Monday 11 July 2011

An Overdue Update

So what have you been doing with yourself I hear you ask.

Well, apart from not blogging, July has been a busy month. First there was the LMA visit, which shed some more light on Maria. I still haven't finished going through everything I found.

Then the OH's sister came over with a suitcase full of information and photos about Maria's Grandson and their Grandfather. That I haven't looked at yet either.

Following that was the very none genealogical Glastonbury from which I think I'm still recovering.

And finally there's the fact that we got 3 new rats, taking the total to 5, the day after I got back from Glasto. 1 of the older boys had to go to the vet at the weekend and again today; luckily he's ok (or he will be if he takes all his meds) but it’s been a bit manic.

Ok so I've not yet said what I have done......

GRO Births, Marriages & Deaths - Using FreeBMD I have extracted all STEARES, STEARS, STEERS and STEERS entries up to 1940. I have used Ancestry to download the images of the GEO register up to 1849.

I have created a MASTER list, which I have uploaded to GoogleDocs so you can have a look-see. Using the GRO Births I have given each individual a unique identifying number in the format of 0000 for spouses I give them the same number as their husband but preceded it by a S i.e. S0000.

This is updated for pre-registration individuals in the same way; they are just added to the end of the list. Each individual has been imputed into Family Tree Maker (I use FTM2010 edition) and the unique reference number included.

1841 England and Wales Census - Using Ancestry I have downloaded each page for the STEERS entries. I have transcribed the images onto a spreadsheet using the Guild's archive template  as my baseline.

Using the 1841 Census I have started to identify families and these family groups have been created on FTM, and the parents added to the master list. I've also been able to link some GRO entries with the Census return.

I've also been doing some look ups for other Guild Members at the British Library. They have the returns up to 2009. If you would like you surnames added to my list then please contact me via Comment, Facebook, Twitter or email.

I feel like I don't have enough time to do anything at the moment but its import to me to offer services like the above because some of our biggest breakthroughs come about due to the kindest of others.

Technology helps matters to; I'm typing this into my Android phone using the DropBox app on my way home from work. It means that when I get home I just have to check my facts, add a couple of things I can't do from here and post.

Got to love the modern age, just a shame they can't get the tubes and trains to run on time!