Free Family History Mini-Class 2024 : Lesson 2

  

Image by G.C. from Pixabay

In this lesson, you can learn how to identify which record office, archive, or library you need to visit in order to move your research forward.  If you missed Lesson 1, you can catch up here.

To prepare for a visit to an archive...

☙  Do your homework by reading background material on the place and time your ancestors lived in, and find out what types of records they may have generated: for instance, consider court documents, rental rolls for tenants, electoral registers, and school records. 

☙  Use the websites of archives in your ancestors' city, county, or country to learn what kinds of records they hold, and what information those contain.  Specific subject guides are often available to download and study.

☙  Search online catalogues.  Some apply just to individual archives and are found on their websites, while other catalogues such as the UK's National Archives' cover the country as a whole - check out their guide to mining the catalogues.

☙  Be aware that as well as official government records, archives are held by charitable, religious, business, private, and academic organisations.  If you know that your ancestor worked in a specific occupation, for example shipbuilding, you should investigate what relevant archives exist.

☙  Contact the archive(s) you plan to visit if you're not sure what records will help you.  Archive staff are well-versed in the records they hold and can advise you on how to get the most out of them.

☙  Make sure that the documents you want to see will be available at the time of your planned visit.  Some archive records require advance notice to be produced for searching - you should see indicators of this in their catalogue entries.  Records undergoing conservation may also be unavailable, but staff can check this for you.

The next mini-class will focus on practical

preparations to make for your research trip.

If you've a question about this lesson,

just post it in the comments below. 

Free Family History Mini-Class 2024 : Lesson 1

It's been a few years since I revisited my series of 10 family history "mini-classes", so, while making sure that the content is up to date, I'll post them again starting today.

In the first of this series of mini-classes, here are some do’s and don’t’s to remember when writing down your family information: 

☙      Print rather than write – you may like to use block capitals to highlight surnames.

☙      Pick a format and stick with it. For example, if you prefer to put the surname first, be consistent.

☙      Use pencil when adding information to charts, then go over it in black ink (for permanence) once you’ve confirmed it as accurate.

☙      Write names out in full if known – avoid abbreviating for speed’s sake as you may not remember what the abbreviation stands for!

☙      ALWAYS record a married woman’s details using her maiden name, if known. Don’t be tempted to fill in a blank space with her married name, as this will only cause confusion.

☙      Record dates in a clear format – e.g. 8 Oct 1840 rather than 8/10/40 which can be interpreted in more than one way.

☙      Write places with smallest area first – parish, county, country – with any farm names or townships before the parish.

 And to help you get started, here's a family group record you can print off and use as many times as you like.

Follow the the blog by e-mail to make sure you don't miss any of the classes - just use the link in the sidebar.

Please comment below if you have any questions about this lesson!

The next mini-class will cover identifying record sources.

This Week's Frugality

 

Image by Michael Schwarzenberger from Pixabay

Some money-saving suggestions to help you with your family tree:

The Society of Genealogists is offering a free online talk, presented by Else Churchill, on English poll books. 

What are poll books? Find out in an article by Dr James Harris, a Research Associate at Newcastle University. 

Legacy, part of the company MyHeritage, offers a new version of its free family history software to help you organise your tree, store it on your device, and keep it private if you wish. There are a number of other packages available; check out reviews in family tree magazines for up-to-date details about the latest programs.

The National Library of Scotland’s digital “Scotland’s News” Collection consists of 18th, 19th, and early 20th century Scottish publications. Some of the newspapers it contains are the Scots Courant, Caledonian Mercury, Clydebank Leader, and a selection of 1926 titles from around the country.

I’ve recently been in touch with a cousin who has agreed to take a DNA test to find out more about their forebears. It can be helpful if more than one member of an extended family tests – learn more about Connecting with Your Biological Family.

At the moment, you may be able to take advantage of discounted prices on some DNA test kits. The best value as far as I can see are

Ancestry 

and

MyHeritage 

These companies market DNA test kits as Father’s Day gifts. Warning: unexpected parent details may be the result, not necessarily bringing great news to an unsuspecting dad. I think it’s really important to be aware of the potential downsides to these tests’ results. Read about the Pros and Cons of DNA in Genealogy Research. 

Friends and Family History

 

Image by Fuzzy Rescue from Pixabay

The last few months have been full of catching up with friends I haven’t seen for some time, and in one case meeting a former work colleague I’d only ever talked with on Zoom!

While reflecting on these joyful catchups, I realised that although it wasn’t necessarily the origin of our friendships, it was certainly a shared interest. Here are some online family history resources in honour of these friends’ different ancestries. 

Pat

Although she has a variety of ancestral origins, Pat’s maternal roots are firmly in England. A key resource that I’m sure she’s used (I certainly have when researching English relatives) is Online Parish Clerks. Run by volunteers, these focus on specific parishes or counties, listing the whereabouts of records that cover the area. Warwickshire, for instance, has an excellent parish clerk site which gives the addresses of local archives and heritage centres as well as links to online record sources and reference websites. It also explains the OPC scheme and how to get involved, if you’re interested.

Amanda

There aren't many Englishwomen as proud of their Scottish roots as Amanda! She loves the county of Perthshire where her family hale from, which bonds us a bit as my maternal ancestry is from the same area. Keekin for Kin is a downloadable, free booklet produced by Perth & Kinross Council, aimed at those curious about their family tree. It’s beautifully produced and full of helpful pointers. It mentions Perth’s Black Watch Museum, and I can heartily recommend the archive services there – I’ve previously blogged about my experience at https://scotsancestors.blogspot.com/2022/04/on-trail-of-my-military-mcintoshes.html

Julia

American by heritage but Scottish by residence, Julia has recently been thinking a bit about her ancestry. I recommended the FamilySearch website to her, but in retrospect I should also have told her about the U.S. Library of Congress website. It hosts historic newspaper collections which you can search by keyword, as well as maps dating back to at least the Civil War era. Other collections include music, photographs, and moving images. It’s an absolute treasure trove!

Sheila

A proud Londoner, Sheila is slightly related to me by marriage 😁 and is a keen genealogist, which makes her a fantastic relative to have! Layers of London lets you explore the social history of her city, and it’s totally fascinating to look at the places where people used to live. Different aspects like health, housing, crime, industry, and war are highlighted, allowing you to search for a particular place, or just browse a neighbourhood or street through time. Warning: it can take up more of your time than you expect.

Claire

Born and bred in Ireland, Claire doesn’t need me to tell her about any of the available online Irish resources – it’s what she does for a living! However, I’m a bit of a novice when it comes to these, so it’s always a schoolday when I receive Claire’s e-mail newsletter. She shares helpful techniques for tracing Irish genealogy, especially using DNA, and addresses a variety of related topics in her blog. You can catch up with that, and subscribe to her newsletter at https://cbgenealogy.ie.

Oh, and Claire – Shropshire bastardy bonds 😉 

https://www.shropshirearchives.org.uk/blog/finding-old-poor-law-records