Why can’t I find it? Locating surnames in online databases

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Help! How do I separate genealogical fact from fiction?

We sit at our computer searching for information about our ancestors and … click … we find something new and intriguing. But wait: it contradicts something else we’ve found. Clearly, both pieces of information can’t be true. So which is true and which isn’t? Or are both untrue? HELP! Until recently, most researchers developed their evidence-analysis skills by a process of trial-and-error. Unfortunately, many researchers have erred more than tried and seem to be the ones most prolific in publishing the results of their “research” on the internet. Yet these errors can prove disastrous, gobbling up our precious time and money as we search in the wrong place – or worse, as we pursue the wrong ancestral line. So how do we ensure that our conclusions are accurate? This seminar will show you how to evaluate our ancestral information – that is, how to weight each piece of information to determine its accuracy – using a clear, logical, easy-to-follow system. After learning these skills you’ll easily be able to determine which information is reliable and which is like a virus that can destroy all your hard work.

Methodology and Skills

Help! How do I separate genealogical fact from fiction?

964 views

Thu, October 12 2023: 0:00 UTC

1:16:44

Publishing – class 4 of 4

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Publishing – class 4 of 4

Many researchers are daunted at the thought of publishing a family history or memoir or “how to” book because they lack knowledge about their publishing and marketing options. Carol has been associated with the publishing industry since the 1980s and her 24 books have been variously mainstream, boutique, indie, and self-published. In this webinar she discusses the editing processes that all works of prose should experience before they are published, whether it be in a journal article or a family history. She discusses publishing and printing options, along with marketing approaches to family members and the broader public. She also covers the practical aspects of self-publishing: writing and publishing programs, font choices, paragraph and column layouts, page sizes, book weight and postage requirements.

Publishing – class 4 of 4

329 views

Sat, October 29 2022: 0:00 UTC

1:02:37

Crafting Vivid Sentences that hook our readers – class 2 of 4

611 views

Crafting Vivid Sentences that hook our readers – class 2 of 4

Financial planners advise that the best way to acquire more money is to make the most of what we already have – aka, don’t fritter away our money. The same can be said for writing. The simplest way to craft an interesting family history, or other piece of prose, is to make the most of the words in our language. There’s no need to send our readers to sleep when a simple word replacement or two can bring a sentence, a paragraph, a story to life. This webinar discusses the basic tools in our writing toolbox, the tools that were once monopolised by fiction writers but are now used by nonfiction writers to hook our readers.

Crafting Vivid Sentences that hook our readers – class 2 of 4

611 views

Sat, October 29 2022: 0:00 UTC

1:10:34

Crafting vivid scenes from a few dry facts – class 3 of 4

462 views

Crafting vivid scenes from a few dry facts – class 3 of 4

We’ve learnt how to craft vivid sentences but how do we combine them to produce a vivid scene, especially when we have little information to work with? This webinar describes the process of doing so, using practical examples from Carol’s own writing. It shows how she began with very little information then followed one path after another in a desperate attempt to find something … anything … to make her description interesting. It shows how you too can apply the same strategies to your own research and writing, whatever the subject.

Crafting vivid scenes from a few dry facts – class 3 of 4

462 views

Sat, October 29 2022: 0:00 UTC

Advanced

1:29:30

Structuring a Family History – class 1 of 4

2.2K views

Structuring a Family History – class 1 of 4

To write a family history, we must convert our ancestral information into paragraphs of prose. But how do we group the resulting paragraphs to produce a coherent structure? We start by asking ourselves what we wish to achieve. Are we writing a history that focuses on a surname line? Or one that covers all of our ancestors, or all of our descendants, or all of the ancestors and descendants of a particular person? And how do we craft an individual biography? Do we produce a family history that is a group of stand-alone biographies or one that has a narrative-style flow? These and other subjects are discussed in this simple guide to structuring a family history. Classes 2-4 will be part of our October 2022 conference on Saturday, October 29. Visit https://familytreewebinars.com/conference/ for the details.

Structuring a Family History – class 1 of 4

2.2K views

Thu, October 27 2022: 0:00 UTC

1:16:46

Down Under SeriesMiscellaneous

The Madness of ‘Mc’ Surnames

1.2K views

The Madness of ‘Mc’ Surnames

If you have already worked out that ‘Mc’ and ‘Mac’ surnames are the most complicated British surnames, you must listen to this webinar. And if you haven’t already worked this out, you must absolutely listen to this webinar. ‘Mc’ surnames are double the trouble because they can suffer distortions at the beginning, middle and end of the ‘Mc’ prefix as well as at the beginning, middle and end of the rest of the surname, the root word. Sound glides are a particular problem, in which the ‘k’ sound at the end of the ‘Mc’ prefix distorts the first letter of the root word (e.g. McCue/McKew/McHugh, McLachlan/McGloughlan). Transcription errors can also produce a non-‘Mc’ surname (e.g. Mackever/Markever) which can prove a trap for the unwary. This seminar will help you keep you sane when you encounter the complexities of these mad Scottish-origin surnames.

Down Under SeriesMiscellaneous

The Madness of ‘Mc’ Surnames

1.2K views

Wed, July 6 2022: 2:00 UTC

1:26:22

Places and EthnicitiesDown Under Series

A Cargo of Criminals: Transportation to Australia

763 views

A Cargo of Criminals: Transportation to Australia

Over the 80 years of convict transportation, hundreds of ships transported convicts to the penal settlements of Australia. This seminar focuses on the ships, the voyages, and the records relating to transported convicts.

Places and EthnicitiesDown Under Series

A Cargo of Criminals: Transportation to Australia

763 views

Wed, October 6 2021: 1:00 UTC

1:06:29

British and Irish Given Names – Part 2

454 views

British and Irish Given Names – Part 2

Have you noticed that the given names of our eighteenth and nineteenth century English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh ancestors were drawn from a surprisingly small pool? But how small a pool? How common were our ancestors' given names? More importantly, how rare were the less common names? Lists of the most common 10, 20, 50 or 100 names are surprisingly unhelpful unless they include frequency statistics. For example, Jeremiah, was ranked 26th in England in the 1800s but the most useful information is its frequency; it was carried by only one man in 500. Most villages had fewer than 500 males at that time. This webinar focuses on given name popularities, changes in popularity, and the reasons for such changes. It also covers spelling variants, abbreviations, and diminutives. For example, if you don't know that Polly was a diminutive of Mary or that Nellie was a diminutive of Ellen and Eleanor and Helen, you might struggle to find entries for your ancestors. Our ancestors' given names and surnames are the gateways into our family history research. Learning more about their names may prove useful in determining their ancestry or finding other family connections.

British and Irish Given Names – Part 2

454 views

Fri, September 10 2021: 0:00 UTC

1:17:53

British and Irish Given Names – Part 1

2.4K views

British and Irish Given Names – Part 1

Have you noticed that the given names of our eighteenth and nineteenth century English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh ancestors were drawn from a surprisingly small pool? But how small a pool? How common were our ancestors’ given names? More importantly, how rare were the less common names? Lists of the most common 10, 20, 50 or 100 names are surprisingly unhelpful unless they include frequency statistics. For example, Jeremiah, was ranked 26th in England in the 1800s but the most useful information is its frequency; it was carried by only one man in 500. Most villages had fewer than 500 males at that time. This webinar focuses on given name popularities, changes in popularity, and the reasons for such changes. It also covers spelling variants, abbreviations, and diminutives. For example, if you don’t know that Polly was a diminutive of Mary or that Nellie was a diminutive of Ellen and Eleanor and Helen, you might struggle to find entries for your ancestors. Our ancestors’ given names and surnames are the gateways into our family history research. Learning more about their names may prove useful in determining their ancestry or finding other family connections.

British and Irish Given Names – Part 1