California Durnfords Update

I think I'm going to start doing research by state and just focus on that state until I get everything and then move on. The problem I have is there are so many Durnfords in Ancestry that I get sidetracked when I see a clue on someone else.

So right now I'm working on the Durnfords of Humboldt County, California. It all starts with Robert Durnford (DOB abt. 1868, England) & Margaret Keleher (DOB abt. 1838, Ireland). So far I've not been able to go back any further and connect them to any trees.

Another tree shows Robert may be from Hooke, Dorset, England but the tree has no sources so it's still out for review.

Their children are

• William Thomas Durnford, Sr. 
• Ernest McKenzie Durnford
• John K. Durnford
• Robert L. Durnford

I have a lot of information on Ernest M. Durnford and he had a ton of children. His wife was Clara Virginia Lovell. Same with William, a ton of children. His wife was Mary C. McKenna.

John K Durnford's wife was either a Tooley or Tooby, I've seen both on records but unless I actually order their marriage certicate, it may just be transcription errors.

John K. Durnford had a son John Norton Durnford who was a Merchant Seaman. I have WWI & WWII draft records on him & most recently his seaman papers, which included a photo. NOT ONE OF HIS RECORDS HAS THE SAME DATE OF BIRTH!! There's a bit more info out there on him that I'm not sure of. One census shows a step-son living with him. He did have 2 wives but I still don't have a lot of info on them.

John Norton Durnford

John Norton had a son Jack Kay and that's where his line ends so far.

So if anyone wants to see the new information it's on my Ancestry tree. I will be uploading to the website when I get back from vacation. There's new upload software that I have to install first.

I forgot

Well so much for keep a Durnford genealogy blog because I completely forgot about it! I must confess that I've not done a lot of Durnford research lately. 

I've been mostly focusing on my McDonald line since it's so new. I'm dealing with the wall of the missing bio-father, Arthur (Art) Edward McDonald. He was obviously in Montreal in 1958-59 but after that I don't know. Supposedly he and his wife Nan split up after I was born, she went back to Scotland with her 2 sons (his stepsons) and he went to California. Problem is he was not close to his family so it's mostly remembrance and folklore as to what happened to him. I can't find any border crossing information. Even though his mother was American he was Canadian and would have been listed on the border crossing. If he crossed over that is. I found an Art McDonald buried in San Francisco but it's such a common name. I don't have his exact DOB either, just somewhere around 1922. So if anyone feels like helping, let me know.

So from now on every time I post something to the Facebook page I shall also put it here. It seems like our little newsgroup is dying and I'm not sure why. A lot of people are on Facebook but not everyone. It's it's heyday we had over 20 postings a month now, it's just me forwarding things.

One Durnford Branch that I've been looking into with others is Malaysian Durnfords. This line starts with Josiah Stubbs Durnford and has Bradfords, Critchley, Robinson, and Reids in the family. We can't seem to connect them with anyone yet. There are a few people working on it so we'll find them eventually. I've found that for Asian research FamilySearch is much better than Ancestry. But if anyone knows of the best Overseas British research site, let me know.

The biggest issue that I have going forward is what to do when Ancestry switches, and what to do with my database. First, I don't know if I'm going to keep FTM in it's new incarnation or switch over. My database is almost 9,000 people. Also, I've got a few families all gobbed together and I'd like to separate them out. I really don't need to have my mother and husband's family attached to the Durnford database. But the thought of separating the database scares me. This is the email I received from Ancestry:

Dear Family Tree Maker™ community,
Since our Family Tree Maker announcement last December, we have continued to actively explore ways to develop and support Family Tree Maker and ensure you have choices to preserve your work in ways that matter to you.
Today, we are pleased to announce two options for desktop software that will work with Ancestry.

Software MacKiev 

Software MacKiev, with whom we have a long-standing relationship, is acquiring the Family Tree Maker software line as publisher for both Mac and Windows versions. Software MacKiev has been the developer of Family Tree Maker for Mac for more than six years and is thrilled at the opportunity to publish future versions of Family Tree Maker for Mac and Windows.
This new agreement means you will receive software updates and new versions from Software MacKiev, and have the ability to purchase new versions of Family Tree Maker from Software MacKiev as they are released. You will have continued access to Ancestry Hints, Ancestry searches, and be able to save your tree on Ancestry with Family Tree Maker moving forward.

RootsMagic

We have made an agreement with RootsMagic, a leading genealogy desktop software program publisher, to connect Ancestry with the RootsMagic software by the end of 2016. With this new relationship, RootsMagic can serve as your desktop family tree software, while having access to Ancestry hints, Ancestry searches, and the ability to save your tree on Ancestry.
We have heard your concerns and are working to provide the solutions you requested. These new agreements will make it possible to preserve your work on Ancestry and Family Tree Maker and enable future features and benefits to help you discover your family history. Be assured that Ancestry, in cooperation with Software MacKiev and RootsMagic, will continue to support you as you discover your family history.
We ask for your patience as we work diligently through all the details to make these solutions available. You can find additional details about these Family Tree Maker partnerships on our blog. We also encourage you to continue to check back on our blog for future updates in the coming months.

So I'll just hang tight right now until I figure out what to do with my massive database.

Cynde