Genealogy Around the Web February 21, 2017

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness

If the recommendation to “think globally, act locally” is applied to genealogy, Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness comes to mind. You probably can’t travel everywhere you’d like to go to research your family tree. When you have a simple request or two that would normally require you to travel to a location more than fifty miles away, a RAOGK volunteer close to the area might just be able to help.

Once you’ve registered on the RAOGK website, you’ll have access to a directory of volunteers informing you where each person is based and what tasks each is willing to help with. Volunteers do not charge for their time, but only for reimbursement of actual expenses such as photocopies, postage, and occasionally parking fees. Common services include doing lookups, taking tombstone and cemetery photos, and locating a document at an archive and copying it. To learn more about how to submit a request, check out their FAQ section. And don’t forget to say thank you or perhaps even volunteer your services.

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Ancestor Search

Are you researching your ancestors in England Wales? Ancestor Search is a website that provides guidance on WHERE to find information on your English and Welsh ancestors from the basic “where to start” information and on to links to various research sites and information. Well worth taking the time to go through the information on this site.

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General Registry Office – England

GRO indexes have been on line for some time but sometimes we forget that it is now easier and cheaper to order certificates via the government’s own official website. Certificates cost £9.25 including postage.

Searching is free but you do have to register first. You have to register to use them. Go to http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ then click on order certificates online >register/login in upper right corner box, then register to create an individual account. It is free.

It is a bit cumbersome in that you can only search in five-year blocks and only either male or female but if you are searching for a birth record, you will be able to find the mother’s name from 1916 back to 1837.

Good luck with your research!

Facebook for Genealogy

Gail Deaver has added more than 100 groups and pages to the latest edition of Facebook for Canadian Genealogy on her Genealogy à la carte page.

On the list, you will find hundreds of Facebook groups and pages. They have been separated into Canadian provinces and territories, and special interest areas, such as Acadian, British Home Children, cemeteries, DNA, family names, First Nations, military, New France, newspapers, old photos, United Empire Loyalists, and US groups with a focus on French Canadian and Acadian family history.

Visit the Facebook for Canadian Genealogy section on the Genealogy à la carte website to view the entire list.

Thank you, Gail, for providing this valuable and helpful information.

University of British Columbia on-line Historical Book Collection

If you are researching ancestors in British Columbia or just have an interest in British Columbia history, the BC Historical Books collection combines the traditional tools of bibliography with the new tools of the digital world to transform our understanding of, and insight into, the history and life of British Columbia. The collection includes more than 1,300 items in BC Historical Books that showcases the history of the province from 1783 to 1952. Early works in the collection include travelogues that tell tales of grand landscapes, meeting strangers, and surviving in the wilderness. A quick search of family surnames and locations uncovered city directories, board of trade reports, histories, fraternal organization reports, and books.

The UBC Library feature, A Ramble in British Columbia, provides information about the collection.

Family Search Plans For 2017

There are several things FamilySearch says you can look for from FamilySearch In 2017 and they are already being implemented.

A customized home home. The year has hardly even started and they’ve already delivered on this one. You must sign up for a FamilySearch account (it’s free, and gyou will have access to other things, such as more record images) and you must sign in. FamilySearch is calling it a dashboard. The content is driven by what you do in FamilySearch Family Tree. The dashboard will:

recommend research opportunities
list hints about your ancestors and their close relatives
list recently viewed tree persons
provide a to-do list feature that you can use to create your own task list, and
show you new memories—photos, documents, stories, and audio recordings—that others have added about your ancestors.

To read more about their plans for 2017 with links to the appropriate Family Search blog posts, please go to Ancestry Insider’s recent post.

Source: Ancestry Insider blog