Family Tree Magazine (UK): February 2024

Here is my personal selection of highlights from the February issue published on 12 January. I read it through the Ottawa Public Library subscription to PressReader.

FAMILY HISTORY WELL-BEING
SURVEY RESULTS
This is the last in a series. Emma Jolly shares the perceptions of 57 respondents on the value of writing about and understanding the significance of the lives of ancestors, family history, health and well-being. It’s more a collection of ancecdotal evidence rather than a statistically significant survey.

RESEARCHING THE HISTORY OF EAST INDIAMEN
Richard Morgan on the history and East India Company. He mentions that journals, ledgers, pay-books and officer’s approvals contain information of potential genealogical interest.

A FORENSIC LOOK AT FAMILY HEIRLOOMS
Janet Few reflects on the history and role of family heirlooms. Be they medals, tableware or, as in Janet’s case, a locket, she offers advice on building a story around the item. It may enhance the item’s attraction for later generations.

YOUR DNA WORKSHOP
DNA advisor Karen Evans heips readers make sense of their DNA tests.

PRIZE PAPERS EXPLORED
An article by magazine editor Helen Tovey based on an interview with TNA’s Amanda Bevan. Prize papers are documentary evidence that could be used in a court of law to prove that the ship was an enemy vessel. TNA’s collection includes 500,000 documents originally stored in 4,088 boxes.
Explore further at https://www.prizepapers.de/

ELECTORAL REGISTERS
Family Tree Academy tutor David Annal does a thorough job in explaining these resources for genealogy —who is included and where records may be found. Note that the link to the recommended resource in the online version, https://electoralregisters.org.uk/ does not work.

A HISTORY OF EARLY BLOOD TRANSFUSION
Based in her MSc thesis at the University of Strathclyde, Pauline Jarvis investigates the history of blood transfusion in Edinburgh. There is very limited availability of blood transfusion records of genealogical interest.