Family History 4 All

Learn how to trace YOUR family tree.

Newsletter No. 36 - February 2010.

www.Ancestry.co.uk Join or get a free trial here.

New on Family History 4 All: Find My Past

I hope this message finds you all in good health. If you have an article or amusing story to share with us then please don’t be afraid to send it for publication…you can remain anonymous if you prefer but we want you all to feel you can contribute if you want to. Just send an with the words ‘Newsletter item’ in the subject box. And we will include it at the first opportunity, subject to editing, if necessary of course.
Here's the link to the Archive: Click here to access the Newsletter Archive

I'd like to welcome my new subscribers. I am now offering an eBook to all my subscribers totally FREE and here's the link: Genealogy Guide Please do not tell anyone about this link as it's only for subscribers. If your friends wish to subscribe they will get the guide through this link.

Contents:

1. Our welcome message.

2. My latest article published on eZine Articles - Learn How to Build Your Family Tree - Family History Tips for Beginners by James Ackroyd

3. Featured Article – Family Tree terms: What are Stepfathers, Half-sisters, First Cousins Twice Removed etc? by Nick Thorne

4. Research information - Naming Patterns. Plus New GRO Fees

5. Next Months Featured Article: Family History Research - Get Talking Before Going Online - By Claire Santry

Here we are already into March 2010 and I was determined to get the February newsletter out on time. I almost made it!

Isn't technology a wonderful thing ...at times? My daughter went to Sheffield yesterday for a 4DScan! She came back with 14 brilliant photos of her, as yet, unborn daughter plus a video she can watch on TV. Unimaginable a few years ago. My wife Carol is trying to figure out how to add this information to her family tree records...I'll leave her to suss it out hehe.

Please forward this newsletter to your friends/relatives if they are interested in family history, with our compliments.

Thanks to long time subscriber 'Bill Brinkley' for pointing out that I had forgotten the 'Archive link' in some past issues. It's now back.

That's enough of my ramblings...on with the newsletter.

Jim Ackroyd

2. My latest article published on eZine Articles

Learn How to Build Your Family Tree - Family History Tips for Beginners - By James Ackroyd

Is there any wonder, with TV programs such as ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ that more and more people are becoming interested in family history. Family history, often referred to as genealogy, has always been popular but these TV shows make it look simple. Therefore Family History Societies and research centres have seen a massive surge in their visitors. The trouble is that many of those visitors give up on their first attempt when they see how complicated it is to research their family tree. The problem is that the TV shows make it look so simple. When a celebrity guest arrives at some research room there is always someone there to greet them and show them what they are looking for.
The reality is very different. The ordinary researchers like you and I have to do all the research ourselves. And there is an awful lot of research to do to get to the point where the one hour show ends. What the viewer does not see are the hundreds of hours of work done by many professional researchers to make the show work.
So what does the beginner do? Well there is a massive amount of information available online to help you. Most libraries have lots of family and local history information available to its readers. There are also many dedicated research venues throughout the world where you can find the information you need.
There is one source of information which should be your first port of call and that is your nearest ‘Family History Society’. Details of your nearest family history society can be found at your local library in most cases. Your local family history society will have lots of local records and even some from surrounding areas. Many societies have census records for its own area and some will have records for other areas. Most of all, you will meet like minded people who will be willing to point you in the right direction. You will find that most family historians are friendly and approachable. Their experience is invaluable. So do be sure to join your local society.
What if your ancestors lived in a different part of the country? You will still get lots of advice at your local society and you can join other societies as well.
Another way to get information about your ancestors is to build your own family history website. My wife has two such sites. One for her married name and one for her maiden name. By having contact details and a guest book on her sites, means there is a constant flow of information coming from her visitors. You’d be surprised how many distant cousins we have made contact with through these sites. That’s a real bonus.
So don’t become despondent when trying to build your family tree. There is a lot of information out there.
Good luck with your research.

Author: James Ackroyd
For lots of help getting started with your family history take a look at my ‘Family History for All’ website. There is also a monthly newsletter which you can join. The newsletter has lots of tips and advice plus an article from a guest writer each month. http://familyhistory4all.co.uk

Family Tree terms: What are Stepfathers, Half-sisters, First Cousins Twice Removed etc? by Nick Thorne

I have re-visited the opening chapter of one of the premier books on British Ancestry and Genealogy lately. I'm talking about Mark Herber's book "Ancestral Trails". This wonderful book, for genealogical researchers, includes a brilliant section on understanding family relationships. No, I certainly am not suggesting that it is a self-help publication aimed at men and women going through a bad patch in their relationships; its more about what the phrases stepfather/mother, half-brother/sister and so on refer to! It teaches us, in simple terms, the word "step" denotes that there's simply no blood connection connecting the parties and solely some sort of connection through marriage.

"Half" is actually something different again and is where the actual people have just one mother or father in common. Now, because I have a stepmother, a half-sister and I also once had a step-grandfather, until he passed away, on my mother's side, I am acutely aware of these terms. So, although all of these various relationships are correct in a factual way, I still get a shiver running down my spine when I see these somewhat cool impersonal terms used when identifying folk for whom I have love and respect. It seems to me that, when using these prefix, that I'm wanting to distance myself from these dear folk for some reason. I'd like to take this opportunity to say that this is not really true.

When we are noting down our Family history, however, we sometimes have to be very precise in explaining a relationship to someone and so detail exactly how and where a person fits into our family tree. None more difficult than when we are confronted with illegitimacy in our lines. Maybe in the twentieth century, to be born to parents who are unmarried carries little stigma, in the past it was a very different story; so I urge you to handle it with sensitivity whenever you are talking to family members of an older generation.

Returning to this chapter, provided by Mark Herber's handbook, I was amused to realise that I had forgotten about defining cousins relationships. Whilst attending a family marriage, a few years back, I was introduced by my first-cousin-once-removed to one of her friends of her own age group. She said that I was her "Mum's cousin" and in this she turned out to be wholly correct in this explanation of how we were related. As Herber pronounces: "Relationships involving cousins are more complex. Cousins are usually people who share an actual common ancestor... The offspring of a pair of siblings happen to be "first" cousins of each other. All the offspring of two first cousins are "second" cousins of each other and so on." Okay so far, but then we move on to deal with completely different generations. The word we utilise to be able to denote this is "removed" hence my first cousin's daughter is my cousin once removed. When she gives birth to a baby it will become my first cousin twice removed. We need to determine the number of intervening generations between ourselves and the particular common ancestor and utilize that number prior to the word "removed". Now at this point comes the bit that I had forgotten! "The concept "removed" is generally only used to express relationships down a family tree." Therefore this had been precisely why Jenny, my first cousin once removed, as a child of my first cousin Julie is accurate as soon as she referred to me as her "mum's cousin" At this point closes the pedant's lesson for today!

Mark Herber's book Ancestral Trails obtainable from most good bookstores. Nick Thorne, alias: The Nosey Genealogist, shares the secret tips and tricks, learnt from professional family historians, so that you can break down your brickwalls in family history. Nick provides reports, podcasts and screencast videos to help you succeed in your online search for your ancestors. Want to learn more about Beginning Family History Online? Claim Nick's free weekly tips and tricks, available at:=> http://www.NoseyGenealogist.com Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Family-Tree-terms--What-are-Stepfathers--Half-sisters--First-Cousins-Twice-Removed-etc-/966906

Read more: http://www.articlesnatch.com/ezineready.php?id=966906#ixzz0fWCKKHuZ
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution No Derivatives

4. Research information - Naming Patterns

When researching your family tree, knowing a standard naming pattern for the children in a family might help you in confirming your family history. The following naming pattern was supplied by Jean Lawson, Genealogist. It helps to explain why similar names were common through various generations of families.

Sons
1st son named after father's father
2nd son named after mother's father
3rd son named after father
4th son named after father's eldest brother
5th son named after mother's eldest brother

Daughters
1st daughter named after mother's mother
2nd daughter named after father's mother
3rd daughter named after mother
4th daughter named after mother's eldest sister
5th daughter named after father's eldest sister

If both grandfathers had the same name, then the second son could be named after the father.

New GRO Fees:

General Register Office introduces new charges

01 March 2010

New charges for people ordering birth, marriage and death certificates were announced today by Registrar General James Hall.

From Tuesday 6 April 2010 the eight separate fees currently charged by the General Register Office (GRO) for ordering a certificate will be reduced to two - one for standard orders and one for the priority service...

"We will continue to play our part in keeping costs as low as possible by bringing in technological efficiencies and improvements."

The cost of ordering certificates online with a GRO reference number, using the standard service, will rise from £7.00 to £9.25. A number of other charges, however, will fall to this new standard fee, including those for certificates where customers do not know the reference number.

Three of the four priority overnight service charges will also fall to a flat fee of £23.40 More info: New GRO Fees

5. Next Months Featured Article: Family History Research - Get Talking Before Going Online - By Claire Santry

"No matter how many genealogy records go online, there is never likely to be a better resource than your own relatives for the facts and colour that reveal your family's story through the ages. These are the people who knew your ancestral characters first-hand, who heard the family tales while sitting at their grandfather's knee or who witnessed the pivotal or momentous events that occur in most generations."

I really hope you enjoyed this months newsletter. And in case you forgot earlier - Please sign the Guestbook.

Jim. Editor

PS. Please forward this newsletter to your friends/relatives if they are interested in family history, with our compliments.

To send us a comment or an article you can us here

Or by snail mail to: Jim Ackroyd. Address: 12 Avondale Road. Doncaster. South Yorkshire. UK. DN2 6DE

Take a look at our other web sites here: http://jamesackroyd.com

P.S. I hope you are not offended by the advertisements on this site. I get a small commission from some of them which helps towards the cost of my hosting and domain fees. Sometimes I make a little extra. In fact I've worked out that if the 'little extra' grows at around the same rate, I should be able to retire when I'm 129 years old :-)