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.