Guildford Railway Station circa 1908

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Julie Goucher

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The In-Depth Genealogist – Digital Magazine – Issue 7 – OUT NOW!

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Julie Goucher
Picture

The next issue of the free digital magazine is available NOW!

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Enjoy this digital edition of the magazine? then why not stop by The In-Depth Genealogist and read the

You can read my Introduction post HERE and you can follow the column by visiting The In-Depth Genealogist website and subscribing via email or via twitter and Facebook.
This is a great addition to the genealogy market and I am very proud to be a part of it. This month’s Across the Pond column is about the Book of Me., which launches on 31st August.
Happy reading & researching!
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Wesleyan Church and Post Office – Normandy circa 1910

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Julie Goucher

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Tuesday’s Tip – Email Control

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Julie Goucher

Actually I am the very last person to give tips on controlling ones inbox. Mine is always full. I use Gmail for email, and have done for about 3 years. It is set to collect email that is sent to my ISP address.

Smart phones have in some ways revolutionized the way we interact with our inbox. I am a naughty scamp; I often check email when I am on the settee, in bed and even out and about. Where I go wrong is to star an item using my iPhone or iPad, because perhaps I want to read again on a bigger screen – my laptop perhaps. Of course that day never actually arrives and I have therefore a permanently chockablock inbox.

Back in March, I selected all email and archived the lot. I felt happy!, but before long I was back to old habits and a full inbox, so I have devised a simple plan.

  • Read emails on any devise and delete them once read. 
  • If I want to look at something later move it to a folder marked – To Look At
    • Image courtesy of Google images
  • If I think of an idea or want to jot something down following reading my email, make a note in a notebook and then delete. 

The aim should be that at the end of every day the to look at folder and my inbox are both empty.

Simple…….apparently!

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Puttenham in Early April 1993

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Julie Goucher

Described as near Puttenham. This is a photograph of a water colour that I own. Painted by local artist, Jean M Blair in 1993

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DNA Contemplations

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Julie Goucher

Trace Your Roots with DNA: Use Your DNA to…Over the last week or so I made a bit of a discovery online. I won’t share that discovery, but my thinking processes turned to DNA testing and contemplation’s.

The way my brain works is to seek information, read and digest anything I can. Understanding the concept and seeing how I can use the concept in my research, with particular focus on my Orlando line.

Many of my fellow members of the Guild have already started a DNA project for their registered names, and like them I registered a project for both of my registered studies. I have not gone any further with them, that is until now.

So now I am back on the trail of books about DNA especially those relating to genealogy. I have this book, a re-borrow from the library. I have also reserved another 2 books on the subject.

The biggest question I have is around testing from myself when I have no male subjects to compare against. As soon as I can work this out and understand it, I will order a test.

Furthermore, one interesting notion is, that given the historical background of those in Sicily, with a Arabic or Jewish background, I wonder if that will be revealed in my test?

In the meantime, here are the links to my one name studies DNA projects

Are you interested in the DNA aspects of genealogy? Have you come across good books, articles or websites? -if you, please do share I would be interested to here if others gave also found this a mind field!

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Tormead School, Guildford – Circa 1956

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Julie Goucher
Taken from a School Handbook

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The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Julie Goucher

The Light Between Oceans: A Novel by M.L.…Over recent years I have read several books that have all won prestigious book prizes. With many of them I have wondered just what the hype was all about, or was I being a complete philistine and missing the point, or not reading deep enough.

Then about two weeks ago a librarian and member of my book group presented me with my reserved copy of the Devon libraries summer read; The Light Between Oceans.

I started reading over the weekend and feel very tired today as I was awake finishing this book into the early hours.

The scene of the story is set when Tom, a decorated war hero from the First World War returns to Australia and is given the chance to work temporarily at a lighthouse situated off the Australian coast, on a fictitious island called Janus.

Tom is ready for the peace and quiet of island living.Coming to terms with his war time terrors and survivors guilt he sets about living for months on the island, where the methodical process of keeping the lighthouse functioning becomes his anchor.

On a period of leave a few months later he reacquaints himself with a local girl from the shore and they spend much time together, and eventually the decision is made, Tom will marry Isabel.

It is during their time on the island that they encounter a rowing boat upon the rugged coast line of the island. The inhabitants are a dead man and a young, breathing baby. Isabel has had numerous miscarriages and this seems to her to be divine intervention. A baby for them to love and care for.

Tom struggles between duty to the procedural issues of the lighthouse, to his wife and to his own happiness. Ultimately Tom’s struggle with his own conscience and doing the right thing tears his and Isabel’s life apart, but once the wheels have started to turn there is no going back.

This was a beautiful book, with a lovely well researched story. There is much more that I could share with you, but I won’t. Locate a copy and read it! For me this has the wow factor that many of the books that win prestigious book prizes lack. The book not only was well researched, but delivered a moral and ethical dilemma and as I turned the pages I wondered what I would have done in Isabel and Tom’s shoes.

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How I am keeping my Book of Me

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Julie Goucher

We are just weeks away from the launch at Geneabloggers of The Book of Me, Written By You. You can read the details HERE. Don’t forget to add the launch day, 31st August 2013 to your planner.

Over on the Facebook page there was a discussion on how to record or keep The Book of Me. Interestingly, the majority of those in the group have decided to keep their Book digital and I guess that reflects what kind of world we live in.

My own Book of Me is being kept in a blog format. The blog is private, but periodically I may share bits of that blog here with you all. I will though, each week announce the prompt using Geneabloggers and the Facebook page and over on Facebook there can be facilitated discussion about the prompt. That may also appear on this blog too.

I have already set up my private blog and in addition to the prompts I thought that I might record other memories that spring to mind, this includes the few prompts that have popped up on the Facebook page.

I also plan to add scans from the notebooks that I created when visiting elderly relatives. I also think that I might share periodically a photo from my personal collection with details of who and when.

I am going to use the blog tags to separate posts. I plan on using the following tags, although there maybe others.

  • Book of Me
  • Photos
  • Other Memories
  • Journal

The point of the organised tags is that in the future I plan to print into book form, I may though separate the Book of Me prompts from other posts.

The book of me is a journey. Some of the prompts are basic, others might be emotional and some may be “deep”. You do not have to complete all the prompts and you may choose to substitute some prompts. I would recommend you date your individual writings. 

There is further information on my website –

  • Information, which explains how this project came into existence is HERE 
  • Information with a genealogical slant is HERE 
  • The Book of Me in association with Geneabloggers – HERE 
  • Facebook group  – HERE

The Face Book group is currently set to closed, but once the discussions get underway the group will change to secret allowing comments and discussions to be private among those who are members of the group.

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Irritated?…..You Bet I Am!

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Julie Goucher

I love receiving comments on my blog or perhaps an email. I try and respond to comments on the blog as I find that can be very interactive. So I was extremely irritated this morning to receive a comment advising me that it would have been more useful to have posted a picture alongside a list of names that had been transcribed.

Over the last 4 months I have been moving material from my website located on the servers at my ISP to a new site. As part of that older site there were transcriptions of War Memorials and Grave Stones and perhaps no picture.

Many of the transcriptions were done sometime between 1986 – 2010 and in those early years any pictures would not have been digital ones. There maybe a picture and I need to scan it, and in some cases no picture exists. I can tell if a photograph was taken by looking in my journal.

Whilst I appreciate comments, suggestions and friendship I do not appreciate someone that has never interacted with me before advising me that I can do better. Not only is it bad manners, but that individual is not looking at the wider picture. I had choices –

  1. I could post a transcription and no picture 
  2. I could post nothing
What I did is a no brainer! better some detail than none. So my advise to those who are dismissive of other’s efforts. Be grateful that someone has bothered to transcribe with or without a photograph.

As I said, irritated? you bet I am.

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