Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers course starts Nov 1st

My next Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers course run kicks off at the start of next month from November 1st 2021, for a further five week run. If you're looking for a way to learn a little bit more each week about your favourite subject, why not sign up?!  

Here's the description:

This is an intermediate level course in Scottish family history for those who are going back beyond 1850. You should have some experience with research in the Old Parochial Registers (OPRs) of the Church of Scotland and in using major websites for Scottish research. This course discusses sources that fill the gap when the OPRs are uninformative or missing; for example, records of parish and town administration, occupations, land transfer and taxation. Using these records involves several different locations. You will learn how to check online finding aids and how to find the most effective way to obtain records that may be available online or offline. This is the second course on Scottish research. If you have not previously taken the Scottish Research Online course please check its description.

Lesson Headings:

* Kirk Sessions records and parish poor
* Burgh records and town poor
* Occupations, taxation and early lists
* Land transfer and the value of sasines
* Land, inheritance and estates

Each lesson includes exercises and activities; a minimum of 1 one-hour chat session per week. (See How the Courses Work at https://www.pharostutors.com/howcourseswork.php.)

STUDENTS SAID: "well structured chats with opportunities for questions as well"

Relevant Countries: Scotland
Course Length: 5 Weeks
Start Date: 1 November 2021
Cost: £49.99

The following video also gives a bit more of a flavour about what to expect:

(Available also at https://youtu.be/1vX6GZtwZJ0)

For further details, and to sign up, please visit https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302.

Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers has been designed as a follow on course from the Scottish Research Online course, although it can certainly be signed up for if you already have the same level of knowledge as given from the earlier course.

And the second run of my new Progressing Your Irish Research Online course starts again on November 15th 2021 - further details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=260.

I'll hopefully see you online soon! 

NB: Please note that Pharos course prices will be increasing from November 1st, so if you want to save a wee bit, now might be the time to go for it!

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Irish Genealogical Research Society website problems resolved

The Irish Genealogical Research Society (www.irishancestors.ie) has announced that its website, which has been experiencing some technical issues over the last few weeks and offering limited access, is now back online. 

Thankfully in time for the Irish track of the ISBGFH's British Institute, which I will be teaching next week (see http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2021/10/still-time-to-sign-up-for-isbgfh.html) - popping off now to quickly change the screengrab!

(With thanks to the IGRS at @IGRS_1936)

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

FindmyPast adds Edinburgh apprentice records and military vital records

The following have been added to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk):

Scotland, Edinburgh Apprentices 1583-1800
This useful collection is now fully searchable and includes details on Edinburgh’s apprentices, their fathers and masters, as far back as the 1500s.

British Armed Forces and Overseas Births and Deaths
We’ve added thousands of new records from The National Archives and the General Register Office. Discover amazing stories of births at sea, fallen seamen and more.

For further information and links, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/birth-death-apprentice-records

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

MyHeritage Facebook Live session on Scottish censuses

Earlier today I gave a short presentation on Scottish censuses as hosted on MyHeritage's Facebook Live platform - you can watch a recording of the presentation and the Q&As after at https://fb.watch/8tAaVRNpP1/.

And apologies for the rookie error on one of my slides - FS in 1841 meanst Female Servant, not Farm Servant. (Anyone with an 'Ag lab' could tell you that!!!)

Thanks to all who attended, and to Esther and My Heritage, for hosting it - great craic!

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records - e-editions now available

E-editions of my new book, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, are now available from Pen and Sword at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Ancestors-Through-Land-Records-Paperback/p/19283. Both the ePub and Kindle editions will cost just £6.98.

For more on the contents of the book, please visit my blog post at https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2021/09/a-video-introduction-to-my-new-irish.html. 

For a video introduction, please visit https://youtu.be/BdAM54kgGY0 or watch the embdedded video below.

I hope the book helps! (And any reviews would be gratefully received!)

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

MyHeritage Facebook Live session on Scottish censuses

I'll be giving a short presentation tomorrow (Wed 6th) on Scottish censuses, as part of MyHeritage's Facebook Live sessions, from 1pm UK time - I hope you can join me! (And it's not a bad way to spend a 51st birthday!)

The MyHeritage Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/myheritage (and Facebook - behave!)

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

NRS bizarrely adds Scottish Cabinet records to ScotlandsPeople

The National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk) appears to be changing the remit of the ScotlandsPeople website (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk), with news that the latest tranche of records to be added to the platform are, errr, Scottish Cabinet files from 1999-2005. From the site:

Historical Scottish Cabinet Records have been added to ScotlandsPeople for the first time. Over 1,500 records dating mainly to 2005 are now available to search and download for free. Historical records of the Scottish Cabinet are held by the National Records of Scotland. These records are opened to the public after 15 years as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to transparency, and future historical records will be added over time.

The Scottish Cabinet is the group of senior Ministers, including the First Minister of Scotland, which is responsible for Scottish Government policy. It came into existence in 1999, following the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and the devolved Scottish administration. 

The full announcement is at https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/article/news-article-scottish-cabinet-records-released-scotlandspeople.

COMMENT: Whilst I completely agree that these files should be made public and accessible online, I can't help feeling that ScotlandsPeople is not the right platform on which to do so. It would certainly seem to suggest that the recently added Virtual Volumes tool to the platform recently is not purely going to be confined to the hosting of family history or genealogical materials. The About Us section of the site suggests that ScotlandsPeople is 'the official Scottish Government site for searching government records and archives', and that it is 'used by hundreds of thousands of people each year to apply for copies of official certificates and to research family history, biography, local history and social history'. And now political history. 

A very odd update, and I suspect not one that the site's users to date ever considered would be  a priority for their family history needs. (Mind you, I do know of at least two MSPs who are very interested in family history!)

There is a guide to the new records available at https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/guides/scottish-cabinet-records.

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Who Do You Think You Are? returns on October 12th

The next series of Who Do You Think You Are? will return to BBC1 at 9pm on Tuesday, October 12th.

For further details visit https://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/tutorials/tv-series/who-do-you-think-you-are/.

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

RootsMagic 8 is now on sale

The latest version of the popular RootsMagic family tree software programme, RootsMagic 8, is now available to buy from www.rootsmagic.com, and is styled as 'the biggest upgrade in our company history'.

From the site, these are listed as some of the new features:

Latest Technologies
RootsMagic has been rewritten to work with the latest operating systems and genealogical technologies, including native support for MacOS. This foundation ensures that we'll be able to support future technologies and amazing new features.

Simpler Navigation
The new main window lets you switch between different screens (people, sources, places, tasks, media, etc.) without losing your place. The new "Couple View" and expandable "Descendants View" give you new insights into your families.

Easier Editing
You may now have more than one person's edit screen open at a time. You can also use other software features while the edit screen is open. All of a person's information is now accessible from their edit screen. You can even view switch to the edit screen of any family member and then instantly switch back.

Searching at Your Fingertips
Lists of data now have their own search box, allowing you to quickly find matching items. Advanced searching tools have all been grouped together into one easy screen.

Save to Modern Formats
Reports and charts may be saved in newer, more compatible formats including Microsoft Word .DOCX, Microsoft Excel .XLSX, and .SVG.

New Wallcharts & Fancharts
Wallcharts have been rebuilt from the ground-up, giving beautiful new features and coloring as well as one of most-requested features- fancharts.

Reusable Source Citations
Reusable citations let you create a citation once and then attach it to multiple people or events.

Streamlined Tasks
To-do items, correspondence lists, and research logs have been brought together into streamlined "tasks". Tasks are easily attached to peope, sources, media, and more while being quickly searched and filtered.

Better Places & Mapping
The Place List is now reversible and can directly show you all the events where the place is used. People and events can be quickly edited from the Place List. The Map View shows you the location of each place and any desired group of people

A fuller, more detailed list is available at http://wiki.rootsmagic.com/wiki/RootsMagic_8:Whats_New

The programme costs US $34.95 - but you can download a trial version before you purchase. Further details, and screengrabs, are available on the site. RootsMagic also has a blog post on the new version available at http://blog.rootsmagic.com/?p=3508.

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Isle of Tiree kirk session records from 1775-1865 indexed

Thanks to Catherine Morrin on the Scottish Indexes Facebook group page (www.facebook.com/groups/scottishindexes) for flagging up that kirk session records for the Isle of Tiree have been indexed by  Australian based Allan Murphy.

There are an astonishing anmount of records for the island transcribed at www.tireegenealogy.com - Allan's kirk session indexes, covering the period from 1775-1865, are directly accessible at www.tireegenealogy.com/Kirksessions.html, along with an earlier transcript by Archibald Strath Maxwell, covering 1767-1774. 

Have fun searching!

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.