Monday 26 November 2012

ebay: A useful resource for family history research.

I guess I will probably start to annoy people on Twitter, like I have the people in my household, wanting to share my 'discoveries' from ebay. 

However, I have had a success in the past as I may have mentioned before with a memorial card that belonged to the ancestors of a distance cousin. It was great to be able to return it to his branch of the family. 

Well, one of my biggest successes was a purchase I made (for what I consider peanuts) of 86 copies of Aris's Birmingham Gazette.  They cover the years 1834 and 1836.


There are two other purchases for copies dated 1809 and 1821.

Own Year Month Date Vol.

1809 July 3 3529

1821 January 1 4128
1 1834 March 10 4816
2 1834 March 17 4817
3 1834 March 24 4818
Missing


4819
Missing


4820
4 1834 April 14 4821
5 1834 April 21 4822
6 1834 April 28 4823
7 1834 May 5 4824
8 1834 May 12 4825
9 1834 May 19 4826
10 1834 May 26 4827
11 1834 June 2 4828
Missing


4829
12 1834 June 16 4830
13 1834 June 23 4831
14 1834 June 30 4832
15 1834 July 7 4833
16 1834 July 14 4834
17 1834 July 21 4835
18 1834 July 28 4836
Missing


4837
19 1834 August 11 4838
20 1834 August 18 4839
21 1834 August 25 4840
22 1834 September 1 4841
23 1834 September 8 4842
24 1834 September 15 4843
25 1834 September 22 4844
26 1834 September 29 4845
27 1834 October 6 4846
28 1834 October 13 4847
29 1834 October 20 4848
30 1834 October 27 4849
31 1834 November 3 4850
Missing


4851
32 1834 November 17 4852




4853
33 1834 December 1 4854
34 1834 December 8 4855
35 1834 December 15 4856
Missing


4857
36 1834 December 29 4858
37 1836 January 4 4911
38 1836 January 11 4912
39 1836 January 18 4913
40 1836 January 25 4914
41 1836 February 1 4915
42 1836 February 8 4916
43 1836 February 15 4917
44 1836 February 22 4918
45 1836 February 29 4919
46 1836 March 7 4920
47 1836 March 14 4921
48 1836 March 21 4922
Missing


4923
49 1836 April 4 4924
50 1836 April 11 4925
51 1836 April 18 4926
52 1836 April 25 4927
53 1836 May 2 4928
54 1836 May 9 4929
55 1836 May 16 4930
56 1836 May 23 4931
57 1836 May 30 4932
58 1836 June 6 4933
59 1836 June 13 4934
60 1836 June 20 4935
Missing


4936
61 1836 July 4 4937
62 1836 July 11 4938
63 1836 July 18 4939
64 1836 July 25 4940
65 1836 August 1 4941
66 1836 August 8 4942
67 1836 August 15 4943
68 1836 August 22 4944
69 1836 August 29 4945
70 1836 September 5 4946
71 1836 September 12 4947
72 1836 September 19 4948
73 1836 September 26 4949
74 1836 October 3 4950
75 1836 October 10 4951
76 1836 October 17 4952
77 1836 October 24 4953
78 1836 October 31 4954
79 1836 November 7 4955
80 1836 November 14 4956
81 1836 November 21 4957
82 1836 November 28 4958
83 1836 December 5 4959
84 1836 December 12 4960
85 1836 December 19 4961
86 1836 December 26 4962

So forgive me if I share my passion for ebay in my Tweets. :-)


Sunday 13 May 2012

A is for...

I have taken up the challenge 'Family History Through the Alphabet' started by Gould Genealogy in the hope it will provide me with inspiration to blog more regularly.


So here goes... A is for Ancestry Apple (and a few other A's thrown in for good measure).

Many moon ago before I had children most of my days were spent in libraries and record offices hunting obsessively for signs of my Ancestors. 

Then along came my own little Additions to my branch of the family and my chance to get Access to such places and the precious records they held was gone.  

Years passed with snatched time here and there but not consistently enough to make any progress.  And not enough to give me a fix for my Addiction. 

Times moved on and more and more information was coming on line.  Then I got a subscription to Ancestry and suddenly I could access some of the same records that I had at the record offices and libraries; but without the restrictions of opening times, travel effort and travel costs.  I could research when the children had gone to bed.  This meant I was often glued to my computer (and my desk) whenever I had a valid subscription but at least I was getting my fix.

Then along came Apple.  The iPhone had existed quite a while before I got my first one.  And it wasn't until I got my iPhone 4 and downloaded the Ancestry App that I realised what an Amazing combination it was.  Now I can research a lot of the same records I had in record offices - from my bed, on my commute to work, whilst waiting for the children or for an appointment.  I can get a fix for my addiction (without it being so noticeable to the family) as long as my phone is charged and I have a signal. I don't have to be at my desk waiting for my tired old computer to turn on.  My family tree is always one or two touches away.


And with the iPad it is even better with the increase in screen size.


Not only that I always have my family tree with me. If I'm out and about and see something I can bring my family tree up straight away and check the details.  When visiting relatives and the talk turns to those gone by I can bring up the tree at a touch of the screen and add the details there and then.  When struggling to read a record you can zoom in and out with ease.


If I only have a little time then I go through the 'hints' (for those of you not familiar with Ancestry these are the record suggestions that Ancestry makes) which sometimes leads to records I am not sure I would have discovered on my own.
  

Obviously you still need to be absolutely sure before you Accept a link suggestion particularly if it come from another Ancestry members tree as there are a lot of errors but as along as you Apply the same need for Accuracy as you would in a record office there should be no problems. 

I have two improvements that I would like to see on Ancestry.

In the 'olden' days when constructing your family tree you would write it in pencil first and only when details were validated would it be written in pen.  Unfortunately, this option does not exist in Ancestry and this may be where people are going wrong. For Ancestry to be really effective you need the option to distinguish between confirmed facts and leads.  

The second improvement would be that there needs to be a better way to highlight incorrect information on trees held in Ancestry. I leave messages on records where I feel that information is not accurate and I suggest they re-check their sources but I often find that no action is taken. I am not sure what the solution is. Could records be flagged as potentially inaccurate and referred to Ancestry for review/moderation to ensure that the data held by Ancestry is as accurate as it can be?  That shouldn't be too difficult to instigate I wouldn't have thought. If staff resources are an issue other websites and forums use members as the moderators and I am sure there will be Ancestry members happy to act as moderators (perhaps rewarded by a subscription for their contribution) to help ensure that Ancestry data is as Accurate as it possibly can be.  After all, you are only as good as your weakest link; or should that be weakest branch. :-)

Thursday 12 January 2012

West Yorkshire Regiment

A while ago, most likely a fairly long while ago, I purchased a postcard which I had hoped one day to research. Well, as often happens, day to day life got in the way after a first initial attempt. I have just rediscovered the postcard tonight and thought I would make a point of posting it right now. It has remained hidden long enough and there may be someone out there looking for the people in it. Hopefully, in time I will get some opportunity to research it.


The back of the photograph states:

14 S Batt. West York Regiment

1/ Sgt Sullivan D Coy?
2/ L. Cpl Quinn
3/ Sgt Parker
4/ Cpl Emmott D.Coy?
5/ L. Cpl Parker
6/ L. Cpl Scholey
7/ Cpl Walker
8/
9/ Sgt Roberts