This Sunday the 25th January 2015, if you are in the area, why not head along to the Bracknell Family history Fair?
Many stalls and talks given by experts. Well worth a look!
The world's largest Family History show is being staged at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre this year from the 16th to the 18th April 2015, moving to the Midlands after many years exhibiting in London.
Tickets are on sale at: http://www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.com/
On this day in 1916 the German Navy's battle cruisers bombarded the north east of England.
The Germans had hoped that the raid would draw out the Royal Navy’s capital ships in pursuit of the raiders and so forcing them into engaging in a sea battle. Their tactic was for a large number of ships of the German High Seas Fleet to join the fight by following on behind.
The British force, however, managed to avoid being drawn into an unbalanced fight with the bulk of the German fleet. Unfortunately for the towns attacked, signalling errors and deteriorating weather meant that the raiding ships managed to slip the Royal Navy's attempt to intercept them. The tragedy was that nearly 140 people – predominantly civilians – were killed and 600 were injured.
Searching TheGenealogist website, I have found a contemporary report in one of the newspapers and magazines on this site which give a flavour of how enemy actions were reported in Britain. The Great War periodical gives us the sense of British outrage, at the time, under the no holds bared title of Crimes Germany has committed.
The Great War Issue 87 on TheGenealogist
"The Bombardment by German warships of the coast towns of Scarborough, Whitby, and the Hartlepools, on the morning of December 16th, 1914, was a murderous act of barbarism."
and later...
"A Berlin newspaper proclaimed this wholesale slaughter to be 'a further proof of the gallantry of the German Navy"
If you are researching ancestors from the First World War then the articles in these publications on TheGenealogist can be very useful to fill in background and sometimes find an ancestor named in a report.
If you've got an old selection of slides and negatives that have been passed down through the generations, it's often a hassle having to get out those bulky slide projectors or back-lit panels. However, with the Slide, Negative & Film Scanner you can view these old gems quickly and easily.
Simply connect via a USB cable to transfer images to your computer. These stand alone scanners store your pictures on a memory card which can then be transferred to your computer by a USB lead.
There's also some good offers to be had at the moment too. S&N Genealogy Supplies have a special offer this weekend on the 'Slide, Negative and Film Scanner Premium Bundle'. You can save over £245 with this current special offer. The Premium Bundle contains everything you need to digitise your slides, negatives and films. Visit their 'Offer of the Week' page to find out more.
Special offer this week on the Slide, Negative & Film scanner from S&N
I came across the following helpful explanation of the relationships that occur in our family tree. For the less experienced genealogists, it's a quick helpful guide into knowing who is related to whom in your family tree, particularly invaluable as your family tree grows in size as you develop your research.
The You Tube channel provided by CGP Grey offers a number of explanations on all sorts of questions. The video below explains the links in our family history and how to summarise your family tree.
As family historians we collect numerous valuable documents and heirlooms in our family history quest. With those family documents it's worth ensuring you keep a copy on file in case the worst happens and your collection gets damaged. One way of doing this is to use the Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner. The scanner allows you to digitise framed photos, albums, medals and pictures larger than the scanner if required.
S&N Genealogy Supplies have produced a demonstration video on the use of the Flip-Pal Scanner which can be viewed below. Have you used a Flip-Pal? What did you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
Today sees the continuation of the live web chat series on the Who Do You Think You Are? magazine website with the Head of Online Content from TheGenealogist, Mark Bayley, featuring today and answering any questions from family historians.
Mark will be offering help and advice from 1pm to 2pm today and more details can be found on the Who Do You Think You Are? website
Mark Bayley answering questions on the Who Do You Think You Are? magazine web chat
Continuing the series of help and instructional videos, Mark Bayley from TheGenealogist has released a short video looking at how to search by address or street on the Census records using the excellent Master Search tools on TheGenealogist.co.uk
Also the £50 cashback offer is still available, visit TheGenealogist to take advantage of the limited time offer of a reduced price subscription.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyrtCNfPdPA
Once you’ve found those precious records of ancestors, after often painstaking research, the next important task is to ensure they are stored and protected safely. Standard PVC sleeves can suffer from leaching of plasticizer which lifts print off pages and ruins those valuable certificates.
To ensure your collection of certificates and research documents are preserved in pristine condition, we’ve listed 5 tools that every family historian should have in their possession to guard against damage to those precious documents.
Certificate Binders
High-quality ring binders are available in standard A3 and A4 sizes, or the specially designed ‘Long Certificate’ binders (which can hold both the old ‘long’ style and the new style A4 certificates. A binder is essential to protect certificates or photos or any other memorabilia.
Springback Binders
Unlike ring binders, you don’t have to punch any holes in the paper- 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.
Storage Boxes
If you have objects or memorabilia that won’t fit into a binder, it’s worth looking at a special storage box, designed to protect your items from damage. Certain specialist boxes come lined with lignin-free paper and are designed to protect against acidity and sulphur in the air.
Acid free pens and paper
Another tip is to use acid free pens which can be used to write on most surfaces such as photographs, charts, paper or card without causing worry or damage.
Acid free photo tape and glue
If you need to stick or repair any documents, it is essential to use acid free tape to help preserve those documents. Ensure you use non-yellowing tape as this can really ruin the look of your old original and make it hard to read.
Brass Archival Paperclips (non rusting)
We all like to keep our documents and notes together. For particularly valuable and fragile documents, if you want to keep them together with paperclips, be sure to use archival paperclips which are non rusting and not liable to leave a mark on your research material!
Archival Cotton Gloves
Finally, to handle all those precious keepsakes and documents, it’s worth investing in a pair of archival quality protective gloves, avoiding any unnecessary damage caused by the natural acidity of bare skin.
S&N Genealogy Supplies provide a full range of archival supplies to help you protect your valuable research. Find out more at the S&N website.
Can you think of any other invaluable tools that can help family historians protect their documents and keepsakes? Let us know in the comments below!
Full range of archival storage products available from S&N Genealogy
The latest Email News from S&N Genealogy is now available to download. It contains details on a special 'Competitive Upgrade offer' and news on nearly 2,000 images of churches added to the Image Archive on TheGenealogist from 1870 to 1920.
There's also news on over half a million new parish record transcripts added to the website this month and some great offers on A3 Family History Binders and Window Springback Binders.
Take a look at the newsletter at http://www.genealogysupplies.com/email_news.htm
