It is always worthwhile checking to see what new records have been added to the database at Ancestry, as well as which record categories have been updated to include new information. This may mean there is new data waiting for me to find, so I like to check back every few months at least. Below are some of the recent additions for the United Kingdom and Australia.
New records for the United Kingdom include :
New records for Australia include :
The Family History Federation has just launched 'The Really Useful Podcast', a new series of Family History podcasts set to cover a range of topics and feature expert guests.
Episode 1 is now live and focuses on Occupations. The website describes it -
"In this episode of the Really Useful Podcast, Joe Saunders is joined
by Mish Holman, professional genealogist who is particularly interested
in theatre ancestors and census enumerators, Mike Esbester, academic
historian and co-lead on the Railway Work Life and Death Project and
Judith Batchelor, professional genealogist, writer and tutor at IHGS.
Work affected our ancestors and shaped their fortunes. Occupational records can be used to research your family history and give a fuller picture of their lives. Among other things our speakers touch upon the need to think about women’s work, what drew people to certain occupations and offer some top tips for researching."
Today FamilySearch International announced the completion of a massive project to digitize its collection of millions of rolls of microfilm containing billions of family history records from around the world. The archive containing information on more than 11.5 billion individuals is now freely available to the public on FamilySearch.org.
"We hope that all those who contributed to this milestone in the last 80 years feel a sense of humble accomplishment today,” said Steve Rockwood, the CEO of FamilySearch International. “And we hope the millions of individuals who will discover, gather, and connect generation upon generation of their family members for years to come because of these efforts will have a deep sense of gratitude for the many unheralded contributors who made those discoveries possible."
“It's a game-changer for everybody in the world. So, instead of having to come to the library, people can start accessing these records from home,” said Becky Adamson, a research consultant at the FamilySearch Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Over 200 countries and principalities and more than 100 languages are represented in the digitized documents. Completion of the project makes it much easier for individuals to make more personal and family discoveries.
To explore FamilySearch’s free collections of indexed records and images, go to FamilySearch.org and search both “Records” and “Images”. The Images feature enables users to peruse digitized images from the microfilm collection and more. A free FamilySearch account will be required to access the service.
So take a look at the new information available on this wonderful free database and see what it can add to your family history research.
Ancestry has just updated their ethnicity estimates for those who have done a DNA test with them, and like me there are many who are logging in to see what changes have occurred.
For most, there will be few surprises and no really major changes. These adjustments take into account all the recent data added to the DNA database held by Ancestry, and uses them to (hopefully) give slightly more accurate ethnicity estimates for those who have tested their DNA. For many who have been researching their family history for a while, their ethnicity estimates will be a rough reflection of what they already know about their ancestry.
The key is to remember that these numbers are estimates only. DNA ethnicity is by no means an exact science. These estimates are pretty good at the continental level, distinguishing between Europe, Asia and Africa, for example, in their estimates. Once they get below the continental level, to a regional or country level, all of them start to run into issues: country boundaries have changed; entire populations have moved; people from one area have invaded and intermarried with people from another. All this makes accurate ethnicity estimates a challenge.
For me, once again my ethnicity estimates have changed slightly, and, once again, they seem to have shifted a little further away from what I would expect. My Germanic heritage has now disappeared completely. I seem to have swapped it for a totally unexpected 9% Norwegian heritage - to date I have exactly 0 Norwegian ancestors in my tree. At the same time, 33% Scottish seems rather high for the one great great grandparent who is the basis of the only Scottish line in my ancestry, while my Irish great grandparent only shows 2%. My English ancestry was always high, as my father's entire family comes from Essex and Suffolk for generations back, and my mother's family has significant English heritage as well, so I would probable expect a higher number than the 54% I have now.
Ultimately, we need to remember that these numbers are estimates only, and can still be quite inaccurate. More important to most who are actively researching are their cousin matches, people whom the DNA tests show are being related. That is what I, and many other family history researchers, are truly interested in.
The
latest issue of Family Tree UK magazine is now available free
online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby
eMagazines.
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.
The 2021 series of Who Do You Think You Are? has been announced – with Series 18 due to start broadcasting on BBC One in October.
Executive producer Colette Flight said: “Who Do You Think You Are? is back with another line-up of Britain’s best-loved celebrities exploring their family histories across the UK, Ireland, Denmark and Jamaica.
“The incredible personal stories they unearth of their ancestors’ lives – from royal love triangles to labourers fighting for their rights, from Victorian child sweeps to battling fascists in London’s East end – reflect and illuminate all our collective history.”
The complete celebrity line-up for Who Do You Think You Are? 2021 includes :
Josh Widdicombe
Comedian Josh Widdicombe is best known for co-hosting Channel 4’s The Last Leg. He won the first series of Taskmaster in 2015.
Dame Judi Dench
Dame Judi Dench is one of Britain’s best-loved actresses, with eight decades of acting on stage and screen and accolades including one Oscar win and six nominations.
Alex Scott
Alex Scott is a former professional footballer who played for the England women’s national football team. She is now a football pundit for BBC Sport and Sky Sports.
Joe Lycett
Joe Lycett is a comedian and TV presenter. He’s best known for standing up for
consumer rights on Channel 4 show Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back.
Pixie Lott
Singer-songwriter Pixie Lott has released three albums, spawning six Top 10 singles. She was also a contestant on the 2014 series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Joe Sugg
Joe Sugg is the YouTuber behind the hit channel ThatcherJoe, and was also a
finalist on the 2018 series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Ed Ball
Ed Balls served as a Labour MP from 2005 to 2015 and as shadow chancellor from 2011 to 2015.
