Obscure source of research

[pompeylass]

I’ve come across an obscure source of research that I would like to pass on.

This involves a magazine called ‘Computer Active’. The magazine comes out every fortnight, therefore there are 26 issues per year.

Although ostensibly about computers, each issue now has one page, usually page 16, that devotes itself to genealogy sources online, titled ‘Grow your own Family Tree’.

This was a new feature in the magazine, starting from the Aug/Sept copy (No.535) of 2018.

To date there have been 42 articles devoted to a variety of aspects of finding new and obscure sources for family history, with many links to other online sources.

You may wonder what on earth I’m doing, droning on about a magazines that basically covers the subject of computers, and is now reduced to the history archives.

But this particular magazine produces a CD each year of the previous years’ 26 issues – nine articles on the 2018 CD and 26 articles on the 2019 CD; the 7 articles produced so far this year won’t be available on CD till next year.

Priced at £10.80 per CD, these CD’s can be purchased through Amazon UK’s website. The CD not only gives you access to the ‘Grow your own Family Tree’ articles, but all aspects for computers as well – which makes for an all-round fascinating read.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Pompeylass, if Genealogy is your thing, then you should try the familysearch site.
It is run and maintained by the mormon church and it has a lot of information.
I am a member of Ancestry and I pay for this privilege.....I fell on Familysearch by accident and it has helped me find people in my family tree....Best of all it is FREE.
You have to join to look at the information, but it is every bit as good as Ancestry.
here is a link
https://www.familysearch.org/en/

Fill yer boots.
I used to buy ComputerActive...but many years ago...it was the way Ilearned a lot about my computers.

[Margaret Pilkington]

the other thing about family search is that if you are unsure whether ancestor hunting is for you then you can use this site to see if it grabs you.
I know Ancestry do free weeks from time to time(that is how I got hooked) but on these you only get very basic search facilities.
Searching is very very addictive.

[pompeylass]

Thanks Margaret. I love exploring something new - especially when we are in the grip of a national curfew, and the here and now is getting rather depressing. It's good to immerse oneself into the past.

[Margaret Pilkington]

It certainly is...and when you look at the times our ancestors lived in...and the conditions, it sort of puts things into perspective.

[pompeylass]

Here is the full list, up to the 5th of April.



‘Grow Your Family Tree’ by Nick Peers

These can be found on the 2018 disk:-
No 1 – (535 – 29 Aug-11 Sep 2018) – Search Google for your ancestors.
No 2 – (536 – 12-25 Sep 2018) – Contact distant family members online.
No 3 – (537 – 26 Sep-9 Oct 2018) – Mind military ancestors online.
No 4 – (538 – 10-23 Oct 2018) – Turn info into an online tree.
No 5 – (539 – 24 Oct-6 Nov 2018) – Decipher old certificates and documents.
No 6 – (540 – 7-20 Nov 2018) – Flesh out your ancestors’ early lives.
No 7 – (541 – 21 Nov-4 Dec 2018) – Find foreign-born ancestors.
No 8 – (542 – 5-18 Dec 2018) – Repair photos of your ancestors.
No 9 – (543 – 19 Dec 2018-3 Jan 2019) – Map where your ancestors lived.

These can be found on the 2019 disk:-
No 10 – (544 – 4-15 Jan 2019) – Find misspelled ancestor names.
No 11 – (545 – 16-29 Jan 2019) – Unearth more info on your Irish ancestors.
No 12 – (546 – 30 Jan-12 Feb 2019) – Identify unknown people in photos.
No 13 – (547 – 13-26 Feb 2019) – Dictate and transcribe your research.
No 14 – (548 – 27 Feb-12 Mar 2019) – Transfer files to a new program.
No 15 – (549 – 13-26 Mar 2019) – Create an ancestor’s life story.
No 16 – (550 – 27 Mar-9 Apr 2019) – Automatically identify faces in photos.
No 17 – (551 – 10-23 Apr 2019) – Master birth, marriage and death records.
No 18 – (552 – 24 Apr-7 May 2019) – Publishing your family tree online.
No 19 – (553 – 8-21 May 2019) – Make your place names consistent.
No 20 – (554 – 22 May-4 June 2019) – Find travel and migration records.
No 21 – (555 – 5-18 June 2019) – Merge web records with your family tree.
No 22 – (556 – 19 June-2 July 2019) – Show your research is accurate.
No 23 – (557 – 3-16 July 2019) – Find where your ancestors are buried.
No 24 – (558 – 17-30 July 2019) – Fix problems with GEDCOM files.
No 25 – (559 – 31 July-13 Aug 2019) – Build a tree from just one document.
No 26 – (560 – 14-27 Aug 2019) – Build a family tree time-line.
No 27 – (561 – 28 Aug-10 Sep 2019) – Export data from your family tree.
No 28 – (562 – 11-24 Sep 2019) – Restart your research in a new program.
No 29 – (563 – 25 Sep-8 Oct 2019) – Sync your tree to phone and tablet.
No 30 – (564 – 9-22 Oct 2019) – Merge GEDCOM files into your tree.
No 31 – (565 – 23 Oct-5 Nov 2019) - Decipher census reference numbers.
No 32 – (566 – 6-19 Nov 2019) – Search Railway employee records.
No 33 – (567 – 20 Nov-3 Dec 2019) – Search old Trade Directories.
No 34 – (568 – 4-17 Dec 2019) – Create and customize your reports.
No 35 – (569 – 18 Dec-2 Jan 2020) – Colour-code your family tree.

Current issues, not on disk yet:-
No 36 – (570 – 3-14 Jan 2020) – Add head-shots to your family tree.
No 37 – (571 – 15-28 Jan 2020) – Find ancestors in old newspapers.
No 38 – (572 – 29 Jan-11 Feb 2020) – Link your ancestors in parish maps.
No 39 – (573 – 12-25 Feb 2020) – Add ‘then and now’ photos to your tree.
No 40 – (574 – 26 Feb-10 Mar 2020) – Create a horizontal ‘Pedigree’ chart.
No 41 – (575 – 11-24 Mar 2020) – Track down missing census records.
No 42 – (576 – 25 Mar-7 Apr 2020) – Create a descendant chart.
No 43 – (577 – 8-21 Apr 2020) – Link ‘RootsMagic’ to ‘Ancestry’.
No 44 – (578 – 22 Apr-5 May) – Write a Family History Memoir.

[DonaldH]

Try www.cyndislist.com. It gives you loads of geneology sites worldwide, some free, some not. Also www.genuki.org.uk another free site.

Good hunting.

Don

[pompeylass]

Oh yes! Thanks Donald for reminding me about 'cyndislist'. I'd quite forgotten about it.

It's so long since I used it - must be more than 20 years ago - when I got my first computer and started to work on my own family history.

I'll look in and see what's new in there.

[dotti34]

For Parish records in Lancashire the Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerks site is a valuable source of information. There are other counties that have similar sites but the Lancashire one is brilliant. So much work has gone into it by volunteers.

I also find that just by entering the name I am researching on to the Internet this often brings up lots of information to follow. The Guild of One-Name Studies is another useful site if the name you are researching is being researched by one of their members.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Dorothy, that is good advice.
It was via this route that I first started my search for family members.
I got a bit of a foundation that I was later able to build on.
Then I got hooked.
This searching for family is a perfect way to stave off boredom of not being out and about.
Good exercise for the grey cells too.
What I would say is that you do need to try and cross check information on more than one site (if you can) sometimes details can be misleading.(I know that you know this Dorothy)