A handy tip for all those new to family history research is always be alert to the fact an ancestor could appear on a census listing more than once. If your ancestor moved around a bit, or lived an unconventional lifestyle there is always the chance they may have ended up listed in the census more than once.
A case in point is that of daring early aviator and showman, Samuel Franklin Cody. American born but living and working in Britain around the turn of the 20th Century. Before becoming employed by The British Army, he worked with his family on a wild west show and regularly toured around Britain and Europe. Samuel Cody then became interested in aviation and subsequently became one of the leading pioneers of British aviation.
Samuel Franklin Cody, leading aviator and showman
However, around 1901, the Cody family, with their show and their lifestyle, inevitably meant moving about quite a bit which may explain his two entries in the 1901 census. Both entries are from the Cheshire census and it looks like the Cody family may have had two temporary places of accommodation as they took their show around the North West of England. Both Samuel (senior) and his son Samuel Frank Leslie Cody appear listed on the 1901 census records in the screenshot below from TheGenealogist.
Samuel Cody 1901 census entries on TheGenealogist
This famous example shows what can occur so always look out for those duplicate records!
One of the latest podcasts available from The National Archives covers that all too frequent problem for family historians- hitting those genealogical brick walls. This podcast from Dave Annal provides some strategies to help you get around those brick walls and dead ends in your research.
Dave Annal pays particular attention to getting the most out of online databases and advanced techniques such as 'family reconstruction'. If you'd like to find out more you can listen to the podcast at the TNA website hereDave Annal worked at the National Archives for ten years, at the Family Records Centre and at Kew. He is now a resident expert on Your Family History magazine.
This forthcoming Saturday (15th June) sees the Southern Family History Day run by the Wiltshire Family History Society. It's at Wilton Community Centre, Wilton, SP2 0DG from 10am to 3.30pm and entry is free.
There will be a number of Wiltshire Family History Society books and publications as well as a selection of other suppliers. There is also a couple of free talks well worth going along to see. Jean Bunting of the Census Detectives has a talk on 'Making sense of the Census' at 11am and Mark Bayley from S&N Genealogy is giving a talk on 'Breaking down those brick walls' at 1pm.
There is free parking on site, so if you're in the area make sure you go along! There's more information at the Wiltshire Family History Society website
Our weekly book review takes a look at Family History for beginners by Karen Foy. This book is a perfect introduction to looking into your family tree. For the beginner, it has some ideal tips on the best way to go about researching your family history.
Looking firstly at how to get the most information from living relatives, to working your way through the large amount of census data to the ideal ways to store the data you collect, the book is the ideal companion those embarking on the fascinating hobby of family history research.
The book concludes by looking at the next level of research, beyond birth, marriages and deaths and the census records, illustrating what other records are available to get access to. Looking at areas such as occupations, emigration and military records, the book gives the beginner the knowledge to start their research in the most effective way.
The book is available from S&N Genealogy Supplies priced £14.99 from their website.
There’s an extensive range of pilot records now on TheGenealogist ranging from 1909 to 1926, looking at Aero Club members, Aeronaut certificates, airship certificates and the all too frequent fatalities as our forebears strove to master the skies and to get their places in the history books. From Geoffrey de Havilland, to Charles Rolls of Rolls-Royce fame, Samuel Cody to war veterans Edwin Moon and Albert Ball, TheGenealogist can now provide a number of fascinating records of the race for the skies.
The new releases now join the ‘Who’s Who in Aviation’ record sets and the Air Force lists in a comprehensive aviation collection on TheGenealogist.
There's more information available here.
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.
