If you write genealogy content you should consider registering with the ALCS

The following may be of interest to genealogists in the UK who earn some of their income by writing articles for magazines or books.

I have been doing this for a fair few years now, but only last year was encouraged by a publisher to sign up to a body called the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) to receive royalties from libraries etc for the secondary rights use of books and magazine articles I have written. The bottom line is if you have written articles and/or parts of books etc which are then copied or used by libraries and other agencies in other ways, including lending rights, you may actually be due a royalty for this, on top of the sum you were paid by the publisher up front.

I thought I'll give it a go, and entered in details of all I've written from 2016-2019 (the most recent period for which such royalties may be available), expecting that I might get a couple of hundred quid if lucky. I've just got word of what I am due in a few days time, and nearly had a heart attack. Suffice to say it was a good idea to register.

If you write for any publisher, you may wish to consider signing up to the ALCS at www.alcs.co.uk and regularly enter details of articles and books you may have written, and give details of both print and e-editions. There is a membership fee (£36), and a commission to pay, but the benefit may outweigh the outlay. Payments are made twice a year, and there may be money you have earned sitting there for the taking.

You will find more about how the scheme works on the website - I hope it helps!

(PS: Next deadline for submissions is November 30th)

Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Scottish GENES - weekly digest

It's been another downer of a week worldwide on the coronavirus front, with some genealogy developments included, but there are some other more positive stories also - I certainly think this has been my busiest week ever on the blogging front.

If you missed them during the week, here are the latest posts from Scottish GENES (https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com):

Plan B for Saint Patrick's Day!
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/plan-b-for-saint-patricks-day.html

TheGenealogist adds pre-1841 trade and residential directories
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/thegenealogist-adds-pre-1841-trade-and.html

Aberdeenshire and NE Scotland FHS closes research centre until further notice
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/aberdeenshire-and-ne-scotland-fhs.html

Fife Family History Society closes archive temporarily at Cupar Library
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/fife-family-history-society-closes.html

Tay Valley FHS Research Centre closes until further notice
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/tay-valley-fhs-research-centre-closes.html

North of Ireland Family History Society closes library, cancels courses and suspends branch meetings
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/north-of-ireland-family-history-society.html

National Library of Scotland postpones remaining March events
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/national-library-of-scotland-postpones.html

Scottish Council on Archives offices close and events cancelled
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/scottish-council-on-archives-offices.html

University of Glasgow cancels Outlander conference in June
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/university-of-glasgow-cancels-outlander.html

Society of Genealogists in London closes
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/society-of-genealogists-in-london-closes.html

National Records of Scotland and ScotlandsPeople Centre closures
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/national-records-of-scotland-and.html

Dumfries and Galloway FHS close premises for foreseeable future
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/dumfries-and-galloway-fhs-close.html

For St Patrick's Day - The Curse of Loughmourne
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/for-st-patricks-day-curse-of-loughmourne.html

For St Patrick's Day - Poverty in 1920s Belfast
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/for-st-patricks-day-poverty-in-1920s.html

Family history world slows down
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/family-history-world-slows-down.html

LivingDNA updates name match display on Family Networks
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/livingdna-updates-name-match-display-on.html

FamilySearch adds Derry Cathedral records and updates Cumbria parish registers
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/familysearch-adds-derry-cathedral.html

National Archives at Kew to close
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/national-archives-at-kew-to-close.html

Declaration of Arbroath will not go on display for now
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/declaration-of-arbroath-will-not-go-on.html

Free University of Strathclyde genealogy course and referencing tools
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/free-university-of-strathclyde.html

SAFHS Conference in Musselburgh cancelled
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/safhs-conference-in-musselburgh.html

PRONI closes until further notice
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/proni-closes-until-further-notice.html

National Library of Wales closes - no events for three months
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/national-library-of-wales-closes-events.html

Family Tree Live has been cancelled
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/family-tree-live-has-been-cancelled.html

Royal Mail confirms it is safe to receive parcels by post
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/royal-mail-confirms-it-is-safe-to.html

Coronavirus Bill changes to death registration
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/coronavirus-bill-changes-to-death.html

You can now add a profile pic to LivingDNA
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/you-can-now-add-profile-pic-to-livingdna.html

Jamaican death records added to FindmyPast
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/jamaican-death-records-added-to.html

Discover Your Ancestors back issues discounts, and other S&N offers
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/discover-your-ancestors-back-issues.html

Pharos Tutors genealogy short courses in April
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/pharos-tutors-genealogy-short-courses.html

How to sign up for the Scottish GENES daily email
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/how-to-sign-up-for-scottish-genes-daily.html

PRONI's digitised Northern Irish tithe books and school grant aid records
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/pronis-digitised-northern-irish-tithe.html

FamilyTreeDNA: delay sending in DNA sample if you get COVID-19
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/familytreedna-delay-sending-in-dna.html

Crisis lines updated
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/crisis-lines-updated.html

Happy Mother's Day, to mums past and present
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/03/happy-mothers-day-to-mums-past-and.html

Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Happy Mother's Day, to mums past and present

It's a strange one this year, but Happy Mother's Day to all the mums! And here's to those who have since passed away...

Pictured, my mum Charlotte Harper Paton (Graham) 1950-2013, my maternal grandmother Martha Jane Elizabeth Watton Bill Graham (Smyth) 1922-2001, and my paternal gran, Jean Paton (Currie) 1904-1979.

Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Crisis lines updated

I have updated the Crisis Lines page at the top of my page with additional numbers which might be of use throughout the current Coronavirus pandemic, including a Coronavirus helpline number at 0800 0282816 for those without symptoms and just looking for general information.

You can find the page at the top menu or directly at https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/p/crisis-lines.html

Chris 

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

FamilyTreeDNA: delay sending in DNA sample if you get COVID-19

From FamilyTreeDNA (www.familytreedna.com):

Dear Friends and Valued Customers

In these unsettling times, as we all continue to monitor the COVID-19 (coronavirus) situation very closely, we find it important to maintain a clear line of communication with you, our customer.

Our top priority is the health and well-being of our community, beginning with our employees. As part of our response and under the guidance of global health experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), we have instituted all necessary precautions so that we may continue to serve you while protecting our employees.

These precautions include but are not limited to, implementing social distancing within the office by transitioning all non-essential personnel to work remotely, and regularly cleaning and disinfecting our facilities and equipment. Additional safety measures have been implemented to further protect team members involved in sample processing, and as an added precaution, if you feel you might have been exposed to COVID-19, we ask that you delay collecting and sending your samples back to us for processing until you are no longer deemed a risk by your health professional.

All precautions were swiftly implemented last week, and we do not expect delays in shipping or processing. However, we will continue to keep you informed. We know these measures may be inconvenient, but they are absolutely necessary for the health of our personnel.

The entire FamilyTreeDNA team is available and ready to help you with your genealogy needs. If you have further questions about our services, we invite you to contact our Customer Service department.

Our hearts go out to those who have been impacted by this global pandemic. We are grateful for the healthcare workers, local communities, and governments around the world who are working to contain COVID-19.

We will provide updates as the situation develops. For more on COVID-19, we encourage you to seek information from reliable sources, such as the CDC and your local public health departments.

Thank you for your continued loyalty, patience, and understanding. We value your support as we all face these challenges together.

Our very best,

Bennett Greenspan
President & CEO

Max Blankfeld
Vice President & COO

(Source: https://mailchi.mp/familytreedna/letter-to-customers-covid-19?e=8f89ee3a67)

Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

PRONI's digitised Northern Irish tithe books and school grant aid records

Just a reminder of some records recently added to PRONI, if you are now stuck at home and have time to dive into a new Northern Irish resource! 

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni) has initiated a major evolution with its online catalogue, with the release of two important digitised record collections for the six northern counties now constituted as Northern Ireland (Antrim, Down, Armagh, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Londonderry). The collections are the Northern Ireland Tithe Applotment Books 1823-1837 (FIN/5/A), and the National Education Commisioners Grant Aid Applications (ED/1).

Tithe Applotment Books

The tithe applotment books can now be downloaded for each parish.

i) From the home page at https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni, click on eCatalogue.
ii) Click on Search PRONI's eCatalogue
iii) Scroll down and click on the green Search the eCatalogue button.
iv) On the top right of the catalogue search screen, click Browse.
v) Type in FIN/5/A and click on Search.
vi) On the results page, which states the following, go to the second option:

vii) If you click on the word More in the Title/Description column, you will gtet a short summary describing what the tithe records are.
viii) If you instead click on the blue PRONI reference FIN/5/A link in the first column, you will now be taken to a more detailed listing for each parish in alphabetical order.

ix) The View link at the end column allows you to download a hefty PDF file for the relevant parish. When you click on it you will first be asked to agree to a copyright statement:

Then you will be asked if you wish to save the relevant PDF file or to open it. Upon completion, this is the sort of thing you will then see:

COMMENT: Some of the files are quite large, but the quality of the digitisation is superb. Note that the records cannot be keyword searched - you'll have to go into them the good oul' fashioned way!

I have downloaded a couple of parishes, but one parish of interest, Islandmagee (simply noted as Island in the list) is showing as a damaged file which 'cannot be repaired'! I have notified PRONI, suspect it is just a minor teething issue.

Tithe records for the Republic of Ireland are already freely available at http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie.


National Education Commissioners Grant Aid Applications

The search technique for these is similar to the above, with the results portrayed in county order over a series of files covering different periods from 1832-1899. For example, County Antrim is presented across ED/1/1 to ED/1/10, each of which subdivides further to individual schools - the ED/1/1 link, for example, leads to individual PDFs for 163 separate school applications (ED/1/1/1A to ED/1/1/164). Note that the applications are for named schools, so don't be going in looking for parish names in these.

Again, the presentation is superb, and the files with these are considerably smaller, so will open much quicker.

Have fun with the records!

Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

How to sign up for the Scottish GENES daily email

You can subscribe to Scottish GENES and receive a free daily email for family history news and stories concerning Scottish genealogy, Irish genealogy, British genealogy, and relevant stories from the diaspora - as well as tips, news on offers and releases from the main genie vendors, and more.

To sign up for a an email digest every day, use the Follow by Email facility, as follows:

Simply add your email address and click on Submit - a screen will then appear as follows:

Tick the box confirming you are not a Borg drone, Terminator or Cyberman (!), then click on Complete Subscription Request.

And that should be you!

Don't forget also that you can follow Scottish GENES on Twitter, on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Cheers!

Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Pharos Tutors genealogy short courses in April

Now might be as good a time as any for online studying! The following Pharos Tutors (www.pharostutors.com) hosted genealogy courses still have availability in April:

Are You Sitting Comfortably? Writing and Telling Your Family History (216)
https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=216
Course Length: 5 weeks
Start Date: 31 Mar 2020
Unassessed Cost: £49.99
Assessed Cost: £64.99
Tutor: Janet Few

Organizing Your Genealogy (202)
https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=202
Course Length: 3 Weeks
Start Date: 06 Apr 2020
Cost: £34.99
Tutor: Barbara H. Baker

Further information about Pharos courses can be found at https://www.pharostutors.com/howcourseswork.php

For details of other forthcoming courses this year visit https://www.pharostutors.com/coursesmainsd.php

Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Discover Your Ancestors back issues discounts, and other S&N offers

From S&N Genealogy Ltd (https://genealogysupplies.com):

Fancy a new read? This week we're offering 60% off Discover Your Ancestors Back Issues, plus save up to 30% on our books - with over 70 to choose from, you're sure to find something new!

Organise your family history with 25% off our Storage Boxes. Available in two sizes, they are ideal for use around the home and fold flat when not in use.

Further your research with 50% off Data Downloads, including everything from Parish records to Directories, Poll Books, Military records and more.

How about becoming involved in a volunteer project? You can choose to work from home or if you'd prefer to get outside then how about a stroll around your local church yard? These projects can be rewarding as this week's article finds out.

On behalf of everyone here at S&N, our thoughts are with those affected by the current situation. We hope you and your families remain safe and well.

Please Note: Our online store will continue to be open as long as we can ensure the safety of our customers and co-workers. We have taken additional precautions in the handling of orders and will continue to monitor the situation and evolve our response in real-time. There could be small delays for some shipments. We'll ensure our website is updated as frequently as required and contains the most up to date information.

(With thanks to S&N)

Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Jamaican death records added to FindmyPast

The latest additions to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk):

Middlesex Baptisms
Unique to Findmypast, these records can reveal details about the start of your relatives' lives in Middlesex. The collection has been enhanced with over 17,000 new records from the following parishes: Hampton, Hayes, Hornsey, Stanwell

Cambridgeshire Burials
Over 6,000 burials from Mt Pleasant Cemetery, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire have joined the largest collection of British parish records online at Findmypast.

Jamaica, Civil Death Registrations
Discover your Caribbean roots with over 1.5 million new civil death registration records from Jamaica. Brought to you in partnership with FamilySearch, these death records can tell you more about your relative's life and death in Jamaica.

Newspapers
We've added new papers from Jamaica and Ireland and updated a range of others. Brand new to the site are:

• Royal Gazette of Jamaica covering the years 1779-1781, 1793-1794, 1809, 1811-1819, 1824-1828, 1834-1836 and 1838-1840
• Carlow Sentinel covering the years 1832-1920

The following collections have been updated:

• Merthyr Express has been updated with editions from 1871-1897, 1899-1910 and 1912-1945
• Truth has been updated with editions from 1900-1902, 1906-1907 and 1910
• Burton Chronicle has been updated with editions from 1896 and 1899-1900
• Newtownards Chronicle & Co. Down Observer has been updated with editions from 1875-1879 and 1881-1900
• Bradford Weekly Telegraph has been updated with editions from 1869-1878
• South Wales Gazette has been updated with editions from 1894
• Welshman has been updated with editions from 1836-1841, 1847, 1852, 1866, 1878
• Nuneaton Observer has been updated with editions from 1877-1896, 1898-1903
• Sligo Independent has been updated with editions from 1885

For further details and links visit www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/uk-parish-jamaican-records

Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.