Off topic: chat

pinkypinky

I know there's not much going on the genealogy world but there's no reason we can't chat.

So this is a first for our board: an off topic chat thread. Please be nice!

So where's everyone gone these days? Are you all on summer holidays?

I'm not but I did just sit outside on freshly cut grass enjoying my lunch and my book (Ready Player One by Ernie Cline - love it!)

Hermy

Pinky banned for off topic post!

I've been footing turf the past few days which has kept me away from my family tree.
Hot weather for it but there was a welcome breeze today.

pedroeibar1

Great idea for a thread but IMO it would be best to keep it somehow linked to a geno theme?

I'm been working on a work (non-geno) project, not an easy one, nearly there, missing the good weather, will get it off my desk in the morning, hopefully get out of town before the traffic gets frenetic and then 'enjoy' the w/end gardening "in the vastness of my country estate!" For me gardening is probably equally painful as having to read science fiction (no offence Pinky!)

I sent in a piece to the IGRS a while back for their "80 at 80" project - I had one 'on the stocks' which I adapted and sent off but that has prompted me to think about writing about an event in a collateral branch of my family involving a family rather than an individual. That needs to be done for posterity so it will occupy me for the autumn nights.

pinkypinky

I've also submitted a story to the IGRS 80th archive. I chose my gg grandfather who had a 31 year army career.

pedroeibar1

I hope he was on active duty and not in the guardhouse!:P:) I hope it will be included - do you know what the response has been like to the call for articles?

pinkypinky

Good response but we'd like more. People are generally positive about reading them but less proactive about writing them!!

pedroeibar1

Although it is early yet, the time passes very quickly! Any other Boardsies risen to the IGRS challenge?

Thomas from Presence

I'm too obsessed with dead people to be bothered by holidays!

spurious

Maybe I will write about my 'twice baptised, twice married, outlived the husband, went to the US and damn near outlived everyone there too' great great grand-mother.

L1011

I feel I should try write something on the two interesting tree entrants (one is not a blood ancestor, but the mother of a stepmother of a direct ancestor) that take up a lot of my time and that I've found a lot on; but I'm not sure I could make it interesting enough. I also need to fill in an RIC ancestors site survey for someone on here for one of them before I do that!

spurious wrote: »

Maybe I will write about my 'twice baptised, twice married, outlived the husband, went to the US and damn near outlived everyone there too' great great grand-mother.

If this was a few years later than now, and the potential subject lives a little longer, I have a potential "third wife outlives the first wife by 100 years" coming up, and its not even that scandalous age wise.

pinkypinky

Write all of these people up! They sound great.

Some tips: I fleshed out my gg-grandfather's story. I knew he was in the army so I looked at where his regiment went over time and what was happening in those places while he was there. Came away with a more rounded picture of him, and only wish I had a photo to accompany the biography. His army record gives a description which apparently included tattoos, but they fail to say of what!

pedroeibar1

L1011 wrote: »

I feel I should try write something on the two interesting tree entrants............

Keep Condition No.5 in mind .............
The work should focus upon the life story of ONE Irish-born ancestor or relative, with their provenance clearly stated. Please do not submit extended family histories as these will not be acceptable.

L1011

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Keep Condition No.5 in mind .............
The work should focus upon the life story of ONE Irish-born ancestor or relative, with their provenance clearly stated. Please do not submit extended family histories as these will not be acceptable.

Separate essays would be required anyway, they never met!

pedroeibar1

pinkypinky wrote: »

.......... His army record gives a description which apparently included tattoos, but they fail to say of what!

I have a WW1 record that does give the tattoo description

pinkypinky

This guy was pre-WWI - I have also seen war records with tattoos described.

pedroeibar1

I’ve come across a new (to me) word “Rippier” as the occupation of one of the two people who had stood as sureties for a 17th century marriage in a town on the south coast of England.

Definitions:
RIPPIER: one who sold fresh water fish at the markets or maker and seller of baskets (Rootschat)
RIPPIER: A person who carries fish inland to sell. (Oxford)

That made me look up the position of bonds, banns, sureties and licences, here, worth rereading as I’d forgotten much of it.

All of which, as inevitably happens, has raised considerably more questions than provided answers.

R0C

Has anyone ordered certs from the GRO recently?



In the past, I used to get e-mailed the certs the day after posting off the request form. This time, I’ve been waiting over a week now and still no e-mail.

Hermy

From Dick Eastman

Australia’s Trove Online Database may be Shut Down due to Funding Cuts
The Library’s funding comes from the Australian government. The National Library is facing $20 million in funding cuts for the next fiscal year. A leaked email message from the National Library’s director-general projected 22 jobs would be axed next financial year, with more in the future, as a result of the funding cuts. That obviously means cuts in services as well. The Trove Online Database reportedly is one of the cuts planned.

A shame that governments sometimes place such small value on heritage.

L1011

That story is actually from months ago (February) and got regurgitated somehow. Its still under threat; although the election in Australia should given a sufficient kick up the arse to well, whoever gets the government. Labor have possibly beaten the Lib/Nat coalition on numbers but they'll be (vastly) more likely to get support off the small parties and independents

pedroeibar1

I periodically watch the ‘Ireland Reaching Out’ geno project and it has recently published a list of stories on several Irish people/families that passed through Ellis Island. Nothing amazing discovered among those I’ve read to date, just a common thread in the many stories, usually going to stay with relatives, arriving with little/no money, mostly unskilled, etc. For beginners in US geno some pointers can be found in the texts on where research was done. Free access –here

spurious

Anyone else taking part in the FamilySearch transcription effort this weekend?

shanew

very busy couple of weeks at work - my 'therapy' was a WDYTYA US marathon ... Molly Ringwald, Chris Noth, Lea Michelle, Scott Foley, Ginnifer Goodwin, Brian Cranston..

pinkypinky

Brief moan: I sent the Roscommon GRO an email to initiate a search in overseas births and army marriage registers. Got a totally useless reply back saying "here's our standard forms, fill them out"....but the forms are not set up for any searches at all, and has no mention of the particular records I want them to search.

**sigh**

KildareFan

pinkypinky wrote: »

Brief moan: I sent the Roscommon GRO an email to initiate a search in overseas births and army marriage registers. Got a totally useless reply back saying "here's our standard forms, fill them out"....but the forms are not set up for any searches at all, and has no mention of the particular records I want them to search.

**sigh**

I wasn't aware that they ever offered a search service - you can't even specify in an order that you don't want the cert unless it has specific information. So you end up ordering certs that may or may not be for the person you're looking for.

Waitsian

KildareFan wrote:

I wasn't aware that they ever offered a search service - you can't even specify in an order that you don't want the cert unless it has specific information. So you end up ordering certs that may or may not be for the person you're looking for.

And we're still all waiting for the online release of the historic state BMDs, even though the legislation is passed and the work done. That momentous day can't come soon enough. To be able to view NI records online has been great I must say.

pinkypinky

Kildarefan: they do offer a search service but it's largely superseded by the way the indexes function online now. They charge €6 (including the cert). In the case of the army registers and the overseas bmds, they have to search for you, as they're only in Roscommon.

Mod9maple: we could always start an email campaign to Heather Humphreys asking her to get a move on.

Waitsian

pinkypinky wrote:

Mod9maple: we could always start an email campaign to Heather Humphreys asking her to get a move on.

Sounds good to me. I'm not much of a writer but if someone composed an email/letter I'd certainly send it on to her. Even a prospective date would be nice!

pedroeibar1

Let's not forget the usefulness of this thread and allow it drift to the nether regions.:)

Jellybaby1

I'm almost crashed out after a marathon of three days on the trot researching the GRO records. Didn't get to my leaba until 2am this morning. I don't drink, but I can definitely say I feel 'wasted'! But certainly not a waste of time.

Hermy

Yeah, it was 2 am finish for me too. So much work to do now with all the new certs I've found.
But I've straightened out a few issues where I'd made assumptions based on the indexes alone.
Being able to check all the entries for a given name where there was uncertainty over date and place of event is just brilliant.

pinkypinky

I'm just home after a day out and already thinking about what I'll tackle tonight. Such a nerd.

L1011

I'm starting to wonder how all of you have so much more to look up - all I can think of are bigger families (my fathers side acted traditionally COI even if some generations were RC - often two/three kids max) or I really did spend FAR too much at the GRO in the past.

I did sometimes bring my mother and/or my partner in to break the daily limits. More than once.

Or you're working down far more than I do?

Hermy

I need staff for all the work I've made for myself!

pinkypinky

I also worked the relative train but I have a full time job so my visits to the GRO are limited and so are my funds.

I'm also going over everything in my tree and making sure I have every possible cert now that I can.

Jellybaby1

O.M.G. Searching for one family and just saw a marriage record not connected to me where the bride and groom had the same surname, living at different addresses, not unusual you might say, however their fathers have the same names too?? I'm gonna take it that the registrar made a mistake, and move on quickly!

pinkypinky

I've found that there were two girls of roughly the same age in Dublin called Dorothy Walters, both had parents called George and Mary. And they grew up near each other but are totally unrelated.

Tullyneasky

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

O.M.G. Searching for one family and just saw a marriage record not connected to me where the bride and groom had the same surname, living at different addresses, not unusual you might say, however their fathers have the same names too?? I'm gonna take it that the registrar made a mistake, and move on quickly!

It may not be a mistake, Jellybaby. I have a similar situation, where the bride and groom had the same rare surname and both fathers were called Denis (different occupations, though). Turned out they were cousins (church register showed dispensation). Both mothers were called Ellen, too! You won't believe what they called their children....

pedroeibar1

L1011 wrote: »

I'm starting to wonder how all of you have so much more to look up - all I can think of are bigger families.......Or you're working down far more than I do?

I’m in that position also – I’ve not much to follow-up on. For many of us I think the age /generation gap is important – my grandparents were born in the 1890’s, so it never was difficult to obtain info. on them – family knowledge, gravestone ages, etc. But most are not in the online GRO as most of their deaths are post 1965. Seven of my eight GGparents were born pre-1864, so GRO does not help on births. Researchers now in their twenties - thirties would have far more people in the GRO records.

Prior to the launch of the GRO online, I used CLDS and copied/saved the GRO references, refining them as more info became available, until I had it narrowed to 1 or 2. Knowing children’s birth dates put me on track for parents' marriages, and the NLI baptism microfilms provided the necessary info. The few of those GRO searches have now been done, I’ve left the GRO reference on file but not bothered to copy the certs., because ‘readers’ change whereas GRO references do not. (I have often saved NLI baptism s as .jpgs).

Where I had a few minor successes was on death certs – normally bereft of geno. information, one gave – as the informant - the married name of a first cousin 2 x removed (born 1890’s, daughter of my GGaunt) One other birth is eluding me, post 1915, but a death should be there so I've to work with just one half of the equation.....

But, do I really need this far out? Where does one stop? How much detail is enough?

KildareFan

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

But, do I really need this far out? Where does one stop? How much detail is enough?

Never enough - I started collecting information on everyone with my surname in the general area where my great great grandfather was born. I have an excel spreadsheet with nearly 5000 names now. I've managed to find the links between various branches of the family by checking back on what seemed to be irrelevant information...

Another great grandparent was born on an island, and I'm busy setting up a database on all who were born there - they were all related to each other. Happy days.

Jellybaby1

I really wish I'd created a good Excel spreadsheet. I used to use one and I unfortunately let it drift but I understand how useful it can be for cross referencing. Something to do in the winter of my life, which has more or less already begun.

pinkypinky

I've really opened up my great-grandmother's family, who have a really common surname and a lot of children. I've finally figured out which of 9/17 children lived to adulthood and married most of them off, found the next generation.

Waitsian

Through a birth record in 1866 I just discovered my great great grandparents were in Castleblayney Workhouse. Breaks my heart imagining such a thing. He was noted as being a pauper.

Jellybaby1

Mollymoo19 wrote: »

We may not do knighthoods, but you can vote to make her a rockstar
http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.ie/2016/09/rockstar-genealogists-2016-voting-now.html

http://www.irishgenealogynews.com/

John Grenham = Silver
Claire Santry = Bronze

"The "gold award-winners", Superstar Genealogists, will be posted tomorrow."
http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.ie/

hjr

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

http://www.irishgenealogynews.com/

John Grenham = Silver
Claire Santry = Bronze

"The "gold award-winners", Superstar Genealogists, will be posted tomorrow."
http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.ie/

Well deserved to both!

Now, how do we go about getting Boards.ie/Genealogy nominated for next year!

pinkypinky

Gold goes to Maurice Gleeson!

http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.ie/2016/09/2016-superstar-genealogists.html

Jellybaby1

I have not heard his name before. But then I'm not really interested in genetic genealogy.

snickerpuss

I have been gathering loads of certs and tying up loose ends. I even managed to figure out one particular family mystery (a stepson living with my relations but no idea who he was and how he fit into the wider family). The downside is I've been staying up really late every night and I'm exhausted

My serious regret is not doing research a few years ago when they put up the whole index. Few deaths in the 50s - 70s I would love to pin down.

KildareFan

The downside is I've been staying up really late every night and I'm exhausted

Me too! Because of the experience with the disappearing indexes, I decided to go at it hell for leather, as sure as hell someone is going to pull the plug. Especially when someone figures that that a revenue stream has disappeared from the government coffers. I figure I've already not paid over 1000euro for certs I've downloaded, not to mention the many red herrings I've managed to check and chuck out of the database.

pinkypinky

Yep, I've had a few late nights too. Gotten lots of good stuff. I've not paid about €400 in certs because of it.

L1011

One marriage alone has saved me €160 quid (assuming it ended up being the last cert to order). Managed to look at every cert for my mother's obscure surname in an entire registration district which has given me various bits and pieces - €300 at least there.

Jellybaby1

I've saved a lot of money too. I don't think the GRO should worry too much about losing this income from me as I had stopped buying records and they wouldn't have got it from me anyway. The further out from the stem I go the less I am inclined to hand over any money. I did pay a heck of a lot of euros for the most important ones, and even for a lot of irrelevant ones I didn't want. They have had more than enough out of me already.