Learn more, 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

 

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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