Genealogy News Episode 110

Genealogy News

Welcome to the Genealogy News from Geneatopia

I’m Patty Roy, also known as Dinah Larkham in Second Life.

Today is Saturday November 4, 2017 and this is Episode 110.

Rockstar Genealogists Results

Rockstar Genealogists results are in. Here is a quote about what is a Rockstar genealogist:

“Rockstar genealogists are those who give “must attend” presentations at family history conferences or as webinars, who when you see a new family history article or publication by that person, makes it a must buy. If you hang on their every word on a blog, podcast or newsgroup, or follow avidly on Facebook or Twitter they are likely Rockstar candidates. For clarity, it’s about communication and influence not who’s the best researcher.”

Anyone could nominate someone. If a person got at least two nominations they were placed on the list.

Then the list was made available and anyone could vote by placing a check mark next to the names of the people they thought were really a rockstar genealogist. More than 950 people voted.

The top winners were Blaine Bettinger, International, USA, Genetic Genealogy, Michelle Patient, Australia/New Zealand, Gail Dever, Canada, Janet Few, England, Scotland, and Wales, and Maurice Gleeson, Ireland.

Blaine Bettinger is a genetic genealogist by night and he is an intellectual property attorney by day. Blaine gives lectures and classes about genetic genealogy and he has two books that have been published on the subject. He has a blog called The Genetic Genealogist.

Michelle Patient is an Australian genealogist who has been very active in the genealogy community by serving as President of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists and an Education Committee Member Society of Australian Genealogists. She shares research tips by giving face-to-face presentations, writing for magazines, and over the Internet.

Gail Dever from Canada has a blog called Genealogy à la carte where she writes about news and events that pertain to genealogy. She is also very active on Facebook and has given many presentations at various conferences.

Janet Few is a well-known genealogist in England. She teaches family and local history classes and is a tutor for Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd. She is currently writing an historical novel.

Maurice Gleeson is known as a genetic genealogist. He organizes lectures for Genetic Genealogy Ireland in Dublin and has many videos about DNA on YouTube. He is very interested in helping Irish adoptees reconnect with their birth families.

This is the 6th year that John D. Reid of Canada’s Anglo-Celtic Connections blog has set up voting for Rockstar Genealogists.

You will find all the results listed in blog posts at the Canada’s Anglo-Celtic Connections blog. I’ll have links in the show notes for all of them.

2017 Gold (Superstar) Genealogists

Rockstar Genealogists 20167 Silver and Bronze Awards

Rockstar Genealogists 2017: Australia/New Zealand

Rockstar Genealogists 2017: Canada

Rockstar Genealogists 2017: UK and Ireland

Rockstar Genealogists 2017: USA

Rockstar Genealogists 2017: International and Non-Domestic

New Look for Find A Grave and GenealogyBank

Change is coming to a couple of websites. Both Find A Grave and GenealogyBank will have new looks.

Find A Grave went live with its new website on November 1st. The new site will support mobile devices.

The new site will be more secure and it will be easier to update and add new features. Also, the site can be easily translated into other languages.

There are only a few new features with this first phase. You can search from the homepage. There are tabs at the top for easy access to the main areas of the site.

When you are signed in, the list on the right side will give you a quick view of things you can do or that need your review.

GenealogyBank will go live with its new website on November 28. Some of the new features include

• Improved image viewer with clipping and download-as-JPG

• More search results per page

• Bigger image previews

• A more prominent search form

• Additional filters

• Easier to view on tablets and smartphones

All your saved information, including saved articles and searches will be available from the new site when you login.

If you want to check out the new site now, you can find it at beta.genealogybank.com.

Find A Grave Website Updating on 1 November

New Tool at 23andMe, GrandTree

23andMe has a new tool called GrandTree. This tool allows families to connect deeper across generations by letting everyone see the DNA they share across generations.

Since grandchildren do not inherit DNA evenly from all four grandparents, the new tool allows them to see more than a percentage of DNA they share with their grandparents. It allows the younger generation to trace a trait through generations. So for example they could find out where their red hair comes from.

If a grandparent or grandchild has not tested yet, 23andMe has made it easy to invite them to sign up.

Connecting Generations with 23andMe’s GrandTree

23andMe Offers Ancestry Only Tests in Other Countries

23andMe has begun to offer Ancestry only tests in other countries. Now those who live in the UK, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Sweden, and the Netherlands can purchase Ancestry only tests.

For other countries where you can order an international ancestry only test the price has dropped to US $99 from $149.

The Ancestry only test is cheaper than the test to get health related results.

This new pricing could be part of 23andMe’s goal to expand their customer base to 10 million people.

23andMe now offers an ancestry-only DNA test in Europe and Canada

LivingDNA New One Family World Project

LivingDNA is a recently new company for DNA testing. They have been around for about a year. They specialize in breaking down your DNA by regions in the UK as well as worldwide ancestry break down. They have a new project called One Family World.

LivingDNA’s One Family World project analyzes people’s DNA from around the world to see where they fit it. It shows how everyone is related if you go back far enough in time. It will show distinctive and shared patterns in people’s DNA.

If you have already done a DNA test you can upload your data for free to be part of this project. When you upload your DNA you also enter information about your parents and your grandparents or you can upload a GEDCOM file. Sometime in 2018 you will be able to find DNA matches and find new cousins. You will not get a regional UK break down when you upload your data for free.

If you have not done a DNA test, you can get a discount on a Living DNA test if you want to be part of the project.

Living DNA updates – free transfers and the launch of the One Family One World project

AncestryDNA Changes and has Reached Six Million

AncestryDNA now has six million customers. Just three months ago they were at five million. So they have added a million customers in three months. Most of those new customers were from the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

AncestryDNA has a new presentation for displaying ethnicity and Genetic Communities. These two features are now integrated to make it easier to use.

AncestryDNA updates – six million customers, a new DNA Story layout and changes to the consent process

AncestryDNA Users Have Choices

AncetryDNA users have the option to choose whether or not to view and be viewed by their DNA matches. Not everyone who tests with AncestryDNA wants to discover extended family and this new option allow them to turn it off.

When you set the setting to “no” you no longer have access to your DNA matches and you no longer show as a DNA match for others.

Existing customers don’t need to do anything if they want to continue to see and be seen by their DNA matches.

Continued Commitment to Customer Privacy and Control

New Records at FamilySearch

More new records at FamilySearch

These collections are new indexed records and images collections
Australia, South Australia, Immigrants Ship Papers, 1849-1940
Denmark Census, 1921
Finland, Church Census and Pre-Confirmation Books, 1657-1915
Italy, Salerno, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1806-1949

These next two collections are new indexed record collections
France, Saône-et-Loire, Census, 1856
South Africa, Pietermaritzburg Estate Files 1846-1950

Next these collections have indexed records added to an existing collection
Argentina, Buenos Aires, Catholic Church Records, 1635-1981
Argentina, Entre Ríos, Catholic Church Records, 1764-1983
Argentina, Santa Fe, Catholic Church Records, 1634-1975
Australia, Tasmania, Civil Registration (District Registers), 1839-1938
Austria, Upper Austria, Catholic Church Records, 1581-1919
Chile Civil Registration, 1885-1903
China, Imperial Examinations and Related Papers (Han Yu-shan Collection), 1646-1904
England, Warwickshire, Parish Registers, 1535-1984
Hungary Civil Registration, 1895-1980
Italy, Asti, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1803-1814, 1911-1935
Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920
Netherlands, Archival Indexes, Miscellaneous Records
Spain, Province of Cádiz, Municipal Records, 1784-1956
West Virginia Will Books, 1756-1971

This next collection has had indexed records and images added to an existing collection
BillionGraves Index

New Historic Records on FamilySearch: Week of October 16, 2017

MyHeritage Adds Ellis Island and Other New York Passenger Lists

MyHeritage has added Ellis Island and other New York Passenger Lists to SuperSearch. SuperSearch is MyHeritage’s technology that matches records to your ancestors.

The passenger lists span the years from 1820 to 1957. These 90 million records can be searched to find when you immigrant ancestor arrived in the United States.

The Ellis Island records have been indexed by name as well as the name of the relative or friend they were joining in the United States and the name of their closest relative or friend in their home country.

Ellis Island was open from 1892 until 1954. The collection at MyHeritage begins before Ellis Island starting with the year 1820 and continues after Ellis Island closed.

New: Ellis Island and other New York Passenger Lists

New Records at Findmypast

Findmypast has added new collections for Hampshire, Portsmouth. The parish registers for this area have come online as a result of Findmypast’s association with the Portsmouth History Center. There are baptisms, marriages, and burials. Also you can find workhouse registers for Hampshire, Portsmouth.

Findmypast has added more records to the collections of London, Docklands and East End Baptism and London, Docklands and East End Marriages. They have also added records to the Yorkshire Burials collection.

More records have been added for Kent, Canterbury Archdeaconry baptisms and more records have been added for Chilham, Stalisfield & Staple to the Kent, Canterbury Archdeaconry banns. And over 6,000 records have been added to the Kent, Canterbury Archdeaconry marriages as well as 9,000 more burials for that area.

Over 35,000 new records covering Clerkenwell in central London have been added to the Greater London Burials Index.

You can search over 16,000 taxation records from Surrey in South East England. Another collection for Surrey are court cases from 1391 – 1835. And almost 2,000 records have been added to the Surrey & South London Wills & Probate Index, 1470 – 1856.

Lots of New York records from the United States have been added. You can browse 120 volumes of baptisms, marriages, and deaths from dozens of New York State churches of various denominations. You can also browse deaths from New York for the years 1880 to 1955. And another issue of The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record has been added.

PERSI has had a big update with over 30,000 images being added and over 10,000 articles have been added to the index.

Over 2 million articles have been added to the British Newspapers and 16 new titles have been added.

More than 10,000 records have been added to the collection of Irish Newspapers.

And Findmypast has added three collections of genealogical abstracts from three Irish genealogists. These collections help with finding records during the time of the fire at the Public Record Office in Dublin in 1922. The collections are all indexed and you can view the original documents.

Seven local censuses for Pobble O’Keefe in Cork, Ireland have been added to Findmypast.

Findmypast Friday October 13th

Findmypast Friday October 20th

Findmypast Friday October 27th

Findmypast Friday November 3rd

More Books from 1923 to 1941 Coming Online

There is a little-known law in the United States that allows libraries to scan and make available books that were published between 1923 to 1941 if they are not actively being sold and out-of-print. Anything published before 1923 is out of copyright and in the public domain.

The Internet Archive plans to make these books freely available on its site at Archive.org. It is expected that 10,000 books will be made available.

As more libraries are made aware of this opportunity, more books are expected to be digitized.

Books from 1923 to 1941 Now Liberated!

Internet Archive and OCLC

The Internet Archive is collaborating with OCLC to make the Archives’s digital books easier to find through libraries.

OCLC, the Online Computer Library Center, is a library cooperative that helps libraries. Through OCLC member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat. WorldCat is a global catalog of library collections. It’s the first place I go to see if a book is available at a nearby library.

OCLC will process the data for books in the Internet Archive and add them to WorldCat. The WorldCat record will contain a link to the book in the Internet Archive.

The Internet Archive will have a link for the book in WorldCat.

This partnership between the Internet Archive and OCLC will make more content discoverable through WorldCat and expand collections of member libraries. The Internet Archive content will be available to library users everywhere.

OCLC and Internet Archive collaborate to expand library access to digital collections

Boston Public Library Sound Archives at Internet Archive

The Boston Public Library is transferring most of its Sound Archives Collection to the Internet Archive. The Internet Archive will catalog and digitize this collection. Upon completion of the project, the sound recordings will be available for free at the Internet Archive.

The Sound Collection contains the library’s collection of non-circulating commercial sound recordings in a variety of historical formats. There is American popular music of many genres, including classical, pop, rock, jazz, and opera dating back to the early 1900s to the 1980s. The collection has been in storage for several decades. It has been uncatalogued and inaccessible to the public.

Boston Public Library Transfers Sound Archives Collection to Internet Archive for Digitization, Preservation, and Public Access

Library of Congress Rare Books Collection Online

The Library of Congress has released a new web portal for rare books. There are nearly 1,000 digital resources in the portal. The Library of Congress has nearly 800,000 rare books and they will continue to scan and add them to the web portal.

The collection also contains manuscripts, maps, photos, drawings, and other materials.

New Online: A Digital Treasure Trove of Rare Books

Library of Congress Adds Rhode Island Folklife Collection

The Library of Congress has released online the Rhode Island Folklife Project Collection. Items in this collection date back to 1979 when an ethnographic field project was conducted.

The collection contains manuscripts, sound recordings, and photographs. These items document the ethnic, regional, and occupational traditions of Rhode Island. Focus was on African-American, French-Canadian, Greek, Irish, Italian, Jamaican, Lithuanian, Narragansett, Polish, Portuguese and Ukrainian communities.

The photographs cover a vast number of subjects including people, houses, churches, landscapes, sand sculptures, restaurants, and lots more.

In addition to the Rhode Island project, there are collection like this for Chicago, Montana, and the South-Central Georgia area.

New Online: Rhode Island Folklife Project Collection

Harvard to Add More to its Colonial North American Project

The Harvard Library will be adding to its ongoing digitization project called “Colonial North American Project at Harvard University.” About 450,000 archival and manuscript pages from the 17th and 18th centuries will be online and available to the public for free. These will be added to the already 150,000 images that are available.

This digitization project has been going on for the past two years. The goal is to make the Harvard collection freely available.

The collection documents life in many countries during those centuries. It will provide insights into the American revolution, politics, economics, science, society, and much more.

Scroll through Colonial life

Reclaim the Records gets the New Jersey Marriage Records

Reclaim the Records gets genealogical records released to the public. These are records that should be available to the public but are not.

They have recently made available the New Jersey Marriage index for the years 1901 – 2016. These records are available at the Internet Archive.

You can browse by year. For each year you can then view the marriages alphabetically by surname. Most of these files are a list of the bride’s surname or maiden name. Some years also have a grooms index.

Once the information gets transcribed into a database you will be able to search by the bride’s or the groom’s name.

You can download the files. First you need to click the search inside button and then there will be options to download the file.

Unfortunately, some years from the 1930s are not available at this time. They are still being scanned and should be available by the end of the year.

Our seventeenth newsletter:
INTRODUCING THE NEW JERSEY
MARRIAGE INDEX, 1901-2016

Rock Island County, Illinois, Makes Birth, Marriage, and Death Indexes Available Online

Rock Island County, Illinois, has made available online the birth, marriage, and death indexes. Rock Island starting keeping records in index books in 1832.

You can order a genealogy record of anything you find in the index for $5. This would be a non-certified copy, for information only.

Rock Island County brings family indexes online

Civil War Maps Available Online

Over 100 Confederate maps from the National Archives are available online. They can be found through NARA’s online catalog.

Some of the maps are annotated to show troop movements, battle lines, or other important features. Many of these maps were donated to the National Archives by generals from the Civil War.

You can view the maps individually or you can view them by state. To view maps by state you click the blue link that says “item(s) described in the catalog” that is located near middle of the catalog entry and then that will bring up the maps.

The maps cover areas in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

RG 109 Confederate Maps Series Now Digitized and Available Online!

50 Years of Television News in Arkansas to be Digitized

The Arkansas State Library in Little Rock accumulated news footage for more than 50 years from KATV, the ABC affiliate in Little Rock back in 2009.

The library has received a donation from Barbara Tyson and the Tyson Foods Foundation to catalog, index, digitize and archive the tv footage. Over 26,000 hours of video and film includes all aspects of Arkansas television coverage, including major news and weather events, sports, politics and features on many people who have represented the state in the national or worldwide events.

Pryor Center Announces $1.5 Million Tyson Gift to Digitize KATV Collection

Georgia Perimeter College Collection Online

Georgia Perimeter College is a two-year college located near Atlanta, Georgia. When it was first founded it was called DeKalb College.

The college has placed online a collection of yearbooks, catalogs, and student newspapers from the 1960s to the 2010s. You can search or browse the collection.

New Digital Collection: Georgia Perimeter College Collection

Additions to DigitalNC

DigitalNC is the online library for institutions across North Carolina and they continue to add to their website almost every week. Here are the latest additions:

• Various materials from the Forsyth County Public Library. This includes scrapbooks and yearbooks.

• Scrapbooks from the Rocky Mount YMCA

• The last batch of photos from the Benson Museum of Local History

• More additions of the South Piedmont Community College Insider newsletter.

• More photos from Central Carolina Community College

• Photographs from the 1954 Hurricane Hazel from the Braswell Memorial Library

• The newspaper of Belmont Abbey College

The 14th Street School and more from Forsyth County Public Library

Three YMCA Scrapbooks from Braswell Memorial Library Now Online

Complete Set of Over 1000 Photos from Benson Museum of Local History Now Online!

Two Dozen South Piedmont Community College Insiders and More Now Online

Hurricane Hazel Photographs From Braswell Memorial Library Now Online

Crossroads, newspaper of Belmont Abbey College digitized

New Batch of Photos from Central Carolina Community College Featuring the Veterinary Medical and Welding Programs

Digital Library of Georgia Celebrates One Million Historic Newspaper Pages

The Digital Library of Georgia is celebrating its one millionth digitized historic newspaper page. All the newspapers are made freely available online through the Georgia Historic Newspapers website found at the Digital Library of Georgia. Digitization of newspapers started 10 years ago.

To celebrate, public libraries are being given printed materials, including bookmarks, rack cards, and temporary tattoos, as well as a digital press kit to encourage local celebrations of the milestone.

The press kit includes a curriculum guide for educational and library programs to use the Georgia Historic Newspapers collection. There is also a PowerPoint presentation that can be used to teach people how to use the web site, a quick facts sheet about the Digital Library of Georgia, some prepared posts for social media, and a badge graphic to share on social media.

The newspaper collection continues to grow with the addition of Milledgeville newspapers titles. There are thirteen newspapers available covering the years between 1808 and 1920.

These newspapers were previously digitized and now can be found in a convenient location with many other digitized newspapers from Georgia.

Digital Library of Georgia Hits 1 Million Newspaper Pages

Milledgeville Newspapers Added to Georgia Historic Newspapers site

Georgia Southern’s Student Newspaper Available Online

Georgia Southern’s student newspaper is now available online. It can be found at the Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. This is the University’s open access digital collection.

Issues of the newspaper The George-Anne starting from 1927 to the present day are available. The project took nearly a year to complete. From now on all current issues as they are released will be added to the collection.

Georgia Southern’s student newspaper now available on Digital Commons

University of South Carolina Libraries Creates Newspaper Website

The University of South Carolina Libraries has launched a digital archive for historic newspapers. This will provide one place to find newspapers from South Carolina.

Currently there are 143 newspapers with more than 350,000 pages. By the end of 2017 there will be 400,000 pages available.

There are rare and specialty newspapers including ten African-American titles published between 1865 and 1922 as well as two civil rights era newspapers.

Historic Newspapers of South Carolina can be found at historicnewspapers.sc.edu.

Historic Newspapers of South Carolina puts 200 years of SC history online

African American Newspapers from Colorado

The Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC) has added two new African American titles from Denver. They’ve added the Statesman (1905 – 1912) and The Denver Star (1912 – 1918). The Statesman was merged into the Denver Star in 1912.

The papers covered news from African-American communities in the West and the covered local news from Denver’s Five Points district. This was one of Denver’s oldest neighborhoods.

CHNC News! Historic African American Newspapers Now Available

More Issues of the Montana Newspaper The Mineral Independent Available

There are ten more years available of The Mineral Independent, a Montana newspaper. This makes the years from 1915 through 1932 available for free at the Montana Newspapers website.

More Digitized Montana Newspapers are now Available Online

Kent State University Student Newspaper Available Online

Kent State University’s student newspaper, the Daily Kent Stater is now available online. There are more than 10,000 issues covering 90 years.

The digital archive will be kept up to date with more recent content every few years.

Kent State University digitizes 90 years of newspaper

New Collection at Fold3, “Canada, Certificates of Military Instruction”

Fold3 is a subscription website that specializes in military records. They are owned by Ancestry.

There is a new collection at Fold 3 called “Canada, Certificates of Military Instruction.” These certificates were issued upon completion of coursework at Schools of Military Instruction. The schools were based in Toronto and Quebec. The schools helped military officers and candidates for militia commission learn about their military duties.

These certificates were required before a candidate could receive a commission. The certificate typically contains the man’s name, rank, and residence; the certificate type and date; and the name and location of the school.

Canada, Certificates of Military Instruction

LAC Monthly Report on the Canadian Expeditionary Force Personnel Service Files

The Library and Archives Canada has released their monthly report about the digitization of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Personnel Service Files. They are now up to the name Russell – R U S S E L L.

These service files are for soldiers of the First World War. They are digitizing the files basically in alphabetical order.

They are now 79% complete, almost 80%. They now are on a tight schedule to be completed by November 2018.

Digitization of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Personnel Service Files – Update of October 2017

Drouin Institute Blog and New Records

The Drouin Institute has a new blog where they will be writing about Quebec genealogy as well as updates to their subscription service which is called Genealogy Quebec.

They’ve added more records to the LAFRANCE databases. The additions are for the 1850 – 1861 time period for Catholic baptisms and burials. Almost 12,000 baptisms have been added and over 6,000 burials have been added.

The LAFRANCE database is an index with links to original documents for Quebec Catholic marriages between 1621 and 1849 and baptisms and burials between 1621 and 1849. It also contains Quebec Protestant marriages between 1760 and 1849 and baptisms and burials from 1850 and 1861.

Drouin Institute launches new blog and updates baptisms/burials database

Montreal Photos Added to HistoryPin

McGill Library and Archives in Montreal, Canada, has placed three collections of photos at HistoryPin. Historypin is a website where users can pin photos or videos, audio, and narrative text to a map. The photos are lined up with Google street view so you can see the before and after of each place.

The first collection explores the history of Montreal with images of buildings and landscapes. The images came from historic materials from McGill’s Rare Books and Special Collections.

The second collection is all about Expo ’67. This was the 1967 International and Universal Expedition held in Montreal. This was Canada’s main celebration during its centennial year. Photographs from the expo are lined up on the map and they include various pavilions and sites. For this collection, you can take a tour that follows a path that a visitor may have taken while exploring the fair grounds.

The third collection is all about McGill University. There are photographs from student publications, yearbooks, and postcards.

If you have any of your own photos, you can add them to these collections at HistoryPin as well as adding stories.

Guest post: Visualizing Montreal and McGill with Historypin

Royal Ontario Museum Launches Digital Collection Online

The Royal Ontario Museum has launched a digital collection that gives people greater access to the Museum’s collections. There are 10,000 digitized objects with plans to expand the online collection to 80,000 objects by 2022.

The database can be searched by keyword, location, timeline or subject area. Some objects in the digital collection are not currently on display in the galleries.

The Royal Ontario Museum Launches Digital Collection Online

University of New Brunswick Interactive Story Map of Loyalists

The University of New Brunswick has created an interactive story map about loyalists that came to the area. Loyalists were those who sided with the British during the American Revolution. After the revolution, many Loyalists went to Canada.

The interactive story map uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology and resources found in The Loyalist Collection at the University of New Brunswick library.

There are 10 loyalists. Each one has its own interactive story map that shows their story using maps, images, documents and a biography about them.

The initial phase of this project features those you migrated and settled in York County, New Brunswick.

University of New Brunswick launches interactive story maps of 10 loyalists

Etobicoke Historical Society Creates Online Image Library

The Etobicoke Historical Society in Toronto has created on online image library that contains more than 1,800 images representing 20 historical neighborhoods in the area.

Each neighborhood has its own gallery or page with the images. At the top of the page there are buttons than can be clicked to narrow down the types of images that are displayed.

Plans are to add more images and neighborhoods to the collection. They will also be updating the content and descriptions.

Etobicoke Historical Society digitizes historical photos

New Database of English Roman Catholics

The Catholic Family History Society has created a new database that lists over a quarter of a million English Roman Catholics. The database lists Catholics who lived between 1607 and 1840.

This database is available for purchase as a CD for £7.50plus shipping and will later be available online. I’ll have a link in the show notes for where you can purchase it.

Thousands of Catholic records available in new database

The Margaret Higgins Database of Catholics in England and Their Friends:1607-1840

GRO English and Welsh PDF Certificate Trail

The General Register Office (GRO) has launched another pilot program to test the ordering of PDF versions of English and Welsh birth and death certificates. The program will last for 3 months. It started on October 12.

Records available as PDFs during this pilot include births from 1837 to 1916 and deaths from 1837 to 1957. Each record costs £6. Certified copies cost £9.25.

You will need a GRO index reference when you request the record. This can be found at the GRO online indexes. You will be sent an email when your PDF image is ready. You will then need to log into your GRO account where you will find a link to the PDF in your order history. The PDF will be removed after 3 months.

The PDF will not have an official crest or signature from the issuing authority so it cannot be used for official purposes. It does contain all the same information as a certified copy and it costs less, great for genealogical purposes.

Cheaper PDF GRO Birth and Death Certificates are back

New Records at TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist is a subscription website in the UK. They’ve added baptism records for Worcestershire and Warwickshire.

And they’ve added two new collections that will be useful for searching First World War and Victorian soldiers.

The Worldwide Army Index for 1851, 1861, and 1871 was compiled from the musters held at the National Archives, Kew. It lists all officers and other ranks for those serving in the first quarter of 1851 and the second quarter of 1861 and 1871.

The Illustrated War News was a weekly magazine during the First World War. It contained illustrated reports related to the war. It ceased publication in 1918 and is now available at TheGenealogist.

New military records from TheGenealogist

Worcestershire parish records added to TheGenealogist

ScotlandsPeople Released 1935 Valuation Rolls

ScotlandsPeople have released the 1935 valuation rolls.

ScotlandsPeople website is operated by the National Records of Scotland. The indexes are free to search and then you need to purchase credits to view the records.

Valuation rolls were created by the government when they gathered information about the ownership and tenancy of land and houses in order to raise property taxes. The valuation rolls are indexed by names and addresses.

News: Valuation Rolls for 1935 Go Online

GB1900

There has been a project going on called GB1900. Volunteers are creating a complete list of the nearly three million place-names on early Ordnance Survey maps of Great Britain. That would be for England, Scotland, and Wales. The maps show every town and village. They also show every farm, hill and wood.

The project is a collaboration between the National Library of Scotland, the National Library of Wales, and the University of Portsmouth.

The project is coming to a close and they need more volunteers to be able to complete the project in January 2018. All of the place names have been transcribed and they need more volunteers to verify the transcriptions.

They have leader boards for those who enter the most pins and create a transcription for a place. There hasn’t been a leader board for those who verify the transcription.

They are adding a separate system to reward those who help the most with getting the project finished in its last few months. Doubloons will be given to the volunteers who do the most work. They will be split between those creating new pins and those doing confirmations.

Doubloons cannot be used for legal tender. Five people with the greatest number of Doubloons will receive a printed map of their choice. Another five people will receive the same thing for those who are at the top of the leader board.

Project GB1900 Needs Help!

More County Armagh Records Coming to RootsIreland.ie

RootsIreland.ie is a subscription website run by the Irish Family History Foundation. They’ve add lots more records for County Armagh.

There are baptisms from 1840 – 1864, burials from 1845 – 1889, and marriages from 1840 – 1845. These are additional records for that area.

The records will be available once the validation process is complete.

Extensive church records for Co. Armagh are in the pipe

MilitaryArchives.ie Released More Military Service Pension Files

MilitaryArchives.ie has released more files to its Military Service Pensions Collection 1916 – 1923.

The new additions include almost 5,000 files that relate to just over 1,500 individuals. The files are about claims lodged by the participants of the revolutionary period or by their dependents.

These files are freely available at MilitaryArchives.ie.

MilitaryArchives.ie releases 5,000 new MSPC files

More Swedish Household Examination Records Indexed

MyHeritage and ArkivDigital have teamed up again to index more Swedish Household Examination records. The collection is now indexed from the year 1860 until 1920. Previously the collection was indexed from 1880 – 1920. They’ve indexed an additional 20 years.

The Household Examination records in Sweden were used by the church to record everyone in the parish. The priest visited each house yearly to make sure everyone knew the catechism. The priest recorded information about birth dates of each person, notes were written about the family or individuals, and if they moved, where they went.

These records are available to those who have and all-in-on subscription at ArkivDigital or those who have a subscription to MyHeritage.

Population of Sweden 1880-1920 grows and now becomes 1860-1920

APG Members Get a Discount at Virtual Institute of Genealogical Research

If you are a member the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), you have another discount available. Members will receive a %10 discount off any course recording package at the Virtual Institute of Genealogical Research.

Beginning this year APG members need to meet 12 hours of continuing professional education. Each course at the Virtual Institute of Genealogical Research provides 6 hours of education.

APG Members Discount on all past recorded courses

Florida State Genealogical Society Fall Virtual Conference

The Florida State Genealogical Society will be having its 2017 Fall Virtual Conference on Friday November 17 and Saturday November 18. Cost is $54.95 for members and $59.95 for non-members.

Each day will consist of 4 one hour presentations. Attendees can attend live via GoToWebinar or watch the recording. Recordings will be available for 3 weeks after the conference.

Presenters will be
Diahan Southard
Michael Lacopo
Daniel Earl
Jill Morelli
Peggy Clemens Lauritzen
Mary Kircher Roddy
Jennifer Alford

2017 Fall Virtual Conference

2017 International Genetic Genealogy Conference

The 2017 International Genetic Genealogy Conference will be held in San Diego, California, December 9 – 10. Those dates are on a Saturday and Sunday. Both days cost $169. The price for one day is $99.

The speakers and schedule have not been announced. Previous conferences have been recorded and the presentations and were made available to purchase online. Last year’s presentations are still available to purchase at the conference website.

2017 International Genetic Genealogy Conference

Brandon Stanton Keynote at RootsTech

Another keynote speaker at RootsTech has been announced. Brandon Stanton will be the keynote speaker on Thursday, March 1, 2018.

Stanton is a New York photographer and he will be sharing his story, motivations, and some of the messages that his camera has captured.

Humans of New York Brandon Stanton to Keynote RootsTech 2018

Minnesota Genealogical Society 2018 Webinars Request for Presentation Proposals

The Minnesota Genealogical Society has sent out a request for presentation proposal for it 2018 Genealogy Webinars series. Webinars are held on the first Wednesday of the month at 7PM Central Time.

They encourage proposals for presentations about Minnesota and Upper Midwest and about ethnic groups including but not limited to Swedish, Norwegian, German, French Canadian, and Yankee.

Proposals are due by November 15.

Minnesota Genealogical Society 2018 Webinars Request for Presentation Proposals

Be sure to check out the calendar at Geneatopia.com for all the webinars coming up. And while you’re there consider making a donation to help defray the costs of the podcast.

The calendar also has all the Google Hangouts that are scheduled, events going on in Second Life, and online events that you pay for.

And that’s it for this episode.

You can send email to [e-mail]

You can find links to things mentioned in this show in the show notes at Geneatopia.com as well as a transcript. The transcript can also be found in the Geneatopia Flipboard magazine and you can find the recording on YouTube.

This is episode 110.

Thanks for listening.