FindmyPast competition

From FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk):

Win everything you need for your own ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’-style reveal

With the 22nd series of the hit TV show Who Do You Think You Are? captivating audiences across the nation, UK family history website Findmypast is inviting the public to take the first step in delving into their own roots with a special giveaway.

As interest in genealogy surges—fuelled by accessible online archives, compelling television stories, and historic milestones such as the 80th anniversary of VE Day—more people than ever are keen to explore their ancestry. 

Yet, according to research by Findmypast, just 10% of Brits know any general information about their family history beyond their grandparents’ generation, including names, addresses or what job they did. Nearly half (47%) have never even seen a photo of them.

The issue is clear: around 1/3 of people have already started researching their own family history, but nearly half say it’s difficult to start. Few realise that the tools to begin your journey are right at your fingertips, with family revelations ready to be unlocked at the click of a mouse. 

To help bridge this knowledge gap and inspire the next generation of family historians, Findmypast is giving away two bespoke family history packages.

Each prize includes:

•    A 12-month Everything subscription to Findmypast (worth £199.99), offering unlimited access to billions of records, including all British censuses, a treasure-trove of historical newspapers, military records and so much more. Enjoy building your family tree quickly and easily from scratch and understand the details of your ancestors’ lives thanks to Findmypast’s clever tools and features.

•    A one-on-one consultation with Findmypast’s Professional Genealogist, Jen Baldwin, who will guide the winner through the first steps of building their family tree and delving deeper into their family’s past.

Thanks to unique relationships with local family history societies as well as iconic institutions like the National Archive and British Library, Findmypast’s collection includes billions of historical records dating back to the reign of Henry VIII, as well as over 90 million newspaper pages stretching right up to the modern day.

Help is at hand in getting started with your family tree and delving deeper into your research, with Findmypast’s helpful guides and thriving independent Facebook community. 

“Genealogy TV shows remind us just how compelling our history can be,” said Jen. “Just like the celebrities on screen, it’s easier than ever to have your own genealogy reveal. With sites like Findmypast, you can delve deeper into millions of online records to build a detailed picture of your ancestors’ lives. We’re giving two lucky winners a personal boost, helping them to get started and have their own family history ‘wow’ moment with our one-off competition – make sure to enter now.”

How to Enter:
To enter the giveaway and start your own family history journey, go to https://www.findmypast.co.uk/who-will-you-find and simply register an account before 23:59 on 20 June 2025. Already a Findmypast customer? Head to the Findmypast Family History Forum for your chance to win.

T&Cs apply, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/page/wdytya-experience-terms-conditions for full details.

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.

Competition winner!

Congratulations to Phil Stokes in Rathfarnham, Dublin, for winning a copy of Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records in the Scottish GENES Christmas competition - you can view the draw below (or at https://youtu.be/37c2kb3jcPs)!

Apologies if you were unsuccessful, but the book can be purchased from Pen and Sword at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Ancestors-Through-Land-Records-Paperback/p/19283 - I hope it can help with your research!

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.

Christmas competition - Who Wants?!

It's been a strange year, but by far the strangest part of it was the loss of my father in February. Having gone into hospital with a suspected urinary infection, he then suffered a heart attack, and just a few hours later was dead. For good measure, within an hour of his passing I was then informed that he had also just tested positive for Covid. It was a hell of a way to go.

I had intended to run a competition for my latest book, in which I was going to ask a family history themed question, and then do a draw from the correct answers received, as I have done in the past. However, I laughed earlier when I suddenly remembered a game that my Dad used to play with us when we were kids, in which he would suddenly shout out "Who wants?!", at which point my brother and I would race to give the answer - "Me!". It was a risk to do so, a game of chance, because sometimes the answer would lead to one of us getting a treat, whilst at others it would lead to the winner having to do a chore, such as doing the dishes or having to pop over to the local corner shop. 

So I've decided that as a wee nod to my Dad, and the fact that this will be the first Christmas for all of us without him, that the question for my competition is going to be a very simple one indeed:

 "Who wants?!" 

To be in with a chance of winning a copy of Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, please send me an email at chrismpaton @ outlook.com with the subject as 'Who Wants?', and in the body of the email, a simple single word answer - "Me!". 

Please also include your name after this, and the town where you are based. (For the purposes of this competition, I have to apologise, but state that this particular competition is for residents in the UK and Ireland only.)  

I'll do a draw next Sunday 19th December 2021 - if you're the winner, I will then contact you for your full address!

You have to be in it to win it... 

Who wants?! Me!

Good luck!

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.

Lost Cousins Christmas/NewYear competition

The latest Lost Cousins newsletter is now out, and includes Peter Calver's Christmas and New Year competition. This has a few prizes, and amongst the prizes there are consultation sessions with Sarah Williams from the magazine Who Do You Think You Are? and Devonshire based genealogist Janet Braund Few, whilst yours truly will also do a lecture for a few lucky (unlucky?!) winners in mid-January on pre-1800 Scottish records for research! 

For further details on the rules, and all the prizes, visit https://www.lostcousins.com/newsletters2/dec21news.htm 

* Keep an eye out next week for a Scottish GENES competition, where a lucky winner will have a chance to obtain a copy of my book Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet!  

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.

WDYTYA magazine Family Photo of the Year competition

Who Do You Think You Are? magazine (www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com) has launched a Family Photo of the Year competition, and is enouraging readers to submit family photos to try to win within 6 different categories:

• Category one – On holiday
• Category two – Special occasion
• Category three – Dressing up
• Category four – Solo photo
• Category five – Family together
• Category six – My family and other animals

From the magazine's site:

How will winners be selected?

We have chosen six categories for people to submit their photos under and we will be looking for good quality, striking images that capture the imagination. Each entry must be accompanied by no more than 50 words telling us something about the photograph and why you chose it. Don’t worry if you don’t know who the subject is in the image – we all have mystery photographs in our collection – you can just share what the photograph makes you feel or why you love it so much.

As well as character, composition and impact, we will also be judging photographs on the quality of the surviving image so please submit a high-resolution digital copy (see below).

Although there is no cut-off date for how modern the photographs can be, we will score photographs for rarity which will benefit older photographs.

Our judges will select a shortlist of six images for each category based on the image alone. The accompanying description will only be taken into account at the final stage when choosing a winner from the six finalists.

The overall winner will be chosen from the winners of the six categories and will be the image that the judges decide is the most striking. We will be looking for a family photo that would stand out in anyone’s family album.

The winner of each category will receive a beautiful framed professional print of their winning photograph plus a year’s subscription to Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine. There will also be an overall winner who will receive £200 on top of their category prize courtesy of Vivid-Pix the photo editing software specialists. All the winning photographs will appear in a future issue of the magazine along with some of our favourites from the shortlists.

For further details visit the magazine's website at www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/article/family-photo-competition/.

(With thanks to Sarah Williams)

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.

North of Ireland FHS announces Family Memories writing competition

From the North of Ireland Family History Society (www.nifhs.org):

The North of Ireland Family History Society (NIFHS) is inviting people around the world to take part in their 2021 writing competition that has a theme of “Family Memories”. There is a chance to win one of three cash prizes and you may get your story published. The closing date is Friday 28th May 2021 so there is plenty of time to gather your story together.  

Adding memories can bring a family tree to life and helps to preserve stories for future generations. You can use your own personal memories or those of a relative. Stories can be pieced together from interviews, old family photos, letters and other documents or heirlooms.

The winner will receive £100, with runners-up receiving £60 and £40. The results will be announced in September 2021. Many previous entries have been published in the Society’s journal, North Irish Roots. The competition is open to members of the Society worldwide - membership for overseas residents is £18 for 2021 and currently allows attendance at about 10 online meetings a month across our branch network, alongside other benefits such as a look-up service.

More information and the competition rules can be found on the NIFHS website: www.nifhs.org/resources/biennial-competition/#fmc

(With thanks to Maeve Rogan)

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are 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.