I started this
blog to share little snippets I learn that may help others, to share my
genealogy journey and to let my family learn more about their family. Little did I expect that my last blog (and
only my second blog) would get an amazing response and hopefully has helped
lots of people. I have been pondering
how to follow it and have decided that I will continue with my original aim. So
I am going to talk about my recent genealogy journey.
The first week in
Salt Lake City (while the main week of SLIG took place) I enjoyed time in the FamilyHistory Library. My first day included
interesting research — finding my 4x great grandfather’s memorial inscription [i]
was a highlight that also gave me an insight into how he was respected, thanks
to the accompanying inscription:
In affectional memory of
GEORGE JONES late of Bellan who departed this life October 5 1879 aged 73 years
also SUSANNAH beloved wife of the above who died June 20 1891 aged 86 years.
They are not dead whose
memory lives in minds who know their worth.
I
also found a will for the brother (John Renshaw [ii])
of my ancestor (Thomas Renshaw — 6x great grandfather). It was special as not only did it reveal many
family relationships (he was a bachelor so named all his nieces and nephews),
but also gave a clue of the family origins with land in Eckington, Derbyshire
(more research is ongoing). The best bit
was that he lived in Bleasby, Nottinghamshire which is the village my parents
now live in, my sister was married in the church and my Dad regularly mows the
churchyard grass!
Although
I spent time on these days researching, I also pursued one of my goals of the
trip which was to improve my approach to writing up my family history — getting
better at sourcing my information (using Referencing for Genealogists: Sources and Citation, by Ian G. McDonald) and getting
advice from my genie friends — notably Cyndi Ingle (yes she of Cyndi’s List)
who gave me much constructive criticism that I truly valued and Liz KelleyKerstens, who is my new proof reader. Spending
time in the library, I made new friends, helped people with their UK research and
discussed ways of advancing the world of genealogy. More importantly we had a good giggle and got
to know each other even better than before.
I
was lucky to attend an open night at the Ancestry ProGenealogists’ offices and
meet more people — as well as meet some Facebook friends in person and catch up
with the wonderful Angie Bush who I had driven around Norfolk and Suffolk
ancestor hunting after Who Do You Think You Are Live back in 2017. I also got my DNA geek on (including meeting
the DNAGeek (Leah LaPerle Larkin)) attending the Genetic Genealogy Tips andTechniques Facebook group lunch (big shouts out to Blaine Bettinger, Paula
Williams, Angie Bush, and Leah for administrating such a wonderful group on
Facebook). This is one of my main
sources for learning about the latest developments in DNA for genealogy along
with DNA Central. The lunch was so
successful we repeated it a week later. Photo thanks to Mckell Keeney who was in
our course too — and I still owe some Gloucestershire research advice to her.
On
the Saturday night in the middle weekend, I organised a dinner for my friends,
new (Amy, Debbie and Teresa) and not quite so new (Cyndi, Cari, Angie, Helen,
Jane, Andy, Paula, Liz, Brynne, and Kim), who were in Salt Lake City that
weekend. It was a wonderful evening and
was topped off by heading into the rehearsal rooms at Ballet West to listen to
the very talented Brynne Lizzy Gallup (Angie’s daughter) perform Wieniawski
Violin Concerto No.2 Movement 1 and Bach Sonata No.2 in A minor Movement 4. To have a professional quality rendition of
beautiful music was an added bonus.
On
the Sunday, I escaped Salt Lake City for a few hours to head into the mountains
and visit Park City. This was the
location of the Winter Olympics in 2002 and we visited the museum seeing the
ski jumps and bobsleigh runs as well as watching some future Olympians doing
their own jumps on the slopes. We then
headed into Park City itself, seeing the set-up of the Sundance Film Festival
and finding a bar to watch one of the semi-finals before the Superbowl with
another new friend, Debbie. A wonderful
break, however I was ready to get back down into the room my friends had hired
to all work together on whatever work projects or research was being done while
the library was closed. Of course there
was more giggling involved!
Monday
morning saw a snow storm but that didn’t stop me making my way to the Hilton
ready for day one of the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy Academy week
(tailored towards professionals) where I was taking ‘DNA and the 21st
Century Professional’. It was a
wonderful week’s course, with lots of practical learning, interesting insights
and a very interactive group of people.
We all learnt from each other but special thanks goes to Angie Bush (our
course leader), Blaine Bettinger (who gave my favourite lecture, ‘Genealogy as
a Science’) and to my course buddy Helen Smith from Australia. We don’t really have the concept of
institutes for genealogy here in the UK.
They are a chance for like-minded individuals to come together and
collectively improve our knowledge and practice. It is something that would be a great
addition in the UK — the closest thing we have is the Getaway Weeks held by the
Society of Genealogists (next one is in May on DNA — and I’ll be on the other
side of the classroom teaching on that one!).
Overall I left with significantly more knowledge than I arrived with as
well as having thoroughly enjoyed the learning process.
Somewhere
in that week, I managed to write my last blog.
I also received two new sets of DNA results — an update on my uncle’s
Y-DNA test (sadly the Y-111 results neither improved nor diminished the
evidence I previously had but did improve my knowledge and understanding), as
well as the autosomal results for my uncle on the other side of the
family. It’s always when you don’t have
time that the interesting results arrive — luckily he is my Dad’s full brother
(no misbehaving by Grannie) but his results also gave insights into parts of the
family that he inherited more DNA from compared to my Dad. His ethnicity points towards some German
ancestry that has not been seen before so some more investigations for me to
ponder.
We
were lucky on our course to not have homework so I got time to spend time with
more genealogy friends in the evenings and a little more time doing research in
the library. The week was finished off
with a kind invitation from Rick and Pam Sayre to have brunch at their
house. Alongside delicious food (helped
by Janice Nash’s meatball recipe), it was a chance to learn more about US
history via Rick’s impressive historical collection and spend time with
respected genealogists (I particularly enjoyed my discussion with Thomas Jones
who helped me get perspective on how to be a professional genealogist without
necessarily doing paid genealogy work).
My
final evening was with my amazing friends Cyndi, Paula and Liz (who luckily I
get to keep in touch with via Facebook and hangouts while being on the other
side of the Atlantic). I feel truly
blessed to have them as friends, to giggle with, support each other, learn from
— and most of all they introduced Fireball to me!
I
return to the UK with many projects I now want to attack (should I try to
become certified, what new DNA tools should I use, what webinars should I watch
and journals should I read, how can I share my experiences with others). I have an amazing year of genealogy ahead — FamilyTree Live (where I am lecturing and running workshops), the DNA Getaway week atSoG (where again I’m lecturing), the Genealogy Show (where I get to be a punter
and spend time with genealogy friends from around the globe), the Unlock thePast cruise around the Mediterranean (where I am lecturing and running
workshops (there is a theme building for this year) and finally RootsTechLondon and the events being run by the SoG at the same time (I will miss a lot
of RootsTech as a very important wedding for me is taking place the same
weekend but hope to be around for some of it).
I am very lucky to have such a wonderful involvement in the genealogy
community but hopefully I also add lots back into it too.
[i]
George and Susannah JONES memorial inscription transcript. Entry E28. Gwernafield Memorial Inscriptions – Holy
Trinity Churchyard. Published by Clwyd
Family History Society, 2004. Viewed at
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, call number 942.935/G2 V3ch.
[ii] Will. John RENSHAW. 1797. Court of the Peculiar of Southwell. Nottingham Archive Reference PR/SW/173/36 - Page 155. Viewed at Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Film 189846.
