The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

With new British Army and English parish records, amazing family discoveries await this Findmypast Friday. And in case you missed it, over a million newspaper pages are now FREE to explore.

British Army, Royal Engineers 1900-1949

Findmypast have completed this collection with over 130,000 new tracer card records, the majority of which cover personnel who served World War 2.

Soldiers from the Royal Engineers in Europe, 1945.

Each record includes an image of the original tracer card or cards documenting a soldier's movements within and between regiments. Most men have one card but some have multiple, with text on both the face of the card and the reverse.

The amount of information listed varies, but all records include the man’s first name/s, last name and army number. Many men also have their date of enlistment and or date of birth included.

Service records for men who served with the Royal Engineers, and indeed with all corps from 1920, are still with the MoD. Tracer cards essentially provide a headline summary of service through which a man's movements can be tracked.

British Army Service Records

Findmypast has further expanded this must-search military resource over 6,000 new Chelsea Pensioners’ discharge documents.

This record from 1794 lists the soldier's name, birthplace,

occupation, regiment, reason for discharge and more. 

View the full record.

 

These discharge papers are some of the oldest records available within this vast collection, allowing you to trace your military ancestor's life and career way back to the 18th century. Including both transcripts and images, they record the servicemen’s birth place, the length of service, and why the soldier was discharged.

Essex Parish Records

In partnership with Waltham Forest Family History Society, Findmypast has also added over 43,000 new transcripts to their existing Essex baptism and burial collections. 

 

These latest baptism records cover the parishes of:

• • Leytonstone, Holy Trinity, 1825-1907
  • Waltham Abbey, Waltham Abbey & Leyton Wesleyan Circuit, 1803-1837
  • Walthamstow, Marsh Street Congregational Church, 1787-1837
  • Walthamstow, St Peter-in-the-Forest, 1844-1916

While the burial records come from:

• • Chingford, St Peter & St Paul, 1813-1963
  • High Beach, Holy Innocents, 1884-1985
  • Leyton, St Mary the Virgin, 1813-1984
  • Leytonstone, St John the Baptist, 1834-1979
  • Waltham Abbey, Paradise Row Baptist Churchyard, 1825-1857
  • Waltham Abbey, Waltham Holy Cross, 1813-1878
  • Walthamstow, St Mary, 1813-1979
  • Walthamstow, St Peter-in-the-Forest, 1845-1949

Baptism and burial records are essential for jumping back through the generations and expanding your family tree. Discover your Essex connections in these newest additions.

Newspapers

13 new titles have joined Findmypast’s ever expanding newspaper archive, including:

• • Athletic Chat covering 1900-1901, 1903 and 1905-1909
  • Berthold’s Political Handkerchief covering 1831
  • Boxing World and Mirror of Life covering 1894-1904 and 1907-1924
  • Brief covering 1877-1878 and 1880-1882
  • British Mercury or Wednesday Evening Post covering 1806-1812, 1814, 1818-1821, and 1823-1825
  • Cape and Natal News covering 1858-1870 and 1879
  • Fonetic Nuz covering 1849
  • Golf covering 1891, 1894-1895, 1897 and 1899
  • Labour Pioneer (Cardiff) covering 1900
  • Pilot (London) covering 1808-1813
  • Representative covering 1826
  • Weekly Times (London) covering 1832
  • Whitehall Evening Post covering 1801

While additional pages have been added to the following 22 publications:

• • Cavan Weekly News and General Advertiser from 1893
  • Constitution (London) from 1820-1823
  • Crewe Chronicle from 1888
  • Croydon Observer from 1863
  • Dundalk Herald from 1882
  • Hampshire Advertiser from 1923-1934
  • Instructor and Select Weekly Advertiser from 1809
  • Kilrush Herald and Kilkee Gazette from 1900
  • Larne Reporter and Northern Counties Advertiser from 1873
  • London Moderator and National Adviser from 1814 and 1820-1823
  • Lowestoft Journal from 1913
  • Manchester Daily Examiner & Times from 1872
  • Northern Weekly Gazette from 1911 and 1917
  • Pontefract Advertiser from 1874 and 1897
  • Saffron Walden Weekly News from 1890 and 1990-1992
  • Sleaford Gazette from 1888
  • Sligo Chronicle from 1856
  • Standard of Freedom from 1848-1849
  • Tailor & Cutter from 1889 and 1911
  • Weekly Free Press and Aberdeen Herald from 1891
  • Wisbech Chronicle, General Advertiser and Lynn News from 1888
  • Wooler’s British Gazette from 1820-1823

Over one million FREE newspaper pages

In case you missed the big announcement earlier this week, in partnership with the British Library, Findmypast have made over a million newspaper pages completely free to search and explore.

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. 

In 1854 self-educated English mathematician George Boole published a paper that eventually resulted in 21st century genealogists finding more information about their ancestors. Boole published The Laws of Thought that illustrated new ways of looking at mathematical data.

Boolean algebra emerged in the 1860s and went on to become a standard method of analyzing all sorts of data. In the last half of the twentieth century, computer scientists and programmers found many applications for Boolean logic. Now Google and many other search engines and quite a few genealogy sites also use Boolean logic extensively. If you understand a few of the simpler Boolean search methods, you can greatly increase the probability of finding the information you seek.

Note: This article will use Google for all examples, simply because it is the most popular search engine today. However, almost all general-purpose search engines use Boolean logic although the exact syntax may vary from one service to the next. In addition, many of the larger genealogy web sites support at least a subset of the Boolean seahttps://www.eogn.comrch logic. You will need to consult each web site’s help files to determine which Boolean terms work on that site, if any. The www.eogn.com web site for this newsletter uses Boolean logic for its searches at “search past newsletter articles” shown on the home page at https://www.eogn.com.

Boolean logic has many uses. Genealogists may consider Boolean logic to be a method of specifying the relationship of words on a web page to other, nearby words on the same page.

The remainder of this article is reserved for Plus Edition subscribers only. If you have a Plus Edition subscription, you may read the full article at: https://eogn.com/(*)-Plus-Edition-News-Articles/10925400.

If you are not yet a Plus Edition subscriber, you can learn more about such subscriptions and even upgrade to a Plus Edition subscription immediately at https://eogn.com/page-18077. 

According to a study of genealogy records from the 1800s and later, Alzheimer estimate relative risk based on specific family history constellations, including from first- to third-degree relatives, shows increased risk of Alzheimers if a close relative also had the same problem.

Quoting from the study:

Results

Any affected first-degree relatives (FDR) significantly increased risk of AD (≥1 FDRs: relative risk [RR] 1.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.59–1.87]; ≥2 FDRs: RR 3.98 [3.26–4.82]; ≥3 FDRs: RR 2.48 [1.07–4.89]; ≥4 FDRs: RR 14.77 [5.42–32.15]). Affected second-degree relatives (SDR) increased risk even in the presence of affected FDRs (FDR = 1 with SDR = 2: RR 21.29 [5.80–54.52]). AD only in third-degree relatives (TDR) also increased risk (FDR = 0, SDR = 0, TDR ≥3: RR 1.43 [1.21–1.68]). Mixed evidence was observed for differences in risk based on maternal compared to paternal inheritance; higher risks for men than women with equivalent family history, and higher risk for individuals with at least one affected FDR regardless of the relative's age at death, were observed.

Conclusions

This population-based estimation of RRs for AD based on family history ascertained from extended genealogy data indicates that inherited genetic factors have a broad influence, extending beyond immediate relatives. Providers should consider the full constellation of family history when counseling patients and families about their risk of AD.

You can read a lot more of the details at: https://n.neurology.org/content/92/15/e1745.

The following was written by FamilySearch:

SALT LAKE CITY, UT--Trace your missing ancestors at FamilySearch in 18M new records from Norway Church Books 1815–1930, and more from England Nottinghamshire Church Records 1578–1937, Middlesex Parish Registers 1539–1988, and England Navy Allotments 1795–1812 from the British National Archives.  

Browse expanded collections for Brazil, El Salvador, Ecuador, Papua New Guinea, and the US including Georgia Tax Digests 1787–1900, Louisiana (Orleans and St. Tammany Parish) Voter Registration Records 1867–1905, Massachusetts Boston Tax Records 1822–1918, and new collections for the Oregon Center for Health Statistics Birth Records 1903-1918, and the Oregon State Archives Births 1842–1917.

Search these new records and images by clicking on the collection links below, or go to FamilySearch to search over 8 billion free names and record images

• The full list is very long, too long to it here. You can find the full list at: https://media.familysearch.org/new-free-historical-records-on-familysearch-week-of-8-august-2021/

About FamilySearch

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 5,000 family history centers in 129 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Just over four centuries ago, the ship The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth in the UK to the shores of America, carrying with it a group of travellers who would go down in history. For some, these 17th Century "pilgrim fathers" are also real-life ancestors. But for how many?

There are a few estimates out there, all of them quite high. According to the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, there are "35 million Mayflower descendants in the world".

And while many Americans are proud to be recent arrivals or second-generation immigrants, making the nation a unique blend of cultures, for others there's an incentive to claim ancestry to these early European arrivals.

Dr Lauren Working, an American historian at the University of Oxford, believes there's an almost aristocratic prestige attached to tracing your family back to the Mayflower.

"It continues to give people a sense of the authority of shared connections with the past. There are so many jokes about America being so young and not really having much of a history.

You can read more in an article at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57698818.

People who were born and adopted in Connecticut prior to 1983 can now legally and easily obtain their own birth records for the first time in decades.

The passage of Public Act 21-21 gives town and city clerks the authority to provide adult adoptees access to their original birth documents, a right that was barred in 1974.

The Hospital of Central CT (formerly New Britain General) is one about 12 birthing hospitals across the state. Individuals born there can download an application to receive their birth records within 30 days at newbritainct.gov/services/town_clerk/vital_records.htm

As chairman of the CT Town Clerks Association (CTCA) Legislative & Elections Committee, New Britain City Clerk Mark Bernacki worked alongside Access Connecticut, Inc. and other advocacy groups to testify in support of this legislation. While Bernacki said there is no way to count exactly how many birth records are newly available in New Britain, it was estimated this new provision will impact about 38,000 adoptees currently living in the state.

You can learn more at: https://bit.ly/3iHjKIx.

To all subscribers:

Here is a list of all of this week's articles, all of them available here at https://eogn.com:

(+) Epidemics

Your Photos May Disappear

Ancestry Has Just Updated Its Terms of Service and Privacy Statement — Again

Improvements to the Online Family Tree at MyHeritage

MyHeritage Adds 14.4 Million Historical Records

Findmypast Adds New School and Parish Records

Deeds and Research Lead to Discovery of Lost Historic Augusta, Maine Cemetery

How to Download the Complete Set of 2020 Census Redistricting Files for Your State

Society of Genealogists Appoints New CEO

Update: Are You Ready for the Future of Computing?

The article with a plus sign (+) in the title is only visible to Plus Edition subscribers. 

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

In these days of the deadly Covid-19 virus, sometimes we forget that our ancestors had similar, or even worse, experiences before the days of high-powered drugs.

The rampant spread of disease was common in the days before penicillin and other "wonder drugs" of the twentieth century. Our ancestors lived in fear of epidemics, and many of them died as the result of simple diseases that could be cured today with an injection or a prescription.

If you ever wondered why a large number of your ancestors disappeared during a certain period in history, you may want to investigate the possibility of an epidemic. Many cases of people disappearing from records can be traced to dying during an epidemic or moving away from the affected area.

Some of the epidemic statistics are staggering. For instance, the influenza epidemic of 1918 and 1919 killed more people than did World War I. Any major outbreak of disease was accelerated by a total absence of sanitary procedures and lack of knowledge. In Europe during the Middle Ages, the homes of the citizens often had roofs and walls made of straw, floors of dirt, and dwellings where animals were kept inside. The city streets, if that's what you could call them, often were barely wide enough for a single cart to pass, and they were perpetually covered with mud, garbage, and excrement. For lack of heated water, people rarely bathed, and fleas were commonplace. It is a wonder that anyone survived under these conditions!

The remainder of this article is reserved for Plus Edition subscribers only. If you have a Plus Edition subscription, you may read the full article at: https://eogn.com/(*)-Plus-Edition-News-Articles/10833436.

If you are not yet a Plus Edition subscriber, you can learn more about such subscriptions and even upgrade to a Plus Edition subscription immediately at https://eogn.com/page-18077.

The following announcement was written by the Society of Genealogists:

The Society of Genealogists is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Wanda Wyporska, as its new CEO, following an open competitive process. An historian of the Early Modern period, her first book was shortlisted for the Katharine Briggs Folklore Award and she regularly contributes to a range of historical events, podcasts and interviews.

Dr Wyporska joins the Society after leading The Equality Trust for five years, where she oversaw digital innovation, significant diversification of income, and a doubling of staff. She is also a trustee of Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) and Redthread. She is also a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of York. She will take up the role on October 1st, 2021.

Ed Percival, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Society of Genealogists said:

“We are extremely pleased to welcome Wanda into this role at such an exciting time for the Society of Genealogists. We are in the midst of an ambitious transformation, which will see us move to new premises, transform our membership services and forge new partnerships.

Not only does Wanda bring significant experience as a CEO and leader in the voluntary sector, but, also, crucially for the Society and its members, she brings a real passion for social history.”

“We are extremely grateful to Laura Doyle for the incredible work she has done as Interim CEO, stepping in to take the helm in December 2020. Her wonderful leadership has ensured that our members, staff and volunteers have had continuity and been supported over a very challenging year.”

Dr Wanda Wyporska, incoming CEO said:

“I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the Society of Genealogists, especially at such an exciting time. Having spent the happiest years of my life in libraries and archives, it is a real privilege to be taking up this role. Studying our family history is a wonderful way of finding out more about ourselves and where we come from and the Society of Genealogists helps people to discover their own place in history. I’m looking forward to meeting staff and members and especially the fantastic volunteers who play such an important role.”

This time there is a change buried deep in its language that is of significance to users.

As of the change, effective 3 August 2021, a user can’t change his or her mind about any content uploaded to Ancestry: you’ve just gifted the rights to that content to Ancestry, forever.

This is a major change for all Ancestry.com users. Ancestry.com now claims that it owns all information contributed by the company's users and the company (Ancestry.com) can use this information for whatever purposes they choose.

As of now, it reads (emphasis added):

… by submitting User Provided Content through any of the Services, you grant Ancestry a perpetual, sublicensable, worldwide, non-revocable, royalty-free license to host, store, copy, publish, distribute, provide access to, create derivative works of, and otherwise use such User Provided Content to the extent and in the form or context we deem appropriate on or through any media or medium and with any technology or devices now known or hereafter developed or discovered. This includes the right for Ancestry to copy, display, and index your User Provided Content. Ancestry will own the indexes it creates.

I am not an attorney and am not qualified to interpret contract law. For a better interpretation of what this means to you, I will refer you to an article written by Judy Russell (who IS an attorney and is widely known as "The Legal Genealogist" at https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2021/08/04/one-big-change-at-ancestry/. )

Read it carefully. You are giving away more than you probably realize.