Upskilling for Genealogists

Having looked at some online events coming soon in last week’s blog post, this week I wanted to share some more ideas for improving or refreshing your genealogy skills.  There are various opportunities, both online and in person, to enrol in free courses that will help you do just that.  Here are a few suggestions.

 

FutureLearn

FutureLearn is an online education provider offering courses at a variety of levels, in partnership with established institutions such as the Open University.  Some of their free short courses are of particular relevance to genealogists.

From Quakers to railways, Highland clans to suffragettes, there is plenty to appeal to those with an interest in history.  There are also some courses aimed specifically at family historians: palaeography, Scottish genealogy, and using the British Library’s resources are some key ones, but there are others.  Have a browse through their list of free courses to see what catches your eye. 

To join a course, register your interest, and you’ll receive an email when a place becomes available.  Courses run more than once a year, so even if demand is high, you’ll be able to take part at some point.  Online learning materials, videos, and discussion forums allow you to learn at your own pace and chat with others on the same course. 

Be prepared, though, for the regular reminders to “upgrade” so that you can receive a certificate of completion or have longer access to the course materials.  These can be a bit annoying but there is no obligation to fork out for any of the free courses; simply dismiss these ads when they pop up, or delete the emails!

 

BYU Family History Library        

There are plenty of webinars, classes, tutorials and learning videos on this (mercifully ad-free) website.  Some are pre-recorded, some are live and interactive, but be aware of the 7-hour time difference between the library and the UK if you’re planning to watch a live broadcast.  For instance, the Sunday Zoom classes are live but recorded, so if you miss one you can catch up with it later.

Content in the classes and webinars deals with using the records of many different countries around the world, using the free resources of FamilySearch. Topics like DNA testing, Ancestry.com, and breaking down brick walls also feature in the schedule. Handouts are available to download, too, and there is a live chat function which allows you to contact the librarians for research advice.  There is also a live help service using Zoom, Monday-Friday, where you can connect with the help desk volunteers - again, it's in Mountain Standard Time (BST/GMT -7 hours).

 

In-Person Courses

Family history societies, local heritage centres, public libraries, and archives may also run on-site classes teaching research skills, perhaps focusing on special interest themes or the records they hold.  While these may not all be free of charge, the course fees will help support community groups and services.

Check the websites of your nearest research locations to see if they offer courses or are holding special events to highlight their collections and facilities to the public. 

 

Free in September

 

September looks like it’s going to be a good month for free genealogy online conferences and classes.  Here are just a few that anyone can register for and watch… 

RQG Conference – Genealogy & Social History: Know Your Ancestors

Saturday 25 September

Guest speakers include house historian Melanie Backe-Hansen.  Presentations will cover a variety of topics throughout the day – keep an eye on the website for the conference programme which will be posted soon! 

Legacy Family Tree Webtember

Happening each Friday in September - in total, 30 pre-recorded webinars will be available and free to watch all month.  You can follow them live or catch up on the archive, and the programme features popular speakers on a wide range of family history subjects, ranging from DNA to Overcoming Genealogical Angst (that one sounds interesting).  And learn some new skills for doing research in the UK, Europe, Canada, Australia, or the USA. 

Family History Library Classes 

These individual sessions are aired live during the week and on Saturdays, usually late afternoon/early evening UK time, and are presented in English and Spanish.  Just a few of the classes cover tips on writing your family’s history, Caribbean research, using FamilySearch.org; or you can even join a Q&A session on US and Canadian genealogy and ask the expert your burning research question.  See the September calendar and pick the classes you want to sign up for.

Scottish Indexes

Saturday 4 September

Emma and Graham Maxwell's successful conferences have been going for over a year.  If you have Scottish heritage, you'll find lots of useful ideas and background information here to help you build your family tree.  This month, DNA genealogist Michelle Leonard and FindMyPast's Myko Clelland are just two of the specialist speakers on the programme.

Now Open: Scotland

Tarbat Discovery Centre

Heritage venues around Scotland are beginning to reopen after extended closure periods, and travel restrictions having lifted mean that more of us will be getting out and about on research trips!

Here, I’m highlighting just a few places to visit, but do check with the relevant local authority or tourist office to find out what’s happening in your area of interest.  VisitScotland is a good source of information about current openings, as well as the limitations that still apply across the country regarding things like ferry travel or indoor activities.  

In the Highlands, Tarbat Discovery Centre has been able to start receiving visitors again and will do so until the end of October, Wednesday-Saturday each week.  This very atmospheric museum, housed in a former church, is well worth a wee detour from the North Coast 500, or the short drive from Inverness.  They’re also looking for local volunteers to help staff the museum.  

In Lanarkshire, Airdrie Local Studies Discovery Room, housed on the first floor of the public library, will be reopening this Thursday (28^th July) for local and family history research on Thursdays and Fridays 11:00–12:30 and 14:00-15:30. Visit their website for more information and to book an appointment.

For those with Clyde shipbuilding in the family, Fairfield Heritage Museum in Govan is reopening too.  Starting from Tuesday August 3rd, they will once again be welcoming visitors and telling the story of the famous shipyard.  Visits are by free ticket until further notice, every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, with social distancing measures in place.  You can book your ticket via Eventbrite.  

And I've just booked a tour of the Scottish Jewish Heritage Centre in Glasgow city centre, not far from the School of Art.  It's based in the beautiful Garnethill Synagogue, the first purpose-built synagogue in Scotland, and has the most exquisite stained glass.  As well as taking a guided tour of the Centre, you can benefit from the resources of its Archives, including the Scottish Holocaust-era collection.

For the time being, face coverings will be required indoors in public spaces in Scotland, so make sure you have a good supply of them to cover your trip!

Summer Searches

 

Elgin Cathedral, Morayshire

With the good weather many of us in the UK have been having of late, I thought it might be a good time to share some resources to help you plan and carry out research visits to graveyards.

For those working out of doors in Scotland at this time of year, the most important item to pack is

MIDGE REPELLENT

A few years ago, a nurse gave me a tip that has worked for me.  Dilute a small amount of Listerine mouthwash in a spray bottle and apply to exposed skin (yours, not the midges’). Frugal and effective!

Planning

For identifying historic graveyard locations, I recommend the National Library of Scotland’s Maps (their OS collections cover the UK).

The Ordnance Survey (the official UK Government’s mapping organisation) provide free access to contemporary maps, as well as an app to purchase for your mobile device, with a free 7-day trial.

Current online maps provided by popular search engines like Bing and Google are not always accurate or up to date.  A recent report about Google Maps' dangerous path up Ben Nevis highlighted the potential hazards of relying on this kind of source. 

GENUKI may give names and/or locations of burial grounds in a parish or county you are researching.  Again, check that the information is current (especially crucial details like opening hours) by contacting the local church, council, or family history society. Their contact details may also be found on GENUKI or, for the latter, through the Family History Federation or the Scottish Association of Family History Societies.

While websites such as BillionGraves or FindAGrave won’t necessarily list your ancestors, they may have an entry for the graveyard(s) you’re interested in, with the all-important location details, including GPS coordinates.

 

Arriving

“Leave nothing but footprints” is a phrase often used to raise awareness of the potential impact we can have on the countryside.  I’d suggest that we adopt a similar approach to visiting cemeteries whether in town or country.  These spaces are often havens for wildlife and need to be treated with care, as well as the respect due to burial grounds in general.

I would advise you to choose footwear appropriate for rough terrain, especially if you aren’t familiar with the cemetery.  Some graveyards may suffer from subsidence and require caution while navigating around.  Many cemeteries are neglected and overgrown, and while I'm not advocating the use of machetes, sensible clothing is definitely advisable!

 

Recording

Decide in advance which method(s) of recording gravestones you’ll use, and bring the appropriate kit.  Hidden Heritage has some great ideas for non-invasive techniques, with free imaging software and examples of how this can help make inscriptions clearer. 

To preserve the fabric of headstones, use contactless methods to take a note of monumental inscriptions.  Pen and paper or photographs may be old-fashioned but they’re reliable and good for the stones.  Digital photography and smartphones have transformed our ability to take multiple images of a gravestone and its surroundings, and to share and store them online.

Historic Environment Scotland has produced a PDF leaflet, Looking After Gravestones, which has some excellent advice about the treatment, care and preservation of cemetery monuments.

 

Searching

While some burial grounds may have plans or maps available, either online or in the cemetery itself, it can still be difficult to locate a specific burial site, even if you have a plot number.  Do ask for help if local staff are available.  Those tasked with keeping the grounds in good order will be very familiar with the chronology of the place as well as the location of some of the occupants.

If you have a plot or lair number for the grave you want to see, these are sometimes carved into the side of the headstones in larger cemeteries, and while your family stone may not have one, the surrounding stones might.

Once you have found the grave(s) you’re looking for, check nearby for potentially related memorials.

My perennial graveyard tip: look on the reverse of the headstone (just in case they ran out of room on the front).

And to finish off with, check out my recent blog "mini-class" on graveyard research.  Happy hunting!

RootsTech 2022 News!

 

Good news from FamilySearch recently– there will be a repeat of their successful virtual show, RootsTech Connect, next year.  See the official announcement for more details.

Some genealogists will be disappointed at the accompanying news about the postponement of RootsTech’s live shows, previously scheduled for London this October and Salt Lake City next February.  However, with the current fluctuating travel and public health restrictions around the world, this seems the safest option, avoiding any last-minute cancellations. 

Visit the official press release to learn more and to sign up for RootsTech’s email newsletter.  

As the first RootsTech Connect event this year demonstrated, it's possible to hold an international, diverse, and extensive show online.  FamilySearch’s resources have also allowed them to make it freely available to everyone with an internet connection, and the 2022 event will be the same.  The hundreds of online video presentations that are a key feature of the virtual show are available until next year, so whether you want to find out how to research ancestors from China, Mexico or Italy (or many other countries), you can find ideas and learn new skills there.  Other subjects covered by the videos include organising your records, using DNA to trace relatives, and telling your own family’s story. 

You can search for content and build your own playlist on the show website.

And do check out my two RootsTech presentations:

The Riches of the Scottish Kirk Session Records 

Full of lively and colourful snapshots from the everyday lives of your Scottish ancestors, the Kirk Session Records contain a fascinating breadth of information.  Learn what they can tell you, and best of all, they are now completely free to access on the ScotlandsPeople website! 

Scottish Vital Records on ScotlandsPeople 

Learn how to use the official website for Scottish records to search for your ancestors’ information-packed certificates.  Using examples, you can learn what to expect in certificates of post-1854 births, marriages, and deaths; how to interpret them; and how they can give vital clues leading you to other records.

Free resources from home, via your public library

Although many libraries are starting to re-open after an extended shutdown, they may still be offering free home access to internet resources by way of compensation for the closure.  These often include subscription websites that are of interest to family historians.

All that’s needed is an online account with the relevant library.  Check your local library’s website for information about the services they are making available remotely to their members. You may need to re-register online to take full advantage of their free resources, which could include one or more of the following:

Ancestry has a Library Edition which has proved a popular choice with public libraries.  Some services, such as those in Manchester and North Lanarkshire, have also partnered with Ancestry to give readers free access to records local to their areas, such as church or poor relief registers.

FindMyPast provides a similar service through some libraries’ websites.

SCRAN is a website from Historic Environment Scotland hosting audio and visual resources from museums, galleries, archives and the media around the UK.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography gives full access to subscribers, including those signing in with their local library’s credentials. 

For some of these websites, you can access their full content through a link on their home page that says something like “Sign in via your institution”.  Select your library’s name from the list that will appear (if you don’t see your library listed, it doesn’t provide access to that particular resource).  You will then be able to sign in with your own library account number and passcode.

A multitude of digital resources are available at home, free of charge, to all residents of Scotland, through the National Library’s website.  They include several newspaper databases such as the Times, the Scotsman, and the British Library Collections, as well as the excellent British Newspaper Archive.  Some of the sites restrict the number of NLS users that can access them at one time, but these are clearly indicated on the list of websites.  

Normally you would need to either have your own subscription or a university library account to use many of these resources, so it is well worth registering for an NLS account if you live in Scotland.  If you don’t live in Scotland, though, don’t despair; many of the Library’s online treasures are free on the open web, such as their Maps collection or the Moving Image Archive. 

Finally, if you’re disappointed with the lack of such resources through your local library, why not petition the powers that be to provide them?  You can find information online about products such as FindMyPast’s Community Edition, and pass on your suggestions to a librarian.  Alternatively, if you use and are happy with your library's digital services, give them positive feedback and encourage them to continue providing remote access after normal opening hours are resumed.  This may be especially important if library services are considering cutting back opening times in the near future.

The Genealogy Show Online 2021

 

The Genealogy Show's Map of Exhibitors

I don’t usually recommend paid-for events on the Frugal Family History blog, but it’s not often you see a show reduce their ticket price!  The Genealogy Show took place last weekend, with a starting admission charge of £30/£20.  That’s now been reduced to £15, for access to all the talks, exhibitors etc (i.e. everything except the live chat) until 26^th July.  Do check it out; there were over 80 presentations on a very wide range of family history topics, including my own two talks on Scottish subjects - see my previous posts here and here for previews of those.

The presentations I’ve listened to so far have been of a really high quality, and there are plenty more for me to work my way through.  In general you’ll find that speakers at genealogy events really know their stuff, and are able to share their expertise and knowledge in an entertaining and engaging way. 

In the Exhibition Zone you can learn more about organisations and their products or membership.  These include family and local history groups and institutions, such as The Society for One-Place Studies or FamilySearch, which has some thought-provoking videos on display.  Many of the exhibition “stands” share free downloadable material that you can use to organise your family tree or build your skills (I can thoroughly recommend The Heraldry Society’s beautiful booklet), and are happy to get feedback or queries from visitors.  And look out for companies such as Family Tree Magazine who are offering trial discounts, plus a free DNA guide if you sign up for their e-newsletter.

The Show’s website is by far the most eye-catching I’ve seen in the last 18 months of everything-going-online. I was touched to find out about Parker, their mascot owl. He's named after a respected colleague of the Show, Robert Parker, who sadly passed away last year.

Learn more about The Genealogy Show at https://www.thegenealogyshowlive.com/about/