Looking at other forums and blogs there has been a mixed reaction to the format used by Who Do You Think You Are? of just concentrating on a few members of the family of a celebrity. However, last night's programme, despite the lack of parish records and the 'ready made' family trees given straight to the celebrity, was still very interesting- simply due to the fact on Marianne Faithfull's maternal Austro-Hungarian side they lived in a time of firstly, artistic freedom and decadence, then political upheavals and then the Nazi persecution of Jews and Russian reprisals.
The story was one of drama and often danger, but one filled with determination and human resilience to survive. It added another dimension to many peoples' views of Marianne Faithfull and maybe explains the problems she has faced in her life. What did you think of last night's show?
The penultimate episode of 'Who Do You Think You Are? features iconic 60s singer, songwriter and actress Marianne Faithfull.
60s iconic star Marianne Faithfull
The programme looks to be concentrating on her maternal side who were of Austro-Hungarian aristocratic descent. The 'von Sacher-Masoch' family contained a number of writers and literary experts and Marianne's grandfather was also a war hero for Germany in the First World War. This partly kept them from Nazi persecution as they had some Jewish forebears in the family but their existence in Vienna in the 1940s was precarious as they quietly opposed the regime, distributing anti-Nazi leaflets.
It promises to be another interesting episode and is on BBC1 tonight at 9pm. If you'd like a preview, there's an interesting article on TheGenealogist at http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/wdytya2013_faithfull.php
There's a new beta version available to view on The National Archives website of their 'new look' forthcoming website, available from the end of September.
In the word of the TNA - "the new design will improve the experience of users on modern devices including smartphones and tablets. It will also include a new expanded menu, enabling quicker access into content, and be presented in simpler and clearer page layout."
Take a look at http://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ and see what you think.
Tomorrow (Saturday 14th September) sees the North West Group of Family History Societies and Lancashire Family History & Heraldry Society (who are proudly celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2013) presenting their Family History Day Fair in Blackburn, entitled "From Cradle to Grave".
It's at King George's Hall, Northgate, Blackburn from 10am to 4pm and entry is £3.00. There's some great speakers lined up including Mark Bayley from TheGenealogist, Ian Hartas talking about BMDs on the Internet and Dr Brenda Hustler is exploring Irish ancestry. There's more information at http://www.lfhhs.org/home.php If you're in the area, why not make it along?
Last night's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? was full of twists and turns as Sarah Millican's ancestors experienced hazards and dangers from off the coast of Kent to the Hudson Bay in Canada before settling down in South Shields in the North East.
Sarah experienced a taste of the life her ancestors went through, wearing snow boots in Canada to trying on a diver's suit similar to the one her 3x Great Grandfather James Hoult used in his working life. It was an eventful and emotional episode, particularly the near death experience and gruesome injuries of her ancestor, John Malcolm. What did you think? If you missed it, the programme is available on the BBC iPlayer.
Sarah Millican's episode on Who Do You Think You Are? took her on a wide journey far from South Shields
Latest news from TheGenealogist and S&N Genealogy Supplies is they are proud to be sponsoring the new “Echoes of the Past” show that will be helping promote family history in Lincolnshire. ‘Echoes of the Past’ promises to be the first major family history show for the county. TheGenealogist and S&N will be providing specialist help, talks and advice on the day, both companies will have products and special offers available to visitors.
Echoes of the Past is a brand new event that will be at the Epic Centre, Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln on Sunday 27th October 2013 from 10am to 4pm.
‘Echoes of the Past’ will also feature the Lincolnshire Family History Society, Lincolnshire Archives, professional Genealogists and the Lincolnshire Aviation Centre.
Nigel Bayley, Managing Director of TheGenealogist and S&N Genealogy comments: “We are delighted to join forces with ‘Echoes of the Past’ in their new venture in Lincolnshire. It promises to be a great event for anyone interested in family history in the Lincolnshire area and we look forward to helping the organisers establish this as the premier genealogy event for the Lincolnshire area”.
New Echoes of the Past family history event in October
Tonight at 9pm sees the next episode of 'Who Do You Think You Are? on BBC1. Comedienne and writer, Sarah Millican features in a tale that stretches far beyond her established South Shields immediate family.
The 38-year-old, who is currently preparing for a 138-date UK tour, doesn’t have to wait long for her ticket out of South Tyneside – heading from her parents’ house in South Shields to Whitstable in Kent to find out about her maternal, three-times great-grandfather, James Hoult. He was one of the very first divers in the 1800s and his dangerous profession took him down to inspect a number of shipwrecks in the North Sea.
Sarah also travels to Canada where she finds her four-times great-grandfather, John Malcolm, worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company, the oldest commercial corporation in North America . As part of his very tough job, he was sent to a remote outpost involved in the fur trade.
It promises to be another great episode. If you'd like a taster before the show, TheGenealogist has looked into the background family history on Sarah Millican at http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/wdytya2013_millican.php
Sarah Millican and her family tree on Who Do You Think You Are?
The 'Society of Genealogists' based in London has recently created an award for those people making an outstanding contribution to the field of family history research. Details of the 2013 award from the Society are as follows:
"A special Certificate of Recognition has been newly created by the Society of Genealogists to recognise exceptional contributions to genealogy by individuals and institutions worldwide. In the first year nomination forms were made available to Fellows of the Society for their suggestions and four candidates have been recognised by the newly formed awards panel for the new Certificate in 2013. The successful candidates were:
Dick Eastman for having the vision to promote family history through the CompuServe Genealogy Forum and by founding and maintaining the daily Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter.
Dr Hugh Kearsey for actively ensuring a wider availability of materials enabling others to pursue family history in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.
Rosemary Cleaver for her continuous back-room contributions to all aspects of the West Surrey Family History Society over many years.
The Polish Archive of Przemyślu in recognition of outstanding maintenance of local family records, particularly appertaining to Akcja Wisła (Operation Vistula) was the codename for the 1947 forced resettlment of post-war Poland’s Ukranian Minority carried out by Soviet controlled Polish Communist Authorities) and in the efforts to making them accessible to researchers from far and wide.
Formal presentations will be arranged over the coming months."
Congratulations to the winners this year from Family History Social for their well-deserved awards!
Nominations for 2014 are now open to the public and forms (along with nomination guidelines) are available from the Chief Executive, June Perrin at [email protected]
Latest news from TheGenealogist is the release of over one million Apprentice and Master records. It's a useful set of records if you had an ancestor who went through training to become a skilled worker, as many people did.
This is the largest searchable collection of apprentice records available online, allowing you to view how your ancestors developed their skills and also if they became a master in their profession.
The new addition of apprenticeship records on TheGenealogist now makes over two million searchable records available to view including the apprentices from the census. These can both be searched together by using the keyword “apprentice” in TheGenealogist’s Master Search.
The site helps you find detailed records relating to the occupation of your ancestor. This is the first time you can find apprentices from a whole range of records between 1710 and 1911. The detailed records in IR1 cover the years from 1710 to 1811 giving name, addresses and trades of the masters, the names of the apprentices, along with the sum the master received and the term of the apprenticeship. Until 1752, it was also common to see the names of the apprentices’ parents on the record (often including their occupations).
The new records are available to Diamond subscribers in the Master Search and under the ‘Occupation Records’ section. For more information go to http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/aug13_apprentices.php
New apprenticeship records now available on TheGenealogist
Last night's episode of 'Who Do You Think You Are?' featuring Nitin Ganatra was a real international trip crossing continents. Nitin's family history journey involved visiting both Kenya and India as he explored the lives of his ancestors. It was an emotional journey as the tale showed the hard lives of his forebears as they worked on the Kenyan Railway and also battled to escape famine and ill-health in India at the turn of the century.
To travel back and speak to a village elder aged over 100 years old who remembered the Ganatra family did make the episode particularly fascinating. The poor record keeping in India over the years did make this programme more about what can be discovered through different channels of research, including speaking to elders, rather than the standard record sources we normally see used by the celebrities.
All told it was a very unusual but still fascinating episode. Comedienne Sarah Millican is the celebrity featured next week!
A fascinating and emotional journey with Nitin Ganatra on Who Do You Think You Are?
