It is very sad news to have come out of Immediate Media in the past day. They have announced that the annual Who Do You Think You Are? Live show will not return. This was one of the largest family history event that attracted thousands of family historians to browse the stands and attend the various talks each year.
After ten years, first at Olympia in London and then at the NEC in Birmingham for the last three of those years, the event that took place at the beginning of April this year was the last ever!
The organisers say it was due to financial reasons that they are bowing out and so we must assume that the show, while popular with family historians of all abilities, just couldn't make them money.
I am sure that we shall all miss the event, but perhaps it was just too large a venue.
While it is sad that it has gone there are always other more manageable family history shows to visit, including those up an coming in Yorkshire and the London area being organised by Discover Your Ancestors Magazine and sponsored by TheGenealogist.
There will be FREE talks from a number of experts, to discover more see the talks page on their website: http://yorkshirefamilyhistoryfair.com/free-talks.php
Do you really know who you are? Come and find out – you may be surprised!
TheGenealogist launches millions of new Parish records as well as their New British in India Collection
TheGenealogisthas just announced three important releases to coincide with the Who Do You Think You Are? Live show covering Britain and British India.
Over 2.5 Million people in the latest release of Parish records!
Augmenting the substantial Parish Records that are already available on TheGenealogist comes the release of more than 2.5 million people for two major counties:
Hampshire Parish Records (Bishop’s Transcripts) (886,616 individuals)
This brings their total number of records to 3,199,820 with coverage of
Baptisms: 2,379,836 (1538 to 1940)
Marriages: 495,034 (1538 to 1940)
Burials: 324,950 (1538 to 1940)
Durham Parish Records (1,697,206 individuals)
This brings their total number of records to 1,850,068 with coverage of
Baptisms: 1,253,273 (1556 to 1919)
Marriages: 198,845 (1540 to 1896)
Burials: 397,950 (1538 to 1939)
These will be a boon to Family Historians looking for key events in the lives of their ancestors.
The British in India Collection
The TV series ‘Indian Summers’ starring Julie Walters created in many a fascination with India under British rule. This new record set reveals information about those ancestors that lived in the subcontinent, their lifestyle and the communities that they lived in.
Parish Records of British in India
Headstone Records of British Cemeteries in India
British War Memorials in India
East India Registers
Indian Army and Civil Service Lists
Image Archive - British in India
The release of The British in India Collectionon TheGenealogist now allows family historians to search for ancestors who went out to British India in a very broad-ranging set of resources ranging from the early 1800s up to the 1920s.
These records make up part of the Diamond subscription to TheGenealogist
The latest release adds over one million new parish records.
New Colour Tithe Maps for Surrey in partnership with Surrey History Center
New Colour Tithe Maps for Westmorland in partnership with The National Archives
Parish RecordsWith over 2.5 million Essex Parish Records their latest release makes TheGenealogist the place to go for Essex Research.
The launch of 900,000 new Essex Parish Records transcripts brings the total coverage for that county to over 2.5 million individuals. Spanning the period from 1512 to 2005
These records with our BMDs and Census allow family historians to research ancestors from this eastern part of England with ease.
Also released are over 158,000 Worcestershire Parish Records, bringing Worcestershire’s coverage to over 2 million individuals
Colour Tithe Maps
TheGenealogist.co.uk in conjunction with the Surrey History Centre, has launched the Surrey Colour Tithe Maps.Westmorland Colour Tithe Maps are published in partnership with The National Archives and is just one of the many counties to be conserved and digitised by TheGenealogist. Many more will be published in the forthcoming months.
These releases bring the addition of wonderfully detailed colour tithe maps to complement the online collection of tithe schedules and greyscale maps that have already been so well received by family historians researching where their ancestors lived.
This rich store of land occupation and usage records were created in a massive survey of England and Wales from between 1836 and the early 1850s.
In these early years of the Victorian period, at a time when people were moving from the countryside to the towns, many of the urban areas that we see today as part of cities and towns can be found mapped out as tithable plots. This includes some parts of London and other big cities where cottages and gardens are plotted in the same way as fields and woods are in the countryside.
Farnham Tithe Map
These records are made available online by TheGenealogist in a partnership with The National Archives and several County Record Offices.
Brief History of Tithes
Tithes were an amount of produce given to the church, originally a tenth, then finally it became a tax on the income from the land. This was paid to the Church of England and to some lay people who owned the rights that had previously been due to the dissolved monasteries. In 1866 the majority of England and Wales was still paying what the government recognised was a discredited tax. Before they could legislate, however, they first had to collect details of what people paid - and so all the owners and occupiers of land subject to tithes were recorded and thus this fantastic resource was created.
To check out these new records head over to www.thegenealogist.co.uk
Who Do You Think You Are? Live will run at the NEC from 7 to 9 April. Anita Rani is due to appear on Saturday April 9 at 10.15 to 11:00 and 12.15 to 13:00. To book tickets go to here.
The 38 year-old Countryfile presenter, who is of Punjabi descent but raised in Bradford, was reduced to tears on the WDYTYA? TV programme earlier this year when she heard about the horrific circumstances in which her maternal grandfather, Sant Singh lost his first wife and children during the Partition of India.
TheGenelogist, seen here at a previous year's show.
Mark Bayley of TheGenealogist delivers one of his popular talks
The Society of Genealogists will also be running an extensive programme of talks by leading genealogists over the course of the three day show and they promise that there will be a choice of many different talks to attend covering a vast array of subjects from: Different Research Techniques, How to Record your Findings and Using Parish Registers to My Ancestor was an "Alien," The Luck of the Irish and My Ancestor's made Hats.
Will you be going?
The first celebrity guest appearing at the next annual Who Do You Think You Are? Live show in Birmingham has been officially revealed.
Organisers of WDYTYA?Live have now announced that the television presenter Anita Rani will be taking to the stage to discuss her family history on the final day of the event. The three day show takes place at the Birmingham NEC between 7-9 April.
Although Anita was born in Yorkshire, the 2015 Strictly Come Dancing participant discovered the secrets of her Indian heritage in a very moving and sometimes horrifying episode of the Who Do You Think You Are? television programme in October 2015.
“My experience moved me to my core and from the reaction I had, it impacted most people who watched it, too,” said Anita. “I am very much looking forward to being able to discuss it at the WDYTYA? Live event.”
Anita will be appearing at the show from 10.15am-11am and 12.15pm-1pm on Saturday 9 April. Organisers suggest that, because of demand, it is advisable to book tickets in advance to see these interviews.
The family history show, that has now reached its 10th year, will bring together a wide range of genealogy experts and family history exhibitors from all across the world. If you are planning to attend you can book an admission ticket (£16 for an adult day entry in advance), with workshop tickets priced £2 in advance or £3 on the day by going to their website: http://wdytya.seetickets.com/tour/who-do-you-think-you-are-live
Tickets can also be purchased by phoning 0844 873 7330 (calls cost 7p per minute plus network charges).
Who Do You Think You Are? Photographer: Stephen Perry
At last week's Who Do You Think You Are? Live in among the talks, family history societies, genealogy suppliers and data providers were a delegation from a town council from Surrey that obviously values its history and genealogy.
It would seem that the town of Godalming has launched its own ancestry website at www.godalmingancestry.co.uk and representatives of the town spoke to our writer and handed us a leaflet that interested us so much that we have decided to mention it here.
Perhaps other towns may like to take a leaf from their book and do something similar?
Godalming Ancestry Website at www.godalmingancestry.co.uk
This video has just gone up online after the fantastic Who Do You Think You Are? Live show last week at the NEC.
It gives a great flavour of the event from vendors of genealogy supplies, the talks that took place, new records from data sites and includes Mark Bayley, from TheGenealogist, talking about the new releases that his research site had launched for the event.
For more see www.TheGenealogist.co.uk/News
[embed]https://youtu.be/c6dxZ0YbA68[/embed]
Three days of brilliant family history talks, expert advice, new records and resources to explore have just finished for this year's Who Do You Think You Are? Live.
Held at the new venue for the show at the NEC, Birmingham there was so much more space with wider aisles and the airiness of a more modern venue compared to its old home of Olympia in London.
Many of the visitors to the show seemed happy with the mixture of Genealogical Supplies vendors and Family History Societies on hand, though a few were disappointed to find some FHS from the south-east and also Scotland hadn't managed to make it to the show this year.
The main data subscription sites, however, were there to showcase their various online offerings as was the National Archives, GRO and many more.
Feedback from those visiting seemed to be very positive overall and next year's dates have now been announced as April 7th-9th 2016 back at the NEC.
Reggie Yates, best known for his work as a BBC radio DJ and television presenter, will be at the Who Do You Think You Are? Live show at Birmingham's NEC on the opening day.
Reggie appeared on the TV programme Who Do You Think You Are? last year, in an episode which saw him travel to Ghana to trace his grandfather, Harry Philip Yates. Once there, he unravelled a complicated family history in which Ghanaian culture and British colonialism collided.
Born in London in 1983, the presenter knew very little about his father’s side of the family, after his parents separated when he was just four years old. He grew up with his mother and never met his paternal grandparents, but his Who Do Think You Are? experience made him feel more connected to both his own father and his wider family: “I feel like I’m part of something, and being here and learning about our history has made that even more real.”
During his trip to Ghana, the presenter enlisted the help of historian, Carina Ray, to discover more about the men in his family including George Yates, an Englishman who came over to the Gold Coast to work in the mining industry. Reggie also met his adopted uncle, JB, and spoke to Ghanaian chief Nana about his great grandmother.
Hear Reggie's story
Reggie will be doing a Q and A session with Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine editor, Sarah Williams, to discuss the making of his episode and share his story.
"I was really honoured to take part in Who Do You Think You Are?" Reggie explains, "it was an incredible journey that I took a huge amount from and I'm really looking forward to sharing my experiences."
Meet Reggie and hear first-hand about his experiences at Who Do You Think You Are? Live on Friday 16 April at the NEC! To ensure you don't miss out, book your tickets here