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The BBC Announces Season 13 Celebrities for WDYTYA
The genealogy genre of television continues to make a splash in prime time. Who Do You Think You Are? is leading the way and inspiring our genealogy journey with a fresh perspective on research strategies.
The BBC has just announced their season 13 celebrities for Who Do You Think You Are? and we are excited! We have many British readers and wanted to share the good news. In particular, our American readers may be especially interested in yet another version of WDYTYA to sink their teeth into! Though viewers in the U.S. will not likely be able to view the show in its entirety, anyone can enjoy helpful video clips at the BBC WDYTYA official YouTube channel.
Colette Flight, executive producer, says that season 13 will hold some “incredible stories…sometimes tragic, sometimes funny, but always compelling.” We all love a good story, but you might be more interested in the research techniques the show shares.
As I watched clips from season 12 on YouTube, I was intrigued at just how many Irish genealogy tips and tricks I learned. Did you know that vestry minutes held at the church could hold state information such as what your ancestor did for a living? This was because, at one time, Ireland was ruled from London, and the Protestant Church of Ireland was like a branch of government. Church records, including vestry minutes, could hold some key pieces of information for your family history.
Season 13 of WDYTYA will air this fall with Danny Dyer, best know for his role in EastEnders, finding out he has some royal connections.
Cheryl Fernandez-Versini will share her journey as she finds out more about her long lost great-grandfather, Tommy. It was also interesting to note that Cheryl used DNA to help make ancestral connections.
Amanda Holden, Sophie Raworth, Ricky Tomlinson, Sunetra Sarker, Warwick Davis, Greg Davies and Irish television presenter Liz Bonnin are among the line-up. I’m especially looking forward to one of my all-time favorites, The Lord of the Rings star Sir Ian McKellen.
American based TLC has also recently announced that the U.S. version of Who Do You Think You Are? has been renewed for another season. The exact release date for season 9 is still pending, but we will be following along closely to let you know when we do!
What has been your most favorite or inspiring WDYTYA story? Has there been one in particular that has helped you to make a connection in your own family? We’d love to hear about it! Please leave us your story in the comments below.
MORE GEMS ON IRISH GENEALOGY RESEARCH
Beginning Irish Genealogy: Tips and FREE Records
Irish Catholic Parish Registers from National Library of Ireland
A Comprehensive Way to Learn Irish Genealogy
PERSI for Genealogy: the Periodical Source Index
Have you met PERSI? You should! PERSI is the Periodical Source Index. Use PERSI for genealogy and you may discover your ancestors in thousands of articles you never knew existed.
You may have heard me talk in the past about PERSI. In case you haven’t…PERSI is not a person—it’s the acronym for the Periodical Source Index. PERSI is THE master index for periodicals with over 2.7 million entries. Thousands of magazines, newsletters, journals, and other periodicals from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Ireland, and Australia are indexed here.
PERSI is maintained by the Allen County Public Library’s Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. They have the equivalent of 6 full-time staff who are dedicated to subject-indexing every issue of every known genealogy or historical periodical and even the tiniest society newsletter.
Curt Witcher, who runs the Genealogy Center at Allen County and who has been a guest on the podcast in the past, estimates that if you don’t consult periodicals in your research, you could be missing up to 30% of your research leads! That’s a lot of leads! PERSI has long been a staple resource for advanced and professional genealogists to help them break through brick walls. With its help, you can much more quickly locate articles like biographical sketches of ancestors (or people they knew), transcribed indexes to naturalization or probate records, church records, school records, and the like. There might be just-what-you-need histories of places or the organizations your ancestors belonged to.
These key articles are often buried so deep in back issues of little local genealogy newsletters that you may never come across them on your own. Sometimes, they’re what we call “orphaned” content: articles we’d find in totally unexpected places.
HOW TO SEARCH PERSI ONLINE
PERSI used to be searchable on Ancestry, but it isn’t there anymore. The current version of PERSI is exclusively on Findmypast and they’re doing something really cool with it: they are gradually adding digitized articles to the index! They are doing this by signing contracts with each individual society or journal publisher, so it’s not a fast process. The vast majority of entries on PERSI do not have digitized articles linked to them yet. It’s a bonus when you do find them.
To search PERSI at Findmypast you do not actually need a subscription. They allow anyone to search and see the list of results. To see details about specific search results (including any digitized images), you will need a subscription OR you will need to purchase their pay-per-view credits. Findmypast does offer a 14-day free trial. You can also use Findmypast at Family History Centers and at many libraries that have institutional subscriptions.
Once you have located an article, it’s inexpensive to order a copy directly from the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. Simply download the order form PDF from their website, fill it out, and mail it in. Last we checked, you can request up to six articles for only $7.50, which you pre-pay and then they bill you separately for copies at 20 cents per page.
Sometime soon, why not take 15 minutes—or your next lunch break at work–and search PERSI for your top surnames and locations? Again, the database is PERSI, it is at Findmypast, and the chance to discover is all yours.
MORE GEMS ON PERSI
PERSI Digitized Collections Gaining Ground
New FindMyPast Hints Help Find Records
The Genealogy Gems Podcast Premium Episode 135: Comparsion of Google Scholar & PERSI (Premium Member Subscription Needed)
New Record Collections Offer a Royal Treat
New record collections for the United Kingdom offer a royal treat for your week! You will find new collections for monumental inscriptions, British newspapers, and baptisms. And for the cherry on top, see the new and updated collections for the U.S. Military and the great state of Texas!
UNITED KINGDOM – WORCESTERSHIRE & OTHER COUNTY TOWNS
A new record collection at Findmypast entitled Worcestershire Monumental Inscriptions is now available. A monumental inscription is an etching carved into stone, wood, or on a plaque as a memorial to a person buried there. Monumental inscriptions are an important source for genealogical data. Many will include more than one name and help trace further family connections. Name, year of death, and a location are some of the things often carved into these monumental inscriptions. What is even better is if you find an ancestor in these Worcestershire Monumental Inscriptions, you can pop over and look for a baptismal record in the Worcestershire Baptisms collection.
Another new monumental inscription collection at Findmypast is entitled Aberdeenshire, Banffshire, & Kincardineshire Monumental Inscriptions. These records are going to include more data than the Worcestershire inscriptions. Name, date of death, denomination, graveyard name, special inscriptions, and even some notes may be included in these transcribed records. Many of these records will also hold multiple names.
UNITED KINGDOM – NEWSPAPERS
Findmypast has updated their British Newspapers 1710-1953 collection this week, too. There are literally thousands of local and regional publications across England, Wales, and Scotland. Each page has been digitized and indexed, which makes it super simple to find what you are looking for!
UNITED STATES – MILITARY
Fold3 now has WWI Draft Registration Cards as a searchable online database. In 1917 and 1918, about 24 million men living in the U.S. filled out a World War I draft registration card. These draft cards will contain a name, date of birth (if known), birthplace, citizenship status, and information on a relative or close associate. Even though this record collection is only about 14% complete, you may find the person you have been wondering about. Don’t forget to check back often as more records are made available.
UNITED STATES – TEXAS
FamilySearch helps the Lonestar State researchers with the Texas, Tax Rolls, 1837-1910 records. This collection has indexed records for only 231 out of the 254 counties in Texas, but you can still find records that have not been indexed by using the browse only feature. [Tip: Read step-by-step instructions for how to access the browse only databases here.]
Texas tax roll records include the first year for each county included prior to 1845, as well as 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1890, 1895, and 1905. There are some gaps in several years of some counties. Ellis County, 1886, images 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130, 132, and 134 are cut off on the left side, so some of the beginning letters of the surnames are missing.
Information in Texas tax records include:
- Name of owner
- Assessment number
- Original grantee
- Number of acres of land
- Value
- Town plot description
- Name of city or town
- Kind, number, and value of livestock
- Kind, quantity, and value of farm commodities
- Amount of state taxes
- Amount of county taxes
MORE GEMS ON NEWSPAPER RESEARCH FOR GENEALOGY
Are you looking for some tips and tricks to find and research newspaper articles for your family history? Lisa shares all her valuable know-how and years of experience in her book How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers. Available in both a printed copy and digital version, this book provides you with a fool-proof research process and is stuffed with everything you need for genealogical success in newspaper research!
