Oxfordshire DNA project – win a DNA test!

21 May 2013 By

Do you have at least three generations of Oxfordshire ancestors going back into the mid-19th century or earlier? Oxfordshire FHS (OFHS) have just launched a new Oxfordshire DNA project and are offering two free DNA tests to OFHS members. Why not enter? If you are not yet an OFHS member, but have Oxfordshire ancestors and want to enter the competition, then why not join? See www.ofhs.org.uk for membership details.

To enter, all you have to do is submit 400-600 words on why you feel a DNA test would be useful to help you discover more about your Oxfordshire family/families using DNA, including a short summary on your family and your family history ‘brick walls’. Send to editor@ofhs.org.uk before 30th May 2013. Terms and conditions are below.

Tto find out more about the project visit www.familytreedna.com/public/Oxfordshire.

If you have already had a DNA test done at FamilyTreeDNA, and have a long line of Oxfordshire ancestors, then log on to http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Oxfordshire
and request to transfer your results to the project. (All transfers are checked for validity before approval, so membership is not automatic.)

Terms & Conditions of DNA competition
1. All entrants must be members of the OFHS as of 30 May 2013.
2. Entrants must have at least 3 generations of Oxfordshire ancestors in the 19th century or earlier.
3. The OFHS Executive Committee will pick the two winning entrants. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence can be entered into regarding judging. The judges reserve the right to award one or zero free tests if the quality of entries justifies that action.
4. The competition closes on 30th May 2013 and winners will be notified by 1st July 2013.
5. Winners agree to having their stories publicised by the OFHS. Full test results and ID numbers on the DNA site will not however be released to the public.

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IWM & brightsolid partner to create Lives of the First World War digital memorial

14 May 2013 By


IWM (Imperial War Museums) and brightsolid, the parent company of the findmypast websites, ScotlandsPeople and Genes Reunited, are working in partnership to create Lives of the First World War – an innovative and interactive digital platform to mark the First World War Centenary.

Lives of the First World War will hold the stories of more than 8 million men and women who served in uniform and worked on the home front. It will be the official place for communities across the world to connect, explore, reveal and share even more about these people’s lives.

This innovative platform will bring fascinating records from museums, libraries, archives and family collections across the globe together in one place.

Over the course of the centenary, Lives of the First World War will become the permanent digital memorial to more than 8 million men and women from across Britain and the Commonwealth – a significant digital legacy for future generations.

The platform will go live later this year, in time for the start of centenary commemorations from summer 2014. Further information can be found at www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org.

The best way to understand what this incredible resource is all about is to watch the short film above.

Lives of the First World War

Copyright IWM.

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Latest round up of family history stories

3 May 2013 By

We’ve been putting together the News pages for Family Tree‘s June issue. In case you’ve missed any of the following stories, you will be able to read them in full in the magazine when it hits the shops on 17 May.

Capturing the digital universe

Capturing the digital universe. Copyright British Library.

Saving our digital memory
Six major libraries – the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the National Library of Wales, the Bodleian Libraries, Cambridge University Library and Trinity College Library Dublin – have been granted the right to receive a copy of every UK electronic publication, on the same basis as they have received print publications such as books, magazines and newspapers for several centuries.

To mark the passing of the new regulations, curators and other experts from all the participating libraries chose the 100 Websites which they judge will be essential reading for future generations researching our life and times in 2013. You can see their choices at http://www.bl.uk/100websites/top100.html.

Masonic periodicals online
The Library and Museum of Freemasonry, with King’s College London Digital Humanities and Olive Software, has undertaken a groundbreaking project to provide free access to searchable digital copies of the major English masonic publications from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries.

The major titles digitised for this project, which comprises approximately 75,000 pages, are as follows (shown with the dates of publication available digitally): Freemasons’ magazine or, general and complete library (later The scientific magazine and Freemason’s repository) 1793-8; The Freemasons’ quarterly review 1834-1849; The Freemasons’ magazine and masonic mirror 1856-1871; The Freemason 1869-1901; The Freemason’s chronicle 1875-1901; and Masonic illustrated: a monthly journal for freemasons 1900-1906.

Access to this digital resource is free via the Resources page of the Library and Museum website at www.freemasonry.london.museum or the project website at www.masonicperiodicals.org.

New look website for Society of Genealogists
The Society of Genealogists (SoG) website at www.sog.org.uk has a brand new look and refreshed content. The pictorial grid layout makes it simple to find your way around the site, which includes a new Learn section, as well as sections for publications to buy, becoming a member, society information, records, events and courses, news, and more.

Tynemouth World War I commemoration project
A biographical database, including photographs and images from original documents, of the more than 1,700 casualties of the Great War from within the former Borough of Tynemouth who were included on a Roll of Honour published in 1923, is being created by an enthusiastic group of volunteers based at the North Shields’ Linskill Community Centre. The database will be available for public use in early 2014. Learn more at tynemouthworldwarone.org.

Knowledge and wonder
The Digital Public Library of America website is now live at http://dp.la, providing free access to digital content from America’s libraries, archives and museums. You can explore collections by date, place and keyword, and visit online exhibitions.

WWI pension record look-ups
The Western Front Association is offering a look-up service for the 6.5 million Great War records that it saved from destruction last November. There is a fee for look-ups and requests are subject to a 100-year rule. Further information and details of how to make a request are at http://tinyurl.com/ctcrnlr. The records will eventually be digitised and made available online.

Mary Rose sets sail
The new Mary Rose Museum opens to visitors on 31 May 2013 at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard – the very same dockyard at which the warship was built more than 500 years ago.
Tickets cost from £17 for the Museum and £26 for the entire Historic Dockyard including the Museum, on sale at www.historicdockyard.co.uk or at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

Revisions of Griffith’s Valuation for Northern Ireland
In conjunction with FamilySearch, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has digitised the Valuation Revision Books, 1864-1933. These are now available on the PRONI website at http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/val12b.htm.

New tools at FamilySearch
FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org) has made significant changes to its web services that allow visitors to collaboratively build their family tree online, preserve and share family photos and stories, and receive personal research assistance – all for free.

Family Tree is available in WH Smiths, leading supermarkets and all good newsagents, or you can download our latest issue as a digital edition right now – visit www.pocketmags.com, the App Store, Google Play or Amazon Appstore. Single issues, back issues and subscriptions are available for PC, Mac, eReaders, smartphones and tablets. A free sample is also available for all devices.

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Latest family history record releases

26 April 2013 By

Deceased Online
Burial and cremation records for Trafford Council in the south of Greater Manchester are being added to www.deceasedonline.com. All records for the Council’s five cemeteries are immediately available: Dunham Lawn; Sale (aka Sale Brooklands); Urmston; Hale (aka Altrincham); and Stretford. The records comprise scans of burial registers, grave details and cemetery maps. Records for Altrincham Crematorium in Trafford are also now available.

Ancestry.co.uk
Ancestry has added two new London record collections. London, England, Selected Poor Law Removal and Settlement Records, 1828-1930 contains poor law records relating to settlement and removals for the unions of Bethnal Green, Hackney, Poplar, Shoreditch, and Stepney. London, England, Overseer Returns, 1863-1894 lists parish residents who claimed the right to vote. See Ancestry.co.uk for further information and specific coverage details.

It is also now possible to search PRONI’s Northern Irish will calendars via Ancestry.

Ancestry has new unredacted 1911 Census images, which are linked to its UK Maps 1896-1904 collection.

Findmypast.co.uk
Findmypast.co.uk has added new Kent baptisms, banns, marriages & burials to its parish records collection. The latest release includes records from Maidstone, Sittingbourne, Ashford and Rochester, in addition to 131 smaller parishes, and date from 1538 to 2006.

You can now search for your ancestors among records of the men of the Swansea area recruited to the 14th (Service) Battalion, The Welsh Regiment – known as the Swansea Pals – at findmypast.co.uk. These men saw some of the heaviest fighting of the First World War. The Swansea Pals records contain: soldier number; rank; next of kin; address of next of kin.

The National Archives
Next of kin claims for unpaid Royal Navy pensions 1830-1860 are now available to search and download at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk. These records are applications for the unpaid wages or pensions of deceased officers or their widows. The records, in series ADM 45, cover officers of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, and civilian employees of the Royal Navy and Naval Dockyards. They can include details such as the officers’ date of death, his rank, the name and address of the claimant, the date the claim was admitted and examined and the total value of the effects claimed. The records are free to search and can be downloaded for a fee. Find out more at http://tinyurl.com/cqoxhu2.

The National Archives’ digitisation of unit war diaries from the First World War has been completed and all diaries from the WO 95 series are back in circulation. The digitised diaries will be launched online as soon as possible.

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IWM sound archive launched online

19 March 2013 By

More than 14,000 interviews from the Imperial War Museums‘ (IWM) sound archive have been made freely available online to the public for the first time.
The recordings, which make up half of the IWM’s extensive sound archive, relate to the Western Front and Gallipoli during the First World War and vividly capture the experiences of those from all ranks who served during these military campaigns, including men who fought in the Battle of the Somme and Ypres, and those who endured daily life in the trenches. The significant naval holdings forming part of the archive include interviews relating to the Battle of Jutland in 1916, while many others offer an insight into the ordinary seaman’s life on the lower decks and conditions onboard ships of the Royal Navy during this time. Another series of recordings reflect the experiences of pioneering airmen who served with the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War.
The recordings, which can be explored here, represent more than 14,000 individual digital assets and mainly comprise interviews with men and women who experienced warfare in its many guises from the beginning of the 20th century. All the major land campaigns of the Second World War and post-1945 conflicts are also significantly represented.
Anthony Richards, IWM’s Head of Documents and Sound, said: ‘One of IWM’s main priorities is to engage with audiences across the world. By opening access to our sound archives, we’re ensuring that personal stories from conflicts are remembered and that more people have access to our extensive collections beyond museum walls.’
IWM has published the material as part of a unique online initiative and aims to make further material available in the future. The IWM’s online collections can be searched at www.iwm.org.uk/collections/search.
The IWM’s flagship branch, IWM London, is currently closed while it undergoes refurbishment in preparation for the centenary in 2014 of the start of the First World War. It is due to partially reopen in July and will fully reopen in summer 2014, when it will unveil its brand new look and First World War Galleries.

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