Earlier today the Worldwide Genealogy Blog went live. How exciting is that? Since my reminder post of a few days ago two more genealogical authors have joined us in this genealogical blogging adventure.
If you want to keep up with our daily posts, then you can subscribe to the blog by clicking HERE and if you want to see who is currently taking part then click HERE. If you want to take part then click HERE
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| No Story Too Small |
Mary married John King in Puttenham in 1767 and together John and Mary raised a family 10 children (9 girls and 1 boy). Each of their offspring spent time in India and have over the years given me a huge amount of insight into the lives of women at this period of time.
John King died in 1803 and Mary died in 1817. From what I can establish at the moment, John did not leave a will.
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| Courtesy of Ancestry – Parish Records Puttenham Surrey Burials 1817 |
Recently Ancestry has published the Probate records and a quick search revealed that Mary left a will when she died.
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| Courtesy of Ancestry – Probate Record 1817 |
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| Courtesy of Ancestry – Probate Record 1817 |
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With the weather here in the UK typically miserable, we have as we have got older and (wiser?) stopped going out on New Years Eve, opting for a quiet family affair.
This year with Mum still in hospital, a new year full of promise starts full of concern and worry and a fair amount of contemplation. We did opt to stay in, we watched the fire works at London and rang Australia to talk to my family who are so very dearly missed.
Here are the fireworks from a cold, wet and windy London.
And from my home and family to yours Happy New Year. May 2014 be everything you wish for.
One of the things that I like the most about the Guild of One Name Studies is that there is a mailing list which does, from time to time have interesting posts and debates.
Just after Christmas, a link to a post that had been written by +Tony Proctor was shared on the mailing list. Tony’s post can be read HERE. (Before I proceed further, the title of this post was initially used by +Jim Benedict and seems to fit the bill rather nicely, so it is correct that I acknowledge Jim)
Tony’s post is thought provoking and clearly others on the Guild mailing list thought the same. I have been reading and contemplating since last Thursday and wonder if we are making genealogy too complicated?Hold that thought for a moment!
When we start researching, we are all I am sure a little careless when we come to noting down where we obtained information from. I know I was and that was back in the mid 1980’s. Since then with over 25 years of experience and a history degree under my belt I am more careful, but on rare occasions I have had sources slip through the net. What can I say, it happens and I am human! In those situations I have had to back track through the documents so that I could clarify the actual and correct source.
Whatever the fact is, we need to be able to support that fact with a source. Now that may be a document or a statement of oral history or perhaps a combination of those things. It is the combination of those things that can perhaps fill gaps where there is an error or potential for error.
I will give you an example. A baptism certificate written by the Church just after the proceedings. The name on the certificate is incorrect. How can that be? I have a genuine written piece of paper to prove it….or do I? Well yes, I do have a genuine piece of paper, written by the vicar at the time. The date is right and the first forename is correct, but the middle name is incorrect. To be absolutely sure a search of the births register for the year preceding the event is searched. There are none. A search for any births with that combination of name is conducted in the County, again there are none. Then the search is extended further to the Country. Again there are none.
I can though provide with the baptism certificate a birth certificate of the actual birth with the correct name and the birth certificate with the mother’s name which is correct. I can also add to that a paragraph of oral history from me with a hypothesis of how the vicar came to make the error in the first place.
In the previous example we have started with the evidence and worked backwards to substantiate it. Now I am going to share a fact that is true and will form part of my oral history. I will then present a series of potential and documentary evidence which should prove the initial statement.
As I write this my Mum is in hospital. I can tell you when she was admitted. How can I prove it? Well the Ambulance crew who attended to Mum have recorded the events and should have left Mum a copy (they didn’t and that is another story!). Mum was admitted to the hospital at accident and emergency and then to an assessment ward. The only proof I can provide is the official response from the hospital in regard to a complaint that I made and I was with Mum as she was transferred to the ward. Having been admitted to that ward, she was then moved to another ward at 4am the following morning some 5 hours later. The only proof I have is what is documented in Mum’s medical notes and my oral history that I visited her on the new ward twice daily for over ten days. Then on day eleven I was with her when she was moved to another ward which specialised with the diagnosis that Mum has.
Medical Records here in the UK are subject to Access to Medical Report 1988, therefore they are available to the patient only if it does not cause detriment to the patient involved. Limited access can be granted in the form of a statement to third parties for example insurance companies and alike. Access to historical medical records are sealed for 100 years from the last entry, if they have survived. Medical Records is the subject of a forthcoming article published on the regular column of Across the Pond published by the In-Depth Genealogist.
As to absolute proof, does it exist in the genealogical & historical field? No, it does not. Examples of official documents such as births, marriages and deaths that have been recorded incorrectly exist. An error, by omission in relation to cremation records exists with regard to my late father in law. In that instance some material was deliberately left out, which will undoubtedly cause problems in the future to those researching the family, and a fellow Guild of One Name Studies member!
What is important is that books such as these:
Back to my original question, are we making genealogy too complicated? Yes, perhaps on the face of it we are, but if sources and the format of material is recorded accurately then someone in the future can easily locate the material and follow your paper trail which will enable another genealogist to concur with your findings or alternatively prove or disprove your recorded hypothesis. Furthermore, reading these books will open your mind to sources and material that perhaps is not absolutely obvious.
This has been an interesting discussion and debating point which has distracted me from a few other issues. I have enjoyed contemplating it and writing this post; and I hope you enjoy reading it.
Do you remember that Geneameme that was shared back in the summer by my genie buddy +Jill Ball ? Well the Global Genealogy collaboration project was about to commence when I was contacted by someone who stated that they have a business with the same name and that I “might like to reconsider the name”. So I have an alternative name, nothing outstanding, but it does what I want it to do. Interesting that of all those who stepped forward to participate no one mentioned the company and they didn’t step forward until just before Christmas. Perhaps they need to review their marketing plan as I had never heard of them but they do exist.
So, Worldwide Genealogy ~ A Genealogical Collaboration is born. The first tentative post is up and from the 1st January 2014 blogging from around the globe commences. You can subscribe to the blog by email or by following in your RSS reader.
If you want to take part there is space available and as long as the post has a genealogical or historical theme you would be welcome to join us. All I need from you is an email with your name, email address and your blog name (this will be used on the author page with a link to your blog). Your name will be the label so that posts can be filtered by authors.
Well I started the year on a reasonable high and am going to end it in a reflective and low key fashion.
The biggest change was in relation to the day job. Over recent years I struggled with the profit before people mentality within my chosen profession. I wasted a lot of energy and time arguing within a structure that was completely out of my control and remit to influence such change. A fellow colleague advised me many times to pick my battles more carefully and not to waste energy on the unchangeable. Whilst I heard his message, I didn’t listen to him. More fool me. That was the catalyst for my change. The events that unfolded over the tale end of 2010 into 2011 lead to planning change in 2012 and then a completely different focus for 2013.
I still practice in my chosen profession. I need to for my professional development and registration, but I no longer have the passion for it that I once did; nor do I have the ambition. The corporate world, full of unrealistic pressures and budgets effectively left a shell of an individual as I walked away from a reasonably successful career. It was either walk or my sanity. The answer was effectively a no-brainer.
The dawning of 2013 produced The Book of Me, which has been successful and more so that I ever thought possible, both within the real and virtual world and groups. I am afraid to say that I once shared a project with someone who I considered a genuine colleague and friend who then took my idea and ran with their own project and published before my due date. I will never fall into that trap again. I lost not only a good friend and colleague but a great deal of time and effort on the project. So having said that I am observing from a distance several individuals who rather think my hard work on the Book of Me is theirs for the taking. It is not and I will name and shame those that overstep the mark.
The Book of Me continues to be a source of interest and I am at the point where my calendar for running physical groups is becoming very full and I have in the last few weeks accepted a booking for 2015.
The Anglers Rest blog has had a small facelift – I am a great creature of habit, I like the overall structure and feel of the blog, but am very irritated that in order to get around blogger not allowing comments from some I have had to opt for moderation and accept anonymous comments.
I spent several months earlier in the year moving my material from the web space allocated from my ISP to another provider. The Anglers Rest website is now in it’s new home and I still have some material to load to the site. More recently I have structured and organised websites for several individual and specific projects – my one place studies and one of my one name studies. I also moved to publishing a quarterly newsletter for the Orlando ONS with the view that once written it is archived on the Orlando ONS website as well as the Guild of One Name Studies library. It is of course indexed by Google and available to other Orlando researchers.
My personal genealogy has been a bit slow this year, mainly driven by a poor filing system and time constraints. I spent about 5 months working with a selection of other genealogists forming the Society for One-Place Studies, which formed officially on 1st September 2013 and not before time! A society such as this one has been needed for a long time.
Global Genealogy
Having floated this idea briefly following a Gene Meme from +Jill Ball last August I was contacted by someone who stated that they have a business with the same name and that I “might like to reconsider the name”. So I have an alternative name, nothing outstanding, but it does what I want it to do. Interesting that of all those who stepped forward to participate no one mentioned the company and they didn’t step forward until just before Christmas. Perhaps they need to review their marketing plan as I had never heard of them but they do exist. A post will be published tomorrow about the new name and the blog address.
Keeping Mum!
As I said, I will be ending the year on a low as my Mum is in hospital and has been since 10th December. Thank you for the messages sent to me via this blog, Facebook and email. Mum is quite poorly and will be in hospital for at least another few weeks.
Coming up
I am still writing a regular column, Across the Pond for the In-Depth Genealogist digital magazine, it is hard to believe that it is a year since I wrote my first column and I still contribute regularly to the In-Depth Genealogist blog.
I am planning a regular feature on this blog linking in with the themed prompt hosted by Geneabloggers – Society Saturday. Here I plan to share details of some Societies that I am involved with, or have been involved with or others that cross my path. Most will be genealogical or historical but there maybe a few others too!
The book based on the Book of Me will be published a little later this year, I had planned for earlier, but given how I am ending the year I have delayed the publication date.
A few months ago I signed a contract with a publisher for a genealogical book which will be published early in 2015. So, I am rather busy researching and writing for that and looking forward to 2015.
All in all, I think 2013 has been a reasonable year. I am looking forward to 2014, with the all the promise it has.
Finally, thank you to all those who read this blog and comment or send me emails. They are appreciated and I do try to answer comments on the blog – keeping it interactive. I am a little behind with commenting at the moment and hopefully normal service will be resumed soon!
Happy New Year to you all and I hope that 2014 is everything you hope it will be.
Just recently I stumbled across a reference to the website of a Society I have been a member of since 1987. I noticed the mention of a members area and suddenly I asked myself when did that happen? I realise then that it is important to revisit the websites and archives perhaps already explored. Whilst the world of social media is moving along at rapid speed and the commercial entities growing at almost on a daily basis, the Societies that have been the constant of our hobby are tentatively chipping away with the valued work of volunteers.
Here are a few questions to ponder on –
Through the course of 2014 I plan to share details of Societies I belong to, those I have previously belonged to and those I stumble across through the course of my own research. Most of the Societies will be genealogical or historical, but not all, so stay tuned for
Society Saturday.
Today is week 18 of what is going to be a 15 month project. Each Saturday, at around 12.30am UK time I will release the prompt for that week’s Book of Me, Written by You.
If you are new here, welcome! The details, background flyer and Face Book link to the Book of Me can be found HERE.
As promised, this is the final of four posts taken from this delightful book. This fourth recipe Eggnog Cream and take from the website.
Ingredients
Method
Sounds just the thing to add some zing to the Christmas pudding!
Weekend Cooking is hosted by BethFishReads
As with recent years, FindmyPast (UK) has commenced Start You Family History Week.
The Anglers Rest blog first went online at Blogger in 2002. At the time of transfer, the counter was at 349,463.
It was moved to this site on 18th December 2015 when the counter was reset -:(
Julie Goucher ~ Anglers Rest 