The Index of Births Marriages and Deaths is one of the best transcribed and studied collections of documents in family history research. What many people often overlook is that there is also the index of Births, Marriages and Deaths at Sea.
A person being born, married or dying on a ship is often part of a much more interesting story than if such an event occurs on land. Findmypast.co.uk is setting up an online database where anyone can join in on transcribing records from the index of Births, Marriages and Deaths at Sea between 1854 and 1888.
These records could explain how a great aunt got onto a boat for America and came off with a different surname, or perhaps how a second cousin went on a voyage and returned with a child in tow. Clear instructions and a simple interface will be provided by the people running the project, so if you've got a computer and a broadband connection there's nothing to stop you getting involved.
Showing posts with label pastsearch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pastsearch. Show all posts
Friday, 4 June 2010
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Norwich Family History Fair - 29 March
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Into the blogosphere
Welcome to my inaugural blog. I'll start off with an article taken from my January 2010 newsletter, but the blog will be getting bespoke content later this week, so check back soon.
A year gone and a year to come
One of the more difficult years of the recent past, 2009 has been weathered well in this corner of Norfolk. Firstly thank you to all my customers for their support over the past year. The fact so many are still commissioning me for research and attending classes in such austere times is very touching.
Looking at a brighter future, I’ve been invited to speak at Who Do You Think You Are Live, on 26 February. I will be presenting ‘Your Norfolk Ancestors: An Insiders Guide’ from 12.45 to 1.30 pm. The event is at OlympiaLondon, over the weekend of 26-28 February. I’ll have a stand there on every day of the event. The stand is number 86, next door to the nice people from Pharos Tutors.
Life hasn’t been all business, we’ve had drama and excitement on the home front. In August my partner Ian had a rather dramatic and worrying reaction to swine flu, or possibly Tamiflu. This rather put the dampers on our summer holiday. In the finest tradition of the NHS, the staff at the Royal Devon & Exeter hospital were fantastic. Our thanks also goes to the helpful staff at Sidmouth Folk Festival and all my customers who sent their regards upon hearing of Ian’s predicament.
Better family news came when my daughter Cáitlin decided to marry Jos, her long term partner. The wedding is in April, which will add a new Blanchard marriage certificate to be unearthed in the future. I’ll sign off this article by wishing everyone a happy new year and the best of luck in their family history endeavours and life in general.
A year gone and a year to come
One of the more difficult years of the recent past, 2009 has been weathered well in this corner of Norfolk. Firstly thank you to all my customers for their support over the past year. The fact so many are still commissioning me for research and attending classes in such austere times is very touching.
Looking at a brighter future, I’ve been invited to speak at Who Do You Think You Are Live, on 26 February. I will be presenting ‘Your Norfolk Ancestors: An Insiders Guide’ from 12.45 to 1.30 pm. The event is at OlympiaLondon, over the weekend of 26-28 February. I’ll have a stand there on every day of the event. The stand is number 86, next door to the nice people from Pharos Tutors.
Life hasn’t been all business, we’ve had drama and excitement on the home front. In August my partner Ian had a rather dramatic and worrying reaction to swine flu, or possibly Tamiflu. This rather put the dampers on our summer holiday. In the finest tradition of the NHS, the staff at the Royal Devon & Exeter hospital were fantastic. Our thanks also goes to the helpful staff at Sidmouth Folk Festival and all my customers who sent their regards upon hearing of Ian’s predicament.
Better family news came when my daughter Cáitlin decided to marry Jos, her long term partner. The wedding is in April, which will add a new Blanchard marriage certificate to be unearthed in the future. I’ll sign off this article by wishing everyone a happy new year and the best of luck in their family history endeavours and life in general.
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