31 July 2015

Deceased Online adds Camberwell Cemeteries

Camberwell Old  and New Cemeteries have been added to the Deceased Online collection bringing to a total of 700,000 the number of records for Southwark in the company database.

The Southwark area covers Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, Borough, Walworth, Peckham, Camberwell, Peckham Rye, Nunhead and Dulwich.

Camberwell Old Cemetery opened in 1856 originally as a burial ground for St Giles Camberwell and was expanded in 1874 to help Nunhead Cemetery cater for the demand for burial space for the whole area. It is still an active cemetery part of which is a nature reserve.

Camberwell New Cemetery was opened in 1927 to cater for the huge demand for burial space. All the records are now available to search online.

There are over 300,000 people buried in Camberwell Old and Camberwell New cemeteries and a total of 700,000 for Southwark including the "Magnificent Seven" Nunhead Cemetery.

... based on a press release from Deceased Online.

Lost Cousins Newsletter

Peter Calver just issued his latest Lost Cousins newsletter. It's a worthwhile read for genealogists with British interest. Find it at http://lostcousins.com/newsletters2/latejul15news.htm and subscribe if you like it.

Findmypast weekly update adds Norfolk Parish Registers and more

Look at the huge list of parishes in Findmypast's new browse collection of Norfolk parish records and you'll see there's a bonus, quite a few parishes from East Suffolk. There are more than 5,300 pages of baptism, marriage, bans registers and burial records from Church of England parishes. I recommend searching the Norfolk Transcription Archive first which may well save some time. Do look at the image of the original to check that the transcription is good.
Acle, Alburgh, Aldborough, Alderford, Anmer, Arminghall, Ashby (Suffolk), Ashby St Mary, Ashill, Ashmanhaugh, Attleborough, Attlebridge, Aylmerton, Aylsham, Baconsthorpe, Bagthorpe, Bale Alias Bathley, Banningham, Barford, Barmer, Barney, Barnham Broom, With Bickerston, Kimberley & Carleton Forehoe, Barningham Town Alias Winter, Barton Turf, Bawburgh, Bawdeswell, Bedingham, Beeston Next Mileham, Beeston Regis, Beeston St Lawrence, Beetley, Beighton With Moulton, Belaugh, Bergh Apton, Bessingham, Besthorpe, Bexwell, Billingford With Thorpe Parva (Near Diss), Binham, Bintry, Bittering Parva, Blakeney, Blickling, Blo Norton, Blofield, Blundeston With Flixton, Bodham, Bodney, Bradwell, Bramerton, Brampton, Brandiston, Brandon Parva, Bressingham, Brettenham, Bridgham With Roudham, Briningham & Briningham Benefice, Brinton, Brisley, Briston, Brockdish, Brooke, Broome, Brunstead, Burgh Castle, Burgh Next Aylsham, Burgh Parva, Burlingham St Andrew, Burlingham St Peter, Burnham Norton, Burnham Overy, Burnham Sutton & Burnham Ulph, Burnham Thorpe, Burnham Westgate, Burston, Buxton, Bylaugh, Bylaugh & Foxley, Caister By Yarmouth, Caistor St Edmund With Markshall, Cantley, Carbrooke, Carleton Forehoe With Crownthorpe, Carleton St Peter, Carlton Colville, Castle Acre, Catfield, Cawston, Claxton, Cley Next The Sea, Cockley Cley, Cockthorpe, Colby, Colkirk With Oxwick, Colney, Coltishall, Colton, Congham, Corton, Costessey, Coston, Cranwich With Didlington & Colveston, Cranworth With Letton, Crimplesham, Cringleford, Cromer, Crostwick, Crostwight, Crownthorpe, Denton, Denver, Deopham With Hackford, Dersingham, Dickleburgh With Langmere, Didlington With Colveston, Dilham, Diss, Ditchingham, Docking, Downham Market With Bexwell, Drayton, Dunton With Doughton, Earlham St Mary & Earlham With Bowthorpe, Earsham, East Barsham, East Beckham With West Beckham, East Bilney, East Bradenham, East Carleton, East Dereham, East Harling, East Lexham, East Raynham, East Rudham, East Ruston, East Walton, East Winch, East Wretham With West Wretham, Easton, Eaton (St Andrew & Christchurch), Ellingham, Elsing, Fakenham, Felbrigg, Felmingham, Felthorpe, Feltwell, Field Dalling, Filby, Fincham, Fishley, Forncett St Mary, Forncett St Peter, Foulden, Foulsham, Foxley, Framingham Pigot, Freethorpe With Wickhampton, Frenze, Frettenham, Fring, Fritton (Norfolk), Fritton (Suffolk), Fulmodeston With Croxton, Garboldisham, Garveston With Thuxton, Gateley, Geldeston, Gillingham, Gisleham, Gooderstone, Great Bircham With Bircham Newton & Bircham Tofts, Great Cressingham, Great Dunham, Great Ellingham, Great Fransham, Great Hautbois, Great Hockham With Little Hockham, Great Massingham, Great Melton, Great Plumstead, Great Ryburgh, Great Snoring, Great Walsingham, Great Yarmouth Borough, Great Yarmouth, St Nicholas With St Peter, St John, St Andrew, St James, St Paul & St Luke, Gresham, Gressenhall, Guist, Gunthorpe, Gunton (Suffolk), Gunton With Hanworth, Hackford Near Wymondham, Hackford With Whitwell, Hainford, Halvergate With Tunstall, Hanworth, Happisburgh, Hardingham, Hardwick, Hargham, Harpley, Haveringland, Hedenham, Helhoughton, Hellesdon, Hellington, Hemblington, Hempnall and The Hempnall Group Of Parishes, Hempstead By Holt, Hempstead With Eccles and Lessingham, Hempton, Hemsby, Herringfleet, Hethel, Hethersett, Hevingham, Heydon With Irmingland, Hickling, Hilborough, Hilgay, Hindolveston, Hindringham, Hingham, Hockwold Cum Wilton, Hoe, Holkham, Holme Hale, Holme Next The Sea, Holt, Honing, Hopton, Horningtoft, Horsey, Horstead, Houghton , On The Hill, Houghton St Giles, Houghton-Next-Harpley, Hoveton St John, Hoveton St Peter, Hunworth, Ickburgh, Illington, Ingham, Ingoldisthorpe, Intwood With Keswick, Irstead, Kelling, Kenninghall, Kessingland, Ketteringham, Kettlestone, Kimberley, King's Lynn, St Margaret With St Nicholas, Kirby Cane, Kirkley St Peter & St John (Suffolk), Kirstead With Langhale, Knettishall, Lammas With Little Hautbois, Langford, Langham, Larling, Lessingham, Letheringsett, Limpenhoe & Southwood, Litcham, Little Cressingham, Little Dunham, Little Ellingham, Little Fransham, Little Massingham, Little Melton, Little Plumstead, Little Ryburgh, Little Snoring, Little Walsingham, Loddon, Longham, Lound, Lowestoft, St John, Lowestoft, St Margaret, Ludham, Lyng, Marham, Marlingford, Marsham, Matlaske, Mattishall Burgh, Mautby, Melton Constable, Methwold, Metton, Middleton, Mileham, Morley St Botolph With St Peter, Morningthorpe With Fritton, Morston, Morton-On-The-Hill, Moulton St Mary, Mundford, Mundham, Mutford, Narborough, Narford, Neatishead, Necton, Needham, Newton By Castle Acre, Newton Flotman, North Barningham, North Barsham, North Creake, North Pickenham, North Runcton, North Walsham, North Wootton, Northrepps, Northwold, Norwich, St Andrew, Norwich, St Augustine, Norwich, St Benedict, Norwich, St Clement & St Edmund, Norwich, St Etheldreda, Norwich, St George Colegate, Norwich, St George Tombland & St Simon & St Jude, Norwich, St Giles, Norwich, St Gregory, Norwich, St Helen, Norwich, St James With Pockthorpe, Norwich, St John De Sepulchre, Norwich, St John The Baptist At Maddermarket, Norwich, St John Timberhill With All Saints & St Michael At Thorn, Norwich, St Julian, Norwich, St Lawrence, Norwich, St Margaret & St Swithin, Norwich, St Martin At Oak, Norwich, St Martin At Palace, Norwich, St Mary Coslany, Norwich, St Mary In The Marsh, Norwich, St Michael At Plea, Norwich, St Michael Coslany & St Martin At Oak, Norwich, St Peter Hungate, Norwich, St Peter Mancroft, Norwich, St Peter Parmentergate, Norwich, St Peter Southgate, Norwich, St Saviour, Norwich, St Stephen, Norwich, St Swithin, Old Buckenham, Old Catton, Old Hunstanton (St Mary's), Old Lakenham (St John With All Saints), Ormesby St Margaret With Scratby, Ormesby St Michael, Oulton (Suffolk), Overstrand, Ovington, Oxborough, Oxnead, Oxwick, Pakefield, Panxworth, Pentney, Plumstead By Holt, Potter Heigham, Pulham St Mary Magdalene Alias Pulham Market, Pulham St Mary The Virgin, Rackheath, Ranworth, Reedham, Reepham With Kerdiston, Repps With Bastwick, Reymerston, Riddlesworth With Gasthorpe, Ridlington, Ringland, Rockland All Saints With St Andrew, Rockland St Mary With Hellington, Rockland St Peter, Rollesby, Roudham, Roughton, Roydon Near Diss, Roydon Near Lynn, Runhall With Coston, Runham, Runton, Rushall, Rushford, Rushmere, Ryston With Roxham, Saham Toney, Salhouse, Salle, Salthouse, Saxlingham By Holt, Saxlingham Nethergate With Saxlingham Thorpe, Scarning, Sco Ruston, Scole, Scoulton With Wood Rising, Sculthorpe, Sea Palling, Sedgeford, Seething, Sharrington, Shelton With Hardwick, Shereford, Shernbourne, Shimpling, Shipdham, Shotesham, All Saints, Shotesham, St Mary & St Botolph With St Martin, Shouldham, Shouldham Thorpe, Shropham, Sisland, Skeyton, Sloley, Smallburgh, Snetterton, Snettisham, Somerleyton, South Creake, South Lopham With North Lopham, South Lynn, All Saints, South Pickenham, South Raynham, South Walsham, St Lawrence With St Mary, South Wootton, Southacre, Southburgh, Southery, Southwood, Sparham, Spixworth, Sprowston & Beeston St Andrew, Stalham, Stanfield, Stanford, Stanhoe With Barwick, Starston, Stibbard, Stiffkey, Stockton, Stody, Stoke Ferry, Stokesby With Herringby, Stratton St Mary, Stratton St Michael With St Peter, Stratton Strawless, Strumpshaw, Suffield, Surlingham St Mary & St Saviour, Sustead, Sutton, Swaffham, Swafield, Swainsthorpe, Swannington, Swanton Morley With Worthing, Swanton Novers, Swardeston, Syderstone, Tasburgh, Tatterford, Tattersett, Taverham, Thelveton, Themelthorpe, Thetford, St Mary, Thornage, Thornham, Thorpe Abbotts, Thorpe Episcopi, Thorpe Hamlet, Threxton, Thrigby, Thurgarton, Thurning, Thursford, Thurton, Thuxton, Thwaite St Mary, Tibenham, Titchwell, Tittleshall With Godwick, Tivetshall St Mary & St Margaret, Topcroft, Trimingham, Trowse, Tunstall, Tunstead, Tuttington, Twyford, Upper Sheringham, Upton With Fishley, Wacton, Walcot, Warham, Waterden, Watton, Waxham, Weasenham All Saints & Weasenham St Peter, Welborne, Wellingham, Wells Next The Sea, Wendling, West Barsham, West Bilney, West Bradenham, West Dereham, West Harling, West Lexham, West Lynn, West Raynham, West Rudham, West Somerton, West Tofts, West Winch, Westacre, Westfield, Weston Longville, Westwick, Weybourne, Whinburgh, Whissonsett, Whitwell, Wickhampton, Wicklewood, Wighton, Wilby, Winterton With East Somerton, Witton (Near North Walsham), Wiveton, Wood Dalling, Wood Norton & Swanton Novers, Wood Rising, Woodbastwick, Woodton, Worstead, Wramplingham, Wretton, Wroxham, Wymondham, Yaxham, Yelverton With Alpington

Also this week:
- over 27,000 records of British Army schoolchildren and schoolmasters 1803-1932, students and staff members at the Royal Military Asylum (RMA) in Chelsea or the Royal Hibernian Military School (RHMS) in Dublin.
- nearly 10,000 records for Royal Hibernian Military School admissions 1847-1932  pertain specifically to students enrolled at the Royal Hibernian Military School in Dublin, Ireland.
- over 92,000 new articles and two brand new titles in the Irish Newspaper Update. The new titles are the Missionary Herald of The Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the Tyrone Constitution. The Irish newspaper collection now contains 74 different titles from all over Ireland and over 9.2 million articles covering 231 years of Irish history (1719-1950).

30 July 2015

British Newspaper Archive Additions for July

Don't overlook the thousands of pages of articles added to the British Newspaper Archive this month. Check out this list for the past 30 days. They should also be accessible through a Findmypast subscription.

WDYTYA UK

WDYTYA Magazine has posted the schedule of episodes for the upcoming UK series of WDYTYA? on the BBC. Again most of these people are unfamiliar to me, which never stopped the episodes being interesting.

13 August: Paul Hollywood
20 August: Jane Seymour
27 August: Derek Jacobi
3 September: No episode
10 September: Jerry Hall
17 September: Gareth Malone
24 September: Anne Reid
1 October: Frank Gardner
8 October: Anita Rani
15 October: Mark Gatiss
22 October: Frances de la Tour

There are 10 episodes in this series, twice the number in the current US TLC series, which is the shortest they've scheduled. This US series features: Ginnifer Goodwin; J.K. Rowling (originally broadcast in the UK in August 2011); Alfre Woodard;  Bryan Cranston and Tom Bergeron.

Project Canterbury

Project Canterbury is a free archive of out-of-print Anglican texts and related modern documents online since 2003.
I stumbled on it while checking for new material on the Rangitane, a ship sunk in the Pacific in 1940 on which my father was an engineer. What I found was a transcription of "One Man's War as Remembered after 40 Years" by the Reverend Ernest Robert Ball, SSM relating his experiences accompanying children evacuated from Britain in 1940 to Australia under the CORB program, on the Rangitane and as a prisoner of war at sea and in Germany after it was sunk.
There's a collection of Canadian Anglican Resources. Use the search facility to query this extensive Project Canterbury collection.

29 July 2015

Internet Genealogy: Aug/Sept 2015

Here is the table of contents for the new issue with the articles I found particularly worthwhile bolded.

Rich Resources: Online State Archives
Carol Richey reveals the wealth of resources you can uncover in online archives

Seven Resources For World War II Reunion Groups and Associations
Jennifer Holik shares her findings on websites that carry on the memory of those who fought in the US Military in WWII

Digitization Project: Snapshots from The Korean War!
Tony Bandy examines a great resource for anyone researching Korean War ancestors

Uncovering the Bairnsfather Story
Gabrielle Morgan discovers a link to her family in an historic Australian newspaper article that leads her to uncover the real story behind her aunt’s marriage 

National Folklore Collection of Ireland: Schools’ Collection
Joe Grandinetti shows how a 1930s homework assignment in Ireland captured the words and wisdom of elders for posterity

The Wellington Boulder
Constance R. Cherba digs down to find the secrets behind a unique gravestone

Know Your Historical Societies and Find Your Ancestors
Amanda Epperson reveals that there is much more to historical societies than you think

Published and Digital Record Sources of the Revolutionary
Era: A State-by-State List
David A. Norris gives us a peek at some of the resources available for researching Revolutionary War ancestors

Four Essential Keys for Genealogy Backups! 
Tony Bandy reminds us that there is nothing more important than preserving your research work with a diligent backup plan

The Back Page
Never Give Up On a Difficult Ancestor!


LAC Profiles Yousuf Karsh and Nursing Sisters

New from LAC a Flickr Album on the Photography of Yousuf Karsh with 28 of his portraits to go along with a new podcast Yousuf Karsh: Pursuing Greatness with Karsh expert Dr. Robert Evans and LAC photo archivist Jill Delaney. LAC has an unexcelled Karsh fond.

Also from LAC, a blog post on Canadian Nursing Sisters in the First World War pointing to some published resources, including one by BIFHSGO conference speaker Sher Leetooze. It's a popular topic. September's BIFHSGO meeting will see Glenn Wright giving a Before BIFHSGO Education Talk on major sources for researching Canadian nurses in the Great War, including an overview of less well-known archival records. That will be followed by Brooke Broadbent on The Life and Times of Nursing Sister Laura Gamble, WWI. She was from Wakefield.

More Best Canadian Genealogy Website Nominations

Several nominations have come in and been added to the list.. A couple, although good, were not included being too local. Including sub-provincial sites would make the list too long.

As Leanne Cooper mentioned in a comment, you may find just browsing the nomination list helps you find useful sites. Check it out here and add any additional nominations.

28 July 2015

FamilySearch adds England and Wales Census, 1871

Transcripts of  25,330,945 entries in the 1871 census of England and Wales are now searchable at FamilySearch. The source is the Findmypast transcript with results are now linked to their images of the original accessible on a commercial basis.

One World One Family Conference

The sixth annual One World One Family Conference of the Brampton Ontario Stake Centre of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is scheduled for Saturday, August 22nd, 2015.

Go to the conference web page and see the smiling faces of Lesley Anderson and Glenn Wright, featured speakers at the year's conference. Lesley will give the keynote address: Connecting with our Ancestors is an Incredible Journey. Lesley and Glenn will join present a plenary address on their Ten Best Genealogy Tips.

There's a long list of other presentations and presenters


Accessing and Preserving Family Heirloomsby Adriane VanSeggelen
Exploring the Holdings of the Peel Archivesby Kyle Neill
French Canadian Researchby Marie-Chantal Hogue
How the LDS Church Archives Helped Me Publish My Bookby Andy J. Semotiuk
How To Plan a Family Reunionby Audrey Quatrale
How to Start My Family Historyby Dorothy Kew
In Search of Your Scottish Ancestors: Search Your Roots; Discover Your Heritageby Christine Woodcock
Lesser Known Databases for Scottish Genealogy Researchby Christine Woodcock
Mennonite and Quaker/Society of Friends Recordsby Fran Murphy
Preserving Family History and Other Technologyby Steve Fulton
Preserving Your Family Memories Now Through FamilySearchby Shirley-Ann Pyefinch
Self-Publishing Your Genealogy & Family Historyby Harry van Bommel
Silent No More: Researching Our Great War Deadby Glenn Wright
Ukrainian Genealogy and the Family History Libraryby Sonia van Heerden
Using the Family History Centre Online Services Portalby Shirley-Ann Pyefinch
What’s New in Ancestryby Lesley Anderson
Why Mormons Build Templesby Pres. Gordon K. Macmichael
å°‹æ ¹ - 中國家譜研討會 Finding Chinese Ancestorsby Grace Chan

At $25 it's a bargain, one I enjoyed a couple of years ago. Don't miss it if it fits your schedule.

2015 Shannon Lectures

The theme for the 2015 Carleton University History Department Shannon Lecture Series is Performing History: Re-Staging the Past.

Friday Sept 18 Dr Lisa Peschel (University of York, England)
“Theatre and the Holocaust: Recently Rediscovered Scripts from the Terezín/Theresienstadt Ghetto”

Friday Oct 9 Dr Bruno Ramirez (University of Montreal) on historical film and historical representation in film

Friday Oct 23 Mr Maxime Durand (Ubisoft, Montreal) on historical video gaming

Friday Nov 13 Dr Vanessa Agnew (University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany) on re-enactment

Friday Nov 27 Mr Peter Hinton (Shaw Festival Theatre) on historical representations in theatre

All five lectures will be in the Multi-Media Lab, Discovery Centre, MacOdrum Library starting at 1:30 followed by a reception in the History Lounge (433PA).

Further information at https://carleton.ca/history/2015/2015-shannon-lectures-performing-history-re-staging-the-past/

27 July 2015

Best Canadian Genealogy Websites: Nominations

Which genealogy websites do you most value for Canadian content? Rather than trust the judgement of self-proclaimed experts in other countries let's follow the model used for Rockstar Genealogist and conduct a survey.

Posted below is a list of Canadian genealogy websites, national and provincial, pre-nominated, if there is such a term. Sites with an asterisk are international but with a substantial Canadian component and widely used by Canadian family historians. Local society and municipal sites, and sites that are primarily blogs, including my own, are excluded.

To start things off here's an updated list of sites that I intend including:

Alberta Family Histories Society
Alberta Genealogical Society
Ancestry.ca*
Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home
Archive CD Books Canada
Archives of Manitoba (includes Hudson's Bay Archives)
Archives of Ontario
Automated Genealogy
BC Archives
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
Bill Martin's Genealogy Website 
British Columbia Genealogical Society
British Home Children & Child Migrants in Canada
BMS2000
Canada GenWeb
Canadian County Atlas
Canadian Gravemaker Gallery
Canadian Headstone Photo Project
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Canadiana
CanGenealogy
Commonwealth War Graves Commission*
FamilySearch.org*
Family History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador
Fichier Origine
Findmypast.ca*
Généalogie du Québec et d'Amérique française
Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia
Glenbow Museum 
Global Genealogy
Immigrants to Canada
Institut généalogique Drouin
Internet Archive*
Island Newspapers
Library and Archives Canada
Manitoba Genealogical Society
Métis National Council (MNC) Historical Online Database 
National Institute for Genealogical Studies*
New Brunswick Genealogical Society
Newfoundland's Grand Banks
Nova Scotia Archives
Olive Tree Genealogy*
Ontario Genealogical Society
OurOntario.ca
Our Roots
Peel's Prairie Provinces
PRDH-IDG
Prince Edward Island Genealogical Society
Prince Edward Island Public Archives and Records Office
Programme de Recherche sur l'Émigration des Français en Nouvelle-France
Provincial Archives of Alberta
Provincial Archives of New Brunswick
Quebec Family History Society
Rootsweb*
Saskatchewan Archives
Saskatchewan Genealogical Society
The Island Register (Prince Edward Island)
The Regimental Rogue
The Rooms (Newfoundland and Labrador)
The Ships List*
United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada 
Yukon Genealogy

Please leave a comment with any additional nominations remembering that local society and municipal sites, and blog sites, are excluded. If you run one of the above sites and would prefer it be excluded also let me know via a comment, which will not be posted if requested.
Nominations will be open for a week and voting will follow shortly thereafter.



The Heritability of Academic Achievement?

Do the following findings reflect your life and family history experience?

Based on studies of identical and fraternal twins academic performance at school a study Pleiotropy across academic subjects at the end of compulsory education reports:

  • Genes explain a larger proportion of the individual differences (54–65%) in academic performance than shared environmental factors, such as home and school environment combined (14–21%)
  • Intelligence at age 16 demonstrates substantial heritability (56%), with negligible effect of shared environmental influences (5%).
  • To a large extent, the same genes influence achievement across a wide range of academic subjects, even when controlling for intelligence. 
  • Intelligence may play a stronger role in the heritability of mathematics performance than for other subjects.
  • Art seems to be influenced by different shared environmental factors compared to core academic subjects.
So performance differences for all subjects are highly heritable at the end of compulsory education and many of the same genes affect different subjects independent of intelligence.

via a tweet by Debbie Kennett

26 July 2015

Westboro Beach Genealogy Meetup: 25 July

There were a couple of new faces at Saturday's genealogy meetup, including a visitor from Ireland.
Thanks to photographer Christine Jackson.

WDYTYA US TV Series starts this evening

Tonight on cable channel TLC in Canada is the first episode of the new series of Who Do You Think You Are? featuring US actress Ginnifer Goodwin.
The episode plays at 9pm EDT and will be preceded by a WDYTYA marathon of past shows starting at 5 pm with Josh Groban, then Julie Chen, Rachael McAdams and Sean Hayes.

25 July 2015

Old Maps Online

OldMapsOnline.org is a search engine for historical maps that indexes nearly400.000 maps from a variety of archives and libraries worldwide. Contributors from English speaking institutions include: USGS Historical Topographic Maps; National Library of Scotland; The David Rumsey Map Collection; New York Public Library, Map Division; British Library, Map Library; Harvard Library, Harvard Map Collection; Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library; State Library New South Wales; University of Manchester Map Library.

Search for a place, even a small one, and a list of maps that include it starting with that with greatest resolution, is returned.

There are no contributing institutions from Canada which may explain why coverage is not so good.

For a mobile app version with more than 280,000 maps, go to http://www.oldmapsonline.org/mobile/

Beware, this site may well draw you in and ruin your carefully scheduled day.


Bedlam Burial Ground Database: City of London

Based on church records a team of volunteers have compiled a database of over 5,000 people buried at the infamous Bedlam burial ground during the 16th and 17th centuries. An estimated 20,000 burials occurred at the site now being disturbed owing to the construction of the new Liverpool Street Crossrail station. About 3,000 skeletons are being excavated and examined. More from the Dail Mail. the BBC (with short video) and this full length video which explains how the research is revealing the life and times.

To search the database go to http://www.crossrail.co.uk/sustainability/archaeology/bedlam-burial-ground-register. The names are not linked to remains found.

The search can be limited to 50 year ranges from 1550  and to one or all of about 70 London parishes. Note the search will find all occurrences so a search for Smith will find not only those with that surname but also smith anywhere in a record such as occupation goldsmith.

Ancestry adds U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007

This blog only mentions US records when of potential interest for Canadian, British or Irish genealogy. The new U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 is such a case. 


Unless some of the information is embargoed you may find: applicant's full name, social insurance number, date and place of birth, citizenship, sex, father's name, mother's maiden name, race/ethnic description (optional).

A substantial number of the 49,416,104 records of people in the databse are for immigrants. Searching the database for birthplace Canada yields 489,007 results; for United Kingdom 407,242 and for Ireland 192,656. It's not that many, there are obvious errors, perhaps as many as 20%. Still, that would make it 54th in Ancestry's list of Canadian databases.

Territorial Force Nursing Service Medal Rolls at Forces War Records

The following is a press release from Forces War Records
==============
Long-Lost WW1 Nursing Record Collection is Rediscovered at the AMS Museum

Territorial Force Nursing Service Medal Rolls Records Release

Wiltshire, United Kingdom, July 16, 2015 --(PR.com)-- When Forces War Records Director Phil Cooper realised what he was holding, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Found in a box that had been donated to the Army Medical Services Museum, but not yet properly examined, the stack of documents listed the names of 5-6,000 women who, as members of the Territorial Force Nursing Service, had been awarded medals for their work in the Great War. Excitedly, Phil shouted for Ceri Gage, Collections Curator of the museum, whose eyes widened with shock when she saw what he had discovered. “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry,” she said, “because for years I have been telling people that these records don’t exist.”

The Territorial Force Nursing Service (TFNS) was created in 1909 as a sister organisation to the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS), to support the Territorial Army. The TFNS was made up of civilian nurses working in civilian hospitals who would volunteer their time to work in military hospitals, and eventually overseas.

Over 7,000 women served in the TFNS during the First World War in about 25 UK based hospitals, hundreds of auxiliary units throughout the British Isles and eventually 18 overseas territorial hospitals. These women were awarded a number of medals for their efforts, including the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, plus one of the rarest First World War campaign medals, the Territorial War Medal.

Now, Forces War Records is pleased to present the transcribed medal rolls for TFNS women awarded the above decorations, handily searchable by name and exclusively available on the Forces War Records website and at the AMS Museum. The two organisations have worked together to ensure that all records were transcribed as accurately as possible, having originally collaborated to digitise the National Archive’s rare ‘War Office: First World War Representative Medical Records of Servicemen’ collection for the very first time. It was thanks to this close relationship that Phil Cooper had been invited to rummage through the AMS Museum’s archives, in the hopes that some other collection of interest to genealogists and suitable for transcription might come to light.

Indeed it had! These new records contain a lot more information than the TFNS records currently held on Ancestry or at the National Archives – they show nurses’ first name(s), address details, in some cases where the nurses were based and where they served, including dates of service. They also give married and maiden names and awards such as the Royal Red Cross along with additional comments. They are from a later date than the currently available records, which is perhaps why they contain more fields.

The entire collection will be available on the site from 16th July 2015, and can be searched from either the home page, search page or the appropriate entry in the Collections List.

================

Subscription to Forces War Records costs £8.95 for four weeks giving unlimited access to all the site's resources from 1800 to post-WW2.

via David Rajotte's Documentary Heritage News


24 July 2015

Findmypast adds Irish Army Census 1922

This newly added database has 25,224 entries, transcripts of the details found in the original records and a link to the image on the Military Archives website, serving with the Irish army at midnight on 12/13 November 1922.
The detail in each transcript can vary depending on the state of the original record, but most will include: name, age, birth year, year, place and county, page number
Images contain: location at the time of the census, post, division, date of attestation, home address, religion, name and address of next of kin. Content varies.

More Canadian Yearbooks

For Ottawa, the Elmwood School yearbook Samara from 1923 to 2014 (with a couple of gaps) was imaged in February probably in connection with the school's centenary this year. Find it at www.elmwood.ca/elmwood-forever/.  They are also on archive.org but the Elmwood link lists them in date order.
Ottawa's Ashbury College's yearbook The Ashburian 1918-2014, with a few gaps, is also on archive.org. Earlier years are more like a magazine than a yearbook with little on individual students unless they were prominent in sports or other events.

Thanks to Bruce Elliott for the tip.

23 July 2015

British Movietone and AP News on YouTube

Add interest to your family history with news clips now on YouTube from British Movietone and AP.  Try searching for a place in your family past, you'll likely be surprised.

Early Canadian Women`s Magazines at Canadiana.ca

Earlier this month 93 issues of late 19th century women's magazines were added to the Early Canadian Periodicals (ECP) collection of Canadiana.ca.  They include:

The Young Ladies’ Journal (4 issues 1874, 1875, 1877, 1890) / New York (Canadian ed.)
The Woman’s Journal (2 issues, 1886, 1893) / Ottawa
La mère et l'enfant (14 issues, 1890-91) / Montréal
The Ladies' Bazar (8 issues, 1890-91) / Toronto
Ladies' Pictorial Weekly (18 issues, 1892) / Toronto
The Ladies' Companion (1 issue, 1893) / Toronto
The Glass of Fashion (3 issues, 1897) / Toronto
Le coin du feu (43 issues, 1893-96) / Montréal

The ECP project aims to eventually digitize all periodicals published in Canada before 1920. Access is by subscription, either personal or institutional.

22 July 2015

Westboro Beach Genealogy Meetup this Saturday

The forecast looks promising, a mix of sun and cloud. High 24. for Saturday 25 July. I plan on being on the patio at the cafe at Westboro beach from noon to about 2 pm. Join us for informal chat.

Checkout the map at http://goo.gl/maps/01DE, If you come by car use the Kitchissippi parking off the Sir John A, Macdonald Parkway or park at the north end of Lanark Ave at Kirchoffer Ave and take the tunnel under the parkway.


Irregular marriages from 19th-century Dublin

John Grenham's Irish Roots column brings news of a new publication of the marriage register of the Rev John G. F. Shultz, minister of the German Lutheran church in Poolbeg Street in Dublin from about 1806 until his death in 1839. Irregular Marriages in Dublin Before 1837 is published by Dundalk, Dún Dealgan Press.
It appears these are also included in the more than 70,000 records of the Early Irish Marriages Index at http://www.irishancestors.ie/?page_id=1926

Rockstar Genealogists at BIFHSGO

Presentations, marketplace and interaction. Those are the top three reasons for 20 years now family historians from Ottawa and further afield have been coming to the BIFHSGO annual conference.

The 21st conference is coming, September 18 - 20. Saturday's opening plenary Genealogy: The Future is Now will be given by Thomas MacEntee. Very active on social media (presently on a mini-sabbatical following surgery) and with a hi-tech background, Thomas was #3 Rockstar Genealogist voted by Canadians in 2014. Thomas will be giving three other technology-oriented presentation throughout the conference.

For Saturday only come to hear two presentations by #1 Rockstar Genealogist as voted by UK residents Janet Few, an experienced family, community and social historian passionate about passing on her love of family and local history. Janet will be with us in person, dropping in during a trip across Canada.

On Sunday only, flying in from speaking in Toronto the previous day, will be popular speaker Chris Paton, #2 Rockstar Genealogist voted by Canadians. If you have Scottish ancestry you won't want to miss Chris' two talk on Sunday morning on Scottish records and his entertaining closing plenary presentation which will be of interest to those whose lost ancestral marriage may have occurred at Greta Green and, we are warned, may include references to antenuptial fornication.

If you think Scotland is being short-changed in the regular rotation of conference themes fear not. Christine Woodcock, Director of Genealogy Tours of Scotland for which she organizes 10-day research trips to Edinburgh and beyond, will be giving seminars and presentations with something for Scottish researchers from beginner to advanced.

With us throughout the weekend will be photo-specialist Maureen Taylor, ranked among the top 20 US Rockstar Genealogists last year, who is someone we wanted to have at last year's conference but is so popular she was already booked. If you have photos languishing in your collection you'll benefit from her presentations, including her humourous Don Whiteside presentation at the conference opening.

There's more. Check out the program at http://www.bifhsgo.ca/aem.php?eid=1

This year, with the conference moved to Ben Franklin Place, Nepean, the marketplace will be more compact than previously. Expect the same major exhibitors, including Global Genealogy, as in past years but with less walking involved.

The interaction can't happen without you. Social media are fine, you can get a lot out of Facebook, webinars and hangouts, but you don't get as up close and personal as meeting face to face. That's powerful.

Increase your chances of making a breakthrough by registering now and count on BIFHSGO to deliver again, The deadline for early registration this year is Friday, August 14, at midnight. The conference registrar Susan Mackenzie is asking you to simplify her life a little by registering before the deadline. Help her out now starting at http://www.bifhsgo.ca/aem.php?eid=1




21 July 2015

Ancestry adds Canada, Selected School Yearbooks, 1908-2010

This indexed collection of school and university yearbooks from across Canada. is now available on Ancestry. Most individual entries have a photo and short write-up. You may also find people in a group photo of a team or class with everyone looking their best (mostly).

Provinces in the database, with number of entries, are: BC (73,568); Alberta (106,195); Saskatchewan (32,011); Manitoba (11,713); Ontario  (941,128); Quebec (182,004); New Brunswick (2,816); Nova Scotia (5,706).

For Ontario universities the University of Western Ontario collection has 29 yearbooks between 1928 and 1988, the University of Toronto 19 between 1913 and 1959, Queen's University nine between 1932 and 1986. A few other universities have smaller collections.

Elsewhere there are 11 yearbooks for the University of Alberta, nine for the University of Saskatchewan. Alas only six for McGill University between 1925 and 1952.

For schools the largest collection I found is for Bishop's College School in Lennoxville, Quebec with nearly 80 yearbooks.

The index was compiled using OCR technology.  Despite technology improvements it's easy to find nonsense entries like Moore Extras, there are 33 entries for that last name, and Fairy Gold. Such entries are easy to spot and ignore, and can bring a smile to your face!

20 July 2015

2015 Toronto History Lecture

The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society is pleased to announce that the fifth annual Toronto History Lecture will take place on Wednesday 5 August 2015at the City of Toronto Archives.

As we mark the four-year centenary of the First World War, it is fitting that the topic of the 2015 Lecture is Returned Men: Toronto’s Veterans in the Great War’s Aftermath. Historian Jonathan Scotland will examine the consequences, aftermath, and impact of the War and how Toronto’s “returned men” tried to reintegrate into civilian life.

This event is free to attend but advance reservation is required and space is limited. For details, visit http://torontofamilyhistory.org/learn/toronto-history-lecture/.

Thanks to Gwyneth Pearce for the tip

The Genomes of Ancient Britains

I've never been very satisfied with the answers given by DNA testing companies when asked how far back in time assessment of ethnic makeup as FTDNA terms it, ancestry composition as 23andMe calls it, and ethnicity estimate using AncestryDNA terminology, relates to for their autosomal tests. As I understand it they all depend on DNA recovered from living people, mostly those who are thought to have deep roots in an area.
So it was encouraging to see the article "Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon genomes from East England reveal British migration history." It uses DNA from ten ancient skeletons found in
archaeological excavations close to Cambridge, ranging from 2,300 until 1,200 years before present (Iron Age to Anglo-Saxon period). They find today’s British are more similar to the Iron Age individuals than to most of the Anglo-Saxon individuals. Let's hope more studies of this type will eventually allow the companies to refine the estimates and provide more satisfying answers.

Read a preprint of the article at http://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2015/07/17/022723.full.pdf

Archive CD Books Canada Midsummer Sale

For a limited time Archive CD Books Canada have reduced the price of almost all of their digital products by 50% for a MID SUMMER MADNESS sale.

Malcolm Moody writes:
This is the chance you have been waiting for to get that book you wanted but couldn’t quite justify to your budget!!  You can stock up on presents too!
To see what is on sale go to our “home” page at www.ArchiveCDBooks.ca/ and select the “CANADA” choice from the left hand column.  (Or go to your favorite Province if you prefer.)
ALL THE PRODUCTS ON SALE ARE MARKED WITH A GREEN STICKER, and clicking on the picture will take you to the description page where you can see both the regular price AND THE SALE PRICE.

19 July 2015

Newfoundland Military Records

Page images of First World War soldiers' service files from the 1st Newfoundland Regiment, renamed to Royal Newfoundland Regiment in 1917, are online at www.therooms.ca/regiment/part3_database.asp

There are 2,247 soldiers names. Most were born in Newfoundland although 27 were from England, 16 from Scotland, five from Russia and one each from Northern Ireland and Wales. There were two Hoddinotts, both fatalities and 10 Collins' with six fatalities.

I sampled the file for John Vincent Temple, from a family I'd previously researched, and found it had 42 pages including much correspondence.

Thanks to Shirley Crampton for the tip.

NCC developing commemoration plans

At its meeting at the end of June the National Capital Commission Board approved in principle a Military Commemoration Plan for Canada’s Capital. It's the first of three commemoration plans the NCC will develop.
The military plan includes designating a route from the Cartier Square Drill Hall and the Sharpshooter Monument via the National War Memorial and along Wellington Street to the War Museum. That plan should include an appropriate way to remember Cpl Nathan Cirillo.
The second plan will be for social, cultural and scientific commemorations, and the third encompass historical and political commemorations.
Can we hope for a higher profile for social, cultural and scientific commemorations than the backwater defunct bakery housing the Museum of Science and Technology?

NCC Press Release