Bill's Genealogy Blog

Bill Buchanan is a long-time genealogy enthusiast, living in Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada. This blog will describe my experiences as I research my family history and help others.

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Location: Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada

I am a retired online school teacher. I love family history. Since 2007, I have spent much of my time providing part-time support for the world's largest free family history site https://familysearch.org This is very rewarding. I have helped others with the Family Tree and related FamilySearch products.
In 2010-2018 I served in the Edmonton Riverbend Family History Centre. I have a FHC blog at Bill's Family History Center Blog For information the Latter-day Saints and family history click https://www.comeuntochrist.org/

Thursday, September 30, 2010

FamilySearch Websites as of September 2010 At the present time, FamilySearch has multiple sites that are accessible individually. By the end of 2010, it is expected that they will all be accessible on the redesigned http://familysearch.org/ website. http://familysearch.org/ FamilySearch is the main family history site of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. http://pilot.familysearch.org/ holds most of the records from FamilySearch Indexing, but not the latest. http://beta.familysearch.org/ holds most of the records from FamilySearch Indexing including the latest. https://wiki.familysearch.org/ Free family history research advice for the community, by the community http://new.familysearch.org/ It features graphical family trees that can be edited online in real time. An account is needed to access it. It is currently only available to LDS but will be made public sometime within the next year, excluding the temple information. http://indexing.familysearch.org/ is the site for creating computer-searchable indexes of family history records. http://training.familysearch.org is a site for learning to use http://new.familysearch.org/ http://labs.familysearch.org/ - Showcases new family history technologies that aren't ready for prime time. http://forums.familysearch.org/ browse any topic listed for helpful family history research and FamilySearch product information provided by experienced FamilySearch patrons. http://histfam.familysearch.org/ FamilySearch Community Trees are primarily lineage-linked, sourced genealogies contributed by partners. http://maps.familysearch.org/ England 1851 Jurisdictions maps https://store.familysearch.org/ will be selling family history-related items online. https://devnet.familysearch.org/ has information and resources for software programmers who support the FamilySearch Platform. http://consultant.familysearch.org/ is the registration site for LDS Family History Consulants and priesthood leaders with family history responsibilities. http://lds.org > Serving in the Church > Family History > Temple and Family History Course Materials & Training Videos for Family History Leaders There may be additional FamilySearch sites that I have missed. If so, please let me know. Thanks to all who have contributed to the list. Bill

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Irish Research At the Edmonton Riverbend Family History Centre, we are frequently asked for suggestions and web sites for Irish research. Things have just gotten a lot better! The latest issue of the Genealogy in Time newsletter is loaded with help for Irish research. See it at http://tinyurl.com/2345l2s Scottish Research The article also has help in contacting local libraries in Scotland. Now, I am waiting eagerly for a reply to my email query to the Kelso Library regarding apprenticeship records for my 2ggf James Watson: Kelso Library, Bowmont Street, Kelso, Scottish Borders TD5 7JH. libkelso@scotborders.gov.uk Topics in the latest issue of the Genealogy in Time newsletter:

  1. How to Find Local Scottish Libraries
  2. Ask a Scottish Librarian a Genealogy Question
  3. Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations
  4. National Archives of Ireland Irish Genealogy –government website
  5. Irish Health Services Executive –for ordering online certificates
  6. Ireland Historic Registry of Deeds Index Project
  7. Irish Newspaper Archives

Friday, September 10, 2010

Success After 15 Years of Looking! For several years I have been fairly sure that my great-great-grandfather was the son of Robert Ing and Rose Richardson, but I seemed to be unable to find a document to prove it. Today it happened! England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 Name Robert Ing Gender Male Baptism/Christening Date 09 Feb 1806 Baptism/Christening Place Chesham, Buckingham, England Birth Date Birthplace Death Date Name Note Race Father's Name Robert Ing Father's Birthplace Father's Age Mother's Name Rose Mother's Birthplace Mother's Age Indexing Project (Batch) Number I04642-7 System Origin England-EASy Source Film Number 1999163 Reference Number item 2 http://tinyurl.com/2g53dsb Doing a search on the film number at http://www.familysearch.org/ is accomplished by clicking Library then Library Catalog, then Film/Fiche Search. This tells me what is found on film 1999163 item 2. "Items 1 - 2 Bishop's transcripts for Chesham, 1576-1841 Church of England. Parish Church of Chesham (Buckinghamshire) Items 3 - 4 Bishop's transcripts for Chesham-Bois, 1600-1813 Church of England. Parish Church of Chesham-Bois (Buckinghamshire)" Other searches today found births and deaths of additional children in the family, and disproved a suspicion that Robert's Sarah sister went to jail for theft. (She died long before the other Sarah Ing commited the crime.) So I am rejoicing in a very successful day! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I just HAD to add this, it is so good! 50 Best Genealogy Brick Wall Solutions I just received the first part of this excellent article from the Genealogy in Time newsletter. http://www.genealogyintime.com It is a wonderful article, filled with useful tips. http://tinyurl.com/29r7ewj Enjoy!

Thomas Ing and Ancestry.com Last night at the FHC, I showed a patron the resources we have available through AncestryInstitution.com. I also mentioned the free access provided by Ancestry to many of their databases during the first week of September. This had enabled me to find the immigration of my great uncle Thomas Ing born in London, England in 1866. Name Gender Age Date of Arrival Vessel Port of Arrival Port of Departure Roll Thomas Ing Male 44 7 Oct 1911 Megantic Quebec Liverpool, England T-4782 In AncestryInstitution.com I found him in the 1916 census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, living between the families of his brothers James and Richard in eastern Alberta at Township 33 Range 2 West of the 4th Meridian. My mother remembered:"He and Grandma Ing lived by us on the prairie. The house roof caught fire and Tom just watched as Mom (Louisa) climbed on the roof with her wash water and put out the fire. She wasn't overly impressed by his helpfulness on this occasion!" FreeReg + RecordSearch Plot The patron referred to above asked me whether I had used FreeReg in conjunction with the parish register images on RecordSearch. She said that both are still hit or miss, but she had had success in her Norfolk, England research. That caught my attention, as my Wrights were from Norfolk. She showed me what she was talking about and I saw that some of the parish records for Attleborough were browsable. I found some people I was looking for. FreeReg is great! http://www.freereg.org.uk It has transcriptions of the original records, and from the dates and places you can look for the originals in RecordSearch. (I really need to check this on FamilySearch beta too!) Fringe Benefits Last week a grateful patron came into the FHC and gave each of the staff a jar of elderberry jam that she had made. It was wonderful on French toast! On the subject of canning, we made apple pie filling from our home-grown apples by cutting each apple in half, removing the core, and slicing them in the food processor without peeling them. I think it was successful. I will know for sure when Judy starts making apple pies.