Theory of Family Relativity™ Update — PLUS

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.

Findmypast Weekly Update

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.

Criminals in Aberdeenshire?

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

 

 

Advance Notice: Philippa Gregory’s Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History

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

British Newspaper Archive Update for January

There have been 41 additions in January and 33 last month. The earliest is for 1873.

The collection now totals 73,465,208  pages, up from 73,140,981 in the December update. Three new titles have been added. Those with more than 10,000 pages added are:

TITLE DATE RANGE
Biggleswade Chronicle 1970-1980
Cumbernauld News 1961-1991
Derry Journal 1991, 1997
Market Harborough Advertiser and Midland Mail
1952, 1969-1980, 1983-1988, 1990-1991
Mearns Leader
1913-1957, 1959-1975, 1981-1984, 1986-1989, 1991-1992
Motherwell Times
1961-1976, 1978
Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph 1986
Retford, Worksop, Isle of Axholme and Gainsborough News
1955-1972, 1976-1979, 1981, 1989-1990

A reminder that newspapers from a range of communities are included, not just a largest. In Leicestershire, aside from nine Leicester titles, there are papers from Ashby(-de-la-Zouch), Coalville, Hinckley, Loughborough, Market Harborough, Melton Mowbray, Oadby and Wigston.

Probate for England and Wales

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.

This Week’s Online Genealogy Events

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

 

 

New Ulster Historical Foundation Website

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.

 

Ancestry adds England and Wales, New Popular Edition Maps, 1940-1948

The New Popular Edition 1:50,000 maps were based on surveys conducted between 1914 and 1948 and published between 1945 and 1948. Available here in greyscale, they were a hybrid of the “Seventh Series” maps that would follow them in the 1950s and the Popular Edition maps from the 1920s.

A search found several places but couldn’t find Hackney! Navigating the collection is awkward; moving to an adjacent area map is impossible.

I prefer the NLS map facility.

Military Monday: Can You Help the DND Casualty Identification Program?

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 

Sunday Sundries

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Ontario Additions to Newspapers.com
Highlights are in the Bradford area:
The Witness. 34,777 pages for 1880–1985
The Bradford Times, 29,042 pages for 1991–2017
Bradford West Gwillimbury Topic. 11,375 pages, 2007–2018

TheGenealogist has added over 5 million individuals to its
Residential and Trade Directories Collection with dates from 1744 to 1899. The new records cover England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Channel Islands, along with a few internationally.

The Byward Market and the First Golden Age of Jewish Life in Ottawa

What can we learn from the history of pre-war Germany to the atmosphere today in the U.S.?
Catch a live interview at 1 pm on Tuesday with author David Dyzenhaus, a professor of law and philosophy at the University of Toronto. Registration is free.

Ice storms, January downpours, heavy snow, no snow: Diagnosing ‘warming winter syndrome’

Fluke: chance, chaos and why everything we do matters by Brian Klaas for the LSE at 1:30 pm: Monday 29 January LSE. https://www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2024/01/202401291830/fluke

Thanks to this week’s contributors: Anonymous,  Barbara May Di Mambro, Brenda Turner, gail benjafield, Gloria Tubman, Helen Gillespie, Joseph Denis Wayne Laverdure, Ken McKinlay, Margaret Dougherty, Maureen Guay, Nick Mcdonald, Robert Ross Halfyard, Sunday Thompson, Teresa,  Unknown.

https://childthemewp.com