St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day Festival » Local Information

Birmingham St Patricks Festival will begin on 9th March culminating with the Parade on Sunday 11th March 2007.

New York Deaths

But firts use Social Security Death Index Interactive Search:

"Social Security Death Index (SSDI) 78,989,085 Records

Just don't forget to search the Social Security Death Index on http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/ "
which has more than eight million entries for NY State

Online New York City Death Indexes, Records and Obituaries: "New York City Notes:
The 5 New York City Boroughs of today are:-
Manhattan (New York County),
the Bronx (Bronx County),
Brooklyn (Kings County),
Queens (Queens County),
and Staten Island (Richmond County)."

Metropolitan Opera early VERDI now

Metropolitan Opera Radio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Metropolitan Opera - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "of New York City, founded in April 1880, is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. The Metropolitan is America's largest classical music organization, and annually presents some 240 opera performances. The home of the company, the Metropolitan Opera House is one of the premier opera stages in the world. The Met is one of the twelve resident organizations at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts."

http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/ seems to be broken just now
The First Emperor, Encore PerformanceMarch 7 and 11, 2007 (US, Tickets on sale Saturday, February 10),March 10, 2007 (Canada) The world-premiere broadcast of Chinese composer Tan Dun’s epic opera,

The First Emperor, features the legendary tenor Plácido Domingo as Emperor Qin, who built the Great Wall and gave China its name.

Tan Dun’s music is a fascinating mix of East and West, and the monumental production is staged by revered Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern and House of Flying Daggers), with costumes by Oscar-winning designer Emi Wada (Kurosawa’s Ran). ORIGINALLY TRANSMITTED LIVE TO THEATERS JANUARY 13, 2007.

tomorrow in Copenhagen,
I hear it on the radio - not a great work in my opinion- but it would be worth a second look.

Operabio: "Du tilbydes nu en enestående chance for at opleve opera med de allerstørste kunstnere og fra én af verdens førende operascener: The Metropolitan i New York.

Tilbring søndag formiddag i selskab med verdens bedste operastjerner når du sætter dig i Imperial, København eller i BioCity Århus, der begge er blandt landets bedste biografsale. Seks søndage viser vi opsætningerne, specielt produceret til biograf, i digital topkvalitet med perfekt lyd optimeret til biografer, der i forvejen har suveræn akustik.
"

just now on the BBC3 Radio

Saturday, March 3

1:30 pm, Sirius Live Broadcast
Simon Boccanegra

the cast is led by Thomas Hampson, Angela Gheorghiu, Marcello Giordani, and Ferruccio Furlanetto take to the stage for Verdi’s towering political drama Simon Boccanegra, conducted by Fabio Luisi.

I don't see TV when the Met is on

Brigham Young University Computerized Family History and Genealogy Conference

when I got this email I thought who on earth are BYU?

BYU NewsNet - Conference Integrates Computers and Family History: "

BYU's 10th Annual Computerized Family History and Genealogy Conference will teach the community to integrate computers and genealogy.

The focus of the conference on March 16-17 2007, themed 'Strengthening Ties that Bind Families Forever,' is to teach people how to incorporate new technology and computer programs in family history.

'The conference is to help people improve their skills and using the computer to trace their family tree,' said Kip Sperry, professor of family history and doctrine and co-director of the conference. 'For many years computers have made family history research much easier, especially with the introduction of the Internet.'

This conference is designed for general computer users, teaching at beginning, intermediate and advanced levels.

Dick Eastman and Alan Mann are the keynote speakers of the conference. Dick Eastman is a world-renowned author and lecturer, most well known for his online genealogical newsletter. Alan Mann is a manager of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, and is an accredited genealogist researcher in England, the Channel Islands and Australia."

from my email:-

BYU's 10th Annual Computerized Family History and Genealogy Conference
will teach the community to integrate computers and genealogy.
http://nn.byu.edu/story.cfm/63268

I would suggest a review of the Family Genealogy & History Internet
Education Directory. It has the Computer - Internet - Software:
Genealogy Programs Support resources for the experienced computer
user, genealogist, family historian, or Newbie just beginning to
learn about the Internet.
http://www.academic-genealogy.com/computerinternetsoftware.htm

This is a noted professional worldwide humanities and social sciences mega portal, connected directly to thousands of related sub-sets, with billions of primary or secondary database family history and genealogy records.
http://www.academic-genealogy.com/regionalgenealogy.htm

It encompasses all other key worldwide genealogy sites. It includes
all pertinent genealogy-related web pages from scholarly societies,
professional society organizations and informational Wikipedia
entries.
http://www.academic-genealogy.com/

REFERENCE: One example, from Education Publications and Online Books,
http://www.academic-genealogy.com/bookspublicationsgenealogical.htm#Edpub
by Princeton Public Library, lists United States Digital Libraries
online.
http://www.princeton.lib.nj.us/research/links/genealogy-digital.html
Another example, shows the new creation of the World Digital Library.
http://www.worlddigitallibrary.org/project/english/

Genealogy Webmaster - Webmasters Homepage Construction
http://www.academic-genealogy.com/genealogywebmasters.htm#construction
has Social Networks Resources, linked directly to Communities
& Chat Directories. These resources include the very new Ning,
that allows individuals to create, customize, and share new
Social Networks for free, in seconds.
http://www.academic-genealogy.com/whocanfindpeople.htm#Chat

Respectfully yours,

Tom Tinney, Sr.

Who's Who in America,
Millennium Edition [54th] through 2004
Who's Who In Genealogy and Heraldry,[both editions]
Family Genealogy & History
Internet Education Directory
http://www.academic-genealogy.com/


TOM TINNET is a bit of a spammer but Brigham Young University is a power house of computer technology and teaching, whose young graduates never fail to impress me.

the only charity I subscribe to

National Lottery Good Causes play | The National Lottery

Berkshire indexing on FreeReg

BerksFHS Home Page
about 93 parishes
and about 73 indexed and North Berkshire was Oxfordshire so indexed by the Oxfordshire FHS

FamilyHistoryOnline - searchable databases for family history & genealogy in England & Wales
is where the Berkshire FHS is placing their indexes in the database

is there anyone with good contacts in http://www.berkshirerecordoffice.org.uk/

or with the Archdeacon of Berkshire
or
these Funding Partners of the Berkshire Record Office,which is funded by the 6 unitary local authorities in Berkshire:
Bracknell Forest Borough Council, Reading Borough Council, Slough Borough Council, West Berkshire Council, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wokingham Unitary.

The Office is managed by Reading Borough Council on behalf of the other authorities.
West Berkshire Council is the authority responsible for the archive collections."

who can help http://www.freereg.org.uk/ get indexing of BERKS under way
or do some transcriptions so that Berkshire does not become a black hole :-(

Imagine if Reading was missing from FreeBmd or ancestry.co.uk because of parochialism

Updating this I have had some useful discusssions with leading members of the FHS and Dr Peter Durrant, the current County Archivist, who took over in 1988.

In the first year of the Record Office there were merely 180 visitors; compare that with the 7783 visitors in 2004/2005 - no wonder they needed a new building.

>> Hi Hugh:
I don't think there is a shortage of willing and able volunteers out here to transcribe parish registers for FreeREG.

Our problem is getting access to the film/fiche of those registers. As long as Dr. Pete Durrant, the Chief Archivist chooses to only allow the LDS to release the registers on film or CD to the Berkshire FHS, those volunteers, of whom I would be one, can only access the registers at LDS libraries or at the record office - and most of us would prefer to transcribe in the comfort of our own homes.

The Norfolk Record Office (and others I believe) have given permission to the LDS to release the parish register films on CD which the Norfolk FreeREG Coordinator then sends to the volunteer transcribers. The result - 51 parishes transcribed in 6 months!

Compare that to Berkshire FHS woeful effort of 20 registers in as many years.

I understand that there is some resistance on the part of the Church, but I suspect the primary resistance is from Berkshire FHS who see a revenue drop happening if they don't have exclusive rights to transcribing the registers and then selling them on CD.

After all, the Church allowed the original filming of the registers by FHS.

As I said on another Berkshire message board regarding this topic - there seems to be an unholy alliance between the Church, Berkshire Record Office and Berkshire FHS, which is not serving those of us with Berkshire ancestors, and in fct, runs contrary to the mandates of the Record Office and the FHS.

Regards
Peter Hyde
Alberta, Canada <<
from Rootsweb/localities.britisles.england.brk.general

BERKSHIRE RECORD OFFICE was established in 1948 to locate and preserve records relating to the county of Berkshire and its people, and to make them available for research to anyone who is interested in the county's past.


Opening Times
Tuesday 9.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m.
Wednesday 9.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m.
Thursday 9.00 a.m. - 9.00 p.m.
Friday 9.00 a.m. - 4.30 p.m.

Please phone or email to make a booking (booking also on Mondays).

Postal address:
Berkshire Record Office
9 Coley Avenue
Reading
Berkshire
RG1 6AF
Tel: +44 (0118) 901 5132
Fax: +44 (0118) 901 5131
Email: arch@reading.gov.uk

Dr. Peter Durrant Tel: +44 (0118) 901 5132 is the guy to telephone and may be complain that they are not fulfilling their mission as seen from outside UK

"Comprehensive Performance Assessment" is the latest buzz phrase

"and to make the rcords available for research to anyone who is interested in the county's past."

indexing is valid research

after him phone the local politicians :-)
http://www.reading.gov.uk/
Councillor Bet Tickner
The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Reading
tel: 0118 939 0900
Mayor https://secure.reading.gov.uk/forms/AZContact.asp?id=9822

Tel: 0118 939 0071 Council house

and librarians
http://www.berkshirerecordoffice.org.uk/links/index.asp

Berks FHS - Research Centre Opening Hours and Location: "Berkshire Family History Society Research Centre
Yeomanry House, 131 Castle Hill
READING RG1 7TJ
Tel: 0118-950-9553

Bradford Plumer

Bradford Plumer: "The Washington Post has a horrifying story today about a 12-year-old kid who died of a toothache. The family had lost its Medicaid coverage and couldn't afford a routine tooth extraction, and so bacteria from the abscess spread to the kid's brain and he died-"

this is where England was before 1945 and the National Health Service

Staley One-name study

The Staley Database: "The Staley/Staveley database is dedicated to the memory of my Dad ~ Sidney V Staley 1909-1973.

It is being compiled from parish registers, transcripts of parish registers, wills, census returns, county histories, IGI and many other sources.

My original hope was to find 'my' Staleys and the origins of the name. Currently my aim is to provide a central finding aid for everyone interested in the name of Staley or any of the variant names which appear to have been derived from Staley, just as Staley appears to have been derived from the name of Staveley.

The database is a two-name study - Staley and Staveley - containing over 20,000 names and growing. The database is a finding tool only. If the information I send you seems to be what you are looking for, check it out against primary sources. I cannot emphasize this too strongly.

If you will send me a copy of your Staley family - names, dates, places, relationships - I will send you a free printout of whatever I may have which also relates to them. The more you send me, the better chance you have of finding what I have on your family."

We Are All Photographers Now

Thanks to Joe of Fair Angels - A Photoblog:
who emailed me:-

"The Musée de l'Elysé in Lausanne, Switzerland is having an exhibition of photographs submitted by people from around the world. The museum exhibition will run from February 8-May 20,2007. Submitted photos will be shown on a screen in the museum."

Here's the exhibition website: WE ARE ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS NOW! - Tous Photographes and click Français

La mutation de la photographie amateur à l'ère numérique

08.02 — 20.05.2007

This includes you !

Wherever you are in the world, participate in our exhibition! Upload your images here they will be displayed in our galleries.

ancestral homes and churches and cemeteries too fellow genealogists !!!

north Somerset with Mary Mason

Portbury Hundred:
"A Hundred is an English division of the saxon shire. The Hundred was then divided into tithings.

The Portbury Hundred is thought to have contained ten tithings, the six Gordano villages, with Nailsea, Tickenham, Wraxall and Clevedon.
Some of the parishes belonging to the Hundred are situated in the moors southward; the rest lie behind the hills towards the Bristol Channel; into which the river Avon, empties its-self at the northernmost point.

The joining into the Severn provides an excellent road or station for ships, this is called King road. Portbury was the principal town in these parts, anciently a town of the Romans.
Many coins and foundations of buildings have been found on or near the Military Way that travels from Axbridge, via the Pouldon Hills to the sea at Portishead.

In the time of King William the Conqueror the Hundred of Portbury was certified in the Doomsday Book to contain 86½ hides; 63 of which were rated to the King; the rest were held by barons.
Each Hundred had its own Court where local offences were brought; and a fine or punishment was administered.
These Courts were still running in the nineteenth century"

Family History


Family names in the Portbury Hundred include:
Blake; Bessant; Lilly; Broomfield; Gale; Wedmore; Cullimore; Thorne;

Family names around the Cannington Hundred include: Blake; Saunders; Chudley; O`Brien; Wilkins.
.
Mary Mason has researched many of these lines and has many Family Trees but is concentrating on the Blakes and Bessants of the Portbury Hundred and the Blake and Saunders connection from around the Cannington area.

transcriptions of Census and other sources for Demark

transcribed Danish census listed and linked to parish and county maps: "Latest update on 10. February 2007

In cooperation with DDA (Dansk Data Arkiv) and the organization DIS Danmark (Databehandling i Slægtsforskning) we bring county maps showing which census records are being transcribed at the moment and which have already been made available in the source transcription project. To get to the maps, click on the square for the desired year and county in the table below."

Dansk Demografisk Database: "Her i Dansk Demografisk Database kan man søge efter oplysninger i forskellige kilder. Man kan søge efter enkeltpersoner, når man har lidt information i forvejen. Desuden skal de personer, man leder efter, findes i databaserne. Der arbejdes hele tiden på at tilføje flere data til databaserne af både frivillige og professionelle."

Dansk Demografisk Database cd-rommer
De indtastede kilder udgives på cd-rom. Se oversigten over cd-rommer med både folketællinger og udvandrerdata. Eller abonnér på vores cd-rommer.

Oversigt over indtastede folketællinger: "
I samarbejde mellem DDA (Dansk Data Arkiv) og DIS-Danmark er nedenfor tilgængeliggjort amtskort, som viser de folketællinger/ årgange, der i forbindelse med Kildeindtastningsprojektet er indtastet eller under indtastning. Oversigtskortene fås ved at klikke på det ønskede felt for amt og årgang i tabellen. Se vejledning m.m. efter denne."

Danish CENSUS transcriptions EMIGRANTS & IMMIGRANTS, DANNEBROGSMÆND, probate indexes from Northern Jutland, a 1771 predecursor of the Danish Census, and St Croix census up to 1911: "in the Danish Demographic Databases you can search for information in different sources. You can search for individuals when you have some information. Furthermore do the persons you are looking for have to be in the databases. The work of adding more records to the databases is a constantly on-going work done primarily by volunteers."

nice danglish

Statens Arkivers Arkivalieronline

The Danish State Archives Filming Centre digitises parish registers and population censuses in order to make images accessible via the Internet. The digitisation project is primarily accomplished through scanning of microfiches and microfilms.

The following population census images are accessible via the Internet.

1787	Available on the Internet	1855	Available on the Internet
1801	Available on the Internet	1860	Available on the Internet
1834	Available on the Internet	1880	Available on the Internet
1840	Available on the Internet	1890	omitted
1845	Available on the Internet	1916	Available on the Internet
1850	Available on the Internet

Other population censuses are not included in the project. It should be noted that only population censuses taken in the Kingdom of Denmark will be made available.

Friday night snow on Bornholm Denmark

Netavisen Bornholm.nu: Travl nat i snehelvede: "orsvarets bæltekøretøj havde en travl nat, hvor PMV´en bl.a. måtte trække en af Falcks kranbiler fri af snedriverne."

emergency vehicles got stuck and had to be helped by the danish army's tracked vehicles.

Welcome to the Bates Place

Welcome to the Bates Place: "The site creation was prompted by the finding of our long lost cousins in Australia and the need to exchange information between us all. It has now evolved into a family history site and has 35 pages and many photographs.

I am looking forward to receiving some input from anyone with an interest in any of the surnames and localities shown on the history pages and any historical contribution however small may help put another piece of the jigsaw into place."

Monmouthshire parish registers

the registers are at Gwent Record Office
and have been filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah

The film is being processed, digitized and catalogued at the
Family History library in Salt Lake City

when it is available it will be in the catalogue - make a place search
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp
AND IT IS

EG Title

Parish registers of Blaenavon, 1804-1936

Authors
Church of England. Chapelry of Blaenavon (Monmouthshire) (Main Author)

Notes
Microfilm of original records in possession of Gwent Record Office,
Cwm-brân, Wales.
The chapelry includes the village of Blaenavon and comprises parts of
the parishes of Llanover, Llanfoist, and Llanwenarth. Since 1864 it
has included the chapelry of Capel-Newydd.
Gwent Record Office no.: D/Pa 74.1-74.6, 74.9-74.13, 74.17-74.27.

Subjects
England, Monmouth, Blaenavon - Church records
England, Monmouth, Llanfoist - Church records
England, Monmouth, Llanwenarth - Church records
England, Monmouth, Llanover - Church records

Format
Manuscript (On Film)

Language
English

Publication
Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 2006

Physical
on 3 microfilm reels ; 35 mm.

Film Notes
Note - Location [Film]
Baptisms, 1804-1812, 1817; burials, 1805-1819 - VAULT BRITISH Film
[ 2411577 Item 24 ]
Baptisms, 1814-1837 - VAULT BRITISH Film [ 2411577 Item 25 ]
Baptisms, 1813-1906 - FHL BRITISH Film [ 2411578 Items 1 - 4 ]
Marriage banns, 1805-1840 - FHL BRITISH Film [ 2411578 Item 5 ]
Marriages, 1813-1921 - FHL BRITISH Film [ 2411578 Items 6 - 9 ]
Burials, 1813-1870 - FHL BRITISH Film [ 2411578 Items 10 - 13 ]
Burials, 1871-1936 - FHL BRITISH Film [ 2411579 Items 1 - 7 ]

===============================
note the cut off dates !!!
these were agreed by NLW with the help a privacy law consultant
==========================
the copyright issues are with agreement of the Church in Wales and
the National Library of Wales

GSU are prepared to loan microfilm to transcribers for use at home if
certain conditions are fulfilled (see "Terms of Loan"). Microfilm is
ideal for transcribing, can be read on a microfiche reader but has
more resolution than microfiche.
FreeREG - Search English Parish Register Transcripts and Indexes
Contributing to the FreeREG Project: "There are many different ways in which you can contribute to the FreeREG project. You could participate in a technical capacity working to make the project happen, in a co-ordination capacity helping others carry out their work or most importantly as a data provider in the transcription of parish records into a form whereby they can be entered into the database.
The first two activities require some technical expertise and a willingness to participate over the longer term.
Transcription can involve as much time as you are willing to commit and primarily requires a good eye for reading handwriting and some basic skills with a computer keyboard. It is a function that can be performed anywhere in the world and one that is the base upon which the ultimate success of FreeREG will depend."
Counties and places included in the FreeREG Project

GSU at work in October 2007

the operator at work filming Monmouthshire parish registers at Gwent record Office


the shutter is triggered by this foot pedal


the test card

GSU - Activities in Wales:

the Genealogical Society of Utah

Representative

Name: Keith Withington
Telephone: +44 (0) 121 384 9921
Email: withingtonk@ldschurch.org
Address: Genealogical Society of Utah, 185 Penns Lane, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, United Kingdom, B76 1JU



RootsWeb: Genealogy Mailing Lists: Wales : MONMOUTHSHIRE: "A mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest in the county of Monmouthshire, Wales, United Kingdom. "