On Saturday 13th September, the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Air Force will be commemorated at an air show at RAF Leuchars. There will be historic aircraft on display, including a WW1 SE5a Scout bi-plane once flown by 111 (Fighter) Squadron based at Leuchars, which has a top speed of 138mph. In addition will be the RAF's latest Typhoon fighter jet, capable of 1480mph, and over 100 other aircraft, including representatives from other nations.
One of the highlights will be the fly-past of the WW2 Lancaster bomber accompanied by a Battle of Britain Spitfire and Hurricane, and other historic aircraft will include the Gloster Meteor, De Havilland Vampire and Hawker Hunter. All profits will go to the RAF Benevolent Fund.
(With thanks to the Rampant Scotland newsletter.)
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
Monday, 1 September 2008
Lockheed Martin UK awarded 2011 census contract for England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Lockheed Martin has been awarded the British census contract for the UK in 2011, with the exception of Scotland. The following is the press release from Lockheed Martin UK:
LONDON, UK, August 28, 2008 - Today, Lockheed Martin UK and its industry team were selected by the Office for National Statistics to support the 2011 Census for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The approximately £150M contract award comes after an extensive competition which required the Lockheed Martin UK-led team to demonstrate its ability to provide secure and accurate data capture and processing support services.
"We are proud to again support the Office for National Statistics in conducting its census," said Ian Stopps, chief executive of Lockheed Martin UK. "Together, with our industry team, we are committed to delivering a system that enables the government to efficiently and effectively perform the 2011 Census while ensuring that all information remains secure and confidential"
Lockheed Martin, who successfully provided the data capture elements of the 2001 UK Census, as well as previous censuses for Canada and the United States, has created a consortium of UK-based companies with proven experience. Team members are Broadcasting Support Services (bss), Cable & Wireless, Logica (UK) Ltd, Oracle Corporation UK, Polestar Group, Royal Mail, Steria Ltd, and UK Data Capture Ltd.
Working with the ONS and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) authorities, the team will design, install and support an innovative system using state-of-the-art character recognition and colour processing for paper census forms. The system will, for the first time, allow for census questionnaires to be completed via the Internet in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Lockheed Martin UK, a unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, is a leader in systems integration working on major programmes spanning the aerospace, defence and civil sectors. Lockheed Martin UK works with more than 100 business partners and employs over 1,700 people at a dozen sites across the UK.
Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2007 sales of $41.9 billion.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
LONDON, UK, August 28, 2008 - Today, Lockheed Martin UK and its industry team were selected by the Office for National Statistics to support the 2011 Census for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The approximately £150M contract award comes after an extensive competition which required the Lockheed Martin UK-led team to demonstrate its ability to provide secure and accurate data capture and processing support services.
"We are proud to again support the Office for National Statistics in conducting its census," said Ian Stopps, chief executive of Lockheed Martin UK. "Together, with our industry team, we are committed to delivering a system that enables the government to efficiently and effectively perform the 2011 Census while ensuring that all information remains secure and confidential"
Lockheed Martin, who successfully provided the data capture elements of the 2001 UK Census, as well as previous censuses for Canada and the United States, has created a consortium of UK-based companies with proven experience. Team members are Broadcasting Support Services (bss), Cable & Wireless, Logica (UK) Ltd, Oracle Corporation UK, Polestar Group, Royal Mail, Steria Ltd, and UK Data Capture Ltd.
Working with the ONS and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) authorities, the team will design, install and support an innovative system using state-of-the-art character recognition and colour processing for paper census forms. The system will, for the first time, allow for census questionnaires to be completed via the Internet in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Lockheed Martin UK, a unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, is a leader in systems integration working on major programmes spanning the aerospace, defence and civil sectors. Lockheed Martin UK works with more than 100 business partners and employs over 1,700 people at a dozen sites across the UK.
Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2007 sales of $41.9 billion.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
Latest podcasts at TNA
The National Archives in Kew has three new podcasts online. There's a talk on The National Register of Archives whichis worth a listen, as it may help you to locate records across Britain that you may not be aware of. Also of interest are talks on The Fleet Registers (clandestine marriages performed outside the Fleet prior in London), and on the release of 150 secret service files from World War Two.
To access TNA podcasts, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/rss/podcasts.xml .
The latest annual report is also online from TNA as of today, available to read at http://%20www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/annualreport07-08.pdf .
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
To access TNA podcasts, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/rss/podcasts.xml .
The latest annual report is also online from TNA as of today, available to read at http://%20www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/annualreport07-08.pdf .
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
September 15th is a holiday in Edinburgh
Please note that September 15th is a local holiday in Edinburgh, and so all facilities at the GROS, National Archives and the new ScotlandsPeople Centre will be closed, as will the National Library of Scotland.
Speaking from personal experience, it is a real pain to travel all that way for no gain! Twice in the last two years - honestly, I'm determined to learn this year...
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
Speaking from personal experience, it is a real pain to travel all that way for no gain! Twice in the last two years - honestly, I'm determined to learn this year...
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
A bit of self-indulgence...!
For the last year and half I have been studying both a postgraduate certificate and diploma in Genealogical Studies at the University of Strathclyde, and in between assignments I have been doing some fascinating research for clients. One of the ironies of this is that having been so busy during this time looking into various wonderful stories from around the world, I have had little time to do any further research into my own family history. Having submitted my final dissertation last week (the feudal Role of King Kames VI Hospital in 19th Century Perth, no less!), and then having duly caught a real git of a cold, I decided on some genealogical therapy yesterday, with a very long and overdue update to my website regarding one of my all time heroes, my five times great uncle Dr. William Henderson of Perth.
William Henderson was a truly remarkable man, who witnessed a lot and did a lot during his eighty six years of life. Born in Kinclaven, Perthshire, in 1784, he became a physician, author, kirk session elder, poet, inventor and more; he witnessed Halley's Comet in 1835, invented a world famous stomachic elixir, performed one of the first successful caesarean operations in Scotland in 1820 (the child being named Caesar Anna in honour of the occasion), recorded in detail a smallpox epidemic in Perth, with conclusions that contributed to the eradication of the disease in Britain, and much, much more. His poems tell of shipwrecks he had witnessed, the loss of friends, and most poignantly, the love that he had for his wife Margaret Morison. His investments saw him eventually pass away as a millionaire in today's terms, and his medical knowledge was at the heart of the student's curriculum for decades to come.
If you have ten minutes to spare, and would like to find out the story of a real gentleman in 19th century Perth, fetch a cup of tea or coffee and then pop along to my website at http://chrispatonscotland.tripod.com/id84.html , where hopefully you will see why I have come to respect the man as much as I do!
Enjoy!
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
William Henderson was a truly remarkable man, who witnessed a lot and did a lot during his eighty six years of life. Born in Kinclaven, Perthshire, in 1784, he became a physician, author, kirk session elder, poet, inventor and more; he witnessed Halley's Comet in 1835, invented a world famous stomachic elixir, performed one of the first successful caesarean operations in Scotland in 1820 (the child being named Caesar Anna in honour of the occasion), recorded in detail a smallpox epidemic in Perth, with conclusions that contributed to the eradication of the disease in Britain, and much, much more. His poems tell of shipwrecks he had witnessed, the loss of friends, and most poignantly, the love that he had for his wife Margaret Morison. His investments saw him eventually pass away as a millionaire in today's terms, and his medical knowledge was at the heart of the student's curriculum for decades to come.
If you have ten minutes to spare, and would like to find out the story of a real gentleman in 19th century Perth, fetch a cup of tea or coffee and then pop along to my website at http://chrispatonscotland.tripod.com/id84.html , where hopefully you will see why I have come to respect the man as much as I do!
Enjoy!
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
Sunday, 31 August 2008
Scottish Archaeology Month
September has been designated Scottish Archaeology Month, with various events happening around the country to explore our rich archaeological heritage. To find out what is happening in your neck of the woods, visit www.scottisharchaeology.org.uk/projects/sam.html.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
Saturday, 30 August 2008
Congratulations to Strathclyde genealogy students
Just a quick note to congratulate all the Postgraduate Certificate and Postgraduate Diploma courses in Genealogical Studies at the University of Strathclyde. Whilst the results will be due soon, it's an achievement in its own right to have survived what were two very intensive but highly rewarding courses. A huge thanks to Bruce Durie and Graham Holton, and to all the tutorial assistants, and I look forward to seeing you all at the party later today in Glasgow. And if you're an overseas student, we'll raise a glass to you in your absence - air ur slàinte mhath!
The next courses from the university will be run entirely online from January 2009. To do the diploma, you must have completed the certificate, but if you are interested in doing the certificate, visit www.strath.ac.uk/cll/continuingprofessionaldevelopment/genealogy . Applications must be in by Monday, October 13th 2008.
To the future (but always with reverence to the past!),
Chris
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
Friday, 29 August 2008
Free access to US Federal Census index for 1900
The first of Ancestry's joint initiatives with FamilySearch, the US Federal Census for 1900, went online today. To celebrate, Ancestry is giving free access for a short period to the index.
The newly uploaded census contains new digitised images of the enumerators' returns, and a new index, jointly created from Ancestry's old census index and FamilySearch's index.
For more information, visit http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2008/08/29/ancestry-familysearch-merged-1900-us-census-index-now-live/ .
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
The newly uploaded census contains new digitised images of the enumerators' returns, and a new index, jointly created from Ancestry's old census index and FamilySearch's index.
For more information, visit http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2008/08/29/ancestry-familysearch-merged-1900-us-census-index-now-live/ .
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
Family Tree Maker 2009 released in the US
Family Tree Maker 2009 has now been released in the US, and Ancestry has been blogging about its new and enhanced features. To find out what's new, visit their blog at http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2008/08/28/family-tree-maker-2009-release/ , and for more on one of the new features, a migration map, see http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2008/08/28/family-tree-maker-2009-see-an-ancestors-life-migration-path/.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
Scotland's oldest clock works again
Scotland's oldest clock, dating back to 1565, is to be re-instated today inside the bell tower of the 14th century St. Bride's Church in Douglas, Lanarkshire. The mechanism has been overhauled by contractors working for Historic Scotland after it began to fail last year, and a new clockface has also been built.
For more info, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7586681.stm .
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
For more info, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7586681.stm .
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving
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