Month: August 2022

Having already released the Nottinghamshire parish burials database, Ancestry has now dropped the other three shoes. That’s over 4 million additional Nottinghamshire records linked to images of the original register page.

	Title		Records
	Nottinghamshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1937		792,590
	Nottinghamshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1919		1,543,821
	Nottinghamshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812		1,763,383

On Monday, 284,904 burial records sourced from parish registers at the Nottinghamshire Archives appeared on Ancestry. These are transcriptions linked to images of the original. The Nottinghamshire parishes are:

Arnold, All Saints
Attenborough, St. Mary
Austerfield, St. Mary
Averham, St. Helena
Awsworth, St. Michael and All Angels
Balderton, St. Peter
Barton in Fabis, St. Giles
Basford, St. George
Bawtry, St. Leodegarius
Beckingham, St. Nicholas
Beeston, All Saints
Bestwood Park, St. John the Baptist
Bilsthorpe, Emmanuel
Bingham, St. Margaret
Bircotes, St. Mary and All Saints
Bleasby, Christ Church
Blidworth, St. Mary
Blyth, St. Mary of the Purification
Bramcote, St. Mary and St. Martin
Brinsley, St. Michael and All Angels
Calverton, St. James the Great
Car Colston, St. Wilfrid
Carburton, St. Mary
Carlton in Lindrick, St. Giles
Carlton on Trent, St. John the Evangelist
Carrington, St. Mary
Caunton, St. John the Evangelist
Clayworth, St. Andrew
Clifton, St. Peter
Clipstone, St. Mary (with Glapton)
Colston Bassett, All Saints
Colwick, St. John the Divine
Cotgrave, St. John the Baptist
Cropwell Bishop, All Saints
Darlton, St. Giles
Eakring, St. Giles
East Bridgford, St. Andrew
East Leake, St. Peter
Eastwood, St. Mary
Edwinstowe, St. Mary
Elkesley, St. Mary
Elston, St. Giles
Elton on the Hill, All Saints
Epperstone, St. Michael
Everton, Holy Cross
Farndon, Holy Trinity
Farnsfield, St. Peter
Fiskerton, St. Michael
Gedling, St. Augustine of Canterbury
Gotham, All Hallows
Granby, St. Lawrence
Greasley, All Saints
Gringley on the Hill, St. Mary
Halam, St. Peter and St. Paul
Halloughton, St. Michael
Harworth, St. James
Hockerton, All Saints
Holme Pierrepont, St. Nicholas
Holme, St. Edmund
Kelham, St. Giles
Keyworth, St. Wilfrid
Kimberley, St. Mary Magdelene
Kinoulton, Holy Trinity
Kirkby In Ashfield, St. Luke
Kirkby Woodhouse, St. Wilfrid
Lambley, St. John
Langar, Holy Trinity
Langford, St. Andrew
Laxton, St. Bartholomew
Lenton, St. Michael Archangel
Littleborough, Priory
Lowdham, St. Nicholas
Mansfield Woodhouse, St. Mary the Virgin
Mansfield Woodhouse, St. Alban the Martyr
Mansfield, St. Edmund King & Martyr
Mansfield, St. Mark
Maplebeck, St. Peter
Mattersey, St. Radegund
Misson, All Saints
Misterton, St. John the Baptist
Netherfield, All Saints
Newark, St. George
Normanton upon Trent, St. Mary Magdalene
North Collingham, St. Matthew
North Muskham, All Saints
North Wheatley, St. Wilfrid
Norwell, St. Peter & St. Paul
Nottingham, St. Laurence
Nottingham, Holy Trinity
Nottingham, St. George
Nuthall, St. Mary
Ollerton, Cinderhill
Ordsall, St. Giles
Orston, All Hallows with St. Alban´s
Oxton, St. Mary
Radcliffe on Trent, St. Peter and St. Paul
Radford, St. Mary
Radford, All Souls (Later All Souls with Christchurch)
Ragnall, Christ Church
Rampton, St. Oswald
Ranskill, All Saints
Ruddington, St. Barnabas
Scrooby, St. Peter
Selston, St. Wilfrid
Skegby, St. Helen
Sneinton, St. Andrew-see also Marnham
South Collingham, St. Stephen
South Leverton, St. John the Baptist
Southwell, All Saints
Stapleford, St. Mary (Minster)
Sturton-Le-Steeple, St. Helen
Sutton Bonnington, St. Peter & St. Paul
Sutton Bonnington, St. Anne
Sutton in Ashfield, St. Anne and St. Michael
Sutton upon Trent, St. Mary Magdalene
Sutton-cum-Lound, All Saints
Teversal, St. Bartholomew
Thorney, St. Katherine
Thoroton, St. Helen
Thurgarton, St. Helena
Tithby, St. Peter
Trowell, Holy Trinity
Tuxford, St. Helen
Underwood, St. Nicholas
Upton, St. Michael & All Angels
Walkeringham, St. Peter & St. Paul
Warsop, St. Mary Magdalene
West Bridgford, St. Peter & St. Paul
West Burton, St. Giles
West Retford, St. Helen (later St. Mary & St. Cuthbert)
West Stockwith, St. Michael the Archangel
Weston, St. Mary the Blessed Virgin
Wilford, All Saints
Willoughby-on-the-Wolds, St. Wilfrid
Winkburn, St. Mary & All Saints
Wollaton, St. John of Jerusalem
Woodborough, St. Leonard
Worksop, St. Swithun
Wysall, Priory (St Mary & St. Cuthbert)

Once upon a time, local societies would meet in person. Perhaps you recall those far-off days. They are returning — all being well, and as hybrids giving you the choice of travelling to the event or staying by a screen at home.

For your calendar, Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, otherwise Ontario Ancestors (O),ss and the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (B) monthly meeting presentations for the fall are:

Saturday 10 September, 10 am (B)
Laughlin McKinnon, presented by Suzanne Lesage

Saturday, 17 September, 1 pm (O)
Genealogy As A Historical Tool: The Case Of The Minnie Bell, presented by Paul Harrison, Workers’ History Museum

Saturday 8 October, 10 am (B)
Alfred Guidal and his land occupancy maps of Ontario, presented by Bruce S Elliott.

Saturday, 15 October, 1 pm (O)
Robert Harris: A Soldier’s Journey, presented by Julia Scott.

Saturday 12 November, 10 am (B)
Stories from the War, presented by Crol Arnett.

Saturday, 19 November, 1 pm (O)
I Found Them… They’re Mine, presented by Gordon L. McBean.

Saturday 10 December 10 am (B)
Great Moments in Genealogy (?)

Saturday, 10 December, 1 pm (O)
The Genealogical Adventures of Lois Long, presented by Janet Uren.

See the BIFHSGO website for information on the “before BIFHSGO” presentations starting at 9 am. Meetings are at Knox Presbyterian Church (Lisgar & Elgin) in downtown Ottawa

Ottawa Branch OGS invites you to a social period starting at 30 minutes prior to the presentation. Meetings are at the City Archives building, 100 Tallwood, Nepean,  and on Zoom,

All these events are open to the public at no charge.

 

This issue has three feature articles.

Searching the Streets of London
Judith Batchelor explains the maps, records and old
photographs that will reveal your ancestors’ lives in
the capital and enable you to walk in their footsteps. It mentions eight essential records, starting with census and civil registration. There’s a box for the London Picture archive, two books and seven less-known website resources.

Super Recognisers
Some people have an innate gift that allows them to spot
a face in a crowd based on a distant memory. Gail Dixon
discovers how such ‘super recognisers’, in particular superrecognisersinternational.com, are helping
family historians identify relatives in old images.

Zeppelin Attacks
lan Castle tells the story of the forgotten Blitz of the First
World War when the country was bombed by airships. 564 were killed and 1,354 injured in raids between January 1915 and April 1918.

Also find articles on the surviving records of the 17th century English Civil War, an in-depth looks at family history for Lincolnshire, and lots more.

A reminder that WDYTYA magazine is online through many Canadian public libraries PressReader subscriptions. If your’s doesn’t offer that service why not request it?

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 23 August 2 pm: OGS Ottawa Branch Virtual Genealogy Drop-in. 
https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/virtual-genealogy-drop-in-2-2022-07-12/

Tuesday 23 August 2 pm: Make your photos speak with DeepStory, by Daniel Horowitz for MyHeritage and Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/make-your-photos-speak-with-deepstory/

Tuesday 23 August 2:30 pm: Death Heads and Clasped Hands:
Cemetery Symbolism and Iconology for Genealogists, by John Beatty for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/6972101

Thursday 25 August 6:30 pm: Finding Your Ancestral Homeland, by Sara Allen for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/6993289

Friday 26 August 2 pm: Tracing Your Alberta Connections, by Dave Obee for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/tracing-your-alberta-connections/

Saturday 27 August 27  9:30 am : BIFHSGO DNA Interest Group (members only)

Last week I attended a presentation on a new website for Library and Archives Canada. A first look showed a more visual presentation compared to the present text-heavy website. LAC gives details in this blog post.

Some of the key changes are:

Findability: consistent and intuitive design
Navigation: based on themes, topics and tasks
Themes: collection, services and corporate
Plain language: easy to understand
Improved search tools
Continuous improvement.

Continuous improvement is most welcome. Staff will be monitoring to see how the site performs and major provision for feedback is promised. I wonder if in these days of social media the feedback will be public so that clients can see if it’s acted on?

At launch, which could be within the next couple of weeks if all goes well, expect to see:

New templates to ensure a consistant use experience
Focus on findability over interpretation
Updates to three main collection topics (indigenous history, military history, family history/genealogy)
Improved collection search
New help pages.

Remembering the perfect should not be the enemy of the good, this is a positive development.

For the record, before it dissappears, here’s the main LAC page as of 22 August 2022.

Since February 2022, there have been nearly 4.4 million additions. The US accounts for 2.1 million additions, and Canada has 288,474. Sweden jumps ahead of Norway and Brazil in the total number of entries.

Country	February 2022	August 2022	Increase
U.S.	166,706,930	168,814,684	2,107,754
UK and Ireland	13,831,839	14,651,323	819,484
Global	12,724,896	13,288,732	563,836
Australia and New Zealand	9,616,884	9,833,836	216,952
Canada	8,797,517	9,085,991	288,474
Germany	1,752,548	1,999,171	246,623
Italy	244,602	269,307	24,705
Norway	195,393	200,269	4,876
Brazil	131,120	132,347	1,227
Sweden	198,888	313,255	114,367
Mexico	49,847	52,524	2,677

You don’t need Ancestry to use Find a Grave.

Now underway, the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Society’s 2022 Virtual International Conference has an innovative approach, AFAIK.

The five-day conference offers 60 live-streaming presentations, 100 pre-recorded presentations and 40 group meetings. That’s quite a menu!

Having parallel conference sessions is expected, so you can’t consume everything on the menu.

IAJGS attendees can select from three participation and pricing levels — the à la carte approach.

Explorer Level, any combination of up to 20 live-streaming presentations, pre-recorded sessions, and meetings from  21-25 August.

Enthusiast Level offers any combination of up to 50 live-streaming presentations, pre-recorded sessions, and meetings from 21-25 August.

Experienced Level (full access) offers access to ALL live-streaming presentations, pre-recorded presentations, and meetings from 21-25 August.

Each level includes access to each session you paid for and access to the Expo Hall and the Resource Library until 25 October.

This flexibility would be a challenge to police in an in-person conference, not so much online, another advantage of the virtual conference world.

 

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

The Woman in the Portrait
A BBC Radio Four podcast

We thought we’d show the realities of digitising archival material to try and get rid of some of the misconceptions.

This 43-second video shows the sped up process of digitisation , when in reality this process took around 10 minutes from beginning to end. pic.twitter.com/dqAGYgJTO7

— Cambridgeshire Archives (@CambsArchives) August 16, 2022

National Library of Scotland – Maps
An article about recent experience with crowdsourced maps transcription projects, experience that might benefit LAC Co-Lab.

MyHeritage adds Canada, Quebec, Catholic Parish Marriages
65,833 entries for Quebec Catholic parish marriage between the years 1782 and 1961, including images of the original. were added on 14 August.

Will WDYTYA Survive in the US?
Partial viewership ratings indicate this summer’s series of the US WDYTYA on NBC had substantially lower ratings thar the competition on CNS and ABC. Apparantly the series has not (yet?) beem renewed.

Ukraine war prompts Baltic states to remove Soviet memorials

Thanks to this week’s contributors: Anonymous, Brenda Turner, Bruce Murduck, Belia Lewis, Craig Milne, gail benjafield, Glenn Wright, Ken McKinlay, Teresa, and Unknown.

Most genealogists with British ancestry will have, sooner or later, to tackle tracing London ancestry. This ten-week course covers how to use London archives and repositories to learn more about Londoner ancestors as well as how the geography of London affected their lives.

The course of ten 90-minute lectures starts at 1 pm ET on 6 September continuing each Tuesday for 10 weeks to 8 November. Most lectures will be recorded and available to students for two weeks. Find out more at https://societyofgenealogists.arlo.co/w/events/266-lost-in-london

The fee is  £200 with a discount to £160 for the Society of Genealogists Members.

Tuesday 6 September 2022
Stuck in London
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm BST
1 hour 30 minutes
Online
Else Churchill. The Genealogist at the Society Genealogists in London and has over 30 years of experience as a genealogist. Formerly a professional genealogical librarian and researcher, Else has worked for the SoG since 1994. She now leads on external liaison, representation, and communications; the Society’s education and publishing programmes as well as being the Society’s subject specialist.

Tuesday 13 September 2022
Charles Booth’s London Poverty Maps
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm BST
1 hour 30 minutes
Online
Inderbir Bhullar. Indy Bhullar is a curator at LSE Library where he works closely with Economics and Social Policy collections. He has spent many years investigating the Charles Booth archive which is held at the library. Much of his time is spent speaking to students, lecturers and anyone who takes interest in the collections (more often than not the Booth papers!) and bringing them to broader public attention.

Tuesday 20 September 2022
Family History Sources in the London Metropolitan Archive
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm BST
1 hour 30 minutes
Online
Tom Furber. Tom is an Engagement and Learning Office at London Metropolitan Archives, working to connect LMA’s collections with a range of users, including schools, adults, and community groups He has worked in Museums and Archives for the past ten years and enjoys sharing his fascination for London History with novices and experienced archive users alike.

Tuesday 27 September 2022
Family History Sources in the Parliamentary Archives
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm BST
1 hour 30 minutes
Online
The Parliamentary Archives collects, preserves and makes accessible the records of UK Parliament. We provide a records management service for the House of Commons and House of Lords and operate a free public archives service. Penny McMahon, Outreach Archivist will give the talk.

Tuesday 4 October 2022
Family History Sources in the Guildhall Library
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm BST
1 hour 30 minutes
Online
Melanie Strong. Melanie Strong has been working as an Assistant Librarian at Guildhall Library for the past five years, specialising in family history and genealogy. Before that they worked for five years as the Heritage Officer for Libraries at Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives. Melanie has an MSc in Library and Information Studies from City University and a BA in African/Asian history from SOAS

Tuesday 11 October 2022
Sources for London Family History Sources in the National Archives
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm BST
1 hour 30 minutes
Online
Audrey Collins worked as a freelance researcher for 15 years before she was engaged in 2001 by the Office for National Statistics as their official Census historian for the bicentenary census in that year. She also served on the advisory panel for the 1901 census digitisation project. She joined The National Archives (UK) in 2002 and has been Family History Specialist there since 2009. She regularly gives talks for the TNA and others, and is the author of several publications, including ‘Birth Marriage & Death Records: A Guide for Family Historians’ with Dave Annal, available through Pen & Sword publications.

Tuesday 18 October 2022
London’s Port and People: using the Port of London Authority Archive
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm BST
1 hour 30 minutes
Online
Fiona Keates. Fiona is the Port and River Archivist working at the Museum of London Docklands. Having qualified as an Archivist she went on to work at the Royal Society and NSPCC, before joining the Museum in 2018.

Tuesday 25 October 2022
Changes to London Street names and numbering
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm BST
1 hour 30 minutes
Online
Bruce Hunt. Bruce was born on Hampstead Heath and immediately fell in love with London. He worked in the Stock Exchange at the very heart of the City. He is also a qualified computer programmer and member of the London Topographical Society who has been researching his family tree for over 30 years. His maternal grandmother was born in Aveton Road, East Finchley, and his mother grew up there. As a small child, he was taken to see the houses that had not been destroyed in the Blitz, just before it was all redeveloped and the road name disappeared. The need to find missing road names and places in London led directly to the creation of his website, maps.thehunthouse.com, to share the information he found. 14 years later, it still ‘grows like Topsy’.

Tuesday 1 November 2022
How the railways shaped London
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm GMT
1 hour 30 minutes
Online
Vicki Pipe. Vicki’s curiosity in railways lies with the stories of social change, and how public transport has altered our sense of space and surroundings. She is the co-creator of All The Stations, an online documentary project which saw her visit every single railway station in the UK and Ireland. She is the author of The Railway Adventures and Great British Railways: 50 Things To See and Do, and is also a regular columnist for the industry magazine Modern Railways, where she has a focus on Community Rail. When not writing about or travelling on trains Vicki works full-time in museums. She specialises in audience engagement and has worked with artists and communities from around the world.

Tuesday 8 November 2022
Society of Genealogists library London sources
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm GMT
1 hour 30 minutes
Online
Else Churchill. The Genealogist at the Society Genealogists in London and a has over 30 years of experience as a genealogist. Formerly a professional genealogical librarian and researcher, Else has worked for the SoG since 1994. She now leads on external liaison, representation, and communications; the Society’s education and publishing programmes as well as being the Society’s subject specialist.

It isn’t every week I find ancestors in all the collections with additions at Findmypast.

Suffolk: Baptism Index 1538-1911
Over 307,000 index records have been added to this existing collection. Covering 232 churches, too many to detail here, the additions for 1813-1900 are indicated as NEW at https://www.findmypast.com/articles/suffolk-baptism-index-place-list, which lists 576 churches in total. Northeast Suffolk has many additions; this release completes the set for 1813-1900 for Suffolk baptisms at Findmypast.
Thanks are due to the volunteers of the Suffolk Family History Society.

Staffordshire Baptisms
A further 141,000 records across 28 churches have been added to this existing collection, which now stands at 2.1
million records. Many include original images where residences and fathers’ occupations may be found.

Staffordshire Marriages
Another 70,000 records have been added to this collection from 19 churches, some going back to the 1560s.

 

Of Library and Archives Canada’s Co-Lab Challenges progress is reported on three since last month.

Summiting Mount Logan in 1925: Fred Lambart’s personal account of the treacherous climb and descent of the highest peak in Canada is 9% complete, up from 8% last month.

Travel posters in the Marc Choko collection is 98% complete, 96% last month.

Women in the War remains 0% complete.

Arthur Lismer’s Children’s Art Classes remains 0% complete.

John Freemont Smith remains 93% complete.

Canadian National Land Settlement Association remains 98% complete.

Molly Lamb Bobak is 93% complete, 92% last month.

Diary of François-Hyacinthe Séguin remains 99% complete.

George Mully: moments in Indigenous communities remains 0% complete.

Correspondence regarding First Nations veterans returning after the First World War remains 99% complete.

Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 remains 96% complete.

Legendary Train Robber and Prison Escapee Bill Miner remains 99% complete.

Japanese-Canadians: Second World War remains 0% complete.

The Call to Duty: Canada’s Nursing Sisters remains 92% complete.

Projects that remain 100% complete are no longer reported here.

Other unidentified Co-Lab activities not part of the Challenges may have happened.