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Tag: genealogy

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Social Distancing Made Easy – Genealogy in the Time of Covid-19

As the novel Coronavirus takes a firm hold on the world, we are being encouraged to ‘flatten the curve’ of infection in order to keep our healthcare services from being completely overwhelmed. Social distancing, keeping away from the hordes, appears to be the most effective way of limiting the spread of the virus. Indeed, the same measures were taken during the Spanish Flu outbreak a century ago.

social distancing discover

This means many of us will be at home a lot more than usual. Social distancing is the new (temporary) norm. But it’s not all bad news. There is so much we can do to pass the time that we may not usually have enough space in our days to do. Let’s make lemonade! Our family trees can benefit enormously from this enforced time out from our social lives!

Social Distancing Genealogist-Style

Here are just a few ideas to pass your time productively and progress your family history…

1) Get organised

When we dip in and out of our genealogy whenever we get a spare moment, things can quickly get disorganised. Social distancing time is perfect to invest in getting your research organised again…a crucial part of efficient research.

  • Do you have a pile of documents that needs sorting and filing?
  • Have you scanned all your photos and documents?
  • Are your computer files sorted so you can find everything easily?
  • Have you written a research plan?

2) Read

We all have a pile of reading material we need to get around to tackling. Do it now while you’re social distancing!

  • Non-fiction – now is the time to dig out all the family history society journals, history books and other reference books that help provide knowledge and context to our research. Educate yourself.
  • Fiction – there are some great genealogical mystery books around to lose yourself in. Try Nathan Dylan Goodwin or Steve Robinson!
social distancing read books

3) Listen and watch

If you don’t feel like reading, there are many other ways to enjoy some genealogy input while social distancing.

  • Listen to genealogy podcasts. There are so many to choose from, find one that matches your interests and enjoy!
  • Watch webinars (try Family Tree Webinars, or catch the Rootstech 2020 lectures still available online).
  • Have you seen all the episodes of your favourite genealogy TV show? If so, can you track down other versions of it? For example, although ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ began in the UK, there are also several seasons of the Australian and US versions. Even if you don’t always know who the celebrity is, the stories are always interesting and you can get some insight into how to solve nutty genealogy problems.
social distancing family history

4) Research

With a bit more time on your hands, social distancing gives you the opportunity to go really in-depth with your research. Perhaps it’s time to get stuck into…

  • Exploring your ancestors’ FAN clubs
  • Analysing your DNA results, maybe trying some new tools such as AutoTrees
  • Looking for gaps in your documentation and ordering copies in. Don’t forget to ‘kill off’ all your ancestors!
  • Doing a ‘deep dive’ into one of your brick wall ancestors. Start again from scratch with them and see what you can find.
  • Digging out some of those wills that seem a bit daunting and focus on working out their contents!
social distancing research

5) Involve the family

  • Phone elderly relatives and ask about their memories. Get those stories from them while you have time to really listen. It’s a good way to check up on their wellbeing too since they are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus.
  • If you are home with the kids due to school being shut, help them pass the time by doing a family tree project. This is also a great way to get them involved and perhaps recruit one of them to carry on as the family historian after you have gone!
social distancing call relatives

6) Volunteer

  • Family History Societies and local history groups are always crying out for volunteers. Why not see what your groups need and offer to help with things you can do from home? Transcriptions of registers and other documents can be done from your computer.
  • Memorial sites such as Billion Graves and Find A Grave rely on people transcribing uploads. If you’re good at reading headstones, this is a great use of your time.

So there we go. Your social calendar might be emptying, but give it a couple of weeks and you’ll wonder how you ever found time to go out and play! Stay safe and well, and happy researching!

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Cherchez Les Femmes! How to Find Someone’s Maiden Name

Happy International Women’s Day! Let’s celebrate by looking at the amazing women in our family trees.

Louise Seal Flo Powell maiden name
My grandmother Louise Taylor (nee Seal) and great aunt Flo Seal (nee Powell) in about 1931

Last time I blogged about researching your female ancestors, I covered some reasons why it was so important not to neglect that half of your family tree. Today, I’d like to give some pointers on how to overcome the challenge associated with this – how to find someone’s maiden name!

There are many strategies and sources you can use to find the elusive birth name of a female ancestor. Your mileage may vary for any one of these, depending on the location and era you are researching and the contents included in the suggested documents for those areas. There are plenty of suggestions here though, so you should find you get lucky using several of them.

Find Her Maiden Name In Marriage Records

This is the most obvious starting point. But watch out for her marital status on the document. If she’s a widow or divorcee, she will likely not be marrying under her maiden name. Check for her father’s name, and if it is not listed, the witnesses’ names may provide clues. Try to find her previous marriage record – search for her forename and her widowed surname, then look for death records of the husband and verify you have the right couple. That earlier marriage should have her maiden name.

Rose Davies maiden name
My great grandmother Rose Seal (nee Davies) looking a bit concerned in my grandparents’ wedding photo in 1932. She had no need to worry, they were happily married till my grandmother passed away!

Don’t just look for marriage certificates and church records though.

Also look for:

  • banns
  • allegations and bonds
  • licences
  • agreements
  • newspaper notices of engagements and marriages
  • family bibles
  • her husband’s military records, such as records of service and pension records
  • divorce applications or papers

These may not only confirm her maiden name, but provide further family information too.

Find Her Maiden Name In Her Children’s Records

Many of the records of your female ancestor’s children will give her maiden name. The records from earlier in their lives will be the most accurate as the information would likely have come from either her or her husband. If you don’t find what you are looking for in the records of the child you descend from, try their siblings.

  • birth certificates
  • baptismal records for some religions, e.g., Catholics and some non-conformists give mother’s maiden name
  • marriage certificates – some record mother’s maiden name, otherwise again check witness names for clues
  • death certificates also in some places give the mother’s maiden name
  • do any of her children have an unusual middle name (especially if several do)? – this may well be her birth name.
find someone's maiden name
An example of an Independent Chapel baptism register including mother’s parentage.

Find Her Maiden Name Using Census Records

Check all available censuses for your female ancestor. In later censuses, you may find her with an aged parent in the household. Remember if just the mother is there, check that she wasn’t widowed for a second or subsequent time before assuming her surname is the birth name of the daughter!

You may also find unmarried siblings boarding with the family.

Lastly, check the surrounding households for possible relatives, as often the families stayed in the same neighbourhoods. Remember the FAN principle!

Ruby Rigby maiden name
My grandmother Ruby Simpson (nee Rigby) looking serene about 1935.

Can Her Maiden Name Be Found in Death Records?

In some places, the maiden names of women are included in their death certificates, and as an extra bonus, as mentioned above some will also include her parents’ names. So you also get HER mother’s maiden name!

leah swinbourne maiden name
My recently widowed great grandmother Leah Barnett (nee Swinbourne, later Rigby) about 1912

Check wills:

  • did she leave one? Probably not before the Married Women’s Property Act (different dates in different jurisdictions!) as she would have had little of her own to leave anyone. Check anyway, you may be lucky!
  • did her husband leave one? Check his will and probate records as they may mention members of her family. For example who oversaw her inheritance from him when she legally couldn’t? If she had already died, who became guardians of any minor children?
  • if her husband died, she may be featured in removal and settlement records as the parishes juggled who would be responsible for the fatherless family. These can be extremely detailed.
  • do you have an inkling of who her birth family may possibly be? Check the will of her suspected father – they usually list daughters by married surname and often name their husbands.

Are there any obituaries or death announcements for her in the newspapers?

Lastly, don’t overlook records relating to her burial. Even the headstone may include some information, check for her maiden name on the stone itself, clues in the epitaph, and the birth date may assist you in finding her birth. Don’t neglect to check surrounding graves. She may be amongst her family.

Good luck in finding your female ancestors’ origins and helping your tree to become as rich and full as it deserves to be!

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Context in Genealogy – Clues From Your Ancestor’s Environment

context local history room

Looking for the context in genealogy is incredibly important if you wish to have more than names and dates in your family tree. I have talked endlessly about looking for your ancestors’ stories and ‘fleshing out the bones’. Let’s go one step further and look for motivations behind your ancestors’ actions.

What is ‘Context in Genealogy’?

Context refers to the environment around your ancestors at the time and in the area in which they lived. Knowing what was happening around them gives great insight into what may have influenced them to make the choices they did.

This may include social upheavals, political events, religious changes, wars, disease epidemics and even weather events leading to bad harvests.

How Can You Find the Context?

Local Histories

context local history

Many cities, towns and even villages have had local histories written about them. These will contain details of significant events around that place, and often mention local families. If you’re lucky you may get some details about yours!

Several times I have discovered information on my specific family just by reading a local history book. For example, I never would have known why my branch of the Swinbourne family came to Warwickshire from Northumberland in the 17th Century unless I had delved into ‘Discovering Bickenhill‘.

local history bickenhill
‘Discovering Bickenhill’ by Victor Skip

Likewise, my purchase of ‘A Concern in Trade: Hatting and the Bracebridges of Atherstone 1612-1872‘, uncovered a story of one of my families that was entirely unexpected! My family was not the Bracebridges – I had just bought the book as I had another family who were hatters from that town. I was just seeking context.

local history atherstone
‘A Concern in Trade: Hatting and the Bracebridges of Atherstone, 1612-1872’ by Judy Vero

You can find many local history books online. Try Google Books, FamilySearch and Geneanet! You may be lucky enough to find hard copies in local bookshops, thrift stores, in local and larger specialised libraries, or even on eBay.

Another great source of local histories is the relevant Family History Society for the area. They usually have a bookshop, and additionally, their journal will often contain articles that provide great social context to that location.

Newspapers

Reading newspapers of the time provides a great sense of what was going on. The information will be local, national and even international. The greatest column space will be devoted to topics that influenced the lives of their readers. When looking for information about events in your ancestors’ lives, also spend a little time reading other news. This will give you more context.

context newspapers
Image by Michaił Nowa from Pixabay

There are many sites where you can access old newspapers. Depending on the place you are seeking, the following may be useful –

Other Sources of Useful Context in Genealogy

Keep your eye out for almanacks for the years you are interested in. These provide good agricultural and weather-related information at the very least. Some also provide other local statistics and information which can be invaluable.

Try ‘browsing’ rather than just ‘searching’ parish registers for your ancestors. Often you can find additional notes by the vicar mentioning unusual weather events, disease outbreaks, the impact of certain taxes or even just gossip! And don’t forget the rest of the parish chest, as the documents usually paint a great picture of life in the local community.

Educate yourself on the bigger picture using courses and seminars. If you live in the area, there might be talks given through your local library or family history society. For a wider context, try online courses. For example, those interested in Australian history might be interested to know that the University of Newcastle is commencing a free course next week on just that topic!

Isn’t All This Context Just ‘Fluffy Stuff’?

No. Knowing why our ancestors may have done what they did is part of what makes them real human beings rather than just names. That’s wonderful, isn’t it?

But also, the context can help you with concrete solutions to genealogical problems. If you know that Mormon missionaries were rounding up a lot of followers in your town around the time a branch of your family disappeared from local records, that narrows down where you should look for them considerably. Stop looking in surrounding parishes for a moment and take a look in US records. They may have headed for Utah! If so, there is probably a genealogical goldmine awaiting you.

Jump in and look for context in genealogy. You won’t regret the effort as it will definitely pay off.

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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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The Spanish Flu Epidemic and Your Family History

spanish flu epidemic police
Police wearing facemasks during the Spanish Flu epidemic

Right now, the world is worried. The current coronavirus outbreak has now been declared a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ by the World Health Organisation. People are rightly concerned. However, over the centuries there have been many epidemics – including the Black Death, the ‘Sweat’, cholera, smallpox and several influenza outbreaks. The population as a whole has always survived, though you will doubtless find evidence in your family trees of individuals (or sometimes whole families) who were lost to one of these diseases. One massive epidemic which is almost still within living memory, but is strangely not very well known considering the massive impact it had, is the so-called Spanish Flu.

The Spanish Flu

The Spanish Flu outbreak happened just over a century ago. Although the name may lead you to think it began in Spain, this is not true. The first cases were recorded in 1917 in an Army Camp in Kansas, USA. It is believed the virus spread to Europe, and from there to the rest of the world, on US troop ships going to join World War I. The reason it became known as Spanish Flu is because of wartime censorship. No mention of it was initially made in the newspapers of countries involved in the war. No admission of weakness was to be made publicly in case it gave the enemy confidence. Spain was neutral during this war, so when the outbreak reached that country it made the papers for the first time. Hence it became referred to as Spanish Flu forevermore.

spanish flu epidemic emergency hospital
Emergency Hospital in Kansas, 1918. Credit: Otis Historical Archives, National Museum of Health and Medicine

During the Spanish Flu epidemic, it is estimated that 50 million (and perhaps up to 100 million people) died around the world. This is certainly greater than the number of casualties from World War I itself, and it could be argued that it was this epidemic that helped draw the war to a close.

Around 20% of the world’s population was infected by this flu. 5% of the world’s population died. To put this in perspective, this is the equivalent of around 390 million people dying of coronavirus in 2020. This is roughly the same as the current population of the US and the UK being wiped out completely. This is why I am reasonably confident that you will find traces of the Spanish Flu epidemic in your family tree.

Spanish Flu in your family tree

You may have a direct ancestor who was lost as a result of this epidemic. You may find some who were infected but recovered. Almost certainly there will have been losses or illness amongst the FAN Club (friends, associates, neighbours) of your ancestors. And most definitely it will have impacted their way of life in some way during late 1917, 1918 and 1919 while the virus raged through communities.

spanish flu epidemic warning
Health advice in 1918 to reduce the risk of airborne transmission of the flu

Check death certificates of ancestors and relatives for the time period. Do you have any old diaries detailing life at the time? Later newspapers talked about things such as population quarantine efforts similar to those in force in China currently. Are there any reports for your town?

Barney Reynolds

My son’s great-great-grandfather, Barney Reynolds, was one of the later victims of the Spanish Flu. He died in 1919 when the flu finally reached Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. His official cause of death was pneumonia. You will find this is often listed as the cause of death, as it was ultimately the pneumonia that the flu caused which killed the patient. His granddaughter is still very much aware it was the Spanish Flu. This is another example of why it is important to talk with the elders in your family to get the details around their memories.

spanish flu epidemic Barney Reynolds
Barney Reynolds, my son’s great-great-grandfather and victim of influenza in 1919.

The Spanish Flu finally fizzled out, as viruses often do. Already weaker by the time it eventually reached Australia and NZ the casualty rate was far lower than at the height of the epidemic in 1918. Barney was one of the unlucky ones.

Generally, people a century ago were less at risk of being affected by an epidemic than they are today. The Spanish Flu was so virulent that it made its way right around the world before disappearing despite travel being so slow. If we were to be faced with that virus today in the age of air travel, the impact would be far greater.

So far the coronavirus has not demonstrated the level of lethality that the Spanish Flu did, thank goodness. Still, this is a pertinent time to remind people that basic sensible precautions to prevent airborne and contact transmission of bugs are always appropriate. Please cough into your elbows and wash or sanitise your hands frequently as a matter of course. I want to see you all digging around your deceased ancestors’ records rather than joining them before your time!

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Walking in the Footsteps of My Son’s Tasmanian Ancestors

It seemed appropriate to cover Tasmanian ancestors this week, as I have relocated to Tasmania for the foreseeable future to care for a close family member. Many Australians with long roots (by white settlement standards) in the country have a line or two leading back to Tasmania. Many others, like myself, find Tasmanian ancestors in collateral lines. As one of the major early convict colonies, Van Diemen’s Land is rich with history.

Tasmania is also a goldmine of easily accessible records, especially for the early days. One of my absolute favourites is the Tasmanian Names Index on the Libraries Tasmania site. Here you will find many birth, death and marriage certificates, immigration/emigration records, wills, convict records, divorces, bankruptcy records and surviving censuses. Not only is access free but there are usually images of the original documents as well. Go take a look and see what you can find!

As I am here in a caring capacity at the moment, I am not really walking in anyone’s footsteps right now. However, I would like to share the story of my son’s paternal ancestor, George Beard and a visit we took to a significant site in his life story on a past visit to this beautiful island.

George Beard – transported on ‘John Barry’, 1834

George Beard Tasmanian Ancestor
George Beard in later life

George Beard was from ‘The Stanleys’, neighbouring villages in rural Gloucestershire just outside Stroud. He was born in Leonard Stanley and baptised there as the son of Richard and Sarah (nee Clissold) Beard on October 1st 1809. By the time he reached adulthood, he was living in King’s Stanley just a few hundred yards away. He appears to have been well-raised. His conduct record states ‘connexions good’ and he was able to both read and write.

George goes off the rails!

George’s first known brush with the law took place in 1831. As recorded at the Lent Assizes of 1832, he was brought in on October 1st charged with stealing twelve yards of woollen cloth belonging to John Figgins Marling. Marling was one of three brothers involved in the woollen trade around the area, and at that time managed the local Ebley Mill. George, a clothworker, may well have been employed at this mill as it was located only two miles from Kings Stanley.

ebley mill
Ebley Mill

George was tried at the Michaelmas Sessions on October 18th 1831, found guilty of the first indictment but not guilty of the second and sentenced to 18 calendar months in a penitentiary. It is unclear what the second indictment was. Only one charge is mentioned on any of the surviving documents and newspaper reports. An extensive physical description was provided and his behaviour was deemed to be orderly. Presuming he served his full sentence he would have been released from prison in about April 1833.

Sadly, he was not to remain free for long. According to the records of the Summer Assizes 1833, on July 22nd he was placed in custody charged with theft of a timepiece belonging to a Richard Vines, another local clothworker. As a repeat offender, whose behaviour was now judged to be ‘bad’, his outcome was harsher than before. He was tried on August 10th 1833, found guilty and sentenced to be transported for seven years.

Prior to his transportation, he was held on the prison hulk ‘Justitia’ on the river Thames at Woolwich. The Quarterly Returns of Prisoners have him listed for three consecutive quarters as he awaited assignment to a transport ship. His behaviour was consistently noted as good once more – perhaps he was now more resigned to his fate. The final quarterly return contained the remark “V.D.L. 20 Mar 1834” indicating he had now commenced his transportation.

Tasmanian ancestors convict hulk
Convict Hulk ‘Justicia’

George became one of 320 male convicts to take the 129-day voyage to Van Diemen’s Land aboard the ‘John Barry’, which arrived in Hobart on August 11th 1834. It was almost a year to the day since George was sentenced. He did not attract the medical attention of the Surgeon Superintendent John Osborne, so presumably arrived in good health.

Life in Australia

As Police Number 2102, George was ordered by the Secretary of State to be allocated to the 2nd Class Chain Gang rather than be assigned as labour to free settlers. The chain gang was usually reserved for the worst prisoners and this placement appears at odds with the good behaviour reports prior to leaving England. However, the Conduct Record states that the Gaol Report says he has a ‘bad character in every respect’. Was a mistake made that led him to be given harsher punishment than he perhaps deserved? The same Conduct Record says that both the Hulk Report and Surgeon’s Report state his behaviour was orderly. This is not a case of mistaken identity, as the physical description provided on the Description List matches that from his first conviction in England, right down to the scar on his left wrist.

Tasmanian ancestors conduct record
George Beard’s conduct record

It is known that his temper could be roused, however. In April 1835, he was placed in solitary confinement on bread and water for 6 days after ‘threatening to stick a pick in George Fountain’s head’, though note was made of his former good conduct. According to the 1835 Muster Roll George was assigned to ‘Public Works’ which is consistent with having progressed from being on a chain gang due to subsequent good behaviour. He may have been building roads, bridges, buildings or wharves in the fledgling colony in this capacity.

By 1838 he was assigned to ‘Cox’, though clearly without much enthusiasm for his work. In February, he received 25 lashes for neglect of duty and in August he was confined to a cell for 7 days, again for neglect of duty, this time combined with ‘general sullenness’. The magistrate who sentenced him to these punishments was Robert Wales, who worked for the Morven Police District around Evandale. Therefore ‘Cox’ was almost certainly James Cox, a prominent local pastoralist whose estate at Evandale was known as ‘Clarendon’. The mansion here was completed in 1838, so George may well have been involved in its construction.

clarendon house
Clarendon House

Freedom

George’s Ticket of Leave was granted on January 4th, 1839, five years into his sentence. This at least gave him the opportunity to choose his workplace, however, it is unknown where he worked after this time.

The following year he became eligible to apply for his Certificate of Freedom (Number 603, 1840) when his seven-year sentence expired. The 1841 Muster Roll shows he must indeed have successfully applied for the certificate as he is listed as ‘free by servitude’. Neither his Ticket of Leave nor his Certificate of Freedom appear to have survived and cannot be located.

Perhaps seeking a fresh start, George departed Van Diemen’s Land on the schooner ‘Essington’, bound for Portland Bay in the Port Philip District in November 1842. He settled around Belfast (later Port Fairy), marrying Mary Harris, a free settler also from Gloucestershire in 1848. He managed to avoid any further notoriety, living a quiet life with no mentions in the newspapers either locally or further afield during the course of his life. By the time he died on New Year’s Eve 1891 in Warrnambool, he had become a father to nine children and many grandchildren. A late starter to family life, he more than made up for it.

Visiting Clarendon

My son and I visited Clarendon House during our Christmas visit to Tasmania in 2017. Now run by the National Trust it remains a beautiful and stately homestead. Most interestingly, the convict quarters remain standing. It was eerie to walk inside them and wonder which room George would have lived in while he worked on building the house. It is a place worth visiting even if you don’t have any Tasmanian ancestors.

Convict quarters at Clarendon House

I really recommend having a dig around Tasmanian records if you too have Tasmanian ancestors, as they are an absolute treasure trove. There will be an upcoming blog on Tasmanian convict records…I have at least two convicts amongst my collateral ancestors to finish researching, and will do a ‘how to’ in more depth then!

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New Year Means New Genealogy Resources!

New genealogy resources become available constantly. Organisations are always digitising and releasing new record sets to increase accessibility to genealogical information. However, January is the month when we regularly see an extra flurry of activity in this area. Why? Closure periods.

new genealogy resources closure period

What are closure periods?

Closure periods are designed to protect the privacy of those still potentially living. You will most often find them associated with civil registration documents (birth, marriage and death certificates), censuses and other forms of population schedules.

The length of a closure period will vary from location to location and source to source . It is often in the region of 75-100 years to cover the expected lifespan of the people named within the document.

Finding new genealogy resources in the new year

The types of items which will have new releases at the beginning of each year are often not completely new record sets. They are usually extensions to core record sets already available. So in that sense, they are updates rather than ‘new’ and may, therefore, be quietly released without fanfare.

My advice is to know what you are waiting for and check the closure period. Make a note to check back when the required time has passed (the sign of a well-organised genealogist!). Some genealogy software programs can run reports on people who were born, died or married in a particular year, which may help.

Also, remember the release will likely happen first at the original source. It will then flow on through to updates at the commercial sites which licence these record collections too. Remember these are core genealogy record sets in most cases, and as such will often be (eventually) available at more than one site.

new genealogy resources sealed

So far in 2020…

Here are just a few of the new releases I have heard about so far. This is by no means a comprehensive list. However if there is nothing applicable to your research here to check out, it might give you ideas of where to look for your own family tree requirements.

  • 1939 Register (England and Wales) – 85, 000 new records have passed the closure date of 100 years beyond the given birthdate (or have been cross-referenced against a death record to ensure no living person is included). This means that almost 34 million of the 41 million records in this census-substitute dataset are now available to search.
  • Irish civil registration records – the dates available have been extended. Marriage certificates are now searchable from 1845 to 1944. Birth and death records available have been extended by a year to include 1919 for births and 1969 for deaths.
  • Scottish civil registration records – ScotlandsPeople have added births for 1919, marriages for 1944 and deaths for 1969.
  • Archive offices – all sorts of documents reach the end of their closure period and are released by archives offices each year. These are generally more specific records and not as universally pursued as the core record sets. However, if you’re lucky you can find some absolute gold amongst them. As an example, here is what my state’s archive office released this new year. Check out the archives in the area your ancestors came from.
new genealogy resources books

Keep an eye on your email inbox and blogs from your favourite genealogy information providers to see what they are releasing. I hope this year’s new genealogy resources help you to break down a brick wall or two!

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Disaster-Proof Your Genealogy Research

bushfire houses protect
bushfire houses protect
Credit: Lithgowlights

Protect genealogy research as part of your overall disaster survival plan!

It’s 2020 and Australia is on fire. People all around the world have seen the horrible footage, and heard the horrific numbers being quoted – acres burnt, people killed, properties lost and wildlife decimated. Many of those of us here in Australia have witnessed some of this first hand. A few of those will tragically have lost everything they own. And the fires still burn.

Fire, floods, hurricanes, cyclones and earthquakes seem to be ever more prevalent in recent years. We cannot afford to be blase about our preparation or believe it could never happen to us. In times of disaster such as this, it is unlikely that a successful escape will include time to pick out which irreplaceable items to save. Planning and preparation is everything. As Australians, we are urged to have our own Bushfire Survival Plan in place as we head into every summer. I would recommend everyone take the time to think about how they would deal with the kind of natural disaster most likely to impact them and do some preparation.

Protect Your Genealogy Research

If you are the guardian of your family’s history, you have a duty to protect your genealogy research. This should feature in any broader survival plan. Imagine the loss of all your years of work, how long would it take to replace? Indeed, how much is actually replaceable?

protect research floods

Organise

Be organised – know where everything is and keep it together in a safe place.

Prioritise

Work out what is absolutely irreplaceable, what is inconvenient to lose and what is easily replaced. You do not know how much you will be able to take with you in the case of an evacuation.

Digitise

Ensure everything is preserved digitally. This includes documents, family photos, and photos of objects such as furniture passed down through the family (in case they cannot be saved).

backup genealogy research

Back it up

Regularly back up your research and your digitised items to an external hard drive kept somewhere else and/or the ‘cloud’. Preferably both. Mark your calendar to remind you to do this at least on a monthly basis. Then if you do lose it all locally, you will never be more than a month behind when you retrieve your back up!

Protect originals

Fire- and waterproof safes, bags and pouches are available at hardware stores for your most precious items. Bags and pouches are more transportable in a hurry – perhaps use them for the highest priority items. A safe deposit box could be utilised if regular access is not required for some precious items.

Smoke alarm battery

A small and simple but often forgotten chore. You won’t need a smoke alarm for a bushfire bearing down on you, but domestic fires are a much more likely cause of research loss statistically. Remember to change your smoke alarm batteries every six months for peace of mind.

disaster protect genealogy

Good luck!

I hope none of you is ever in a situation where you lose all that precious research (or anything else of value) in a disaster. If something good, however small can come out of the current tragedy unfolding here in Australia, perhaps it will be a prompt for people to check if they are doing enough to protect their genealogy research.

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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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Genealogical Resolutions – 6 Ways I’m Going to Boost My Genealogical Game in 2020!

genealogical resolutions 2020

Another year is about to bite the dust (didn’t it go fast?) and it’s time to make some New Year’s Genealogical Resolutions! Genealogy is one of those hobbies where it is important to stop and take stock of where you’re up to and what you’re doing every so often. It helps you to keep on the right track, remain focussed and improve your habits and effectiveness at compiling your family tree.

Here are my genealogical resolutions for 2020! I would probably be staying inside to avoid the extremes of the hot summer weather anyway, I may as well do useful things!

Genealogical Resolution 1: Reboot my desk

No matter how well-organised I try to be with the filing of my work, when I am researching multiple lines and using lots of different sources for each, my immediate vicinity can start to resemble a mountain range of paperwork and open books very easily! I am using the quiet time after the holiday season to reorganise my desk. I will reduce it down to only the priority work I am currently doing (i.e. client research). The rest (i.e. my personal research!) can be filed. To prevent me from worrying about forgetting to follow up a line that’s on ‘pause’ at the moment, I can create a spreadsheet of things to return to.

Genealogical Resolution 2: Get on top of correspondence

genealogical resolutions correspondence
The correspondence soon piles up!

Like many of us, I get a huge number of emails every day. A large proportion of them is genealogy-related. Anything professional, I deal with immediately. Personal ones tend, like my personal research, to often be shunted to one side for ‘when I have time’. I rarely do! This pile, being electronic, doesn’t loom like the physical things on a desk. But it’s no less mortifying.

I’m going to tackle this one a piece at a time and chip away at it. It may take me the full year to get it back to something manageable. But if people have written with queries, even if I can see they are researching a completely different Mary Smith, they deserve the courtesy of a response. This is one I constantly feel guilty about, so it has to be done.

Genealogical Resolution 3: Explore new DNA tools

I manage not only my own DNA but that of many of my family members, and over multiple testing sites. This contributes to a lot of the correspondence I have fallen behind in! Genetic genealogy has grown a lot in the nine years since I first tested. It’s absolutely boomed in the last couple of years as it’s become not only a mainstream genealogical research method but also popular in the non-genealogical community. I even heard an AncestryDNA advertisement on a major radio station which caters to the youth demographic yesterday!

genealogical resolutions DNA tools
New tools for analyzing DNA results are being developed constantly!

Unsurprisingly, this growth means that new tools to help make sense of the data are popping up rapidly all over the place. Several of these are extremely exciting. The sheer number of them I want to explore seems to be inversely proportional to my free time lately. My DNA genealogical resolution is to schedule some ‘DNA Playtime’. If I don’t do this just to practice with some of the new tools I run the risk of falling behind. In particular, I want to try out the new ‘auto trees’ feature at Genetic Affairs, work out what I’m doing with Genetic Family, and do some exploring at Borland Genetics. I also want to fully utilise DNA Painter and the WATO tool, which I’ve had some really good results with already!

Genealogical Resolution 4: Finish writing my book

genealogical resolutions
I need to keep up with my writing…

Quite often in this blog, I tell little stories about my ancestors. There is one you haven’t and won’t hear about here. Her tale is such an interesting, and ultimately tragic one that I am turning it into a book. In my spare time. Are you sensing a theme here?

Nonetheless, the story of Leah Swinbourne, my maternal great-grandmother WILL be completed, and hopefully published by the end of 2020.

Genealogical Resolution 5: Get the most out of my subscriptions and memberships

I love having access to databases to access information online. Some, like Familysearch, Internet Archive and Trove, are completely free to use. None, whether free or not, will contain everything that I need to access. My research covers many corners of the world. I need access to more than just births, deaths, marriages and censuses. Therefore, I need multiple subscriptions to paid databases. So that’s what I do. And then, being human, I spend 90% of my time in just a handful of them.

This year, I will actively remind myself to check the more obscure ones regularly. Perhaps it may be worth my while to check if they also offer the purchase of credits rather than subscriptions. In some cases, it could be more cost-effective to use them in this way if they are perfectly wonderful but only visited a few times a year for a unique dataset!

Genealogical Resolution 6: Find one new research resource a week

Now this one might sound silly. The overwhelming theme throughout this blog has been that I don’t have enough time to use all the data (whether documents or DNA) that I have access to already. Why would I continue to look for more resources?

The answer is simple. There are wonderful new resources coming online all the time. We are only scraping the surface of the archival material that is out there waiting to be digitised. Also, our research often goes off into different geographical or occupational directions so different resources may help. I am always on the lookout for a site that will search several databases at once too. I will be in heaven if anyone manages to come up with something that will search all the genealogical databases at once. Familysearch has made a start in that direction. A reminder to anyone looking for genealogical resources on a specific topic – the first stop should always be Cyndi’s List. If you can’t find anything there, it probably doesn’t exist!

So that’s my six genealogical resolutions for 2020. I’m looking forward to this year of consolidation and moving forward more effectively. Working out how to balance my professional and personal research time is key – this has been my first year of genealogy being both my hobby and my profession. It’s been wonderful and also challenging!

Wishing you a happy and prosperous 2020. What will your genealogical resolutions be?