52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

I have decided that this year I will again participate in the '52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks' challenge, run by the wonderful Amy Johnson Crow.  This free challenge will see participants receive a weekly prompt that they can respond to, and helps get respondents thinking and talking about their family history discoveries.

As Amy's website explains, the challenge can be responded to in any way you like.  Write a blog post, make a video, share a photo, send a message to relatives - how you interpret and react to each weekly prompt is entirely up to you.

So take a look at the challenge and decide if it is for you.  If it is, sign up for Amy's 52 Week challenge and see where it takes you.  #52Ancestors

GEDCOM Files

The GEDCOM file format was created by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, owners of FamilySearch, as a means of transferring family tree data from one genealogical website or software program to another, a wonderful tool for genealogists everywhere. 

GEDCOM is an acronym for Genealogical Data Communication.  The original GEDCOM file specification was released in 1984 and the latest version, GEDCOM 7.0, was released in 2021.  GEDCOM files use the ‘.ged’ suffix (in the same way a Word document has the suffix ‘.doc’). If someone shares a .ged file with you, then you will need to upload it to a family tree website or software to be able to read it.

Virtually all major family history software products and websites support the GEDCOM file format (I've never come across one which doesn't, but am happy to be corrected). This means that if you have your family tree stored on a website or you have created it using standard family tree building software, then you should be able to export your tree easily to upload it elsewhere.

There are limitations with GEDCOM and over the years its various versions have tried to resolve some of these.  This includes changing ideas of what constitutes a family unit (ie same-sex marriages) and the way the format is used slightly differently by different products.

It is important to be aware that not everything you may have added to your family tree will import into a new program from a GEDCOM file in exactly the way you expect.  Attached photographs and documents may not transfer well between products and it is possible to lose things like free form notes when exporting and importing.  So if you are transferring data from one place to another it is wise to check all your data appears as you would expect.

 

The Year in Review

 

A rather challenging and different year is almost over, and as I usually do at this time, I'm looking back at the genealogical highlights.  Feel free to make your own responses to each question.

1.  An elusive ancestor I found was - Not much as far as new ancestors go, this year I have concentrated on fleshing out people I already know about.

2.  A precious family photo I found was - my aunt Phyllis's 100th birthday several years ago.  I have finally printed out the photos I took and added them to my family album.

3.  An ancestor's grave I found was - My great great grandfather John Clark, buried in the same cemetery as his wife Ann, son James Nicholas and several other relatives.  The graves are not together, but cemetery records show they are there.  Now I just need to visit the cemetery in person to see his grave myself.

4.  An important record I found was - the death notices for my great grandfather James Nicholas Clark.  Not only was there a notice for him by his family, but also one from the Masonic Lodge of which he was a member.  I had no idea James was a Mason until I saw the notice in Trove.  Now I need to investigate further...

5.  A newly found family member shared - notes on common ancestors.  I keep basic trees on several sites - Ancestry, FamilySearch, My Heritage, etc mainly as 'cousin bait' to make contact with others researching in the same tree so we can share information - and every now and then I strike it lucky.

6.  A geneasurprise I received was - so many genealogical websites, archives and companies who made special effort to keep going during the pandemic.  From the National Archives UK making all their digital records free while in lockdown to Ancestry allowing libraries who subscribed to Ancestry Library Edition to let their patrons access the database from home, so many went out of their way to keep us all researching.

7.  A new piece of software or website I mastered was - the updated Trove website.  While I am still not convinced I like it better than the old version, spending time getting to know the ins and outs of the new site has been useful.

8. A social media tool I enjoyed using for genealogy was - Zoom.  Online meetings and get togethers have been the order of the year, with so many planned activities, conferences and meetings having to be cancelled by the pandemic.

9. A genealogy conference/seminar/webinar from which I learnt something new was - Family History Down Under.  Another conference which was held online, I have spent time during various lockdowns catching up on all the wonderful presentations, taking notes and using new knowledge and inspiration in my family history research.

10. I am proud of the presentation I gave at/to - sadly, nothing this year.

11. I taught a friend how to - use Ancestry from Home via my library's website.  Al huge thank you to Ancestry for making this possible.

12. A great repository/archive/library I visited was - the National Archives UK - online.  I've downloaded a number of wills and other digital records this year while the website so generously made them free.

13. A new genealogy/history book I enjoyed was - Six Tudor Queens - a series of six fiction books by historian Alison Weir, focusing on each of King Henry VIII's wives.

14. An achievement during lockdown was - a major cleanout and re-organisation of my family history files.  Something I have been meaning to do for a while now, I used time at home to sort all my printed and digital documents, make sure they were recorded and noted in my family history file and on my PC.  I've been pretty good at keeping things straight, but have occasionally missed printing a digital record or digitising a paper record.  A big job to get up to date.

15. Another positive I would like to share is ... The way the genealogical community has come together during the pandemic to keep going, change how we operate, go online.  So many meetings, classes and conferences were held online, meetings went virtual too, and so many resources were made temporarily available online when archives and offices closed. 

Irish Lives Remembered Issue 55

The latest issue of the free quarterly online Irish Family History magazine 'Irish Lives Remembered' is out now.   The magazine can be downloaded and read on your computer or tablet. 

Articles include: 

• 
  Fiona Fitzsimons – Jennifer Lawrence is a Galway Girl!
• Patrick Roycroft – A Blue Plaque for Mary Mulvihill: Pioneer in Science Communication in Ireland
• Eamonn P. Kelly – St Brigid: Her Cult and Relics
• Maurice Gleeson – Forensic DNA Testing vs Commercial DNA Testing – What’s the Difference?
• Brigit McCone – Ireland’s Russian Connections
• Nathan Mannion – Walter Butler of Roscrea who Fought for Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II
• Brian Mitchell – Tracing the Scots-Irish Ancestry of Abraham Hillhouse: A “How To” Guide for Genealogists
• Book Review – Ingenious Ireland: A County-by-County Exploration of Irish Mysteries and Marvels, by Mary Mulvihill (Patrick Roycroft reviews the 2019 reprint of a modern Irish classic)
• The Genealogical Publishing Company Book Excerpt – Scotch Irish Pioneers in Ulster and America (first published 1910; reprint of 2001) by Charles Knowles Bolton
• Book Summary – The Crosbies of Cork, Kerry, Laois and Leinster: Bards, Imposters, Landlords, Politicians, Aeronauts, Newspapers (2021) by Michael Christopher Keane 
• Book Summary – Birr Military Cemetery. A History of the Cemetery and Those Interred There (2020) by Stephen Callaghan

 

Top 100 Genealogy Blogs of 2021

The list of top Genealogy Blogs of 2021 is out, and CampaspeGenealogy is excited to be included, coming in at Number 73.

 

There are so many wonderful and informative Genealogy Blogs out there, covering a wide range of topics, sharing hint and tips, disseminating news, covering specialist topics and regions, and it is amazing how many have flourished during the trials of the last two years.

 

So take some time to browse through the list of blogs and see what our worldwide community of GeneaBloggers are talking about.

Christmas Traditions

As the year draws to a close and many of us are getting ready for family time, I have again been thinking about my family's Christmas traditions.  Sorting through the box of decorations that came to me when my parents passed away, it struck me that many, while slightly tatty, date back to my childhood or before I was born, and they are greatly treasured.  One of my family history projects this year has been to photograph the older, most treasured ornaments and record their significance.

While my family has always had the traditional Christmas tree, wreath and turkey for Christmas lunch, some of our particular traditions were more unique to us - like watching "The Muppet's Christmas Carol" on Christmas Eve.  It is a tradition that we have had since I was a child and we watched it one Christmas on TV.  Much searching from my mother produced a video of the film and even as teenagers the tradition of watching "The Muppet's Christmas Carol" on Christmas Eve prevailed.  It continued as we became adults and spent Christmas with our parents, was tolerated by baffled partners and friends, and after our parents passed was continued by my sister and I.  Eventually while on a cruise I located a DVD copy (in April!) and after explaining the significance to several bemused holiday aquaintances, that night seven adults sat in front of a television and watched the brilliant Michael Caine, so shiningly evil as Scrooge before he finds the spirit of Christmas, as he seamlessly interacted with his Muppet costars.

Some Christmas traditions have also changed - such as the year of my tinsel-obsessed cat that resulted in a rather expensive Christmas day visit to the family vet (again - I am so sorry, Debbie).  As a result of this, tinsel does not feature in my festive decorations.  The same cat has also resulted in the rule that my Christmas Tree is put up undecorated for a week until he has finished treating it as his own personal climbing gym!

2021 has, again, been a challenging year that caused some major disruptions to family life, making the anticipated visits with family and friends even more special than usual.  So whatever your Christmas traditons I hope everyone out there enjoys the festive season and I look forward to 2022.  Merry Christmas!

Ancestry Library Edition Home Access to End

A reminder to all our library patrons that it has been announced that home access to Ancestry Library Edition will end on 31 December 2021.  Ancestry made the decision back in April 2020 to allow their database, normally only accessed in the library buildings using our public PCs or wi-fi, to be accessed from home while the CoronaVirus pandemic impacted library access for many.  So Campaspe Library members can continue to access this fantastic genealogical resource from home until the end of the year, after which free access will revert to in the library only. 

Ancestry Library Edition allows user to access the full range of records available in a world subscription to Ancestry.  The difference with a private subscription is that Library Edition does not allow you to create your own online family tree.  It is still a wonderful resource for family history researchers. 

To access Ancestry Library Edition, you need to go to the Campaspe Regional Library web page at https://www.campaspe.vic.gov.au/library  On the left hand column, click on 'Genealogy' and then on 'Databases'.  The link for Ancestry Library Edition from home is at the top right.  You will be prompted to log in using your library card number and PIN, then follow the prompts to Ancestry's page and continue researching your family history from the comfort of home.

 

For many genealogists who have been restricted close to home during the pandemic, this free access to the Ancestry database through their local library membership has been a fantastic opportunity to keep researching from home.  A huge thank you to Ancestry for making their database available to so many.