The Year in Review

A rather challenging and different year is almost over, and as I usually do at this time, I'm looking back at the genealogical highlights.  Feel free to make your own responses to each question.

1.  An elusive ancestor I found was - Thomas Farmer, Master Mariner.  Born 1781, Thomas was also a Mason, made a member of the Dundee Arms lodge 8 March 1810. He is one ancestor I have managed to discover quite a bit about during the year.

2.  A precious family photo I found was - my fathers WW2 Air Force enlistment photo.

3.  An ancestor's grave I found was - Thomas Farmer, 1781-1850 (see question 1).

4.  An important record I found was - Thomas Farmers Master Mariner's certificate.  Downloading a digital copy of his original certificate was definitely a highlight!

5.  A newly found family member shared - notes on common ancestors.  I keep basic trees on several sites - Ancestry, FamilySearch, My Heritage, etc mainly as 'cousin bait' to make contact with others researching in the same tree so we can share information - and every now and then I strike it lucky.

6.  A geneasurprise I received was - so many genealogical websites, archives and companies who made special effort to keep going during the pandemic.  From the National Archives UK making all their digital records free while in lockdown to Ancestry allowing libraries who subscribed to Ancestry Library Edition to let their patrons access the database from home, so many went out of their way to keep us all researching.

7.  A new piece of software or website I mastered was - the updated Trove website.  While I am still not convinced I like it better than the old version, spending time getting to know the ins and outs of the new site has been useful.

8. A social media tool I enjoyed using for genealogy was - Zoom.  Online meetings and get togethers have been the order of the year, with so many planned activities, conferences and meetings having to be cancelled by the pandemic.

9. A genealogy conference/seminar/webinar from which I learnt something new was - The Virtual Genealogical Society's Annual Conference.  Like so many of the talks, presentations and meeting I attended this year, everything was online and attended from the safety of my study.

10. I am proud of the presentation I gave at/to - Library patrons via Facebook on using Ancestry Library Edition from home during lockdown.

11. I taught a friend how to - download her family tree from Ancestry.

12. A great repository/archive/library I visited was - the National Archives UK - online.  I've downloaded a number of wills and other digital records this year while the website so generously made them free.

13. A new genealogy/history book I enjoyed was - Tudor History: A Captivating Guide to the Tudors, the Wars of the Roses, the Six Wives of Henry VIII and the Life of Elizabeth I.  A great ebook read.

14. An achievement during lockdown was - a major cleanout and reorganisation of my house.  While stood down from my job for several weeks, I built shelving, cleaned out my garage, sorted through my wardrobe, reorganised the lined cupboard, cleaned out the pantry, and turned my 3rd bedroom / junk room / study into a usable work space.  All those jobs that I'd never found time for got done, along with 2 trips to the local recycling centre.  The glow of accomplishment was wonderful!

15. Another positive I would like to share is ... Treasures hidden away in dark corners.  As mentioned previously, a few years ago I faced the task of clearing out my family home after the deaths of my parents.  Treasures were found in every corner, and quite a few were glanced at briefly before being boxed up to transfer to my new home.  During lockdown, many were rediscovered, more closely examined, recorded for posterity and put on display around my home.