Deceased Online adds Burial Records for Bandon Hill Cemetery, London Borough of Sutton

Burials at Bandon Hill Cemetery, Wallington, in the London Borough of Sutton, which commenced in 1900, are now at deceasedonline.com. Up until January 2012, the period covered by this database, there are 32,724 entries. Of those 125 are also in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database, 55 for the First World War.

A newspaper report suggests the authorities were particular about who was buried. The Western Daily Press of July 14, 1950 noted an application by the Croydon Group Hospitals Management Committee to exhume the body of a Croydon general labourer believed buried by mistake at the cemetery in place of the body of a retired Wallington accountant.

More on AncestryDNA in Canada

Now that the AncestryDNA test is sold in Canada we have the Canadian price, $149, presently $122 US. There's also a $19.99 Cdn shipping charge so the effective price is $169 Cdn. Prices ending in 9 have marketing appeal.

As blogged at the end of May, in Australia the test costs $149AUS ($114 US), in the UK it's £99 ($152 US) and in the US $99. Shipping is added. In Canada we pay more than in the US or Australia, but substantially less than in the UK. For most Canadians if you want to test with AncestryDNA the difference isn't enough to make it economic to drive to and across the border to pick up a package from a service site, such as the UPS Store.

How about the competitive tests?

23andMe charge $199 Canadian. That test also includes a lot of health-related information which you won't get from either of the competitors, although there are indications Ancestry wants to enter that market. Although their database is larger than Family Tree DNA's many of 23andMe's clients aren't interested or don't know much about their ancestry; their effective database size for genealogy is significantly smaller. The analysis tools are quite extensive including a chromosome browser.

Family Tree DNA charges $99 US which is $121 Canadian. They have the smallest database but likely the most knowledgeable and involved genealogy user community. FTDNA also has extensive analysis tools and a chromosome browser. They also offer to include test results from other companies in their database, there are some limitations depending on the company and dates when you tested. The transfer is free but you pay to unlock your matches.

Unless you're interested in the health information 23andMe has priced itself out of the market.

There's small print you need to be aware of with AncestryDNA.

"Users of the AncestryDNA Website may be unregistered visitors or paying members. The different payment options and services offered will be published on the AncestryDNA Website or at the time a DNA Test or other service is offered."

What that means at present is you can see ethnicity and match information for no additional charge and contact matches through Ancestry. You will not be able to view trees posted by matches unless you subscribe.

If you enjoy this post you'll also be interested in Debbie Kennett's recent post at  http://cruwys.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-ancestrydna-international-roll-out.html

This Saturday: BIFHSGO AGM and Great Moments

On Saturday, following the BIFHSGO Annual General Meeting chaired by Society President Barbara Tose at 9 am, there's the popular semi-annual Great Moments in Genealogy session with:

Tara Grant presenting Elizabeth White, Elizabeth Dwight or Elizabeth Jones? Mother of 39 and My 8x Great-Grandmother,
Ken McKinlay on Misplaced Twigs on a Branch
Lesley Anderson Digging Up the Bownes in My Family Tree
John D. Reid on Tragedy at Sea: How My Family History Nearly Ended Before It Began

In between enjoy Discovery Tables with Patricia Barlosky, genealogy librarian at the Nepean Centrepointe Library sharing information about Ottawa Public Library resources; Brenda Turner displaying a field name map and documents related to an area of Northhamptonshire and; Bryan Cook profiling the book he has written about the life of William Pittman Lett, Ottawa's first city clerk and bard.

That's at the old Nepean Council Chambers, Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Drive, Nepean.

Self-service photography at LAC

There's a useful summary of how to go about using the FREE self-service photography capability at Library and Archives Canada. That's right -- FREE. Many archives nickel and dime you with charges for doing your own photographic copying which doesn't cost them a penny. Kudos to LAC.

There are regulation and procedures, annoying but not usually burdensome, that you have to follow to stay of the right side of the bureaucracy.

Read the details at http://thediscoverblog.com/2015/06/10/self-serve-photography/

New on YouTube: The Genetic History of the United Kingdom: the POBI project

Do you want to understand the exciting results of the People of the British Isles project? This YouTube video by Garrett Hellenthal, a US educated statistical geneticist now working the the UK, explains how, using the DNA of individuals sampled across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, a striking correlation between an individual's genetics and their geographic origins was found. Also shown are the clear differences in ancestry among different geographic regions of the UK, reflecting the genetic imprint of the Anglo-Saxon and Norwegian Viking migrations from several centuries ago.

The lecture was presented at Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2015 although it sounds as if the presentation was rerecorded. It's one of several lectures sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA and organised by Maurice Gleeson & Debbie Kennett on behalf of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy.

It's official: AncestryDNA launched in Canada

Here's the press release marking the launch of AncestryDNA in Canada. Experts recommend testing with all three companies, FamilyTreeDNA, 23andMe and AncestryDNA if you have a issue like an adoption to resolve.

TORONTO (June 9, 2015) – Ancestry, the world’s largest family history resource, today launched AncestryDNA in Canada. AncestryDNA allows individuals to learn about their genetic heritage and discover new family connections in Canada and around the world.

When coupled with Ancestry’s database of more than 16 billion historical records, AncestryDNA will enable family history enthusiasts and novices alike to discover even more about their own past, including the ability to find entire new cousin matches around the world.

“Historical records on Ancestry.ca provide an insight into one’s recent past, but usually go around 200-300 years, so it’s incredibly exciting to be able to offer DNA testing that takes your family history experience back many hundreds and even thousands of years,” said Christopher Labrecque, Country Manager for Ancestry Canada. “AncestryDNA enables users to learn more than ever about where they came from and discover new family lines and relatives. It really is the ultimate family history experience.”

AncestryDNA details the breakdown of one’s ethnic origins, predicting the likely locations of a person’s ancestors across 26 worldwide populations, providing a glimpse into one’s ancestral past that goes back to a time before historical records began to be kept.

The service also introduces users to new family members through DNA member matches which identifies unknown relatives pulled from more than 850,000 people who have previously taken the test. Many users can expect to be connected with 3rd and 4th cousins, allowing them to further grow their family trees and discover family members they may not have known existed.

In a recent survey, more than three-quarters of Canadians stated they would consider having their DNA tested to discover more about where their ancestors came from. Many said they know very little about their own family history, with 42 per cent indicating that they do not know where their grandparents were born, and 30 per cent stating they do not know where their ancestors lived before coming to Canada.

How AncestryDNA Works
The test uses microarray-based autosomal DNA testing to look at more than 700,000 locations across an individual’s entire genome through a simple saliva sample.  The AncestryDNA approach provides a much more detailed look at one’s family history than other existing Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA tests that only look at specific branches of a person’s family tree.

AncestryDNA kits are now available for purchase for $149 plus shipping at dna.ancestry.ca. 

Following up on Richard III

In my talk in Toronto on Saturday I mentioned that the economic benefit to Leicester from tourism generated by the Richard III find is estimated as nearing $100 million dollars. Updating that figure is a new report that "Leicester raked in more than 59 million pounds for the city's economy, from the time of the discovery to the reinterment.

Around 4.5 million pounds of this amount was generated during the two weeks of reinterment activities, which ended with the Leicester Glows event on March 27."

59 million pounds is 112 million Canadian dollars. Who says heritage has no economic benefit?

After my talk I was asked how deep Richard III's grave was. According to the book Finding Richard: The Official Account "the base of Richard III's grave was about 4ft 7 in below present ground level."

The Great War in Cinematic Memory

On Thursday, June 11, 2015, 6:30 pm - 7:45 pm as part of the Archives of Ontario's World War I Speakers Series Dr. Seth Feldman (Department of Film, York University) will explore the representation of the First World War on film, from the very early days of cinema to the present. What made films such as Paths of Glory (1957) so influential, and how have different generations of filmmakers approached war throughout the decades?

The event is organized by and presented at the Archives of Ontario, 134 Ian Macdonald Blvd. Toronto M7A 2C5. There is no live streaming of the event, in line with the Archives de facto policy of giving preferential treatment to those living in Toronto and environs.

For more information: http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/about/speaker_series.aspx

Forthcoming genealogy books

Here are some selected genealogy books slated for release in the coming months according to Amazon.ca that may be of interest to readers of this blog.

How to Use Evernote for Genealogy: A Step-by-Step Guide to Organize Your Research and Boost Your Genealogy Productivity, by Kerry Scott. For release Nov 16 2015

Surnames, DNA, and Family History, George Redmonds, Turi King, David Hey. For release Nov 15 2015

The Origins of English Surnames: The Story of Who We Were, by Joslin Fiennes. For release Nov 1 2015

Common People: In Pursuit of My Ancestors, by Alison Light. For release Sep 22 2015
(also listed as Common People: The History of an English Family. For release Sep 1 2015)

Who Do You Think You Are?: The Genealogy Handbook: The Essential Pocket Guide to Tracing Your Family History, by Dan Waddell, For release Sep 22 2015

The Clans & Tartans of Scotland: A Guide to Scottish Family Names, by Peter B. Stuart. For release Sep 16 2015

Unofficial Guide to FamilySearch.org: How to Find Your Family History on the Largest Free Genealogy Website, by Dana McCullough. For release Sep 14 2015

Tracing Your Great War Ancestors: Ypres: A Guide for Family Historians, by Simon Fowler. For release Jun 30 2015

and recently released

Tracing Your Welsh Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians, by Beryl Evans.

BAnQ to image more newspapers online.

Under the heading "BAnQ speeds up newspaper digitization project" I learned that the The Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) will be making available all of the 5,873 Quebec newspapers published since the 17th century that are not already available. Read about it at http://genealogyalacarte.ca/?p=9569.
This is a significant addition to the online availability of Canadian newspapers. What it does not mean is that the paper is searchable. You need to select the paper, year, month, and date to bring an image of to the screen.
I'd hoped it might mean the papers would be OCRd to make them searchable online. Alas. At least they're available to all and some day maybe BAnQ will be able to arrange the next step.

Congratulations to OGS Toronto Branch

I for one thoroughly enjoyed Saturday's all-day session on genetic genealogy organised by the Toronto Branch of OGS, in conjunction with the Canadiana Department of the Toronto Public Library. Book-ended by excellent plenary presentations by Maurice Gleeson, which should soon be available on YouTube, the only frustration for the day was not being able to attend each one of the parallel sessions.

I had to be at my own talk but would happily have gone to those given at the same time by Linda Reid or David Pike. It was good to be able to explain to the small but knowledgeable audience why the investigation of the skeleton thought to the Richard III shows how vapid is the description of levels of confidence given in Evidence Explained, which discusses the terms “apparently, likely, possibly or probably” as “adhering to no universal scheme … taking on whatever sense the writers create with their supporting details and interpretations.”  Contrast that with the assessment of the evidence from the skeleton found in the Leicester car park which points to a 99.9994% probability that it was that of Richard III. That level of confidence greatly exceeds the 99% extremely probable level, but fails to meet the 99.9999% virtually certain level as proposed in the book “Proving History” by Richard Carrier.

I got to enjoy strong presentations by James F S Thomson and Susan Reid. I'm sure my enjoyment was shared by the other 120 attendees.whichever talks they selected.

Lesley Anderson announced that AncestryDNA will be making their testing available in Canada starting this week.

Birth, Marriages & Death Notices from the Carleton Place Herald, 1850-1923

Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society have just made available a new 9-volume series of transcriptions from The Carleton Place Herald by Dolly Allen and Joan McKay. It includes all birth, marriage and death notices published in  from its beginning as the Lanark Herald in 1850 through 1923, as well as a brief history of the newspaper.

The paper served eastern Ontario well beyond County of Lanark, including Renfrew, Carleton and Leeds-Grenville Counties. As usual at the time, the death notices provide interesting reading on their own. The publications. litsed below, are available online through the Ontario Genealogical Society Store at http://www.ogs.on.ca/ogsnewcart/ .

Pub No. 15-01, Births, 1850-1896, ISBN 978-0-7779-5015-9, 51pp, $12
Pub No. 15-02, Marriages, 1850-1896, ISBN 978-0-7779-5016-6, 109pp, $14
Pub No. 15-03, Deaths, 1850-1896, ISBN 978-0-7779-5018-0, 121pp, $15
Pub. No. 15-04, Births & Marriages, 1896-1904, ISBN 978-0-7779-5019-7, 180pp, $17
Pub. No. 15-05, Deaths, 1896-1904, ISBN 978-0-7779-5020-3, 212pp, $18
Pub. No. 15-06, Births & Marriages, 1905-1915, ISBN 978-0-7779-5021-9, 180pp, $17
Pub. No. 15-07, Deaths, 1905-1915, ISBN 978-0-7779-5022-7, 205pp, $18
Pub. No. 15-08, BMDs, 1916-1920, ISBN 978-0-7779-5024-1, 142pp, $15
Pub. No. 15-09, BMDs, 1921-1923, ISBN 978-0-7779-5026-5, 106pp, $14

Thanks to Branch Publisher, John Patton, for the information.

Ancestry adds UK, British Army Muster Books and Pay Lists, 1812-1817

New on Ancestry, selected muster books and pay lists covering the period from 1812 to 1817, during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. A few rolls go back as far as 1779 and also up to 1821. There are images of the original documents as well as an index.

The records are from the National Archives in the UK which has a useful research guide.

"Muster rolls and pay lists were troop lists taken on a monthly or quarterly basis for pay and accounting purposes and may provide enlistment dates, movements, and discharge dates of soldiers. For most regiments or units in this collection, records have been indexed from one muster roll per year. Rolls and lists not indexed may be browsed by category and piece description.
Records vary but may include the following details:

• name

• start date

• end date

• regiment

• where stationed

• rank

• pay"

Findmypast adds Kent and Cambridgeshire records

New records added to the Findmypast collection this week include:

For Kent transcriptions from over 42,000 additional baptisms and over 30,000 additional burials from the parishes of  Birling, Halling, Kemsing, Lower Birling, Ryarsh, Snodland, Stowting, Otterden, Newchurch, Ebony and Brenchley.

For Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, over 6,000 transcripts of baptisms and burials.

Progress at Canadiana.ca

The following is a press release from Canadiana.ca

Canadiana.org and partners achieve digitization record with 21 million pages

June 3, 2015
Contact: Daniel Velarde - info@canadiana.ca

In 2014, Canadiana.org and its partners processed some 21 million pages, achieving the highest output of Canadian historical records ever digitized in a single year.

This achievement builds on the Heritage Project, an effort to make accessible a projected 40 million pages of archival material held at Library and Archives Canada. The completed digital collection, chronicling the institutions and people that shaped Canadian history from the 1600s to the mid-1900s, will be of major research value for scholars in a wide variety of fields.

Since 2013, the project has amassed 30 million digital images viewable on a free website, with the remaining content projected to appear online in 2015. Alongside mass digitization, important work has also been undertaken towards creating linked metadata for search and discovery.

Canadiana.org also expanded its online research resources with an additional 1 million digitized pages of non-archival content, chiefly early Canadian monographs and periodicals (journals and magazines, excluding newspapers). Canadiana.org continues its mission to digitize all periodicals published in Canada before 1921.

Factsheet

• Canadiana.org is a coalition of 26 research and memory institutions with longstanding commitments to expand the scope of digital content available for scholarly research

• 21 million pages is not the highest one-year throughput for mass digitization in Canada; however, it represents the largest single-year haul of historical primary sources whose subject matter and/or origin is Canadian

• Canadiana.org is committed to ensuring the long-term preservation and accessibility of all deposited content. Source material is processed in scanning centres in Ottawa-Gatineau, with storage of the digitized content distributed across several sites in Canada for safer preservation.

About Canadiana.org

Canadiana.org is a non-profit and charitable organisation founded in 1978 to preserve Canada's print heritage and make it accessible for future generations, with a special emphasis on material that is rare, scattered or at-risk. Canadiana.org's website, launched in 1999, was the first large-scale online collection of Canadian print heritage, containing a mix of digitized microfiche and original colour scans acquired from 237 lending institutions. The oldest online title, Les singularitez de la France antarctique autrement nommée Amérique & de plusieurs terres & isles découvertes de nostre temps, is a 1558 travel narrative describing early French voyages to North America

Ancestry adds Surrey Mental Hospital Admission and Prisoner Records

Will you find relatives in the 25,846 records in Surrey, England, Mental Hospital Admissions, 1867-1900 in the 11,670 records in Surrey, England, Calendar of Prisoners, 1848-1902?

The mental hospital record I checked spread over two pages, handwritten, and included date of previous admission, date of admission. name, sax, age, marital status, occupation and religion, abode, responsible authority, medical disorder, cause of insanity, date of discharge and other information.

The calendar of prisoners I viewed was a printed record. Look for prisoner’s name and age, occupation, name of the accuser, crime committed and some details about it (e.g., in cases of theft, what was stolen, etc.), trial date, warrant date, date committed to custody, magistrate, verdict, sentence, previous convictions.

Free access to Ancestry.co.uk records 5-7 June

As if there aren't enough options of things to do this weekend, Ancestry.co.uk is granting free access to their records in the featured collections free from 5 June at 00:01 until 7 June, 2015 at 23:59 GMT. To see a full list of the available collections click here.

Richard III Leicester investigation background.

On Saturday I'll be presenting Did DNA Prove the Skeleton Under the Leicester Car Park was Richard III? at the OGS Toronto Branch Genetic Genealogy event. Here's a background video courtesy of the Royal Society Summer Exhibition which runs for a week starting on 30 June in London.

Younger Father, Healthier Child

Increased father’s age is a known risk factor for schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, and multiple other genetic disorders. Now a study of individuals whose fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers fathered their lineage on average under age 30 finds about 13% were more likely to survive to adulthood compared to those whose ancestors fathered their lineage at over 40 years. Females had a lower probability of marriage if their male ancestors were older.

Those are conclusions in Fitness Consequences of Advanced Ancestral Age over Three Generations in Humans by Hayward AD, Lummaa V, Bazykin GA published in PLoS ONE 10(6) which reports on a study of seven pre-industrial Finnish populations.

These findings are consistent with an increase of the number of accumulated de novo DNA mutations although the authors point out that other explanations are possible.

DNA presentation at Lanark County Genealogical Society

The next meeting of the Lanark County Genealogical Society is on Saturday June 6th, 2015. Ottawa Genetic Genealogy Group members Doug Hoddinott and Errol Collins will speak on DNA - its advantages in determining family lineage and research links that include Newfoundland ancestry. 

The meeting, which starts at 1:30 p.m., is at the Drummond Comunity Hall/Archives Lanark, 1920 Drummond Concession 7 Rd., Drummond Centre, ON http://www.dnetownship.ca/content/community-hall