28 January is Tracing Your Female Ancestors Day at the Society of Genealogists. Our first half-day course, Women in the 1800’s: Birth & Baptism with Tom Doig will take place from 10:30am-1pm.
Tom will look at how pregnancy was identified: the Monthly Nurse and Laying-in, childbirth & midwives/Godsibs, the folklore of birth, dealing with weak babies, normal and private baptisms and traditions of naming the child as well as ‘upsitting’ and the ‘churching’ of women.
Tracing Female Ancestors, will follow from 2-5pm, with Ken Divall and Else Churchill
These sessions will discuss how Family historians are often accused of interesting themselves only in the male lines of their ancestry following the history of the surname. Older pedigree compilations often ignore the daughters of a family leaving it difficult to establish the distaff line. However there are some sources that can be used to throw more light into the lives of our ancestresses and which let us hear their voices. We will look at some strong minded, vocal women; hear their voices and learn about women who fell on hard times. In the second session we will look at how the wars effected women’s lives, and changing their social status forever. Often taking over the jobs that had previously been the preserve of men, for example, bus and tram driving.

Each of these half-day courses cost £17.50/£14.00 (SoG Members) and can be booked together or separately. Spaces are limited and must be pre-booked, either online or by telephone: 020 7553 3290.Do you have a question? email the events department.

Technorati Tags: ancestor, class, family history, female, genealogy, grandmother, lecture, military, Parish Registers, pedigree, social, Society of Genealogists, talk, women

The Society’s successful family history skills course begins again with the first sixteen-week series of classes for those who are new to family history or who have had a little experience and want to build upon their initial progress. The team of lecturers, Paul Blake, Else Churchill, Geoff Swinfield, Ian Waller, Michael Isherwood and Simon Fowler will introduce the records and illustrate how they should best be used for the study of family history.

This course provides plenty of opportunity to use genealogical sources in practical sessions in the classroom and as exercises at home. The lectures cover sources in all the major repositories but emphasis is also placed on the extensive collections held in the Library of the Society of Genealogists that can be of help to the beginner. CD publications, electronic finding aids and the internet will, of course, be included along with all the basic sources needed to start research.

Programme:

17 March Getting Started: Research Standards The World of Genealogy – the major repositories and online providers of genealogical information. The Research Process and Standards. What’s Been Done Before Research Directories. The Role of the Internet. (EC)

24 March Family Sources, Basic Records and Pedigrees Identifying & Assessing Family Sources. Basic Pedigree Layout. Oral Evidence. Using databases. (EC)

31 March Civil Registration, Records of Birth, Marriage & Death The Civil Registration System in England & Wales. Key Dates. Using the Indexes. Locating and Obtaining Certificates. Free BMD; UK BMD; Findmypast Family Relatives, BMD Index, Ancestry, Genes Reunited etc and other Internet sources. The content of BM&D certificates. (IW)

7 April Civil Registration (continued) Shortfalls and problems in the Civil Registration System. How to overcome them. Tricks of the Trade. (IW)

14 April Victorian & Edwardian Census Returns & Finding Aids The content of census returns 1841 – 1911 and how to access them. Indexes and Finding Aids. ‘Missing’ people and how to find them. (GS)

21 April No Class

28 April Using Record Offices, the Internet and Online Databases successfully Finding and using resources online and in local record offices. (PB)

5 May First Steps at Kew and Beyond An introduction to what can and cannot be found at The National Archives. 20th Century Records at the National Archives. The Valuation Office Records and The National Farm Survey. (PB)

12 May The Armed Forces and Merchant Navy in the 20th Century Sources for WW I & II. (SF)

19 May Newspapers, Directories, Electoral registers & Poll Books The value of using Newspapers, Directories, Electoral Registers & Poll Books. Where to find them and How to use them. (EC)

26 May The Library of the SoG & its Catalogue Tour of the Library and Explanation of the Catalogue System. Practical exercises in using the Library to establish what research has been done before. (EC)

2 June Parish Registers Anglican Parish Registers and Bishops’ Transcripts. Marriage Licences, Bonds & Allegations. PR Indexes and Transcripts – where to find them and how to use them. (GS)

9 June Parish Registers Continuation of above. (GS)

16 June Non- Anglican Family History Records of Protestant Nonconformist Denominations, Roman Catholics, Jews and Quakers. (MI)

23 June Wills, other Probate Documents & Reading Old Handwriting The genealogical Value of a Will. Standard formats. Nuncupative Wills. Administrations and Inventories. Probate administration and records pre and post 1858 – the role of Church. Where & How to find a Will. Practical examples. Writing an abstract. General principles of reading old handwriting. Examination and key points of various alphabets and script styles. (GS)

30 June Wills, other Probate Documents & Reading Old Handwriting continuation of above. (GS)

7 July Family History in Practice Case Study & Practical Exercise to demonstrate the skills and knowledge covered in the course modules. The rules and conventions of pedigree layout. Computer aided Family Trees. Exercise in drawing together information into a pedigree. (PB)

£200/£160 for SoG members All places must be pre-booked

http://www.sog.org.uk/orderline/software.shtml

by telephone: Tel: 020 7553 3290 or send a cheque to:

Society of Genealogists Library & Education Centre 14 Charterhouse Buildings Goswell Road LONDON EC1M 7BA

 For queries, contact Lori Weinstein at: events@sog.org.uk

Technorati Tags: ancestor, census, class, course, family history, genealogy, lecture, Parish Registers

 Genealogists will be delighted that Ancestry.co.uk, in partnership with the City of London’s London Metropolitan Archives, today launched online for the first time eight million of London’s oldest surviving parish records, charting the history of the city from the 16^th century to modern times. This initiative will provide remarkable opportunities for anyone tracing  London family history.

The London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 contain vital records kept at more than 1,000 London parishes, and include some of the few extant records of the English Civil War.

Crucially, these records pre-date Civil Registration, the system introduced by the Government in 1837 to record the ‘vital’ events of its citizen’s lives, including births, marriages and deaths. The only way to trace one of these key events before the 19^th century is to use parish registers.

The majority of the parish registers date back to 1538 when Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s Vicar General, issued an order that each parish was to keep a register of each baptism, marriage and burial performed there, however the collection also features a few much earlier records. One of the transcripts that is included within the collection is dated 1274.

Russell James from Ancestry.co.uk comments: “These records detail the existence of those living through the fascinating period of the English Civil War, the political consequences of which can still be felt today. The conflict instilled Parliament with genuine power for the first time, while its factions developed into what have become some of our modern political parties.

“As official records were not kept by the government until Civil Registration in 1837, these parish records are essential for tracing anyone who was baptised, married or buried in London before the 19^th century.”

Dr Deborah Jenkins, Assistant Director of the City of London’s Department of Libraries, Archives and Guildhall Art Gallery, comments: “I am delighted that we are able to make these unique historical records available online for the first time and fully name searchable.

“Our understanding of the development of London and the lives of millions of Londoners will be greatly enhanced through online access to this information.”

The launch of the early parish records marks the completion of the London parish registers, which began in September 2009 with the launch of the ‘modern’ records dating from the early 19^th century to the 1980s. A total of 18 million parish records are now online, dating from 1538 to 1980.

Access to these indeed records is available free in the Library of the Society of Genealogists.  Anyone needing  first time help to use the Ancestry website can book a help session with the Society’s Community Officer.  Details of using the Society of Genealogists Library can be found on our main website.

Technorati Tags: family history, genealogy, London Family History, London Genealogy, Parish Registers

Ancestry.co.uk has launched online the largest single collection of records of some 10,000 marriages which took place at Gretna Green in the 18th and 19th centuries. These Gretna Green Marriage Registers, 1795-1895 detail the weddings of more than half of all those who crossed the Scottish border so that they could marry without their parents’ consent. Access to these records on the Ancestry.co.uk database is free at the Society of Genealogists’ Library.

Each record details the full names of both husband and wife, their respective locations of residence, and the date of their wedding. The original collection, also referred to as the ‘Lang Registers’ were purchased by the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies some years ago. They contains the marriage records of Gretna Green’s most prolific minster, David Lang, who was renowned for his ‘immodest air’ and clerical style.

Gretna Green became a popular destination for young English elopers after Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act, passed in 1753, required parental permission for all couples wanting to marry under the age of 21. This law did not apply in Scotland where boys could marry at 14 and girls at 12. A free infomation leaflet about these Irregular Border Marriages and where other records might be found is available from the General Register Office for Scotland. Some transcripts of other registers are held in the Society’s library.

A mile inside the Scottish border, Gretna Green was the first changing post in Scotland for the stagecoaches on the main route from London to Edinburgh. It was also the first place couples arrived at when eloping to Scotland, resulting in thousands of weddings taking place in what quickly became known as Britain’s ‘marriage capital’.

Almost anybody could conduct a marriage ceremony in Scotland as long as two witnesses were present. This resulted in a range of tradesmen, including many blacksmiths given that Gretna Green was a changing post, setting themselves up as ‘ministers’ and charging for their services.

Dubbed ‘Anvil Priests’ by the locals, ceremonies were often conducted over the anvil with the blacksmith officiating, which was why the blacksmith and his anvil have come to symbolise Gretna Green weddings.

In order to restrict the rising number of couples eloping to Gretna, Parliament passed an act in 1857 that required for one of the parties to have resided in Scotland for a minimum of three weeks prior to the wedding for the marriage to be recognised in England.

Gretna Green marriage rates were never quite the same thereafter yet its reputation as the ‘Las Vegas of the UK’ remained and lives on today.

Gretna Green wedding scandals have made newspaper headlines since the mid 1700s. Among the records are a number of notable people and famous nuptials, including:

The Shrigley Abduction – A national scandal in 1826, Edward Wakefield duped wealthy 15-year-old heiress Ellen Turner into marriage at Gretna Green by claiming her father, a wealthy mill owner and Sheriff of Cheshire, was a fugitive and if she would agree to marry Wakefield, her father would be saved. Ellen consented and they were married on the 8th of March 1826 by blacksmith David Lang.

John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham – The marriage of the British Governor General and High Commissioner of British North America known as ‘Radical Jack’ to Lady Louisa Grey is recorded in 1816. Also a British Whig statesman and colonial administrator, Lambton was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1837 for his political work at home and abroad.

The Gretna Green Marriage Registers, 1795-1895 were transcribed as part of the Ancestry World Archives Project, which provides the public with indexing software and training support to enable them to contribute in making even more historical records available and searchable online. To date, thousands of Britons have contributed their time to this project. As the original marriage certificates which comprise this collection were badly age damaged, Ancestry experts also spent many months conserving them before they were digitized.

Technorati Tags: family history, genealogy, Parish Registers

The SoG Library now gives free access to 18 million parish records from London parishes dating from 1538 to 1980 published online for the first through Ancestry.co.uk. Ancestry’s databases, usually available to subscribers at home, can be accessed in the SoG’s FREE Family History Community Access area  and on the computers in the Lower Library. Information about joining the Society of Genealogists can be found on our website .

Famous names mentioned in these records include Samuel Pepys, Oscar Wilde and Simon Cowell’s great-grandfather. Parish records an essential pre-19th century resource for UK  family history researchers and this online collection supplements the many thousands of copies and transcripts of local parish records held in the SoG Library and which are listed on the SoG’s free online Library Catalogue .

The database on Ancestry.co.uk  includes name indexes  for the christening and burial registers from 1813 and marriages from 1754. Images of the original London records both for the indexed periods and for earlier records are also freely available at the SoG via the Ancestry website.

The records are made available by Ancestry.co.uk in partnership with the City of London’s London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library Manuscripts . The collection details baptisms, marriages and burials which took place in more than 1,000 Greater London parishes between 1538 and 1980 and reveals the names and stories of those who lived through major events in the City’s history including the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London. The collection pre-dates Civil Registration – the government system established in 1837 to keep accurate records of citizens’ lives and the point at which record-keeping was both modernised and nationalised. The only way to trace a baptism, marriage or burial before the 19th century is through parish records.

The earliest records date back as far as 1538 when Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s Vicar General, issued an order that each parish was to keep a register detailing every baptism, marriage and burial it performed. This collection will be of huge significance to the estimated 33 million Brits[1] with ancestors who lived in or passed through London at some point in time, enabling them to trace their roots, whether to the City’s slums or its more affluent areas.

Samuel Pepys – The baptism of Pepys is recorded in the registers of St Bride, Fleet Street on the 3rd of March 1633. Pepys’ famed diary of London provides a valuable account of the Great Plague and the Great Fire.

photo credit: Captain Caps

Oscar Wilde – The marriage of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ author to Constance Mary Lloyd is listed on the 29th of May 1884 in Paddington. It was just a year after this marriage that many believe Wilde became aware of his homosexuality after meeting a boy named Robbie Ross

Joseph Allerton Cowell – The baptism of the music producer Simon Cowell’s great-grandfather is listed in the registers of St John of Jerusalem, Hackney, on the 15th of March 1874. Like his father, Joseph was a rope and twine manufacturer by trade

Thomas Hardy – The marriage of the ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ author to Florence Dugdee at St Andrew, Enfield is recorded on the 10th of February 1914

Other famous names in the collection include Charles Dickens, John Keats and English chemist Michael Faraday.

The digitisation and indexing of these parish records allows an insight into the social trends linked to key history events such as a steady increase in marriages recorded from 1754 when Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act resulted in the abolition of the practise of common-law marriage, thus making it a requirement for couples to marry in a church.

The London Historical Records, 1500s-1900s, can be accessed directly at www.ancestry.co.uk/lma

Technorati Tags: family history, Parish Registers, Society of Genealogists