Interview with Debbie Kennett

The last of the interviews I recorded at WDYTYA Live was with Debbie Kennett, the author of the recent book DNA and Social Networking. It's one I reviewed for the current issue of Family Chronicle magazine.
Debbie was busy helping staff the International Society of Genetic Genealogy stand at the event but took the time to talk about the book, how she became interested in DNA, her Devon DNA project and the DNA of recently deceased BIFHSGO member Don Treble who had deep Devon roots. She also gives a view of prospects for genetic genealogy.
Listen from: http://bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=59

QFHS: Genealogical Day in England and Wales

Gary Schroder, President of the Quebec Family History Society will present A Genealogical Day in England and Wales on Saturday, March 31, 2012, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

This seminar will examine the basic structures of family history research in England, such as civil registration of BMDs 1837-2005, census records 1841-1911, wills 1858-2011; explain how to find ancestors for the period prior to 1837; and demonstrate how to make the best use of the English databases on Ancestry and other commercial websites.

Cost: $30. Reservations necessary, call 514.695.1502

BCGS events

For those in British Columbia there's news of interesting events on the BCGS website. On March 14 the AGM of the Society is being held together with a talk by Brenda Smith on Taking Care of Your Family's Artifacts. That's Wednesday, March 14, 2012, at 7:30 pm at Edmonds Community Centre, 7282 Kingsway (Kingsway & Edmonds), Burnaby V5E 1G3.

Early bird pricing ends soon for a seminar featuring Dave Obee who is giving three sessions: The Great Canadian Census; Quiz; The Geography of Genealogy; Tracing Forward to Find Distant Cousins. M. Diane Rogers will present Genetic Genealogy – Now it’s for everybody. That seminar is on April 14; early bird pricing ends 26 March. Details are at: http://www.bcgs.ca/

Interview with Chris Paton

Now that BIFHSGO has announced that Chris Paton, of the British GENES blog, will be a main speaker for the Society's |Scottish themed conference next September the interview I did with him at WDYTYA Live has been placed online. Listen from http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=59.

TNA podcast: Finding your family in Canada

Michael Leclerc, a US citizen with Quebec origins and notable genealogical credentials including 15 years at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, presented this basic talk on Canadian records at TNA in February. He uses history to explain why Canadian  records exist in the form they do. 

The explanation is clear. 

Given the UK audience he might well have paid more attention to the various movements of people from the UK to Canada, notably the pre- WW1 migration which peaked 100 years ago. Given the large number of Brits who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force of WW1 he might also profitably have spent more time on military records and made some mention of newspapers.

Hear the presentation at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/podcasts/finding-family-canada.htm

In From The Cold

The In From The Cold Project (IFCP) was formed to research and identify all service men and women missing from the official Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) list of casualties from the First and Second World Wars and to get these soldiers, sailors and airmen their due recognition.

Debbie Kennett, my interview with her at WDYTYA Live will be posted soon, was recently successful in getting Tom Rutherford Cruwys commemorated on the CWGC site. Read about that here. Debbie has a Guild of One-Name Studies project for Cruwys.

The IFCP also advises that the CWGC will correct errors in their listings. It's not clear whether they will add "additional information" where none is presently given. I recently identified a WW1 BEF soldier Edward Digby as my second cousin twice removed so would be able to provide information to add the parents names. Does anyone have experience adding such information?

BIFHSGO March meeting attracts over 200

It was another stellar turnout on Saturday at Library and Archives Canada for the regular British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa monthly meeting presentation Doing Family Tree Research in your Pajamas by Ken McKinlay. Appropriately attired in PJs, green in honour of St Patrick, Ken covered key aspects of using the Internet to locate and record information concerning your ancestors. What is needed to record and preserve what is found, web sites that are treasure troves of information and tips to possibly break through that brick wall will be some of the topics covered.

Ken's presentation is now available in the Handouts section of the password protected members' only area of the Society website.

Another BIFHSGO member benefit in the shape of the Spring issue of the Society quarterly chronicle, Anglo-Celtic Roots, was available for pickup at the meeting. The mention of shape is appropriate as it now has a new 8-1/2" by 5-1/2" format. The contents include Perhaps Love -- A Postcard Story from the Great War by Glenn Wright, Little Girl Lost -- and Found by Anne Renwick, The Yacht Armide by Chris MacPhail, Eleanor, Ellen and Frances by Carolyn Emblem, as well as the regular columns.

Ken McKinlay is also program co-chair for next September's BIFHSGO conference. It was announced that one of the main speakers will be Chris Paton of the British GENES blog.

Celebrating Irish heritage

Saturday sees Ottawa's annual St Patrick's Day parade enjoyed by those with Irish ancestry as well as those who just like a celebration.
Today the ranks of those of us with Irish ancestry, one of my great-grandfathers found on the 1911 census in Wales appears to have left County Down although I've no Irish record to confirm that, are being swelled by a new wave of emigration from Ireland. An item in Generation Emigration in the Irish Times reports that:

"People have been sleeping in their cars overnight outside the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork where a jobs and emigration fair takes place today. More than 12,000 people attended the Working Abroad Expo at the RDS in Dublin at the weekend, with organisers having to turn those who had not pre-registered away."

If your Irish origins are rather more remote, and you struggle with the records, or lack of them, you'll welcome the new 544 page edition of  John Grenham's Tracing Your Irish Ancestors due for publication at the end of the month and available for pre-order at Amazon.ca.

UPDATE: GenealogyinTime magazine has a roundup on their recent postings about Irish family history resources.

A success story told by BIFHSGO member Brenda Turner

Do you enjoy learning of successes in family history research and seeing the enjoyment they bring? It's even better when those lead to a contribution benefiting others. In this interview recorded at Who Do You Think You Are? Live BIFHSGO member Brenda Turner recounts how she found out about her uncle, Harry (Henry) Gray, the recognition he received for his work during WW2, and how her trip to London turned into a special personal experience.

Listen from http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=59

Free presentation notes from WDYTYA Live

Handouts for the presentations and workshops for WDYTYA Live 2012 are free for you to download from the Society of Genealogists. They vary from a single page to a whole Powerpoint deck.

Historical Maps by Richard Crowhurst

What's online for Ireland - an Overview by Paul Gorry MAPGI

Harness Google Earth for Family History by Lisa Louise Cooke

National Wills Index by Ian Galbraith

Why pay for your Family History by John Hanson

Your Norfolk Ancestors by Gill Blanchard

How do I research before 1837? by Else Churchill

Using Census Substitutes for your Irish ancestral research by Helen Kelly

Dating and researching family photographs 1880s to 1940s by Jayne Shrimpton

British Records on the FamilySearch website by Sharon Hintze

Reading the writing of the past by Dominic Johnson

My ancestor was in Civil Registration - Well they should have been! by John Hanson

Researching you ancestors in British India by Peter Bailey

Missing Links - some ideas and techniques for finding elusive ancestors by Else Churchill

Writing your family memoir by Maureen Taylor

Discover Scottish church records by Chris Paton

Using google images and beyond - a genealogical goldmine by Maureen Taylor

The future of family history on the Internet by Peter Christian

Irish Land and Property records - valuable sources for Irish genealogical research by Helen Kelly

Organising your Research With Technology by D Joshua Taylor

Researching your Yorkshire ancestors by Jackie Depelle

Heraldry - Why it matters to genealogists by Prof Bruce Durie

My ancestor was in Civil Registration - Well they should have been! by John Hanson

Irish research online by Chris Paton

Stuck in London - resource at Society of Genealogists and elsewhere by Else Churchill

Google search strategies for the family historian by Lisa Louise Cooke

How to get free help with your family history by Darris G Williams

Moving from amateur to professional genealogist: Are you ready? by Eileen M O'Duill CG

Hong Kong Colonial Cemetery - Discovering the stories of our Colonial ancestors by Christine M Thomas

Writing your family history - top tips by Gill Blanchard

Nottinghamshire family history by Dominic Johnson

Starting your Irish family history by Helen Kelly

Wiltshire Wills, Berkshire Beneficiaries, Oxfordshire Obituaries by Gillian Stevens and Chad Hanna

Surname searching in the treasures of the Society of Genealogists by Else Churchill

Early Irish Marriages by Rosalind McCutcheon

Harnessing the Facebook generation by Janet Few

I've lost my ancestor before 1837 - where did he come from by Celia Heritage

Charts to visualise your family tree by Janet Hovorka

By her labours: finding female forebears by Jane Howells

Download from: http://www.sog.org.uk/events/2012show-handouts.shtml

WDTYTA: Jerome Bettis survey

TNA podcast: Our ancestors and the fear of the Victorian workhouse

This presentation is from last month. The mention that it's given by Paul Carter, Principal Records Specialist for Domestic Records and one of the jewels in the crown of TNA, makes it a no-brainer for those who have enjoyed his previous talks to make time to listen for both content and presentation.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/podcasts/victorian-workhouse.htm

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WDYTYA: Jerome Bettis

The Jerome Bettis edition of the NBC's Who Do You Think You Are? airs tonight at 8pm EST. Although the odds are it won't be a ratings hit it could still be a good episode genealogically. 

10 million Westminster records coming at findmypast.co.uk

The following is a notice from findmypast.co.uk

Leading UK family history website findmypast.co.uk has today announced that it has been awarded a digitisation contract by the City of Westminster Council and the Westminster Archives Centre. This significant new project will lead to the publication online for the very first time of 10 million historic records from the Archives. The records are expected to launch later this year and will become fully searchable, only at findmypast.co.uk.

Spanning the years 1538 to 1945, the records cover such London landmark churches as:

*       St Anne's, Soho
*       St Clement Danes
*       St George's Hanover Square
*       St James' Westminster
*       St Margaret's Westminster
*       St Martin-in-the-Fields
*       St Mary-le-Strand
*       St Paul's, Covent Garden

As well as baptisms, marriages and burials, the Westminster Collection includes such gems as rate books, orphan and apprentice records, vestry minutes, cemetery registers, charity documents, workhouse admission and discharge books, settlement examinations, churchwardens' accounts, bastardy and poor law records, wills, militia and watch records.

Guy Strachan, Digitisation Manager at findmypast.co.uk, said: "The City of Westminster Archives Centre is an absolute treasure trove for family and local historians, and the addition of these amazing records to findmypast.co.uk will greatly enhance the website's standing as the central resource for UK parish records."

Anyone wishing to be notified when the Westminster Collection becomes available can register online at findmypast.co.uk to receive a newsletter.

Comment: Competition continues between ancestry.co.uk, which has records from the London Metropolitan Archives, and this new findmypast.co.uk digitization initiative. While it would be convenient to have everything available in a single search the competition is healthy.

OGS Toronto “Finding Your Great War Ancestors” workshop

Gwyneth Pearce sent me a reminder from the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society about the workshop on “Finding Your Great War Ancestors”, which is now just a few weeks away. I'm sure she won't mind if I pass it on.

This day-long workshop is jointly presented with the Canadiana Department of North York Central Library, and will take place on Saturday 31 March 2012 at the North York Memorial Community Hall, with convenient access from the North York Centre subway station. Participants can choose one of three concurrent lecture streams – British Research, Canadian Research and “Case Studies and Curios” – or mix and match the topics that interest them the most. It will be an opportunity to learn from some of the world’s leading Great War experts, including Simon Fowler, one of Britain’s top family history teachers, writers and researchers.

Speaker and registration details are available on the Toronto Branch website at www.torontofamilyhistory.org.

I notice there has been a change in the program with Tim Cook no longer participating.

Interview with Kirsty Grey

While at WDYTYA Live I took the opportunity to speak with Kirsty Grey, Director of English Studies for the National Institute for Genealogical Studies and Chair of the Guild of One Name Studies about her involvement with those two organizations. Connect to the podcast from http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=59

BBC History magazine distorts the home child experience

One of the regular features in BBC History magazine is the out and about section which previews some of the latest events and exhibitions in Britain. In the March issue the pick of the month event is Children's Lives, an exhibition at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery running from 24 March to 10 June.
In a short article describing the exhibition Sian Roberts, head of collections development, is quoted as saying "Many child migrants went from a life of poverty to one of mistreatment and unhappiness in Canada."
I was surprised to see such a definitive statement and wrote to Ms. Roberts asking for the factual basis of this general characterization. The reply I received was that "many children had good experiences and many had bad experiences."  She further explained that "Unfortunately limitations of space in previews or features such as the BBC History inevitably mean that there is no room to go into any detail, and they necessarily have to use a short quote from a much longer conversation."

It's unfortunate that the quote in BBC History paints a one-sided picture that misrepresents the truth and serves to reinforce existing misconceptions. Unpublished research by Dr Patricia Roberts-Pichette for her forthcoming book on the Middlemore children, who mostly came from Birmingham, and on the organization suggests the Middlemore children in Canada had no more bad experiences than their cohort in the general population.

Good news is no news and bad news sells. Seemingly that applies to BBC History magazine. Yet it is a distortion of the facts and an insult to the philanthropic work of Sir John T. Middlemore and the organization he founded to suggest they countenanced subjecting child migrants to systemic mistreatment and unhappiness in Canada.

BIFHSGO March meeting

March 10, 2012

9:30-10:00 am Browse the Discovery Tables and New Computer (ask questions)

10:00-11:30 Monthly Meeting

Doing Family Tree Research in your Pajamas
by Ken McKinlay

The basics of researching your family tree haven't changed much but what has changed is the availability of information that can be found without even leaving the comfort of your home. The talk will cover key aspects of using the Internet to locate and record information concerning your ancestors. What is needed to record and preserve what is found, web sites that are treasure troves of information and tips to possibly break through that brick wall will be some of the topics covered.

About the Speaker
Ken McKinlay's background is as a computer network and security specialist. His foray into family tree research started with three simple family stories that he wanted to confirm or refute. He has now been researching his family tree for about 12 years making use of the Internet as his primary means of locating relevant documents and also discovering new cousins. He is currently working on the Canadian Records certificate offered through the National Institute for Genealogical Studies.

Location: Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Come early and browse our Discovery Tables on England, Ireland & Scotland. Meet with family history experts. Free parking is available in the lots east of the building only on Saturdays. Do not use the lot west of the building.

Ancestry update London, England, Wills and Probate, 1507-1858

Wills are great for genealogy. The latest update to a collection at Ancestry contains one I hadn't found before. The will, the original is at the London Metropolitan Archives, relates to William Ordish who died on 27 January 1820 leaving a will and assets of £2000 to his brother, my ancestor, Thomas Ordish and other siblings and relatives.
I'm not sure whether this is an addition or something I'd overlooked before and, as usual when Ancestry update a collection, they don't tell you what's been changed.

Interview with Katherine Borges of ISOGG

Thanks largely to Family Tree DNA genetic genealogy was prominent at WDYTYA Live. One of the speakers in the DNA theatre sponsored by FTDNA was Katherine Borges, the lively Director of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy.  I had a chance to record a brief interview (choose from here) for BIFHSGO with Katherine.
Here are links for some of the items she mentioned:
The Y-SNP tree is the Y-DNA Haplogroup Tree  which was just updated, on 4 March.
The YCC tree refers to the Y Chromosome Consortium, an academic group involved in a collaborative effort to study genetic variation on the human Y chromosome.
The exome is the part our DNA governing the operation of genes used in the synthesis of proteins, and so particularly significant for health. As the exome constitutes less than 2% of our DNA there is much information in the remainder of our DNA likely to be genealogically significant.
Phasing is the process of separating the autosomal data from a person into the portions that were contributed to that person by each of their parents. It may be used to reconstruct, or partially reconstruct, the DNA of a deceased or unknown parent if DNA analysis for several siblings or cousins is available.