Genealogy Cruise Post 3

Today kicked off with a talk by Helen Smith on using timelines in Genealogy.  This is  not something I have considered before now, but I really like the concept and will put it to use.  I do need to consider the social and historical context more for my ancestors - the major events (local, national and worldwide) that took place during their lives.  It tied nicely with Shauna Hicks's talk on mapping your ancestors, something I have done to some extent but I see a whole new area of focus opening up for me.  Chris Paton's talk on The Godly Commonwealth has me despairing of ever unravelling Scottish Church history - I only have one small branch of the family that is Scottish but quite a few of my ancestors were non-conformists (apparently we have a history of not being followers of the common path!), so they can be tricky to find.  These and several other talks today have left me with even more notes and severe information overload - I went back to my room, sat down to relax for a few minutes and woke to find I had slept through dinner!

Genealogy Cruise post 2

After deciding not to go ashore for our day in Melbourne, the city on the cruise that I know the best, I have been reading back over my notes after having spent the morning thoroughly exploring the ship.  I loved Jill Ball's talk about blogs (thanks Jill for your kind comments about mine), and Thomas MacEntee's talk on building a genealogy toolbox have made me think about all the tools I use for genealogy - the programs, the websites, the charts, the documents... and how I store and keep track of what I use.  Having recently had a major reorganise of my files I am currently in a fairly good position to be able to find things, but my organisation could definitely be better.  Neil Smith's talk on Australia's military history was timely considering the huge number of projects underway this year for the 100th anniversary of the start of World War 1.  While I have the basic war records of most of my military family from WW1 & 2, it is amazing to realise how much else is out there that I have never thought of or tried to access.  Finally for day 1, Kerry Farmer's talk on immigration has reinspired me to find the shipping records of several ancestors.  The can't ALL have swum...
And finally, I have to say how much I love the way they deliver our towels....

Genealogy Cruise post 1

So the 4th Unlock the Past genealogy cruise is underway.  Currently internet connection aboard the ship is rather dodgy - I hope that will improve along the way, but I will post updates as I can.  Having boarded the ship, found my cabin and settled myself in, I will not bore you with descriptions of the ship and it's amenities - you can look that up online for yourself.  It is time for the genealogy to begin, starting with a talk by Chris Paton on British and Irish newspapers.  While there is certainly more out there than I had realised, I will admit to a bit of patriotic satisfaction and say the United Kingdom is nowhere near as organised and simple as the Australian site Trove.  Of course, the United Kingdom probably has a few more papers over the years to deal with....

While not all UK newspaper sites are free to use, I will echo the advice that you need to check your National Library and State Library to see if they have a subscription.  Membership of both is free (as is membership of your local library - hint, hint), and you may be able to access these resources online for free with your membership too.  Why pay if you don't have to??
Numerous other talks during the day have left me with about 30 pages of notes (most of which I can even read) and a severe case of information overload.  I'm going to need our days in port to recover and time after the cruise to sort my notes and take it all in.
While there have been a few hiccups (does technology EVER completely work properly the first time??) overall the cruise is off to a great start and my biggest problem is trying to get to all the talks I want to hear.  I have yet to learn how to be in two places at one time.

Children's Essays of WW1 Zeppelin Attacks on Britain

The British Library have made newly digitised material from World War I available online, including some of the collection’s eye-opening essays written by children about Zeppelin attacks in 1915. 

The boys of Princeton Street Elementary School, London, were aged between 5 and 14 when the Zeppelin attacks took place. Some of the boys recorded their recollections of the airship raids.

Their accounts reveal how unexpected the raids were and how unprepared Britain was to deal with the new threat. Most of the boys were getting ready for bed or playing out on the street when the Zeppelins arrived - Londoners had no prior warning of either of the attacks on 8 September or 13 October 1915.
These boys express both excitement and fear during the airship raids, and satisfied their curiosity by going out to inspect the damage once the raids were over.
Read the transcripts from this unique collection of essays, revealing the terror of a German Zeppelin attack through a child’s eyes.

First World War Military Service Tribunals

The National Archives has launched a rare collection of First World War military service tribunals. These are 11,000 case files from Middlesex, where people applied to the local tribunal for exemption from compulsory military service (which was introduced in 1916, some two years after the start of the war). Most of the applications for exemptions fall into four categories: moral (conscientious objectors); medical (disability); family (looking after dependents) and economic (preserving a business).
As the First War dragged on, fatalities and casualties climbed far beyond anyone’s expectations. News about the horrible conditions on the front line slowly filtered back home. Much of it contradicted the official propaganda. This created a significant amount of tension on the home front. Still, only an estimated 10% of the applications for exemptions were based on moral grounds.
Only a very small number of these military tribunal papers survive. After the war, the UK government issued explicit instructions to local tribunals to destroy all these types of records due to their sensitive nature and the risk to the government.

The Middlesex collection was specifically held back from destruction and retained to be used as a possible benchmark in case military conscription was ever required in the future. The collection can be searched by name, occupation and location. Access is free.

World War 1

2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I.
From 2014 to 2018, across the world, nations, communities and individuals of all ages will come together to mark, commemorate and remember the lives of those who lived, fought and died in the First World War.
IWM (Imperial War Museums) is leading the First World War Centenary Partnership, a network of local, regional, national and international cultural and educational organisations.
The website provides useful information on upcoming events and website launches. It also has a very useful guide for genealogists wanting to research soldiers from WWI. Access is free.

Ancestry.com

Ancestry.co.uk has added a collection of pre-1858 wills. The collection contains about 1 million records. The wills in this collection were managed by the ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England (wills prior to 12 January 1858 were managed by the church). Wills provide a good means of understanding family members and family relationships. A typical will lists spouses, children, and sometimes even parents.
Most early English and Welsh wills from this period were written by people who had to transfer land and significant property. This collection will likely appeal to people who had wealthy ancestors. There are a couple of other things to note before looking at this collection. First, married women were not allowed to own property, so there are few women in the collection. Second, wills were sometimes recorded in the courts years after the person died, so search a wide range of dates after the expected year of death.
I have included as an example the will of my ancestor John Green of Fordham Hall in Essex.  Now all I have to do is decipher the handwriting!