FamilySearch adds Ireland, Petty Sessions Court Registers, 1828-1912

Through FamilySearch you can now access the collection of 21,832,352 records from Irish Petty Courts 1828 to 1912 recently made available online by Findmypast from holdings of the National Archives of Ireland.

FamilySearch will search the database and provide a transcription of the name, event type, date, place and county, whether the person was a witness, complainant or defendant. You need to pay if you don't have a Findmypast subscription, to see the original records.

Doors Open Ottawa 2015

I'm sorry to be missing the annual Doors Open Ottawa event this weekend. This year, the 14th, features 22 new additions and over 120 of the city’s historically, culturally, and functionally significant buildings. There's a list at http://ottawa.ca/cgi-bin/doors/2015.pl?lang=en.

Deceased Online adds more West Midlands Cemeteries

Rowley Regis Cemetery and Crematorium, Fallings Heath Cemetery in Wednesbury, and Sandwell Valley Crematorium (previously known as West Bromwich Crematorium) are new at deceasedonline.com.

Rowley Regis Cemetery has records start in 1921, Rowley Regis Crematorium records start in 1962, Fallings Heath Cemetery (aka Wednesbury Cemetery) records start in 1938, and Sandwell Valley Crematorium records start in 1962.

A free search provides the name, name of cemetery or crematorium, date of burial or cremation and date of death.

LAC Town Hall Discussion

On Monday 1st June I participated in an evening Town Hall discussion at the Library and Archive Canada's building, 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa. The session was a consultation with the specialist community toward developing a new three-year plan to orient LAC's priorities and activities between 2016 and 2019.  About 20 people plus LAC facilitators participated divided into four groups. There were five topics for discussion in 20 minute sessions.

1. LAC Reference Services
2. Prioritizing Preservation vs Access vs Acquisition
3. Digitization Priorities
4. Acquisition Priorities
5. Public Programming.

There was no feedback of the group discussions to the meeting so I only have a sense of the discussion in the group of which I was part. There will be a summary to participants in due course.

There were challenging choices presented, ones which LAC faces every day. Most of us expect LAC to strike a balance when forced to operate within a fixed resource allocation and recognizing the need to address multiple mandates. As genealogists we look to LAC not only as a source of information but also as a resource for those conducting research on diverse topics that will lead to digested information in the form of books and TV programs produced by others that we can use as reference in contextualizing our family history.

Further input from specialist focus groups are planned, likely including one for genealogy, as well as an online survey designed for a more general audience.

June Backup Nag

As I write this I can hear the satisfying whirl of my external hard drive backing up my laptop's hard drive. It's good to know I have a copy for when the inevitable disaster happens.

Just do it.

Toronto Genetic Genealogy Day

I'm really looking forward to next Saturday and what promises to be a highlight of my year, the full day program of genetic genealogy lectures being organized by OGS Toronto Branch. Two others who were among the 35 at last Saturday's DNA group meeting in Ottawa will also be making the journey.

I expect to be arriving on Friday afternoon and staying at the Novotel in the same complex as the meeting. If anyone is interested in "doing dinner" at a nearby restaurant, perhaps Milestone's Grill & Bar at 5095 Yonge Street, on Friday evening let me know.

The program is a strong one, in some ways too strong.  My morning talk Did DNA Prove The Skeleton Under The Leicester Car Park Was Richard III?, good for a general audience, is at the same time as two others I'd like to hear.

You could describe the day as a double decker sandwich. Maurice Gleeson, a real leader in genetic genealogy education, constitutes the artisan, very nourishing, bread, with plenary presentations at the start and end of the day. He's also giving a presentation, with two others happening simultaneously, in the after lunch time-slot. Personally I've selected James F.S. Thomson's presentation Those Other Results: Haplogroups and Ethnic Origins for that time. James is a local rockstar in my book.

The second afternoon session leaves me debating. Should I support one of the three (unrelated) Reids on the program, Susan Reid on Stalking Your Non-Responsive DNA Matches: A Short Guide to Sneaky Sleuthing, I’ve Got My Autosomal DNA Results – Now What Do I Do? or go with with Sue Fenn or  Exploring Historic and Prehistoric Milestones with DNA given by Grant Karcich? Tough choice!

That's next Saturday, 6 June 2015, at the North York Central Library starting at 9:30 am. It's an event I'd recommend to anyone using or contemplating using DNA testing to enhance their genealogy. DNA is no longer for the bleeding edgers, it's now essential evidence for the genealogist.

Find out all about the program and how to register, there may be space still available, at http://torontofamilyhistory.org/learn/workshops/genetic-genealogy/.

Benchmarks update for May

There were 12 gainers, 16 losers in Alexa rank in the past month. In its first appearance in the table isogg.org slipped backward in rank but remains ahead of all society websites except americanancestors.org.

Alexa Rank.

Website	31-May	30-Apr
familysearch.org	2,901	2,870
ancestry.com	561	599
ancestry.co.uk	5,013	4,771
ancestry.ca	18,501	17,709
myHeritage.com	5,009	5,068
findmypast.co.uk	16,404	16,291
findmypast.com	48,419	47,758
canadiana.ca	380,405	360,114
familytreedna.com	19,171	19,297
23andMe.com	9.096	8,362
isogg.org	207,660	205,767
genealogyintime.co	76,781	65,640
mocavo.com	35,283	37,338
eogn.com	59,244	56,513
lostcousins.com	213,657	205,955
britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk	93,936	88,557
newspapers.com	14,769	14,732
cyndislist.com	47,891	40,580
freebmd.org.uk	55,343	57,000
canadianheadstones.com	378,414	451,185
deceasedonline.com	633,077	514,404
bifhsgo.ca	2,682,533	4,460,404
qfhs.ca	3,004,478	3,026,717
ogs.on.ca	425,936	469,233
ngsgenealogy.org	228,006	225,565
americanancestors.org	123,335	129,544
scgsgenealogy.com	1,039,197	1,180,142
sog.org.uk	724,789	515,492
anglo-celtic-connections	334,499	376,957

The top rankings of all websites on Alexa are: Google.com, Facebook.com, Youtube.com, Yahoo.com, Baidu.com, Amazon.com, Wikipedia.org, Taobao.com, Twitter.com, Qq.com.

Genealogy Saturday

Judging by comments on social media the Ontario Genealogical Society conference in Barrie is being well appreciated by those in attendance.

I'm wondering if those who choose to participate remotely were equally happy. Before leaving for the Ottawa genetic genealogy group meeting I tuned in to the streamed panel session. Unfortunately there were major audio issues, very low volume and an electronic buzz, making the session unlistenable. Others commented on the chat they were having the same experience. I left after the introductions, no reflection on the quality of the panel. Janet Few also commented in a tweet that her presentation was truncated.

I counted 35 people at the Ottawa genetic genealogy group meeting. Almost all had taken the FTDNA Family Finder test.

Bill Arthurs gave an explanation of researching descendants of his Titus ancestor using Y-DNA of four descendants. There was much discussion and comment allowing people to understand the concept and use of the modal haplotype.

There was still time for a round table. We heard of a couple breakthroughs, one which led to identifying the father of a child born in the 1870s.

As more people become interested in the potential of DNA evidence to aid their family history research there's a continuing appetite for help to understand test results..

The Genealogist adds British Railway Worker Records

Thegenealogist.co.uk, with an Alexa rank of 119,592, trails in rank behind 2,897 for familysearch.org, 5,014 for ancestry.co.uk, and 16,498 for findmypast.co.uk. While it outranks scotlandspeople.gov.uk at 126,952 it's a site easily overlooked for British genealogy.

TheGenealogist's Nick Thorne emailed with a press release that the site now has over 62,000 British Railway Worker Records covering various years from 1905 to 1962.

"Taken from Railway Company Staff magazines these records are useful to family historians with railway employee ancestors, wanting to find important occupation related dates and add some social history to their family tree. These records include such details as staff changes, promotions, pension records, retirements and obituaries. Often additional personal information is revealed in the magazines. In some cases you can read about gifts from co-workers given when rail staff leave."

FamilySearch adds Quebec, Index to Civil Copy of Church Records, 1642-1902

With over 1.3 million images those with Quebec ancestry may well find relatives in this recent addition to FamilySearch..

The collection is divided into Catholic, Catholic and Non-Catholic and Non-Catholic sections.

The Catholic section covers Ile-de-Montréal, Lapraire, Chambly, Vaudreuil-Soulanges counties. There are sub-sections of Baptisms Index, Baptisms Index (Alphabetical), Baptisms Index (Chronological), Burials Index (Alphabetical), Marriages Index (Alphabetical), Marriages Index (Females), Marriages Index (Males). Below that are name and date ranges which you need to scan to select the likely prospect. The example index card is from the Catholic marriage file organized by female name.

The Catholic and non-Catholic section covers the Judicial District of Saint-François and the non-Catholic section the three jurisdictions: Ile-de-Montréal, Lapraire, Chambly, Vaudreuil-Soulanges counties; Judicial District of Beauharnois; Judicial District of Bedford.

These records are sourced from Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales Du Québec (National Library and Archives of Quebec).

If you have access to the Drouin collection, available through Ancestry.ca, that will likely be a more efficient approach which will also provide additional information.

Findmypast record additions

Again this week some modest additions at Findmypast.

England & Wales Merchant Navy Crew Lists 1861-1913
Over 157,000 records with images have been added, now contains 570,875 records. The sources are The National Archives, National Maritime Museum, various local archives and county record offices. The additions are from Anglesey and Devon.

Kent: North Cray Baptisms and Burials, and Swanscombe Burials
Transcriptions of 966 baptisms ( 1783 to 1879) and 944 burials from North Cray (1783 to 1918), plus 1,544 burials from Swanscombe (1813 to 1867) are the latest Kent additions, courtesy of the North West Kent FHS.

Irish Newspapers
Over 1.1 million new articles  have been added to eight existing titles; The Cork Examiner, Derry Journal, Freeman’s Journal, Saunders’s News-Letter, Ulster Gazette, Waterford Chronicle, Waterford Mail and the Roscommon Journal and Western Impartial Reporter.

Streaming from the OGS conference

A reminder that the following session is being streamed free from the Ontario Genealogical Society conference being held this weekend in Barrie.

Saturday, May 30th, 8:30 a.m. EDT 
Panel Discussion, Tracks through Time.
Thomas MacEntee (Moderator) with panelists Richard M. Doherty, Dr. Maurice Gleeson, Kirsty Gray and Dave Obee. Join online here.

To be following by streaming of the OGS AnnualGeneral Meeting.

For the record, strangely, registration for other live streaming appears to be closed. REPEAT: THERE IS NOW NO REGISTRATION AVAILABLE FOR THE FOLLOWING.

Saturday, May 30th 1:45 – 2:45 pm EDT
Dr. Janet Few
Uproar and Disorder: The Bible Christians of North Devon and Their Impact on 19th Century Canada

Saturday, May 30th 3:25 – 4:15 pm EDT
Debra Honor
Enrolled Pensioners Scheme in Penetanguishene & Amherstburg

Sunday, May 31st 8:00 – 9:00 am EDT
Dr. Janet Few
Putting Your Ancestors in Their Place: an introduction to one-place studies

Sunday, May 31st 10:30 – 11:30 am EDT
Austin Bovenizer
Tracking the Irish Palatines in Ireland

Sunday, May 31st 1:00 – 2:00 pm EDT
Ken McKinlay
Doing Family History Research from your House

To find out more on each presentation, registration for each presentation which would have cost $20, go to http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference/program/live-webinars/.

Comment: These days many webinars are available freely, including upcoming ones from the Southern California Genealogical Society, see here. Others, notably genetic genealogy presentations recorded by Maurice Gleeson, are available on a delayed basis. OGS again demonstrates how out of touch it is with the family history world online today by charging for these presentations.

AncestryDNA in Canada

If you've been waiting for the AncestryDNA test to become available in Canada take heart from the announcement this week that it's now available to purchase in Australia and New Zealand.
Availability there and in Canada was promised "this spring" and the days on the calendar to the end of the season are rapidly declining. Perhaps they're waiting for a significant announcement opportunity, if not the OGS conference perhaps the genetic genealogy day in Toronto on June 6, or if they really want to cut it fine the Quebec Family History Society Roots 2015 conference which starts on June 19. As long was they get it out by June 21 at 12:38 P.M. EDT the promise will be kept.

In Australia the test costs $149AUS ($114 US), in the UK it's £99 ($152 US) and in the US $99. What will it cost in Canada? What would be a fair price?

Family historians identify unknown war dead

According to a (UK) Daily Telegraph story the number of identification cases sent to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, where someone believes they have worked out who is in an unidentified grave, has risen nearly ten fold in the past decade. The increase is attributed to online availability of records, interest generated by programs like WDYTYA and the anniversaries of the two world wars. Read it here.

FamilySearch updates Ontario Civil Registration files

On 27 May 2015 FamilySearch updated the following files:

Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947, now has 2,050,112 records with 947,200 images
Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927, now has 1,382,652 records with 904,988 images
Ontario Births, 1869-1912, now has 2,094,890 records with 413,055 images

You may find glitches. The search forms ask for deceased's name and I found one death record where the page returned included this notice.

British Newspaper Archive update

It's six weeks since I last posted on newspapers added to the British Newspaper Archive. Here are the major additions, more than 5 years, in the past month.

Ashton Weekly Reporter, and Stalybridge and Dukinfield Chronicle, The 1855 - 1856, 1858, 1860, 1862 - 1864, 1866 - 1871
Berwickshire Advertiser, The 1830, 1834, 1838, 1863, 1871, 1873, 1875 – 1876, 1878, 1880, 1915, 1931 – 1949, 1951 – 1955
Birmingham Daily Gazette 1863, 1866 - 1867, 1869 - 1870
Buckingham Advertiser and Free Press 1854 - 1855, 1859 - 1860, 1881 - 1882, 1884 - 1885, 1897
Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal 1849 - 1850, 1852 - 1860, 1862 - 1871
Fife Free Press, & Kirkcaldy Guardian 1871 - 1876
Saunders's News-Letter 1802 - 1809, 1813 - 1814, 1817 - 1826, 1830, 1832, 1835 - 1837, 1839, 1843 - 1844, 1846, 1856 - 1865, 1867
Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser 1916 - 1950
South Eastern Gazette 1830 - 1842, 1845 - 1851

Ottawa DNA Interest Group

On Saturday 30 May 2015 at 9:30 am the genetic genealogy group will meet in Room 226 at the City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive, Nepean, ON.
There will be a short presentation by Bill Arthurs based on his Titus family research where he will describe the process of identifying cousins using Y-DNA along with paper records. That will leave lots of time for a round table with an opportunity for all attendees to mention any progress, challenges or queries they may have.

Historical Society of Ottawa May meeting

Go to the Society website and you might think all that's on offer this Friday is the annual general meeting. Maybe the webmaster is flagging. Or, perhaps the thought is that there's excitement enough with the AGM - perhaps earth-shaking things in store for the Society we're not being told about.

There is a presentation on the agenda. Glenn Wright will be speaking on "Controversy and Compromise: Choosing a Flag for Canada, 1964-1965"

It has been fifty years since Canada adopted a distinctive flag. In this presentation, Glenn Wright will look behind the scenes at the controversy that arose out of the decision of the Liberal government to adopt a distinctive flag for Canada in the spring of 1964 and the ultimate compromise that gave us the flag we have today. He will also introduce us to the people, the personalities and political context surrounding this significant achievement.

Copies of Bryan Cook's newly published book on William Pittman Lett will be on sale.

HSO meets on Friday, May 29, at the Routhier Community Centre starting at 1:30pm, that's 30 minutes later than usual.

With Mocavo "You’re not the customer. You’re the raw material"

In his latest Irish Roots column John Grenham recounts the difficulties he's had getting information deleted from Mocavo, now a part of MyHeritage.  correction findmypast.  Read it here.

My apologies to MyHeritage for the incorrect attribution and thanks to Thomas MacEntee for pointing it out.

Is genetic genealogy being over-hyped?

In "The Business of Genetic Ancestry" broadcast on 26 May 2015 BBC Radio 4's Adam Rutherford took on the conflict between science and some businesses in genetic genealogy.

The programme was based on interviews with Mark Jobling (University of Leicester), Mark Thomas (University College London), Debbie Kennett (ISOGG and UCL), Julia Bell (client), Joanna Mountain (23andMe), Eran Elhaik (Sheffield University) and John Geraint (Green Bay Media).

The target of the scientists was claims about pinpointing origins of individuals based in DNA analysis. Today we don't expect everyone in any particular location to have a common unique DNA signature and the same has been true through much of human history.

Aim was taken at DNA satnav, see this Wired article and the peer reviewed article in Nature Communications.  US client Julie Matthews revealed that her test using this technique placed her origin in the Humber estuary. See Debbie Kennett's critique here. Those of us with mixed ancestry don't need much convincing the concept is fundamentally flawed. Eran Elhaik, the developer, has subsequently distanced himself from the commercial application and refining the technique.

The most pointed criticism was of DNA Cymru and the programme Who are the Welsh broadcast last earlier this year on the Welsh language TV station S4C. Read Debbie Kennett's critique here. A particular target was the claim that 3% of the current Welsh population could be DNA-associated as "Ancient Welsh." As program producer John Geraint explained when asked about the lack of  a scientific peer reviewed basic for the claim the technique is commercially confidential. DNA Cymru spokespersons had declined to participate in the program.

It's notable that three of the people involved, Mark Thomas, Debbie Kennett and presenter Adam Rutherford are associated with University College London.

The program is available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05vy4kb.