Who do you think you are? Live - first day

Every year I think I will book a hotel room for Who do you think you are? Live, and then I don't do it because I can get home on the Tube. Then every year as I sit one one of the last trains of the night en route for home in leafy Buckinghamshire I think 'Next year I'll book a hotel room'. Will I ever learn? Quite possibly not.

The 'usual suspects' were in attendance; Ancestry, Findmypast, the Genealogist, FamilySearch and of course the Society of Genealogists. As ever, one of the highlights was waiting to see what the costume theme would be for the Findmypast stand. They started this four years ago with their Edwardian schoolroom and period costumes, and now they make an annual trip to the theatrical costumiers. I actually guessed correctly that this year they would be passengers and crew on the Titanic (not all that surprising really, in this anniversary year). Here you can see Amy Sell in her finery.

Sadly missed, though, was the pricey but fabulous ice-cream stall from previous years. But the sausages are still there, so civilisation has not ended. although there was the usual long queue waiting for the doors to open, the hall seemed a little quiet to start with, but before long the place was buzzing, and all the talks seemed to be well-attended. As usual I spent quite a lot of time catching up with friends that I hadn't seen for a while, although there were quite a number that I last saw at Rootstech earlier this month. The Flip-Pal scanner, such a success when it appeared at Rootstech 2011, was on sale, and seemed to be doing great business, and another welcome import from the US was the practice of live-streaming sessions, used here for the first time by Ancestry. I suspect we will see much more of this in future. The total number of talks in and around the hall has increased yet again; the schedule lists the ticketed presentations in the four SoG workshops, plus unticketed sessions in the DNA area, the Ancestry Academy and on the Genealogist stand. But you can also sit down and learn something on the Genesreunited stand, a first for them, or of course on the deck of the Titanic (see above!).

Today I am on parade at 11am, talking about The National Archives new 'Discovery' system which will replace the old online Catalogue and DocumentsOnline. I am going to break one of my hitherto inflexible rules 'Never work with animals, children, or the internet'. Initially I intended to use a succession of screenshots to illustrate the service, but the more I looked at it the more I realised that this was simply not practical, and I would just have to go for it, and do a live demonstration. I may live to regret this. So if you could all please offer up a silent request to your deity of choice...

Oh well, I can't back out now. After all, what doesn't kill me makes me strong, as they say.

 

Who do you think you are? - Live is here again

It's not the calm before the storm; it's the storm before the storm. The Thursday before Who Do You Think You Are? - Live is a busy day at The National Archives. Yesterday was no exception. It was so busy that we came very close to running out of seats in the document reading rooms, and you should have seen the queues in thw public restaurant! We also had the biggest crowd ever for a public talk, our very own star performer, Dr Paul Carter, talking about workhouses, or, more specifically, why people feared them so much. That man is a hard act to follow! For the people who missed him (including the coach party from Yorkshire stuck in traffic, with Jackie Depelle sending progress reports on Twitter!) there are two chances to hear him at WDYTY?-Live, today and on Sunday.

The reason is, of course, that lots of people come to London for WDYTYA?-Live and take the opportunity to do some research while they are here. It would be interesting to know if other repositories in the London area have the same rise in reader numbers;  it's also one of the busiest days of the year for the Society of Genealogists because the good folks there are busily packing up quite a chunk of their library to decamp to Olympia for the duration of the show. Newcomers to family history may not realise that for many years before WDYTYA?-Live, the premier annual event in London was the SoG Family History Fair. This is now part of the bigger event, and visitors will always notice a considerable SoG presence. Before I took on the present day job I used to be one of the volunteers who helped set up and break down at the old venue, the Royal Horticultural Society Halls in Westminster. I was very good at putting up signposts and folding table covers.

This year I shall be there all three days, Friday and Saturday as part of my job, and on Sunday I shall be there just for the fun of it. This is the kind of thing I choose to do in my spare time. Sad, but true. I shall be doing some 'Ask the experts' shifts on the FamilySearch stand today, and in the SoG Ask the Experts area tomorrow. I am also on stage tomorrow giving a session on The National Archives new Discovery service. In between I shall be around and about (motto 'I don't gossip, I network) in the hall, with at least one meeting and a radio interview.

Well, since I started writing this post I have arrived at Olympia, which is busying up nicely. Let's see what the day brings. Wagons roll...

Geneabloggers Radio 17 Feb - this is what you might have heard

Ah, technology, where would we be without you?

Skype failed to deliver the goods, so I went unheard (sighs of relief all round?). I was going to post links to a few useful resources for emigration from the British Isles to go with the chat, so here they are without the chat. It's not an exhaustive list by any means, just a few pointers.

Online research guides from The National Archives...

Looking for records of an emigrant - Contains further useful links

Passenger lists - includes a list of printed sources, some of which are now online

...and from the National Archives of Scotland


Emigration records

A blog that I like

The Scottish Emigration Blog

From my own blog

Blog post - There and back

 

Multi-media me!

It just struck me that I am communicating with the outside world in a whole variety of ways right now. Apart from writing this blog, my first post as one of  the contributors to The National Archives official blog will appear on Monday.

This morning I answered questions from members of the public as part of The National Archives Live Chat pilot scheme. And if America thinks it saw the back of me when I boarded my plane home last week, think again. Tonight I shall be one of the guests on Geneabloggers Radio, talking to tonight's host, my good friend Dear Myrtle, in an edition called  'Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor: 19th Century US Immigration'. (I'll be the one in the jammies, as it's the middle of the night in my time zone).

This will be a live session, but I'm also used to being recorded, and some of the talks I have given as part of my job live on as podcasts at The National Archives new media hub where you can listen to or download individual podcasts, or subscribe to the series via iTunes or RSS feed. Using the media hub you can search by subject or presenter, and when you have listened you can mark each podcast by clicking on the star ratings, or leave comments.  

Meanwhile, I am working on a presentation for next week's 'Who Do You Think You Are? - Live' event at Olympia, where I shall also spend some time giving one-to-one consultations in the 'Ask the Experts' area. Back at the day job, I take my turn at answering email and phone enquiries, as well as shifts at the enquiry points in the Research and Enquiries Room.

Some of my deathless prose also appears in old-fashioned print, too. I wrote a piece in the Irish Family and Local History Handbook to be launched in the UK at Who Do You Think You Are? Live, and (fingers crossed) a new book which Dave Annal and I wrote will also be out then. I'll post the details when I know it's definitely going to happen. I have written for a number of family history magazines, although nothing very recent. I have been quoted in a few, though, and contributed the odd paragraph, so I think I can claim magazines as a medium too.

If there is a moral to this tale, it is that THERE IS NO ESCAPE. You are probably safe watching the TV or listening to the radio, but there are very occasional fleeting glimpses or soundbites of me there too.

But apart from being an excuse for a relentless round of shameless self-promotion, this is a way of making a serious point too; there are now so many ways that we can send and receive genealogical information, ther must be at least one that is available to you. And of course when I hit the 'Publish post' button, notifications will be sent out via Facebook, Twitter and Google+...

 

Those Places Thursday - what do you mean by 'London'?

Short answer - 'Well, it depends.'

Comprehensive answer - much too long for a blog post, and I'd have to admit to struggling with some of the finer points.

Shabby compromise coming up.

 When?

A lot depends on the time period you are talking about. Even today what someone means when they say 'London' depends on the context. If you want an example of this, look at a map and find London's airports - Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and London City; and the current Mayor of London wants to build a new one on the Isle of Grain. If you said you were going to London for a day's shopping, none of these would be on your itinerary (unless you arrived by plane, of course).

London has grown enormously over the centuries, both in area and in population. Like many other large cities it has spread out and engulfed the surrounding area 'The march of bricks and mortar' And by the way, if you are at all interested in London and its history you should get to know and love The Victorian Dictionary. In the Middle Ages London was the small area now known as the City of London  or the 'Square Mile', on the north bank of the Thames. It extended from the Tower of London in the east to Fleet Street in the west. Its northern extent was approximately the modern street known as London Wall (big clue in the name).

As the built-up area expanded over the centuries it joined up with the City of Westminster to the west, and the surrounding areas. Expansion to the east was relatively late, and came about with the development of the London docks, particularly in the 19th century. This is the area known as the East End. The area on the south bank of the Thames also expanded, initially the area known as Southwark, directly opposite the City and connected with it by London Bridge, London's only bridge until the mid-19th century. Expansion on this side of the Thames mirrored that on the north bank, but on a smaller scale.

Counties

This is probably the single most confusing aspect of trying to research London ancestors - what county should I be looking in? Most of 'London' is in the county of Middlesex, on the north bank of the Thames, although the City of London itself has never actually been part of Middlesex, having its own independent local government, the Corporation of London. The county to the east of Middlesex, on the north bank of the river is Essex, and some of the eastern districts of modern-day Greater London were once part of Essex, but these were late ie 20th century, additions. 'London' south of the Thames was mostly in Surrey, but eastern districts such as Greenwich, Deptford and Woolwich were originally part of Kent.

The City of London was the only place that was technically 'London' until the formation of the London County Council (LCC) in 1889. But the term 'London' had long been used to refer to the whole of the built-up area, or the Metropolis; for example London Post Office Directories had been produced for several decades before the LCC was born. The new County of London was created from parts of Middlesex, Surrey and Kent, and in 1965 the LCC was replaced by the Greater London Council (GLC) a much-expanded area incorporating further parts of North-east Surrey, North-west Kent, the whole of the remainder of Middlesex and, for the first time, some of South-east Essex. There is a very good colour-coded map illustrating this on the website of the London Metropolitan Archives

Records and websites

The answer to the question 'What county should I be looking in?' should depend on the date of the record concerned. In practice, of course, it's not that simple. Collection of records don't always follow neat parish, borough or county boundaries for a start; then they may have been classified in print or online by people who have chosen not to arrange them according to those boundaries (or may not have   entirely understood them). So, to be on the safe side, always look in both London and Middlesex, or London and Surrey etc, depending on your place of interest. The Collections Information page on the LMA website has some useful information to start with. However, if your family came from Westminster, you will also need to look at the records held by the Westminster City Archives.

This is London, remember. It was never going to be that simple!