The most important path an ancestor blazed along the way from his place of birth to where we first find him is usually not a trail that cartographers have conveniently charted for us. Successful researchers learn to recognize and analyze the elements of an ancestor’s life and times, as well as people, that serve as pointers to his path. This session examines the nature and causes of stalemates in our research; ten common traps and ways to avoid them; and innovative methodologies for working smarter, not harder!

In this lecture, Daniel will recount how MyHeritage was able to utilize a few surviving clues, MyHeritage’s research tools, and some logical deduction to reunite a pair of sisters who hadn’t known of each other’s existence for 70 years due to the tragic events of World War II and the Holocaust.

Prior to the 20th century, the vast majority of Irish people lived in rural areas, leasing land and property from the landowners who owned large estates, some of which were thousands of acres in size. These estates, often managed by land agents, generated large amounts of records, a number of which are particularly useful for expanding the knowledge of your ancestors. If you have exhausted the civil registration and church records, these records could be very useful in providing further information about earlier generations who lived on an estate and where exactly they lived through records such as rentals, leases and estate maps. Other valuable documents within estate records include military muster rolls, correspondence, land agent notebooks, wage books, account books and emigration records, all of which have the potential to provide information about your ancestors. Following the Great Famine, many landlords fell into financial difficulty and the government established the Encumbered Estates Court which allowed for the sale of their estates. The records generated include information about tenants and their leases that often contain really valuable information to expand your family tree.

Learn the 10 top tips and tricks for deciphering the old German script! With tips on how to easily recognize certain letters, how to tell tricky letters apart, abbreviations, spelling variations, names, and more, you’ll be amazed at what you can do after only an hour of learning!

Church record research is a must for any genealogist. Many of our archives have church records available to researchers. There are also independent church archives for specific religions or denominations that can help you discover your ancestor. Learn from a seasoned genealogist and archivist how to find church records in archives.

MyHeritage.com makes it easy to colorize, enhance, improve, and share your images. Maximize the tools using “hidden” features. For instance, take color-shifted images from blah to brilliant. Then use the photo dashboard to keep track of photo information and collaborate with cousins.

With a rich history and extensive archives, Jalisco is an excellent place for Mexican research. Learn how to prepare and make the most of researching at repositories in Guadalajara, including important tips for travel, collections, available findings aid, catalogs, and more.

Information on fur trade and Indigenous ancestors can be found in the Hudson Bay Company archives. These records contain information on over 300 years of fur trade employees in Canada. Archivists have indexed, microfilmed, and digitized them. This presentation will cover what records are available, where they are found, how to use them, and what genealogy information may be found in them.

Most individuals will have at least one case of misattributed ancestry in the first several generations of these family tree. Genetic genealogy testing is often the source of discovery of such events. Even so misattributed ancestry may go undetected unless DNA test results are analyzed carefully. Learn how to detect cases of misattributed ancestry and how to leverage genetic genealogy test results to identify a previously unknown biological ancestor.

What are the secrets to finding New England vital records today? If you understand how they were made, and all the things that have happened to them since, you will bring new skills and insight to your vital records research. Also, let’s develop some strategies for those times when the record cannot be found.

If you’re researching your roots in Norway, these resources are a fantastic place to start: National Archives of Norway, National Library of Norway, MyHeritage and Genealogy Society of Norway. In this session, Vidar Øverlie will help you explore these essential resources.

Learn how DNA reconnected a family living on two continents (North America and Australia), and how the Underground Railroad, the Freedmen’s Bureau, a legal battle within the slaveholding family, and Broadway musicals became central threads to their dynamic story.

Many 19th- and early 20th-century German language newspapers were printed in a Fraktur font. And not only that, they were written in a foreign language! This combination of an archaic font and a foreign language creates two significant hurdles for the 21st century genealogist, perhaps with limited foreign language skills, to overcome. But don’t despair. Modern technology has provided solutions. Learn how to “crack the code” and discover where your favorite newspaper sites have hidden the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) text. Translation tools will quickly make those foreign words readable for even the most die-hard English-only speaker.

A christening attended, best friend’s wedding, or the same church. Examples from the written words of other people provide details on YOUR family. Marriages, births, deaths, similar jobs, military service, memberships, education, employees, and more on YOUR family. Includes ways to find these other words along with many examples filled with names of other people.

Our ancestors were people, just like us. They were born, they lived, they died, they laughed, they cried, and they fell in love – or should that be luff…? Join people-finding wizard and genealogist Kirsty Gray on a journey through her one place study about the small Devon parishes of Luffincott and Tetcott; learn about the history of these villages, their inhabitants and their challenges, as Kirsty talks you through the trials and triumphs of conducting a one place study. This exploration of the past of a remote and rural part of Devon is sure to providing a fascinating window into the past and be a great example of the benefits conducting a one place study can bring.

Do you have mystery matches? Would you like to figure out how they are related to you? Which ancestors you share? Here are six ways to do exactly that!

Which Timothy Mather married Elizabeth Matson? An argument has long been made – based on a faulty entry in a Connecticut vital record book. Discovering the real answer requires taking a deep dive into Connecticut records, reviewing land, probate, militia commissions and more.

Genealogists LOVE cemeteries but we don’t always know the history behind them. When we know the history, types, and traditions of cemeteries we can do better research that helps us understand our ancestor’s final resting place. In this presentation we will take a look at the history of US cemeteries, what you would expect to find depending on time and place, and where you can find records beyond the usual places.

Birmingham was the cradle of the Industrial Revolution and the world’s first manufacturing town. This talk will equip you to start your research on your Birmingham ancestors. Learn about the challenges of researching in Birmingham and discover the key archives and sources for genealogical records. Find out how key themes in the city’s history, such as migration, strong Roman Catholic and non-conformist traditions, and the rise of manufacturing, are reflected in genealogical records. Sources covered include legal and ecclesiastical archives, local government, business, institutions, societies and schools. Investigate where else you can get help for researching here such as the Family History Society. Note that the talk assumes you have already watched ‘Introduction to County Research in England’.

Connecting with living relatives can unveil a treasure trove of family history beyond the confines of documents and records. Are you making the most of these living links to your past? Join Lisa Lisson for an exploration of MyHeritage’s potent tools, designed to help you build bridges with relatives and unearth precious family memories. From initiating heartfelt conversations to orchestrating virtual family reunions, this session arms you with a toolkit to cherish and deepen intergenerational connections. Walk away with a newfound ability to weave your family’s living stories into your historical tapestry.