Tag Archives: #rootstechLondon

RootsTech Day 2

by thehistoryinterpreter

We leave a little later today and are at the station by 7.15am. As someone who lives in a village where there are two buses a week, the frequency of London public transport takes some getting used to. There was nearly an awkward train-related incident when I tried to encourage our party to get on a train bound for Cannon Street, when we are actually heading for Canning Town. Similar though eh?

Again the journey takes about an hour and I begin the day with a long chat with Pam and Paul on the Name and Place stand. This software is going to be so useful to those with One-Place Studies. My first session is Drew Smith on ‘Crowd-Sourcing your Brick Walls’, where he discusses the use of message boards, mailing lists and Facebook Groups, including the helpful Genealogy Squad, of which I am a proud member.

Excitedly, I collect my father’s world war two service records from the MOD stand. What a great idea to give us this quick turn-around opportunity – a highlight of the conference. As my father was in the RAF and the army (long story), I pick up two sets of documents; I guess this counts as BOGOF. By ordering late last night I managed to avoid the queue, which at times was 1½ hours long. Understandably this was a very popular offer.

Then the keynote with Paralympian Kadeena Cox. As a follower of para-athletics I was excited to hear her story. The warm-up act was Tamsin Todd, CEO of FindMyPast. I spot that most of the presenters in the auditorium are using auto cue. Kadeena’s story of her Jamaican heritage and her own experiences overcoming her condition is one of strong family bonds and perseverance. Family Search have traced her family for her and also present her with a series of DNA kits. I am excited to have the opportunity to interview Kadeena and as the grandmother of Robot Wars’ biggest fan, I have to ask her about her experience as winner of the celebrity version. I then get to be number two in the queue for a meet and greet and autograph. I hand my camera to someone in the queue behind me; sadly their efforts are a tad fuzzy, at least of me.

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My next session is David Annal’s ‘My Ancestor was a Liar’. He stresses the importance of understanding the records we are using and why they were created. Then there is a Tweet-up for those of us who join in #Ancestryhour. I am an occasional attendee, as I usually remember as the hour draws to a close. Next I am able to chat to the FindMyPast officials, Tamsin Todd CEO and Ben Bennett MD. This is a very interesting hour, even though it means that I miss more lecture sessions I had hoped to attend. I comment that, exciting as all the additional records are, they are giving us lists of ‘hits’ that are becoming unmanageable. They are working to refine the search process to help with this. Also a priority is improving source citations. We learn that the 1921 census will include workplace information. We ask about the likely pricing model. They are not yet ready to announce this but it will be ‘similarish’ to that for the 1911 census and the 1939 register. I guess this means that patience will be needed before this becomes part of the subscription. We are reminded that FindMyPast are the only 1939 register provider with an ongoing programme to reveal the redacted entries. Over 5 million new individuals have been opened for view since the launch. Exciting news for Scotland is promised for the near future. We are also asked for our feedback on the event.

A slightly earlier arrival back on site today, which is much needed.

Disclaimer: As a RootsTech Ambassador I receive complimentary admission to the event and a free registration to give one of my readers. My status as an Ambassador does not entitle me to any financial assistance for accommodation, travel or meals.

Ready for RootsTech

by thehistoryinterpreter

After ten lovely days with my descendants, I am hardly feeling rested in the run-up to Rootstech but I am looking forward to three days of fun, learning and meeting friends. We ensconce ourselves in a cosy caravan site some thirteen miles from the Excel Centre. Lovely though it would be to be closer to the action, this is the third major event of this kind this year and more central hotels in school holidays are prohibitively expensive. About the only downside of living in the bottom left hand corner of the country, is the cost of getting anywhere else.

We take our lives in our hands and drive in to the Excel Centre to help set up the Guild of One-Name Studies’ stand. This reinforces our resolve to drive through London as infrequently as possible. The trusty Sat-nav gets us pretty much to where we need to be. By dint of asking several high-viz clad folk, we manage to find where the appropriate entrance is. We cram the quart that is the Guild display materials into the pint pot that is our stand space. It is hard to believe that all these stands will be ready by first thing tomorrow. The excitement is certainly building.

Our journey back to the van is ‘enhanced’ by rain, darkening skies and rush hour traffic. We nearly end up in a one-hour queue for the Woolwich Ferry but thankfully manage to divert in time, in favour of the Blackwell Tunnel. After seventy five minutes, we have accomplished the journey; that’s London traffic for you. Tomorrow, the ‘delights’ of public transport.

Back in the van, I run through my talk once more and hope that I will not be performing it to one man and his dog. With so many great presentations to choose from, it is always a danger. Now to rest. I’ve no idea how folk have the stamina to include evening socialising and early morning meet-ups in their schedule every day. Alarm set for 6am, which I probably won’t need and I’m ready for the fun to  begin.

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Disclaimer: As a RootsTech Ambassador I receive complimentary admission to the event and a free registration to give one of my readers. My status as an Ambassador does not entitle me to any financial assistance for accommodation, travel or meals.

Being Ambassadorial and Finding Lost Cousins

by thehistoryinterpreter

LondonBadges_640x640pxAmbassadorThis week came the news that I have been accepted as an Ambassador for the first London version of the genealogical extravaganza that is RootsTech. This major genealogy show has been a staple of the world’s genealogical calendar for nine years but in October, it will be coming to the UK for the first time. Now the US version of the show is over for 2019, details of what the UK event will offer are starting to be revealed. So far, some of the speakers have been announced and British family historians will recognise several people who have been prominent on the family history speaking circuit for many years. Early Bird pricing is on offer until 9 April, so don’t leave it too late to book. Shortly, I will be running a competition to win a three day pass, so keep an eye out on this blog and my Facebook and Twitter platforms for details.

Although I had recently managed to stop myself compulsively checking my Kindle sales figures for Barefoot on the Cobbles on a daily basis, I did notice a distinct spike in sales this week and I reached the dizzy height of #8 in the biographical fiction category. For an independently published first novel, which is not being given away or offered at a drastically reduced price, this is big – well I was excited anyway. The downside is that I have now returned to the hourly refreshing of my page to see what is happening to my sales figures. These new readers have found their way to Barefoot thanks to a review in the Lost Cousins newsletter, which is run by Peter Calver. Peter does not normally review historical fiction and indeed professes not to like it, so I am particularly grateful to him for bending his rules for me, on the grounds that the story emerged from genealogical research and is about real people. It is interesting that his review has had a particular impact on my sales in Australia. I am now hoping that one or two of these new readers will leave a review (please – I have been known to grovel). Sadly these sales do not deplete my large stash of paper copies, currently residing in my living room. Still, I am hoping that I may reduce the pile a little when I am signing copies in Barnstaple W H Smiths on Saturday.

Peter suggested that, in return for reviewing my book, I might upload my ancestors to his Lost Cousins database. As someone who tries to keep abreast of developments in the family history world, I was aware of Peter’s regular Lost Cousins newsletter but to be honest, I hadn’t considered adding my ancestors to his database. Like the newsletter, contributing to the database is free, although you make a small contribution if you wish to contact those whose ancestry you share (paid up members can however contact you, even if you don’t contribute). It works like this. You upload the details of your ancestors, as they appear in the 1881 census (or 1880 for those in the US). Then you can search for others who have listed the same people. You can also add details from the 1841 and 1911 censuses, although it is advised that you start with 1881. So far, I have only uploaded the details of my own direct ancestors, although there are options to add other individuals you might be interested in. If you do decide to upload, please use the link in this blog there is no prize for me if you do but your entry will be credited to my recommendation.

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of my distinct lack of cousins, so I was a little sceptical of finding matches but it has been an interesting exercise and already one match is showing. It only took me about half an hour to upload all my direct ancestors who appear in the 1881 census, although, to be fair, I had previously done all the searching and had copies of the census entries already. 1881 is too early for any of my grandparents but all eight great grandparents, fourteen of the sixteen great great grandparents and three 3x great grandparents were alive at the time. I know all the descendants of the great grandparents (all six of them!). I have a pretty complete picture of the descendants of the sixteen great great grandparents (my 3rd cousins), although I think a few of the Smiths may have slipped through. My knowledge of the descendants of my 3x great grandparents is less complete, so the three alive in 1881 may well bear fruit and this is where the match I have comes from. I plan to add my entries from the other censuses and also the details of my children’s ancestors.

With the rapidly increasing popularity of DNA testing, the need to trace our family history forwards, as well as backwards, has never been more important, yet so many of us do not focus on more recent research. Uploading to Lost Cousins may well help with this. I have just finished guiding the latest cohort of students through my online Tracing your Twentieth Century Ancestors and their Community course for Pharos Teaching and Tutoring. I am afraid you will have to wait until next year for this one to run again, although places are filling up fast for the Writing and Telling your Family Story course that starts in April. I am also speaking about Twentieth Century Research at Family Tree Live and bookings are now open for this event. Once booked, you can reserve places at the lectures of your choice. Also on the subject of Twentieth Century research, in case you missed the announcement, we now know that FindmyPast will be releasing the English and Welsh 1921 census in three years’ time. As someone who remembers waiting for the 1881 census to be released, I suddenly feel very old.

I am still adding to the write ups of my own ancestral research. I should stress that these are very much works in progress and summaries of research, not necessarily fascinating stories. This week I have uploaded the Woolgars of Sussex.

Thank you to those who have asked about our BeingEdward story. We have been busy with family visits and Martha will be blogging again shortly. This week’s campaign is to encourage the government to stop the inappropriate detention, segregation and seclusion of those with autism and learning difficulties in mental heath units, institutions that are patently not designed to meet their needs. For those who have the time to explore our BeingEdward world further, take a look at this webinar, which introduces you to PDA, which is Edward’s condition.