We have lots and lots of great courses coming up for you to choose from in the next month.

Still to come, in May:

Introduction to One-Name Studies

Tutor: Julie Goucher
Start date: 31st May 2022
Course length: 5 weeks

A one-name study is an exciting new journey into your surname’s past. It involves the collection of all the occurrences of a surname. 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.

Lesson Headings:
* About One-Name Studies
* Surnames and their History
* Core Records you will need and Information gathering
* Analysing and making sense of your data
* Practical aspects of running your own One-Name Study

and, coming in June:

Your Military Ancestors

Tutor: Simon Fowler 
Start date: 6th June 2022
Course length: 4 weeks
COURSE FULL but booking now for October 2022

Victorian Crime and Punishment – Courts, police and prisons

Tutor: Dave Annal
Start date: 6th June 2022
Course length: 5 weeks
FULLY BOOKED

So You Think You Know FamilySearch – A Guided Tour

Tutor: Barbara Baker
Start date: 6th June 2022
Course length: 4 weeks

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. This course guides you through the highways and byways of FamilySearch.org, offers tips about searching data and using the helps, and brings you to the point where you can say that you really know the FamilySearch website.

Researching Your Welsh Ancestors

Tutor: Eilir Daniels  
Start date: 6th June 2022
Course length: 5 weeks

Wales is unique and Welsh research is different. The course is aimed at those who have some basic knowledge of family history research in England and deals with those particular aspects of family history research in Wales which are different to that of England. Despite the fact that, by and large, Wales used the same legal and bureaucratic framework as England, the country’s social, linguistic, cultural and religious fabric mean that a different kind of approach is necessary. The context of research is vitally important and there are difficulties, even for those who have a good level of knowledge and experience with family history research.

Lesson Headings:
* Key differences between Welsh & English research
* The Welsh language, place names and surnames
* Nonconformity in Wales
* Occupations, migration and emigration
* Sources and records specific to Wales

Demystifying DNA for Family Historians

Tutor: Karen Cummings
Start date: 13th June 2022
Course length: 5 weeks

DNA testing is becoming an increasingly popular tool in genealogical research and has the potential to solve mysteries and brick walls, where other records do not survive. The more its popularity rises and the number tested increases, the greater the chance of success. However, with so many tests available and so many companies to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to start.

This course starts at the beginning, providing you with the tools to understand and demystify DNA testing for use in your own research. You will be guided through what to consider before testing, the different types of DNA, who can test and which test is the most appropriate in different circumstances. You will learn about how DNA is passed down the generations and why this is important, what haplogroups are, and how much you really can rely on ethnicity estimates.

You will work with examples of real data and have the opportunity to work through techniques with your own results (if appropriate). At the end of the course you will have a toolbox of techniques to interpret your DNA matches with increased confidence.

The course is suitable both for absolute beginners and those who have taken a test and are beginning to decipher their results.

Students said:
“Karen ‘demystified’ the science-speak and with the clear notes and charts, I now feel I have a good understanding of the area.”
“It has been a fascinating insight into a large, complex and growing area of genealogical research”

Employment Records

Tutor: Alec Tritton
Start date: 16th June 2022
Course length: 5 weeks LAST FEW PLACES

Records of employment can do two things; reveal important facts for furthering the genealogical information about a family and provide vivid details of the way your ancestors lived. Records of employment will vary from the scant to the copious; much depends on the occupation. This 5 week course examines what is likely to be found in official and unofficial sources and where and how the information can be used as further insights into the lives and times of our ancestors.

Lesson Headings:
* The Professions
* Merchant Seamen and Coastguard
* Government employees
* Town folk
* Country folk

That’s all for this month, happy studying!

Family Tree magazine is offering readers a free digital issue of the magazine through to the end of the month, when you sign up to their newsletter.

This is part of a new drive to promote the hobby and get more people researching their family history.

Simply sign up to the email at: www.family-tree.co.uk/account/register

Once you sign up you will immediately receive access to the full April 2022 issue, as a digital ‘page-turner’ edition.

Editor Helen Tovey said: “We want everyone to sample our wonderful magazine and this seemed like a great way to get people involved and for them to find out more about family history. We’re so proud of our monthly mag, it’s been going since 1984 and is packed with information and inspiration, and we also love putting together our weekly newsletter. Family history is all about sharing and so we’d thought we’d give something back!”

Highlights of the April issue include:

• Determining the origin of surnames
• How your ancestors’ birth dates can hold the key to the past
• How to use kirk session records
• The lives and working conditions of tailors, dressmakers & seamstresses

Our courses starting in May will appeal to a wide variety of interests: Scottish research, title deeds and Chancery records, one-name studies and the road to professional genealogy.

Scotland 1750-1850 – Beyond the Old Parish Registers

Tutor: Chris Paton
Start date: 9th May 2022
Course length: 5 weeks 

This is an intermediate course in Scottish family history and assumes students have some experience with research in the Old Parish Registers (OPRs) of the Church of Scotland and in using major websites for Scottish research.

The course discusses sources that fill the gap when the OPRs are uninformative or missing; for example, records of parish and town administration, occupations, land transfer and taxation.

Deeds and Disputes

Tutor: Susan Moore
Start date: 9th May 2022
Course length: 6 weeks (5 lessons with a reading week)

Title deeds and the records of the equity courts, such as Chancery, are often neglected sources for family history, because they are considered “too hard”. In this course they are brought to life by Susan Moore, the recognised expert on Chancery records and a published author on the subject.

As this course is part of our Advanced programme good palaeographical skills for the periods covered are assumed. A knowledge of Latin, while helpful for some title deeds, is not essential.

Professional Genealogist – Become one, become a better one

Tutor: Karen Cummings 
Start date: 16th May 2022
Course length: 4 weeks

Do you have ambition to become a professional genealogist? Have you already started taking on clients but are looking for guidance or want to check you have thought of everything? Whether you are already researching for clients or planning to do so, this 4 week professional genealogist course guides you through the professional skills that form the foundation for success.

This course was developed in association with the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (AGRA), the professional body for genealogists in England and Wales.

Introduction to One-Name Studies

Tutor: Julie Goucher
Start date: 31st May 2022
Course length: 5 weeks

A one-name study is an exciting new journey into your surname’s past. It involves the collection of all the occurrences of a surname. 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.

Lesson Headings:
* About One-Name Studies
* Surnames and their History
* Core Records you will need and Information gathering
* Analysing and making sense of your data
* Practical aspects of running your own One-Name Study

That’s all for this month, happy studying!