June 2013

2013 FGS CONFERENCE EARLY-BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS JULY 1

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2013 FGS CONFERENCE EARLY-BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS JULY 1
“Journey through Generations” – A Conference for the Nation’s Genealogists

June 10, 2013 – Austin, TX. Discounted early-bird registration for the 2013 Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference will continue only until July 1. Early registrants receive a $50 discount for the full four days, or a $20 discount for any single day. Details at FGS Conference.

The conference will be held 21-24 August 2013 in Fort Wayne, Indiana at the Grand Wayne Convention Center. This year’s conference theme is “Journey through Generations,” and the local hosts are the Allen County Public Library (ACPL) and the Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana (ACGSI). Platinum sponsors are FamilySearch, FindMyPast.com and Ancestry.com.

The conference offers opportunities for all who are interested in researching their family history, with over 160 educational sessions on records, strategies, and tools for genealogists at all levels. The exhibit hall features over 70 vendors offering a wide range of genealogical products and is open and free to the public.

Luncheons, workshops and special events provide additional opportunities for networking and learning. Make sure the get your tickets to these conference “extras” early to guarantee your spot.

See you in Fort Wayne in August!

Learn More and Stay Connected

• Visit or subscribe to the FGS Conference Blog
• Like the conference on Facebook
• Follow the conference on Twitter and hashtag #FGS2013.
• Visit Fort Wayne

About the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS)

The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) was founded in 1976 and represents the members of hundreds of genealogical societies. FGS links the genealogical community by helping genealogical societies strengthen and grow through resources available online, FGS Forum magazine (filled with articles pertaining to society management and genealogical news), and Society Strategy Series papers, covering topics about effectively operating a genealogical society. FGS also links the genealogical community through its annual conference — four days of excellent lectures, including one full day devoted to society management topics. To learn more visit FGS.

Ruth’s Recommendations

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Here are my favourite blog posts from the last couple of weeks.

The British GENES blog has a post entitled “National Records of Scotland website now up and running” which is great news. There is a lot of overlap from the other websites but it is a start.

Chris has another post called “1926 Northern Irish census – officially dead.” It has been confirmed that the census was destroyed in the Second World War. This is so sad as it is the first census after the partition.

There are two blog posts from the FGS Conference News Blog about the upcoming FGS Conference in Fort Wayne Indiana. The first is called “FGS 2013 June Conference Checklist” this is a list of things to make sure you do in June before the August FGS conference. The other is called “4th Conference Hotel Added” they have now added the Hyatt Place Fort Wayne to the list of conference hotels. This means that there is a lot of interest in this conference so start making your plans. I am an FGS Ambassador for the conference.

John Grenham’s Irish Times column has a post entitled “An opportunity missed?” which looks at the value of the Minister of Arts Heritage and the Gaeltacht announcement that the General Register Office indexes will be available online for free. It makes for interesting reading.

The Irish Genealogy News blog has three posts of interest. The first is “National Archives re-indexes online census.” The National Archives of Ireland says they have corrected about 12,600 errors in its online census database that were submitted by users. The site has been updated with the index corrections. Then she put an update which says that the person doing the corrections has moved on and they are on hold again until someone new can be found. I went in when the updates were first announced and noticed the index errors on my 2X Great Grandmother’s name had not be fixed. Then I see the blog update, so fingers crossed it won’t be long now.

The next post is “PRONI marks G8 summit with online exhibition.” I went in and check out the exhibition and it was interesting. Irish documents relating to each of the G8 countries. I so wanted to enlarge the 1864 Canadian passenger list page.

The last post is “Modesty (should) prevent me, but…” A shout out goes to Claire Santry for her mention in John Grenham’s Irish Roots column in the Irish Times. Well done Claire!

The Ancestry Insider has a post called “FamilySearch.org Search Futures” which looks at some upcoming search features.

The We Tree Genealogy Blog had a post entitled “Simplifying Your Online Genealogy Life.” She shares how she simplified her online presence.

Anglo-Celtic Connections has a post called “Ancestry.ca Bonanza” which lists all the new military and other Canadian records that have just been released. These are early records so they are very valuable.

What were your favourite blog posts? Let me know in the comments below.

Other bloggers that write their own lists are:

Jana’s Genealogy and Family History Blog

Genealogy Insider – Genealogy News Corral

©2013 – Blair Archival Research All Rights Reserved

Over 2.5 million court registers added to findmypast.ie

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For immediate release

Over 2.5 million court registers added to findmypast.ie

Records dating back as far as 1842

Leading Irish family history website findmypast.ie has made an additional 2.5 million court records available to search online in its Irish Petty Sessions Court Registers 1828-1912 record set, which exposes the petty crimes Ireland’s residents committed and how they were punished.

The additions feature forty-four new courts in nineteen counties around Ireland. A further fifty-five courts have been supplemented with records from additional years. This brings the total Petty Sessions Court Registers on findmypast.ie to over 12 million records.

Notable new courts that have been added are the Limerick City Children’s Court and two courts with pre-famine records – Moynalty, Co. Meath and Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. As well as that, for the first time, seven new courts from Co. Longford have been added, bringing online over a quarter of a million new records for the county. Also well represented with totally new courts are Laois (five) and Cork (four).

Being drunk in a public place, being drunk in charge of a cart, failure to pay rent and allowing livestock to wander on the road are among some of the most common misdemeanors that our ancestors found themselves in court for. Although most defendants got away with a fine, the variety of cases heard gives a real flavour for life in Ireland at the time.

Cliona Weldon, General Manager of findmypast.ie, said “We are really excited about this add-on to our Petty Sessions court records. As usual, the stories you can find in them really paint a picture of what life was like in towns and villages in Ireland at the time. From harrowing stories in the Limerick City Children’s Court to amusing ones in Longford’s seven new courts, there is something for everyone in there”.

New courts have been added to the following counties: Clare, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Laois, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford and Westmeath.

To find out if you have ancestors who had their day in court visit www.findmypast.ie