Findmypast adds England & Wales, Electoral Registers 1920

Findmypast promotes the 6,775,052 entries in the new England & Wales, Electoral Registers database as a 1920 census substitute. These indexed records, which can be searched by name, year, constituency, polling district and keyword, contain voting age men and women. 
While the population in 1920 was over 37 million many were underage or otherwise ineligible to vote.
The geographical coverage is incomplete. Included are records from 27 of the more populous counties: Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Durham, Essex, Glamorganshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, London, Middlesex, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Northumberland,
Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Sussex, Yorkshire.
Missing are Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Huntingdonshire, Monmouthshire, Oxfordshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, Westmorland, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, and all Welsh counties except Glamorganshire.
Also the database includes more than one enumeration for the year, spring and autumn, so the vast majority of people in samples I explored are included twice.
Overall there's perhaps a one in ten chance of finding a person who was living in England and Wales in 1920.

Ancestry adds Ireland, Index to the Prerogative Wills, 1536-1810

Although original wills held by the Church of Ireland were victims of the 1922 Four Courts disaster an index to 38,829 of them survives.
Ancestry has made this available, as published by the Genealogical Publishing Co., 1989, and originally in 1897 by Sir Arthur Vicars in Dublin. The surviving index information includes both men and women.
A free searchable copy of the original publication is in the Internet Archives at https://archive.org/details/indextoprerogati00vica/.

CRKN and Canadiana.org Merge as Combined Organization

If you have used Early Canadiana Online, part of Canadiana.org, this merger announcement may be of interest. The organizations will be stronger together.

Here is the text of the announcement at www.canadiana.ca/crkn-canadiana-merge/.

The Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) and Canadiana.org (Canadiana) are pleased to announce a merger of the two organizations, which will now be under the leadership of CRKN. The merged organization began combined operations on April 1, 2018. As a merged organization, CRKN will continue its core licensing activities for scholarly journal content, while expanding support for the digitization, access and preservation of Canadian heritage content through the services of Canadiana.

“This a milestone in our respective organizations’ histories and a significant step in Canada as we move forward together to leverage the opportunities of the emergent global, networked research environment,” says Jonathan Bengtson, President, Canadiana. “This merger will expand and accelerate Canadiana services and programs that ensure the long-term viability of digitized documentary heritage for all Canadians and generations to come,” continued Mr. Bengtson.

“Academic libraries in Canada have a long history of working together to the benefit of their communities. Merging CRKN and Canadiana is yet another example of the strength of this community in both leveraging and understanding the complexity of the digital landscape and seeking opportunities to facilitate alignment,” says Alan Shepard, Chair of the CRKN Board of Directors. “Expanding CRKN’s portfolio through this merger builds on the organization’s strength and ability to collaboratively, and collectively, make significant and meaningful contributions to scholarship in Canada,” continued Dr. Shepard.

Merger discussions began in June, 2016 in recognition of a changed research environment and with the goal of building on the strengths and complementary activities of two of Canada’s most impactful content-based national organizations serving Canada’s digital research infrastructure. This merger allows CRKN and Canadiana to cohesively pursue a united and coordinated strategy that is envisioned and directed by member libraries, and works in partnership with research and memory institutions, funders, and other partners, broadening and expanding Canada’s vision and impact in digital scholarship.

Quick Facts

CRKN has worked with Canadiana since 2006 to provide subscription access to the Early Canadiana Online (ECO) collection, which is a large collection of full-text historical content about Canada, including books, magazines and government documents.
Currently, 54 CRKN members have subscriptions to Canadiana Online or the ECO collection. CRKN members provide the bulk of Canadiana’s funding through subscriptions and membership fees.
In 2013, CRKN and Canadiana collaborated on the Heritage Project, a 10-year initiative to digitize and make accessible online some of Canada’s most popular archival collections encompassing roughly 40 million pages of primary-source documents. This project was funded by 46 CRKN members.
The merger will leverage Canadiana’s certification as a Trustworthy Digital Repository (TDR) to support members in their own institutional digitization work.
As part of the merger, CRKN will propose By-Law changes at its next Annual General Meeting that would allow Library and Archives Canada (LAC), Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) and Toronto Public Library (TPL) to qualify as CRKN institutional members.
The merger allows CRKN and Canadiana coordinated representation as part of the Canadian National Heritage Digitization Strategy, which outlines a way for Canadian memory institutions to work together to digitize, preserve and make accessible Canada’s documentary heritage.
The merger allows for CRKN and Canadiana to pursue activities that further the preservation, digitization, access, and discoverability of content, as well as goals in the development of open access to Canadian content.

Are you mitochondrial DNA U5b2b5?

The FBI extracted DNA from a highly degraded 4000-year-old Egyptian Mummy head, in the interests of testing and improving forensic technique.
In yet another demonstration of advance in ancient DNA extraction and analysis the authors determined the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup as U5b2b5, and it was from a male.
If that's your haplogroup you could have a new ancient relative—the Great Overlord Djehutynakht.
Read more on The History Blog and the original article in the journal Genes.

Irish Registry of Deeds Index Project Update

Clare Santry reports an update to the project bringing the total number of entries in the free index to 268,752. They come from 29,859 memorials of deeds, all contributed by volunteers.

23andMe update: We're Italian ... mangia

23andMe have delivered the promised Ancestry Composition update, now showing connections to 151 populations around the world.
My continental scale results, shown in the table with a blue background, are unchanged from previously.
0.4% has been reassigned from Broadly Southern European to Italian. The change isn't surprising—my brother's results already showed some Italian.
A line has been added for United Kingdom below British and Irish, and for Germany below French and German but with no percentage indicated. The information under "See all tested populations" shows a Match Strength of 5/5 for United Kingdom and 2/5 for Ireland. Germany and the Netherlands show 1/5 Match Strength. Everything else is 0/5.
A display of "Your Ancestry Timeline" shows most of my ancestry, except the British & Irish and Jewish, dates from before 1800. There's a hint of Sephardi ancestry somewhat later consistent with paper genealogy.
These 23andMe results continue to provide a realistic portrait of my ancestry as far as they go.
It would be nice to see greater regional resolution along the lines provided from the People of the British Isles and Irish DNA Atlas projects.

Advance Notice: Discover Your Roots: Ottawa Genealogy and Local History Fair

Save the date: Saturday 21 April, 2018 at 10:00am.
Free, no registration required. The Ottawa Public Library and BIFHSGO are cooperating in an event at Nepean Centrepointe for those who enjoy genealogy and local history.

Find out more at
https://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/event/discover-your-roots-genealogy-and-local-history-fair.

Here's detail of the presentations being given by BIFHGO members.

Discover your Roots: Getting Started – Barbara Tose & Glenn Wright (Basic level) Approx. 40 minutes

Have you ever wondered about your family’s history? Where did they come from? How did they live? This talk will help you get started, find information online and organize your results. It will also inform you of where to get help along the way. Everything you need to get started – all in one place!

Finding Your Roots with DNA – John D Reid (Basic level) Approx. 20 minutes

The DNA inherited from your parents in trillions of cells of your body has a story to tell. You’ve seen the TV ads showing people surprised at their DNA test results and maybe heard people casting doubt on the reliability. In this short talk find out about the reality of DNA testing, which has revolutionized family history research, its amazing capabilities and its limitations.

Building and Sharing Your Family Tree – Leanne Cooper (Basics+ level) Approx. 45 minutes

There are many options for building and sharing your family tree: paper or electronic forms, family tree software, online family trees on sites like Ancestry or MyHeritage, and collaborative family tree websites such as WikiTree. This session will explore the key features, pros and cons of each, along with things to consider when making the choice.

 “I have my DNA results. What do I do now?” – Susan Courage (Basics+ level) Approx. 45 minutes

Your inherited DNA links you to potentially thousands of new cousins-some closer than others. Find out about what you will learn from different DNA tests; how to determine where to start when you get your results back; and about the resources and tools available to you to decode the science and apply in practice. 

Seeking Toronto History Lecturer

The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society is now inviting proposals for the eighth annual Toronto History Lecture, to be held on the evening of Wednesday, August 8, 2018 at the City of Toronto Archives.

Proposals are sought for an interesting, innovative and well-presented lecture on any aspect of Toronto's history. For details, download the full Call for Lecture Proposals (pdf).

The deadline for submissions is May 15, 2018.

For information about past Toronto History Lecture topics and speakers, please visit this website.

LAC Proactive Disclosure 2015 - 2017

Library and Archives Canada is subject to Government of Canada requirement of proactive disclosure of senior management expenses.
Total expenditures for both travel and hospitality in 2017 were less than for the previous year.

Travel	2017	2016	2015
Berthiaume, Guy	46,106.56	42,498.41	42,344.93
Déry, Hervé	0	7,691.03	9,548.86
Charbonneau, Normand	13,977.69	23,458.82	12,108.96
Ouellette, Anick	9,392.14
TOTAL	69,476.39	73,648.26	64,002.75
Hospitality	2017	2016	2015
Berthiaume, Guy	3,393.33	3,316.65	1,511.54
Déry, Hervé	163.52	53.45	170.28
Charbonneau, Normand	1,353.54	1,602.15	694.87
Ouellette, Anick	20.67
TOTAL	4,931.06	4,972.25	2,376.69

Find these stats, and back to 2012, here.

PRONI Canadian Usage

Tucked away in the report Digest of statistics for the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland 2016/17 (pdf), published 28 March, is a pie chart showing that 8 per cent of PRONI onsite users are Canadian, that's the fourth highest, nearly 1,300 people.

Those of us who use LAC can only drool at the statistic "In 2016/17, 98% of documents were produced within 30 minutes. The average retrieval time per order was 13.1 minutes."

Many more use PRONI's online resources, the most popular being:
1. Will calendars - Searchable catalogue of will calendar entries for the period 1858-1965 (2,696,579 views).
2. Valuation revision books - Searchable database of placename index and digitised images of the Valuation Revision Books (VAL/12/B) for the years 1864-1933 (1,885,181 views).
3. E-catalogue - PRONI’s electronic catalogue containing over 1.5 million searchable entries (1,760,425 views).

OGS April Webinar: Art Taylor

Thursday, 5 April, 2018 – 7:00 p.m. ET
Presentation: Cataloging Your Digital Images Using Adobe Bridge with IPTC Cultural Heritage Panel
Presenter: Art Taylor

An introduction to the free Adobe Bridge program (for macOS and Windows) and its free IPTC (International Press Telecommunications Council) Cultural Heritage Panel to add titles, descriptions, and much more metadata to digital images. The process can be used with digital (from digital cameras or scanners) photos as well as with images created in software. It also works with photographs of 3-D heirlooms, such as quilts, jewelry, and furniture. There are data fields to enter much of the known information about each digital file.

Register here.

OGS supporting The NextGen Genealogy Network

The following is extracted from an OGS media release.

The NextGen Genealogy Network (NGGN) and the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) are pleased to announce a new partnership. OGS is providing NGGN with financial support, together with promotional support in the OGS weekly online newsletter, eWeekly, together with an information page on the OGS website.
NGGN, a United States based 501(c)(3) Charitable Organization was founded in 2013 to create a community for young genealogists. Building connections and fostering engagement among young genealogists eighteen to fifty, NGGN strives to build connections between generations, and welcomes the friendship, mentorship, and support of our fellow genealogists of all ages.

Thanks to OGS Director David Thompson for the tip.

Ancestry updates London Church of England Records

There were updates to five London, England, Church of England collections in March:
Deaths and Burials, 1813-2003; 2,733,953 total records
Confirmation Records, 1838-1923; 52,837 total records
Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812; 17,095,256 total records
Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932; 13,305,217 total records
Births and Baptisms, 1813-1917; 21,605,324 total records.

Ancestry also added 1.6 million records in 11 new databases during the month. Yorkshire, England: Church of England Parish Records, 1538-1873 accounted for 72 per cent of them.

A quick look back at Ancestry in the first quarter.

• AncestryDNA continues to grow, now over 7 million. 
• Blog posts continue, 9 this quarter.
• No corporate press releases since November.

Colloquium: Rediscovering the Scots

A one-day (actually half-day) colloquium on 6 April at McGill University, Rediscovering the Scots, inaugurates the St. Andrew’s Society/McEuen Scholarship Foundation Chair in Canadian-Scottish Studies.
See further information, including the preliminary program at www.mcgill.ca/channels/channels/event/rediscovering-scots-colloquium-inaugurate-chair-canadian-scottish-studies-285515

Deceased Online adds Norfolk MIs

Deceased Online has slowed in adding new data in recent months, and the new addition is a departure. Instead of burial records the addition is memorial inscriptions for Norfolk.
There are 91 cemeteries at present with more to come.
Read about the collection at this blog post which includes a list of the cemeteries. They're also plotted on a Google Map.

RAF Centennial

Today, 1 April 2018, marks the 100th anniversary of the Royal Air Force, formed by combining the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps.
By the end of the war the RAF had 291,000 officers and men and 22,647 aircraft.
The heyday of the RAF was during the Second World War with Churchill referring to the RAF and the Battle of Britain.

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

The Canadian Air Force, formed on 17 May 1920 with the prefix Royal added in 1924 was integral to RAF operations in WW2.
Of 124,356 Air Force causalities 17,395 were Canadian.

The (UK) National Archives has a handy guide to RAF Personnel Records. Digitized records, all pre-WW2 are:

Ancestry
UK, Royal Air Force Airmen Records, 1918-1940, 616,118 records
UK, Royal Air Force Muster Roll, 1918, 194,814 records
Web: UK, Women's Royal Air Force Index, 1918-1920, 31,086 records.

Findmypast
British Royal Air Force, Airmen's Service Records 1912-1939, 342,825 records
British Royal Air Force, Officers' Service Records 1912-1920, 101,266 records
British Women's Royal Air Force Service Records 1918-1920, 31,090 records
Royal Air Force Muster Roll 1918, 181,625 records.

TheGenealogist
Air Force Lists for Apr 1918, Oct 1933, May 1936, Apr 1937, Sep 1938, Jan 1939, June, 1939, May 1940.
Monthly Air Force List, November 1921.

Note: More issues of The Air Force List for the WW2 period are available free on The Internet Archive.

You may be interested in the12 part Century of the RAF on YouTube.

Internet Genealogy: April-May 2018

What's in the new issue?

A Visit to the Internet Archive
Diane L. Richard writes the Internet Archive is one of her all-time favourite websites. Me too. The Internet Archive ranks 278th on Alexa, well ahead of ancestry.com. Diane takes us on a guided tour of some of its facets and recent developments, and mentions other digital book/web archives. Worth emphasizing is that new material is constantly being added, 24 items were added to the Canadian collection alone on 26 March. In case you weren't aware, you can now do whole text searches across the whole collection or in a specific volume.

Harness the Power of RootsMagic and TreeShare for Ancestry
George G. Morgan explores the benefits of using this remarkable two-way interface for updating your Ancestry family tree

Save Money on Your Genealogy!
Gena Philibert-Ortega offers key tips and online strategies for helping you keep your family history research budget under control! While specific examples are US-centric many of her suggestions are applicable globally.

Pharmacists in the Family
David A. Norris reveals where you might find records of apothecaries and pharmacists. As with the previous article the emphasis is on US experience and sources.

When the Shoe Fits
Sue Lisk suggests and illustrates weaving snippets and tales around a theme when sharing your ancestors’ stories using US and Canadian stories. This is the first of two articles by her, an author whose writing I'm increasingly appreciating.

REVIEW: Write Daily with Writely
Lisa A. Alzo reviews a new app to help you build a daily family history writing habit and concludes that "if you are looking for that extra push to build a daily writing habit , you can't go wrong with Writely".

REVIEW: MemoryWeb and Your Family Photos!
Tony Bandy looks at a new photo service to help you organize and share your family photos. It's primarily an iOS application with aspects of the service still under development at the time of Tony's review. There's a free 90 trial if you're interested.

NetNotes
Diane L. Richard looks at websites and related news.

Getting to Way Back When: A Conversation
Sue Lisk looks at why interviewing the elder members of a community can be much more gratifying than any lore gleaned from web sources.

Back Page
Dave Obee says “You can’t rewrite history”

OGS revives CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project

The following is good news extracted from an Ontario Genealogical Press Release.

Due to security issues with their current hosting provider, portions of CanadaGenWeb’s Cemetery Project have been offline for more than three months, with no solutions in sight. Recognizing the value of these genealogical resources, OGS stepped in to offer a solution. CanadaGenWeb’s Cemetery Project has been working over the last month preparing for the changeover. The site is back up and operating with a new look and feel. Work will continue to evolve over the next few weeks as the website settles into its new server.

The CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project (http://cemetery.canadagenweb.org) debuted in October 2004 as the first Canada-wide, Canada-only cemetery project.
At present they offer a free and searchable directory of more than 21,000 Canadian cemeteries, including locations, histories and links to repositories and genealogy organizations that offer further information and/or assistance.
Plus, a 1.5 million (and growing) names index of volunteer contributed photographs, indexes and transcripts.

Subscribe to the update blog: http://canadacems.blogspot.ca/
Join on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/CanadaGenWeb-Cemetery-Project-150618738362392

Thanks to Steve Fulton UE, the Vice President of The Ontario Genealogical Society, for forwarding this information.

British Newspaper Archive additions for March

The British Newspaper Archive now has  24,710,849 pages (24,209,059 pages last month).
The 58 papers (108 last month) with new pages online this month include 28 papers new to the collection.
Papers with more than 10,000 pages added are:
Common Cause
Coventry Evening Telegraph
Daily Telegraph & Courier (London)
Globe (London, booksellers’ trade journal)
Mansfield Reporter
Newcastle Evening Chronicle
Vote (organ of the women's freedom league)
Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer

LAC Signatures: Spring/Summer 2018

If you have an opportunity over the long weekend I suggest browsing the new issue of Library and Archive Canada's magazine, available online.

Read about acquisition, preservation and access, particularly how LAC has increased its outreach activities to meet the demands of the documentary community.

That finds continuing motivation from a Nanos survey in December 2015— 54 percent felt that access should be LAC’s priority, compared with 21 percent support for preservation and 18 percent for acquisition.

Much is being achieved.

But opening LAC branches in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Halifax still leaves many clients and potential clients hundreds of kilometers from the nearest facility—Prince George, Fort McMurray, Saskatoon, Thunder Bay, Saguenay, and St John's? That's not to mention Iqaluit,Yellowknife and Whitehorse. Despite the good work it's falling short.

It doesn't have to be that way.

Take for example basic LAC resources consulted by the largest client group, genealogists. Not available online.

Newspapers remain trapped on microfilm.

Original directories deteriorate with every use.

As well as celebrating its achievements will LAC explain its approach to broader, more convenient and affordable access for those fortunate enough not to live in major centres, and for those in LAC branch communities who find the hours inconvenient?

Thanks to David Hook for correcting the link.