Newsletter
- 23rd July 2014
Get
a 12 month findmypast subscription for under £50! ENDS
SOON
Irish
BMD indexes - too good to be true
Naturalization
records at Ancestry
Staffordshire
parish registers online: 2.8 million entries
Masterclass: searching parish registers at findmypast
55,000
Wiltshire baptisms go online today
Online trees - not such a bad thing?
Do
your cousins seem like friends (and what about your spouse)?
Save
20% on photo restoration EXCLUSIVE OFFER
Save
an extra 30% on Your Family Tree
subscriptions
The Victorian
ladies who limped
The LostCousins newsletter is
usually published fortnightly. To access the previous newsletter (dated 12th
July) click here, for an index to articles
from 2009-10 click here, for
a list of articles from 2011 click here and for a
list of articles from 2012-13 click here.
Whenever possible links are
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Get a 12 month findmypast
subscription for under £50! ENDS SOON
I'm not someone who visits Facebook very
often, and I'd imagine that the same goes for most people reading this
newsletter. But when I heard that findmypast had posted a half-price
subscription offer on Facebook I had to take a look, since it sounded too good
to be true - and indeed, when I found findmypast's Facebook page there was
nothing about the offer.
But amazingly I was able to confirm that
the offer DOES exist, though it's scheduled to finish on 31st July, and may be
withdrawn earlier if findmypast reach their sales target (which, quite frankly,
wouldn't be a surprise).
Best of all, you don't have to visit
Facebook to take advantage of the offer - just click here
and you'll be able to buy a 12 month subscription which gives unlimited access
to all of findmypast's British records for the amazing price of just £49.75
If that link stops working for any
reason I'll update this article with new instructions (or news that the offer
has ended early, whichever is appropriate).
Note:
this offer is not exclusive to LostCousins members, but by using the link you'll
be supporting LostCousins as well as securing yourself an unprecedented
bargain. If you decide to share the good news with other researchers please
forward a link to this newsletter rather than passing on the offer code.
Naturally the offer is designed to
attract new subscribers, so isn't available to existing findmypast subscribers.
However if you've been a subscriber at some point in the past, but your
subscription has lapsed, you should qualify (it will only take a moment to find
out).
Irish BMD indexes - too
good to be true
The enhanced, up-to-date, indexes of
Irish births, marriages, and deaths that I announced
in my last newsletter have now disappeared, possibly for ever.
At the time I was a little surprised at
how much modern personal data was being published (including precise
birthdates), and it now seems that nobody thought to get Data Protection
clearance. See this Guardian article
for more details.
However the potentially more important
project, to put historic birth, marriage, and death registers online is still
going ahead, and a bill to put this into effect has
just been published - see Claire Santry's blog
for more details.
Naturalization
records at Ancestry
Ancestry.co.uk
have recently uploaded over 62,000 Naturalization Certificates and Declarations
covering the period from 1870-1912 and held by the National Archives.
Most immigrants didn't seek British citizenship,
but if you have foreign ancestry it's certainly worth checking - bear in mind
that those seeking citizenship had often been in the UK for quite a long time
before submitting their application.
Tip:
the London
Gazette is another useful source - you may need to search under both
spellings of the word 'naturalization'.
Staffordshire parish
registers online
1800 Staffordshire parish registers,
containing over 2.8 million indexed entries, have gone online at findmypast -
as predicted in my January newsletter - and as a result many 'brick walls' have
come crashing down, and many members how have copies of the original register
entries to replace the transcriptions that were previously their only source.
For example, Lionel wrote that "I already
have most of the events – from the IGI and other sources, but rarely with the
image, and have already picked up some extra info such as actual birth date (a
real bonus) and occupation. When compared with how we used to have to travel
and sit for hours at microfilm readers etc or employ local
researchers, it is a boon to sit at home and access one's ancestors' original
parish records. For me, this more than compensates for the cost of the
subscription. I was among those not pleased with the site’s revamp earlier this
year, but this facility contains all the ease of use that I, at least, could
desire. One can search by parish or whole county and
with as many or as few details as one wishes."
Jean drew my attention to the comments
written alongside the register entry for Sarah, the illegitimate daughter of
Mary Sutton, who was baptised at Barlaston on 25th
October, 1752 - just one of the joys of seeing the original registers!
Tip:
from July 1837 onwards marriage register entries are as good as certificates -
and you'll also get to see your ancestors' handwritten signatures - which you
almost certainly won't see in a certificate from the GRO. When you consider
that just one certificate costs £9.25 from the GRO, or £10 from the local
register office, a monthly subscription to findmypast (offering unlimited
access to all their British records) looks rather cheap at £9.95!
Nearly 200 parishes are included in this
first phase, and eventually there will be 3400 registers with nearly 6 million
records in all, although no dates have been given for the second phase (my
guess is that we won't see them until 2015).
Follow this link
for a list of the parishes included in this release which includes the dates of
coverage by type of event. Use the links below to go to the dedicated search
pages:
Note:
see the next article for some tips on searching parish records at findmypast.
If you have ancestors from parts of
Staffordshire, such as Dudley, which are now in another county I'm afraid they
won't be included in the Staffordshire Collection as the parish registers are
no longer held by Staffordshire Archives (you can check which registers are
held using the Staffordshire
Place Guide).
Only Anglican registers are included -
if your ancestors were non-conformists or Catholics you may find their
marriages between 1753-1837 (when everyone other than Quakers
and Jews had to marry in the Church of England), but you won't find
their baptisms. However, not all non-conformist churches had their own burial
grounds, so you may find your ancestors in the parish churchyard.
Phases 3 and 4 of the project will
include around 250,000 Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry wills, and around
180,000 marriage allegations and bonds. You can read more about this project here.
Tip:
although findmypast is the only site to have images of the registers, there are
other sites where you'll find transcribed records, such as FreeREG, Wolverhampton
History, and the Staffordshire Burial
Indexes (which cover municipal cemeteries). A good way to find out whether
anyone has transcribed the registers for the parish(es) you're interested in is to visit the FamilySearch
Wiki.
Masterclass: searching
parish registers at findmypast
The release of the Staffordshire records
was announced a few days after my last newsletter was published, so rather than
make members wait until the next issue, I wrote a program to identify members
who had entered on their My Ancestors
page direct ancestors who were living in Staffordshire in 1881. I then sent a
short email to those members inviting comments on this new resource so that I
could include them in this newsletter.
I got an extremely varied response -
some members were absolutely delighted with the new records, but others were
struggling to find any results. In a few cases this was because their parishes
of interest weren't in this first phase, but it soon became apparent that many
members, including existing findmypast subscribers, simply weren't familiar
with the search strategies that are possible at the new site.
Indeed, if you hadn't read the tips
article from my April newsletter you might not have been aware that there
are four different ways to search parish records at the new findmypast site.
Which of these you choose depends on what information you're starting with -
but in most cases the best approach is to search one record set at a time
which, as it happens, is exactly what I used to do at the old findmypast site.
To search a specific record set - such
as Staffordshire baptisms - choose the bottom entry from the Search records menu at the findmypast
site:
The A-Z
of record sets is a long list of all the different records in the
findmypast collection. There are currently 1240 to choose from if you have a
World subscription - and even if you restrict the list to British records there
are still 505 (over 100 of which have been added since the new website went
live at the end of March).
Fortunately you don't have to plough through the list to find the records
you want. The quickest way to get to them them is to start typing in the Search box, for example:
As you can see, by the time I've typed S-T-A-F there are just 5 record
sets listed, 4 of which are the new Staffordshire records. Let's suppose I want
to search for baptisms:
This dedicated search form not only
allows me to specify the name of the person I'm looking for, I can also give
the forenames of the parents. This is very useful when you want to look for
siblings - and even if the names are very common ones, as in the example above,
you won't be overwhelmed by results (so there is absolutely no need to limit
the initial search to particular parishes).
Tip:
searching for siblings is one of the most important things we do when we're
tracing our ancestors, because it allows us to see them in context, and so
helps us to prove that we've found the right baptism.
At the old findmypast site you would be
forced to provide a surname (at the new site none of the boxes need to be filled
in). This is very handy when you're looking for ancestors whose surname is rare
or where the spelling varied widely as you could, for example, search for all
the boys called John who were baptised in a particular parish.
Searching for marriages is also much
easier than at the old site, where you couldn't specify the forename of your
ancestors' spouse even though you this was the one piece of information you'd
usually have (either from the census or from the baptisms of the children):
Although I've used the Staffordshire
parish registers to illustrate this article, you can use similar search
techniques with many other major parish record collections at findmypast,
including Canterbury
(Kent), Cheshire,
Hertfordshire,
Plymouth
& West Devon, Shropshire,
Wales,
and Westminster.
So whilst there are still plenty of
doomsayers who regret the loss of the old findmypast site, if you're trying to
find parish records the new site really is far better.
Tip:
when you want to search the same record set again, don't click 'New Search' as
this will take you to a different page - instead click 'Edit Search'.
55,000 Wiltshire
baptisms go online today
As I was finalising this newsletter I
discovered that 55,000 Wiltshire
baptisms have just gone online at findmypast, so that there are now 580,000
transcribed baptisms covering the period 1530-1886. Interestingly the oldest
entries, for Salisbury, pre-date the introduction of parish registers by Thomas
Cromwell in 1538 by some 8 years.
I mentioned earlier that finding the
baptisms of our ancestors' siblings helps to prove that we're researching the
right family, and I felt it would be helpful to expand a little further - by
describing some of the techniques I've used to untangle some of the knotty
problems I've encountered during my research.
For example, there might be two couples
in the same parish (or in adjoining parishes), with exactly the same names - so
how can you possibly work out which children belong to which parents (assuming
the vicar hasn't thoughtfully distinguished them in some way)? How can you even
be sure that it is two families rather than one?
I have a very simple technique which
works beautifully most of the time. I start by recording all the baptisms in
date order - then I look at the Christian names of the children. If the same
first name appears more than once, then either the first child must have died
or there are two families - and a search of the burial register usually
confirms which.
If I'm still not sure whether there is
one family or two, I look out how many children were baptised in a given period
- because, barring multiple births, there's a physical limit to how quickly
mothers can produce children! I also look at the intervals between successive
baptisms (or births if the vicar has kindly supplied that information); if
there's less than 9 months between successive baptisms this suggests that the
two children had different parents, though because the gap between birth and
baptism can vary, even within the same family, it isn't as foolproof
guide.
From 1813 onwards baptism register
entries give the occupation of the father and his abode - though vicars did
sometimes make mistakes, and confuse one couple with another (it's not unusual
to see the wrong name for the mother).
Additional clues come from the marriage
registers - siblings are often witnesses - and sometimes from death
certificates (since the relationship of the informant can be revealing). Wills
can be a very fertile source, and not necessary the obvious wills - the clue
that linked my great-great-great grandparent with her sisters (and therefore
her parents) came from the will of her brother-in-law.
You won't always be splitting families
into two - I once puzzled long and hard about two couples whose children were
baptised in adjoining parishes before eventually proving beyond reasonable
doubt that it was actually only one family which had zigzagged across the
parish boundary! Another tricky situation to watch out for is where a widower
marries a woman who has the same forename as his dead wife - this happened more
often than you might think (and not only when the forename was a very common
one like Mary, Ann, or Elizabeth).
Tip:
identifying siblings can also reveal the mother's maiden name, most commonly in
the situation where your direct ancestor was born before civil registration
began, but a sibling was born after.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me the
letters that they'd love to be able to send to one of their ancestors - asking,
telling, thanking or simply wishing.
It's your last chance to submit the letter
you'd like to send to your ancestor -
if you missed the earlier article you'll find it here.
Online trees - not such a bad
thing?
In the last newsletter I quoted Andy's
example of the way in which his research had been bowdlerised, and this
prompted an email from Virginia:
"Would just like to comment on the Private Tree
vs Public tree at Ancestry issue. I understand others' concerns that
their trees are misused. However, what happens if the owner of the private tree
dies suddenly? Is all their painstaking research lost forever? I am proud of my
public tree and if others want to help themselves they're more than welcome to
my research which I am happy to share with others."
That's a good point - however, but the
obvious solution isn't always the best one. Here's my reply:
"I'm
afraid that publishing your tree for all to see isn't the answer - as people
take your information and misuse it the value of your research falls.
"Even
during your lifetime you'll see it degrade - and once you're no longer around
to point out the errors they'll grow uncontrollably until eventually the web of
lies constructed around your tree completely overwhelms your careful research.
"Rather
than give your research away indiscriminately, it's surely far better to
exchange information with cousins whose research skills you respect and whose
friendship you value? That way your research will not only live on, it will
continue to grow in a healthy manner."
It's also worth reminding you that on
your My Details page at LostCousins
you can enter the email address of the person you'd like to take over your
research when the time comes, or at least preserve it for future generations. I'd
also suggest leaving a note with your will addressed to your executors to
ensure that they understand how important your research is to you, and
suggesting how best it might be preserved.
Do your cousins
seem like friends (and what about your spouse)?
Researchers have found that, on average,
our friends are genetically as close to us as our 4th cousins - so that might
explain why I get on so well with the so-called distant cousins I've found
since I began my research (you can read more here, in this
BBC article).
But that's not all - another researcher reckons
that we're genetically closer to our spouses than we are to randomly-selected
individuals from the same population. I wonder what impact that has on evolution?
Save 20% on photo
restoration EXCLUSIVE OFFER
I've had such positive feedback from
members who have tried the Repixl
photo restoration site that I've been trying for some time to arrange an
exclusive discount.
Finally I was able to persuade them to
offer a 20% discount on all photo editing, which means
that their amazing restoration service will cost just £7.19 rather than £8.99
(which, if you look here
at what they can achieve, is an absolute bargain). Alternatively if you've got
photos that, whilst not damaged, aren't quite as good as you'd like there's a
range of other options starting from just £1.99
The best important thing about the
Repixl service is that you don't need to send them your valuable photographs -
simply scan them in (ideally at the highest resolution your scanner allows) and
upload the image files to the Repixl website. You can upload as many photos as
you want - simply uploading them doesn't commit you to anything.
The one downside is that this offer only
runs until Tuesday 5th August, so you'll have to be quick. When you go to your
online shopping basket type the code LOSTCOUSINS
into the box - the prices will adjust to show the discount (and, provided you use
one of the links above, LostCousins will also benefit).
Note:
you can, of course, also send more recent photos for the Repixl treatment, and
if your photos were taken with a digital camera there's obviously no need to
scan them in.
Save an extra 30% on Your Family Tree subscriptions
Until 6th August you can save an extra
30% on Your Family Tree and other magazines
from Future Publishing when you click here and use
the code SUMMER30
The best deal is a two-year subscription
- this works out at just over £60, less than half the cost of buying the issues
at the newsagent. But there are also 6 month and one-year deals, all of which
represent substantial savings on the newsstand price.
I've read every copy of YFT since the
very first issue, and yet I still learn something new from the experts every
month!
Most of you figured out the answer to question
I posed last
time about the 13 year-old cricket star whose achievement was reported in
the Blackburn Standard in 1899. They
described him as an orphan, yet the writer of the British Newspaper Archive blog
discovered that his mother was still alive on the 1901 Census.
Who was right? The newspaper got it right
- in Victorian times an orphan was someone who had lost one or both parents,
and indeed when I checked by father's 1939 Pocket Oxford Dictionary I noticed
that even then it defined an orphan as "Bereaved of parent(s)". In
fact this definition is still used today by UNICEF!
Going back to the young A E J Collins,
Peter (another one) did some further research, discovering that he soon became
an orphan by anyone's definition, because his mother died in 1904. The family
continued to be hit by tragedy - 10 years later, and almost exactly 100 years
ago, Arthur E J Collins went to war as a Captain in the Royal Engineers. He was
killed at Ypres on 11th November 1914, having been mentioned in despatches - he
was just 29.
The Victorian ladies who
limped
As Saturday was the day of the Monty
Python team's penultimate performance it was somewhat surreal to read this article on
the BBC website about the Victorian women who really did did
silly walks.
A week ago I was at the Zopa birthday party in
London, where I not only met other savers but also Giles Andrews - who
co-founded the peer-to-peer pioneer and is now its CEO. Coincidentally it's
almost exactly 2 years since I first wrote about Zopa in this newsletter asking
for feedback - and it was only after I got some extremely positive reports from
members who were already investors that I took the plunge myself. I'm certainly
glad that I did!
(I've also tried Funding Circle,
which channels money to businesses, but though the returns are higher it's a
little more complicated and significantly more risky.)
Another clever idea comes from Albelli,
who I believe are still Europe's largest photo book company. They've had offers
before, but there never seems to be enough time to get all the photos together before
the offer runs out - however, this time they're giving me a month after the
offer ends to create the book. It's an enormous discount (they say 41%, but
it's actually 59%), so I'm really tempted.....
I occasionally get criticised for
mentioning how readers can save money at Tesco on the basis I'm recommending
that people shop there - but I'm not, I'm merely suggesting ways in which those
of us who do shop there (about a quarter of the English population) can save
money. I was delighted to see recently that the Tesco boss had been fired: they
lost their way years ago, when they hived off "customer service" into
a separate department with little or no connection to the rest of the store (and
sadly they're not the only ones).
If you have spare Tesco Clubcard vouchers you might want to exchange them for a
copy of Family Tree Maker. I don't
recommend it as a program - I can't, because I've never used it - but it comes
with a free 6 month subscription to Ancestry, which may well justify the cost
even if you never use the software.
Finally - as I know that LostCousins
members like coincidences - my wife and I went up to London yesterday for the
Oldie Literary Lunch (Irma Kurtz, John Carey, and James Naughtie
were the speakers - all excellent, wish I could say the same of the MC), only to
discover that the gentleman who was sitting opposite us lives in our village.
What a small world!
This is where I'll post any last minute
additions.
Thanks for taking the time to read my
newsletter - I hope you find it useful.
Peter Calver
Founder, LostCousins
© Copyright 2014 Peter Calver
You
MAY link to this newsletter or email a link to your friends and relatives
without asking for permission in advance - I have included bookmarks so you can
link to a specific article: right-click on the relevant entry in the table of
contents at the beginning of this newsletter to copy the link. But why not
invite them to join?