Episode 204
The Genealogy Gems Podcast
Episode #204
with Lisa Louise Cooke
Canadian expert Dave Obee shares the story of the Canadian home children tips on newspaper research. Also in this episode:
New site features at MyHeritage, including improved DNA ethnicity analysis (it’s free?upload your DNA!);
An excerpt from the Genealogy Gems Book Club interview with Fannie Flagg about The Whole Town’s Talking?and a great summer reading idea;
A detailed get-started guide to British Isles research: Terminology and census/civil BMD record tips from Kate Eakman at Legacy Tree Genealogists
Why so many weddings are traditionally held in June.
[display_podcast]NEWS: DNA AND CATALOG UPDATES AT MYHERITAGE
MyHeritage.com: DNA ethnicity estimate updates and new collection Catalog
View an example of the new ethnicity analysis presentation here: https://vimeo.com/218348730/51174e0b49
3 top uses for the new MyHeritage catalog (with additional details and commentary)
MyHeritage Quick Reference Guide (Newly-updated in 2017)
Genealogy Giants: Comparing the 4 Major Websites. This brand new, comprehensive guide helps you answer the question, “Which genealogy websites should I use?”
MAILBOX: BOOK CLUB COMMENTS
Companion video recommendations:
Genealogy Journey: Running Away to Home video (click here to see the book)
“You Came and Saved Us” video with author Chris Cleave, Everyone Brave is Forgiven
Alan Cumming on Who Do You Think You Are? Episode summary
Not My Father’s Son by Alan Cumming
For more information: www.nwgc.org
Lisa Louise Cooke uses and recommends RootsMagic family history software. From within RootsMagic, you can search historical records on FamilySearch.org, Findmypast.com and MyHeritage.com. In the works: soon RootsMagic will be fully integrated with Ancestry.com, too: you’ll be able to sync your RootsMagic trees with your Ancestry.com trees and search records on the site.
Learn more or sign up for Backblaze here.
Keep your family history research, photos, tree software files, videos and all other computer files safely backed up with Backblaze, the official cloud-based computer backup system for Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems. Learn more at http://www.backblaze.com/.
INTERVIEW: DAVE OBEE
Continuing our celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday!
Dave Obee is an internationally-renowned Canadian journalist, historian and genealogist. Dave is a columnist for Internet Genealogy and Your Genealogy Today (formerly Family Chronicle). Dave has also written about family history for Canada’s History and Your Family Tree in the United Kingdom.
Put Dave’s books on your shelf – you can get them here.
Finding Your Canadian Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide
Counting Canada: A Genealogical Guide to the Canadian Census
Destination Canada: A Genealogical Guide to Immigration Records
Making the News: A Times Columnist Look at 150 Years of History
Canada research tips:
Look in newspapers for ship crossings, notable people sailing, approximate numbers of passengers etc.
Don’t just rely on search engines for digitized newspapers. Browse the papers where you find some hits.
Canada Home Children: Watch and Learn
Forgotten, an award-winning documentary (watch the trailer here)
Childhood Lost: The Story of Canada’s Home Children documentary (watch it on YouTube)
LEGACY TREE GEM: ENGLISH PARISH RECORDS
Visit Legacy Tree Genealogists: http://www.legacytree.com/genealogygems
Read a companion blog post on English parish records, with several image examples and links to the resources Kate Eakman recommends.
Legacy Tree Genealogists provides expert genealogy research service that works with your research goals, budget and schedule. The Legacy Tree Discovery package offers 3.5 hours of preliminary analysis and research recommendations: a great choice if you’ve hit a brick wall in your research and could use some expert guidance.
GENEALOGY GEMS BOOK CLUB: FANNIE FLAGG INTERVIEW
The Whole Town’s Talking by Fannie Flagg
Genealogy Gems Premium website members may hear this entire conversation in the upcoming Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast episode #148.
BONUS CONTENT for Genealogy Gems App Users
LINK IMAGE TO: http://lisalouisecooke.com/get-app/
If you’re listening through the Genealogy Gems app, your bonus audio content for this episode comes from Melissa Barker, the Archive Lady, in honor of International Archives Day on June 9. The Genealogy Gems app is FREE in Google Play and is only $2.99 for Windows, iPhone and iPad users
Start creating fabulous, irresistible videos about your family history with Animoto.com. You don’t need special video-editing skills: just drag and drop your photos and videos, pick a layout and music, add a little text and voila! You’ve got an awesome video! Try this out for yourself at Animoto.com.
MyHeritage.com is the place to make connections with relatives overseas, particularly with those who may still live in your ancestral homeland. Click here to see what MyHeritage can do for you: it’s free to get started.
PROFILE AMERICA: June Weddings
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Lisa Louise Cooke, Host and Producer
Sunny Morton, Editor
Diahan Southard, Your DNA Guide, Content Contributor
Lacey Cooke, Service Manager
Vienna Thomas, Associate Producer
Check out this new episode!
Find Your Ancestors in the Scotland Census Now at FamilySearch
Is that the sound of bagpipes? It might be, because the Scotland 1901 Census is now available at FamilySearch! Learn more about what you’ll find in this collection and get top tips from a Scottish genealogy expert on how to find your ancestors is in Scottish records. Then we head over to Central and South America for exciting new and updated genealogy collections for the Bahamas, Panama, and Brazil.
Scotland Census Now at FamilySearch
Does your family tree have roots in Scotland? You’re in luck! You can now search for your tartan-clad ancestors for free at FamilySearch! The Scotland Census, 1901 contains almost 4.5 million records for those living in Scotland on Sunday March 31, 1901.
“These records are comprised of Enumeration forms that were distributed to all households before the census night and the complete forms were collected the next day by the enumerators. Included in this series are returns from ships of the Royal Navy at sea and in ports abroad.
Click here to search these records at FamilySearch now.
This collection is also available on Findmypast. If you have a subscription to Findmypast, you can access the 1901 census that includes Scotland, England, and Wales. Click here to search at Findmypast.
UPDATE: The original FamilySearch press release contained incorrect information about the source of the 1901 census records. Visit the National Records of Scotland website here for more information about the 1901 census.
According to the National Records of Scotland website, they hold records of the census of the population of Scotland for 1841 and every tenth year thereafter (with the exception of the wartime year of 1941 when no census was taken) and of the sample census of 1966. Census records are closed for 100 years under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.”
3 Strategies for Finding an Ancestor in Scottish Records
If your love of tartan, bagpipes, and kilts equals your love of family history research, you are likely hoping to find an ancestor who was born in Scotland. Or perhaps nothing would surprise you more than to find a Scottish ancestor. In either case, the next step is to find this ancestor in Scottish records.
As with all immigrants, the first step to finding them in their homeland is to research their lives extensively in America before searching for them in Scottish records. Scottish genealogy expert Amanda Epperson, PhD joins us here on Genealogy Gems to share some of her top strategies to help you find your ancestors in Scottish records. Click here to read more!
New Genealogy Records for the Bahamas
Findmypast has been making major strides in expanding its collection to include rare and underrepresented records. The newest addition is the Bahamas Birth Index 1850-1891. Discover your Bahamian ancestors in this online index of registered births from the British Crown Colony of The Bahamas.
Birth records are essential to expanding your family tree. There are tens of thousands of records in this collection, giving information not only about relatives born in the Bahamas but also their parents. Click to search the Bahamas Birth Index 1850-1891.
Panama Records Indexes
Three new indexes containing just under half a million vital records from the Republic of Panama have recently joined Findmypast’s growing collections of international records. There are now four collections for Panama:
- Panama Baptism Index 1750-1938
- Panama Death Index 1840-1930
- Panama Marriage Index 1800-1950
- Gorgas Hospital Panama Canal Mortuary Registers 1906-1991
These new additions consist of baptisms, marriages and deaths spanning the years 1750 to 1950 and will generate hints on Findmypast family trees. (Learn more about Findmypast’s new tree hinting feature by clicking here.)
Brazil Civil Registrations
FamilySearch has a new genealogy collection for South America: Brazil, São Paulo, Civil Registration, 1925-1995. Boasting nearly 2 million records, this data set includes births, marriages, deaths, and indexes created by various civil registration offices in the state of São Paulo. Some of these records have been indexed and are searchable as part of this collection. Additional images and indexed records will be published as they become available.
These records are in Portuguese so you may want to take a look at these resources for help with these records:
Bring genealogy records to life with Google Earth!
Genealogists love making discoveries in records, but the excitement of documents doesn’t exactly translate to the non-genealogists in your family. Capture your family’s imagination by telling their family history story with Google Earth. See how easy it is to turn the genealogical information you’ve collected into compelling multi-media stories. These tours will help everyone in your family appreciate your genealogical research and protect as a legacy for generations to come. Enjoy!
About the Author: Lisa Louise Cooke is the producer and host of the Genealogy Gems Podcast, an online genealogy audio show and app. She is the author of the books The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, Mobile Genealogy, How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers, and the Google Earth for Genealogy video series, and an international keynote speaker.
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!