Genealogy Conference & DNA

I recently spent 3 days gorging on genealogy at the annual Southern California Genealogy Societies Jamboree. My girlfriend Kay, a fellow dead people lover, and I attend every other year up in Burbank. It's a great girl's weekend for us.

There were a few interesting things I learned. I mostly went to the UK classes. I learned all about all the new things at the UK archive site. They've really updated it a lot since I've been. I also learned some new ways to tell a story and most important of all, organizing and citing your research. In the next few weeks I'm going to go through my notes and send out information that you may be interested in.

One thing I didn't know is that the UK archives also has information on colonial activities. I've been having a terrible time finding my father's birth certificate and war records because he was born in Newfoundland before it became part of Canada. I've contacted the provincial vital records and they don't have a record of his birth. He was born in 1916, and I know that they kept records back then even if it was a home birth. The UK was very good about records. I have the same problem with his military records. He was in the Royal Navy but his veteran's pension was through Canada, so I thought Canada would have his records. Nope. So I got the paperwork to get his records from the UK but discovered I had to get his death certificate from Ontario before I can mail it out. All genealogist will feel my pain at this point. Well, I get everything and decided to wait because the records are 30 pounds. I also misplaced the death certificate (sigh).

So, I'm at this conference and they said the UK archives has a list of all military personal that's in their storage facilities. I got all excited, got online and search for my dad. And guess what? Nothing. No Fred Durnford in their records, except for my great uncle Fred who died in WWI. Well, this is very frustrating. Do I spend the money and see if they have the records? I probably will. I hope that they send back the money if they can't find anything. Maybe somewhere in all the English records there's a birth certificate or something out there on my dad. Somewhere. Someplace.

So anyway, I shall blog about the conference and give you some ideas on organizing your files (my downfall) and various search engines I found.

One thing I have decided on after sitting in 3 DNA classes. I've finally found the DNA company that I want us to use. Ancestry just isn't going to work because they aren't going to be doing the testing we need and this other company called Family Tree DNA www.familytreedna.com/ is just better. They will let you set up a a group for people in your name and I can upload my GEDfile to them. Basically we need to get our menfolk to take the Y67 test, it's $268. That's the one that goes back in the male line. It will show if we are all related. There's a Y37 test but it only has 37 markers which would take us back far enough to connect. I think the Y111 is a bit of overkill and at $359 way too expensive. There's also a mtDNA test for women but it wouldn't help with the Durnford for research. It follows the female line back to the dawn of time. Men can take this test too if they want. I would love to take this test because it show how your female side migrated. Anyway, I'm going to be setting up an account with them in the near future. They also have the Autosomal test (what they call the Family Finder) that I took with Ancestry that shows your ethnicity which was rather cool. It will help with family matches as well but gets a little fuzzy after 3-4 cousins. Still can't figure out where the 9% Italian came from. But my blonde sister has much less than me. She has more Irish/Scot which explains the red/blonde hair LOL. Scope out the website and see if you're good with it. The pricing for the Y67 test is rather expensive but only the oldest male relative in your group has to take it so maybe groups of you could pitch in for the cost for your relatives. They say you should have the oldest in your family to take it. In my case that would be my uncle, if he's willing, or my brother. If any of you took the autosomal test with Ancestry or any other company you can transfer your results for only $69. They do give you a discount if you buy their bundles. I'll let you know when the database is set up for the Durnfords.

First Blog

I decided that I would start a blog to help everyone keep tabs on what I'm doing, the research going on for the Durnfords and all the other families that I'm researching. The reasoning behind this is I thought it would be helpful for everyone to see what is new on the site. Problems, issues, breakthroughs, whatever.

Here are some of my issues:

1. I'm having a hard time keeping the website updated. Not so much the data but there's just no easy way to upload the images. I have to manually connect them. And, the site gets messed up if I connect two exact people because it goes by the ID number. I'm still trying to figure out what I should do. I wish there was some way to show the Ancestry tree to the general public. About the only thing I can do right now is to keep the data on the website and if anyone wants to see images or documents to email me and I'll send you an invite to the Ancestry.com site. Or, someone volunteer to help with the site. 
2. I need to retire. Then I could keep up with all the emails I receive! If you've sent me anything, be patient, I'm plugging away as fast as I can. Sometime after working all day as a graphic designer I just don't want to look at a computer. But, the good news is that I finally got a nice new —fast— computer that didn't shut down on a whim, so doing research and checking emails has become a joy again. So I am catching up. 
3. Uncle Who? When you send info, send all you have and use full names. I don't know who Uncle Joe is. And show your tree all the way down to you! I have so many inputs that end at great granny. It helps me remember who contacted me and what you need. 
4. I am terrible with names & my memory isn't all that great. So forgive the multiple emails where I've asked if I've contacted you before or I can't remember what branch you belong to. I've been like that all my life. 
5. I was a enthusiastic but naive genealogist when I started. Back in the day I didn't reference well. I'm slowly fixing all the errors and typos. So if you see something that needs repairing let me know. 

Here's what I plan to do with this blog: 

1. I want to make it easier for everyone to know what's new and what I'm working on. Think of it as an extension of the newsgroup. I plan on updating everyone on what branches I'm working on and what discoveries I've made. I may even throw in an image or two. 
2. I also want guest bloggers. So if you want to write about the research you're doing or tell a story about someone in your family contact me and I'll put it on the blog. I want this to be our blog not just my ramblings. 

Well that's about it for my first blog. I look forward you your feedback and interests.