Sunday 26 April 2015

Going In-Depth - April Issue

Going In-Depth: April 2015The April issue is OUT and the Across the Pond column continues with the featured look at occupations, especially those carried out in the City of London.

The March issue looks at the Worshipful Company of Grocers and can be found on pages 7 - 10 of  the magazine.

To subscribe to the magazine please visit The In-Depth Genealogist website.

Friday 3 April 2015

A-Z Challenge - Book of Me C is for....Collaboration and Collateral

By coincidence I am back from the Guild of One-Name Studies conference. The theme was Collaboration. Cooperation. Communication. Which sums up nicely researching in the twenty first century. There were various presentations throughout the three day event and I presented on blogging using blogger which is rather fitting!

You can view the various sessions at the Guild's YouTube Channel

The Book of Me theme for C gave three ideas - Collaboration and Collateral and Cards. So today I can going to briefly tackle two of the three!

We all can research in isolation, but we will achieve so much more if we collaborate with others and share our hypothesis, ideas and findings. How can you collaborate in the modern genealogical world?
  • Facebook
  • Blogs
  • Evernote
  • Dropbox
These are just a few examples of how material can be shared with others. Each of us will find our own way of researching and collaborating. There is no right or wrong way, just simply your way and whatever works for us as individuals.

I have always researched my collateral lines, and my personal belief is to ignore those lines can be foolish! Collateral lines can give us a sense of depth to our own direct lines of family history and only when investigating those collateral lines can we find evidence and information on our own ancestry. Leave no stone unturned is probably a good motto!

You can see who else is participating in the A - Z Challenge by visiting the participants lists at www.a-to-zchallenge.com.
Book of Me
Copyrighted Julie Goucher

More details can be found about the Book of Me and the A - Z prompts HERE

Thursday 2 April 2015

A-Z Challenge - Book of Me - B is for Birthday Book

Back in the Spring of 1990 I was visiting an elderly relative, who was the first Cousin of my Grandfather. Their Grandmother was Caroline Ellis (1844 - 1935) of Puttenham, who was my Great Great Grandmother

The cousin's daughter had married the Grandson of a chap called Job Ellis from Elstead and found it somewhat amusing that perhaps the Ellis connection was stronger than we first thought.

Over a tea and chat I was presented with a birthday book and it is this book that is transcribed here, written in the order the details appear in the book.

Owner identified as Adelaide Underwood May 14th, 1776

Harriett Street 1852 Jan 15th

Marjorie Ellis Jan 27th 1910

Frederick Street 1857 Feb 2nd

Herbert Ellis Feb 23rd

Frederick Street 1882 April 1st

Emma Street 1854 May 3rd

Annie Underwood 1854 June 6th

John Street 1859 Oct 5th

Adelaide Ellen Underwood 1853 Nov 7th

Annie Street 1886 Dec 3rd


Of course hindsight is a wonderful thing and I have often wished that I had photographed the birthday book. I can't even recall what it looked like now, which is rather disappointing.

Book of Me
Copyrighted Julie Goucher
More details can be found about the Book of Me and the A - Z prompts HERE

You can see who else is participating in the A - Z Challenge by visiting the participants lists at www.a-to-zchallenge.com

Wednesday 1 April 2015

A-Z Challenge - Book of Me - A is for Analysis

As a family historian it is vital to analysis the information we discover. It is not enough to look at the information once, and that process should be a consistent theme as we research. Just because we read something does not mean what we have read is correct, nor does it mean the same thing out of context.

Our research is a journey to the past. That journey begins with a single step and each journey we take becomes easier as we become more familiar with the names, places and people we are researching and as we understand the context we are researching in.

My Great Uncle died in the mid 1960's and is buried at the municipal cemetery at Guildford. When my Cousins started researching they had problem locating this entry in the General Registration Office (GRO) indexes. For some reason a full copy of his birth certificate was not in the family. All my Uncle's siblings were located and yet he was not, and his birth dated back to 1906 - his siblings were born between 1900 and 1917.

Taken by Julie Goucher, May 2007
When my Great Aunt died she was interned with her husband and the headstone changed. Family records showed that Uncle was given the year of birth of 1907 which was incorrect. It had been calculated from his age at death, but was a year out based and proved using biology. Uncle was born in Dec and my Grandfather, the next sibling was born in March - gestation is as we know nine months and I had the birth certificate and numerous other documentation which confirmed he was born in March 1908, so Uncle was born in December 1906 and not 1907 as the headstone indicated.

A further search was done in the neighbouring registration districts to Guildford, and eventually Uncle's entry was discovered in Hambledon registration district in Dec quarter 1906. So why was there are difference between him and other siblings? The address was the same. The reality is that no one knows the answer, My Great Grandmother died in the early 1970's, so she outlived her son be several years.

The reality at this point was this. Births usually happened at home. In this instance Wanborough Surrey. All my Grandfather's siblings were baptised in Wanborough and the registration district for all except one was Guildford. I looked again at the date that the registration of my Uncle took place. It was early December, and according to the Monthly record report from the Meteorological Office, December 1906 it was cold, windy and there had been instances of snow and sleet.

My Great Grandmother, who had already buried two of her six children born between 1900 - 1906 would have wanted to protect her children as best she could. Therefore it is likely that decision to record the birth in Hamledon registration district was logistical - Godalming was nearer than Guildford. Perhaps they had secured a lift on the back of a cart.

But what if the birth had not happened at home? Perhaps the birth occurred whilst visiting another household, and the birth recorded in the nearest registration district with the baptism in the family parish. Whilst that did not happen in this instance, it is absolutely possible which means that any time a place of birth is required, the individual could quite unwittingly records the place of birth incorrectly based upon what they believe to be true and let's face it would the individual would not recall their birth, just what they are informed by their parents and read on the official documentation.

We should be analysing the discoveries we make, even using non genealogical sources to assist us.

Book of Me
Copyrighted Julie Goucher
More details can be found about the Book of Me and the A - Z prompts HERE

You can see who else is participating in the A - Z Challenge by visiting the participants lists at www.a-to-zchallenge.com

Linkwithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...