Mike and list: Yes, there is a place on Ancestry to make a correction, but only if the program is working - most of the time it is not - same on Familysearch. Frustrating!! Sher On 10/31/2019 4:01 PM, Nancy Frey wrote: > Hi Mike, > > Thanks for correcting me if it was a statement I made. It probably > was as I had it in my head that Ancestry was the parent company. D.C > Thompson are affilliated with or own a few other sites I use. Hope > Ancestry doesn't gobble them up, lol. > > For a long time, only FreeREG had any way of alerting them to possible > mistranscriptions. Today you can add a note at Ancestry and > FamilySearch, but to the best of my knowledge only FreeREG actually > checks the source and makes a correction online. > > Cheers, > > > Nancy Frey, > Windsor, ON, Canada > OPC for Ansford & Castle Cary, Somerset > [email protected] > > On Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 4:50 AM Mike Rendle > <[email protected]> wrote: >> FMP is definitely not part of Ancestry, it is very much a competitor. It is owned by the Scottish publisher D C Thompson. >> >> On the subject of errors in transcriptions, I hope that if/where you find them you notify the publisher of what you believe the correction should be using whatever process they provide. Eventually the errors will be cleaned up. >> >> Mike Rendle RootsWeb community > _______________________________________________ > ------------------------------------------ > The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon > http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/ and Devon FHS (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/[email protected] > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com

Hi Brian, You are absolutely right about Google searches getting different results on different platforms etc. But when I Googled before and I just repeated the search, the #1 site it quoted took me to https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/county/devon/online_parish_clerks/. The next one led me to https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/OPCproject. I knew enough to follow the second one, but a novice may not and get discouraged when they get to the first site. What I was trying to point out is how much easier it is to find the parish you want at the Dorset OPC gateway. On the Devon gateway I have to go through a list ie: Introduction Organisation - General Organisation - OPCs using web sites Organisation - OPCs using email New Volunteers Devon Parish Listing Online Parish Clerks - Map of Coverage and choose something else before I get a list of the parishes. Like all the younger people today, I want instant gratification -- I want to see a list of parishes that are covered right away. I can read the rest if I want at a later date. Cheers, Nancy Frey, Windsor, ON, Canada OPC for Ansford & Castle Cary, Somerset [email protected] On Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 10:11 AM Brian Randell <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Nancy: > > I was surprised by your comments about the Devon OPC scheme below, so I’ve just Googled: Devon OPC. > > The top hit, immediately after paid advert for UK Register Online, was to the Devon OPC page, at > > https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/OPCproject > > And this lists and gives you links to all the parish pages’ genealogy sections that contain details of an OPC - either their email address or a link to their OPC page. > > (The Devon OPC scheme was one of the first OPC schemes to be set up, and was deliberately set up so as to complement GENUKI, rather than to ignore it, and so it is one of the main resources listed at the top of the GENUKI/Devon home page.) > > HOWEVER - *different* users can get *different* results from Google, as it takes advantage of what it already knows of the user’s past searches. So your experience may well differ. > > Cheers > > Brian

OOPS!! It seems I've been a 'friend' of the page and 'following' for some time. But for some reason the posts -- and there have been some recently -- don't show up in my feed. Then I find there are two separate sections for posts -- one is under Posts and the other under Community. I've never seen a group set up this way before and I've never received any of the posts under Community in my feed either. GENUKI has 2,449 followers but very few posts by any of them. Is there anyone else here who has followed the group? Are you getting posts in your feed? I'm going to send a query to FB and ask why I'm not getting them. Cheers, Nancy Frey, Windsor, ON, Canada OPC for Ansford & Castle Cary, Somerset [email protected] On Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 9:50 AM Brian Randell <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Jon: > > > On 31 Oct 2019, at 13:37, Jonathan Frayne <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Much as many of us dislike Social Media it seems to me that FaceBook and its ilk are a good way of publicising something and the first place that many people will look for help and advice. Can GENUKI get a FaceBook page, I wonder? > > See https://www.facebook.com/GENUKI !!!! > > This has existed for several years, despite the complete lack of enthusiasm for Facebook amongst the GENUKI Trustees, myself included - but I’ve overcome my dislike of it (as opposed to the good uses of facebook such as DFHS's) and have posted information about new resources to the GENUKI FB page, especially the GENUKI/Devon monthly What’s New notices, pretty regularly. But this is a minimal effort, I’d have to admit. Much more and we’d be in danger of recreating GENUKI in it. > > Needless to say, if any Facebook aficionados would like to help improve the GENUKI FB page they’d be very welcome! > > Cheers > > Brian

Hi Jon, What a great idea! Of course it would mostly answer questions and point people to the GENUKI site. All it would require is someone who has authority to act on behalf of GENUKI to go to Facebook and with a couple of clicks -- the page would be live. Cheers, Nancy Frey, Windsor, ON, Canada OPC for Ansford & Castle Cary, Somerset [email protected] On Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 9:38 AM Jonathan Frayne <[email protected]> wrote: > > Much as many of us dislike Social Media it seems to me that FaceBook and its ilk are a good way of publicising something and the first place that many people will look for help and advice. Can GENUKI get a FaceBook page, I wonder? > > Jon > > Sent from Mail for Windows 10

Hi Sher, I like your thoughts on this and agree wholeheartedly. I wrote an article on GENUKI -- what it is, what it does and how to use it -- for publication in the newsletter of a group I belonged to. Unfortunately they ceased to publish before my article was used. If anybody wants it I'd be happy to contribute. GENUKI was one of the first places I learned to search, other than the IGI, when I was a novice. Unfortunately, not all counties are as well done and informative as Devon. As for the OGS -- I was a member when I lived in your bailiwick but because my genealogy was all in the UK my work was of no interests to my fellow members, nor were any of them able to assist me in my research. Going back before the arrival of an ancestor in the new world, at least at that time, wasn't something they were inclined to do. Since the various Societies such as DFHS and S&DFHDS and many others have moved to Facebook, I feel we now have the audience to do some promotion, don't you? But then there are the usual naysayers who feel that joining Facebook will be detrimental to their health. To my mind, like any other place in the world, Facebook is a safe place to be if you use your head. You need adequate security on your computer/cell phone, don't accept as friends people you don't know, keep your page private, and most important, don't post information that would allow someone to steal your identity or otherwise interfere with your life. I've been on Facebook since 2009 and have never had a problem. I cringe every time I see people posting photos of their children, and if you click on their info you can find out exactly where that child lives. These are the people who have problems with Facebook. Its raining here in Windsor as well, Sher. Cheers, Nancy Frey, Windsor, ON, Canada OPC for Ansford & Castle Cary, Somerset [email protected] On Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 9:31 AM Sher Leetooze <[email protected]> wrote: > > To the List: > > Ros and others seem to be drowning in inaction! That is the shame of > it. If people can't research without putting out big money on > memberships to an online database, they don't seem to be able to > research. And researchers will not join a local genealogy group in > order to learn how to do their research - I know this first hand. Here > in Ontario Canada we have the Ontario Genealogical Society with a branch > or two in each county/region. Some branches are suffering because their > membership is so low. I'm sure it is the same in UK and other places. > Once or twice a year I accept an invitation to speak at their meetings - > often it is to give a "genealogy 101" session about research techniques. > But I'm preaching to the converted!! OPC's, Societies, etc just aren't > being promoted - no $£$£ to advertise their wares - like the Ancestry's > and FMP's of the world do. We need a blitz- PROMOTE! PROMOTE! PROMOTE! > I'm told social media is the place to advertise - perhaps that's the > place to be right now - talking up the OPC schemes and the Family > History Societies and the FREE online databases that people seem to have > forgotten. The onus is on ourselves to promote our wares as often as we > can - OPC's included - we have to take our wares to the public rather > than wait for them to come to us. > > Just my opinions. > > Sher in rainy Ontario, Canada

Hi Jon, Oh how I'd love to be able to see the original parish registers, but as I live in Canada I only had one opportunity. I spent 37 days in the UK in 2008 in five specific places where I knew my ancestors had lived and where I could access a Record Office. When I asked to see the original parish registers in more than one place I was told it would take a couple of days -- time that I didn't have -- to get them from storage. The same applied to some documents I would like to have seen where the microfilm/fiche was not entirely great. If I had known that, I would have contacted these places and made arrangements ahead of time, but I was not as experienced as I am now and this advice was never offered on any of the lists that I subscribed to even when people knew I was going to the UK for that purpose. You are so lucky to be able to get in your car and take a few hours trip to a Record Office. I'd move, but I couldn't afford to live in the UK on my pension, lol. Cheers, \ Nancy Frey, Windsor, ON, Canada OPC for Ansford & Castle Cary, Somerset [email protected] On Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 7:02 AM Jonathan Frayne <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Nancy > > I am more than happy to help people of any experience with their research as long as they have done the basic stuff for themselves and are in some way stuck. I too can recall having to do research long ago by surface mail and going to the Record Office and having to don white gloves before the original registers were presented. I, personally, don’t ignore requests from less experienced family historians but I do drift off into other activities (particularly during the warmer months!) so may not see requests for help. Sorry about that. > > I have seen people on this list ask, in the past, for basic information and then get sign-posted to where they can find it, only for someone else to look for them and produce the information for them. > > Wainwright’s book, the transcript of the Barnstaple PR, (and indeed all the transcripts published in the DCRS’s Old Series) were indexed at some point and that was published. For many years thereafter, due to resistance from the Bishop of Exeter (I was told), no other images of the PRs were allowed apart from the LDS microfilms and I am sure we can all recall how appallingly bad they were in general. Latterly the Heritage Centre and DFHS have done much to rectify this with their digitisation project. No praise is sufficient to them for this. It was in trying to help them in this that I discovered that I am nowhere near as good a transcriber as I thought I was. > > I have found that if you ask in the local record office to have the original PRs produced they will be (as long as they are fit for production of course). I do that sometimes for the sake of the smell of the old velum, but it isn’t really necessary where the page has been digitised. What I have found is that a digital photograph of the page makes it a lot easier to decipher if that is needed. The technology in a modern camera brings up the image, sometimes from vague splodginess to written-like-it-was-done-yesterday quality. > > Jon > > Sent from Mail for Windows 10 > > From: Nancy Frey > Sent: 31 October 2019 01:59 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [DEV] Re: The Demise of the OPC? > > Hi Jon & others, as Wayne puts it: > > Brian has been very quick. There is no longer any reference to you or > anyone else as being OPC for Barnstaple on the GENUKI Barnstaple > page.0 > > There are a lot of old books, including the one containing the > Barnstaple Parish Registers published in 1903 (of which I have a copy > on my hard drive) available to read or download at > https://archive.org/index.php. It doesn't actually say the church is > St. Peter's but your local knowledge tells you that. And in the > preface the editor Thos. Wainwright explains what information was and > wasn't transcribed. And it is NOT indexed. There is nothing to say > who actually transcribed the information from the PRs or when. What is > not clear to me is where the FS. Ancestry and FreeREG got their > transcriptions and if the original PR book exists in the Devon Record > Office or do they merely have a copy of Wainwright's Book. I wish I > could see the original PRs.. > > There are other online repositories for old books. You will also find > access to some books not out of copyright on FS & Ancestry. With the > latter I usually take a screen shot of the relevant pages as well the > title page of the book and sometimes the Index. > > Before attempting to transcribe old records you need to get familiar > with how handwriting differed over the years. There are a lot of > tutorials online and a knowledge of Secretary Hand is helpful, even > essential if transcribing any of the old PRs as is a knowledge of > Latin as used by clerics. All this is available online if you really > want to know. Nobody is 100% accurate and that is why groups like > FreeREG have people who double check the work and bring in more 'eyes' > if there is any disagreement. Those who can do this work are > departing this earth very rapidly these days and few are taking their > place. > > As to what an OPC can add to their page the first thing that comes to > mind is a redirection to the location of books like this. I would > also add transcriptions of Wills and other documents relating to > people in the parish. Old newspaper clippings and postmortems are > great additions, although these have to be transcribed first. > Photographs of places in the parish both past and present are another > item. Just because the usual things like PRs and Census records are > now adequately covered elsewhere doesn't make an OPC site useless. > Except in Devon where all this is on the GENUKI page. > > Cheers, > > Nancy Frey > Windsor, ON, Canada > OPC for Ansford & Castle Cary, Somerset > [email protected] > > > On Wed, Oct 30, 2019 at 4:00 PM Jonathan Frayne <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Hi Wayne (and others) > > > > I was a little concerned to hear I am still the OPC for Barnstaple, apparently. I looked and yes I am! What must be very frustrating for people is that it has my name but an old email address! I think Brian was asked to remove that from GENUKI, but if not could I ask him here and now to do so. It was some time ago and I think somebody asked to be able to keep the information on the website available and I said yes. Not sure where that went to. > > > > To respond to the rest of your message: > > > > It made me feel good (and wanted) to respond to people’s requests for a while. Then I realised that being helpful could be over-used and then I thought that maybe the big websites may have rules about copying ‘their’ information to third parties-and they do! The puzzling messages noted elsewhere were a relief from the mundane, even if I had to say go and get a researcher. Maybe I was too gentle to be able to tell people to go and look something up for themselves. I recall when this discussion site was filled with just such look up requests! > > > > I have never received information through being an OPC that was of use to me. What has been very useful is the much maligned Ancestry from which I receive a continuing stream of very useful emails from other members . . . > > > > I have transcribed many documents but after doing some for the DFHS I found that I was not very accurate. I am glad you are, but I don’t comment on accuracy nowadays . . .3 > > > > BTW The PC transcript for Barnstaple St Peters has been on-line for years. It was first published by the DCRS (I think) as a very large leather bound volume which had been prepared by Chanter and/or Wainwright and covered 1537-1812. It is on-line in most of the large websites as a result and there is an original copy in Barnstaple Record Office. I doubt anyone has ever checked it for accuracy as it is enormous, beyond noting any discrepancies they may have noted. I used to be on good terms with the archivist/librarians in the record office ( I would still be but I don’t have the reasons to visit nowadays). They have not notified me of any discrepancies they have. > > > > Jon Frayne > > > > _______________________________________________ > ------------------------------------------ > The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon > http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/ and Devon FHS (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/[email protected] > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community > > > _______________________________________________ > ------------------------------------------ > The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon > http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/ and Devon FHS (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/[email protected] > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community

I'm a withered, lichen-clad GENUKI Devon fan from way-back. It occurs to me that GENUKI as a magnet name doesn’t compete well with business-generating names like FAMILY TREE MAKER, or FIND MY PAST, or ANCESTRY, or LEGACY TREE. It's likely that GENUKI as a name fails to resonate with "Newbies" An organisation patently needs a name that sets it apart from its competitors, and GENUKI as a name, certainly manages that. I've long regarded GENUKI Devon, Brian and Terry as living treasures, and really like things the way they are, so am reluctant to suggest consideration of a more powerful marketing name. Best wishes to everyone, Mike.

Hi Mike, Thanks for correcting me if it was a statement I made. It probably was as I had it in my head that Ancestry was the parent company. D.C Thompson are affilliated with or own a few other sites I use. Hope Ancestry doesn't gobble them up, lol. For a long time, only FreeREG had any way of alerting them to possible mistranscriptions. Today you can add a note at Ancestry and FamilySearch, but to the best of my knowledge only FreeREG actually checks the source and makes a correction online. Cheers, Nancy Frey, Windsor, ON, Canada OPC for Ansford & Castle Cary, Somerset [email protected] On Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 4:50 AM Mike Rendle <[email protected]> wrote: > > FMP is definitely not part of Ancestry, it is very much a competitor. It is owned by the Scottish publisher D C Thompson. > > On the subject of errors in transcriptions, I hope that if/where you find them you notify the publisher of what you believe the correction should be using whatever process they provide. Eventually the errors will be cleaned up. > > Mike Rendle RootsWeb community

Hi Len, I tend to agree with you in that, in the past, a lot of newbies (can I call them novice genealogists?) were older people. Maybe a lot are today, but I feel they have the common sense to do some homework before asking for help. The novices I was speaking of are not those people but a hoard of much younger people who I feel were lured into genealogy by advertising such as I still see daily on my TV for Ancestry. Sorry if I didn't make that clear. I can't put a name to the famous genealogist you are referring to but I know we'd be great friends if I ever met him/her. A couple of people come to mind who kindly attended the Bunfight I organized in Stanton Wick back in 2008 in connection with the Listers from the Rootsweb B&S. Cheers, Nancy Frey, Windsor, ON, Canada OPC for Ansford & Castle Cary, Somerset [email protected] On Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 3:20 AM Len Heyward <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hello Nancy; > > I agree with you regarding 'the younger generation' and the use of the > latest technology in their 'research', but do not agree with your definition > of a newbie. In my years of being involved with genealogy, most newbies are > not 'younger people', but most are retirees who take on a hobby they had > always considered getting involved in at some stage. There was a "famous" > genealogist in the U.K. who very recently passed away who used to give > newbies a torrid time and much abuse on the many lists, forcing some listers > to unsubscribe from their lists and from genealogy in general, by simply > having the cheek and nuisance value to ask a question. > > Len Heyward

There is a chance that the regiment was preparing to move or even in transit and the registration was not top priority. Best place to check is the musters in Kew. You may find a Regimental history on Google. Cheers Paul Get Outlook for Android<https://aka.ms/ghei36> ________________________________ From: Neil Simmons <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2019 5:29:43 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: [DEV] Re: Finding birth certificate? Hi, I'm having problems finding the birth of my paternal grandmother, Millie Cocking. Born 23/1/1893 in Barracks on Drake's Island in Plymouth Sound. Father is Henry Cocking, Royal Artillery, and mother is Elisabeth (nee Forsdick). I can find births for her two elder bothers, Harry 1888 and Frank 1890, her immediately younger brother, Fred 1894, born on St Helena, then the rest of the extensive family of eleven children. Army Returns 1891-1895 only record Fred. She appears in the 1901 census and then in the 1911, by which time she is a domestic servant working for the Archer sisters. Any ideas? Neil ________________________________ _______________________________________________ ------------------------------------------ The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/ and Devon FHS (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) _______________________________________________ Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/[email protected] Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community

On Thu, 31 Oct 2019 at 10:26, Jonathan Frayne <[email protected]> wrote: > I have always found that FMP are quite responsive when notified of errors-after all we are proof reading their content for free. They just put up the alternative suggested by me and sometimes they even amend the index accordingly! As for Ancestry, I think I have managed to get them to accept just one error. ... Are you sure that you have that the right way round? Technically, Ancestry have the original index value plus whatever corrections have been submitted to them as *alternative* and *additional* index values. Whereas FMP only ever have one index value at one time, so if you think the text reads "nu" and they think it reads "un", then hard luck. So alternatives are Ancestry, not FMP. The problem with both is that I never know whether my suggestion has been accepted. In the case of Ancestry, however, I might see the primary value of the index, go to correct it and discover that I've already corrected it! In the case of FMP, because there's only ever one index, while I can see if it's right (in my view) I won't see if it's been corrected. I don't think that FMP's acknowledgement mails give enough info to make it easier to check up. Or maybe I lost the will to check, check and check again.... Adrian

Neil, I couldn't find a birth record but, looking at FMP, a Milly married Frank Simmons at St Augustine, Plymouth on 21 Dec 1912. Both bride and groom were ages 20.  Milly's father is shown as Henry. Turning to the 1939 Register, the family are in Plymouth and her date of birth is shown as 23 July 1892.  There were 2 children then, Frank (b 9 Feb? 1913) and Henry (b 22 Sep 1915). Incidentally Milly was incorrectly transcribed as Molly. John On 1/11/2019 4:29 am, Neil Simmons wrote: > Hi, > I'm having problems finding the birth of my paternal grandmother, Millie Cocking. Born 23/1/1893 in Barracks on Drake's Island in Plymouth Sound. Father is Henry Cocking, Royal Artillery, and mother is Elisabeth (nee Forsdick). I can find births for her two elder bothers, Harry 1888 and Frank 1890, her immediately younger brother, Fred 1894, born on St Helena, then the rest of the extensive family of eleven children. Army Returns 1891-1895 only record Fred. She appears in the 1901 census and then in the 1911, by which time she is a domestic servant working for the Archer sisters. Any ideas? Neil > ________________________________ > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > ------------------------------------------ > The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon > http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/ and Devon FHS (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/[email protected] > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community >

Hi, I'm having problems finding the birth of my paternal grandmother, Millie Cocking. Born 23/1/1893 in Barracks on Drake's Island in Plymouth Sound. Father is Henry Cocking, Royal Artillery, and mother is Elisabeth (nee Forsdick). I can find births for her two elder bothers, Harry 1888 and Frank 1890, her immediately younger brother, Fred 1894, born on St Helena, then the rest of the extensive family of eleven children. Army Returns 1891-1895 only record Fred. She appears in the 1901 census and then in the 1911, by which time she is a domestic servant working for the Archer sisters. Any ideas? Neil ________________________________

oops.. not the last entry actually.. I wonder if she was related to Elizabeth Holdsworth further up the page who died of influenza .. > On 31 Oct 2019, at 16:35, Jane Lucas via DEVON <[email protected]> wrote: > > The last entry for 1782

Following on from discovering that some records for Staverton have not been indexed, I thought I’d see if a similar situation occurs at Dartmouth, where I also have missing people. I think these Registers are all indexed in fact; at least a name search using names I found whilst browsing does bring up results but obviously I haven’t tried all of them. But, the joy of browsing the Register was brought home by the Dartmouth St. Petrox Register beginning in 1780. First of all, the front cover ‘Dartmouth St. Petrox’ is written in the most beautiful artistic hand. I don’t know if it has a particular name, but it makes me ashamed of my handwriting! Underneath that is written “In June 1782 the influenza raged with great violence through most parts of England and in the Parishes of Townstall St. Saviour and St. Petrox swept off a great number of aged people” Then a Title page also in beautiful handwriting. I turned to 1782 to find that 4 out of 15 burials were due to influenza. The vicar or curate that year commented on most of the entries regarding cause of death or other note. The last entry for 1782 is for Joan Holdsworth ‘an aged lady remarkable for her Charity’. How lovely.. I wish she was my ancestor. Jane

I will not use Facebook, nor Twitter, I do not trust them. Edna - Ottawa -----Original Message----- From: Jonathan Frayne Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2019 9:37 AM To: [email protected] ; [email protected] Subject: [DEV] Re: The Demise of the OPC? Much as many of us dislike Social Media it seems to me that FaceBook and its ilk are a good way of publicising something and the first place that many people will look for help and advice. Can GENUKI get a FaceBook page, I wonder? Jon

Well said, Len, If anybody has been nervously hovering building up courage to post their question to the list (I remember being in that position), I hope they haven't been deterred by some comments. I came across the "famous" genealogist you refer to on another list when he was extremely offensive to a lister who had asked a question. I told him that I considered him to be out of order and the only stupid question is the one that goes unasked. He replied to the effect that he was a famous genealogist and a superior being who shouldn't be bothered by lesser mortals with no knowledge and people who were amateur family historians shouldn't have the presumption to join the list and annoy him and the other superior beings with their questions. I replied that I could see that he was very clever but in my opinion he wasn't very wise. Off list I wrote to him and reminded him that we can't see who we are corresponding with on the list so it is wise to be careful about how we reply. We don't know if they are dyslexic, recovering from a stroke or have other health or cognitive issues, I had just attended an evening class on family history and one of my fellow students had Down's Syndrome. I think I took the wind out of his sails because he merely replied that he was from Yorkshire and called a spade a spade. Well, my ancestry is part Cornish and the Cornish spade is actually a shovel so we were never going to agree! Nancy, I am surprised at your comment that experienced genealogists on Facebook were withholding advice because they felt it was beneath them to reply. They are probably failing to help people who need it the most. What a pity. I just try to follow my Devon grandmother's wise advice - "If you can't say something good about someone, say nothing at all" Joy (who isn't clever or wise but likes helping people and solving puzzles) ------ Original Message ------ From: "Len Heyward" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, 31 Oct, 2019 At 07:19 Subject: [DEV] Re: The Demise of the OPC? Hello Nancy; I agree with you regarding 'the younger generation' and the use of the latest technology in their 'research', but do not agree with your definition of a newbie. In my years of being involved with genealogy, most newbies are not 'younger people', but most are retirees who take on a hobby they had always considered getting involved in at some stage. There was a "famous" genealogist in the U.K. who very recently passed away who used to give newbies a torrid time and much abuse on the many lists, forcing some listers to unsubscribe from their lists and from genealogy in general, by simply having the cheek and nuisance value to ask a question. Len Heyward -----Original Message-----

Hi Edna: As someone else has remarked, we don’t have an advertising budget - in fact we don’t have a budget at all. But we’d love some help with such “managerial” matters as publicity for GENUKI, attracting volunteers to help the many and various sections of GENUKI, etc. Cheers Brian > On 31 Oct 2019, at 12:47, Edna Marlow <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Genuki is excellent but the newbies do not know about it. > > Cheers, > > Edna - rainy Ottawa > > > > > -----Original Message----- From: Sher Leetooze Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2019 8:29 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [DEV] Re: The Demise of the OPC? > Why do people NOT look at Genuki???? That's the first place I go when I need information, for Heaven's sake. It's the best "hub" site in the world!! > > Sher in rainy Ontario, Canada. > > > _______________________________________________ > ------------------------------------------ > The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon > http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/ and Devon FHS (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/[email protected] > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community — School of Computing, Newcastle University, 1 Science Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5TG EMAIL = [email protected] PHONE = +44 191 208 7923 URL = http://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/people/profile/brianrandell.html

Hi Nancy: I was surprised by your comments about the Devon OPC scheme below, so I’ve just Googled: Devon OPC. The top hit, immediately after paid advert for UK Register Online, was to the Devon OPC page, at https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/OPCproject And this lists and gives you links to all the parish pages’ genealogy sections that contain details of an OPC - either their email address or a link to their OPC page. (The Devon OPC scheme was one of the first OPC schemes to be set up, and was deliberately set up so as to complement GENUKI, rather than to ignore it, and so it is one of the main resources listed at the top of the GENUKI/Devon home page.) HOWEVER - *different* users can get *different* results from Google, as it takes advantage of what it already knows of the user’s past searches. So your experience may well differ. Cheers Brian > On 30 Oct 2019, at 23:24, Nancy Frey <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Wayne, > > Your choice of subject for your post made the blood drain from my > face. My first thought, after the recent demise of the Yahoo! Groups > was "Oh no, not the OPCs as well". I'm OK now that I've read it. > > I'm in the Somerset group and have tons of material I could upload, > but unlike other OPC Groups I am not allowed to do this myself and it > results in the information just sitting on my hard drive waiting for > me to get around to getting in touch with my co-ordinator who I > haven't heard from in years. That's if she is still around. > > I always check for an OPC when I run into a lack of information online > and just recently sent eMails to two. One has not responded and the > other at least has the courtesy to eMail back to say she wasn't doing > much as an OPC and would get back to me. No time frame given. > > There is one OPC that gets my admiration and all my contributions. > His name is Mike Russell and he is the OPC for Dorchester & > Fordington in Dorset. If you ever want to see what an OPC site should > look like, have a look at his. Dorset has a gateway site > (http://www.opcdorset.org/) to all or their OPC pages and I use them > so frequently I have Dorset OPC on my search banner. > > Somerset OPC has one as well, but I seldom use it. Have a look at > http://wsom-opc.org.uk/. You have to read through a ton of garbage > before you finally get to the page where the OPCs are listed only to > find the area you want isn't covered. Going on to my page for Ansford > the first link I clicked on was broken. None of the material on that > page is what I submitted to be uploaded and all of my data went > missing years ago when they updated their website. > > And finally, if I Google Devon OPC I get various citations, mostly > confusing and some erroneous. No direct link to a site which will > redirect me to where I already know I need to go. But then I'm not a > newby, and I'm not clairvoyant. In order to find an OPC for a given > Devon parish you must first go to the relevant GENUKI page for that > parish. > > So when I am searching in Devon, the only place I go is Brian > Randell's magnficent GENUKI Devon project. And when Brian updates me > every month on what he has added, I instantly check out anything of > interest. > > Perhaps that answers your question of why DFHS and its members don't > promote the Devon OPC Project. It is hidden in GENUKI. Maybe DFHS > and/or its members don't even know its there, lol. (can't add an > emoji in plain text) > > Cheers, > > Nancy Frey, > Windsor, ON, Canada > OPC for Ansford & Castle Cary, Somerset > [email protected] > > On Wed, Oct 30, 2019 at 12:01 PM Wayne Shepheard <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> In many recent email messages to Devon-L I have noticed that researchers >> are not as acquainted with the OPC program as they used to be. What is also >> apparent is that experienced genealogists and members of DFHS do not offer >> newbies and others any information about what data OPCs might have. > > <snip> > > _______________________________________________ > ------------------------------------------ > The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon > http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/ and Devon FHS (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/[email protected] > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community — School of Computing, Newcastle University, 1 Science Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5TG EMAIL = [email protected] PHONE = +44 191 208 7923 URL = http://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/people/profile/brianrandell.html

Hi Jon: > On 31 Oct 2019, at 13:37, Jonathan Frayne <[email protected]> wrote: > > Much as many of us dislike Social Media it seems to me that FaceBook and its ilk are a good way of publicising something and the first place that many people will look for help and advice. Can GENUKI get a FaceBook page, I wonder? See https://www.facebook.com/GENUKI !!!! This has existed for several years, despite the complete lack of enthusiasm for Facebook amongst the GENUKI Trustees, myself included - but I’ve overcome my dislike of it (as opposed to the good uses of facebook such as DFHS's) and have posted information about new resources to the GENUKI FB page, especially the GENUKI/Devon monthly What’s New notices, pretty regularly. But this is a minimal effort, I’d have to admit. Much more and we’d be in danger of recreating GENUKI in it. Needless to say, if any Facebook aficionados would like to help improve the GENUKI FB page they’d be very welcome! Cheers Brian > > Jon > > Sent from Mail for Windows 10 > > From: Sher Leetooze > Sent: 31 October 2019 13:30 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [DEV] Re: The Demise of the OPC? > > To the List: > > Ros and others seem to be drowning in inaction! That is the shame of > it. If people can't research without putting out big money on > memberships to an online database, they don't seem to be able to > research. And researchers will not join a local genealogy group in > order to learn how to do their research - I know this first hand. Here > in Ontario Canada we have the Ontario Genealogical Society with a branch > or two in each county/region. Some branches are suffering because their > membership is so low. I'm sure it is the same in UK and other places. > Once or twice a year I accept an invitation to speak at their meetings - > often it is to give a "genealogy 101" session about research techniques. > But I'm preaching to the converted!! OPC's, Societies, etc just aren't > being promoted - no $£$£ to advertise their wares - like the Ancestry's > and FMP's of the world do. We need a blitz- PROMOTE! PROMOTE! PROMOTE! > I'm told social media is the place to advertise - perhaps that's the > place to be right now - talking up the OPC schemes and the Family > History Societies and the FREE online databases that people seem to have > forgotten. The onus is on ourselves to promote our wares as often as we > can - OPC's included - we have to take our wares to the public rather > than wait for them to come to us. > > Just my opinions. > > Sher in rainy Ontario, Canada > > > On 10/30/2019 12:06 PM, Ros Haywood wrote: >> I have to echo Jonathan's sentiments. I am an OPC, but I keep >> thinking I will write to Deborah O'Brien and resign. Not because I am >> infuriated at anything, but because nothing is happening. In fact, I >> forget I even am an OPC for months on end - it's only when I get the >> once-a-year query that I remember. And then I think of Deborah - and >> then I sigh and forget to do even that. >> >> Years ago, all the queries were along the lines of 'how do I do >> genealogy'. Now, the annual query from someone is so complicated, I >> don't understand the question, let alone know the answer. >> >> I too have run beginner-genealogy courses. But now I have other >> commitments. What's Deborah's address again? >> >> Ros Haywood >> OPC for Ottery St Mary >> >> ------ Original Message ------ >> From: "Jonathan Frayne" <[email protected]> >> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> >> Sent: 30/10/2019 16:55:05 >> Subject: [DEV] Re: The Demise of the OPC? >> >>> To play devil’s advocate; I used to be an OPC and now I am not. I >>> copied all the records I could; I spent a considerable amount of >>> money on books; I set up a website that had most of the “other” stuff >>> I had collected over the years. What happened was that I got a stream >>> of requests from people asking me to do the most basic of look-ups >>> that they could have done for themselves on FMP/Ancestry etc. I think >>> everyone should afford at least one subscription to a major website >>> and the DFHS plus have knowledge of GENUKI. Then most of the basic >>> stuff can be researched for themselves. The odd request from someone >>> ‘out of county’ for an ancestor who happened to come here, is fine by >>> me. It was the people who I ended up thinking were asking me to do >>> their basic research that got a bit wearisome. Nowadays an OPC does >>> not need to transcribe most PRs (as I did), nor the GRO indexes (as I >>> did) nor do they need to transcribe the Censuses (as I did). Even the >>> cemetery records are on-line (well, for ‘my’ parish they are-I did >>> some of them!). I am not sure about what an OPC can offer nowadays. I >>> used to go and photo local places but even they are on-line nowadays. >>> >>> What I wonder may be more useful in this day and age is to possibly >>> offer a mentoring scheme for “newbies” - not a nice word, if word it >>> is. That seems to be what others seem to be hinting at. I have run >>> several starter courses in the past in which I focused on the basics, >>> of course, but people seemed, in some cases, still to be a little >>> nervous and a little judicious ‘hand-holding’ – without trying to >>> sound condescending – maybe nearer what is needed. >>> >>> Jon Frayne-ex OPC Barnstaple >>> >>> Sent from Mail for Windows 10 >>> >>> From: Adrian Bruce >>> Sent: 30 October 2019 16:39 >>> To: Devon Rootsweb >>> Subject: [DEV] Re: The Demise of the OPC? >>> >>> On Wed, 30 Oct 2019 at 16:30, Graham Parnell via DEVON >>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> ... I have noticed a marked decrease in the Silverton enquiries >>>> that I receive over the years, which is disappointing as many of the >>>> records that I have are not available via the Internet, or elsewhere >>>> to the general public. ... >>> >>> Please don't take this the wrong way because I value people who help >>> others - but the problem is possibly that people don't understand what >>> extra information the OPCs, etc., have. Indeed there might be a >>> further problem that people don't always understand that there *is* >>> further info that's not in FMP or Ancestry, etc. If I look at the >>> Silverton entry in the GENUKI Gazetteer, it simply says that the OPC >>> (Graham Parnell) "invites queries and lookup requests." Maybe it would >>> help to list some examples of the "other" stuff. (Getting people to >>> look in GENUKI is another matter, of course!) >>> >>> Adrian >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> ------------------------------------------ >>> The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon >>> http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/ and Devon FHS >>> (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref >>> Unsubscribe >>> https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/[email protected] >>> Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: >>> https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 >>> Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog >>> RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal >>> RootsWeb community >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> ------------------------------------------ >>> The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon >>> http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/ and Devon FHS >>> (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref >>> Unsubscribe >>> https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/[email protected] >>> Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: >>> https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 >>> Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog >>> RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal >>> RootsWeb community >> >> _______________________________________________ >> ------------------------------------------ >> The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon >> http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/ and Devon FHS >> (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) >> _______________________________________________ >> Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref >> Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/[email protected] >> Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: >> https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 >> Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog >> RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal >> RootsWeb community > > > --- > This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. > https://www.avg.com > > _______________________________________________ > ------------------------------------------ > The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon > http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/ and Devon FHS (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/[email protected] > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community > > > _______________________________________________ > ------------------------------------------ > The DEVON-L mailing list is co-sponsored by GENUKI/Devon > http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DEV/ and Devon FHS (http://www.devonfhs.org.uk/ ) > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/[email protected] > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community — School of Computing, Newcastle University, 1 Science Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5TG EMAIL = [email protected] PHONE = +44 191 208 7923 URL = http://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/people/profile/brianrandell.html