Family Historian User Group

Yes, I'm here...thanks, Jane!

Sometimes what goes on the the census form is wishful thinking on the family's part - there's a pair of illegitimate twins on my tree who first appear (as babies)in 1891 with the surname Robertson; but there are no other Robertsons on the tree and by 1901 they've reverted to their mother's name, Tay...

It's a very appropriate day for reading about this: http://twgpp.org/index.php a project that's well on the way to achieving its goal of photographing all Commonwealth War Graves Commission graves - and more. It'll cost you £3 for an emailed photo, or £5 for a hard copy. I just looked up my uncle, w...

Well done, Nick - I'm at work now, but can't wait to get home and try it. Thanks!

Jocelyn

Don't forget that under the Deceased Wife's Sister Act (1835) it was illegal (at least in England) for a man to marry his deceased wife's sister. The Act was repealed in 1907. My great-grandfather married his late wife's sister (my great-grandmother) in 1881, so my grandfather and great-uncles and a...

Do you know the parents' names? If so, why not look them up in the 1861 census and see whether they have a 9-year-old son?

Jocelyn

Goodness, Nick, I don't remember things that happened last week, let alone 2 years ago...[rolleyes]

Jocelyn

Hi Nick: thanks again...but Ancestry isn't an https site, so that doesn't work.

I'm fine with Chrome, but I'm surprised this issue hasn't come up for other people.

Jocelyn

Thanks, Nick: I was using IE8, which told me it was saving the document (which it wouldn't do in the location I wanted) - but I then couldn't find it. When I tried it using Chrome, however, everything worked as it should.

Jocelyn

I'm having difficulty copying the images. Any tips?

Here in Scotland married women stay in touch with their maiden names: my grandmother Christina Johnstone, for instance, would have been known as Mrs Taylor once she got married but on her gravestone she's called Johnstone again. Which people searching Scottish MIs may not know! Also, 'Major' was a p...

Thanks, Gerry!

Jocelyn

Mine came the same day - and it also installed itself with no problems, even though this was before they withdrew it again to fix the bug.

Jocelyn

In v 3 you could click a button beside the person's name to get their parents. There isn't a button in v 4.

Jocelyn

My upgrade downloaded safely yesterday...and I wish I could say I was sitting here happily playing with it, but unfortunately I'm at work!

Jocelyn

Talking of births...Ancestry now have searchable births from 1837-2005. Presumably they're working on the marriages and deaths too.

Glad I renewed my subscription!

Jocelyn

You can always look everyone up in FreeBMD and record the quarter when their birth was registered - this is a bit more accurate (except of course where a family has done a batch baptism, as one of mine did - 6 at once!). Then the date will show as Q1 1888 or whatever, and that'll remind you that it'...

I know some of you have reported no trouble with transcriptions in the 1911 census...so I thought I'd let you know my opposite experience. I'd been very puzzled not to find my great-grandmother Maria Atkins in the census. I knew she was still alive as we have her in a 1912 photo. I'd checked all the...

Hey, you can now search by first name alone!

Jocelyn

That's fascinating, Jan...For my London ancestors I've found Charles Booth's Poverty maps very useful, and you can compare the late C19 map directly with the 2000 equivalent here:

http://booth.lse.ac.uk/cgi-bin/do.pl?su ... ,6,large,5

Jocelyn

Who says the 'number of years married' question is necessarily going to be answered correctly anyway? I've got quite a few ancestors who might have had reason to pretend they'd been married longer than they actually had...

He sure was!

Jocelyn

Found him on Ancestry, Jan, in barracks at Maidstone, Kent - he's no. 24 on the list, second to last on the page.

Jocelyn

Hi Jennifer: did you perhaps add a first-cousin marriage? I did that recently and was sure something awful had happened, because I had duplications and coloured lines all over my diagram. In fact I hadn't realised they WERE cousins - I just clicked the 'link existing record as spouse' button, becaus...

Welcome, Roy...some of us do put our surname interests in the 'generic signature' bit...me for instance.

Jocelyn