“Life is a mirror. If you frown at it, it frowns back; if you smile, it returns the greeting.
~ William Makepeace Thackeray

Posted This Week

• California Passenger and Crew Lists, 1893-1957 
• UK Medical Registers, 1859-1959 
• View a list of all new and updated databases 
• Learn more about what’s new at Ancestry.com 
• Search the Ancestry.com Card Catalog
  
   

During the holiday season, as you’re pulling out those holiday decorations and serving pieces, take a few minutes to record the origins and significance of your heirloom and “special memory” pieces. Was that beautiful ornament made by a favorite aunt or a young child? Did that gravy boat once adorn Great-grandmother Johnson’s table? Was that tablecloth hand-embroidered by Grandma Smith? Or perhaps that centerpiece was from the first year you were married. Take photos of these precious heirlooms, and create a holiday book noting their significance. Include family stories and traditions to complete the album. Preserving your family’s holiday heritage in this manner will help to ensure that heirlooms and traditions are preserved for generations to come.

In 1828 punishments for breaking the law in Britain included being sentenced to death, transportation, whipping, or the payment of a fine. Jails (gaols) existed to hold people prior to trial. There were few prisons (also known as bridewells or houses of correction), all with dreadful conditions. The forty-year-old settlement of New South Wales was the destination for thousands of people convicted of crimes back in Britain.

The authorities in New South Wales kept careful track of all inhabitants of the colony and also assessed its capacity to be self-sustaining. To do so the colonial administration regularly counted the population in total or in various groups (e.g. convicts, settlers) using a muster system. A muster was a physical reckoning, similar to the way regiments of the army or militia were brought together and counted. Soldiers and colonial officials and free citizens were usually recorded at the same time. However, in November of 1828 the count of the population was done, for the first time, by means of a census because it had been determined that free people could not be compelled to muster.

In preparation for this enumeration forms were issued to magistrates in every district and constables went round to each habitation, usually accompanied by a clerk. In some cases a household member would fill out the form. The work was carried out between November 1828 and January 1829. Military personnel were not enumerated at this time.

Transcriptions of the Forms
Within the next year or two the information in the household returns was transcribed into two sets of volumes; one set of seven volumes went to London in February of 1830 and the other set, six volumes, remained in Australia. The former is held by The National Archives (TNA) of the United Kingdom, and the latter by the State Records Authority of New South Wales (SRNSW). It is uncertain which of these versions was the earlier of the two.

The two versions remained more or less in obscurity until the twentieth century. Discovery and transcription by hand of the UK set of volumes occurred first, shortly before World War Two. The Australian volumes remained out of site in Sydney and did not become accessible to the public until the 1970s.

Comparisons between the two versions have revealed differences. The order of entries is not the same. In addition, the 1828 census at TNA has more duplicate entries and some additional information. It is these differences that make it necessary for genealogists to consult both versions. Ancestry now has indexes to the NSW listings, and both images and indexes to the TNA volumes.

Contents
A household census form recorded the name of the householder and others in the house–both family members and servants. For each person facts noted were the place of residence, age, condition, ship of arrival, year of arrival, sentence, employment, and religion. It also recorded whether someone had been born in the colony. The original census form, on the reverse, sought information about land cultivated, cattle, sheep and horses. Only a portion of the original forms survive. The volumes into which the information was transcribed contain about 35,000 names in all. Continue reading →

Over the many years I have been researching, there have been several times where I’ve been advised against researching in valuable collections. A librarian, historian, or archivist might tell you that a certain set of files, index cards, or an electronic database or image doesn’t have anything to do with genealogy. Some have even said it would be a waste of time to check the record or index. A recent experience demonstrates how much we might miss if we heed that kind of advice.

Browsing around a library is great way to become acquainted with it and possibly find some things you did not expect to find. I was searching through an extensive old card catalog and was told that there was “nothing in there for genealogy.” I smiled and politely said I was just going to browse a bit. What did I find in this catalog? County histories, biographies, autobiographies, town and community histories, excerpts from diaries and journals, war history, maps, historical directories, histories of hereditary and occupational organizations (some with list of members), Daughters of the American Revolution publications, fur trade history, regional histories, Historical Records Surveys (WPA), and even some personal papers.

 

Mark Locations of Cemeteries
I have read a lot of tips and columns in this newsletter on how to take photos of headstones–all which have proved most helpful. I’ve taken photos of the general area in which my family is interned; however, another thought crossed my mind.
 
I live in Montana; my children were all born and reared here but my hometown is in Southern Indiana. One night a thought occurred to me–none of the photos show where or how to locate the cemetery. If sometime in the future they want to visit their grandparents’ gravesite, they wouldn’t know the name or where it is located.

I went to Google maps; found each cemetery and printed a picture of it, making sure a street or road name was visible. Then I marked the area where their ancestors are buried. This will be included in a family history I’m writing for them.
 
Nancy L. Garcia
Superior, Montana Continue reading →

Contributed by Lorraine H. Wright, Oklahoma
This is my favorite picture of my great grandfather, James Clarence Martell (1880-1941), taken in Somerville, Massachusetts in the 1930s.

Click on an image to enlarge it.

Contributed by Edward Day Golden, Inverness, Florida
From the 1920 Worlds Fair, Long Island, New York, this is my grandmother Amelia Zorn Golden & Friend Henry Kramer (in front), and her brother, Jacob Zorn with his future wife, Anna Neuman (back).

I was just checking out the Ancestry World Archives Project and thought this would be a good time to post an update on the status. There are currently more than 7,900 participants in the project and close to 4 million records have been keyed! The top indexer alone has indexed more than 70,000 records.  We should begin seeing collections posted to Ancestry.com in the near future.

Here are some of the collections that are being indexed right now:

• Nebraska State Census, 1885
• New England Naturalization Indexes
• New York Naturalization Indexes
• New York City Naturalization Indexes
• Southern California Naturalization Indexes
• England and Wales, Criminal Registers, 1805-1892
• England Newspaper Index Cards (Andrews Collection)
• Cartes postales historiques (France-Historic Postcards)

Click here if you’d like to learn more about the World Archives Project or if you’d like to join the community of keyers.   

You can also view the free webinar that was held on the World Archives Project in the Learning Center webinar archive. There is also a new article on Reading Old Handwriting in the Help section of Ancestry.com, that is useful both in keying for the World Archive Project and in reading the handwriting we’re faced with in our research.

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
~ Marcel Proust