Toronto Family History Centre Bulletin

We received a few questions for The Forum but we always need new ones. Do you have any quirky or interesting family stories for news News from the trenches or any new information for the Were you aware...........sections? Next week's county for the Favourite UK County Sites section will be the country, Ireland. A new addition - a picture - is being tried for this week's Bulletin. Hopefully this will not create too many problems for our readers. If you don't get the picture and would like it, please email us and we will send it on. Even the most sophisticated emailed newsletters have their idiosyncratic problems - I received no text at all for this month's National Archives UK newsletter.

In this Bulletin

Announcements - FHC is closed for Thanksgiving and "Who Do You Think You Are?" The Forum New questions and a picture
In Were you aware... A few additional websites for Scotland and the National Archives puts Non-Conformist Birth, Marriage and Death records on-line.

Announcements

The Toronto Family History Centre will be this Saturday and Monday for the Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend.

"Who Do You Think You Are?" This new CBC television programs airs the first program of 13 parts on Thursday October 11 at 7:30p.m. "Where does Don Cherry get his combativeness? Did Margot Kidder inherit her passion for social justice? Is Margaret Trudeau the descendant of a Hindu Princess? Randy Bachman visits the German port where his ancestors fled poverty for the new world, while musician Steven Page unearths details of Nazi massacres of Jews in Poland. Watch as 13 celebrities embark on fascinating journeys to discover their family roots." The British series of the same name has been immensely popular, even spawning a magazine of the same name. We hope that the CBC can create the same buzz for Canadian Family History.

Favourite UK County Sites Next week's favourite county will be actually be a country: Ireland. Irish researchers are well aware of the problems of researching Ireland. A fire in the early 1920's destroyed about two thirds of the parish registers; only fragments of the 19th century censuses remain; and full civil registration did not start in Ireland until 1864. Still there are a lot of web-based resources available. Please send us your favourites for next week's Bulletin. This week's favourite county was Sussex. The silence was deafening - we received no suggestions for websites at all. At the Family History Centre we have 116 films containing mainly Sussex parish records, the National Burial Index CD which contains 315,000 entries for Sussex and the British Isles Vital Records Index which has about 340,000 christenings and 70,000 marriages. As usual the GENUKI website for Sussex is worth perusing closely.
The ForumQuestions: Q1/40/2007. UK.Edward Lawson was 9 months old on 2nd July 1837 when he died of 'Hoopingcough' at the farm called Beckside in Hellifield, near Settle in the county of York. William Lawson, the Brother, Farmer's Son, was the informant. If this is the person I think it is, he would have just been ten years of age. Did an informant on a death certificate have to be 'of age' ? This was also a very early certificate - so maybe restrictions weren't quite so tight?
Q2/40/2007. Wisconsin, USA.Our researcher is wondering why the groom in this wedding photo of about 1900 in Wisconsin is wearing an apron for this formal picture. Also does the gentleman in the front have his hat balanced on a gun or a stick? The rest of the photograph shows a neat two storey farmhouse in the middle of cleared fields with many tree stumps still visible and lots of women and children off to the right. The groom has two glasses and an empty jug (of beer?) in his hands and a stogie hanging out of his mouth. It is a great photo but why the apron?

Q3/40/2007. USA.I can't find my grandfather on the Ellis Island database. The census says he came in 1877. How do I find him?

Films received in the 7 days ending 4 October 2007, due for return (unless renewed) 1 November 2007.


Film Content	Film No
CAN NL St Joseph's RC PR 1874-1899	2169291
DEU Bresin CRs 1874 - 1883	1417608
DEU OLD Church Souces for Research	1045463
DEU Schwetz Kirchenbuch 1856 - 1918	0245588
ENG BDF Dunstable PR 1558-1749	1545404
ENG BDF Dunstable PR 1749-1812	0826468
ENG DEV South Molton PR 1601-1795	0917529
ENG WWI burnt records Powell, M.-	2263527
IRE WIC Delgany 1901 Census	1592785
ITL Petilia Policastro births 1843-1862	1916391
ITL Petilia Policastro births 1871-80	2164071
ITL Petilia Policastro deaths 1809-1852	1916636
ITL Petilia Policastro deaths 1853-1865	1916697
NLD Index to Dutch in French Army A-M	1963041
NLD Zeeland Hulst RC Pr 1715-96	0122382
POL Lodz Belcatow pr 1837-1844	0681033
USA IL Chicago St Cecelia's RC Pr 1885-	1752980

A patron wishing to view a film ordered by another patron should check first with staff. The patron who ordered the film will always have priority.

Any patron may renew a film ordered by another patron although the original patron's name will continue to appear on the label. The description of the film given above may not be a full description. A film number search in the Family History Library Catalog will reveal the full content of the film. The geographical abbreviations used above are based on the Chapman codes.

Were you aware.................. Scotland/CanadaA person with Scottish roots dropped in this week and made us aware of a few more useful Scottish websites:www.ayrshire-roots.com This website has a number of databases which have been indexed for easy searching - about 220,000 records. You must sign in with a password but the searching is free. Databases include Poor Relief and World Wars Casualty indexes but the one our informant found most useful was the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald database. This has the index to many of the Birth, Marriage, Anniversary, Death, Memoriam, Missing in Action, etc. notices from this newspaper. Our researcher found that even when the death was in Canada, notice may have been made in the hometown newspaper. www.monaghan95.freeserve.co.uk This website has access to photographs of many, many headstones and some Scottish towns. While the photographs are no longer on the actual website, email the website owner and he will apparently email you back the requested photograph. Non-Conformist Birth, Marriage and Death Index On-line The National Archives UK announced that they have put Non-confomist BMDs on-line. BMD Registers provides access to the non-parochial and nonconformist registers 1567-1840 held in RG 4 and RG5. As with all the other National Archives records, searching is free but you must pay to download each record.

Toronto Family History Centre Current Opening Hours.

Monday 9.30 a.m to 4 p.m. Tuesday 9.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday 9.30 a.m. to 4 p.m and 6.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. Thursday 9.30 a.m. to 12 noon and 6.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. Friday 9.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday 9.30 a.m. to 12 noon.

Should you decide that you no longer wish to receive this bulletin, reply to this email with the word "Delete" in the subject line.

Toronto Family History CentreChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
24 Ferrand Drive (Don Mills & Eglinton)
Phone: 416 422 5480 Ext. 111.

Email: Toronto_FHC@bellnet.ca

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Toronto Family History Centre Bulletin 39/2007

Needed: questions for The Forum and information for the News from the trenches and the Were you aware...........sections. Next week's county for the Favourite UK County Sites section will be Sussex .

Email problems continue with a new twist last week. It appears that some of our readers' spam-checkers did not like one of the websites for Scotland we had included in our Bulletin last week. Please do let us know if you do not receive the Bulletin - this will help us determine the problem. If you would like last week's Bulletin 38/2007 and did not get it, let us know and we will be happy to send it to you. Remember to add our email address to your list of safe contacts.

In this Bulletin

Announcements - FHC is opening on Tuesday evenings again
The Forum An answer to "What does Of This Parish mean?"
News from the trenches ... Why did English couples marry in Scotland?
In Were you aware... Federation of Family History Societies has On-Line Databases

Announcements

The Toronto Family History Centre will be opening again for the winter on Tuesday evenings 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. This is in addition to our 9:30 am to 4:00 pm hours.

Favourite UK County Sites

Next week's favourite county will be Sussex.

This week's favourite counties were The Scottish Highland Counties.

Vida Preece writes: "Here are some links for Kintyre.

http://groups.msn.com/Kintyre/kintyregraveyards.msnw

http://www.kintyremag.co.uk (Back issues have quite a bit about genealogy.)

This website contains a pile of links for Scotland:

http://www.google.com/Top/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/Scotland/Society_and_Culture/Genealogy/Organisations/

This has a few links for Angus - http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/scotland/angus/index.html "

Sheila Smith sent in a number of interesting websites:

Shetland Family History Home Page at: http://bayanne.info/Shetland/ It contains thousands of records of people born, married or buried in the Shetlands. This should be everyone's first stop if they have a Shetland family.

Shetland Family History Society: http://www.shetland-fhs.org.uk/index.htm

Shetland Newspaper Transcriptions: http://www.jghalcrow.co.uk/
Transcriptions of birth, marriage and death announcements in various newspapers, from 1872-1963.

Orkney Genealogy: http://www.cursiter.com/indexNC.shtml
Also includes information on Caithness and the Shetland Isles. It includes a large index of births, baptisms and marriages.

Highland Family History Centre: http://www.highlandfhs.org.uk/Index.asp

The Scottish Emigration Database: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/emigration/index.html
A searchable database put together by the University of Aberdeen, containing the names of over 21,000 passengers. Can be searched by name, town, port of arrival, ship's name etc.

Am Baile: Highland History and Culture: http://www.ambaile.co.uk/en/index.jsp
This site includes photos and audio collections of Highland life and heritage.

Dorothy Stewart adds:

"Here is a GREAT site I have found for MORAY/ELGIN (library index) - http://libindx.moray.gov.uk/mainmenu.asp

(I have found a lot on my husband’s family members on it.)"

Gwen Armstrong suggests:

Shetland Newspaper Transcriptions BMD 1873-1900 - http://www.jghalcrow.co.uk/bdm/bdm.html

Additionally, for the Lowlands (last week's counties) - Irregular Border and Scottish Runaway Marriages -

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/famrec/hlpsrch/sumrmar/runmar.html

The Forum

Questions: No new questions were received this week. Please send some in.

Q2/37/2007. UK. Meaning of the term “of this parish” in marriage records.

Although the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 which set up the Poor Law Unions and the workhouse system stipulated that the parishes within the union were required to support only the poor who had a right of settlement in those parishes, it seems that it did not prevent people from living and working outside their parish of settlement. On the other hand, if they were guilty of vagrancy – begging or prostitution for example – they could be returned to their parish of settlement.

Marriage in a church requires that at least one of the parties has to be a resident of that parish and the banns of marriage have to be called in that parish on three consecutive Sundays (and in the other party’s parish if that situation applied) and that is the rule to this day. However, this rule was easily circumvented. To avoid the additional cost of calling the banns in two parishes a prospective bride or groom would establish “residency” at the address of a friend or relative during the period the banns were being called. Nowadays it is commonplace for a couple who wish to get married in a “pretty” church rather than in their own parish church, will establish residency at a Bed & Breakfast in the desired parish at a special “don’t actually come here” rate. The “pretty” parish church is happy with the additional income thus generated and could be counted on to not ask too many questions

Films received in the 7 days ending 27 September 2007, due for return (unless renewed) 25 October 2007

Film Content	Film No
CAN PQ Grenville Baptist pr	2022285
CAN PQ Land records M-T Jul 1856-60	1723582
ENG BKS Wills Archdeaconry 1738-42	1042593
ENG BKS Wills Archdeaconry 1742-45	1042594
ENG BKS Wills Archdeaconry 1756-61	1042598
ENG BKS Wills Archdeaconry 1765-68	1042601
ENG BKS Tingewick PRs BMB 1560-1812	1042441
ENG CON St Ives PR 1651-1868	1595570
ENG ESS Great Clacton pr 1802-87	1702213
ENG ESS Little Clacton pr 1538-1963	1565719
ENG HAM Hambledon Bapt 1778 - 1812	1041206
ENG KEN Preston-Nxt-Faversham PR	2354700
ENG KEN Preston-Nxt-Faversham PR	2354699
ENG LAN Liverpool St Peter BMD 1823-1828	1068925
ENG OXF Banbury BTs BMBs 1606-1817	0095208
ENG OXF Fringford BTs BMB 1680-1856	0095248
ENG OXF Stratton Audley PRs 1696-1950	0887489
ENG Royal Artillery Desc. Books 1815-40	0867036
ENG Royal Artillery Desc. Books 1815-43	0866559
ENG Royal Artillery Desc. Books 1815-45	0866596
GRD Civil Reg 1910-1916	1523259
IND Bombay BMB vol 12 1835-1836	0523839
IND Reg of Madras Soldiers 1786-1839	1885890
IND Reg of Madras Soldiers 1840-1850	1885891
IRL Marriages Vol 7 1849	0101308
NLD Haarlem PR Index Ma 1578 - 1811	0540675
NLD Haarlem PR Index Mi 1578 - 1811	0540677
SVK Kemarok pr 1813-	1739452
SVK Kemarok pr 1813-	1739451
USA MI Muskegon Naturalizations 1898-	1787480

A patron wishing to view a film ordered by another patron should check first with staff. The patron who ordered the film will always have priority.

News from the trenches

Helen Billing noticed the call for useful websites for the Scottish Lowlands last week and wondered how many readers, interested in English genealogy, knew about Gretna Green marriages. "Early on in my research whenever I could not find a marriage record, my mother would say 'Oh, they must have been married in Gretna Green'. Interest piqued, I looked up Gretna Green marriages. Gretna Green was on the stagecoach route between London and Edinburgh, and was the first changing post across the English border into Scotland. When Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act came into effect in 1753, brides and grooms under the age of 21 in England and Wales had to have their parent's permission to marry; and for all, banns had to be read or a marriage licence obtained (Jews and Quakers were exceptions to this part of the law). However the Act did not apply in Scotland, where grooms could marry at 14 and girls at 12 without their parent's consent and banns did not have to be read. The reading of banns in England occasionally resulted in objections being raised and the marriage could not take place.

Scottish law allowed for 'irregular marriages', meaning that, so long as a declaration was made, in front of two witnesses, almost anybody had the authority to conduct the marriage ceremony. The result of these differences was that thousands of English couples were married in Gretna Green's blacksmiths' shops, inns and smallholdings by the owners, self-appointed 'ministers'. Later on, in law, a Gretna Green marriage came to mean a marriage transacted in a jurisdiction that was not the residence of the parties being married, in order to avoid restrictions or procedures imposed by the parties' home jurisdiction. A few (about 4500) of these marriages have been indexed at http://www.achievements.co.uk/services/gretna/index.php .

Currently in England and Wales couples can be married at 16 years of age with parents' consent and 18 without. Couples can marry at 16 with or without parents' consent in Scotland.

Gretna Green has taken advantage of its history and still has a thriving wedding industry. Marriages can be held in the Old Blacksmith's Shop, Anvil Hall, The Mill Hotel and Forge, etc. I have seen estimates that 13 to 15% of all marriages in Scotland currently take place in Gretna Green."

Were you aware..................

The Federation of Family History Societies has searchable on-line databases which have been created by its member family history societies. You must create a user name and password to search the Index. Searching is free but to obtain further details of an entry you will need to establish credit, minimum £5. In each case charges are shown before debiting your account. You have 6 months in which to spend this and each further credit that you add. The charges are very reasonable. For example, one marriage record or baptism record costs a mere £0.06 to look at. Have a look at:

http://www.familyhistoryonline.net/

Toronto Family History Centre Current Opening Hours.

Monday 9.30 a.m to 4 p.m.

Tuesday 9.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Wednesday 9.30 a.m. to 4 p.m and 6.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.

Thursday 9.30 a.m. to 12 noon and 6.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.

Friday 9.30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturday 9.30 a.m. to 12 noon.

Should you decide that you no longer wish to receive this bulletin, return this email with the word "Delete" in the subject line.

Toronto Family History Centre

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
24 Ferrand Drive (Don Mills & Eglinton)
Phone: 416 422 5480 Ext. 111.

Email: Toronto_FHC@bellnet.ca

TOP

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Toronto Family History Centre Bulletin 38/2007

More questions are needed for The Forum, and information for the News from the trenches and the Were you aware...........sections would be welcomed. Next week's county for the Favourite UK County Sites section will be The Scottish Highland Counties.

In this Bulletin

Announcements - FHC early closing on Friday, September 21 and OGS Fall Courses & Scottish Family History Workshop

No new questions in The Forum but a couple of interesting answers

In Were you aware... Irish Census records coming on-line; CBC's fall schedule includes "Who Do You Think You Are"; a new decade of overseas passenger lists departing from Britain; and marriage entries missing from the UK Marriage Indexes

Announcements

The Toronto Family History Centre will be closing at 2pm tomorrow, Friday, September 21

OGS Scottish Family History Workshop and Fall Courses

In two recent Bulletins, the name of James Thomson has been misspelled, first with respect to the course in British Army Records which he is teaching this autumn (http://www.torontofamilyhistory.org/courses.html), and then with respect to a session entitled A Survey of Scottish Family History Resources in the GTA which he is delivering as part of the Toronto Branch OGS workshop Exploring Scottish Ancestry on Saturday, November 10 (http://www.torontofamilyhistory.org/scottish.html). James is a frequent contributor to the Bulletin.

Additions to our Permanent Collections

Two CDs have been added to our permanent collections:

ENG SRY Haslemere BMBs 1770-1812

ENG Lincolnshire Marriages for Huttoft, Mablethorpe St Mary & St Peter with Stain, Stain, Mumby, Mumby Chapel, Trusthorpe, Willoughby and Wilthern

Favourite UK County Sites

Next week's favourite counties will be The Scottish Highland Counties. These include: Aberdeen, Forfar (Angus), Argyll, Banff, Bute, Caithness, Clackmannan, Dunbarton, Fife, Inverness, Kinross, Elgin (Moray), Nairn, Orkney, Perth, Ross & Cromarty, Stirling, Sutherland, and Shetland.

This week's favourite counties were The Scottish Lowland Counties.

Wendy Frew sent in these suggested websites:

1. www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk (This is the government website. Gwen Armstrong notes that it can be expensive. 6 pounds for 30 credits. Each search will cost you a credit. If you want to view the record it is 5 credits. If there happens to be a change to the record or Reg. of Cor. Entry, it is another 2 credits. It is easy to search and you can find a lot quickly but 6 pounds goes fast.)

2. www.ayrshireroots.com

3. Coal Mining History Resource Centre - http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cmhrc/

4. Scottish Mining Museum - http://scottishminingmuseum.com

5. Rampant Scotland - www.rampantscotland.co/genealogy.htm There are lots of suggestions here. If researching Ayrshire, go to Ayrshire in Scotlands Gen Web section. A useful email address would be Jill McColl at the Ardrosson Library's North Ayrshire Local History Department. She was very helpful when I visited the Library.

6. When visiting North Ayrshire, the North Ayrshire Cemeteries Service in Saltcoats is a goldmine. It is within walking distance of the Ardrossan Library.

Gwen Armstrong suggests:

Scotland Borders Family History Society - http://www.bordersfhs.org.uk/ I like the Other Websites page. Lots of links to family/surname sites.

Mitchell Library - http://www.mitchelllibrary.org/virtualmitchell/ - old photographs of Glasgow which are searchable

National Archives of Scotland - http://www.nas.gov.uk/familyHistory/

Scotlands Family - www.scotlandsfamily.com

Scottish Lowland Family History Researchers - http://www.geocities.com/elnalexjoe/lowlands.html

Scottish Association of Family History Societies - http://www.safhs.org.uk/ I like this because it has links to all the Scottish Family History Societies. I don't have to go searching.

Catholic Church links - http://home.att.net/~Local_Catholic/Catholic-Scotland.htm

Scotland Census on-line - http://www.freewebs.com/mmjeffery/index.htm

Talking Scot - http://www.talkingscot.com/

Scottish Mining Villages - http://www.mining-villages.co.uk/index.html

National Library of Scotland – digital maps - http://www.nls.uk/maps/townplans/index.html

The Forum

Questions: No new questions were received this week. Please send some in.

Answers

Q3/37/2007. UK .

A musical question - Can anyone recall the Parson's Nose song, because I want to start singing it to my nieces and nephews at carving time?

Paul Jones suggests that it might be this one:

"Here’s a link to a site with lyrics for a music hall number, “Christmas Day in the Cookhouse”, that may or may not be what your correspondent is seeking with regard to the parson’s nose. None of it is overtly off colour, but one suspects that there may be some euphemisms (e.g. “Fishcakes”) and perhaps some rhyming slang and other wordplay that escapes us today.

http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/xmas/christmasdayinthecookhouse.shtml "

Q4/37/2007. UK/Newfoundland.

I am seeking advice regarding searching for my great great grandfather, Robert Woodman, who came from Devon and settled in New Harbour, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland in or about 1812. Could someone suggest a way over this brick wall?

Kathleen Lopez writes:

"I have spent considerable time researching Newfoundland settlers in the English records. Most of the English fisherman who eventually settled in Newfoundland came from within 20 miles of the southern coast of England. They were hired at Fairs and given enough money to walk to their place of embarkation early in the spring. This cuts down your search area for Robert Woodman considerably. If you consult Henry B. Guppy's book, " HOMES OF FAMILY NAMES IN GREAT BRITAIN", you will see that the name was most often found in Northumberland and Middlesex, thus it would not be a common name in the south of England. Spiegelhalter traced it in Devon. Having said all that, there are exceptions. My own ancestor, who settled very close to yours in Trinity Bay, was born in 1799 in North Yorkshire, but spent his youth in Bridport, Dorset. The men who worked the fishing boats in England and who sailed to Newfoundland were considered a source for the Navy --- "a nursery for the navy". There was even an early law which stated that every boat bound for Newfoundland had to have aboard a certain percentage of "green fishermen" - men who were new to fishing. This was because a land soldier could be trained in a short period of time, but men aboard a navy vessel took a long time to train. Therefore the Newfoundland homeward bound fishing vessels were often boarded before returning to port and men were pressed into the navy. The moral of the story is that Robert Woodman may well have never set eyes on the sea before boarding that vessel that took him to Newfoundland.

"I would not put a lot of stock in the story of the 3 brothers. Every person I have ever talked to searching in Newfoundland has a story about 3 brothers coming from England to Newfoundland. There seems to be something mystical about the number 3 in their family lore. But don't be pessimistic as I have had great success searching for ancestors born in England, suddenly appearing in church records in Newfoundland, but with no clue given about their birth place. The more uncommon a name the greater the chance of finding the individual in the English records.

"I had also great success in 1992 searching for the birth place of my Newfoundland NEWHOOK ancestor---with no idea of where he was born in England. No computer at that time!!! I went to the "GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH DIRECTORY" for 1989, 1990 1991 etc. and wrote to the several listed Newhook researchers and got a lead that way. I would suggest that this gentleman go to the library and search back copies of the Directory and see where people were listing their Woodmans. I have looked at my Directory copies for late 1980 and early 1990 listings for WOODMAN and see that people were searching in certain parishes in Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire. I would start searching in those parishes for Robert Woodman." ( Editor's Note: The FHC has two " Genealogical Research Directories" in its library - the 2001 and the 2005 Editions. They can be found in the General Research section - three green dots on the top shelf of bookcase #1.)

Along a similar line, the researcher could always check out the RootsWeb mailing list for Devon, searching for Woodman and the Rootsweb Message Boards for Woodman & Devon.

Films received in the 7 days ending 20 September 2007, due for return (unless renewed) 18 October 2007

Film Content	Film No
CAN NF Marriage Index 1920-1922	2168861
CAN ON Kent Co. M 1925	2413310
CAN ON Lanark Co. M 1925	2413311
CAN ON Simcoe Co. Marriages 1925	2413322
IRE CAV Kilmore 1911 Census	0812123
ITL Pachino births	1466349
POL Lezajsk (Krzeszow) RC PR 1810-	2002535

A patron wishing to view a film ordered by another patron should check first with staff. The patron who ordered the film will always have priority.

Were you aware..................

Irish Census Records for 1901 and 1911
The Irish census records will be starting to go online this fall at www.nationalarchives.ie. There will be both nominal indexes and the actual census images -- all free of charge. They will go on in stages, starting with the 1911 records for Dublin and then Belfast and eventually covering all 32 counties, including those now in Northern Ireland. They will be accompanied by contextual matter about the history and social conditions and wonderful pictures from the collection of the National Library of Ireland. Catriona Crowe, the Head of Special Projects at the National Archives of Ireland, was interviewed about the Irish Census Project on CBC Radio One, Ontario Today, on Monday, September 17. You can link to the interview at http://www.cbc.ca/ontariotoday/story_archive.html. In order to listen to the broadcast you will need to have RealPlayer software on your computer. You can download this from: http://www.real.com.

Who Do You Think You Are?

The CBC is producing a Canadian Version of Who Do You Think You Are?, the genealogical documentary show that follows celebrities as they discover the truth behind a family legend. The series was originally created for the BBC and has been extremely popular there. It is scheduled to premiere on Thursday 11 October 2007 at 7:30pm and will have 13 parts showcasing Canadian celebrities (like Don Cherry, Margot Kidder and Chantal Kreviazuk).

BT27 Overseas Passenger Lists Departing from UK Ports

James Thomson reports that an additional decade (1930-1939) of BT 27 passenger lists for overseas voyages departing from ports in the United Kingdom has now been uploaded to www.ancestorsonboard.com .

Missing UK Marriage Index Entries

Jean Harris alerts us to the fact that a few entries are missing from the published GRO marriage indexes for 1856, 1858 & 1861. These missing entries are available at the following website: http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/StCathsTranscriptions/#Missing .

Toronto Family History Centre Current Opening Hours.

Monday 9.30 a.m to 4 p.m.

Tuesday 9.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Evening hours 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. starting October 2.

Wednesday 9.30 a.m. to 4 p.m and 6.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.

Thursday 9.30 a.m. to 12 noon and 6.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.

Friday 9.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closing at 2pm on September 21.

Saturday 9.30 a.m. to 12 noon.

Should you decide that you no longer wish to receive this bulletin, return this email with the word "Delete" in the subject line.

Toronto Family History Centre

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
24 Ferrand Drive (Don Mills & Eglinton)
Phone: 416 422 5480 Ext. 111.

Email: Toronto_FHC@bellnet.ca

TOP

TUGG HOMEPAGE

Toronto Family History Centre Bulletin 37/2007

Please keep sending your questions and answers for The Forum and information for the News from the trenches and the Were you aware...........sections. Next week's county for the Favourite UK County Sites section will be The Scottish Lowland Counties.

In this Bulletin

Announcements - September Meeting of Toronto Branch of OGS and more information on the Scottish Family History Workshop

Two new questions in The Forum

News from the trenches - a couple of amusing stories

In Were you aware... that the National Burial Index has 13.2 million Records and that our Family History Centre Library can help you decipher those ancient and foreign documents and, finally, James Thomson reminds us of the proposed launch tomorrow of online indexes to and images of certain English Non-Parochial Registers.

Announcements

Toronto OGS Meeting The next meeting of the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society will be held on September 24, 2007 at 7:30 pm in the Burgundy Room of the North York Civic Centre (concourse level). The speaker, Bill Bienia, will talk about Genealogical Software Progams. He will compare four of the leading genealogical programs for the PC (RootsMagic, Family Tree Maker, Legacy, and The Master Genealogist). Topics will include ease of use, source citations, augmenting bare facts, creating narratives and chronological profiles, generating charts and reports, books and Web sites, and using data with other programs such as word processors and spreadsheets. From 6:15 pm some members will be there with some of the programs on laptops for informal discussion. Guests are welcome to attend, particularly those who can assist with the pre-meeting demonstrations. If you are willing to help, please contact Linda Reid at reidlinda@rogers.com.

Scottish Family History Workshop - Exploring Scottish Ancestry

The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has announced the line-up of speakers and topics for the Scottish Family History Workshop to be held in Toronto on Saturday, November 10, 2007 at the North York Central Library Auditorium. Both beginners and experienced researchers will find topics of interest. Sessions are as listed below:

A: Scottish Emigration & Canadian Settlement: An Historical Overview - Dr. Kevin James

B: Building a Scottish Family Tree Using ScotlandsPeople - Marian Press

C: Scotland's Other Congregations and Churches: Looking for Records - Sherry Irvine

D: Question and Answer Panel

E: Tour of the North York Central Library's Canadiana Department

F: Scottish Pedigree Analysis: From the late 19th century back over 100 years - Linda Reid

G: A Survey of Scottish Family History Resources on the GTA - James Thompson

H: Valuation Rolls in Scotland - Sherry Irvine

I: General Register Office for Scotland - Paul McGrath

Full details, along with downloadable registration form, are available at www.torontofamilyhistory.org/scottish.html, or by request from 416-733-2608. The program's sponsor is the St. Andrew's Society of Toronto and the program is supported by the Canadiana Department of North York Central Library.

Favourite UK County Sites

Next week's favourite counties will be The Scottish Lowland Counties. These include: Ayr, Berwick, Haddington (East Lothian), Edinburgh (Midlothian), Roxburgh, Selkirk, Peeble, Lanark, Linlithgow (West Lothian), Renfrew, Dunfermline, Kirkcudbright, and Wigtown. Please send us suggestions of websites you have found helpful.

Last week's county was Essex. Frances Radford sent us the following three websites:

http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/login.asp - Essex Archives Online

http://www.essexchurches.com/ _Photographs of Essex Churches

http://www.essexpast.net/ - Victorian County History of Essex

Margaret Taylor adds:

Essex Surname List - http://freespace.virgin.net/annemarie.shuttle/

Essex Villages Site - http://www.essexvillages.net/index.html

London, Essex & Kent Pubs, Inns, Taverns & Beer Houses History & Trade Directory - http://essexpub.net/

Essex County Council Website(Local Studies) - http://www.essexcc.gov.uk/vip8/ecc/ECCWebsite/dis/guc.jsp?channelOid=15524&guideOid=17103&guideContentOid=15563

A recent addition to the Online Parish Clerks: - http://essex-opc.org.uk/AboutUs.php

The Forum

New Questions

Q1/37/2007. Czech Republic .

Does the FHC have microfilms of records in the Czech Republic, formerly Czechoslovakia, formerly Bohemia? If so, how do I find them?

Q2/37/2007. UK.

What does "of this parish" really mean in UK marriage records? I have seen the phrase for people seemingly born elsewhere and living elsewhere not long before or after. It implies a person with a residence in the parish but how long do they have to lived there or does it mean anything else?

Q3/37/2007. UK .

A musical question - The tail end of a roasted turkey, the spade shaped part, is referred to as the parson's nose, or the pope's nose, depending on your religious affiliation. When I was very young, dinner at my Grandparents house would often be roast turkey. As it was trotted in to the table, my Grandfather would start to sing a song about the parson's nose, which must have had suggestive lyrics unsuitable for youngsters as Grandmother would always hush him up in short order, to the guffaws of all the male adults present. My Grandfather died when I was only eight so I never learned the words to The Parson's nose song. Can anyone recall this, because I want to start singing it to my nieces and nephews at carving time?

Q4/37/2007. UK/Newfoundland.

I am seeking advice regarding searching for my ancestors in Devon. My great-great grandfather, Robert Woodman, settled in New Harbour, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland in or about 1812. He married a Priscilla but we have not located a marriage record that might have parental information. They had a first child in 1815, but the baptismal record contains no additional information. Based on Robert's grave stone he died in 1868 age 85 which puts his birth about 1783. Family folklore says he was from Devon and left England with two brothers, one of whom went on to settle in the Maritimes, perhaps PEI, and the other in the USA, perhaps near Boston. Based on the repeated family names, I would guess at their likely first names being either John, James, William or Edward. I have been told that only a small number of Parish records have been filmed by the IGI/FHC, and to find a Woodman family in Devon, who had 3 sons born in the late 1700s who did not marry or die there would be impossible, because of the number of Parish records to search. And as yet I do not know Robert's birth town, nor the names of his parents. Could someone suggest a way over this brick wall?

Films received in the 7 days ending 13 September 2007, due for return (unless renewed) 11 October 2007

NO FILMS RECEIVED THIS WEEK

News from the trenches

Many thanks to Paul Branson for contributing the following stories:

After the Crimean War in the 1850's, His Majesty, the King of Sardinia, saw fit to award 400 medals to British troops for exceptional displays of Military Valour. Here is an excerpt from the rolls outlining the bravery of Private P. McGuire, AND the reason he never received his medal.

No. 3510 Private P, McGuire.... Was in advance on the 18th of June 1855 in the attack and capture of the cemetery by the Second Brigade Third Division. Was one of those who reached close under the Russian Batteries. Though severely wounded in the left hand, he remained at his post during the whole day, firing on the Russian Embrasures.

Why did he not receive his decoration for this meritorious service? A hand written note in the margin explains all.

"has deserted since he was recommended for the medal"

Many family researchers who are also interested in history will know that public schooling started in England around 1865. As a teenager I would often visit my Great Uncle Horace to visit/interrogate him for family information. He told me that when he was in school, in order to remember a date, the kids were often taught a song or verse. Here are the words to a song he related to me about the start of the public school system in England, and you can tell, for what may have been the norm a generation earlier, there was now a stigma attached to people who lacked schooling or were illiterate. Dear old Uncle Horace was not much of a singer, so I do not remember the tune!

The members of our school board

must be men of common sense

To do their duty nobly, without the least offence

And for those who must still work

To keep their families alive,

Should be free of persecution, in 1865

Were you aware..................

The Family History Centre has the set of four CDs of the National Burial Index. These CDs contain 13.2 million burial records in England and Wales and complements the International Genealogical Index (IGI) which is mainly a finding aid to baptisms and marriages. It is very fast and easy to use. This is a volunteer project by the local family history societies, and some of the counties are better covered than others. As pointed out last week coverage of Hertfordshire is almost complete for burials up to 1837; and this week's county, Essex, has more than half a million recorded burials listed. If you do find any ancestors on the National Burial Index, do order in the LDS film to check the original parish records, if they are available. You never know what interesting tidbits you might find - occasionally the parish clerk will write "Small Pox" or "Cholera" or "Suicide" or something much more interesting.

Our Family History Centre's library is another underused resource. A couple of the more useful books are:

Abbreviations and Acronyms - Did you know that vid. means widow? or that vf. is a widower? or that av. is years lived (annos vixit)? or IGI is International Genealogical Index? Have a look at this book when you come across a term you do not understand.

Following the Paper Trail - A Multilingual Translation Guide - This excellent guide is broken down into four basic sections by language groups - Germanic, Romance, Slavic and Other. Each language within each group is starts with the alphabet and then proceeds with examples of documents and writing and common forenames in each country, and concludes each language with a genealogical dictionary. One of our researchers of German records has relied entirely on this book for translations of the records she has been looking at.

The books in our FHC Library have a rather unorthodox filing system: the general interest books have a series of blue dots (the two examples above have 4 blue dots for Interpretation of Records); books on Asia have gold stars; Canadian books have red dots; books about the States have green dots; books on England have red stars; Ireland has green stars; Scotland has blue stars; and Wales has yellow dots. For a list of our books, have a look in the grey FHL books folder on bookcase 3, shelf 4. A more detailed explanation of the filing system can be found in the back.

Non-Parochial Registers in England & Wales (RG 4, RG 5, RG 6, RG 7, and RG 8). James Thomson writes: "As a brief follow-up to last week's extensive piece about the fact that these series at The National Archives (at Kew) are being digitized, don't forget that tomorrow, September 14, is the scheduled launch day for series RG 4 and RG 5 at: www.bmdregisters.co.uk ; more information about these series is on this website and in last week's Bulletin. The official names of these series is as follows:

RG 4: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths Surrendered to Non-Parochial Registers Commissions

RG 5: Birth Certificates from the Presbyterian, Independent and Baptist Registry and from the Wesleyan Methodist Metropolitan Registry, 1742-1840

I look forward to seeing how this information is presented online.

Some of these records, as noted in http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/familyhistory/guide/people/nonconformist.htm , have at least been partially indexed before; both the IGI and the British Isles Vital Records Index (2nd edition, on CD at the Family History Centres and the Toronto Reference Library), for instance, contain some entries drawn from these series. I have read that the IGI is estimated to include about 80% of entries in TNA’s RG 4 class. The British Isles Vital Records Index notably includes many entries from:

a) The Protestant Dissenters Registry (Dr. Williams’ Library) (containing records of nearly 50,000 pre-1837 births of children born to Baptist, Presbyterian or Independent/Congregationalist families; note that parents of the mother may be given)

b) The Wesleyan Methodist and Metropolitan Registry (10,000 births and baptisms, most 1818-1837; again, parents of the mother may be given)."

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TUGG HOMEPAGE

Toronto Family History Centre Bulletin 36/2007

We received a couple of questions for The Forum this week but please send us more questions or gems for the News from the trenches and the Were you aware...........sections. Next week's county for the Favourite UK County Sites section will be Essex.

In this Bulletin

Announcements - Re-opening on Tuesday evenings on October 2

Acquisitions in Additions to our Permanent Collections

A couple of new questions in The Forum and an answer to last week's Polish question

In Were you aware... Toronto OGS offers a one day Scottish Family History Workshop and Fall Courses in Genealogy; and James Thomson describes five new developments which we can look forward to, the first happening at the end of next week..

Announcements

The Family History Centre will be opening on Tuesday evenings 6:30-9:30 starting on October 2, for the winter.

Additions to our Permanent Collections

BOOK CAN Western Canadian Directories on microfiche and microfilm - A Finding Aid

CD ENG SRY Stoke D'Abernon Bap 1619-1812; Mar 1620-1812; Bur 1619-1812 (not complete)

Favourite UK County Sites

Next week's favourite county will be Essex. Please send us suggestions of websites you have found helpful.

Last week's counties were Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. The Hertfordshire Family History Society has transcribed all the burial data (137,000 entries) for the 138 parishes in Hertfordshire from 1800 to 1837. It is part of the National Burial Index CD set which the Family History Centre has as part of its CD collection. The NBI includes the following information (where available): forename(s) and surname of the deceased; date of burial; age (if available); and details of the place where this was recorded. The CD set can be found on the bottom shelf of bookshelf three. Bedfordshire burials are also very well represented on these CDs, with approximately 356,000 burials listed for their 141 parishes.

Carol Lewis has again contributed many interesting websites - this time for Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire:

Genealogy in Hertfordshire - http://www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk/index.htm

Hertfordshire old maps - http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~genmaps/genfiles/COU_Pages/ENG_pages/hrt.htm

Leighton Linslade Past Times - http://www.leighton-linslade.com/

Pictures of Olde Tring - http://www.oldtring.co.uk/

Hemel Hempstead War Memorial - http://www.dacorumheritage.org.uk/ww1-rolls-HemelHempstead.htm

Hertfordshire Family History Society - http://www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk/data/websites/hfphs.htm

Bedfordshire Family History Society - http://www.bfhs.org.uk/

Bedfordshire Towns and Villages Photo Album - http://www.countyviews.com/beds/index.htm

Bedfordshire Gaol - http://www.schools.bedfordshire.gov.uk/gaol/

Poll Book of Bedfordshire 1722 - http://www.rabancourt.co.uk/abacus/p1722h.html

Poll Book of Bedfordshire 1784 - http://www.rabancourt.co.uk/abacus/p1784h.html

Bedfordshire and Luton Archives - http://blars.adlibsoft.com/form.html

Biggleswade History Society - http://www.biggleswadehistory.org.uk/

An incorrect Buckinghamshire link was given last week. The Index to Robson's 1839 Directory of Buckinghamshire by David Kolle is - for names A-F: http://met.open.ac.uk/genuki/big/eng/BKM/Directories/bucksdira.html ; for names G-O: http://met.open.ac.uk/genuki/big/eng/BKM/Directories/bucksdirg.html and for names P-Y: http://met.open.ac.uk/genuki/big/eng/BKM/Directories/bucksdirp.html .

The Forum

Answers: Q2/35/2007 Poland

My cousin believes her mother, born in 1907, was from a town in Poland called Swintsian. Could someone suggest where this town might likely have been, and how the name might be properly spelled and pronounced?

Many thanks to Paul Jones for the following comprehensive answer: "I went to JewishGen (http://www.jewishgen.org/ ) and entered Swintsian in the search engine. My rationale: So many eastern European communities had a significant Jewish community in days of yore and have been extensively studied by Jewish genealogists.

Three communities came up. One was in SW Germany and can be easily dispensed with. Another Zbąszyń, 345 km west of Warsaw, was known as Bentschen c. 1900 and was part of Germany, so it doesn’t sound too convincing either.

The third, corresponding to one of the target communities identified by your correspondent, is variously written as Švenčionys [Lith], Sventzion [Yid], Święciany [Pol], Shventsian [Rus], Svencionyz, Shvintzion, Shvyentsiani, Shvyetsiani, Svenchan, Sventsian, Sventsiany, Swenziany, Svintzian and is part of present-day Lithuania. Between the wars, c. 1930, it was part of Poland, but before WWI, c. 1900, it was in the Russian Empire. This yo-yo existence certainly fits with the suspicions of the questioner. Note the also the almost exact identity between Swintsian as posed in the question and Shventsian as the town was c. 1900, as well as two of the name variants Swenziany and Svintzian. I’m not saying this is the right place—but it surely deserves to be studied carefully until something better comes along.

Your correspondent can pursue this further by going to http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Svencionys/svencionys.html where there is geographical and historical information about the town (albeit from a predominantly Jewish perspective), along with links suggesting further research, including one to the current municipal website (although it’s not in English!).

It might also be worth talking with someone who actually knows something about this part of the world, maybe someone from the Jewish Genealogical Society of Canada ( Toronto) - www.jgstoronto.ca/About.html ."

New Questions

Q1/36/2007. Canada.

Our fame spreads! We are now receiving e-mails from England with new questions. "I am interested in obtaining a full birth certificate for one of my ancestors -WILBERT FRANK DREDGE who was born in Nepenee, Ontario 25th October 1891." Using this sparse information, FHC staff were able to find the marriage of Wilbert's parents in Napanee and Wilbert's marriage to Bertha Vosburgh in South Frederickburgh. But we have been unable to find birth certificates for either Wilbert or Bertha. In 1901 Wilbert is living with his maternal grandparents - George and Minerva Keller. We found no trace of the death of Wilbert's parents - Harry or Harvey and Minnie. Could anyone suggest a further avenue for exploration? What percentage of births and deaths were registered in Ontario around that time frame?

Q2/36/2007. USA.

My immigrant ancestors spent their first few years (1905-1906) in Freehold, New Jersey. I only know that they communicated by mail at a P.O. Box there, and we believe they lived on a farm, possibly with a relative. Would anyone know how to trace the owners of US Post Box Numbers?

Films received in the 7 days ending 6 September 2007, due for return (unless renewed) 4 October 2007

Film Content	Film No
CAN NF Marriage Index 1892-1920	2168860
CAN NF Marriage Returns 1913-1922	2168997
CAN NF Placentia RC PR 1822-1944	2169241
CAN NF Placentia RC PR 1822-1944	2169240
CAN ON Carleton marriages 1925	2412462
CAN ON Victoria marriages 1925	2413330
CAN PQ Quebec St Patrick's CRs 1888-1896	1853794
DEU Mittelreidenbach PR 1755-1889	0584949
DEU Sien PR 1704-27, 1798-1869	0556072
ENG CON Scilly Isles PRs 1726 - 1834	0254230
ENG DEV Exeter Death Dty Reg 1796-	1368367
ENG DUR Chester-le-Street PR 1582-	0091090
ENG ESS Little Waltham PR 1538-1875	1526972
ENG HER Weston-Beggard PR 1591-	1040030
ENG LAN St Thomas L'pool BMD 1821 - 1875	1068943
ENG LEI Ashby de la Zouch BTs 1563-	0585295
ENG MDX Spitalfields PR mar 1783-1812	0592625
ENG MDX St Martin in Fields PR 1550-	0560373
ENG SOM Pitminster BTs 1597 - 1836	1470913
ENG WO 69/120 description books RA	0866580
ENG WO 69/79 description books RA	0866546
GRD Register of Records 1889-1894	1563414
IND Bombay CMBs 1835	0623839
IRE CAV Kilmore 1911 Census	0812125
ITL Pachino marriages	1466350
ITL Petilia Policastro PR 1866-1910	2164072
NLD Ede BMD 10 year tables 1883-1892	0518718
NLD Oldemarkt births 1863-1912	1300058
POL Lezajsk (Krzeszow) RC PR 1853-	2002536
POL Lodz Belchatow Births 1841-1851	0681034
RUS Zhitomir Metrical Books 1843-1885	1884071
SVK Nova Lesna Evang PRs 1859 - 1946	1791937
UKR L'viv Gk Cath Metr.Bks 1784-1847	1925039
UKR Zalszczyk RC PR 178-1881	2329199
USA NY NY City Marriage Index 1888-97	1653852

A patron wishing to view a film ordered by another patron should check first with staff. The patron who ordered the film will always have priority.

News from the trenches

Last week's feature on the County of Buckinghamshire mentioned a website for looking up wills of ancestors - http://apps.buckscc.gov.uk/eforms/wills/search.aspx. Helen Billing used the website (which she had submitted!) and found a number of useful wills, of which she had been unaware. The note last week mentioned that copies of the wills could be purchased by mail but once the date has been ascertained, the appropriate LDS film can easily be ordered.

Were you aware..................

The Toronto branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society is offering a one day workshop on Scottish family history research on November 10, 2007. For more information on this and their fall offering of family history courses, please see their website: http://www.torontofamilyhistory.org/courses.html .

James Thomson alerts us to future developments on five fronts in British Isles research, as follows:

" 1. Passenger Lists: Arrivals in the United Kingdom.

In Bulletin 32/2007, of August 9, 2007, I answered a question which had been submitted to the Forum and which related in part to eastbound transatlantic passenger manifests, from North America to the British Isles. Just as there is a record series containing lists of westbound transatlantic passengers (and passengers on other voyages headed for ports overseas) prepared at the point of embarkation in the United Kingdom (series BT 27 at The National Archives (TNA) at Kew, London, entitled Board of Trade Passenger Lists Outwards, 1890-1960 – the series being indexed and digitized at http://www.ancestorsonboard.com/ ), so there is a record series containing eastbound transatlantic passenger lists (and lists of passengers on other voyages which originated at ports overseas) prepared at the point of arrival in the United Kingdom: the Board of Trade Passenger Lists Inwards, 1878-1960, which are held at TNA as series BT 26. For more information about the BT 26 series, see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=106 , http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=243 and http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/familyhistory/guide/migrantancestors/passengers.htm.

In answering the Forum question, I had noted that, as part of its 2005-2011 digitization program, the aim of which is to place digital copies of all of TNA's most popular series online by 2011, TNA had indicated that it hoped to launch a project to digitize and index the BT 26 lists sometime this year, with a completion date of 2009. There has been important news since. The partner in this undertaking now has been announced as Ancestry.co.uk, and it is hoped that some results from this indexing and digitization project may be uploaded as early as the fall of 2008. If, as with current Ancestry.co.uk databases, the resulting database is included in AncestryLibraryEdition, then, absent some catastrophic change in the status quo, such database would be freely accessible to all Toronto Public Library (TPL) cardholders at all TPL branches.

How terrific it will be to be able to follow ancestors back and forth across the Atlantic, using tools such as (a) Ancestry's US Immigration Collection, containing indexes to and images of passenger lists prepared at the point of arrival in the US; (b) the equivalent databases for 1865-1935 Canadian passenger lists and related records being undertaken by Library and Archives Canada and Ancestry.ca (see my earlier e-mail); (c) the indexes, transcriptions and images of 1890-1960 passenger lists prepared at the point of departure from ports in the UK and now uploaded in part at www.ancestorsonboard.com ; and (d) this new database comprised of indexes to and digital images of 1878-1960 passenger lists (for eastbound transatlantic and other incoming voyages which originated overseas) prepared at the port of arrival in the UK. Remember also that ports now in the Republic of Ireland were included in the definition of UK ports up to the very early 1920s.

2. Registration of Aliens

Three other TNA series relating to immigration to the UK are being digitized and indexed by Ancestry.co.uk as part of the same general project, as follows:

HO 2 (Home Office: Aliens Act 1836: Certificates of Arrival of Aliens, 1836-1852)
HO 3 (Home Office: Aliens Act 1836: Returns and Papers, 1836-1860 and 1867-1869)
HO 5 (Home Office: Aliens' Entry Books, 1794-1921)

For more information about the content of these series, see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=243#13 and http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/familyhistory/guide/migrantancestors/alien.htm

3. Non-Parochial Registers in England & Wales (RG 4, RG 5, RG 6, RG 7, and RG 8)

In February 2007, it was announced (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/stories/151.htm) that S&N Genealogy Supplies Ltd. would index and digitize several well-used TNA record series, including the series RG 4 to RG 8 inclusive, which contain "Non-Parochial Registers" from England and Wales. For more information about these series, see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/familyhistory/guide/people/nonconformist.htm but note that RG 4 - RG 8 do not include just Protestant nonconformist records (such as Quaker, Methodist, Independent, Baptist and Presbyterian records etc.); as Amanda Bevan notes on page 46 of Tracing Your Ancestors in the National Archives: the Website and Beyond (7th edition, 2006), "...in addition to several thousand Protestant Nonconformist registers, the collection also includes a number of Church of England registers from churches outside the usual parish structure, 77 Catholic registers, a few registers of foreign churches in England and some cemetery registers." Various records of clandestine marriages are also included -- many, though, of uncertain reliability.

Next week's Bulletin will describe these series at greater length, as we will then be on the eve of the appearance online of the first fruits of this project: indexes to and digital images of two of these series, RG 4 and RG 5, are scheduled to launch at www.bmdregisters.co.uk on September 14, 2007, a week from tomorrow. For information about the launch, see http://www.bmdregisters.co.uk/launch_info.php and http://www.bmdregisters.co.uk/launch_info_list.php . (Many thanks also to Marian Press for having alerted me to the fact that the launch is reported as well in Family Tree magazine.)

Some of these records, as noted in http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/familyhistory/guide/people/nonconformist.htm , have at least been partially indexed before; both the IGI and the British Isles Vital Records Index (2nd edition, on CD), for instance, contain some entries drawn from these series. The webpage just noted also refers to digest registers on microfilm at the Society of Friends Library in London; these manuscript Quaker records (compiled prior to the transmission of the registers themselves and their eventual deposit at TNA as series RG6) are also available at the Toronto (Don Mills) FHC.

4. Births, Deaths & Marriages at Sea

The digitization and indexing project referred to in the preceding section also will include, in due course, these three TNA series respecting British-registered vessels and/or UK nationals (for more information, see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=246 and the sources mentioned therein):

BT 158: Registers of Births, Deaths and Marriages of Passengers at Sea (births 1854-1890, deaths 1854-1890, marriages 1858-1883)

BT 159: Registers of Deaths at Sea of British Nationals, 1875-1891

BT 160: Registers of Births at Sea of British Nationals, 1875-1891

For launch information, see: http://www.bmdregisters.co.uk/launch_info_list.php .

Note that BT 158 registers can now (and in future) be freely consulted on microfilm at the Toronto (Don Mills) FHC; the film numbers are 1419469-1419472 inclusive. For the BT 158 registers, see also http://www.findmypast.com/resources/bmdatsea/ .

5. Overseas Baptisms, Marriages and Burials of UK Nationals

The digitization and indexing project referred to in Section 3, above, also will include, in due course, the TNA series RG 32 to RG 36 inclusive, containing non-statutory returns of certain overseas births/baptisms, marriages and deaths/burials deposited with the Registrar General (for more information see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/familyhistory/guide/migrantancestors/overseas.htm ). For launch information, see: http://www.bmdregisters.co.uk/launch_info_list.php

The first webpage in the preceding paragraph refers also to records of baptisms, marriages and burials in British India; remember that indexes to these are held at the Toronto (Don Mills) FHC, and that the original entries on microfilm can be borrowed from Salt Lake City. Lastly, the same webpage refers as well to registers and transcripts (of entries of overseas baptisms, marriages and burials) now at the Guildhall Library (for which, see also http://www.history.ac.uk/gh/overseas.htm); I understand that more good news on this front, also, may soon be forthcoming from the Toronto (Don Mills) FHC."

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TUGG HOMEPAGE

Toronto Family History Centre Bulletin 35/2007

We received a few questions for The Forum this week but new questions or information for the News from the trenches and the Were you aware...........sections are really helpful. Next week's counties for the Favourite UK County Sites section will be Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

In this Bulletin

Announcements - Holiday closing

Acquisitions in Additions to our Permanent Collections

Three questions to set you thinking in The Forum

In Were you aware... James Thomson describes the new (beta) interface for free searches in historical issues of the London Gazette; we list the Toronto OGS Fall Courses in Genealogy; Margaret Taylor tells us of Genealogy Podcasts (!)

Announcements

As announced last week, the Family History Centre will be closed this Saturday and Monday for the holiday weekend.

Additions to our Permanent Collections

New fiche have arrived to augment our permanent collection:

6128583 ENG NTH Peterborough St. John Baptisms 1789-1807; Burials 1781-1807

6142044 ENG OXF Hethe (Heath) St Edmund & St George Bap 1679-1997; Mar 1701-1997; Ban 1755-1994; Bur 1678-1997

6129458 ENG NTH Woodford nr Thrapston PRs Baptisms 1806-1812; Burials 1801-1812

6129474 ENG NTH Woodford nr Thrapston PRs Baptisms & Marriages 1764-1812

Favourite UK County Sites

Next week's counties will be Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. If you have found any useful internet sites for these counties, please let us know. Last week's county was Buckinghamshire.

Carol Lewis has contributed a great list of internet sites:

The Buckinghamshire Surname List - http://webpages.charter.net/dcarlsen/genuki/BKM/bucksurname.html

The Buckinghamshire Family History Society - They have a new online store where you can purchase parish records for some parishes, on fiche, paper or CDs which are easy to use and great aids for research. They also have other records available. They have a data base of birth, marriage and burial records for many parishes and offer searches of these for a reasonable fee. - http://www.bucksfhs.org.uk/

1841 census transcriptions for:

Gt. Marlow - http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~maryc/marlow1841.htm

Aylesbury - http://www.lanchbury.id.au/genealogy/aylesbury1841.html

Waddesdon - http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~lanchbury/waddesdon1841.html

Hedgerley - http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~lanchbury/hedgerley1841.html

Grandborough - http://www.lanchbury.id.au/genealogy/bledlow1500.html

Fulmer - http://www.lanchbury.id.au/genealogy/fulmer1841.html

Transcription of Parish Register for Bledlow Ridge - http://www.lanchbury.id.au/genealogy/bledlow1500.html

All of the above census and parish registers transcriptions can be found at the Lanchbury site map - http://www.lanchbury.id.au/genealogy/sitemap.html

A one place study of Wing, Buckinghamshire - http://www.wing-ops.org.uk/index.html

Victorian Prisoners, Aylesbury Gaol - http://apps.buckscc.gov.uk/eforms/libPrisoners/index.aspx

County Photos Buckinghamshire/Bedfordshire - http://www.countyviews.com/

Buckinghamshire Poll 1784 - http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~pobjoyoneill/ENGPOLLS/buck1784.html

Beautiful pictures and some local history for the area around Lacey Green - http://www.petergoodearl.co.uk/laceygreen/speen/speen.htm

Another reader adds a few more sites:

Buckinghamshire Wills Index On-Line - http://apps.buckscc.gov.uk/eforms/wills/search.aspx Archdeaconry of Buckingham Wills 1483-1858. Searchable Index of testators. Wills may be purchased by post.

The People of Tingewick - http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~tingewick/ A very comprehensive look at the inhabitants of Tingewick, complete with family trees, pictures, census transcriptions, etc.

Pigots's Trade Directory 1830 - http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/%7Epobjoyoneill/tradedir/bkm1830/bkm1830.htm An index of the trades people of Bucks giving their location and the page number of the original publication.

Robson's Directory 1839 - http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/%7Epobjoyoneill/tradedir/bkm1830/bkm1830.htm An index of names with trade and location.

Bucks Family Websites - http://www.rootsweb.com/~engbkm/websites.html A list of the families of Bucks who have their own website.

The Forum

New Questions

Q1/35/2007. England.

In the 1901 Henry Cook, a groom, is shown as living in Great Holland, Essex "In the Street" as were many other families. Almost all seem to be employed. What does this mean?

Basically this means that Harry is living on " Main Street". Because Great Holland is rather small, despite its name, there was no need for street names or numbers in 1901. The Street was enough for the postman to find Harry. Because Great Holland is so small, using old Ordnance Survey maps you can probably pinpoint the very house Harry lived in. Go to Old-Maps-UK: http://www.old-maps.co.uk/indexmappage2.aspx and enter "Great Holland, Essex" in the Search Bar. A map of the town will appear. Scroll down and you can chose a map of three different dates. As the census to which you refer is 1901, try looking at the 1898 map. On the census page, you will notice that Harry is living right next to Manor Farm. So his house is the dot to the right of Manor Farm and the other residents who are living "In the Street" are living in other buildings along the main road.

Q2/35/2007. Poland.

My cousin believes her mother, born in 1907, was from a town in Poland called Swintsian. We know that the people from that geography called their area " Poland" but it may, in fact, have been Russia. Because of spelling and transliteration, I am not sure where the town is located or how it would be pronounced or spelled in the correct language. I have found two likely locations. The first is about 50 km north-east of Vilnius in today's Lithuania, called Svencionys, and the other possibility is in today's Poland, either Szczecin or Szczecinek. Could someone suggest where this town might likely have been, and how the name might be properly spelled and pronounced?

Q3/35/2007. England.

Our reader writes that "his wife's family is causing him problems" (only genealogically, we trust): One of my wife's relatives married Edward Kennard born 1829 Bologne. How can I learn if he were a British or a French Subject ? None of the censuses that I have seen has indicated anything, nor does the IGI.

Films received in the 7 days ending 30 August 2007, due for return (unless renewed) 27 September 2007

Film Content	Film No
CAN NB Saint John Cathdl PR 1855-1861	0861217
CAN NB Saint John Cathdl PR 1862-1868	0861218
CAN NB Saint John Cathdl PR 1868-1873	0861219
CAN NB Saint John RC PR 1837-1858	1412416
ENG LAN Mancheser cathedral burials	2357001
ENG LAN Ringley St. Saviour's pr	2356506
ENG Mil. Recs. (Unburnt) 1914-1920 G	1735234
ENG wills 1891 'H'	1544514
ENG YKS Northowram PRs 1744-1837	0828149
ENG YKS Skelbrooke BT 1609-1836	0919308
NLD Medemblik RC PR 1664-1811	0115813
NLD Medemblik RC PR 1750-1811	0115816
WLS DEN Wrexham Ruthin Road Mis	2276537

A patron wishing to view a film ordered by another patron should check first with staff. The patron who ordered the film will always have priority.

Were you aware..................

United Kingdom . Gazettes Online. James Thomson writes: “A new and improved (beta) interface for free searches of archived issues (back to February 1665/6) of the London Gazette (and, in due course at least, the Edinburgh Gazette for Scotland and the Belfast Gazette for Northern Ireland), is available at http://beta.gazettes-online.co.uk/ . This is the official (government) newspaper of record, and here we find things such as, by way of example: notices of and citations for honours, awards and medals, and of admissions to orders of chivalry; announcements of military, naval and militia appointments and changes of rank; official despatches during wartime; notices of civil, church and legal appointments; announcements of changes of name; notices respecting the naturalization of aliens; and notices or advertisements respecting company and partnership dissolutions, insolvencies and bankruptcies, and claims respecting estates, etc.. There are useful descriptions at: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/official-publications/gazettes.htm and at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Gazette .

An "Advanced Search" interface for searches in the archived issues is at http://beta.gazettes-online.co.uk/AdvancedSearch.aspx ; search terms are entered in the "Words" section, and there is an option to restrict the search to a date range of one's choice (or to certain pre-defined "historic events", such as World War 1). (There is also a "Search Builder" facility at http://beta.gazettes-online.co.uk/SearchBuilder.aspx?Step=1 which permits one to construct a search one step at a time.) The results which are returned are presented first as snippets; if any one looks interesting, click on "See PDF" to launch Adobe Reader and see a digital image of the full relevant page of the Gazette. If one then wants to go back a page or forward a page within the Gazette, change the page number in the "Go to Page" box above the digital image, and click on "Go". Happy searching!"

Autumn Family History Courses

The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society is offering a number of diverse and interesting courses this fall:

Basic Genealoy and Family History - Jane MacNamara

Introduction to English Family History Research - Linda Reid

Researching Community & Municipal Records at the Archives of Ontario - James Gordon & Keisha Gordon

Wehe There's a Will, There's a Way: Finding Ontario Estate Files - Jane MacNamara

Advertising Your Ancestors - Marian Press

Finding Your ancestors in Newspapers - Marian Press

British Army Records - James Thompson

More detailed course information can be found on the OGS website: courses@torontofamilyhistory.org

Podcasts

Magaret Taylor write to tell us of podcasts produced by the National Archives, available free for download from:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/rss/podcasts.xml

There are currently 23 podcasts available including Wills; Births and Deaths at Sea; and Sources and Resources at the Family Records Centre.

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Toronto Family History Centre Bulletin 34/2007

Please send us more questions as we have received no new questions for The Forum or interesting tidbits for the Were you aware....