Author: Andrew Martin

Andrew Martin is a British author, family historian, tech nerd, AFOL, and host of The Family Histories Podcast.

The digital afterlife and the genealogist

What happens to our digital selves after our physical selves have died?

I was driving home when I heard Aleks Krotoski presenting this week’s Digital Human (BBC Radio 4, UK only), which covered the topic of death and how we continue to live on digitally after our physical death.

Digital Human on iPlayer (UK only)

This got me thinking about myself and how might my digital self and my digital assets exist and be of use to others, as a web-friendly genealogist.

Firstly, stop here for a moment and back up your genealogy research. Copy it and save it somewhere where another can find it. Also, think about how you’re filing your research – is it as simple as it can possibly be? What happens to your life’s work of research when you’re not around to explain it? Is it trapped behind a password? Is it stuffed in a filing system that would need Bletchley Park and Stephen Fry to unravel?

I’ve not thought about what happens to my website or this blog after my lifetime, but both are an extension of my research, which also sits in filing cabinets, folders and in my Reunion10 software on my Mac.

Genealogy website LostCousins has for many years, had a ‘My beneficiary’ option in your user account – where you can enter the email address of someone who can take over your research when you are no longer able to.

LostCousins 'My Beneficiary' field
LostCousins ‘My Beneficiary’ field

Should your websites, blogs and profiles be deleted like many people/families have Facebook profiles of the dead deleted? Is that the right thing to do? Some of the interviewees on Digital Human felt that making a Facebook profile a memorial was a heartwarming way to keep someone’s memory alive. Others may be upset about the continuation of seeing the profile, photos etc of a dead relative.

As a genealogist, I would want my research, my website and my social media accounts to stay online – as sites like Facebook are a daily account of my life, interests, interactions with friends.

What do you think?

Remembrance 2012

Remembrance Sunday 2012 – Remembering the bravery of those who have served in, and gave their lives to war.

Remembrance Sunday has arrived again, and like so many others here in the UK, i have bought a poppy and will be observing the two minute silence at 11am.

There are seldom few days where I don’t spare my ancestors a thought, especially those who served and gave their life in the ugliness of war with a bravery far beyond anything I can comprehend.

The Martin Family (c. 1916)
ABOVE: Herbert (my Great Grandfather) would have been 32/33 in this photo, which was taken in 1916. Within 12 months, he had been killed in a train accident in France, leaving 31yr old Daisy with her 4 young sons.

Death Card for Herbert Martin (1884-1917)

Support The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal

Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2013

The dates for the seventh Who Do You Think You Are? Live genealogy show in London Olympia have been announced for 2013.

Once again, Olympia London plays host to the 7th Who Do You Think You Are? Live genealogy and history show.

I’m excited about the 2013 WDYTYA? Live show which runs from 22nd to 24th February. The event website – which will be properly updated soon – is now counting down to the 3 day genealogy feast. Tickets go on sale on the 7th of November, and in a nod to these tough financial times – the ticket prices are remaining the same price as in 2012!

Who Do You Think You Are? Live website screenshot

I first attended in 2011 – a late starter on this front – but having also visited in 2012, I recommend going along. On my first visit, I found myself wandering around, tweeting, and browsing the plateau of stands from societies and those large commercial organisation stands. This can be quite tiring, and whilst there are lots of great stands, not everything will be relevant to you and your research.

Attend Workshops

In 2012 I booked myself onto a couple of workshops, and found this to be a much better approach to the day – giving me great advice from experts, and also some structure to my day.

Else Churchill introduces the panel
Else Churchill introduces the panel of experts at the ‘Breaking the barriers of Social Networking – Strategies and tricks’ workshop

I attended the workshops ‘Google Search Strategies for the Family Historian’ by the brilliant genealogist, author and Genealogy Gems podcaster – Lisa Louise Cooke, and “Breaking the barriers of Social Networking – Strategies and Tricks” with the fantastic Else Churchill (of the Society of Genealogists) keeping an expert panel in order.

Tweet-up

If you’re like me, and can’t peel yourself away from social media for any more than five minutes, then I recommend using twitter whilst at the event. In the past, the event has had its own hashtag (a # symbol followed immediately by a word or initialism relating to that specific event).

These hashtags are great for keeping up to date with conversation and inside information about the event whilst at the event! It’s like tuning into the grapevine.

If you are a twitter user, you can get free apps for your smartphone and tablet device that will let you keep track and contribute to the real-time event conversation.

I found this particularly useful and fun, as it enabled me to have conversations with other genealogists at the event. It is even common for people to tweet quotes and advice in real-time from the very workshop they are sitting in!

Look out for the event hashtag in 2013!

You can even take this further by using this conversation to meet up with other tweeting genealogists on the day. This is something that I will be trying to do more at 2013’s event.

Follow me on twitter at @FamilyTreeUK and let’s tweet up!

My three top tips for visiting Who Do You Think You Are? Live

  • Leave yourself plenty of time if you’re traveling via London Underground – Earls Court station gets very busy and isn’t the easiest to navigate.
  • Be prepared for lots of walking and standing….. and talking!
  • Book tickets for the ‘big’ workshops and talks online as early as you can – many of these were sold out weeks in advance.

How To: Have your ancestor’s headstone cleaned and stood back up (Part One)

Article detailing the first two steps in exploring how to get my great great grandparents’ headstone cleaned and re-stood in a UK churchyard.

If whilst doing the graveyard shift of your family history research, you find one of your ancestor’s headstones in a less-than-favourable condition, what can you do about it?

This article might help you if you’re in the UK and thinking of having a gravestone cleaned up, repaired, or re-stood up.

My Great Great Grandparents’ headstone toppled over at some point in 2011 or early 2012. It had always seemed sturdy, so this came as a surprise. I wonder whether it might have been helped on its way down? I’ll never know.

John and Elizabeth Dewey gravestone laying down in 2012
John and Elizabeth’s gravestone in 2012 – may have fallen over as long ago as 2011.

When the headstone fell backwards, it landed partly on the kerb stones of the grave behind it, but fortunately it appears that neither grave sustained any damage.

During the 00s, the church had a tidy up of their churchyard, and this included removing the kerb stones from the grave in order to help them mow the grass (don’t think they asked!). This would have probably have contributed to the gravestone’s instability, as it was never designed to stand on its own. Also, the grave stands in Cambridgeshire, and therefore with the heavy clay soil, it is prone to movement.

John Freeman Dewey and Eliabeth (née Boulter) grave in 1990s
The grave of John and Elizabeth, complete with some kerbstones, in about 1996.

Step One: The Church

My first step was to email the church to find out how to go about having it re-stood and possibly cleaned. I received a friendly and helpful email back from the Canon to say that the church is not involved in that process but that I should contact a stonemason directly as they would then do the necessaries.

Understandably the Cannon asked that, if I did go through with some work and the stone needed to be removed (perhaps for cleaning), that it would be best to keep her and/or the churchwarden in the know, so that its removal doesn’t suddenly trigger a search for a missing headstone.

So, next step is the stonemason for an idea on costs and feasibility of cleaning it.

It’s worth bearing in mind that some lichen in the UK are protected by law, so I’m hoping that this will not be an issue here – and that I can bring this headstone back up to how it would have looked in 1943 after John Dewey’s burial.

My reasoning for contacting the church first was down to a couple of conversations i’ve heard over the years about being charged by the church for setting a stone in place. No fee has been mentioned – perhaps an indication that the Cannon would be pleased to see a tidier graveyard.

Step Two: Contacting the Stonemasons

After Googling for stonemasons in the appropriate county, I emailed 3 of them to ask for rough ideas of prices for both the re-standing and cleaning parts, and included a link to the photo of the grave laying down.

Essentially I have a few questions about the whole process:

  • Cost for re-standing
  • Cost for cleaning
  • Insurance – what happens if the stone breaks whilst in their care?
  • Marker – does a grave get a marker to a) mark the position of the grave and b) alert any visitors to the grave as to where/why the stone isn’t there?

Admittedly I haven’t asked the last two questions yet, but as I don’t have a massive budget, I want to know that I have the first two options covered first.

… to be continued….

How a Care Giver can play a key role in your genealogy research

How a carer could add extra information to your genealogy research.

I had a lovely email the other day from a lady who had found information about one of my late distant Yarrow cousins via Google. She used to be her care giver.

Having realised that she was looking at my Yarrow tree, she decided to drop me an email to tell me about her work caring for one of my relatives in her later years.

A carer with an elderly woman
Carers may hold the key to some of your un-answered genealogy questions.

This took me by surprise, as I’ve not received this kind of correspondence before, but as she mentioned a few specific details about the relative that she would not have found elsewhere, it got me thinking as to just how much information might your relatives be telling, or have told, their carers?

Think about how many nameless faces turn up in antiques and house-clearance stores – those long-lost loved ones who will rarely find their way back into the families they belong to. Yet, a carer may well have heard many stories about the people in these photos, and be able to give you some small clues as to the identities. Alternatively, they may have remembered being told about the childhood lives of your relatives.

Tracking down a carer for your elderly relative may be very difficult, but if they worked as part of a carer company, then you may be able to ask the company to pass on your contact details in a hope that they might respond. With any luck, they may be able to give you some time for a phone interview.

Act fast…

The advice here, would be to act quickly for two reasons:

  1. Stories can fade or become muddled as time goes on, even those stories that have been told every time the busy carer visited.
  2. The caring profession is generally poorly paid (in the UK at least, with some people receiving no pay at all) and therefore carers move around quickly – and internationally – so if you leave it too long, then you may never be able to trace your relative’s carer.

A word of caution though, carers have no obligation to contact you, and they work extremely hard with a lot of clients – and therefore they genuinely may not have any useful information for you. Some carers work in very difficult circumstances, so recalling details may be impossible or painful for them, or simply outside of their confidentiality comfort zone.

William Bailey ‘Died by the visitation of God’

William Bailey died whilst cutting oats in a field in Wicken in 1861. The inquest’s verdict was ‘died by visitation of God’.

William Bailey - killed 'by God'

Newspaper report from page 5 of the Cambridge Chronicle, dated 31st August 1861, details the sudden death of labourer William Bailey of Wicken. After an inquest took place, the cause of death was noted as ‘Died by the visitation of God’.

Needless to say, the culprit was subsequently not brought to justice.

Discovering half-brothers and sisters

Have you discovered a half-brother or sister? Or do you suspect that you might have a half-sibling somewhere?

I’ve just received an email from a producer from a TV company who is looking for people who have recently discovered or suspect that one of their parents had other children. Maybe you have a story to tell?

Have you discovered half-brothers and sisters you didn’t know existed?

Have you discovered half-siblings whilst researching your family history? Maybe your mum or dad had, or has, another partner and children you never knew about? Perhaps you’ve recently found out you have a half-brother or sister and you’re trying to find them?

We are looking for people to help with research for a sensitive TV documentary for a leading broadcaster. We would be interested to speak to you about what it is like to discover half brothers and sisters, and what this means to you.

If you can help, or would just like to know more, please email research@whatlarks.tv. Please be assured that all conversations are strictly confidential.

Thank you.

Why keeping up with the neighbours is important in genealogy

If you’re not examining your ancestor’s neighbours, then you could be missing some key information.

These days, quite a lot of people have no idea who their neighbours are – their names, what they do, where they work etc, and the only interaction may be a quick ‘hello’, a nod, or occasionally collecting parcels from each other.

It’s just a sad sign of the times that as our lives become busier, and as families become more geographically spread, that we just don’t have the time or inclination to socialise with the people who live just a few feet away.

It’s not always been like this though – looking to the censuses of at least the early 1900s, you may discover that your ancestor’s neighbours play a much more significant role in your family.

‘Neighbours. Everybody needs good neighbours’

When the 1861 census took place, the enumerator for Swaffham Bulbeck in Cambridgeshire, England, visited Village Street and noted down the names and details of everyone there including four families who were all living nextdoor to eachother – each with different surnames.

1861 census return for Village Street, Swaffham Bulbeck, Cambridgeshire.
The 1861 census of Village Street in Swaffham Bulbeck, shows a number of families.

The enumerator may well have known the Newman, Skeels, Fordham and Levitt families seen in the example above, but the census does not shed any light onto the significance of the proximity of these 18 people.

The 18 people on this census folio are actually four generations of the same family, and this folio is a snapshot of how they had stayed together as the families grew. By trawling back to the 1851 census, you are able to find the core family again, in a much smaller family group.

The seventy-seven year old widow, Elizabeth Skeels, née Richardson, is the great grandmother and matriarch of the family. She appears here in 1861 as living just feet away from her daughter’s (Elizabeth Levitt, née Skeels) family, and is surrounded by the families of her daughter’s oldest children (Emma Newman, née Levitt and Harriet Fordham, née Levitt) whilst the younger children are still at home.

At first glance, I would have spotted Skeels, or if i had been in Newman or Levitt ‘research mode’ I’d have seen them and not necessarily spotted or realised the importance of the families around them.

So, keeping an eye on what’s happening nextdoor on the census returns can help you in your research.

Four families in a row is probably my best when it comes to related neighbours – can you beat that? Or have your ancestors had a famous/infamous neighbour? Let me know in the comments below.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday – Ernest Herbert Barber (1902-1983) in his garden circa. 1954.

Ernest Barber in his garden

What happens when expectant parents are overcome by Jubilee fever?

What happens when expectant parents are overcome with Jubilee fever?

Amidst all the celebrations seen recently with Queen Elizabeth II’s golden and diamond jubilees, I wonder whether expectant parents have felt inspired to mark the occasion? Go back to Queen Victoria’s jubilees and I can find two examples in my family tree.

Queen Victoria wearing her small diamond crown in 1882.
Queen Victoria’s jubilees inspired expectant parents. Photo: Alexander Bassano.

George Juble Bishop was born in Wicken, Cambridgeshire as the last of the 18 children of James Simpson Bishop and his wife Ann (née Bowers) in 1887. This was of course the year of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee – which kicked off on 21st June. George was baptised the month beforehand.

His mother died when he was 2yrs, and his father when he was 14yrs (in 1901). He appears on the 1901 census living in nearby Cottenham with his older sister Mary Ann Bishop who has since married John Rayment. When he reached 35 in 1922, he is found leaving the UK and emigrating to Australia, where he can be found living in Flinders, Victoria, Australia as recent as 1963, by which time he is in his late 70s.

Arthur Jubilee Barber was born in the year of Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee – 1897 – to Reuben Barber and his wife Elizabeth (née Dewsbury) of Witchford, Cambridgeshire.

Arthur was widely known as ‘Juby’ and on the 1911 census, he even appears as ‘Jubilee Barber’ aged 13. It seems that he died in 1959 up in Staffordshire, but this is not for certain – as i seek further evidence to support this.

The name itself seems to have been unisex, with a Jubilee Barber marrying Thomas Hockaday in Melcombe Regis, Dorset in 1850. Perhaps this Jubilee was named after the celebrations relating to King George III’s jubilees.