Blog Archives

The GROwth of the Birth, Marriage, and Death Index: An Introduction to The LancashireBMD Project

29/8/2015

The LancashireBMD website enables the user to undertake a free search of the birth, marriage and death indexes held in the local register offices within the historic county of Lancashire. On finding the required entry it is then possible to print off an application form containing the office's local reference. Some register offices also offer an online ordering service. By providing the office with their local reference number, rather than the General Register Office (GRO) reference, will enable them to quickly locate the certificate and return it much more speedily than the ONS at Southport.

The website was established in 2003 by John Marsden of the Manchester & Lancashire FHS and the Lancashire Family History & Heraldry Society, seeing the potential, quickly joined the project. We were then followed by other family history societies.

When I commenced my research in the mid 1970's the only way to locate a BMD certificate was to search the GRO indexes. These were originally located at Somerset House, London until they were moved to St Catherine's House in 1972. In 1997 the indexes were moved to the Family Records Centre and after several years index books were removed from public inspection. The indexes became more accessible once microform copies of them became available in local repositories. In 1998 Freebmd (www.freebmd.org.uk) was founded with the intention of creating a free searchable database of the GRO Indexes of England and Wales. With the growth of the Internet more website commenced offering access to the GRO indexes. Many of these sites are available on a subscription bases for example www.ancestry.co.uk www.findmypast.co.uk and www.thegenealogist.co.uk

The GRO indexes are compiled from the copied certificates supplied on a quarterly bases by the Superintendent Registrars of the 600 plus registration districts in England and Wales. Producing these copies were not without problems and there was no provision in the legislation to ensure accuracy of the copies. Even if any checks were undertaken it is unclear as to how effective it may have been. This can accounts for some of the errors in the indexes.

There is no documentation that explains how the GRO carried out the indexing and sorting procedures in the 19th century. Nor is it generally known when various parts of the handwritten indexes were typed. The first step in indexing must have been for a clerk to copy out the names, together with the district name, volume and page numbers. These names would then have to be sorted into an alphabetical order based on the names. In the absence of effective mechanical means of sorting, it would have been logical to sort each volume separately and then merge the volumes into a total index as the final step. There would be no room in such a process for checking on an apparent error.

The indexing procedure was a very labour intensive activity and therefore, it is little wonder that the Records Department of GRO had the largest number staff. In 1840 the Records Department accounted for 29 staff out of a total of 50 and by 1921 this had increased to 114 out of a total of 172.

From the above description it will be clear that there were at least two copying processes and this was in addition to the copying already involved in making the quarterly returns. Each time a copy was made then an error could be made. Therefore, it is little wonder there are errors in the GRO indexes

The Registration Service is fully aware of the errors in the GRO indexes and the types of errors have been highlighted by Mike Foster, who undertook a partial check at the General Register Office of a one per cent sample of the marriage material. The types of errors Mike identified were:

Omitted quarterly returns could well be between 50,000 and 350,000 marriages based on finding from Essex and Somerset analysis.
Marriages missed in the indexing could be at least 15,000
Individual entries missing from the index could be around 20,000
Variant/duplicate indexing could amount to 250,000 to 500,000 names.
Errors in names as indexed are many and could rival the variant names.
Names lost from the indexes through the typing process are certainly significant and impossible to quantify at this stage.
Names lost from least the handwritten fiche and film of all three indexes are of the order of 25,000 through frames missed in their production.
Errors of indexing (in volume/page numbers and district names), both in original indexing and through later typing, could range from 50,000 to 200,000.
There are many other errors in great variety, witnesses indexed, fathers indexed instead of sons, brides indexed with new names.
These estimates of errors may well be conservative. A million errors in the 1837/99 period are very probable.

(For more information see Michael Whitfield Foster, "A Comedy of Errors" or The Marriage Records of England and Wales 1837-1899. [Wellington, 1998] “Act 2” of this book was published in 2002).

Clearly all the sources that are based on the GRO indexes will be reproducing these errors. However, no matter how carefully the transcriptions are carried out and checking procedures are performed it will not overcome any problems between the original certificates in the local offices and copied at the GRO.

By transcribing the local indexes and checking them against the original certificates that are held in each Register Office the LancashireBMD project is able to overcome many of the above problems. In this way it is possible to produce a more reliable index. This has enabled many users to locate entries that do not appear in the GRO Indexes.

The following are a few examples of the errors within the GRO Indexes:

Terry Gorman, of Scituate, Massachusetts, USA was unable to find the following using the GRO Index on the Ancestry website:
Marriage of Joseph Wilson to Margaret Shannon that took place in 1853
Birth of William Gorman that took place in Oldham in 1856 or that of his twin brother, Thomas
Alan Gorry was unable to locate the 1861 marriage of James Tague to Margaret Armstrong that took place in Liverpool.

All these events were identified using the LancashireBMD website.

The LancashireBMD website has other advantages over the GRO Indexes:

The GRO Indexes states the registration district in which the event was registered. Due to boundary changes these registration districts many no longer exist. For examples the Registration Districts of Burnley & Pendle, Chorley, Fleetwood & Fylde, Hyndburn & Rossendale, Lancaster, Preston & South Ribble, Ribble Valley and West Lancashire are merged on 23rd May 2005 to form the Lancashire Registration Districts. All of the registers and indexes from these offices were moved to the new office. The LancashireBMD website contains details of the offices were the certificates are currently located.

As mentioned above the GRO Indexes only give the Registration District in which the event was registered. With marriages the LancashireBMD website states the church in which the event took place. Prior to 1899 the registrar has to attend all nonconformist marriages and the website records these as civil marriages. Births and deaths were registered in the sub-district in which the event took place and therefore the website contains this information.

The website gives details of all the updates and the type of coverage. It also contains information to help anyone new to family history research. The homepage also contains links to all the participating FHS's as well as the relevant Register Offices. There is also a link to the UKBMD page (www.ukbmd.org.uk) which will enable anyone with interests outside Lancashire to locate a relevant BMD website. Also by clicking on the "Register" link on the UKBMD homepage it is possible to subscribe to the UKBMD Mailing List. In this way it is possible to be kept up-to-date with all the latest UKBMD information.

Since first developing the software from the UKBMD project Ian Hartas has improved some of the functions so it is now possible to show mother’s maiden names. When searching for births and deaths you are now able to limit the search to a specific sub-district and with marriages you can now search on a specific church.

Clearly the LancashireBMD website, which is part of the UKBMD Project, is a valuable resource for family historians which overcomes many of the problems associated with the GRO indexes. Therefore it came as no surprise to learn that the UKBMD project was voted as the 2nd place winner behind ancestry.co.uk in the reader poll run by Family Tree Magazine in 2011. The LancashireBMD project continues to be a success, recently adding their 19th million record to the website. This fantastic achievement is made all the more impressive when considered all those who work on the project are volunteers.

Many of these volunteers are members of the Lancashire Family History and Heraldry Society, and many more members engage with the other projects and day to day missions to help family history enthusiasts and researchers find their Lancashire ancestors. The society always welcomes new members and hosts regular meetings around Lancashire and in London which are open to all.

Website: www.lfhhs.org and www.lfhhsonline.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lfhhsonline
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LFHHSOnline

The LancashireBMD project records and resources can be found at www.lancashirebmd.org.uk.

Written by Tony Foster. Tony is the Resources and Projects Co-ordinator at Lancashire Family History and Heraldry Society.

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Ancestral Tourism - Preparing for your 'Genealogy Holiday'

22/8/2015

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Introduction

Perhaps the best line of the entire U.S. Who Do You Think You Are? series was spoken by Angie Harmon as she stood on her family's farm, looking out at the same land her ancestors had once owned.

"I just feel so whole" nicely sums up the entire ancestral journey. Year after year, as I take people to Scotland to research their family history, I hear participants tell me, "as soon as I stepped on Scottish soil, I felt like I was home. I knew I belonged." There is no greater, more humbling experience than traveling to the land of your ancestors. The feelings of belonging and connection are powerful and make a compelling argument for the idea of memory being passed down through our DNA.

As any family history researcher will tell you, there is great excitement when you find your ancestor in a document. Tangible verification of their existence. And there is a sense of wonder when you see their signature. It is almost as if you could reach out and touch them. Multiply that by infinity when you walk the streets they walked, see the houses they lived in, the factories they worked in, the churches they worshiped in. These moments provide a deep sense of affinity for your ancestors. A deep appreciation of their battles and struggles. A sense of pride as they overcame in order to carry on.

All of this culminates in an irreducible sense of belonging as you come to understand not only their story but also your own history. How you came to be.

Traveling to the home of your ancestors takes planning. It is not enough to show up in the village, head to the local pub and start asking questions. You need to do some planning ahead of time. Do some research before you go. Learn about what repositories are available, what archival materials they hold, who can access the documents and what identification is required to research in each repository.

Make sure that your Family Tree is up to date. Make it portable. Have it on a laptop, iPad, or tablet so that you can access the information in Scotland. If you want, you can print off Family Group Sheets or create a spreadsheet and write down what you are missing and hope to find when you are in Scotland.

Create a Research Plan

Make a list of all of the documents you already have copies or originals of. This will prevent you wasting time searching for information you already have. Remember, you will be able to see births newer than 100 years, marriage records newer than 75 years and death records newer than 50 years, so you will want to make a list of the more recent records you want to have a look and transcribe at while you are in Edinburgh.

Think about the next steps. What questions are you hoping to answer with your onsite research? What documents would you still like to get? What else do you want to know about your ancestors?

Write out your brick walls and think about what you want to find out to help break those down. Do you need to look at parish records, voters rolls, apprentice records, maps, directories, newspapers? This will help to focus and guide your research time.

Create a Travel Plan:

Decide which repositories you want/need to visit. Visit their websites. Learn what hours and days they are open then plan accordingly. Are they in the same city? If not, how many can you realistically visit in the time you have?

Create an Itinerary

Where else do you want to visit? Do you want to see the village, town or city your ancestor lived in? How will you get there? How long will that take?

Prioritize what you want to see, what records you want to get. If time is limited then decide to work at only the top three. If time allows, you can get to the next items on your list.
You may want to consult a professional genealogist before you go. This will help you to better plan your time and keep you focussed on exactly what it is that you hope to achieve during your quest to learn more about your ancestors.

When you are finished researching for the day, take the time to enjoy this fascinating country. Edinburgh is an ancient city. A wonderful combination of old and new. A wealth of history. Full of culture. And, yes, tourists. Edinburgh has a brilliant bus system and you can get to anywhere fairly easily. Of course, for those so inclined, Edinburgh is a fabulous city to walk. Edinburgh is a central hub for train travel as well and you can catch a train from Waverley to nearly every region of Scotland, making it easy to get to the area where your ancestors lived.

Glasgow has a rich history as a working man's town. Glasgow was the main port of departure for our ancestors, thanks to the River Clyde and the Shipbuilding industry. I have to admit to not using the bus system in Glasgow. Everywhere I need to go, I walk to. However, like Edinburgh, Glasgow is really quite easy to get around in. On foot, by bus, by train or by subway. Again, Glasgow is a major hub for train travel and you can easily catch a train to almost anywhere you want to go.

Inverness.....Oh Inverness....the Highlands, the history, the scenery.

Take Time to Learn the Social History of Your Ancestors

There is so much more to understanding the lives of your ancestors than simply knowing the dates of the vital events in their lives. Take time to really understand the times in which they lived. How they lived. What they did for entertainment, where they worked, what the laws and social norms were. You can do this by:

Visiting Museums
Visiting Historic Sites
Talking to Locals
Take City Tours
Reading, reading, reading

Discover Your Own Scottish Heritage

One of the realities for the descendants of the Scots diaspora who return to Scotland to research their roots is that they are neither visiting nor touring. They are returning HOME. So many of Scots heritage will tell you that the moment they set foot on Scottish soil, they had a sense of "coming home" Indulge yourself in your heritage. Take pride. Drink it in. Absorb it. Here's how:

Visit Pubs
Attend Festivals
Take part in Highland Games, Clan Gatherings, Celebrations, Re-enactments

Scotland doesn’t need to be expensive. There are a number of quaint B&Bs and mid-level hotels that provide comfort and cleanliness and a safe place to stay for relatively reasonable rates. The Scottish Tourist Board http://www.visitscotland.com/en-ca/ is the best place to check for accommodation.

Planning ahead will help you to make the best use of your time in Scotland. And ultimately that will make your quest to discover your ancestors and your own Scottish heritage more fulfilling. You can download an eGuide to researching your Scottish ancestry and preparing for an ancestral holiday from the VisitScotland website: http://www.visitscotland.com/en-ca/about/ancestry/start-your-ancestral-journey-to-scotland

If you wish to join an organized tour, please be aware that less than a handful of the Scottish-based Ancestral tour companies are run by genealogists. They are in fact travel companies, and while their tours may be a great way to see Scotland, you will not get the assistance you need in furthering your genealogy research. While you may get to the village or town where your ancestors lived, very few will take you to see your ancestral haunts (churches, schools, places of work, churches, graveyards). None of these companies include time in archival repositories.

My company, (http://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca, although based in Canada, provides protected time at the ScotlandsPeople Centre, the Scottish Genealogy Centre and the National Library of Scotland. These are all based in Edinburgh and while on the tour, you will receive personal assistance from the archivists in each location.

In addition to the repository visits, time is available to travel to the area of Scotland where your ancestors lived. I provide connections to ancestral tour companies, run by genealogists in Scotland, who will give you a personalised tour of your ancestors home area including graveyards, churches, streets, business and anything else you may wish to see that is still standing.

If a visit to Scotland is on your bucket list, I guarantee as soon as you arrive, you will get the sense of "being home". If genealogy research is on your to-do list while in Scotland, give me a shout and I can assist you to make the most of your ancestral visit. (Contact Christine) Either way, you won't be disappointed.

Live Q&A with Christine

Come and join #AncestryHour on the 10th September at 7.00pm BST and chat with Christine live online, about how you can get the most out of your "genealogy holiday"! Please register at http://www.ancestryhour.co.uk/ancestraltourism-live-qa.html

Links

Keep up to speed and see what Christine is up to by following her:

Website: http://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Scottish-Genealogy/149525735139281
Twitter: https://twitter.com/genealogytours
Blogs: http://scottishgenealogytipsntricks.blogspot.ca/
http://genealogytoursofscotland.blogspot.ca/

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The SoG at a distance - Getting the best from the treasures in the Library of the Society of Genealogists.

15/8/2015

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Introduction

This week's feature for #AncestryHour comes from Else Churchill, a familiar name to many of us as the genealogist at the 'Society of Genealogists' in London. Her article is packed with useful information and links for researchers out there, for whom, like myself, London is not easily accessible. It focuses on the information that is available online, how to find it, and where to go for further help and advice.

Blog

The Society of Genealogists is the UK’s largest genealogical society and the National Family History Centre. On the centenary anniversary of the Society foundation in 1911 the Independent newspaper described the Society’s Library as “the world’s best genealogical library outside the USA”; an accolade that the Society works hard to live up to!

In addition to providing resources for anyone researching ancestors from the UK, Ireland and overseas, the Society is also an educational charity and hosts an extensive programme of events and courses. The Society actively seeks to represent and advocate on behalf of the UK’s genealogical community and of course publishes an esteemed, award winning series of genealogical guides which are available from the Society’s online bookshop or as e.books from Amazon. The Society’s journal the Genealogists Magazine is published and sent to members four times a year.

Home to the Society is the large four storey Charterhouse Buildings, off Goswell Road on the borders of the City of London and Clerkenwell and about a 5 minute walk from the Barbican underground station. It houses the Society’s extensive library of printed books, unpublished research notes and pedigrees compiled over the last century. Essentially the Society aims to help you build your family tree by asking where did your ancestors live? what did they do?, and has any research been done before on the family? Hence the library collects genealogical resources relating to the places where our ancestors lived and what they did in their lives and seeks to be a repository for published and unpublished genealogical research and reference material.

The Library is free to members who pay an annual subscription and to non-members on payment of a daily search fee. Information on the joining administration fee and annual subscription can be found by clicking on benefits of membership on any page of the website. Membership is discounted for those who live outside the UK .

The Society appreciates that not everyone can conveniently visit the Society’s building in London and would much prefer to access the library and collections online from home and that is becoming increasingly possible, but of course not everything in our library is our copyright or ours to publish online.

The Society’s website www.sog.org.uk , which has undergone a major overhaul in recent years, is the first and most important place to find information and resources. The tabs at the top with drop down menus for each of the subject areas enable easy navigation round the content pages on the site.

The News pages http://www.sog.org.uk/news include regular blog updates about the Society of Genealogist’s activities and news about and for the genealogical community. This news is fed through RSS feeds out to the Society’s Twitter account @SoGgenealogist and to our Facebook page so there are plenty of opportunities to follow our latest news and comments through Social Media.

The Learn pages http://www.sog.org.uk/learn on the SoG website are a good way to get some free help and advice on researching your family history. The Record Guides includes several useful free information leaflets and in-depth record guides to the most commonly used genealogy records which can be downloaded as free PDFs. This includes an overview of how to Start Family history with the Society of Genealogists http://www.sog.org.uk/learn/help-getting-started-with-genealogy/guide-two/ which lists general useful sources, websites and tips.

More in-depth record guides show how to find and use important genealogical sources such as:
Civil Registration Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates
http://www.sog.org.uk/learn/help-getting-started-with-genealogy/guide-three/ , Census
http://www.sog.org.uk/learn/help-getting-started-with-genealogy/guide-four/ , Parish Registers
http://www.sog.org.uk/learn/help-getting-started-with-genealogy/guide-six/,
Nonconformist sources
http://www.sog.org.uk/learn/help-getting-started-with-genealogy/guide-seven/,
Wills
http://www.sog.org.uk/learn/help-getting-started-with-genealogy/guide-five/ , Criminal Records
http://www.sog.org.uk/learn/help-getting-started-with-genealogy/guide-7-criminal-records/ etc., with links to helpful websites .

There are also useful hints and tips pages
http://www.sog.org.uk/learn/education-sub-page-for-testing-navigation/ which give advice on some of the common questions directed at the Society, such as how to find, or even become, a professional researcher, or how to read documents or surname searching at the Society of Genealogists (I’ll come back to this guide later).

Most of the SoG’s education programme takes place on site but the Society does have a distance learning partnership with Pharos Tutors and information about the joint Family History Skills and Strategies Courses for intermediate level students can be found on the Learn pages of the website http://www.sog.org.uk/learn/distance-learning-courses/distance-learning-courses-family-history-skills-and-stratagies . An advanced online distance learning course starts in 2016. Educational events and courses can be booked online and publications can be ordered through the online bookshop.

Help and Advice

If you have hit a brick wall then the Society has various ways to help and advise members and non-members about their family history research. The website’s ‘Learn’ menu has direct links http://www.sog.org.uk/the-library/advice-service/ to show you how to get advice from Library volunteers & staff, either by personal consultations in the library on Saturday afternoon, or using the Advice Telephone Line +44 (0) 20 7490 8911 on Thursdays 6pm - 7.45 pm or Saturdays 11 am - 1pm and 2pm - 4 pm. Of course the Society happily answers questions via email directed genealogy@sog.org.uk.

Members of the Society of Genealogists also have the opportunity to Ask an Expert http://www.sog.org.uk/learn/ask-an-expert/ directly by enrolling on the SoG Members Roots Web email list. A question posted on the list appears as an email to any member who has subscribed, and the enquirer can draw upon the many years of collective knowledge and expertise of fellow members who can make suggestions and offer to help. You never know - you may even link in to someone who wrote a book on the subject. Many will be familiar with our member Experts who also offer the personal ‘one to one’ consultations at the ever popular Ask the Experts area of the Who Do You Think You Are? Live genealogy show in Birmingham.

SoG Library

The Library pages http://www.sog.org.uk/the-library of the website include lots of information about the library. As well as information about visiting the building in London, its arrangement, floor guide, the opening hours, day search fees and directions etc., the library news highlights new accessions and collections acquired by the library and additions to the digitised online data. The Society’s Librarian, Tim Lawrence, frequently gives talks on using the library and its collections, and the PowerPoint Slides from his talks http://www.sog.org.uk/the-library/library-talks can also be found on the library pages with some interesting illustrations of sources that it contains.

The Society’s Library in Clerkenwell is housed over four floors. As many Americans don’t use the term ground floor the SoG calls it’s floors the Lower Library (basement level), Ground Floor, Middle Library (first floor level) and Upper Library (second floor level).

The reception where all visitors must sign in, along with the bookshop, cloakroom and common room (for refreshments) are to be found on the Ground Floor.

The main focus of the library is in the Lower Library which holds the computers suite with free onsite access to online genealogy data sites as well microforms and CDs. The unique manuscript, document, research notes and special collections are found here also and staff and volunteers will fetch these for you from the closed access areas.

The main reference enquiry and help desk is in the Middle Library where you will also find books on the open county shelves. These relate to the places in England, Wales and Scotland where your ancestors lived arranged by the older counties, as they were prior to 1974.

The Upper Library holds printed and bound family histories and pedigrees, books relating to education and apprenticeship, religions, professions trades and occupations, the armed services and the overseas shelves.

A floor guide can be downloaded on the library pages of the website:
http://www.sog.org.uk/uploads/Floor_guide_(Mar10)_2.pdf - where you will find visitor information, directions and information for preparing for a visit.

I have to stress that there are many ways to search the Society’s library and collections and there is no one single search that leads you to everything we may hold concerning the places, names and families you are researching.

The website page “Search Records" http://www.sog.org.uk/search-records guides an enquirer through the many pathways to finding information and provides several options for searching the various types and formats of materials in the library.

Start with Search Records Pages of the website, particularly using the Library Catalogue http://s10312uk.eos-intl.eu/S10312UK/OPAC/Index.aspx which lists most (but not all) of what we have in various media – books, CDs, microforms, maps etc but NOT the various manuscript archive collections.

There are various options for searches using the advanced search menu but most questions can probably be answered using the 'browse search' which defaults to subject search, such as a place or a surname, but you can also use the drop down menu to browse for author, title and publisher. While you can do more sophisticated searches using the advanced menu, the simple ‘browse by subject’ is an excellent place to see if the Society has a relevant printed family history or holds copies of the records for a place where your ancestors come from.

The Society holds transcripts, indexes and copies of records relating to most of the parishes in the counties of the United Kingdom. In addition to church registers and monumental inscriptions from churchyards and cemeteries, the library has an extensive local history source collection, many local directories, poll books and journals. The library’s military library is one of the best outside the National Army Museum. Many of the sources we hold for the British overseas supplement records in other archives like the Indian resources and collections which are second only to the British Library’s Oriental and India Collections. The Society collects and has indexed apprenticeship records, and has other extensive resources relating to occupations, trades and professions. The Society is home to the largest collection of family histories, many of which are unique, together with published pedigrees and biographical reference material.

The manuscript archives aren’t catalogued online but the website’s ‘Search Records’ page also has some quick look-up lists of surnames represented in the document manuscript collections of research notes and ephemeral family papers http://www.sog.org.uk/search-records/index-of-the-document-collection/,
the 7000 roll pedigrees in the archives
http://www.sog.org.uk/search-records/pedigrees/
and the members’ birth briefs
http://www.sog.org.uk/search-records/introduction-to-the-birth-brief-collection/.
If you can’t get to the library to view an item then the website has links to the Society’s paid search/copy service http://www.sog.org.uk/the-library/search-copy-service which explains how items in the library can be copied and sent.

The Society is piloting projects to digitise items in the library and manuscript collections, and make them available online to members through the website. Out of print and rare items like the extensive collection of late 18th and early 19th century poll books, are made available as PDF copies of books. Now they are online our members can work from home to index them and add value by making a database of all the names mentioned.

Many of what the Society calls its ‘Special Collections’ contain the research of a particular genealogist, who usually looked at lots of families. Often these families were connected by a common theme or interest. For example we recently took in the case papers relating to the families of many merchant mariners collected Dr Christopher Watts, the author of the Society’s book My Ancestor was a Merchant Seamen. The Society has also placed online, the research notes relating to Coastguards compiled by the late Eileen Stage. Our volunteers are currently working on staff records of late 19th and 20th century Customs Officers. Major collections and finding aids are added to the SoG Data Online - like the 7 million names in Boyd’s Marriage Index or the names and images of the 300 volumes of abstracts of wills formerly collected by the Bank of England.

The Society isn’t a place of national deposit and often, as a last resort, takes in records that no other archive wants. Hence we have taken in, digitised and indexed the hundreds of boxes containing Evidences of Age compiled by the Civil Service Commission relating to British Civil Servants applying for pensions or sitting the civil service examinations. We have looked after and made available online the records of the Teachers Registration Council. These larger data sets, with lots of names and images are also published in partnership with the British commercial genealogy website findypast.co.uk. Smaller more niche data sets, tend to remain only on the digitised data on the SoG’s own website.

All the SoG digitised data is made free to SoG members who can register and sign in to look at the indexed data and images on our website. Non-members can browse or make free searches in the online index to SoG data http://www.sog.org.uk/search-records/search-sog-data-online but must join the Society, and a become a member to view the full entries or view images and books.

A Link to the benefits of joining the Society can be found on any page of the website http://www.sog.org.uk/membership/
and it’s easy to join online at
https://www.sog.org.uk/shop/subscription

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Discover your Scottish Borders heritage with the "Heart of Hawick, Heritage Hub"

8/8/2015

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Introduction

Archives are very special places. They hold the keys to treasure chests of unique material that help us unlock the past and discover the real lives of our ancestors. This week Archivist Paul Brough, introduces us to the Scottish Borders Archives, housed in the Heritage Hub within the cultural campus known as the “Heart of Hawick”, and one of the top three visitor attractions in the Scottish Borders.

In his article Paul raises a very important point. Records may not be what they seem on initial inspection and simply taking them on face value may create a false impression. As researchers we need to look beyond the material evidence and examine the social, economic and historical factors that led to the creation of the record in the first place!

Blog

The Scottish Borders Archives & Local Studies Service, better known as the Heritage Hub, offers excellent opportunities for family history. In a purpose-built archive on one side of Heart of Hawick, Hawick’s cultural campus, it offers a congenial space for committed researchers or for those just curious about the places from which their ancestors came.

It has what you might call the standard resources of a local authority archive with records of local government, family and estate records and archives of clubs, societies and businesses. The majority of these documents are catalogued at:
http://www.calmview.eu/HUBCAT/CalmView/.

Many of these records can be used for family history research but first it is advisable to piece together your basic family tree. The Heritage Hub can also offer the ideal tool for doing this because it is a ScotlandsPeople Centre. ScotlandsPeople offers full access (including images of the records) to statutory birth marriage and death records, old parish and Roman Catholic registers, census 1841-1911, wills and a growing series of valuation rolls. There is a daily fee of £15.00 for unlimited access to the system and of course there is access to advice and local knowledge as well as the primary sources if you decide to investigate them. The Heritage Hub can offer expert advice about local families and places, how to do local and family research, sources to use and how to interpret them. Some members of the team are expert genealogists and there is a Registrar on duty weekdays. The Hub also has free wifi and a good library.

The following is a nice case study in how the sources can be used and a document put in context. In July 2015 a series of pictures were offered to the Heritage Hub for scanning. All that was known of the man in the pictures was his name, Robert Turner Borthwick, and his roles as a driver to Field Marshall Haig and chauffeur at Nenthorn, Kelso.

Borthwick outside Haig's HQ

One picture had what looked like a date of birth pencilled on the back. Searching the statutory birth records on ScotlandsPeople we found one example of a birth that fitted, at Ballencrieff, Aberlady, Haddington [East Lothian] in 1893. Further research in the Census and among the marriage and death records revealed that he was a van driver, aged 17, in 1911, married after the war to Margaret Meldrum, at St Monans, Fife (at which time he was resident at Nenthorn, Kelso, as chauffeur) and died at Edinburgh, 1948, as a bicycle mechanic. A beautiful example of how connections can be made in archives occurred when a few days later we were editing the First World War diaries of Dr John Muir of Selkirk and found the following entry:

“Was just going to evening service when I got a hurried message to Ladylands to see a man who had got capsized from a motor side car. His name was Borthwick from Aberlady. He had a cut head & some abrasions etc but nothing serious.”

Source: diary, 4th July 1915 of Dr J S Muir, Selkirk G.P. [Heritage Hub SBA/657]

Borthwick in a (typically short) wartime version of the kilt.

The Heritage Hub is leading a major two-year project to understand and remember the casualties and combatants of the First World War. We are collecting materials and trying to ensure that as much is known as possible about the individuals involved by doing family history research. If you are interested in this or would like to help contact the Hub for further information. One of the items which has been found because of this is this beautifully coloured Melrose Roll of Honour.

Another neat example of the past coming alive is the correspondence of David Gavin (1770-1823) merchant and landowner (and of course the man who named Gavinton, Berwickshire, after himself). Stuck in Campveerse, the Netherlands, a business partner writes to Gavin:

“but if she knows Campveer[sic] as well as I, she must be very fond of her husband, was it not for opportunities to play chess with Swiss officers and magistracy I should be at a loss to amuse myself, Tenent shuts himself up and sees nobody, Duthie is seldom at home, Douglas and I are not on good terms … he makes a bad companion, John Stewart seldom appears, so my only resources are the Dutch Patience.”

Source: letter, 1756, Hercules Skinner to David Gavin [Heritage Hub SBA/133/16].

And be sure to assess sources carefully. The Norris family of Berwickshire appear in police mugshots around 1900-1910. One might assume that they were criminally-inclined but family history research suggests that their problem was just as much extreme poverty and homelessness. Isabella Norris, shown here, died aged 29 of Tuberculosis, commonly linked with poor housing.

The Heritage Hub has fantastic resources to support family history for anywhere in Scotland but especially in the four historic counties of Berwickshire, Peeblesshire, Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire.

Contact us on 01450 360699,
email archives@scotborders.gov.uk,
visit http://www.heartofhawick.co.uk/
or follow Dr Muir’s diary at at http://heritagehub.tumblr.com/.

Heritage Hub, Kirkstile, Hawick, TD9 0AE

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Jewish Genealogy: 101 Resources for Finding Your Jewish Ancestors

1/8/2015

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Introduction

In May #AncestryHour featured the company Crestleaf and their veritable "linkathon"of 80 useful sites for anyone researching their African American ancestry. Their feature proved so popular I am delighted to welcome them back, this time with links to 101 sites which may prove useful in tracing your Jewish origins.

Crestleaf.com's comprehensive collection of Jewish genealogy resources will help you find your Jewish ancestors and build your family tree. From Jewish surname databases, to Holocaust resources and synagogue records, you're sure to find a long lost ancestor while utilizing this list of 100+ Jewish genealogy links.

A Comprehensive Collection of Jewish Genealogy Resources

Researching your Jewish ancestry can be a much different venture than that of studying your Irish, Russian, German or African roots (to name just a few). In addition to surname research, vital records, archives and gravestones, there are a few other topics you’ll want to look into when conducting Jewish genealogy research. Because Judaism has been described as a religion, race, culture and nation, the Jewish people are like one big, extended family — making Jewish genealogy quite popular. Due to the large number of people who are studying their Jewish ancestry, there are many fantastic Jewish genealogy resources available on and offline to help you fill in your family tree with some newly discovered family stories.

Photo credit: Yossi Nevo via Wikimedia Commons

From Jewish surname databases, to Holocaust resources, synagogue records and Jewish genealogy blogs, you’re sure to find some long lost ancestors while utilizing our list of 100+ Jewish genealogy links.

Resources for Discovering your Jewish Ancestors

Jewish Libraries, Archives, Databases, Museums & Research Projects

Yad Vasham Archives
JewishGen – Provides a wide range of resources including databases, family finder, articles, societies, projects and discussion groups
JewishGen Germany Database – Over 400,000 entries, referring to individuals living in Germany and former German regions
The Houston Jewish Herald-Voice Database – Includes every life-cycle event from the Jewish Herald-Voice of Houston, Texas, including areas across Texas and beyond, from 1908 through 2014
The Jewish Genealogy Portal – Access and collaborate with 1,000+ genealogists on the most comprehensive Jewish family trees ever created, plus hundreds of other relevant projects. Join their Facebook page (40,000 followers) and Facebook group (6,000 users) for Jewish genealogy news, information and incredibly useful discussion.
RTR Foundation Eastern European Archival Database
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
Library of Congress Online Catalogue
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research – Library and Archives
American Jewish Archives – Collections
Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
American Jewish Historical Society – Photographs & Media
Leo Baeck Institute – Collections
Rhodes Jewish Museum – Genealogy
University of Washington – Jewish Archives Collection
The Irma and Marvin Penn Archives of the JHCWC
Jewish Records Indexing – Poland – The largest fully searchable database of indexes to Jewish vital records accessible online.
Hohenems Genealogy – The database records Jews in Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Liechtenstein beginning in 1617 through the 20th century – including descendants and family networks. Right now it represents 14.000 persons.

Jewish Census Records

Cyndi’s List – Jewish Census
The Irish Jewish Family History Database
Litvak SIG Records Search
The Montefiore Censuses: 1839-1875 – A comprehensive database for the Jewish population in Eretz Israel (search in Hebrew and English)

Jewish Military Records & Information

Synagogue Records

Jewish Birth, Marriage & Death Records

Cyndi’s List – Jewish Birth, Marriage, Death Records
New York State Department of Health – Birth, Marriage, Death & Divorce Records
JewishData.com – Searchable database of over 500,000 Jewish genealogy records

Jewish Immigration Records

Holocaust Resources & Registries

Jewish Cemeteries, Gravestones & Obituaries

Jewish Name Search & Surnames

Jewish Newspapers, Newsletters & Publications

Jewish Genealogical Societies & Organizations

International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies
IAJGS Member Societies – Current and updated list of official IAGS member societies
Jewish Genealogical Society, Inc.
Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain
Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal
Jewish Genealogical Society of Toronto
Australian Jewish Genealogical Society
Jewish Genealogical Society of Tulsa
Utah Jewish Genealogical Society
Illiana Jewish Genealogical Society
Triangle Jewish Genealogical Society
Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon
Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia
Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington
Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State
Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois
Jewish Genealogical Society of Michigan
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Southwest Florida
The Israel Genealogical Society
The Israel Genealogy Research Association – Contains over 440,000 online records from 215 databases starting in the mid 19th century (search in Hebrew and English)
American Jewish Historical Society
The Genealogical Institute of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada
Jewish Family History Foundation

Jewish Genealogy Blogs & Additional Resources

ManyRoads Jewish (Shoah) Mega-Search Engine – ManyRoads utilizes Google Technologies to scour the Internet for new and interesting Genealogical clues and hints.
Living Museum: Museum of Jewish Heritage
A Jewish Genealogy Journey
The Ginger Jewish Genealogist
Sherlock Cohn: The Photo Genealogist – A leader in exploring and analyzing Jewish photographs. An expert in clothing styles and other objects found in your Jewish family photos.
Jewish Gem’s Genealogy: Mining for Your Elusive Ancestors
B&F: Jewish Genealogy and More
JewishGen: German Jewish Special Interest Group – Presents and preserves genealogical information about the Jewish communities in German-speaking regions
Sephardim.com – Research tool for Sephardic-Jewish genealogy
The Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation Inc.
Jewish Web Index
Louis Kessler’s Jewish Genealogy Links
The French Genealogy Blog: French Jewish Genealogy
The Lookstein Center – Annotated Guide to Jewish Genealogy & Oral History
GenealogyBlog.com – Jewish Genealogy
Genealogy Resources on the Internet – Jewish Mailing Lists – Connect with other Jewish genealogy researchers via email
Reading Hebrew Tombstones
Jewish / Israel History – A collection of links to Jewish/Israel history and genealogy resources
Sephardicgen – The creation of award-winning Sephardic genealogist and author Dr. Jeffrey Malka – it is continually updated (and new databases added), providing comprehensive information on many countries where Sephardim settled, including its Consolidated Surname Index
Gesher Galicia – An organization that promotes and conducts Jewish genealogical and historical research for Galicia, a province of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, which is today part of eastern Poland and southwestern Ukraine

Are there additional Jewish genealogy resources missing from our list? Let us know in the comments!

Keep up to date with the latest news and announcements from Crestleaf at:-

Website Crestleaf.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Crestleaf
Twitter https://twitter.com/Crestleaf

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The GROwth of the Birth, Marriage, and Death Index: An Introduction to The LancashireBMD Project

Ancestral Tourism - Preparing for your 'Genealogy Holiday'

Introduction

Create a Research Plan

Create a Travel Plan:

Create an Itinerary

Take Time to Learn the Social History of Your Ancestors

Discover Your Own Scottish Heritage

Live Q&A with Christine

Links

The SoG at a distance - Getting the best from the treasures in the Library of the Society of Genealogists.

Introduction

Blog

Discover your Scottish Borders heritage with the "Heart of Hawick, Heritage Hub"

Introduction

Blog

Jewish Genealogy: 101 Resources for Finding Your Jewish Ancestors

Introduction

A Comprehensive Collection of Jewish Genealogy Resources

Resources for Discovering your Jewish Ancestors

Jewish Libraries, Archives, Databases, Museums & Research Projects

Jewish Census Records

Jewish Military Records & Information

Synagogue Records

Jewish Birth, Marriage & Death Records

Jewish Immigration Records

Holocaust Resources & Registries

Jewish Cemeteries, Gravestones & Obituaries

Jewish Name Search & Surnames

Jewish Newspapers, Newsletters & Publications

Jewish Genealogical Societies & Organizations

Jewish Genealogy Blogs & Additional Resources

Author

Archives