Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2023 i Family Tree UK

Rachel Bellerby reports on the latest genealogy news. Got a story to share? Email editorial@family-tree.co.uk A urine flask possibly used by a king and a remarkably preserved leather pouch embossed with crown symbols are some of the extraordinary artefacts featured in the Last Voyage exhibition. The items were recovered from the wreck site by Norfolk brothers and divers, Lincoln and Julian Barnwell, and their friend and ex Royal Navy submariner and diver, James Little. The exhibition, The Last Voyage of the Gloucester: Norfolk’s Royal Shipwreck, 1682 is open now at Norwich Castle and runs until 10 September. The Gloucester sank in the North Sea in 1682 while carrying James, Duke of York, before he became King James II and VII. The wreck has been called Norfolk’s Mary Rose. Norwich Castle,…

ANCESTRY Revealed to visitors at RootsTech, Storymaker Studio is the latest innovation from Ancestry, a new suite of tools in the Ancestry app to make it easier to create and share ancestral stories with family and friends using photos and audio. You can sharpen, crop and add colour to your photos, add audio directly to photos and then share with just a few clicks. Visit bit.ly/3mpTbMg MYHERITAGE cM Explainer is a free new feature that estimates familial relationships between DNA matches. For every Match, cM Explainer™ offers detailed predictions of possible relationships between the two people and their respective probabilities. cM Explainer™ uses both centiMorgan value and the ages of the individuals to fine-tune its predictions. Find out more at www.myheritage.com 400,000 free-to-view historical newspaper pages released to the public…

In 1882, Harriet Ure, the sister of my greatgreat-grandmother, married Richard Strahan Kent, a prison warder, in Dublin. The couple had 7 children and Richard’s job took them to Derry, Armagh and Belfast city. They never again lived in Dublin. On both of the extant censuses (only 1901 & 1911 survive for Ireland), the family lived in Derry, but on each one their eldest son, Richard, was absent. Where was he? This investigation led me all over what is now Northern Ireland and to London, reviewing many kinds of records, but was I looking at 2 people who had the same name or one man? This article examines this possibility and the conflicting evidence. STARTING …AT THE ENDING Let’s start at the end. Richard Kent, Snr, died in 1929. His…

YOUR FAMILY PHOTOS Susan Dykes writes: When I read Jayne Shrimpton’s Photo Corner tips about early postcard photographs (FT November 2022), I dug out these old family pictures and tried to date them. Photo 1: lady with children. I’m almost certain that this is my great-grandmother, Annie Colquhoun (b.1866) and the young girl resembles my great-aunt, Mary (b.1908). However, as the postcard has few detailed instructions printed on the back, doesn’t that indicate it is from some years later? That said, the woman’s outfit is perhaps from an earlier era, which makes me wonder if the young girl could be Mary’s elder sister, Jenny (b.1891). Photo 2: older couple. They could be my great-grandparents, William Colquhoun (b.1866) and the same Annie as in No.1, but she looks older than the…

1 THE FAMILY TREE STUDY CLUB The next Study Club meeting will be held at 6.30pm GMT on Monday 15th May and will last precisely one hour. Topic: Research in the 18th century: exploring the key records of the period and coverage of how the SoG (online) collections can help you too (NOTE: this is the first Monday of the month, not the second, due to the Coronation Public Holiday). The Study Club is included as part of your subscription to Family Tree magazine (print or digital edition). Join us on Zoom (usually) on the second Monday of the month, 6.30pm – you will need to log in to www.family-tree. co.uk to obtain the Zoom link. To find the link, once you are logged in, click ‘Study Club’ from the…

The establishment of the Institute for Genealogical Studies builds on the existing success of the Strathclyde genealogy courses – from free online introductory learning experiences to post-graduate academic qualifications (Post-Graduate Certificate, Diploma, Master’s degree, and PhD pathway in History with Genealogical Studies). Tahitia McCabe has been appointed as Head of the new Strathclyde Institute for Genealogical Studies. Tahitia held the position of Course Director for the Genealogical Studies Masters programme for over 9 years and brings a huge amount of knowledge and expertise to the role. A new Course Director, Dr Calista Williams, has also been appointed. Calista previously worked for the University of Aberystwyth’s Lifelong Learning Department where she headed up their genealogy short course programme. Tahitia McCabe: ‘This is an exciting time for genealogy at Strathclyde and the…

The Declaration has not been on public display for 18 years, when it was last displayed at the Scottish Parliament. The iconic and fragile 700-year-old document, which is cared for and preserved for future generations by National Records of Scotland, can only be displayed occasionally in order to ensure its longterm preservation. The Declaration of Arbroath is a letter dated 6 April 1320, written by the barons and freeholders of Scotland, on behalf of the Kingdom of Scotland, to Pope John XXII asking him to recognise Scotland’s independence and acknowledge Robert the Bruce as the country’s lawful king. The letter also asks the Pontiff to persuade King Edward II of England to end hostilities against the Scots, so that their energy may be better used to secure the frontiers of…

'But I'm Swedish, not Norwegian' DAVID WRITES: I have a DNA query which I don’t know whether you can help me with. I have a tree of over 6,000 people on Ancestry and am quite happy with this. My greatgrandfather was from Sweden, Carl Johan Nilsson (anglicised to Nelson), a merchant seaman, and with the help of register. slatdata.org – which has what looks like parish register info – I have gone well back on this side. I tested with Ancestry DNA and the results say that I am 23% Norwegian not Swedish and I wondered why this is like this. I have printed the trees from the 4 highest Norwegian cM matches that have trees, 2 at 55 cM, 1 at 42 cM and 1 at 40 cM and…

When it comes to sweeping vistas on your family history research, few things can beat a good map. Stepping away from individuals and embracing the bigger picture and broader patterns can utterly transform your perspective on your ancestors. Whole generations, branches, even your entire family tree: maps invite you to witness the ebb-and-flow and movements of your ancestors over centuries. So let’s see how to create a timelapse map of genealogical dates and places, using a data visualisation website called Flourish (https://flourish. studio/). In four stages, you can turn those dates and places from your family tree into a beautiful map capturing your family’s meanderings over time. Here, I’m going to create a visualisation of ancestral birthplaces for the fictional DUTTON family. The more ambitious amongst you might also try…

Eastnor, Herefordshire, Devereaux family research QI am emailing in the hope that someone may be able to help me as I am currently well and truly ‘stuck’ with a problem – trying to find the ancestors (parents) of a Thomas Devereaux, a labourer, who married Margaret Hatton in Berrow in 1700, thereafter living in Eastnor. Whereas we have found another Thomas Devereaux born in 1665 in Castlemorton and dying in 1669, this cannot obviously be the ancestor of ‘our’ Thomas Devereaux Assisted by my friend, we have exhaustively searched parish records; Eastnor Castle records do not cover pre 1700 land records (we enquired about this on the assumption ‘our’ Thomas Devereaux may have worked for the then manorial estate). We wondered if any of your readers have researched this particular…

Where family history’s concerned, it’s surprising where an insistent thought can take you. Bed has very much been on my mind this month. Our bedroom has become our favourite ‘warm space’ in an expensively chilly winter, furnished in five-star style with hot water bottles, kettle, biscuit jar, TV, and the cat. We even have a mini fridge to match the duck-egg decor. It’s now more flatlet than boudoir. After Christmas, we decided to replace our aging mattress with an all singing, all dancing adjustable bed. It arrived (eventually,) was manoeuvred up our dog-leg stairs, and was partly erected by skilled workmen. Then dismantled, dragged downstairs again, being the wrong size. Our spring-pinging old mattress was retrieved from outside and reinstated on the defunct divan, everyone thanking goodness the rain had…

At a recent event, the Archives and Records Association and the Information and Records Management Society launched the Campaign for Records – Democracy and Rights in the Digital Age. The event was hosted at Portcullis House in Westminster by Chris Evans MP, chair of the APPG Archives and History on behalf of the Information and Records Management Society and the Archives and Records Association. The Campaign for Records highlights the need for better records management in public life and calls for more resources, modern law, better regulation and improved freedom of information and access to public records. The campaign centres upon the premise that there needs to be proper investment into the recordkeeping sector and its work. Reynold Leming, Chair of IRMS, said: ‘We must invest in record keeping and…

The oil paintings by Richard Waitt were commissioned in 1713 by Alexander, the Laird of Grant, as part of a larger series depicting prominent clan members. They were created for Castle Grant, the chief’s seat near Grantown-on-Spey, intended to impress visitors and convey the Laird’s traditional authority and status as a Highland chieftain. Shown wearing distinctive Highland dress, the subjects are ‘The Piper’ (William Cumming) and ‘The Champion to the Laird of Grant’ (Alasdair Mòr Grant). The bagpipe and the basket-hilted sword are symbols of their ceremonial positions, emblematic of traditional clan values and customs. Principal Curator, Renaissance and Early Modern History, Dr Anna Groundwater said: “This is not a romanticised version of an imagined past – the figures in their Highland dress are documented as they looked at the…

What is it about those fictional characters that we remember from our childhood? And how did they achieve their immortality? What did your ancestors read, or have read to them as children? Some stories, particularly during the Little Ice Age period, were penned by authors who had their own bad experiences in those difficult times. Harsh living conditions, that contributed to both despair (of the world around them) and hope (that times would be better in the future), would have coloured their outlook and affected their creativity. Characters in their stories might have been based on real events or people but would be given attributes in keeping with cheerless times. Stories have often emanated from songs or poems – or vice versa – with nursery rhymes later being written or…

How to fill in your commemorative family tree chart: tips for beginners With the Coronation, the Royal Family is very much in focus; this commemorative chart is for you to make a record of your own family. Tip! Fill in a chart for your relations – a sibling, child or grandchild for instance, for a memento 1Are you new to family history? If so, can your relations help you with the ancestor details? It might be that you have family members who can help you fill in your chart. Older people’s memories can hold valuable clues to the past, and your relations may have family papers, photos and mementoes with clues about people’s names and birthdays, for instance, that you can glean for your family tree. If possible, be sure…

The Braund Society was founded in 1982 by Cyril John Braund, to bring the family together and to encourage the study of the biographies and genealogy of the Braunds, so that the history of the family could be preserved. The society has flourished and we have members on three continents, whose ages range from 7 to 97. Braund origins We believe that all Braunds share a common ancestry and our DNA project is proving this. So far, every Braund family can be traced back to Devon or just over the border in Cornwall, in the south-west of England. The surname has close associations with the North Devon fishing village of Bucks Mills, where, at one time, almost every resident was related to the Braunds. Their past ferocity in scaring away…

QI have learned that, on the 1921 Census returns, ‘boarders’ are recorded on separate forms to the host household. So a household with 2 people staying who are classified as boarders will extend across 3 sets of forms. I have come across such a case myself and am wondering what was the easiest (most efficient) way to see all the folks in the same dwelling is. My example is Lily Gertrude Laidlaw at Napier Road, Gillingham Kent. Her form is signed by someone else – who turns out to be the ‘Head’ on the form (see above). Both house numbers have been mis-transcribed so an address search would not have worked. These are two women sharing a house. Is there an optimum way to catch them all? John Sayers AThis…