Higher fertility has a significantly negative effect on longevity for both women and men. That’s from an article Examining the trade-offs between human fertility and longevity over three centuries using crowdsourced genealogy data published in PLOS One earlier in the month.
It’s based on a sample of 81,924 women and 103,642 men born between 1601 and 1910 across 16 European countries. The negative effects are stronger among the older cohorts and have reduced over time.
The New England Historic Genealogical Society, otherwise known as American Ancestors, offers a $20 discount on membership until the end of the month. That’s $10 better than the continuing new NEHGS membership offer for OGS members.
A regular individual annual membership, which includes access to 1.4 billion online records, is $94.95 US. To take advantage use the discount code 08AUG2021.
Over the past 18 months, Ken McKinlay has written a series of posts on his Family Tree Knots blog about how to access Ontario land records. It’s a specialist subject into which he has made a deep dive.
Now he’s compiled those in a blog post Finding on the Ground: Wrap Up linking to them all in a logical order. It’s not a simple topic. It sometimes seems like he’s pulling a rabbit out of a hat when helping during Ottawa Branch OGS regular Tuesday afternoon sessions. If land records can be helpful in your Ontario research check out Ken’s guidance. Dollars to donuts it’s sure to help.
There are 882,724 records in this Glamorgan Archives collection on Ancestry, from Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd. Checking in 10-year segments only 470,076 entries were found, 28% in the first decade of the 20th century.
UPDATE: The dataset is now renamed to replace Cardiff with Glamorgan. Ancestry may not always be sensitive to geographical niceties. In this instance they reacted quickly.
Perhaps you have a photo of a house where an ancestor lived and are curious about the history. This article by house history expert Trevor Yorke for Findmypast might help you narrow down whether a 19th-century terrace belongs to the Regency or Victorian period.
The article is a promo for a House History special issue of Family Tree magazine, coming soon.
Choose from free online events in the next five days. All times are ET except as noted. Those in red are Canadian, bolded if local to Ottawa or recommended. Assume registration in advance is required; check so you’re not disappointed.
Tuesday 24 August, 2 pm: Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, from Ottawa Branch of OGS and The Ottawa Public Library.
https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/.
Tuesday 24 August, 2 pm: The New Family Tree and Relationship Diagram, by Uri Gonen for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1699
Tuesday 24 August, 2:30 pm: Victor Henry’s Headstone, by April Lynne Earle for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUofuCsqjwqGdS3rjy0RXLpz-2o_mteKJNC
Wednesday 25 August, 11 am: Your Ancestors’ Military Photographs, by Paul Nixon for Findmypast. www.facebook.com/findmypast.
Wednesday 25 August, 2 pm: Fire, Water, and the 1890 U.S. Census: Researching Beyond the Ashes and Mold, by Elizabeth Williams Gomoll for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1640
Thursday 19 August, 6:30 pm: Beginning Your Family History Journey, by Elizabeth Hodges for Allen Country Public Library Genealogy Center. https://acpl.libnet.info/event/5421018
Friday 20 August, 2 pm: 10 Ways to Find Your Native American Ancestor Using Y, Mitochondrial and Autosomal DNA, by Roberta Estes for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1638
Coming
Tuesday, 31 August, 7:30 pm. Discussion with Terry Fallis about his latest book, Operation Angus. Organized by the Ottawa Public Library and Ottawa Writers Festival.
http://ow.ly/lFjm50FVey5
19 – 26 September 2021: BIFHSGO Conference. Irish Lines and Female Finds: Exploring Irish records, female ancestors and genetic genealogy. www.bifhsgo2021.ca/.
If you can spare 72 minutes I recommend viewing the YouTube video ‘Malignant destiny? Recovering the lost collections of the Public Record Office of Ireland’.
It tells the story of the buildings and collections at the Four Courts in Dublin destroyed in 1922, and also the work of the archivists before and after that tragic event. As genealogists and family historians, it’s easy to overlook the generations of effort and expertise that lie behind the production of a document requested from an archive or online.
A new YouTube video recounts the story of The Blitz for the month of large German daylight raids starting on 31 August 1940.
They’re very popular. I missed one this month as I was too late trying to register. Here’s the programme for September for which registration is scheduled to open today.
Friday, 3 September, 9 am EDT: Recovery from the Black Death in late-medieval Britain and Ireland, by Paul Dryburgh, TNA Principal Records Specialist (Medieval Records).
Wednesday, 8 September, 2:30 pm EDT: Writing John of Gaunt, The Red Prince: a conversation with Helen Carr.
Friday, 10 September, 9 am EDT: Recovery and Regeneration after the Great Fire of London (1666), by TNA Early Modern Record Specialist Philippa Hellawell.
Tuesday, 14 September, 9 am EDT: Top Level Tips: Wills and other Probate Records before 1858, by Ruth Selman, TNA Principal Early Modern Records Specialist.
Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.
British Comedian Sean Lock RIP
Britain, Knights of the Realm & Commonwealth Index
Findmypast this week updated this collection of “the good and the great”, notable knights and dames with the latest entries from the Queen’s Honors lists.
UK Ministry of Defence record transfer
(MOD) began the transfer of just under 10 million personnel records to TNA for all three services, Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, where the individual has a date of birth prior to or up to 1939. The records will be transferred to Kew in batches over the next 6 years.
Historical Society of Ottawa September Zoom Presentations
Wednesday 15 September 7 pm. Rockin’ on the Rideau: Ottawa’s Golden Age of Rock & Roll, by Jim Hurcomb
Wednesday 29 September 7 pm. Tunney’s Pasture – The Story Behind Ottawa’s Field of Dreams, by Dave Allston
Repairing ozone layer is also reducing CO₂ in the atmosphere – new study
For Margaret: CIHM = Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions.
Thanks to this week’s contributors: Anonymous, Gail B., Judy H., Margaret Dougherty, Teresa, Toni, Unknown.
Since the end of March, a median of 6.2% of records have been added to the Find a Grave Index on Ancestry. Leading in increases, nearly 20% more index records, is the UK and Ireland. Canada’s total is up by 5.2%. An updated figure for the US is not yet available.
| Country | Dates | 18 August 2021 | 31 March 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | 1600s-Current | ? | 161,058,083 |
| Global | 1300s-Current | 18,108,373 | 17,547,571 |
| UK and Ireland | 1300s-Current | 13,076,152 | 10,918,486 |
| Australia and New Zealand | 1800s-Current | 9,342,735 | 8,986,286 |
| Canada | 1600s-Current | 8,528,651 | 8,104,545 |
| Germany | 1600s-Current | 1,647,357 | 1,507,399 |
| Italy | 1800s-Current | 232,222 | 216,616 |
| Norway | 1800s-Current | 204,100 | 197,584 |
| Brazil | 1800s-Current | 130,664 | 129,786 |
| Sweden | 1800s-Current | 115,898 | 106,588 |
| Mexico | 1800s-Current | 48,638 | 44,507 |
The actual Find a Grave website shows fewer records available than advertised by Ancestry.
Find 17,307 entries in this database searchable by any combination of First name(s), Last name and Regimental number.
Results returned will add Casualty Year, but it’s not to be trusted. Check the linked image of the original card. Most I looked at were post-Second World War, probably men on National Service.
