Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2019 i Who Do You Think You Are?

The chance to play detective is one of the many things I love about researching my family history. I’ve spent years searching for people in the census, and I’m delighted to share some of the tips I have learned along the way (see page 18). It really is worth trying to find people in every census, and should form the backbone of your research. We’ve also got a fascinating insight into how companies come up with the ethnicity report you get with the results of your DNA test (page 26), as well as our usual mix of practical features ranging from prisoners (page 49) to performers (page 63). And those of you feeling a little bit romantic this month will enjoy the history of Valentine’s Day cards on page 70.…

The Mass Observation Project (mass obs.org.uk) is appealing for former Mass Observers from the 1980s to get in touch. Mass Observation was a major anthropological project that began in 1937. The project’s organisers recruited volunteers to record their daily lives in diaries, creating a portrait of life in Britain during the 1930s and the Second World War. The project was revived in the early 1980s. The Mass Observation Team is now collaborating with academic publisher Adam Matthew Digital to digitise more of the project’s archives, which are held by the University of Sussex, and is seeking feedback from former Mass Observers about the project. If you or someone you know contributed to Mass Observation between 1980 and 1989, please email moa@sussex.ac.uk.…

The Cumberland & Westmorland Herald reported an unusual discovery at a cottage in Kirkby Stephen. The cottage was formerly occupied by a woman named Mary Hopper, who had been admitted to Garlands Asylum nine years ago. Her maintenance fees were paid out of her savings, but the money had run out. When the cottage was searched, “£100 was found secreted and a large assortment of valuable silk, table linen, etc” – enough to cover the fees.…

Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst is now commemorated in the city of her birth after a statue was unveiled in St Peter’s Square, Manchester. The ceremony took place on 14 December 2018, the 100th anniversary of the first election in Britain in which women could vote. Pankhurst was chosen by a public vote from a list of 20 historic Manchester women. At the event Emmeline’s great granddaughter Helen Pankhurst commented that the statue showed Emmeline beckoning campaigners on “because despite all the progress in women’s lives, there is still work to be done”.…

Finding your ancestors in the census is one of the great joys of family history. From 1841 to 1911, the ten-yearly snapshots enable you to follow someone’s progression through life. If your searches run smoothly you will find them at home with their parents and siblings as a child, then discover them as a young adult forging a career (or making ends meet). Later you may find them married and with their own children, so the process continues with the next generation. The census forms the bedrock of 19th- and early 20th-century research for family historians, so it can be especially frustrating when you can’t find someone in a particular year. Sometimes it can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. And who knows what that missing entry…

Two other types of DNA do not recombine, so are passed down the generations in a near-unaltered state. Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) is only carried by men, and is passed from a father to his sons. As such it tracks male descent only. However, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is found within every nucleic cell in our body, since it provides the energy to make it function, and is passed from a mother to her children, both male and female. Because these types of DNA are never broken, they can be used to track the migration and origin of specific lineages, although Y-DNA represents only a very small portion of a man’s total genome so cannot be used to infer large population movements. Admixture using autosomal DNA is much more representative for this…

TESTS 23 ANDME w 23andme.com/en-gb 23andMe supplies a report on estimated recent ancestor locations plus a Neanderthal ancestry report. ANCESTRYDNA w ancestry.co.uk/dna Ancestry has the largest database, so is great for cousin-matching. FAMILY TREE DNA w familytreedna.com Only Family Tree DNA tests against ancient populations, from hunter-gatherers to Iron Age peoples. FINDMYPAST w findmypast.co.uk/ancestry-dna-testing FMP has partnered with Living DNA, and has a growing database. LIVING DNA w livingdna.com Living DNA is currently the best test for a detailed British breakdown. MYHERITAGE w myheritage.com/dna MyHeritage has particularly good reference populations for Europe. WEBSITES GRANDPARENTAL INHERITANCE w bit.ly/genome-grandparents Graham Coop, a geneticist, blogs on the topic, “How much of your genome do you inherit from a particular grandparent?” INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF GENETIC GENEALOGY w isogg.org/wiki This wiki is a great place…

ANTHONY ADOLPH is a genealogist, and wrote Tracing Your Aristocratic Ancestors DAVE ANNAL is an AGRA member and a former TNA principal family history specialist JACQUI KIRK is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists MARGARET MCGREGOR is a member of AGRA with a particular interest in wills JAYNE SHRIMPTON is a professional dress historian and portrait specialist ALAN STEWART is a family historian and author of Grow Your Own Family Tree RUTH SYMES is the author of Tracing Your Ancestors Through Letters & Personal Writings PHIL TOMASELLI is a military family history expert, and wrote Tracing Your Air Force Ancestors SIMON WILLS is a maritime genealogist, researcher and author How did the English press learn of my ancestor’s death in Russia? Q My ancestor William Pennock, a master…

How could ordinary ancestors acquire so much property? Q My 5x great grandfather Richard Eastop died in 1817, aged 63, which puts his birth date as 1754. He was a butcher in Old Gravel Lane, Stepney, where his children were born. His first marriage, in 1777, was to Hannah Ward. She died, and he married Mary Ward in 1787 – I am guessing that Mary was Hannah’s sister. Richard died in Blue Anchor Road, Bermondsey. I have a copy of his will, proved in 1817. It includes bequests of property to Mary, who died the following year – The Times , in September 1818, has details of this property, up for auction. The property comprised a copyhold brick-built dwelling house and butcher’s shop in Old Gravel Lane; two freehold properties…

The 1857 Industrial Schools Act encouraged the establishment of certified industrial schools, where children aged 7–14 years old who were convicted of vagrancy could be placed until they were 16 to receive a basic education. Essex Industrial School and Home for Destitute Boys opened in two converted houses in Great Baddow, Chelmsford, in 1872. The school’s admission register is now stored in Essex Record Office (ERO). As Hannah Salisbury, ERO engagement and events manager, explains, it sheds a fascinating light on the stories of the boys to whom the school provided some much-needed shelter. CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE REGISTER? The first thing that comes to mind when describing this volume is that it has been very well used! It is clearly a working document, and records the admission of boys…

BOOKS Tithe Surveys for Historians by Roger JP Kain and Hugh C Prince Phillimore, 2000 Although it’s out of print, this title is by far the best printed resource. It explains the tithe system, the 1836 Act, the documents that it generated, and the use that can be made of the surveys and the records. WEBSITES HOW TO LOOK FOR RECORDS OF TITHES’ w nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/tithes This free online guide to the tithe system and its documentation is highly recommended, although the focus is understandably on the holdings at TNA. TITHE MAPS OF WALES w library.wales/collections/learn-more/maps/tithe-maps-of-wales/the-tithe-maps-and-schedules This guide from the National Library of Wales is less comprehensive than TNA’s, but highlights the specific challenges and limitations of Welsh tithe documentation, and there are useful links to additional resources.…

Cabbie by Alf Townsend Sutton Publishing, 2003 A taxi driver gives a history of the trade in his memoir, which the History Press republished as The London Cabbie in 2007. Cab, Sir? by Herbert Hodge Michael Joseph, 1939 Hodge was a taxi driver and radio personality. The History of the London Cab Trade by Philip Warren Taxi Trade Promotions, 1995 This chronicle runs from the 17th century to the present day. The Horse-World of London by WJ Gordon Religious Tract Society, 1893 Freely available at archive.org, this book includes a chapter on the cab horse.…

When we think of musical celebrities, we tend to think of singers and musicians. But composers’ stories are often just as interesting. One example is Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who was born in London to a British mother and a father who hailed from Freetown in Sierra Leone. Coleridge-Taylor grew up in Croydon, where he was taught violin by his grandfather. After studying at the Royal College of Music, the young composer soon became a musical celebrity thanks to his trilogy of cantatas, known collectively as The Song of  Hiawatha and written between 1898 and 1900. Based on Longfellow’s 1855 epic poem of the same name, they relate the adventures of a Native American warrior. Hiawatha became one of the most-performed choral pieces in Britain. Coleridge-Taylor was acutely aware of his unusual…

BOOKS A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1600–1800 PH Highfill, KA Burnim and EA Langhans Southern Illinois University Press This 16-volume work covers hundreds of early performers. Nineteenth-Century Theatrical Memoirs Claudia D Johnson and Vernon E Johnson Greenwood Press, 1982 This useful reference work lists more than 400 memoirs penned by British and American performers. Who’s Who in the Theatre John Parker Pitman, 1939 The ninth edition of this biographical dictionary can be viewed on archive.org. WEBSITES NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY w npg.org.uk You can find thousands of images of performers in the gallery’s online catalogue. OXFORD DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY w oxforddnb.com The ODNB is available through most libraries. UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL THEATRE COLLECTION w bristol.ac.uk/theatre-collection This is…

Click ‘View content’ at whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/bonuscontent and enter JMSDHN . Data is available for 3 months from 15.01.19. FAQs: bit.ly/Bonus_Guide SURREY DIRECTORIES Genealogy supplier My History (my-history.co.uk) has provided two trade directories this month. Ward’s Commercial & General Croydon Directory 1894 lists residents and businesses across the former Surrey borough, and is normally £12.95 on CD or £9.95 as a download. There is also Pullinger’s Epsom, Ewell & Ashtead Directory 1922, worth £9.95 on CD or £6.95 as a download. Like the older directory, the file is fully searchable. EAST SURREY FHS RESOURCES East Surrey Family History Society (eastsurreyfhs.org.uk ) has supplied three exclusive resources this month. As well as a copy of its June 2018 journal (worth £1.50), readers can access two collections of transcribed records: Camberwell, St Giles, Register…

DNA TRAVEL: A GENETIC JOURNEY  iTunes and SoundCloud Free In this episode of the podcast The Rough Guide to Everywhere, Rebecca Hallett looks at the phenomenon of DNA travel – travelling overseas to visit the places where your DNA comes from – and tries a 23andMe DNA test herself. CORNWALL 1823 AND 1844 PIGOT’S DIRECTORY w genealogysupplies.com £5 Trace your early Cornish ancestors with this download from S&N Genealogy containing two editions of one of the most important trade directories of the 19th century. Pigot’s Directory includes local listings of nobility, gentry, clergy and professions, as well as transport, education and public services information, and listings of public houses. TRELLO Android and iOS Free (with in-app purchases) This new project management app has lots of useful features for organising your…

ALASDAIR MACDONALD AND GRAHAM HOLTON Tutors in the Department of Genealogical Studies at Strathclyde University, Alasdair and Graham unravel the truth about DNA test ethnicity results on page 26. ANNA MARIA BARRY Anna is a research assistant at the Royal College of Music Museum, and shares some of her research experience on page 63 so that you can find your performing ancestors. FELICITY DAY Felicity is a writer specialising in the history of the Georgian era, the time when our ancestors first fell in love with the Valentine’s Day card. She tells the story on page 70.…

1828 Irish protestant petition published online The Irish Genealogical Research Society has added the Balteagh Regium Donum Petition of 1828 to its database. The petition was sent by the Presbyterian congregation of Balteagh in Co. Derry/Londonderry, in an unsuccessful attempt to claim a share of the Regium Donum (‘Royal Bounty’) Fund. The document lists approximately 200 families and their members, totalling 1,023 names. The database can be searched at bit.ly/regium-donum, although the full records are only available to society members. TheGenealogist adds Newgate Prison registers TheGenealogist (thegenealogist.co.uk) has added 150,000 more records from the Newgate Prison registers to its Court and Criminal Records collection. The records, stored in The National Archives’ series HO26, list prisoners held from 1791 to 1849, and include the date of trial, the crime, any aliases…

American non-profit group Reclaim the Records has published the 1881–1965 New York State Marriage Index online. The group, which uses Freedom of Information (FOI) laws to obtain important family history records, gained the index through an FOI request to the New York State Department of Health. It has now published images of the index on the Internet Archive at bit.ly/nymarriages. The records list the names of brides and grooms, and the dates and places of marriage. They also include an identification number that can be used to request a copy of the original marriage licence or certificate for a fee. Marriage licences are considered open to the public after 50 years. However, the records exclude New York City, as well as Albany, Buffalo and Yonkers before 1914/1915.…

More than 536,000 marriage licences from 15 English counties have been digitised on findmypast.co.uk. The original records were copied in volumes published by the College of Arms, Anguline Research Archives and Gould Genealogy, which have now been indexed by Findmypast. The earliest records in the collection date from 1115, while the latest date from 1906. They cover locations including London, Devon and Yorkshire. Marriage licences waived the banns period necessary for a marriage to take place. They were obtained from the Church of England for a fee and with a sworn declaration that there were no legal impediments to the marriage. If you find a marriage licence for your ancestors in the collection, you could potentially discover details such as where they lived, the date of the licence, the name…

Last summer I changed my appearance. I grew a beard. The reactions were mixed: words like ‘suave’, ‘distinguished’ and ‘fetching’ were occasionally used, mostly by me, while my daughter (for example) simply said “Oh my God” when she saw it. The main problem is that – how do I put this – the colour tends towards the paler end of the spectrum. It’s an age thing, and there’s not much I can do about it – apart from to resume the inexpressible tedium of daily shaving, of course. ‘It seems as if hirsuteness was a powerful force’ So, what about my male forebears? My mother’s father was steadfastly clean-shaven, but quite a few of the men of the family opted for a moustache. Some, like great grandfather John, had a…

Unfortunately, the testing of present-day populations to infer population differentiation, migration and origin has significant limitations. However, very recent developments in technology mean that ancient human remains can now be sequenced faster, more effectively and on a much larger scale. In the future it is likely that the analysis of ancient remains several millennia old will provide data that will be fed into admixture tests bundled with genetic genealogy products. In fact this is already beginning to happen. Family Tree DNA offers an ancient origins report, which is based on matches from ancient archaeological remains, mainly from Europe. This categorises your ancestors as hunter-gatherers, farmers or Iron Age invaders from 50,000–20,000 years ago, although how helpful this approach is in predicting your ancestor’s location 500 years ago (for example) has…

Old black-and-white photographs can provide essential clues for family historians. They can also become tantalising enigmas, as Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine reader Alan Fraser discovered. In around 2006, Alan was sent an old photograph of an elderly lady standing proudly by a uniformed airman. “The lady was my grandmother, Mary Fraser (née Sargeant), who I never met,” Alan explains. “But I had no idea who the serviceman was.” ‘I was astonished to discover that Dad was one of 12’ Intriguingly, the image was captioned, “John McGeachie, shot down over Germany in 1943.” The name didn’t ring any bells for Alan, and he was keen to discover what had happened to this tragic serviceman. However, Alan’s mission led to a trail of mistaken identities that were only resolved…

You might think that there is no difference between these two terms, and indeed many people use them interchangeably to mean the study of one’s ancestry. However, the Society of Genealogists points out that there is a difference between the two terms. Genealogy, strictly speaking, is the discipline of building a family tree, through finding evidence from the study of sources as to how generations are linked. However, family history is the writing of ancestors’ biographies – a study not only of relations, but also of the communities they lived in, placing them in their wider social context.…

What regiment were these soldiers in? Q Could you help identify the regiment of these soldiers? The one sitting is James Henry Roberts, born 7 December 1879 in Perth, Western Australia. He arrived in Southampton on 16 May 1914, enlisted in the British Army and presumably served in France, but I don’t know which regiment. He returned to Australia in 1919. He sent this postcard to my cousin’s grandfather. The message on the reverse says, “To brother Fred – somewhere in France from brother Jim, somewhere in France.” I haven’t found him in any of the service records. Bob Shaw A This is a studio photo of a British and an Australian soldier, taken in 1917 or 1918. The British soldier is a private, probably from the Middlesex or Suffolk…

By the 19th century the old system of punishment in England, famed for whippings, brandings, execution and penal transportation abroad, was beginning to change in favour of a system of imprisonment. By the 1850s England had one of the most extensive penal estates in the world, with more prisons in London than anywhere else, leaving behind hundreds of thousands of fascinating records. The Digital Panopticon (digitalpanopticon.org) is a fantastic free resource for those looking to find transcriptions of records for London prisoners between 1780 and 1925. The site allows users to search records by name, keyword and a range of other personal details. You can search the entire database for those sentenced to imprisonment, or select particular records if you already know your time period or prison of interest. Records…

Cabmen were first licensed in Oliver Cromwell’s era, in a 1654 ‘Ordinance for the Regulation of Hackney-Coachmen in London and the Places Adjacent’. Hackney carriages were so called because Hackney, at that time on the outskirts of London, was where horses were raised before being sold to the cab trade. ‘Hackney hell carts’ could be found in the yards of principal inns. However, Hackney ranks on main thoroughfares gradually took over, particularly after an Act of George III forbade coaches to wait for hire in any place but licensed ranks. In a demonstration of class privilege, the laws made hackney coachmen liable to a fine of £5 for “not giving way to persons of quality and gentleman’s coaches”. Hackney coachmen, or ‘jarveys’, prided themselves on being dashing fellows – they…

Everyone has a cache of old family photos, and you’ve probably already scanned them into your computer to preserve as digital copies. But in the rush to archive them, you might have missed a trick. Many photos aren’t perfect, and while image editors like Photoshop can improve them, you’re hamstrung by the quality of the digital copy. Now is an excellent time to revisit the scanning process. By scanning your photo at a higher resolution you’ll preserve more detail from the original snap, allowing you to print larger copies and improve any further editing you perform in your image editor. Better still, depending on the scanning tool that you use, you may be able to perform more corrections at the scanning stage, such as compensating for underexposed images. Again, by…

1 VENUE If you know the name of a place where your ancestor performed, you can look to see if any venue records survive. 2 SOCIAL HISTORY Theatrical memorabilia can offer fascinating insights into the age. For example, this playbill includes a note that the Dress Circle will no longer be lit by gas. Gas lighting came to the London stage in 1817, but some audiences were worried about gas escaping as well as the increased heat. 3 DATE OF PERFORMANCE Use this to search newspaper databases for reviews. Depending on the publication, reviews might be published daily, weekly or monthly. 4 PRODUCTION What was your ancestor performing? Sometimes the name of a popular song, play or act is given. 5 CREDITS The more famous actors are listed at the…

Between the 16th and 18th centuries, thousands of French Protestants crossed the Channel to escape persecution. Most commonly known as Huguenots, the refugees settled in a number of British cities, assimilating into society while maintaining their own culture and traditions. Although the survival of records outside of London can be patchy, a number of sources can be used to determine whether you have Huguenot ancestry. This includes the church registers and naturalisation records published in the Huguenot Society of Great Britain’s Quarto Series, plus the wealth of genealogical material available in the Huguenot Library at The National Archives in Kew (see huguenotsociety.org.uk). However, tracing the origins of a Huguenot forebear in France is a bit trickier. This month, Peter Thompson reveals how years of struggling to learn more about his…

Jonathan King was born into the valentines trade. His father (also named Jonathan) owned a stationer’s shop in Euston. Initially valentines were a sideline, but his mother Clarissa had a talent for design and her handcrafted cards proved popular. Jonathan joined them in the business at the age of 12. In 1861 he married his wife Emily; a surviving card, which concealed numerous romantic messages and a gilded wedding ring, suggests he proposed with a valentine of his own. They went on to have 15 children, giving one the middle name ‘Valentine’. In 1869 the couple took over the family business, moving it to Islington where ‘The Fancy Valentine Shop’ was patronised by the cream of Victorian society. Their cards were some of the most intricate and innovative on the…

A fascinating addition to the archives at the Surrey History Centre (SHC) in Woking is a collection of letters written by Lady Mary Wallis. In 1925 ‘Molly’ married her cousin-in-law Barnes Neville Wallis, the inventor of the bouncing bomb used in the Dambusters raids of May 1943. The letters, written to her closest female friend, offer a vivid and intimate glimpse into family life in the 20th century. “From sex and contraception to cooking, gardening and household chores, almost every subject is discussed,” says Julian Pooley, manager of the SHC. ‘The website has hundreds of pages on people and places’ Molly’s comments on politics and the world are often very direct. Her view of Winston Churchill, for example, fluctuated from “wonderful” during the war, to “silly old Mr Churchill” for…

BASHFORD This Bassford variant is found all over England, but is most common in Surrey. GUNNER From the Old Norse names Gunvor and Gunnarr, Gunner is also a common occupational name in Surrey and London. KILLICK London (24 per cent) and Surrey (23 per cent) boast the highest concentration of Killicks in the 1891 census. LONGHURST This habitational name originates from various places, and essentially means a ‘long wooded hill’. It is most common in London and south-east England in general. SKILTON This is a variant of a habitational name thought to originate in the north of England, but 36 per cent of all of the Skiltons recorded in the 1891 census lived in Surrey. SMITHERS This patronymic is common around Guildford and Kingston upon Thames. STRUDWICK This name originates…

What inspired you to write the book? It’s a subject that’s haunted me ever since I was a kid. My mother and father were getting on a bit when I was born. They both came from huge Edwardian families, so I grew up going to a lot of family gatherings. I have very vivid memories of being a kid in very old-fashioned houses with ancient furniture and dim lights, and elderly relatives talking about true crime. I just found that these scary stories stick with you. How is writing for a mainstream audience different from writing academically? I started to blog a few years ago (at stephenjcarver.com ), and that started out as a way of showcasing academic publications. I needed more content when I ran out of that stuff,…

AFTER-TRIAL CALENDARS OF PRISONERS Early in the programme, Danny discovered that his great great grandmother, Mary Ann Buttivant, was prosecuted at the Old Bailey for concealing a birth. The details are recorded in the After-Trial Calendars of Prisoners for the Central Criminal Court, which are available to view on both ancestry.co.uk and findmypast.co.uk. The crime took place in 1895, when Mary was just 17. WORKHOUSE REGISTER A few years earlier, Mary’s parents – Albert and Ann Buttivant – had to spend time in the workhouse when they fell into financial difficulties. Many workhouse registers from London have been digitised on ancestry.co.uk, including this example for Mile End Workhouse, showing Albert’s admission on 6 November 1893. WILL FROM THE 17TH CENTURY Danny also learned that one of his Suffolk ancestors, Robert…

These days racing cyclists are a common sight on our roads, whether for fun, for charity or as part of a more serious competition. However, this wasn’t the case in 1869 when villagers in northern England saw a man sitting on a strange, two-wheeled metal contraption speeding along the pothole-marked roads mostly used by horses and carts. They would have been even more shocked if they’d known he was on his way from London to Edinburgh on what was the first ever endurance feat of its type. ‘One time when something went wrong he had to go to a blacksmith to get it fixed’ The man was Robert Klamroth. Born in 1840 in Cottbus, northeast Germany, he had already made one great journey to the UK from his homeland, for…

DNA INSPIRATION Thank you for Debbie Kennett’s article regarding DNA testing kits (December). I have been intrigued by the idea of getting a test to further my research into my family tree, but I haven’t yet taken the plunge. I mistakenly believed that the test only showed geographical information regarding my ancestors. As my tree is localised within the north-east and Cumbria (my paternal side for six generations, and my maternal side for nine generations), I wasn’t sure there was reason for me to do it. Some have emigrated to Canada and Australia, but most stayed close to where they were born. Now I understand that DNA tests can also link you to individuals already in the company’s database, I might add one to my Christmas list. The information in…

EAST GRANDMA, WHAT DID YOU DO IN THE WAR? 6 February a Salvation Army Citadel, Peterborough w peterborofhs.org.uk/ Annual-Programme.php e secretarypdfhs@gmail.com Peterborough & District Family History Society presents this illustrated talk by local historian John Dewis on the vital military and civilian work carried out by women in the First World War. £2 for non-members. LONDON TRACING YOUR NORTHERN ANCESTORS: THE NORTH EAST & CUMBRIA FOR FAMILY HISTORIANS 2 February a Society of Genealogists, Clerkenwell w bit.ly/sog-north-anc t 020 7553 3290 Keith Gregson gives an overview of the history and heritage of the north-east and the different types of records that can help with your family history research, including legal and ecclesiastical archives; birth and death certificates; local government records; and work, school and club records. £20. MIDLANDS NOTTINGHAMSHIRE EMIGRANTS TO…

It is difficult to overstate just how much family history has changed over the past 20 years. While there is a certain romance to visiting your local library and rifling through records on microfiche, the internet has made the hobby much quicker and easier for all. Through large-scale digitisation projects and the rise of subscription websites, rare record sets once buried away are available to anyone at the click of a button. But what many researchers don’t realise is that a great deal of records are only searchable thanks to the hard work of volunteers. Although machines can scan pages and read printed text (both to varying degrees of success), living, breathing humans often have to decipher the handwritten scribbles to make them truly accessible – by transcribing the entire…

Last year, millions of people who had taken an AncestryDNA test discovered that their ‘ethnicity’ results had been updated. The company explained that it had refined its models, enabling it to give more accurate results. But how do DNA testing companies calculate your ethnic make-up, and how accurate is it? Can the results you gain from these tests be used to inform your family history research, or is it just a gimmick? We headed to the University of Strathclyde and asked Alasdair Macdonald and Graham Holton, who are tutors on two new short online courses about genetic genealogy (see page 29), some searching questions. What is ethnicity testing? Ethnicity testing is an aspect of DNA testing that has received a lot of publicity and attracted many of the millions who…

The university’s Centre for Lifelong Learning runs two short online courses on DNA testing for family history – ‘Genetic Genealogy: An Introduction’ and ‘Understanding Autosomal DNA Testing for Genealogy: A Beginner’s Guide’. These last for eight weeks, and you can receive accreditation by successfully completing two optional assessments. The centre also offers online postgraduate courses in genealogical studies, which include genetic genealogy. Find out more at strath.ac.uk/studywithus/centreforlifelonglearning/genealogy/geneticgenealogycoursesresearch.…

AMERICAN AIR MUSEUM w americanairmuseum.com The website of the American Air Museum in Britain, based at IWM Duxford, profiles Americans who served during the Second World War. You can create your own memorial to a family member here. ANCESTRY w ancestry.co.uk The genealogical website has yearbooks from American schools with pupils’ photos and short biographies. KEEPING MEMORIES ALIVE w aerosteles.net/en Alan discovered his cousin’s fate on this site, which details French memorials relating to aviation.…

Could this photo show my great great grandfather? QI believe that this image, which I think has been ‘touched up’, is of my great great grandfather, John McNeill (1855–1912). He was a master joiner, born in Dunoon, and died in Glasgow. It was produced by Mendelssohn & Co in Melbourne, Victoria, which opened in 1880, and John lived in Melbourne in early 1881. In addition, on the back of the image is the name “McNeill”. The image was previously owned by John Duncan McNeil, the eldest son of John McNeill. Looking at his clothes, could this photo be from around 1881? Richard MacNeil, via the WDYTYA? Magazine Forum A This is an enlarged, retouched photograph. Regular studio photographs were usually small prints, but most commercial photographic…

AYLESBURY GAOL w bit.ly/aylesbury-gaol The Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies’ site has a database of prisoners entering Aylesbury Gaol in the 1870s drawn from receiving books. BATH ANCESTORS w bathancestors.org.uk The information on this database is taken from sources such as quarter session minutes, police photo books and house of correction records. INVERARAY JAIL w inverarayjail.co.uk/our-history You can search a database of records of more than 4,000 former prisoners at this website. LANCASTER CASTLE w lancastercastle.com This site has information about the castle’s history as a place of punishment, as well as a database of inmates tried at Lancaster Assizes. PROCEEDINGS OF THE OLD BAILEY w oldbaileyonline.org This fascinating free database details 197,745 criminal trials held at London’s central criminal court from 1674 to 1913. You can search by various fields,…

1 LANDOWNERS The far-left column lists landowners: Penelope Box owned the 10 parcels that were itemised under numbers 68–81, but only occupied the house at number 68. 2 OCCUPIERS The second column lists occupiers: Philip Box (Penelope’s son) was tenant of the other nine parcels, which were agricultural land and included a cottage. 3 PARCEL 33 The buildings and land here were the new Buckingham Union Workhouse, owned by the board of guardians of the Poor Law union. 4 JOHN SHEPPARD Philip Box was also the freeholder of parcels 91–94. However, he let these to a tenant, John Sheppard, who is listed as the occupier. 5 PARCELS The parcel numbers cross-reference with those shown on the map; note that they are not in consecutive numerical order. 6 A PAIR OF…

Cabbing was a respectable and well-recognised occupation. Cabbies will certainly have stated their occupation on marriage certificates and in census records, available at ancestry.co.uk, thegenealogist.co.uk and findmypast.co.uk. The London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) has created a helpful free leaflet on licensing: bit.ly/lma-cab-records. Unfortunately, records of drivers are kept for only six years after the licence holder has retired or died. The LMA holds some records of the London Hackney Proprietors Benevolent Fund (ACC/ 3563). These cover 1873–1896 but deal only with proprietors of hackney carriages, some of whom will also have been drivers. You could also write to the letters page of a trade newspaper if you want to know more about a former cabbie. The Cab Driver (thecabdriver.co.uk ) has been running since 1921, while Taxi , the fortnightly magazine…

BRITISH NEWSPAPER ARCHIVE w britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk Also available via findmypast.co.uk, the British Newspaper Archive provides access to millions of pages of historic publications, including The Era and The Stage – both of which are rich in details of performers. SEARCH FOR THEATRICAL ANCESTORS (STAR) w ellenterryarchive.hull.ac.uk/star This free website brings searchable online data together from a number of different theatrical archives across the UK, including the Ellen Terry and Edith Craig database, which contains about 20,000 items alone. V&A COLLECTIONS w collections.vam.ac.uk The V&A’s collections database allows users to view objects relating to performance of all kinds, including programmes and playbills. You can also search the Theatre & Performance Archives catalogue on the site.…

1 Go to en.geneanet.org/fonds/individus, enter details of the ancestor you wish to find and click on the ‘Search’ button. You may be prompted to create a free Geneanet account. 2 Some of the results may be in the site’s premium records, compared with free-to-view family trees. To filter your search just to show the latter, uncheck the ‘Archives’ box. 3 Click a result to see an ancestor’s profile page. As ever, treat public trees with caution, and try to check the sources for yourself. You can also contact a tree’s owner to ask questions.…

BOOK The Valentine and Its Origins  by Frank Staff Lutterworth, 1969 Staff’s book is the definitive history of Valentine’s Day cards. MUSEUMS MUSEUM OF LONDON a 150 London Wall, London EC2Y 5HN t 020 7001 9844 w museumoflondon.org.uk The museum holds more than 1,500 valentines made by the King family between 1840 and 1890, all digitised and online. THE POSTAL MUSEUM a 15–20 Phoenix Place, London WC1X 0DA t 0300 030 0700 w postalmuseum.org The museum holds the archives of the General Post Office, which include details of how staff managed the challenges of Valentine’s Day. It also has valentines in its collection. YORK CASTLE MUSEUM a Castle Area, York Y01 9RY t 01904 687687 w yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk The museum’s collection of greetings cards includes Catherine Mossday’s 1797 valentine. There is…

c1598 A 59-year-old coroner, John Derrick, gives evidence in court, describing a game of “creckett” in Guildford in the 1550s. His testimony is the earliest mention of the sport in print. 1841 Mathematician and writer Ada Lovelace begins living at Sandown House in Esher. She is recognised today as a computing pioneer. 1878 The first custom-built crematorium in the country is built in Woking. It is still a working crematorium today. 1889 Shah Jahan Mosque opens in Woking. It remains the oldest purpose-built Muslim place of worship in Britain. 1911 Composer and suffragette Ethel Smyth, while living in Hook Heath, writes “No Vote, No Census” across her census schedule. 1916 Men of the 8th Battalion East Surrey Regiment kick footballs as they charge toward enemy trenches during the first morning…

BLITZ HOSPITAL  PENNY STARNS The History Press, 240 pages, £16.99 Blitz Hospital: True Stories of Nursing in Wartime London journeys from a prewar London of early 1939, through the key years of the Blitz, to the rebuilding of the city and its health service in the aftermath, providing a moving and evocative portrayal of frontline medicine during London’s darkest hour. Its main narrative follows the friendships and professional experiences of four probationer nurses based at The London Hospital and St Thomas’. Thoroughly researched, the accounts draw upon substantial first-hand source material, including the nurses’ personal correspondence and diaries, and convey the sense of camaraderie and community that were instrumental in sustaining people through the war years. The book contextualises these personal accounts against a backdrop of political upheaval, in which…

DANNY DYER’S RIGHT ROYAL FAMILY Late January BBC One It’s safe to say that the moment when EastEnders star Danny Dyer discovered that he could trace his lineage directly to Edward III (1312–1377) was one of the most memorable scenes in the long history of Who Do You Think You Are? (the monarch is the actor’s 22x great grandfather). Clearly, it’s whetted his appetite to learn more because he’s now turned living-history presenter for a much-anticipated two-part series that takes viewers through 800 years of British history, as Danny experiences how his royal and aristocratic forebears lived. He begins in the 9th and 10th centuries, when his 35x great grandfather, the Viking adventurer Rollo (c860–c930), became the ruler of Normandy. Eating sheep’s tongue and fighting are involved. Moving forward in…