Newsletter
- 4 November 2011
More ink, vicar?
Save when you join the Society of
Genealogists
Exclusive findmypast.co.uk discount
Essex parish records at FamilySearch
Records of military nurses now online
Was your
ancestor an inventor?
Copyright - or
copy wrong?
Standards for sharing information
Top genealogy
shows in 2012
When is a
father-in-law not a father-in-law?
Ripper story
features in TV show
Can you really
buy a NEW Kindle for only £79?
Don't forget
FamilySearch!
International
Genealogical Index
IGI Batch
Numbers
An ideal Christmas present?
Peter's Tips
About this newsletter
The LostCousins newsletter is
published twice a month on average, and all LostCousins members are notified by
email when a new edition is available (unless they opt out). To access the
previous newsletter (dated 22 October 2011) please click here. Each newsletter links to
the one before, and you can go back to February 2009
when the newsletter first went online; there will shortly be an online index to
articles thanks to the sterling efforts of members Elizabeth and, especially,
Gill.
Whenever possible links are
included to the websites or articles mentioned in the newsletter (they are
highlighted in blue or purple and underlined,
so you can't miss them). Note: when you click on a link a new browser window or
tab will open so that you don’t lose your place in the newsletter - if you are
still using Internet Explorer you may need to enable pop-ups (if a link seems
not to work, look for a warning message at the top of your browser window).
To go to the main LostCousins
website click the logo at the top of this newsletter.
More ink, vicar?
As family historians we spend tens, perhaps
hundreds, of pounds on marriage certificates - so I was fascinated to discover
that the instructions
that the General Register Office issues to vicars, regarding not just marriages
but also burials and baptisms, are now publicly available on the Home Office
website.
I found it fascinating to read what
needs to happen when a couple wish to marry in two different churches on the
same day, or when a couple wish to marry for a second time (not recommended,
apparently). You might be wondering why baptisms are relevant to the GRO - that's
because when the baptismal name differs from that in the birth register the
register can be amended, so long as no more than 12 months have passed since
the original registration.
The document is full of fascinating
facts - it evens tells you where to buy the permanent blue-black ink and
special fountain pens that registrars use, and which vicars are also expected
to use.
The instructions are intended to be read
in conjunction with Anglican
Marriage In England And Wales, which is
published by the Church of England Faculty Office. Also on the Home Office site
I found Issue 1 of Clergy
Newsletter, dated August 2011 which lists a number of common errors in
the returns submitted to the GRO.
Save when you join the Society of
Genealogists
The Society of Genealogists was founded
in 1911, which means that this year is the Centenary - and to celebrate I've
negotiated a special offer for LostCousins members. I've been a member for a number
of years and have found the resources in the library to be absolutely
invaluable - in a single afternoon I managed to get back two generations on one
of my lines, even though my ancestor's surname was Smith!
When you join the SoG
before 31st December using the exclusive code LC11 you can save in four ways:
(1) The joining fee (normally £10) will
be waived.
(2) Your subscription and member
privileges will start immediately, but you won't have to renew until 1st January
2013.
(3) You'll get a 2012 subscription at
the 2011 rates, saving you a further £2.
(4) If you live in the UK you can save a
further £3 this year and every year by completing the Direct Debit form.
You'll find the Membership Application
form here (it's in
PDF format). The rates shown on the form are the 2011 rates, so if you live
overseas the total cost for a subscription that runs until 31st December 2012
will be just £27, and if you live in the UK it will be £42 (when you agree to
pay future subscriptions by Direct Debit). Please enter the offer code LC11 in the box labelled Membership Fees.
The Society of Genealogists is the UK’s
largest family history society with a remarkable library and education centre
in Clerkenwell (close to the London Metropolitan
Archives), online data and an extensive publishing programme. More information
can be found on the SoG
website.
Tip:
there is an SoG mailing list at Rootsweb
which is only open to SoG members - it's well worth subscribing.
Exclusive findmypast.co.uk discount
I'm delighted to say that I've also been
able to persuade findmypast to offer an exclusive 10% discount to LostCousins
members who take out a new subscription at findmypast.co.uk - but because of
findmypast's loyalty scheme you won't just save 10% in your first year, you'll
also save 10% in the following years (full details of the loyalty scheme can be
found here).
Although the prices of everything else
are going up, findmypast recently reduced their subscription rates by an
average of 15%, so when you factor in the 10% discount I think I can safely say
that it has never been cheaper to take out a Full subscription - even though it
now covers more records than ever before. When I looked back I was amazed to
see how much has been added in the 2 months since I announced the last
exclusive offer:
Scotland
1841 & 1851 census transcriptions
Berkshire
burials and marriages
Anyway, what you really want to know is
how you can secure your 10% discount. There are two steps, first you need to go
to the findmypast site by clicking here,
then after registering (or signing-in if you've already registered) enter the
code COUSINS11X in the Promotion Code box at the left. When you
click Apply the discounted rates will
be displayed - and with your exclusive discount even the most expensive
subscription works out at just 27p a day.
But
there's more good news - when you take up findmypast's offer I'll give you a FREE
LostCousins subscription (worth up to £12.50) that runs alongside your
findmypast subscription! To qualify for the bonus you MUST click the link in
the previous paragraph immediately before subscribing to findmypast
(otherwise we won't receive the commission that pays for your LostCousins
subscription); when claiming your free subscription please forward to me a copy
of the email receipt you received from findmypast so that I can verify your
entitlement. Note that if you are already a LostCousins subscriber I will extend your existing subscription by 6 or 12 months.
The
offer starts on Saturday 5th November and runs until 11.59pm (London time) on
Monday 21st November. There are always people who miss out because they leave
it until the last minute - don't be one of them!
SMALL
PRINT: the COUSINS11X discount code cannot be used in
combination with any other offer, including the Loyalty Discount.
Essex parish records at FamilySearch
What is it about Essex - and I don't
mean the TV programmes? A couple of years ago I discovered that - completely
unannounced - the Essex Records Office had made available online beautiful
colour images of many of the registers in their vaults.
Now I've just spotted that over half a
million Essex
parish register entries have been added to the new FamilySearch
site - once again, completely unannounced as far as I can tell. Some of the
entries seem to have been taken from Bishop's Transcripts and don't include the
name of the parish, but I'd estimate that over half do. There are no online
images, but some of the entries coincide with registers that are currently free
online at Seax
(Essex Archives Online).
Essex Record Office is planning to
launch a new subscription service called Essex Ancestors - the launch has been
delayed several times, but I'm told it is now 'imminent'. When it finally
launches registers for all 550 parishes will be online, but free access to the registers
currently online will end - so I'd urge you to make use of what's there while
you can. Note: sadly in the hours between me writing this and publishing it ERO introduced charging, although it's not clear whether they have added any new registers - certainly not in the parish that most interests me!
Sadly the task of transcribing and
indexing the registers is beyond the budget of Essex County Council - what a
shame they didn't come to an arrangement with Ancestry or findmypast. I don't
know how many people will choose to subscribe to the new service, which I
believe may cost as much as £75 for an annual subscription - that's not much
less than a findmypast subscription, yet it only covers a single county's
registers, and they're not even indexed!
Records of military nurses now online
This morning the National Archives have released
online images of 15,000 service records for nurses who served in Queen
Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service, the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial
Military Nursing Service (Reserve) and the Territorial Force Nursing Service.
It's not only free to search, it's also free to download the images. I haven't found any
of my relatives yet, but I did download some sample records which I found
fascinating - so I'll be interested to know what discoveries you make!
Two days ago findmypast added their own
records of military nurses covering the period from 1856-1940; you'll find more
information here.
Was your
ancestor an inventor?
As far as I know there were no inventors
in my family - so far as I know the renowned 19th century telescope maker
George Calver is not a relative of mine, nor is the 21st century American
inventor Andrew John Calver (although a distant cousin who emigrated to Canada
in 1910 bore the same name).
If your ancestors were more inventive
than mine you may well find that there are patents registered in their names. A
good place to start looking is the European Patent Office's Espacenet
site, which was suggested by member Steve. Unfortunately the US equivalent only
offers searching by inventor's name from 1976 onwards - patents from 1790 are
online, but you'll need to know the patent number.
Copyright - or
copy wrong?
Following on from recent articles about
members whose online trees were purloined, the misused or abused, I've been in
correspondence with a number of members about copyright protection. The laws on
copyright vary slightly from one country to another, but in the UK copyright is
an automatic right which arises whenever an individual or company creates a
work. To qualify, a work should be regarded as original, and exhibit a degree
of labour, skill or judgement.
Is your family tree a literary work? UK
law defines a literary work as "any work written, spoken or sung, other than
a dramatic or musical work" and since this is a sufficiently broad
definition to include railway timetables and computer programs, it must surely
encompass family trees.
Of course, you can't stop someone else
from publishing the same tree, just so long as they have compiled it
themselves, and not copied it, but they could be called upon to prove that they
have created it through their own efforts. However, in practice it is better to
avoid that situation arising in the first place, not least because of the
differences in copyright law around the world and the difficulty of taking
action against someone in another country.
Standards for sharing information
I'd like to draw your attention to Standards for
Sharing Information With Others, a document
compiled in 2000 by the National Genealogical Society in the US, and which has
been on the Help & Advice page at
the LostCousins site for several years.
I am going to make two suggestions. The
first is that you abide by these sensible guidelines yourself; the second is
that when someone else asks you to share your research with them, you ask them
to confirm that they too will abide by the guidelines, certainly so far as any
information you give to them is concerned.
Will you do that?
Top genealogy
shows in 2012
Between 28th-31st
March 2012 the 13th Australian Congress on Genealogy and
Heraldry takes place in Adelaide, South Australia. There are several
LostCousins members amongst the speakers and organisers, and the programme
looks very interesting - I only wish it wasn't on the other side of the world!
To find out more visit the Congress
website.
Who
Do You Think You Are? Live takes
place at London's Olympia between 24th-26th February, and if you're quick you
can get tickets for less than half-price when you buy multiples of two. Click here,
enter the code EARLY2420, then click Submit code.
Please note that the discount only applies to Standard tickets.
Tip:
you can book up to two workshops when you order your tickets by paying £2 extra
for each. Although they are free on the day, it's inevitable that the most
popular workshops will be booked solid! You'll find a timetable listing all the
sessions here.
I started counting the speakers who are LostCousins members, but there were so
many I lost count!
When is a
father-in-law not a father-in-law?
Answer:
when he's a step-father.
This is not a Christmas cracker joke,
but a fact that LostCousins member Susan brought to my attention recently
following my article in the last newsletter about half-cousins. It seems that
until the middle of the 19th century the suffix in-law was often used where we
would nowadays use the prefix step. For example, in Pickwick Papers Sam Weller refers to his step-mother as "mother-in-law".
The ambiguity isn't just a problem when
it comes to understanding census entries - it could also affect the
interpretation of wills. Other ambiguous terms include uncle and aunt, niece
and nephew, which may or may not refer to somebody who is a blood relative.
Ripper story
features in TV show
Have you been watching the Find My Past TV series on the Yesterday
channel? I'm looking forward to the
programme due to be broadcast on 24th November, because it is going to feature
three people whose ancestors are connected with the "Jack the Ripper"
case - and as you'll know from recent newsletters there are several LostCousins
members who also have connections (including me).
As I was writing this newsletter the Daily Mail published an article
claiming that the Ripper may have been identified! This followed the discovery of a surgeon's
knife amongst the belongings of Sir John Williams, a surgeon who attended Queen
Victoria and later founded the National Library of Wales - indeed it was in the
library that the knife was discovered, amongst an archive of the Doctor's
possessions. It is probably just a coincidence - he was, after all, a surgeon.
But what isn't a coincidence is the timing of the story, because Tony Williams,
a distant relative of the doctor who found the knife has just published a book
called Uncle
Jack - a Victorian Mystery. (If you're tempted to buy it I suggest you
first look at the reviews of the previous
edition.)
Can you really
buy a NEW Kindle for only £79?
The latest Kindle
comes without a keyboard or a mains adaptor (you charge it from a USB port),
and can only store 1400 books at one time - hence the reduced price of £89 - but
otherwise it's the same as the models that my wife and I bought last year. She who
must be obeyed has the Kindle Keyboard (that's the new name for the Wi-Fi version) which has just come back down to its
original price of £109, whilst I have the Kindle
Keyboard 3G, which costs £149.
Why did I spend extra to get the 3G
version (which according to Amazon is for people who don't have Wi-Fi at home)? Because it allows me not only to download
books worldwide, it also provides FREE virtually worldwide Internet access via
the experimental browser. It's a little clunky, and can't cope with every
website, but for checking email and keeping in touch with the news and weather
via the BBC website it's fine. Nothing better than lying
on the beach in and discovering that it's snowing back home.
One thing has changed since we bought
ours - you can now buy them at Tesco. In fact, if you order from Tesco
Direct by clicking here
you can save £10 on any order of £75 or more when you enter the coupon
code TDX-NTRY (note that if
you order a Kindle, you must collect it from a local store - they can't be
delivered - nor can you use the coupon in store or in conjunction with other
offers).
And that's how you can buy a
Kindle for only £79.
Don't forget
FamilySearch!
There's so much new information
appearing on subscription sites like Ancestry and findmypast that it's easy to
forget that there's a free site that in some cases offers the same records.
For example, the Warwickshire
registers that Ancestry
recently launched (see my last newsletter)
have also been indexed at FamilySearch
- and from what I've seen so far, their transcription is better. Even if it
isn't a better transcription, it's clearly a different one - so you've got two
chances to find elusive relatives.
What you won't find at FamilySearch are
images of the Warwickshire registers - although you could go to your nearest
LDS Family History Centre and ask them to order the microfilms (but you may
well find that your local public library has an Ancestry subscription - most
English libraries do, as do many in the US and Australia).
Similarly, the Cheshire registers that findmypast have recently added to their site,
but haven't officially launched yet, are also available at FamilySearch. In my
tests so far the findmypast and FamilySearch transcriptions have appeared
identical, but once again you won't find the images at FamilySearch (though you
could ask your Family History Centre to order the microfilms - and a few public
libraries have findmypast subscriptions).
You won't find the Cheshire Collection
simply by going to the findmypast site - at least not at the time of writing.
But you will find them if you click here.
Strangely, whilst FamilySearch have
indexed transcripts of some parish registers, but no images, for some counties
they have images but not transcripts - which means you
have to browse the images rather as you would if you went to the county records
office. For Cornwall
that isn't much of a problem, because the Online Parish Clerks project for
Cornwall has transcribed nearly 2 million entries, and because the work has
been carried out by volunteers it's completely free to search.
Similarly, whilst there isn't an OPC
project for Norfolk,
another volunteer project - FreeREG -
is making good progress, with most parishes complete up to 1812, and quite a
few transcriptions extending into the 20th century.
Tip:
the link for the Norfolk parish registers in the FamilySearch index currently
doesn't work - many thanks to LostCousins member Chris for providing this link
which does work!
International
Genealogical Index
The International Genealogical Index is
probably still the largest collection of British baptism and marriage entries,
and yet there are some researchers who have never used it. You'll find the IGI
at the old FamilySearch site,
and whilst many of the entries are also at the new site there are features of
the old site that many researchers prefer.
Tip:
you'll find my 'Guide to the IGI' on the Help & Advice page at the
LostCousins site
IGI Batch
Numbers
One of the most useful free sites is
Hugh Wallis's site which allows you to search the IGI by batch number - which
in effect means searching by parish, since each batch usually comprises entries
from a single parish.
Tip:
you'll find a guide to batch numbers and Hugh Wallis's site in my article 'Unlock
the Secrets of the IGI' on the Help
& Advice page
Until recently the search feature on
Hugh Wallis's site linked to the old FamilySearch site. Now it has been updated
to link to the new site - but there's a problem, because some of the batch
numbers don't exist at the new site (the entries may be there, but not under
that batch number).
You could manually enter the batch
number at the old FamilySearch site, but an alternative is to make use of the
filtering component of the Search feature at the new FamilySearch site - you'll
find an excellent explanation of how to achieve this in the FamilySearch blog.
An ideal Christmas present?
Professional genealogist Celia Heritage
is offering a £10 discount on her e-course Researching
Your Family History to readers of her own newsletter - but as a loyal
LostCousins member she's also agreed to extend the offer to readers of my
newsletter!
You'll find full details of the course
on the Heritage Family
History website, and this link
will take you straight to the description. You can do the course at your own
speed and, whilst the discount only lasts until the end of December, Celia has
kindly agreed that so long as you pay before Christmas you can complete the
course in the New Year. Simply email Celia explaining that you're a LostCousins
member (you'll find her contact details on her website) and she'll send you a
link allowing you purchase the course at the discounted price using PayPal (if
you have a UK bank account, you can also pay by cheque).
But here's the conundrum: is it a
present for you or a present for somebody else?
Tip:
Celia Heritage will once again be speaking at the Who Do You Think You Are? show; her talk is entitled "I've Lost My Ancestor
Before 1837. Where Did He Come From?" and takes place
at 3pm on Sunday 26th February.
Peter's Tips
Christmas isn't that far away - and
there are some gifts that can't be left to the last minute, because they need
to be personalised. Two years ago I bought my wife a calendar with photographs
of the village where we live taken from old postcards, and which I'd picked one
by one from the enormous range available. In the collection there are postcard
photos from all over Britain - click on the scene below to see what's available
from the area you live, or where you grew up.
Reproduced courtesy of Francis Frith.
If you have your own photographs,
whether they are contemporary photographs or sepia-tinted photos from the
family albums, another option is a photo book or diary. Albelli are the biggest
producers of photo books in Europe, and if you click here you can save 20% on all their
products.
Apart from the Radio Times there's only one magazine that I first read nearly 50
years ago, and still subscribe to today - it's called Which?, and it's the magazine of the Consumers'
Association. I never buy any major household item without first checking what Which? has said
about it, but I also find the coverage of everyday items such as food and
washing-up liquid useful. I don't always agree with what they say - but at
least when I make a decision it's an informed one!
Though I keep back copies of the
magazines for at least 2 years I tend to use the reviews section of the website
to make sure I get the very latest advice - but, in any case, as a subscriber
I've got access to both. If you've ever subscribed to Which? you'll already know how good it is, but
if you haven't, I'd thoroughly recommend investing £1 for a one-month trial. Click
here
to find out more.
Another magazine I subscribe to is Computer Shopper. I'd never buy a new
computer without checking what they have to say, so as I read each issue I tear
out the reviews that I think might be useful in the future - for example, in
the current issue they've reviewed a selection of computers that cost about
£450, but are all at least twice as fast as the one I'm using to type this (and
I only bought this one 3 years ago).
Of course, they don't just review
computers - the latest issue also reviewed monitors, cameras, camcorders, mobile
phones, home cinema, printers, hard drives, and software. Until the end of November
£1 will buy you not 1, but 3 trial issues when you click here
and enter the code N10042AFFCS.
Stop Press
This where any last
minute amendments will be recorded or highlighted.
I hope you've found my newsletter interesting, and that you'll keep writing in with tips of
your own - many of the best articles in my newsletters are inspired by members.
Peter Calver
Founder, LostCousins