Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2025 i Family Tree UK

It can be all too tempting to put off writing up our family history. ‘Just one more clue,’ we tell ourselves, ‘one more document, one quick search’. But I really believe that if we wish to hand on our family history, in a way that will be cherished, we’ve just got to narrate it in some form or other. Yes, a family tree (digital, printed or drawn by hand) is thing of wonder and interest – even to non-genies. Yes, beautifully referenced data is invaluable and impressive. But to capture the eyes – and the hearts – of those who come after, ‘the story’ has got to be the way to go. Don’t panic, I’m not saying you have to get all ‘whimsical (though you may if you wish) –…

The Chief Archivists in Local Government Group has responded to recent press discussion about the digitisation of adoption records, with a statement which is published here: https://bit.ly/adopdigiresponse In 2021 members of the Chief Archivists in Local Government Group, with academic and social care specialists, formed a group ‘to examine the status and retention rules relating to the records of adoption and care-experienced people’. The work was undertaken in anticipation of the upcoming centenary of the 1926 Adoption Act and the potential risk of destruction of records. The views of professionals in the field and adoption and care-experienced people were sought. The resulting guidance (https://bit.ly/adorecgui) published in February 2024 recommended that the retention period for records be extended from 100 years to 150 years. The group reported that: ‘It is estimated…

Even the most successful and affluent individuals are not immune to the effects of shell shock, a powerful reminder that, beneath status and achievement, we are all fundamentally human. As I sift through the faded headlines of old newspapers, searching for a story to uncover and share, one truth becomes immediately clear: this issue has touched countless lives. To tell the story of just one individual is only to scratch the surface of a much deeper, collective pain. Generations have been shaped by wars they never chose, and battles they never asked to fight. Shell shock, what we now understand as post-traumatic stress disorder, is not merely a historical footnote. It is a haunting reality that lingers in the lives of those who served and the families who bore witness…

Picture this: you have followed that advice, spending countless hours building your family tree, squinting at faded census records and wrestling with handwriting that makes doctors’ prescriptions look like calligraphy. You’ve chased ancestors across continents, only to hit those maddening brick walls that make you question whether great-uncle Andrew existed. You now call yourself a genealogist or a detective. Sound familiar? Every genealogist faces the same universal challenge: research takes forever, and those tantalising gaps in our family stories seem determined to remain mysteries. By now, you’ve probably heard the buzz about artificial intelligence transforming genealogy research, but here’s the question keeping many of us awake at night: “Will AI help my research, or will it fabricate a family history worthy of historical fiction?” Your concern is entirely valid. As…

My name is Mandy Geary, and I’m a professional genealogist based in Essex. Similarly to Claire Bradley in her review of RootsMagic10 (see FT August), I have to confess I’m not a regular user of any of the main family tree software programs, so I was delighted to be asked to put Family Tree Maker (‘FTM’) 24 through its paces. I’m a Mac user and in the past I have dabbled very briefly with both FTM and MacFamily Tree. Please note there this review is written from a Mac user’s perspective. For coverage of the PC version of FTM, please see https://bit.ly/ftm2024pc Where to find it? I downloaded the latest version Family Tree Maker 2024 for Mac from www.mackiev.com/ftm/. There is a choice of download, DVD & download or USB…

We ended last month looking at the soldier’s pocket books of the 19th century. Sadly very few of these documents survive. They are NOT included in any Army papers that have been stored over the years. They only survive within the families. Do be sure to check with your family in case you are in luck! With this article, let’s move on to the 20th century. Soldiers’ pocket books & Service & Pay books The pocket books do change somewhat over the years and, by the Great War, they become the AB64 (Figures 1-3). We then move on to the WWII-era version of AB64, the Soldiers’ Service & Pay Books (see Figures 5-12). Many of these survive from WWII, but fewer army books (AB64 part 1) from the Great War.…

The National Records of Scotland, the Scottish government body, has refused to make a financial agreement with Ancestry, reported Aimee Stanton, BBC, on 24 September 2025. NRS argued that such an agreement would cost it £3.7 million per annum – as NRS currently provides access to digital images on a pay-per-view basis via ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk. The Information Commissioner withheld the release of the NRS records ‘under legislation covering the re-use of public sector information’. Ancestry has appealed against the IC’s notice, in its pursuit to access about 400 years of Scottish records (births since 1921, marriages since 1946 and deaths since 1971 are excluded from its request). Records (images and indices) that Ancestry has been trying to gain access to since 2022 from the NRS are listed in the ICO pdf…

‘Every year, we look forward to welcoming millions of RootsTech participants from around the world,’ said FamilySearch director of events, Jonathan Wing. ‘We are committed to providing a world-class experience that will inspire and empower our attendees to make meaningful discoveries.’ What to Expect at RootsTech 2026 • Hundreds of Classes: Choose from online and in-person classes led by content specialists. • Expo Hall: Explore this interactive showcase of the latest innovations in family discovery and connection products, services, and technologies. The experience is available to both in-person and online participants. • Main Stage Presentations: Enjoy presentations and performances from celebrities, influencers, and specialists who will share their personal family stories. • Family Discovery Day: Experience this free, family focused event on Saturday, 7 March 2026. It will be filled…

Back we go to the 1830s and beyond; the dark but exciting days of no censuses, no civil registration and no guarantees of what, if anything, you might find. But the challenge of tracking down William Grindle or Grindley – the stone mason who is apparently my 3x great-granddad on account of his relationship, fling or whatever it was with my 3x great-grandmother Sarah Tonge – has got me all of a flutter. So far, the earliest record I have is the 1841 Census of Little Hulton, Lancashire, which shows William Grindle, his oddly named wife Cosbi/Cazby/Gosbie, and their three eldest children Jane, Emma and Ann. Jane is three, suggesting the Grindles perhaps married around 1837. But that’s two whole years after Sarah Tonge gave birth to my 2x great-granddad…

Earlier this year I looked at using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) tests for genealogy, looking at how reader Lynne could make use of her matches from this test (the Full Mitochondrial Sequence (FMS) from FamilyTreeDNA). Just as the article was submitted, the long-anticipated update to FTDNA’s mtDNA tree and their new Discover™ service for mtDNA were launched. Here is an update on what this means for using your mtDNA test data – and how it affected Lynne’s matches. You might want to take a sneak peek back to the May issue of Family Tree if you would like a reminder of mtDNA test basics. The Million Mito Project and the new Mitotree As with Y DNA, every FMS tester is placed on a deep ancestral tree of human mtDNA. A scientific…

This is one in a series of articles; the intention is to provide an overview of useful family and local history records in existence, covering the period 1066-1485. Each article can be enjoyed as a standalone read, but the maximum benefit will be enjoyed by reading the entire series. The series will include leads and resources for all countries within the British Isles, while the case study woven through the articles is that of an English parish, Stannington, Northumberland, north-east England. Let’s get started. Earl Gospatric was a Saxon lord who was Earl of Lothian. The William de Merlay here is the younger brother of Roger de Merlay I. Scutage was a payment which could be made in lieu of military service So far in the series we have covered:…

Q I would dearly love to find out what my RAF grandfather did during his time in Egypt 1941-45. He was 1283966 Cpl William James Edwards (Figure 1), Photographic Reconnaissance Unit and later with the Middle Eastern Interpretation Unit in Egypt; said to be taking pictures because his file says, ‘Annual Filming Feb & Nov 1944’, but I don’t know if this is all true? I also wonder if one of your experts might know what the acronym ‘ACH E. Asst.’ might mean, which keeps cropping up in my grandfather’s record. Despite lots of searching I can’t find out what it means? And why was his RAF number later changed to 2606193? Many thanks. Pippa Mills A One of the lesser-known major contributors to Allied victory in World War II…

I’m thinking about helping folk with little interest in or ability to trace ancestors, for the simple reason that life circumstances have left them completely unaware of their origins. Long before the riveting ‘Long Lost Family’ series, and certainly before DNA became the go-to tool for bringing related individuals together, I was able to do that for two friends. Both had happy adoptions, but in later life became aware they needed to know who they were and where they came from. I’ve recently had the pleasure of helping another friend and it always feels good to use my skills for someone other than myself. I must emphasise results aren’t always unalloyed joy, and a huge amount of care and sensitivity is needed before taking this on. In each case the…

At the time of the opening of the tunnel in 1843, the pedestrians who stepped into the world’s first underwater tunnel were venturing into what was – at the time – known as the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’. The tunnel had originally been planned to allow horse-drawn carriages under London’s iconic river, and was envisaged to more easily connect the docks to London, running Rotherhithe to Wapping. As it happens, when it opened in 1843, it was for pedestrian use only. Later in 19th century, however, progress was such that the tunnel was put to use by the London Metropolitan line and underground trains made use of the tunnel – as they still do to this day. The building of the tunnel had been unsuccessfully attempted in previous decades…

RootsMagic 11 UK details: • See what’s new at https://rootsmagic.co.uk/about/features/– £39.95 (download), £45.95 (USB) RootsMagic 11 US details: • See what’s new at https://www.rootsmagic.com/rootsmagic/whats-new – US$39.95. For UK and US existing RM users, upgrading from an earlier version of RootsMagic is the cheaper option). Find the Family Tree review of Family Tree Maker 2024 (Mac) in this issue. See also www.family-tree.co.uk for further software reviews, such as Family Historian, Legacy and TreeView.…

I the importance of researching the whole family remember, many years ago, a potential client making a very specific request. They wanted me to research their family but they were only interested in the direct male line. ‘I don’t want to know about the brothers and sisters, just the direct ancestors.’ Even as a relatively inexperienced researcher, I knew that this was wrong. For a start, I was a family historian and I researched family trees: this request seemed to be more about researching a family bough or a family trunk! Of course, I didn’t accept the commission – at least not on those terms. In most cases, it’s simply not possible to follow a line back in time without researching the whole family, including the siblings, cousins and inlaws.…

Everyone has a family history story they can tell, but many people do not think they have the skills to do it justice in a publication. Frequently comments are heard such as, “I do not have any experience in writing articles” or “I’m not good at writing.” Invariably, with a little help, most people can produce very good work because they have very good ideas to start with. When it comes to writing genealogical stories, there are innumerable sources that advise on how to do it, what subject matter to use, the structure of the piece, etc. This piece hopefully expands on some of the advice which has gone before, particularly the excellent article written by the late Dr Simon Wills for Family Tree in the July 2023 issue. Why…

I was going to start this month’s article by talking about why we love this hobby so much but I realised that this isn’t really a hobby at all. Genealogy/family tree research/ancestor hunting or whatever you call it is actually an addiction! How many of us spend more time than we should hunched over a laptop or document, forgetting to eat and looking up in surprise to find hours have gone by? Do you buy yet another birth certificate and tell yourself you definitely need it or ‘fail’ to tell your loved ones that you just had to take out a subscription for a family history society/site/magazine? Is the desire to research your ancestors only curtailed by time, money and finding the records to assist you? Then let me introduce…

Ann Simcock asks: This portrait (the larger image) has been copied on Ancestry trees by many people. It purports to be my 2x great-grandfather, Cain Mayer (1841–1881) who was killed in a mining explosion at Chatterley Whitfield, Norton, Stoke-on-Trent, on 7 February 1881. However, I can find no provenance for this photo definitely representing Cain and I will not add it to my tree until I know for sure. A small section of the photographer’s name is visible below the picture and it appears to be Ellis. Listed on the site for Staffordshire Photographers is a Samuel Ellis at 13, Lichfield Street, Hanley but his dates are later than my 2x great-grandfather Cain Mayer’s death. For comparison I am also attaching a head shot (the smaller image) of my great-grandfather,…