Fall Tour 2016 The first ever fall tour was a great success. We didn t get the stunning summer weather that the spring group had, but we didn t let that stop us. Also for the first time ever, this was an all Canadian group. We were fortunate enough to arrive in time to take in the monthly talk at the Scottish Genealogy Society. The talk was given by Fran Goodrow, archivist at the John Gray Centre in East Lothian. Fran s talk was terrific and we learned about the lives of the people who made application for poor relief. The poor relief applications follow the applicants for a number of years and really give insight into their lives. East Lothian is working to digitize and index their poor relief records and these will be available in a digital flip-book style for anyone visiting the archives to be able to consult. If your ancestors were from East Lothian, and you are wondering if there are any records (poor law or other records), you can contact the John Gray Centre with your query. This will be a free 15 minute search of the records to determine what, if anything exists with regards to your ancestors. After the free search, if there are records, then the fee is 25.25 per hour to get the information transcribed and sent to you. Jim McQueen, president of the Abbotsford Genealogical Society (and tour participant), Fran Woodrow (archivist, John Gray Centre, and Geoffrey Lauder-Frost, chairman of Scottish Genealogy Society. This was, without question, the most successful trip we have had, combining family history research and general sightseeing. 1
We spent three full days at the ScotlandsPeople Centre, which also houses the National Archives. Lots of discoveries were made and certificates printed. We spent two full days at the National Library of Scotland. One of those at the main library on the George IV bridge and one at the Maps building on Causewayside. During the weekend, participants who didn t travel returned to the library or went to do research at the Scottish Genealogy Society. And on the Monday that is for local research, the Scottish Genealogy Society and the ScotlandsPeople Centre were visited to make the most of the time we had in Edinburgh. One of the nice things about the organized tours is that in each facility, staff start us off with an overview of the records available. This really gets us ready to hit the research at full tilt. And because the facilities know we are coming, they have additional staff on hand to assist with questions. Most of the tour participants took the time to travel during the weekend. They went to Perth, Aberdeen, Inverness, Stirling and even Orkney. It was such a special time for them to be able to walk the streets that their ancestors walked, visit the churches that their ancestors worshipped in and some cases, see the childhood homes of more recent ancestors. 2
Wondering Which Tour is Best For You? Edinburgh: The Edinburgh tour is the most popular tour. The National repositories are in Edinburgh. The ScotlandsPeople Centre has records for the whole of Scotland as does the National Archives, which is located upstairs in the same building. The National Library is a deposit library for the whole of Scotland and their trades directories, post office directories, newspapers and family histories are from across Scotland. The Maps building has over 2 million maps and is a terrific way to learn how to become fluent in using the website once you are back home. Glasgow: The Glasgow tour is for people who have ancestors from the City of Glasgow. The Glasgow City Archives have school records, poor relief applications, shipbuilding records, prison (Barlinnie) records, Asylum records, burial and lair records for the city of Glasgow. If your ancestors were from around Glasgow - as in Lanarkshire, then this would not be a helpful tour for you. Highlands: The Highlands tour allows you to take in the sights and learn the history of the Highlands. The archives have records pertaining to the area such as maps, school records, burial and lair records, clan histories and more. In addition, the Highlands tour will provide a unique look at some of the places that had significance in Highland history: Culloden, the area of the Sutherland Clearances, Skye and Glenfinnan. Please remember that due to the popularity of the tours, spaces can not be held unless the deposit is paid. Webinars MONDAY NOVEMBER 7 Brick Wall Busters for Scottish Genealogy Research $9.95 Scottish documents contain a wealth of information and can make researching so much easier when you really take a look at what the documents are telling you. It becomes important to really pay attention to the key words on the documents so that you know what records you need to look at next in order to break through brick walls and learn as much as you can about your Scottish ancestors. MONDAY DECEMBER 5 Using Poor Relief Records for Scottish Genealogy $9.95 Poor relief in Scotland required a process of application and given that specific criteria needed to be met, not everyone who applied actually received poor relief. However, the applications are an absolute treasure trove of genealogical information and can give a fantastic "peek" into the lives of y our ancestors. All webinars are at 7 pm ET. You MUST be able to attend the live talk. No recordings will be available afterwards. Purchase at: http://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/webinars.html Once payment has been received you will get a link to register for the actual webinar. 3
When You Join a Genealogy Tour of Scotland, You Get: Pre-tour webinar on Scottish Genealogy Research Pre-tour webinar on Planning For a Research Trip to Scotland Pre-tour assistance to make the most of your time in Scotland Pre-tour package of information to assist with your research planning 9 nights in a centrally located hotel where you will get the sense of living in Scotland Breakfast every day A Family History Talk at ScotlandsPeople Centre A Family History Talk at the National Library of Scotland 5 days of dedicated research time where staff are expecting you and are ready to assist Transportation to and from the research facilities Time to visit the area where your ancestor lived in Scotland and assistance to plan this Time to research in a local archive, family history society or library The chance to experience a Ceilidh and indulge your Scottish heritage Transportation to and from the Ceilidh Optional historic evening guided tour of Greyfriar s Cemetery The opportunity to connect with others researching their Scottish roots A great way to connect with your Scottish ancestors Memories to last a lifetime A deeper sense of belonging A better sense of who YOU are as part of the Scots diaspora These tours sell out quickly. If travelling to your ancestral homeland, walking in the footsteps of your ancestors, connecting with your roots and researching records not available online is on your wish list, act quickly before you miss out: http://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/ Genealogy Tours of Scotland Calendars are now available on the website! Important Dates in Scottish history, tour dates and scenes from your ancestral homeland! Just $14.95 This tour was AWESOME! AWESOME! More than I ever could have imagined. 4
ScotlandsPeople Website Relaunches The long anticipated website switch-over at ScotlandsPeople has finally launched! Here are the added changes: The look and ease of use You now sign in with your email address rather than a username Credits, while still purchased in bundles of 30 are now 7.50 instead of 7. Given that there has not been an increase in several years, this increase is minimal You no longer need to spend credits to view the indexes. Index returns used to be 25 per page and each page was one credit to view. All returns are now simply in a list and the list is free to view. Images now cost 6 credits instead of 5. But remember that there is no longer a charge to view the indexes so you are still paying the same, and in some cases, less since you might have needed more than one page of the index previously ALL church records are now included, not just the Established Church of Scotland, so those ancestors you might not have been able to find before may well be online now. Here's what has stayed the same: Any unused credits are still available All saved images are still on your account All previous searches are still on your account Here's what's coming: No word as to when but hopefully by year's end or when the new year releases happen, the un-indexed Kirk Session Records will be available online. These can be searched by Kirk and you will need to scroll through to find the entry for your ancestors. Bear in mind, the surnames are in the left margin, so this will make the scrolling a bit easier - if you don't stop to read all of the Kirk "gossip" as you scroll. There will, over time, be more un-indexed records coming online, with Maps and Plans following the Kirk Session Records, then other records currently held by the NRS will be added over time. These NRS records will be under a subscription basis (the fees as yet to be determined) since they will be more difficult to find, being un-indexed. It couldn t get any better than this! I went to the church my ancestors worshipped in and the congregation welcomed me like long lost family. This memories made on this trip will last me a lifetime. 5
Historic Edinburgh Tours As we do every tour, we took the historic walking tours provided by Robert at Historic Edinburgh Tours. He is so engaging and so knowledgeable and his evening tours really are a highlight of the time we spend together. Sadly, the night we were to tour Greyfriars, the rain decided to start just before we started and lasted until about 45 minutes into the tour. However, by then participants were drenched. Not to be stopped, just wet. On the Thursday night, we were treated to something very special. Because the days are shorter, we were able to enjoy the projector on our tour of the Old Town. This really added to the experience and helped us to really feel immersed in Scotland s history. 6
Genealogy Learning I have been blogging daily for family history month, and plan to continue to do so for the remainder of October. These posts are helpful little pieces of research ideas, strategies or places to look in order to be successful in moving your Scottish genealogy research forward. As well, I have uploaded a couple of short videos onto the website (from my YouTube channel) which might be helpful. These can be found under the RESOURCES & VIDEOS tab on the right hand side of the homepage. I hope to add more over time. For those who are interested, I write a bimonthly article on Scottish genealogy for the In-Depth Genealogist emagazine. Subscriptions are $35 annually and that includes access to all back issues as well. I will be continuing the webinar series, listed on page 3. I will be speaking for a full day in Halifax on October 15th. We will discuss the Scottish naming pattern, irregular marriages, using keywords on the documents to break through brick walls, underused and little known genealogy databases and archives where your ancestors might be waiting for you to find them and the historic events that led to mass emigration. I will be speaking at the Great Canadian Genealogy Summit in Brampton on October 22 where I will share ideas for finding your ancestors in the various archives in Scotland as well as where to find burial information on your ancestors. And I will be rounding out the year at the Kitchener Library s Genealogy Fair on November 5th where I will be giving a beginning talk on researching your Scottish ancestors. It would be great to have you join me for any of the talks or webinars. Please feel free to share the list of talks, webinars, short videos, blog posts and articles wiht others who might benefit. Payment Reminder The final balance for all three spring 2017 tours is due December 19th. If payment is not received, your spot, including your deposit, will be forfeited and offered to the waiting list. 7
2017 is the year of History Heritage and Archaeology in Scotland. As with 2009 and 2014 there will be events lined up to welcome the Diaspora home. This makes 2017 an ideal year to take part in a Genealogy Tour to Scotland. If you have been mulling the idea over for a while, you might want to take the plunge while there are still spaces left. The Glasgow Tour is SOLD OUT The May 2017 Tour is SOLD OUT There are 3 spaces left for the HIGHLAND TOUR There are 2 spaces left for the SEPT 2017 TOUR BOOK YOU SPACE NOW: http://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/home.html I will Be at RootsTech, Will You? Once again I will be an Ambassador at RootsTech in February. I will also be speaking on Underused Databases for Scottish Genealogy Research AND I will be co-hosting a booth in the Expo Hall with Ian Walker of Borders Journeys where we will be inviting you to Join Us in Scotland for the year of History Heritage and Archaeology. Will we see you there? My mind is full. My heart is full. My memories are full. I can t thank you enough for all the work you do in putting these tours together. It has been a terrific experience and has helped me really understand my Scottish ancestors 8