Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2017 i Who Do You Think You Are?

When a DNA test was first used on Who Do You Think You Are? in 2006 it was to reveal the ethnic mix of former Olympian Colin Jackson. It caused a bit of a stir, with some experts questioning the accuracy of such tests for ethnicity. But it encouraged a lot of people, including myself, to get a test done. I remember the disappointment when my results arrived. I couldn’t really understand them. How could I be 14.6 per cent Basque when my family history didn’t back that up? Fast forward ten years and things have really changed. Our understanding of biogeographical markers has increased enormously, to the point where I can see where my family came from within the past ten generations (courtesy of LivingDNA). And, as more and…

747 historic newspaper titles from across Britain, including every English county, have now been made available on the web at britishnewspaper archive.co.uk 19 stories written by members of the Irish Genealogical Research Society about their ancestors have been published at bit.ly/IGRSstories to mark the society’s 80th birthday 7,500 entries from familysearch.org’s Derbyshire Parish Registers collection (1537-1918) have been indexed by volunteers 5.24m viewers tuned in to watch Warwick Davis’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? when it was shown on Wednesday 15 February 21 years’ worth of police letter books, containing details of serving officers across Hampshire at the end of the 19th century, are now online at the genealogist.co.uk…

In my research into my Cruwys ancestors in Devon, I hit a brick wall trying to find William George Cruwys (born 1821), the brother of my great great grandfather, Thomas Cruwys (born 1831). William disappeared from English records after the 1841 census. I found a William of the right age in Prince Edward Island, Canada, but couldn’t find any records to confirm a link, though naming patterns provided a strong clue. Frustratingly, the 1848 marriage certificate I obtained didn’t include the parents’ names. Y-DNA tests on my dad and a descendant of the Prince Edward family showed that the two lines were related though Y-DNA cannot pinpoint the date when two people share an ancestor. However, a year later an autosomal DNA match popped up in the Family Tree DNA…

The value of a film archive to your family history may not be immediately obvious, but just a few minutes delving into the catalogue of such an institution will be enough to persuade you what an enlightening resource film can be. Britain has a rich film heritage dating back to 1896 and the surviving footage brings history to life in a way that other documents simply cannot. It’s quite a magical (and often emotional) experience to stumble upon film footage of the village or town where we grew up, or that our grandparents inhabited. If you’re very lucky you may even see your long-gone relatives on screen. The great thing about films made locally is that local people feature – perhaps in a carnival procession, bank holiday or Armistice celebrations,…

Q Can you help me uncover the parents of my 3x great grandmother Rosaline Barnard née Harper (born circa 1860) and her brother William (born circa 1861)? They are at the Central London School at Hanwell in 1871, their birthplace London, Middlesex. I can’t find them in 1861. Rosaline states her father was William Harper on her 1897 marriage certificate. On the 1891 census, she gives her birth place as “City Road EC”. Her brother William married in 1885 and gave his father’s name as Richard Harper, a carpet-bag maker. Pierre Barnard, by email A Pauper children ended up in Hanwell School for Orphans and Destitute from the City of London by way of the workhouses in Bow Road and Homerton. The City did not have a workhouse within its…

‘The lovingly made document includes the note “Don’t forget: eat every hour!”’ Archivists from around the country reveal how their favourite record could help research A little under 80 years ago nearly 10,000 children left their homes and families in Germany and its occupied territories, for what they believed would be a temporary stay in the UK. The majority were never to return as their families did not survive the Holocaust and settled either here or in the USA. It’s hard to imagine what a terrifying ordeal this separation from home must have been. This month, Kathrin Pierin, of the Jewish Museum London, tells us about one small exhibit that helps us understand a little more about the experience. Which document have you chosen? I have chosen a small hand-made…

A useful place to potentially track down regional resources is UK GDL, which has online projects relating to occupations (www.ukgdl.org.uk/category/ occupations). This leads to both obscure and well-known sites such as Ann Spiro’s Blacksmiths Index (blacksmiths.my  genwebs.com). Another great source is Genuki, which has specifically transcribed articles relating to ‘Absconding Apprentices’ from Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post (genuki.cs. ncl.ac.uk/DEV/DevonMisc/ParishApprentices.html). The first example is transcribed from an issue dated 2 January 1800: “Run away from his master, Mr Amos Govier, blacksmith, of Topsham, Edmund Chowne, his apprentice; he is about 5 feet 6 inches and half high, and nearly 20 year of age, brown hair, long nose, long-favoured, rather pock-ridden.” TheGenealogist has Apprenticeship and Master Records, 1710-1811 – the registers kept by the Board of Stamps extracted from TNA series IR 1. There’s also…

James Smith Black, a district superintendent for the Refuge Assurance Company in Whitby, applied for exemption on grounds of conscientious objection. His claim was soundly challenged by the military representative at his tribunal. Yet James argued his case well and the tribunal granted him an absolute exemption, providing he continued his volunteer work with the St John Ambulance, which they accepted as work of “national importance”. However, the military representative was unhappy with the decision and appealed to the county tribunal, who also found in favour of James and subsequently dismissed the appeal. At this point, the military representative took a course of action that seems underhanded. He appealed to the Central Tribunal in London without informing James and, crucially, without stating that exemption was on grounds of conscientious objection.…

1796 JENNER INOCULATES AGAINST SMALLPOX Doctor Edward Jenner deliberately infected a young boy with deadly smallpox in a tense moment in his country surgery in Gloucestershire. Eight-year-old James Phipps, the son of Jenner’s gardener, had previously been infected with pus from a relatively harmless cowpox pustule taken from the hands of a milkmaid. He had become mildly ill with cowpox but was fine after a week. On 1 July 1796, Jenner performed his historic experiment with smallpox and waited anxiously for days, but James did not go on to develop the disease, now or on the subsequent occasions when Jenner infected him with different doses. Jenner had proved both that cowpox could be passed from person to person (and not just from cow to person) and that it protected against…

1730 Josiah Wedgwood is born in Burslem to a family of potters. In 1759, he sets up his own pottery, soon becoming royal supplier of dinnerware. 1749 Aged 16, Josiah Spode is apprenticed to potter Thomas Whieldon. In 1776, he buys property in Stoke which will become the site of his English Spode works. 1769 The Etruria Works ceramics factory is opened by Josiah Wedgwood. It will remain open for 180 years. 1777 The 93-mile T and Mersey Canal is completed. The can which runs right by Wedgwood’s Etruria Works, means that china clay can be more easily transported from Cornwall. c1840 The vast Shelton Bar steelworks are established in Stoke-on-Trent. In its heyday, Shelton Bar employs an estimated 10,000 workers. 1842 The Pottery Riots break out in what is…

This month we have two complete directories, a burial database from the North Staffordshire Branch of the Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry and sample images from the city archives in Stoke-on-Trent together worth £35. Cope’s Staffordshire 1913 Cope’s Staffordshire Directory & Buyer’s Guide, 1913, is normally priced £10 from www.my-history.co.uk. The directory provides details of businesses throughout Staffordshire just before the First World War, with information arranged by business type within each town/city. Stoke-on-Trent has its own section in the directory, which is sub-divided by the various townships. Kelly’s Directory of Staffordshire 1888 Also from My History we have the vast Kelly’s Directory of Staffordshire from 1888, which usually costs £14.95. This not only covers the Potteries but all of historic Staffordshire and includes lists of residents,…

Who Do You Think You Are? Saturday 22 April, from 2pm Yesterday At the very earliest, it will be later in the year before there are any new episodes of WDYTYA? to enjoy. In the meantime, the UKTV network continues to re-run the series, including a weekend event in which Yesterday shows season 11, originally broadcast in 2014. It was a series that featured one of many fans’ favourite-ever episodes, the larger-than-life encounter between larger-than-life Brian Blessed and his own family history. The actor wasn’t interested in finding royal connections. “I’m looking for humanity!” he boomed as he set out on his family research. He found it in the 19th century story of Jabez Blessed, a workhouse orphan who overcame huge obstacles through a combination of “guts and courage and…

Scottish forebears Cheryl’s ancestry in North East England meant that some of her relatives came from Scotland. If you have Scottish roots, then www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk is a great source as it holds civil registration certificates, church records, census returns and more. 1 The website was recently relaunched and it is now possible to search for individuals for free although viewing the actual record will incur a cost. For Cheryl, we were able to find the death certificate for her 2x paternal great grandmother, Mary Ellen Tweedy (née Tully). Navigate to the homepage to begin. 2 Enter the name of the ancestor in the appropriate box. In this case we were looking for the death of Mary Ellen Tweedy so enter those details and press ‘Search’ to see what results appear. 3…

‘Their work is truly invaluable as they recorded all the dialogue and discussion’ Victorian reporters Alan Crosby pays tribute to the dedicated reporters who recorded council meetings attended by his ancestor The anonymous Victorian newspaper reporters who had the tedious job of attending meetings of Banbury Town Council and Banbury Local Board of Health have my gratitude. My family history research has involved working through 50 years of the weekly Banbury Guardian (happily, now online with Findmypast). My great great grandfather was a town councillor from 1859-86 and I’ve been looking at his political career, business interests and evidence that he was a good citizen (he gave money to local and national good causes and subscription lists for these appear in the paper). So, back to those reporters... it must…

AUTOSOMAL DNA DNA inherited on the autosomes: the 22 chromosomes which are not sex chromosomes. Inherited from both parents. CHROMOSOME A structure in a cell’s nucleus containing genetic material. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes: 22 autosome pairs and one pair of sex-chromosomes. Females have two X chromosomes. Males have an X and a Y chromosome. HAPLOGROUP A group of people who descend from the same branch of the human family tree. MITOCHONDRIAL DNA (mtDNA) DNA found in mitochondria – the power houses in our cells. mtDNA, passed from mother to child, can trace the maternal line. SHORT TANDEM REPEAT (STR) A repeating pattern in a DNA sequence. The number of repeats at a specific location is reported as a marker value. Standard Y-STR tests report results for 37 markers.…

Calling Blighty is a series of around 400 filmed messages to loved ones at home, shot in India, Burma and Malaya by the Army Kinematograph Service for the Directorate for Army Welfare for India between 1942 and 1944. Having been away for years in some cases, with unreliable post and telephone communications, personnel stationed in India and South East Asia Command (SEAC) felt they had become the ‘forgotten army’. Regiments from Manchester, Norwich, Worcester, Glasgow, Leicester, Brighton, Southampton and Northampton featured in the series. Calling Blighty films were shot either at the fighting front or in Bombay, from where the footage was processed and sent home for screening to invited family members in local cinemas. The press often reported the event, so it’s worth checking local newspaper records as well.…

Half a century ago, Stanley McGuire set about trying to unearth the truth behind a tantalising tale he’d been told by his father as a child, about an ancestor who had gone to America during the Gold Rush. His work has recently come to light and his daughter Joyce Fennell has made it her mission to track down the evidence he used to put it together. Joyce’s mother passed away 18 months ago, and while clearing out the family home Joyce discovered her father’s detailed story. “I was astounded. He’d written a 12-page article called The American Connection and I was absolutely amazed by what was in there. He was clearly keen to prove that the tales he’d been told growing up were true,” she says. “It was all new…

PAUL BLAKE co-wrote Discover Your Roots and is a Fellow of the Society of Genealogists (SoG). LYNNE CLEAVER is a member of the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (AGRA). SARA KHAN is the lead genealogist on the Who Do You Think You Are? BBC TV series. ANTONY MARR is a member of the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (AGRA). CHRIS PATON is a professional genealogist, author and blogger. ALAN STEWART is a family historian with 30 years of genealogy experience and author of Grow Your Own Family Tree. STEVE THOMAS is a genealogist with more than 20 years of experience and regularly appears on TV as an expert. PHIL TOMASELLI is a military family history expert and the author of Tracing Your Air Force Ancestors. ALISON…

The Liverpudlian actress, Sunetra Sarker, went on a journey to discover more about her Bengali heritage. One aspect of her story was learning more about the life of her great grandfather, Naresh Chandra Sengupta’s sister, Charuprabha Sengupta. She was involved in the Indian Nationalist movement in the 1930s and 1940s, was imprisoned for her beliefs, and even knew the giant of that movement, Mahatma Gandhi. We learnt about Charuprabha’s story through various sources. Firstly, one of Sunetra’s cousins had a copy of her diary and a biography published by the family itself which detailed her life. Local newspapers revealed more about her time in prison. These newspapers from Calcutta (modern day Kolkata) are held in The National Archives of Delhi (nationalarchives.nic. in) and Centre for Cultural Studies and Social Sciences in…

Address The address is the name of the street only – no house numbers or names are recorded. Name The handwriting here is pretty clear, but often the entries are inscribed in pencil and can be poorly written or may have faded. Age Ages over 15 have all been rounded down to the nearest five, so William Haynes was actually aged 35-39. Profession Occupations are nearly all abbreviated in some way. Mary Manton was a ‘Dress M’ (dress maker) and Arabella Brown a ‘Dress M Ap’ (dress maker’s apprentice). Mary Cook was a ‘FS’ (female servant) and John Dell was ‘Ind’ (of independent means). Charles Pelling was a ‘Painter J’ (painter journeyman), that is a worker who was employed by someone else (not someone who travelled around to work). Surname…

MILITARY TRIBUNAL RECORDS • North Yorkshire County Record Office North Yorkshire County Record Office, Northallerton DL7 8TB archivesunlocked.northyorks.gov.uk The catalogue of records for North Riding county tribunals can be found at the record office or online. • Staffordshire Record Office Eastgate Street, Stafford ST16 2LZ staffsnameindexes.org.uk Staffordshire tribunal records have also recently been discovered at Staffordshire County Record Office and the index is online at staffsnameindexes.org.uk. • Northamptonshire Archives Wootton Hall Park, Mereway, Northampton NN4 8BQ Northamptonshire tribunal records are held at Northamptonshire Archives, and the index can be accessed online via Findmypast (findmypast.co.uk). • Middlesex tribunal records nationalarchives.gov.uk One of the few surviving sources. • National Archives of Scotland nas.gov.uk The Lothian and Peebles tribunal records are held by the National Archives of Scotland. BACKGROUND RESEARCH •…

How long have you been doing your family history? I’ve been researching for 25 years. I’ve got back to 928. I’m very lucky in that I found a connection to heraldry, Sir John de Staunton from Leicestershire, and that took my tree back further. What had you managed to uncover before hitting your brickwall? William Vernon was my grandmother’s brother and February this year saw the 100th anniversary of his death from wounds at Rouen. My mother pointed out the local war memorial to me when I was a little boy and told me one of my great uncles was named on it, but I didn’t know which one and I never knew anything about him. It wasn’t until I started doing the family history and discovered the name Vernon…

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter Allison & Busby, 350 pages, £12.99 This is an incredible novel based on true events. Written as a story, which makes it easier reading than individual accounts, it is the tale of the Kurc family from 1939-1947. It's also the story of all the other Polish Jews who endured five years of hell during the German and Russian occupation of their country. At several important points there are separate dated summaries of what was happening in the Second World War at that time: the entry into the war of the Americans; the capitulation of Italy; and gradually the defeat of the Nazis. Radom, the town where the family lived, had a population of 30,000 Jews at the beginning of the war. Hundreds…

Versailles April BBC TWO It may not be the most subtle of historical dramas, but there’s no denying that Versailles, which focuses on events in the court of Louis XIV of France (1638-1715) in colourful fashion, is hugely entertaining. After a first series that traced how the Sun King consolidated power by forcing nobles to live at the lavish Palace of Versailles, once his father’s hunting lodge, the new episodes move the story forward four years to l’affaire des poisons (1677-82). This saw a number of prominent figures in French society accused of poisoning and witchcraft in a scandal that reached into the king’s inner circle and resulted in executions. George Blagden again stars as Louis and Alexander Vlahos as his deceptively effete brother, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans As…

I was very interested to read your Focus on the 1911 census article in the March issue. To see your ancestors’ own handwriting and signature makes it a really special resource for family historians. Therefore to find my great grandfather mentioned on two 1911 census returns is not only a family error but is also lucky for us, as it has provided a snapshot in time – we know exactly what my great grandfather was doing on 2 April 1911. His name was John Winter Baker (known as Winter) and he was a shepherd. On one 1911 census return he is visiting his father, Benjamin Baker aged 81, who is living with John’s sister, Sarah, and her husband, Harry Paternoster, in Benhall, Suffolk. Harry includes Winter on his return. On…

DNA testing is a very important tool for the family historian. It can help to verify your family tree and provide helpful clues to inform the future direction of your research. It can also sometimes help to break down those long-standing brick walls. DNA has the power to solve previously impossible cases. Foundlings, adoptees and donor-conceived individuals now have a very real chance of finding half-siblings and other close relations in the databases, which can lead to the identification of their biological parents. If you have a match with a second cousin, it means that you share the same great grandparents. It’s then just a question of tracing the descendants to identify a suitable candidate who was in the right place at the right time. Success stories are reported on…

There are a number of third-party tools that you can use with your raw autosomal DNA data. Most of the tools are free, but some sites offer extra features for a small subscription. GEDMATCH  www.gedmatch.com A free service that allows you to search for matches with people who have tested with other companies. Currently over 300,000 people have added their results to the database. GEDmatch has a chromosome browser and a variety of tools to help with the analysis of autosomal DNA data which are particularly useful for people who have tested at AncestryDNA. GEDmatch also provides many useful features including a selection of admixture calculators, an eye colour predictor, a GEDCOM comparison utility and a tool to see if your parents are related. DNAGEDCOM  dnagedcom.com This website provides free…

BFI NATIONAL ARCHIVE  www.bfi.org.uk/britain-on-film The BFI’s Britain On Film project launched in 2015; this ever-increasing online resource is a good first step into the world of archive film. Easy to search by region, time frame or subject; begin by exploring the map function. Many of the films here are also accessible via regional film archive websites but Britain On Film offers a novel way of discovering material from a wider area than that covered by the local archives. IRISH FILM INSTITUTE  ifiplayer.ie Irish Film Institute’s iplayer has a growing collection of films for online viewing. Search the catalogue, choose ‘Archive’ then the ‘Public access’ option. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND MOVING IMAGE ARCHIVE  movingimage.nls.uk The former Scottish Screen Archive founded in 1976 is held in Kelvin Hall, Glasgow. The website provides…

FAMILY ARCHIVES It’s worth checking if anyone in the family has any records or researched the branches you’re investigating. If you are ever involved in a house clearance, it’s important to recognise and preserve any family archives for future generations – hold onto any loose documents or pages of notes. If you can’t find a home for a late genealogist’s research, see if local archives or the Society of Genealogists ( s og.org.uk) will take it. USA FEDERAL CENSUSES These were first taken in 1790 and like their British counterparts were repeated every 10 years. From 1850 more detailed information was collected and the most recent USA census you can access is from 1940. They can be searched on Ancestry and Findmypast with a worldwide membership and on FamilySearch for…

Why was this group photo taken? bit.ly/2dK8wOH I found this photo among my parents’ pictures. The reverse states: “Photo: E Simmons, Herne Bay.” I am intrigued by the two women seated in white in the centre as they stand out so much. The man seated in the middle on the left seems to have a sergeant’s badge on his arm, the man next to him has a thin striped armband. Some have what looks like a flower in their lapel, some a badge or button on a ribbon. Can anyone offer ideas as to who this group of people might be, what they did, where the picture may have been taken and approximate date? Lettice99 Eva Hart, born 1848, Manchester bit.ly/2nrJAEZ My great great grandfather Reuben Bromwich, b1832 Warwick, married…

“I wouldn’t describe myself as an expert on apprenticeship records, although I sometimes need to find them, and GenGuide, Peter Humphries’ website has a useful overview (www.genguide.co.uk/source/www.genguide.co.uk/source/apprenticeship-agreements-trade-occupations/102apprenticeship-agreements-trade-occupations/102). It’s clearly written, giving enough information to understand the nature and sources of different records, but not overwhelming with detail. It describes apprenticeships of various kinds; standard apprenticeships, apprenticeships to the City of London livery companies and the King’s Freemen (often forgotten), and the records associated with each type. The site also gives a list of books on the subject; links to articles with further information and CD-Roms. What is most useful is the summary of the major repositories and their holdings with links to their websites and online records, making this a user-friendly, one-stop shop for the novice, for those who only…

Weekly practise The dates given in the first column show that these smallpox vaccinations were carried out once a week in Glasgow. Cross-check The address of the child allows a useful means to cross-reference for siblings who may also have been vaccinated. Browse names The child’s name is given in the second column. The records are not keyword searchable, and must therefore be browsed. Fruitful procedure The final column shows whether the vaccination was successful. After 1864, birth registers similarly recorded the words ‘vaccinated’ or ‘insusceptible’ in their margins. Start them young The child’s age is given in the third column. This reveals that most vaccinations were carried out within the first six months of a child’s life. Health costs A summary of payments made to the physician responsible are…

INSTITUTIONS • Anatomical Museum www.ed.ac.uk/ biomedical-sciences/anatomy/overview Based in Edinburgh University’s Medical School, the museum hosts a collection dating back to 1798, including life and death masks and the largest 3D medical hologram ever made. The website also hosts an online tour. • National Records of Scotland nrscotland.gov.uk The NRS is Scotland’s national archive with many collections of interest to consult in its Historic Search Room, and within the ScotlandsPeople Centre. • Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Glasgow rcpsg.ac.uk The college’s library is open to anyone wishing to conduct research, although you must call in advance to make an appointment. A dedicated library blog is also available at libraryblog.rcpsg.ac.uk. BOOKS • Tracing Your Medical Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians…

During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, canal mania swept across Britain. It fuelled the emerging Industrial Revolution and led thousands of people to invest in canal companies. Their main aim was to transport goods and raw materials cheaply and efficiently. Fortunes were made and lost with some companies running successful canals, while others failed to complete construction. At its peak in the 19th century, Britain’s inland waterways system provided a national network of over 4,500 miles, much the same as motorways today. One horse could pull a narrowboat loaded with up to 50 tonnes and sometimes a ‘butty’ boat would be towed behind to carry more cargo. Carrying companies, operating the wider northern waterways, built boats suited to transporting the vast amounts of coal needed to supply the…

SOLDIERS’ EFFECTS REGISTER This is a useful resource if you have an ancestor who died during the First World War, as William did. It was created by the War Office to record the money owed to soldiers who died and includes next of kin and other details. You can access the records 1901-29 on Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk) and 1901-1960 at the National Army Museum (www.nam.ac.uk). ELECTORAL REGISTERS Taken annually, these are great records for tracking down missing ancestors or following their movements between censuses as they include exact addresses. However, only individuals eligible to vote will appear. Both Ancestry and Findmypast (findmypast.co.uk) host substantial collections of these from across the country. WAR DIARIES Where they still exist, these are held at The National Archives, but there is an ongoing project to…

Each month we look at the regional resources that can help you find your forebears The Clean Air Act of 1956 “sounded the death knell for the smoky coal-fired oven” The Potteries in North Staffordshire is an industrial area originally made up of six towns – Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall. Today, these six towns form distinct districts of modern Stoke-on-Trent. The ceramic industry flourished here during the Industrial Revolution. As the six towns grew, fuelled by coal mining and aided by the opening of the Trent and Mersey Canal in 1777, hundreds of the distinctive bottle kiln chimneys were built. According to the website the potteries.org, it is calculated that in its heyday there were around 4,000 bottle kilns in the area, although the Clean Air Act of…

London’s Hidden Burial Grounds by Robert Bard and Adrian Miles (Amberley, £14.99) Over the centuries, many of London’s burial grounds have been developed, built over and forgotten. Some of them now lie under children’s playgrounds, gardens or car parks. Bard and Miles set out to locate these long-lost graveyards, which are often found in the most unlikely places. Victorian and Edwardian Nottingham Through Time by Joseph Earp (Amberley, £14.99) This fascinating book guides you through the changing face of Nottingham with a collection of then-and-now pictures. A great way to explore the streets and experience the sights that your Victorian and Edwardian ancestors would have known so well. The Tartan Turban: In Search of Alexander Gardner by John Keay (Kashi House, £25) Gardner was a 19th century Scots-American traveller, adventurer…