World Archives Project - Ancestry.com

Having a browse through my copy of Your Family Tree Magazine this month there was an article about volunteering to help with various transcriptions project. Having had a nosey through a few of the sites I decided to try Ancestry.com as I already have a subscription to that and recently found a few family members in their World War I records.

I've done a few records now mainly easy Naturalization index cards that were typed in the first place and even though these have nothing to do with my own research its really quite interesting.

Here is the blurb from their site.

The Ancestry.com World Archives Project gives people everywhere a unique chance to help save the world's historical records — millions that might otherwise be lost. Anyone can participate by accessing record images in our system and entering relevant names, dates and other facts to make the information searchable online.

As part of the Ancestry.com World Archives Project:

•All indexes will remain free to the public on Ancestry.com.
•Ancestry.com will donate copies of record indexes and images from the project to partnering government archives and genealogy societies.
•Images and indexes from the project will be available for free to patrons at thousands of subscribing libraries across the U.S.
•Ancestry.com will provide free advertising to partnering genealogy societies.
And coming soon:

•Active contributors will be able to vote on which records the project indexes next.
Currently, active contributors are participants who help index 900+ records per quarter.•Active contributors will receive free access to original images in the project’s databases. Those who already subscribe to Ancestry.com will be eligible for a discount on renewal.
Active Ancestry.com World Archives Project contributors can currently get 10% off an annual U.S. Deluxe membership renewal and 15% off an annual World Deluxe membership renewal. Active contributors coming up for renewal can call Member Services at 1-800-ANCESTRY to get the discount.

Buteshire Genealogy Research including The Isle of Arran

Found a useful site for Buteshire records so adding to my blog so i can find it later.

can add births, death, marriages and headstone pictures.

Buteshire Genealogy Research including The Isle of Arran: "Buteshire Genealogy Research
Freely sharing genealogy research specific to Buteshire, Scotland. The Isles of Arran, Bute, Cumbraes, Holy Isle, Inchmarnock and Pladda & The Parishes of Cumbraes, Kilbride, Kilmory, Kingarth, Lochranza, North Bute, Rothesay, Shiskin.
'To find the missing link by sharing our information -'tis the sunshine on a rainy day.'"

Updating

I've not had a chance to update much recently and finding working on ancestry's tree system very frustrating as keep getting hints that other peoples info matches mine only to find it is my info that other people have lifted straight into their trees sometimes without even bothering to check if there is a connection to the right family let alone the right person as one contact put it "no info on him he just filled a gap" !!!!

Trying to not get email rage and just start ignoring the links that obviously are just collecting as many people as they can right or wrong.

Off sick this week with flu and not allowed back till Friday so if can shake the coughing, sneezing and fatigue may get some pics uploaded this week and updates done - dont hold your breath though you'll go blue :)

So much to do - so little time :)

I'm in the process of collating all my files and updating all my trees posted around the internet.
I've taken out a subscription to Ancestry UK so should be easier to track the families through the census over the years.

I've finished surveying four graveyards on the island, High Kirk, Barone, Kingarth and St Colmacs and still not found all the family so need to start working on the idea that some of them may have been buried elsewhere for some reason.

I did find quite a few Slavens all from the same side of the tree so will update that info with pictures soon.

Hoping to revamp my family homepage soon to make it easier to read and navigate and need to find a place for my yahoo pages as its closing down in october.

I'm also planning a visit in November to the General Register Offices in Edinburgh to track down more info on Pat Shields my great great grandfather.

Like I said so much to do and so little time :)

Another Year

Ok so its been a few months since the last update. and I've realised although my paper records are quite upto date my pc files and tree programs are all messed up and I cant find anything so taking a few days to update my family tree software.

Also going to start updating the family tree details on various websites ie Genesreunited, Ancestry, tribal pages etc.

I've totally lost track of the various places online that I've uploaded my tree in the past and therefore there could be a lot of wrong info floating out there.

Time to hit google and search for my own details :)

I am a bad blogger

I cant believe its been a year since I posted on this blog!

I have in the mean time manged to get a little more organised and find out a little more about some members of the family.

I did manage to get to Edinburgh (during Juliets Hen weekend) but got so carried away with the family records search I didnt have time to find the Justiciary appeal as its office was at the other end of Princes Street and its quite a trek between the two. So I will have to go back up again at some point and be more methodical.

I will try and keep this more upto date and include details of who and when I've found.

Where does a month go?

Well where does a month go indeed! Tidying and organising my research thats where.
I've manged to get all my family research documents and certificates filed in some sort of order so I can acutally find what I'm looking for or what I'm missing quite easily.

I've tried various filing methods in the past and still end up losing track of where a document is or where I found information. Using a suggestion from Organise Your Paper Files I have now organised my information by Marriage number that most programs generate. I keep documents for that family together until i find a marriage for a child and they get their own section or I find their parents marriage and that gets another section. I can use my genealogy program to print a list of marriages with marriage record numbers and that becomes the index for the front of my files. So far its working really well and I can easily what information I still need on any family group.


While having a general trawl through Google with my names and places that I'm researching I came across the National Archives of Scotland. Searching their catalogue I found the following entry about a Justiciary appeal by my GreatGrandfather against the then Lord Bute! So now I have to arrange a trip to Edinburgh to see the document to find out what its all about.

Record: 1 of 1
RefNo Title Date
JC31 Justiciary Appeals Processes 1864-1994
JC31/1906 Justiciary appeals processes, 1906

CountryCode GB RepCode 234
RefNo JC31/1906/19
Repository National Archives of Scotland
Title
Justiciary appeal by Patrick Shields, porter, North British Railway Company, Rothesay, and residing at Minister's Brae, Rothesay v The Most Honourable John Crichton Stuart, Marquis of Bute and Earl of Windsor etc.
Date 1906
Description Lodged 16 March 1906. Appeal dismissed.
AccessStatus: Open

Poem

At my Buckie Grans funeral (Hannah Cowie nee Smith) at the start of July I met some of my dads cousins Anna, Marjory and Etta who were my Grans neices. They've all been really helpful in filling in information about my Gran and her brothers and sisters.

Today I received a poem from Marjory that her mother Iris May Soutar (nee Smith) wrote about who married who.

Dae ye ken Maggie Bruce's family That bided doon the Brae?
Peter Smith's their Faither -A fisherman was he.
Noo Wullie mairrit Lizzie, In Leith they bade a wee
And Jessie mairrit Wullie Wood -A Portknockie man was he.
Pat, Johnny, Anne and Jimmy Are names of those who died,
But Marget still lives in the Sloch -She likes her ain fireside.
And Ina - she got mairrit Tae Tam wha cams frae Fife
And Henry gaed tae Stornaway And took Etta for a wife.
Hannah mairrit Johnny Coup, Noo he's a Buckie loon,
And Jeannie mairrit Charlie, He's frae Portgordon toon.
Davy Mairrit Peggy Frae Wick across the Firth,
And Iris Mairrit Andrew, They roam a' ower the earth.
Noo the Faimly are a' scattered And living far and wide
And the Family Tree has branch'ed Since a' thae knots were tied,
And children's children's children Hear tales of auld lang syne
And R-o-etten-etten -The Sloch that is oor Hame.

bits of translation for the non scots -

• Dae ye ken = Do you know
• bided = stayed or lived
• mairrit = married
• the Sloch= Portessie in Buckie
• frae = from
• gaed tae = went to
• loon = boy
• Hame = home

not sure what R-o-etten-etten refers to though.

I spent last night tidying up my genealogy files and adding info received from Marjory Davey to the info I gathered while at Buckie Grannies funeral. Still have to update my website with some of the info but nice to be able to fill in more details on Hannahs side

oops

Oops - Forgot I'd set this blog up

The internet is getting way to big for me to remember everywhere I've been and everywhere I've seen family tree info so I'm going to start leaving myself notes in here like a breadcrumb trail.

I'll start with some of my favourite genealogy sites

Where I've found info

• www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
• www.familysearch.org
• www.ancestry.co.uk
• www.1837online.com
• www.genesreunited.com

Where I've posted info

• www.lostcousins.co.uk
• www.rootsweb.com

My Sites

• www.joannecowie.co.uk

First Entry

Starting a blog to help me record research and findings on my family tree.

Came back to edit this first post as I realised it would have helped to say what I'm researching.

I am following my family tree back through the Cowie, Duncan, Shields and Smith lines in Rothesay, Bute, Buckie, Glasgow, Lewis, Banff and eventually Donegal Ireland.

I'll be updating my family tree on ancestry.com and starting a family tree website www.joannecowie.co.uk