Anglo-Celtic Connections

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

The Gothic horror of Alice Munro: A reckoning with the darkness behind a feminist icon

Smoking – What’s Old is News

Generative AI in a Nutshell – how to survive and thrive in the age of AI

Thanks to this week’s contributors: Allen Grant, Anonymous, Brenda Turner, Christine Jackson, gail benjafield, Gail Roger, Teresa, Unknown

Lancashire, England, Catholic Registers of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1762-1913 comprises 2,993,285 entries, with images from the following Lancashire communities:

Accrington; Ashton in Makerfield; Ashton under Lyne; Aspull; Aughton; Bamber Bridge; Barton; Barton-upon-Irwell; Billington; Birchley; Blackburn; Blackpool; Blackrod; Bolton; Brierfield; Brindle; Bryn; Burnley; Burscough; Bury; Castleton; Chorley; Claughton; Clayton Green; Clayton-le-Moors; Clitheroe; Cottam; Croft; Crosby; Croston; Culcheth; Darwen; Euxton; Failsworth; Farnworth; Formby; Garstang; Goosnargh; Great Eccleston; Haslingden; Hindley; Ince Blundell; Ince in Makerfield; Kirkham; Lancaster; Lea; Leigh; Leyland; Littleborough; Lydiate; Lytham; Manchester; Mawdesley; Middleton; Oldham; Orrell; Osbaldeston; Oswaldtwistle; Platt Bridge; Pleasington; Poulton-le-Fylde; Prescot; Preston; Rawtenstall; Ribchester; Rochdale; Royton; Salford; Samlesbury; Scarisbrick; Scorton; Southport; St Helens; Standish; Swinton; Thornley cum Wheatley; Thurnham; Walton le Dale; Warrington; Wesham; Westby; Westhoughton; Whalley Range; Whittle le Woods; Widnes; Wigan; Woolston; Wrightington; Yealand

Entries in the registers are typically organized chronologically and are handwritten. Records that are 110 years old or newer have been redacted for privacy. The collection will be updated annually.

Original data, as documented in this parish list, is from Roman Catholic Parish Registers. Preston, England: Lancashire Archives. Some registers remain in their respective parishes.

 

Information provided on the FMP additions this week is extremely sparse in detail.

Surrey Baptisms
These 12,190 additions from 1785 to 1865 now total 1,789,155 entries.

Middlesex Baptisms
Over 12,000 baptisms from Middlesex, covering 122 years, now totalling 552,735 entries.

Greater London Marriage Index
This week, 2,494 transcriptions (1785 to 1815) were added, now totalling 487,241 entries.

Over 320,000 pages of newspapers were added, including two new titles: the Warwick Courier (1992-1995, 1998) and the Bicester Review (1988-1992, 1996-1998).

 

With AI, like ChatGPT and similar facilities the talk of the town, it’s to be expected that the leaders of genealogical and family history societies would wonder how it could help them. If you believe AI can, wouldn’t it make sense to ask AI? So I asked Claude 3.5 Sonnet, “How can AI help with the operation of a family history society?”

The response.

AI could indeed assist leaders of genealogical and family history societies in several operational aspects:

Membership management: AI can help automate member registration, renewals, and communication.

Event planning: AI could assist in scheduling events, predicting attendance, and optimizing resources.

Content curation: AI can help select and organize relevant content for newsletters, websites, or social media.

Q&A systems: AI chatbots could answer common questions from members about society operations, events, or resources.

Data analysis: AI can analyze membership trends, event participation, and resource usage to inform strategic decisions.

Personalized recommendations: AI could suggest relevant society activities or resources to members based on their interests.

Document organization: AI can help categorize and tag society documents for easier retrieval.

Financial management: AI could assist in budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting for the society.

Volunteer management: AI could help match volunteers with suitable tasks based on their skills and availability.

Meeting summaries: AI could generate summaries of society meetings or transcribe audio recordings.

Would you like me to expand on any of these points or discuss potential implementation challenges?

I asked for more detail on content curation. The response.

Content curation using AI can help society leaders more efficiently manage and distribute relevant information to their members through various channels. Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

1. Topic identification: AI can analyze trends in genealogy and family history, identifying hot topics or emerging areas of interest. This could help societies stay current and provide valuable content to their members.
2. Personalized content selection: By analyzing member profiles, interests, and engagement history, AI can help select content that’s most likely to be relevant to specific segments of the society’s membership.
3. Source aggregation: AI can scan multiple sources (websites, databases, academic journals) to compile relevant articles, research papers, or news items related to genealogy and family history.
4. Content summarization: For longer articles or research papers, AI can generate concise summaries, making it easier for society leaders to quickly assess relevance and for members to decide if they want to read the full piece.
5. Keyword and metadata tagging: AI can automatically tag content with relevant keywords and metadata, making it easier to organize and search for specific topics later.
6. Content scheduling: AI can suggest optimal times to post content on social media or send newsletters based on member engagement patterns.
7. Translation services: For societies with international members, AI can assist in translating content into different languages.
8. Content repurposing: AI can suggest ways to repurpose existing content into different formats (e.g., turning a long article into a series of social media posts or an infographic).
9. Engagement prediction: AI can predict which pieces of content are likely to generate the most engagement among members, helping prioritize what to share.
10. Compliance checking: AI can help ensure that curated content adheres to copyright laws and society guidelines.

Implementation of such a system would require careful consideration of data privacy, the need for human oversight, and the importance of maintaining the society’s unique voice and expertise. The AI would be a tool to assist human curators, not replace them entirely.

Would you like me to elaborate on any specific aspect of AI-assisted content curation for genealogical societies?

What do you think? Are these AI responses helpful?

 

Would you qualify?

Job Title: Professional Genealogist

Job Summary:

We seek a skilled and detail-oriented professional genealogist to conduct thorough family history research for our clients. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in historical research, excellent analytical skills, and the ability to piece together complex family relationships from various sources.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Conduct comprehensive genealogical research using both online and offline resources
2. Analyze and interpret historical documents, records, and data
3. Develop research strategies to overcome genealogical “brick walls”
4. Prepare detailed reports and family trees for clients
5. Maintain accurate and well-documented research files
6. Utilize DNA testing results in genealogical research when applicable
7. Adhere to genealogical proof standards and best practices
8. Communicate findings and progress clearly to clients
9. Stay current with new genealogical resources, methodologies, and technologies

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in History, Library Science, or related field (Master’s preferred)
• Certification from the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) or equivalent experience
• Minimum of 3 years of professional genealogical research experience
• Proficiency in genealogical software and online research databases
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to read and interpret historical documents, including those in foreign languages
• Understanding of genetic genealogy and DNA test interpretation
• Commitment to ongoing professional development and education in the field.

Here are the top-ranked YouTube videos based on views per day for the past week:

Title	Channel	Views per Day
SIR KEIR STARMER’s Family Tree Explained	Mortal Faces	6000
Alison Hammond & Kate Garraway Meet a British Hero (FULL EPISODE)	Ancestry	4800
Joe Biden’s Irish Family Tree	Ancestry	2800
Hitting 100k Subscribers on Genealogy TV	Genealogy TV	1300
The Ten Most Annoying Habits of FamilySearch Family Tree Users	BYU Library Family History	467
Investigative genealogist discusses work with DNA Doe Project	wgaltv	375
Answering DNA Test and Genealogy Questions	Professional Genealogist Reacts	224
10 “Must-Do” Genealogy Projects for July	Ancestral Findings	136

To watch any of these, enter the title on YouTube.

Hot on the heels of the Archdeaconry of Rochester Parish Baptisms is this new collection of 468,500 area burials. These are transcriptions.
Although MyHeritage doesn’t mention where original parish records for the Archdeaconry of Rochester for baptisms, marriages and burials are held, they appear to be at the Medway Archives Centre.
These records are incorporated in Findmypast’s Kent Burials collection, including a few entries with original record images.
For those with a Legacy Family Tree Webinars subscription, a reminder of Helen V. Smith’s presentation and syllabus on Researching in Kent from May.

Whether you’re a casual enthusiast or a serious genealogist, tracing your ancestry and preserving your family’s legacy can be expensive. It doesn’t have to be. Here’s a short list of free and low-cost resources.

A Libray Card
Libraries have books (duh!) and much more. Invaluable free resources for accessing online databases likely include Ancestry, MyHeritage and digitized newspapers, mostly at a library branch. Most offer inter-library loans for obscure books and archival microfilm. Many libraries have knowledgeable staff who can provide guidance. Just ask.

Registration with FamilySearch.org
FamilySearch.org is a free, extensive genealogical resource to access a huge range of resources online from home, and even more online when at FamilySearch Centres and Affiliate Libraries. If you don’t use the Wiki, you’re missing out.

Membership in a “Local” Genealogical Society
Local can be where you live and/or local to areas of ancestral research. Access local knowledge and databases. Leave if the Society no longer meets your needs. No Society wants disgruntled members.

Genealogy software or a robust online family tree builder
There’s no lack of options. Family Tree Maker, RootsMagic, and the latest (free) Legacy Family Tree are the best known. Also free is Gramps. Build your tree online using facilities available from major companies such as Ancestry, Findmypast, and MyHeritage. Don’t overlook collaborative trees from FamilySearch and WikiTree.

Social media, blogs and online forums
Provide platforms for connecting with other researchers and seeking help with brick walls. They offer opportunities to share knowledge, collaborate on research, and stay updated on genealogical news and resources.

This updated database, now with 710,889 entries, contains papers associated with an application for “Freemen” status. The basic information in this database is:

Surname
Date of indenture
Parent or guardian’s name
County of residence
Master’s name.

There are expected OCR errors. Look at this abstract.

How could someone be admitted as a Freeman 15 years before birth? Check the certificate image.

It shows he was admitted in February 1887, having been born after his father was admitted in 1850.

Out of interest, I asked Claude Sonnet for a transcription of the document. The summary was spot on: “The document appears to be a certificate of admission to the Freedom of the City of London, dated 1887, for Herbert John Allcroft.” ChatGPT4o’s transcription also got the 1887 date correct. In both, there were a few (different) transcription errors.

Claire Santry has announced she will no longer be updating her Irish Genealogy News blog. It was my go to place for Ireland genealogy updates. Claire kept her ear to the ground. It was usually where I learned of new Irish resources.

Claire’s announcement on X, Twitter, was followed by posts thanking her for years of posts and wishing her well. I add my thanks and best wishes.

I’ll keep Irish Genealogy News on my blog role for the time being.

I use RootsMagic genealogy software, which has recently been updated to version 10.  An introductory offer I took advantage of is now extended through Sunday, July 14, 2024, at 11:59 PM Mountain Time.

You can purchase RootsMagic 10 at $20 US for existing users, and $29.95 US for new users. Use the discount code ROOTSMAGIC10 at https://www.rootsmagic.com/Store/RootsMagic/

 

Choose from selected free online events in the next five days. All times are ET except as noted. Assume registration in advance is required; check so you’re not disappointed. Find out about many more, mainly US events at Conference Keeper.