Big News from Ancestry

It's been difficult to keep this news from Ancestry under my hat for three weeks ... here it is. 

Starting Jan 7th, the 1921 Census of England and Wales will be available on Ancestry, the leader in family history, for all individuals with a World Explorer membership. 

 

The census allows people to dive deeper into the lives of their English and Welsh ancestors - which impacts at least 10.5% of the US population according to the 2020 American Community Survey. The 1930 US Census lists over 850K people with a birthplace in England with over 100K of those likely to be found on the 1921 England and Wales Census - allowing Americans to uncover new information about their grandparents and other ancestors  just before they left for new lives on the other side of the world.  

 

Conducted on June 19th 1921, the census captures a critical moment in history. It offers a look into the lives of roughly 38M individuals, including those who survived the war and the infamous 1919 flu pandemic. The document also provides an invaluable insight into societal shifts that occurred, including: 

• Demographic Shifts: 1.7 million more women than men in England and Wales, largely due to the loss of men during WWI.
• Female Empowerment: The 1920s marked a decade of change for women, with many taking on new roles during WWI and gaining the right to vote in 1918. The census reflects these changes, showing women in various new occupations. Notable figures alive during this time include Virginia Woolf, Agatha Christie and Nancy Astor, among others. 
• Detailed & Handwritten Records: For the first time this census includes additional fields such as marital status 'divorced’ and employment details (i.e. name and address of the employer). People can also see handwriting from the head of the household, providing a personal and emotional connection for those researching their family history.

 

The next England and Wales Census will not be available until 2051 given the records of 1931 were destroyed during the Second World War and no census was taken in 1941 - adding to the significance of this release. 

Dead and Buried ... at last

Thanks to a Findagrave hint from Ancestry I have finally been able to bury Robert's 3 x great grandfather, James Clark/e who had emigrated from Waddesdon to New South Wales in the 1840s. James and his family settled in the Waterloo area in Sydney.

On and off for nearly 40 years I had tried to kill off James and his wife Mary Ann Allen but because of the common nature of their names I probably hadn't tried hard enough. 

The hint offered me this snippet.

1886 'CORONER'S INQUEST.', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 4 May, p. 5. , viewed 06 Jan 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13638050

There were enough clues in this article to set me off on a chase. I found a death entry in the NSW Registry's Online Death Index which listed the correct names I had for James parents. I have ordered a copy of this certificate. 

I then decided to look for a James Clarke on the Rookwood site (a popular Sydney Cemetery at that time)  and found his record there with the location of his plot.  This looked promising.

Rookwood Burial Record

What was even better was the information contained in the Other Information Section of the entry.

Other information on Rookwood entry

A quick click on the link to Mary Ann's Rookwood record and then her entry in the NSW Registry's Online Death Index confirmed that James' wife Mary Ann Allen was resting with him at Rookwood. I have also ordered her death record and hope to visit Rookwood shortly to see if there is a headstone in place and intact.  

Further digging in Trove returned more hits that confirmed I had the right James Clark/e. 

1886 'Brevities.', Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), 1 May, p. 4. , viewed 06 Jan 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107291056

1886 'THE DAY'S DOINGS.', Globe (Sydney, NSW : 1885 - 1886), 3 May, p. 4. (FIRST EDITION and EVENING), viewed 06 Jan 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article102560570

Perhaps I should spend more time following up those hundreds of  Ancestry hints that are sitting in my account!

The Thoughtful Ancestor

Earlier this year I was delighted to find that one of my submissions for the Connections2025 Conference had been accepted.

My topic is: The Thoughtful Ancestor: leaving a large footprint for future generations

Image by bobschwenkler from Pixabay

The Synopsis: Researchers spend enormous amounts of time, effort and money on their projects but, if they have not made arrangements before they are dead, the fruits of their labour are likely to end up on a rubbish dump. 

The purpose of this presentation is to make attendees reflect on their practices and to guide them in making decisions to ensure that their work is preserved for future generations. 

In this presentation I hope to cover: Evaluating your collections, Cleaning up your files, Documenting your wishes, Appointing a successor: person or institution, Writing up a clear summary of your collection, Leaving funds for curation.

I'm aiming to make this a practical presentation with many suggestions for leaving a large footprint. In addition to a physical footprint I will mention the emotional legacy we leave for our descendants. 

I feel a serious case of nerves approaching as I strive to put together a talk worthy of the event. When I peruse the program I see that I am in the company of esteemed and experienced presenters.

On my recent return from overseas I created a Powerpoint file to use as a mind map/plan for my presentation. It's time to give up dabbling and get moving as my file is due to be uploaded in less than than a month. I am now in serious research/preparation mode. 

My presentation is after lunch on the last day of the conference so the audience members are likely to be suffering from information overload. I will have to make it light and lively to keep them engaged.

There are a few speakers I would really like to hear at the event but as we are scheduled at the same timeslot I will have to miss Andrew Redfern and David Ryan. I hope there is some audience left for me!

Roll on March. 

Accentuate the Positive 2024 Geneameme

Back in 2012 when I decided to publish the first Accentuate the Positive Geneameme I said:

"At this time of year many geneabloggers take stock of what they have achieved or not achieved in the previous twelve months and set themselves goals for the coming year. I have been reading several of these posts this week.

I feel that a lot of my geneablogging friends are too hard on themselves; several have reported on their successes this year but quite a number have lamented that they haven't achieved as much as they set out to do or that they haven't blogged with the frequency they envisaged.

You are a bunch of highly motivated people who have made great strides in the genealogy sphere. Let's share the good news."

For the 2024 challenge I was going to be lazy and use the prompts from 2012 but on reading them realised there was no mention of AI, DNA or Zoom in the 2012 list. Blogging has also waned in popularity and Twitter has gone off the rails. I have therefore modified my questions. 

I invite you to take part in this activity by responding to the following statements/questions in an online  post. Write as much or as little as you want and complete as many statements as you wish. If you wish to take part and don't have a blog email me your responses and I will post them here on the GeniAus blog.

Once you have done so please share your post's link in a comment on this post or to me via email to jillballau@gmail.com. I will, later in January, compile a list of links to your contributions here on this blog.

Remember to Accentuate the Positive - please delete the statements that are not relevant to your situation.

1.  Google provided an answer to

2.  I was the recipient of genearosity from 

3.  This headstone gave me some extra information

4.  An useful record I discovered was

5.  A newly found family member who shared

6.  A geneasurprise I received was

7.   My 2024 post that I was particularly proud of was

8.   DNA helped me to 

9.  I was pleased I upgraded

10. Although Face to Face events have returned Zoom has 

11. I dipped my toes into

12. I connected with 

13. By dipping my toes into AI I was able to

14. I was honoured to

15. I found this presentation most useful

16. A great repository/archive/library I visited was

17. I got the most value from this book

18. It was exciting to finally meet

19. A geneadventure I enjoyed was

20. Another positive I would like