Lilian's Tree

Today it was all about Scottish, Irish and a bit of English records, wonderfully presented by Chris Paton. Chris is a professional genealogists, author, international speaker and a good bloke. Born in Northern Ireland, he now lives in Scotland. Chris, busy writing. Chris and I.                                                     Chris, in presenter mode. Chris presented four fantastic talks, starting with A beginner's guide to British and Irish genealogy. Now I don't class myself as a beginner but it is always great to revisit things and have them refreshed in your memory. You might also learn something new, I know I did. Chris gave an overview of important dates and while I had read about them, hearing them explained...

My collection of goodies started on the Monday before RootsTech started, with a gift of a CD,  containing a Webinar on Dropbox. Dropbox isn't something I've used, so I'm looking forward to 'playing' with it. Presented by Thomas MacEntee, I know it will be good.   Then there were business cards, ( I ended up with a bundle) and the start of the ribbon collection. Blogger beads were also received, on Monday and by the time RootsTech got underway on the Wednesday, I had 11 ribbons, to hang from my name tag. I ended up with 38 and during RootsTech I split them into three, so I wouldn't trip! Badges were also collected.     My RootsTech bag and Syllabus, were part of my goodies. I've now marked what topics I did and what I want to follow up on. These were freebies. The magnets have a pop-out centre, where you can put a photo. The pens are the ones with the soft tip, so you can use them on iPads. After doing Devon's ...

Thursday is the day that RootsTech really gets underway, you have to be there by 8.00am, for an 8.30 start or you might not get a seat.   This morning key note speakers were wonderful. Steve Rockwood , CEO of FamilySearch International, spoke again this morning. He spoke of families doing things together. Next up was some 'eye candy', Jon and Andy Scott, known as The Property Brothers. They spoke of traditions and the importance of family. Even a video clip of one of then playing the bagpipes. The both look wonderful in kilts! Then the doors were thrown open, well more like rolled up and the Expo Hall was open for business. My first session was with Kindex, an online company, where you can store documents. I signed up for my free account, so I could use it in the session. Well my login didn't work, so I 'played' in the general area. Back to see them in the morning. This is Archive Monster, destroying your precious mementoes, in you home. I managed to get ...

Tuesday 7 February 2017 @ 11.45am. After  Sunday it was time to get down to the serious side of being here, Research in the Library! I didn't take note of the opening hours, so rocked up at 8.30, only to find the opened at 8.00. Still they don't close until 6.00pm. Plenty of time! I was going to concentrate on my German Ancestry but even with the guides I have, it is very difficult. Seriously considering asking a researcher to do it for me, one who speaks and reads German. This was on Level B1, so for my English, Scottish and Irish Ancestors, it was down to Level 2. Plenty of familiar faces, down here! Frustrating!!!! I know that the FamilySearch record says he is on this microfilm but it says To Be Continued!   Re-shelved it and went to Level 3 for Mondays with Myrt. Pat and I during my session. It was great to catch-up.   After this I went for a walk, then back to my room and rechecked my research, yes I had it correct. Back into the l...

Morning from Salt Lake City, Rootstech is amazing! Wednesday, waking to early and a dodgy shower, I went and registered. Very slick no waiting. Two classes in the afternoon gave me some more research time in the library. If you can't get to Salt Lake City, you can order the microfilm from your local Family History Library. Check at www.familysearch.org for your nearest one. The first class was Your Brick Walls are not as Tall as You Think. Some very useful tips. The second class was 15 Ways for Genealogists to Keep Learning. Things I knew and different ways to use them and things I didn't know. Amanda arrived on Wednesday and we had dinner  the Cheesecake Factory, yum! Thursday and it was snowing as I walked to the conference. 10.00am saw the vendor hall open. Such an array of stalls, mind blowing!  I caught up with several people and bought different things, mindful of my baggage allowance. Subscribed to an internet genealogy magazine. Firs...

http://www.halmyre.abel.co.uk/Family/naming.htm A link for those with Scottish ancestors or others that find things like this interesting.

Where did the rest of November go? Last week my husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary, with a lovey dinner out. On Saturday, last, I went into town to SAG and attended the talk, by Kerrie Farmer on Scottish resources on-line. Kerrie's talks are always wonderful and I came away inspired to tackle my Scottish problems. Today I have a talk on Griffiths Valuations and tomorrow, Writing Group. The Writing Group, is a newly formed group of 'budding' writers.  Most of us attend a workshop, last August/September, in at SAG, on how to write up your family story. We liked it so much that we asked if we could form a group and are now in our second month. We have the time-slot until June next year, when it will be re-assessed, so come and join us. We help each other out, with problems, ideas, support and feedback. Next year I'm presenting a talk on how to do Indexes and then one on Appendices. We email each other ideas for topics and then those with the knowledge o...