Scottish Records

January 26, 2012
In honour of Robbie Burns Day and the celebration of all things Scottish, I thought I would add three notes on Scottish family history sites (OK, technically it is two sites and one site on a local business, but you get the idea)

The first website I want to recommend is Scotland's People. It is by far the best genealogy site I have seen (at least for my requirements) and allows users from around the world to view scanned copies of original birth, marriage, and death certificates as far back as the 1500s (although few people registered before the early 1800s). They do charge for the service, but it works out to a few dollars for many records. 

The second website I want to promote is my own Scottish ancestry at Rootsweb. As most of you already know, I had to abandon my bigger Rootsweb tree many years ago because of too many demands from distant relatives. However I feel I can manage this smaller tree, and since these records are harder to locate online I decided to focus on this family line. So anyone who shares common ancestors with me in Scotland may find it useful.

The third item that I want to add today is just a plug for a local company. Several people have asked me where in town (Victoria,BC) they can find decent Scottish foods, and especially the haggis. There is a really good butcher shop on Quadra street near McKenzie, called Orr Family Butchers, and they have a lot of good items in there. IMHO They make the best haggis in the city, and they have a selection of other imported foods as well. 

So that is my Burns Day comments, and I hope that one day they may be useful to some of my loyal followers. Now back to my piping!
 

The Other Site

December 5, 2011
While I am explaining family tree websites, I may as well also explain the other family tree site on the web that has my name on it. I don't remember what the site is called, which indicates how much involvement I have had with it :)

This one is even older than the Rootsweb site - I think it dates back about 15 years now - and I have never had anything to do with it. 

When I was just starting on family history research, I found a great program to store and organize all of the data. So I careful...

Continue reading...
 

Rootsweb

December 5, 2011
I have had a few comments and questions about the large family tree posted on Rootsweb, so I will try to answer them here.

About ten years ago I researched my family tree going back several centuries, and kept it on my computer for my own use. But as I started talking about it online and in other forums, people were requesting copies to include with their own trees. So I posted it on Rootsweb, and thought nothing more of it.

Over time, I started having distant cousins e-mail me their own family...
Continue reading...
 

Remembrance Day

November 11, 2011
I want to take a moment to honour all of the men and women who have protected this country and served in it is various times of need. Those in Canada will know that today is Remembrance Day, when we celebrate the end of the Great War (aka WWI) and honour all who have come through the hardships of military service.

Last year I wrote about some of the specific individuals in my own family and what they went through, and I still honour everything they accomplished even if others may think it triv...

Continue reading...
 

Blank

November 9, 2011
The space intentionally left blank
Continue reading...
 

Further Explanation

November 9, 2011
After writing the introduction, I realized that some of the more distant family members may not be as familiar as I am with the different family lines. I have written the names and connections down on another page, but I will repeat them here for clarity.

The Bird family is obvious - that is my family name, as it was my father's family name and his father's family name going back through the eons. They came from England, around Nottingham and Kenilworth, to Saskatchewan in Canada, and eventual...
Continue reading...
 

Introduction

November 7, 2011
This is my new blog for passing along family history. As some of you know, I am an avid genealogist and photograph collector, and sometimes I pass along a little information in case any of my distant cousins wish it. (So far my most distant are a 5th 3x removed, a 4th 4x removed, and an 8th 1x removed!)

As always my blog is protected by my standard terms and conditions, which just says if you don't bother me then I won't bother you either. And if there is information that you have copyright on...
Continue reading...
 

Make a free website with Yola