More on Kate Middleton's Genealogy

Courtesy The Northern Echo

There's been a lot of interest in my posts about Catherine Middleton's family tree, particularly her shared line with Prince William, and her possible descent through Henry VIII.

But just a few days away from the royal wedding, I think it's also worthwhile to look at her the ancestry of her mother, Carole Elizabeth Goldsmith Middleton, and the more modest side of Catherine's family tree. The future queen of England is a descendant of working class laborers and miners from Sunderland and County Durham in northern England.

Kate's great-grandfather, Thomas Harrison, was the son of a miner from the former mining town of Hetton-le-Hole in County Durham, born and brought up in one of the nearby old colliery terraces, Nicholson Street, in Hetton Downs. Thomas became a carpenter and moved his family to London.

Isn't this remarkable? For more on Kate's maternal line, click here.

Preserving Your Personal Digital Memories Webinar Tomorrow

A reminder:

As part of  Preservation Week 2011, a free webinar, "Preserving Your Personal Digital Memories," is being offered by ALCTS (Association for Library Collections and Technical Services) on tomorrow. The webinar is one hour long and begins at 11 am Pacific, noon Mountain, 1 pm Central, and 2 pm Eastern Time. 

Description of the webinar: Digital photos, electronic documents, and other new media are fragile and require special care to keep them useable. But preserving digital information is a new concept that most people have little experience with. As new technologies appear for creating and saving our personal digital information, older ones become obsolete, making it difficult to access older content. Learn about the nature of the problem and hear about some simple, practical tips and tools to help you keep your digital memories safe.

Presenter: Bill LeFurgy, Digital Initiatives Manager, has worked for the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program at the Library of Congress since June 2002. He leads the NDIIPP Communications Team, which interacts with a broad range of people interested in preserving access to digital information. 

To register, visit the GoToWebinar site: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/550844641

Tuesday's Tip: Citing Electonic Articles in Genealogical Research

This Tuesday's Tip is a quick one. Searching for a way to cite an online article in your genealogical research? Different academic disciplines have different standards. Here are examples of citations from two leading organizations:

✍ The Chicago Manual of Style Citation:

Mark Howells, “A Cite For Sore Eyes: Quality Citations for Electronic Genealogy Sources.” Ancestry Magazine, May 1, 1998. Accessed September 22, 2010.
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=782.

✍ The Modern Language Association (MLA) Style Citation:

Howells, Mark. “A Cite For Sore Eyes: Quality Citations for Electronic Genealogy Sources.” Ancestry Magazine 1 May 1998. Ancestry.com. 22 Sep 2010; http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=782.

Learn more about citation styles at Research and Documentation Online.

Both are styles used in history and the humanities scholarship, so either one is a good choice to follow. (But not both!)

Archives News: Preservation Week April 24–30, 2011

Genealogists are among the heaviest users of primary source collections in institutions across the United States. Yet some 630 million items in collecting institutions require immediate attention and care. Eighty percent of these institutions have no paid staff assigned responsibility for collections care; 22 percent have no collections care staff at all. Some 2.6 billion items are not protected by an emergency plan. As natural disasters of recent years have taught us, these resources are in jeopardy should a disaster strike. Personal, family, and community collections are equally at risk.

This year Preservation Week is being celebrated April 24 through April 30. The American Library Association launched Preservation Week to encourage libraries and other institutions to host events, activities, and resources that highlight what we can do, individually and together, to preserve our personal and shared collections. Last year, over 65 events took place nationwide. 

A free webinar, "Preserving Your Personal Digital Memories," is being offered by ALCTS (Association for Library Collections and Technical Services) on Thursday, April 28, 2011. The webinar is one hour long and begins at 11 am Pacific, noon Mountain, 1 pm Central, and 2 pm Eastern Time. 
 

Description of the webinar: Digital photos, electronic documents, and other new media are fragile and require special care to keep them useable. But preserving digital information is a new concept that most people have little experience with. As new technologies appear for creating and saving our personal digital information, older ones become obsolete, making it difficult to access older content. Learn about the nature of the problem and hear about some simple, practical tips and tools to help you keep your digital memories safe.

Presenter: Bill LeFurgy, Digital Initiatives Manager, has worked for the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program at the Library of Congress since June 2002. He leads the NDIIPP Communications Team, which interacts with a broad range of people interested in preserving access to digital information.

To register, visit the GoToWebinar site: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/550844641

Interested in other ways to celebrate Preservation Week 2011? Here are some ways you can participate:

• Highlight Preservation Week on your blog or Web site with a link to ALA’s Preservation Week resources.
• Add your Preservation Event to the 2011 Preservation Week Event Map.
• View the Facebook event and RSVP or Share it. 
• Tweet about Preservation Week #preswk.
• View other 2010 Preservation Week Events in the U.S. in Google Maps.

Mystery Monday – The Last Full Measure: Civil War Photographs from the Liljenquist Family Collection

Courtesy Liljenquist Collection, Library of Congress

In remembrance of the Union and Confederate soldiers who served in the American Civil War (1861-1865), the Liljenquist Family recently donated their rare collection of almost 700 ambrotype and tintype photographs to the Library of Congress. At the online site for the exhibition, you can read more about the donors and their collection; the photographic processes; the photographers and their studios; and revealing details that can help identify photographs.

Most of the people and photographers are unidentified, and LC wants to know more about them. If you recognize a face from your family, a regiment, or a photographer’s painted studio backdrop, it can help LC with identification.

You can read some of the personal stories that did survive in notes found with the photo cases.  

 

Visit the online exhibition here. There's also a set up at LC's Flickr Commons site.

Genea-Musings: Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - A Genealogy Book

Genea-Musings: Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - A Genealogy Book

Great challenge this week from Randy Seaver. Here's what I'm currently reading:

Riemer, Shirley J., Roger P. Minert, and Jennifer A. Anderson. The German Research Companion. Sacramento, Calif: Lorelei Press, 2010.

This third edition of the The German Research Companion is filled with possibilities for researching German family history. Note the addition of email addresses, recently published books and other aids, website addresses (complete with directions for managing some of them), as well as helpful comments concerning the use of resources.

I heard Dr. Minert last Saturday at the Santa Barbara spring seminar and this is reinforcing his lectures. I have some modest hopes about my Austrians at this point.

Follow Friday: Historypin.com

Courtesy Historypin.com

Here's a fun new site that might help flesh out your research. Historypin, which launched in London in June 2010, is an online tool that allows people to view and share history through Google Maps and Google Street View technology. The site is produced by We Are What We Do, in partnership with Google. The goal is to become the largest user-generated archive of the world's historical images and stories. 

Users can upload and pin vintage photographs onto the Historypin map and layer them onto modern Street View scenes, creating a timeline of views for the location. Stories for that location can be added as well.

Courtesy Historypin.com

The photos currently date from 1840 to the present. At present, you can upload six photos using your Google account and a Picasa album. One of the project's goals is "bringing different generations and communities together to collect and share the history of their streets." 

Visit the historypin map at: http://www.historypin.com/photos. To add photos to the project, click here.

Coupon Code for DNA Day Sale at FamilyTree DNA

FTDNA is having a one-day sale in honor of DNA Day on April 15th. Offer valid from 12:00 PM CT on Thursday, April 14, until 11:59 PM CT on April 15, 2011.

Use Coupon Code: DNADAY2011 at http://www.familytreedna.com
 
New customers:
Y-DNA12…… $59
Y-DNA37…… $129
...mtDNA……… $59
Family Finder… $199
Family Finder + Y-DNA12… $258
Family Finder + mtDNA…… $258
Family Finder + mtFullSequence + Y-DNA67 … $657

Upgrades:
Y-DNA12 add-on … $59
Y-DNA12 to 37…… $69
Y-DNA37 to 67…… $79
Y-DNA12 to 67…… $148
mtDNA add-on …… $59
mtFull Sequence upgrade … $199
Family Finder add-on … $199

The Y-DNA67 to 111 upgrade will remain at the introductory rate of $101 (no coupon necessary) until the end of this promotion. The price will be $129 going forward.

Payment must be received at the time of the order. Valid only on products listed. No substitutions. This promotion was announced in advance, therefore no adjustments will be made on previous purchases. The coupon code will expire on Friday at midnight (CT).

This promotion is not valid in combination with any other promotions. Family Tree DNA reserves the right to cancel any order due to unauthorized or ineligible use of discounts and to modify or cancel these promotional discounts due to system error or unforeseen problems. Subject to change without notice.

Tuesday's Tip: Civil War Sesquicentennial at Civil War Trust

The sesquicentennial means lots of people are paying attention to Civil War history. One of my favorite sites is the Civil War Trust, a non-profit that works to save endangered Civil War battlefields.

That's a worthy goal all on its own, but I think genealogists should also pay a visit because they offer excellent maps of Civil War battlefields. And because this is the  21st-century, they also have an iPhone app that informs your visits in person.  

So if you're doing Civil War research, visit the Civil War Trust and also consider giving a few bucks to support their mission.

Departing Ireland for America, 1867

The Finishing Touch, James Brenan, 1867

Recently I saw an article about the auction of this compelling painting depicting an Irish family's preparations for their daughter's emigration to the United States. Of course it made me instantly think of my friends who are researching their Irish ancestry.

The Finishing Touch is an 1867 painting by Cork-born artist James Brenan, which realized €22,000 at auction last month. It was first exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin in 1867 where it was sold for £35.

The Irish Times wrote, "The artist was alarmed at the devastating scale and impact of post-Famine emigration from his native Munster. His 25in x 30in oil-on-canvas shows the interior of a rural Irish house where a family prepares for the dreaded American Wake – the traditional gathering of family and friends to bid farewell to a departing emigrant. Such occasions lacked the jollity and celebration associated with traditional Irish wakes for the dead."

I wonder which family served as the model for this painting. Interesting, yes?

Follow Friday: Chicago Genealogy - Norwegian-American Chicago Resources

For a list of other posts on Chicago genealogy resources, click here. 

Continuing my series of posts on Chicago research in anticipation of my presentation at the Southern California Genealogical Society's 2011 Jamboree in Burbank. I'm putting up supporting information that goes beyond the vital records and other sources in the session handout.

Today's list is about resources for finding your Norwegian-American ancestors in Chicago.

Ancestors from Norway

A venerable RootsWeb community with many links and resources, especially helpful for beginners.

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~norway/index.html?cj=1&o_xid=0002530104&o_lid=0002530104

Books

Lovoll, Odd S., A Century of Urban Life: The Norwegians in Chicago Before 1930. [Northfield, Minn.]: Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1988.

Check availability here: 

http://www.worldcat.org/search?qt=worldcat_org_bks&q=A+Century+of+Urban+Life%3A+The+Norwegians+in+Chicago+Before+1930&fq=dt%3Abks

Lagerquest, L. DeAne, In America the Men Milk the Cows: Factors Of Gender, Ethnicity, And Religion in the Americanization of Norwegian-American Women. Brooklyn: Carlson Pub., 1991.

Books We Own - Norway

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bwo/norway.html

Bibliography of Norwegian-American titles with attached look-up request system.

NARA and Ancestry.com Unveil New Civil War Digital Records Today

A press release from NARA: 

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the National Archives and Ancestry.com will host a special press-only announcement and preview of online Civil War records that will be made available for the first time outside of the National Archives. The newly digitized records will be made available to Ancestry.com members on April 6, 2011, and will be free to the general public for one week beginning on April 7.

A goal of the National Archives is to migrate online as many of its extensive Civil War holdings  as possible. Today Ancestry.com publishes the first in a series of Civil War records that have been digitized from original paper National Archives records.  The new Civil War collection is highlighted by the Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registration Records, 1863-1865. These nearly 275,000 records are among the most heavily-used records for research in the National Archives Civil War holdings and were previously only available by request in original form at the research center. The public will now be able to easily access these records online without having to travel to Washington, D.C.

At a press-only event today, two historians will talk about these records. filmmaker Ken Burns will recount a significant Civil War-era family discovery he made from using National Archives Civil War records. Author Cheryl Wills will speak about the impact of these records for her critically acclaimed book, “Die Free” which tells the story of her great-great-great grandfather, Sandy Wills, who escaped slavery to fight as a member of the United States Colored Troops.

No word from NARA about televising this, but I'm hoping perhaps C-SPAN will be there.

In the meantime, click here for the link to Ancestry's Civil War records.

Tuesday's Tip: 1911 Scotland Census Released Today

Edit: The 1911 search interface is here:

http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/search/census/index.aspx?1911


The 1911 Scotland census is being released today (yay!) by the Registrar General for Scotland at 11 a.m. BST (or 3 a.m. Pacific).

There are 4.7 million Scots named in this census, 2,307,603 males and 2,451,842 females, an increase of 287,342 over 1901. Fields in the census include name, address, age, occupation, birthplace and marital status of everyone enumerated, as well as details about their children. The 1911 Scotland census was taken on Sunday, April 2nd, the same date as for England and Wales.

Scanning was done in color. A sample page has been made available:

Sample census page from 1911 Scotland Census (ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk)

 The Web site says:

It will cost 1 credit to view an index entry for the 1911 census. An image will cost 5 credits. Unlike previous censuses, the image spans two pages due to the additional questions that were asked about the fertility of marriage and the profession or occupation. Each page measures 34 cm long by 43 cm high so the images are best viewed on your computer screen or if printed, on size A3 paper.

Unlike previous censuses there are no plans in the immediate future to relocate the enumeration books to New Register House in Edinburgh because the books need 73.5 metres of shelving.

To open an account at ScotlandsPeople, visit:

http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/users/registration.aspx

And now excuse me, please. I have to go find my grandfather in Aberdeen!

Chicago Genealogy – Jewish Chicago Resources

Continuing my series of posts on Chicago research in anticipation of my presentation at the Southern California Genealogical Society's 2011 Jamboree in Burbank. I'm putting up supporting information that goes beyond the vital records and other sources in the session handout.
I've been working on the list of research resources for finding your Jewish ancestors in Chicago. Some of the other pages I’ve put up for Polish resources and German resources may also be useful. 

Jewish Genealogy in Chicagoland by Mike Karsen

Mike Karsen’s Web site is an excellent resource:

http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/chicago/index.htm 

In addition to vital and property records, Karsen highlights information about Jewish institutions including organizations, Jewish newspapers & periodicals, synagogue records, personal collections & oral histories, and the "old" neighborhood.

Chicago Genealogy – Polish-American Chicago Resources

Today's list is for research resources for finding your Polish ancestors in Chicago. Given the border changes over time, I also recommend the German-American resources for Chicago I’ve posted.

Please note: This list is meant to include resources in addition to the ones found at the traditional genealogical sites like FamilySearch, Ancestry, Footnote, and the like. And the lists are by no means exhaustive, so if you know of other digital collections on Chicago and Illinois that you've found useful in your research, please let me know.

---

Polish Genealogical Society of America

http://www.pgsa.org/aboutPGSA.php

The Society, headquartered in Chicago, is open to anyone doing research within the borders of the old Commonwealth of Poland. They provide books, newsletters, bulletins, printed information, regular Society meetings, and an annual workshop. With 2,000 members in all 50 states and 10 countries, the Society encourages its members to communicate with each other and share leads, research sources, and any other information that may prove mutually beneficial. 

•Membership information:

http://www.pgsa.org/Membership/membership.php

•PGSA databases include:

Index to Death Notices in Dziennik Chicagoski, 1890-1920

Searchable database for death notices in the leading Chicago Polish-American newspaper

http://www.pgsa.org/dzien9029.php

Index to Death Notices in Dziennik Chicagoski, 1930-1971

Searchable database for death notices in the leading Chicago Polish-American newspaper

http://www.pgsa.org/dzien3071.php

Polish Marriages in Chicago through 1915

Searchable database of marriages in Chicago Catholic parishes

http://www.pgsa.org/CzuchMar.php 

Sorting Saturday: Starting to Arrange Family Papers

Courtesy http://diloreto.com/areyou/postcards/cards.html

Today's Sorting Saturday post is about organizing your family papers. It's a big topic, so I'll post on this for the next few Saturdays.   Librarians catalog, but archivists arrange and describe. Archivists nearly always work with original records, not photocopies or printouts. When they arrange and describe collections, they work from the general to the specific, working toward collections of paper or photos at a folder level. It's common to get bogged down and obsess about individual pieces of paper at the start, but it's more helpful to think about your family collection as a whole. So for today let's start by thinking about the kinds of records you might find in your family's papers.  1. Personal Papers, including:     Artwork and drawings     Audio or written anecdotes and reminiscences     Birth announcements     Diaries and journals     Ephemera, such as bookmarks, invitations, tickets     Family and personal correspondence     Fraternal associations     Funeral cards     Memoirs     Migration records     Motion pictures     Newspaper clippings     Postcards     Photo albums     Photographs     Political affiliations     Student work     Report cards and diplomas     Scrapbooks     Slides     Travel accounts     Vital records     Wills, trusts and probate records 2. Professional or Business Records, including:     Banking and financial paperwork     Bills of sale     Correspondence     Honors and awards     Ledgers     Legal records     Marketing records     Notebooks     Payroll records     Photographs     Political affiliations     Professional organizations     Research files     Résumés and vitas     Teaching notes     Volunteer and charitable records 3. Family records, including:     Bibles or other religious items     Ephemera     Family photographs     Family reunion records     Group correspondence (“round robin” letters) Do you have other items in your family papers that you have questions about? Feel free to ask in the comments section. And tune in next Saturday for some tips about arrangement and storage of your family's original records.