Who Do You Think You Are Live 2012

Leading up to the Event

I had hoped to go to WDYTYA Live in 2011 but a mix up with dates meant I was unable to go so I decide that this year was to be my first visit to the event. Originally I was to make a weekend of it but before I booked anything I realised I would be on my own. For this reason I decided that although it would make a long day I would travel down on the day and return on an evening train.
In the days before the show I received the latest editions of the 2 family history magazines that I have subscriptions for Your Family History and Your Family Tree. The former had items of interest with a bit about tropical diseases including Malaria which mentioned Ronald Ross (see my earlier posting Sunday, 17 May 2009). There was also mention of a new BBC series about the work of Francis Frith the photographer presented by John Sergeant. Francis Frith was married to Mary Ann Rosling (sister of Alfred Rosling, the first treasurer of the Photographic Society)and as you can see in my earlier postings my husband is a Rosling descendant and a distant cousin of his wife.
Your Family Tree had an article which mentioned the Titanic as this year is the centenary. I have previously posted about my link with Captain Haddock and have put a link to this on the magazine forum. I caught up with Adam (YFT Editor) at the show and he suggested I posted a reminder on the forum.

Now to recap my day at WDYTYA Live.

I spent the morning going from one SOG presentation to another and was so glad I paid extra for my advance ticket. Given that there were no tube trains running to Olympia until 10.15 and I needed to be there for 10.20 I took the tube to Barons Court and the train and tube were running on time. A quick walk to Olympia straight in and I was there in plenty of time for the WDYTYA experience of Larry Lamb, whose episode had been voted the best one in the last series. He appeared very relaxed and his sister who had been seen on the programme was there in the audience.

Next up was a talk by Lisa Louise Cooke who had flown over from California to present on Google Earth for Genealogy. Unfortunately she had a problem with her laptop not having a suitable connector. Else Churchill had lent her netbook but she was having problems with the video until the tech guide managed to find another laptop. However as a seasoned presenter this did not phase her and she explained how we could use Google Earth to bring our research into context, especially for the non-genealogists in the family. I found her talk most inspiring and I bought a copy of her DVD Volume 2. She had sold out of Volume1, but as a Premium member of her podcast Genealogy Gems ( which can be found at http://www.genealogygems.tv/INDEX.htm ) I have access to the videos online. Now all I need to do is to decide eactly what I want to put into the presentation and whether or not to add an audio file.
You can find the DVDs here http://genealogygems.tv/Googleforgenealogy.htm .

The final talk was by Gill Blanchard on Norfolk. I had problems finding this as I didn't realise it was downstairs and managed to get a seat just as it started. She went through the variety of records available for Norfolk research most of them I knew there were some I had not come across and when I have time I must have a look for some of the websites that she mentioned. The biggest problem I had with this talk was an inability to see all of the screen.

By this time I was hungry and thirsty and managed to grab a sandwich and a drink.I then had a wander around the stands on the ground floor before my meeting with an expert to try and find out where to go next with my search for my husband's Irish ancestor. Apart from needlessly joining a queue and my expert being double booked I was pointed in the direction of a free website which may be helpful, otherwise I may need to visit The National Archives to consult the muster rolls as he was in the British Army.

I visited the Wiltshire Family History Society stand and signed up to joined them. They gave me a membership form to complete so I found somewhere to sit down to complete it. This was the Genes Reunited presentation area and Anthony Adolph was about to start a presentation on DNA mapping. Since he only had an audience of 3 including me he decided to make it a more informal discussion which worked well.

I had one last look around the stands and picked up a Postal Museum leaflet and one of the My ancestor was books from SoG bookshop on Merchant Seamen and decided to give myself plenty of time to get the tube back to Euston and the 19.10 train home.

One thing you need for these events is stamina and the more you plan ahead the more you get out of the day. I had intended to speak to someone on the stand from Jersey but forgot. So remember the motto of Scouts and Guides and Be Prepared.

Rootstech 2012

This time last week I was catching up with the Live streaming of Rootstech 2012.
I watched what I could last year and found the 2011 Rootstech to be an eyeopener even though only a small part of it is shown online.
The opening speaker set the scene of the coference well and there are some great plans in the pipeline.
The advances being made to upgrade from GEDCOM to something more useful is probably the most significant point made by Jay Verkler this will impact on anyone who uploads a tree to the internet or shares information.
I look forward to seeing this come to fruition as it will impact on how we use genealogy websites.
I felt that the theme was where are we going with collaboration and it appears that we are heading towards the models of Geni and WikiTree but with more links between the various website providers.
To see the sessions that were streamed go to  http://rootstech.org/live#

What goes around comes around : Civil disturbance

I have been looking at the recent releases on the National Archives website. One thing struck me as events in our lifetime become history what little we learn from events of the past.
I was a student at London University in the early 1980's and in my second year I lived in a student house in Park Hill Clapham Common. In April that year the Brixton Riots took place. I was at home in Southampton as it was the Easter vacation but housemates said it could be heard from where we were living.
These riots took place in the early years of prime miniter Margaret Thatcher's conservative government and here we are some 30 years later with a new conservative government and further riots.


That same year the IRA bombed Chesea Barracks and some years later the centre of Manchester was also an IRA target both were places which I had frequented many times. I recall thinking at the time that how would I have felt being caught up in either disaster, but life is full of coincidences and near misses.

Do not forget that your experience will be your descendants history and the more we record what we think then the greater chance they will have of knowing more about you and your beliefs.

Plans for 2012

This is the time of year when we make those resolutions we hope to keep but oten don't so what plans do you have for 2012?
With lots going on at home and work I have decide not to make any big plans for my research this year,
In February I am hoping to attend WDYTYA Live but am still undecided as to whether to stay overnight or not and whether to just go on an early train and make a full day of it.
Last year I saw some of the webinars from Rootstech and I have also joined some of the Legacy Family Tree webinars and would recommend these to anyone who has the time.
I am not sure if they will be showing any of the presentations from Rootstech live this year but if they do it is a great way to see what is happening if you cannot make the conference.
I hope to post again soon with more about my own research.
Meanwhile don't forget to checkout Wikitree. If you contact me I will be happy to allow you access to edit your part of the tree.

WikiTree

I recently uploaded a GEDCOM file to WikiTree.
If you are a relation who is in my tree you may receive an invite.
This site has a high level of privacy and will only allow trusted individuals see details of living people.
Please add any memories you may have of others in the tree.

Documenting Sources in online trees

The genealogy community can be very critical of those who do not cite their sources.
A regular topic that comes up on genealogy forums is the lack of documentation of sources especially on large trees.

I believe there are a number of reasons why the larger online trees do not have sources.

Many people start trees online then give up once they get to grandparents or beyond the people they remember and these trees are often unsourced as they have been produced as a passing whim. There are a large number of these on websites such as Genes Reunited which are free or minimal cost. When they go back to these later they do not think that they have not added information as to where they found out how these people fit in their family.

Very few of us can say we documented all our sources from the start and we can be reluctant to go back and add them later, even though it may save us time overall.

Few of us trust everything we read and given the rate information is added to the internet we do not always want others to use the information we have obtained at our own expense.

Basically the reasons for not including sources in online trees as I see it are :

1. Laziness
2. Lack of trust of others
3. Cost associated with obtaining the information

Genealogy is not a cheap hobby and those who would call it their hobby are well aware of this.
Don't criticise others who seem to be unwilling to share but do as you would like to be done by.
If you choose not to put your sources on your tree mention this in the opening page.
If you are willing to share with others invite them to contact you.
Some of my best leads have come from others but by confirming things for myself I have found information beyond what others have given me which has made this hobby so much more enjoyable.

Those who just include other peoples research do not know the joy of discovering something new for themselves.

Roots Television - A look back at how we used to live

Today I watched a short film on Roots Television.
It was made in 1948 and was aimed at showing what life was like for a young boy growing up in York at this time.
This year I spent a week on holiday in York (not for the first time). It was interesting to contrast the picture I have today with that of 50 years ago.
The view from the city walls has changed remarkably little, possibly due to much of the area having protected status.
The railway station has changed and we no longer travel in trains with compartments (usually) as we did even in the sixties when I was a child. For longer journeys we even have air conditioning in the trains. Beeching cuts in the sixties mean we cannot get a train to Whitby from York so our journey this year will have taken a lot longer.
Whitby itself has changed in the number and type of boats in the harbour. The fishermen, if there are any left, do not sit there mending their nets.
I cannot comment on the schools.
However homelife has certainly changed as many families no longer sit down together for their evening meal and few that do would be listening to the radio.
Television would be more likely today and many will eat a meal with a tray on their lap whilst watching the television. The traditional tea will have been replaced by the ready made meal and the stove by the microwave. In our family for one we have not yet done away with the traditional cup of tea, still a firm favorite with many of the english.
Some houses still have the open coal fires so common in post war britain but with the creation of smoke free zones the majority of us now live in centrally heated homes.
How many of us or our descendants will look back in another 50 years and reflect on how life has changed?