You Can Make Records More Accessible

How can you increase the amount of widely-available family history resources?  A growing number of records are being digitally imaged and hosted by recordkeeping organisations – but some of these collections are vast and would take ages to trawl through, not to mention the hard-to-read handwriting they sometimes contain.  

Transcribing these records into readable text is the first step to creating indexes which make them infinitely more accessible and useful, and this is where you can play a significant part.  By giving just a little of your time, you can help build an index to some records, leading a genealogist like yourself to discover ancestors they would otherwise never have found - all without leaving home.

Here are three projects looking for volunteers to transcribe their collections.  If you took part in February’s Transcription Tuesday event, you’ll recognise these organisations – in fact, Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine is making Transcription Tuesday a weekly occurrence...details coming up!

For the FamilySearch or Ancestry projects, you'll need to set up an account with their website if you don’t already have one – but this is absolutely free and doesn’t require any payment details from you.

Now is your chance to contribute something really valuable to the family history community.  Do get involved! 

The National Archives are appealing for more help with their Navy WWI crew lists project. Visit Royal Navy Lives at Sea to learn about the project and sign up via e-mail.

  

FamilySearch Indexing 

Join the fun at FamilySearch Indexing and use their online program.

Pick a set of records to work on from dozens that have been sourced and digitally imaged worldwide.  Or try a few different ones!  And be prepared to receive one of the project’s ‘thank you’ messages from a grateful genealogist once your indexed records are online.

Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine's Transcription Tuesday will be making a regular appearance, starting next week with Ancestry’s 1820-1843 English Criminal Lunatic Asylum Registers.  Instructions on how to get involved and download the Ancestry keying tool are here. 

I’ve been involved in projects like this for many years now, and can attest to the value they add to records, and to your genealogy skills.  Some of these collections are fascinating, and who knows, you might even come across one of your own ancestors when you least expect it.  I was indexing a batch of Scottish christening records when to my amazement I saw my great-grandmother’s name staring at me from the register (pictured below).

You can read more about the recent Transcription Tuesday projects here.

Take A Virtual Cemetery Walk

Now that you’ve gathered some information from your family and home sources, and checked for more details online, perhaps it’s time for your daily walk.  Why not take a virtual walk round the cemetery of your choice?  Here’s what to do:

1. Click on FindaGrave.com 
2. Click on the ‘Cemeteries’ tab.
3. Using the ‘Cemetery Location’ box, search for the area where your forebears lived, or if you already know the name of the cemetery, use that search function. 
4. Once you’ve selected a graveyard, click on the link giving the number of memorials that have been recorded in it.
5. Listed alphabetically by surname are names copied from gravestones in this cemetery.
6. More information is available by clicking on the name of an individual.  This may include a photograph of the memorial and names of family members also listed on it.
7. If you’re interested in finding more graves for this family, a list of places is given, starting with this cemetery, and then widening to include the same town, county, and country.  Clicking on one of those will let you search further afield for more relatives.
8. Or, continue through this graveyard and browse the rest of the headstones.
9. The site is free to sign up for, and once you do so, you can add entries and upload photographs to the site. You’ll also be able to leave a virtual floral tribute on a memorial’s listing, and a note too if you wish. This can be a good way of connecting with new cousins! 

Top tip: If you’ve had trouble deciphering a headstone, check if somebody has uploaded a clearer photograph of it to this or a similar website, such as BillionGraves.  

Just the Facts!

Last time, I covered the very first steps in beginning to build your family tree at home, by starting with the resources you have to hand.

In this post, I want to share some free websites that you can use to do some fact checking – because let’s face it, nobody’s memory is 100% accurate.  And matching what you’ve discovered so far against other sources is a great way of discovering people and events that nobody in your family remembers.  You may be able to fill in the gaps in the collective ancestral memory.

My own personal example is one of my father’s brothers, Duncan.  My mother never met him, and the family didn’t talk about him, so she just assumed he had died as a child.  It wasn’t until I started researching all eight of dad’s siblings – most of whom I had met or at least knew the whereabouts of – that I found out Duncan had died in 1947 in a farming accident, on the other side of the country from the family’s home in the Western Isles of Scotland.

On questioning my father, it transpired that Duncan had been ‘sent away’ to live there, permanently.  We couldn’t figure out why, and Dad wouldn’t discuss it, but one of my cousins recalled his own father handling Duncan’s affairs.  The death certificate I had found held a key.  Alongside the cause of death was a very sad annotation: ‘Idiocy 30 years’.  That meant that whatever Duncan’s difficulty, it had begun to manifest itself when he was a boy.  My cousin’s theory was that our grandfather had sent the lad away from home because he was ‘different’.  Years later, another of my dad’s brothers took me to Duncan’s grave.  Or rather, he took me to the churchyard where Duncan is buried, because there was no stone and after all those decades he couldn’t recollect the exact spot.

The moral of the story is: check your relatives’ memories, but check their facts too!

I've listed here just a few good websites that you can use as you verify your information – all free to access, too.  Although some may require you to register to get the best use of them, there won’t be any charge for this.

FreeUK Genealogy - parish, civil, and census records

FindaGrave or BillionGraves – search for and add details of family grave sites

FamilySearch – search/browse records, including images; add your own family tree; search digitised books; upload memories including photos and sound files

RootsWeb – tree sharing, community message boards

Commonwealth War Graves Commission – learn about those who have died in conflict, both military and civilian personnel, as well as their wartime experiences

☙ Follow these posts for more ideas on

building your family tree from home,

on a budget ☙

What have you got at home?

For the time being, I’ll be posting regularly with ideas for building your family tree at home – still with the emphasis on money-saving, of course.

Years ago, I heard some sound advice on how to go about starting to build your family tree. 

Step 1:  It involves a shoebox, so if you have one, go and get it now.

Then, go around the house collecting those photographs, letters, certificates, postcards, and any other family mementos that you've kept or inherited over the years – specifically those with information on them that will give you clues as to the identity or activities of your ancestors.  

This could turn into a treasure hunt.  Found a school report card?  That might have some hints about the pupil’s age.  Medical card?  It should have a date of birth on it.  A wedding anniversary party invite will let you calculate the year someone was married.  

Once you have a reasonable amount of material to go on, draw up a family tree chart and add the details from your box of memories.  Use pencil and paper, a computer program, or a marker and some wallpaper - whether you choose a spare roll or something already in use is up to you.

You’ve started!

Step 2:  It’s a basic principle of family history to begin with what you have at home, including your own recollections and knowledge as well as those of your immediate family.  Jot down what you know or remember about your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  Then move on to talk to the rest of the family.  Make notes or recordings of what they say, then follow up by comparing what you've learned with official records (either the ones in your box, or online).

Old photos can be a great memory-jogger, for yourself and for the elderly relatives.  If you’re really lucky, somebody was an amateur movie-maker and made loads of Super 8 film or camcorder footage which has ended up in your loft – ideal for a family cinema night, complete with popcorn and ice cream.

☙ Next time, I’ll be sharing some suggestions for free websites that you can use to build on what you’ve found at home, and to verify what you’ve been told about the family. ☙

☘☘☘ Happy St Patrick's Day ☘☘☘

Thanks to my frugal family historian friend Pat, here's a link to some top Irish genealogy websites - all free, of course.  I wish you the luck of the Irish in your research!

This month only: FREE access to Irish records

With the national day of Ireland’s patron saint on the horizon, you can enjoy some time-limited free access to records that are normally held behind a paywall.  You can sign up for most subscription family history websites without payment, and get access to certain free collections as well as special offers such as these.

☘Ancestry  Free access to all their Irish records until 18 March.

☘MyHeritage Free access to all Irish records 5-22 March

For many more - permanently free - websites to use when tracing your Irish heritage, check out a post I prepared earlier...
☘Irish Records: They're NOT all burned!  

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Go free!

There are a few free family history events coming up this month, both online and in the Glasgow area, so here's a short list for your perusal...and if you have a friend who you think could benefit from any of these, pass it on!

Online

7 March  FreeUK 'Genealo-thon'.  Give something back to the virtual family history community by helping other researchers break down their brick walls.

9 March  Free FutureLearn 6-week genealogy course – run in conjunction with the University of Strathclyde, this course is aimed at beginner to intermediate level.

12 March  24-Hour Genealogy Webinar Marathon starting at 9pm GMT.  Register online to access live presentations throughout the day on a huge range of subjects, including advice on researching Dutch, Scandinavian, and New Zealand ancestors, plus DNA and emigration topics.

In the Glasgow area

14 March  Fairfield Heritage Centre, Govan – Family History Research Open Day. Start researching your family tree, explore the centre’s recent discoveries, or share your family’s Fairfield stories.  

21 March  Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life, Coatbridge – Local History Fair with various heritage groups attending, and short talks planned.   

31 March  Mitchell Library, Glasgow – Library Resources for Family History. One of the Mitchell’s regular open events, this is an introduction to print and online resources for those starting out on their family tree.