April 2006

News from the Family Records Centre

A number of new fact sheets have been produced. The latest include "The British in India" and "Catholic Records". The Record Centre also recorded that even on Christmas Day 2005 50 people ordered certificates on line. And in the third week of January the highest number of certificates ever ordered in one week was recorded. This apparently coincided with the start of BBC 2's "Who do you think you are?" 2nd series.

New Reference Web Site

For newcomers to genealogy it can be difficult to find out what information is available to them and where to look for it. A new, reference type web site has been developed aimed principally at guiding newcomers to genealogy on where to seek information on their English and Welsh ancestors in a systematic structured way.

Within this large web site (it runs to over 250 pages) there is a county-by-county guide to family history societies.

For each family history society listed, the guide aims to provide:

• a link to the society's web site.
• the correspondence address of the recommended contact within the society.
• a telephone contact number where appropriate.
• an e-mail address if there is one.
• a link to the Federation of Family History Societies web site if the society is affiliated.
• a note on any facilities provided such as a research room together with a link to the society's web page providing details.

Table of Parochial Fees

The Society has have received a copy of The Church of England's "Table of Parochial Fees" for the year commencing Jan. 2006. Costs for searching in Parish Registers are as follows -

• £18 for the first hour, £15 for each subsequent hour or part of an hour
• If the search is for a baptism or burial the cost includes the provision of one copy of any entry therein. Each additional copy will be £18
• Inspection of instrument of apportionment or agreement for exchange of land for tithes, deposited under the Tithe Act 1836, £9. Copies of same, for every 72 words, £9.

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain have a new publication out called "A Guide to Jewish Genealogy in The United Kingdom". Cost £5.95 plus 80p packing and postage.

FamilyTree.co.za

From www.FamilyTree.co.za comes news of the publication of the "South African Jewish Year Book 1929". It contains over 700 biographies and hundreds of images.

King's England Press

The "King's England Press" write to tell us of their latest offering - "Family Fables: How to write and publish your Family's Story" by Maisie Robson.
Cost is £6.50.

Patent Specifications

Bob Dobson of Landy Publishing, "Acorns", 3, Stainings Rise, Staining, Blackpool, FY3 OBU has come across some Patent Specifications, published by HMSO. They date from the 1920s and cover London and the Home Counties.

The cost will be £5.00 per item, which will include any diagrams which may have accompanied the text. Very interesting if you think Grandad, or Grandma, may have come up with a bright idea. A quick look through has found, parachutes, expanding bracelets, trouser presses, machines for evenly pasteurising milk and even a new and improved sanitary belt. The index will be passed to Sue Parsons and the library table in case anyone wants to see it.

Directories

The Society has been sent a catalogue from Steve Garton Genealogy who sells old Directories and books on CD Rom. These appear to be mostly trade directories like "Piggotts" and Kellys" and some local history books.

Also on offer are some military lists including the National Roll of the Great War - Section 1. They also sell old Ordnance Survey Maps.

www.genealogyprinters.com

Also received recently is a flyer from www.genealogyprinters.com who specialise in printing out family trees. They will print anything from a blank research chart to a full size family tree on one sheet of paper. It can be printed directly from your own program files, no matter what program you use.

All they need is a Gedcom file which, they tell me, all family history programs will produce. A full colour printed Family Tree for up to 500 people costs from £25.00 including P.&P. This, apparently, is the company who printed the Trees used in "Who do you think You are?"

Full details on their web site.

The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies - New Competition

Over the previous decades, the Institute has organised various competitions where people have been encouraged to write up the results of their genealogical research. The last of these was our very successful Millennium Competition won by Mrs, P. McKay with her submission, "The Book of the Clerk".

2007 sees the 50th anniversary of the Institute and to celebrate this we are pleased to announce a new competition - "The Biography of an Ancestor" competition. Family historians are invited to write an original biography of an ancestor born pre 1890. The judges will be looking for an interesting and well-written account that puts the ancestor's life in a social and local historical context. Information obtained from genealogical research is encouraged and entries should not rely on personal memories or family stories alone.

The competition is fee to enter and entries should be submitted by 1st Feb. 2007. The winner will receive a cheque for £350 and a donation of £150 will be made to their Family History Society of choice. The runner-up will receive a cheque for £200 and a donation of £100 will be made to their Family History Society of choice. Both entries will also be published in the Institute's journal, "Family History".

An enrollment form, for people wishing to take part in the competition, is available on the web-site or can be obtained by post from Canterbury

The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies

The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies is pleased to announce the publication of the 2006 Family History Diary. Set in navy blue with gold block lettering and a hard backed luxurious leatherette cover, this year's diary retains the popular memo pages for jotting down notes. It contains not only all you would wish to find in your diary for reference throughout the year, but a wealth of information for the family historian and genealogist, useful to both beginner and expert alike; a diary of genealogical events throughout the year, useful addresses, important historical notes from 1066, details of Family History Societies, U.K. road maps and many other items of interest. The Diary remains at the handy pocket/bag size of 17cm x 8cm. Please note that the start date for the diary section is now November rather than September as in some previous years. The diary will be available from Doreen on the Bookstall later in the year.