parents of Prudence, Lucy and James are recorded as James Robbins and Sarah. But there are baptisms recorded in 1801 and 1802 at Beckington for children also named James Robbins and the parents' names are also…

During the mid 1980s, groups of students keen to learn about tracing their family histories attended a local adult education class. Tutor, Marion Brackpool, aware of their enthusiasm, invited past and present students to a meeting to gauge interest in creating a local family history group. So, in 1987, Reigate and District Family History Group was formed with the aim of providing a meeting place for people of similar interests and to help them further their research. Our current chairman Jackie Johnson has been involved since the start. Reigate lies at the foot of the North Downs, in the heart of the Surrey countryside. It has good transport links to London in the north, and the Sussex coast to the south. The town is surrounded by a number of picturesque…

W ith more than 1,500 different experiences on offer during the three-day virtual event, from 3 to 5 March, family historians were treated to a wealth of learning experiences, product launches and talks. Here, we take a look at some of the innovate projects that launched at the event. Ancestry launched #MyAncestryStory on iOS, with Android following a couple of days later. To locate the MyAncestryStory tool, simply go to your Ancestry app, select ‘Discover’, then select the ‘green’ (add story) plus near the top of the screen. From here you can write ancestor stories and easily share them digitally with family and across social media too. The stories will remain attached to the profile of the relevant person. The tool will take images from those that you have added…

Over 7,000 women signed this anti-tithe petition in 1659, delivered to Parliament. Organized by the Society of Friends, or ‘Quakers’ not all signatories were followers of the faith, but all disagreed with the taxes imposed by the Church of England. The year 1659 was a relatively chaotic one across England: The Protectorate collapsed in and the Rump Parliament was re-established. Quaker responses to the political and social changes were not uniform. During that year, two anti-tithe petitions were delivered to Parliament by Quakers. One of these was transcribed from the original in the 1900s. This petition voices an unfavourable opinion of taxes applied by the Church of England. This index is created from that transcription, which was made available to FindMyPast within the content of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.…

A ‘major construction project’ will transform the 44 acre site, originally a World War II armaments factory, and for the past six decades the northern home of the British Library – into a modern archive capable of storing its growing collection for decades to come. The £95 million Government-funded redevelopment will create extra storage capacity, with further work dedicated to improving facilities for staff and visitors. The Library’s 44-acre campus near Boston Spa is home to over three quarters of the British Library's growing collection of over 170 million items, including books, sound recordings and maps. As part of the new development, 220km of extra shelf space will be created in a new high-density, automated storage building. Once complete, visitors will be able to see the inner workings of the…

Here are a few places on the site you might want to visit. Finding how much DNA you share with a match is key to establishing how you and your match might be related. On 23andMe the amount is shown as a percentage but perhaps you prefer to see your match in centimorgans? Click on a match from your DNA relatives screen to see the % of DNA you share. In this instance, it’s 2.73%. Click on your match’s name and then scroll down until you find the section ‘your genetic relationship’ and click on ‘view DNA details’ If they have opted into sharing you will then see where you and your cousin match and the amount in centimorgans. I share 204cMs with this match Above: If you click on…

Where might a missing baby be? Q Dad was born on 5 September 1920 in Leeds (not sure why!), and named Lawrence Mosedale. Gran was Mary Frances Mosedale born 4 May 1887 in Netherfield (Basford) Nottingham. She was a laundry maid in 1901 and a laundress at Mulgrave Castle near Whitby in 1911. The family story is that he was brought up by his grandparents, but he is not with them in 1921 on the census. Lynne J. A The much anticipated release of the 1921 Census for England & Wales led to an explosion on social media as people took to Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to tell the world about the discoveries that had led to them breaking down long-standing brick walls. But for some people there was…

ONLINE EVENTS Five top tips for organising your DNA results, 3 May An online Zoom class from North of Ireland FHS with Anne Johnston. This focuses on provides practical tips to maximise successful cousin matching and gives a step-by-step guide to analysing your DNA test results. Cost £10. Starts 7pm. Book at www.nifhs.org/ courses Spotlight on Oxfordshire DNA and surname projects, 4 May The Guild of One-Name Studies presents a webinar with Richard Merry, Jessica Feinstein and Sue Honoré, who will speak about specific elements of the project, covering the history of the Oxfordshire DNA (Richard) and surname (Sue) projects; the process and challenges of doing these interlinked projects; data collections – finding and managing them to support the projects; the process of creating a book on the topics (all)…