The Guild of One-Name Studies held a seminar, “Working the Land,” last weekend. These presentations are freely available for two weeks.

Up With The Lark – Agricultural Labourers, by Ian Waller

All Roads Lead to Smithfield – Drovers and Cattle Dealers, by Ian Waller

How Agriculture Saved the Nation in WW1, by Cynthia Brown.

Choose from selected free online events in the next five days. All times are ET except as noted. Assume registration in advance is required; check so you’re not disappointed. Find out about many more mainly US events at Conference Keeper at https://conferencekeeper.org

Tuesday 27 February

2 pm: Boosting Your Family History Discoveries with MyHeritage DNA, by Gal Zrihen for MyHeritage and Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/boosting-your-family-history-discoveries-with-myheritage-dna/

Wednesday 28 February

2:30 pm: Women’s Work: Lives in Stitches, by Naomi Tarrant for the Guild of One-Name Studies.
https://one-name.org/livesinstitches/

Thursday 29 February

RootsTech Day 1

6:30 pm: Identification of the Romanov Russian Royal Family, by Suni M. Edson for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/9938469

Friday 1 March

RootsTech Day 2

2 pm: Telling Your Family’s Story with MyHeritage’s AI Features, by Janna Helshtein for MyHeritage and Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/telling-your-familys-story-with-myheritages-ai-features/

Saturday 2 March

RootsTech Day 3

New members can get 50% off a Legacy Family Tree Webinar membership through Saturday ( February 29 – March 2, 2024).

Also, Legacy software is available for $20 US (usually $34.95 US) through Saturday (February 29 – March 2, 2024).

I understand the discounts may already be available.
https://familytreewebinars.com/rootstech24/

 

The brides of Second World War Canadian servicemen who came to Canada, mainly in 1946, numbered 43,454. Reading their obituaries, you are impressed with how they became a significant part of Canada’s postwar landscape, shaping our social and cultural fabric. Sadly, their era is coming to a close.

This post is an update and extension of one in March 2020
where I estimated the median age of war brides as 24 when they arrived. A few were much older, some younger.

In 2016, I estimated 5,500 survivors. In 2020 , a range of 1,000 to 1,800 living war brides with media age 98.

A sample of 50 obits published in Canadian newspapers as late as 2023 confirms the median birth year remains 1922.

The number of survivors depends strongly on the age distribution of the initial cohort, particularly those who were the youngest.  That has never been released. Based on a Canadian life table for females born in 1921, my estimate is there are no more than two hundred war bride survivors in 2024.

The median number of children born to each war bride mentioned in the 50 obits is three, ranging from zero to seven.

The median number of grandchildren is six, ranging from zero to 15. Six of the war brides had ten or more grandchildren. On average each war bride child had two children, about the same as the population at large.

The median number of great-grandchildren mentioned is nine, they are still being born.

This post estimated the number of their descendants “in round figures, 2%, probably less, of Canada’s population in 2020 are WW2 war brides and their descendants.” Given that immigrants now outnumber births in Canada, and the calculation does not account for those who do not live in Canada, 2% remains a reasonable estimate, certainly not ten percent as was at one time claimed.

On Monday, 26 February, you have the luxury (or challenge) of choice.

At 7 pm, Sudbury District Branch invites everyone to well-known speaker Dave Obee‘s presentation Canadiana’s genealogical treasures.
Dave explains it this way, “The Canadiana website has a vast amount of material for family historians, but not many use it or even know about it. Canadiana’s rich genealogy and local history collection includes local and family histories, telling of pioneering, settlement, and local government in early Canada. The focus on individuals and communities makes the collection an ideal genealogical resource, helping people explore the experiences of previous generations and leaving clues about their wider social and cultural background. Related documents include voters lists, eulogies, directories and gazettes, biographies, civil service lists, published diaries, church magazines and pamphlets, militia lists, publications from professional and trade societies, school publications, and more. This talk is your guide to mining the 40 million pages of primary-source documents.”
https://sudbury.ogs.on.ca/events/using-canadiana/

At 7:30 pm, popular presenter Thomas MacEntee will be returning to OGS Toronto Branch with his presentation Building a Genealogy Research Toolbox. You’ll learn about some of the most important online resources for genealogical research and how to organize them into an easy-to-access and portable virtual toolbox.
After Thomas’ talk Branch member Beth Adams will share her husband’s grandfather’s story and how it was discovered that he had been a British Home Child in the presentation Grandpa’s Secret.
https://torontofamilyhistory.org/

Learn about the company’s history and the vision that inspires it.

 

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Pam Ayres
Audio (18 minutes)

Microsoft Copilot Necessitates Some Tough Conversations
Food for thought for the organizers of the BIFHSGO Writing Competition that require you to affirm that “I declare that my entry is not the work of an AI “natural language” tool (like ChatGPT).”

Discovering the neighbourhoods of our ancestors in 1861
Using Charles Dickens to illustrate the addition of the 1861 census records for England to their Map Explorer™ tool.

Ancestry and Enhanced Images
Yet another helpful tip from Ken MacKinlay on his FamilyTreeKnots blog. Scroll down in the left rand column to subscribe in the “Get new posts by email” box.

 

 

RootsTech offers 16 sessions classified as intermediate/
advanced/professional. Here’s my selection for Saturday, 2 March.

3:30 pm ET: From The Ashes: The 1922 Irish Public Record Office Fire

David Ryan
The destruction of the Public Records Office in June 1922 at the outset of the Irish Civil War has cast a long shadow over Irish genealogical research. Anyone who has sought their Irish ancestors has likely encountered frustration at the gaps in available records caused by this disaster. But how much do we really know about the events that caused the fire and were all our records really lost? This talk will explore the background to the Public Record Office fire and address some of the myths that have grown up around it. It will also examine how recent advances in conservation techniques and modern technology are allowing the recovery of some records previously believed lost.

5 pm ET: What’s in a name? DNA, surnames and one-name studies

Debbie Kennett
Surnames provide a fascinating insight into the past, and each surname has its own story to tell. In this talk you will get hints and tips on using techniques such as surname mapping to pinpoint the possible geographical origin of your surname and learn how DNA testing can help your surname research. The whole-surname approach can sometimes provide breakthroughs that would not be possible by restricting your research to your own family tree. A one-name study provides a unique opportunity for a family historian to become the worldwide expert on his or her chosen surname. Participants should have a good understanding of basic genealogical research before attending this session.

To put it another way: —

Irish flames, a tragic pyre,
Ryan seeks whispers from the fire.
Ashes hold truths, yet to unbind,
Record fragments, lost with time.

Surnames sing with whispered past,
Kennett unravels secrets fast.
Mapping tales, where bloodlines start,
DNA entwines forgotten art.

RootsTech’s lore, a guiding gleam,
From fiery loss, new branches teem.
Through names and fragments, spirits soar,
The past reborn, forevermore.

If you haven’t registered for the free online attendance, start at rootstech.org .

In case you’re wondering, this verse, and the previous ones, are from Gemini.

A recent webinar motivated me to search my family tree database for deaths lacking probate information.  One of the first after 1858 was Lucy Derby, nee Buckingham. The portrait, by her husband William, is ca 1820.

As I had her year of death, 1862, finding the calendar entry for her probate at https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/ was simple and free. You can also access it through Ancestry, Findmypast, and MyHeritage.

The next step is to get a copy of the will. It gives more detail, possibly mentioning relatives you didn’t know about. Is there at indication there were favourites among the children, or had they received their share previously?

Using the information from the calendar and paying £1.50 online, it’s little challenge to place the order with the PRO from the form in the righthand column. The response isn’t instant. For Lucy, the will image arrived 40 hours later. Here’s a snippet.

As you can see, in this case, the image was clean.

Another option, if the will was probated by 1925 and at the Principal Registry, is to view the image on a digital microfilm available from FamilySearch.

The 35 mm microfilm reel collection, 1025 of them, is at Record copy wills for the Principal Registry, 1858-1925. It’s only for the Principal Registry. If the calendar entry indicates the will was probated elsewhere, and there were more than 50 of them, FamilySearch can’t help.

You can use the link above to find the correct file. Unless you’re at a Family History Centre or affiliate library, you’ll see a key above a camera icon on the right-hand side. That means a trip to access the images, which will likely cost more in bus fare than online ordering. An advantage is you don’t have to wait.

Some of the calendar entries have a handwritten number against them. For Lucy it’s 656. They correspond to those at the top right of some of the record copy wills page and are in sequence, so help locate the will you want. With practice, you can find a will in 10 – 15 minutes, then download a copy to a USB drive; I chose to print a PDF to file.

Below is the image I found from FamilySearch corresponding to the Lucy Derby one above. Notice the bleed-through and fuzzy definition. It’s greyscale rather than the processed b/w image you get from the PRO. Could that be why the different styles of “I Lucy”!

Beyond the arcane art of paleography

Once you get an image of the original will there remains the challenge of interpreting the stylized handwriting. Here’s my experience using Transkribus and Gemini on the Lucy Derby will, using the copy received from the PRO. I’m following the procedure outlined by Mark Humphries in this article. Here’s how.

First, I had to convert the pdf to a jpg which I did using the Windows snipping tool.

Second, I fed the resulting jpg to Transkribus, That requires a free registration. I used the free public AI model for handwritten text recognition called The English Eagle. You can drag and drop the jpg file to upload, It took a while, but eventually produced the following transciption.

npre dtea Deibri of a 9q emuaburga Street Nlegents Part d in ths darisk of Sount ofaurias in the County of Sigbloor Vecow bo Sorlare tais to be my last wll and Eostamout o will and brotucatas to baugator Eliso Charlotte Doity tae waole of my coutcdols fumuture books plate cama glos and linen for ae own use and boufit aboolutely and I oqucate all my paintings ant Grawings to my fou Alfrob Edomas Dorby fictae will that all mnouies belonging to me waitder standing in mot mame we tt public funts or lout on mortgage or inestos in any oar way of tue and tayable to lur seall te cofually Givioes among my oi Mllilbron namesy alfres Tlomas dorby Charles Heury deiby Carolius n bactdoffuer Romea sloom Eliea Charlotte dorby and qnatiloa Dacad Dorby commonly calles Matilba Saraa Chatfiols after all funoral and an steos mosssoly espoures are fai tao amount of toe zoobaitive portions mng tois taughtoss Garolune due optratiloa stazall to to acls in tuust for them by my Eecutors and pais to taem (witaout interest eeveially by annial sustalmonts of twouty pounss or in any other way that my lod rwhose way foom mow atvisable for waira paycuouts tae sroipts of my on saud Baugators phall to a sufficient Gisraargo of appoint my fou Edacles oboury Derby my Executor and my dangater Eliba Caarlotte Forby mn Exccutis to rarry out tao provisious of tais my last will and Eestamont Auwitcesss wassoof a eave aorounto not my danb and beal tdisteraty sovoutd bay of ercarrd in Ade your out taoutans oigal auntis and onty one in te prosure of Louisa Higby 9 Usnaburgh Street Lucy Derby Ps. James Part M. D.7 Camden Road Villas In Her Majesty’s Court of Probate The Principal Regishy Ie the Goods of Lucy Derby deceased. od Louisa Rigli of Aumber 9 Benaburga Atroot Regentoa Baik in the County of Orciolesoss offinstor make oata that I am out of the onbsrrting witnesses to tae last Will ane Eestamout of dury an oty lats of Smbor 9 Osuatinga Stroot Dlegonts Saik in tac Bauoao Saint curcas in AaE County of Sioolosa Witow Screases the oar will Boing nos accounts amusors boaning sate the twouty oovouta say of an Splated ine te ytar one touoans eight Eunoros and pixty one ans re tho paid costatus coorutot the raw Will ou tas day of tas bats facceof by oigining or name at the foot or our tasoof ans offeccing hos sode taruto at tale pams now alspoas taosson in the provoure of me aut of Jtamnts ofart the other suboribes wuituers tavreto bota of no baug presout at tae saint in Fuit aut we reocouton attoots aud subscutes tas sais will in the freru.

Don’t despair!

Third, I fed this text into Gemini, using the prompt

“The following is a OCR transcription using handwriting recognition of an 1862 UK will with many errors. Use pattern recognition and prediction to correct the OCR errors while maintaining the word order, syntax, spelling,
capitalization, and grammar of the original text. Enclose any words you change in square brackets in your response:”

The result was

npre [Note: Unsure what this abbreviation means]
dtea [Date]
[Decree] of [a] 9 Osnaburgh Street Regents Park
d in the parish of Saint Pancras in the County of Middlesex Widow do declare this to be my last will and testament. I will and bequeath to daughter Eliza Charlotte Derby the whole of my household furniture books plate china glass and linen for her own use and benefit absolutely and I bequeath all my paintings and drawings to my son Alfred Thomas Derby.
I further will that all monies belonging to me whether standing in my name in the public funds or lent on mortgage or invested in any other way be true and payable to her shall be equally divided among my six children namely Alfred Thomas Derby Charles Henry Derby Caroline E. Blacklockflower Emma Bloom Eliza Charlotte Derby and Matilda Sarah Chatfield. After all funeral and other necessary expenses are paid the amount of the respective portions going to my daughters Caroline E. Blacklockflower Emma Bloom Matilda Sarah Chatfield shall be held in trust for them by my Executors and paid to them (without interest) severally by annual installments of twenty pounds or in any other way that my said Executors may deem more advisable for their payments. The receipts of my said daughters shall be a sufficient discharge. I appoint my son Edward Osborne Derby my Executor and my daughter Eliza Charlotte Derby my Executrix to carry out the provisions of this my last will and testament.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty-seventh day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one in the presence of
Louisa Higby 9 Osnaburgh Street
Lucy Derby Ps.
James Part M. D. 7 Camden Road Villas

[Her Majesty’s Court of Probate]
[The Principal Registry]
[In] the Goods of Lucy Derby deceased.
I Louisa Rigby of Number 9 Osnaburgh Street Regents Park in the County of Middlesex spinster make oath that I am one
of the subscribing witnesses to the last Will and Testament of Lucy Derby late of Number 9 Osnaburgh Street Regents Park in the Borough Saint Pancras in the County of Middlesex Widow deceased the said will being now hereunto annexed bearing date the twenty-seventh day of December in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one and being the said deceased executed the said Will on the day of the date thereof by signing her name at the foot or end thereof as the same now appears thereon in the presence of me and of James Part the other subscribing witness thereto both of us being present at the same time And that the said deceased was at the time of the execution of the said will in sound mind memory and understanding.

Names of people and places are often the most difficult to interpret, as well as being what genealogists look for. The only significant errors are son Charles Henry Derby who became Edward Osborne Derby as executor, and Blacklockflower which should be Bachoffner.

Comment

Although not perfect I’m very impressed. I’m hoping for good news from RootsTech about automated handwriting transcription across whole collections of handwritten materials.

 

There are some interesting UK additions this week.

England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment
This rolling release sees more than 62,000 additional records from TNA, making over 5 million records of criminals who passed through the justice system in England and Wales between 1770 and 1935.

Find out where they stood trial and when, what sentence they were given, and more depending on the type of record. You may find names, aliases, birth year and place, height, complexion, hair and eye colour, marks, and more.

Teachers’ Registration Council Registers
There are 612 new records, plus a new search field for ‘teacher in training.’ Find out where your teacher ancestor may have taught.

1871 England, Wales & Scotland Census
Find improvements to over 22 million census records, adding searchable fields for both birthplace and occupation.

RootsTech offers 16 sessions classified as intermediate/
advanced/professional. Here’s my selection from the five available on Friday, 1 March.

3:30 pm ET:  Unearthing the treasures in the Irish Registry of Deeds

Natalie Bodle
The Irish Registry of Deeds based in Dublin has been in existence since 1708 and manages the legal registration of property. Less well known is that it is also a repository for genealogical treasures such as wills, property leases, marriage agreements, mortgages and trusts and that this archive has remained intact since inception. The millions of names in these records include the principal parties to the deed and also wider family members and witnesses. Lists of lessees and even those with neighbouring properties may be found. It is also possible to find records by location. Many of these records are available as microfilms on the Family Search website although they are not indexed there which means they are a lesser-known and under-used source. This webinar will cover different methods of searching within and accessing these valuable records.

3:30 pm ET: Beyond Parish Registers: Tracing your Anglican Ancestors in England

Nicholas Dixon
The majority of the population of England belonged to the Church of England from the sixteenth century until recent times. However, discussions of the role of religion in family history tend to focus on membership of nonconformist denominations. Hence genealogists can overlook the many ways in which ancestors might have participated in Anglican activity beyond the basic facts of being baptised, married or buried according to Anglican rites. This webinar will discuss the varieties of Anglican commitment, including confirmation, receiving communion, Anglican schooling, Anglican societies and parochial ministry. It will also offer advice on finding records of such activities in archival repositories and online resources.

5 pm ET: Brick Walls! Real? or Created Through Faulty Research?

Barbara Vines Little
As researchers, at some time—usually many times, we will find ourselves facing the proverbial brick wall. Some of these brick walls will, because of record loss or other reasons, be difficult, if not impossible, to overcome. We create others ourselves because we fail to understand a record or the law that created it, believe what we should not, or simply fail to look in the right place at the right time. This lecture looks at some of these pitfalls and false trails and suggests ways to avoid them and/or to uncover new leads that may take your research around them.

To put it another way: —

Irish deeds, a hidden store,
Bodle unearths tales of yore.
Wills and leases, whispers rise,
Families bound by legal ties.

Dixon delves where Anglicans trod,
Beyond the parish, seeking God.
Communion, school, the faithful way,
Their lives in records on display.

Brick walls loom, a daunting test,
Vines Little guides, dispels the rest.
False trails and pitfalls lie in wait,
Keen eyes reveal a clearer fate.

If you haven’t registered for the free online attendance, start at rootstech.org