Our final seminar in this series on Wednesday 17th February 2021 at 8pm (GMT) takes us back to newspapers, but this time exploring newspaper collections in National Libraries globally. Michelle Patient, Genealogist and DNA consultant for the Australian SBS TV series Every Family has a Secret, will take the subject In Print – Here, There and Everywhere to delve into this invaluable resource for researching our family histories.

National Libraries around the world, including many that are free to view, hold historic newspaper collections which are well worth visiting for the many treasures they contain. Michelle will take us on a global tour and give some useful tips and hints for searching your ancestors and finding out if they had their 15 minutes of fame – or infamy – in print.

Out host this evening will be Brian Audley; thank you to him and Michelle for their time and support. Don’t forget to register for this event, but if you can’t make it you will be able to find a recording on the Guild website soon afterwards.

Our final seminar in this series on Wednesday 17th February 2021 at 8pm (GMT) takes us back to newspapers, but this time exploring newspaper collections in National Libraries globally. Michelle Patient, Genealogist and DNA consultant for the Australian SBS TV series Every Family has a Secret, will take the subject In Print – Here, There and Everywhere to delve into this invaluable resource for researching our family histories.

National Libraries around the world, including many that are free to view, hold historic newspaper collections which are well worth visiting for the many treasures they contain. Michelle will take us on a global tour and give some useful tips and hints for searching your ancestors and finding out if they had their 15 minutes of fame – or infamy – in print.

Out host this evening will be Brian Audley; thank you to him and Michelle for their time and support. Don’t forget to register for this event, but if you can’t make it you will be able to find a recording on the Guild website soon afterwards.

Wednesday 10 February 2021 at 8pm (GMT) is the next date for your diary, when we will turn our attention to Ephemeral Names: printed ephemera as a resource for one-name historians with particular reference to the John Johnson Collection at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. This seminar will be led by the collection’s Librarian Julie Anne Lambert.

The talk will highlight the usefulness of ‘printed ephemera’ to the one-name family historian – all those bits of paper that our ancestors thankfully didn’t throw away! It will take a two-pronged approach, looking first at the various genres covered by the term ‘ephemera’, and then exploring the sorts of names that you might find, such as tradesmen, actors and entertainers, printers, artists, politicians, etc. 

Julie Ann will also show you how to use the finding aids of the John Johnson Collection, both from the perspectives of librarians and users, as well as provide information about finding similar resources elsewhere.

This event will be hosted by Stephen Daglish, our thanks to Stephen and Julie Ann for their time and support. You need to register for this event, but if you can’t make it you will be able to find a recording on the Guild website soon afterwards.

Our second online seminar in our Ancestors in Print series focuses on newspapers. On Wednesday 3 February 2021 at 8pm (GMT), Aoife O’Connor, Head of Project and Programme Management at FindMyPast and the British Newspaper Archive will discuss News from Home: finding the diaspora in newspapers.

Keeping in touch with family and friends if you moved to a foreign posting or emigrated was not at the touch of a button as it is now, so our ancestors used the newspapers to let people know what was happening in their lives. They used the births, marriages and deaths notices, and their movements abroad can be traced through shipping lists and announcements of promotions in both the army and civil service. Newspapers can also reveal what made them leave home and how they adapted to life in a new land.

Bob Cumberbatch will host this event, many thanks to him and Aoife for their time and support. You need to register for this event, but if you can’t make it you will be able to find a recording on the Guild website soon afterwards.

Our online seminar series kicks off on Wednesday 27 January 2021 at 8pm (GMT), with a guided tour of Directories and Poll Books led by Else Churchill. Else is the genealogist at the Society of Genealogists (SOG) in London, and a member of the Guild. Her talk will focus on finding and using the long 18^th century collections held in the SOG library and will also point you to similar sources elsewhere.

These name rich resources supplement parish and other records by providing details about where your ancestors lived and worked, and who they might have worked in partnership with. This additional information can enrich and expand your family story.

Guild member Mike Kipling will host the event. Our thanks to Else and Mike for their time and support. Don’t forget to register your place, but if for any reason you can’t make it, a recording will be available on the website soon after the event.