Saturday, January 27, 2007

Patronymic Naming in Wales

BBC - South East Wales Family history - Patronymic Naming: "The ancient Welsh patronymic naming system can cause significant problems for genealogists.

Patronymics describes the process of giving a male child the father's given, or forename, as a surname. This means that a family's name changes in successive generations.

Such names are not uncommon in modern day Wales, with BBC Wales correspondents Iolo ap Dafydd (above) and Rhun ap Iorwerth being well-known examples.

But the process of conversion to the system of fixed surnames in Wales began in the fifteenth century and continued through to the middle of the eighteenth century. The trend was stratified socially - the higher classes in society began the process, which then was passed on to the lower classes.

Consequently, genealogists whose search has reached this period in Welsh history can sometimes find that their search grinds to a halt as family names 'disappear' into the patronymic system of naming.

The Welsh patronymic system describes family trees in terms of the male line only and records the family association in the 'ap' or 'ab' prefix - 'ap' is a contraction of the Welsh word mab, which means son. So, Rhys ap Dafydd means, in English, Rhys son of David.

Modern Welsh surnames such as Powell, Price and Prichard are the result of this contraction and a progressive tendency to Anglicise Welsh names: under the patronymic system they would have been ap Hywel; ap Rhys and ap Richard. The names Bowen and Bevan were derived in the same way.

Women's names sometimes entered the patronymic system using the 'ferch' (daughter of) prefix. So, Rhiannon ferch Dafydd ap Iorwerth would be Rhiannon, daughter of David, son of Edward. When they married, women usually kept their maiden names as there was no surname for them to adopt.

The range of Welsh surnames is very small, due in part to this drawn-out process of conversion, but also because of the growing tendency to adopt English forenames (usually taken from Christian saints), particularly in towns like Hereford on the Welsh borders. Names such as John, William, David, Thomas and Hugh, became Jones, Williams, Davis, Thomas and Hughes.

In north Wales, place names were frequently adopted, and in mid Wales families adopted nicknames for surnames. Jenkins is possibly derived from two different sources: as a corruption of a Flemish version of John, and as a result of the popularity of the name Ieuan in Wales during this period. Ieuan also gave rise to Evan(s) and Jones.

"welsh patronymics - Google Search

but do ignore the idiotic DNA testing project and the Welsh baby names

Macca + Psychotherapy - Page 3 - macosx.com - Mac Support: "Incidentally, on the subject of Welsh patronymics, it's not widely realised that America owes its name to a Welsh patronymic.

Although it has been widely taught that America was named after Amerigo Vespucci there has always been little evidence to support this.

A more cogent argument is that America was named after the King's Customs Agent in Bristol, a wealthy shipping magnate called Richard Americ (sometimes spelt Ameryk or Amerike). It was Americ who funded John Cabot's voyages to the New World and Cabot is known to have been the first to make landfall on the continental mainland (in what is now Newfoundland).

However Americ's fishing fleets had been plying the north atlantic waters for many years before either Columbus or Cabot and it is believed from examination of contemporary accounts that the crews of his fleet were aware of the existence of a landmass to the west of their fishing field which they already informally referred to as 'America'.

Americ was born in Ross-on-Wye and his name derives from the patronymic 'Ap Meurig' except this is elided by the Welsh rules of soft mutation into 'Amheurig' which, on his settling in Brigstow (as Bristol as then known) became corrupted into Americ (or Americk, Ameryk, Amerike etc). The name suvives in England as Merrick."

The Christmas Page

The Christmas Page (English version):
"There is 331 days, 17 hours
until December 25."

The Christmas Page (Dansk version): "Dette er mit forsøg på at lave et Julekort på Internettet fra mig til alle jer med hovedvægt på den danske jul og dens traditioner."

which I fell over because it has a link to Statens Arkivers Julesider - Landsarkivet & Rigsarkivet

and Statens Arkivers Arkivalieronline
I efteråret 2002 kunne Statens Arkivers Filmningscenter takket være en særbevilling fra Kulturministeriet påbegynde digitaliseringen af kirkebøger og folkætellinger
ALL the servers seem to be down along with Daisy
Hvor Oplysning om, hvor arkivserierne findes.
and also broken
Statens Arkiver
Søger hos Rigsarkivet, de fire landsarkiver,

only
Danish Data Archives in english is working

Friday, January 26, 2007

new generation of images on ancestry

In Firefox on Mac OS 10.4.8 a very high quality image of 1841 England census on ancestry.co.uk and below Family Tree Maker 16 on WinXP on Parallels on my Mac Book Pro with an Apple cinema screen above

just quality from apple and ancestry wno use a top of the line Canon camera to add about 10000 images to the 1841 census of England and Wales

a random sample for subscribers only

You are here: Search > Census > UK Census Collection > 1841 England
Census > Devon > Brixham > District 7
http://content.ancestry.co.uk/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=8978&path=Devon.B...

at 100%
1600 x 1268 px
155,64 KB

Ancestry make mention of which parts of the 1841 carry colour scans
on their site. They don't refer to specific images, though.

Yes, mention is made of Piece numbers, only;

5 227 303 309 349 549 695 827 1028 1096 1206
186 231 305 310 443 588 731 972 1029 1131 1209
187 232 307 323 500 609 820 998 1066 1134 1321
203 242 308 344 523 675 826 1003 1085 1186 1416

Ancestry.co.uk - try this if a subscriber

the smith test


299 1841 Channel Islands Census

213,255 1841 England Census

113 1841 Isle of Man Census

36,183 1841 Scotland Census

2,365 1841 Wales Census

Heraldry and law in Ireland

From the Blog of the Genealogical Society of Ireland
which provides news and views on Irish genealogy, heraldry, vexillology and social history.

The Society is to the fore in Ireland campaigning for greater access to records, better services for researchers and for the provision of adequate resources by the State to facilitate the provision of services by our national repositories. T
he purpose of this GSI Blog is to provide a forum for the discussion of matters concerning Irish genealogy and heraldry and to provide information on our various campaigns.

For further information on the Society, including the full list of the Society's publications and Membership etc. please log on to the Society's website www.familyhistory.ie

news:-


Genealogy and Heraldry in Ireland: "I refer to the debate on your Private Members Bill on Genealogy and Heraldry before Christmas in Seanad Éireann. I am pleased to tell you that I have sent the text of the Bill to Gerard Danaher, Senior Counsel, Chair of the Board of the National Library of Ireland. I have formally requested the Board to consider all the matters raised in your draft legislation and to revert to me. I will be in touch with you when I have had a response from the National Library"

The Society is immensely grateful to Senator Brendan Ryan for sponsoring the Bill on behalf of the Society and thanks all the Senators for their support of the Genealogy and Heraldry Bill, 2006 during the Second Stage debate in Seanad Éireann. It may yet be back in an amended form following the General Election this year and in the meantime, the Society shall intensive its campaign for the release of the 1926 Census returns.


Thursday, January 25, 2007

FamilySearch Labs

FamilySearch Labs :: Home:
"FamilySearch Labs showcases new family history technologies that aren't ready for prime time.
Your feedback will help us refine new ideas and bring them to market sooner. Have fun playing with these innovations and send your feedback directly to our development teams."

he FamilySearch Labs blog has the latest scoop on our current projects.

Current Project

Pedigree Viewer

See and interact with a large pedigree or descendancy.
(requires Adobe Flash)

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

European Journal of Human Genetics

: "Access to the web site is temporarily unavailable due to technical problems. Our technicians are working on resolving the issue. We apologize for the inconvenience please try again shortly."

European Journal of Human Genetics

The European Journal of Human Genetics is the official Journal of the European Society of Human Genetics, publishing high-quality, original research papers, ...


SpiritIndia
Rare African chromosome discovered in Yorkshiremen
Register, UK - 7 hours ago
... up in seven men sharing a rare east Yorkshire surname during a survey of British men published Wednesday in the European Journal of Human Genetics . ...
Yorkshire link to African roots BBC News
Britain’s African Roots Run Deep newswire.co.nz
African lineage found in UK men Independent Online
all 34 news articles »
European Journal of Human Genetics - Google News

this is of course old news to archeologists
so I posted to the family history group

African ancestors for a Yorkshire surname Group: soc.genealogy.britain
... But it is a very reliable marker of African ancestry.” The study, which was funded by the Wellcome Trust and published in the European Journal of Human Genetics, found that one white man had a a very unusual Y chromosome variant normally ...
5:28pm by Hugh Watkins - 72 messages - 22 authors. .

"European Journal of Human Genetics" - Google Groups

Blogger Tips and Tricks

How to contact Blogger Support: "Peter Chen
I am just a simple retiree trying to be useful and to pass his time fruitfully, participating in the Adsense program to supplement my pension."

me too

shared DNA from Africa to Yorkshire - Britain

Tracing the route of our shared DNA from Africa to Yorkshire - Britain - Times Online: "African blood has run through British veins since at least the 18th century and perhaps since Roman times, a study suggests.

A set of typically West African genes has been found in seven white British men who share the same rare surname, allowing scientists to trace an African heritage that none had any idea he shared.

The African Y chromosome — the packet of genetic material passed down through the male line — probably originated from a man from Senegal or Guinea-Bissau who lived in Yorkshire in the early 18th century and was inherited by his male descendants.

It is even possible that the line goes back farther still, to Roman soldiers from North Africa posted to Hadrian’s Wall 1,800 years ago. This “division of Moors”, which included the earliest known Africans in Britain, included recruits from what is now Morocco.

Mark Jobling, professor of genetics at the University of Leicester, who led the research, said that it offered a fascinating insight into the history of black Africans in Britain. “This study shows that what it means to be British is complicated and always has been,” Professor Jobling said.

“Human migration history is clearly very complex, particularly for an island nation such as ours, . . ."

"ark Jobling, professor of genetics at the University of Leicester, who led the research, said that it offered a fascinating insight into the history of black Africans in Britain. “This study shows that what it means to be British is complicated and always has been,” Professor Jobling said.

“Human migration history is clearly very complex, particularly for an island nation such as ours, and this study further debunks the idea that there are simple and distinct populations or ‘races’ . . . This chromosome has nothing to do with how you look or how you are, beyond making you male. But it is a very reliable marker of African ancestry.”

The study, which was funded by the Wellcome Trust and published in the European Journal of Human Genetics, found that one white man had a very unusual Y chromosome variant normally found in West Africa.

The man, termed “Mr X”, has a rare surname that is typical of Yorkshire. The scientists then tested 18 other men with the same surname. Six had the African Y chromosome.

Registers were then used to trace each man’s genealogy, leading to two families in Yorkshire in the late 18th century. The chromosome’s West African origin suggests that their common ancestor probably reached Britain via the slave trade."

Genealogy Sweden

ET Genealogy, Sweden: "Here I want to tell a little about the Swedish emigration and also a little about myself, and how I can help you.

During the big exodus from Sweden, the period of 1845-1930 more than 1.3 million Swedes left their homeland in the hope of a better future for themselves and their descendants.

I have been working on Swedish American genealogy for more than 20 years, and found a lot of interesting things about this, which I hope to explain on these pages."

DIS - Computer Genealogy Society of Sweden

Swedish site DIS in English. Join DIS at Digibuy · Renewal of membership · DISBYT - database · DISPOS - find sources ...
www.dis.se/engmeny.htm


Dictionary - Swedish/English - Genealogy term

Genealogy Terms. Svensk/Engelsk ordlista över släktforskningstermer. [Föregående sida] [Startsidan] ... Släktforskningslitteratur, Literature on Genealogy ...
www.algonet.se/~hogman/sldict.htm


genealogy site:se - Google Search

genealogia site:se - Google SearchSwedish Roots - for descendants of the emigrants!

Swedish Roots!

Sveriges Släktforskarförbund The Federation of Swedish Genealogical Societies is the umbrella organisation for some 160 genealogical societies in most parts of the country.

The e-zine Rötter has a lot of useful information, mostly in Swedish, but also the very interesting discussion board Anbytarforum, where you can post queries in English under Discussions in English or under the appropriate "landskap" (if you know it).

Most of the participants understand English. We welcome suggestions and corrections, and they can be emailed to The Federation

genealogi site:se - Google Search

my unanswered phone call

THERE was this mysterious phone call I failed to anwer at about 4:00pm so I used the google tool bar and did "01223 569167" - Google Search

I answered their bot on the first ring and it dropped the line


Aroundampthill.org :: View topic - Cold calling - by phone this time: "or interest, should you get a phone call and they hang up on you and on checking the number via caller DISPLAY or dialing 1471 and you get the phone number 01223 569167 don't waste your time wondering who it is, for I shall tell you now.
It is a company/organisation called Oasis (presumably in Cambridge) and they want to know whether or not you have an endowment mortgage.
They called me yesterday and woke me up and called me again as I was coming in today, HANGING UP as soon as I answered. I called them back and did not give them the answer they were looking for. ATAF!
I might call them again in a little while. or is this some kind of phone scam I am not as yet aware of. I figured it was OK as it was a landline number."

http://www.securedhouseloans.co.uk/

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

our tough ancestors

SKAB - Shin Kicking Association of Britain: "once common throughout England, Wales and parts of America…
Lancashire is now better known for clog dancing—a forerunner of American tap-dancing
—but back in the day, the locals also enjoyed clog fighting.
“Clog toe pie” wasn’t a regional delicacy, and “a leather ‘n’ timber kiss” wasn’t a sign of affection;
they both meant that you were about to receive a good kicking.
What’s more, miners would grapple against each other wearing only their clogs—stark
naked, except for their clunky, metal-trimmed footwear.
This may have been a conscious imitation of the Greeks,
or it may have simply seemed like a good idea at the time.
Whatever the reason, naked shin kicking was common throughout Greater Manchester,
when “hot and rebellious liquors were indulged in to excess,
and the Sabbath was desecrated and made hideous by drunken orgies”.

Miners from Oldham, Bacup and Ashton would pit themselves against quarrymen
from Whitworth. The Oldham “rough heads” were renowned for being as slippery as “snigs,” or eels.
But their winning streak ended after they were caught cheating by rubbing soap all over their bodies.
Another report tells of a clog fight near Manchester in 1843
between two young men
named Ashworth and Clegg—“(both in a state of nudity with the exception of
each having on a pair of strong boots)”. They kicked each other for 45 minutes…
all for one pound (£60 today). Ashworth won, but both were severely injured.
In another fight, he actually killed his opponent and emigrated
Down Under, aptly enough—though it’s unclear whether
this was his choice or Her Majesty’s Pleasure.
"

shin-kicking - Google Search

rror occurred while sending your message.

Ancestry.co.uk - Message Boards

[quote]Who are you, Bennett? If you are "official", please identify yourself as such.[/quote]

one of 305 users from Provo, Utah, USA

but internal company policy forbids them to use these boards for other than for their own research

too bad

that also killed off the useful feedback dialogue about errors on ancestry.co.uk

their ineffective public relations department claims a monopoly on external communication which is normal for any employer of more than one thousand people

Copyright © 1998-2007, MyFamily.com Inc. from the footer to this page and The Generations Network Press Room
http://myfamily.mediaroom.com/index.php
suggets a certain confusion about the rebranding

staffers have emails on a server ending (at) myfamilyinc.com

in this very important thread:-
Exporting GED files from Ancestry Trees: "Just tried the new facility. Are the the FAMC and FAMS records missing from the gedcom file?
Can someone else try an export and verify this?"

Ancestry.co.uk - Message Boards: "Ok-final comment (I promise). I now know more than I want about Gedcom files, and I take back the apology. Just because 3 out of 5 of my software prgs. (and FTM) seem to accept the gedcom, it's not in the correct format.

The LDS gedchk report I ran on my tree's gedcom shows 8 syntax errors and 219 cross-reference errors (missing FAMC and FAMS for individuals).

If you want the text file report, email me and I'll send it to you. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, but now I'm just annoyed that you suggested a workaround and implied that everything except the gedcom, PAF, and FTM were defective."

jd4x4 (View posts) Posted: 22 Dec 2006 1:14AM GMT
Classification: Query
I'm not familiar with the "select all, then save" method..
My browser/OS gives me a choice to either "open" or "save to disk" when I click on the link.

Have you tried right-clicking on the link and selecting "Save Target As" (Windows & Internet Explorer) or right-clicking and selecting "Save Link As" (Windows & Firefox)?

e: Exporting GED files from Ancestry Trees New

JonathanLeHuray1976 (View posts) Posted: 4 Jan 2007 6:49PM GMT
Classification: Query
Yes I get the same thing. I'm trying to import my Ancestry gedcom into 'phpgedview' and 'The Next Generation' to display my tree on a website. When importing this file with phpgedview, I get 250 individuals but no relationships, with TNG I get just the source details but no individuals being imported.

Forum posts for both of these programs say it's a problem with Ancestry.
I had the same problem until I figured out that just adding a spouse doesnt add a MARRIAGE relationship! I sent a feedback and made a post about it here:
more on Marriages and Gedcom Exports: "I sent the following via feedback, fyi:

When clicking 'Add marriage information' from the Family view pages, the url generated is:
http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/EditPerson.aspx?pid=-XXXXXX&tid=XXXXX&sid=-XXXXX&addnew=marriage&pg=1&se=1

When it should actually be:
http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/Event.aspx?tid=XXXXX&pid=-XXXXX&ret=-XXXXX&pg=1,5&addnew=marriage

Also currently, adding a spouse does NOT add a marriage event, AND when attempting to add a marriage event, it will not be added if all 3 information fields are blank even though a selection button for the current spouse is checked. (A work-around is to add 'unk' or something in the Location or Description fields, if a date is unknown)

My suggestion would be to have the proper marriage event boxes display immediately after adding a spouse, so that a marriage (or some sort of union) is registered for the couple.

No union causes major problems in the otherwise excellent (imo) Gedcom Export."

british oral family history

Ancestry.co.uk Media Room - Press release 14 Decembe 2006

"New research commissioned by Ancestry.co.uk reveals that the majority of British adults know surprisingly little about their own families, including where members were born and their occupations.

The research findings, which highlight the need for British families to share family facts and stories this holiday season, reveals that 54 per cent* of Brits do not know where their grandparents were born, while 43 per cent* do not know their grandmothers’ maiden names and 38 per cent* their grandfathers’ occupations.

Perhaps not surprisingly, women have more knowledge of their families - 50 per cent* know where their grandparents were born compared to 42 per cent* of men.

The research also highlights that the average British family’s knowledge of its history goes back just 128 years*, or around three generations, to 1878.

Those in the South East, with an average of 137 years*, keep a better track of their family history, while those from Wales know the least, with an average of just with 108 years* of family history.

"

Monday, January 22, 2007

Genealogy Society of Norway - DIS

Genealogy Society of Norway - DIS: "The Genealogy Society of Norway - DIS (Norwegian name: 'DIS-Norge') was founded January 12, 1990. There are about 8000 members (2006) and the membership increases daily. The main goal of the association is to create a common forum for persons interested in using computers as a tool in genealogical research in Norway. DIS-Norge wants to spread knowledge about and at the same time stimulate genealogical research. We have good relations with similar associations in the Nordic countries and are continually exchanging experiences. We facilitate contact between genealogists in Norway, both electronically and face to face. In the case of local interest, we try actively to begin new local organisations.

We want to offer interesting services for English speaking users and members too! For the time being you may find that some of these services may be helpful (in some cases you need to click an English flag or an 'English' link to select English language)"

Sunday, January 21, 2007

England and Wales 1911 census

Search the archives | 1911 census

The National Archives (England and Wales) has launched its Freedom of
Information request service to see entries from the 1911 Census. The service
has been launched online at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/1911census as an
interim system. This service has been launched in advance of the digital
release of the records, as a response to the Information Commissioner’s
decision notice to address access to the 1911 Census.

The Information Commissioner ruled in December 2006 that The National
Archives could supply specific information from the 1911 Census in response
to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. However, the Information
Commissioner’s ruling also means that to protect personally sensitive
information the 1911 Census must remain closed as a whole document until
2012.

In response to this ruling The National Archives is hoping to start to provide
online access to the 1911 Census, through an approved partner, as early as
2009. Originally, the digital release was expected in January 2012. However,
the Information Commissioner’s decision allows The National Archives to
produce an online name and address search of the census in advance of this
date, with only the personally sensitive data remaining closed until 2012.


NEXT TARGET

  • he 1921 census is not held by The National Archives and remains, like all post 1921 censuses in the custody of the Office for National StatisticsExternal website - link opens in a new window
  • Government policy of that the 1921 and subsequent censuses should remain closed for 100 years. Unlike the 1911 census the 1921 census was conducted under the 1920 Census Act, which is still in force and which contains a statutory prohibition on disclosure. This means that if any FOI requests are received for the 1921 census, the exemption found in S44 of the FOI Act will be invoked to maintain census confidentiality

IF you are a UK citizen please sign

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to enable better Freedom of Information access to census and other archives.