As the Records Show
Scottish News
by Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA Scot

My title today can lead into many things: current news, genealogical news, and old news being three ideas that come to mind. There is a bit of everything here, as you will see.

The current news is about the recently announced archived papers available at the website of The Scotsman newspaper. The old news includes this paper's old news, as well as early papers in another location (here at Ancestry.com) and broadsheets (at the National Library of Scotland). With all three you find useful genealogical information, as well as the opportunity make your morning coffee break a journey back in time.

The Scotsman (www.scotsman.com)
The Scotsman newspaper now has images online from its beginning in 1817 to 1934. It is apparent from the home page that they expect lots of interest from family historians. There is a genealogy section, which includes some basic advice, and the tips on searching the archived papers explain how to look for names. You must register to search or to read recent articles.

The search is free and flexible; for example, you can choose to search articles, illustrations, and advertisements separately or all at once. You can also set the span of years to be searched. If you decide to follow through and read articles you then decide what sort of an access pass suits your needs. Rates are reasonable, about

US $15 for a twenty-four-hour period. The daily rate declines according to the time of pass selected, such as weekly or monthly.

Scottish Papers at Ancestry.com (For access, click here)
(Available through an Ancestry.com Historical Newspaper subscription.)

To access the newspapers, go to the page link above and scroll down to the newspapers section on the right side of the page, or from the Ancestry.com home page select "Search" (one of seven tabs) and then in the box on the right, towards the bottom, choose historical newspapers. Below the maps of the USA are two smaller maps, one of the UK and Ireland and one of Canada. Select the first; you should now be looking at a list of nine newspapers, four of which are Scottish.

• Edinburgh Advertiser, 1779 to 1827
• Edinburgh Courant, 1884 only
• Edinburgh Weekly Journal, 1801 to 1806
• The Scotsman, 1945 only

The search box permits the use of a full name or part of a name to which you may add a date and keyword(s). There are two search options, ranked and exact; be sure to understand what these terms mean and how wildcard symbols can be used. For more advice, click on the link to Search Tips in the upper right corner above the search box. Ancestry recently improved the viewer at their site and I found images to be good quality and navigation to be straightforward.

It is also possible to browse through these online papers in a selected time frame. Ancestry makes it very easy to select a year, month, and particular issue.

Broadsides at the National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk/broadsides/index.html)
These were the first "newspapers" and how most of our ancestors found out about what was going on. The National Library of Scotland (NLS) has put their collection of street literature online and it can be searched or browsed. At their website (www.nls.uk), broadsides are presently a featured item with a headline on the main page entitled "The Word on the Street."

Broadsides are less likely to have the genealogical facts found in newspapers but they certainly provide interesting and sometimes opinionated accounts of contemporary issues. They are a fascinating part of background history and bring the surroundings of our ancestors into vivid detail.

The NLS has a collection of nearly 1800 and via the website you can read them in original or transcript form. The broadsides are made available using PDF format; options are to browse by title and by subject, or to search by keyword. Some of the subjects available are especially interesting to family historians; emigration (44 items to view) and Jacobites (33 items) are two examples.

One broadside filled with names of ordinary folk is entitled "Trials and Sentences," from the year 1821; two found guilty were hanged, some transported, some sentenced to a few months in prison, and at least one was whipped. A. Frazer was sentenced to 10 months for marrying Catherine Harley, his first wife being still alive -- there was no comment on his marital status after that.

Conclusion
There are many more Scottish newspapers available for research. You can read about resources that list newspapers in Chapter 4 of Scottish Ancestry: Research Methods for Family Historians (S. Irvine, Ancestry, 2003). If you live near a library with research facilities check out their collection for newspapers on microfilm. Take some time to enjoy a visit to the past.

ADN Editor's Note: Sherry's books are both on special today in the Shops@Ancestry.com. See today's Product Specials for details.

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 will be presenting all-day seminars at two British Columbia locations:

• April 20th at Vernon (www.vdfhs.com)
• April 23rd at Castlegar (Email emcraft@shaw.ca for information).

Sherry will be teaching two online classes at MyFamily.com:

• Irish Research Class ($29.95)
  21 April 2005
• English Research ($29.95)
  19 May 2005

Copyright 2005, MyFamily.com.

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Ancestry Quick Tip
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

Check with Cemetery Offices
The cemetery office may have more information than can be found on the tombstone. I was trying to determine the age at death of my maternal grandmother. A cousin in Ireland who had gone over the nineteenth-century church records there found two pages missing, where he thought her birth must have been recorded--all siblings having been accounted for.

He asked whether my grandmother was the eldest in the family or the youngest. I had no clue. I promised to look at the headstone in New York--without luck. Yet, the Calvary Cemetery office records showed that she died in her sixtieth year (thus she was the youngest). The office also noted (something I was aware of from family lore): transfer of remains from another grave.

Sue Washburn

Review Old Files
I've come to realize how important it is to periodically review your family documentation, census records, files, etc. as they often contain clues or information that meant nothing at the time of your initially finding the information, but now have added significance in terms of what you have discovered in the time period since then.

Carl Roache

Reunion Ribbons
At our 2003 Drobnak Reunion, a cousin volunteered to come up with a plan to quickly identify the different members. She assigned a color to each family. When they arrived a color ribbon was attached to their Reunion T-Shirt so identifying what family they belong too was quick and easy. Of course a large chart was made for reference. It worked so well that in 2006 we plan on using the (new) ribbons again.

God bless,
Mary Anne Drobnak

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Clipping of the Day
Florida, in 1821...
From The Ohio Repository (Canton, Ohio), 12 April 1827, page 3

FLORIDA, in 1821, was a perfect wilderness, with the exception of Pensacola and St. Augustine. There were a few families on the Escambia river and bay, but the interior was unexplored. In 1823 about 60 bales of cotton were made on the Apalichola; and last year, it is supposed that 10,000 bales were made in all Florida. The population probably exceeds 25,000.

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

Subscribe to the Historical Newspapers Collection at Ancestry.com.

Fast Fact
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Accessing My "Accounts"
Located on the Ancestry.com website (www.ancestry.com) on the very top right-hand side of any page on the site, just click on "My Accounts."

(Note: This information is only available to you and you must be logged in with your current password to access it. If you have forgotten or lost your password, when it prompts you to log in, click on "Forgot Your Password?" You will be e-mailed a link that when clicked on, will open up this portion of the site and allow you to change your password. Once this has been completed, you will be able to perform any of the above tasks.)

Product Spotlight
Scottish Ancestry and Your English Ancestry

		Scottish Ancestry, Rev. 2d Ed., by Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot) Normally, this book retails for $19.95, but today you can buy it in The Shops@Ancestry.com for $15.95.
		Your English Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans, Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot) Normally, this book retails for $19.95, but today you can buy it in The Shops@Ancestry.com for $15.95.

Thought for Today
Sir Wilfred Grenfell

"Start some kind word on its travels. There is no telling where the good it may do will stop."