2017-10-07T16:24:59+00:00

Tracing Your Ancestors Lives: A Guide for Family Historians

Tracing Your Ancestors’ Lives is not a comprehensive study of social history but instead an exploration of the various aspects of social history of particular interest to the family historian. It has been written to help researchers to go beyond the names, dates and places in their pedigree back to the time when their ancestors lived. Through the [...]

2017-02-20T15:51:34+00:00

Explore the 20 Next Big Things in Family History

While the family history records we research and the ancestor stories we uncover stretch back centuries, the tools of our trade remain bang up to date. Check out this round-up of the latest techniques and innovative technology with genealogy researcher Barbara J Starmans. Published in Family Tree UK in January 2017

2017-02-20T12:57:18+00:00

Social History Course

Looking for a course that adds to your understanding of your ancestor’s life? The National Institute for Genealogical Studies is proud to announce a new course written by genealogist and social historian Barbara J. Starmans, PLCGS, Research: Social History. About social history Barbara Starmans writes, Social History is not concerned with politics and wars, or kings and presidents, but rather [...]

2017-02-20T15:47:01+00:00

CSI the Prologue

Journey back only a short time in history, when esteemed judges and assembled juries had only the testimony of witnesses and sometimes the coerced confessions of the accused to rely on, and there can be little doubt that every now and then innocent parties were executed, and the guilty went free. These were the days before CSI, before [...]

2017-02-20T13:15:34+00:00

In Every City, Village, and Hamlet

In the mid-nineteenth century, although officially part of British North America, British Columbia was a wilderness territory, effectively run by the Hudson’s Bay Company who controlled the fur trade throughout the Pacific North-west. The area was largely unsettled and the sparse population was made up primarily of aboriginal people, and a few hundred British settlers and trappers. But [...]

2017-02-20T12:58:42+00:00

Saving what they could carry

In total, the Great Fire of 1922 consumed 650 square miles in eighteen townships in Northern Ontario. The towns of Haileybury, Charlton, North Cobalt, Thornloe, Heaslip and many other small settlements were completely destroyed. Englehart and New Liskeard were partially burnt but ultimately saved as the winds shifted direction at the last moment. Remarkably, only forty-three people lost [...]

2017-02-20T12:53:30+00:00

Which Software?

There are so many choices now when it comes to family history software. How do you know which one to buy? Since you will be spending a lot of your research time working with your genealogy software, it is important to find the program you like and that works best for you. While some programs have advanced features [...]

2017-02-20T12:52:06+00:00

Boy Soldier of WW1

I have examined the above named Recruit and find that he does not present any of the causes of rejection specified in the Regulations for Army Medical Services. I consider him fit for the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force. Apparent age, 18 years. And so began the WW1 military service of my great-uncle, Hector Bulmer on 24 January 1916, four days after his 16th birthday. Born in [...]

2017-02-20T15:42:01+00:00

The Great Faces of Family History

Throughout the last five hundred years, many individuals have contributed to the creation of the wealth of records that we as genealogists turn to, in our quest to trace our family history in the UK. Their reasons for initiating the collections of information were usually politically or religiously motivated, rather than stemming from a desire to leave an [...]

2017-02-20T14:55:38+00:00

How to Use Dade Registers

For descendants of Yorkshire families, the comprehensive Dade style registers created between 1777 and 1812 are an incredible legacy, and for all other researchers, they provide a fascinating glimpse into the social history of this time period, giving an insight into cycles of birth, baptism, death and burial, family naming patterns, mobility of the population and mortality, morbidity [...]

2017-02-20T14:49:48+00:00

Know Your Way Around Discovery

With one of the largest collections in the world of historical government and public records, The National Archives UK, located in Kew, Richmond, Surrey, offers over 1000 years of history from England, Wales and the United Kingdom stored on a staggering 185 kilometers of shelving.  Their website, http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk  receives up to 100,000,000 hits per month and is an [...]

2017-02-20T14:52:06+00:00

Give the Gift of Family History

Traditions, warm-hearted reminiscences, and the joy of family are what make the holidays such an incredibly special time of year. This season of celebration is the perfect occasion to give the gift of family and to share your genealogy research with your loved ones in unique and innovative ways. Family history comes to life when the stories are [...]

2017-02-20T14:39:47+00:00

Top 10 Gifts

Whether you are searching for the perfect gift for a beginning genealogist or looking for the latest and greatest gadgets for a seasoned family history researcher, you are sure to find something on this list that is just right. Published in Family Tree UK in December 2013

2017-02-20T15:39:53+00:00

Learn, Research and Share on FamilySearch

The FamilySearch website, familysearch.org, went online in 1999 with the first version of their searchable database of family history and historical records. It almost immediately crashed due to overwhelming popularity. Since the launch of the FamilySearch website, it has been continually updated and improved and it currently receives over 10 million visits per day and has more than [...]

2017-02-20T14:29:30+00:00

How to Keep your Genealogy Research Safe

Preserving your family history research for the future is a daunting task. Technology is changing at the rate of knots, floppy discs are a thing of the past and even computers are being abandoned in favour of tablets and smartphones. Storing your research in a future-proof format is the answer, but where do you start? Well, never fear [...]

2017-02-20T13:24:27+00:00

A Great Fraud Has Been Committed

On 11 March 1864, just before midnight, the Dale Dyke Dam collapsed and a great flood surged through parts of Sheffield in Yorkshire, causing extensive property damage and killing about 270 people. The affected area stretched from the dam, through the Loxley Valley, on through Malin Bridge and Hillsborough to the Sheffield town centre.  The enquiry afterwards determined [...]

2017-02-20T14:20:32+00:00

Organise Your Bookmarks in Dropbox

Every day, more and more genealogy content is being made available on the internet.  New websites are springing up overnight and databases and digital images are proliferating.  As we struggle to keep track of all this new information by adding each newly found website to our browser’s bookmarks, our copious lists inevitably become disorganized and muddled.  Creating order [...]