Here's our tip for the week. Once you have collected those precious documents, photos and other memorabilia as part of your family history research, it's worth remembering to keep it safe and protected! For example, standard PVC sleeves can suffer from leaching of plasticizer, which will lift print off pages and ruin your valuable material.
To ensure that your collection of certificates and research documents are preserved in pristine condition, they should be kept in specialist binders with inert, archival quality sleeves. This keeps them in the best condition possible whilst still making them accessible, should you need to check your sources or share your research with friends and family.
I use the binders from S&N Genealogy Supplies. I particularly like the new A4 Springback binders they offer. Unlike ring binders, you don't have to punch any holes in the paper - you simply choose the sheets you want, fold the covers of the binder back, and place the paper into the spine. You can add or remove pages as many times as you like.
This binder has hardback covers with an acid-free lining, and has a 25mm capacity, which can hold up to 200 A4 pages. There's more details available here. Do you have any tips or advice that you use to protect all your valuable research?
Oxfordshire Family History Society has launched a new project offering two free DNA tests to members of their society. It is open to members only who have at least 3 generations of Oxfordshire ancestors going back into the mid-19th century or earlier.
All you have to do is submit 400-600 words on why you feel a DNA test would be useful to help you discover more about your Oxfordshire family/families using DNA, including a short summary on your family and your family history 'brick walls'. Send to [email protected] before 30th May 2013. Terms and conditions apply and are available from the Editor of the Oxfordshire society.
If you are not yet a member of the family history society, but have Oxfordshire ancestors and want to enter the competition, then why not join? It's well worth the cost of the membership to have a chance of winning a DNA test. See www.ofhs.org.uk for membership details.
If you'd like more information in general regarding DNA testing for family history research, please use this link.
Latest news from the National Archives is the proposed new release of more colonial administration records, covering the many territories under British administration before they gained independence. The National Archives is working with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to transfer and begin releasing these records, referred to as the 'migrated archives', between April 2012 and November 2013.The records cover a wide range of subject matter relating to colonial administration. The material reflects events in the territories generally pre-independence and reflects Her Majesty's Government's views at the time.The records are being released in tranches. The fifth tranche of files will be made available on site at The National Archives from Friday 26 April 2013. This release will contain records from Ceylon, Kenya, Malta, Mauritius, New Hebrides, Nigeria, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Palestine, Sierra Leone and Singapore.
Well worth taking a look if you had ancestors living in these countries pre-independence! There's more on the National Archives website.
The programme of local family history fairs for 2013 starts off with a 'Family history day' this Sunday 14th April, run by the Northern branch of the Wiltshire Family History Society. It runs from 10am to 3pm and is at the Haydon Centre, Haydon Wick, Swindon. There's a talk on 'The workhouse- the lot of the poor' by Barbara Fuller and 'Asylums and their Records' by David Chilton.
It promises to be a good day, if you're in the area, it's well worth a visit. There's more information on their website.
Latest news from The National Archives at Kew. Over the last few months they have been digitising part of the WO 95 record series which consists of unit war diaries from the First World War. The project has now been completed. The series is apparently one of the most requested in their reading rooms and digitising these diaries will enable them to publish online, making them more accessible for the First World War centenary commemorations happening next year.
There's more details available from the National Archives website here.
First World War Unit Diary digitisation now complete
The British Library is to 'harvest' billions of web pages, blogs and e-books in a bid to preserve and document the nation's 'digital memory'.
For centuries, the library has kept a copy of every book, pamphlet, magazine and newspaper published in Britain.
It will also be bound by new regulations to harvest the entire UK web domain to document current events and record the country's burgeoning collection of online cultural and intellectual works.
The British Library, which has invested £3million in the project during the past two years, plans to collect the material by conducting an annual trawl of the UK web domain - every website ending with '.uk'. It will harvest information from another 200 sites - such as online newspapers or journals - on a more regular basis, as often as once a day.
There's more on the British Library website. What do you think? Is it a great idea to document modern day life in this way?
TheGenealogist has just added another 10 million individuals to their collection of Death Transcripts - this brings the total to over 68 million records, and takes the transcripts now back to 1880!
These transcripts can be used with a tool that lets you search across all the Birth, Marriage and Death transcripts, with built in SmartSearch technology, automatically showing the partner's full name where available, and enabling you to find potential parents from a birth, potential children to a marriage and potential birth records from a death record. To find out more and see how the SmartSearch works go to TheGenealogist website.
If your family history involves tracing relatives from Scotland, it could be worth reading up on some advice and guidance from a recognised expert. Scottish Genealogy by Bruce Durie is the comprehensive guide to tracing your family history in Scotland, and is written by one of the most authoritative figures on the subject.
The work is based on established genealogical practice and is designed to exploit the rich resources that Scotland has to offer.
All people who claim Scottish ancestry will find something in this book to challenge and stimulate. Informative and entertaining, this updated edition is the definitive reader-friendly guide to genealogy and family history in Scotland. It's currently available at Genealogy Supplies at a reduced price so well worth a look.
Discovering the gravestone of a long lost ancestor can be a big event for the family history researcher. There can be so much information to be learned from the wording on the gravestone.
You can learn a lot by reading your ancestor’s gravestone. Sometimes, though, a genealogist will arrive at the cemetery and find that the gravestone they were hoping to read is covered with overgrown plants or weeds and other debris. However, the attempt to clean off the gravestone must be carried out with the utmost care as damage can easily be accidentally done.
Genealogists need to realise that gravestones, especially really old ones, are fragile and easily damaged. Don’t let your excitement about finally locating your ancestor’s grave, make you accidentally damage it in your haste to read the lettering!
To summarise, gentleness is the key. You are going to have to be patient when cleaning off a gravestone. Much can be achieved by using a soft sponge that has been soaked in just cold water, stay clear of the chemicals and other cleaning products! The gravestones are composed of minerals and salts, adding chemicals can often cause a chemical reaction that will erode the stone faster than if you just left it alone. A little bit of careful scrubbing can ease away the dirt and grime that has collected on the headstone.The clear finished result will be worth it, especially if you are then able to read a list of your ancestors to add to your records!
