Transcription Tuesday 2023: British & U.S. Navy, medieval London, and asylum records

It's here again! Transcription Tuesday, sponsored by Who Do You Think You Are? magazine, takes place on 31 January. The annual event is for citizen historians, genealogists, or anyone with an interest in making historical records more easily searchable.

Join in on the day to create indexes of original records by entering specific details from them onto a project website.

As usual, several different projects are available to take part in.  You don't need expert skills, just an internet connected device.  And no registration is required except with the record project you'd like to work on. Pick a project, visit its website, and off you go! 

For 2023, the transcription projects are

• Civil War Bluejackets - U.S. Navy muster records
• FamilySearch - British Merchant Ship Crew Lists 
• Get To Know Medieval Londoners - medieval wills and property records from the City of London
• Parkside Asylum - patient records from this former Macclesfield institution

Advance details about these projects and the stories behind them can be found via the WDYTYA? magazine website. 

Gifts of Genealogy and Love

 I've recycled my previous years' seasonal posts with some gift ideas for the genealogist in your life, plus a new postscript for 2022.

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.  Homemade, personalised presents are the most thoughtful of all, I reckon.  And the gift of heritage is hard to put a price on.  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.

FamilySearch Keepsake Tree

Another option is to print a chart.  Family history computer programs can do this, with varying degrees of eye-catchingness.  If you have photographs of the people who feature on your tree, these can be mounted on a chart, with or without name labels. 

FamilySearch lets you create keepsakes by freely printing out your tree, in a range of attractive formats.
 
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; my father's army photograph and World War 2 medals hold pride of place in my home.  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 audio or video recording.  Follow up by transcribing the conversation and then typing it up, printing out and compiling a book(let).  Add photos as above, bind in a folder, and gift-wrap.  Or, if you have good video editing skills, compile a customised recording of your relative's life story and save it on DVD to present to family members.

As a prelude to Christmas, I’d like to finish with this video by Martin Lewis which, if you’ve not seen before (or even if you have), 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 on earth?

2022 Postscript: And this year, I've chosen to give to charity in place of Christmas presents to friends. Having recently received successful treatment for breast cancer, I'll be making my donation to Breast Cancer UK and would like to invite you to do the same, if you feel you can.

My latest family history money-saving tips

 Sales

The Irish News Archives are offering 50% off their annual subscription from 21 November for “a short time only”. Keep an eye on their website and social media accounts for any necessary discount code.

Check out the reviews and upcoming “Black Friday”/”Cyber Monday” deals on DNA testing kits.  If you’ve been thinking about investing in one, this is a good time to nab a bargain and beat the post-Christmas rush when everybody who gets one from Santa sends in their sample for analysis!

But bear in mind the sage advice of the original and best Moneysaver, Martin Lewis  : “If you were going to buy it anyway and it's half price, you've saved 50%. If you weren't going to buy it, but do because it's half price you've wasted 100%”.

 

Events

I’m all for free genealogy events, so ScottishIndexes’ free online conferences have been amazing.  Their next one is on Saturday 26th November, and as usual it’s available via Facebook or Zoom, and will run to a schedule that allows viewers in all time zones to take part without losing any sleep.  I’ll be speaking at this one so try not to miss it…

While not free, The Genealogy Show’s virtual winter event is offering 25% discount on its ticket prices, and 50% off for students. 

 

Courses

FutureLearn run some excellent online short courses on genealogy and other historical subjects. I’ve just begun their new course “Genetic Genealogy: Researching Your Family Tree Using DNA” and am finding it explains things quite clearly. All the courses are designed to be used at your own pace and with whatever level of involvement you choose. There are discussion sections where you can ask questions and interact with other learners.  Some course topics which may interest you are “Genealogy: Researching Your Family Tree” and “Early Modern Scottish Palaeography”.  Search their course listing and see what they have to offer.

 

Charts

Free charts are always welcome! There are some at  

         Cyndi’s List – Charts & Forms 

         Family Tree Templates  

         Misbach (click on “Free PDF” tab at top of page) 

         Ancestry – UK, US and Canada census blank forms 

          

Upcoming free events

Some forthcoming free genealogy events that cover a wide range of interests:

Legacy Family Tree Webinars 1-Day Conference - 23 July

Here you can choose from several new and existing pre-recorded classes dealing with Military Research, free to watch for 24 hours, in your own time. No need to pre-register, just visit the website and click on your choice of talks. 

Auckland Family History Expo - 13-14 August

This is an in-person event, being held at the Fickling Convention Centre in Auckland, New Zealand, with some of the speakers delivering their presentations live and others via Zoom.  There is no charge for the Saturday and Sunday sessions.

Scottish Indexes - 3 September

The latest in the popular series of online conferences, hosted from the West of Scotland by professional researchers Emma and Graham Maxwell. Watch the event either on Zoom or Facebook via the website's group.

Sharing Shetland - 22 October

Register for this Zoom conference which includes six presentations and a live question-and-answer session on topics relating to Shetland ancestry.

And follow me on Facebook for more event updates as they come, as well as all things Scottish or genealogy-related.

Graveyard Research: Planning & Visiting

Glamis Kirkyard

In this post, I want to share some resources to help you plan and carry out research visits to graveyards.

For those working out of doors in Scotland at this time of year, the most important item to pack is

MIDGE REPELLENT

A few years ago, a nurse gave me a tip that has worked for me.  Dilute a small amount of Listerine mouthwash in a spray bottle and apply to exposed skin (yours, not the midges’). Frugal and effective!

Planning

For identifying historic graveyard locations, I recommend the National Library of Scotland’s Maps (their OS collections cover the UK).

The Ordnance Survey (the official UK Government mapping organisation) provide free access to contemporary maps, as well as an app to purchase for your mobile device, with a free 7-day trial.

Current online maps provided by popular search engines like Bing and Google are not always accurate or up to date.  This report about Google Maps' dangerous path up Ben Nevis highlighted the potential hazards of relying on this kind of source. 

GENUKI may give names and/or locations of burial grounds in a parish or county you are researching.  Again, check that the information is current (especially crucial details like opening hours) by contacting the local church, council, or family history society. Their contact details may also be found on GENUKI or, for the latter, through the Family History Federation or the Scottish Association of Family History Societies.

While websites such as BillionGraves or FindAGrave won’t necessarily list your ancestors, they may have an entry for the graveyard(s) you’re interested in, with the all-important location details, including GPS coordinates.

 

Arriving

“Leave nothing but footprints” is a phrase often used to raise awareness of the potential impact we can have on the countryside.  I’d suggest that we adopt a similar approach to visiting cemeteries whether in town or country.  These spaces are often havens for wildlife and need to be treated with care, as well as the respect due to burial grounds in general.

I would advise you to choose footwear appropriate for rough terrain, especially if you aren’t familiar with the cemetery.  Some graveyards may suffer from subsidence and require caution while navigating around.  Many cemeteries are neglected and overgrown, and while I'm not advocating the use of machetes, sensible clothing is definitely advisable!

 

Recording

Decide in advance which method(s) of recording gravestones you’ll use, and bring the appropriate kit.  Hidden Heritage has some great ideas for non-invasive techniques, including a link to free imaging software and how this can help make inscriptions clearer. 

To preserve the fabric of headstones, use contactless methods to take a note of monumental inscriptions.  Pen and paper or photographs may be old-fashioned but they’re reliable and good for the stones.  Digital photography and smartphones have transformed our ability to take multiple images of a gravestone and its surroundings, and to share and store them online.

Historic Environment Scotland has produced a PDF leaflet, Looking After Gravestones, which has some excellent advice about the treatment, care and preservation of cemetery monuments.

 

Searching

While some burial grounds may have plans or maps available, either online or in the cemetery itself, it can still be difficult to locate a specific burial site, even if you have a plot number.  Do ask for help if local staff are available.  Those tasked with keeping the grounds in good order will be very familiar with the chronology of the place as well as the location of some of the occupants.

If you have a plot or lair number for the grave you want to see, these are sometimes carved into the side of the headstones in larger cemeteries, and while your family stone may not have one, the surrounding stones might.

Once you have found the grave(s) you’re looking for, check nearby for potentially related memorials.

My perennial graveyard tip: look on the reverse of the headstone (just in case they ran out of room on the front). I found an example of this on a recent churchyard search near Forfar.

Check out another of my posts for more tips on graveyard research.  Happy hunting!

A Miscellany of Free Genealogy Stuff

Another in my series of occasional round-ups, sharing some news and new finds in the world of online family history.

Ancestor Abel 

A good alternative to GENUKI for Scottish research is Ancestor Abel, compiled by Dr John Robertson. It lists each parish and its extant records and other sources of genealogical information, with links to them where applicable. Some of the links to external sites are no longer working; for example the Angus Folk Museum in Glamis ceased to exist several years ago and the link now simply takes you to the National Trust for Scotland’s main site.

FindMyPast    

The subscription website offers more than a million pages from their newspaper collection free of charge. Of course, this is to tempt you into paying for full access to their entire 50 million pages. Be strong!

Gigatrees  

This is a free application that allows you to build an online space for your family tree, blog, or photographs. You don’t need any programming or web-building skills, and there’s a quick start guide to get you going.

Legacy Family Tree

The family history video host is holding a one-day conference this Saturday (28th May), offering free access to some of their recorded presentations. This month the theme is German research.

On the trail of my military McIntoshes

 

Siege of Burgos, 1812, Francois Joseph Heim (Public domain)

In search of my several-greats grandfather who fought at Waterloo – and who carried his wounded brother on his back on the retreat from the siege of Burgos in the Peninsular War, only to discover when they got to safety that his brother had died – I recently contacted the Black Watch Museum Archives in Perth (the Scottish one) to find out if they had any regimental records that might help identify said brother. I had previously been unaware of any siblings that great-grandpa Hugh had. 

Hugh was born in either Avoch (pronounced “Auch”) or Rosemarkie, depending on whether you believe the census or the military records. As they’re only a few miles apart it doesn’t really matter; both are in the area of Easter Ross known as the Black Isle, and neither of their parish churches’ records include a birth record for Hugh.  There are over 50 individuals with the surname McIntosh in the 1841 census taken in Avoch. Hugh isn’t one of them, however, as by that time he had retired from his military career and set up home in Nairn, on the other side of the Moray Firth, where seven of his nine children were born to him and his wife Elizabeth Sinclair.

He had more than likely been stationed at nearby Fort George during his service, as it was there, in the parish of Ardersier, that he and Elizabeth were married. Perhaps that was part of the reason for choosing Nairn as their home, after a life in the army.

I was delighted, then, to receive an email last week from the Black Watch archivist, Jennifer, who had made a search of the records they held and had not only found records that mentioned Hugh, but had managed to narrow down the identity of his brother, using a casualty list and other regimental records.  The only McIntosh who was in the same unit as Hugh and who died in the retreat from Burgos was named Donald. As he didn’t survive there won’t be any discharge or pension records at Kew, unfortunately.  But now that I know his name, it won’t be quite as much of a needle in a haystack task to find out more about him; perhaps in newspapers, or a local war memorial of some kind.

I don’t know whether the McIntoshes moved en masse from the Black Isle to Nairn, or if it was only Hugh who settled there.  It’s possible that Donald was born elsewhere in Scotland.  Hugh’s first two children were born in, respectively, France and Dublin, Elizabeth accompanying him both on campaign and in his postings.

Both Hugh and Donald are listed in this roll of Capt. James Stirling's Company

My next goal is to identify which of Hugh and Elizabeth’s five sons were also in the army.  His obituary mentions two, and gives their regiment and the places around the world in which they served.  So far I've found one described as a “pensioner” in his own newspaper death announcement. Sadly, he also appears to have had a lengthy and varied criminal record, with his name popping up regularly in the burgh police records and the court reports of the local Gazette. One can only imagine the possible PTSD that led him into such a life. It's his pension record that I'm going to try and find next.  Stay tuned for (hopefully) more finds!

Oh, and here's the newspaper obituary for Hugh which set me off on this chase. He was a bit of a character.

Nairnshire Telegraph, 4 February 1863 (courtesy of BNA)