Chris Paton online talks in May 2023

Talks I will be giving online in May 2023, on behalf of thr Guild of One-Name Stidies and the Society of Genealogists in London:

The Mount Stewart Murder of 1866, Scotland’s oldest official cold case with Chris Paton
10 May 2023 at 7.30pm BST
https://one-name.org/mtstewart1866/
FREE, although registration is required

  

In March 1866, a Perthshire farmer returned to his farmhouse from a weekly market to discover that his sister had been brutally murdered whilst he was away. An investigation over the following year eventually led to a suspect charged and tried, only for the case against him found to be non-proven in Scots Law. The case is Scotland’s longest official cold case by a modern police force, with the victim being Chris’s three times great grandmother. He will discuss the many resources available to help his research, and the surprise discovery of a second victim, over twenty years after the original event.

Chris will discuss how he researched this Scottish murder investigation in the Victorian era, navigating his way through the investigation as carried out under Scots law, with its various processes, terminologies and sources which may be unfamiliar to those living outwith Scotland.


Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, with Chris Paton
13 May 2023 at 2.00pm BST
https://members.sog.org.uk/events/640a1c61a8ecf00007ea6041/description?ticket=640a1c61a8ecf00007ea6043
£10 / £6.50 for SoG members

Straddling parts of Counties Antrim and Down, the city of Belfast has seen its fair share of history across the centuries. From its humble beginnings as a ford-based settlement between two tributaries of the River Lagan, it grew following its grant of a charter in 1613 to become a corporation town, and expanded dramatically when later made a city in 1888. Along the way it has experienced the darkest of times, including the Belfast Blitz and the recent Troubles, to some of the most enlightened developments across Ireland and the UK. In Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, genealogist and best-selling author Chris Paton provides an overview of resources for those wishing to trace their ancestors from the Northern Irish capital, both through online resources and within the city of Belfast itself – and with a wee bit of craic along the way!   

I am also delighted to be chairing the following session for the UK's Family Tree magazine:

How to use parish poor law records, with Gill Blanchard
3 May 2023, at 6.30pm BST
https://www.family-tree.co.uk/how-to-guides/webinars/how-to-use-parish-poor-law-records-3-may/
£10 (free to Family Tree Plus members)

Discover what local parish records can tell us about provision for the poor and those who maintained them.

Learn how to use parish poor law records for family history, local history, and house history research, as well as where to find them locally, nationally and online.

Gill Blanchard is a professional genealogist, writer and tutor based in Norwich, as well as the author of three genealogical guides: Tracing Your East Anglian Ancestors, Tracing Your House History and Writing Your Family History. She is a full member of AGRA and teaches and gives talks locally, nationally and online.

This 45-minute talk by Gill Blanchard, hosted by Chris Paton, will be followed by a 30-minute Q&A. Starts 6.30pm UK time - for time in your time zone, visit TimeAndDate.

Registration fee £10 (free to Family Tree Plus members). Booking includes access to the event recording for 7 days after broadcast. This webinar is FREE to Family Tree Plus members.

 

I hope you can join us!

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 the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.