We have some great courses coming up for you in February and early March:

So You Think You Know FamilySearch – A Guided Tour

Tutor: Barbara H. Baker
Start date: 1st February 2021
Course length: 4 weeks

* COURSE OF THE MONTH *

Discover what you don’t know about English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh resources at the FamilySearch website with the help of an experienced guide. Barbara Baker worked in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City for more than 30 years and is an expert in FamilySearch resources.

Since its beginning in 1998, FamilySearch.org has been a leading family history website on the Internet. The website provides access to many of the records, indexes and resources available at the Family History Library, which has one of the largest collections of published, microfilmed and digitized British and Irish records in the world.

In recent years technological advances have made it possible for you to search and browse formerly inaccessible records, check geography and boundaries and obtain research advice anywhere, anytime. All this information is free to anyone with the knowledge and navigating skills to find it.

The lesson headings are:

Week 1: Introduction to FamilySearch and FamilySearch.org
Week 2: Exploring British and Irish data and resources at FamiySearch.org
Week 3: The British and Irish collection at the Family History Library
Week 4: The FamilySearch Family Tree and What’s New

Introduction to One-Name Studies

Tutor: Julie Goucher
Start date: 2nd February 2021
Course length: 5 weeks

This course is an introduction to one-name studies, written with the guidance of the Guild of One-Name Studies and is suitable for all genealogists who have woken up to the knowledge that they have an interesting and unusual surname.

You will learn about the history and study of surnames; which surnames are suitable for a study, what a one-name study consists of, and how to get started. We cover how to collect and analyse data from the core records. You learn about all the practical aspects of running a one name study; collecting data, how to publicise your study, data protection, publish results and make sure your study is preserved for others in the future.

Victorian Crime and Punishment – Courts, police and prisons

Tutor: Antony Marr
Start date: 23rd February 2021
Course length: 5 weeks
* FULLY BOOKED * Booking now for June 2021

Scottish Research Online

Tutor: Chris Paton
Start date: 1st March 2021
Course length: 5 weeks

Scotland was one of the first countries to digitise its major family history records collections for accessibility online, and continues to this day to use such resources to promote a worldwide interest in family history for those with Caledonian connections. This course describes the major sites and record types that you will encounter in your research, and how to analyse the results. Most importantly it will inspire you to actively pursue your interest in Scottish genealogy and take it to the next level.

Wills and Administrations; the riches of probate records

Tutor: Linda Newey
Start date: 1st March 2021
Course length: 4 weeks
* FULLY BOOKED * Booking now for September 2021

Advanced Methods and Reports

Tutor: Karen Cummings
Start date: 1st March 2021
Course length: 4 weeks

This course provides students with the techniques and tools to ensure the best possible evidence for their pedigrees and trees, and is suitable for hobby and professional genealogists alike.

We look at problems of identity and interpretation, standards for evaluation and analysis, and how to build a case for proof. We will consider the display of charts and genealogy research reports, showing the conventions and standards that are used and that enable written research to be of a high scholarly standard. Students will also practise writing short research reports.

The lesson headings are:

Week 1: Evidence and Proof
Week 2: Overcoming Problems in Genealogy
Week 3: Laying out Your Tree
Week 4: Writing up Your Research

Before the Modern Census – Name-rich sources from 1690 to 1837

Tutor: Else Churchill
Start date: 2nd March 2021
Course length: 4 weeks

What do you do when the nominal census records that you have used so much are no longer there, when you cannot obtain names, ages, birthplaces and the household address of a family? And how do you supplement the deficiencies of parish registers?

Your attention should turn to a variety of lists which at least reveal where someone lived at a particular time. Though this seems scant information, such facts can be vitally important especially in those years when children were not born and christened.

Over four lessons you will learn about the introduction of newspapers, the earliest efforts at census taking, and what other records are considered to be useful census substitutes. Census substitutes are often quite local in scope and purpose. Many will be explained and advice will be given on how to search for local lists. You will come away with an understanding of how to make the most of census substitutes, some new online search skills, and an ability to assess and access these sources.