Category: Uncategorized

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

What happened in 17th century England (a lot)

Porter Talk
On the occasion of Black History Month, the latest from the LAC blog.

eWeekly
If you’re not subscribed to the OGS/Ontario Ancestors eWeekly update why not? It’s free, packed with news, and arrives by email early each Saturday morning. This week it started with news that a presentation scheduled for that morning had to be postponed. Go here for the current and some past issues, see if it appeals and if so follow the link to get your own free subscription.

Guide to Online Toronto Historical Newspaper Resources
A blog post on what is, and isn’t, available online for the Toronto and area. Still waiting for the Toronto Telegram!

Young Canada : an illustrated magazine for young Canadians : 1894
The first article and more made me shudder!

Ancestry announces the availability of a new database, “Westminster, London, England, Electoral Registers, 1902-1970.” Compiled from City of Westminster Archives Centre files using text recognition, it includes records from the former Metropolitan Boroughs of Marylebone and Paddington.

The database, of 13,360,481 items, provides insights into the lives of registered voters during that period. The records contain information such as names, residences, and voting qualifications. Finding an entry opens up further avenues for research. Is the street still there? It’s easy to check successive years to see if they moved often, or perhaps they no longer appear. Why?

Who were the neighbours?  In some of the earlier volumes, the occupation of the individuals, and those of neighbours, are also mentioned. Cross check with the census, where available, and Booth’s Poverty Map for the earlier period to find out about the neighbourhood.

Due to the global conflicts of 1916-1917 and 1940-1944, registers were not produced during these years.

The collection includes 41 printed registers, some of which date back even further than 1902. These can be individually browsed, offering a unique opportunity to delve into the past and trace the footsteps of those who resided in Westminster well over a century ago.

Approximately 200 issues of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Quarterly (RCMP Quarterly) have been added to the collection at Canadiana.ca.

Included are Vol. 1, No. 1, for July 1933 to Vol. 30, No. 4 for April, 1965.

The journal, published by the RCMP includes reports of RCMP news, articles on the history and practices of the RCMP, accounts of social events and ceremonies, personal essays by RCMP members, and much more. For family history there is coverage of transfers, retirements, births, marriages, deaths and obituaries.

The whole collection is full-text searchable at https://www.canadiana.ca/view/sru.00004

If you have DNA data with MyHeritage, you likely received a notice that”MyHeritage has just refreshed the data for Theory of Family Relativity™, adding millions of new theories that can help explain your relationship to your DNA Matches.”

My refresh had seven new “theories”, all fourth or fifth cousins on my maternal side, sharing no more than 31.5 cM. I was able to confirm one, we shared 28.7 cM on 3 chromosomes with 12.8‎ cM the largest segment. That enabled me to correct an error from the tree that was attached, I had the wrong sister marrying in my matches line, and extend the tree forward.

My other matches are suspect owing to endogamy.

Here’s the PLUS.

What are the Odds v3 is coming “within the next month.” Find out about the many updates here.

This week FMP announces York and Kent record additions. At the time of writing the search function was misbehaving.

Find updated records for Anglican church parishes in the City of York, a total of 40,193 records. Transcriptions and images for 13,385 baptisms, 13,423 marriages and 13,385 burials are now available for St Mary Le Belfrey and St Michael Le Belfrey.

Moving south, find  National School Admission Registers & Log-Books 1870-1914, Kent — over 270,000 images and transcriptions.

Ancestry has added indexes with links to 32,051 records in the form of ledgers with printed column headings and handwritten entries.

A search returns name and sometimes trial date and trial place.  There are links to more complete transcriptions and to the original register image which may include the following information:

Name
Alias
Gender
Age
Birthplace
Trial date and city
Sentencing date and city
Year that crime was committed
City where crime was committed
Parents’ names
Spouse’s name.

The sources are the following original documents which may also be browsed.

Banchory Burgh: Extract Police Court Convictions, 1898-1911
Banchory Burgh: Police Court Register, 1893-1912, 1912-1922
Banff Burgh: Police Court Complaint By Joseph Walker and Related Court Papers, 1844-1845
Banff Burgh: Police CourtComplaints, 1850, 1863,
Banff Burgh: Police Court Conviction of Alexander Pirie, 1842
Banff Police Court Complaints and Convictions, 1841
Ellon Burgh: Police Court Register of Cases, 1895-1907, 1907-1922
Fraserburgh Police Court Book,
1881-1896, 1896-1904, 1904-1910, 1910-1915
Inverurie Burgh: Police Court Account of Fines Paid, 1868-1922
Oldmeldrum Burgh: Police Court Register of Crimes, 1894-1922
Oldmeldrum Burgh: Police Court Register of Fines Received, 1912-1922
Register of Criminal Proceedings in the Police Court of Peterhead, 1895-1909, 1909-1922
Rosehearty Burgh: Police Court Record of Proceedings, 1918-1922
Turriff Burgh: Police Court Papers, 1895-1922
Turriff Burgh: Register of CasesTried in the Police Court of Turriff, 1896-1917

This online event from The National Archives (UK) is not until 28 February, but best make your reservation early as registration is limited.

Did women really do nothing to shape England’s culture and traditions in nine centuries of turmoil, plague, famine, religious reform and the rise of empire and industry?

Philippa Gregory answers this question with accounts of female soldiers, guild widows, highwaywomen, pirates, miners and ship owners, international traders, theatre impresarios, runaway enslaved women, ‘female husbands’, social campaigners and rebels.

Normal Women is a radical retelling of our nation’s story. This is not just the rise and fall of kings and the occasional queen, but of social and cultural change, powered by the determination, persistence and effectiveness of women – from 1066 to modern times.

Philippa Gregory will be in conversation with Eleanor Janega.

Details are at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/philippa-gregorys-normal-women-900-years-of-making-history-tickets-753775802717

On Monday the BYU Library streamed a presentation, the first of three, on probate in England and Wales. Part 1 deals with the Prerogative Courts of Canterbury and York. Vivian Brown’s explanation of how to go about finding the record you need is a model of clarity.

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 30 January

2:30 pm: Identifying Unknown Parents or Grandparents Through DNA, by Mike Sainsbury for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/9721997

Wednesday 31 January

2 pm: Genealogy Institutes: A Deep Dive Into Dynamic Education, by Cyndi Ingle for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/genealogy-institutes-a-deep-dive-into-dynamic-education/

Thursday 1 February

12:30 pm: The Blaeu Atlas of Scotland, by Chris Fleet for the National Library of Scotland.
https://www.nls.uk/whats-on/treasures-the-blaeu-atlas-of-scotland/

6:30 pm:  DNA Matching Made Easy on MyHeritage, by Shannon Combs-Bennett for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/9938388

7 pm: AI and Genealogy: Trouble Ahead? byThomas MacEntee for the Ontario Genealogical Society. Free to members.
https://ogs.on.ca/february-webinar-ai-and-genealogy-trouble-ahead-thomas-macentee/

Friday 2 February

2 pm: African American Research 101 – Post-Civil War to the Present (Part 1 of 3), by Ari Wilkins for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/african-american-research-101-post-civil-war-to-the-present-part-1-of-3/

Saturday 3 February

5:30 am: Family History: Using Second World War Army Records, by Will Butler for The National Archives (UK).
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/family-history-using-second-world-war-army-records-tickets-753889522857

10 am: Delve into the Lives of Your Middlesex County Ancestors Through the 1931 Census, by Kathryn Lake Hogan for OGS Middlesex Branch.
https://streamyard.com/watch/rf2KQtVna3Pm

2 pm: Topic: Surprises in the Stacks, An Overview of the Private Collections Program at the Simcoe County Archives, by Jenn Huddleston for OGS Simcoe County Branch.
https://simcoe.ogs.on.ca/branch-meetings

As the Ulster Historical Foundation’s Gillian Hunt and Fintan Mullan, are not conducting a speaking tour in North America this year, they will be in Australia and New Zealand, you may not hear about the new UHF website.

Even without being a member, there is a range of free resources conveniently available. Many are obscure and free to view. Check under the Start Searching tab.

The Casualty Identification Program, part of the DND Directorate of History and Heritage, exists to identify the remains of Canadian war dead so that they may be buried with their name, by their regiment, and in the presence of family.

Family members of the Canadian military whose final resting place is not known can now help in the program’s investigations.  The Casualty ID Program has created an online registration form that may help by providing valuable information about the soldier and relevant family information, such as genealogy. 

Register to help identify Canadian war dead with no known grave.

Check out  Casualty Identification Program  for further information. It includes a section on DNA explaining that they use mitochondrial and Y-STR data. I’m hoping that page, from 2023-01-20, is out of date. By now the program should surely be exploiting autosomal DNA, along with mitochondrial and Y-DNA as is done in the corresponding US programme.