Occasionally we get some big celebrities in our wee town here on the west coast of Scotland, but I have to admit that I was somewhat surprised to learn that, in a festive coup, Jesus had visited an old church in Largs within the last week, accompanied by his chum, Noel.
To be precise, Jesus Guban, from the Phillipines, was the 10,000th visitor to enter Largs Heritage Centre, which is based in St. Columba's Church. He was accompanied by friend Noel Solis, also from the islands, and both were presented with gifts to honour the occasion.
A disappointed Santa Claus is said to be unavailable for comment, and is apparently somewhat inconsolable at missing such a great festive photo opportunity.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
Friday, 4 December 2009
Scotland and the Spanish Civil war
The West of Scotland Branch of the Historical Association will be hosting a talk by Daniel Gray entitled Scotland and the Spanish Civil War next Tuesday 8th December 2009 at 5.30pm, in the Dyer Room at the Mitchell Library. The talk will be based on Gray's book “Homage to Caledonia”, in which he has collated extensive research from first hand sources on the conflict.
(With thanks to JanGlaschu at the brilliant ScotFamTree forum.)
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
(With thanks to JanGlaschu at the brilliant ScotFamTree forum.)
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
First Doctor Who producer's papers deposited at Strathclyde University
One of the nice things about having graduated from the University of Strathclyde's postgraduate diploma genealogy course is that I occasionally get an awfully nice glossy magazine called Strathclyde People, for the institution's alumni.
In this month's issue comes a detailed report on Strathclyde's archive, which recently merged with the Library's Special Collections Department. Amongst its holdings are the recently acquired papers of Verity Lambert OBE, the very first producer of the long running science fiction series Doctor Who. Included in the collection are two BAFTA awards, a rare acquisition as these are normally returned to BAFTA upon a recipient's death. Lambert, who died in 2007, was also responsible for many other television classics including Jonathan Creek, Minder and the Naked Civil Servant.
Other holdings include the papers of 18th century scientist John Anderson, town planner Sir Patrick Geddes (who designed modern day Tel Aviv), and also papers from one of the university's most accomplished alumni, John Logie Baird, he having studied at the modern campus's predecessor institution, the Royal Technical College between 1906 and 1914, and without whom Verity Lambert would never have had a job as a television producer!
One of the current archive's goals is to create a searchable online catalogue. For more on the recent merger, read my post at http://scottishancestry.blogspot.com/2009/09/strathclydes-university-archives-have.html
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
In this month's issue comes a detailed report on Strathclyde's archive, which recently merged with the Library's Special Collections Department. Amongst its holdings are the recently acquired papers of Verity Lambert OBE, the very first producer of the long running science fiction series Doctor Who. Included in the collection are two BAFTA awards, a rare acquisition as these are normally returned to BAFTA upon a recipient's death. Lambert, who died in 2007, was also responsible for many other television classics including Jonathan Creek, Minder and the Naked Civil Servant.
Other holdings include the papers of 18th century scientist John Anderson, town planner Sir Patrick Geddes (who designed modern day Tel Aviv), and also papers from one of the university's most accomplished alumni, John Logie Baird, he having studied at the modern campus's predecessor institution, the Royal Technical College between 1906 and 1914, and without whom Verity Lambert would never have had a job as a television producer!
One of the current archive's goals is to create a searchable online catalogue. For more on the recent merger, read my post at http://scottishancestry.blogspot.com/2009/09/strathclydes-university-archives-have.html
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
Agricultural additions to Electric Scotland
Alastair McIntyre has added General View of the Agriculture of the Hebrides by James MacDonald (1818) to the Electric Scotland website at www.electricscotland.com/agriculture/, in a downloadable PDF format.
In his latest newsletter, Alastair also flags up 1884 report of The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Condition of Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands, available at www.highland-elibrary.com/7.html. The report led to the Crofter's Act some two years later.
An interview with Alastair, explaining what Electric Scotland is and how it came to be, is in this month's Discover my Past Scotland magazine (issue 14). The laetst Electric Scotland newsletter is also available at www.scotchat.org/showthread.php?t=349
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
In his latest newsletter, Alastair also flags up 1884 report of The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Condition of Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands, available at www.highland-elibrary.com/7.html. The report led to the Crofter's Act some two years later.
An interview with Alastair, explaining what Electric Scotland is and how it came to be, is in this month's Discover my Past Scotland magazine (issue 14). The laetst Electric Scotland newsletter is also available at www.scotchat.org/showthread.php?t=349
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
Thursday, 3 December 2009
House history in Scotland
A new site from Edinburgh City Council offers some links for those wishing to trace their house history.
For more, see Useful websites for tracing the history of your house.
(With thanks to Kirsty Wilkinson via Twitter)
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
For more, see Useful websites for tracing the history of your house.
(With thanks to Kirsty Wilkinson via Twitter)
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
Irish Roots 72 now on sale
The last issue of Irish Roots magazine for 2009 (December, issue 72) has just been released, with lots of goodies. Amongst this month's offerings:•Sources, A National Library Of Ireland Database For Irish Research
•DNA - Solving Mysteries And Uniting Families
•From Galway To The Goldrush
•The Irish Diaspora In Mexico
•A Problem Shared Page
•Eccentric Ireland - Co. Louth
•News From The World Of Genealogy And Lots Lots More
And for all Irish readers with ancestors who came to Scotland, yours truly provides a guide on how to research what became of them, in an article entitled 'Tracing the Caledonian Irish'.
All for the stonkingly brilliant international coinage rate of 4.50 euros. A selected preview of the magazine is available at www.zinio.com/reader.jsp?issue=416109076&o=int&prev=sub
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
FindmyPast - free trial and fair usage increase
Findmypast (www.findmypast.com) is now offering a two week free trial to new users (excluding access to the 1911 English and Welsh census).
In an e-mail announcing the development, the company also notes some further changes and details, including a new fair usage policy that will alllow subscribers to see more per month:
Fair Usage limits – we have dramatically increased the monthly Fair Usage Limit for subscribers and simplified how we calculate it. The new limit is a huge 5000 record views per month and we will send a warning email if you start to get close to this limit. We will also be introducing a counter on the website soon to let you see how close to the limit you are getting.
Free trial – a 14 day free trial is now available to new users of the site. There is a lower Fair Usage Limit of 400 record views during a Free Trial. The Free Trial does not include access to the 1911 census.
Continuous membership for subscribers – we have clarified your options to cancel continuous membership from the "My account" area of the website. Your loyalty discount of 20% is automatically applied when you renew using continuous membership.
Lookups – we have made it clearer that providing "lookups" for other people is not allowed.
Company name changes – Find My Past Limited has changed its name to brightsolid online publishing limited. This is simply a name change – we are still owned by the same company (brightsolid online innovation limited) and this name change does not affect your use of the website in any way.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
In an e-mail announcing the development, the company also notes some further changes and details, including a new fair usage policy that will alllow subscribers to see more per month:
Fair Usage limits – we have dramatically increased the monthly Fair Usage Limit for subscribers and simplified how we calculate it. The new limit is a huge 5000 record views per month and we will send a warning email if you start to get close to this limit. We will also be introducing a counter on the website soon to let you see how close to the limit you are getting.
Free trial – a 14 day free trial is now available to new users of the site. There is a lower Fair Usage Limit of 400 record views during a Free Trial. The Free Trial does not include access to the 1911 census.
Continuous membership for subscribers – we have clarified your options to cancel continuous membership from the "My account" area of the website. Your loyalty discount of 20% is automatically applied when you renew using continuous membership.
Lookups – we have made it clearer that providing "lookups" for other people is not allowed.
Company name changes – Find My Past Limited has changed its name to brightsolid online publishing limited. This is simply a name change – we are still owned by the same company (brightsolid online innovation limited) and this name change does not affect your use of the website in any way.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
Complicated family history
Not a lot of news just now, so here's a vid as old as the hills, still a challenge for the most hardy of genealogists!
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Irish Times - free access
With thank to the Anglo-Celtic Connections blog for the following.
The Irish Times is offering free access until December 14th to celebrate 150 years of the paper's existence. The archive website is at www.irishtimes.com/150/
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
The Irish Times is offering free access until December 14th to celebrate 150 years of the paper's existence. The archive website is at www.irishtimes.com/150/
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
Ancestry completes English and Welsh death indexes
Ancestry.co.uk has completed its new BMD indexes for England and Wales with the addition of a searchable death index from 1916-2005. The new facility substantially enhances the ability to search the GROS quarterly indexes up to 1984, and can be accessed at www.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=7579
Whilst the indexes are now the best available online, do be aware that Ancestry charges an extortionate amount for BMD records when ordered through their service. To order BMD records for England and Wales, use the GRO website at www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
Whilst the indexes are now the best available online, do be aware that Ancestry charges an extortionate amount for BMD records when ordered through their service. To order BMD records for England and Wales, use the GRO website at www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
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