Category: Researching
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Family Tree Maker notes
Tips and experiences on using FTM
Tips and experiences on using FTM Some notes on using Family Tree Maker – things that I find helpful, have played around with, others have struggled with or may not be obvious. Separate pages for: Sync trees between Ancestry and your computer – FTM and other options after the end of TreeSync (29th March 2017). FTM Reports Experiences with, info on FTM 2014 including 2014.1 FTM 2012 [toc] Family Tree Maker is a software program which became associated with the genealogy website Ancestry. In 2016, Ancestry » »
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Site stats can help in odd ways
Sometimes I feel I get a bit obsessed with checking the statistics on this site. I like to see what visitors are searching for and what pages they read (or at least visit). This can be useful though – allowing me to respond quickly to my new Cullum cousin recently for instance. The stats can also prompt a tweak in the content, making me realise I haven’t quite got the content up to date or clear enough to answer a search phrase. And sometimes a search » »
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Keeping the family trees in sync
I started building my family tree using Ancestry.co.uk, but fairly quickly decided that my reference database would be using the connected Family Tree Maker software on my PC. A new version of this comes out every year, and the latest is due out soon – in America at the end of September and in the UK two weeks later (according to Amazon, which says release date is 14th October). The differences between the annual versions can be quite small, such as minor enhancements to the reports » »
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Corrupt voting – great uncle accused
Another interesting new history search engine, going beyond the usual sources but creating new frustrations! It has passed the ‘Cutlock test’ though, sort of. Connected Histories is a joint project of a number of universities and currently includes 11 major digital resources for Britain in the years 1500 to 1900 – see the Resources list. Some are academic in origin, others require access via a university or other institution, but there is some freely available material indexed. For example, there is the Clergy of the » »
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Theophilus Farrall shipping agent and electrical inventor
One family connection I hadn’t previously pursued very far was that of my cousin Geoffrey and aunt Irene (Watkins). Their father/husband was Charles O’Brien, revealed to have a middle name of Theophilus on his wife’s death certificate – I have a feeling he hated this name. I had only got a little info on place of birth and parents for Charles. It was likely that a birth registered in 1912, mother Farrell, was his but that was not enough data to go on in » »
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Finding that elusive Jewish connection
The joys of the chase! I’ve cracked a conundrum on the family’s Jewish connection. I’d at one time thought that granddad’s first name of Levi (which he hated) had a Jewish connection. While both his grandfather and a cousin had the same name (if sometimes spelt differently, most often Levy), there is no other hint of such a link. What has been more certain is great great aunt Lily Osborne married Jonny Brookstone, of Jewish origin and probably from Poland. I found no trace of him » »