Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2024 i Family Tree UK

A new year is a beguiling time to make some new plans and to look ahead to the things we’d like to accomplish over the next 12 months. To that end, we’ve created a Genealogy Planner, with checklists and a calendar, which we hope you’ll enjoy using, filling it in with your own plans and priorities, things to look forward to, and to jobs well done. As family historians we’re busy people, with never quite enough time to do all that we’d like, but nonetheless we do all do a lot! The idea with the planner is that as well as recording your plans you also make a note of your goals reached. And, when you do so, we think you will be very pleasantly surprised when you look back,…

RootsMagic users wishing to work across their RootsMagic software and Ancestry (or RootsMagic and FamilySearch) will need to buy (or upgrade to) RootsMagic 9. Ancestry closed API (Application Programming Interface) access to versions 7 and 8 of RootsMagic on 11 December 2023, and RootsMagic report that FamilySearch have advised them that they will be doing so in the future similarly. RootsMagic 9, however, has been designed to access Ancestry and FamilySearch through their new more secure login service. To buy RootsMagic (or upgrade to version 9, the latest version), see www.rootsmagic.com.…

Emma Jolly concludes her six-part series on health and wellbeing within the field of family history, looking at the fascinating information shared by survey participants on topics including ancestral trauma, family knowledge and shared family traits I began this series by looking at the concept of family history, genes and inheritance. Throughout the past issues, I have examined how we can apply our family history research (or our understanding of our family’s past) to our current health and well-being. This exploration covered a range of topics, including intergenerational trauma, memory therapy, and the values of writing memoirs. We conducted a survey alongside the article series in Family Tree magazine. Thank you to everyone who participated and shared their thoughts. Your valuable insights contribute to the ongoing conversation about the significance…

What is an heirloom? It is something that we treasure because of its family significance. It is an item that has been, or will be, handed down within the family. Why is this? It is because it is something that brings back memories of a person, an event or a place. Without any associated narrative, heirlooms are examples of material culture. To put it bluntly, they are things. Some are attractive, some are useful, other heirlooms are neither but their appearance and utility are not why we keep them; they are important to us because of their associations. Unless we know that story, an object that is visually pleasing or serves a useful purpose might provoke a positive response but we are unlikely to have an emotional attachment to it…

Q Is my new ThruLine on to something, or... not? RICHARD WRITES: Dear Karen I have a query regarding DNA and how to interpret it as I get lost in the scientific mumbo-jumbo very quickly. My problem is identifying my 3x great-grandfather. My 2x great-grandmother, Lizzie Fowler, was born in 1863, daughter of Fanny Fowler (1843-1896). She was illegitimate and nobody was entered on the birth certificate as the father. My sister and I are Lizzie’s only living descendants. Fanny later (1873) married a guy called Thomas Hamlett (b. 1838). They had no children so far as I am aware, although Thomas who was a widower had had two, prior to marrying Fanny. I have long had no knowledge of who Lizzie’s father was, but I did wonder if there…

In Scotland in 1930, no organised system existed to obtain blood donors, while in England, there was just one donor panel located in London. Blood transfusion was in its infancy, with donor and patient having to be in close proximity, so every blood donation was an emergency.1 If blood was needed, relatives of patients or nearby medical students were called upon to provide it.2 However, relatives were not always willing or able, and students were often exhausted from overwork. After learning of the tragic death of a friend’s wife for the lack of a suitable blood donor and determined that others should not suffer the same fate, an Edinburgh dentist named Jack Copland established a panel of volunteers to serve the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.3 He obtained the first twelve…

QMy 3x great-grandfather, Alexander Stewart, is variously described as a ‘seaman’. I have no information with regards to his birth/birthplace/parents/death. The information I do have comes from the records of his children, and the ‘occupation’ component is obviously what the ‘witness’ has said. My Stewart/Stuart family history is mainly associated with Greenock, the Clyde, and the shipping industry. The documents which I have are as follows: • I found a record in the Kirk Session records, Greenock – (Middle Kirk session, Minutes (1798-1824), CH2/872/2 Image no 157) concerning the Irregular Marriage of Alexander Stewart and Helen McNiel (3x greatgrandparents). He is described as a ‘mariner’. • I have a copy of the baptism of their first child, Margaret, in October 1815 (Greenock). He is described as a ‘labour’. • I…

Light and airy, the new premises, at 40 Wharf Road, London sits within the boundaries of the city’s historic canal-side district and is easily accessible by public transport. Those visiting Wharf Road can enjoy the library, archive, and computers with access to online subscription sites. Because not all of the collections are kept on-site, advance booking is required, and it is recommended that you pre-order at least 7 days prior to your trip. Advance booking is also necessary if you wish to book a computer. The new premises will be open 10.30-4 Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays. Non-members and Associate members of the Society of Genealogists will be required to purchase a £20 day pass. Usual archive rules apply (bring a £1 coin for your storage locker and bring a…

The boy shown on the right is Basil Joseph Matthews (1879-1951) and a quick trawl of Ancestry reveals that, in 1911, Basil was the editor to the London Mission Society, living in Reigate with his wife Harriett and her mother. This photograph shows Basil with his mother Emma Mathews, grandmother Rosa Colegrove and great-grandmother Emma Nix – four generations in one photograph, all based in the Oxford area. Basil was born in Oxford to Angelo Alfred Hankins Mathews and Emma née Colegrove. Angelo’s unusual Christian name comes from his father – Michael Angelo Alfred Mathews. Basil’s grandmother Rosa Colegrove, née Nix, was obviously an enterprising lady who had to run the household on her own after her husband Joseph died in 1879 at the relatively young age of 44. In…

The new War Memorials can be searched from the TheGenealogist’s Master Search or by locating the memorial on the georeferenced maps displayed on their Map Explorer™, which also lets you search the area around where your ancestor lived. For those with ancestors who were mariners and served in the Merchant Navy or fishing fleets, the Rolls of Honour and Medal Awards from The National Archives Series BT 339 will be especially poignant. These rolls name the deceased and missing-presumed-dead from the ranks of the merchant marine fleets and fishing trawler crews who were employed on minesweeping and patrol duties during World War II (1939-1945) and further years up to 1953. The list of Medal Awards from 1866 to 1970 includes mercantile mariners recognised for gallantry and service. Among these honours…

The East India Company and East Indiamen An East Indiaman was a ship trading between Britain and the far East – mostly India but also sometimes China and even other places such as the Dutch East Indies. The origins of British trade in this area start from the founding of the East India Company (EIC) in 1600 and continued until the removal of India from the control of the EIC in 1858. The heyday of East Indiaman trade was from about 1750 to 1833, when the EIC lost its monopoly. This monopoly was conferred by a Royal Charter granted when the EIC was formed. By its terms, the EIC had a monopoly on all ships trading between England and the Far East and, in particular, ships going east of the…

YOUR FAMILY PHOTOS Teresa Davies writes: I was reading a very interesting article in a previous issue of Family Tree about dating old photographs. My mother, who recently passed away, had a photograph album belonging to my grandmother with many old photographs, but unfortunately was unable to identify many of the people. Anticipating your help, I enclose a small selection of the photos, if you can please give them each an approximate date. I am also attempting to produce a family tree and so date estimates for the photographs may help me to identify some of my distant relatives. A: The album You are lucky to have inherited a Victorian photograph album containing formal studio portraits representing earlier generations of your family. The first purpose-designed albums were produced in the…

HOW? The Study Club is included as part of your subscription to Family Tree magazine (print or digital edition). WHERE? The meetings take place online, on Zoom. WHEN? Usually on the second Monday of the month, 6.30-7.30pm. The next Study Club meetings - forthcoming presentations include: (February meeting) ‘The Lives of Children Working in the Pottery Industry in 1840’ with Ann Simcock; (March meeting) ‘Manorial records’ with Sarah Pettyfer. Missed a meeting? -Catch up on the recordings of the Study Club meetings, back to December 2020. As a Family Tree subscriber you can explore, enjoy and rewatch as many times as you find useful. To view the recordings simply log in to the Family Tree website. HOW DO I GET THE ZOOM LINK TO ATTEND? You will need to log…

The MOJ proposal is to digitise the post-1858 wills collection of England and Wales, and then to destroy the originals, citing heavy storage costs as the driver for this move. The 32-page consultation document, issued on 15 December, on the storage and retention of original will documents may be read here: https://assets.publishing. service.gov.uk/media/65703ecb0f12ef07a53e02b9/storage-retention-original-will-documents-print.pdf The ‘To’ section of the document reads: ‘This Consultation Paper is aimed at anyone with an interest in the issue of the storage and retention of wills and is likely to be of particular interest to the legal profession.’ In what many family history researchers may see as a massive oversight, no mention of family history or genealogy is made throughout the document. Indeed the list of organisations (see pp5-6 of the consultation paper) to which the…

The town of Newbiggin-By-Sea has a population of around 6,000 people and has a long history of sea fishing, as well as a past industry of coal mining. Former MP Hilton Dawson has strong roots in the area and has worked to create a family tree of more than 39,000 people, believed to be the only one of its kind in the world. Around 9,000 photographs and documents are linked to the tree, provided thanks to help of residents of Newbiggin-By-Sea who attended public meetings organised by Hilton. In the decades before the first national census, Newbiggin’s population was just a few hundred, but in common with many other places touched by the industrial Revolution, the coming of mining saw the population triple in just 30 years. The project now…

When we start researching our family tree we often set out with the romantic idea of finding connections to royalty. If not royalty, maybe a hero, or even a connection to an iconic moment in history – we will come to some examples of these a little later. However, what we perhaps don’t consider is the impact of uncovering a really devastating family story that impacts the lives of so many family members. Lorna Young discovered one such tragic story, that has left its own mark on the lives of those involved and the generations that followed. Lorna’s story concerns her great-uncle, Ben Stroud, who was playing in a local village cricket match between Upton Grey and Crookham in Hampshire, on 19 August 1933. Ben opened the batting for Upton…

One question keeps playing on a loop in my head – what are all the de Brimonts doing in Brighton? Well, one easy explanation springs to mind; they’re on their way back to France, having a break at the seaside before they make the channel crossing. On the other hand, the census seems to suggest both families have engaged servants, as though they’ve been here a while. And Charles de Brimont has brought his whole family – wife Alice and five children, including André, Catherine’s future husband. Perhaps after Edgar de Brimont adopted my 2x great-aunt from the orphanage, Charles has come over to England to keep an eye on him, in case he does something else daft… Which reminds me: a confession. In all the excitement of finding the…

A world history of rail: from the steam regime to today by Jeremy Black From the early decades of steam, through to the ongoing HS2 rail network saga, railways and their networks have often dominated the headlines. As author Jeremy Black shows us, railways (or lack of them) have often contributed to the success – and failure – of military endeavours, construction projects, communications, even emigration and immigration. The book takes a global view of the development of the railways, starting with the early days of steam. From a family history project, it is fascinating reading for an insight into how communities were affected by the coming and going of the railways, the types of locomotives on which our ancestors might have travelled and of course the many employment opportunities…

Brrr…it’s cold out there! Through trees dancing on the village green, I’m watching people muffled in hats and scarves, leaning against the wind as they walk their dogs up the church field to the hill of the ancient castle site. It’s said one of those frivolously-named storms is on the way, though ironically the sky is as blue as it ever was in summer, but steely, like the flashing edge of Gandalf’s sword. I’ve looked out on this view in all weathers, all seasons, yet it’s a mere flicker of time in a scene that’s barely changed in 1,000 years. Probably more than that; the road beyond, shaking my house with heavy tractors and eight wheelers, is the ancient Fosse Way. Roman legions marched here, perhaps passing some hovel upon…