Family Tree US Magazine

The latest issue of Family Tree US magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines.  

 

Inside this month's issue :  

• Tree Talk - your money-saving genealogy tips
• Planes, Trains and Automobiles
• Free and clear - free tips, websites and resources.
• Citizenship by Descent - Common Myths
• Russlanddeutsche - Were your ancestors “Germans from Russia”?
• Genetic Engineering • Learn if (and how) new tools can build family trees using only DNA.
• Estimating Relationships from Shared DNA 
• Preserving Vinyl Records and CDs
• Genealogy Groups to Join
• Learning About African Heritage
• Military Service Record documenting
• 6 Keys to Scottish Genealogy Research

#52Ancestors - Week 41 - Passed Down

If we are lucky we have at least a few special items that have been passed down from earlier generations, heirlooms that we will in time pass on to a younger generation in turn.  These items are not always valuable in a monetary sense - their value it often in their stories and history and links to our past.  Just as important as keeping those physical items, however, is keeping the stories and history that they represent and passing those details on with them.

I've written before about cleaning out the family home after the deaths of my parents, and how my sister and I simply did not keep things we didn't know the story of.  So many items we looked at with no idea of whether they were family heirlooms or trinkets our mother had purchased from the local opp shop. Why had this china cup been kept?  Whose was it and how long had it been in the family?  There were so many bits and pieces put away that we had no idea of the history of, and so generally didn't keep.  If my sister and I didn't know, there was no one left to ask.  Other items at least one of us knew the stories of and we divided them up and carefully stored them away.

During the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, I decided to take a look at the various family treasures I have at home, gave the camera a workout and photographed all the family items I have in my possession.  Things like a few items of jewellery, the figurines that belonged to my grandparents, the painting my father was given when he retired, and the little shell turtles I gave my grandmother after my first solo holiday when I was 16.  Treasures that I cannot copy like I have photographs and documents, but should disaster strike I would at least have photos of the items to keep.  Once this was done, I decided to write down the stories of each item.  Hopefully in the future the significance of these treasures will be remembered and they will be passed down and treasured as part of our family history.

Another item to treasure and pass down is the family recipe book, primarily created by my sister.  One of the more fun jobs while we were cleaning out the family home was emptying out Mum's recipe drawer.  While the drawer contained a few proper cooking books, and some complete magazines, it was primarily a combination of loose snippets torn or photocopied from old magazines and books, and hand-written recipes from who-knows-where.  Many had notes written on them - things like substitutions of ingredients and notes on who particularly liked the dish.  There were also a number of recipes written out by others and given to Mum - by several different friends and relatives, judging by the assorted handwriting.  She even had a little A5 folder with hand-written favourites stored inside.  When creating the book my sister and I kept all these notes and added our own - our memories of these dishes and when/how they were served.  We both occasionally dip into these recipes and recreate one.

These are all things I hope will be passed down through future generations and treasured as I have treasured them, but the important thing is to keep the stories with each item so their significance will not be lost in the future.

WikiTree

There is always something new to discover in Genealogy, and today I stumbled across WikiTree, a site I have somehow managed to never encounter before but one which definitely seems worth further investigation.

 
So what is WikiTree?  According to the website, Wikitree is a community.  

"Our mission is to grow an accurate single family tree that connects us all and is freely accessible to us all, forever.

WikiTree balances privacy and collaboration so that living people can connect on one world tree to common ancestors.

We privately collaborate with our close family members on modern family history. As we go back in time, the privacy controls open up. Collaboration on deep ancestors is between distant cousins who are serious about genealogical research, careful about sources, and willing to see their research validated or invalidated with DNA.

Because all the profiles are connected on the same system our collaboration is creating a single family tree that is connecting us all, preserving our history, and making our shared genealogy available for the world to access, for free, forever."

The WikiTree tree includes 32,059,521 profiles (10,525,200 with DNA test connections) edited by 944,653 members from around the world.

On the 4th - 5th November, the site will celebrate WikiTree Day with a number of speakers.  The site is currently open for registration and have more information about the day available, along with a list of speakers and their topics.

So take a look at WikiTree and see if it is for you.

Military Diaries go online at Ancestry

Ancestry has just released the first section of their new collection of World War II War Diaries.

This initial collection covers the period covering The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942).  Further collection will be released in the future.

Remember Campaspe Library offers access to Ancestry Library Edition free in any of our library branches via our public computers or on your own device via our public wifi.

Ancestry's website offers the following information about this collection :

General collection information

This collection includes military diaries kept during the Second World War. The diaries were produced for units of the British Army, the Indian Army, dominion forces under British command from Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and India, and allied and colonial troops under British command.

Diaries were kept by units at all levels, from battalions to entire military branches. The format of the diaries vary, but generally include regular entries that provide information about the activities of a unit. Some diaries offer more narrative detail than others. Notes about new instructions and troop movements, assessments of troop strength, and requests for reinforcements are common diary entry topics.

Using this collection

Records in this collection may include the following information:

Commanding officer's name and rank

Regiment or unit

Division

Diary entry date

Diary entry location

This collection can be used to learn about the activities of the military unit your ancestor served in during the Second World War.

Collection in context

The diaries were created by unit commanders and military staff. The original diaries are housed at the National Archives.

Millions of men and women from across the British Empire served in the armed forces during World War II. Almost 384,000 soldiers from the United Kingdom were killed in battle, while combat deaths for Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa totaled 196,000.

Really Useful Podcasts Season 2

The Family History Federation has now launched Season 2, Episode 1 of its new series of Really Useful Podcasts. 

 

This episode focuses on Beginning your Family History.  The website describes it :

"Every family historian has a story about how they got into family history. We share our experiences of starting out with this great hobby and share tips for others who are just beginning.

Joe is joined by Mish Holman, professional genealogist who is particularly interested in theatre ancestors and census enumerators https://www.familyhistorygifts.co.uk/, Kelly Cornwell, professional family historian, blogger and speaker https://whoamifamilytreeresearch.co.uk, Jane Hough, amateur genealogist and blogger https://www.allthosebefore.org.uk/ and Andrew Martin, family historian, author, digital archivist and host of The Family Histories Podcast https://li.sten.to/familyhistoriespodcast https://www.familytreeuk.co.uk/

Family History Federation: www.familyhistoryfederation.com"

I greatly enjoyed last season and am very happy to discover a new series has begun.  While this episode is directed at beginners, there is always more to learn and even as an experienced researcher I find there is always more to learn and sometimes going back to the basics can be useful,

#52Ancestors - Week 40 - Preservation

This week's theme is Preservation, and it prompts me to think about all the records that have been preserved for family history researchers to find later.  For many of the records we have available today, preservation for future use was not a major consideration, and little thought was made for preservation at the time the records were created.  Some, indeed, have not survived at all due to a number of circumstances.  

Sometimes it has been the policy of those bodies which created records in the first place to destroy them after a certain period of time when they were no longer deemed necessary.  Several Irish Censuses were deliberately destroyed, with the original census returns for 1861 and 1871 destroyed shortly after the censuses were taken and those for 1881 and 1891 pulped during the First World War, possibly because of the paper shortage.  Deliberate destruction has also been the fate of the Australian census records, with the Australian Government making the decision that census records would be destroyed after statistical analysis was complete.  It is only in the most recent Australian censuses that individuals could choose to have their census forms retained for future use.

Some records have not survived for other reasons.  Wars have destroyed many records over the years, as have natural disasters such as fires and floods.  In September 1940, as the result of a fire caused by an incendiary bomb at the War Office Record Store in Arnside Street, London, approximately two thirds of the 6.5 million soldiers' documents for the First World War were destroyed.  World War 2 also saw the destruction of other records throughout Europe as buildings were bombed, burned and damaged.

The 1922 fire in the Dublin Public Records Office destroyed a number of Irish records.  The PRO housed many genealogical treasures including the remaining Irish census returns, originals wills dating to the 16th century, and more than 1,000 Church of Ireland parish registers filled with baptism, marriage and burial records.

Incorrect storage has seen records deteriorate to the point of being unusable around the world.  Many old record books have deteriorated over time, especially when they have not been stored in good conditions.  Deteriorating records have been found with damp and moulding pages, fading inks, brittle spines and damage from insects and animals.  While today we are much more aware of how to keep records from deteriorating, in the past this was not the case and many old records have paid the price.

For those records which have survived, the future often looks brighter today as a number of preservation and digitization projects around the world taking place very day.  This will hopefully benefit those who come after us in their own research.

#52Ancestors - Week 39 - Road Trip

Planning a Family History Road Trip can be a highlight in our research calendar but they can be much more successful and less stressful if you do your homework and plan ahead.  Here are my hints for making your Road Trip successful.

Phone Ahead

When you plan visiting any record repository, library or archive, after you visit their website and check hours of operation and record availability, make a phone call before you go. There is nothing worse than arriving at a facility to find that it is closed for renovation or that records have been moved offsite and are unavailable. Remember to check catalogs where available and plan your research wish list ahead of time - this can help maximize your research time onsite, as well. 

Check the Rules

Check requirements beforehand.  Can you take your bag, phone or tablet with you or do you have to leave them in a locker outside?  Are there rules about copying?  Many libraries have computers attached to their microfilm or microfiche machines, so you can save record images to a USB flash drive. If they have a scanner, can you scan documents to the drive as well?  What costs are involved and how do you pay?  Some smaller places may require cash so make sure you have some change with you.

Map Out Places you Plan to Visit

If you're traveling to a city or town that you're not familiar with, try mapping out your research visits so that you're not wasting valuable time on the road. Plan your visits to churches, cemeteries, libraries, and archives on a route that makes sense. Check parking availability nearby too - and any costs for parking too.  Find out what places of worship and cemeteries were around when your ancestors lived in the area (historical city or county directories can be helpful for his).  Also, check with local genealogical and historical societies. They are the experts on research in that area and will know what resources are available and where the records are kept.

Take Your Tree with You

Family history research trips used to be much more cumbersome, with copies of documents, family trees and other pertinent information being carried with you on family visits and to libraries and archives. Today most of us have an online tree, with your data as close as your smart phone or tablet.  When planning your road trip check your access to your online data and make sure everything you will need is available and that your access to it is reliable.  Figure on tech failures. When planning a trip to a remote cemetery, for example, don’t assume your cell phone will have a signal. If you need a list of names bring a printout or make sure the list is stored on your phone, not in the cloud.

Have a Kit

Create a kit or a “genealogy to-go” bag that’s ready to walk out the door with you. Stock it with note books, pens and pencils, batteries, business cards, address labels, a digital voice recorder, a magnifier, sticky-notes, a small power strip, USB, etc.  Anything you might need while researching.  Don’t forget your forms - take your notebook for general notes as well as a pre-prepared sheet to record data and important source info - what you found where and when. It keeps you from forgetting anything if you have a form to fill out.  A little coin purse with change for photocopying and parking is also handy.