Reading through the latest issue of the monthly journal from the Society of Genealogists, there's a few interesting courses and lectures scheduled in over the next couple of weeks. On the 22 June, Simon Fowler gives a talk on 'Making the Best Use of The National Archives Website' and on the 29th June, AlecTritton talks about 'Nonconformist Ancestors - including 19th Century Sects'.
More details on both these talks and other events can be found on the Society of Genealogists website.
Most family historians will have a large digital collection of old family photographs stored on their PCs or data storage drives. Some of the photos may have been given to you. It may be the case you are not sure who all the people are in the photographs or even where the photographs came from. For the ever-curious family historian, there is the thought if anyone else in the world has the same photograph and if they have more knowledge on the people pictured in the photos.
With this in mind, it's worth taking a look at the website TinEye.com
You simply submit an image and it will tell you if there is a copy of the exact image anywhere else on the internet. TinEye can be a fun way to stumble upon distant living relatives and can be a way to break down those occasional genealogical brick-walls we all come across!
Further to the merger a couple of years ago between the National Archives of Scotland and the General Register Office for Scotland, it appears there is finally one cohesive website with information about both organisations in one convenient place under the name of 'The National Records of Scotland'.
Tim Ellis, the new Registrar General of the Archives, has just announced that the NRS now has a more dedicated main portal site up and running at http://nrscotland.gov.uk. This web address previously led to a site that told you there had been a merger and contained links to the old GRO and National Archives websites. Now there is substantially more information available to view on the new site on areas such as Valuation Rolls and Census Information for example. To find out more trythe following link.
For those family historians who like to keep up with the latest events, the latest S&N Email News is now out. With some interesting articles and some great product discounts it's well worth a look. The latest articles are on the recent Dambuster Raid records now online, new pilot records from the early aviators and a feature on the Chelsea Flower Show. To see the latest newsletter and to sign up click here.
Harry Veitch, one of the founders of The Chelsea Flower Show
The National Archives have recently made a podcast available to download for those interested in Scottish history around the time of William Wallace.
The talk featured on the podcast is given by leading historian John Reuben Davies, who has published a number of works on Scottish and Welsh ecclesiastical history. He covers the time of crisis in Scotland following the death of Alexander III leading to the eventual conquest by Edward I. The podcast can be found by clicking on this link.
To celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the famous wartime raid, new online records of the Dambusters Raid are now available on TheGenealogist
To coincide with recent commemorations of the RAF raid on the industrialised areas of the German heartland, TheGenealogist has now made available full online records of one of the most daring bomber raids of World War Two.
Aircrew from RAF 617 Squadron, the Dambusters
Prior to the start of the war, the British Air Ministry identified Germany’s heavily industrialised Ruhr Valley and especially the dams as important strategic targets. Repeated air strikes with large bombs could be effective but Bomber Command had struggled for accuracy in the face of heavy enemy fire. Finally ‘Operation Chastise’ was devised using a specially designed ‘bouncing bomb’ invented and developed by Barnes Wallis.
Full details of the Operation Record Book have now been made available to view online. It provides an in-depth analysis of the mission which went on to achieve legendary recognition. The fascinating information includes an account of each aircraft’s flight, including full crew list and details of the awards made to each of the crew members after the mission.
This new resource is ideal if you had a relative involved with 617 Squadron (the famous Dambuster Squadron), or if you are interested in one of the most iconic RAF missions of World War Two. There's more details available here.
Written by experienced family historian, David T Hawkins, to commemorate the 225th anniversary in 2012 of the sailing of the eleven vessels of the First Fleet from England, bound for Australia, this book is a must read for all those with any Australian ancestors.
From the arrival of the first 778 convicts in 1788, to the end of transportation in 1868, a staggering 165,000 criminals were sent to Australia for a range of crimes.In addition to those transported, hundreds of thousands of free persons emigrated from Britain and Ireland to colonies in Australia. With the vast distance involved, few people returned and many now have descendants living in Australia.
Tracing those descendants can be a huge task and that's were this book is so useful. First of all it looks at convict records - what to search for, the types of records that can be located and the actual court record proceedings with some actual examples.There's also admiralty records of the 'hulks' the prisoners were stored upon and then the ships they were transported upon.
The book looks at the voyage to Australia, giving a fascinating insight into the tough journey. Aside from convicts there is a look into other early settlers, records of officials and examples of those people who returned to Britain.
The book is a recommended useful guidebook for those people looking to trace Australian ancestry or who may have discovered a relative who was convicted and transported in the late 1700s and early 1800s. It's very thorough and provides useful pointers for what you can find and where to search to find those all important records. The book is available priced £20 from S&N Genealogy Supplies at the S&N Genealogy website.
Latest news from The National Archives is that there are a number of new, previously top secret files from the past now available to view by the public. The files contain records of the role of British Intelligence in World War 2 and the period during the early Cold War.
463 pieces from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office are now available covering the years 1939 to 1951 as well as a selection from 1903 to 1913.
Some of the fascinating subjects covered in the files include the assassination priorities of Operation Overlord (D-Day) suggesting targets such as German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and the security matters relating to Wallis Simpson and the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936.
There's more information about the new available files from The TNA website.
New secret files released by The National Archives
The 2013 'Readers' Choice Awards' winners have been announced by the website About.com. It was good to see my preferred choice of genealogy software, RootsMagic, do well in the reader awards. It is significant recognition following the launch of the version 6 of the software and shows RootsMagic is as popular as ever.
RootsMagic was formally declared the 'Best Genealogy Software for Windows' and was also voted in first place for the new RootsMagic App (for iPhone or iPad), voted top in the 'Best Online Genealogy or Mobile App' category.
You can read more about it on the About.com website
The dates for Who Do You Think You Are? Live at London Olympia have been announced for 2014. The show will run next year from Thursday 20 to Saturday 22 February, a change from the usual Friday to Sunday schedule. It'll be interesting to see if the change in show days has any effect on attendances, we'll find out next February. If you want to sign up to the official newsletter to keep up with the latest news, there's more details on the official site.
