Part of the worldwide genealogy/family history community
FamNet eNewsletter December 2016
ISSN 2253-4040
Quote. The thing that interests me most about family history is the gap between the things we think we know about our families and the realities – Jeremy Hardy.
Contents
RestorePICS
- Professional Photo Restoration
Is
this Newsletter Spam to you?
DNA
Testing for Family History
21.
DNA Testing – Going over some frequently asked questions, plus, plus…
Previous
articles in the series are:
From our
Libraries and Museums
Whangarei Family History Computer
Group
Waitara Districts History &
Families Research Group
Genealogy Changed Dramatically in
2016. I Can Prove It.
To Unsubscribe, Change your Email
Address, or Manage your Personal Information
Editorial
Well
another month has disappeared. Another newsletter has been written. I hope it is
a well received as the last. I had a lot of positive response from the last and I thank you for your
encouraging remarks.
This newsletter is noteworthy for the lack of articles from blogs - the reason will become obvious once you have read
my column.
I wish to extend seasonal greetings to you and your families. May Xmas
2016 be a happy occasion with many useful gifts being acquired.
In this
issue: -
·
From
The Developer: the “Telling your Story” series is finished for now. Have you told yours? And
please, if you don’t want this newsletter, turn it off,
don’t just report it as spam.
·
The
Nash Rambler: My plans are in disarray thanks to the efforts of a very good
friend
·
DNA
testing for Family History: Gail answers FAQ on the subject of DNA testing
·
Adele
talks about the Sullivan name and talks about the value of an old photograph
album
·
·
·
An
article on the new class of genealogists - the ultimate fishers
With any luck this will get you thinking. Hopefully about sending some contributions to
this newsletter. Surely Robert and I
aren’t the only people who read books that might be of interest to others!
Regards
Sponsored
Content
This issue,
for the first time, we have some sponsored content. Of course this helps us pay our bills, but
the services advertised should be interesting to many of you.
RestorePICS - Professional Photo Restoration
Bring your faded, damaged or torn photos back to life.
Auckland-based PicsOS is pleased to announce the launch of their first app, RestorePICS. Available now on iOS and Android.
RestorePICS offers professional photo restoration for only $39, conveniently to you through your mobile device.
A great gift idea made easy – no need to remove old photos from their albums or photo frames.
-
Remove creases and
fix tears.
-
Bring the pop back
to faded colors.
-
Restore to black
& white, sepia or original color.
Our experienced digital artists will restore your image using their best judgment.
If you have any specific instructions, these can be itemised in the instructions box.
A digital copy of your restored image(s) will be emailed through to you upon completion. Print options available nationwide through Warehouse Stationery.
Regular Features
From the Developer
Firstly,
an apology. In the production of this
newsletter Peter pulls it all together and then hands it over to me. The final stages – putting it on to the web
site, actually emailing it out – haven’t yet been set up so that he can do
them. Peter did his bit in early
December, and had this newsletter handed over to me well over a week ago, but
it’s taken me until now to be able to do my part. I’m sorry.
As Jazz, my major software project,
is starting to be used by real users my life has become VERY busy as I have to
respond to problems and fix and enhance the software. So much for the relaxed life of a
retiree. I wanted the software to be
used, but as Mary says, “Be careful what you wish for”. I must admit however that most of the time
I’m enjoying it, I’d much rather be too busy than not busy enough, but the last
two weeks have been very intense.
Fortunately things have slackened off a little and I’m able to catch up
with other things. Like this.
Have you told your story?
I’ve finished – for now at least – the series of “Telling your Story” articles. The complete list is below. Let me know if there are any other topics that you’d like me to cover. I hope that I’ve shown you how easy it is to add pictures, documents, even audio and video, to your family history on FamNet. And remember, your family don’t want your research, they want your stories. Particularly your own, and the ancestors that you knew. So have you started doing this yet? Why not? If all you have is a GEDCOM then it’s pretty boring for everybody, even you.
Is this Newsletter Spam to you?
We get it that not everybody wants this newsletter. But if this is you, all you have to do is click this link (or the one as the bottom of every newsletter) and enter your email and you’ll stop getting them. Some people seem to be reacting to an unexpected bit of email by reporting it as spam – they presumably didn’t notice that when they subscribed to FamNet they were told that they’d be getting newsletters and how to stop them if they weren’t wanted. Each such spam report is reported by our mail server (Amazon Web Services) and we treat them seriously, but it takes a 14 click dialog to turn off emails from the newsletter involved. Sometimes we can’t – we’re sending email to an address that forwards it somewhere else, and of course the complaining email is not on our system. We can no more fix this than we can change your email without knowing your old one. So please, if you don’t want this email, please stop it yourself! Don’t just hit the “Spam” button in your email software.
This is all from me this month. Blame my Jazz project for the fact that I haven’t written more!
Telling your story. Index
The Nash Rambler
I have
recently downsized my house and very recently retired.
In my old home I had an office with
filing cabinets and a logical (to me but nobody else) filing system so that I
could instantly lay my hands on anything that was needed. In the process of
moving, the filing system was put into cartons - many, many cartons. At my new
abode these cartons are being stored in a shed which is packed to the ceiling
with them. This makes them almost inaccessible and many valuable heirlooms are
in that pile and are not stored in the best of circumstances for their
survival. To get at something particular takes some hours and involves much
heavy lifting. Murphy's Law says that the carton I want is at the back, on the
bottom of the heap and this has been proven time after time.
I have been
researching for well over twenty years - even before photocopiers and
definitely before computers were readily available with ample storage capacity.
Therefore I have stacks of hand written notes and photocopies. Of course one of
my retirement jobs is to make sense of this material, scan what's scannable and enter the data onto my computer etc. BUT NOT
YET!!!
My new home
had no gardens. We had a blank canvas.
We have spent a lot of time, effort and money into the formation of the
gardens. I have built raised beds for my vegetable garden. I don't wish to skite but boy I have a great (potential) crop of tomatoes
and will flood the neighbourhood with my bumper crop of beans. My dahlias have
to be seen to be believed. My gladioli are looking like they will be a
sight. But my family are less convinced
by my ability in gardening - their catchphrase is "anybody can grow things
in potting mix". Everything is looking good and takes a lot of time in
watering, weeding (they're as good at growing as the vegetables) and general
pampering including much talking to them.
Together
with my gardening, my addiction to cemetery records and their collation into
one correct database is taking much of my time - up to three hours per day. In
short I am a very busy man at the moment and do not need any sidetracking into
tasks other than the garden and cemeteries. I'm even too busy to do housework
and cooking. My extensive backlog of reading is not going down. I'm struggling
to do the crosswords in the morning paper. My nana naps have disappeared.
Enter Stage
Left- my caring friend who I shall call Marlene in an effort to
not draw attention to this lovely lady who means well.
If you know
me and heard my various attempts at public speaking you will be aware of my
brick wall - that involving Joseph Nash. He is either a drunken seaman or a
drunken deserter from the British Army. I don't know which but I do know that
he was a drunk and that he had a history of very little association with the
truth. Using his given birthplace over a lot of official documents it appears
that he was born in either Derbyshire or Staffordshire and probably near Uttoxeter in 1840 plus or minus 10 years. Over time I have
collected and examined every Joseph Nash birth in that area and time period and
have reasons for discarding most of the alternatives. I have nothing positive
to directly connect to any option other than one or two cannot be found in
census records after 1851. I recently found Joseph the Army deserter in camp in
the 1861 census but, you guessed it, no place of birth.
I read in a
Family Tree magazine of a new database, available on Ancestry, of service
records of the British Army which come from a source in Canada. I do not
subscribe to Ancestry so I rang Marlene to get her to look at this database for
me to see if my Joseph was there. She asked me why and I stupidly explained the
whole sorry saga of my brick wall which she probably knew about anyway. She
produced the expected negative result but, as an aside, mentioned that he
appeared in a number of trees in the Ancestry collection. Of course I had to
have a look. Blow me down (spell-check
wants me to put blow I down) there are four or more that give a set of parents
- the same set of parents. I had to contact them all didn't I? Three were
working off my research and were related to me distantly and the fourth didn't
reply - of course. When I asked how they found Joseph's parents they basically
said they guessed and felt confident in that guess. When I consider the family
of these parents I can see many reasons why they would make an excellent
fit. Unfortunately I had dismissed that
option but I cannot tell why. The answer is, of course, it is in a carton
somewhere. ********, ********, ******* and *******. I HAVE
GOT TO UNEARTH THE WORK I HAVE DONE MANY YEARS AGO. I have to dig in the
shed!
Now Marlene
is a good friend BUT she has now destroyed a planned retirement routine.
Something has to give way - housework and cooking has already gone. Garden or
cemeteries? One has to fade into the background a little. HMMMM! I don't think
it is fair that an old man is exposed to such serious decision making. I am a
Libran anyway - cannot make a serious decision.
DNA Testing for Family History
21. DNA Testing – Going over some frequently asked questions, plus, plus…
Greetings
from Gail – freshly back from Houston, Texas, US where I have mixed and mingled
with the Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) team along with other project
Administrators. Although FTDNA does not
supply any recompense or perks for volunteering to manage a project, they
nevertheless put on a fantastic annual conference for its administrators (for
those who can attend). I was determined
to do so this year, and as soon as Air New Zealand announced its direct flights
to Houston (not for the faint hearted, I add, as you are in position for 14 –
15 hours for the flight), I immediately found when it would take place and
booked.
I travelled
alone, but my seat companions there and back were most pleasant, although I
cannot say the same for navigating my way through the
I managed
to get access to most of my usual emails and forums whilst away and it dawned
on me that people continued to ask the same questions, albeit with a personal
flavour. It mattered not whether they
were in a project and using the project’s in-house forum or they were in one of
the numerous Facebook DNA forums or even in the NZ
DNA Rootsweb list or the NZSG ‘Memlist’.
These questions usually include (in
no particular order) the following to which I respond in this missive further
below, but in the same number order:
1)
I wish to test my DNA, but I do not know with which firm I
should order. Which is “better”?
2)
Why
is my sister (or brother) showing a different ethnicity result to mine?
3)
If
I go with FTDNA, which test should I take?
4)
I
think I will use Ancestry because that is where my tree is. Is this a good choice?
5)
I
think I will use 23andMe. Is this a good
choice?
6)
Can
I transfer my Ancestry results to another data base?
7)
Can
I transfer my 23andMe results to another data base?
8)
What
is Gedmatch – do I test there?
9)
I
have all European ancestors, which firm should I use for DNA testing?
10) Can I order some test kits to have on
hand for my upcoming family reunion?
11) What is an FTDNA ‘project’ and how
will it help me?
12) Are there central receiving agencies
for YDNA and mtDNA results for comparison with
testers who have used other firms?
13) I tested my YDNA at Ancestry before
they scrapped that product – can this be transferred to FTDNA?
14) Because I want my ‘health results’,
and because 23andMe are no longer offering this in the same way they used to,
is there another way I can get these?
1) I wish to test my DNA, but I do not
know with which firm I should order.
Which is “better”?
There are
three main testing firms for genealogical purposes, but not all firms are equal
and not all offer the same tests, nor offer the tools for further examination
of your results or those of your matches and not all have the same ethnicities
in their data base of testers. You need
to define what you want from such a test, and decide whether you wish to just
accept what you are given or whether you want to actually learn about the
results of your investment.
·
For
instance, Ancestry offers only one
test and this is the autosomal test (chromosomes
1-22), but Ancestry has the most wonderful repository of research materials,
especially if you have a World-wide sub.
·
It
has a very wide
·
This
a saliva based test and the elderly often find this difficult to manage, but
like all things, a way can be found to encourage the saliva flow.
·
You
will find that if you select to join Ancestry.co.uk, it is actually
cheaper for New Zealand testers to get the annual subscription (which you will
need in order to take advantage of being able to make contact with your
matches) to join the UK site, than it is to join Ancestry.com.au.
·
However,
my main complaint is that Ancestry dishes
the results up to you on a plate, whereas the other two firms offer various
tools to do things for yourself. If you
are familiar with ‘My Food Bag’, the outcome is similar in that you can
experiment with the other two firms as opposed to testing with Ancestry.
·
There
is a central receiving agency for autosomal testers
which is www.gedmatch.com - no subscription but
monthly donations will get you ‘extras’ and Ancestry testers are transferring
their results in large numbers to this site.
23andMe is another firm, but this also gives you a
very limited health report and many decide the extra dollars is not worthwhile
and may choose to opt only for the cheaper genealogical test. Like Ancestry, you will receive match
notifications and like Ancestry, it is an internal email system for your
anonymity, but there is no subscription needed.
·
For
·
Its
data base of testers is extensive in the
·
Like
the Ancestry autosomal testers, 23andMe offers only one test (autosomal
DNA, but it will also state a male’s YDNA Haplogroup
(his genetic paternal male family lineage) and any tester’s mitochondrial
Haplogroup (his or her genetic maternal female family
lineage).
·
A
major criticism of this site is that many matches to yourself, will not answer
your request to make contact. In other
words, they tested only to learn of their health results and have no interest
in genealogy.
·
Like
the Ancestry autosomal testers, the results can be
transferred to www.gedmatch.com
·
This
also is a saliva based test.
FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA) is
the final firm in this line-up – this firm offers every genealogical DNA test
currently available (excluding paternity etc which are specialist tests). In addition, FTDNA stores your sample and so if you wish to start with a cheaper
test and work your way up, this is easily accommodated, although be aware the
sample has to be a good one, meaning no short-cuts and after some 5 years, the
sample will begin to deteriorate.
·
There
are YDNA tests (solely for males) which will give the direct male paternal line
and can be both STR tests (short random repeats of the nucleotides at up to 111
positions on the Y chromosome) as well as SNP tests (single nucleotide
polymorphism results on millions of positions on the Y chromosome) but you need
to do some learning in order to understand these outcomes.
·
There
are mitochondrial tests which are available for both
male and female testers and gives the direct female maternal line plus the
mutations within that female maternal lineage.
(This is not to be confused with the X chromosome).
·
There
is also the autosomal test which covers chromosomes
1-22 plus the X chromosome.
·
All
testers receive a personal Home page on which they can place their family tree
and make notes in terms of who they have contacted and the outcomes of that
contact – memory joggers.
·
All
testers receive their ethnicity results for the test they have selected to
purchase and for the autosomal testers, they also
receive two separate reports covering their ethnicity in the last couple of
thousand years as well as their ancient ethnicity.
·
If
a tester places their family tree into FTDNA, along with the names of two
persons who have also tested (one from their mother’s close family side if
their mother has passed on and another from their father’s close family if
their father has passed on), then all matches to abut the 2nd or 3rd
generation will be designated maternal or paternal. But the cousin (or parent) names need to
match that of the tester.
·
The
FTDNA autosomal results can be transferred to the
central receiving agency as for the other two firms mentioned above.
·
FTDNA tests are cheek swabs.
2) Why is my sister (or brother) showing a
different ethnicity result to mine?
·
Each
child receives 50% of their autosomes from their
parents, but we have no way of knowing just how large each segment is that is
received. For example, two siblings may
have inherited ancestry from say 6 generations, but the other sibling may have
only inherited from 4.
·
Once
the segment size is too small to be accurately compared with others in the data
base, the indication is that the two people are not related. This is not accurate. If at least three siblings are tested autosomally, then all three (assuming they have the same
biological parents) will give a much better outcome than just one sibling. An example of this is that neither my sister
or brother match with a distant cousin, yet I do, so if I had not tested, they
would never have known. Even more interestingly,
my son matches that distant cousin – simply because of the way the segments of
our ancestors mix and mingle at random at each generation.
·
Sometimes
one or more generation are missed out altogether.
3) If I go with FTDNA, which test should I
take?
·
The
test taken will depend on what is hoping to be learned. If it is just an experiment to learn who
might be “out there” in the very large DNA pond, then start with the autosomal test (marketed as Family Finder).
·
If
it is to learn of your male paternal line, then a male must take a YDNA
test; if it is to learn of the female
maternal line, then both men and women can test mtDNA.
·
The
more expensive the test, the better the results – a little like purchasing a
car – to tow a caravan, you would not want say a 1000 cc vehicle. So be as clear as you can as to what is
wanted out of a test.
4) I think I will use Ancestry because
that is where my tree is. Is this a good
choice?
·
Some
people really like Ancestry, so they will say “good choice”. I say otherwise – see the first set of
explanations.
·
The
Ancestry tree can easily be turned into a gedcom for
uploading into another data base (assuming you do not have your own genealogy
software on your own computer). The
instructions to extract the Ancestry tree are found at www.tmgenealogy.com/2013/06/how-to-ex...
5) I think I will use 23andMe. Is this a good choice?
·
Please
see the first set of explanations.
6) Can I transfer my Ancestry results to
another data base?
·
If
you tested with Ancestry before mid May 2016, then these can be transferred to
FTDNA. If taken at a later time, then at
present, the answer is “no”, although this is due to change within a few months.
·
You
can transfer to www.gedmatch.com
7) Can I transfer my 23andMe results to
another data base?
·
If
you tested with 23andMe between December 2010 and December 2013, then these can
be transferred to FTDNA. If taken at
another time, the answer is “no”.
·
You
can transfer to www.gedmatch.com
8) What is Gedmatch
– do I test there?
·
Gedmatch is a central receiving private non profit
operation for autosomal results only. There are no tests done.
9) I have all European ancestors, which
firm should I use for DNA testing?
·
FTDNA. This is because they are in partnership with
European testing firms.
10) Can I order some test kits to have on
hand for my upcoming family reunion?
·
FTDNA
enables this. For detailed instructions
please contact me at gailriddelldn
11) What is an FTDNA ‘project’ and how will
it help me?
·
FTDNA
enables projects to be set up for a wide variety of topics – these include
Surnames; Geographical places; YDNA Haplogroups; mtDNA Haplogroups and atDNA (Family
Finder). Each project is managed and
overseen by a volunteer administrator and none of whom receive any recompense
or perquisites from FTDNA. Such
administrators dedicate their time and energy to a particular interest in their
project and generally these are the first people with whom you should make
contact.
·
In
addition, many projects also offer in-house forums (this is up to the
administrator) and some are private to only project members whereas some are
open to the public. It operates a little
like Facebook, but without you continuously being
emailed by people who have nothing to do with genetics or genealogy.
·
Such
projects will help you understand your results, but you need to make email
contact with the administrator in the first place to ask the question to which
you are seeking an answer. (The surname
projects also include those which are members of the ‘Guild of One Name
Studies’). There is no cost to join any
FTDNA project.
12) Are there central receiving agencies for
testers who have taken the YDNA test and/or the mtDNA
test?
·
Yes. The YDNA testers can upload their YDNA
results to Ysearch by looking on their FTDNA YDNA
matches page and clicking on the option.
·
Yes
the mtDNA testers can upload to Mitosearch
by looking on their FTDNA mtDNA matches page and
clicking on the option.
·
If
you have old Ancestry YDNA results, you will need to manually input these to
Ysearch.org, but take care with this because some adjustments to four marker
values will be required. See this
conversion chart http://dgmweb.net/DNA/General/ADNA_FTDNA.html
13) I tested my YDNA at Ancestry before they
scrapped that product – can this be transferred to FTDNA?
·
Yes. The Ancestry YDNA testers need to go to this
site and read the directions. Be aware that unless you select the US$58.00
option, then you will not get the full benefit of that transfer. https://www.familytreedna.com/landing/ydna-transfer.aspx
14) Because I want my ‘health results’, and
because 23andMe are no longer offering this in the same way they used to, is
there another way I can get these?
·
Yes,
you can upload your autosomal results from FTDNA to
another site but it will cost you a further US$5.00. https://promethease.com/ondemand
Previous articles in the series are:
1. What is Molecular Genealogy?
4.
What DNA will NOT tell you and the risks involved.
5.
Direct paternal line (men only).
6.
Direct maternal line (men and women).
7.
All the lineages including maternal and paternal (men and
women).
8.
Understanding direct paternal results.
9.
Understanding direct maternal line results.
10.
Understanding your Autosomal ("cousin") results.
11.
Understanding the X Chromosome.
12.
Bits ‘n Bobs: DNA Testing Companies, Glossary.
13.
DNA Websites, Blogs, and Forums
14.
Commonly Asked Questions – Some Basic, Some Advanced
15.
DNA – Something a little different…
16.
Current Pricings for the Three Main Genealogical Testing
Firms
17.
DNA Testing for Family History
18.
Starting a new series on Y DNA Testing
19.
DNA Testing – Getting
into SNP testing on the Y chromosome to enhance your Family History
20. DNA Testing – Getting into SNP testing on the Y chromosome
to enhance your Family History (Contd)
Wairarapa Wandering.
Some years ago now, I was contacted by a good
friend in Normandale who informed me that there is a
photograph album coming up for auction in
The photographs, now in my tender care, are
lovely and I will eventually pass the album over to local Museum in Carterton. It is worth its weight in gold seeing what the
children were like in the late 1880s.
Ann
SULLIVAN had come out from
One of the SULLIVAN daughters married into the
KEMPTON family, a well known family in early Greytown.
Through my contacts I have since found out that
the SULLIVAN family were living in
Up at
I have also been to Pahiatua
museum to learn more on the family there, and to surprise them of proof of an
early photographer who was in the area because one of the prints has his name
on. So they were shown the complete album - sharing history is an enjoyable
pastime. When I first received the
album, I took it up to Masterton Archives for Gareth
to view and copy for his records.
I hated the thought of this album going out of
the family which happens a lot. The album was found at Wellington Tip, which is
down
I used to live a mile up from the tip 25 years
ago, but much prefer living here at Clareville in the
historic 1882 cottage. I have its history but this is for another day.
12 Neich’s Lane
Clareville.
5713
From our Libraries and Museums
Triggered by an email from Seonaid (Shona) Lewis, we are offering a forum to our libraries and museums to publicise their events, and to contribute articles to this newsletter that may be of interest to our readers. Auckland Libraries is starting to make good use of this free service, let’s see if other libraries and museums take up this offer.
For readers of this newsletter: please bring this to the attention of your local libraries etc, and encourage them to participate.
Auckland
HeritageTalks 2017
When: Fortnightly on Wednesdays
from February to November, 12pm - 1pm unless otherwise stated
Where: Whare Wānanga,
Level 2, Central
City Library, Lorne St, Auckland
Cost: Free
Booking: All welcome.
To ensure your place, please contact the
Central Auckland Research Centre on 09 8902412, or
complete our online booking form.
www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/HeritageTalks
Interested in family and local history? The
history of this country, as well as the rest of the world?
Then why not come along to one of our fortnightly HeritageTalks and hear more about both our personal
and our shared heritage.
Coming up in HeritageTalks:
February
Exodus to the Southern
Seas with Michelle Patient
Wednesday
8 February, 12pm -1pm
Aotearoa is not only the land of the long white cloud, but a land peopled by
immigrants. Join us at our first Lunchtime Lecture for 2017 to hear researcher
Michelle Patient discuss various waves of migration to New Zealand, particularly
from Britain, and touch on the who, what, when, where and why they came.
Recording Family History
for People of Chinese Origin with Annie Chui
Wednesday
22 February, 12pm-1pm
‘如何收集和记录你的中国血统的家族史’讲座
Chinese
genealogy
March
Let’s look at the new ScotlandsPeople with
Wednesday 8 March, 12pm -1.30pm
What is new and what is different
and what is, thankfully, still the same . . . We have a chance to find our
family from 1500s through almost to date! Pretty much from womb to tomb!! Find
a marriage in the Parish Register or Civil Registration; then look for the
babies; then for their marriages; and then for deaths - and wills!! (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk)
Selwyn Stories with
Wednesday 22 March, 12pm -1.00pm
Late last year The Church on the Corner: a
history of Selwyn Church Mangere
East, 1863-2012 was published. Author
All welcome.
To ensure your place, please contact
the Central Auckland Research Centre on 09 8902412,
or complete our online
booking form.
www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/HeritageTalks
The staff at the Central Auckland Research
Centre, Auckland Libraries, would like to wish everyone a merry
Ngā mihi | Kind regards
Seonaid (Shona) Lewis RLIANZA |
Family History Librarian
Central Auckland Research Centre,
Central City Library
Heritage and Research
Auckland Libraries - Nga Whare Matauranga o Tamaki Makarau
Ph 09 890 2411| Extn
(46) 2411 | Fax 09 307 7741
Auckland Libraries, Level 2, Central
City Library, 44 - 46 Lorne Street, Auckland
Visit our website: www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz
@Kintalk on Twitter / Auckland Research Centre on Facebook
Group News
Whangarei Family History Computer Group
Contacts:
Pat: (09) 437 0692 whangareifamilyhistorygroup@gmail.com
Venues
Thursday evening venue is
email Whangareifamilyhistorygroup@gmail.com, if
you need directions.
Saturday meetings are held in the SeniorNet rooms in
The
rooms are upstairs in the
Waikanae Family History Group
Contacts:
Email: wfhgroup@paradise.net.nz Phone (04) 904 3276, (
Venue: Meets every 4th Thursday morning at the Waikanae Chartered
Club,
WHAT IS IN A NAME – ON
THAT DEATH CERTIFICATE THIS TIME.
In the last issue I dealt with just the
spelling of Hoffmann, and in looking back on some old emails from
Now I had some apprehension about seeing it and
my fears were well founded – when I was searching for it on line I already knew
that it had only one N on Hoffmann, so there were no less than 6 errors because
my father’s older brother was the informant and a proponent of spelling the
name with one N.
We are always reminded to check and check again
and my great grandmother’s maiden name was Kirchner but pronounced Kirkner, so my uncle in his ignorance used the phonetic
spelling. And then it came to the children of the marriage and he only listed himself
and my father, but they had an adopted sister, Kathleen, whom I am sure he was
legally bound to list, albeit with a notation of the adoption.
Then he spelled his mother’s first name Rosanna
instead of Roseanna.
So again what is in a name and if I had taken
my uncle’s version as gospel that Kirkner clue would
have led me up the garden path. So how
many times have you heard someone say you have to check and check again and
prove what you have is correct, and in this case a death certificate is not the
answer. And it gets even worse when my
father dies in 1970 his death registration is with one N!!!!. I was not there and I do not know who the
informant was! Maybe that means another $30.
Waikanae Family History Group
Waitara Districts History & Families
Research Group
The contact details of this group are:
Waitara Districts History & Families Research Group
Rose Cottage
WAITARA 4320
Tel: 06 – 754 – 3212
waitarahistory.genealogy@xtra.co.nz
News and Views
Genealogy Changed Dramatically in
2016. I Can Prove It.
You know how I got into genealogy?
By voice mail.
It was the early 1990s, and I had just moved to
I had an elderly relative send me a letter saying
that I did
have a connection to
The voice mail told me where my grandparents
were buried. Then, this: “We
have a lot of other stuff on your family too. There’s a big thick file. You
should come up here and take a look.”
They did, and I did, and…well, here I am. I did
research for a few years, and then they invented the internet, and I did
research for a lot more years. I’m on the tail end of the generation of
genealogists who started out using paper and microfilm and Soundex. My timing was perfect, because I
got that experience, and then I got the internet. I have lots of friends who
came after the internet, and in some ways I envy them. They have no idea how
hard we used to have to work. Mostly, though, I’m glad I got the olden days
experience.
Then they came up with DNA testing. I first
tested at 23andMe in April 2010, and I’ve been enjoying it ever since. I love
working with DNA. When I started using it, though, I already had nearly 20
years of genealogical experience.
I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but
that’s no longer a thing. If you’re wondering why most of your DNA matches
don’t have trees or a list of surnames or any of the other standard
genealogical icebreakers, I have the answer. It’s because they did DNA first. The fastest DNA growth is
at AncestryDNA, and most people who test at AncestryDNA are not genealogists (yet).
Don’t believe me? Here’s how I know.
I review every single one of my new AncestryDNA matches. That site is by far the most active
site for me in terms of new cousins, so every day, I eat lunch at my desk and
check out my new matches. (Side note: I don’t recommend this. It trains
you to be hungry whenever you see the AncestryDNA
match page. I’m like Pavlov’s dogs. It’s ridiculous.)
It seemed like more and more of my new
cousins were new to Ancestry.com, and I wanted to get a sense of whether
that was really the case. In September and October 2016, I kept track of each
new match’s “member since” date. You’ll see this when you click on your match,
right below her username. It’ll say “Member since [year], last logged in
[date].”
I had new 645 matches on AncestryDNA
during this two-month period. That, by itself, blows my mind. I’m not a
Southerner, I have very few known colonial
But
the real news was this: 60% of those new matches joined Ancestry.com in 2016.
Here’s the complete breakdown:
Here’s what it looks like in pie chart form:
That’s a lot of red. That’s a lot of new people
who don’t have a tree because duh, they’re brand new.
I think this means we’re going to see a huge
shift in genealogy-land. Those of us who write and teach are going to have to
adjust our approach in a big way, because our students started with a swab, not
a stack of papers. They’re coming from a completely different direction, and
there are a lot of them. This crowd is way too big to ignore. They also
represent a huge opportunity, if we’re smart enough to figure out how to approach
it.
Family historians at all levels are going to
have to get over the concept that you need a tree to be able to figure out the
match. If that’s your only way of getting started, you’re not going to get very
far, because the majority of new matches are too new to have a tree. It’s just
not realistic. If they do have one, it’s probably full of errors, just like
ours were when we’d been at this for only a few months. If you can’t figure out
how to google the username, look ’em
up on Facebook, compare to other matches, or stack ’em up in a chromosome browser, you’re stuck. Genealogy
is about building
the tree, not having the tree handed to you. That part isn’t even new; it’s
always been that way. It’s nice when there’s a tree, but there isn’t, find a
way to move forward. Trust me, it’s not that hard. You can do this.
We also need to make sure we’re treating these newbies in such a way that they don’t log off and leave us
in the dust. Being friendly, approachable and gentle with new matches can go a
long way toward turning these people into genealogists, not just people
who took a DNA test once. We have the opportunity to pull them in, but we
also have the power to push them away. Let’s recognize that, and make good
choices.
I’m really excited about this. I had a sense
that there were a lot of new people, but I didn’t realize the scale of the
shift until I started tracking it. I think this is at least as big as the time
when we all started moving online, and I feel very fortunate to get to be here
for another huge change in genealogy. It’s like being part of the
Note:
I have no connection to Ancestry.com, other than as customer since 1997, which
apparently makes me a little old lady now. I do, however, have a connection to Family Tree University’s Virtual Conference,
where I’ll be presenting on how to deal with those no-tree DNA matches who turn
out to be adoptees and others with unknown parentage.
It can be done, and I’ll show you how. You can get $40 off registration by
using code EARLYVCWINTER. I’ve been at this conference since 2011, and it’s
awesome, because you don’t have to leave your house. You should go.
From cluewagon.com by Kerry Scott
Book Reviews
We’re pretty light on book reviews this month: neither Peter nor I have had time for much reading. How about some of you contributing a review?
In conclusion
A Bit of Light Relief
Advertising
with FamNet
If your organisation
is not a group subscriber then there will be a charge for advertising events
and services, which must be paid for before publication. Charges start at $NZ25
for a basic flier, and increase for more elaborate presentations. Like everyone
else we need funds to help keep FamNet going. Fees are very minimal. If your
organisation paid a yearly subscription you can have all the advertising you
want all year round in the Group News section. Your group could be anywhere in
the world, not just in
To Unsubscribe, Change your Email Address, or Manage your
Personal Information
If you have problems with this page you can email us directly but the page is self-explanatory.
Feel free to redistribute this newsletter. If you publish a newsletter yourself you may include material from this newsletter in yours provided that you acknowledge its source and include the FamNet URL. www.famnet.org.nz