Legacy Webinar with Cyndi Ingle

Tracking Your Digital Breadcrumbs: Bookmarks, Toolbars, Notes, and Other Applications is a free-to-view live webinar at 8 pm EDT today, Wednesday 12 June 2019.

"Clicking links means you can start off on a web site for one specific topic and end up dozens of web sites away on many different topics. It’s easy to get lost and lose focus on what you were trying to find in the first place. And with so many web sites to use in your research, how do you keep track of them all? How do you organize what you use regularly? How can you get back to a site at some point in the future? We have several ways to help you gain control of your digital bread crumbs."

Cyndi Ingle is the creator, owner and "webmaster" of the award-winning web site Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet. Come to the BIFHSGO conference in September where Cyndi will present a pre-conference workshop and four talks.

Book Review: Tracing Your Docker Ancestors

This April 2019 publication is another in the more than 50-book "Tracing Your ..." series from publisher Pen and Sword. They range alphabetically from "Air Force" to "Yorkshire".
This volume on Dockers is fairly typical of those where specific occupational records are scarce. The first chapter: Getting Started: Basic Family History Documents covers sources like civil registration, census, newspapers, and directories. The following chapters treat aspects of life on the docks: The Origins of the Dock Labour Force, Daily Life on the Docks, Tools and Equipment, Trade Unions, Beyond the Dock Wall: Dockside Communities, Docks and Dockers During the World Wars, The National Dock Labour Scheme, Dock Strikes and the Decline of the Dockers 1967-1989. 
There are extensive references on where to find resources which are mainly administrative. Unless an ancestor was involved in that administration, such as being a union official or for some other reason stood out from his peers, you won't find much personal information. A very few, such as the archive of the National Amalgamated Stevedores and Dockers' Union, 1880-1982, do include individual's names. A few others that include names are closed.
The book concludes with a ten-page glossary of types of docker and two-page index.

Tracing Your Docker Ancestors (Paperback)
A Guide for Family Historians
By Dr. Alex Ombler
Imprint: Pen & Sword Family History
Series: Tracing Your Ancestors
Pages: 150
ISBN: 9781526744043
Published: 25th April 2019

Who Do You Think You Are? 2019 Celebrities Announced

The spotlight for this summer season of BBC Who Do You Think You Are? is on Kate Winslet and Daniel Radcliffe. See the announcement here.

A Canadian featured in the series is comedian Katherine Ryan who grew up in Sarnia, Ontario. Her father, Finbar was born in Ireland. On WDYTYA?, she discovers her ancestral links to the Newfoundland cod trade.

YouTube: Making the Most of your Autosomal DNA Test

A further talk is online from the Family Tree Live event at Alexandra Place, this one by Scottish genetic genealogist Michelle Leonard.
Michelle will be making two presentations at RootsTech London in October: DNA Is Dynamite - How To Ignite Your Ancestral Research, and DNA Segment Data & Advanced Autosomal DNA Techniques as well as participating in a panel discussion.

RootsTech London Announces Schedule of Presentations

What do Colin Chapman, Else Churchill, Janet Few, Maurice Gleeson, Celia Heritage, Debbie Kennett and, Diahan Southard have in common?

Presenters at RootsTech London in October — they've all previously been speakers at a BIFHSGO annual conference. Almost all have placed in the top five in the Rockstar Genealogist poll.

Like previous RootsTechs each of the three days has lots of choices — six sessions each day with typically ten choices in each timeslot, except for the headliner daily11 am celebrity session.

The word cloud composed from the titles of all the talks shows there's a DNA event within the schedule — genetic genealogy presentations in almost every time-slot, and sometimes more than one.

Find the schedule of presentations, except for 19 sponsored talks TBA, posted here.

The Digital Irish Famine Archive

Makes accessible eyewitness accounts of the Irish famine migration to Canada in 1847-1848 that would otherwise be unknown. It also pays tribute to those who cared for Irish famine emigrants.

The archive contains the digitized, transcribed, and translated French language annals of the Grey Nuns of Montreal, or Sisters of Charity, who first tended to Irish famine emigrants, especially widows and orphans, in the city’s fever sheds in 1847 and 1848. It also includes annals from the Sisters of Providence and correspondence from Father Patrick Dowd, who worked alongside the Grey Nuns in the fever sheds, as well as testimonies from Irish famine orphans, like Patrick and Thomas Quinn, Daniel and Catherine Tighe, and Robert Walsh, who were adopted by French-Canadian families.

http://faminearchive.nuigalway.ie/

Online database of 2,500 fatalities in Nova Scotia coal mines

We are nearing the anniversary of the death of William Davis, a coal miner born in Gloucestershire shot and killed at New Waterford, NS during a 1925 strike action calling for improved working conditions.

Today, 10 June the Museum of Industry in Stellarton is launching a database with names of those who died between the Drummond Mine explosion in Westville, 1873 and the 1992 explosion at Westray.

Read more about this initiative in this article by Brendan Ahern.

BIFHSGO Update

These 50 people are part of the audience, members and guests, who attended the always popular Great Moments session at the June BIFHSGO meeting on Saturday morning. The total attendance was likely around 175.

It was preceded by the Annual General Meeting which didn't attract quite as many members. President Duncan Monkhouse ran the meeting very efficiently assisted by a clear presentation on the financial position by Treasurer Marianne Rasmus. The Society ran a small deficit for 2018.

Directors leaving the Board, Andrea Harding and Lynda Gibson were heartily thanked for their service. John McConkey remains on the Board moving over to take on the Research role. New Director Diane Brydon assumed responsibility for Programs. The Education role is vacant.

Congratulations to Jean Kitchen and Bert Hayward who were added to the Society Hall of Fame. The award for the best before-BIFHSGO educational talk by a member, as voted by the membership, went to Dena Palamedes; best presentation by a member to Marianne Rasmus and; the best article in Anglo-Celtic Roots to Lynne Willoughby.

Nigel Lloyd, Mike Jaques, Gillian Leitch and Roberta (Bobby) Kay all gave strong and enjoyable Great Moments presentations which should in due course become available online in the members-only part of the Society website. If you're not a member consider joining to view these and all past presentations. That's an extra benefit when you join the Society to attend the 25th-anniversary annual conference.

In closing the meeting Andrea Harding reminded about the 8 August event DNA and Online Resources for Discovering Your Lost Family History.

Subsequent to the meeting I learned that there were 17 entries in the 25th-anniversary writing competition. Results will be announced at the annual conference.

Sunday Sundries

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

UK Office of National Statistics Interactive Content
Life expectancy calculator
Baby names explorer

Overlord Embroidery
The Overlord Embroidery at The D-Day Story Museum in Portsmouth, England tells the story of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy in 34 extraordinary hand-stitched panels with a total length of 83 metres. Thanks for the tip Brenda Turner who visited in 2012 and writes "it is fabulous and not well enough known. The embroidery is so detailed that I could read the regimental patches on the uniforms of Canadians who went ashore at D-Day."

A DNA Detective Story - the Bush Baby (Julia Bell)


Royal College of Nursing Digital Archive - Pilot site
The RCN Archive holds the most important collection of nursing history in Europe. Holdings date from the 1870s to the present day and capture the evolution and development of the nursing profession. Explore the archive catalogue at https://archives.rcn.org.uk/CalmView/Default.aspx? which includes 2 items mentioning Ottawa, 10 for Canadian and 75 for Canada.

Oranges & Lemons Churches

A New Method of Disposal of the Dead
In Volume 1: 1888-1889 of Public Health, the Journal of the Society of Medical Officers of Health.— "Dr. Cooper, of Pittsburg, subjects the dead body to hydraulic pressure and condenses it into a small solid almost water-free block. The body of a full-grown man can, by this process, be reduced to a cube of twelve inches. Dr. Cooper exhibits a small cross, which at a superficial glance, has a resemblance to marble. “ That,” says he, “ is the body of a child converted into a handsome ornament." The cost of compression is about £2.

5 of the Best Alternatives for Windows Movie Maker
Microsoft has permanently discontinued Windows Movie Maker, the only video editor I have ever used. As I only used it a couple of times I'm not looking for a heavy-duty replacement. This look promising.

National Library of Scotland: Recent Map Additions

The National Library of Scotland holds well over 1.5 million maps. About 15% are digitized with plans to scan over 30,000 maps each year (115 maps each weekday) for the next five years. That would mean 25% of the collection digitized by 2024.

You can keep informed on progress at the NLS Recent Additions page. The latest entry is an updated Find by Place - with Marker application.

Learn more about the NLS map scanning program at the Digitising the Library’s Maps blog post.

Book Review: Tracing Your Freemason, Friendly Society & Trade Union Ancestors

This is one of the latest books from prolific UK history and family history publisher, Pen and Sword.

It would be the exception if a British male ancestor was not a Freemason, member of a Friendly Society or a Trade Union. My father and grandfather were, they left artifacts, so I looked to learn more from this new book.

The early material is on sources, those you find like those artifacts, oral history and published records. Chapter four is on the early history back to Greece, if not the Garden of Eden, Rome and Guilds.

The next three chapters, constituting 70% of the text, are devoted to the three types of organization in the title.

Freemasonry, offering an oath-bound social space for ritual and social bonding and engagement in charitable work, reached peak membership in the 1950s and 60s. In the chapter, you'll learn about the history, how to get information on members, including on Ancestry and elsewhere as well as a summary of controversies. Look for mention of individual lodges of possible relevance.

Friendly Societies, such as the Oddfellows, combined fellowship with mutual assistance through insurance. As in the previous chapter, there's much detail illustrating activities. With the introduction of the Welfare State membership went into serious decline.

The chapter on Trade Unions offers similar information on their history, culture and sources of information on membership. Membership peaked at 13 million in 1980 then declined through the years when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister and after down to 8 million in 1997. As with the other chapters, there are many sources and websites listed to aid investigation.

Tracing Your Freemason, Friendly Society and Trade Union Ancestors
by Daniel Weinbren
Publisher: Pen & Sword
Published: 2019
Format: Paperback
Pages: 188p
ISBN9781526710338

Newspapers.com Free Access Weekend

I received an email that "all papers on Newspapers.com will be free until June 9, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. MDT. Registration required. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view papers using a paid Newspapers Publisher Extra subscription. Terms and Conditions apply."

This is the site that includes the Ottawa Journal and Ottawa Citizen archive.

WARNING: Sometimes this type of trial only works for those who receive the email. Give it a try if interest but be prepared for possible disappointment.

Ancestry adds HUGE Essex Church of England BMB Collection

Records in this new Ancestry collection for Essex are transcripts, each with a link to an image of the original at Essex Archives Online for purchase at £2.99.

Essex, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812:  4,389,173 records
These early records are from parish registers of baptisms and burials during the years 1538–1812, and marriages during the years 1538-1754.

Essex, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1918:  3,937,941 records
Essex, England, Church of England Marriages, 1754-1935: 1,968,439 records
Essex, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1994: 730,118 records

FamilySearch lists 431 parishes in Essex including those often thought of as in London. Your London ancestor may well have lived in Essex and commuted into the City. Geographically RootsTech London is being held in the ancient county of Essex.

Findmypast additions this week

England & Wales Merchant Navy Crew Lists 1861-1913
Over 135,000 new Portsmouth records have been added to our collection of Merchant Navy Crew Lists. The records document the role and employment of each member of the crew. Individuals would 'sign on' when they began their employment, either at the start of the voyage or when they joined the ship at one of its ports of call. They 'signed off' at the end of the voyage or, if they chose not to finish, at a port of call.

Greater London Burial Index
Over 28,000 miscellaneous records have been added to the Greater London Burial Index. Covering the years between 1399 and 1992, Anglican and non-conformist parishes and including City of London Burials, Middlesex Memorial Inscriptions, Middlesex & City of London Burials Index and the South London Burials Index.

UK Electoral Registers & Companies House Directors 2002-2019
Over 1.6 million new additions are now available for a total of 115 million from England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Search registers of UK directors whose companies are registered with Companies House along with the UK's electoral registers beginning from 2002.

International Records

New Jersey Marriage Index, 1901-2016 Image Browse

Browse through over 300 volumes of the New Jersey marriage index organised annually in alphabetical order by either the bride or groom's name from 1901 to 2016. Containing well over 200,000 individual records, this collection will enable you to discover who married, when they married and where. In the later indices, the record will span two pages. On the first page, you will read the names and the second page will show the municipality, county and date.

Sweden
Over 12 million Swedish baptisms, marriages and burials consisting of the following indexes:

Sweden Baptism Index 1611-1920
Sweden Burial Index 1649-1920
Sweden Marriage Index 1630-1920

The Story of Abraham Roberts, Moonshiner?

In the Global Genealogy Newsletter for 5 June Rick Roberts writes an eye-opening story illustrating the importance of not completely accepting nor discounting juicy family stories.
You can subscribe to the newsletter here where you'll also find information on new arrivals at GlobalGenealogy.com and events where Rick and Sandra will be present.

BIFHSGO June Meeting

The agenda for Saturday, 8 June 2019 at The Chamber, Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Drive, is:

9:00 to 9:30 am -- Annual General Meeting
10:00 am to 11:30 am -- Great Moments

A Dark Chapter in a Successful Life, presented by Nigel Lloyd 
"My Great Great Grandfather, Edward Lloyd, was one of the 19th Century’s most successful publishers and newspaper proprietors. His paper, Lloyds Weekly News, became the only newspaper in Britain to have a circulation of more than a million copies in the nineteenth century. This talk focuses on his private life: He had nineteen children by three different women. While sorting out these relationships, a dark chapter is revealed."

A Poor Racine, presented by Mike Jaques
The Times newspaper in 1854 published an article about poverty in Bethnal Green, London, and made mention of “a poor Racine”.  Research to try to identify this Racine and determine whether he was a relative resulted in an unexpected discovery.

Finding Frances, presented by Gillian Leitch
Wife of Jean Victor Baron and then John Inigo Wright, mother to Richard John Baron and John William Wright, daughter of Richard Guise and Elizabeth Windham, the younger sister of Sarah Elizabeth Cutler: these have been the only ways of knowing Frances. She has been an enigma.  Through a lot of research, spots of good luck and great help her identity and her life in the late 18th and early 19th century London has become a “Great Moment” in research.

Footnote:  This is the last BIFHSGO meeting until September 😢, but remember the special one-day event on Thursday 8 August in the same room at Centrepointe "DNA and Online Resources for Discovering Your Lost Family History". Find out more and register.

Canadians’ role in D-Day

From History Extra.

Of the nearly 150,000 Allied troops who landed or parachuted into Normandy on 6 June 1944 as part of Operation Overlord, 14,000 were from Canadian forces. As the 75th anniversary of D-Day is commemorated, Dr. John Maker considers the contribution of Canada’s army, air force and navy to one of the Allies’ most pivotal wartime operations…https://www.historyextra.com/period/second-world-war/canadian-canada-d-day-ww2-allies-contribution-effort-juno-beach/

More on D-Day from History Extra.

Ancestry adds UK, D-Day War Diaries and Photographs, 1944

This collection might help fill in the gaps in what you know about a British family member who was part of the Normandy landing on D-Day. A survey conducted in the UK for Ancestry.co.uk has discovered that only 25% of the 61,715 soldiers that took part in the landings ever spoke to family members about the operation.

A third (33%) of Brits with a D-Day ancestor have lost all records of their family members story – including photos, letters or documents – over time
Only 15% of people that are aware of their ancestor’s involvement in D-Day spoke openly about it, with a further 15% saying they never brought it up
17% of Brits have no idea whether they have a relative that took part in the landings
31% of family members didn’t want to discuss the landings as they had lost too many friends, 32% simply wanted to put the day behind them and 24% were too modest to discuss their role.

The war diaries from TNA document operations for select British units on 6th June 1944 and include reports on action, intelligence summaries, and other pertinent material. Is there a war diary for a British regiment or unit of interest to you? Available are;

1 Hampshire Regiment Infantry
1 King´s Own Scottish Borders Infantry
1 Royal Norfolk Regiment Infantry
102 Anti-Tank Regiment
114 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment
120 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery
141 Regiment Royal Armoured Corps
168 Light Field Ambulance
186 Field Ambulance
2 Essex Infantry
2 Gloucestershire Infantry
2 Lincolnshire Regiment Infantry
203 Field Ambulance
223 Field Ambulance
224 Field Ambulance
24 Lancers
3 Commando Special Services
33 Field Regiment
4-7 Royal Dragoon Guards
505 Company Royal Engineers
53 Medium Regiment Royal Artillery
6 Airborne Division Armoured Recce Regiment
6 Airborne Division G
6 Commando Special Services
62 Anti-Tank Regiment
7 Battalion Parachute Regiment
716 Company Royal Army Sevice Corps
73 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment Royal Artillery
76 Field Regiment Royal Artillery
8 Brigade Field Ambulance
90 Company Royal Army Sevice Corps
HQ 185 Infantry Brigade
HQ 231 Infantry Brigade
HQ 27 Armoured Brigade
HQ 5 Para Brigade
HQ 8 Armoured Brigade GP
HQ 9 BR Infantry Brigade
Inns of Court Regiment
Marines War Diary Landing Craft Reports Normandy area
Staffordshire Yeomanry.

The 44 photographs are from the Imperial War Museum.

Father's Day Sale at Family Tree DNA

You don't have to be a father! See what's on offer at www.familytreedna.com/.

Most Wikipedia’ed People Map of the UK

Who is connected with a place in your UK family history?

On this map place names are replaced by their most Wikipedia’ed resident, either born in, lived in, or connected to the place.

There's a similar map for the US.