Newsletter - 12th January 2019
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MASTERCLASS: How to get the most from Findmypast
GRO indexes - yet more errors and omissions EXCLUSIVE
Transcription Tuesday COMING SOON
Guest article: Psychological themes within genealogy
Are you in Australia - do you have a family secret?
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Nor did I expect to find my ancestors
and other relatives mentioned in the newspapers - my family aren’t rich or
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MASTERCLASS:
How to get the most from Findmypast
Note: if you are reading this
between 8th and 11th November 2019 please check out this important update.
I'm sometimes contacted by
readers who don't get the same excellent results as me when they search at Findmypast - so I'm going to tell you how I transform their
searches….
The first thing you need to
appreciate is that there are two ways of searching at genealogy websites. One
is to enter lots of data on the Search form in the hope that some of it might
lead to the record you're looking for - this type of search works best at
Ancestry, where it typically produces lots of results (though most of them
won't be relevant).
The other approach is to put
the minimum amount of information on the Search form, see how many results you
get and - only if there are too many results to glance through - filter the
results so that you're only left with those that are most relevant. This type
of search works best at Findmypast.
Because I'm so busy I prefer
the second type of search - most of the time the record I'm looking for is on
the first page of search results, so I get there very quickly. I even cheat by
using wildcards rather than type long surnames in full - this has the secondary
benefit of sometimes picking up records that might otherwise have been missed.
How minimal should your
searches be? If I'm searching the census I'll
typically enter just a forename, a surname (possibly using wildcards), and an
approximate year of birth. I rarely enter a place of birth as this tends to
vary so much from one census to another, but when I do
I enclose it in wildcards, eg *London*
Different surnames require
different tactics. The surname Smith is very unlikely to be spelled differently
or mistranscribed - but you are likely to get lots of
results, so you'll need to narrow your search in some way. By contrast, when
I'm searching for my Vandepeer ancestors I'm more
concerned about misspellings than anything else, so I'll typically search for
v*d*p*r* and leave the other boxes empty.
Tip: even as you’re filling in the search form Findmypast are looking to see how many records they have
that match what you have typed so far; a running total is displayed on the Search
button so you'll know when there's no point entering
any more information.
Put these tips into practice
and you'll immediately see the difference. But don't stop reading, because I've
got another, even more important, tip for you - one that even Findmypast won't tell you!
Did you realise that at Findmypast there can be three or more ways of searching for
the same historical record? Would you like to know which of those three ways I
use myself? Yes, I thought so…..
The gateway to all of the different approaches is the Search menu:
Let's suppose that you were
hoping to finds one of your ancestors in the 1881
Census - you could choose Search all
records, or narrow down your search by clicking on Census, land & surveys. But I wouldn't choose either of those
options - I'd go to the precise record set I'm interested in by clicking A-Z of record sets, the option at the very
bottom of the Search menu (but the one I use 99% of the time).
Why do I search specific
record sets, rather than starting with a wider search, then homing in? Because
it's the only way you can access some of the key search options. For example,
when I search the 1881 Census directly the Search form offers an enormous
amount of choice:
But half the fields - the
ones I've highlighted in red - don't appear on the Search form when you choose Census, land & surveys.
So do what I do - whenever possible focus in on the
specific record set of interest, whether it's a census, a collection of baptism
registers for a specific county, or one of the hundreds of other record sets.
Tip: one of the secondary benefits of using this
approach is that you'll get to know the records better. Because they come from
many different sources there are all sorts of quirks - for example, some parish
register transcriptions will be very detailed, others very basic.
Here's a table of links that
will enable you to jump straight to some of key resources at Findmypast without going through the Search menu (all
searches are free, so you don't need a subscription unless you want to look at
the records themselves):
|
1881 British census (FREE transcription) |
|
1939
Register (England & Wales) |
* these parish register links
will take you to the baptisms for the county
Note: there are a few record sets which currently
can't be found using the A-Z of Record Sets; for example, if you're looking for
the Chelsea pensioner records you'll find them under
British Army Service Records because Findmypast have
grouped together all service records. Other instances reported to me involve
Australian cemetery records. But 99 times out of 100 the A-Z is the best
solution.
Finally, another useful tip -
one that even regular users of Findmypast frequently
miss. When you search an individual dataset you'll see
a list of Useful links & resources
to the bottom right of the page - and when the records in question are parish
records there will usually be a link to a page with a list of parishes that are
included, showing the dates that are covered.
GRO indexes - yet
more errors and omissions EXCLUSIVE
First an apology - the table
in the last issue which showed all the blocks of entries that are missing from
the GRO's new birth and death indexes (or duplicated with the wrong references)
contained an error which affected the one block of missing death entries. I've
now corrected the table - you'll find it here.
But it turns out that the
table was also incomplete - an eagle-eyed LostCousins
member has identified another block of errors in the birth index:
1838 Q4 - all of the entries from volume 18 are missing (about 4000
entries) and volume 12 has been duplicated as volume 18
Note: I mentioned
in the last issue that you can search multiple registration districts, or
multiple counties simultaneously at Findmypast -
however it only works if you use the search page that I linked to.
Transcription
Tuesday COMING SOON
Volunteers are required to
help transcribe - amongst other things - a book detailing over two thousand railway
worker accidents from 1901-1907.
Tuesday 5th February has been
designated 'Transcription Tuesday' by Who
Do You Think You Are? magazine - this year they're working with the Railway
Work, Life and Death project
and others to bring to the Internet records that would otherwise be hard to
access.
You can find out more about Transcription
Tuesday here
- I do hope you'll be able to give up a few hours of your time in order to
help.
Note: you don't need to be a reader of Who Do You
Think You Are? magazine to take part in this very worthwhile project.
Although we're never likely
to know the precise circumstances of adoptions that took place beyond living
memory, I believe that reading the wonderful stories sent in by members has
helped us all to understand how varied those circumstances can be.
War causes all sorts of
upheavals, so it's not surprising that several of the adoptees who have written
to me - either as part of this series, or asking for
my help interpreting their DNA results - were born during WW2. But every story
is different, as you can see from this wonderful tale.....
"My
own adoption story was not an usual event in wartime,
I guess. I knew little about the circumstances until I took up family history
and was able to ask the right questions.
"In
1943, at 10 months old, I was left with my birth father’s sister, due to my
birth parents’ difficulties. They were both married to other people, my birth
mother was expecting another child and my birth father had been posted missing.
I was brought up by this aunt and uncle and always knew them as Mum and Dad and
my cousin as my sister. I was not told
about my parents.
"In
1952 I had to take my birth certificate to school to confirm my date of birth
for taking the 11+ exam, or 'the scholarship' as it was called then. My classmates
compared certificates and chatted about where they were born etc. But my birth
certificate was sent in a sealed envelope and handed back to me in another sealed
envelope, with the instruction to take it home and not to open it.
"Of
course, I locked myself in the toilet at home and opened it carefully. I remember
thinking, 'Oh look, Uncle Arthur and Auntie Eve are my mum and dad'. I wasn’t
bothered, I was happy where I was and didn’t want to live with this “aunt and
uncle” and the four children I called 'cousins', who lived 130 miles away. I
re-sealed it and gave it to Mum.
"After
that I never said a word until I was 15 and needed my birth certificate to get
a National Insurance Card to do a Saturday job. I was a very stroppy teenager
and when Mum said she had lost it, I told her I knew what was on the birth
certificate and insisted on having it. She was distraught because I was never
legally adopted. We didn’t speak of it again.
"After
Mum and Dad died, I found adoption application forms completed by them and by
my birth father, but my birth mother had not signed her section. When I asked
her why in 1996, she said 'I thought you may have come back to me'.
"I
now know much more about the situations of all concerned in the 1940s, but
looking back, I think I must have been completely secure as a much loved 10
year-old and I knew any confrontation would upset Mum."
Illegitimacy can sometimes be
hidden by the use of a short birth certificate,
because this only shows the child's details. Whether or not it would have
helped in this particular case would have depended on how
the birth was registered.
Of course, you can’t assume
that a short birth certificate is necessarily hiding some secret - sometimes
people chose short certificates simply because they were cheaper (indeed my mother's
original birth certificate is a short certificate).
Note: this Freedom of Information response
from the General Register Office explains why short birth certificates might be
preferred nowadays, even though there is no longer a difference in cost.
Another wonderful
DNA story
Not all of
the good news DNA stories that I hear from readers of this newsletter can be
published so I'm delighted to be able to share this one with you:
"Quite
a time ago I contacted you letting you know of my attempts to find birth
family. Finding my birth mother through TraceLine, I
received no reply to my letter, and on her death in 2013, I contacted the
presumed half-brother who had registered her death.
"He
was very pleasant, and we got on well, but he had marital complications, and
when later he submitted a DNA sample to Family Tree DNA, it was from a totally
different group, unrelated to me. I imagine that pressures led him to put in a
‘borrowed’ sample from someone else. That door just seemed shut.
"But
before Christmas 2018, you mentioned in the newsletter how much greater
catchment for the UK Ancestry DNA had than any other tester, and as they had a
good offer on I thought I would try them.
"This
was not in any expectation of a contact, as my father’s name (only available
about a couple of years ago through Social Services) was a very common one, yet
had not occurred in any matches to date, so I thought this was probably a
convenient fabrication. I really wanted to find out whether it validated my
ethnic spread, as FTDNA previously identified me as having about 50% Jewish
origins.
"In
the first week of 2019, I got my response from Ancestry. It confirmed my ethnic
origin, and strongly identified two 1st cousins. I have been in touch with them
by email, and they are very positive, and know exactly who my father was (he
died some years ago). I’m planning to meet with one in the UK, when more
information can be exchanged. I am now 71, and no longer expected to find out
anything about my origins, so thank you very much for that significant snippet
taking me to AncestryDNA.
"I
found the adoption stories in your latest newsletter of significant interest, in particular the following comment made by one of the
contributors: 'This is only my opinion, but
I would say that any adoptive parent who is so insecure that they cannot cope
with their child seeking their roots probably should not have adopted a child.'
My
own adoptive parents were totally opposed to my even admitting I was adopted. I
think they regarded the adoption as cancelling out previous events. I was
always resolved to search ‘some time’, but waited
until quite late before searching to minimise the likelihood of their finding
out. In fact, a mutual ‘friend’ spilled the beans, and although they were unable
to talk about it to me, I indirectly heard their subsequent conclusion that ‘no
adoptions work’. This would also be in reference to an adopted sister, who left
the home abruptly in her late teens, and was never reunited to them, though
occasionally she met with her other siblings.
"I
also came very close to the category you described when you wrote: So often I get emails from people who say 'DNA
can't help me because I don't know who my <insert ancestor
here> was', and yet this is precisely the type of situation in which DNA is most
helpful. To misquote the lager advert, DNA reaches the parts of your
tree that conventional research can’t!
"I
too thought it virtually impossible to identify my father, yet after 20 years of
investigation, he appeared very easily when I tested with Ancestry. One reason
earlier searches had proved unfruitful was because
both my mother and my father’s line had changed their surname within the last
three generations."
For those who don’t remember
it, TraceLine was a service based at the General
Register Office in Southport which used the National Health Service central
index to track down missing persons - it was discontinued in 2008 when the
Office for National Statistics handed the records over to the NHS.
If you want to know more
about TraceLine see my article
from January 2011 which includes a copy of the TraceLine
leaflet.
Last time I heard from the
member who provided the wonderful story above he was about to speak to one of
his new-found cousins for the very first time - how exciting!
Guest article: Psychological
themes within genealogy
Ruth Billany,
a LostCousins member, Associate Fellow of the British
Psychological Society and Chartered Psychologist was interested to find two articles
in a recent copy of The Psychologist
(November 2018) that examined the psychological themes that emerge when
creating family trees: self identity; attachment;
resilience; and, emotional geography.
First, Paula Nicolson,
Emeritus Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, examines developing
identities in the 21st century.
“Discovering family roots, or
genealogy, has become a favourite pastime for many. The sheer volume of TV
programmes, magazines and ‘how to’ books bear witness to this. Genealogy
fascinates because knowledge of family history provides some understanding of
our ancestors’ day-to-day experiences, life chances and expectations. But why
do we care? Why has the exploration of family origins become so engaging in
recent years? And what are the psychological dimensions to this enterprise?”
(page 29).
You can read more of the
article here.
Second, Antonia Bifulco, Professor of Lifespan Psychology at Middlesex University,
writes about three generations of her Polish family.
The article “Half the world
away – family identity and emotional geography”, begins with “Most of us are
interested in our origins and family histories. Can psychology aid us in
discovering identity through such research? Can sharing our family stories lead
to uncovering common or even universal psychological themes, crossing place and
time to reveal who we are?” (page 34). Later Bifulco
states “Emotional geography fascinates me. Like most people I have attachment
to places. So, when considering family history in terms of places, cities,
streets and houses become a very personal way of embodying the past lives of
others” (page 37).
Read more here
Note: as it happens I'd read
those articles myself when they were first published (my wife subscribes to the
same journal), but I was delighted that Ruth came to me with a finished article
for the newsletter, because I felt a little 'out of my depth'.
Are you in
Australia - do you have a family secret?
Ancestry recently included
this appeal in their newsletter to Australian users, and I'm sure they won't
mind me repeating it here:
"Is there a missing
family fortune? Why did my parents hide their past? Artemis Media is seeking
participants for a new SBS television series in which everyday
Australians explore hidden truths. They’re looking for secrets that have
impacted on your identity and that of your family. If you’d like to be
involved, please email Artemis at artemis@artemisfilms.com
before 1 March 2019 with your contact details and a short outline."
Even if you managed to get
through most of 2018 without encountering the terms CRISPR and cas9, it’s unlikely
that you missed the announcement in late November that the Chinese scientist He
Jiankui had modified two human embryos and that twin
girls had been born. Dr He is currently under house arrest in China while the authorities
investigate his controversial work.
A Crack in Creation: The New Power to Control
Evolution was written by Jennifer Doudna, one of the most prominent scientists in the field,
in collaboration with Samuel Sternberg, who was a member of Doudna's
laboratory from 2010-15. My copy of the book sat unread on my bookshelf for
nearly 18 months before I could bring myself to make a start but once I did I found it much easier to follow than I had expected.
The book doesn’t try to turn
every reader into a geneticist - instead it tracks the journey that brought gene
editing to the point that we're at today, before discussing at considerable
length the ethical issues that society is now faced with.
You may recall that in April
2017 I wrote
about Bernard Mallet, the Registrar General for England & Wales between
1909-20, who conceived the idea of introducing questions on marital fertility
into the 1911 census in order to test claims by eugenicists that the 'lowest'
social classes were out-breeding the middle classes. In 1928 Mallet became Life
President of the Eugenics Society, having written a number of
articles on the topic - but over the next 20 years the actions of Adolf Hitler
and his followers gave eugenics a very, very bad name.
Gene editing allows a
significant degree of control over human evolution - it is possible that some
hereditary conditions could be virtually eliminated. But just because we could
do something doesn't mean that we should, not least because there could be unintended
consequences. The authors of A Crack in
Creation may have been involved in developing the powerful tools that make
reliable gene editing possible, but they're just as concerned as you or I about how those tools are used.
Reading this book is unlikely
to help you knock down 'brick walls' in your family tree, but it will give you
a better idea of the science behind DNA testing. More importantly, it will help
you make up your own mind about how or whether society should monitor or
restrict the research that is being carried out.
I bought the hardback (which
cost me £11.93 including shipping), but this book is also available as a paperback,
and there's also a Kindle version. When I checked at Amazon just now there were
second-hand copies available at half the price I paid, but that certainly doesn’t
indicate readers were disappointed (86% of the Amazon reviewers give it 5 stars).
It's well worth reading if
you have an interest in the topic, but it isn't a book that every family
historian should have on their shelves (though if you have hereditary conditions
in your own family tree you might be inclined to disagree). As usual you can
support LostCousins when you use any of the links below,
even if you end up buying something completely different:
Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Amazon.ca
In the Christmas Day issue of
this newsletter I wrote in my 'tips' column:
"this
reminds me that our ancestors left samples of their DNA every time they licked
a stamp. I wonder how long it will be before consumer DNA tests are able to
handle samples from sources like that"
On Christmas Day I received
an email from LostCousins member Bill, followed by
one from Phil, on New Year's Eve - both included this link.
It seems that the future is getting closer all the time!
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......
You've still got
time to enter my New Year Competition, and with so many wonderful prizes on
offer (thanks to everyone who donated prizes) your chances of winning are
pretty good. Especially since all you need to do is what any LostCousins member would be doing anyway, completing your My Ancestors page.
Remember ALL of your living cousins are descended from the branches
of your tree. So to connect to your 'lost cousins'
track each branch through to 1881 and enter the relatives you find on the census.
Peter Calver
Founder,
LostCousins
© Copyright 2019
Peter Calver
Please do NOT copy or
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instead, since standard membership (which includes the newsletter), is FREE?