Do Something Different in 2020!

Are you looking for inspiration, motivation, focus in your research for the coming year?  Maybe 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks can help.  It’s not a programme, not necessarily a commitment (at least not to anyone but yourself!) – it’s simply a tool you can use to search for, write about, organise, or photograph someone or something in your family tree.  

Perhaps your research notes have been piling up over the last while (it's OK, we all suffer from this 🌝), or you’ve been meaning to sort through some family memorabilia.  Use Amy Johnson Crow’s #52Ancestors prompt as a reminder to yourself – and then share what you do or find.  Amy suggests:

“You can blog, post on your favorite social media, send an email to your cousins -- whatever you want to do to share something about that ancestor. The point is to get you to take that knowledge that you have and the discoveries that you've made and get them out of the filing cabinet/computer/pile of papers and do something with it. How you share it is up to you. (If you do post something on social media, please feel free to use the #52Ancestors hashtag!)”

You can learn all about the idea and sign up for the free prompts at Amy's website - but it’s entirely up to you how you decide to use it. You could continue for a short time and then set it aside, permanently or temporarily.  You might be inspired to begin another, more personalised family history activity or to take your research in an altogether different direction.  What matters is that you feel motivated to start, maybe by doing a simple thing like sharing a photo with a relative – which could spark a conversation about your family.

Meanwhile, if you're looking for some instant inspiration, check out my previous blog post of quick-fix, moneysaving bite-size family history activities.

However you decide to continue working on your family tree in 2020, I wish you every success and hope you’ll return here often for more ideas and inspiration to help you.  Happy New Year!

Festive Family History Greetings!

I hope you have a peaceful and happy Christmas, and wish you all the best for 2020.  More frugal family history tips in the year to come!

(Photo credit: wallace1298 at https://www.deviantart.com/wallace1298/art/Nollaig-chridheil-agus-bliadhna-mhath-ur-721038685
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License)

Money-saving tips for family historians

January 2020 issue of Family Tree

Normally, I wouldn't recommend spending your hard-earned cash on a magazine, but in this case I'm prepared to make an exception, as it has advice on doing family history for free.  The January issue of Family Tree contains an article written by the Frugal Family Historian, full of money-saving genealogy tips.  Available in all good UK newsagents! 😊

Free Apps for Family History On The Go!

Who Do You Think You Are? magazine's forum app

There seems to be a mobile app for just about anything these days, including family history.  The ones I’ve listed below are, naturally, all free to download and use, although companies like Ancestry and FindMyPast charge for the full use of their main websites. 

Free apps are, in effect, a method of attracting new customers for the commercial organisations.  They can be extremely useful when you are away from home and don’t have access to your records, especially when the opportunity arises for some unexpected research!

Some apps allow you to organise, access, and investigate your family tree while on the go, in different ways.  Others are specifically aimed at graveyard research, either remotely or on-site.  This blog post is not meant to be a comprehensive listing by any means, and of course there are other apps which you can buy for your phone or tablet.  I've just chosen a few with which I'm familiar.

BillionGraves App

BillionGraves in particular is aimed at encouraging users to photograph cemetery headstones and upload pictures to its website.  It uses GPS technology to help you locate a gravesite when you’re out and about, and to share what you find with other users.

Similarly, FindAGrave has introduced this function with their app, powered by Ancestry, and you can learn how to use it by clicking on the “Tutorials” button on the website.

Most (if not all) of these apps are available for Android and Apple devices.  There is no charge for any of them.  Some of those that enable you to access your online tree are

☙  Ancestry

☙  FamilySearch Family Tree

☙  FindMyPast

☙  Heredis

If you’ve ever tried to photograph a page of a book or document, only to find your picture is unreadable, consider using an app such as CamScanner which acts more like a scanning device than a camera, producing sharper images.  Just make sure you download the free basic account.

Finally, Who Do You Think You Are? magazine has an app to connect you to its user forum, where you can ask and answer genealogy questions - very handy if you're visiting a new ancestral area and the archives are closed for the day!

Frugal Family History Tip  Remember to read an app’s customer reviews as well as all the product information in your online store before deciding to download it.  Frequent updates can mean changes in the way an app functions, and users are normally quick to point out any glitches or faults that may have developed. 

Time Travel

Gearrannan Blackhouse Village, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides

Do you remember the first boost you got in researching your family's history?

I was about 18 years old and a friend who knew my heritage referred me to someone he thought would have useful information on my father’s side.  Dad’s family came from North Uist, a small island parish in the Western Isles of Scotland, and apparently someone local to me had researched many families of these islands, the Outer Hebrides.  I rang this gentleman and he asked me a little about my parentage.  He excused himself to get a file, and a few moments later said, “Then your grandparents must be…”  The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.  I made an appointment to visit and find out what else this man knew about my ancestors.

And it turned out he knew more than possibly anybody else on the planet.  Bill Lawson was then, and is now even more so, the most knowledgeable Hebridean genealogist, having interviewed and researched thousands upon thousands of individuals whose blood flows from these islands, not only in Scotland but across the ocean.  Last night a documentary about the remarkable work he carried out together with his late wife Chris aired on the Gaelic TV channel BBC Alba (pronounced ‘Alabah’).  Don’t worry if, like me, you don’t speak Gaelic – subtitles are provided.  I highly recommend that you watch it.

Bill Lawson (Photo courtesy of BBC Alba)

For me, seeing this programme was like travelling back in time to the day I visited Bill in his Paisley flat in the late 1970s.  His extensive library, his extraordinarily detailed and well-organised files of families from Lewis to Barra, his prodigious knowledge and astonishing memory were all still there.  If it were not for him and his willingness to share what he has collected, myself and countless other family historians would be struggling to piece together a much smaller jigsaw.  He is, quite simply, my family history hero.

If you are able to watch BBC television programmes, this link should take you to the documentary, "Bill Lawson - Sar Shloinntear (The Genealogist)" https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000c088

Listen Up!

This week I thought I’d return to the topic of how to go about developing new skills and educating ourselves in the ways of the genealogist.  One very simple and frugal way is to listen to podcasts. 

Family history podcasts seem to abound, but I’ve chosen just a few to give a taste of what's available.  From both the UK and the US, their presenters discuss areas of special interest and share stories of success in growing family trees.  These can range from cold case murders to house histories, parish records to software reviews.  Most podcasts provide a brief summary of the content of each episode, allowing you to pick one on a subject that interests you or that will help you tackle a brick wall.

Some of the presenters are sponsored by commercial organisations, some are independent enthusiasts, and some are professional historians.  All share a common passion for exploring the past and sharing their knowledge.

Being easily downloadable, podcasts are great for a long journey – unless, of course, you’re the driver and the spoken word tends to send you to sleep!  
However you plan on listening to them, do try one or two of these out:

• Amateur Family History 
• BBC 4 Tracing Your Roots 
• Extreme Genes: Family History Radio 
• Genealogy Gems
• Genealogy Guys

Gifts of Genealogy

It’s approaching the time of year when “What can I buy X for Christmas?” becomes the most pressing question.  If your nearest and dearest happen to be into family history, I have some gift ideas that don’t (a) include a DNA kit or (b) cost a fortune.  Handmade, personalised presents are the most thoughtful of all, I reckon.  And what could be more personal than the gift of heritage?  Here are my suggestions:

 A framed family tree.  There are many ways to present this; if you have a steady hand and good penmanship (or a decent Italic pen), your costs can be limited to finding a suitable frame and paper – both available at budget stores.  Or your local charity shop might have some pictures for sale whose frames can be re-used.

Another option is to print a chart.  Family history computer programs can do this, with varying degrees of eye-catchingness.  FamilySearch allows users to freely print out their tree in a range of attractive formats.
 
If you have enough photographs of the people featured on the tree, these can be mounted on a chart, with or without name labels.
 
Photographs.  Compile an album for an older relative to prompt memories, and perhaps some heart-warming recollections too.  Frame any number of photographs to make a conversation piece for the hall, stairway, or living room – either in a collage frame or individually.
 
This Is Your Life.  The photo album idea could be taken a stage further to include mementos such as programmes, letters, postcards, certificates and so on, forming a record of the recipient’s life.  An appropriate presentation ceremony would add to the occasion!

Frame an heirloom.  This isn’t as unlikely as it sounds.  Medals are an obvious choice, and can be combined with photographs.  These could be military or sports awards; one of my great-uncles took part in a police tug-of-war team, and I still have the medal to show for it.  Other heirlooms might include a wedding favour, a piece of fabric with a special meaning, or even an item of jewellery.

 
A Gift For My Grandchild.  Although these types of books are available commercially, a homemade version would be something to cherish.  Starting with the grandparent, it can tell the story of how the family has grown to include the grandchild.  Make it even more personal with lists of favourite music, books, food etc., and include blank pages for the child to add their own artwork and memories.  You can find plenty of inspiration online for creating a unique family keepsake.
 
Keeping A Diary.  Generic notebooks can be transformed into the gift of a personal journal, diary or travel log – or you can buy ready-made ones quite cheaply.  Personalise the book by adding a photograph or the recipient’s name or initials to the cover.  To get them started with their writing, include a journal jar in the gift.  Any decent-sized jam jar can be transformed with ribbon or other embellishments.  Write “prompts” on small slips of coloured paper to put in the jar.  These can be questions such as “What did you most enjoy about today?” or ideas like “Write a description of your garden”. 
 
This idea might also be applied to someone writing their own life history.  Again, there is no shortage of suggestions on the internet; just search for “journal jar”.
 
 Give Them Their Story.  This may require a bit of pre-planning, and co-operation from your relative, but it can be very worthwhile for the giver too.  Over a number of occasions, chat to the intended recipient about their life, using photographs or other memory-joggers, and (with their permission, naturally) record their recollections.  This could be on paper, if your shorthand’s up to it, on tape or digital voice recorder, or on video.  Follow up by transcribing the conversation and then typing it up and compiling a book(let).  Add photos as above, bind in a folder, and gift-wrap.

As a prelude to Christmas, I’d like to finish with this video by Martin Lewis

which, if you’ve not seen before, I would urge you to watch.  Being frugal isn’t just about saving money, it’s about peace of mind, and what says more about Christmas than peace?