Tuesday 19 February 2013

Scottish Genealogy Society news

From the Scottish Genealogy Society (www.scotsgenealogy.com):

At a loose end on a Saturday?
We are experiencing difficulties staffing the library on Saturdays, particularly in the afternoons. Anyone who would like to volunteer to be a helper is very welcome to come along. Please call our Librarian (Moira Stevenson) on 0131 220 3677or e-mail: enquiries@scotsgenealogy.com

Next Meeting
Our next meeting will be our AGM on Monday 25 February. This is your opportunity to come along and meet members of the Council and put forward any suggestions (or grievances!) you may have. The AGM will be followed by a talk by Richard Torrance on the history of 15 Victoria Terrace and the surrounding area. As always, the meeting starts at 7.30pm at the Augustine United Church Centre at 41 George IV Bridge (with tea, coffee and biscuits afterwards).

Family History Workshops
The next class in our Family History programme will take place on Saturday 2 March. Joy Dodd will give a talk on Taxation Records and how they can help with your research. As before, the class starts at 10am and lasts approx. two hours. There is a charge of £10 for the class.

Spring Fling! Arts Fair for Older People
Organised by the South Edinburgh Arts Fair Association, the Spring Fling! Arts Fair for Older People will take place at Polwarth Parish Church on Saturday 9 March 2013. This is a free event and will have exhibitors showing off their arts/crafts etc. The SGS has taken a table to publicise the Society and will also be giving a short talk. I hope many of you will come along to support this worthwhile event.

Having problems with the new www.familysearch.org set up?
Anyone who has been researching their family tree for a few years will be more than familiar with familysearch.org. However, over the past year or two the set-up of this website has changed substantially and is not quite as 'user friendly' as before. We still have the familysearch.org discs here in the library, which can offer better results when searching for family relationships.

Edinburgh City Libraries
Edinburgh City Libraries has e-mailed us regarding its 'Our Town Stories' and 'Capital Collections' websites:

Our Town Stories (www.ourtownstories.co.uk is an attractive new interactive website from Edinburgh Libraries. It explores the history of Edinburgh through images, maps and stories from 1700 to the present day. Users can access heritage material from our own rich collections but also the online resources we offer for local and family historians, including SCRAN and the Scotsman Digital Archive. Our Town Stories will appeal to anyone interested in the history of Edinburgh. You can:

  • Use the map to find images of Edinburgh both past and present
  • Discover how familiar places like George Street, the Meadows and North Bridge have changed through Then and Now images
  • Explore historical maps tracing Edinburgh's development since 1700
  • Read stories of Edinburgh's people, places and city life; including the story of Greyfriars Bobby; the hidden gems of Edinburgh's literary connections and the stories behind some of Edinburgh's famous landmarks and monuments.

You might also want to take a look at Capital Collections www.capitalcollections.org.uk
www.capitalcollections.org.uk which has recently changed. It still has the same amazing images of Edinburgh and beyond but there are now more ways to enjoy them. You can explore images of Edinburgh by date or on a map interface. Capital Collections has always had fabulous exhibitions but now you can scroll through all the images in an exhibition with ease.

For anyone supporting learning, Whose Town? Edinburgh Past and Present, our interactive resource for schools (www.edinburgh.gov.uk/whosetown tells the story of Edinburgh through the real life stories of 14 people who lived in Edinburgh from 1850-1950. It is available as a free CD or on Glow. Contact informationdigital@edinburgh.gov.uk for more information.

(With thanks to Ken Nisbet)

Chris

Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit  http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.

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