More on the Living DNA genetic ancestry test and plans

Following on last Tuesday's blog post I had the opportunity for a Skype conversation with Living DNA's David Nicholson and Hannah Morden to clarify some points. David Nicholson's experience in the field goes back to 2004/5 as an agent for the now defunct DNAPrint Genomics. His company DNA Legal, has been in business a number of years, operates ISO accredited labs and has won awards.
I'll not repeat the summary in the previous post, the detailed post by Debbie Kennett, or material on the company website at livingdna.com/.

It is worth pointing out that the test's British geographic origin breakdown separates out what was a large red eastern England blob in the People of the British Isles (POBI) results (right hand side map). That area, which covered much of England, is separated into Norfolk and Suffolk, the London area with Kent and Sussex, Hampshire and Dorset as well as distinct regions of Devon and Cornwall (left hand map). I was told that while the POBI database may well be available to other companies the specific analysis technique used by the company, which permitted the more detailed resolution, is exclusive.

The company has a long development to-do list including acquiring Irish data as a top priority, acquiring data from other populations worldwide and on ingestion of results transferred from other company analysis. Likely, results from such transfers will not be as detailed as from the new custom DNA chip Living DNA is using. For instance, AncestryDNA provides no results for Y or mitochondrial DNA. Nicholson believes the new chip will be adopted by other companies although each is likely to have several tens of thousands of custom SNPs depending on the application.

In closing David made the point that one of the company aims is educational, to show that we're all connected to everyone else. The company has looked at the size of the DNA segments shared to show how connections have evolved through the ages and to "get rid of the outdated notion of race." It's why, although there is appeal to the near term British emphasis, the product is designed to be suitable for anyone around the world and the results will be updated as knowledge develops.

The company will be exhibiting at the Back To Our Past event in Dublin in October, Rootstech next February and WDYTYA? Live.

Apparently business has been brisk for the company, "an incredible demand for the product", for the past few days. One Ottawa-based genealogist experienced difficulties completing the online transaction.Will that be sorted out by the time the company is ready to ship swabs for DNA collection, expected in mid-October?

Ancestry updates Surrey Electoral Register collection

If you searched Ancestry's collection Surrey, England, Electoral Registers when it first appeared in December 2013 it was for the period 1918-1945. There were somewhat more than 10 million records.
The update just mounted online extends the date range to 1832-1962 and the number of records to 36,618,574. It could be time to search again.
The Surrey History Centre provided the records, Ancestry created the index using text recognition software. Expect to still find oddities like the person named Telegraph Lane Croxton - a text recognition anomaly pointed out here when the database first appeared.

Scotlands People website relaunched

After a bit of delay the revamped version of the ScotlandsPeople website providing commercial access to government custody records is now online.

The good news is that searching the indexes relating to the Birth, Death and Marriage Register, Old Parish Register or Open Census records is free. You can search without logging on to find the number of hits in each category for the name and year range specified. You do need to be a registered user, and may need to update your password, to see the index search results. For example, for births, the free results returned are Surname, Forename, Gender, Year, Ref, and RD Name. A search on surname and registration district may yield siblings birth registrations, useful if the name isn't too common. A fee applies to view the original record image.

Credits are carried over from the previous site. The not so good news is there is a cost increase from £7 to £7.50 for 30 credits. Six credits purchase a a single image view.

For more detailed, and informed comment, see Chris Paton's blog at http://britishgenes.blogspot.ca/2016/09/new-scotlandspeople-website-is-launched.html

British Newspaper Archives additions for September

The British Newspaper Archive now has 15,647,563 pages (15,345,343 last month) from 685 (666) titles online. The full list of additions this month, notably more than 40 year runs from the Hendon and Finchley Times, the Norwich Mercury and the Warwick and Warwickshire Advertiser is:

• Alloa Advertiser 1850 - 1856, 1872 - 1891, 1900 - 1908, 1910 - 1911
• Barnsley Chronicle, etc. 1872, 1877, 1879, 1895 - 1896, 1898 - 1909
• Belfast Telegraph 1902
• Birmingham Chronicle. 1819 - 1822, 1824 - 1827
• Brighton Guardian 1877
• Brighton Herald 1833, 1873, 1877, 1881, 1889
• Buxton Herald 1951
• Cork Constitution 1875, 1878
• Coventry Evening Telegraph 1939
• Dartmouth & South Hams chronicle 1869, 1871 - 1874, 1894 - 1896, 1899 - 1909
• Dudley and District News 1880 - 1885
• Dudley Guardian, Tipton, Oldbury & West Bromwich Journal and District Advertiser 1874 - 1875
• Dudley Mercury, Stourbridge, Brierley Hill, and County Express 1888 - 1890
• Dundee Advertiser 1895, 1897, 1899
• East & South Devon Advertiser. 1895 - 1896, 1898 - 1899, 1901 - 1904
• Globe 1804 - 1805, 1811 - 1812, 1815, 1818 - 1821
• Hendon & Finchley Times 1878 - 1922, 1929, 1935 - 1940
• Illustrated Police Budget 1899
• Irish Times 1866, 1868 - 1869, 1874, 1876 - 1877, 1881
• Leeds Mercury 1922 - 1927
• Norwich Mercury 1727, 1823 - 1826, 1828 - 1835, 1837 - 1844, 1846 - 1888, 1890 - 1896, 1899 - 1905
• Preston Herald 1863 - 1876, 1882 - 1896, 1899 - 1909, 1911 - 1918
• Tyne Mercury; Northumberland and Durham and Cumberland Gazette 1802 - 1808, 1815 - 1822, 1825 - 1828
• Warwick and Warwickshire Advertiser 1823 - 1827, 1829 - 1834, 1836 - 1845, 1866 - 1871, 1875, 1878 - 1891, 1897 - 1956
• Waterford Mirror and Tramore Visitor. 1893 - 1895, 1897 - 1910
• Waterford Standard 1897, 1899, 1901 - 1911, 1928 - 1950
• Weekly Freeman's Journal 1911 - 1916
• Weekly Irish Times 1876 - 1878, 1880 - 1882, 1893
• West Surrey Times 1855, 1859 - 1860, 1862 - 1864, 1870 - 1872
• Western Morning News 1860, 1865, 1867, 1869, 1873, 1892, 1896 - 1899, 1901, 1914 - 1918

 

FreeBMD September update

The FreeBMD Database was updated on Thursday 29 September 2016 to contain 256,972,888 (256,426,687) distinct records.
Years with major updates (more than 5,000 entries) are for births:1964, 1966, 1976-78; for marriages: 1966, 1969, 1971, 1976-79; for deaths 1841, 1974, 1976-79.

Free publicity for the genealogy community

The following is an announcement sent by Rick Roberts of a free publicity opportunity for genealogy events.

In an effort to improve Global Genealogy’s  Upcoming Events page (http://globalgenealogy.com/admin/events.htm  ), we’ve added an automated tool that allows groups to post their own events.  We will still moderate the event postings to avoid the problem of the nefarious hijacking the site with spam.  That means that when you add an event, we receive an automatic email notification that the event  has been added but not made public yet…  we bring up the event and approve it going public.  That process will create a small delay in posting but will usually go public the same day.

In the interest of easy navigation we ask event posters to keep their listings brief and provide links or contact information where those who are interested can get more information.

This automated system is only a few hours old, so when users add meeting info, I would appreciate their opinion about what works well and what could be improved in the process.  That feedback can be addressed to rick (at) globalgenealogy.com  

Michaelmas Day

Today, 29 September is Michaelmas Day, one of the four traditional quarter days in the year. They are Lady Day (25th March), Midsummer (24th June), Michaelmas (29th September) and Christmas (25th December). As these were the days when rent was due perhaps they were days your ancestors saw approach with dread.
Starting a few days later were the Michaelmas term, the beginning of the legal and academic years.
Michaelmas was traditionally marked by feasting on a goose. Read about that and more, something for each day of the year, in Chamber's Book of Days (1869 version).

Ottawa DNA Special Interest Group: Saturday 1 October.

Featured this meeting is Marc Snelling with a presentation on utilities for DNA analysis including GEDMATCH and Genome Mate Pro.

Marc is an APG member, co-founder of Grandma’s Genes, specializing in Indigenous research and DNA triangulation. His ancestry includes Quaker and Blackfoot roots. He has twenty years experience as a Microsoft Windows and UNIX based computer network professional.

The meeting takes place this coming Saturday at 100 Tallwood Drive at 09:30 am in Room 115 (main floor).

Ancestry adds Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Electoral Registers, 1741-1974

Find your Geordie ancestors in this collection of electoral registers from the Tyne and Wear Archives via Ancestry.
The registers list names and residences of people in Newcastle upon Tyne, who were eligible to vote. They are year-by-year, with gaps. No registers were produced during the war years 1916, 1917 and 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943 and 1943. The years 1960-1964 are missing.
The indexing was performed by text recognition on the printed registers.

Right to Know Day: LAC highights (almost) 100 projects

Today "40 countries celebrate Right to Know Day, which aims to raise awareness of an individual’s right to access government information, while promoting freedom of information as essential to both democracy and good governance." Who knew?

Library and Archives Canada is part of the celebration with the launch of launch a new web page dedicated to the proactive opening of government records under the Block Review Initiative. It links to a "listing of the first 100 projects for which records are now open and more easily available to researchers."

What's there?

When I looked there were 94 projects listed, not 100. What happened to the other six? The total pages in the 94 items is 7,535,135 which is the number claimed to be in the 100.

The two largest items, accounting for more than 1,000,000 pages each, are two Central Registry Files for the Department of Trade and Commerce.

Two items more likely to be of genealogical interest.

- 130,000 Veterans Affairs Canada, Death Cards (1921-1963). They have been online for a few years, not indexed but arranged in alphabetical order, and can be accessed at www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/mass-digitized-archives/veterans-death-cards-ww1/Pages/veterans-death-cards.aspx/.

- 50,500 Department of Veteran's Affairs, War Service Records Division, RG 38, Ban. No. 2009-00126-5, Boxes 1-101. MIKAN 3912956, There's a finding aid, lacking in much detail,  at https://goo.gl/bLNJoR. Many of the boxes hold statistical information, but not all. For example:

9. Nominal Roll and Documents for the Royal Canadian Machine Gun Corps. 1939/03/15. File.
RG38-D-10. Volume/box number: 432.
and
30. Alphabetical Nominal Rolls - Faber - Hyvonen. N.D. File.  RG38-D-10. Volume/box number: 427. 

Thanks to Glenn Wright for advice on these military files.

Historical Society of Ottawa: September meeting

The hot topic this Friday, 30 September 2016 for the Historical Society of Ottawa is The Fire of 3 February 1916 that Burned Down out original Centre Block, to be presented by Don Nixon.

"The Centre Block we have today is not the original one, There used to be another one in the same spot, but it burned down in a horrible fire the night of February 3, 1916. In this presentation, Don Nixon will provide an overview of the fire, focussing in particular on its early stages, and on possible causes. Was it careless smoking as Prime Minister Borden maintained, an electrical fire, or spontaneous combustion? With World War I raging, many believed it deliberately set by a German saboteur. We will never know for sure. But, with the evidence presented, you can decide; spoiler alert: Don believes the fire was deliberate."

Don Nixon retired in 2006 after a long career in Public Works and Government Services Canada. For the last 19 years before retirement, he was a project manager on Parliament Hill. There, he worked on a wide range of interesting projects including the stabilization of chimneys, towers, turrets and rooftop masonry, the conservation of the Peace Tower and the front of the Centre Block, the statues on Parliament Hill, the conservation of the War Memorial, the making of the Queen Elizabeth stature on the Hill, and the installation of the "Evolution of Life" series of stone carvings in the House of Commons chamber. After retirement, he wrote an off-beat history of Parliament Hill titled "The Other Side of the Hill"

The meeting strats at 1 pm at the Routhier Community Centre, 172 Guigues Street in Ottawa.

Genetic Ancestry Test from Living DNA

Have you been puzzled by your admixture results from Family Tree DNA, 23andMe or AncestryDNA? Perhaps you've seen the much higher geographic resolution in the People of the British Isles project results and wanted to see your DNA analysed with their techniques and database. You'll soon have the opportunity.

Debbie Kennett's post Living DNA – a new genetic ancestry test providing comparisons with the People of the British Isles dataset on her Cruwys news blog is the the first I've heard of this exciting new development from a British company. I recommend reading Debbie's blog for details.


Who are Living DNA from Living DNA on Vimeo.

According to the company website your DNA will be broken down across up to 80 regions of the world and you can see your family ancestry at different points in history. If you have ancestry from the British Isles analysis will break down your origins in up to 21 regions, such as Cornwall, Devon, Norfolk or North Wales.

The company will use a new DNA chip, technical details are at http://www.glimdna.org/assets/gsa_datasheet_2016.pdf, which will provide information for 638,000 autosomal SNPs, 17,800 X-chromosome SNPs, 22,500 Y-SNPs, 4,700 mtDNA SNPs.
The company also intends to accept information from other company tests - details pending.

Be aware that the company will not provide a database to permit one to one comparison with other tester's results, but the data will be downloadable for subsequent upload to compatible third-party sites.

Remember, a fundamental limitation is that you only inherit half of each parent's DNA. The random nature of the selection process means that you have no genetic inheritance from many of the distant ancestors in your genealogical tree.

The test sells for $199 Cdn (£120) with shipping starting in mid-October. Order at www.livingdna.com/

Associated Press Acquires British Movietone Film Archive

The Wall Street Journal is reporting the acquisition of the archive of British Movietone News. The Movietone archive includes thousands of reports of international news events from 1929 to 1879 including World War II, the first recorded speeches by Gandhi, film of the “British Invasion” of America by the Beatles and the only 35mm footage of Princess Diana’s wedding to Prince Charles.

So far, about 85% of the archive—or roughly 2,200 hours of film—has been digitized.

Since 2015 some of collection has been available on YouTube.

Dick Eastman and John Grenham, could they both be wrong?

In his most recent blog post under the title Dick Eastman is wrong John Grenham starts:

"On second thoughts actually no, Dick Eastman is right. The other title is just grabbier.
On third thoughts, maybe he’s both right and wrong."

Grenham is reacting to a presentation The Future of Genealogy Research Eastman gave to The Third International family history conference of the Claire Roots Society, Diaspora of the Wild Atlantic Way, which took place on 23rd to 24th September 2016.

Where they agree is on the importance of collaboration online. Where Grenham differs is in hoping it will not occur through subscription sites such as Ancestry.  Que sera, sera --- if people find the commercial sites good value they'll use them, and it's not just the collaboration they offer but also convenient access to digitized records. While Ireland may have free access to many records (of those not destroyed) wasn't it the commercial companies that produced an name index to the Catholic parish records. Wasn't it Ancestry that indexed most of the Canadian census records which now, after an embargo period, are freely available at the Library and Archives Canada website.

What's most surprising in both Eastman's slides, and Grenham's blog post, is ---  no mention of genetic genealogy. Adding DNA evidence to genealogical research is the biggest advance of the past few years and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. The demonstrated potential to tumble down brick walls we have seen to date is nothing compared to what will happen when a critical mass of the population's DNA, especially outside the USA, is tested and available in a database for comparison. It should not be overlooked in any discussion of the future of genealogy research.

Shannon Lecture: Friday 30 September

Trials of Madness: Civil Law and Lunacy in a Trans-Atlantic World
James Moran
University of Prince Edward Island
Friday, September 30, 2016, 2.30-4pm
Discovery Centre, Room 482 Library.

James Moran is lead author of the chapter Mad Migrants and the Reach of English Civil Law in the recently published book Migration and Mental Health, Past and Present.

The lecture is followed by a reception and viewing of an exhibit Remedies, Elixirs, and Medical Men in the History Department at Carleton University which explores health care in nineteenth-century March Township and Bytown, drawing on documentation and artifacts from Ottawa’s Pinhey family and their circle. More information at carleton.ca/history

Dictionary of Occupational Terms

Dictionary of Occupational Terms Based on the Classification of Occupations used in the Census of Population, 1921 provides a description of what that occupation involved — sometimes a brief single phrase, in other cases running to several hundred words. There is extensive cross referencing, with listing of synonyms and similar occupations in related spheres of employment, and it includes a considerable number of purely regional terms. In all, it provides 16,837 definitions for 29,106 terms.

Originally compiled by the British Ministry of Labour and published by HMSO in 1927 it was based on the classification of occupations used in the 1921 Census, this edition was scanned and formatted for the web by Peter Christian, author of The Genealogist's Internet and co-author of Census – The Family Historian's Guide

This digital edition of the Dictionary includes the complete set of definitions, the prefatory material, and an independent index not based on the index of the original volume.

This description is based on a post on the Society of Genealogists Rootsweb mailing list.

You may well find this reference useful for occupations in earlier censuses, 1921 is not yet available at the individual level. Statistical compilations are available online such as at www.visionofbritain.org.uk/census/census_page.jsp?yr=1921

Ancestry updates Dorset records

There are updates to Ancestry's collection of Dorset records which mostly first became available  in 2011. Except for the "Se;lect" collection sourced from FamilySearch the databases are from records of the Dorset History Centre.

Dorset, England, Poor Law and Church of England Parish Records, 1511-1997, 253,219 records
England, Select Dorset Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1999,  4,506,989 reccords
Dorset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, 2,084,464 records
Dorset, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906,  1,177,816 records
Dorset, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-2010,  356,848 records
Dorset, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813-1921, 576,745 records

BIFHSGO Conference Videos Online

Now available, to members only, are videos of 11 presentations from the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa conference 2016. By alphabetical order of presenter they are:

Kyle Betit
Advances in Irish Research Over the Last Five Years
Irish Land Records
Irish Sources You May Never Have Considered
Using Canadian and US Records for Your Irish Research

Leanne Cooper
Adventures in Genetic Genealogy: Who Were Charlotte Richardsons Parents?

Maurice Gleeson
A Sense of Place; A Sense of Self
Connecting with Cousins Through Autosomal DNA
DNA and Genealogy: Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask
Researching Your Irish Family History from the Comfort of Your Home

Niall Keogh
Easter 1916, a Family Affair

Rick Moody
Adventures in Genetic Genealogy: Moody DNA – Irish Glenns?

Handouts or copies of slides for some conference presentations are at the same members only location.

Thanks are due to John McConkey for organizing capturing and editing of the videos.

Glenn Wright speaks to Ukrainian Genealogy Group September Meeting

"The Ruryk Family in Canada: Research Challenge, Research Success” is the topic for BIFHSGO past president Glenn Wright's presentation to the Ukrainian Genealogy Group of the National Capital Region on Tuesday 27 September.

This presentation will describe both the challenge and success that he has had in researching his Ukrainian ancestors. He feared that his inability to speak or read Ukrainian would be an insurmountable obstacle, but using traditional genealogical resources, he has been able to document, in considerable detail, the story of his Ruryk family who emigrated from Galicia to rural Alberta prior to the Great War. Glenn will demonstrate his successful use of archival and published resources in his search for his Ukrainian roots..

This meeting will takes place at 7:30 pm at the St John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Hall, 952 Green Valley Drive, Ottawa. All welcome.

World Wars and naming patterns

Rockstar Genealogist, #1 in England. Scotland and Wales, Kirsty Gray has picked up on a Skype conversation we had a few days ago to look at some unusual first names, something she has an amusing lecture on.
Read her blog post at http://family-wise.co.uk/world-war-naming-patterns/

Toronto Branch OGS September Meeting

Cutting edge Toronto genealogist Paul Jones is the speaker for the Monday 26 September branch meeting main presentation  I’m not a Jones, but what am I?

The story of researching two successive generations of patrilineal illegitimacy to identify the hitherto unknown fathers and my “true” surname. This account involves a 25-year research odyssey and uses family oral history (and misinformation), all the usual and some not-so-usual documents, the patient advice of the late Ryan Taylor, a remarkable but puzzling Y-DNA test, and the power of autosomal DNA testing and segment matching.

The meeting starts at 7:30 pm at Eglinton St George's United Church, 35 Lytton Blvd, Toronto. Unfortunately it will not be live steamed.

There is also a mini-presentation by Ann Brown & Beth Adams: Indomitable Granny Brown/Auntie Belle

Check out the Toronto Branch website for other activities this fall.

Findmypast adds Cheshire Vital Records Browse 1500-1991

Over 584,000 records of baptisms, marriages, and burials are in this browse collection for the English county of Cheshire churches and chapels. It's not just Church of England. Records available include: Baptist, Congregational, Methodist New Connexion, Primitive Methodist, Roman Catholic, Society Of Friends, Unitarian, United Methodist, United Methodist Free Church, United Reformed, Wesleyan Methodist, and Zion Primitive Methodist; that's not quite A to Z for 511 separate places of worship.

Picking one at random, there are four registers for Chorley (Alderley Edge), St Philip.
Baptisms, 1853-1900,  134 images
Baptisms, 1853-1924, 146 images
Combined Register, 1866-1892, 104 images
Marriages, 1866-1914, 255 images

News from Ottawa City Archives

Grace Lewis is leading what she anticipates will be a two year project to amalgamate the BIFHSGO and Ottawa Branch OGS libraries. Culling collections of newsletters from other organizations so that only the most recent five years are retained has already reduced shelf space needed. A volunteer has offered to take change of the Scottish collection amalgamation and, later, the same will be undertaken for other parts of the collection. Three volunteers start next week working on amalgamating the catalogs.

While the City Archives is not a library all archives hold publications. An example of why is the most recent addition to the archives collection, Marion Dewar: A Life of Action by Deborah Gorham of the Department of History at Carleton University was launched on Wednesday at the Ottawa's Writer's Festival at a standing room only event at Ottawa City Hall. The City Archives was a major resource for the research behind this biography of a highly respected former mayor.

LAC Wallot-Sylvestre lecture: 18 October

Hervé Lemoine, Head Curator, Heritage of France is next in a parade of prestigious speakers at 395 Wellington in the Wallot-Sylvestre lecture series. His topic is: Archives, Privacy, and Digital: A Dangerous Combination?

The LAC press release is:

In the digital age, could archives—recognized by UNESCO as a fundamental resource and function in our democracy—pose a danger to citizens’ privacy?

It’s a complex situation. The digital transformation of society now makes it possible to disseminate and access an historically unprecedented volume of information. At the same time, citizens are calling for their personal data to be protected, sometimes even demanding that they be expunged from the public domain.

To meet that challenge, archivists need to come up with regulatory and ethical solutions to reassure citizens, while upholding the right of access to information in the interests of historical research and future generations.

Hervé Lemoine will address this issue in a lecture in Ottawa, on October 18. The presentation is part of the Wallot-Sylvestre lecture series organized by Library and Archives Canada. These lectures promote the exchange of ideas in fields such as library science, information science, archival science, and history.

Hervé Lemoine, Head Curator, Heritage of France, assumed the duties of Director, Archives of France, within the Ministry of Culture and Communication, in 2010. He is a Commander of Arts and Letters and a Knight of the French Legion of Honour.

Free public event
"Archives, Privacy and Digital"

Tuesday, October 18, 2016, 1:30 pm. to 3:30 p.m.
395 Wellington Street, Ottawa

To register, please email: bac.rsvpseminaire-seminarrsvp.lac@canada.ca

Ottawa Branch OGS September Meeting

This Saturday at 1:30 pm Branch Chair Doug Gray is the featured speaker on "Research on a soldier who died in the Battle of the Somme"

"September 2016 is 100 years since the death of Charles Alexander Gray, a Private in 28th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, who died in the Battle of the Somme, WWI.  Charles Alexander Gray is a Grand Uncle to Doug Gray.  Doug will present the research he has done on his Grand Uncle, talk about the military documents he has found and his visit to the war grave of Charles Alexander Gray and to Vimy Ridge in Northern France."

 The venue is the Ottawa City Archives at 100 Tallwood.

Find Faithful Ancestors at TheGenealogist

New at TheGenealogist.co.uk is a collection of records pertaining to adherents to various religions. From TheGenealogist press release these are:

● The Year Book of The Church of England in the Dominion of Canada
1926 & 1935 ​­ These year books contain the details of the members of
clergy in Canada.
● New Zealand Methodist Union Index 1913​ ­ Listing details of Methodist
Ministers and their placements in New Zealand up to 1912.
● Catholic Directory 1867 & 1877​ ­  Directories of Catholic Clergy with
addresses for England, Scotland and Wales.
● Biographical Dictionary of English Catholics 1534 to 1885​ ­ This work by
Joseph Gillow gives biographies of prominent Catholics which often include
details of their family, education and achievements.
● Shropshire Roman Catholic Registers 1763 - ­1837
● The Roman Catholics in the County of York 1604
● Various Catholic Record Society volumes​ ­ These include a variety of
interesting records including various Catholic Church registers, memoirs and
letters of prominent Catholics and Recusant Rolls.
● Jewish Year Books 1896 - ­99, 1901­ - 8, 1910­ - 11, 1918­ - 21, 1925, and
1928­ - 39​ ­ These year books list the details of prominent people within each
synagogue, obituaries, Jewish officers in the Army, Navy and Auxiliary
Forces, Ministers, MPs, Peers, and even Jewish 'Celebrities' of the time.
● Jewish Synagogue Seatholders in London for 1920, 1922, 1925, 1927,
1929, 1931, 1933, 1937
● The Clergyman's Almanack 1821 & 1822​ ­ These Almanacks list
archbishops, bishops, dignitaries, MPs and Peers.
● Register of Missionaries 1796 - ­1923​ ­ A register of the missionaries and
deputations of the London Society of Missionaries. This book includes many
details about each missionary, as well as listing their wives (including their
maiden name).
● Durham Diocesan Calendar 1931

These records compliment an already wide range of religious occupational records
such as Cox's Clergy Lists and Crockford's Clerical Directories, Jewish Seatholders,
Catholic Registers, and Directories already on TheGenealogist.

Thanls to Nick Thorne for the information.

LAC and the Results of the Coltman Project

Recently LAC experimented with a crowdsource transcription project using 534 page images of The Coltman Report, 1818–Inquiry into the Offences Committed at the Battle of Seven Oaks. 
Those who tried transcription found it fairly easy, the project was completed quickly. What was LAC's experience with the project, what lessons were learned? Will there be further transcription projects?

I spoke to Melanie Brown, the manager responsible for this and some other digitization initiatives at LAC.  She commented that the Coltman project was completed in three weeks, much more quickly than anticipated, especially given it was during the summer. As transcribers were anonymous she wanted me to pass along thanks to those who helped, including those who heard about the project through this blog.

Two people at LAC are in the final stages of verifying the transcriptions and a top priority now, following an evaluation meeting, will be to get the project transcription online and searchable without delay.

Other fonds are being considered from crowdsource transcription, one early item being the 100 page diary of Susan Agnes, second wife of Prime Minister John A. Macdonald. Would that be a good choice?

LAC hope to use the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Confederation to similarly crowdsource transcribe other archival material for prominent Canadians.

Transcription initiatives at NARA and of the Royal BC Museum provided models that LAC learned from in initiating the Coltman project. If you're anxious to participate in further Canadian transcription immediately you may be interested in the Royal BC Museum current projects.

Reverend Robert J. Roberts Journals and DiariesInquests and Inquiries relating to Chinese CanadiansJournals and DiariesFirst World War Letters, Diaries and Scrapbooks

Look for an announcement this November of a major new LAC digitization initiative.

British Home Child Day in Perth: Saturday September 24 2016

Perth will be buzzing next Saturday with this home child event, and other things in this,year marking the 200th anniversary of the Perth Military Settlement.

The program for Ontario East British Home Child Family event is:

09:00    Opening ceremony                     Local officials
09:30    Story reading                              Carson Sisters / Holly Oliver
09:45    Guest Speaker                            Bob Stacey
10:15    History of BHC Day in Ontario   Jim Brownell
10:30    Break (Mix and Mingle)
10:45    Forgotten                                    Eleanor McGrath
11:00    What My House Taught Me       Gillian Organ
11:15    Open Mic (Tell YOUR story!)      Various
12:00    Draw for donated items / Lunch
01:30    Mary Cook’s BHC connection     Nancy Edmonds
01:45    The Aultsville Train Station        Judy Neville
02:15    The Carson Family Story             Family members
02:30    Open Mic (Tell YOUR story!)      Various
03:00    Break (Mix and MIngle)
03:15    Researching BHC Ancestors       Gloria Tubman
04:00    Closing words                             President

Global Genealogy will be in attendance.

BIFHSGO conference 2016 presentation handouts now available

Handouts to go with the presentations by the following speakers are now available to all BIFHSGO members in the Members Only section of the society website

Maurice Gleeson
- Using DNA to Identify Soldiers of the Western Front.
- My Grandfather was Adopted: Using DNA to Find the Family of Adoptees and Illegitimate Family Members.
= Irish Sources You May Never Have Considered

Kyle Betit
- Using Canadian and US Records for Your Irish Research
- Advances in Irish Research Over the Last Five Years
Irish Land Records

Glenn Wright
- The British Army and Royal Navy in Canada 1758–1871

Dennis Carter-Edwards
- The Peter Robinson Irish Immigrants to the Newcastle District in 1825

Lesley Anderson
- Women on Ancestry

Videos of some of the conference presentations will be posted soon (hopefully).

My DNA presentation for the OPL: next Saturday

A reminder that I will be presenting a lecture Exploring Your Family Roots Using DNA at the Centrepointe Branch of the Ottawa Public Library next Saturday morning. It's free but registration is required; go to https://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/event/exploring-your-family-roots-using-dna/.

Make a day of it with the afternoon meeting of the Ottawa Branch OGS. More on that later in the week.

Forthcoming Book: Great Canadian Expectations, The Middlemore Experience

BIFHSGO 2016 Conference Videos

Now available free to members only are videos of 11 presentations from the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa conference 2016. By alphabetical order of presenter they are:

Kyle Betit
Advances in Irish Research Over the Last Five Years
Irish Land Records
Irish Sources You May Never Have Considered
Using Canadian and US Records for Your Irish Research

Leanne Cooper
Adventures in Genetic Genealogy: Who Were Charlotte Richardsons Parents?

Maurice Gleeson
A Sense of Place; A Sense of Self
Connecting with Cousins Through Autosomal DNA
DNA and Genealogy: Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask
Researching Your Irish Family History from the Comfort of Your Home

Niall Keogh
Easter 1916, a Family Affair

Rick Moody
Adventures in Genetic Genealogy: Moody DNA – Irish Glenns?

Handouts or copies of slides for some conference presentations are also at the same members only location.

Thanks are due to John McConkey for organizing capturing and editing of the videos.

Statistics Canada Crowdsource Mapping Pilot Project

Have you ever found an ancestral home or work location, long demolished, on a fire insurance map? If so you'll appreciate the picture it can draw of the structure and surrounding community.

Ottawa/Gatineau is the location of a pilot project to crowdsource location, physical attributes and other features of commercial, industrial, government and other buildings. Using openstreetmap the public will be able to input the location, physical attributes and other features. More immediately such data can support efforts of first responders, relief organizations and governments during humanitarian crises and inform policies and programs, perhaps such as those on heritage structures.

Find out more at http://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/crowdsourcing.

The pilot projects starts on 17 October. To subscribe to a distribution list for periodic updates on the project email statcan.crowdsource.statcan@canada.ca.

Rockstar Genealogist 2016: Comments

Appended below is a compilation of the comments included with the votes. In some cases the comment is redacted in part to avoid legal cases for defamation.

I regret the mix up which meant those who attempted to vote within the first seven hours were only able to select one person. That was remedied and folks had the opportunity to return and add people.

Once again there were numerous instances of people wanting to add to the nomination list who didn't do so during the week nominations were open. Some who had received few votes in previous years, had been deleted from the list, and nobody nominated them again. In some cases names suggested were already on the list, is it already too long for them to notice?

Despite objections to the requirement to have a Google or Gmail account to vote the number of voters was only marginally down from last year. It is evident this did not entirely eliminate duplicate voting. Suggestions on how to do so welcome.

Finally, there are inevitably those nominated who are disappointed in the result. Anyone nominated is already a local genealogy hero and should have received recognition locally. However, it's not just about being the smartest, most up-to-date, knowledgeable, diligent and helpful genealogist, the best presenter or the most active blogger. It's a combination. If you aspire to the next level consider how you can better measure up against the criteria:

Rockstar genealogists are those who give "must attend" presentations at family history conferences or as webinars; who when you see a new family history article or publication by that person, makes it a must buy; those you hang on their every word on a blog, podcast or newsgroup, or follow avidly on Facebook or Twitter.

Just as in an election it's OK and expected to ask for a vote. That's easier, not quite essential if you reach a large audience by contributing on a regular basis through a blog or other social media activity.

This won't allow me to vote for more than one in one country.

Couldn't work out how to vote for more than one and there are several great speakers.

You may want to correct the spelling of Kirsty Gray's surname if it doesn't affect the results.

There's a few but it only allows me to pick one

i was only able to choose one person. According to the header, multiple choices are allowed.

My choices for Rockstar Genealogist(s) 2016 Else Churchill (UK) Turi King (UK) Kirsty Grey (UK) Lisa Louise Cooke (USA) Crista Cowen (USA) Cyndi Ingle (USA) Elizabeth Shown Mills (USA, not tabulated) Jackie Depelle (UK) Debbie Kennett (UK) Dick Eastman (USA) Roberta Estes (USA) Russ Worthington (USA)

The form only allows one selection to be made, though the intention seems to be "as many as fit the criteria" so my voting is not complete! Update ... Seems to work when editing original response

All ok now.

When you announce the votes I think it would be helpful to publish the total number of votes cast in each category.

Thanks for fixing the form.

Tamura Jones does not, to my knowledge, live in the USA. He lives in the Netherlands.

Thank you for fixing the single vote problem.

where is Jim Barnett?? 10 votes for him

Paula Stuart-Warren's name is spelled in error (not Sruart). Schelly Talalay Dardashti lives in the USA (not OTH).

We are blessed to have so many wonderful people in our genealogy circles.

I could not learn what I know without these rockstars. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Daniel Earl has spoken in CAN but is actually from USA.

Paula Stuart-Warren's name is mispelt as Sruart-Warren above

Jim Bartlett

Thank you so much for adding the one vote item (overheard people talking about how to play the system - multiple voting and getting friends, family and co-workers who don't do genealogy to vote for them! - at RootsTech this year and was really surprised and disappointed). Also it might be helpful to separate those who make their living/work for companies from those who volunteer (big difference timewise and supportwise for professionals). Very helpful list and fun to have input - thanks

What a wonderful list, John. Some marvellous individuals here!

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

There are so many good, well known genealogists on this list. Not voting for them is NOT to be taken as a rejection of their skills and abilities! I'm glad we have their contributions to the world of genealogy.

I believe ___ ___ should be dis-included from the voting, due to plagiarism offenses.

I have probably attended and enjoyed Celia Heritages talk in the last year, a speaker I highly recommend

Thank you for doing this. It's a great opportunity for us to to congratulate those who serve the community so freely.

Just closed my eyes and pointed. So many good people.

I would add Jim Bartlett on segmentology.

Katherine has been such an inspiration and has such a passion and knowledge of so many genealogy resources. I took 2 courses from her and I was blown away with all of the information that she has to share!

You missed out David Allen Lambert!

Thank you for the chance to vote.

Katherine R. Willson is a super, dedicated researcher and teacher. She's willing to help even those of us who are woefully behind the knowledge curve. She's patient and extremely thorough in her research and sticks to the rules of genealogy very strictly.

For Kirsty Gray, it is spelled wrong as Grey.

Thanks ever so for doing this, it gives us all an opportunity to thank and acknowledge the contribution given to the genealogy community by so many special people. Thank you John

Michele Simmons Lewis

I don't know if I missed a nomination request, but next year I would like to see Debbie Parker Wayne added to the list. I read all of her articles and blogs and have been in many of her classes.

You should have a selection to choose those you think shouldn't be on the list and whose presentations you would never attend. Some popular "genealogy professionals" are the worst presenters and are only in the profession for the almighty dollar. How about a non-Rockstar selection?

write-in: Rebekah Canada

Katherine has been working on my family background and I am amazed at what she has recovered. She is thorough and knowledgeable.

You still have plagiarist ____ ____ in the list... how can i take this seriously?

Michelle is an excellent presenter on a wide range of Genealogical Research topics and DNA as a research tool. She inspires everyone who hears her speak and gives so much of her time to help others. Always willing and with a smile with all she does.

Still no Australian's on the list, one of the best is Louise Coakley http://www.genie1.com.au/about

Janine Adams for a write in!

Barbara Rae-Venter..... can she be included in the vote?

I have some other folks that should be on this list. How do we add them? I would like to add Dr. Shelley Murphy (USA), Bernice Bennett (USA) Nicka Smith (USA) Angela Walton-Raji (USA), Melvin Collier (USA) Shannon Christmas (USA)

There are some DYNAMIC people of color based in the US who are speakers in demand on a national level in the USA--and they are bloggers, writers, and teachers in the genealogical level. They belong on this list that is calling out leaders in the genealogy community. They were WIDELY known and respected by many of the same people on this list. But why are they not here?? If possible I nominate: Nicka Smith, (USA), Bernice Bennett (USA) Shelley Murphy (USA), George Geder (USA) Melvin Collier (USA), Drusilla Pair (USA) Angela Walton-Raji.

Wish I could vote for more than one. I'd add Mark Lowe if I could.

This list is missing some very notable genealogists who should be on the list. They have great blogs, give numerous presentations at many conferences, give webinars, and have been doing genealogy for decades. How do I add the following people: Angela Walton-Raji (USA), Dr. Shelley Murphy (USA), Nicka Smith (USA), Bernice Bennett (USA), Melvin Collier (USA), George Geder (USA)?

I have observed other Genealogist in the US that are not on this list: Melvin Collier, Angela Walton-Raji, George Geder, Dr. Shelley Murphy, Nicka Smith, Bernice Bennett, Sharon Baptiste-Gillins, TL Dixon, Char McCargo Bah, Robyn Smith, Regina Mason, Dr. Deborah Abbott, Valencia King-Nelson, Sharon Morgan, Robin Foster, and Antoinette Harrell.

Please add Michael John Neill to this list.

Love having this opportunity again

Thanks

I would also like to vote for Curtis Rogers of GEDmatch and Jim Bartlett of Segmentology.

Don't see Louise Coakley, Australia on this list. Would also vote for her.

My first choices are not on the list: W. Daniel Quillen and Amy Johnson Crow.

An almost tie would be Judith Russell.

Outstanding researcher over a multitude of years! There is no one better!

I'm connected to a number of others on this list via Facebook, but don't really follow their genie stuff per se

____ ____ has no business being on this list. (Remainder redacted)

Thank you for doing this, John. I look forward to the results.

Mike Quackenbush is the best Geneologist I know!!

Found my dad's sister that he never knew he had for 60 years! We now have a whole new part of our family and couldn't be happier of more grateful to Kirsty!

too bad we cant vote for ties (eg I'd see A OR B equally)

There are so many good ones on the list; it was hard to choose.

What exactly OTH means??? I am kind of slow/stupid and Google is not helping!!!

I know Tamura Jones won't 'win' this poll. She has to much class to ask amyone to vote for her. Tamura is one-woman innovation force, who has done more for our genealogy technology and methodology than anyone else, and a real award for all she has done for us is long overdue. BTW, I am sure she ins't USA, but Holland.

Rebekah A Canada (USA)

John Reid is missing and I would vote for him :)

FYI--It appears this nominee is encouraging people to submit more than one vote (unless I'm misinterpreting the "AND" in the 2nd paragraph): From: ____ ____ Subject: Rockstar Genealogists 2016 voting Date: September 7, 2016 at 9:34:45 AM EDT To: undisclosed-recipients:; Dear friends and family, Every year, John D. Reid opens a voting page to select the Rockstar from the English-speaking genealogy world; and this year again I was selected among the candidates for such recognition. I would appreciate very much if you will take 2 minutes of your time and visit this page to VOTE for me. You can do so from the ____ Google account AND from your personal account. Once you pass the initial form to collect stats about yourself, search for "____ ____" and check the box next to my name. Scroll down and click SUBMIT. I'm not sure till when the vote is open so please VOTE NOW ;-) Thanks in advance Best regards ____ ____

CeCe is my ROCKSTAR!

Would like to add one, Claire Brisson-Banks (USA)

Janet Few often gives talk to our village History Group and we find her knowledge is vast and her presentations most interesting.

She's the best genealogist I know to share everything she knows and can find. She's so easy to learn from and makes everything interesting.

Dan is very professional and knows so much about genealogy. He's a great speaker! I hope he wins!

Billie Stone Fogarty, current President of APG, should really have been nominated.

For the second year in a row, very disappointed not to see James Beidler listed as a choice.

Should include Joe Bott, Dead Fred

So difficult to just vote for one!

I wanted to vote for Andrew Tatham, author of The Group Photograph, but he is not on the list.