The signed order authorising the Glencoe Massacre of 1692, in which 38 members of the MacDonald clan were killed, is to go on display this week at the National Library of Scotland, to mark the end of Homecoming.
Also on display will be a hand-written poem by Robert Burns (The Battle of Sherramuir), a Sherlock Holmes tale in the handwriting of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Forlani Map, thought to be the first printed map of Scotland on its own.
For more on the story visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8361310.stm.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
Sunday, 15 November 2009
British and Australian Governments to apologise for Child Migrants Scheme
Gordon Brown, the present British Prime Minister, is to issue a formal apology in the new year to all the surviving children who were sent overseas from the United Kingdom to Canada and Australia under the Child Migrant Scheme, which ended forty years ago. Many poor children who ended up being sent overseas were brutally abused and sent to work as virtual slave labour on farms or incarcerated in institutions.
In a particularly shocking testimony, one migrant told a a British parliamentary committee, in the late 1990s, that he had been subjected to an ordeal at the hands of a group of priests in Tardun, Western Australia, who competed between themselves to see who could rape him 100 times first. Australia's Roman Catholic church issued an apology in 2001, and tomorrow (Monday), the Australian Prime Minister will also issue a statement to those so poorly treated in the country, and also to half a million 'Forgotten Australians' held in orphanages between 1930 and 1970.
Many of the British children deported through the scheme - including 1700 who went to Canada, New Zealand and Rhodesia, and 7000 to Australia, were told their parents in Britain were dead - when they weren't - whilst some parents in Britain did not know that their children had been sent overseas. It remains a national shame. In a report on the BBC news website, it is reported that "in a letter to the chairman of the health select committee this weekend, Mr Brown said "the time is now right" for the UK to apologise for the actions of previous governments". The time was never wrong.
There has been a tendency in recent years for the British Government to issue apologies left, right and centre for everything that could potentially involve compensation payments, from the Irish Famine to the mistreatment of the Gurkha veterans, who the Government was happy to let bleed for us, but not to let live with us. Society is increasingly becoming cheap and devalued, and more concerned with lawyers and compensation culture than in the difference between right and wrong. The current Government was not responsible for the shameful policy and subsequent abandonment of her own citizens through the migrant scheme, but as the current national Government it speaks for the nation, so let's hope this is not some shallow PR exercise, but meaningful, and accompanied with whatever support the survivors may need.
There is more on the children's ordeals in a BBC special report at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8360150.stm. Reaction from the Child Migrants Trust, established in 1987, is available here.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
In a particularly shocking testimony, one migrant told a a British parliamentary committee, in the late 1990s, that he had been subjected to an ordeal at the hands of a group of priests in Tardun, Western Australia, who competed between themselves to see who could rape him 100 times first. Australia's Roman Catholic church issued an apology in 2001, and tomorrow (Monday), the Australian Prime Minister will also issue a statement to those so poorly treated in the country, and also to half a million 'Forgotten Australians' held in orphanages between 1930 and 1970.
Many of the British children deported through the scheme - including 1700 who went to Canada, New Zealand and Rhodesia, and 7000 to Australia, were told their parents in Britain were dead - when they weren't - whilst some parents in Britain did not know that their children had been sent overseas. It remains a national shame. In a report on the BBC news website, it is reported that "in a letter to the chairman of the health select committee this weekend, Mr Brown said "the time is now right" for the UK to apologise for the actions of previous governments". The time was never wrong.
There has been a tendency in recent years for the British Government to issue apologies left, right and centre for everything that could potentially involve compensation payments, from the Irish Famine to the mistreatment of the Gurkha veterans, who the Government was happy to let bleed for us, but not to let live with us. Society is increasingly becoming cheap and devalued, and more concerned with lawyers and compensation culture than in the difference between right and wrong. The current Government was not responsible for the shameful policy and subsequent abandonment of her own citizens through the migrant scheme, but as the current national Government it speaks for the nation, so let's hope this is not some shallow PR exercise, but meaningful, and accompanied with whatever support the survivors may need.
There is more on the children's ordeals in a BBC special report at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8360150.stm. Reaction from the Child Migrants Trust, established in 1987, is available here.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
Saturday, 14 November 2009
GOONS open online store
From the Guild of One-Name Studies:
The Guild of One-Name Studies has today opened its on-line store. The Guild bookstall sells a wide range of genealogical and one-name study books, genealogical software and various well illustrated books about places (typically UK towns) and their history. These items are currently only available to members of the Guild or can be purchased from the Guild’s bookstall.
However from today there is now an online facility for ordering vouchers www.one-name.org/cgi-bin/vouchers/sales.cgi via PayPal, credit card, or (by post) by cheque. Eventually the range of items available on-line will increase but at present only vouchers can be purchased on-line.
Voucher sales
FindMyPast and Ancestry are the foremost online providers of genealogical data, and both issue pre-payment vouchers for their websites. Vouchers are a great way to get started, and just the thing if you want to dip into the records now and then - and there are millions and millions of records to choose from!
The Guild’s on-line form will allow you to order the vouchers you want, and to pay for them in whatever way suits you best. If you have a credit card, you can order online using the secure PayPal processing (even if you do not have a PayPal account). Alternatively, once you have filled in the form you can print it out and send it to the Guild of One-Name Studies with your cheque, by post. The vouchers available to purchase are:
•Ancestry Voucher: 10 Record Views
•Findmypast / 1911Census Voucher: 40 credits
•Findmypast "Explorer" 3-month subscription
•Findmypast "Explorer" 12-month subscription
Cliff Kemball, the Guild’s Treasurer, said today, “The Guild is delighted to be able to sell Findmypast and Ancestry vouchers on-line to members of the public worldwide. Over the coming months, the Guild fully intends to extend the range of items it can sell on-line.”
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
The Guild of One-Name Studies has today opened its on-line store. The Guild bookstall sells a wide range of genealogical and one-name study books, genealogical software and various well illustrated books about places (typically UK towns) and their history. These items are currently only available to members of the Guild or can be purchased from the Guild’s bookstall.
However from today there is now an online facility for ordering vouchers www.one-name.org/cgi-bin/vouchers/sales.cgi via PayPal, credit card, or (by post) by cheque. Eventually the range of items available on-line will increase but at present only vouchers can be purchased on-line.
Voucher sales
FindMyPast and Ancestry are the foremost online providers of genealogical data, and both issue pre-payment vouchers for their websites. Vouchers are a great way to get started, and just the thing if you want to dip into the records now and then - and there are millions and millions of records to choose from!
The Guild’s on-line form will allow you to order the vouchers you want, and to pay for them in whatever way suits you best. If you have a credit card, you can order online using the secure PayPal processing (even if you do not have a PayPal account). Alternatively, once you have filled in the form you can print it out and send it to the Guild of One-Name Studies with your cheque, by post. The vouchers available to purchase are:
•Ancestry Voucher: 10 Record Views
•Findmypast / 1911Census Voucher: 40 credits
•Findmypast "Explorer" 3-month subscription
•Findmypast "Explorer" 12-month subscription
Cliff Kemball, the Guild’s Treasurer, said today, “The Guild is delighted to be able to sell Findmypast and Ancestry vouchers on-line to members of the public worldwide. Over the coming months, the Guild fully intends to extend the range of items it can sell on-line.”
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
Medieval Scottish pooh - a worthwhile read!
I never thought I would write a post on medieval Scottish pooh, but here goes...!
In the Scottish burghs in times of old, what did people do with their toilet waste?! Conventional belief is that they literally chucked it out of the top window of their houses onto the street, and that our ancestral towns smelt fairly gruseome as a consequence.
In fact, whilst there is some truth to that, it was actually something that burgh authorities were really concerned with, and it was also something that the clever householder could make a bit of money from, selling it to neighbouring farmers to help grow their crops. Don't dwell too much on that though - how our ancestors fed themselves may be just a case of a little bit too much information....!
However, it is a fascinating subject and a brilliant article on the dealings of medieval household waste can be read in the current issue of History Scotland. The article is called Pursuing Improvmenet: Public Hygiene in Scottish Burghs, 1500-1700 and is written by Leona Skelton, who is currently studying a PhD on Attitudes towards Public Hygiene in Scottish Burghs and Northern English Towns, 1560-1700, at Durham University.
Also in the magazine are articles on the use of heraldry and literature for chivalric recognition and the second part of an article on how to research lesbian and gay history in Scotland. A good issue this month.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
In the Scottish burghs in times of old, what did people do with their toilet waste?! Conventional belief is that they literally chucked it out of the top window of their houses onto the street, and that our ancestral towns smelt fairly gruseome as a consequence.
In fact, whilst there is some truth to that, it was actually something that burgh authorities were really concerned with, and it was also something that the clever householder could make a bit of money from, selling it to neighbouring farmers to help grow their crops. Don't dwell too much on that though - how our ancestors fed themselves may be just a case of a little bit too much information....!
However, it is a fascinating subject and a brilliant article on the dealings of medieval household waste can be read in the current issue of History Scotland. The article is called Pursuing Improvmenet: Public Hygiene in Scottish Burghs, 1500-1700 and is written by Leona Skelton, who is currently studying a PhD on Attitudes towards Public Hygiene in Scottish Burghs and Northern English Towns, 1560-1700, at Durham University.
Also in the magazine are articles on the use of heraldry and literature for chivalric recognition and the second part of an article on how to research lesbian and gay history in Scotland. A good issue this month.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
Robert Louis Stevenson website
A new website on the story of Robert Louis Stevenson is available at
www.robert-louis-stevenson.org. From the site's home page:
The RLS Website is the most comprehensive site dedicated to Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), providing resources for academics, school children, and people interested in learning about RLS. This site is particularly significant because it holds images not seen by the general public before.
The site celebrates Stevenson's life and works, encouraging users to discover the many faces of RLS. He is not just a children's author, but also a poet, a playwright, a Gothicist, an essayist, a historian, an anthropologist, a Victorian, a Modernist and a Postmodernist, amongst other things. By detailing his diverse writing career, the RLS Website aims to bring Stevenson out of the margins of literary study.
Have fun!
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
www.robert-louis-stevenson.org. From the site's home page:
The RLS Website is the most comprehensive site dedicated to Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), providing resources for academics, school children, and people interested in learning about RLS. This site is particularly significant because it holds images not seen by the general public before.
The site celebrates Stevenson's life and works, encouraging users to discover the many faces of RLS. He is not just a children's author, but also a poet, a playwright, a Gothicist, an essayist, a historian, an anthropologist, a Victorian, a Modernist and a Postmodernist, amongst other things. By detailing his diverse writing career, the RLS Website aims to bring Stevenson out of the margins of literary study.
Have fun!
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
National Library of Ireland Sources database
From the National Library of Ireland, a new Sources database:
Sources: A National Library of Ireland database for Irish research, contains over 180,000 catalogue records for Irish manuscripts, and for articles in Irish periodicals.
You can search across:
All of the National Library's manuscripts catalogued up to the 1980s
Irish manuscripts held in other libraries and archives in Ireland and worldwide, listed between the 1940s and the 1970s
Articles, reviews and other content that appeared in over 150 Irish periodicals (download a full list of the journals) up to 1969
Article records give details of the author, the title, and the citation, as well as information about how to access the periodicals in the National Library of Ireland or elsewhere. Manuscript records provide key details about the manuscript including the title, in addition to where it is held and its manuscript number. All records have subject headings, which can themselves be used as searches.
Record contents generally represent the decisions taken during the original cataloguing and indexing project, and reflect the holdings of libraries and archives as they were when that work was carried out. Read more about the history of Sources.
Copies
Copies of any periodical articles that the National Library of Ireland holds can be ordered through our Reprographics department, using the citation details (including page numbers) and the call number given in the records. Copies of the Library's manuscript material need to be requested through our Manuscripts department. Full details on ordering material, including pricing, are available on the Copying Services section of the National Library's main website.
When the record indicates the manuscript in question is held in another library or archive, all copying or other requests should go directly to that organisation.
The database is available at http://sources.nli.ie, whilst a family history guide is also available from the NLI at www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx.
(With thanks to the Genealogy in Time newsletter).
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
Sources: A National Library of Ireland database for Irish research, contains over 180,000 catalogue records for Irish manuscripts, and for articles in Irish periodicals.
You can search across:
All of the National Library's manuscripts catalogued up to the 1980s
Irish manuscripts held in other libraries and archives in Ireland and worldwide, listed between the 1940s and the 1970s
Articles, reviews and other content that appeared in over 150 Irish periodicals (download a full list of the journals) up to 1969
Article records give details of the author, the title, and the citation, as well as information about how to access the periodicals in the National Library of Ireland or elsewhere. Manuscript records provide key details about the manuscript including the title, in addition to where it is held and its manuscript number. All records have subject headings, which can themselves be used as searches.
Record contents generally represent the decisions taken during the original cataloguing and indexing project, and reflect the holdings of libraries and archives as they were when that work was carried out. Read more about the history of Sources.
Copies
Copies of any periodical articles that the National Library of Ireland holds can be ordered through our Reprographics department, using the citation details (including page numbers) and the call number given in the records. Copies of the Library's manuscript material need to be requested through our Manuscripts department. Full details on ordering material, including pricing, are available on the Copying Services section of the National Library's main website.
When the record indicates the manuscript in question is held in another library or archive, all copying or other requests should go directly to that organisation.
The database is available at http://sources.nli.ie, whilst a family history guide is also available from the NLI at www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx.
(With thanks to the Genealogy in Time newsletter).
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
Friday, 13 November 2009
Canada Gazette now online
Library and Archives Canada has placed the Canada Gazette online at its site at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/canada-gazette/index-e.html. Details on the release can be found at John Reid's Anglo-Celtic Connections blog post at http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/2009/11/historical-canada-gazette-searchable.html.
The Canada Gazette is basically the Canadian equivalent of the Edinburgh Gazette, and its British equivalents, the Belfast Gazette and the London Gazette. These papers are the official newspaper of record, and are an often overlooked resource by many researching their family history. They can be accessed for free at www.gazettes-online.co.uk, and contain information and announcements as diverse as notices concerning unclaimed premium bonds wins, military medal awards, civil honours, business announcements and sequestrations, and probate notices.
Incidentally, the Gazette for the Australian territory of Victoria is also accessible online at http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
The Canada Gazette is basically the Canadian equivalent of the Edinburgh Gazette, and its British equivalents, the Belfast Gazette and the London Gazette. These papers are the official newspaper of record, and are an often overlooked resource by many researching their family history. They can be accessed for free at www.gazettes-online.co.uk, and contain information and announcements as diverse as notices concerning unclaimed premium bonds wins, military medal awards, civil honours, business announcements and sequestrations, and probate notices.
Incidentally, the Gazette for the Australian territory of Victoria is also accessible online at http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/.
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Professional genealogical problem solving and research
http://twitter.com/ChrisMPaton
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