Genealogical journey update 2018

My father died in 1997. I was 54.

My father was only three years old when his father died in 1914. He was the youngest of six children born between 1901 and 1910. In 1914 at the time for my grandfather's death his wife, my grandmother was 33. 

What seems to me to be remarkable is that my paternal grandfather was born in 1856. I never knew him of course but I find it difficult to believe that just two generations takes me back to the middle of the nineteenth century.

Before my father's death in 1996 he started a family tree. He never really got beyond his immediate relatives and mostly those still alive at the time. He never found his parents marriage; he assumed that they were married after the birth of his eldest sister in so only searched before 1901.

I picked up where he left off and was hooked. At the time - late 90s records were beginning to appear on the internet but, compared to now, there was very little. The details of the story are in my family history still an ongoing project. Most of my early research was done at record archives.

The ancestral search has continued beyond my own family. I have helped friends and acquaintances who have started trying to discover their roots but often hit a brick wall.

We, my wife Christine and I, moved to France in 2002 and I continued my genealogical research. Then I had a break. I stopped getting results so decided to wait and that turned out to be a few years. There were a few cursory searches and the odd contact with possible connections but not much until recently. We returned to the UK in 2014. 

I run a computer skills group for the local U3A (University of the Third Age)** and this led to taking a target based approach for the participants. Computer skills aren't use much without an objective. 

This coincided with a growing interest amongst members of the U3A in family history. So there genealogy met computer skills. 

I may get bored with my own family history but will never tire of those of others. I feel sometimes rather guilty; a peeping Tom; voyeuristic. But it is fascinating. No skeletons to uncover here about other people's cupboards but there is more to tell about mine as my family history unfolds.

With my interest rekindled I discovered a Futurelearn course. A Family History course run by the University of Strathclyde in Scotland. 

That led to me applying successfully to join their Post Graduate course "Genealogical, Palaeographic, and Heraldic Studies" with the same university. I have recently completed the first year. It has been absorbing, bewildering at times but certainly it has provided me with significantly greater knowledge and awareness of what is available. And, if you think there is a lot of information online, bear in mind that it has been suggested to me by two experienced and eminent archivists that only about 5% of the information potentially useful to genealogists, is available on the internet.

It is now 1 September 2018 and I have successfully completed the Post Graduate Certificate where my knowledge expanded significantly. It taught me that I did not know as much as I thought. Most of all I have learned where else to look in the warren of resources or should I say warrens. There are many of them to burrow deeply. 

I am in the process of building a new website to advertise my professional services. Keep a look out at https://www.rootsandgenes.com. It will also include a blog which will consist mainly of contextual historical events that will be used alongside clients' websites. For me it is the historical context of our ancestors' lives that is makes sense of the way they lived, worked and in the decisions they made.

Michael Turner

2 October 2016

Updated 23 August 2017

I will shortly be moving this blog to my new website https://www.rootsandgenes.com/blog.

As well as articles there will also be the opportunity to read about my services as a professional genealogist. The site should be up and running by the end of September 2018.

The blog will be mainly dedicated to providing articles on historical events that can be read in context with the family trees that will be built for clients.

Here is an example. It's about a fascinating illustrated letter sent by a London resident during the blitz to the minister responsible for security.

I found the letter amongst a collection of photos that have been made available by The National Archives in London to whom I credit this display. You can find the original post on The National Archives page on Flickr.

Migration

Articles on Migration

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/emigration/#5-emigration-to-australia

http://otoweb.cloudapp.net/remembering/personal-responses.html

Some of the Irish records available on Ancestry

The following was gleaned from a lecture at Who Do You Think You Are? at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on 6 April 2017.

I have reinforced the notes with the location of the records - ie I have added the appropriate links.

Ireland City and Regional Directories 1847 - 1946

About Ireland, City and Regional Directories, 1847-1946

Alexander Thom published the first Thom’s Irish Almanac and Official Directory in 1844. Over the next one hundred years, it grew to include a Dublin street directory, volumes listing the names, addresses, and occupations for residents of other towns and districts in the country, and a wide variety of happenings, institutions, businesses, and departments for Ireland and the UK, including the following:

• County fairs and markets in Ireland
• Parliamentarian directories
• Civil service and law directories for Great Britain
• Navy, army, and militia directories
• Colonial directories
• Universities, colleges, schools
• Churches and ecclesiastical directories
• County and borough directories
• Postal directory
• Peerages

Within the collection, you will be able to find names, places and dates of residence and often an occupation is given as well.

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61314

Source Ancestry.com. Ireland, City and Regional Directories, 1847-1946 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017.

I made a note about Rogerson's quay. I know not why - I have researched Sir John Rogerson's Quay 1756 (http://www.dublincity.ie/image/libraries/dcr006-sir-john-rogerson%E2%80%99s-quay-1756) but I know not what relevance this has to useful Irish records.

Ireland, The Royal Irish Constabulary 1816-1921

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=6087

The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) was created in 1816, and initially staffed mainly by Irish-born men. However, toward the 1900s, and especially afterwards, the RIC recruited men from countries such as England, Scotland, Wales, and the United States. The records of the RIC were only indexed annually by the date of enlistment. Until this database was created, the only way to identify whether an ancestor joined the forces was an extremely time-consuming search. Some people joined for a few days or weeks, others stayed for years, and quite a few migrated. There are mentions in the index on whether a person emigrated, died, or married.

The original records go into greater details, showing where each man was stationed, where he had relatives, whether he got married, and if so the date, illnesses, conduct, promotions, cause of death if died in the force; pensioned or retired; as well as a physical description. The index shows the name of each man, a year or birth or an age on enlistment; a county of birth or a country; whether single or married, comments such as died, emigrated, etc., and the reference film number and page for fuller details. This index is an important source for Irish research, even if your ancestor didn't appear to have been in the RIC. He may have enlisted for a few days or weeks and signed out. His details are still on record. This index is a work in progress. This latest update adds another 11,074 records to the previous 58,433 records.

Source Information

Reakes, J., comp.. Ireland, The Royal Irish Constabulary 1816-1921 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

Original data: An Index To The Royal Irish Constabulary, 1816-1921. 1816-1921. Microfilm LDS Family History Centre, 0852088-97-0856057-2069.

Ireland, Royal Irish Constabulary Pensions, 1873-1925

Historical Context

The Royal Irish Constabulary was an eighty-percent Irish Catholic police force which, between 1814 and 1922, employed some eighty-five thousand men. This collection comprises the records of pension payments to retired officers, their widows and children.

This Collection

For each record, details given include, where available:

• Full names of officers
• Rank
• County
• Date of authority
• Date of commencement
• Pension per annum
• Where paid

For deceased officers it provides the names of their widows and children, and how much they each received in allowances each month or a quarter. Some volumes contain records of five offices’ payment details for three consecutive years on a single page. Other volumes record widows’ and children’s payment details for a year, with three families on each page. It also records the officer's date of death in his/her yearly payment details section.

Ireland, Royal Hospital Kilmainham Pensioner Discharge Documents, 1724-1924

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=60908

Historical Context
The Royal Hospital Kilmainham, located near Dublin, Ireland, dates back to 1680 and provided a home for retired soldiers for the around 250 years. While some pensioners surrendered their pension to the hospital and lived there (“in-pensioners”), many more lived outside the confines and received their pensions elsewhere (“out-pensioners”). Pensions from the Royal Hospital Kilmainham were administered to soldiers who had served for at least 12 years in the British Army and were discharged from Irish regiments, as well as from some English, Scottish and Welsh units. Most pensions for non-Irish regiments were administered by the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London.
This Collection
This collection is made up of discharge documents for pensioners who served between 1724 and 1924. For each record, details may include a brief description of the pensioner together with age, place of birth, particulars of service and the reason for discharge.
Note:This collection contains an index to records transcribed from the discharge documents. To view images of the documents on Fold3.com, you will need an Ancestry All Access subscription.

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Ireland, Royal Hospital Kilmainham Pensioner Discharge Documents, 1724-1924 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

Original data: Royal Hospital, Kilmainham: Pensioners' Discharge Documents WO 119. The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey, England.

Ireland, Police Gazettes, 1861-1893

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61046

This collection contains printed publications used for communication among members of the police force in Ireland between 1861 and 1893. It contains information on wanted criminals, crimes committed, criminals who had been apprehended, and missing persons.
The collection can be searched by:

• Name
• Birth year
• Publication year
• Event year
• Event location
• Event Type
• Role in Crime
• Conviction Place

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Ireland, Police Gazettes, 1861-1893 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.

Original data: Luminary Trading Ltd.

Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61039

The Ireland Catholic Parish Registers is the single most important collection needed to trace your Roman Catholic ancestors in Ireland in the 1800’s. According to the 1861 census, almost 78 percent of the population was Catholic; by 1891, this had risen to 89 percent. This collection is made up of baptism, marriage and death records from over 1,000 Catholic parishes across the whole of the island of Ireland - both in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, as it is known as today. While baptism and marriage records make up the majority of the collection, death records can be found primarily for parishes in the northern regions.
Approximately 94 percent of Catholic parishes are included in this collection, though not all registers from these parishes are available. For more information, visit the National Library of Ireland website at registers.nli.ie.
It is worth noting that, while the Church of Ireland was the established state church from 1536 to 1870, an overwhelming amount of the Irish population remained Roman Catholic throughout this period. Irish Catholic Emancipation was secured under the Roman Catholic Relief Act in 1829, lifting legal restrictions that were previously in place against all Catholics. By this time, Penal Laws were also lifted, which had forbidden the Catholic Church to maintain parish registers.
Catholic Emancipation brought more freedom to record vital events within the Catholic Church. As such, the bulk of the records in this collection date from the late 1820’s onwards. Where some earlier registers exist back to the 1650’s, they are known to cover the more prosperous and anglicised eastern counties of Ireland.
The records are written in either English or Latin. For help understanding the Latin entries please see our helpful glossary of common terms.
The indexes to this collection have been created from approximately 367,000 digital images made available for free by The National Library of Ireland. In keeping with the ethos of The National Library of Ireland efforts, the images in this collection are also available for free on this website. The index has been created and the images published by Ancestry under the National Library of Ireland's Terms of Use of Material.
Tips for Using Irish Parish Records
It’s helpful to know family structure and important to know at least a county of origin in Ireland to correctly identify your ancestors in this collection. See our guide on finding ethnic origins here.
Try searching for just a last name and parents’ names to see all of the children born to a couple.

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

Original data: Catholic Parish Registers, National Library of Ireland, Ireland. Published under the National Library of Ireland's Terms of Use of Material made available on registers.nli.ie.

More from GRO

This is the announcement on the GRO site yesterday 9 November 2016

From 9 November, we are trialling emailing PDF copies of registration records. Records will not be immediately viewable, but emailed as a PDF.

The pilot is in 3 phases, starting with our digitised records:
Births: 1837 – 1934 and 2007 on
Deaths: 1837 – 1957 and 2007 on
Marriages: 2011 on
Civil Partnerships: 2005 on

Full details are in ‘Most Customers Want to Know’

Phase 1 closes on 30 Nov, or when 45,000 PDFs have been ordered, whichever is sooner. Details of phase 2 (3 hour PDF service) and phase 3 (records not digitised) will be announced here shortly.


Indexes: The GRO historic birth and death indexes are searchable now, via our online ordering site

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/Login.asp

Functionality added to General Register Office website

The website to use when ordering certificates - English and Welsh birth, marriage and death certs is the website of the General Register Office.

The significant changes are

• For births the mother's maiden name will be shown. Previously this was only for births after 1911.
• For deaths age at death is included.
• These are new indexes so may reveal those events missing from other databases because of transcription errors.
• Searching is free
• Once you find a record you will be able to order a certificate with the information that has been found.

This is the link to the site

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/default.asp

The first thing to do if you have not already used the site is to register. It is free.

Follow the link to the page above and this is what you will see

Follow the register link on the right hand side, Complete the registration process which will be activated once you confirm your email address by acknowledging the mail you will get from the GRO.

Once your account is activated you will be able to search the GRO database for births and deaths.
Click on the link on the GRO page "Order Certificates Online.....inexes" or click the link here to take you directly to the search page GRO Search.

This will take you to the login page. Once you have identified yourself (don't forget you password) you will be taken to this page.

Follow the first link "Search the GRO Indexes".

Clicking either "birth" or "death" will take you here. This page is for births - or you will see a similar page for deaths

Complete the form with the information that you have. Resist entering too much. Only the starred items are essential for a search. Experiment with different choices if you don't initially find what your are seeking.

One-Name Study

I have taken the plunge. I have joined the Guild of One Name Studies and registered the name "Neville" as a one-name study. (http://one-name.org)

Neville is my maternal family name. The name itself is well researched since post the Norman Conquest the Nevilles were a Noble Family. It is also a common name - amongst commoners one could say - certainly not noble.

There has never been any suggestion that my family were descended from those noble lines. But it will be interesting to see the origins.

This is what it says on Ancestry

Neville Name Meaning

Irish and English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Neuville in Calvados or Néville in Seine-Maritime, both so called from Old French neu(f) ‘new’ (Latin novus) + ville ‘settlement’ (see Villa). Irish (Munster): assimilation of the Gaelic name Ó Niadh (see Nee) and sometimes of Ó Cnaimhín (see Nevin).

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press

I am intrigued by the source quoted here as Dictionary of American family names and that will be my first challenge to examine the source for the origin of the name. Where did "Dictionary of America" get the information.

My initial strategy

1. Seek advice from One-Namers on how to get started
2. Research the origins of the Neville name
3. What resources are there relating to the noble Nevilles
4. Are he origins of the Neville name consistent
5. Were the noble Nevilles diffused to commoners
6. Collect data and organise
7. Determine a system for organisation
8. Design a suitable database
9. Build a suitable website or websites
10. Find Neville volunteers.