Starred posts

AndyW

Feb 20, 2017 09:15

Goad's fire insurance maps of 1885 in the UK are at the British Library (bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/firemaps/fireinsurancemaps.html). Phenomenal detail, including identification of many commercial buildings. Site search and navigation isn't the best, but each city has a "key plan" showing the breakdown into smaller maps. So searching e.g. "goad london key" brings up the key plans for each release (volume).

2

AndyW

Aug 21, 2018 13:01

@aitía: There is no Conference, only Zuul. :) At the moment, this room is largely dormant, used for occasional workshops and focused discussions. But the Roots chatroom is always available for genealogical chat, so feel free to pop in there.

Jan Murphy

May 3, 2014 23:56

Just kidding, research is never a waste.

2

Jan Murphy

May 3, 2014 03:52

#1 tip for everyone getting started: keep a journal. That way you'll be able to look back and have a record of your journey as you made all your discoveries.

2

Jan Murphy

Mar 12, 2014 02:03

I guess since they are getting upvotes some of you feel the answer is "yes" but I don't want to discourage other people from answering just because I didn't want to clean up my kitchen.

2

Jan Murphy

Feb 15, 2014 22:57

The difficulty (as always) -- the more experience you get, the harder it is to find any sources or finding aids that you don't already know about.

2

Jan Murphy

Mar 3, 2018 19:06

4

Q: Genealogy Chat 1st week of Month | Monthly Workshop

Do you find yourself asking questions that have multiple questions in them? Do you have a problem you're working on, but you aren't quite sure what questions you need to ask? Would you like someone else to run an eye over your prior research and make suggestions for your research plan, and work...

Jan Murphy

Feb 7, 2018 17:46

I just read a pop-science book by a respected author. One chapter, and much of the thesis, was based around wildly inaccurate data which traced back to ... Wikipedia. To encourage people to be on their toes, I'm not going to say what book or author.

Verbeia

Dec 1, 2013 00:57

All, I can't help thinking that there are enough useful pointers that have been mentioned in this chat, that would be worth working up into a nice Community Wiki post on the main site. Views?

2

bgwiehle

Nov 30, 2013 22:48

@JanMurphy Hi! My compliments on all your thorough answers since you joined SE.

2

ColeValleyGirl

Jan 14, 2018 17:42

- One is for Thomas Jones born abt 1841 in Merthyr. His father is a blocklayer, and he is a miner. A Thomas Jones miner born abt 1841 with father John Jones blocklayer married Mary Ainsworth in June 1864, so I believe I can eliminate this possibility.

American Luke

Oct 11, 2013 19:50

Our topic for Saturday 10/12 will be ephemera and other sources not of an official nature

2

lkessler

Aug 10, 2013 12:45

Online isn't the panacea many people think.

2

ColeValleyGirl

Aug 10, 2013 12:35

@Verbeia I loath ancestry's shaky leaves. They are not reliable, but they're so seductive for people who are starting out. YOu can knot a whole tree out of totally erroneous links.

2

PolyGeo

Oct 2, 2017 22:32

I know they bought a sizable farm at Wheaton Aston in about 1830 using money that was inherited from an aunt (have not worked out which aunt yet), and then in 1853 they emigrated to Australia and sold that land. I've always assumed that they used the money to buy vineyards at Fullarton near Adelaide where they farmed for at least another 20-30 years but so far I have not found that land purchase nor do I know when they sold it.

PolyGeo

Oct 2, 2017 22:28

I wasn't able to drop in on the chat during the weekend but I think "Land and Property Records" is a very interesting one. As a followup to one of my 4 questions so far tagged land (see genealogy.stackexchange.com/…) which come from four different countries I am hoping one day to "follow the money" for the Hitchcox land in Staffordshire and then near Adelaide.

AndyW

Oct 2, 2017 09:44

I'm currently ploughing through Land Tax records for the late 18th century in a small Gloucestershire village. My 4th great grandfather is named in a few as an occupier. It turns out that you can (with some effort) learn a lot from these records. The total value of the land for a parish was set in 1698 and rarely or never changed until 1832. So a piece of land with a particular value can often be traced through the years with changes of ownership and occupation.

Harry Vervet

Aug 10, 2017 19:09

@m93a Focused questions about using Gramps are certainly on topic here. We have 35 questions currently with the gramps tag. Gramps can be difficult to get the hang of even for experienced genealogists, so you're not alone.

AndyW

Feb 20, 2017 08:59

For the UK, the National Library of Scotland has a pretty good collection of old maps, including the ability to fade between two (e.g. old and modern). maps.nls.uk. The "KnowYourPlace" site (maps.bristol.gov.uk/knowyourplace) also has a decent map collection with overlays and can swipe between two maps for comparison. I'm barely scratching the surface of that so far. And then there's oldmapsonline.org which is not the easiest to navigate but has a large collection.

AndyW

Dec 25, 2016 14:54

No new toys as such, although I've bought DNA tests for my wife + mother as they're quite keen to get that done. I may get my own once we see the results of those. My newest record to play with is a little unusual - an audio cassette "letter" sent from an elderly, distant uncle in New Zealand to my grandmother in 1978. In between the grouchy ramblings are some rather touching reminiscences of his youth growing up near my family in London.

lejonet

Dec 18, 2016 08:20

@PolyGeo Thanks, now we have tags for all German states. I’ll keep an eye on Germany questions to tag them appropriately.

PolyGeo

Dec 18, 2016 03:07

@lejonet @JanMurphy There's a page in the help that talks about tag creating syntax. It's at genealogy.stackexchange.com/help/tagging

PolyGeo

Dec 18, 2016 03:07

Using those guidelines, North Rhine-Westphalia would be tagged north-rhine-westphalia.

lejonet

Dec 17, 2016 22:14

Hi. I created tags for all German states (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_of_Germany) but North Rhine-Westphalia. How do I create this one?

Jan Murphy

Dec 2, 2016 19:50

Their website has a feature where you can search by surname, if I recall correctly.

Canadian Girl Scout

Jun 12, 2016 02:59

This conference is huge. I wish I could win the lottery, so that I could retire and just poke around to conferences and sports games all year long.

Jan Murphy

Jun 12, 2016 02:33

What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!

Jan Murphy

Jun 12, 2016 02:05

@CanadianGirlScout For the eBook on Amazon, I think Thomas MacEntee got them to take it down. He found the original material and showed enough excerpts side-by-side to show them what Barry had done.

Jan Murphy

May 14, 2016 04:56

Also -- what's this? any use? y-str.org/2014/04/bam-analysis-kit.html

CRSouser

May 14, 2016 03:54

2

Q: Best Practice : Schema design for Large Number of rows with few columns

I have about a data set that each entry is about 750,000 rows under it with each row having four fields. Each entry is in its' own CSV file currently and I want to get it into a database. Currently I have a couple hundred entries and the CSV files are about 25 megabytes each. Each of these rows ...

sql-server database-design sql-server-2012

Jan Murphy

May 7, 2016 00:24

2

Q: Genealogy Chat 1st week of Month | Monthly Workshop

Do you find yourself asking questions that have multiple questions in them? Do you have a problem you're working on, but you aren't quite sure what questions you need to ask? Would you like someone else to run an eye over your prior research and make suggestions for your research plan, and work...

discussion featured weekly-genealogy-chat

Jan Murphy

Jan 28, 2016 18:15

RootsTech has a presentation on handwriting analysis (sadly, not part of the streaming schedule -- don't know if a recording will be available later). Here's the handout: rootstech.org/bc/content/pdfs/syllabus-2016/rt-2000/…

lkessler

Dec 26, 2015 20:54

@JanMurphy @JanMurphy - See my new blog post about this: beholdgenealogy.com/blog/?p=1627

Jan Murphy

Dec 17, 2015 19:41

@lkessler I watched the WW segment live and was a bit curious why you didn't plug your own software.

lkessler

Dec 17, 2015 14:41

@CRSouser - Synium software is offering your MacFamilyTree and MobileFamilyTree software at a special FTM discontinued price of 50% off.

lkessler

Dec 17, 2015 14:38

There are a number of programs taking the opportunity of the Ancestry announcement to offer limited-time specials on their software. See Randy Seaver's writeup at geneamusings.com/2015/12/…

lkessler

Dec 17, 2015 14:35

I was in Dear Myrtle's Wacky Wednesday hangout last week about "Is there life beyond Family Tree Maker?" Bruce Buzbee of RootsMagic was there as well. If you're interested in migration and transitioning from FTM, it might be worth a listen: blog.dearmyrtle.com/2015/12/…

Jan Murphy

Dec 12, 2015 20:16

Or (more common) not being able to re-examine an attached source record because of technical difficulties, or a lapsed subscription.

CRSouser

Dec 11, 2015 22:51

On my own comment I want offline editing as well as I want at least cloud backup. A challenge with using software like MacFamilyTree I have to have an app on my iOS device or use a Mac (both work offline) but if I have more tedius work to do it would be great to not be forced to the inefficent online interface of Ancestry.com

CRSouser

Dec 11, 2015 21:24

To add to the conversation.. with the retirement of FTM.. there is a reasonable question of does one still need a locally installed editor.. I would say yes even though with FTM I think the main thing one is loosing is the reporting features.

Jan Murphy

Nov 12, 2015 23:38

"I am withdrawing and amending blog posts that I have made in the last two days concerning a workaround for those trying to research the 1939 National Identity Register on FindmyPast.

A few days ago the company inexplicably withdrew details of the National Archives reference numbers for entries that were given in the preview screen following the initial free search. These references included piece numbers and item numbers that allowed for cross-referencing searches to be carried out, to check for other members of the household in order to make sure that the right household is obtained."

Verbeia

Nov 22, 2014 04:56

I don't know if this constitutes "making the most of..." but the Manx Notebook (isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/famhist/wills/index.htm) has a huge number of will summaries. I have found these very helpful.

PolyGeo

Nov 20, 2014 05:48

Many thanks @JanMurphy I had not thought to try for a shipboard diary but have now added looking for one from someone onboard each of the 12 ships that carried my ancestors

PolyGeo

Sep 13, 2014 01:33

I like the idea of improving the lower quality Q&As although I find I am keenest when working on a problem from my own family, and next keenest when it is for someone I know is very interested in theirs - I'm not sure that I want to put a lot of effort into hit and run questions.

Jan Murphy

Aug 23, 2014 07:34

I can't always answer a question, but sometimes I can come up with a Plan.

PolyGeo

Aug 23, 2014 05:27

I could not agree more with: "My main issue with coordinates is that it should not be the responsibility of genealogical users to measure or estimate them, and then to record them in their own data. Genealogists are rarely qualified cartographers"

Jan Murphy

Jul 26, 2014 01:13

Oh, can we have a GIS chat one weekend?

Jan Murphy

Jul 26, 2014 00:53

I think our questions should be about how to work a problem. If the question is cousin bait also, that's fine. But the whole reason I like the SE format is that it allows people to apply their experience to problems that are NOT their own family.

Jan Murphy

Jul 26, 2014 00:23

One thing that concerns me is that I've asked a lot of questions that could be history.se questions. I don't want us to be taken over by history.SE because I get the feeling they aren't concerned with primary sources over there.

Jan Murphy

Jul 26, 2014 00:14

I get the feeling that we get a lot of hit-and-run questions and I'm not sure that people ever come back for the answer.

Genealogy Conference

Genealogy Conference