Newsletter - 12th
January 2018
Who do your friends think their ancestors were? EXCLUSIVE
When is a source not a source?
Why you should look through parish registers
Have you taken a DNA test recently?
Genes Reunited offer half-price Platinum subscriptions
Two year degrees? It's
déjà vu all over again!
Review: At Home:
a short history of private life
The LostCousins newsletter is usually published
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I'm very sorry that this year
I was unable to publish my usual Christmas newsletter - unfortunately my
broadband connection went down on Monday 18th December and wasn't reliably
working again until the evening of Saturday 30th December. Whilst I was able to
respond to individual enquiries using a mobile broadband connection it simply
wouldn't have been practical to send out emails to the more than 64,000 members
who are on my newsletter mailing list.
Note: the operation of the LostCousins
website was completely unaffected - the site is professionally hosted and
regularly backed-up.
Although this is the first
newsletter of the year I have previously been in touch with members in Australia,
New Zealand, and the UK about matters of possible interest to them - that alone
required me to send more than 50,000 emails! I'm repeating below what I told
members in the UK as it's an innovative concept that bears repetition….
Who do your
friends think their ancestors were?
Back in 2004 there was a big
increase in people researching their family tree, and whilst it would be nice
to be able to say that it was a result of LostCousins
launching in May of that year, that would be 'fake news' - the reality is that
the first series of Who Do You Think You
Are? that autumn provided the real impetus.
Now it's DNA testing that
gets all the attention - people who know little or nothing about their family
tree seem to be intrigued by the idea that a simple test could provide them
with answers. But as we all know, DNA testing is of little value unless it is
backed up with 'proper' research - and somehow we have
to get that message across, otherwise the disappointment could turn them off
family history for life.
I can't do it on my own - the
people I need to reach don't read this newsletter. But you do, and I'm sure you
have many friends who've expressed a passing interest in their family tree. That's why I decided it was time to
enlist your help - and I'm glad to say that Findmypast
were delighted to support this initiative by providing prizes as an added incentive
for you and your friends.
You'll find all the details here -
thanks for taking part. Please note that because Findmypast.co.uk are providing
the prizes it's only open to entrants from the UK, but if this initiative is successful
I'm sure it will be repeated around the world.
When is a
source not a source?
Have you noticed that an
increasing number of erroneous entries in online trees are apparently backed up
by information from one or more 'sources'? Most public online trees are full of
dodgy data, but it's only in recent years that many of the mistakes have been
given superficial credibility by references to sources.
Census entries are often cited
as sources of birth information even though ages and birthplaces in the census
are notoriously inaccurate, but they're not going to fool an experienced
researcher (nor are references to other online trees); often a glance at the
census entry will show that it's not even the right family! What could,
however, cause all sorts of problems is the wrong baptism or marriage entry,
because it can send others on a wild goose chase.
No matter how carefully
compiled, online trees rarely tell you what research has been carried out, and
what the reasoning is behind the choice of that particular
entry. Most seasoned researchers will know the Sherlock Holmes quote
"when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however
improbable, must be the truth" but it's a hard maxim to apply in
genealogy, because we're usually working with incomplete and inaccurate
records.
One of the worst things that
can happen to any family historian is to discover that you're barking up the
wrong tree (even worse is to be researching the wrong ancestors and not
discover this!). The important thing to remember is that Sherlock Holmes not
only considered the evidence, but also the lack of evidence - remember the dog
that didn't bark in the night?
How do you decide which
baptism is the right one? Do you list all the possible entries, then choose the
one that's the closest fit? Or do you always have in the back of your mind
these other possibilities:
From 1813 onwards
the occupation of the father was routinely recorded in the baptism register
(you might find it mentioned occasionally before that date - it largely depends
on the habits of the vicar); this can highlight cases of mistaken identity.
Before that date there are also many entries where the mother's name wasn't
shown, or was shown incorrectly - it's far less common for the name of the
father to be wrong, though it can happen.
Always remember that whilst
we consider parish registers to be primary records baptism and burial register entries
were generally written up later, either from the sexton's notebook or from the
incumbent's own notes. The neater and more consistent the handwriting (and the
inking of the nib) the more likely it is that you're looking at records that
were compiled at a later date. Sometimes it isn't
obvious with online registers whether we're looking at the original registers
or Bishop's Transcripts, though you can't assume that the original registers
are always more accurate - sometimes corrections were made, or omissions
rectified, as the BTs were being copied out.
Even when you've found an
entry that you're certain is the right one, you shouldn't relax completely
until you've found evidence that puts it beyond doubt. Sometimes this will come
from a distant cousin, from a will, or a marriage register entry (if only the
names of witnesses were indexed it would make all of our
lives easier!). But these days it's most likely that it will be a DNA match
that provides the confirmatory evidence.
Always look for other
baptisms to the same couple (and if you don't find any, consider why that might
be - has one of the names been recorded incorrectly?). At the very least
finding the baptisms of siblings will help to pinpoint when the couple might
have married - and in the case of the mother, when she might have been born
(since it was unusual for women over 47 to give birth).
I've had to tell two of my
cousins that they were researching the wrong line, and in each case it was because an ancestor had been baptised late. I
was fortunate to be researching from a slightly different perspective, so
didn't fall into those traps, but I realise I'm not always going to be so fortunate
- every time a DNA match provides a crosscheck for part of my tree I breathe a
sigh of relief!
Why you
should look through parish registers
I recently had an email from
a member who had spotted the wording "sent into court" beneath the
entry for an illegitimate child in a baptism register, and wondered what it meant.
Would you have known the answer?
I hadn't come across this
precise wording before so I did something very simple,
but amazingly effective - I glanced through the register to see whether those
words appeared below any other entries. Well, as you've probably guessed, I did
come across the same wording elsewhere in the register - and always at the same
time of the year. Clearly the note signified that copies of the preceding
entries had been sent to the Bishop or Archdeacon, and didn't bear any
relevance to the specific entry that preceded it - the fact that the child was
illegitimate was just a 'red herring'.
Many similar puzzles can be
resolved simply by looking through the register - but you'd be surprised how
few researchers routinely do this. Are you one of them?
Have you taken a
DNA test recently?
Millions of researchers, and
thousands of LostCousins members have recently purchased
DNA tests, some for themselves and some for cousins. If you have tested your
autosomal DNA (eg Ancestry DNA or Family Finder) please
update your My Details page at the LostCousins site
to reflect this - you'll find the relevant section at the bottom of the page
(remember to log-in first - I know it's obvious, but you'd be surprised how
many people don't, then wonder why they can't find the page they're looking
for).
When it comes to DNA results,
some people - even a few readers of this newsletter - seem to think that the
ethnicity estimates are the results that matter. The reality is that you may as
well ignore them - in my opinion they're for amusement only.
The results that actually matter are the matches you get with your genetic
cousins. If you test with Family Tree DNA you'll get about 1000, but if you
follow my recommendation and test with Ancestry you'll get about 10000, maybe
more. Are they all really your cousins? Probably not - as many as a third of
them could be spurious matches - but it really doesn't matter, because if you
follow my recommended strategies you'll be focusing on the matches that are
most likely to produce useful results.
You'll find the approach I recommend
in this Masterclass
- it's realistic, practical, and efficient.
Tip: even if you follow my advice you'll find that
analysing your DNA matches is very time-consuming, but you can save many hours
of effort by completing your My Ancestors page at the LostCousins
site and connecting with your 'lost cousins'.
Genes
Reunited offer half-price Platinum subscriptions
Until 21st January you can
save 50% on 1 month and 12 month Platinum
subscriptions to Genes Reunited. Despite the name, the Platinum subscription
doesn't offer access to all of Genes Reunited's
records - it's closer to the Starter subscription at Findmypast
(whose records they share), or the Essentials subscription at Ancestry. Other
record sets are available as add-ons at an extra cost.
So what do you get for £40? 12 months unlimited access
to England & Wales censuses from 1841-1911, and transcriptions of the
Scotland censuses from 1841-1901; the GRO BMD records from 1837-2005; UK
Electoral Registers from 2002-13. Plus the opportunity
to search the family trees of 13 million members, and make contact with them,
whether they have a subscription or not.
Note: despite what it implies on the Genes Reunited
website you cannot view the trees of other members simply by buying a
subscription - you can only view them if the owner gives you permission. (In
effect Genes Reunited trees are like Ancestry private trees.)
Two year degrees? It's déjà
vu all over again!
Last month it was announced
that universities in England are to offer 2 year degrees,
rather than the usual 3 year courses - but it's hardly new (the University of
Buckingham has been offering 2 year courses in most subjects since its
foundation 40 years ago).
And whilst I was, in 1969,
the first person in my family to go to university that shouldn't have been the case
- my Uncle Horace was prevented from taking up the opportunity when he
contracted TB for the first time in the late 1920s (though he survived on that
occasion the disease finally came back and claimed him in 1935). According to
my late father it was normal in the 1920s for the first year of a degree course
to be taken before leaving school, so that only 2 years were spent at university
- although I've been unable to find any supporting evidence online (or indeed
any contradictory evidence).
During World War 2 degree courses seem to have been condensed into two years
- or so it appears from the paperwork that one LostCousins
member has sent me, which shows his father leaving school in 1943 and
graduating (with 1st Class Honours) from Queen Mary College in 1945. I was
going to write Queen Mary College, London - but in fact the college was
evacuated to Kings College, Cambridge during the war.
You might be interested to
see this letter, inviting him to attend an interview:
Far from enlisting him in the
Army when he showed up for his interview they sent him away - you see, 8th May
1945 was VE-Day!
Did any of your ancestors go
to university between 1914 and 1945 - and if so, do you know how their course
was structured? It might seem of little consequence, but whether a degree course
lasted for 2 years or 3 will make a big difference when we're trying to retrospectively
reconstruct our ancestors' lives from the little snippets of evidence that have
been passed down.
Review: At Home: a short history of private life
Although Bill Bryson is a
prolific author, I'd never previously read any of this anglophile American's
work, which meant that At Home: a short
history of private life was, for me, a very pleasant surprise. There aren’t
many books of more than 600 pages that I've had trouble putting down, nor would
I usually take a book this size on an airplane in my carry-on luggage… well, I'm
sure that by now you can tell that I enjoyed it immensely!
Published in 2010 the book
didn't even appear on my radar until I stumbled across a quote from the
introduction, in which Bill Bryson was discussing with a friend how many people
were buried in a small country churchyard. I must admit I'd never considered
why churches always seem to sinking, but the
possibility that it's because the churchyard is rising around them seems very
feasible.
The one thing you won't learn
in the book is which parish church he's referring to, and I can understand why
- it's because the author and his family live in the (former) rectory. It's
their home around which the book is constructed, though in telling the story of
this 19th century house he travels across continents and centuries, helping us
to understand how and why houses were built as they were, and in the process
telling us an awful lot about the lives of the people who lived in them.
(Note: there are sufficient
clues that any competent family historian can work out where Bill Bryson lives,
but I feel I'd be breaching the author's confidence if I published the
information. What I can say is that his friend's estimate of how many bodies
are buried in the churchyard seems to be way out.)
There's so much that I
learned through reading this fascinating book - it is a compendium of
delightful, and (especially when he describes the history of bathrooms) not so
delightful facts. Anyone who reads it will learn a lot, and much of it will be
relevant to their ancestors, no matter what stratum of society they came from.
I bought a second-hand
paperback copy through Amazon for a few pounds, but it's also available in
Kindle format (or as a hardback). As usual you can support LostCousins
by using the relevant link below:
Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Amazon.ca The
Book Depository
Most family historians do
their best to establish the truth about their ancestors, good or bad, but a
small minority have a hidden agenda - their aim is to prove that a family myth
is true, and in furtherance of their objective they'll ignore any evidence to
the contrary, no matter how damning. Anyone who has watched Who Do You Think You Are? will know that
most of these stories turn out to be completely untrue
- so obviously untrue, in fact, that one sometimes wonders how the stories
could have passed down so many generations without being challenged.
Fortunately it doesn't matter to most of us if a few so-called
researchers choose to delude themselves, unless their bad research propagates
as a result of being posted online in public trees - and then it become quite a
problem, especially if other users merge their 'findings' with good research
carried out by conscientious researchers like you and me.
James Ball's excellent Post-Truth: how BS conquered the world
looks at the problem of 'fake news', and highlights how difficult it is to deal
with people who aren't interested in facts, or establishing the truth. He also
outlines how there are many companies, some of them otherwise respectable, that
make a lot of money by promoting or spreading stories which they know, or should
know, are false. So whilst it isn't about genealogy, I
could relate a lot of what I read to the problems that serious family
historians like you and me face almost every day.
We all tend to believe
stories that fit our view of the world, and distrust those that don't - which
may explain more than half of those who 'retweet' a story, 'like' a post, or 'share'
it with their Facebook friends, do so even before they've read it! And it
doesn't matter which side of the political divide you're on - it seems we’re all
capable of unconscious bias.
The book ends with a series
of recommendations, many of them directed at the reputable organisations which
allow 'fake news' to flourish by indirectly promoting it - including the BBC
News website (if you're outside the UK) and social media sites such as
Facebook. So it was a pleasant coincidence that as I was writing this review
Facebook announced
their plans to make major changes to the way their news feed works, changes
that are likely to cost them dearly in terms of income, but could do wonders
for their reputation.
Normally I'd recommend
reading Amazon reviews to get a more-rounded view of a book before buying it,
but in this case it would be a mistake - there are
multiple fake reviews designed to discourage people from buying it (some of
them referring to topics that aren't even in the book). And if you don't
understand why some people might do something like this, well…..
you definitely need to read it!
The book is available as a paperback
or in Kindle format (I chose the latter); note that you can support LostCousins by using these links, even if you end up buying
something else:
Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Amazon.ca The
Book Depository
If, like me, you enjoyed Geraldine
Wall 's trilogy about professional genealogist Anna Ames you'll be delighted to
hear that - contrary to expectations - a fourth book in the series has just
been published (I've just started reading it on my smartphone). You can support
LostCousins by using these links to purchase File Under Fathers (or, indeed, any
other product that Amazon sell):
Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Amazon.ca
You can read my reviews of
the first three books in the series if you follow this link.
And yes, you should read them in order if you want to get the most out of this
fascinating story.
Just as I was getting to the
end of this issue I was astounded to hear my computer reading my words back to
me. It turns out that while I've been busy researching my ancestors (and
helping you track down your own) Microsoft have been busy adding new features
to Office 365. If you have the latest version you'll
find the 'Read Aloud' option under the Review
tab.
Another surprise was when I
inadvertently pressed the wrong key combination and found that Word insisted on
typing block capitals whether or not I depressed the Shift
key or Caps Lock. It turns out this feature is enabled or disabled by pressing
Ctrl-Shift-A, though why anyone would choose to do this rather than pressing
Caps Lock I'm struggling to figure out…..
Note: please don't write to me with your favourite
keyboard shortcuts - I already know about far more than I can possibly
remember!
This is where any
major updates and corrections will be highlighted - if you think you've spotted
an error first reload the newsletter (press Ctrl-F5) then check again before writing to me, in case someone else has
beaten you to it......
Peter Calver
Founder,
LostCousins
© Copyright 2017
Peter Calver
Please do NOT copy or
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