Family History Show Goes Online

The Family History Show is hosting their new virtual show this weekend to replace the family history events closed due to the coronavirus outbreak.  The Family History Show Online will take place from 10am to 4.30pm on Saturday 20 June (UK time).

The promotional video promises “access to all your favourite family history features from the comfort of your own home”, including online talks, the chance to submit questions to a panel of experts, family history products available to purchase and download, virtual chat with exhibitors and a virtual goody bag worth over £10.

The speakers will include genealogy expert Mark Bayley, house historian Gill Blanchard and military historian Chris Baker.

Tickets are £5.50 in advance or £6 on the day and you can access the show on Windows 7 or newer, Mac, iOS and Android.  The Family History Show recommends a broadband speed of 10Mbs or higher to engage in video or chat.

The Family History Show is organised by the magazine Discover Your Ancestors and normally holds three annual events in Bristol, York and London.

If, like me, you will be attending from another time zone, lectures and live streams will be available for 24 hours and you can submit questions to their experts in advance.

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

• Parish registers online
  
  
  Find your ancestors' baptisms, marriages and burials in our annual county-by-county guide to British parish records online
• Sort your photographs
  Looking for a lockdown project? Discover how to organise, digitise and share your family photographs
• Reader story
  Stephen King shares the moving tale of his parents' wartime romance
• Firemen
  The story of how our ancestors fought the flames
• Jamaican ancestors
  The best online records for finding family from the Caribbean nation
• Plus...
  The best websites for finding prisoners of war; the lives of Sheffield's cutlery manufacturers; using Name & Place software, and much more...
   

Around Britain

• Devon
  How the historic county is marking the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower - and how you can trace your Devon ancestors

Campaspe Genealogy is back!

From Monday 1 June Campaspe Libraries reopened to the public in a limited capacity following Government guidelines and observing social distancing.  I hope everyone out there has stayed safe and well during the shut down and look forward to getting back to genealogy and a more 'normal' life over the next few weeks and months.

May has certainly been a very different month this year, and a challenging time for so many.  It is wonderful to be able to come back to work, see colleagues and people in the community, and start trying to rebuild after the shut down.

I hope the past weeks have not been too challenging for you all.  For myself, my garage is organised, several jobs around the house have finally been completed, and I have been able to spend a bit of extra time on genealogy during my time at home.

More to come!

Covid-19 Shut Down

Campaspe libraries and depots are closed until further notice, in line with the Federal Government’s direction for non-essential services.

This Blog will not be monitored during the closure.

I wish everyone out the the best during the closure and look forward to restarting Campaspe Genealogy when restrictions are lifted and I am back at work.

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

• DNA ethnicity
  
  
  What do the percentages in your DNA test result mean? Debbie Kennett explains
• Swedish mystery
  How genealogist Emma Jolly tracked down the British beneficiaries to a Swedish fortune
• The Home Front
  80 years after the start of the Blitz, discover how you can research your ancestors' lives during the Second World War
• Reader story
  Eight generations of Paul Darran's family have served in the Army
• Family Tree Maker 2019
  Back up your family tree to the cloud with leading family history software
• Plus...
  The history of department stores; tracing Italian ancestors; understanding Royal Artillery records, and much more...
   

Around Britain

• Shropshire
  Find your family in the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution

RootsTech Free Videos

Another treat for those stuck at home during the CoronaVirus pandemic are the many videos of presentations to RootsTech.  Dating back to 2015 and coming right up to the recent 2020 conference, as well as last year's RootsTech London conference, there is a variety of keynotes and presentations available to watch free from home.

RootsTech 2020 talks now available to view

So take some time to catch up on the latest developments in the field and learn new skills from a variety of experts during your time at home.

A huge thank you to the people at RootsTech for making these presentations available - there is certainly a wide variety to choose from and I will be taking advantage of having some extra time to develop my own skills and knowledge.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 12 - Namesake

In many families, we see the same names over and over.  Frequently children were named after parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and various other family members.  The same names just crop up time after time, and will often cause confusion for family history researchers.  Working out who is who can be extremely difficult when all a man's sons name their first male child after the child's grandfather - and suddenly there are 4 or 5 cousins with the same name all living in a small area.  This has happened to me a few times - most memorably I have 5 cousins named James Mulholland all born within 5 miles and 4 years of each other - and two of them married women named Mary!

Naming customs, while not cast in stone, were extremely common in many areas, and sometimes trying to find a name that does not link back to a member of the family can be a challenge.  Names also went through ebbs and flows or popularity, and often more frequently used names reflected current monarchs, newly born members of the royal family and popular celebrities of the day.

Another frequently used custom of the past - which can seem quite strange to us today - was using the name of a deceased child for the next born sibling of the same gender.  My 3xGreat Grandfather Isaac Green was actually the third child named Isaac born in the family - his eldest brother Isaac died at only 4 days old, his next brother was also named Isaac and died of diphtheria at 6 years old.  My direct ancestor Isaac was the next son born, the namesake of two dead brothers - and he lived to the grand age of 89.