Most people who research UK ancestry find unique databases on findmypast.com/. It has all the same databases as findmypast.co.uk, ones you won’t find elsewhere. A FMP subscription also gives access to the complete collection of British newspapers in the British Newspaper Archive.
If you’d like to try it there’s an opportunity to save 20% on subscriptions to findmypast.com ending on Saturday 15 May.
The discount is for new and returning (lapsed) subscribers only.
For Wednesday’s BIFHSGO London SIG meeting on Zoom we had suggested searching a topic of interest on London Remembers. The aim of the website is to document all the memorials in London. That’s the plaques, monuments, statues, fountains, etc, that commemorate a person, an event, a building.
It has 210 mentions for Canada, 109 for Canadian, 122 Montreal, 13 Ottawa, 183 Toronto, 7 Winnipeg, 2 Saskatoon, 0 Calgary, 41 Vancouver – most related to the sinking of the SS Vancouver.
Does your community have a website that aims to capture all memorials? If so please post a link in the comments.
As mentioned on 2 April, Ancestry was getting behind Findmypast and MyHeritage in their modern UK death indexes. As of 10 May Ancestry has:
England and Wales, Death Index, 1989-2019 with 5,486,849 records. That’s an update from 191,625 to 337,640 index records for 2019 and from 184,548 to 267,155 records for 2018.
Scotland and Northern Ireland, Death Index, 1989-2020 now has 752,902 records.
These are transcriptions typically giving name, gender, age, birth date, last residence, postal code district, and death date from civic records and funeral homes, published with data from GreyPower Deceased Data compiled by Wilmington Millennium.
Here are the latest updated catalogue entries for UK and Ireland (although there are none for Ireland or Scotland)
| Title | Records | Last Updated |
|---|---|---|
| England, Hertfordshire, Marriage Bonds, 1682-1837 | 3,637 | May 11, 2021 |
| England, Middlesex Parish Registers, 1539-1988 | 1,967,944 | May 11, 2021 |
| England, Herefordshire Bishop’s Transcripts, 1583-1898 | 1,449,492 | May 11, 2021 |
| England, Northumberland Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1920 | 100,093 | May 11, 2021 |
| England, Lancashire, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1746-1799 | 3,392 | May 11, 2021 |
| England, Essex Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1971 | 106,912 | May 10, 2021 |
| England, Gloucestershire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1642-1996 | 133,122 | May 10, 2021 |
| England, Lincolnshire, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1574-1885 | 71,717 | May 10, 2021 |
| Wales, Marriage Bonds, 1650-1900 | 207,779 | May 3, 2021 |
Thanks to two helpful readers I was able to get a view of the recent article in Polar Record reporting on the DNA identification a Frankin Expedition crew member.
Y-DNA was extracted from a molar found at site NgLj-3 at Erebus Bay, King William Island, identified on a map here on page 10.
There was a perfect STR match at all 19 markers with a person identified genealogically as a descendant of John Gregory. Unsurprisingly, using Witt Athey’s Predictor the Y-haplogroup is R1b.
Most markers are exactly on the modal number of repeats. The largest deviation is for DYS576 which is 4 below the modal and occurs in less than 1% of samples according to https://yhrd.org/tools/marker/DYS576.
The paper estimates the odds are 47,030 more likely that there is a paternal relationship than not.
Mitochondrial DNA is also mentioned but no quantitative results given. Nor are results, even haplogroups given for other Y-DNA analysis.
The article also includes a facial reconstruction previously published here based on a skull, not on DNA.
Open, Global Genealogy is the theme of this conference, being held in two virtual three-hour sessions via Zoom, on Saturday 22 May and Saturday 29 May. Both sessions start at 11 am ET.
Register your interest by completing this form. http://ow.ly/u48S50Eb0fz
Wednesday 12 May, 7 p.m; The Assassination of D’Arcy McGee, by James Powell for the Historical Society of Ottawa.
https://www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/activities/events/eventdetail/34/16,17,19,21/the-assassination-of-d-arcy-mcgee
Too late to be included in the regular weekly event listing are these free Irish presentations online via Irish Genealogy News.
Wednesday 12 May: Ireland in Flanders: Men from the island of Ireland during the First World, with Piet Chielens, director of the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres. Host: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. All welcome. Free. 3pm ET. Need to register.
Thursday 13 May: From Turmoil to Truce: Photographs of the War of Independence, an online tour. Host: National Library of Ireland Photographic Archive. 6am ET. Free. All welcome. Need to book.
Thursday 13 May: Recovering the Voices of West Cork in the American Civil War, with Dr Damien Shiels. Host: Dúchas Clonakilty Heritage. An online lecture, starting at 3:30pm ET. Free. All welcome. Need to register. Details.
Thursday 13 May: Online book launch: Shadows from the Trenches – Veterans of the Great War and the Irish Revolution by Emmanuel Destenay. In conversation with Professor William Murphy. Host: UCD Press. 2pm ET. All welcome. Need to register.
Friday 14 May: From Speed to the OS: Surveying the Streets through the Irish Historic Towns Atlas, with Sarah Gearty. Host: Carti Cymru 2021 symposium (12-14 May), National Library of Wales. Free but need tickets. 8am ET. Online.
Saturday 15 May: Emigrants and Exiles, the East Galway Story, a day conference. A range of speakers composed of descendants and academics will gather virtually across the diaspora to share their stories and the stories of their communities. Host: Trasna na Tíre. On Zoom. 6am ET. Free. Download programme pdf. Registration.
Tuesday 11 May 2021 —
Happy Census Day in Canada.
Whether you got the short or long-form, remember that the return will only be used for statistical purposes for 92 years. I recommend making a copy of your return and keeping it with your family records.
Choose from free online events in the next five days. All times are ET except as noted. Those in red are Canadian, bolded if local to Ottawa. Assume registration in advance is required; check so you’re not disappointed.
Tuesday 11 May, 2 pm: Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, from Ottawa Branch of OGS and The Ottawa Public Library. https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/.
Tuesday 11 May, 2 pm: Latest updates to MyHeritage Genetic Groups, by Daniel Horowitz for MyHeritage. https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1692
Tuesday 11 May, 2:30 pm: Find Your American Ancestor Using Canadian Records, by Kathryn Lake Hogan for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. https://acpl.libnet.info/event/5087318
Tuesday 11 May, 7 pm: Finding Our Female Ancestors, by Cindi Moynahan-Foreman for Essex Branch OGS. https://essex.ogs.on.ca/events/essexoa-may-presentation/
Wednesday 12 May, 11 am: Monthly Genealogy Q&A with Myko Clelland for Findmypast. https://www.facebook.com/findmypast
Wednesday 12 May, 8pm: DNA Downer: Strategies for Dealing with DNA Fatigue, by Blaine Bettinger for Legacy Family Tree Webinars. https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1627
Thursday 13 May, 6:30 pm: Reverse Genealogy: Finding Cousins and Chasing the Living, by Nicka Smith for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. https://acpl.libnet.info/event/5087326
Thursday 13 May, 7 pm: Findmypast, what’s new and how to get more information, by Jen Baldwin of Findmypast for Lambton Branch OGS. https://lambton.ogs.on.ca/calendar/lambton-branch-findmypass-what-new-and-how-to-get-more-information-with-jen-baldwin/
Friday 14 May, 7 pm: Life Transitions Cemetery Video Series, by James MacNeil for Kent Branch OGS. https://kent.ogs.on.ca/events/life-transitions-cemetery-video-series/
Saturday 15 May, 10 am: Kingston Frontenac Public Library: Around the Room in 40 Bookmarks, by Joanne Stanbridge for Kingston Branch OGS. https://kingston.ogs.on.ca/
LOOKING AHEAD
4 — 6 June 2021: OGS Conference. conference.ogs.on.ca
19 – 26 September 2021: BIFHSGO Conference. Irish Lines and Female Finds: Exploring Irish records, female ancestors and genetic genealogy. www.bifhsgo2021.ca/.
Deaths in the Second World War were more age-concentrated than in the First World War. That’s based on data from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission,
Why?
I’m saddened to pass along news of the passing of Dolly Allen (nee Wilson) on Friday, May 7, 2021.
Into her 90s, Dolly was the kind of member any society would wish for. She excelled in transcribing and indexing materials for the Ottawa Branch of OGS. More than 100 items in the Ottawa Branch library catalogue dating from the 1980s to the 2000s have her name attached. Dolly served on the Branch Council for many years as the librarian and volunteered for Gene-O-Rama and other genealogical events. Until recent years she was a frequent attendee at Ottawa Branch meetings.
She will be interred in the family plot at Ramsayville (Bethany United), a cemetery that has her name attached as a transcriber.
