On Sunday, July 26, 2015 at 9pm EST, Who Do You Think You Are? (WDYTYA 2015) returns to TLC in the United States for more great episodes:
TLC will air the U.S. premiere of J.K. Rowling’s episode, where the best-selling author sets off to uncover her maternal French roots. She finds that a family war story might not be what she thought when military records reveal a surprising twist.
Tom Bergeron, who is aware of his French Canadian roots on his paternal side, but wants to know what brought his ancestors to North America. He goes as far back as his 10x great grandmother to find the answer.
Bryan Cranston, who comes to discover an unfortunate pattern amongst the men in his family.
Ginnifer Goodwin, who sets out to learn about her mysterious paternal great grandparents, whom her father, regretfully, does not know much about either.
Alfre Woodard, who strives to find out more about the paternal side of her family, and explores how her surname came to be.
While you’re waiting for Who Do You Think You Are Summer 2015 to kick off, enjoythis unseen footage from the J.K. Rowling episode on the old WhoDoYouThinkYouAre website and these fun interviews with genealogy television industry leaders:
A FREE Genealogy Gems podcast interview with Henry Louis Gates, host of the popular PBS show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr;
FREE access to the Genealogy Gems Premium podcastinterview with Dan Bucatinsky, Executive Producer of Who Do You Think You Are?
Writer James Joyce’s baptismal certificate; click to link to Wikipedia image.
As of today, the National Library of Ireland expects to launch a free, digitized collection of ALL its Catholic parish registers on its website (this link takes you to the English version; it’s also available in Irish). Nearly 400,000 digital images of microfilmed parish records comprise this collection.
According to a press release, “The parish register records are considered the single most important source of information on Irish family history prior to the 1901 Census. Dating from the 1740s to the 1880s, they cover 1,091 parishes throughout the island of Ireland, and consist primarily of baptismal and marriage records….Their digitisation means that, for the first time, anyone who likes will be able to access these registers without having to travel to Dublin.”
Catholic parish registers are a vital genealogical resource. In addition to the names of those baptized or married, they usually include those event dates, names of parents of baptized children, godparents and witnesses (who may also be relatives).
NOTE: This is a browsable-only collection. There are currently no plans to index or transcribe the records. However, the press release included a great suggestion for accessing indexes: look to local family history centers for that parish or neighborhood. “The buy diet medication online nationwide network of local family history centres holds indexes and transcripts of parish registers for their local areas,” it says.
Those unfamiliar with Ireland research may assume this means local FamilySearch Family History Centers, but a map shows only a few of these in Ireland. I would start first with the network of county genealogy centers, accessible online at Roots Ireland. According to that site, “The county genealogy centres are based in local communities, working with volunteers, local historical societies, local clergy, local authorities, county libraries and government agencies to build a database of genealogical records for their county. By using this website you are supporting that work and the communities from which your ancestors originated.” Several counties actually already have online records you can access through the Roots Ireland link above. Ancestry also has several databases of Irish Catholic parish registers.
For more tips on researching your Irish relatives, listen to the FREE Family History Made Easy podcast episode 21, in which we interviewed Irish expert Judith Wight. You’ll hear her tips on finding Church of Ireland records, civil registrations, estate records and how history helps us understand gaps in the records.
Thank you for sharing this post with those who will LOVE to know about these Irish genealogy resources!
findmypast now has a Library Edition available within the United States. Patrons of subscribing libraries can now have access to their billions of records from England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States.
Exclusive access to the new PERiodical Source Index (now with images);
Most comprehensive Irish family history records in the world.
Findmypast’s version of PERSI, the Periodical Source Index, includes more than 2.5 million indexed entries from thousands of genealogical and local history publications–AND a growing number of digitized articles! Click here to read more about PERSI, which we love.
Here’s How You Can Use FindMyPast for Free
We asked Josh Taylor at FMP how subscribers and non-subscribers can use the Library Edition:
1) “FMP subscribers can login to their own accounts while at the library.”
2) “Also, library users who are not paid subscribers can create a free account that allows them to create a tree, store, and attach records they view while at the library. The free account works like a standard Findmypast account so can be used at home to access their tree (and even get automatic hints).”
We’ve blogged about the Hints feature here at Genealogy Gems.
Ready to do some library research? We’ve got more tips for you, like:
Use your iPad for Genealogy Research at the Family History Library.
Finally, here’s an important tip: let your voice be heard at your public library! They need to know how many people care about genealogy and family history. They need to know what databases you’re most interested in accessing. In an era of struggle for many public libraries, they have to prioritize their energies, so tell them what you want to learn!
Have you ever clicked the Send button on an email message only to seconds later have a wave of regret fall over you? At a moment like that it would be very helpful to know how to unsend Gmail email messages. At one time or another we have all left out vital information, or sometimes worse, said too much. Now you can change your mind and undo what you did!
On June 22, 2015 Google announced the Undo Send feature for Gmail on the Web. By default the Undo Send feature is turned off (that is unless you are already using the Labs version.) To flip the switch and start undoing your sends, simply:
1) Click the Settings gear in Gmail
2) Under the General tab, scroll down until you see Undo Send
3) Click to check the Enable Undo Send box
4) From the drop down menu select how much time you will have to decide to unsend an email message
5) Scroll down the General Settings page and be sure to click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the screen to activate your unsend Gmail email selection.
Now if you want to unsend Gmail email messages you will be able to do so for the short amount of time you specified (in my example I selected 30 seconds)
Unsend Gmail email and get it right – the second time!
Recently we received this picture of a photo charm bracelet made by Genealogy Gems Premium member Mary Ann. We loved it so much we thought we’d share it with everyone (with her permission, of course).
“I got the idea from one of the vendors you had spoken about on one of your podcasts, someone I think you saw in an exhibit hall perhaps and gave their web site link.” She made a bracelet previously that she gave away for a family gift exchange. Shown here is a bracelet she made recently for a relative after her father died of cancer. “I went to…the funeral and took this bracelet to her. It includes the six photos on the original…bracelet plus photos of her mom and dad.”
What a sweet gift to give someone after losing a loved one! It would also make a beautiful gift for any occasion–including a gift you give yourself.
A custom family history bracelet like this is available for purchase through the Genealogy Gems store.
The good news is that you don’t even have to make a bracelet like this yourself. The inspiration piece Mary Ann mentioned was a discovery I made at a family history conference. The vendor makes beautiful custom heritage jewelry for others, with their family photos. I carry her bracelet in the Genealogy Gems store because I think it’s a gem.
Looking for more craft ideas like this one? Check out the Genealogy Gems Pinterest boards, where you’ll find displays, crafts, jewelry, home decor, heritage scrapbooking ideas, quilts and more.
On Sunday, July 26, 2015 at 9pm EST, Who Do You Think You Are? (WDYTYA 2015) returns to TLC in the United States for more great episodes:
