The End of Another One...

And so another year passes into history. A big 'Happy New Year' to both the readers of this blog and the followers of my Twitter account - hope you stick by me during 2013!

As hinted at in my previous post, it's now time for an appeal for help/support. It's a very simple request, namely, that you may wish to consider sending a small donation my way! This can be done via the DONATE button in the column to your right (just below the Quiz Book image). My income from the BI-Gen Blog is pretty much nil, and it does take a fair amount of time and effort to maintain; so if you've found my ramblings useful these past couple of years then do consider sending something my way. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to use the button - just click and follow the instructions. And any donations sent my way will be split 50/50 between myself and my e-Books4Charity fund-raising venture. Alternatively, of course, you could simply purchase something from the said website.

Talking of publications, you may be interested to know that my book, In the News: the 1970s, is now available in 'hard copy' format. To learn more about the publication - and to find out how to get hold of a copy (Kindle edition, PDF or 'hard copy') - then check out my brand new website, 1970sBritain.

The '1970sBritain' website is far from complete, but I thought I'd get it up there and develop it slowly over the coming weeks and months. Hope you enjoy it. If you spot any errors or glitches please let me know! And do get in touch with any comments regarding the same.

Enjoy your evening!

Genealogy News - 29th December

Before you start on today's news update, please remember to check out my short post on 27th about special offers that are currently up for grabs. And in fact there are yet more FindMyPast free credits to be claimed here with the use of code FMPTV2. That's 230 free credits I've collected these past few days - and you can do the same, too. Oh, and blogger John D Reid has flagged another offer from FMP.

Family Tree Magazine have released their latest issue - and the relevant announcement includes a tie-in to yet another FMP offer. More about the offer, specifically, here.

Here's another special offer - this time from FamilyRelatives.

It's that time of year again. Latest file releases from TNA... and a related Podcast. And here's the Northern Ireland equivalent.

The latest issue of Your Family History magazine is out.

DeceasedOnline have released lots and lots of new records for Fife.

A small piece of news for Dublin researchers.

And Irish researchers may be interested in the Eneclann sale.

English, Welsh and Irish researchers should take a quick look at the latest news from FamilySearch.

Some recent offerings from the Beeb:

• Latest history Podcast;
• Forthcoming history TV & radio.

And I think it's about time we caught up with 'forthcoming events':

• Events at the National Library of Wales;
• Events at the National Library of Scotland;
• Saturday 5th January - York Book Fair;
• The BBC's 'Things To Do' page. 

As usual, I will try to keep up with the latest news, etc., at my BI-Gen Twitter feed. My next major news update here on the blog will most likely be next Saturday.

However, do look out for a special one-off blog post on Monday 31st - a bit of an appeal for help/support. It'd be great if you could respond in the positive, so do call in in a couple of days time if you can.

Ladies take note...

Advice to Wives

Genealogy News - 27th December

I know I said I wouldn't be back until the weekend, but I thought I'd pop by to flag a few bits and bobs - especially the special offers that are up for grabs.

Firstly, a reminder about 'Start Your Family Tree Week' during 26th Dec - 1st Jan. See here and here for all you need to know (and don't forget to claim those 50 free credits for FMP by 2nd January!). FindMyPast Ireland's version of the venture also features a competition.

There's also more free credits for FMP to be had via the Xmas Lost Cousins newsletter (+ other offers). And yet more credits elsewhere, in fact - see this post on the 'A Rebel Hand' blog (scroll down to 'stop press'). Yes, all the offers seem to work - I've got myself 190 free credits to use at FMP by the end of March!

Ancestry.com have opened up free access to a good few records until 29th December. Mostly US stuff, but there are a few important items of interest to those of us on this side of the Pond. Click here, then click on 'See What's Free' at the right-hand side.

Don't forget this offer from CW & S Parkinson Genealogical Storage.

There are a few other offers around, but they can wait till the weekend's post (probably Saturday, maybe Sunday!).

And we'll end this short post with some free articles from History Today magazine.

Genealogy News - 22nd December

Last post before Christmas Day. Next post will be next weekend. So, erm, Happy Christmas!

Episode 13 of 'The Family History Show' is now available for viewing (inc. a visit to the Surrey History Centre).

The latest issue of the Lost Cousins Newsletter is now out.

Big news from GenesReunited, with the release of the Scottish Census (transcripts) 1841-1901 - see here.

Another important item of news involving GenesReunited - and FindMyPast - is the forthcoming 'Start Your Family Tree Week' during 26th Dec - 1st Jan. See here and here for further info.

Essex researchers will be required to check out this piece of important news from their record office.

More Bolton news from the folk at DeceasedOnline.

S&N Genealogy have turned out a Yearly Round-up Newsletter.

Have I mentioned this before? Can't remember. Anyway, here's the latest bulletin from ScotlandsPeople.

More Scottish stuff: the latest online mag from the Scottish Council on Archives.

TheGenealogist's 'latest news' section is worth a quick look (releases for several areas of the UK).

Origins.net have released a very handy finding aid for those pesky pre-1858 wills/probate records.

West Yorkshire researchers should read this. The relevant link to Ancestry can be accessed via here (where there are a couple of other new items from elsewhere in the UK).

Users of TNA's Discovery catalogue may be interested in this blog post.

Here's the latest newsletter from 'Ireland Reaching Out'.

Important genea news for Northern Irish folk.

And there's more news from Northern Ireland here.

A summary of recent worldwide genealogy news can be found here.

FindMyPast's blog features an item on the ancestry of Tess Daly.

Could this be the very first Christmas family recording?

Why did Oliver Cromwell cancel Christmas? Check out the free article from 'Your Family Tree' magazine. And, even better, here's a completely free issue of the magazine for you (if you've got the right equipment).

If you're interested in the Scottish Diaspora and/or tapestries, then check this out.

If you fancy helping out our libraries up here in the North-East of England, then sign this petition.

And here's the usual weekly helping from the BBC:

• The week's 'History Headlines';
• Latest Podcast;
• Forthcoming history TV & radio;
• A new way to get 'BBC History Magazine' (Google Play).

I shall be highlighting the odd item at the BI-Gen Twitter feed over the next few days.

From the Quack Doctor...

Victorian Festive Science

Genealogy News - 18th December

A fair bit of reading to catch up on...

S&N Genealogy's latest E-Mail News (always worth a read) contains plenty of new record releases.

The December newsletter from the National Library of Ireland can be found here.

The latest newsletter from the English Diaspora Project can be accessed here.

Yet another new e-bulletin is that produced by Eneclann.

And you can catch up with worldwide genealogy news here.

As for other news...

There's been a little bit of a hiccup in that pending Ancestry.com sale (thanks to @YourFamTreemag on Twitter).

Yet more Bolton cemetery records news can be found here. And there's stuff for Scotland to be found at the same website - see relevant blog post.

Two new podcasts have popped up on the TNA website, here and here.

Here's a neat summary of Festive opening hours at the UK's major repositories.

Some Irish news from Claire Santry:

• FamilySearch adds Landed Estate Court Rentals (Chris Paton also covers this item, here);
• Recent additions to IGP Archives.

More news about the situation with the Scottish Catholic Archives.

Many of you will have heard the news about the Duchess of Cambridge's newly-discovered links to the nobility. Having given the story a quick look, it seems to me that the link is somewhat tenuous, and perhaps no stronger than any connections the rest of us might make if we looked hard enough.

The anniversary of the death of Prince Albert passed a few days ago - commemorated by a nice piece on the BNA blog.

Here's a batch of interesting history links from the Two Nerdy History Girls.

A neat little summary of the Scottish 2011 Census (thanks to @ScotlandsPeople on Twitter).

The FFHS are still encouraging folk to submit entries for their 2012 competition (you'll have to be quick!).

Don't forget this special offer from CW & S Parkinson Genealogical Storage.

Forthcoming events (not much, I'm afraid - at least that I know of)...

• Saturday 29th December - Market Harborough Book Fair;
• Saturday 29th December - Sherborne Book Fair;
• Postcard Fairs (please check with organisers before travelling a long way);
• The BBC's 'Things To Do' page.

Please note:
Over the Festive period I shall probably issue posts less frequently due to the lack of news at this time of year. Next bulletin is likely to be Saturday 22nd December (or maybe Sunday). I will, however, keep the BI-Gen Twitter feed ticking over on an (almost) daily basis.

Genealogy News - 14th December

This in an interesting piece: the latest on the forthcoming 'Newspaper Storage Building' at Boston Spa.

If you're interested in the Scottish mapping industry then check out this post.

Lots of advice for Scottish researchers can be found at Ruth Blair's blog.

A few Cheshire and Northumberland records appear on the latest FamilySearch update.

Remember that recent Irish records release, the Kilmainham Pension Records? Well, here's a bit more info about 'em.

Co.Tyrone researchers may wish to check this out.

And West Yorkshire researchers should take heed of this (thanks to @WYorkshireLives on Twitter).

Interested in workhouses? Try this neat little online museum.

The Society of Genealogists is pushing its forthcoming 'Family History Skills Courses' which begin next month.

A little bit more info about TNA's newly-revamped museum has appeared here.

Nice story about 90-year-old twins.

There are a few competitions to have a stab at here.

Here's a history crossword for you to ponder.

And, of course, there's the usual from the BBC:

• The week's 'History Headlines';
• Latest Podcast;
• Forthcoming history TV & radio.

More news, etc., can be found at the BI-Gen Twitter feed.

Genealogy News - 11th December

Oh dear, there's very little in the way of genealogy news around at the minute. It seems that everyone (apart from me, that is) is revving up for Christmas. Never mind - let's see what we've got...

Many of you will be aware of the fact that well-known English genealogist, Dr Nick Barratt, is set to return to The National Archives - and is likely to let go of many of his family history interests and connections. A neat summary of proceedings can be found here.

Here's the latest E-Zine from the FFHS.

The release by FindMyPast of the records of Kilmainham Hospital, Dublin, has been supplemented by this little article about the institution in question.

The latest TNA Podcast is now available.

Blogger John D Reid reminds us of what's on offer from Pharos as regards online tuition.

Important news for Armagh researchers.

Ayrshire researchers will be delighted with the availability of this little lot on the DeceasedOnline website.

Curious about the stats behind the 2011 Census? Then take a look at this post from Chris Paton.

The Two Nerdy History Girls can always be relied upon to bring us an entertaining collection of history links.

Events are somewhat thin on the ground...

• Sunday 16th December - Exeter Book Fair;
• News from the SoG about their events line-up for 2013;
• Forthcoming Postcard Fairs (please check with organisers before travelling a long way);
• The BBC's 'Things To Do' page.

Please don't forget about the special offer from C W & S Parkinson Genealogical Storage.

And there's always the BI-Gen Twitter feed for the latest news (though, again, news items have been hard to come by of late).

From the 'Bizarre History Blog'...

Good Executions?

Genealogy News - 7th December

The Christmas lull is starting to creep in, I fear, as the genealogy news begins to fall away. Never mind, we still have the following to keep us busy...

FindMyPast have released new British Army Service and Pension records (inc. some Irish stuff - be careful to scroll down the article).

The National Archives' on-site museum has now reopened.

DeceasedOnline continue to add to their 'Bolton Collection'.

Thanks to the FFHS for circulating news of another WWI digitisation project.

PRONI users will want to catch up on this report by Chris Paton.

Here's a great blog post for those of us wanting to learn a little about old handwriting.

Now available: the latest issue of Your Family Tree Magazine.

Seems like it's time for another issue of the free, online 'Irish Lives Remembered' Magazine.

More Irish news from Claire Santry:

• Repository Festive opening (Ireland);
• Irish events pre-Xmas;
• ARA Ireland Newsletter.

Here's a forthcoming TV programme which may be of interest to genealogists.

Why not take a vote on the recent series of WDYTYA?

From the BBC's HistoryExtra website:

• The week's 'History Headlines';
• Latest Podcast;
• Christmas issue of BBC History Magazine;
• Forthcoming history TV/radio;
• A reminder of the BBC's 'History TV On Demand' service.

And don't forget BI-Gen's Twitter feed.

Fun at the library...

'Mystery'

Genealogy News - 4th December

The latest newsletter from S&N Genealogy can be found here. Quite a few items of interest, including news of new Death Transcripts, military records and a downloadable guide/catalogue.

The latest TNA Podcast is now available.

A round-up of recent worldwide genealogy news can be found at the GenealogyInTime website.

The latest Eneclann newsletter is now available. And more Irish news can be found in the latest Ireland XO newsletter.

PRONI have issued the following 'Notice to Customers':

To facilitate the media preview of the Annual Release of files from 1982, PRONI's document production service in the Reading Room will be unavailable for the period 10-14 December.  Other services in the Public Search Room, self-service microfilm, exhibition, etc., remain open to visitors.

PRONI will not be running a late night service on Thursday 20th and 27th December. On these nights PRONI will close at 4:45pm.

The latest set of history links is available from the Two Nerdy History Girls. And I always find something of historical interest at this website's regular round-up of links.

Catholic researchers take note of this.

Hebridean researchers take note of this - see also here.

And it's probably about time I issued a reminder about the handy little historical resource that is Electric Scotland.

More Scottish reading here. Oh, and I can't remember if I've told you about the latest magazine from the National Library of Scotland (not sure how long this has been out for).

You may or may not have heard of the ParishMouse website. A good way to guide you in is via the 'What's New' page.

Here's an independent review of a new book entitled Welsh Genealogy.

More Irish stuff from Claire Santry:

• Irish burial records;
• The Gathering Ireland 2013 news;
• IGP Archives - November updates.

Forthcoming events (not much, sorry) ...

• Saturday 8th December - Edinburgh Book Fair;
• Upcoming Postcard Fairs (please check with organisers before travelling a long way);
• The BBC's 'Things To Do' page.

Don't forget that you can get many more news items, stories, etc., via the BI-Gen Twitter feed.