One of the biggest challenges I have found in researching my family
history is when I find myself faced with researching in another
language. I'm sure this is a fairly common problem - there would be
very few of us who have 100% English ancestors. And even is you do,
eventually you will start to find old documents and records written in
Latin - assuming you are lucky enough to trace your family far back
enough.
Currently among my ancestors I have a branch
who came from Germany - and I find my one year of high school German is
simply not enough when working with many of the documents I have which
are written in German. Google translate is a huge help when I am
drafting letters, visiting German websites and so on, but many of the
old documents I have are hand written, and it simply cannot translate
them for me. I sit there with my English-German dictionary and work
through the document word by word, writing out an English copy,
frequently muttering away to myself as I work. At least my year of
study - so many years ago now - helps a bit.
The
further I go back, the more the old hand written documents I find look
like another language, even when they are written in English.
Handwriting can be a challenge because not only has the English language
evolved over history, spelling changed, the way we abbreviate words
changed, just being able to interpret someone's unique style of writing
can be a mystery and challenge in and of itself. Add in some fading of
the ink or damage to the document itself, and some old handwriting may
as well be in another language for all the sense it makes to me on the
first read.
Whether translating another language or
simply deciphering old English that may as well be another language, I
find the key is to go slowly, understand what the document itself is
about, re-write the text myself letter by letter, even reading aloud can
help me comprehend the details. And throwing in a good dose of
patience helps too!
Saturday, June 9, 2018
Thursday, June 7, 2018
Week 19 - Mother's Day - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Mother's Day has so many special memories attached to it, and this year was the third Mother's Day since my own mother passed away.
During my childhood, Mother's Day always started with a special breakfast for Mum, cooked by my father and, as we grew up, by my sister and I. After one or two efforts at supplying breakfast in bed, we admitted defeat and allowed Mum to eat at the kitchen table - she hated eating in bed and after a few tries - "But its MOTHER'S DAY!!!" - we abandoned the idea of serving her a tray. Presents were never hugely expensive as there wasn't much money to spend, but we always tried to make the day special, usually with something handmade. Looking back, I sometimes wonder how much was special and how much was stressful for Mum, being made to sit aside while her husband and children messed about in HER KITCHEN throughout the day. At least Dad always made sure we cleaned up afterwards.
Inexpertly made cards were received with enthusiasm and were often accompanied by equally inexpertly made gifts, at least until I learned to knit properly and could finally produce gloves, scarves and other articles that fit and didn't fall apart. Equally, as we grew up the quality and taste of the Mother's Day meals my sister and I produced increased until Mum could actually look forward to something not just edible but actually enjoyable. Flowers were usually from our own garden - Dad grew Chrysanthemums, and my mother wasn't the only mum in the area to receive a big bunch from our garden on her special day.
Sometimes our enthusiasm outstripped our ability, but Mother's Day was always a day to thank Mum for all she did for us. We always tried to avoid the more commercial aspects of the day - rather than fancy, expensive gifts we focused more on time together, handmade gifts and cards, and spending time as a family.
During my childhood, Mother's Day always started with a special breakfast for Mum, cooked by my father and, as we grew up, by my sister and I. After one or two efforts at supplying breakfast in bed, we admitted defeat and allowed Mum to eat at the kitchen table - she hated eating in bed and after a few tries - "But its MOTHER'S DAY!!!" - we abandoned the idea of serving her a tray. Presents were never hugely expensive as there wasn't much money to spend, but we always tried to make the day special, usually with something handmade. Looking back, I sometimes wonder how much was special and how much was stressful for Mum, being made to sit aside while her husband and children messed about in HER KITCHEN throughout the day. At least Dad always made sure we cleaned up afterwards.
Inexpertly made cards were received with enthusiasm and were often accompanied by equally inexpertly made gifts, at least until I learned to knit properly and could finally produce gloves, scarves and other articles that fit and didn't fall apart. Equally, as we grew up the quality and taste of the Mother's Day meals my sister and I produced increased until Mum could actually look forward to something not just edible but actually enjoyable. Flowers were usually from our own garden - Dad grew Chrysanthemums, and my mother wasn't the only mum in the area to receive a big bunch from our garden on her special day.
Sometimes our enthusiasm outstripped our ability, but Mother's Day was always a day to thank Mum for all she did for us. We always tried to avoid the more commercial aspects of the day - rather than fancy, expensive gifts we focused more on time together, handmade gifts and cards, and spending time as a family.
Security Breach at MyHeritage
Do you use genealogy website MyHeritage? If you do, the next time you log in you will be required to change your password because of a security breach which leaked the data of over 92 million users.
The breach took place on October 26 last year, and consisted of the email addresses and hashed passwords of users who signed up to the website up until the date of the breach, according to a blog post.
The company said it learnt about the breach on Monday, when its chief information security officer was notified by a security researcher who found a file with the email addresses and hashed passwords on a private server outside of MyHeritage.
MyHeritage said no other data was found on the server, and that there was no evidence of data in the file being used. Information about family trees and DNA data are stored on separate systems and were not a part of the breach, the blog said.
The good news is this latest security wake-up call is that the passwords in the file were hashed. This is a form of data encryption that turns readable data into a scrambled cipher. Instead of allowing someone to decrypt that data with a specific key, as typical encryption functions do, hashes aren’t designed to be decrypted. So far, there’s no indication that the hashing has been cracked at all, no indication that anything other than names and email addresses were in plain text, no financial or other data associated with the accounts included in the hacked data.
MyHeritage said it was investigating the breach and taking steps to engage an independent cybersecurity company to review the incident, and the company advised users to change their passwords.
The breach took place on October 26 last year, and consisted of the email addresses and hashed passwords of users who signed up to the website up until the date of the breach, according to a blog post.
The company said it learnt about the breach on Monday, when its chief information security officer was notified by a security researcher who found a file with the email addresses and hashed passwords on a private server outside of MyHeritage.
MyHeritage said no other data was found on the server, and that there was no evidence of data in the file being used. Information about family trees and DNA data are stored on separate systems and were not a part of the breach, the blog said.
The good news is this latest security wake-up call is that the passwords in the file were hashed. This is a form of data encryption that turns readable data into a scrambled cipher. Instead of allowing someone to decrypt that data with a specific key, as typical encryption functions do, hashes aren’t designed to be decrypted. So far, there’s no indication that the hashing has been cracked at all, no indication that anything other than names and email addresses were in plain text, no financial or other data associated with the accounts included in the hacked data.
MyHeritage said it was investigating the breach and taking steps to engage an independent cybersecurity company to review the incident, and the company advised users to change their passwords.
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Week 18 - Close Up - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Week 18 - Close Up should have been done several weeks ago - I will have to play a bit of catch up but I have a little time this week so hopefully I will be able to cover a few of Amy's prompts.
Taking a close-up look at a specific ancestor is an exercise I undertake fairly regularly. Sometimes I get so caught up on filling in dates in my tree that it is useful to step aside and make one specific ancestor the focus of my research. I create a timeline for the person, looking at the major events in the person's life, events that took place where they were living, and more. I focus on where they went to school, where they worked, the places they lived, if they ever found their name in the newspapers. I look for census records, electoral rolls, medical records, wills, church records - the list goes on.
Once I start to drill down into the details of one person's life, it highlights not only what I know about them, but the gaps in my research - the details I have not filled in. The missing baptism for one of their children, the missing census record, the gap in their employment history. I go back through all the documents I already have for them and reexamine them, looking for any little details I may have missed earlier. There is always something to find.
Without that close-up examination, my research cam end up being just a list of names and dates. That may be all some people want - but I love finding the small details that bring my ancestors to life for me, and a close-up examination of a specific ancestor does that - it fills out the details and gives me a fuller and more detailed image of their life.
Taking a close-up look at a specific ancestor is an exercise I undertake fairly regularly. Sometimes I get so caught up on filling in dates in my tree that it is useful to step aside and make one specific ancestor the focus of my research. I create a timeline for the person, looking at the major events in the person's life, events that took place where they were living, and more. I focus on where they went to school, where they worked, the places they lived, if they ever found their name in the newspapers. I look for census records, electoral rolls, medical records, wills, church records - the list goes on.
Once I start to drill down into the details of one person's life, it highlights not only what I know about them, but the gaps in my research - the details I have not filled in. The missing baptism for one of their children, the missing census record, the gap in their employment history. I go back through all the documents I already have for them and reexamine them, looking for any little details I may have missed earlier. There is always something to find.
Without that close-up examination, my research cam end up being just a list of names and dates. That may be all some people want - but I love finding the small details that bring my ancestors to life for me, and a close-up examination of a specific ancestor does that - it fills out the details and gives me a fuller and more detailed image of their life.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
WDYTYA June Magazine
The June issue of Who Do You Think You Are is now available free online from Campaspe Library via our RB Digital app.
Inside this month's issue
Inside this month's issue
- Vital records
Expert Antony Marr presents our essential guide to civil registration - Missing in action
Dr Clare Makepeace trawls the archives on a quest for the truth about a Far East prisoner of war - Protect your archive
Make sure that your precious family documents resist the ravages of time - Reader story
John Walker shares a tale of poverty, hardship and convict transportation - Industrial and reformatory schools
How you can find out if one of your ancestors was a juvenile delinquent - Plus...
The best websites for tracing WW1 volunteers; the stories of men and women who worked for the royal household; the lives of apothecary ancestors; and more...
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
New Records on FamilySearch
Every week, it seems, the fantastic free website FamilySearch adds new records. It is one of the websites I visit regularly to see what they have added - and it is well worth regular checks. Below are a few of their newest records, addded the week of May 14th.
Also worth keeping an eye on are the selection of webinars and Family History classes they offer. These are also free and the webinars can be done at your convenience from the comfort of home. They cover genereal research, utilising the FamilySearch website, and researching specific countries and regions.
Thursday, May 24, 2018
GDPR - Why am I Getting all these Emails?
You may have noticed over the past week or so that you are receiving a few (possibly quite a few) emails requesting you to confirm that you want to continue receiving emails from certain companies (Ancestry, FamilySearch, WDYTYA, etc.) or asking you to read through updated privacy statements and confirm your agreement. This is likely to be because of the GDPR.
GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation. It’s the European Union’s new data protection law and it comes into effect on 25th May 2018. That’s just around the corner, and many companies are scrambling to make sure they are compliant with these new regulations.
The GDPR doesn’t just apply to EU businesses. It applies to any business, anywhere in the world, that processes personal data relating to an individual in the European Union. So while it is an EU regulation, it has worldwide impact.
And if there’s any common thread that runs through all of the parts of the GDPR, it’s that personally-identifying information like names and email addresses can’t be collected, stored or used without (a) the consent of the person whose name or email it is and (b) proof that consent was given. The second part is the sticky one that's causing all these emails.
For many companies who regularly email me newsletters and information, it has simply been a matter of clicking to confirm that I do wish to continue receiving their emails. That's their proof of my consent. After carefully checking the link and email sender to confirm they are legitimate, I have clicked and received confirmation that I will stay on their mailing list. One or two I have decided not to continue with and unsubscribed - at least this will clean up my inbox a bit.
So if you have received a few of these updates, the GDPR is the reason. If you don't reply, you will probably drop off their mailing list - possibly after receiving a second email prompting you to confirm your choice. What you do is up to you.
GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation. It’s the European Union’s new data protection law and it comes into effect on 25th May 2018. That’s just around the corner, and many companies are scrambling to make sure they are compliant with these new regulations.
The GDPR doesn’t just apply to EU businesses. It applies to any business, anywhere in the world, that processes personal data relating to an individual in the European Union. So while it is an EU regulation, it has worldwide impact.
And if there’s any common thread that runs through all of the parts of the GDPR, it’s that personally-identifying information like names and email addresses can’t be collected, stored or used without (a) the consent of the person whose name or email it is and (b) proof that consent was given. The second part is the sticky one that's causing all these emails.
For many companies who regularly email me newsletters and information, it has simply been a matter of clicking to confirm that I do wish to continue receiving their emails. That's their proof of my consent. After carefully checking the link and email sender to confirm they are legitimate, I have clicked and received confirmation that I will stay on their mailing list. One or two I have decided not to continue with and unsubscribed - at least this will clean up my inbox a bit.
So if you have received a few of these updates, the GDPR is the reason. If you don't reply, you will probably drop off their mailing list - possibly after receiving a second email prompting you to confirm your choice. What you do is up to you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)