The Family History Show to go online on June 20th

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

TheGenealogist is attending and sponsoring The Family History Show, Online 2020 and are pleased to bring you this update.

We're really excited to introduce a new virtual experience from The Family History Show that will be taking place next month. We look forward to (virtually) seeing you there!

The great news about this virtual event is that you are still going to be able to safely enjoy access to many of the usual features of the physical shows. The Online Family History Show will be on 20th June featuring a wide range of virtual stalls from family history societies to archives and suppliers, including TheGenealogist!

Mirroring the format of the very successful live shows, The Family History Show Online will feature an online lecture theatre, the popular 'Ask the Experts' area where you can put questions forward to specialists, as well as a whole host of stalls so you can ask for advice as well as buy genealogical products.

To make this online experience as useful to family historians as attending the physical show would have been, you can "visit" a stall in the virtual exhibition hall. With over 85 exhibitors currently attending there will be a wide variety of societies and companies. Here there will be the opportunity to talk to some of the stallholders by text, audio or video from the comfort of your own home. With this facility you can ask them for advice, talk to them about your own research and also purchase various items from their online stall.

The virtual lecture theatre gives you the chance to watch talks from the same lecturers who would have been at the York event. These presentations will cover a wide variety of family history topics and will be available throughout the day.

Tickets to attend The Family History Show Online are currently available for only £5.50. All attendees will also receive a Virtual Goody Bag on the day worth over £10.

For more details visit https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/online/

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts June 8th - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My next book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is out shortly, also available are 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

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

On the Wrong Side of the Law seminar
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/05/on-wrong-side-of-law-seminar.html

Northern Ireland's PRONI archive joins Twitter
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/05/northern-irelands-proni-archive-joins.html

MyHeritage revises its privacy policy
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/05/myheritage-revises-its-privacy-policy.html

Check if you are eligible for a Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant in the UK
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/05/check-if-you-are-eligible-for-self.html

LivingDNA updates Family Networks cousin matching tool
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/05/livingdna-updates-family-networks.html

New County Armagh records on RootsIreland
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/05/new-county-armagh-records-on.html

The Belfast Telegraph is added to the Irish Newspaper Archives
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-belfats-telegraph-is-added-to-irish.html

Latest additions to the British Newspaper Archive
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/05/latest-additions-to-british-newspaper.html

Scottish Government and NRS to produce emergency marriage and civil partnership guidance
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/05/scottish-government-and-nrs-to-produce.html

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts June 8th - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My next book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is out shortly, also available are 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 Government and NRS to produce emergency marriage and civil partnership guidance

The Scottish Government has announced that it is working with the National Records of Scotland to provide guidance on how to apply for an emergency marriage or civil partnership during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. The following is from the Scottish Government's website (https://news.gov.scot/news/emergency-marriage-and-civil-partnership-guidance):

Emergency marriage and civil partnership guidance

Advice announced as part of second Coronavirus (Scotland) Bill.

Guidance on how to apply for an emergency marriage or civil partnership during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic is to be published.

The Scottish Government will work with National Records of Scotland to set out guidance on the kinds of occasions where an emergency marriage or civil partnership is allowed and how to apply for them, Constitution Secretary Michael Russell has confirmed.

Speaking as Parliament today consented to the general principles of the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No2) Bill at Stage 1,

Mr Russell said:

“We all want to be in a position where we can see marriages and civil partnerships fully starting up again across the country, but that is sadly not possible.

“But there are people facing extremely difficult circumstances who want to show their love and commitment to each other, such as where a partner is to be posted overseas by the armed forces or is sadly terminally ill, and we want to do all we can to help.

“We will now work as a matter of urgency with National Records of Scotland to produce clear guidance on how people in such situations can apply for a civil partnership or to get married.”

Background

The Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Bill can be read here.

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts June 8th - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My next book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is out shortly, also available are 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.

Latest additions to the British Newspaper Archive

It looks like the effort to add new material to the British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) might have ground to an understandable halt for the time being, with no new content added in the last 7 days, but the following papers have been added in the last month:

Colonies and India
1875-1884

Truth
1878, 1882-1884, 1886-1893, 1898-1899

Munster News
1851-1871, 1873-1889, 1910-1915, 1919, 1922, 1925-1927, 1930

Home News for India, China and the Colonies
1866-1870, 1889-1896

Dundee Courier
1987, 1996

Sunday World (Dublin)
1997, 2005

Perthshire Constitutional & Journal
1870

Irvine Herald
1969-1970

Penrith Observer
1904

Bombay Gazette
1813-1814, 1816-1822, 1829-1833, 1835, 1837-1838, 1841, 1851-1856, 1858, 1860-1867

Sport (Dublin)
1881-1884, 1886, 1890, 1892

West Bridgford Advertiser
1916-1918, 1920-1921

Meath Herald and Cavan Advertiser
1888

Beds and Herts Pictorial
1954, 1957-1958


At present, the project stands just short of an impressive 37 million pages of content, at 36,964,272 pages.

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts June 8th - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My next book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is out shortly, also available are 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.

The Belfast Telegraph is added to the Irish Newspaper Archives

The Irish Newspaper Archive (www.irishnewsarchive.com) has added content form a paper that was very dear to me as a child, by the fact that I used to deliver it to homes across Carrickfergus for several years! Here's the announcement:

The World's oldest and largest Irish Newspaper Archives continues to grow. We have updated the archive with the following new content:

The Belfast Telegraph 1974 - 1997 & 2009 & 2019

The Belfast Telegraph from 1974 to 1997 (1998-2008 in progress) & 2009 & 2019 has made its long-awaited release on the Irish Newspaper Archives resource. The large microfilm repository for the Belfast Telegraph is only available from 1974 to 2008, the year’s proceeding 1974 were lost when a bomb destroyed the offices of the Belfast Telegraph. It was first published as the Belfast Evening Telegraph on 1 September 1870 by brothers William and George Baird. Its first edition cost half a penny and ran to four pages covering the Franco-Prussian War and local news.

The evening edition of the newspaper was originally called the "Sixth Late", and "Sixth Late Tele" and was a familiar cry made by vendors in Belfast City Centre in the past. When viewing the archives you will find the first edition for each complete followed by page changes from later editions at the end of the first edition.

The Belfast Telegraph Archive Count:
Available Years 1974 - 1997 , 2009 , 2019
Edition Count 6,260
Page Count 295,163

NB: Earlier editions of the 'Tele' are available on the British Newspaper Archive, from 1871-1983.

COMMENT: it was a pain in the next delivering it, it was a heavy paper, but I was a regular sight on the streets of Carrick in thre 1980s with my big orange newspaper bag with the Tele's logo on its side! I'll never forget the time that I got my first ever camera as a gift from the paper, for my efforts!

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts June 8th - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My next book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is out shortly, also available are 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.

New County Armagh records on RootsIreland

From RootsIreland (www.rootsireland.ie):

New County Armagh Records

We are delighted to announce the addition of over 41,000 baptismal, marriage, death and headstone inscription records from County Armagh to the Roots Ireland database at www.rootsireland.ie/armagh. These records are as follows:

Church of Ireland

Parish	Births	Marriages	Deaths
Annaghmore Church of Ireland	1856-1864		1867-1871
Armagh Church of Ireland	1823-1827
Camlough Church of Ireland	1832-1872	1835-1845	1833-1871
Charlemont Church of Ireland	1828-1830
Creggan Church of Ireland	1808-1924	1808-1839	1808-1917
Derrynoose Church of Ireland	1710-1870	1712-1845
Drumbanagher Church of Ireland	1838-1885	1839-1844	1841-1910
Eglish Church of Ireland			1803-1865
Grange Church of Ireland	1780-1871	1780-1845	1783-1852
Keady Church of Ireland	1780-1864	1780-1845	1825-1872
Killylea Church of Ireland	1845-1865
Kilmore Church of Ireland		1799-1845
Knocknamuckly Church of Ireland	1854-1866	1838-1845
Loughgall Church of Ireland	1779-1864	1779-1845	1779-1839
Milltown Church of Ireland	1840-1864	1840-1845	1845-1889
Montiaghs (Ardmore) Church of Ireland		1823-1845
Mullaglass St Luke Church of Ireland	1852-1866		1853-1865
Portadown (St Mark's) Church of Ireland	1858-1864	1827-1845

Presbyterian

Parish	Births	Marriages	Deaths
Ahorey Presbyterian		1834-1841
Bessbrook Presbyterian	1854-1914
Keady 2nd Presbyterian	1855-1864
Lurgan 1st Presbyterian	1770-1866
Markethill 2nd Presbyterian		1821-1845
Newtownhamilton 2nd Presbyterian	1823-1863	1823-1844
Poyntzpass Presbyterian	1850-1937
Tassagh Presbyterian	1843-1870
Tyrone Ditches Presbyterian		1825-1829
Vinecash Presbyterian		1838-1845
Miscellaneous Presbyterian		1819-1829

Society of Friends / Quaker

Parish	Births	Marriages	Burials
Grange/Charlemont	1868-1923		1689-1823
Lurgan		1715-1811	1671-1764

County Armagh Headstone Inscriptions

Parish	Graveyard Name	Denomination	Earliest Date	Latest Date
Armagh	Sandy Hill RC, Armagh	Roman Catholic	1817	1972
Ballymore	Crewmore Presbyterian	Presbyterian	1812	2002
Forkhill	Forkhill COI	Church of Ireland	1787	1990
Jonesborough	Sacred Heart RC Jonesborough	Roman Catholic	1921	1989
Jonesborough	Jonesborough COI	Church of Ireland	1815	1988
Kildarton	Kildarton	Church of Ireland	1843	1989
Kildarton	Drumminis	Presbyterian	1857	1986
Killevy	Drumbanagher 1st	Presbyterian	1851	2013
Killevy	Mullaghglass (Old)	Church of Ireland	1754	1981
Killevy	Jerrettspass 1st	Presbyterian	1812	1979
Kilmore	Monies	Methodist/Presbyterian	1835	1993
Kilmore	Richhill	Presbyterian	1838	1988
Kilmore	Richhill	Quaker	1817	1989
Loughgall	St Patrick's RC, Loughgall	Roman Catholic	1813	1988
Loughgall	Cloveneden Presbyterian	Presbyterian	1735	1990
Loughgall	St Peter's Collegeland	Roman Catholic	1863	1990
Loughgall	Loughgall COI	Interdenominational	1706	1990
Loughgilly	Belleek	Church of Ireland	1824	1992
Loughgilly	Loughgilly	Church of Ireland	1756	2005

For a full list of sources for County Armagh please click here

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts June 8th - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My next book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is out shortly, also available are 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.

LivingDNA updates Family Networks cousin matching tool

From LivingDNA (www.livingdna.com):

Living DNA’s relative finding tool, Family Networks, has received a major update. We can now detect matches at greater distances, finding 4th cousins and more.

Where to find these updates…

Log into my.livingdna.com and click Family Matching on your dashboard. If you haven’t already, you must opt into this service to receive your matches. Users who are already opted in should see these updates immediately upon logging in.

Further information on the development is available at https://support.livingdna.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013609959-Family-Matching-Overview


COMMENT: I've had a look, but whilst this is a development in the right direction, I find this cousin matching tool to be probably the most primitive I've encountered, at least on the DNA sites I have used so far. There is really not a lot of information available to determine the relationship behind matches - for many potential matches on my list, their names are simply given as two intials and a flag from where they live, and there is no family tree to look at for names - just an option to view a profile (in most cases blank) and in some cases a button to message the potential cousins, alongside a note of the amount of shared DNA (in cM), and a predicted relationship (eg 3rd-5th cousin).

Having fired off so many emails on other DNA sites to prospective matches, receiving only a limited number of responses, trying to make sense of these matches feels like it is going to be a LOT of work.

Hopefully this will evolve further.

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts June 8th - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My next book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is out shortly, also available are 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.

Check if you are eligible for a Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant in the UK

As of Wednesday 13th May 2020, those working in a self-employed role in the UK, which includes many self-employed genealogists and content providers, will potentially be able to apply for a Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant via HMRC.

To check if you are eligible visit https://www.gov.uk and in the Search box type in Check if you can claim a grant through the coronavirus Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

You will need your UTR number, and your National Insurance Number.

From the Gov.uk website:

Who can claim

You can claim if you’re a self-employed individual or a member of a partnership and:

• you traded in the tax year 2018 to 2019 and submitted your Self Assessment tax return on or before 23 April 2020 for that year
• you traded in the tax year 2019 to 2020
• you intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020 to 2021
• you carry on a trade which has been adversely affected by coronavirus

Your business could be adversely affected by coronavirus if, for example:

• you’re unable to work because you:
• are shielding
• are self-isolating
• are on sick leave because of coronavirus
• have caring responsibilities because of coronavirus
• you’ve had to scale down or temporarily stop trading because:
• your supply chain has been interrupted
• you have fewer or no customers or clients
• your staff are unable to come in to work

You should not claim the grant if you’re above the state aid limits or operating a trade through a trust.

To work out your eligibility we will first look at your 2018 to 2019 Self Assessment tax return. Your trading profits must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to your non-trading income.


Comment: Best of luck to all applying, and stay safe folks.

Update: Having made an application myself this morning, I qualified and will receive a payment within the next 6 days, which will certainly help out in these weird times. Bear in mind that whilst it is a grant which does not require to be repaid, it is taxable, will also be included for your National Insurance calculation. 

Although the UK Gov site tells you to have your UTR and National Insurance number to hand, you might also want to have your UK passport handy too as a means of identification, as it is one of the options presented. The process itsef was very quick, taking just a couple of minutes to complete.

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts June 8th - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My next book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is out shortly, also available are 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.

MyHeritage revises its privacy policy

From MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com):

We’re writing to let you know that we’ve updated our Privacy Policy.

We received feedback that our previous policy was too long and difficult to understand. We listened to the community, and we worked hard to address this. The updated policy is not only 40% shorter, but it’s also easier to understand and uses clearer language. There are no material changes in the updated Privacy Policy, except a few topics where we’ve made improvements for our users.

Read the updated Privacy Policy at https://www.myheritage.com/privacy-policy.

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts June 8th - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My next book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is out shortly, also available are 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.

Northern Ireland's PRONI archive joins Twitter

And it's a warm welcome on Twitter to the world's best archive! Northern Ireland's PRONI archive (www.nidirect.gov.uk/PRONI) now has an account at @PRONI_DFC.

I hope you'll sign up and follow them - they're a great bunch!

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts June 8th - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My next book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is out shortly, also available are 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.