Month: January 2025

The UK Department of Justice has posted a summary of its conclusions following consultation on a proposal to destroy original will documents following digitization. Some 1600 responses were received. The large majority of responses vehemently opposed any destruction of original wills. That appears to have been accepted.

The summary is here. Annex A includes a list of organizations that responded, including genealogical, family history, historical, law, library and commercial enterprises. Organizations from Australia, New Zealand and Scotland responded, but none from Canada!

Bigamists, Bastards and Baffling Brick Walls: A Beginner’s
Guide to Discovering Your English Family History.
by Nick Thorne. This is a book notice. I’ve not had a chance to review it yet.

Scientist claims a surprising accent is the ‘most influential in the WORLD

BIFHSGO January Meeting
9 am: How Valuable are Valuation Rolls? by Robert Urquhart
10 am: The Time of Cholera, by Alison Hare
For BIFHSGO.
https://www.bifhsgo.ca/events

MyHeritage Essex Additions
England, Essex Parish Marriages and Banns 1535-1940,
with 3,630,789 entries.
England, Essex Parish Baptisms and Confirmations, 1538-1924, with 6,869,770 entries.
These are transcriptions newly available on MyHeritage. No link images and no source given.

Ancestry adds 1926 Prairie Census of Canada
Transcriptions are now available on Ancestry. Find searchable access to images through the LAC Census Search page.

Ancestry updates North Yorkshire, England, Church of England parish records
The following updates are all with linked images.
Births and Baptisms, 1813-1923 (1,514,098 entries)
Marriages and Banns, 1754-1939 (834,955)
Deaths and Burials, 1813-1998 (419,327)
Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1558-1812 (2,744,891)

What to Expect from FamilySearch in 2025

This Week’s Online Genealogy Events
Choose from selected free online events today. All times are ET except as noted. Assume registration in advance is required; check so you’re not disappointed. Find out about a few more, mainly US events, at Conference Keeper.

Tuesday, 7 January

2 pm: Ottawa Genealogy Drop-in for OGS Ottawa Branch.
https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/virtual-genealogy-drop-in-2-2025-01-07/

2:30 pm: Ancestry.com – Beyond the Basics, by Susan Kim for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/12433364

7:30 pm: Where Have All the Obits Gone? by Gordon McBean for OGS Durham Branch.
https://ogs.on.ca/events/durham-virtual-meeting-where-have-all-the-obits-gone-gordon-mcbean/

Wednesday, 8 January

7:30 pm: Researching the McEwan Family, by Anne Kay for OGS Huron Branch.
https://huron.ogs.on.ca/events/huron-branch-researching-the-mcewan-family/

8 pm: Genealogy Meets AI: Panel Discussion with  Andrew Redfern, Blaine Bettinger, Diana Elder, Mark Thompson, Steve Little, and Thomas MacEntee.for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/genealogy-meets-ai-panel-discussion/

Thursday, 9 January

6:30 pm: This Goes Here, That Goes There…Let’s Organize! by Anni Parsons, for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/12457102

Friday, 10 January

2 pm: Researching in Yorkshire, by Jude Rhodes for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/researching-in-yorkshire/

Saturday, 11 January

9 am: How Valuable are Valuation Rolls? by Robert Urquhart
10 am: The Time of Cholera, by Alison Hare
For BIFHSGO.
https://www.bifhsgo.ca/events

10:30 am: Removing the Rebels: Peter Robinson’s Settlement Scheme, by Christine Woodcock for OGS Simcoe County Branch
https://simcoe.ogs.on.ca/events/simcoe-county-branch-removing-the-rebels-peter-robinsons-settlement-scheme-with-christine-woodcock

Now available with transcribed columns and an image of the original.

1921 England Census, 35,582,351 entries
1921 Wales Census, 2,692,705 entries
1921 Channel Islands Census, 90,127 entries
1921 Isle of Man Census, 60,387 entries

The contents of the transcription (for England) are: Name, Gender, Age (Years, Months), Relation to Head, Marriage or Orphanhood, Estimated Birth Year, Birth Place, Residence Date, Residence Street Address, Residence Place, Education (for children), Inhabited (Y/N), Parliamentary Division, Registration District, Registration District Number, Sub registration district, Sub Registration District Number,
Respondent (name), Enumeration District Name, Enumeration District (number), Schedule (number), Schedule Type Code, plus a list of Household Members giving Name, Age and Relationship.

Additional information on the form, but not transcribed, is about employment and occupation.

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Ottawa Temperatures
If official verification confirms it, 2024 will be the first year in Ottawa records for which the coldest night failed to break the -20C mark. 2024’s coldest was -19.5C, recorded on 22 December. Overall, 2024 tied with 1998 as Ottawa’s warmest year on record.

Eight Intriguing British New Year’s Resolutions from the Past

1921 census
Ancestry is expected to publish its version of the 1921 census of England and Wales on Tuesday or Wednesday. If you don’t have a subscription, rush to your local public library for access.

Ancestry Discount for New Members
Until the end of the day on 12 January, Ancestry.ca is offering 50% off new memberships, which is particularly useful if you want to dig into their newly available 1921 census.

Strong Use Cases for AI in Genealogy
From Steve Little’s blog:
Summarization is condensing information into more useful forms.
Extraction is plucking facts from texts.
Generation is making texts bigger,  turning facts into stories.
Translation is rendering a text from one language to another and converting language for different times, purposes, and audiences.
Some of his weaker use cases are getting stronger!

Oh, Findmypast, thou weekly delight,
Each Friday morn, a researcher’s light,
With treasures vast from lands and seas,
Unlocking family histories.

From Middlesex to Mumbai’s lore,
From Cornwall’s mines to Jersey’s shore,
You’ve led us down ancestral trails,
Through marriages, burials, and wartime tales.

Yet lo! This Friday, the cupboard was bare,
No records to seek, no leads to compare.
The year began with a deafening hush,
No Devon, no Scotland, no archival rush.

No burial stones, no church’s pew,
No whispers of history fresh and new.
The genealogist’s heart sank in dismay,
Where art thou, records, this New Year’s Day?

We’ve scoured the Royal Society’s past,
Traced Home Children’s journeys, steadfast.
But now we sit, our charts untouched,
Our roots untraced, our dreams uncrutched.

Oh, Findmypast, our weekly muse,
To skip a Friday—such grievous news!
But fear not, next week we’ll eagerly wait,
For your return, to set records straight.

So here’s our plea, a researcher’s prayer,
Bring back the Fridays with records to share.
Let Southwark sing, let Yorkshire cheer,
And spoil us rotten this genealogist’s year!

Digging Through the Past

I thought I’d try my family tree,
A harmless hobby, just for me.
A bit of digging, what’s the harm?
I didn’t expect the old-world charm.

Out came the charts, the records, the maps,
Late nights poring over digital apps.
On FamilySearch, I clicked away,
And found more cousins than I can say.

Then DNA, what a clever thing,
Unveiled a family fit for a king.
Or so I thought, till the test revealed,
My roots were more “farm” than battlefield.

I asked AI, “Where do I begin?”
It hummed and whirred, and took it all in.
“Your great-great-gran,” it said with flair,
“Was known for her pies and questionable hair.”

I found a thief, a sailor, a bard,
A tanner who smelled of leather and lard.
A sheep wrangler, and—this made me blush—
A blacksmith known for his temper (and mush).

Each story a gem, a quirky delight,
From dodgy scandals to tales of might.
The truth is odd, the facts askew,
But oh, the laughs as the picture grew!

So grab your pen, your magnifying glass,
And dive headfirst into the past.
It’s messy, funny, and full of glee—
A glorious tangle of family!

Translating, Transcribing and Summarizing Documents Using AI
Don’t miss Thomas MacEntee’s webinar for OGS today, Thursday 2 January, at 7 pm. It’s free. All are welcome. Register here.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac for December
This December, the mean temperature in Ottawa was -5.6C, right on the money for the OFA prediction of -6.0C
SUCCESS

The total precipitation at Ottawa was 78.8 mm, just above the long-term average of 75.2 mm. The OFA predicted 60 mm underestimates the actual by 18.8 mm and on the opposite side of the mean to the actual. It is within one standard deviation.
FAIR SUCCESS

The Bones of Catharine Reid Mason: Lessons Learned and Reflections on the Genealogy of Black Londoners
At 10 am on Saturday, 4 January, OGS London and Middlesex Branch invite you to a presentation by Hilary Bates Neary. All are welcome. Register here.

WDYTYA Magazine – January 2025
The issue is now available with lead articles on 50 Websites to Watch, the Great Plague and other articles of Welsh interest.

MyHeritage Closes Service to Russia
MyHeritage will exit the Russian market and delete Russian user data from its servers after February 1, 2025. MyHeritage was previously fined for refusing to store Russian user data on servers inside Russia. Source.