As The Records Show
Change for the Better, and More About Wales
by Sherry Irvine, CG, FSA Scot

What a difference! Did you notice? If not, I suggest you dig a little deeper into what's available at Ancestry.com because last month, when a server change was made, any resources still tied to the outdated viewer were moved over to the better format. It is now possible to flip the pages of old books and read the entire text of each one without frustration. The tool that looked like an infant's stacking toy is gone, zooming in and out is easy or you can pan about the page to your heart's content.

Now there really is no excuse to ignore some of the treasures that may remain hidden unless you peel away the layers and look at lists of resources. To explain further I am going to look at Wales. This article ties in well with what I wrote about Welsh research a year ago. ("If You Are Researching Welsh Ancestors")

19th Century Highlights
Before turning to hidden treasures, I begin with a bit of advice about the census. If your Welsh connections were in Wales in the early 20th century or the middle to late 19th century, six successive census enumerations, 1851 to 1901, are available. The article last year pointed out problems arising from the limited number of different surnames in Wales. One feature of the Ancestry.com search tool may help with getting around the disadvantage of a common surname -- the ability to search on first name only. Using the 1861 census for Wales, the not too unusual name Maude, and requesting females born 1820 to 1860, produced just seven results. Anyone looking for Mary Evans, has a problem with both names.

Another way to work with common surnames is county by county, which can be the county of birth or of residence. Missing an entry is less likely to occur reading through a shorter list of results one county at a time. Here is a breakdown for the common name David Evans, birth year set at 1825 (plus or minus five years), in the 1851 census; there were 507 results in all.

• Anglesey - 1
• Breconshire- -21
• Caernarvonshire - 18
• Cardiganshire - 88
• Carmarthenshire - 95
• Denbighshire - 13
• Flintshire - 6
• Glamorganshire - 160
• Merionethshire - 37
• Montgomeryshire - 38
• Pembrokeshire - 14
• Radnorshire - 5

This gives us a dozen shorter groupings to read, or, if you use some careful analysis about age and county, you can reduce significantly the overall number of possibilities.

Among useful 19th century book resources listed for Wales are Pigot's Directory of Monmouth 1844 and several titles on topography and local history.

Early 1800s and Beyond
A few parish registers can be found by checking the Wales listings under two headings, Birth, Marriage and Death Records, and Family and Local Histories. I realize that a standard name search of the Ancestry.com databases should produce any entries, but sometimes the way you construct a search misses important entries. There is good reason to browse an item that is directly related to your research to double-check and for additional background information. I looked at three volumes of transcripts and all include descriptive text and burials, which is an event not available through a search in the International Genealogical Index (IGI).

Other selections relate to records going back several hundred years. Certainly you have to work your way back using correct research methods, examining copies of original records as you go; but you can enhance chances of success through seeing other types of material and, if you are fortunate, by finding an unexpected clue. I found these two items particularly full of family history information:

• "Historic Notices of the Borough and County Town of Flint" is the link to a book published in 1883 that relates the history of the main town of Flintshire through several centuries; it discusses changes in church and town administration and lists important citizens.
• "Wrexham, Wales Parish History" leads to the story of the church and parish in Denbighshire and is full of genealogical facts; for example, a list of churchwardens and other parish officers through 200 years from the 1630s; for many named there are footnotes about wives and other connections in the parish.

Conclusion
By now I hope you are eager to read the lists of resources within Ancestry.com databases. For the list of Welsh items use this direct link. And all of you who want to figure out how I got there, and experiment for other parts of the British Isles, take these steps:

• On the home page choose the Search tab
• Select the little UK map
• Choose Wales (or England, etc).
  

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Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA Scot is an author, teacher, and lecturer specializing in English, Scottish, and Irish family history. She is the author of Your English Ancestry (2d ed., 1998) and Researching Scottish Ancestry (2003), and she is a contributor to several publications. Since 1996, she has been a study tour leader, course coordinator, and instructor for the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University. She teaches online at MyFamily.com. Recently she served a two-year term as president of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Sherry's Upcoming Speaking Engagements:

• Irish Research Online Class at MyFamily.com
  19 January 2006 ($29.95)
• Nanaimo Family History Society, 20 February 2006
• Australasian Congress, Darwin, Northern Territory, 01-04 June 2006

Copyright 2005, MyFamily.com.

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Ancestry.com Streamlines Packaging and Pricing

Family history is all about family names and dates, but now you'll only need to know one subscription name and one renewal date when it comes to accessing Ancestry.com. We've combined all of our paid subscriptions into two package options. You'll have one membership and one renewal date.

1.) U.S. Deluxe Membership

• Annual: $179.40 (Equivalent to $14.95 per month; payable annually.)
• Monthly: $23.95 (Can be cancelled at any time with a quick phone call.)

Includes all U.S.-based records that Ancestry.com provides today (U.S. based records from the U.S. Census Collection, U.S. Records Collection, U.S. Immigration Collection, Historical Newspapers Collection, Family and Local History Collection, OneWorldTree, and U.S. Public Records--formerly called PeopleFinder), plus access to additional US-based records that Ancestry.com releases in the future. These will be offered at one low price that will represent a savings over the combined cost of the U.S. subscription offerings that are available today.

2.) World Deluxe Membership

• Annual: $299.40 (Equivalent of $24.95 per month; payable annually)
• Monthly: $34.95 (Can be cancelled at any time with a quick phone call.)

Includes ALL records that Ancestry.com provides, including U.S., U.K., and Irish records, as well as access to new record collections for additional countries. World Deluxe will offer access to these records at a savings relative to the cost of subscribing to all of the subscriptions at Ancestry.com.

You can select one of our new memberships, or if you're happy with your current membership, do nothing at all. Later, if you decide you want to change your membership, we make it easy with upgrade paths that are clear and easy to understand.

Now, instead of worrying about subscriptions, you can spend your time seeking out your family history names and dates, and discover your ancestors with more resources and better value than ever with Ancestry.com.

What Do You Need to Do?

• Move now: If you wish to switch to one of these new membership options, you can migrate your account via the website or call (800) 958-9127.
• Move later: Or, you can wait until your current subscription(s) come up for renewal.
• Don't move at all: Finally, you can stick with your existing subscriptions and continue to access the same records you have access to today.

The choice is up to you.

More Information: To review your current subscription or get more information, you can log on to "My Account" on Ancestry.com, or call us at 1 (800) 958-9127.

Ancestry Quick Tip Jamboree

It's time for this week's Ancestry Quick Tip Jamboree! Thanks to everyone who has sent in a Quick Tip. Please keep them coming so that we can keep this tradition going. You can send your tips to: ADNeditor@ancestry.com.

Quick Tips may be reprinted, with credit to the submitter, in other Ancestry publications, so if you do not want your tip included in a publication other than the Ancestry Daily News and Ancestry Weekly Digest, please state so clearly in your message.

Have a great day!
Juliana

Digital Copies
Bill Draper

I no longer decide which pages are important enough to copy, or pay for bad photocopies. When I'm in the library, I simply photograph the pages with a digital camera. Not only are the pages printable, but each is automatically "scanned" and ready to store on my computer. It works great for oversized books.

I use an average 4 megapixel Canon PowerShot S400. I set it to its highest resolution, and switch to manual to avoid the flash. It works best holding it about 18 inches from the page. After taking the shot, I zoom in on the photo to be sure there was no movement. If so I delete it and try again. When I'm finished, I insert the memory card into my laptop, and I have all my digitized pages ready to store. No more killing trees for research, and best of all, no more breaking the spines of books in flat photocopiers or scanners.

Now I need to try it on microfilm readers.

Browse the Town
Barbara Hovorka

Researching in New Glaus, Green Co. Wisconsin, I was able to find the Kundert family I was looking for. Granted, there were a lot of them but in spite of the number, I was able to sort them out. They were everywhere in the 1860 and 1880 census but not one single Kundert in the 1870. Not being able to envision a mass exodus of Kunderts I resorted to another search. I typed in 'New Glarus, Green, WI.' and up came an alpha listing of the whole community (sometimes this kind of search will give you the numeric listing) and was able to discover the problem. The extractor had misread Kundert to be Kemdart and suddenly there they were. Even with all possibilities of spelling I had not produced this one! The surprise was that even though some were very carefully written, the extractor had not caught the spelling error.

Hidden Treasures
Allen Lawrence

In Cindy Petrie's tip "Search Old Furniture for Hidden Treasures," I was reminded of the time we cleaned out a friend's grandmother's home. They found important papers, money, stocks and bonds in a tear in a mattress, and in of all places the freezer wrapped in foil packages. The latter was an accident when I bought the freezer and started to clean it out and one of the bundles burst open. Were we surprised! Now we look everywhere.

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Clipping of the Day
Fever in Ireland
Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania), 20 December 1826, page 3:

FROM IRELAND.--The fever still continued to rage in Dublin to an alarming extent, and a meeting of the clergymen, magistrates, and church-wardens, was held at the mansion house to take into consideration the alarming state of the public health. It was stated at the meeting that cases of the most melancholy and miserable description had occurred. Mr. Rosborough stated a case of a poor woman who had given birth to an infant in a fit of delirium in a cellar. Counsellor Cole state, it was evident, food rather than medicine was wanted for the relief of the sick poor.

Subscribers with access to the Historical Newspapers Collection can view this clipping.

Click here to subscribe to the Historical Newspapers Collection at Ancestry.com.

Fast Fact
Scottish Research Class
(Online at MyFamily.com -- $29.95)
12 January 2006 with David W. Webster

At least 25 million Americans claim Scottish ancestry. More recent research suggests that the figure could be as high as 40 million! If you have Scottish roots then this class will help you with your research using both traditional and online sources. The course is suitable for everyone from beginners to those who have already started their research. Sign up to this course to find out what records are available, how best to access them, how to obtain the best results, and much more. Click here to learn more about the class and register.

Students will enjoy 30-days access to selected Ancestry.com collections. Sign up today!

Product Spotlights

		1891 British Census Index: Wales (Counties: Glamorgan & Monmouthshire) Standard Edition Normally this CD retails for $19.95, but today you can buy it in the Shops @ Ancestry.com for $15.95.

Thought for Today
Calvin Coolidge

Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.