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 Libby eMagazines.

Inside this month's issue

• Sporting ancestors Uncover the sporting achievements of your family, from enthusiastic amateurs to Olympians
  
  
• Photo books How to bring your family photos together in a professional printed book
  
  
• The packet service The sailors who delivered the post to the furthest reaches of the British Empire
  
  
• Reader story Anne Padfield's relative was an unsung heroine of the suffragette movement
  
  
• Best websites The best genealogy forums
  
  
• Plus: Uncover Canadian censuses, finding theatrical ancestors, using trade directories and much more…

British Court Records

During the course of our research there would be very few of us who have not found at least a couple of ancestors who ran afoul of the law and found themselves before the courts.   Many laws in England (and elsewhere) were set by the rich and landed in order to control and suppress the poor, to keep the rights and protect property of the wealthy and powerful.  By the 1800s over 200 crimes were punishable by death, usually by gallows.  Hanging crimes included things like murder, treason and piracy, but also crimes such as robbing a rabbit warren, cutting down trees, associating with gypsies and a number of other more petty crimes.

There was little understanding of, or sympathy for, the desperate social conditions which all but forced many of the poor to resort to crime in order to survive.  Criminality was seem as the result of bad blood or bad character, and punishment was set harshly as a deterrent to others.

The English justice system divided crimes into categories to be dealt with by a three-tiered criminal justice system. 

The Court of Petty Sessions 

This court was established around the 1730s because the more historic Quarter Sessions Courts were getting too busy and were meeting too infrequently.  They tried minor offences or misdemeanours such as minor theft and larceny, poaching, assault, drunkenness, vagrancy, bastardy examinations, and civil actions such as arbitration.
Courts of Petty Sessions were held when needed before a stipendiary magistrate or two or more justices of the peace who could summarily decide a case without needing to empanel a jury. Thus the cases themselves were known as summary offences.
Punishments meted out by these courts did not include death or transportation.

The Court of Quarter Sessions
These courts were called Quarter Sessions because they were held each quarter: around Epiphany (6 January - winter session); Lent/Easter (spring session); Midsummer (24 June – summer session); Michaelmas (29 September – autumn session).
They were held in each county before a 'bench' that consisted of at least two Justices of the Peace who were presided over by a chairman who sat with the empanelled jury.
Quarter Sessions Courts heard the more serious offences which required a jury and could not be disposed of 'summarily' by a magistrate. Offences that were punishable by death were usually sent to the higher Assize Courts.  The Prosecutor at the Quarter Sessions was often the victim of the crime, and if the victim didn’t have the time or money to pursue the case the perpetrator frequently got off.
The distinction between the Assize courts and the Quarter Session courts were blurry until 1842 when an Act consigned all death penalty and life imprisonment cases to the Assize Courts. 

The Court of Assizes
The Assize Courts tried more serious offences: felonies such as homicide, infanticide, serious theft, highway robbery, rape, forgery, counterfeiting, witchcraft.  Judges from the High Court travelled to the Assize Circuit Courts two or three times a year to hear the cases.
The Old Bailey, renamed the Central Criminal Court in 1834, was the trial court for most London crimes and was similar to an Assize Court.

Legislation and the Death Penalty

1823 - the Judgement of Death Act allowed judges to commute the death penalty except for the crimes of murder and treason.
1832 - the Punishment of Death Act eliminated execution as the punishment for two-thirds of what were once capital crimes including theft, forgery and counterfeiting.
1861 - the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts eliminated the death penalty for all crimes but murder, high treason, piracy with violence, and arson in the Royal Dockyards, although effectively “murder” became the only capital crime.
1868 saw the last public execution, as distaste for this 'spectator sport' grew.
1964 saw the last execution in England.

Family History in Lockdown

Well here we are again, back in lockdown.  As a Victorian, this is my sixth, and it is time to get back into organising my family history files, checking that all my research is properly recorded and filed.  The time definitely goes faster when I have a project to immerse myself in.

I expect we are all guilty of occasionally letting filing and updating get a little behind, and I have certainly got some catching up to do.  My printed family sheets, that I use when researching, are covered in scribbled notes and references to new documents I have found.  My 'new' folder of documents that I need to check are properly referenced on my family group sheets and filed in their appropriate folders is starting to bulge.  My backup files could do with updating too.  I really have a fair bit of work to do.

There has been a number of special opportunities made available to Family Historians around the world during lockdowns.  Ancestry has allowed many libraries subscribing to Ancestry Library Edition, normally only accessed on site, to be accessed from home by members.  For Campaspe Library members, go to the library homepage and click on Genealogy in the page menu, then click on Databases.  There you will find the link for Ancestry Library Edition from Home.  Follow the prompts to type in your library card number and PIN, and enjoy free access to the worldwide database from home.

Another great resource to access right now are the digital records available through the National Archives UK.  While their Reading Room access is limited due to restrictions, they have been offering all their digital records you would normally pay to obtain for free.  Registered users are able to order and download up to 10 items at a time, to a maximum of 100 items every 30 days.  And yes, registration is free as well.

If that isn't enough to keep me occupied, I still have several videos to watch from the truly excellent 'Family History Down Under' conference held earlier this year.  So many knowledgeable speakers, so much learning to do.  Then there are the many events listed for Family History Month Australasia 2021, which is held throughout August.  While I expect a number of events will be cancelled or postponed because of the current situation around the country, many were already planned to be held online and hopefully will still go ahead.

So to everyone out there who is locked down at home right now, take some time to revisit your family history, make sure all your research is up to date and backed up, and take advantage of the various free learning and researching opportunities out there.  I've only touched on a few.  There are more out there - so go find them!

Webinars

 Legacy Family Tree webinars has announced a free of charge webinar programme, running throughout September.

You can join live for all four Fridays or just one, and if you can't, you can still enjoy the recordings at your convenience as they'll be free to view through the end of the month.

You can see the full programme at Legacy Family Tree Webinars and below are some of the highlights:

3 September

Teresa Steinkamp McMillin: CGLife, Liberty and the Pursuit of German Military Records

Anita Wills: Notes and Documents of Free Persons of Colour

10 September

Carol Baxter: British and Irish Given Names - Part 1

Debra Renard: What are the Odds? Finding Answers Using DNA Painter’s WATO Tool

17 September

Daniel Horowitz: Genealogy on the Go with the MyHeritage Mobile App

James Tanner: Researching Immigrants to New England in the Great Migration, 1620-1640

24 September

Paul Woodbury: Where Did That Come From?! Tracing the Origins of Unique Ethnicity Admixture

Lisa Toth Salinas: Beginning Hungarian Genealogy

Life In and Out of Lockdown

As several states around the country move in and out of lockdown, it is worthwhile to once again urge people to record their memories of the pandemic.  Around the country, many archives and libraries are recording for future generations people's experiences of the crisis.  As family historians, we need to do the same thing and record our own experiences of this time.

The Covid19 pandemic has been (and still is) a major historical event.  For all of us who have lived through it, there will be memories of Covid, both positive and negative, that stand out.  There are new routines, changes in how we live, work, communicate, shop, relax, learn, and more.  We all have seen stark images of police blockading state borders, empty streets at midday in our cities, supermarkets during panic buying or opening with stripped shelves.  Then there are the more personal experiences - business closures and work stand downs, learning to work from home or change our daily routines.

Then there are the positive experiences.  Teddy bears and rainbows in windows, people standing at the end of their driveways on ANZAC Day, clap for carers, support we have received from friends colleagues and neighbors, the joy of getting out and about after lockdowns ease.  For many of us the simple pleasures in life have taken on new significance as we rediscover them after the trial of lockdowns.

Here are a few questions you might consider when recording your personal experiences of Covid-19.

• What are you most grateful for during this covid-19 crisis? 
• What are some of the images that will stay with you of the pandemic?
  
• What have you missed most during full or partial lock-down? 
  
• What changes have you seen in your life over the last few months? 
  
• Have you been participating in virtual gatherings with friends or family?
  
• Have you taken up new hobbies during the lockdowns? 
  
• Are you cooking or gardening more? 
  
• How have the closures affected your local community? 
  
• Have in-person meetings been replaced with virtual meetings via Zoom, Skype etc? 
  
• Do you enjoy the virtual meeting format? 
  
• Are you working from home instead of in your usual place of work?
  
• Have you had to cancel travel plans for pleasure or family? 
  
• Have you/others been wearing masks when out and about in your area?  
• Will you change your lifestyle after this experience?
  

The Name Pool

Have you noticed that the given names of our eighteenth and nineteenth century British ancestors were drawn from a surprisingly small pool?  John for example was carried by one in every five English males. The four most popular male names were carried by one in every two males. And the top thirteen male names were carried by 87% of the male population indicating that all of the other male names in use at the time were together borne by only 13% of the population.

That being the case, the usual popularity lists found on the internet – those that record the top 10, 20, 50 names – are unhelpful unless they provide frequency statistics.

There were also the commonly used spelling variations, abbreviations and diminutives.  For example, if you don’t know that Polly was a diminutive of Mary or that Nellie was a diminutive of Ellen and Eleanor and Helen, you may struggle to find your ancestors’ entries.  Harry for Henry, Bill for William, Fred or Alf for Alfred, Dick for Richard, Charlie or Lottie for Charlotte, Maggie, Meg or Maisie for Margaret.  Elizabeth was another extremely common name with multiple diminutives - Eliza, Liz, Lizzie, Betty, Betsy, Beth, Bessie, Lisbeth, Liza - the list goes on.

In the 1700s the top five names for each gender were :
Boys - John, William, Thomas, Richard and James
Girls - Mary, Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah and Jane

In the 1800s the top five names for each gender were :
Boys - John, William, James, George and Charles
Girls - Mary, Anna, Emma, Elizabeth and Margaret

There were, of course, always fads among names - copying that of the current Monarch and their family, for example, or using a traditional name common in your family.

Naming patterns were also common in many families, although they are by no means a reliable way of predicting the names of children.  Traditionally, the first son would be named for the paternal grandfather, the second son for the maternal grandfather and the third son for the father.  For females, the first daughter would be named for the maternal grandmother, the second daughter for the paternal grandmother and the third daughter for the mother.  Providing, of course, these names were not the same.  

Then, there are the families that seemed to delight in using unusual names for their children, and those who followed popular fads.  Horatio, for example, made a brief surge in popularity after Nelson's victory at Trafalgar.  Similarly, Adolf disappeared from German communities after World War 2.

Changes Coming to PROV

On the 9th of August the Public Records Office of Victoria will launch their new search and online ordering system which we are told will make ordering and managing your record and copy requests a whole lot easier. This system will replace their current catalogue 'Access the Collection'.

According to a statement made by the PROV, the upgrade will allow you to:

• View thumbnails as you search making digital records easier to find and download. 
• Select records as you search. 
• Order digital copies directly from the item page without needing to fill out a separate form.  
• Access your own personal Dashboard which will display your past and future orders, pick up and viewing times and links to copies. 

Your last two years of history will be maintained so that once the upgrade launches, you’ll be able to login as normal with your email address.

The statement also adds the following :
 
Researchers please note some changes to our services in the lead up to launch: 

• Ordering of records for North Melbourne will be suspended from the 26th of July until the new system comes online on the 9th of August.  
• And the North Melbourne Reading Room will be closed from 2 August to 7 August  to allow for the changeover. 

We appreciate your patience as we bring you our brand new system!  

Other benefits of the new system

• You can view the contents of a whole box (previously called a unit) directly from an individual item page, so you can see other records of a similar time or type on one screen.
• If the record you want to view has already been ordered by someone else, it can be added to your 'waitlist' so you will be notified as soon as it's available again. 
• Copy orders will remain in your Downloads section so that you can re-download your digital copy any time. 
• Looking for an old order? The Dashboard search bar will make this easier allowing you to quickly reference or re-order records you've previously ordered. 
• New collection items including digitised inquests from 1926 to 1937, existing passenger list indexes will include digitised records, 25,000 new photographs including Melbourne Harbour Trust and Education Department Publications Branch (digitised with the support of the Ross Trust).
• The majority of the Reading Room microfilm digitised by Ancestry will also be available online. 

Remember:

• You can order up to 24 records at any one time, 8 will be delivered per day, we will hold those records for you for 5 days but you can extend that hold (unless someone has placed a reserve order) via your Dashboard. 

Note: The catalogue terminology "unit" has changed to "box" and "consignment" to "record groupings" to make the collection more accessible to new researchers.

I have always found the PROV website easy to search and use, but most of my access is done remotely as I live some distance away and rarely have the time to visit one of their reading rooms.  As a result, I am really looking forward to exploring the changes they are making and look forward to the launch.