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Category: Events

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Education in Genealogy – Keep Up To Date!

education in genealogy
Education in genealogy is an ongoing process! Credit: Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

As with all passions that have an academic component it is important to keep your education in genealogy up to date. People often think that because it is in the past and records won’t change if they’ve been there for hundreds of years, that they do not need to undertake genealogy study, whether formal or informal.

After 30 years of research, I was a seasoned genealogy hobbyist. My love of reading and natural curiosity meant I spent a lot of time in books, journals and online on my areas of interest and genealogy in general. Then I decided to take the plunge and do some formal education in genealogy.

First I completed the excellent University of Strathclyde six week course which is free of charge. Then suitably excited by that, I enrolled for the University of Tasmania’s Diploma in Family History, which helped cement the notion of taking my passion professional. Now I am in the position of wanting to go further still with my formal education and deciding between the multiple options available! No matter how much experience you have there is always more to learn. Learning about resources and techniques will help you break down some of those brick walls we all have!

Informal Education in Genealogy

Of course, not everyone wants to commit the time required to do a formal course. Even if you are someone who loves genealogy but doesn’t have a lot of spare time or money, there are many options available to advance your informal education in genealogy, many of them free or very good value!

  • You might subscribe to magazines and journals (such as those produced by Family History Societies) that you can dip into when you feel like it.
  • You could attend seminars and conferences in your local area (there are often even talks at local libraries!).
  • You might attend webinars online.
  • Consider joining Facebook groups dedicated to your area of research.

What Has Me Excited Right Now?

Here are three opportunities for some informal education that are all time-sensitive, hence their special mention today. Two of them are free right now and the other is great value!

1) Family History Down Under

This conference is a year away but has a super-earlybird special price which finishes today. So get in quick if this one is for you!

Family History Down Under takes place between 22-26 March 2021 on the beautiful Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. Do not assume that a conference held in Australia will only cover Australian content. Although there will be quality Australian genealogists presenting, there are some amazing speakers from across the globe taking part. Most of these I can recommend from personal experience! Anyone with a serious interest in genealogy will be familiar with at least some of these names: Judy Russell (The Legal Genealogist), Cyndi Ingle (Cyndi’s List), Paul Milner, Chris Paton, Blaine Bettinger (DNA Central), David Rencher (FamilySearch) and Maurice Gleeson. What a fantastic mix of expertise across locations, methodologies and styles!

FHDU speakers genealogy
Some of the fantastic speakers lined up for Family History Down Under!

This conference is being organised by the team at Unlock the Past, who were responsible for organising the genealogy cruise I enjoyed so much last year! The cost of the conference is $A695, but until the end of today, you can reserve yourself a spot for $A495, saving a whopping $A200!

2) Trove Upgrade Preview Webinar

We all love Trove, right? How exciting is it to find references to our ancestors in newspapers? This free repository of historical Australian newspapers is a firm favourite in most Australian researchers’ resource lists. And it’s getting an upgrade! From June it will be easier to use, making it simpler to find what you are looking for.

Trove update preview
Preview of Trove’s new homepage

This week, I attended a webinar all about the impending upgrade. So why are they telling us about it now? Well, because there is an opportunity to use the new interface and provide feedback starting from today!

The new Trove will be available for 10 days only. I really recommend you check out the webinar. It is free on the National Library of Australia YouTube channel which is full of great educational material. Then go and see what you can find on the new Trove while it is open.

3) Best Practices for Success in Facebook Groups for Genealogy Webinar

This webinar by the wonderful Cyndi Ingle was held yesterday, but the recording is free to access just for the next week here. This will help you to navigate the 14,500 genealogy-related groups on Facebook and get the most out of what they offer. It is hosted by Family Tree Webinars where you can also find many other genealogy webinars to watch. To get the best out of the site you will need a subscription though.

cyndi webinar
Check out Cyndi’s webinar on Facebook groups this week!

So, there’s a few ideas for things you can do to keep educating yourself in family tree research. Here’s to lifelong learning!

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Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2019

accentuate the positive scrabble tiles

Jill Ball, aka ‘GeniAus‘, sets genealogy bloggers the annual challenge of reflecting on their past year. As my blog is not quite a year old I am most excited to be taking part for the very first time! Genealogists are by nature a positive bunch of people – we live in eternal hope of knocking down every brick wall and finding every ancestor who tries to evade us. Therefore, the ‘Accentuate the Positive’ theme comes rather naturally!

So here are my answers to the ‘Accentuate the Positive’ questions Jill posed:

1.  An elusive ancestor I found was…Letitia Capewell (1807-1883). Census records had her birthplace as Hull, but Capewell was a Midlands name and I could find no corresponding baptism. This one took digging through Poor Law records to find the answer. Her father was actually from Hagley in Worcestershire. There’s quite a story in this one and a probable blog post, so I won’t elaborate further here!

2.  A great newspaper article I found was…a rather detailed account of the manslaughter trial of my great-great-great-grandfather, Edward Girling. Trial reports in many newspapers were almost gossipy in their tone and dripped with multiple juicy details not to be found in more formal documents.

3.  A geneajourney I took was…my Genealogy Roadtrip. This was a two-month journey around Europe, which encompassed three conferences, much tramping through graveyards and eight countries.

4.  I located an important record in…the Society of Genealogist’s library in London (oh how I wish I could pop in more often!). Only one day was spent there but I found copious notes on my extended Swinbourne family and an obscure tome detailing my early Fetherstons. I also found a beautifully presented book on the Nokes family of Bromsgrove, which isn’t my family, but my first cousin descends from them. And much much more…!
accentuate the positive happiness
5.  A newly found family member shared…old family photos from their branch and a detailed descendancy chart. A wonderful Christmas surprise.

6.  A geneasurprise I received was…winning my entry ticket to Rootstech London! It was wonderful to have one less thing to purchase on the road trip.

7.   My 2019 social media post that I was particularly proud of was…the blog on my ancestor Cornelis Drebbel. Until then I had been mainly focussing on advice on genealogy research or resources. Although I’d talked about the importance of stories, I hadn’t really shared any of my own. I wasn’t sure if anyone outside my family might be interested. It has been my most popular post so far, and I have begun to include more of my family stories into my blog as a result.

8.   I made a new genimate who…made me realise what a fabulous community the genealogy world is. That new genimate is not one person. It is actually the many, many new friends I made along the way on my genealogy road trip.

9.  A new piece of technology or skill I mastered was…blogging! I’m not sure if I could be described as mastering the skill yet, but I’m certainly enjoying the journey.

10. I joined…the Society of Genealogists and the Guild of One-Name Studies. I’m already a member of several family history societies and had often thought of joining both of these groups too. Spending time with people who were members helped me take the plunge.

11. A genealogy education session or event from which I learnt something new was…the three conferences I attended on my roadtrip – MyHeritage Live, Unlock the Past and Rootstech London; as well as the DNA Downunder day that was held in Melbourne just prior to my departure. I cannot pick just one presentation from one of these – I am constantly learning and I think I picked up something from every session.
accentuate the positive do what you love
12. A blog post that taught me something new was…oh goodness, that’s difficult! Blogs detailing new features of genetic genealogy tools such as DNA Painter are extremely useful. I love to see the tools applied to real situations, complete with screenshots, so I can get an idea of how I might also use them.

13. A DNA discovery I made was…no major breakthroughs this year, just a lot of layering on of further evidence as new matches came through on already confirmed lines.

14. I taught a genimate how to…this one is driving me nuts! I know I introduced someone I respect hugely as a professional genealogist to a source that I regularly use but she was unaware of. It stuck in my mind because I was so pleased to have been able to help her…and I do not remember now what the source was!

15. A brick wall I demolished was…two more generations of the Girling family of Derbyshire, including a will revealing that the mother of Charles Girling’s children was his housekeeper, which explained why her maiden name was always stated in the baptism register.

16. A great site I visited was…The Hartlib Papers, discovered while digging for further information on the Kuffeler family. It is not a site containing a wide range of genealogically useful information. On the contrary, it is very specific, but extremely useful if you are seeking information on scientists in London in the 17th Century. The site contains digitised copies of the correspondence of Samuel Hartlib, a scientist himself.

17. A new genealogy/history book I enjoyed was…’Tracing Your Ancestors Through the Equity Courts‘ by Susan T. Moore. Inspired by a fascinating presentation on the genealogy cruise to dabble a bit further in Chancery records, I picked up this book at Rootstech. I’m armed and dangerous now.

18. It was exciting to finally meet…Blaine Bettinger, who I had admired for the past decade as a fantastic fount of knowledge on DNA. It was lovely to discover that he was not only smart and helpful but also one of the genuinely nicest guys you could ever hope to meet.

19. I am excited for 2020 because…2019 was a year of many new beginnings, so 2020 will be a year of consolidation of what was achieved then. And true to its name – a year of clear vision to move forward.

20. Another positive I would like to share is…more and more genealogical resources are becoming available, both online and offline. We are spoilt and it’s just getting better and better. There has never been a better time to research your family tree. Accentuate the Positive and step into 2020!

genealogical sources
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Rootstech London – Yes, Another Genealogy Conference!

genealogy rootstech

Last week marked the end of my epic genealogy road trip. What better way to see it out than by attending RootsTech London, the third and final genealogy conference of the trip?

RootsTech is normally held in Salt Lake City in Utah, USA and is organised by FamilySearch. RootsTech is the world’s largest family history technology conference, and in this, its 10th year, they decided to hold their first international conference in London, England.

The Venue

The venue was ExCeL, a massive exhibition centre in the Docklands area. It was so large in fact that ExCeL were also able to simultaneously hold a Comic-Con on the second and third day of RootsTech! This was possibly the most unusual combination of conferences to hold in one venue. At least we didn’t have to worry about accidentally going in the wrong door, the two groups of conference attendees could not have looked more different! Common ground was found, however. Family trees were posted outside the RootsTech hall for Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and The Simpsons which generated lots of interest from strangely dressed people!

RootsTech London Excel
ExCeL London – site of RootsTech London

Keynote Speakers

There were keynote speakers on each of the three days, each giving their own perspective on the importance of family history in their lives.

On Thursday, historian Dan Snow told an extraordinarily moving tale of an ancestor of whom he was not proud, and the part he played in the unnecessary deaths of thousands of soldiers in World War 1.

Friday’s keynote speaker was Kadeena Cox. She is a British Paralympian with a truly inspiring story of courage and perseverance. Although she had not really worked on her family tree as such, both her immediate and extended family played a huge part in her success. Her tales of her West Indian heritage were full of warmth and humour. She was genuinely thrilled when she was given the gift of some further generations of her family tree and some DNA kits!

On Saturday, Donny Osmond revealed that not only was he an entertainer, but also an avid family historian and keeper of the Osmond family genealogy. He spoke and sang to an enthusiastic crowd. Sadly the queues were so long to meet him afterwards that I missed out on being one of the lucky ones!

RootsTech London Donny Osmond
This was as close as I got to Donny Osmond!

The Program

I was spoiled in the previous couple of conferences I’d been to. The first had three streams of concurrent sessions and the second was a single stream. At this conference, for every timeslot, there was a choice of about 10 talks to attend. I’d narrow it down to two or three then really struggle to decide which to attend! I ended up going with talks that covered topics that I’d not been exposed to so much in the previous conferences on this roadtrip.

On Thursday I attended several talks on Welsh genealogy. Given that I have Welsh ancestry on both sides of my family and there are unique challenges in researching the Welsh, these were very useful indeed. I also attended a class on online church court records by Colin Chapman because, well…Colin Chapman! What a legend, 70 years in the profession and he’s still as enthusiastic as ever.

Friday was a bit of a mixture of topics for me, but with a definite Irish flavour predominating. Same on Saturday – workhouse records, DNA, and a bit of fangurling again, this time Nick Barratt talking about legal sources.

Exhibition

It’s always good to spend plenty of time in the exhibition area. Firstly, as a refugee from the corporate sector I know what a huge investment companies make to support these conferences and how much that keeps the prices down for consumers. Also, it’s great to see what’s new or improved from companies whose products I use, and from companies I have not experienced before.

RootsTech London sponsors
An event like this would not be possible at an affordable price without the support of sponsors.
RootsTech London exhibition area
RootsTech London exhibition area
RootsTech London Exhibition area
RootsTech London exhibition area

There was plenty to explore in the Exhibition hall, and I especially enjoyed looking at the latest tech offerings for analysis of DNA.

Sadly, I also came to the conclusion that my fondness for books is perhaps straying into the realms of addiction. I ended up purchasing six books from the excellent Pen & Sword range. This meant having to dispose of several items of clothing and footwear to get them in my suitcase. However the conference special price meant that I was getting six for what two would cost me back in Australia!

I also took advantage of conference specials to take out long-considered memberships of the Society of Genealogists and the Guild of One-Name Studies. I can’t get wait to start digging around in their online resources, and to register at least one of the One-Name Studies I’ve embarked on over the years!

Networking

Sounds so clinical doesn’t it? It’s such an integral part of every conference, meeting new people and catching up with old friends. In the last couple of months, I feel like I’ve forged several new and wonderful friendships which I hope to continue growing. The genealogical community is a warm, welcoming and friendly one. Ironically, you immediately feel like family. I believe there were around 5000 attendees at RootsTech London. I absolutely did not meet everyone, but those I did meet were lovely!

All in all, RootsTech London was excellent, and I do hope they continue to hold international RootsTech conferences!

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Genealogy Cruises – Week 2 – A Great Way to Learn

Today is the second last day of my genealogy cruise adventure around the Mediterranean. We are currently docked at Le Havre fairly unexpectedly though, as we outran Hurricane Lorenzo to get to safe harbour. As if genealogy wasn’t exciting enough!

Family History at Sea

So what did we learn about over the past two weeks? Well, the topics were many and varied but the themes were based mainly around research in the British Isles. We had some fantastic speakers including Paul Milner, Mia Bennett, Sue Swalwell, Janet Few, Michelle Patient, Rosemary Kopittke, Eric Kopittke and Chris Braund.

Even when ashore, genealogists manage to find the cemeteries! Cheryl Benson, Sue Swalwell and myself at St Paul-de-Vence in the south of France.

England

The English topics really plunged us headfirst into record sets beyond the usual births/baptisms, marriages, deaths/burials and censuses that we all head to as our first ports of call. We gained valuable insight into the history, context and where to find records such as:

  • land and property
  • probate
  • chancery
  • quarter sessions
  • parish chest and poor law
  • occupational, guild and freeman
  • landed and titled people
  • nonconformists and recusants
  • newspapers
  • maps and gazetteers
  • directories and almanacs
  • and some very handy sessions on some overlooked sources from the 17th century right through to the 20th!
Paul Milner leads us through church and diocesan records in England

Ireland

Ireland had some great sessions covering sources, maps and tools and how to break through brick walls.

Scotland

Sessions included both well known and more obscure sources to be found online as well as a lecture on Burghs, their records, and where to find them. Some gems here!

‘Mistress Agnes’ (who looked suspiciously like Janet Few!), leads us through an evening of life in the 17th Century.

Other areas

Across the water on the European mainland, German immigration and locating the place of origin of a German ancestor provided useful insights, along with the use of Central European maps and gazetteers and a session on Danish genealogy.

Immigration patterns for Australia and New Zealand and how they can help you work out why people went where they did proved fascinating.

DNA as a genealogical tool was also well-covered, with an introductory session for beginners. For more advanced users there were also sessions on using AncestryDNA, Thrulines and Theories of Family Relativity as well as case studies.

There was a five part Writing Workshop to encourage us all to get our stories (or those of our ancestors) down on paper rather than leave them as a list of names and dates. Hopefully you will see a few books borne of this cruise!

Mia in the Research Brickwall workshop, ready to present my own personal brick wall nightmare!

Last but not least, there were research help zones for participants to pose questions about their own research to the speakers. There was also a fantastic research brick wall workshop, where we worked as a group to come up with ideas to help each other with long-standing research problems (including mine!)

Participants ranged from hobbyists through to professional genealogists, but everyone learned something new, including the speakers. Family history is one of those subjects where you will never know everything there is to know. It’s a constant learning curve!

Genealogy cruises are fantastic!

I thoroughly recommend that if you get an opportunity to do so, take genealogy cruises. They are intense, but lots of fun and a great chance to delve deeply into subjects and gain confidence in your research skills.

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Genealogy Cruises – Week 1 – The Adventure Begins and Ancestry Breaking News!

genealogy cruise

This week, I have been lucky enough to be cruising the Mediterranean! However, it has not been all about sitting by the pool with umbrella-decorated drinks. In fact, I am yet to do that, the schedule is packed! Yes, it’s another genealogy conference. No, really.

Genealogy cruises

Unlock The Past have been running genealogy cruises for several years now to various destinations and following different themes. This is the first time I have managed to take part. This cruise is around the Mediterranean for 14 days. The topics are quite varied, but the themes are broadly research in the British Isles and Europe, DNA and writing. All of these are very relevant to my research, so I have been looking forward to this conference hugely!

So how do genealogy cruises work?

The days you are at sea (including the evening of departure), lectures are held all day. We all dine together at the same time then return to lectures. This is no junket! It is concentrated doses of amazing information and discussion.

No lectures are held while the ship is docked in port – at those times we are free to explore and we emerge, blinking, into the sunshine! This is actually very helpful, I’m sure it gives our brains time to digest the previous presentations in the background as we walk the streets of the city we are in. We return to the ship, have dinner and back to lectures afterwards.

Week 1 highlights

We have had lots of fascinating presentations so far from some great speakers, and I’ve decided to give an overall summary next week of what was covered, especially since some of them are part of a series as yet not completed. But mostly because…drumroll…there has been some breaking news I’d like to share while it is hot off the press! This news had a roomful of genealogists at the end of a long day of lectures oohing and aahing in excitement. We were packing up to go to dinner when one of our speakers, Michelle Patient, rushed into the room after a teleconference with Ancestry to tell us about some new developments.

What is Ancestry up to?

Firstly, the search page will now contain the ‘What’s New’ section in the top right corner to make new additions and updates to record sets more visible and transparent.

Secondly, search results will be able to be filtered by date and place to make it easier to find the right ones amongst the huge numbers of results generated. This is in beta, so will only apply initially to births, marriages and deaths.

Thirdly, the positively clunky mobile app is getting a long overdue makeover to make it, well, useable! I think I actually squealed at this announcement!

And last but not least, there will be further tweaks to Thrulines. You will now be able to see if new matches have been added – ‘updated’ will appear in the top right corner of the ancestor tile. If a new Thruline is generated for an ancestor, ‘new’ will appear in the top right corner. You will also be able to see how many Thrulines an ancestor has by hovering over their tile.

These changes will be rolled out during October, so look out for them. I think they will definitely improve our user experience. These changes have come from feedback provided to Ancestry, who have been actively working with genealogists around the world to make the site more user friendly. Kudos to them for this, I think these improvements are a very positive step in the right direction!

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Genealogy Conference #1 – MyHeritage Live

genealogy myheritage

During this past week, I attended the MyHeritage Live user conference in Amsterdam. Indeed this is the reason I flew all the way over here to the Netherlands from Australia! This was only the second genealogy conference MyHeritage has held. Their inaugural one was in Oslo, Norway last year. Sadly due to health issues at the time I was unable to attend. However this year I was determined to be there. I’d seen several of the presentations from Oslo which were available online and had been very impressed by the professionalism and content.

As you are probably aware, MyHeritage is one of the ‘big three’ genealogy megasites, along with Ancestry and FindMyPast, and it has been in a rapid growth phase over the past couple of years. They have celebrated multiple acquisitions and the commencement of their DNA service. They are the first of the three however to branch into live events for their users such as a genealogy conference. I think this is a brilliant innovation – how many big companies really want this level of input from their core customers? The CEO, Gilad Japhet was present and approachable throughout the entire conference.

The Program

You may think that the conference would be solely unashamed plugging of their product. This was not the case, however. There were three streams: Genealogy, DNA, and Hands-On Workshops, to choose from. Sure, there was quite a bit of content on how to use the tools and features available through the MyHeritage subscription to get the best value from it. Not to include information on this would have been somewhat remiss though, so I was very grateful for it.

For those who would like to see the program contents free of charge, MyHeritage live-streamed during the conference. These presentations are available now here for anyone to watch.

Personal Highlights

First and foremost, as with any conference, it was fabulous to catch up with fellow genealogists from all around the world. There were 450 attendees from 30 countries. Many of them I was familiar with from their blogs, books or professional reputations. Some I had previously struck up virtual friendships with from afar. This weekend was a great opportunity to meet people and forge friendships and networks with them.

Cyndi Ingle of ‘Cyndi’s List’ gave a great presentation on Searching vs Browsing.

Next it was brilliant to hear the announcements of what MyHeritage are now or soon releasing, and there was some exciting stuff!

  • The MyHeritage Education Center was launched – all free, multilingual, how to’s, everything you need to know about tools and techniques, downloadable resources etc.
  • The acquisition of Promethease and SNPedia was announced, as they continue to expand their DNA presence. Promethease has been made free until the end of the year (usually $12 to access the health information). Existing Promethease uploads will be added to the MyHeritage DNA database. The donors will receive free matching and ethnicity results from November 1st (European users will need to opt in for this due to GDPR regulations). This will increase the database size by around 10%.
  • Theories of Family Relativity is apparently close to being automated rather than having periodic updates.
  • Ethnicity estimates will be updated soon and will be incredibly detailed, which is great to hear. I for one have found their ethnicity estimates the least accurate for my known tree of all the current providers. Having now seen a sneak preview of the work they are doing, I am confident we’ll be seeing some really good estimates coming out.
  • A huge pipeline of genealogy content with a strong focus on Europe, including more exclusive French records.
  • Free text matching technology will help match family trees to newspaper and book records more easily.
Every-Jan Blom of Genetic Affairs did a hands-on workshop on his Autocluster tool which is taking the genetic genealogy world by storm.

In conclusion, this conference was well worth attending. In 2020 it will be held in Israel, though dates and other details have not been announced yet. I heartily recommend attending, especially if you have an active subscription with MyHeritage or have had your DNA tested with them.

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Genealogy Roadtrip 2019

In just a few days I am lucky enough to be taking the genealogy roadtrip of a lifetime! This year was always going to be exciting on the genealogical front. The first full year of my long-time hobby now being my profession, and a conference in Europe to attend. A floating conference, no less! However, it grew from there.

Conference #1

genealogy cruise

When I initially booked the ‘Unlock The Past’ Mediterranean genealogy cruise for late September I decided immediately that I would add a couple of extra weeks to my trip to spend some time poking around in the UK. I hadn’t decided whether to do it before or after the cruise though, so hadn’t booked the flights.

Conference #2

genealogy myheritage

Then another conference in Europe came up – the MyHeritage conference in Amsterdam at the beginning of September. I had sorely wanted to go to their previous year’s conference in Oslo, and had watched some of it online, so I decided then and there I would attend this one. So, it was going to be a whole of September trip, bookended by two conferences.

Conference #3

genealogy rootstech

THEN…before I could book the flights the announcement came out that Rootstech was taking place in London in October. Rootstech? The massive conference held annually in Salt Lake City that I had long dreamed of attending? In London?

Now I was torn. MyHeritage or Rootstech? September or October? Then it dawned on me. No longer did I have the constraints of a regular job. I was…drumroll…self-employed! I decided then and there that this was my year to indulge in ALL the conferences! They all had fantastic programs, and of course great opportunities to meet up with fellow genealogists from around the world. Before I could change my mind (or end up permanently in Europe as more and more conferences popped up!), I booked the flights.

Genealogy Roadtrip of a Lifetime

So now I have three major conferences across two months in Europe. I expect to learn much about refining research techniques, using new and previously untapped resources and researching in different places. I will spend some time in between each of these conferences visiting archives, libraries, and no doubt walking the streets of ancestral towns and villages in between. It feels like I’m a kid again, and it’s Christmas Eve.

I’m hoping to keep up to date with the blogging while I am away, and I will be bringing you nuggets of informational gold from the conferences (they are always great for finding out about new or untapped resources!). And possibly even some pictures…

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DNA Downunder – Genetic Genealogy Comes to Town

This month there has been a genealogy roadshow around Australia like nothing seen before. For the first time, there has been a series of events solely focused on genetic genealogy. Given the rapid growth in this branch of genealogy over the past decade or so, this is a fantastic idea. Many people are very nervous when it comes to the science of genetics, especially when most genealogists are used to being focused on humanities skills for their research rather than science. And that’s where the DNA Downunder events come in.

Events are in the process of being held in Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. The programs are different in each city. Each contains a full day of presentations from various experts – except for Sydney which has a 3 day ‘DNA to the Max’ event. The main speaker is Blaine Bettinger, one of the most well-known genealogists specializing in genetic genealogy on the planet.

DNA downunder

DNA Downunder in Melbourne

Yesterday, I attended the Melbourne event. Blaine gave an introduction to DNA for those in the audience with no background in the subject. His other presentations looked at using DNA to solve mysteries from the 18th and 19th century, using third-party tools to help analyse DNA (such as Gedmatch and DNA Painter), the limitations of cousin matching and a case study from his own tree.

Blaine genetic genealogy
Blaine in action!

It was wonderful to hear how a DNA match led him to find an Australian connection. This led to him making use of our amazingly detailed Victorian death records and which now gives him the opportunity to visit an ancestral grave while here!

I was also extremely happy to hear that DNA Painter has released another fantastic tool which provides a range of charting options for your tree. This includes the ability to mark those relatives confirmed by genetic testing. This way you can make charts of not only your genealogical tree but your genetic tree too. Hopefully I will get a chance to check it out before I depart overseas in a week or so!

Louise Coakley, a well-known Australian genealogist with expertise in DNA presented on standards, ethics, risks and limitations when working with DNA (a crucial and very hot topic!), and verifying family lines. Apologies to Louise, I was too engrossed to take a photo!

The other two speakers for the Melbourne event were:

  • Michelle Patient, another Australian genetic genealogy expert, talking about pros and cons of the various companies offering genealogical DNA tests; and
  • Brad Argent from Ancestry talking about how to get the most from AncestryDNA results.

I missed both these speakers sadly as their talks were held concurrently in another room As their presentations were focussed more towards the beginners, I elected to attend the more advanced topics. I hear they were excellent though!

The day was exciting, interesting and very well organised. I hope to see more of this kind of event in the years to come. The attendance not only in Melbourne but all around the country so far has shown there is a huge demand for great quality speakers about modern genealogical techniques. Thank you to the organisers at Unlock the Past!