The Norwich Family History Fair is on at St Andrews Hall on 29 March, I shall be there along with representatives of many family history groups and businesses in Norfolk.
The event is an opportunity for the public to come and meet experts and fellow enthusiasts and learn a bit about their favourite topics in family history.
It is also a good place to go if you are looking to commission research or enroll on courses because it allows you to meet researchers and teachers and see exactly what is on offer.
The fair runs from 10:00am to 4:00pm and costs £2 admission for over 16s.
Sunday 21 March 2010
Vaccination Records Article in Ancestors Magazine
I’ve written an article on vaccination records in the upcoming April edition of Ancestors Magazine.
We often think of vaccinations as being part of modern medicine, but inoculation against smallpox was compulsory in England and Wales between 1853 and 1948, taking vaccination records well back into the Victorian era.
After the Second World War many other vaccinations became compulsory, in effect handing the baton of vaccination records from the smallpox jab to a new generation of vaccines.
Smallpox is probably the most famous vaccine in medical history because it was one of the first to be documented in a scientific way. From the 1770s onwards smallpox was widely feared in England because of its near one-in-three mortality rate and disfiguring effects on the body.
Scientist Edward Jenner noticed that the milk maids on the farmland surrounding his Gloucestershire home did not contract it.
Jenner’s investigations lead him to establish that they had all contracted the much less virulent cowpox when they were young, and for some reason this more benign disease protected them form smallpox in later life.
Jenner tested his theory on n 14 May 1796, inserting material from a milk maid’s cowpox blisters into an incision in the skin of eight-year-old James Phipps. Phipps contracted cowpox and suffered a slight fever, but afterwards he never contracted smallpox.
This inoculation works because cowpox and smallpox are similar in make-up. Once the body has developed the ability to recognize cowpox, including a set of antibodies to fight the pathogen, it has also done the same for smallpox. Thus upon infection by either disease the immune system reacts instantly and effectively to prevent it taking hold.
The use of cowpox to inoculate against small pox had been recorded in China and the Ottoman Empire since the 1500s, but Jenner’s great breakthrough was scientifically testing the method and starting the basis of modern immunology.
We often think of vaccinations as being part of modern medicine, but inoculation against smallpox was compulsory in England and Wales between 1853 and 1948, taking vaccination records well back into the Victorian era.
After the Second World War many other vaccinations became compulsory, in effect handing the baton of vaccination records from the smallpox jab to a new generation of vaccines.
Smallpox is probably the most famous vaccine in medical history because it was one of the first to be documented in a scientific way. From the 1770s onwards smallpox was widely feared in England because of its near one-in-three mortality rate and disfiguring effects on the body.
Scientist Edward Jenner noticed that the milk maids on the farmland surrounding his Gloucestershire home did not contract it.
Jenner’s investigations lead him to establish that they had all contracted the much less virulent cowpox when they were young, and for some reason this more benign disease protected them form smallpox in later life.
Jenner tested his theory on n 14 May 1796, inserting material from a milk maid’s cowpox blisters into an incision in the skin of eight-year-old James Phipps. Phipps contracted cowpox and suffered a slight fever, but afterwards he never contracted smallpox.
This inoculation works because cowpox and smallpox are similar in make-up. Once the body has developed the ability to recognize cowpox, including a set of antibodies to fight the pathogen, it has also done the same for smallpox. Thus upon infection by either disease the immune system reacts instantly and effectively to prevent it taking hold.
The use of cowpox to inoculate against small pox had been recorded in China and the Ottoman Empire since the 1500s, but Jenner’s great breakthrough was scientifically testing the method and starting the basis of modern immunology.
Monday 15 March 2010
National Burial Index Third Edition
Burial records are part of the bread and butter work of genealogy; accessible to new starters and equally essential to the well versed.
The Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS) has just published its third edition of burial indexes. The National Burial Index (NBI) takes in 18.3 million entries from non-conformist, Quaker, Anglican parish, Roman Catholic and cemetery burial registers.
The entries cover 9100 burial locations in 50 counties across England and Wales. A copy of NBI3 costs £30, or £15 for those who already own the second edition. Over five million entries have been added to the Second Edition to create the Third Edition.
Even if the NBI leaves you cold the FFHS is a really interesting and worthwhile organisation. They draw together not only family history groups based around geographical area, but specialist groups such as one-name societies are also welcomed.
Individuals cannot join the society directly, instead you join an affiliated group in one of your areas of interest. If you’re looking for a group to join, the FFHS are good people to ask because they know which groups offer good quality know-how, resources and events to their members.
The Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS) has just published its third edition of burial indexes. The National Burial Index (NBI) takes in 18.3 million entries from non-conformist, Quaker, Anglican parish, Roman Catholic and cemetery burial registers.
The entries cover 9100 burial locations in 50 counties across England and Wales. A copy of NBI3 costs £30, or £15 for those who already own the second edition. Over five million entries have been added to the Second Edition to create the Third Edition.
Even if the NBI leaves you cold the FFHS is a really interesting and worthwhile organisation. They draw together not only family history groups based around geographical area, but specialist groups such as one-name societies are also welcomed.
Individuals cannot join the society directly, instead you join an affiliated group in one of your areas of interest. If you’re looking for a group to join, the FFHS are good people to ask because they know which groups offer good quality know-how, resources and events to their members.
Thursday 4 March 2010
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