What have I learned in May?

Pharos Intermediate Certificate

I completed another Pharos Course towards my Certificate: 17th Century Sources, the final assignment is written, and due in next week. I was awarded 87%, a distinction, for my work on the course: Before the Modern Census – Name-rich Sources from 1690 to 1837 which keeps me on track for a distinction.

I just have two final courses for the certificate in June, Military Records and Victorian Crime and Punishment. Fingers crossed that I achieve sufficient marks for a distinction overall.

Strathclyde’s Post Graduate Certificate in Genealogy, Heraldry and Palaeography

I passed the first assignment, and the other has been submitted for term 4. Now I have to concentrate on this term’s assessment. Assignments are pass/fail affairs, whereas assessments are graded. This term’s assessment is a narrative report on one of five research questions. I have selected to write a biography of the medical professionals within a family.

I have been learning about using DNA testing for genealogy, feudalism, armed forces, surnames, records for genealogy in Ireland, Canada and the USA, and occupational and educational sources.

Reading

I re-read Steve Robinson’s The Girl in the Painting just before the Society of Genealogists book club discussion. I’m now working my way through more of Nathan Dylan Goodwin’s Forensic Genealogist series which I find fascinating. I finished The Sterling Affair this morning, so just have one left. I believe there may be more to come though.

I have finally finished Tracing your ancestors from 1066 to 1837 : a guide for family historians by Jonathan Oates. Next on the reading pile is Journeys in family history : exploring your past, finding your ancestors by Hey, David. Published in 2004 the initial section on the internet feels very dated already.

Meetings, Webinars, Courses

3 May Genetic Genealogy live chat session	John Cleary	Strathclyde University	After spending several hours getting bogged down in SNPs, STRs, Big Y and plenty of other jargon it was good to have a chat with fellow students. Most, but not all, have done an Ancestry Autosomal DNA test, but not got much further. I don’t feel quite so behind with understanding genetic genealogy now.
4 May In Conversation with Karen de Bruyne	Karen de Bruyne	Find My Past	I know Karen as a volunteer host for the Society of Genealogists events. It was lovely to hear her talking about how she has become a professional genealogist, some of her family stories and her experiences in researching.
7 May The Future of Genealogy – Young Genealogists at the Helm	Joe Saunders, Catherine Theunissen, Daniel Loftus, Flossie Kingsbury, Matthew McMaster, George Hall, Matthew Abel, Dai Davies, Shaunese Luthy, Elizabeth Hodges	Society of Genealogists & Family History Federation	This was a fabulous day and it was an honour to be part of it. The young speakers were interesting and spoke on a range of subjects. It was inspiring to listen to and I am already looking forward to the next youth conference.
14 May How to Die Like a Victorian	Holly Carter-Chappell	Society of Genealogists	Holly explained many Victorian customs around death to us, the reasons behind the post mortem photograph, mourning rings and many more. The importance of a good Christian death to Victorian society and drawing comparisons with today. Jewellery containing a loved ones ashes are on the rise.
18 May What to Do With Your Family History: Class 2 – Storing your Family History: Creating a personal archive	Sophie Hollinshead	Society of Genealogists	I had been hoping to learn about how to create a personal archive, and some tips for organising the contents. Sophie took us through the archive collections she had created for some of her projects over the years and the serendipitous findings made from them.
19 May Encounters with Barn Owls	Chris Wynne	North Wales Wildlife Trust	A lovely look at barn owls in North Wales. I didn’t know that the majority of their diet was the short-tailed vole.
21 May Same Sex Love, 1700-1957: History and Research Sources for Family Historians	Gill Rossini	Society of Genealogists	A fascinating talk which raised some interesting questions and thoughts. Not all loving same sex relationships are homosexual. Were there 18th and 19th century sapphic marriages or is there something we don’t know happening in the registers?
23 May Book Club – The Girl in the Painting by Steve Robinson	Discussion, no speaker	Society of Genealogists	I think we were quite split over this book. I loved it, and will continue to read all of Steve’s books. Others were disappointed not to learn anything from it.
25 May What to Do With Your Family History: Class 3 – Sharing your Family History: Writing the stories	Natalie Pithers	Society of Genealogists	Natalie presented a workshop style talk to help us to write stories about our ancestors. We thought through the writing process, why and where to write, and how to add colour to stories of even the most “boring” ancestors.
26 May Stage 2 Skills Course: Class 6 – Immigration to England	Janet Few	Society of Genealogists	This was a fascinating talk and I am so glad I joined in. Although I completed Stage 2 of the skills course last year our change around has meant that this topic was not previously covered. Janet took us through an overview of why migration happens, and then highlighted three groups of immigrants to England. Finally we thought about the impact of immigration to the existing community.
28 May Are you related to Royalty?	Caroline Gurney	Society of Genealogists	The simple answer appears to be yes! Whether or not it is possible to trace a line of descent, we are probably all related to royalty somehow.

I had a lot happening in work at the Society of Genealogists so it has felt like a very busy month even if the above does not reflect that. With two Pharos courses June is likely to be busy too, but I can look forward to a break in July and August.