Scottish GENES: July 2022

Friday 29 July 2022

Glasgow and West of Scotland Family History Society

I was asked recently why I wasn't a member of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Family History Society, a society to which I have given talks on several occasions in the past. As questions go, that one was definitely right up there with 'what is the meaning of life?', and I didn't have an answer.

So I've just joined!

Annual membership is £15 if based in the UK, £18 is in the rest of the world. There are some useful databases available to members online, but perhaps the greatest online offering is free access to members of the society's journal in PDF format, from the earliest editions in 1978 to the current editions of 2022. The society also has a research centre in Partick, although this has been closed due to the pandemic over the last couple of years.

Most of my Glasgow connections are limited to the late 19th century onwards, with many ancestral lines from Ireland establishing themselves primarily in and around Bridgeton, the most recent being my granny, born there in 1904 to two migrants from Londonderry and Fermanagh. However, perhaps my most irritating ancestral brick wall is that of my two times great grandfather, John Brownlie MacFarlance, whose parents were stated to be a blacksmith called John MacFarlane and his wife Ann Brownlee, and for whom I can find zip, zilch, nothing. Obviously if that one is ever cracked, happy days, but there is more value to being a member of the society than that, with Glasgow being Scotland's largest populated city. We all have connections with Glasgow somewhere in Scotland!

To find out more about the society visit www.gwsfhs.org.uk.

(For details of other Scottish societies visit www.safhs.org.uk, and for the comainn eachdraidh/historical societies of the Western Isles, visit www.hebrideanconnections.com)

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.

Scottish Indexes conference 17 on September 3rd

After a well-earned break of a few months, the Scottish Indexes (www.scottishindexes.com) team (Graham and Emma Maxwell) is back with a new conference on September 3rd:

Scottish Indexes Conference XVII - Sunday 3 September 2022 (update 28 July 2022)

Would you like to learn how to trace your family history? Please join us at our September 2022 conference. You can discover more about your Scottish heritage and pick up tips from some of Scotland’s leading genealogists. For example, genealogist Chris Paton will present ‘Scottish Research Resources Before 1800’. More speakers will be announced soon.

Book here on Zoom.

I'm delighted to be giving talk at the session, with another speaker confirmed being Margaret Fox, who will be talking on 'Traquair’s Tenants, Cottars and Workers'. The conference is free to attend, but will happily accept donations to help with the running costs - full details at www.scottishindexes.com, and via the Zoom link.

I look forward to hopefully seeing you there!

Chris

National Records of Scotland retains accredited archive status

The National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk) has regained its archive accreditation status on the basis of several factors, including "organisational health, archival collections and stakeholder engagement" (https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/news/2022/nrs%E2%80%99-archive-service-accreditation-success).

I recently wrote to the Archive Service Accreditation standard folk in London to ask if the NRS was in breach of its standard, which is explained at https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/archives/archive-service-accreditation-standard-june-2018.pdf - my enquiry asked whether provisions 1.4, 3,2 and 3.3 had been breached after an extraordinary two years of what many have perceived to be an incredibly poor service provision in comparison to the UK's other national archives, even with Covid taken into consideration. I received a response on July 13th, which you can read at http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2022/07/response-from-archive-service.html, in which I was advised that the ASA Committee had released a statement which "recognises that archive services may have to offer a reduced service based on public health guidance and risk assessments, and that this will not affect Accreditation status.". In other words, how the NRS responded to the challenges of Covid would not have impacted its assessment for accreditation.

At the end of June an open letter of protest was sent by genealogist Fergus Smith to the NRS (see http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2022/06/open-letter-protesting-ongoing.html), which made several national newspapers across the country. It was signed by 90 genealogists, academics, historians, university course tutors, and others, who clearly had had enough with what is perceived to be a deteriorated service provision. The NRS is not a privately run clique, it is a taxpayer funded institution tasked with the care of our national archive, and has obligations to its user base, as well as its staff. If the Archive Service Accreditation Standard is to mean anything, stakeholder engagement has to be an equal priority to its other concerns.

A lot of work does go into the seeking of accreditation for an archive, and so congratulations are due to the NRS on receiving it, with the status held for the next six years. But after a period where the relationship between the NRS and many within its user base has fallen substantially, its biggest task now is to perhaps convince many within that user base that it deserves it.

Chris

Saturday 23 July 2022

42nd International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) Conference

From JewishGen (www.jewishgen.org), concerning the forthcoming 42nd International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) Conference (https://s4.goeshow.com/iajgs/annual/2022/index.cfm), from August 21st-25th 2022:

JewishGen is a major sponsor of next month's Annual International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) Conference. The conference offers unique opportunities to investigate and learn from experts in dozens of subjects, and we are proud to support so many of our speakers and presentations.

What excites your research? Networking? Poland? DNA? Civil War Jewish soldiers? Writing your family’s saga? Beginner sessions? Whichever topic propels your genealogy journey – this year’s IAJGS Virtual Conference has a presentation for you! Speakers are from over 14 countries and will give over 150 presentations on a broad gamut of subjects.

Here’s a sampling of some of the sessions which are sponsored by JewishGen and our leaders

    JewishGen.org 2022 Annual Meeting: Exciting Changes, Features, and Movement - Avraham Groll
    JewishGen.org - Opportunities to Volunteer - Avraham Groll
    JewishGen.org: All the Details - Avraham Groll
    JewishGen.org: Leave No Stone Unturned - Debbie Kroopkin
    Deep Dive into Romanian Records – Michael Moritz
    Exploring Jewish Families Found in DAR.org Genealogy Resources - Ellen Kowitt
    Slovakiana - An Online Resource for Jewish Researchers - Vivian Kahn
    What’s in a Name? Finding Your Ancestors' "Original" Names - Michael Moritz
    What’s New in Austrian and Czech Jewish Genealogy - E Randol Schoenberg

And of course there are all of the JewishGen Location Special Interest Group (SIG) Meetings including

    Austria-Czech
    Belarus
    BialyGen
    Danzig-Gdansk
    Germany
    Hungary
    Latvia
    Romania
    South Africa
    Sub-Carpathia
    Ukraine
    United Kingdom
    and the USA.

Registration starts at $99 and also includes access to a robust Exhibitor Hall, a Resource Database Library, and opportunities for translation and mentorship help. Be a part of this unparalleled educational and genealogical experience.

Learn more and register at iajgs2022.org.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend and Shabbat Shalom.

Avraham Groll
Executive Director
JewishGen

(With thanks to Avraham Groll)

Chris

Thursday 21 July 2022

Access resumes to NRS records stored offsite at West Register House

The National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk) has advised that access to records stored at West Register House has now resumed:

Visiting our Search Rooms

We are pleased to report that access to records kept on mobile storage racks at West Register House will now resume.

This follows successful work to address a safety concern which was identified during a routine health and safety inspection.

We’d like to thank customers for their patience and understanding whilst we addressed this issue, and to apologise for the inconvenience caused.

Source: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/about-us/service-status

(With thanks to Fergus Smith via the Scottish Genealogy Network Facebook group)

Chris

Wednesday 20 July 2022

Ancestry adds chromosome painter

An interesting development from the company that previously stated that it would never add a chromosome browser - it's just added a chromosome browser.

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added a new 'chromosome painter' within the DNA story section of the AncestryDNA home page, as a second part to its recently added Ethnicity Inheritance section. It allows you to see how your ethnicity (admixture) is inherited from both parents, and to identify which regions of your chromosome originate from which likely geographic locations, and for each parent.

It is a quite limited offering compared to the chromosome browsers found on other DNA sites, but it's a small step in the right direction.

Chris

Monday 18 July 2022

Back from Covid

The last week has been an experience, with first myself, and then my wife and sons all catching Covid for the first time. I can only presume that I brough it back from Amsterdam, having come down with symptoms on the Saturday after I returned, although it wasn't until last Monday that I tested positive. After a fairly feverish first two days, with a horrendous cough, my symptoms began to slowly ease up, at which point everyone else in my family tested positive midweek. Fortunately we were all vaccinated, and this morning we all thankfully tested negative again, but as I am sure you can appreciate, blogging was the last thing on my mind last week.

But I am now back up and running! This morning I wrote my latest column for Computeractive magazine, and will get stuck into my next book, on Belfast ancestry, again this afternoon. I also have two client research jobs to finish off, but if you need any research to be carried out in Scotland, or if you have an Irish brick wall (especially from the north), you can find out more about my services at www.scotlandsgreateststory.co.uk. Over the next month or so I am hoping to make a trip to PRONI in Belfast, for the first time since the pandemic hit.

I am currently teaching the Scottish Research Online course through Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd, but my next Pharos course, Progressing Your Irish Research Online, is not far away, starting on August 19th - for further details on this, please visit https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=260. The Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers course will also start later this year from October 17th - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. Incidentally, later this year I have just agreed to write a third Scottish course for Pharos, for tuition early next year, and then a second Irish course, but more on these down the line!

Don't forget that the Virtual Celtic Connections Conference 2022, entitled Journey Home, is now up and running, and includes three sessions from yours truly, with a Q&A session with me on September 17th - full details at http://www.celtic-connections.org.

It's time to get stuck back into some family finding - what else would you do with such fine weather?!

* For the latest guidance on Covid in Scotland, please visit https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/.

(Update 20 Jul - tested again this morning, and a VERY faint T line is still showing - so I'm almost back from Covid!)

Chris

Wednesday 13 July 2022

Response from Archive Service Accreditation

Apologies for the lack of blogging in recent days, I have been down with Covid since Saturday.

However, I did want to provide an update on a letter I sent to the Archives Service Accreditation team at the National Archives in England, which overseas the accreditation of archives in the UK, which have to meet a certain standard to be accredited, and which have to undergo regular reviews to maintain that standard. My query was about the NRS level of service provision, and whether its failure over the last 30 months or so to provide any meaningful form of service was a breach of this standard (see https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2022/07/has-nrs-breached-archive-service.html). I received a response this morning:

Dear Mr Paton,

Thank you again for your expression of concern regarding public service provision and some other aspects of service delivery at National Records of Scotland. Your comments were sent to the Archive Service Accreditation (ASA) Committee chair, Geoff Pick, who shared them with the next available Accreditation Panel meeting. This allowed for a full discussion of programme governance around the issues raised, and in the context of considering awards of Accredited status.

The Committee primarily assesses Accreditation awards through written submissions and discussion with applicants. In 2019 it was established that external evidence could be applied to assessment decisions and ongoing oversight of award holders, “where such information identified and evidenced significant omissions or inaccuracies within a live application, or suggested possible grounds for extraordinary removal of Accreditation from an award holder.” However, the decision reiterated that Accreditation does not function as a complaints resolution body for service-specific issues. These need to be taken up with the archive service concerned and if necessary its parent body.

The meeting fully recognised that it has been a difficult and frustrating time for researchers where service reductions have been needed during the public health emergency and parent organisations (as well as government in the four home nations) have taken different routes to re-establishing access arrangements. The ASA Committee has agreed a statement on the impact of the pandemic for existing award holders: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/archive-service-accreditation/archive-service-accreditation-and-covid-19/. This recognises that archive services may have to offer a reduced service based on public health guidance and risk assessments, and that this will not affect Accreditation status. Archives should keep public services under review to understand the impact of revised offers, and it is good to see some progressive opening up of access and direct responses to user concerns within this context.

This statement remains live, recognising that pandemic guidance and restrictions remain in place in some home nations, meaning that practice differs across the UK. The National Archives also publishes guidance on post-covid recovery work which notes that different organisational risk assessment and site arrangements may impact public offers. We all hope that the currency of this requirement is receding, but it does remain relevant for now.

Your enquiry mentioned a further concern about the recent temporary restriction on production from West Register House, which we understand was due to issues with mobile racking which are being resolved. NRS has been open in its communication with the Accreditation programme about site issues such as this, and it has been incorporated into consideration of their Accredited status.

With best wishes.

Melinda Haunton

(Programme Manager, Archive Service Accreditation)

Comment: I am grateful for this response from London, disappointing as it is. I guess my disappointment here is that it would appear that this statement suggests that there may really not be much of an attempt to evaluate how any currently accredited archive has risen to a challenge such as the pandemic, with regards to its public service obligations - the mere existence of the pandemic is enough for the ASA to step back and not enforce its own promoted standard. What standards should an archive be marked against in terms of operational resilience in the midst of a challenge such as Covid, and are archives such as the NRS adequately prepared for future challenges such as Covid? Hopefully some attempt will be made to answer these at some stage, whether by the NRS or the UK archive sector as a whole. Covid will certainly not be the last pandemic to be faced by Scotland or the UK.

(With thanks to Melinda Haunton)

Chris

Monday 11 July 2022

The story of Woodhead lead mine

If your ancestors lived at Woodhead lead mine, in the parish of Carsphairn, Kikrcudbrightshire, where mining took place from 1838-1873, you may be interested to read an article on the BBC website entitled Unearthing the story of Scotland's industrial ghost village - you'll find it at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-62036220.

Chris

Friday 8 July 2022

The Railway Work, Life & Death project

I've been asked to give the following collaborative initiative seeking to make more easily available details of accidents to British and Irish railway workers before 1939:

Your railway ancestor’s accident?

The railways were one of Britain and Ireland’s biggest employers for much of the 19th and 20th centuries – meaning many of us have one or more railway workers in our family trees. What hasn’t been commonly known is that railway work could be very dangerous – and that some of the accidents that resulted have left records useful to us as family historians.

Since 2016 the ‘Railway Work, Life & Death’ project has been working on making these pre-1939 records more easily available – and from mid-July will be making 16,000 additional cases available as part of its free database, found on the project website. All together the database will then contain over 21,000 cases between 1900 and 1939, all transcribed by the project’s excellent volunteers. The records tell us about the people involved, what they were doing, when, where and why, and help us understand working life and accidents on the railways.

The project is a joint initiative of the University of Portsmouth, the National Railway Museum and the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick, working with The National Archives. It wants to see the information it’s making available being used by you, in your research - it's all available free, from the project website. They're also keen to hear from you if you find someone you're researching, so please let them know.

www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk
Twitter: @RWLDproject
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Railway-Work-Life-Death-108745674380484

(With thanks to Mike Esbester)

Chris

Thursday 7 July 2022

Ancestry adds Scotland National War Memorial Index 1914-1945

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added the following third party database:

Web: Scotland, National War Memorial Index, 1914-1945
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/70908/
Source: Edinburgh, Scotland: The Scottish National War Memorial (SNWM). "Roll Search." Accessed, 2022. https://www.snwm.org/roll-search/

About Web: Scotland, National War Memorial Index, 1914-1945

The Scottish National War Memorial collection includes names and details for people killed during the First and Second World Wars.

Using this collection:

Information about each person may include:
First and last name
Military rank
Service number
Military awards and medals (decorations)
Birthplace
Date of death
Place of death
Cause of death
Unit name

If you only know that your ancestor served in the armed forces during one of the world wars, this database may provide details that shed light on their particular experience. Discovering your ancestor's military rank will provide insights into their role and the name of their unit can lead to unit histories that contain details of the battles in which they were involved.

Further details at https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/70908/

Chris

Service status update from National Records of Scotland

And it drags on... from the NRS Service Status page at https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/about-us/service-status dated July 4th:

Visiting our Search Rooms

Two weeks ago we informed you that safety concerns were identified in a routine health and safety inspection of mobile storage racks in some of our store rooms at West Register House. As a result of this we regrettably stopped accessing the records on these racks, as a precautionary measure. This has meant that items on the shelves in the mobile racks can’t be accessed and items that were out for viewing can’t be returned.

We have worked quickly with suppliers and have made good progress. We are not yet able to reopen access but we do now think we have a workable solution. Once we have a timescale for reopening access to the affected records we will share this with you.

We’d like to thank customers for their patience and to apologise for the inconvenience. We know it has come at a very difficult time following two years of disruption due to the pandemic.

Comment: It seems that there are a lot of incredible things that we are being asked to believe before breakfast these days.

Chris

Back home from Amsterdam

Apologies for the lack of posting over the last few days, but I was on a city break in Amsterdam with my wife, as a wee 50th birthday present for her. It was only the second holiday that we have had abroad together in 21 years without kids or visits to families, so genealogy was not the priority!

Having said that though, we still managed to pack in some great historic sites! Having watched the recent Matt Lucas episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, we had hoped to visit the Anne Frank House, which I had previously visited about 28 years ago on a university field trip, only to discover that there were no tickets available for another three weeks, it being completely sold out. We therefore decided to do a walking tour instead of the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam, to learn about the Franks, the whole Jewish community, and the German occupation of the city in the Second World War. Our guide Manuel was superb, and brought to life the true horror of what the city endured, in particular those targeted by the Nazis, as we walked for two hours past monuments and landmarks relevant to the story. I actually think we probably learned more from the tour than we might have done at the house, it was all so vivid. We learned about the occupation, the horrific treatment of the Jewish population, the resistance of the city, the Dutch famine of 1944-45, the Dam Square shootings after the city's liberation, and so much more.

We also visited the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, but another wee gem was the Begijnhofkapel, a hidden Catholic church constructed within two houses after the Protestants took control of the city in the 17th century - and located directly opposite its former home, the 'English Reformed Church', which is oddly named in that it is actually part of the Church of Scotland today!

Finally, a few pics of some other highlights!

Dank je wel, Amsterdam, from a fellow EU citizen - we'll be back!

And now it's straight back to the genealogy world once again...!

Chris

Saturday 2 July 2022

Virtual Celtic Connections Conference opens its doors on July 9th

Just a quick reminder that this years's Virtual Celtic Connections Conference (http://www.celtic-connections.org), entitled Journey Home, opens its doors on July 9th, and continues until September 30th.

CCC 2022 Features

22 international and national speakers will deliver over 50 pre-recorded talks
Talks available 24/7 for almost 3 months
6 Conference Tracks
15 live chats to engage with Presenters
At least 5 interactive roundtables
Ancestors Roadshow: consultation by appointment for personal research
Electronic syllabus
1 year free TIARA membership for NEW members*

All this for only $99 (USD)

*A 1-year FREE TIARA membership is offered to CCC 2022 attendees who are NOT current members of TIARA. Membership begins July 9, 2022; membership access info will be sent to eligible registrants at that time.

Conference Tracks

Researching the Celtic Diaspora: Learn about the scattering of Celtic peoples across the globe
Emigration and Immigration Patterns: Explore where ancestors came from and where they went
Unique Research Resources: Look into distinctive and often overlooked resources
DNA: Identify new strategies for using DNA
Methodologies: Explore approaches to help you on your journey home
Case Studies:
Discover how to apply new developments and techniques in Irish genealogy

I have contributed three sessions to this, two of them specifically Scottish themed, and one drawing in the Irish and Scottish diasporas worldwide:

Genealogy Without Borders
Scottish Marriage-Instantly Buckled for Life
Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis

I will also be doing a live Q&A chat on September 17th and 2pm Eastern (7pm UK and Ireland)

It's great value, packing in a lot for your money - I hope to see you there!

Chris

Friday 1 July 2022

Has the NRS breached the Archive Service Accreditation standard?

I wrote to the Archive Service Accreditation team at the UK National Archives last week about the National Records of Scotland, enquiring as to whether the ongoing disruption to access of records at NRS is a breach of the standard by the archive.

I have just received the following response: "Dear Mr Paton, Thank you for your email. This is just a short note to confirm receipt and that it has been shared with the Archive Service Accreditation programme chair as part of the ongoing oversight of Accredited Services."

I have enquired as to whether there be any further feedback from the programme chair, and will report back as and when.

If others feel that the standard has been breached, you can write to the team at accreditation@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

The standard itself is explained at https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/archives/archive-service-accreditation-standard-june-2018.pdf - my enquiry has asked whether provisions 1.4, 3,2 and 3.3 have been breached.

For more on Archive Service Accreditation, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/archive-service-accreditation-defining-what-an-excellent-service-looks-like.

Chris

Angus and Fife monumental inscriptions added to FindmyPast

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added almost 13,000 records for Angus and Fife to its Scottish Monumental Inscriptions database. The records can be accessed at https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-records/scotland-monumental-inscriptions.

The site has also added various resources related to the United States Revolutionary War period, which may be of interest if you have Scottish or Scotch-Irish (Ulster Scots) ancestry. You can find more about these collections at https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/pennsylvania-american-revolution.

Chris

TheGenealogist links 1891 censuses from Britain to Map Explorer

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

On the Map – Find a census household from 1891

The 1891 census is now linked to historical and modern georeferenced maps by TheGenealogist to make it easier than ever to find where ancestors lived and see the surrounding neighbourhood.

Family and house historians are able to investigate the streets, lanes and wider areas of where their ancestors lived at the time of the 1891 census in this latest release from TheGenealogist. A release that sees the 1891 census linked up to the Map Explorer™ for the first time.

The 1891 Census joins the 1901 census, 1911 census and the 1939 Register that are already connected to the innovative Map Explorer™. This means that researchers are able to identify, with just the click of a button, where their forebears lived and to see the routes their ancestors used to visit shops, local pubs, churches, places of work and parks. With a historical map it is possible to find where the nearest railway station was, important for understanding how our ancestors could travel to other parts of the country to see relatives or visit their hometown.

With this release, Diamond subscribers of TheGenealogist can pinpoint ancestors’ properties at the time of the 1891 census and so investigate the neighbourhood from behind their computer screen. Alternatively, users may also access TheGenealogist on their mobile phone to trace their ancestors’ footprints while walking down modern streets.

Most of the London area and other towns and cities can be viewed down to the property level, while other parts of the country will identify down to the parish, road or street.

Viewing a household record from the 1891 census on TheGenealogist will now show a map, locating your ancestor’s house. Clicking on this map loads the location in Map Explorer™, enabling you to explore the area and see the records of neighbouring properties.

See TheGenealogist’s article at https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2022/from-census-to-map-in-1891-1578/.

Comment: I've tried this out for my Scottish great great grandfather William Hay Paton, and the 1891 census transcript for his entry does link to a map showing Springfield Road, his street of abode, in Glasgow:

Clicking on the map takes you through to the Map Explorer, where the source for the map is noted as from 1893-1900s (Ordnance Survey 1:10,560), so it is fairly contemporary.

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

Chris

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