Family History 4 All

 Learn how to trace YOUR family tree.

Newsletter No.18 - April 2008.

www.Ancestry.co.uk

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1. Our welcome message.

2. Featured Article – What Property Records Can Tell You about Your Family's Past - Paul Duxbury and Kevin Cook

3.  Latest news from www.Ancestry.co.uk

4. Next month’s article. 

1. Hi all,

One of the earliest forms of public transport after the horse and horse drawn vehicles was the tram. In fact the earliest tram was indeed horse drawn!. Last week I visited one of Derbyshire's prettiest villages called Crich (pronounced crych). Crich just happens to be the home of: The National Tramway Museum.

I went along with a friend 'Bill', a fellow family historian. You may remember me talking about 'Putting flesh on the bones of our ancestors. Well, some of mine and quite possibly some of YOURS could have been tramway workers. So where better to find out how their days were spent?

It was a wonderful day full of surprises and revelations and I was able to ride on some of the same trams that my ancestors worked and travelled on! If you would like to know more about this fantastic museum, take a look at their website: http://www.tramway.co.uk/

As a matter of interest, I took lots of photographs whilst I was there. If you are interested, take a look here: http://busphotosondisc.com You will be able to purchase a double CD of HIGH RESOLUTION photos and as a bonus to subscribers of this newsletter only, I will include a disc of 'Blackpool Trams' and more FREE! The double CD contains over 250 photos from Crich and is great value at only £4.99. If you do purchase the double CD, simply email me here or use the contact seller facility alongside the item description and quote CODE FH4ALL and I will include the bonus CD. Enjoy.

Hey, before I forget, whilst you are here, please sign the Guestbook and say Hi.

We have a very good article this month. I'm sure you'll be delighted with it, it's all about - What Property Records Can Tell You about Your Family's Past by Paul Duxbury and Kevin Cook

I was talking to a friend the other day (who happens to be 'into' family history in a big way) and he said to me "Why do you subscribe to www.Ancestry.co.uk It's so expensive, and most research rooms are free?" I answered him by telling him that I saved around 1500 miles of travel per year by subscribing to Ancestry. At around £5 per gallon for fuel, I estimate a saving on fuel alone at £250 plus wear and tear on the car. Then of course there's the time...usually a full day out and sometimes a couple of days, so there is extra cost for hotels and food etc.

Take my word for it, a subscription WILL save you money and WILL save you time and here's the best part! There is no possible way that you could find as much information as you will find on www.Ancestry.co.uk in your life time. Try it and see. www.Ancestry.co.uk

That's enough from me - enjoy your newsletter.

You will find lots of suitable Family History/Genealogy gifts here: Visit our store now.*

2.

What Property Records Can Tell You about Your Family's Past

By: Paul Duxbury and Kevin Cook

Property records can tell you a lot about your family's past. Real estate leaves a paper trail. Deeds, wills, deeds of trust, property transfer agreements, mortgages, homestead records, land grants, all can go a long ways towards helping you trace the path that your ancestors took to reach the area where you grew up.

Once example of how some people use property records when tracing family roots involves the family of the American pioneer and explorer Daniel Boone. Boone is well known as an explorer, who opened up the Kentucky wilderness to settlers, and the state of Kentucky lays claim to him for sure, but he lived many other places as well. Daniel Boone grew up as a child of Quaker parents. His family originally emigrated from England to Pennsylvania and owned property there. They eventually settled in North Carolina and Daniel learned his love of the outdoors in the North Carolina wilderness where his family owned property. But when Daniel Boone came of age he travelled a great deal, and in addition to exploring, he settled. He purchased land in Virginia and settled there for a time, and later did the same in what would one day be Tennessee. So you can see that the Boone family itself lived in four states - or what would eventually be four states - before migrating to Kentucky, state number five. But Daniel always longed for better land with fewer neighbours and sought elbow room. After many years in Kentucky he moved to the Spanish wilderness near the Mississippi River, near the city of St. Louis in the present state of Missouri. Daniel's son, Nathan Boone, had his father's wanderlust and went down to the southwest corner of Missouri to found the small town of Ash Grove, in the corner of the state that is near the current Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas borders. Property records of the time form a clear paper trail of the travels of the Boone family, Daniel and his children that are used by the many researchers today who claim ancestry of Boone and his kin.

The small town of Ash Grove holds a gathering once a year, the Nathan Boone festival, to honour this early pioneer. With an average of 200 descendants of the Boone clan coming into the town to visit the restored old Nathan Boone homestead. Copies of the land records are available in the adjoining museum for all to see.

The Boone family is just one example of how American families travelled, and how land records can be used to map the moves. The Jameson family is another prime example. Originally from Virginia, they moved east to Tennessee and Kentucky like the Boones, and then on to Missouri, but they didn't stop there. On to Kansas, and then westward, the Jameson's were bound for California because of talk of a gold strike, but didn't get quite that far. When they reached Utah poor health caused them to cut the journey short. Today they own a great deal of land in Salt Lake City, all travels documented by land records. But one member of the family didn't stay put. Land purchase records indicate that the youngest son of the Jameson's actually went back east, to Ohio, where he bought land in the city of Cleveland and became a shopkeeper.

One genealogical researcher, tracing her lineage back to England, was delighted to find such extensive property records in the old country. Her family was poor, but they owned a small farm, and paid taxes on it every year, which gave her access to a great deal of information about her ancestors that she would not have had otherwise. This of course led to records at the local church, and helped her in her quest to find her family roots. In her case, it seems that the family went from Wales to England, and was granted a small piece of land for services performed for a nobleman. Amazing what one can find when researching property records, isn't it?

When you do genealogical research there are many tools you will find of value. Check out property records and add them to your tool kit and you'll be pleasantly surprised at the new wealth of information they present.

Article Source: http://www.familyhistoryarticles.com

About the Authors Paul Duxbury and Kevin Cook own www.amateur-genealogist.com and www.our-family-trees.co.uk two of the leading Genealogy Websites. In addition Paul owns a wide range of exciting websites which can be viewed at www.our-family-trees.co.uk

3. Latest news from www.Ancestry.co.uk

We've added to our Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1812-1834 collection to create the definitive collection of slave registers from the British Empire between these years.

The full collection now contains more than 650,000 slave names, as well as a little over 7,000 slave owners. Information available includes the name of the slave owner and their parish of residence, as well as the name, gender, age and nationality of the slave - giving you a unique insight into colonial life and the terrible practice of slavery.

We're proud to be the first company to sponsor the famous Warwick Castle in its rich history of over 1,000 years. To celebrate, we'll be digging deep into the history of the castle and its inhabitants - and you can be sure to read all about it here. Watch out for more news on this in the future.

Warwick Castle is a great day out for all with plenty to see and do - experience battles and ghosts, watch unbelievable jousting and falconry displays, see the world's largest siege machine the Trebuchet, and explore the lavish castle and beautiful gardens. Plus you can find out more about the history of Warwick Castle, its inhabitants and guests.

This months featured Ancestry member - Jonquil Hole

Jonquil had been researching her family history for many years, but hit a brick wall until she joined Ancestry.co.uk.

Using Ancestry's key word searches, she was able to find evidence of her Great Great Grandfather - Sidney. After much painstaking research, Jonquil pieced together that he and his partner had never married - a fascinating piece of family history that many other Ancestry members have discovered.

Even better, Jonquil was then able to trace her family tree back four more generations to the 17th Century. Good work Jonquil.

4. Next Months Featured Article:

Why Double or Triple Checking Facts is Important in Ancestral Investigations By: Paul Duxbury and Kevin Cook

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Got your own site? I started using this a few weeks ago and it really works: http://www.freewebtraffic.co.uk/

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That’s all for this month folks…I hope you enjoyed this months newsletter. And in case you forgot earlier - Please sign the  Guestbook. See you next month.

Jim. Editor

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 Jim Ackroyd. Address: 12 Avondale Road. Doncaster. UK. DN2 6DE

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