• Re: UK help wanted

    From Miles Maxted@3:772/1 to bob klahn on Mon Jan 25 07:35:00 2010
    G'morning Bob,

    Any suggestions?

    Most US cities have city directories going back quite a ways.
    Usually can find them at the library. They typically have names,
    addresses, and occupations. Knowing the surname and occupation
    might help.

    Don't know about cities outside the US.

    You remind me that my old home town in England, Rugby, boasted an
    annual Directory that listed residents, addresses, occupations and
    phone numbers right through the 1920s and '30s.

    Nancy's staff member might try writing to the local library of the
    town involved to see what directories they might hold from the
    same time slot....

    The local newspaper might well have microfilmed their old issues
    for the same era, too - a personal visit or commissioning a
    local researcher might yield handsome returns.

    Cheers,

    Miles


    +--------------------Miles-Maxted-------------------+
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  • From bob klahn@1:124/311 to MILES MAXTED on Sun Jan 24 19:08:00 2010

    ...

    You remind me that my old home town in England, Rugby,
    boasted an annual Directory that listed residents,
    addresses, occupations and phone numbers right through the
    1920s and '30s.
    ...
    The local newspaper might well have microfilmed their old
    issues for the same era, too - a personal visit or
    commissioning a local researcher might yield handsome
    returns.

    That's how I researched a grand uncle and a great grandmother.
    However, I only had to go to Toronto.



    BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

    ... "Stressed" is just desserts spelled backwards.
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  • From bob klahn@1:124/311 to Nancy Backus on Sun Jan 31 02:06:00 2010

    ...

    ... Every time I learn something new, old stuff falls out
    of my brain.

    I tell my wife my head is full of obsolete knowledge.

    ...

    BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

    ... FP#:)... ... We must believe in free will - we have no choice.
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  • From MILES MAXTED@1:123/140 to NANCY BACKUS on Sun Jan 31 10:31:42 2010
    G'morning Nancy,

    How far back do they go? My most recent immigrants from Scotland to the
    USA were 1850-ish. My understanding was that the official BDM came
    after that? I was able to do a little census work (primarily on the
    part of the family that didn't leave), but that was all. Other than Old Parish Registers, of course... ;)

    Err... 1513 or so ? Try these...

    http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ - the official government source of genealogical data for Scotland, from 1513 on.

    http://www.scotlandsfamily.com/ - points you to free on-line data and information in diverse Scotland family history records.

    http://www.cyndislist.com/scotland.htm - a list of genealogy sites on the internet that boasts the following NEW sources...

    * Ancestry.com - Search Directories & Member Lists with Searchable indexes;
    database results and some digitized images available with fee-based
    subscription.

    * Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations, 1650-1775

    * Directory of Scots in the Carolinas, 1680-1830

    * U.K. and U.S. Directories, 1680-1830 - original source: Avero
    Publications. Biography Database, 1680-1830. Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
    England: Avero Publications, 1998.

    * U.K., City and County Directories, 1600s-1900s

    They may be of help to Bob, too...

    It being the 1st February here, they've declared January to have been the coldest and wettest for ever - a wunnerful summer holiday season for us
    upside down peoples.

    Cheers,

    Miles



    ---
    +--------------------Miles-Maxted-------------------+
    | 116 Sunrise Avenue, North Shore City, New Zealand |
    | Ph/Fx/As: ++64-9-478-3138 Mob: ++64-21-296-3891 | +---------------------------------------------------
    * Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)
  • From bob klahn@1:124/311 to Nancy Backus on Sun Feb 7 21:13:00 2010
    Quoting bob klahn to Nancy Backus on 31 Jan 10 02:06:00 <=-

    ... Every time I learn something new, old stuff falls out
    of my brain.

    I tell my wife my head is full of obsolete knowledge.

    And that's why you can't remember the stuff she tells you
    today...? ;)

    ttyl neb

    PS However, obsolete knowledge is also known as memories
    of a bygone age, which is essential to preserve... <G>

    It's all going to go away pretty soon anyway. If it's not on
    paper, in a book, it's going to be gone before too much longer.

    Even the people I have lectured on the subjects are not that
    much younger than I am. Give it 50 years and there is little
    likelyhood anyone I have taught about it will still be around.


    BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

    ... I am Garfield of Borg - Furballs are irrelevant..<HACK>..
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  • From Nancy Backus@1:261/1381 to bob klahn on Mon Jan 25 23:33:11 2010
    Quoting bob klahn to Nancy Backus on 23 Jan 10 21:28:00 <=-

    Most US cities have city directories going back quite a ways.
    Usually can find them at the library. They typically have names, addresses, and occupations. Knowing the surname and occupation
    might help.

    I've used them for US cities, with some measure of success.

    Don't know about cities outside the US.

    Neither do I, which is why I asked... :)

    ttyl neb

    ... The only people who find what they are looking for are fault finders.
    --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.20
    * Origin: :::The Holodeck BBS::: telnet://holo.homeip.net (1:261/1381)
  • From Nancy Backus@1:261/1381 to Miles Maxted on Mon Jan 25 23:33:11 2010
    Quoting Miles Maxted to bob klahn on 25 Jan 10 07:35:00 <=-

    Any suggestions?
    Most US cities have city directories going back quite a ways.
    Usually can find them at the library. They typically have names,
    addresses, and occupations. Knowing the surname and occupation
    might help.
    Don't know about cities outside the US.

    You remind me that my old home town in England, Rugby, boasted an
    annual Directory that listed residents, addresses, occupations and
    phone numbers right through the 1920s and '30s.

    Ah, so it does apply to outside the US... good to know... :)

    Nancy's staff member might try writing to the local library of the
    town involved to see what directories they might hold from the
    same time slot....

    Nancy's nephew's staff member... <G> But yes, I'll keep that bit to
    pass along when he finally contacts me... or to mention to Kings... ;)

    The local newspaper might well have microfilmed their old issues
    for the same era, too - a personal visit or commissioning a
    local researcher might yield handsome returns.

    And that as well... :) I've spent productive hours with old
    newspapers here in the states, not so much in Scotland...

    Thanks... :)

    ttyl neb

    ... Every time I learn something new, old stuff falls out of my brain.
    --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.20
    * Origin: :::The Holodeck BBS::: telnet://holo.homeip.net (1:261/1381)
  • From Miles Maxted@3:772/1 to Nancy Backus on Wed Jan 27 07:52:00 2010
    G'morning Nancy,

    And that as well... :) I've spent productive hours with old
    newspapers here in the states, not so much in Scotland...

    I've not used them, but Scotland's official BDM people have put
    the bulk of their records on-line over the last 5 years. A lot of
    these include the names of witnesses - often a very useful means
    of identifying friends and relations....

    ... Every time I learn something new, old stuff falls out of my brain.

    True in fact, according to the lovely brain-scanning workers; and
    it explains why the old hard skull conceals the writhing, ever-
    changing and growing gooey bits inside.

    It turns out that sleep is when the contents get re-assessed to
    turf out no-longer-required memories, to make way for to-day's
    inputs - at the estimated rate of over a million connections a
    second !

    And their evidence shows that it can be as active in the very old
    as it is in the immature ...

    Another hobby-horse rears its head - sorry !

    Miles.


    +--------------------Miles-Maxted-------------------+
    | 116 Sunrise Avenue, North Shore City, New Zealand |
    | Ph/Fx/As: ++64-9-478-3138 Mob: ++64-21-296-3891 | +---------------------------------------------------+

    ___ MultiMail/Win32 v0.47

    --- Maximus/2 3.01
    * Origin: === Maxie BBS. Ak, NZ +64 9 444-0989 === (3:772/1)
  • From Nancy Backus@1:261/1381 to All on Wed Jan 20 15:39:28 2010
    My English nephew recently emailed me asking for help for a friend of
    his at work. I've been waiting for more details from the lad, but so
    far haven't received any more. But here's the bit I have so far, in
    case anyone can give me any further suggestions on how to go about
    this... I'm quoting from that email and my response at the time
    below... :)

    Kings:
    No, it's not me who's interested. One of my staff at work is
    investigating his family history, and has hit a stumbling block.
    His grandfather's parents were never married, and his father wasn't
    named on the birth certificate. All he knows is the surname and
    that the father was a teacher in the local area at the time. In
    the UK, the census he needs hasn't yet been released (1921), which
    would help. Both grandparents are dead, and his grandfather's
    mother didn't have any other children.

    Me:
    Ah. If he knows the area, then he could look for kirk or parish records
    that might record disciplinary or bastardy proceedings... or even give
    the father's name at the baptism...

    I've done a little research in Scottish records, not really any English,
    and what I've done was much earlier records besides... so I'm not 100%
    sure that my suggestion is even apropos for his time frame... but it was
    all I could think of at the moment.

    I'm still waiting to hear from the young man who is looking, so I don't
    know where in England, or any other details... just what my nephew
    passed along to me above... :)

    Any suggestions?

    ttyl neb

    ... Tradition: The art of making the same mistake over and over.
    --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.20
    * Origin: :::The Holodeck BBS::: telnet://holo.homeip.net (1:261/1381)
  • From Nancy Backus@1:261/1381 to Miles Maxted on Wed Feb 10 21:31:31 2010
    Quoting Miles Maxted to Nancy Backus on 07 Feb 10 06:13:00 <=-

    Aren't the earlier dates from the OPRs, though?
    Aye ... but can be verra useful; we tracked our roots into a wee
    round church at Govan on the bonny banks o' the Clyde - but now in
    the heart of Glasgow's slumland where tourists are advised to
    travel in armoured buses with trained interpreters...

    Ah, but neither of us would be considered tourists, would we...? <G>
    Reason I asked about the earlier dates is that I've actually used OPR's
    in Scotland when I did my two/three genealogy trips there. So, unless
    they had access to books I didn't, there wouldn't be anything more
    there, I'd think...

    I'll keep them in mind. I've not done really any research to speak of
    online, between having a DOS machine with only text-browsing (limited
    graphics viewing only, on my request) capabilities

    ... nothing wrong with that; in terms of spam avoided alone, a
    very wise move. Especially if the local libraries offer
    subscribers top speed internet access with specialised
    genealogical database access, like ours do here.

    Yup, the spam-avoidance is a large benefit there... ;) Libraries here
    may also offer such, but lately I've not had the time to even go there
    for research... I keep hoping for Life to settle out sufficiently to do
    some of the fun stuff...

    and not having gobs of time to just sit and play with it.
    Maybe someday I'll have the time, anyway... :)

    There's a lovely ad running here that features a young wife
    gifting her somnolent hubby a round, stainless steel 'tuit'...its
    to remind him that she needs a deck built on the back of their
    house... now, as he's always said, he's actually got "a round
    tuit"...

    And that's when the domestic violence starts.

    LOL Yup... that it would... <G> I've had some version of that at some
    time, but it didn't work as advertised anyway... :) Any physical round
    "tuit" just gets in the way... ;) Or piled into yet another one of the
    piles around... :)

    There's civil unrest developing here over the 'summer' holidays,
    2010 taking away public holidays on top of promising year-long
    unseasonal weather....
    Turns out that this year's statutary holidays mostly fall on
    weekends and Easter, almost eliminating our "traditional" long
    weekends from the 2010 calendar.
    The letters and articles from the great unwashed proletariet are streaming into the media alleging deliberate suppression by the
    rich, the politicians, the banks, the scientists and even the
    schools.
    The flag of Monday-isation has been unfurled, ready for the
    inevitable marches on Parliament, whilst tv commentaries from
    those who tend to dribble and spray when in full denouncement on
    camera are claiming unfair tricks in government's drive to work
    our way out of recession....

    It's always the fault of the government, doncha know...? <G>

    Me, I know its just Nature's way of adding heat to a naturally
    cold twelvemonth....

    And apparently working quite well... ;)

    ttyl neb

    ... BUFFERS=7 FILES=5, 2nd Down, 4th quarter, 5 yards to go!
    --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.20
    * Origin: :::The Holodeck BBS::: telnet://holo.homeip.net (1:261/1381)
  • From Miles Maxted@3:772/1 to Nancy Backus on Fri Feb 12 09:55:00 2010
    G'morning Nancy,

    The flag of Monday-isation has been unfurled, ready for the
    inevitable marches on Parliament, whilst tv commentaries from
    those who tend to dribble and spray when in full denouncement on
    camera are claiming unfair tricks in government's drive to work
    our way out of recession....

    It's always the fault of the government, doncha know...? <G>

    And the deeply held Aorta Syndrome, much beloved of both New
    Zealanders and Australians...

    As in "Aorta turn down the sun" or "Aorta fix the weather"...

    And apparently working quite well... ;)

    Everwhere except in Vancouver (sorry about the Winter Olympics,
    people) and the Samba capital of the world, Rio (46.3C last
    Wednesday - compared to the Sahara's 33C) - probably thanks to
    their hot Carnival Queen, 7-year-old Julia Lira ....

    What a wunnerful world...

    Miles


    +--------------------Miles-Maxted-------------------+
    | 116 Sunrise Avenue, North Shore City, New Zealand |
    | Ph/Fx/As: ++64-9-478-3138 Mob: ++64-21-296-3891 | +---------------------------------------------------+

    ___ MultiMail/Win32 v0.47

    --- Maximus/2 3.01
    * Origin: === Maxie BBS. Ak, NZ +64 9 444-0989 === (3:772/1)
  • From Nancy Backus@1:261/1381 to Miles Maxted on Fri Jan 29 15:10:31 2010
    Quoting Miles Maxted to Nancy Backus on 27 Jan 10 07:52:00 <=-

    And that as well... :) I've spent productive hours with old
    newspapers here in the states, not so much in Scotland...

    I've not used them, but Scotland's official BDM people have put
    the bulk of their records on-line over the last 5 years. A lot of
    these include the names of witnesses - often a very useful means
    of identifying friends and relations....

    How far back do they go? My most recent immigrants from Scotland to the
    USA were 1850-ish. My understanding was that the official BDM came
    after that? I was able to do a little census work (primarily on the
    part of the family that didn't leave), but that was all. Other than Old
    Parish Registers, of course... ;)

    ... Every time I learn something new, old stuff falls out of my brain.

    True in fact, according to the lovely brain-scanning workers; and
    it explains why the old hard skull conceals the writhing, ever-
    changing and growing gooey bits inside.

    I'll have to remember that to tell hubby next time he gets on my case
    for not remembering how to do something that I used to be able to do in
    the past... ;)

    It turns out that sleep is when the contents get re-assessed to
    turf out no-longer-required memories, to make way for to-day's
    inputs - at the estimated rate of over a million connections a
    second !

    Hmmm... I had thought (empirically, even) that the old memories just
    got put into long-term, not-easily-accessed, storage in the brain.
    After all, one never knows what might jostle them out of their repose to
    appear at the oddest moments. :) And just who or what is deciding
    which are the no-longer-needed memories, pray tell...?

    And their evidence shows that it can be as active in the very old
    as it is in the immature ...

    One might even think it would be more active in the very old, as they
    have so many more years of having stored such...

    Another hobby-horse rears its head - sorry !

    ;)

    Not all that off-topic... after all, when I'm not actively working a
    line it's hard to be able to dredge up all the fine details without a
    look to refresh...

    ttyl neb

    ... Cats -- proof that eating and sleeping isn't all bad.
    --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.20
    * Origin: :::The Holodeck BBS::: telnet://holo.homeip.net (1:261/1381)
  • From Nancy Backus@1:261/1381 to bob klahn on Fri Feb 5 16:21:29 2010
    Quoting bob klahn to Nancy Backus on 31 Jan 10 02:06:00 <=-

    ... Every time I learn something new, old stuff falls out
    of my brain.

    I tell my wife my head is full of obsolete knowledge.

    And that's why you can't remember the stuff she tells you today...? ;)

    ttyl neb

    PS However, obsolete knowledge is also known as memories of a bygone
    age, which is essential to preserve... <G>

    ... Any system which depends on human reliability is unreliable.
    --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.20
    * Origin: :::The Holodeck BBS::: telnet://holo.homeip.net (1:261/1381)
  • From Nancy Backus@1:261/1381 to MILES MAXTED on Fri Feb 5 16:24:01 2010
    Quoting MILES MAXTED to NANCY BACKUS on 31 Jan 10 10:31:42 <=-

    How far back do they go? My most recent immigrants from Scotland to the USA were 1850-ish. My understanding was that the official BDM came
    after that? I was able to do a little census work (primarily on the
    part of the family that didn't leave), but that was all. Other than Old Parish Registers, of course... ;)

    Err... 1513 or so ? Try these...

    http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ - the official government source
    of genealogical data for Scotland, from 1513 on.

    Aren't the earlier dates from the OPRs, though?

    http://www.scotlandsfamily.com/ - points you to free on-line data
    and information in diverse Scotland family history records.

    http://www.cyndislist.com/scotland.htm - a list of genealogy sites on
    the internet that boasts the following NEW sources...
    * Ancestry.com - Search Directories & Member Lists with Searchable indexes; database results and some digitized images available with fee-based subscription.
    * Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations, 1650-1775
    * Directory of Scots in the Carolinas, 1680-1830
    * U.K. and U.S. Directories, 1680-1830 - original source: Avero Publications. Biography Database, 1680-1830. Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
    England: Avero Publications, 1998.
    * U.K., City and County Directories, 1600s-1900s

    They may be of help to Bob, too...

    I'll keep them in mind. I've not done really any research to speak of
    online, between having a DOS machine with only text-browsing (limited
    graphics viewing only, on my request) capabilities and not having gobs
    of time to just sit and play with it. Maybe someday I'll have the time, anyway... :) Thanks for the info, though... :)

    It being the 1st February here, they've declared January to have been
    the coldest and wettest for ever - a wunnerful summer holiday season
    for us upside down peoples.

    Ours was mostly on the milder side, although we also had some quite
    extreme lows (it being of course winter here, so one SHOULD expect the
    lows... <G>)... also we've not had as much precipitation, either as snow
    or as rain, as we would normally have had for January.

    ttyl neb

    ... "A metaphysical dichotomy has occurred : unloading module WINDOWS"
    --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.20
    * Origin: :::The Holodeck BBS::: telnet://holo.homeip.net (1:261/1381)
  • From bob klahn@1:124/311 to Nancy Backus on Sat Jan 23 21:28:00 2010
    ...

    Kings:
    No, it's not me who's interested. One of my staff at work is
    investigating his family history, and has hit a stumbling block.
    His grandfather's parents were never married, and his father wasn't
    named on the birth certificate. All he knows is the surname and
    that the father was a teacher in the local area at the time. In
    the UK, the census he needs hasn't yet been released (1921), which
    would help. Both grandparents are dead, and his grandfather's
    mother didn't have any other children.


    Any suggestions?

    Most US cities have city directories going back quite a ways.
    Usually can find them at the library. They typically have names,
    addresses, and occupations. Knowing the surname and occupation
    might help.

    Don't know about cities outside the US.

    BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

    ... That was Zen, this is Tao.
    * Silver Xpress V4.5/P [Reg]
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5a
    * Origin: FidoTel & QWK on the Web! www.fidotel.com (1:124/311)
  • From Miles Maxted@3:772/1 to Nancy Backus on Sun Feb 7 06:13:00 2010
    G'morning Nancy,

    Aren't the earlier dates from the OPRs, though?

    Aye ... but can be verra useful; we tracked our roots into a wee
    round church at Govan on the bonny banks o' the Clyde - but now in
    the heart of Glasgow's slumland where tourists are advised to
    travel in armoured buses with trained interpreters...

    I'll keep them in mind. I've not done really any research to speak of online, between having a DOS machine with only text-browsing (limited graphics viewing only, on my request) capabilities

    ... nothing wrong with that; in terms of spam avoided alone, a
    very wise move. Especially if the local libraries offer
    subscribers top speed internet access with specialised
    genealogical database access, like ours do here.

    and not having gobs of time to just sit and play with it.
    Maybe someday I'll have the time, anyway... :)

    There's a lovely ad running here that features a young wife
    gifting her somnolent hubby a round, stainless steel 'tuit'...its
    to remind him that she needs a deck built on the back of their
    house... now, as he's always said, he's actually got "a round
    tuit"...

    And that's when the domestic violence starts.

    Ours was mostly on the milder side, although we also had some quite extreme lows (it being of course winter here, so one SHOULD expect the lows... <G>)... also we've not had as much precipitation, either as
    snow or as rain, as we would normally have had for January.

    There's civil unrest developing here over the 'summer' holidays,
    2010 taking away public holidays on top of promising year-long
    unseasonal weather....

    Turns out that this year's statutary holidays mostly fall on
    weekends and Easter, almost eliminating our "traditional" long
    weekends from the 2010 calendar.

    The letters and articles from the great unwashed proletariet are
    streaming into the media alleging deliberate suppression by the
    rich, the politicians, the banks, the scientists and even the
    schools.

    The flag of Monday-isation has been unfurled, ready for the
    inevitable marches on Parliament, whilst tv commentaries from
    those who tend to dribble and spray when in full denouncement on
    camera are claiming unfair tricks in government's drive to work
    our way out of recession....

    Me, I know its just Nature's way of adding heat to a naturally
    cold twelvemonth....

    Cheers,

    Miles.



    +--------------------Miles-Maxted-------------------+
    | 116 Sunrise Avenue, North Shore City, New Zealand |
    | Ph/Fx/As: ++64-9-478-3138 Mob: ++64-21-296-3891 | +---------------------------------------------------+

    ___ MultiMail/Win32 v0.47

    --- Maximus/2 3.01
    * Origin: === Maxie BBS. Ak, NZ +64 9 444-0989 === (3:772/1)
  • From Nancy Backus@1:261/1381 to bob klahn on Sat Feb 13 16:11:40 2010
    Quoting bob klahn to Nancy Backus on 07 Feb 10 21:13:00 <=-

    PS However, obsolete knowledge is also known as memories
    of a bygone age, which is essential to preserve... <G>

    It's all going to go away pretty soon anyway. If it's not on
    paper, in a book, it's going to be gone before too much longer.

    Exactly. It should be properly stored so as to preserve it... and
    nothing computerish stores nearly so reliably as the old-fashioned
    book... paper and ink.

    Even the people I have lectured on the subjects are not that
    much younger than I am. Give it 50 years and there is little
    likelyhood anyone I have taught about it will still be around.

    Which is why it also is important to be passing on the information to
    the next generation(s). :)

    ttyl neb

    ... I'm going to make a prediction: It could go either way.
    --- Blue Wave/DOS v2.20
    * Origin: :::The Holodeck BBS::: telnet://holo.homeip.net (1:261/1381)