Learn/do more, spend nothing

 

Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

As the days grow shorter, perhaps the time you have for working on your family tree will increase. This week I've seen a few interesting things that may help - all for free.

The first have been a couple of the big genealogy websites giving free access to their wartime records, timed to coincide with Remembrance commemorations. Ancestry are offering this until 12th November, and Findmypast from 7-13 November. This doesn't simply include military records, but also those referring to voluntary organisations like the Red Cross, or the 1939 Register which listed everyone not involved in active service just prior to the start of the Second World War.

Findmypast are also launching a project to list overlooked members of the First World War's pals battalions. According to their press release, "there is no single roll that holds every name of the Pals". You can search these or add details of your relative who served in a pals battalion.

Also on my radar has been the addition to YouTube of some recent presentations from the North of Ireland Family History Society. These were originally given as part of their October Beginners' Month and are all about Getting Started with

North of Ireland Research

Analysing Your DNA

Wikitree

so they're not solely relevant to Irish research. While we're on the subject, it's useful to take a look at what other organisations host YouTube videos to help genealogists, wherever they are in their family tree research. There are the major commercial sites, of course, partly to promote their subscription services, but also family history societies, heritage groups, and free collaborative efforts like Wikitree or FamilySearch. All of these presentations on YouTube are free to watch, with added commercial breaks. And you can no doubt think of more.

YouTube also hosts podcasts. Try Black Sheep Family History, The Family Histories Podcast, or my favourite, possibly because I love courtroom dramas, Was Justice Served?, by Findmypast.

All that should be enough to keep you occupied during the winter months - or, if you're currently enjoying spring/summer, do you really need an excuse to dig about the family tree?

Family History Events for your Calendar

 

Keeping up to speed on the wide variety of family history fairs, courses, conferences, classes, and open days on offer can be a bit of a task. Although they don’t list everything, there are two websites that post details of plenty of family history events, both online and in person. Note that many of these events do charge for attendance, but may be open to non-members of the host organisation. More about those two listings websites 👇

GENEVA has a strong emphasis on English research, mainly because very few other organisations seem to submit their events to the site! Come on, you other family history societies; this is a great (and free) way to publicise your meetings and services!

Conference Keeper, a U.S.-based website. Search its calendar for all forthcoming events, or select online-only meetings and talks. Although focusing largely on North American topics, there are plenty of internationally relevant themes too, such as the impact of artificial intelligence on genealogy. Some online meetings even offer on-the-spot help with your research. Also listed are Legacy Family Tree webinars as they occur. (Don't miss their free Webtember event that I blogged about last week)

Of course, your local archive or heritage group may not use these services, but rely on local media and word of mouth to promote their events. Keep an eye on posters and leaflets in your public library or archive, or check out the local council’s website. That’s where I found the details of a free event taking place in my community next month:

ByGoneCon is a regular all-day event sponsored by South Lanarkshire Council and held in different locations around the county. A bit like a family history fair, it features stalls and talks from heritage, local, and family history societies and organisations. Included in past events have been representatives from local archives, Lanarkshire Family History Society, FamilySearch and Scottish Indexes. Speaking of whom...

Scottish Indexes are holding their free quarterly online conference on Saturday 13th September. The schedule for the day will be posted on their website soon, but each presentation is aired twice, to allow viewers in time zones around the world to watch at a time that suits them. Subjects up for presentation this time include Scottish church records, and getting started on tracing your family tree. There will be something for everyone, and not all the talks will be solely Scotland-focused. You can watch on Zoom or via their Facebook group, and submit questions for the speakers.

If you belong to a family or local history society that needs to boost attendance and membership, do ask them to consider using GENEVA or Conference Keeper (or both!) to publicise the group’s events. That way, we’ll all get the chance to join in and learn more. There’s always something new to discover!

Webtember!

 

Coming up in September is the annual event hosted by Legacy Family Tree Webinars and MyHeritage - Webtember.  Every Wednesday in September, four different webinars will be freely available for you to watch, either live or recorded, whether or not you have a membership for Legacy Webinars or MyHeritage. 

Each week, these presentations will be on a theme, such as researching German records or how to improve your family history writing skills. Others are on topics like DNA testing or the records hosted by the MyHeritage website. These no-cost sessions will have plenty of tips for you that will help you grow your family tree!

Register in advance here where you can choose to sign up for one or all of the webinars, and get reminders when they're about to take place!

One important tip: Legacy doesn't use Zoom, but a program called GoToWebinar (or GoToMobile if you're using a phone or tablet). Information about this will be included in the confirmation email sent to you when you've registered for a talk. Make sure you read it thoroughly, and check out the handy webinar attendee guide - it has some good pointers on preparing for and joining your chosen broadcast, and how to handle any issues you may have.

These presentations are a great way to build your skills as a genealogist. There's always something new to learn!

Some Recent Discoveries

 

Image by SimoneVomFeld on Pixabay

You may already be familiar with some or all of these websites, but I’ve only recently come across them! I found them all really useful and enlightening, and have bookmarked them for future use.

A Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921

Some twentieth-century occupations may have changed their name, be very niche, or no longer exist. For instance, what’s a kapok worker? What’s kapok, for that matter?! What does an uncallower do? Which industry would a brilliandeer work in? Find out in the Dictionary of Occupational Terms that was produced to accompany the 1921 UK census.

Scottish Mining Website

A friend recently pointed me in the direction of this tremendous resource. It lists mines operational in Scotland for certain years in the 19th and 20th centuries, and has a mining accident section from before 1840 up until 1939.

Various resources such as government reports and newspaper articles are included throughout the site. One fascinating page lists miners’ wages and the cost of living from the 17th century until after World War Two. If your Scots ancestors were mineworkers, you’re sure to learn something new about the lives they led, as well as their work.

2025 Rhind Lectures on Scotland’s Place-Names 

I recently watched these lectures live. They’re sponsored by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and were free to view over the weekend when they took place. Now they’re available to watch on YouTube. This year’s theme was “Scotland’s Place-Names” and I learned so much about the survival of various languages in Scotland via the names that were given to places by their inhabitants and others. 

Several topics were addressed, including archaeology and religion. The lectures were delivered by Dr Simon Taylor, an academic in this field with over 30 years’ worth of expertise, and it was a pleasure to listen to someone so knowledgeable about his subject.

Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland

In a previous blog post, I extolled the virtues of joining a family history society – but other historical societies and heritage groups can also be of help to genealogical research. One such is the Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland. Whether your ancestor was a congregant or a minister of a Presbyterian church on the island, the society has records and advice for your research.

You can learn more about the organisation and its purposes by viewing the slide collection which explains the origins of different forms of Irish Presybterianism.

The society also has an active events programme and some of their previous lectures can be found on YouTube.

YouTube Family History

 

 Image by Tymon Oziemblewski from Pixabay

Videos are perfect for brushing up your family history research skills.

There are plenty of organisations that have their own channels hosting genealogy how-to videos. Use them to learn about researching a specific country’s records. Get ideas on how to use your DNA results to better effect. How can probate documents help to build your family tree? What impact is AI having on genealogists’ work?

All these and other topics can be found on the YouTube channels listed here – and more. If you can think of an organisation or company that is involved in family history, they very likely have a selection of YouTube videos too. For instance, the national library of your country of interest may well have its own video channel. 

Check out some (or all!) of these for inspiration.

The Society of Genealogists

The National Archives UK

FamilySearch

FamilyTreeDNA

Findmypast

ScotlandsPeople

The Genealogist

MyHeritage

Who Do You Think You Are?

I’ve made a few presentations that have found their way online as well, courtesy of the RootsTech genealogy conference and YouTube: https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/speakers/alison-spring/en

Happy St Patrick's Day from your ancestors ☘

 

With St Patrick’s Day coming up on Monday, it’s the perfect time to revisit some great free online Irish family history resources that I've mentioned in the past.  I hope you find them useful!

☘  National Archives This resource for Irish research offers a free genealogy advisory service by email as well as searchable church, civil and census records. 

☘ FamilySearch Wiki provides information, tools, how-to guides, tutorials, maps and more for your research into ancestors on the island of Ireland.

☘ IreAtlas Townland Database is a comprehensive searchable listing of Irish townlands and is a handy reference resource. 

☘ Irishgenealogy.ie is a government-owned website with access to church and civil records.  Having recently undergone an upgrade, it boasts a searchable index and images for many of the records, as well as a section offering research help.  One aspect of the service is 2016 Family History, an excellent resource for learning to do Irish genealogy.  It includes a workbook, case studies, record guides, and fun tasks to complete. 

☘ Irish Census Records are available for 1901 and 1911 in digital, indexed format. Like the church and civil records website above, it's just had a facelift, so if you've used it in the past, give the new interface a try, and bookmark its new web address.

☘ Context is key when exploring the history of your family. The Great Irish Famine website delves into many aspects of this time period in the history of Ireland and its people, including a map that shows the spread of the potato blight that triggered the tragic events of what became known as the Great Hunger. It will give you some insight into what prompted so many Irish people to emigrate, perhaps including your family.

☘ If you know your ancestors lived in Dublin in the mid-nineteenth century but can't locate them in the later census returns, perhaps this online city directory will help you pin them down.

These websites should help you have a

☘☘  Happy St Patrick’s Day!  ☘☘

Online events plus free software

 

Image by Alexa on Pixabay

This week’s post is a quick run-through of some upcoming online events (one on Tuesday 11 March) and a free genealogy software program for you to try. The presentations take us around the world from England and Wales to Canada and back to Scotland and Ireland.

A free online talk from the Society of Genealogists will cover the England & Wales Pre-1841 Census Returns. Was the 1841 census the first useful one, or can surviving pre-1841 fragments and substitutes reveal more? Else Churchill will explore early census records, including some that are held in the Society’s London-based collections. If you book in advance, a recording of the presentation will be available for one month.
Book free: https://t.co/SH5qZqL2ME 

Tuesday 11 March 2-3pm

Free Census access and Mining History

Image by Sabine from Pixabay

Until the 9th of March, Ancestry are offering free access to the 1921 England & Wales census to mark Women's History Month. If you haven't already searched this census for your relatives, it's definitely worth a dive, especially as it's free. However this is a shorter free run than Ancestry's standard 14-day trial subscription, and the sign-up procedure will be pretty much the same, plus the two-week trial gives you access to all Ancestry's records, not just the 1921 census.

My discovery of the week is the Eco-Museum of Scottish Mining Landscapes, guiding you on a virtual tour of the mining areas of central Scotland. Explore the site, and the mining communities, by clicking on the website's map. Plan and make your journey on foot or by bike, using the map's guide to industrial archaeology, geology, heritage, and, most essential, cafes along the routes. Parking and public transport access points are included to make the trip easier. Once the better weather is here I hope to try it out on the ground. The site is also looking for volunteers to build some of the walks in their local area. Their Facebook account highlights the latest developments.

The whole project (which also covers mining areas south of the border) is a tribute to our ancestors who laboured below and above ground to earn a pittance - no, it's not a pun - and provides a real-time way to experience and learn more about their communities and environment.

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus - the National Library of Wales

  

National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
Credit: Rhyshuw1~enwiki , CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A version of this post was originally published in 2021. Links were updated and it was last republished in 2023.

Happy St. David's Day!

If you have Welsh branches in your family tree, these online records, hosted by the National Library of Wales, are well worth exploring.

This list includes just a few of the indexed, original sources they have made freely available online.  I recommend exploring the website to see more of what they offer.

Crime & Punishment   

Tithe Maps 

Welsh Newspapers  

Welsh Journals including magazines 1735-2007 

Marriage Bonds pre-1837 

Wills proved in Welsh ecclesiastical courts before 1858 

There’s also a first-steps guide to family history research, a guide to church records in Wales,  and a list of independent researchers who carry out work for clients at the NLW.

So, with all those resources, you can start your search for your Welsh ancestors right away!

 

 

This post was originally published in 2021. Links were updated and it was last republished in 2023.

New to RootsTech?

 

Next week, Thursday to Saturday, 6-8 March, it's RootsTech 2025.

If you've not come across RootsTech before, here's a quick introduction:

• It's an international 3-day family history conference
• It happens every year
• It's free to take part online
• That's it

To take part, you'll need to register, but no payment details, or indeed payment, are required. It's completely free to join in online.  Hundreds of pre-recorded presentations on a wide variety of genealogy-related subjects will be released over the three days of the event, adding to the many hundreds more already in the archive.

Watch a short video showing you how to register for RootsTech here,

then visit the conference website to sign up and learn about some of the speakers. Keep an eye on that website to see when a PDF file of the conference schedule is posted - that will help you choose which classes you'd like to watch. And don't worry if you can't view them in real time, as most of the presentations will be available for quite a while after the event.

As well as the video presentations, there will be

• Keynote speakers
• An expo hall
• Experts to chat to

and possibly one of the most useful aspects of the event: finding out if you're related to any of the thousands of other attendees, using Relatives at RootsTech.  Just last week, I used this to identify some distant cousins and see where their family tree joins mine.

The event as a whole is a great opportunity to learn new skills, discover new tools, and connect with others around the world - all helping you to build your family tree.

You can even check out some RootsTech presentations that I've delivered in previous years 😁

Exciting New Resources

 

This past week has seen the launch of two new exciting online resources. The first is Trove, the revamped portal for Historic Environment Scotland. It also includes information from SCRAN and Canmore.  

Describing itself as "the key to Scotland's past", it hosts over a million images and thousands of records and culturally significant objects. Not all of the site is complete yet, as I discovered when trying to use a link to explore objects. However there is a feedback facility which hopefully will help inform HES on how to improve things. Early days yet but a promising site.

The second resource, which I just heard about today, is Strathclyde Institute for Genealogical Studies' (SIGS) Papal Dispensations for Marriage Database.  Although I haven't yet discovered an ancestor in its records, I did stumble across a couple who were King and Queen of England.

Dispensation from the Pope was required when those marrying were related by blood. For instance, the royal couple I found had a fourth-degree relationship - meaning a third cousin, parent's second cousin, grandparent's first cousin, or a great-great uncle or aunt. Even "spiritual" relationships could be problematic. An example cited is if the groom's mother had been the bride's godmother at her christening.

The database will be most useful for those researching medieval genealogy but also provides fascinating insights into family life and religious practices of that time.

(Header image created using Bayeux Historic Tale Construction Kit)

Marriage, Slavery, and RootsTech

This week's helping of free family history events -

 ☙ As a nod to St. Valentine's Day, MyHeritage is giving free access to its marriage record collections - all 279 of them - from 13-16 February. You can find them here, and sign up for an account if you don't already have one (it's completely free to register).

☙ On Saturday 22 February, the Southern Ontario group of Aberdeen & North East Family History Society are hosting a Zoom presentation on the topic of slavery and its impact on family history. The speaker is Sally Low, an experienced researcher who just recently discovered links to slavery in her own family. She will share what she learned and how, which should make for a very interesting talk. The meeting is open to non-members of the Society and you can sign up for it on their website.

☙ Coming up at the beginning of March is the annual family history fest that is RootsTech. Now firmly in hybrid mode, a great deal of its content is available online. Advance registration allows you to browse the schedule of classes and talks and decide which ones are of most interest. Previous years' presentations are available on-demand including a few by myself 😊

Black History Month

To mark Black History Month in the USA (the UK equivalent is in October), there are plenty of free resources on offer. Here are just a few:

Legacy Family Tree Webinars are showing five themed presentations on African-American research from the days of enslavement up until the present day. Find out how to reconstruct an enslaved family, use plantation and court records, and learn about the origins of Juneteenth.

Ancestry, as well as hosting webinars to help those starting out on researching African-American ancestors, have other talks to help you get more out of your DNA results and building your tree on the website.

The U.S. Family Tree magazine's website also features plenty of helpful articles on topics like Freedmen's Bureau Records, and case studies in tracing enslaved forebears. The site also offers free genealogy charts and forms to help you record and plan your research. You may have to sign up to an e-mail to receive the downloads, but you can always unsubscribe immediately afterwards if you don't want the e-mails.

To begin tracing African-American ancestry, a great place to start is the FamilySearch Research Wiki, with loads of ideas for online resources you can explore and helpful tips.

Finding Your Scots Ancestors - Free Resources

 

Dundee Courier, 1921

To celebrate the birthday on January 25th of Scotland’s national bard, Robert Burns, I’ve put together a selection of free websites that may help you to grow your Scottish family tree a bit. This is an updated version of a previous blog post from 2021.

Glasgow Valuation Rolls,1913-1914  Learn about and search these lists of Glasgow owners and occupiers, with the value of their properties, to locate your early 20th-century relatives living in the city.

ScotlandsPlaces  In 18th-century Scotland, if something moved (or even if it didn’t), it got taxed. Horses, carts, dogs, clocks, watches – oh, and people, too. Household and farm servants may be listed under their employers’ names. You can also trace the history of a place through time, even a relatively small place, using Ordnance Survey records as well as property and business tax ledgers. And there are plenty of maps, plans, and photos, too.

Statistical Accounts of Scotland 1791-1845  Background information for the entire country, parish by parish, in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.  These books were compiled from contemporary accounts written by locals about their own area, with descriptions of the parish, its history, its natural features and industries.  Excellent for learning about the times and places your ancestors lived in.

Scots Abroad  Whether your relatives went abroad to work, live, or visit, they may appear in these databases hosted by the National Library of Scotland.  These include correspondence from emigrants and guides for those who were planning to emigrate to different parts of the world.  Get a flavour of what life would have been like for people taking the big step away from Scotland.

Scottish Emigration Database  Search by the name of a person or the ship they sailed on. Thousands of entries from 1890 to 1960 list the address from which they were emigrating and their destination overseas.

Kirk Session Records  Find out what your ancestors got up to when they were hauled before the minister and elders. There are links on this page to resources for understanding the context and social history behind these records, as well as the sometimes-difficult handwriting.

Dictionary of the Scots Language  Also handy for reading older records as well as Burns' poetry is this online dictionary of Scots. It is a separate language, ye ken.

Some free discoveries this week

 

While staying at home during the latest Scottish weather instalment (Storm Éowyn), I've spotted a few interesting things for frugal family historians…

First, an offer from MyHeritage: they're celebrating Australia Day this weekend - 25-28 January - with free access to many of their Australian records. You can read the full details at their blogpost, but note that their recent additions from OldNews.com are not included. 

Just this morning I came across an old blog post by the Knowles Collection about accessing their records of Jewish families from around the world. These are available on FamilySearch.org in its lesser-used Genealogies section, and the Collection's blog gives step-by-step screenshots to help you find and search these databases. Using this, I found a family I've researched in the past listed in the UK records.

In the past week I’ve begun contributing to a very worthwhile but straightforward indexing project for Arolsen Archives - #everynamecounts.  This is working to compile a database of those whose names are recorded on twentieth-century prisoner registration and displaced person cards. Almost 190,000 volunteers are currently working on this, and once you’ve read the Help notes to understand what’s required, it only takes a minute or two to complete one entry.

Finally, what are you doing tomorrow? If you'd like to stay home but are itching to attend a family history event, East Surrey Family History Society have the answer. They're holding a virtual family history fair which is free to attend. Many different societies will be "attending" and you can visit them on Zoom, ask questions, and find out what resources they offer. Why not pop along and have a chat? Among those holding virtual stalls will be 

• Aberdeen & North East Scotland FHS

• East of London FHS

• Glasgow & West of Scotland FHS

• FIBIS (Families in British India Society)

• Manchester & Lancashire FHS

• Romany & Travellers FHS

Support Your Local Family History Society

 

Family history society publications

Happy New Year! and welcome to another twelvemonth of family history money-saving tips. Not all frugal resources are completely free, but there are some that are definitely a good investment. Take family history societies, for example...

Over the past few years, these organisations have really upped their game and taken to online meetings with gusto. This has opened access to a worldwide audience for society events, particularly those with guest speakers or special discussions. 

Different societies operate in a variety of ways: some open their online and/or in-person meetings to everyone, not just members; some offer free entry for members and a small entry fee for non-members; for others, attendance is free to all; some vary their meetings between online and in-person; some regularly offer hybrid meetings, combining both remote and present audiences.

For example, this month I'd been invited by a family history society to give a talk via Zoom, and this was an online-only meeting, open to members at no extra charge (other than their annual membership fee), and just £2 for non-members wishing to attend.  And later this month, I'll be giving an in-person talk at a meeting of the Renfrewshire Family History Society, which will be a hybrid event. Any non-members who want to join this meeting can find the contact details on the society's website.

Other than meetings, family history societies around the world support their members in many ways, including

• Online databases compiled by members, such as indexes to local burial or poor relief records
• A register of members' surname interests
• Regular journals or newsletters, both in print and electronic formats
• Operating a research centre in the local community
• Research services for those living in other parts of the world
• Projects like graveyard surveys - these often end up as monumental inscription books (MIs)

Access to society research facilities and remote research services may also be open to the general public, usually for a small fee.  

If you've visited a family history fair or conference, you'll have seen some local societies at work, with their member volunteers staffing a stall. This normally has publications for sale: monumental inscription books, historic maps, works authored by members, and sometimes titles of local or general history interest that relate to the society's area. And of course the volunteers are delighted to enroll new members who wish to join.

For those who live at a distance from their ancestors' parish(es), society websites now have a greater role to play. Some record Zoom meetings for members to watch at their leisure. Society journals can be downloaded, and this can give members the choice of a lower-cost subscription - a society I belong to has a sliding scale of membership fees which includes a £7 reduction to members opting for electronic delivery of their journal (hats off to the Aberdeen & North-East Scotland FHS!).

I've also found that where you're not familiar with an area but want some tips or pointers on sites or records, dropping the relevant society an e-mail can work wonders. Members often have excellent local knowledge and can advise you on the best research strategies.

Society publications - MIs, church records, military history and many other subjects - can be ordered via the society website. These are of tremendous value and often contain information about ancestors that isn't readily available elsewhere, especially if you're not local to the area.

There are also umbrella organisations which include societies from across the world. The Family History Federation is the largest such group in the UK, with 160 member societies. It hosts educational resources for genealogists - this list of free family history websites is very useful - and keeps a calendar of some society meetings, although this isn't exhaustive. Its associated online shop will keep you browsing for a while, too.

Additionally, Scottish genealogy and heritage groups come under the auspices of the Scottish Association of Family History Societies. Check out their list of members if you have Scots heritage. One of these is the Scottish Genealogy Society, which has research premises in Edinburgh. Its website has an online shop selling an excellent range of publications from many other societies. Some of these are available as instant downloads, cutting down on postage costs.

My feeling about family history societies is that although they involve a (relatively) small expenditure to join, they are well worth it. They provide a network for people with very similar interests, which may even lead to finding a distant cousin; offer opportunities to contribute through volunteering on committees, projects, and events; and have a myriad of resources including courses and classes to guide you as you work on your family tree. A search of the Internet for a society that matches your interests should help you identify what groups are available. Go on, give it a try.