I found this a more interesting than average non-genealogical TNA podcast. In it author Michael Allen reveals recent findings from long neglected records of the Chancery Court held at TNA which throws light on Charles Dickens history when he was forced into employment at age 11 in a factory sticking labels on boot – blacking pots.
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/podcasts/charles-dickens-warrens-blacking-and-the-chancery-court.htm
During the presentation mention is made of The John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera from the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. It sounds interesting but, unfortunately, it's behind an academic pay-wall. When are organizations like this going to twig to the fact, so clearly demonstrated by iTunes and pay-by-the-day or week subscriptions to digitized newspaper archives, that they're missing out on a grass-roots consumer market.
06 October 2010
TNA Podcast: Charles Dickens, Warren's Blacking and the Chancery Court
Vancouver Voters, 1886
During my recent trip to the West Coast the British Columbia Genealogical Society gave me a copy of a major publication Vancouver Voters, 1886: a biographical dictionary produced by the BCGS. Published in 1994 it is the result of a project begun to commemorate the centennial of the city of Vancouver. The project was on the families of the first voters in Vancouver and contains genealogical and limited biographical information on each of 528 persons listed, many of British origin.
It's a large volume, 900 pages and weighs 5 pounds. I am donating the book to the BIFHSGO library at the city of Ottawa Archives.
The surnames in the book are:
Abbott, Abrams, Abray, Agassiz, Aird, Alcock, Alexander, Allan, Allen, Angus, Arkell, Authier, Ayer, Aylwin,
Bailey, Baker, Baldwin, Balfour, Ballinger, Ballson, Barker, Barnard, Barnes, Barron, Batts, Beasley, Beaton, Beavis, Beckingsale, Belanger, Bell, Bell–Irving, Beloud, Black, Blair, Blake, Btyth, Bodwell, Boechlofsky, Boucher, Boultbee, Bowron, Boyd, Bradley, Brennan, Brewer, Brighouse, Britton, Brown, Bruns, Budlong, Bullman, Burgess, Burnett, Busk, Butler,Byrnes,
Callister, Campbell, Card, Carey, Cargill, Carlisle,Carmichael, Carnahan, Carr, Carter, Cartier, Cartwright, Chambers, Charleson, Chase, Chisholm, Claire, Clendening, Clark, Clarkson, Clayton, Clements, Clute, Coddington, Coffer, Coldwell, Collier, Condell, Cook, Coupeau, Carbould, Cordiner, Cosgrove, Costello, Coughtrey, Couth, Cox, Crandall, Crasswell, Crichton, Cross, Crys
Davis, Day, Deane, Dearden, Deighton, Desautels, Desjardines, Divine, Devlin, D'Herbomez, Doering, Donohoe, Dougall, Douglas, Draper, Duffy, Dufour, Dunlap, Dunn, Dunsmuir, DuPont
Eberts, Edelen, Edmonds, Edson, Eligh, Elliott, Evans
Fairon, Favor, Ferguson, Fernham, Finney, Fisher, Fleming, Fooks, Forbes, Fraser, Frederick, Freney, Frost, Fuller, Funge, Furry, Fynes-Clinton
Gannon, Garvin, Gemmell, Gerrard, Giles, Gillis, Gilmour, Goepel, Goggins, Gold, Gordon, Goodmurphy, Goulding, Graham, Grant, Graveley, Gray, Green, Grellick, Griffith, Gun
Hailstone, Hale, Hall, Hamilton, Hanafin, Hannington, Hargr(e)aves, Harmes, Harris, Harrison, Hart, Hartney, Hawkins, Hayden, Hayes, Hayson, Heaghney, Heatley, Hemlow, Hickey, Hill, Hinney, Hirshberg, Hodgson, Hoggan, Holman, Horne, Humphries, Huntley, Huson
Innes, Irving
Jamieson, Jackson, Janes, Johnson, Johnston, Jones
Keddy, Keefer, Keith, Kemp, Kennedy, Kent, Kenworthy, Kerr, Kinney, Kurtz
Lamont, Landreth, Larson, Lemay, Leask, Lefevre, Levy, Lewis, Lipsset, Lockerby, Lockheed, Lovell, Low, Lowney, Lurton, Lyne
Macey, Mack, Mahon, Major, Malee, Mannion, Mara, Marks, Martin, Mashiter, Mason, Mathews, Mathison, Menzies, Mercer, Merrill, Miller, Milne, Mitchell, Mizony, Mole, Morrison, Morton, Mosher, Mouat, Mowat, Muir, Mulligan, Munro, Munroe, Mutrie
McArthur, McAskill, McCartney, McColl, McCoskerry, McCraney, McCrimmon, McCutcheon, McDonald, McDougall, McDowell, McEwen, McFarland, McFeely, McGhie, McGillivray, McGregor, McGuigan, McIlroy, McIntosh, McKendry, McKenzie, McLaren, McLean, McLennan, McLuckie, McMillan, McNair, McNaughton, McPhee, McPherson, McRae, McWhinnie
Neelands, Nielsen, Nesbett, Newlands, Nicholson, Northcott
Ogle, Oldfield, Oppenheimer, O'Reilly, Oscar, Otton, Ouderkirk
Palmer, Pearsall, Pearson, Peck, Pedgrift, Pemberton, Percival, Perry, Piggott, Pither, Pitt, Plante, Pleace, Port, Powell, Power, Powis, Price,.Prevot, Pyatt
Quackenbush, Quann, Queen
Ralston, Rand, Rankin, Rees, Reesor, Reid, Reosbeck, Rideout, Ripstein, Roberts, Robertson, Robichan, Robinson, Robson, Rogers, Romang, Rooney, Rosner, Ross, Rothschild, Rowlands, Rowling, Ruckle
Sanders, Schetky, Scoullar, Schyttner, Scuitto, Secord, Shaw, Sehl, Shupe, Simpson, Sinclair, Slater, Smith, Smithe, Snowden, Somes, Sorbin, Sorby, Soule, Spalding, Sperber, Spinks, Spooner, Spring, Sprat, Springer, Stanton, Steele, Stephen, Stephenson, Sterling, Stewart, Strathie, Struthers, Stuart, Sullivan, Summers, Sweeney, Swift, Sylvain
Tait, Talcott, Tardill, Tatlow, Templeman, Templeton, Ternan, Thompson, Thomson, Thornton, Tift, Tilley, Tottie, Todd, Turnbull, Turner
Urquhart
Vair, Vernon
Ware, Watson, Webster, Wells, West, Wett, Weyand, Whipple, Whiteway, Whitney, Widen, Wilson, Winters, Wood, Wrede, Wright, Wynne
05 October 2010
1926 Irish Census Petition
There's a prtition available for sugnature online at www.petitionspot.com/petitions/1926C/ seeking release of the 1926 Irish census. The text which explains the rationale is as follows:
We the undersigned petition the Taoiseach [Prime Minister] of Ireland, Mr. Brian Cowen TD, to use the powers vested in his office under section 33 (3) of the Statistics Act 1993 to release the complete returns for the 1926 census.
Catastrophic destruction befell Irish sources for genealogy and history when the Public Record Office of Ireland was consumed by fire in June 1922. The 1926 census was the first compiled since the foundation of the State and includes a few basic facts about the lives of the many Irish people then living who were born before civil registration began in Ireland in 1864. Over 82 years have passed since the 1926 census was first compiled and given this almost every adult alive at that time is now deceased.
In the USA census returns are released 71 years after their compilation. Currently the returns for all surviving US censuses (along with indexes) up to and including that for 1930 can be seen on the Internet. In Ireland, there is a precedent for earlier release of census records. The 1911 census was first made available for research purposes in 1961, only 50 years after it had been compiled. We believe that as the data recorded in the 1926 census was almost identical to that recorded in the 1911 census, then the issue of breach of confidentiality will not arise. We implore the Taoiseach to make the 1926 census returns available to public consultation.
Early October Lost Cousins Newsletter
The latest issue of The Lost Cousins Newsletter, one of only two UK-based blogs/newsletters that I recommend, is now available at http://lostcousins.com/newsletters/oct10news.htm.
Items in this issue are:
Filling in the details
Wales gets free access to 1911 Census
Army pensioner records are complete
Ancestry indexes convict records
Gloucestershire BMDs free online
More Devon records online
Land records in the Domesday Book
Freedom of Information takes a knock
New Zealand electoral rolls on CD
An Australian treasure trove
Gentlemen vs Players
Scotlandspeople changes lead to problems
Don't log-out!
Peter's Tips
04 October 2010
England's Heritage Gateway
English Heritage and its partners have a Heritage Gateway providing integrated access to local and national heritage information resources.
Current national datasets include:
- Listed Buildings Online – the List of buildings of architectural or historic interest online
- Images of England – contemporary colour photographs of England’s Listed Buildings
- PastScape – information about England’s archaeological and architectural heritage
- ViewFinder – historic photographs of England
- NMR Excavation Index – a guide to the archaeological excavations and interventions carried out in England
- Parks & Gardens UK - information on historic parks, gardens and designed landscapes
- Bedfordshire HER & Luton SMR
- Buckinghamshire HER
- Cambridgeshire HER
- Canterbury UAD
- Cheshire HER
- City of York HER
- Colchester UAD
- Cornwall and Scilly HER
- Dartmoor National Park HER
- Derbyshire HER
- Devon HER
- Dorset HER
- East Sussex HER
- Essex HER
- Exmoor National Park HER
- Herefordshire SMR
- Hertfordshire HER & St Albans UAD
- Lake District HER
- Leicestershire & Rutland HER
- Lincolnshire HER
- Milton Keynes HER
- Norfolk HER
- North Yorkshire HER
- Shropshire HER
- Somerset HER
- South Gloucestershire HER
- Southampton HER
- Staffordshire HER
- Suffolk SMR
- Tyne & Wear HER (SiteLines)
- Warwickshire HER
- Winchester HER & Winchester UAD
I was interested to find listed WW2 era military facilities from around my home town of Great Yarmouth which I remember as somewhat ominous deserted structures in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
GenealogySearch.ca
There's a new free Canadian genealogy search site www.genealogysearch.ca/.
It seems there is no unique data at the site, rather it consolidates searching many sites using one form. The site has banner ads. According to the site registration it is Ottawa-area based. Being new there are no usage statistics.
The individual databases referenced are:
03 October 2010
New Ottawa City Archives: Windows
As of Friday October 1st some windows were in place on the south side of the news City Archives building. Landscaping of the parking lot and walkways was underway to the south of the building.
No windows were yet installed on the north facing walls of the Archives, and the ground beneath was a sea of mud surrounding a dirty looking pond. A crew appeared to be working on a drainage trench that extended into the road to the north.
A start had also been made on windows on the north side of the library technical services facility.
Progress on FreeCEN
FreeBMD has often overlooked companion projects FreeCEN and FreeREG.
There's news from Sussex that the FreeCEN transcription of that county's 1861 Census is now complete. It joins the 1891 transcription which was finished a few months ago. With the 1881 census, long available at FamilySearch.org, researchers with Sussex ancestry have a free transcription as well as subscription and pay-per-view options.
02 October 2010
Internet Genealogy: Oct/Nov 2010 Issue
The October/November 2010 issue of Internet Genealogy dropped into my mailbox on Thursday. It's been a couple of years since I last subscribed. I re-subscribed at the BIFHSGO conference as I wanted to take a fresh look at this product from Moorshead Magazines.
Opening up the issue I saw an advertisement from Ancestry.com on the inside front cover. Although I'm sure it's not just altruism on Ancestry's part I certainly appreciate companies that advertise in and help pay for the publications I read. The ad includes the information that, for those who don't have an Ancestry subscription, in honour of Veteran's (Remembrance) Day the company is making their military records available free from November 11-14. It isn't clear if this is just the US military records..
Findmypast.co.uk also advertise prominently in this issue with a back cover spread featuring the new fully indexed England and Wales civil registration birth indexes from 1837-2006.
The headline article is "30 Top Genealogy Websites for Family Research!" by frequent contributor Diane L Richard. To my surprise the first category of resources is DIGITIZED NEWSPAPERS including Genealogy Bank, Chronicling America, Google News, and British Newspapers1800-1900. Other categories in what is clearly a personal selection are African-American, Maps, Censuses, Digitized Family History and Books, Book Identification and Location, Directories, State or County Archives, Lineage, Emigration/Naturalization, Vital Records, Finnish Ancestry, and UK Records.
This was the first of one of several places in the issue in which newspapers were mentioned including an article by Shannon Gillette "Don't Underestimate the Potential of Newspapers."
"What's New at FamilySearch.org” by another frequent contributor, Tony Bandy, was a helpful article for those of us trying to keep track of the seemingly never-ending changes happening with that highly popular genealogy website.
This issue of Internet Genealogy has a few fewer pages than the last issue of Family Chronicle, but more articles. Maybe this reflects the shorter attention span of those of us who spend a lot of time surfing the web.
New on Ancestry in September
For those who missed my postings, or have interests other than Anglo-Celtic Canadian, here's the complete list of new and updated items on Ancestry in September.
01 October 2010
FindMyPast.co.uk adds Devon Parish Records 1754-1839
The following is a press release from Find My Past:
Devon parish records go online
. 857, 603 Devon parish records are available online, making it easier to find Devon ancestors
. The famous dog breeder John Russell, the Jack Russell's namesake, can be found in the records
Today leading UK family history website findmypast.co.uk launches the Devon parish records in association with Devon Family History Society. Significantly, these new online records pre-date civil birth, marriage and death records and census records, enabling family history enthusiasts to delve even further back into their Devonian ancestors' pasts from the convenience of their own home.
The Devon parish records include 363,015 baptism records for 1813-1839; 271,193 marriage records for 1754-1837 and 223,395 burial records for 1813-1837. The transcripts of these records are available to search at findmypast.co.uk from today as part of what is already one of the largest online parish record collections for England & Wales, currently comprising over 26 million baptism, marriage and burial records dating as far back as the reign of Henry VIII.
The search facility at findmypast.co.uk makes it possible to look up ancestors across all the parish records on the site just by entering a surname. Previously, to search the offline records it was necessary to know where in the country your ancestors came from and then contact the relevant record office or family history society for that area, so this development will make it far easier for people to research their family history.
The decline of agriculture at the end of the nineteenth century caused many people to migrate to cities as well as overseas in search of work. Therefore many people now living across the UK or in other corners of the globe may find ancestors listed within the newly available Devon Parish Records that they never knew they had.
The county of Devon has produced many famous faces over the years that can be found in the Devon Parish records. These include Charles Babbage, the inventor of the first ever computer, Charles Kingsley the author of 'The Water Babies' and John 'Jack' Russell, who owned the foundation bitch of a line of fox hunting terriers that would eventually come to be known as the Jack Russell.
Debra Chatfield, Marketing Manager at findmypast.co.uk, says: "As a descendant of generations of Devonshire blacksmiths, I am particularly excited that the Devon Family History Society is working with findmypast.co.uk to put Devon parish records on our website and make them available to all. Like me, many people who have never lived in Devon themselves may discover that they have ancestors who were baptised, married and/or buried in Devon, and this is a great way to find out about them."
Maureen Selley, Chairman of Devon Family History Society commented: "This is a unique and very special resource that has been created over many years by members of Devon Family History Society. By working with findmypast.co.uk to put these records online, we are enabling a wider international audience to become aware of these terrific records, allowing millions more people worldwide to discover their Devon ancestors."
Findmypast's Parish Record Collection brings together in one place the disparate records from local parishes, which have been collated by local family history societies since 1911, coordinated by the Federation of Family History Societies*. Since 2007 findmypast.co.uk has been working exclusively with the Federation to publish these records online, with many more records due to be added to the website over the coming months.
Findmypast.co.uk will also be working with FamilySearch to digitise the record collection of Plymouth & West Devon Record Office, with a view to matching their images of the parish records to the transcripts from Devon Family History Society that are now live on the site.
Ottawa and Irish Roots of Canada's New Governor General
When David Johnston, Canada's new Governor General, steps into Rideau Hall as his official residence he will be returning to live in a community in which he has roots.
According to Who's Who David Lloyd Johnston, the son of Lloyd Allen Johnston and Dorothy Stonehouse, was born on 28 June 1941 at Sudbury Ontario.
Although born in Sudbury the family only lived there for a few years. His father was born and died in Sault Ste Marie. The Sault's Greenwood cemetery holds the remains of three generations of the Johnston family: father, Lloyd Johnston (1908-1984), grandfather, Gilbert Johnston (1878-1952) and great-grandfather, Oliver Johnston (1856-1927).
The family moved to Sault Ste Marie around 1900 from Huntley and initially Fitzroy Townships in Carleton County, now part of the City of Ottawa.
The earliest record of the family found so far is in the 1852 census where George Johnston is recorded in Fitzroy Township, Carleton County, age 27 at next birthday, a shoemaker, born in Cavan, Ireland. His wife Mary Ann (Evoy) is listed, age 20 at next birthday, and born in Huntley Township, Canada West. They were only just married.
Births to the family are traceable through the baptismal records of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa. They didn't appear to believe in civil registration of births!
In the 1871 census Oliver (16) is found with his parents, George (41), a shoemaker and Mary Ann (37), in the sub-district of Huntley, Carleton County, Ontario. Other children in the household are Jonathan (14), Loretta (13), Robert (10), William (8), Ann (7), George (4), and Edward (4). By 1881, Lechie (9) and Joseph (5) were added to the family.
With such a large family there must be many cousins who, if they know of their relationship, will celebrate the elevation of their relative to the vice-regal post.
30 September 2010
LAC Joins WorldCat
Quietly, with no announcement, library catalog data on more than 1,300,000 publications at Library and Archives Canada have been made available through WorldCat.
WorldCat, the world's largest network of library content and services, lets you search the collections of thousands of libraries around the world. By specifying your location you can identify the nearest source for an item of interest - you don't have to guess which organization might have it, then find and search its catalog individually.
You can access WorldCat through a conventional web browser, mobile browser or an iPhone app.
Interestingly, the recent interim report on LAC's "Exposing Union Catalogue Metadata Via Third Parties" pathfinder project, posted on September 10, makes absolutely no reference to this initiative; LAC again leaves clients in the dark.
29 September 2010
Cousin Confusion
Dick Eastman disturbed a hornet's nest with a blog posting "There is no such thing as a half-cousin"
One of my pet peeves is a term that I see online over and over: someone claiming to be a "half first cousin" or a "half second cousin once removed" or something similar. Sorry folks, but there is no such thing as a "half first cousin."He is careful to restrict his argument to US usage only, citing Black's Law Dictionary which defines first cousins as: "The children of one's aunt or uncle."
Dick goes on to point out that "it says "aunt OR uncle," not both. All that is required is to share one aunt or one uncle, not both."
With this definition you could be first cousin to someone with whom you have no bloodline relationship. Your mother's sister marries a man who becomes your uncle. She dies and he remarries and has children. They are your first cousins!
Dick's article has drawn more than 50 comments.
One references an article by Elizabeth Shown Mills which analyzes kinship and includes a glossary of terms where one finds: "Half Relationships: Those that stem from a half-sibling kinship. For every lateral or collateral relationship a "half" equivalent exists. For example:
Half-aunt/uncle: The half-sibling of one's parent.
Half-first cousin: The child of a half-aunt or half-uncle."
Another references the Oxford English Dictionary: "Half-cousin is defined as "The child of one's father's or mother's cousin; a second cousin. Sometimes applied to the child of one's own cousin, or to the cousin of one's father or mother."
This definition implies a half-cousin is the same as a second-cousin.
Respected genetic genealogist Ann Turner comments that "The distinction between full and half cousin is certainly meaningful in the genetic context. Now that autosomal DNA testing is available, it's useful to know that full first cousins share 12.5% of their DNA, while half first cousins share 6.25%."
Obviously there's confusion. Best to check on the convention being used if unsure.
Like many commenters I'll continue to use half-first cousin for a relative who shares one grandparent.
TNA Podcast: The Kitchen Front: domestic life in the Second World War
Sarah Hutton reveals "how documents held by The National Archives can reveal a fascinating picture of the domestic lives of ordinary people living through the Second World War." She highlights resources in series: ED - evacuation; MH - emergency medical services; HLG - civil defence; HO - bomb censuses; INF - propaganda; BT - transportation of food and rationing
Listen here
28 September 2010
CVFHRG Event - 25 September
British Columbia genealogists from Campbell River, Powell River, Port Alberni and Nanaimo and places in-between, and even one from Maple Ridge, converged on a wet and windy Courtenay last Saturday for an all-day seminar.
Activity got underway on Friday evening with an informal dinner at the White Spot restaurant where about half the 93 people who attended on Saturday listened to a friendly debate between myself and Lesley Anderson, an Ancestry employee, on whether given an extra $200 to spend on family history you should use it to buy an Ancestry subscription or a DNA test.
Lesley gave presentations on "Census records online – A goldmine of information ", "Directories – What are they and how to use them" and "Searching Effectively on Ancestry." I presented "Early 20th Century British Immigrants to Canada", "Your Family History in Newspapers Online" and "Some lesser-known websites for British family history."
There was a hiccup in the proceedings when the power went out. As one person commented, the presentations were so exciting we blew the power. It was restored in time for shortened versions of the final two presentations to be given.
Kudos to the CVFHRG organizers Norma O'Toole and Bob Scales for the fine organization and arranging the extra goodies participants took away, including some great prizes.
| Calendar for any year, date of Easter, moon phase | |
| UK religious holidays, Regnal years, old/new style dates | |
| Institute for (Place) Name Studies | |
| Weather in history, summaries | |
| British Meteorological Office, monthly wx station data | |
| PublicProfiler, surname distribution | |
| Population reports for UK and Ireland from 1801- 1937 | |
| Historical Hospital Admission Records Project (formerly Small and Special) | |
| Sources for some Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Somerset, Sussex, Warwickshire parishes. | |
| East End London, Thames Watermen & Lightermen ($) | |
| Dictionary of Victorian London | |
| Resouces for the Medway area of Kent | |
| British History Online | |
| Huge collection od digitized documents ($) | |
| The National Library of Wales | |
| International collection | |
| A growing collection of cemetery burial records ($) | |
| Free digitized city directories | |
| Black Sheep and others indexed ($) | |
| What’s that medal? | |
| The Coalmining History Resource Centre | |
| C of E Children’s Society online archive | |
| Information on workhouses across Britain | |
| Summaries of more than 100,000 trials | |
| Victorian Crime and Punishment | |
| Leigh Rayment’s Peerage Page | |
| Guild of One Name Studies | |
| Society of Genealogists | |
| Misc database links |
27 September 2010
"The Women in Our Past" Workshop Early Bird Deadline
A last minute reminder about the 30 September deadline for early bird registration for OGS Toronto Branch's Workshop - The Women in Our Past: Strategies and Resources for Researching Female Ancestors.
The workshop itself is on November 6th at the North York Central Library.
Further information at http://www.torontofamilyhistory.org/women.html .
26 September 2010
Another Change at OGS
The following is an announcement from the Ontario Genealogical Society.
The Board of the Ontario Genealogical Society is pleased to announce the appointment of Sarah Newitt as Assistant Executive Director. She will become Executive Director next April, on the retirement of the current Executive Director, Dr Fraser Dunford.
Sarah, age 28, has been the Society’s librarian for the past year. She holds a BA in German from Queen’s and a MLIS from McGill. She has worked in a number of libraries in Ontario and in Montreal. She has had a life-long association with Girl Guides. A native of Mount Albert, Ontario, she has lived in Japan, India, and Germany.
She inherited family history projects from her Father’s Father and her Mother’s Mother (a project that requires fluency in German). One of her ambitions is to prove a suspected UEL link.
25 September 2010
Ancestry Updates London Records
Ancestry have placed online additional records from the London Metropolitan Archives.
London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921
London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906
London, England, Deaths and Burials, 1813-1980
If you missed your ancestors in the previous release they may be in this update.
Death of John Becker
Genealogists in Ontario will be saddened to learn news of the death of John Becker, former editor of the OGS journal, Families.
Details of his obituary are at: <http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2010/09/passing-of-john-becker-editor-ogs.html>.
