Beyond 2022 : Ireland's Virtual Record Treasury

June 30th, 2022, marks the centenary of the explosion and fire at the Four Courts, Dublin, which destroyed the Public Record Office of Ireland (PROI) and, with it, centuries of Ireland’s collective memories and records.

The losses in that historic fire include records of the payment of taxes, the enactment of laws, births, marriages and deaths, wills, maps, parish registers and town records from across the island.
Beyond 2022 is an international collaboration to launch a Virtual Record Treasury for Irish history—an open-access, virtual reconstruction of the Record Treasury destroyed in 1922.

Across the globe, more than seventy repositories hold substitute materials that can replace the documents destroyed in the Four Courts blaze.  Thanks to pioneering digitization techniques, the project aims to automatically transcribe large volumes of handwritten records, allowing users to connect, group and search diverse records from archives across Ireland and the World.

The Beyond 2022 team is working to assemble a complete inventory of loss and survival of the 1922 fire. In doing so, the team has identified ten main categories of surviving or substitute sources:

• Survivors: records that survived almost unscathed because they were held in the Reading Room of the Public Record Office, not the Record Treasury itself
• Salved records: records damaged by the fire, but not completely destroyed, now in varying states of conservation
• Duplicates of original records now held in partner archives
• Facsimile images made before 1922
• Antiquarian transcripts
• Printed editions
• Certified copies
• Published calendars summarizing the contents of the records
• Unpublished calendars in manuscript form
• Legal abstracts

Ireland’s Virtual Record Treasury will gather into a single database all the information it can about these substitute sources from archives and libraries in Ireland and internationally. The entire archive will be fully searchable, with its contents ranging from basic descriptions to fully restored records ranging in date from the thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries.

This is a truly stunning project which will help ease the frustration of many researchers trying to trace lost Irish ancestors, and significantly fill the gaps in Ireland's history that the fire created.

RootsTech has Started!

For some time now I have been looking forward to this year's RootsTech, which is 100% online.  In the past, I have enjoyed watching presentations after the event, as I have not been able to travel to Salt Lake City in America for the conference itself.  This year, however, I am able to attend the online event and participate more fully.

The list of presentations is impressive, covering a wide variety of topics.  You can search the presentations several ways, including by language or by topic - Keynotes ; Connecting with family ; Finding Ancestors ; DNA ; Placves, Records and Research ; Memories - Stories, Photos and Videos ; Traditions and Heritage ; Websites, Tools and Apps ; Latter-Day Saints.  Truly there is something here for everyone.

Not all the presentations are long - some run for only a few minutes but are still well worth watching - and not all are live - quite a few have been pre-recorded.  All will be available to watch over the next few months.  There is even the facility to create yourself a playlist of all the sessions you want to watch when you have time.

There is also an Expo Hall where you can visit virtual booths by sponsors and exhibitors from around the world.  Many have links to extra information, conference specials, downloads and more. 

I have already started creating my playlist and visited a few of the booths in the Expo Hall, and I know I will be spending a significant portion of this weekend glued to my computer watching some of the excellent presentations on offer.

Happy RootsTech!

Filling in the Details

A few weeks ago I published a post about the divorce of my great grandfather James Nicholas Clark from his first wife Eliza (nee Hawley).  Until recently my only documentation of this divorce came from newspaper reports of the court proceedings and James's marriage certificate to his second wife Pricilla (nee Mulholland) which describes him as a divorcee.

Then I was exploring new records available on Ancestry and saw they had listed Victorian Divorce Records 1860-1940.

I immediately did a search of this specific record set for James Clark and came up with a listing for his divorce, complete with a link to the original documents.

Viewing the record was the bonanza - some 55 pages of statements and court proceedings and other documents.  Full details of the circumstances of the marriage and its breakdown, dates and addresses, and the final Decree Nisi that dissolved the marriage.  

These documents fill in the detail of the marriage breakdown and subsequent divorce and are a wonderful find!

What's New on Ancestry

It has been a while since I have taken the time to have a look at what new records are available on Ancestry, and thus searchable on Ancestry Library Edition.  Over  the last months, quite a number of record datasets have been added, updated or expanded, and it is well worth another look.

Recent additions for Australia include graves, obituaries, funeral and death records ; Victorian passenger lists, Air Force personnel records, Divorce records, Coroners Inquests and more. 

Recent additions to the United Kingdom records include prison records, burials at sea, pension ledgers and non-conformist records.

While any of these records may turn up during a general search, you can also click on the tab in Ancestry for New Collections to see what is available.  You can narrow down by type of record, location or year range, then click on any specific collection of records to search them specifically.

So have a look at what is new since your last visit to Ancestry that may have records for your family history.  You never know what may have just been added that will fill in more detail for your family history.

WDYTYA Magazine

The latest issue of Who Do You Think You Are magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to RB Digital eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue

• 17th century research Janet Few explains how our Stuart ancestors lived, and how to trace them in the records
• One-name studies Debbie Kennett explores the many benefits to researching a single surname in depth
• Regency etiquette Take a trip back to Bridgeton-era England with Mallory James' guide to the dos and don'ts of Georgian times
• Baptism registers Paul Blake gives his expert tips on finding the earliest records of your ancestor's life
• My family hero
Helen Brooks' great aunt was a nun who died saving lives
• Plus: How to find muster rolls, understanding Freemasons' records, the lives of nail-makers and much more...

Family History Down Under goes Virtual

Yet another genealogy conference has made the decision to 'go virtual' as the Covid-19 pandemic and accompanying travel restrictions continue to impact our daily lives.  This time it is the Family History Down Under conference, scheduled for the Sunshine Coast next month.

Now completely online, the conference is split into 4 streams - DNA ; Researching abroad ; Australia and New Zealand ; Methodology / General.  Attendees can book either for particular streams at $145 each or all 4 for $375.

So what does you money get for you?  According to the conference website, the following is included

• Access to presentations during the conference

        - 6 presentations for each track / day booked
        - 24 presentations for the whole conference - if booked

• Access to the conference recordings - until 31 July 2021

        - 20-25 for each track booked
        - 70+ for megabundle (all 4 tracks) - if booked

• Entitlement to join the digital hubs (Facebook groups) for tracks you have booked for - for Q&A and with speakers and other experts for a limited time after the conference,

• FHDU special offers for our sponsors

• Inclusion in the prize draw (all who pre-book) - expected to be over $10,000 in value

• Ehandouts (notes) from speakers

• A (real) conference kit posted to those who pre-book by 9 March, with

        - printed conference program and guide
        - printed discount coupons booklet - with a variety of sponsor discounts and special offers
        - printed conference bookshop catalogue - hundreds of products with discounts up to 50%
        - other items offered by sponsors (bulky items may be excluded from kits posted outside Australia)

• Discount vouchers towards FHDU Online events

        - one coupon valued at AU$49 - with a single track booking
        - two coupons, value totalling $98 - with a megabundle booking (or two or more tracks)

• Genealogy ebooks discount voucher

        - AU$50 - with a single track booking
        - AU$100 - with a megabundle booking (or two or more tracks)

 

While nothing beats the atmosphere and networking of a live conference, having so many conferences and classes going virtual over the past year has prompted a dramatic rise in the number I have actually attended, as usually for many I cannot afford overseas travel or cannot take the time off work.  Now I attend from the comfort of home, usually at my own pace, and often revisit particularly interesting talks to take more notes.  It is great for my learning and research.

So have a look at the topics and speakers for FHDU, and see if it is a conference you might like to attend.  From the comfort of home.

New Family History Library Webpage

FamilySearch International has announced the launch of a new webpage for its Family History Library, located in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. The new Family History Library webpage enables guests to better access existing site services, such as visitor information, collections and hours of operations, and introduces many new and expanded services. For example, patrons worldwide can now schedule 20-minute appointments for free personal research consultations with a specialist. And book look-up services will be coming soon.

David Rencher, the chief genealogy officer for FamilySearch and director of the Family History Library, says this resource is just the beginning of plans for the library’s updated web presence. “Moving forward, we will build out the webpage to help our patrons’ and guests’ expanding needs with a global reach.”

The webpage is available in German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Chinese. Japanese and Italian languages will be added soon.

“The Family History Library offers the largest collection of genealogical materials in one place, making it a premier destination for family history resources and genealogical expertise,” added Rencher. “Its mission is constantly expanding to meet the evolving needs of guests throughout the world—and at no charge.”

Although the library itself is currently closed due to a global pandemic, the new website allows it to deliver online many of its services for patrons worldwide.  So tame a few minutes to have a look at the new webpage and see what it can offer you in your family history research.