News & Information (General)

All About That Place

This is a series of online talks, organised by the SoG, BALH and Genealogy Stories, from 27^th September to 6^th October.  They will be streamed, internationally, on Facebook and YouTube.  To subscribe register at subscribepage.com/allaboutthatplace

Talks are on subjects such as Cradle to Grave, part of the story by Jackie Depelle, Georgian Philanthropic Hospitals and their Records by Else Churchill, The mystery of manor farm house by Nick Barratt and Tools & Techniques to Break Down Brick Walls by Mark Bayley.  There are 14 talks per day and each day has a theme such as Military & War on 29^th Sept, Tools on 4^th Oct and Collections & Archives on 5^th Oct.

Gwent Workhouse Records

For those of you with Gwent ancestry Ancestry has added 1million+ workhouse records from Gwent 1833-1957.  These can be searched by name and you can see digitised copies of the originals.  The records cover Poor Law Unions for Abergavenny, Bedwellty, Bryn Institution, Chepstow, Monmouth, Newport and Pontypool – including bmd for paupers in the workhouses, removal orders, vaccination registers etc.

DNA

John Portmann, an American, has proved he is entitled to Irish citizenship using DNA testing alone!  Tinyurl.com/irish-times-portmann

MyHeritage

MH has discontinued its AI Record Finder!  “We understand from the feedback received that most genealogists preferred the more traditional search format”.

23&Me

Their share value has dropped from $17.56 in Feb 2021 to $0.37 in Aug 2024!  We still can’t access the match lists or see the chromosome browser with the location of shared segments.  However, they are “actively looking at ways to restore the functionality offered by the tools that enable the display and comparison of matching segment data, that were put on pause last year – with additional privacy and security protection.”

Ancestry (& maybe other sites)

I have recently been told, by several of my DNA matches, that they don’t have annual subscriptions to Ancestry.  They either pick and choose which months they’ll subscribe for – when they’re not too busy – or they just sign up for the winter months…this might be why we don’t get answers…!!

Jenny Towey

jenny@towey.me.uk

Further to Pat's newsletter, I have had to change the workshop for the 27th March.

We welcome Mark Bayley from The Genealogist who will give us a presentation called Breaking down brick walls in your family history research.

How to resolve stumbling blocks in your family history research using new and unique search strategies to find those missing relatives. This includes searching for a family using just the individuals' forenames, using keyword search tools, using criteria other than a name to search on, and using other advanced search techniques. The talk also covers unique data sets such as Non-Conformist records, Non-Parochial records, Fleet marriages, Will images, Parish Records, Directories, Newspapers and more.

Login details will follow in due course

Peter de Dulin

vice chair

Thanks to member David Hollins and Federation of FH notifying us that the Ministry of Justice were planning on digitising wills, then destroying the originals after 25 years. 

We responded to the Federation email that we were totally opposed to this act of vandalism as only an original article is the true thing. There are so many mis-transcriptions  of all documents that the original source document is the only one to consult. 

According to an article on the 'Who Do You Think You Are' website, the period for consultation is only open until 23 February 2024, but no genealogical organisation has been included in the consultation. A petition has been started to preserve wills in perpetuity in line with current legislation. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/654081.

Feel free to sign.

Brian

Just a gentle reminder that our membership year runs from 1 Jan-31  Dec., so if you have not yet renewed your membership now is the time to do it. 

There are various ways to renew: through Parish Chest or Genfair; by bank transfer to Weston-Super-Mare & District Family History Society account 51383493 sort 40-46-18; Standing Order; cash or cheques to 125, Totterdown Rd, Weston super Mare, BS23 4LW.

Brian

Is everyone aware that if a child is born to people who were not married at the time of birth but subsequently do marry the child/parents may apply for a new birth certificate giving the father's name thereon. Look at the Legitimacy Act 1926 on National Archives website for full details. The Act has been amended a couple of times but is well worth looking at.