QFHS Snippets - January 2013 Volume 13, No. 1
QFHS Snippets - January 2013 Volume 13, No. 1
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Happy New Year!
Our library at Gaythorne will re-open on Monday, 14 January.
Make your booking to play the Trout game and learn about genealogy resources.
Gain tips on using Trove more effectively.
Read about the most unusual baby names for 2012.
Your contributions and feedback can be sent to us at: snippets@qfhs.org.au
Happy researching!
2013 Meeting Dates
Allow yourself the privilege of having a fun day in family
history and play the Trout Game! The game simulates researching an
English family (the Trout family) using eleven types of records.
The aim is to see if you can get back to the 1500s. Use the game
to see how good a researcher you are using basic research
techniques not involving computers at all and find out why you may
have brick-walls in your research.
The Trout Game will be played on Sunday, 19 May 2013 from 10am to
4pm at QFHS Library. Cost is $5.00 which includes morning and
afternoon tea (BYO lunch). To make your booking, contact Game
Master Ann Swain via email at: a.swain@bigpond.com or
telephone (07) 3352 5537. Numbers are limited and early bookings
are essential.
Queensland State Archives will be open to the public on the
second Saturday of every calendar month from 9am to 4:30pm. The
next three Saturday opening dates are:
Queensland State Archives are located at 435 Compton Road,
Runcorn, Queensland.
For more details, go to: http://bit.ly/H4ubPc
For those who find it difficult to get to the Queensland State
Archives (QSA), there is a taxi service for researchers available
every Tuesday.
Information can be obtained at: http://bit.ly/JzSy5n
To book taxi travel to QSA, phone (07) 3131 7777.
Statement by the Premier: http://bit.ly/QPVRuS
Read an analysis of the implications: http://bit.ly/OvA0sE
Individuals can use this data under the Creative Commons license:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/
Chronological register of convicts 1824-1839 http://bit.ly/Ux43kO
Criminal depositions 1861-1885 http://bit.ly/W99rrt
St Helena convict indexes 1863-1936
http://bit.ly/WdvOwa
For more information and other indexes see http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/Researchers/Indexes/
Dalby Family History Society invites anyone with connections to
the cemetery to share their family stories and contribute to the
district heritage with information to be published in a proposed
book of the people interred there.
Contributions need to be received prior to 31 March 2013. Email
to: dalbyfamilyhistory@hotmail.com
On 7 February 1863, the HMS Orpheus sank off the west coast of
Auckland, New Zealand. Of the 259 people on board, 189 perished
making it the worst maritime disaster in New Zealand waters. There
are plans to mark the 150th anniversary of the tragedy on 7
February 2013. The West Auckland Historical Society would like to
hear from any descendants of any of the survivors. Though many
settled in the area, many also moved on to different parts of the
world.
You can view a list of the survivors at: http://www.ffhs.org.uk/ezine/articles/orpheus.php
and if you are a descendant of those who survived, please email: brutrix@xtra.co.nz
As the centenary of the outbreak of war in August 1914 approaches, plans are under way for the refurbishment of the Memorial's First World War galleries, which have remained largely unchanged since the 1970s. Initial work includes the conservation of the dioramas in the Western Front gallery.
While you may notice bigger changes in the future, we will try to
keep disruptions in the gallery spaces to a minimum.
For regular updates on this exciting Memorial project, go to: http://www.awm.gov.au/1914-1918
This exhibition features 74 photographs specially hand-printed in the Memorial's darkrooms from the original glass-plate negatives, as well as diaries, letters, uniforms and works of art from the Memorial's collection, to tell the stories of Australian soldiers on the Western Front.
On display at the Memorial until 31 July 2013.
You can view all 800 images that make up this collection on the
War Memorial's website at:
http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/remember-me/
I have been researching my Maternal Ancestors who have the
Surname of "CAUGHT". When you put into Trove that as your
search item, you get enormous hits of people being "caught" doing
this or that, but very little of my ancestors. I tried
various different settings without success, so ended up sending an
email to Trove asking for help. This is what I got in reply.
"Thank you for contacting us about some tips on searching for the
name 'Caught' in Trove newspapers.
We appreciate that it is quite difficult to search for names that
are also common words in Trove newspapers, however it is not
technically feasible to provide a case sensitive search option in
Trove as this would have a negative impact on performance.
There are other alternatives that you can use for searching for
names that also include common words. The first is to use a
'phrase' search, searching for the full name (either all names, or
given name and surname) in quotation marks, which will limit your
search to the specific search terms you have entered, in the order
that you enter them. The second option is to use the 'near' search
capability of Trove, along with an honorific (e.g. Mr, Mrs etc.)
to search for where the search terms appear within a given number
of words of each other. For example, as search for "Mr Caught"~1
will only return results where MR and CAUGHT appear with up to 1
word in between them, although this will return the words in any
order, for example: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/result?q=%22mr+caught%22~1...etc
. This will not completely remove all the irrelevant results,
however it will improve the results you see. You can use more
words in your search, or specify a greater number of words between
the words (replace the number after the '~' symbol with the number
you wish to use, although 1 or 2 will give the best results), for
example "Mr John Caught"~2 ( http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/result?l-title=16&q=%22mr+...etc
). "
Amazingly, it worked pretty well, and so can possibly be used by
other people with a similar problem. QFHS Member Alan Wheeley.
Findmypast.com, has recently added 20,000 British soldiers'
records from the Royal Hospital Kilmainham from 1771 to 1822,
along with several thousand other significant military documents,
to its collection of historical records.
The records show details of soldiers, including their height,
weight, colour of hair and eyes and any distinguishing features
such as a tattoo or scar, as well as where they served and their
regiment.
These records are invaluable for anyone researching Irish or
British ancestry and looking for vivid details about their
ancestors.
Available via subscription or for free from our QFHS library at:
http://www.findmypast.com/
In the centuries before there were newspapers and 24-hour news
channels, the general public had to rely on street literature to
find out what was going on. The most popular form of this for
nearly 300 years was 'broadsides' - the tabloids of their day.
Sometimes pinned up on walls in houses and ale-houses, these
single sheets carried public notices, news, speeches and songs
that could be read (or sung) aloud.
The National Library of Scotland's online collection of nearly
1,800 broadsides lets you see for yourself what 'the word on the
street' was in Scotland between 1650 and 1910. Crime, politics,
romance, emigration, humour, tragedy, royalty and superstitions -
all these and more are here.
Each broadside comes with a detailed commentary and most also have
a full transcription of the text, plus a downloadable PDF
facsimile. You can search by keyword, browse by title or browse by
subject.
The Word on the Street may be found at: http://digital.nls.uk/broadsides/
King Richard III. The king, the last Plantagenet, ruled England from 1483 until he was defeated and killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. It is believed his body was brought to Leicester - but the exact whereabouts of the church have become lost over time. Using old records, archaeologists identified the location as being underneath a present-day car park.
The remains have now been positively identified as those of
Richard III. However, authorities apparently are withholding the
news until a television documentary is broadcast in January.
You can read more in an article at: http://bit.ly/Uk9cKX
A new study estimates people searching for their roots will be
worth £2.4 billion to Scotland over the next five years. The
potential of so-called ancestral tourism has been outlined in a
report by consultants TNS, which estimates a potential market of
50 million people of Scottish ancestry.
You can read more at: http://bit.ly/UT8Zgz
The Irish Family History Foundation's Online Research Service
(ORS) are pleased to announce the availability of 41,090 new
Census Substitute records from Armagh Ancestry for Co. Armagh.
Quite often the only realistic strategy in tracing ancestors
beyond church registers is to examine surviving census returns and
census substitutes, often compiled by civil parish, for any
references to a surname or given name of interest.
This database contains an index to people recorded in fourteen
such sources, dating from 1611 to 1855. These sources usually only
name heads of household; each source returns the name of head of
household, year, civil parish address, and, in most cases,
townland (or street/town) address.
Available via subscription at: http://armagh.rootsireland.ie/
For full details of the records, see: http://bit.ly/Z0KDIR
Full digital images of the original records of births, deaths and
marriages in British Columbia are now available for free of charge
through the Royal B.C. Museum and B.C. Archives websites. The new
release offers full images of the original document.
About 700,000 images have been scanned, including births from 1854
to 1903, deaths from 1872 to 1991, and marriages from 1872 to
1936. Phase 2, scheduled to soon be completed, will add more
images and information, including pre-1872 records and deaths
overseas during the Second World War.
You can read more in an article at: http://bit.ly/UkdYbD
This website is a directory of links to websites with online
death indexes, listed by state and county for the United States.
Included are death records, death certificate indexes, death
notices and registers, obituaries, probate indexes, and cemetery
& burial records. You can also find information here about
searching the Social Security Death Index online.
Check it out at: http://www.deathindexes.com/
Are you tracing ancestors who lived in the United States? This
article provides tips on how using deed records can assist your
search.
Go to: http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=23386
The Arkansas Department of Health has recently rolled out a new
service that allows users to search and order state death
certificates on the Web. Previously, the records were available
only through in-person requests or paper-form submissions.
The new online database currently offers only records of deaths
that occurred from 1935 to 1961 on the website, but the department
said that workers will be adding records in the coming months.
Users may search by last name, death date, county of death and
state of birth.
The new database does not contain the actual certificates nor any
images of any documents. It is only an index to the records plus
an online ordering form.
The new death records from the Arkansas Department of Health are
available at: https://www.ark.org/doh_dcs/
The Archives of Michigan has announced that more than 62,000
Michigan state census records from 1884 and 1894 are now available
to search and print for free at: http://seekingmichigan.org/discover/michigan-state-census-1884-1894
After surviving a hurricane, a house fire and storage in a gym
bag, a treasure trove of hundreds of historic letters and
documents from the turbulent years of the Texas Republic has made
it back into state hands.
The next-to-last stop on the tortuous trail of The Texas Legation
Papers from 1835 to 1845 was a unique five-year custody
arrangement with TCU under which professors and graduate students
got a firsthand look at history that had effectively been lost for
more than 160 years.
You can read more at: http://bit.ly/VyASL7
The Guild of One-Name Studies has identified that many
traditional surnames - some of which date back to the Domesday
Book - are becoming extinct. See: http://bit.ly/107OaTG
The Galton-Watson process models family names as patrilineal
(passed from father to son). Offspring are randomly either male or
female, and names become extinct if the family name line dies out.
Holders of the family name die without male descendants. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galton%E2%80%93Watson_process
This process estimates that most surnames die out after around 30
generations. This raises the question of "How long is a
'generation'? See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation
According to Ancestry.com, a calculation based upon "three
generations per century (33 years each) for male lines and 3.5
generations per century (29 years each) for female lines" leads to
much more accurate estimates. See http://ancstry.me/TTCHbd
Using these numbers there have been fewer than 70 generations in
the Common Era. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Era
Genhis Khan, the 13th-century conqueror and imperial ruler, died
800 years ago. Historians, archaeologists, and grave robbers have
searched for his tomb ever since he died. All have failed...until
possibly now.
Legend has it that Khan's funeral escort killed anyone who crossed
their path to conceal where the conqueror was buried. Those who
constructed the funeral tomb were also killed - as were the
soldiers who killed them.
Using drones and surface-penetrating radar, and enlisting the help
of thousands of people to sift through satellite data and
photographs, a team of scholars and archaeologists has searched
the mountain range in a remote area in north-western Mongolia,
systematically photographing 4,000 square miles of landscape
looking for any hidden structures or odd-seeming formations. Now
the team believes they have some solid clues.
You can read more in an article at: http://thebea.st/QUgFUq
Are you proud of your ancestry? Some folks apparently are so
proud they have had their family coats of arms tattooed on their
bodies.
You can see some examples of that at: http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=genealogy+tattoos
WikiTree.com has released a special set of tools for genealogists
who want to lure distant cousins to help grow their family history
and share photos and memories. WikiTree's new toolkits are for
those who want to bait the hooks.
For more details, go to: http://bit.ly/VxreKS
WikiTree is available at: http://www.WikiTree.com/
Ancestry.com Inc. executives backed a $1.6 billion buyout by
Permira Advisers LLP and dismissed higher bids for the world's
largest family-history website to protect their jobs and get
shares in the deal, Ancestry investors said in a court filing.
Timothy Sullivan, Ancestry's chief executive officer, and another
executive supported Permira's bid after receiving promises they
could keep their posts and roll $67 million in Ancestry shares
into the newly private company, the Ancestry shareholders said in
a sealed Delaware Chancery Court filing reviewed by Bloomberg
News.
You can read more at: http://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=23524
New research has revealed that the Duchess of Cambridge is
related to one of Britain's grandest families and can count a
prime minister, earls and countesses among her kin. A previously
unpublished side of the Duchess' family tree has uncovered her
link to William Petty FitzMaurice, the 1st Marquess of Lansdowne,
who served as prime minister from 1782 to 1783 and is best
remembered by historians for negotiating the end of the American
War of Independence.
You can read more in an article at: http://bit.ly/12tiBom
This data comes from more than 500,000 parents of new babies who
shared their names with The Baby Centre website, which releases
the list annually. The Baby Centre claims that each of the names
was given to at least two children this year "so it's not a
fluke".
You can read the baby names at: http://bit.ly/VpLqAj