TheGenealogist uploads new property records for Greenwich

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

New Property Records for Greenwich

TheGenealogist has just released over 57,700 individuals from the Greenwich area into its Lloyd George Domesday Survey Records on the Map Explorer™. These fully searchable property records enable researchers to find where ancestors from Greenwich lived in the 1910-1915 period. This release now brings the total coverage of Lloyd George Domesday Survey Records to over half a million individuals.

By using TheGenealogist’s powerful Map Explorer™ family history researchers searching for where their ancestors lived in the period before the First World War are able to see the actual plots for buildings and explore the district as it was in that period on large scale OS maps linked to the field books containing descriptions of the properties.

Researchers often have difficulty discovering where ancestors lived as road names can change over time. World War II Blitz bombing saw areas destroyed and these sites were altered during redevelopment, making them unrecognizable from what had been there before. Lanes and roads were often lost to build estates and office blocks. The changes over the years can mean that searching for where an ancestor lived using modern maps can be a frustrating experience, as they won’t pinpoint where old properties had once stood.

The Map Explorer™ benefits from a number of georeferenced historic map overlays and modern base maps, allowing users to see how the topography has changed over the years by simply sliding the opacity controls.

The Lloyd George Domesday Survey records are sourced from The National Archives and are being digitised by TheGenealogist.

TheGenealogist’s Lloyd George Domesday records link individual properties to extremely detailed maps used in 1910-1915

• Full descriptions of each property with its valuation recorded in field books
• Locate an address previously found in a census or street directory down to a specific house
• Fully searchable by name, county, parish and street
• The maps will zoom in to show the individual properties as they were in 1910-1915
• Transparency sliders enable you to compare and contrast modern and historic street maps,
• change the base map displayed to satellite or hybrid to more clearly understand what the area looks like today
• Overlay with a range of old maps to see the wider area as it had once been
• Allows you to display county or parish boundaries
• Searching for an ancestor identifies their property with a green pin
• Check neighbouring properties by clicking the red pins and selecting ‘View Transcript’

Read the article: Greenwich property records reveal the lost past much changed by the blitz, bombs and the building of a historic landmark
https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2020/greenwich-property-records-reveal-the-lost-past-1233/

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

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.

Society of Genealogists compiled family histories to be digitised

From the London based Society of Genealogists (www.sog.org.uk):

Society of Genealogists and FamilySearch Partnership to digitize the SoG’s collection of compiled family histories

The Society of Genealogists and FamilySearch are about to start work on a programme of digitization of some 9000 family history books and over 5000 genealogy pamphlets, offprints and unpublished tracts from the Society of Genealogists’ extensive genealogy library.

Since its foundation in 1911 the Society of Genealogists has collected the largest assembly of narrative family histories and biographies in the United Kingdom. Some of its collection are unique materials deposited in in the Society’s library for the use of genealogists. This digitization programme not only ensures the preservation of the library’s books, bound monographs and multi-volume histories, but also enables the Society to make them available to a wider audience. Scanned digital images of the works will be available for use in the library and, where possible, will be published online as part of the SoG’s digital collections.

Items within the family histories collection include, for example, the 3 volume Records of the Cust Family of Pinchbeck, Stamford and Belton in Lincolnshire compiled by Lady Elizabeth Cust in 1894 (the first woman to join as a Founding Fellow the Society of Genealogists in 1911). There are some 50 volumes of bound notes and manuscripts for the Scattergood family acquired by the SoG in 1967 and a typical 3 volumes of bound typescript notes abstracting wills, registers etc. entitled Rolfe Family Records compiled by A W Rolfe and donated in 2003.

The SoG holds a facsimile of what is considered to be one of the first compiled family histories which is of the Berkeley family compiled in the 1620s by John Smyth of Nibley (d 1640) using public records and family muniments and which was republished in an abstract in 1821 edited by Thomas Dudley Posbroke. While most are excellent, exact and authoritative works, some (very few!) may be like the first published English family history by Robert Halstead called Succinct Genealogies of the Noble and Ancient Houses of Alno, Broc and Mordaunt (1685) which is replete with forged charters and fictitious pedigrees!!

The project will involve not only the preservation and scanning of the items but also an extensive amount of work to re-catalogue and withdraw the items to safe storage, thus freeing up considerable space in the library.

The project is expected to last at least two years with equipment and personnel provided by FamilySearch working in the Upper Library with SoG volunteers and cataloguers.

(With thanks to Else Churchill)

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.

FindmyPast adds further newspaper content

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

Four new political titles and a brand new Irish paper have been added to the site's newspapers collections:

• Freedom (London) covering the years 1886-1905
• Communist (London) covering the years 1920-1922
• Meath Herald and Cavan Advertiser covering the years 1845-1850, 1852-1853, 1857-1859, 1861-1871, 1873-1884, 1886-1887, 1889-1896

The following titles have been updated, including several Scottish and Irish offerings:

• Wakefield Express 1870 and 1910
• Leinster Reporter 1859-1877, 1879 and 1889-1896
• Kilkenny Moderator 1841, 1845, 1852-1880, 1882-1884, 1886-1899
• Hamilton Daily Times 1873-1874, 1876-1878, 1880, 1883, 1885, 1916, 1919
• Toronto Daily Mail 1882-1883, 1885, 1889, 1891-1893, 1895
• Chester Chronicle 1872-1879, 1881-1882, 1897
• Friend of India and Statesman 1864, 1877-1883
• Dumfries and Galloway Standard 1890
• Richmond & Ripon Chronicle 1856 and 1858
• Fife News 1882
• Sport (Dublin)1929
• Madras Courier 1817
• Somerset Standard 1900-1914, 1971-1976
• Kent & Sussex Courier 1951-1965
• Daily Herald 1962-1964
• Aberdeen Press and Journal 1985
• Toronto Saturday Night 1899 and 1910
• Westminster Gazette 1909

Findmypast has also added 36,000 new records to its Wales Billion Graves Cemetery Index, and addtional material for parishes in Hampshire, England.

For further information, and links, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/find-your-welsh-family-this-st-davids-day.

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.

Ancestry releases BMD indexes for New York

Ancestry (www.ancestry.com) has released three new collections which may be of interest if pursuing your emigrant relatives to New York in the USA:

New York, New York, Index to Birth Certificates, 1866-1909
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/61779/
Source: New York City Department of Records & Information Services. New York City Birth Certificates.

Birth records are available for the following boroughs:

Bronx, 1898 - 1909
Brooklyn, 1866 - 1909
Manhattan, 1866 -1904
Queens, 1898 - 1909
Richmond, 1898 - 1909

In addition to the name of the individual who was born, in these records you may be able to find:

The Birth Date, Address, Ward and Borough of the individual who was born
The Name, Age, Race, Birthplace, Occupation, and Current Address of the Mother and Father
The Number of Other Children Born and Living to the Mother


New York, New York, Index to Death Certificates, 1862-1948
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/61778/
Source: New York City Department of Records & Information Services. New York City Death Certificates.

Death records are currently available for the following boroughs and years. Additional years will be added as available:

Bronx, 1898 - 1948
Brooklyn, 1862 - 1948
Manhattan, 1866-1867, 1870-1875, 1934-1948
Queens, 1898 - 1948
Richmond, 1898 - 1948

In addition to the name of the individual who died, in these records you may be able to find:

The Death Date, Death Location (Address/Hospital, Ward, and Borough), Gender, Race, Marital Status, Length of time in US, Birth Date, Age at Death, Cause of Death, and Usual Address of the individual who died
The Name and Birthplace of the Mother and Father of the individual, as well as the Name of the Spouse, if applicable
The Name and Relationship to the deceased of the Informant and Executor.


New York, New York, Index to Marriage Licenses, 1908-1910, 1938-1940
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/61788/
Source: New York City Department of Records & Information Services. New York City Marriage Licenses.

Marriage records are currently only available for Manhattan, but indexes for the other boroughs will be added as available.

In addition to the name of the individual who was born, in these records you may be able to find:

The Birth Date, Address, Ward and Borough of the individual who was born
The Name, Age, Race, Birthplace, Occupation, and Current Address of the Mother and Father
The Number of Other Children Born and Living to the Mother


Ancestry has also issued a press release detailing recent achievements, which you can find at https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2020/02/26/ancestry-announces-significant-content-additions-and-improved-family-history-research-tools-at-rootstech-empowering-more-discoveries

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.

MyHeritage introduces fan view for family trees

From MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com):

Introducing Fan View for Family Trees

We’re delighted to announce the release of Fan View ⁠— a new view for your family tree on MyHeritage. It joins the 3 views already available: Family View, Pedigree View and List View.

Fan View provides a useful and attractive visualization of your family tree. Similar to Pedigree View, it includes a root individual and their ancestors for several generations, without siblings, spouses, or anyone else who is not a direct ancestor. Fan View looks like a fan chart that many genealogists are familiar with. But it’s interactive! Which means you navigate in it, view more information about any individual, and even add more people to the tree using it.

For a full run through of the feature, visit MyHeritage's blog at https://blog.myheritage.com/2020/02/introducing-fan-view-for-family-trees

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.

Did your Presbyterian ancestors engage in dirty dancing?!

In a discussion on AncestryHour a few nights ago (www.ancestryhour.co.uk) I happened to mention that an ancestor of mine, Andrew Henderson, was prosecuted in a Perthshire kirk session in 1752 for 'promiscuous dancing', also known as 'promiseray dancing'. Here's the account from the session minutes:

At Arntully 8th Decr 1752. After prayer by ye Modr Sederunt John Sprunt John Morice John Kea Elders & John Richie Deacon

The Officer having reported that according to appointment he had cited to this meeting the following persons viz: Andrew Henderson, in ye Miln of Airntully, Lillias Grigor, John Nathan & George Ramsays, James Stewart, Joseph Morice, John, Agnes & Elizabeth Mallochs, Mary Crookshank, John Grigor, John Gellatly & Emilia Bennet all in Arntully. They being called, they all compeared Except James Stewart, and they being Interrigate by ye Modr One by One if they had been guilty of the indecent behaviour of promiscuous dancing, They all answered in the affirmation. Then After the Indelacicy & Sinfullness of such a Practise was laid before them ye Modr together wt ye Aggravation of their Sin having got publick Warnings agt the same They were severally Interrogate […] they acknowledged their said conduct to be sinful & thro’ Grace resolved agt the same for the future, & also against the Countenancing I so far as Witness it in others. They all after much deal acknowledged & Resolved agreeably to ye Interrogation, Except John Ramsay, who after all dealing wt him would neither Acknowledge nor Resolve as aforesaid.

They were all Removed. Then ye session proceeded to consider what Censure to Inflict upon them, and after Deliberation upon ye Matter They agreed in regard of some circumstances in ye case of ye Persons who had fallen into ye forsaid Indecent behaviour, to List in an admonition of them wt certifica[tio]n That if they shall afterwards be guilty of such a practise, the Session will inflict a higher Censure upon them. And wt respect to John Ramsay the Session delayed ye Considerat[ion]n of his case till next Meeting & that both he & James Stewart be cited to attend.

They being called in, and after ye Mod[erato]r had intimated to John Ramsay what ye session had agreed upon wt respect to him all ye rest were admonished by ye Mod[erato]r in ye Name of ye Lord Jesus Christ the only King & head of his church, wt certifican That is all or any of them should be found guilty of such a sinfull practise again, ye session would inflict a higher censure upon them. And they were exhorted by ye Modr to watchfulness & Rependance upon the Lord. Closed wt prayer.

(Source: Associate Session minutes, Kinclaven, CH3/502/1/93, National Records of Scotland)

Many of us have ancestors who were guilty of the 'sin' and 'scandal' of 'antenuptial fornication', but to really enter the Scottish genealogy hall of fame, you need to have ancestors who were guilty of dirty dancing!

It turns out, however, that this was not just a Scottish thing. A huge thanks to genealogist Kirsty Wilkinson for flagging up the Twitter find of the century, in the form of an account called Promiscuous Presbyterians, denoted as a "BA-funded project led by@DrLeanneCalvert on the sexploits of Presbyterians in Ireland & N. America, 1717-1830". There is also a website, Promiscuous Presbyterians at https://promiscuouspresbyterian.wordpress.com, concerned with 'Sex, Scandal & Sin in the Presbyterian World, 1717-1830'.

Here's the blurb:

Sexuality and Social Control: Irish Presbyterians in the Atlantic World, 1717-1830.

This project explores the relationship between sexuality, religion and migration. It focuses on Presbyterians and investigates the ways that Presbyterian sexuality was policed in Ireland and North America, between the eighteenth- and early nineteenth-centuries.

Salacious stories of stolen trysts in backrooms, fields and forests; misbehaving ministers riding on horseback, seducing the wives of their church members; and promiscuous Presbyterian youths sneaking around behind the backs of their elders form the basis of this research. What did Presbyterian women and men in past centuries get up to under the sheets? At what point did sexual activity become illicit? How different were Presbyterian communities in Ireland and North America? In tracing this aspect of Presbyterian life, this project asks what we can learn about the family by placing sex and sexuality at the core of our research.

The project is currently funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Grants Scheme (2020-21), supported by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Ref: SRG19\190269).

Initial funding was received from the Presbyterian Historical Society USA, Research Fellowship Scheme, and the Anna Parnell Travel Grant, from the Women’s History Association of Ireland.

It sounds a fascinating project, and one I will certainly keep an eye on as it develops further!

DISCLAIMER: I can't dance to save my life. Coincidentally, I have no matches on my Henderson line through AncestryDNA yet either. The two things may be linked...) 

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.

Rootstech to return to London in November 2020

From Rootstech (www.rootstech.org):

RootsTech Returns to London in 2020, Opens Early Registration.

SALT LAKE CITY, UT (26 February 2020)—FamilySearch is excited to announce that RootsTech will return to London in 2020. The three-day event will be held on 5–7 November 2020 at the ExCeL London Convention Centre. Learn more about RootsTech London 2020, or register at RootsTech.org/London.

“RootsTech London 2019 was a pilot test for us, and it was a tremendous experience,” said Steve Rockwood, FamilySearch International CEO. “The event proved to be a great way to bring people from all around the world together to celebrate the joy of family discovery.”

Attendees made connections and personal discoveries, and businesses formed new relationships and partnerships—all critical to the growth of the family history industry internationally.

“We’re excited to build upon what we learned and expand the event further at RootsTech London 2020,” said Rockwood.

In 2019, nearly 10,000 attendees from 42 countries participated, with another 1,300 people tuning in remotely online. More than 60 exhibitors demonstrated their products and services in the exhibition hall.

RootsTech London 2020 will offer inspirational keynote speakers and more than 150 informative classes taught by industry experts across the three-day event. The exhibition hall will host companies from around the world showcasing a wide variety of family and family history-related solutions and services. The full conference programme and keynote speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

“RootsTech London is for everyone,” said Jen Allen, event director. “We’re focused on providing opportunities for all to discover their family and deepen their sense of belonging and connection. Whether you’re an experienced family historian or just a little curious and want to learn things about yourself or your family that you’ve never known before, there’s something for you at RootsTech.”

(With thanks to FamilySearch - original news release at https://media.familysearch.org/rootstech-returns-to-london-in-2020-opens-early-registration/)

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.

Past Search Writing Your Family History course starts March 13th

A forthcoming course from genealogist Gill Blanchard:

Past Search Writing Your Family History
E-Course Module One
www.writingyourfamilyhistory.co.uk

Starts Friday 13 March 2020
Ends Friday 5 June 2020
12 Weeks. 5 Lessons. Weekly Discussions.

Tutor: Gill Blanchard
Author and Professional Family Historian
MA. Biography and Creative Non Fiction (UEA)

This is a practical writing course spread over a twelve week period that guides participants through the process of bringing their ancestors to life. The aim is on producing an entertaining family history that other people want to read. The lessons focus on enabling students to choose the most suitable format for them, decide what to include and how, and find and add relevant context. The tutor will provide personalised and in-depth feedback on students writing throughout the course.

Students will be encouraged to move beyond a basic ‘John begat William and Jane begat Mary’ chronicle; learn how to integrate relevant social and local history materials and to deal with repetitions, missing pieces and anomalies in their writing.

The course lasts for twelve weeks and is comprised of five lessons. The first four lessons are posted online at fortnightly intervals, with an extra week after lessons four and five to allow additional time for reading, writing, critiquing and feedback.

The lessons include writing exercises, focussed guidance, useful tips, writing examples, links to useful resources and background reading. There are regular live online discussions with the tutor and other students. A dedicated learning hub can be used at any time throughout the course to share work, ask questions and post news.

This course is aimed at those who have completed a body of research into their family history and are ready to start writing.

(With thanks to Gill)

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.

FamilySearch releases Where Am I From? interactive online activity

From FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org):

SALT LAKE CITY, UT (25 February 2020 )—FamilySearch released its new Where Am I From? interactive online activity this week (https://www.familysearch.org/discovery/explore). The experience is a fun way to explore your ancestral origins. Users can see emigration and immigration movements of their ancestors on a map, discover their countries of origin, and learn the heritage and traditions of their ancestors’ homelands. To start having fun, users will need a free FamilySearch account.

The Where Am I From? experience is the newest addition to a series of FamilySearch discovery activities. Dan Call, the FamilySearch experience manager for the feature, said, “Users can learn fun facts from their family homelands, like the types of food they eat, popular recipes, and family and social dynamics, including common greetings, gestures, and other cultural attributes.”

The feature contains heritage-specific data for 240 countries and provinces. Although it is not required, users with more genealogical information in FamilySearch’s free Family Tree will have the richest, personalized discovery experiences. The discovery activity will take their family tree data and provide meaningful and visual representations that are fun to explore and share.

Where Am I From? Four Key Experiences

Generation. Use an interactive, global map to pinpoint where your ancestors lived.
Family Lines. View your family’s movement over time by specific ancestral lines.
My Heritage. Discover where your ancestors came from and explore the heritage of your homelands.
Timeline. Learn where your ancestors were during major world events.

For those who are just beginning to build their family trees, Call says if they know any of their ancestral countries of origin, they will have a great time exploring the fun and fascinating information Where Am I From? offers for those countries.

The Where Am I From? experience is engaging for people of all ages and makes it easy for beginners to learn fun new facts about their personal and family histories.

While testing the new experience, Call said it was common to see new, teen-aged users getting totally enthralled in viewing their ancestors’ photos and stories and other interesting facts about their ancestral origins.

Explore your heritage with the new Where Am I From? activity.

(With thanks to FamilySearch)

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.

Webinar: An Overview of my Irish course at the British Institute 2020

If you are at a loss this Saturday for something to do, and fancy finding out a bit more about what I'll be discussing at the British Institute's Irish course in Utah in October, the following might be of interest!

Saturday February 29th 2020
11 am eastern (4pm current UK time)

AN OVERVIEW OF THE IRISH COURSE AT BRITISH INSTITUTE 2020
presented by Chris Paton

Chris is the instructor for the IRISH course at this year's British Institute in Salt Lake City.

"Originally from Northern Ireland, but with both Scottish and Irish roots, Chris Paton holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Genealogical Studies from the University of Strathclyde, and today works as a professional genealogist, running the Scotland's Greatest Story research service (www.scotlandsgreateststory.co.uk). He lives in Ayrshire in Scotland, and is married with two sons.

Chris will discuss:

Introduction: the Irish genealogical landscape
The Vital Records
Irish Land Records
Irish Occupations
Finding the Irish in British records. From 1801-1922
The Decade of Centenaries. From 1912-1923
Newspapers and Books

The webinar is free to attend - to register, please visit: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1883956400082080269

And for more about my Tracing Your Irish Ancestors course at the British Institute in Salt Lake City from October 12-16 2020, at the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel, please visit https://www.isbgfh.com/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History.

Hopefully see you online on Saturday - and maybe even in Utah in October!

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 Research Online course starts next week on March 2nd

The next Scottish Research Online course from Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd (www.pharostutors.com), originally written by genealogist Sherry Irvine and regularly updated and taught now by yours truly, starts March 2nd for a 5 week run, taught online. Here's the blurb:

Scottish Research Online (102)
Tutor: Chris Paton

Scotland was first to have major records digitized and offer indexes and images online. This course describes the major sites, the types of information and data that they offer, the forms in which databases are presented and how to analyze results. You will learn to lay the foundations for searching a family, how to select best resources and what to do next either online or in libraries and archives.

Lesson Headings:

• ScotlandsPeople, FamilySearch, Ancestry, FindmyPast, FreeCen: content, comparison, assessment
• Essential Maps and Gazetteers
• Civil Registration and Census Research Online
• Searching in Church of Scotland Registers Online
• Scottish Wills and Inventories Online
• Take It From Here

Note: it is recommended but not required that students in this course sign up for the basic search option, 30 units/seven days, at ScotlandsPeople (cost is seven pounds).

Each lesson includes exercises and activities; a minimum of 1 one-hour chat s See How the Courses Work.

STUDENTS SAID: "I particularly liked the fact that the course didn't just focus on the well-known BMD resources available, but on a much wider range of websites, including many which give extremely useful background information on the geography and history of the localities where our ancestors lived."

"a very knowledgeable Instructor"

Relevant Countries: Scotland

This course is offered twice annually.

Course Length: 5 Weeks
Start Date: 2 March 2020
Cost: £49.99

And for a wee video introduction, visit https://youtu.be/ssdYLlGtoHw or watch below! (Note the course cost is £49.99 now, not £45.99!)

To sign up to the course, please visit https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102

Note that the follow up course to this, Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs starts on May 4th  2020 - for further details on this, please visit https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302

I will hopefully see you there next week - Alba gu bràth!

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.

Bishopric of the Forces collection on FindmyPast

I signed up to a FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) subscription a couple of days ago in order to access the Scottish Roman Catholic parish records. Although the records are also presented on ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk), FindmyPast has a considerably larger collection (even though I have no idea what the full coverage actually is) - including records from a particular Renfrewshire parish I have an interest in, dating up to the 1960s, for which I could previously only access pre-1900 records on ScotlandsPeople.

I commented on my positive experience with the records on my Scottish GENES Facebook page, but mentioned that I thought it a pity that the records do not contain material from the Bishopric of the Forces collection, as is the case on ScotlandsPeople. The Bishopric is based in Aldershot, England, but does not just contain records for all Roman Catholic Scots worldwide, but entries from all Roman Catholics in the British armed forces who have had events recorded during their service.

In fact, it transpires that the records ARE on FindmyPast - they are not included in the Scottish records, because quite rightly, they are not just Scottish records. Instead, they form a completely separate offering, British Armed Forces, Roman Catholic Registers (https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-Records/british-armed-forces-roman-catholic-registers).

The following is FindmyPast's blurb about the collection:

The British Armed Forces, Roman Catholic Registers have been digitised from The Scottish Catholic Archives. They contain sacramental registers of baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials between 1836 and 1975. The registers feature the names of military personnel and their families stationed both at home and abroad. You will find registers from the military towns Aldershot and Shorncliffe, as well as bases in Cairo, Cyprus, Malta, and more.

The registers were created by the Bishopric of the Forces, the religious officials of the Roman Catholic Church responsible for the pastoral care of Roman Catholics in the military. Roman Catholic registers were often recorded in Latin. Latin was the official language of the Church until the second half of the 20th century. Below is a list of common Latin words found in the records to help you decipher the detailed images.

So the bottom line, I think, is that when it comes to Scottish Roman Catholic records research, FindmyPast has properly surpassed ScotlandsPeople's offerings - something you may wish to take on board if you have a lot of Scottish Catholic research to pursue!

(With thanks to Myko Clelland from FindmyPast)

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

If you missed them during the week, the latest stories on Scottish GENES (https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com):

Have you visited... the Glasgow Women's Library?
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/have-you-visited-glasgow-womens-library.html

Back To Our Past in Belfast
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/back-to-our-past-in-belfast.html

SAFHS 2020 conference to be held in Musselburgh
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/safhs-2020-conference-to-be-held-in.html

British Newspaper Archive passes 36 million pages
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/british-newspaper-archive-passes-36.html

FamilySearch's new search tool opens up digital image only data
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/familysearchs-new-search-tool-opens-up.html

FindmyPast 40 per cent discount subscription offer
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/findmypast-40-per-cent-discount.html

Belfast City Hall Visitor Exhibition
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/belfast-city-hall-visitor-exhibition.html

More on FamilySearch's new digital image search tool
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/more-on-familysearchs-new-digital-image.html

Thanks to Garnock Valley Family History Group in Beith
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/thanks-to-garnock-valley-family-history.html

Ontario, Nova Scotia and Illinois records added to FamilySearch
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/ontario-nova-scotia-and-illinois.html

Ancestry adds divorce and coroner inquest records for Victoria, Australia
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/ancestry-adds-divorce-and-coroner.html

Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2019 lectures now online
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/genetic-genealogy-ireland-2019-lectures.html

FindmyPast adds Surrey parish records
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/findmypast-adds-surrey-parish-records.html

Some currently available genealogy TV box sets and shows
https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/some-currently-available-genealogy-tv.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.

Have you visited... the Scottish Genealogy Society?

In April my next book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, will be published. To pave the way, every week until publication I will flag up a key site that you may not be aware of if you are new to genealogy, or which you may have overlooked if researching for a while, which might just help with your Scottish research!

This week, the Scottish Genealogy Society.

The Edinburgh based Scottish Genealogy Society at www.scotsgenealogy.com has an online 'Family History Index' outlining some of the private papers which have been deposited with the body, as well as a downloadable index for its journal The Scottish Genealogist, from 1953-2005. The 'Downloads' section also hosts The Black Book, detailing all of the society's holdings relating to Scottish deaths and burials, arranged by county and in downloadable PDF format. The majority are for Scottish counties, but there are listings for the English border counties of Cumbria and Northumberland. The society has a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ScottishGenealogySociety.

Have fun!

* Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet is available for pre-order now at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Scottish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/17717.

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.

Some currently available genealogy TV box sets and shows

There have been a few TV shows engaging with genealogy, and increasingly you can access them in the UK via catch up services as box sets. A few you might find:

Find My Past
All 20 episodes of FindmyPast's sponsored TV series of the same name on UKTV are available in their entirety on the UKTV catch up service at https://uktvplay.uktv.co.uk/shows/find-my-past/watch-online.

Finding Your Roots
The third series of this popular PBS series from the United States are included as a box set offering within a subscription on Amazon Prime (www.amazon.co.uk/amazonprime), with other available series available for purchase through the service.

Who Do You Think You Are?
Episodes from series 14, featuring Lulu and Emma Willis, are currently available on the BBC iPlayer (www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer). You will also find episodes of WDYTYA? from the UK and overseas editions on YouTube.

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.

FindmyPast adds Surrey parish records

The latest additions to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk), which may be particularly useful if your ancestors moved to Surrey!

Surrey Baptisms
Over 660,000 entries, each with a transcript and a digitised copy of the original document, held by Surrey County Council.

Surrey Marriages
Over 390,000 new Surrey marriage records have been released.

Surrey Burials
440,000 entries.

Newspapers
The British Newspaper Collection has added the following new titles:

• Hamilton Daily Times covering the years 1875, 1879, 1881-1882, 1884, 1886, 1912-1915 and 1920
• Toronto Daily Mail covering the years 1886-1888, 1890 and 1894-1895
• Toronto Saturday Night covering the years 1887-1898 and 1900-1909
• Dudley Chronicle covering the years 1910-1935

The following titles have had further coverage added:

• Blyth News has been updated with issues from the years 1882 and 1895
• Merthyr Express has been updated with issues from the year 1868
• South Wales Gazette has been updated with issues from the year 1898
• Westminster Gazette has been updated with issues from the years 1908, 1910, 1912-1913, 1915-1916 and 1926

Further details and links at https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/surrey-parish-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.

Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2019 lectures now online

Thanks to @DebbieKennett for the heads up on this:

Legacy Family Tree Webinars and MyHeritage are delighted to announce the addition of fifteen Genetic Genealogy Ireland (GGI) 2019 presentations to the Legacy webinar library. The classes, recorded live during in the 2019 Belfast and Dublin conferences, include presentations by top international genetic genealogists on the latest developments in genetic genealogy with a special focus on their application to Irish genealogy. 

There are 15 lectures available in total on the FamilyTreeWebinars.com platform - all are listed at https://news.legacyfamilytree.com/legacy_news/2020/02/familytreewebinarscom-adds-genetic-genealogy-ireland-conference-videos.html. Freepreviews are available for each talk.

If you don't have a FamilyTreeWebinars subscription, visit https://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/memberships-c11.php for details on how to sign up.

(With thanks to Debbie Kennett)

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.

Ancestry adds divorce and coroner inquest records for Victoria, Australia

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has recently added two new collection for the Australian state of Victoria, accessible on its worldwide subscription, which may help with your emigrated relatives. The following are the details, with the relevant Ancestry descriptions:

Victoria, Australia, Divorce Records, 1860-1940
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/61565/
Source: Divorce Case Files, 1860-1940. VPRS 283 (Supreme Court of Victoria Divorce Files) and VPRS 552 (Ballarat Divorce Case Files). Public Record Office Victoria, North Melbourne, Victoria.

About Victoria, Australia, Divorce Records, 1860-1940

This collection is comprised of divorce records from the state of Victoria in south-eastern Australia. From the Public Record Office Victoria website on this collection:

“The case file will contain a number of documents that might include:

• the petition stating the grievance
• affidavits (or supporting statements) by the petitioner
• a formal answer by the respondent and any co-respondents (in cases of adultery, both parties to the adultery were summoned)
• further affidavits in support of that answer
• orders by the court directing who is to pay for the costs of the case
• a praecipe, which is an order to the clerks of the Court to produce a writ containing the formal decree made by the justice. The praecipe will often have a summary of the decision

Note that not all cases were heard. Sometimes they were withdrawn before the hearing or otherwise settled.”

“Divorce files and cause books.” Public Record Office Victoria. 9 April 2019, https://prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/explore-topic/divorce-files-and-cause-books


Also:

Victoria, Australia, Coroner Inquest Deposition Files, 1840-1925
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/61863/
Source: Coroner Inquest Deposition Files, 1840-1925. VPRS 24 (Inquest Deposition Files). Public Record Office Victoria, North Melbourne, Victoria.

About Victoria, Australia, Coroner Inquest Deposition Files, 1840-1925

This database contains Coroner Inquest Deposition Files from Victoria, Australia.

From the Public Record Office Victoria website on this collection:

An inquest is a legal inquiry held to establish the exact medical cause of death of an individual in certain circumstances. Where the inquest found a death was the result of a crime, it could also commit an accused for trial.

The inquest records relate to deaths that occurred when a person died suddenly, was killed, died whilst in prison, drowned, died whilst a patient in an asylum, or was an infant ward of the state and died under suspicious circumstances, among other circumstances.

“Inquests into deaths (deposition files 1840-1985).” Public Record Office Victoria. 13 June 2019, https://prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/explore-topic/inquests-and-other-coronial-records/inquests-deaths-deposition

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.

Ontario, Nova Scotia and Illinois records added to FamilySearch

If your ancestors emigrated from Scotland to Canada, FamilySearch's latest batch of records includes a significant collection for Ontario, with the addition of 882,525 indexed records added to its Ontario Births and Baptisms, 1779-1899 collection at https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1805649.

In addition some 55,497 indexed records have also been added to the Nova Scotia Births and Baptisms, 1702-1896 collection at https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1810407 and 1,162 indexed records to the Nova Scotia Marriages, 1711-1909 set at https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1810409. Both Ontario and Nova Scotia form a significant part of the Scots worldwide diaspora.

Amongst the many US collections updated, a major addition of 958,999 indexed records has been made to the Illinois Births and Christenings, 1824-1940 collection at https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1676968, which may be especially useful if you have Irish emigrants to that state.

The following English collections have also been updated, with the lion's share in Yorkshire, England (with the number of records added in bracket):

• Essex Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1971 (1,360)
• Essex Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1971 (2,114)
• Gloucestershire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1642-1996 (437)
• Gloucestershire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1642-1996 (472)
• Herefordshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1583-1898 (834)
• Norfolk Non-conformist Records, 1613-1901 (479)
• Norfolk Non-conformist Records, 1613-1901 (342)
• Northumberland Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1920 (545)
• Northumberland Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1920 (1,438)
• Oxfordshire Parish Registers 1538-1904 (117)
• Oxfordshire Parish Registers 1538-1904 (28)
• Yorkshire Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1613-1887 (5,611)
• Yorkshire Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1613-1887 (6,360)

For the relevant links, and news of additions for collections in other parts of the world (including over 6 million marriage and death records for the Philippines), please visit https://media.familysearch.org/new-free-historical-records-on-familysearch-week-of-18-february-2020/.

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.

Thanks to Garnock Valley Family History Group in Beith

A huge thanks to Garnock Valley Family History Group at the Townhouse in Beith, Ayrshire, last night for its hospitality, where I gave a talk on the history of the Scottish church and its impact on looking for relevant records for family history. We had a great craic with some interesting questions at the end - thank you!

For more on the Garnock Valley Family History Group, visit http://www.beithtownhouse.co.uk/about-us/family-history-group/.

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.

More on FamilySearch's new digital image search tool

I've had a chance to play with FamilySearch's new digital image search tool (see https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/familysearchs-new-search-tool-opens-up.html), which allows users to identify many unindexed collections within its digital archive. It is a promising tool which may indeed allow you to locate materials you were not aware existed, but whilst the tool itself seems solid enough as a feature, an issue I have been finding has been with regards to the cataloguing of the items that you are searching for. Get ready for a few possible headaches!

As an experiment, being a native Ulsterman I decided to start a search for materials in Belfast.  From the home page, if I type in Belfast in the Place name box, there are two Irish options, and several overseas places called Belfast. For the Irish or Northern Irish Belfast, this is what we have :

Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom  1922-Present, Major City
Belfast, Ireland  1610-1922, Major City

Surprisingly, by using the first term, no records whatsoever are returned. However, in using the second term there are 125 collection results, with seemingly several thousand image results. So after centuries of identity struggle, FamilySearch has seemingly determined that Belfast is Irish and not Northern Irish. I can't for a single minute imagine that this should be at all controversial!

Most of the collections present are census images for the city, but in one collection, marked Belfast, Ireland, Cemetery Record, there are stated to be 402 images. They are presented as a series of images on a digital microfilm, but the collection title does not give much away. Upon clicking in the first images, I was surprised to see that it contained monumental inscriptions from 'Saint Matthews Church, Shankill Road and Jewish Burial Ground, Belfast, Antrim, Ireland' as copied by the 'Genealogical Board of the British Mission' and filmed by the 'Genealogical Society Salt Lake City, Utah, 1956'. Saint Matthews just happens to be a church my mother's Graham family attended, but in the mid to late 20th Century. The records are handwritten monumental inscriptions as collated in 1954, and a search has so far yielded no known family members.

But that wasn't the real surprise! On going further through the microfilm, the following monumental records were in fact found to be presented:

• Saint Matthews Church, Shankill Road, Belfast, Antrim, Ireland
• Jewish Burial Ground, Belfast City Cemetery, Belfast, Antrim, Ireland
• Dunmurry 1st Presbyterian Church
• Roman Catholic Church, Lisburn, Antrim County, Ireland
• Allanvale Cemetery, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
• Mounthooly Churchyard, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
• Saint Machar Cathedral Church, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
• Clarkston Cemetery, Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland
• New Monkland, Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland
• Clarkston Cemetery, Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland
• Broomknoll, Lanarkshire, Scotland
• Old Monkland, Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, Scotland
• Paisley Abbey Church, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland
• Saint Mary's Church, Saint Margaret's Church, and Saint John's Church, Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales
• Lady of the Lake Church Cemetery Records, Windsor, Essex County, Ontario, Canada

So a digital microfilm entitled 'Belfast Ireland', ended up revealing images from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Canada!

When I did a subsequent search for 'Lady of the Lake' as a search term, many places in the United States popped up by that name, but not the collection above noted in Canada. A search of 'Windsor, Essex, Ontario' (and there are six catalogued variants of that by the way!) does reveal the same microfilm.

One other discovery I made was of a superb, but utterly impossible, series of annual record collections from 'St David's, Perthshire, Scotland, United Kingdom' containing what are noted as 'Abstracts of Copy Wills Episcopal Consistory Court' from the 1820s to the 1840s. Any Scottish genealogist looking at that will immediately note the problem - Scottish wills stopped being taken through the ecclesiastical courts at the Reformation of 1560, and there were no consistorial courts in Scotland in the 19th century! In fact, a quick look at the first images on one of the rolls notes that St David's was actually a diocese in Wales, not Perthshire in Scotland.

There is a LOT that this tool will help you to uncover - but the cataloguing itself may cause a few problems and omissions along the way. Be so advised!

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.

Belfast City Hall Visitor Exhibition

On Saturday I had the good fortune to be able to spend an hour at Belfast City Hall, home to Belfast City Council (https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk), a building I have never been in before despite having studied in the city for two years and having grown up in a small town just nine miles away! In addition to being able to sign a book of condolence for former Deputy First Minister Seamus Mallon, I was also able to visit the impressive exhibition showcasing the history of a divided city, but also one of the most wonderful cities on Earth.

The exhibition is based in 16 rooms on the ground floor of the building, and has themed rooms on a variety of subjects, such as famous Belfast people, language (I haven't heard the phrase 'lose the bap' in years!), the Home Rule and Easter Rising periods, and from a genealogy point of view also had some superb interactive tools from PRONI (www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni), such as a searchable version of the 1897 Belfast city directory, and the 1912 Ulster Covenant - both of which, I have to say, were incredibly easy to use, not least the 1897 directory!

If you can get to Belfast and can spare an hour, it will be well rewarded. And if you have a bit more time, there are also regular free guided tours of other parts of the building normally closed off to the public.

Some images...

 

For more on the exhibition, visit https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/tourism-venues/cityhall/exhibition.aspx.

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.