Day One of Rootstech is over and I have a bulging playlist that I want to work through. Fortunately, there’s plenty of time. I have to admit I do still have a few lingering in my playlist from previous years. I have my usual mix of presentations by people I know, topics that appeal and a few random additions to take me out of my comfort zone. My aim is to keep on top of the playlist so that it doesn’t get longer and longer, as I add recommendations from others.

I began with Nicholas Dixon’s ‘Metropolitan Ancestors: finding families in Georgian and Victorian London’, which contained plenty of useful information on researching in the capital and sits well with my own ‘London Calling: websites for researching London ancestry’ short presentation, which is available on demand. Next up was ‘Who’s my Ancestor? tracing individuals with similar names’ by D. Joshua Taylor. As I‘ve spent three fruitless days trying to untangle numerous Josiah Lamballs, this was very timely, although my Josiah still remains elusive. I have ruled out one of the wrong ones; perhaps more about that another time. This was an excellent presentation, essential listening for anyone with a brick wall, which is anyone who does family history. Despite the examples being from the US, the techniques described are applicable elsewhere.

I then listened to the first of Liz Craig’s One Place Study presentations ‘studying a village’, a great introduction and I even got a couple of honourable mentions; her other talk is on the list. I followed this with’ Little Known Free Sites for English Research’ by Jenny Joyce, again some synergy with my London presentation. Next, ‘Researching Modern Ancestors: unlocking the life of an English Rose’, from Diane L. Richard, which told the story of her quest to fill out the life story of her English mother and encouraged us to research our more recent ancestors, such as our parents and grandparents

I usually watch some presentations that focus on engaging young people, so I viewed ‘Toddlers to Tweens – Who doesn’t like to climb trees!’ with Megan Heyl. This was interesting and the handout had some useful charts that are worth downloading. It was more applicable to those whose ancestry encompasses an immigration story, with identifiable ancestors from a variety of countries. Finally for day one was ‘No Death Certificate’, in which Helen Smith provided a range of options when looking for evidence of death in the absence of a death certificate.

Today I am presenting live but virtually, at 8.30pm GMT, chatting about Marginalised Ancestors. I am also out helping Mistress Agnes give a live presentation so I may not have time for much watching but will report back on what I choose. You can join in the fun, for free, from home here.