#ancestryhour

One of the short paper presentations at RQG Conference on Saturday 25 September 2021is "What genealogists and social historians can learn from each other" by Caroline Gurney.

To find out more and register for this free Zoom conference:

qualifiedgenealogists.org/2021-conference.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

    Family Secrets and what to do with them?

  When we set off on our Family History journey and start delving into the past and the lives of our Ancestors, I’m sure that we all envisage some idyllic moments mixed in with some harder times, but are we really prepared, for when we actually find out something awful in our past?

I think that there is a little part of…

Can you believe it’s a week ago?

So firstly can I say a huge massive thanks to RootsTech and all their Army of helpers and volunteers, for putting on such an incredible show, I know what goes into organising events like this, so I don’t under estimate all the work goes on behind the scenes, to make events like this run smoothly and like clockwork. Thanks to Tyler and Elizabeth the Army of Helpers!

So onto the Show itself, I won’t try to highlight everything otherwise the blog would go on until Christmas, but will single out a few of the things that caught my eye and made the show special.

Highlight for me has to be the #AncestryHour #MeetUps, what a truly incredible turn out we had each day. So thanks to everyone who managed to get along to at least one of the #MeetUps, it was so nice to meet so many of you, some old friends and of course lots of new “Genie” friends, great to put a face to a “twitter name”. I met so many people just walking round the show each day, it was a really great event for socialising.

The Exhibition Hall itself, was a hive of activity on each of the three days, with all the main Genealogy players in attendance, some also launching new products at the show. There was just so much going on! Ancestry and Family Tree Maker also included on their stands tutorials on their products, which ran throughout the three days and proved to be extremely popular. Family Search also did a similar thing on their stand, plus there was a DNA learning centre, which again had regular tutorials running throughout the three days, which was also very popular. I did manage to attend some of these and they had various talks pitched at all levels of experience, so that you could attend those that you felt best suited your own knowledge and skillset.

The Hall also had a variety of stands, some of the regular Family History stands that you would recognise, but also a few newer and unique stands, I tired to get round as many of the newer stands as possible, but even three days sometimes isn’t quite enough! The MOD stand proved extremely popular with a three hour turnaround on WW2 service records, rather than the usual several months wait. So I took the plunge early and stood in line on the Thursday and managed to get my Grandfather’s service record, so thanks MOD for a quick service, but can you make it like that all the time please!

There were lots of opportunities to purchase various Genealogy goodies whilst you were there and some really bargains on DNA kits. I took advantage of this and purchased a Y DNA test from Family Tree DNA, joined the Irish Genealogical Society and also upgraded to FTM 2019, budget well and truly blown!

The level of talks each day was unprecedented, you were literally spoilt for choice each day, some time slots I needed to split myself into three, so high praise indeed for both the choice of topics and the quality of speakers! I won’t mention any talks specifically, but I had a high percentage of DNA talks on my schedule and learnt so much over the three days. Hopefully I am now flying with my DNA research now!

The venue itself was ideal, being a bit further out from central London itself and gradually got busier and busier each day, Saturday being designated “Family Day” was extremely busy.

I really hope that the senior people at RootsTech bring the show back to London again, this being my first ever RootsTech event, I was really impressed at the whole organisation of the show and the high level of talks that were on offer.

Saturday I designated my own “Selfie Day”, so apologies for lots of pictures of myself with “Genie Friends”, but you need to have memories from events like this!!

So here’s to RootsTechLondon 2020 maybe?????

#RootsTechLondon Are you ready?

With a little over two weeks to go until Roots Tech London, are you fully prepared and organised for this wonderful show? If not why not follow some of my easy tips and ideas, that will hopefully help you enjoy your “show” experience that little bit more.

The key thing with an event like this is to plan, plan, plan and plan again! preparation is key to maximize your time and make the most of…

So its almost here, the first ever #RootsTechLondon Conference is less the one month away……………….am I excited……………………………you bet I am!

October 24-26th brings the first ever RootsTech Conference to be staged outside of Salt Lake City and I am so grateful that they have chosen London as the venue. My expectations are sky high, so lets hope that the wonderful people at RootsTech can exceed my…

I will openly admit that my personal knowledge of DNA testing is somewhat limited and probably like many others, I had dismissed it’s possibilities too easily, without weighing up the benefits it can bring. However I am a fast learner and I am gradually bringing myself up to speed with the benefits that DNA testing can bring to your research. Even us  old Dinosaurs can learn a trick or two from the Kids!

Now I am not going to try and teach you how to go about finding the most suitable test for you, there are far more well written and easy to use guides online and many online groups, that will give you the help that you need.

My intentions is only to highlight why I feel that it’s an important to consider taking a DNA test in the first place and to not be too dismissive of it’s benefits. DNA testing will never replace solid based factual research, but like all good genealogists who seek proof, it can help to prove or disprove family connections and can ask as an alternative source for your records. After all, a source and proof is what we are all looking for.

Add to this the possibility of discovering a wealth of new cousins around the globe and making new contacts, is there a reason not to consider taking a test? The possibility of gaining new matches is what I am personally looking forward to the most.

Like everything with Family History, you of course have to be prepared for what you might uncover, but that’s equally possible from just using paper records, so as long as you are prepared for what your DNA can tell you, there’s no reason not to take a test.

I will post an update to this blog once my results have arrived and will post regular blogs on how I am interpreting my results and my plan of action. Including updates of making contact with new matches.

So why not join me and join the DNA revolution and lets see where this new road will take us.

Special mention to all my friends on #ancestryhour for all their help and guidance and of course patience with me and all my DNA related questions!