The Scottish GENES Blog (GEnealogy News and EventS): Top news stories and features concerning ancestral research in Scotland, Ireland, the rest of the UK, and their diasporas, from genealogist and family historian Chris Paton. Feel free to quote from this blog, but please credit Scottish GENES if you do. I'm on Mastodon @scottishgenes and Threads @scottishgenesblog - to contact me please email chrismpaton @ outlook.com. Cuimhnich air na daoine o'n d'thàinig thu!
Bidh mi air falbh an ath sheachdain anns an Eilean Sgitheanach agus mi a' dèanamh cùrsa aig a' cholaiste Ghàidhlig, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. Air sgath sin cha bhi mi a' blogadh fhad's a bhios mi ann, ach bidh mi air ais a dh' aithghearr!
I'll be away next week on the Isle of Skye doing a course at the Gaelic college, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. Because of that I won't be blogging whilst there, but will be back soon!
Tìoraidh an-dràsta / ciao fer now!
Chris
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
Apologies, I've been a bit tardy with this one! From Daniel Horowitz at MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com), concerning a new collaboration between MyHeritage and Family TreeDNA (www.familytreedna.com):
I’m delighted to announce the launch of a new collaboration between the two companies. This collaboration, which includes integration between the MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA websites, enables FamilyTreeDNA customers to transfer their family trees to MyHeritage, and to continue building them on MyHeritage. FamilyTreeDNA users can now easily transfer their family trees to MyHeritage for free, after providing consent on both FamilyTreeDNA and MyHeritage.
This collaboration expands the two companies’ longstanding partnership, and will provide FamilyTreeDNA customers with access to MyHeritage’s robust suite of genealogy tools and features, many of which are not available on FamilyTreeDNA.
This strategic decision allows FamilyTreeDNA to focus on its expertise in DNA testing services and reporting, while providing its users with access to the powerful family tree tools and technologies offered by MyHeritage.
To facilitate this collaboration, MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA have developed a technical integration that now enables FamilyTreeDNA users to seamlessly transfer their family tree data to MyHeritage. This process is voluntary; however, transferring the tree data to MyHeritage is encouraged, as FamilyTreeDNA will officially sunset their family tree builder on September 9, 2024. At that point, all family trees on FamilyTreeDNA will become read-only. It will still be possible to transfer trees from FamilyTreeDNA to MyHeritage after this date, but this functionality may not be available forever, so the sooner the transfer is done, the better. Access to DNA results on FamilyTreeDNA will remain unchanged.
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
I normally don't run English-only themed stories on this blog (not its remit!), but this could be a useful census substitute for those with familes who moved south and were there after the 1921 census.
TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk) has added the following searchable directories for the following areas in England from the 1930s and the Channel Islands (bear in mind that unlike Scotland, England's 1931 census has not survived):
● Kelly's Directory of Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire, 1931 ● Kelly's Directory of Bournemouth, Poole, Parkstone, Christchurch &c., 1932 ● Kelly's Directory of Brighton and Hove, 1932 ● Kelly's Directory of Cambridgeshire, 1933 ● Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, 1932 ● Kelly's Directory of Devonshire and Cornwall, 1930 ● Kelly's Directory of Dorsetshire, 1931 ● Kelly's Directory of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, 1931 ● Kelly's Directory of Hertfordshire, 1933 ● Kelly's Directory of Ipswich and Neighbourhood, 1930 ● Kelly's Directory of Kent, 1930 ● Kelly's Directory of Kent, 1934 ● Kelly's Directory of Kilburn Willesden, 1933 ● Kelly's Directory of Leicestershire & Rutland, 1932 ● Kelly's Directory of Norfolk and Suffolk, 1933 ● Kelly's Directory of Putney & Roehampton, 1930 ● Kelly's Directory of Somersetshire, Gloucestershire & the City of Bristol, 1931 ● Kelly's Directory of Suffolk, 1933 ● Kelly's Directory of Sussex, Chichester, Selsey and Neighbourhood, 1934 ● Kelly's Directory of the Channel Islands, 1931 ● Kelly's Directory of Warwick, Leamington Spa, Stratford-On-Avon and Kenilworth, 1932 ● Kelly's Directory of Warwickshire, 1932 ● Kelly's Directory of Westmorland, 1934
The directories are searchable in the site's Residential and Trade Directories Collection
(With thanks to Paul at TheGenealogist)
Chris
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
A new Aberdeenshire collection has been recently added to Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk):
Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Poor Law Applications and Registers, 1818-1923 https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62686/ Source: Poor Law Applications, 1834-1943 and Poor Law Relief General Registers, 1812-1959. Aberdeenshire, Scotland: Aberdeen City Council.
About the Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Poor Law Applications and Registers, 1818-1923
This collection contains records relating to the relief of people living in poverty in the historic counties of Aberdeenshire, Banffshire, and Kincardineshire, Scotland. Most of the documents were created by the parochial boards and parish councils that were responsible for providing relief to impoverished people in their parish. Before 1921, only persons with disabilities and people of old age were entitled to relief.
The records precede 1929 when the responsibility to administer "poor relief" became a government function.
Records in this collection may include the following information:
Name
Birthplace
Date of birth
Names of parents or other relatives
Occupation
Marital status
Place of death
Date of death
Records may show the basis of the disability, which could include children, or pregnancy in cases where widows claimed relief.
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
Discover your Roots at The Really Useful Family History Show Europa Hotel, Belfast 10th August 2024 10am to 4pm.
Northern Ireland's first family history show in years is coming to Belfast, and everyone's invited!
This completely free event will feature 10 exhibitors ready to give advice about genealogy, research and DNA to beginners or more advanced family historians.
Visit in the morning and enter the free prize draw, with some fantastic prizes including DNA kits, society memberships, personal consultations with genealogy experts and more!
At 2pm there will be a presentation called “We know you are, Tim McGarry!” when we will be revealing to this much loved local comedian for the first time what DNA and research has uncovered about his ancestry.
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
An update on a collection that I first blogged about in 2012, the PT6 records featuring First World War Pension Apeals Tribunals, as held by the National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk).
"The Pension Appeal Tribunal records (ref. PT6) were catalogued as a result of funding by the Wellcome Trust. This project didn’t quite complete cataloguing the whole collection, but work is currently underway to address this shortfall. Work to capture digital images was not included in the Wellcome Trust project, but imaging work is currently in progress. Discussions will soon be taking place regarding the potential for online release, though no decisions or timescales have yet been agreed."
General information
-Name of the soldier (+ name of the applicant, and relationship to soldier, if not the same)
-His address
-Age
-Pre-enlisting occupation
-Employer before the war (on later applications only)
-Employer after the war (on later applications only)
-Insurance society (on later applications only)
Military information
-Rank & unit
-Service no
-When first attested
-When discharged
-Reason for discharge
-Details on pre-war service (if applicable)
-Details on service 1914-1921 (when and where he served, and in what units)
Information on application
-Date of the hearing and in which courtroom it was held (the hearings were held at 3 Parliament Square, Edinburgh)
-Disability from which the man claimed to be suffering
-Whether the appeal was allowed or disallowed (many were in fact disallowed)
-If allowed, how much the applicant received, and whether he got a lump sum or a fixed rate, and for how long
Each file also has some information on the soldier's medical history.
Chris
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
My 5-week long course Progressing Your Irish Research Online, taught through Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd (www.pharostutors.com),
kicks off again on Monday, August 19th 2024, and I am very much looking
forward to meeting the next group of students! If interested in joining in, there
are still spaces available, which can be booked via https://www.pharostutors.com/progressing-your-irish-research-online.
Here is some further information about the course:
There
is a common belief that if you have Irish ancestors then you should
give up hope of finding out about them, because 'nothing survived the
fire', referring to the destruction of Ireland's Public Record Office
during the Civil War in 1922. The overall aim of this course is to point
out that this is a nonsense, and that the glass is half full and not
empty. Whilst there are certainly challenges to be overcome, a great
deal can still be accomplished with the many resources now rapidly
finding their way online.
This course will describe the many
state created records and church records that can be used to research
your Irish ancestry. It will provide a context to understand why they
were created, and by whom and point out exactly where to find them
online, and how to use them effectively.
Lesson Headings:
Understanding Ireland's boundaries, key repositories and platforms
The vital records of Church and State
Documenting the people: Irish censuses and substitutes
Valuation records and inheritance
The Decade of Centenaries
Each lesson includes exercises and activities and a minimum of 1 one-hour chat per week.
Some reviews from students:
'I
enjoyed all of the course, the lessons, exercises and chat sessions
were all very helpful. I found Chris Paton ran the course and chat
sessions brilliantly. I now feel enthused to carry out more research.'
'The
astonishing range of information presented, the subsequent results
within my own research and the fun, friendly and knowledgeable way it
was all delivered. Excellent course and a tutor I would definitely want
to study with again.'
'It really
opened my eyes to what Chris calls the half FULL glass of Irish records,
plus a glimpse of history and geography. Excellent.'
'It
was beneficial from the standpoints of both improving general knowledge
of Irish history, and illuminating the numerous and often unique
potential sources of genealogical/family history information against
that background.'
'Depth of knowledge. Expertise of tutor. Excellent Handouts.'
'Fantastic tutor. First class lesson materials. Top-notch quality learning programme.'
'The realization that there are more resources and information available than I first thought!'
And if it helps, a brief introductory video explaining what it will hopefully achieve!
Also please note that my new 5-week course, Researching Irish Land Records, starts its first run from Monday, October 21st 2024. Anyone can sign up, but it is expected that you will have either done the Progressing Your Irish Research Online course, or at least have the equivalent level of knowledge as covered by it. I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into teaching this, so once again, I hope you can join me!
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
The latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are? magazine, August 2024, inludes a Records Masterclass article from yours truly looking at Scottish civil marriage records, as well as a Q&A response concerning an apparent place in Scotland called 'Hadingley'.
Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.
