Surname Saturday - FREEDMAN or FREEMAN

When I saw Randy Seaver's Surname Saturday blog on his Freeman ancestors Freeman (England > Massachusetts) I thought I would also look at my Freedman ancestors of which there is only one, Esther Freedman.

My ancestral line is:

1.  Rosemary Tissott

2. Eric Henry Lindsay Tissott (1911-2006)
3. Eileen Mary Brothers (1908-1994)

6. Walter Albert Brothers (1876-1964)

7. Sarah Reeder (1874-1951)

14. James Thompson Reeder (1835-1907)

15. Elizabeth Barnard (1844-1937)

28. Byworth Thompson (1812-1895)

29. Mary Reeder (1809-1870)

58. Peter Reeder (1769- <1841)

59. Hannah Hewitt (1772-1858)

116. Peter Reeder (1736- <1788)

117. Esther Freedman (ca 1737 - (1770-1788))

Little is known of Esther Freedman, my 4th great grandmother, outside of her marriage to Peter Reeder.  Esther and Peter were married by Banns at Deopham, Norfolk on the 11 October 1758. At the time of her marriage Esther (or Hester) was a Singlewoman of the Parish of Deopham. Their children were born in Great Ellingham, Norfolk and are:

Rachel Reeder (1759-

Elizabeth Reeder (1763-1781)

Esther Reeder (1765-

Peter Reeder (1767-1768)

Peter Reeder (1769 <1841)

James Reeder (1770-

I've been unable to find any further reference to Esther after the birth of her son James in 1770 and before the death of her husband Peter Reeder in 1788 where his status is that of "widower". 

AncestryDNA - Examples of Results

 I've had a request for an example of the reports obtained from AncestryDNA. These images are what you can expect after Ancestry has processed your autosomal DNA.

My Genetic Ethnicity is shown at the top of the results.

My Genetic Ethnicity

I appear to be 48% Scandinavian, 41% British Isles and 11% Southern European. Considering that the ethnicity results are from hundreds of years ago and the Vikings settled the north and east of the British Isles while the Romans had garrisons up and down the British Isles I don't find this very surprising. The little blue blobs in the British Isles are where my direct lines of ancestors were born.

There are 2 options for viewing the list of matching member trees, by relationship and by when the results were added to the list.

Member Match by Relationship

Member Match by Date

Both displays are a list of people who have a possible match to my autosomal DNA. I've never received a match closer than 4th cousin because the database at this point in time contains only people in North America. Perhaps I'll do better in the future.
The gold star tells me that these member trees had someone with a surname that is in my direct line of ancestors. Those without a gold star are matches but if there is someone in the tree of interest to me they aren't a surname match. I've reviewed all my matches and feel comfortable ignoring these trees for now.

The next step is to review the matches. For my examples here I've chosen a tree with 2 surname matches, Dickerson and Parker. Dickerson is a surname on my mother's line and Parker on my father's line.

Surnames that match my surnames from spider63lady's tree

Clicking on Dickerson gives me the detail of that surname.

Dickerson Matches in our trees.

If we have a common Dickerson ancestor it will be before the Dickerson family left England and neither of us has taken the line back far enough.

Clicking on the "Map and Location" button provides a listing of locations that are in common between our 2 trees.

Matching Locations between our trees.

Once again the blobs indicate place of birth; brown for spider63lady's tree, blue for my tree and green for a common location. Clicking on "England" shows the detail of people who were born in England.

People born in England in our direct lines.

I have a lot of work to do to make any sense of these results. I'm going to concentrate on matches that have birth locations in Norfolk and Staffordshire in England and also Australia. The raw data is now available and I plan to use some of the more advanced tools available on other sites to investigate my genetic genealogy.

Ancestry has said they have some better analysis tools in the works but nothing concrete has been announced.

Ancestry DNA Adventures Part II

I've been making an effort to review at least a page or two of matches every day. It's a tedious process and I'm looking forward to when Ancestry provides us with better data management tools.

Discards - these are any matches that have a private tree, have no tree attached to the DNA results, or have a minimal tree with less than about a dozen people.

Stars - these are matches with a primary name I'm looking for or one of the places I'm interested in. The places this first pass are Norfolk and Staffordshire in England, and Australia. I should have looked for more but didn't realise this when I started.

No Stars - these are matches without any of my primary names and none of the places in my search.

Primary Names Not Yet Found - Beecroft, Cockle, Ettridge, Fokard, Tissott
Names with 1-10 matches - Davy, Freedman, Brothers, Tomson
Names with 10-25 matches - Fielding, Hewitt, Gooch, Sutherland, Reeder, Casey
Names with 25-50 matches - Barnard, Bull, Lindsay, Dickerson, Norton, Cobb, Hardy
Names with 50-100 matches - Williamson
Greater than 100 matches - Wells, Bailey, Parker, Baker, Walker, Wright, Thompson, Taylor

Status of my matches as of 15 March 2013.
Matches Reviewed: 2900
Matches Discarded: 650
Matches not reviewed: 400
Total Matches: 3300

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Ancestor Roulette

From Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings where we have a little fun with our family tree.

1) What year was one of your great-grandfathers born?  Divide this number by 100 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel" - your software will create this - use the "Ahnentafel List" option, or similar). Who is that person, and what are his/her vital information?

3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."

4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook status or a Google Stream post, or as a comment on this blog post.

5) NOTE:  If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then "spin" the wheel again - pick a great-grandmother, a grandfather, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, yourself, or even your children!

1) I chose my great grandfather James Thompson Reeder who was baptised on the 27th September 1835 at Great Ellingham, Norfolk. My roulette number is 18.35, rounded down to 18.

2) Number 18 on my ancestor name list is Charles Daniel Sutherland one of my 2nd great grandfathers.

• Charles Daniel Sutherland was born on the 25th September and baptised on the 9th October 1803 at St Leonard Shoreditch, Middlesex the son of Daniel and Jane (Walker) Sutherland of Hill Court.
• Charles married Sarah Bull by Banns at St Andrew Holborn, Middlesex on the 7th October 1827. Both Charles and Sarah signed the marriage register.
• Charles died on the 8th January 1850 in Walworth, Surrey and was buried at Walworth St Peter, Surrey on the 11th January 1850.

 3) Three facts about Charles Daniel Sutherland.

1. Charles had  4 known daughters Sarah, Emma (my great grandmother), Jane and Ann. When they were baptised he gave his occupation as "Waiter".
2. For the 1841 census his family was split up. His daughter Sarah was living with her grandmother Sarah Bull in Exmouth Place, Hackney while his wife Sarah and daughters Emma, Jane, and Ann were in the Hackney Union Workhouse. I haven't been able to find Charles in this census and he is known to have used at least one alias.
3. At the time of his death Charles was going by the name Charles Walker and working as a "potman" at the Hour Glass on Walworth Common. He was found dead in his bed the morning of the 8th January 1850 and the coroner gave the cause of death as "Natural Affection of the Thorax upon Severe Cold". Evidence was given that he had refused medical attention. There is an addendum to the death certificate of Charles Walker dated 1st March 1850 that the name on the certificate should be Charles Daniel Sutherland. This was sworn to by Sarah Sutherland (his wife or daughter) and Emma Sutherland in front of the Superintendent Registrar.

 

Ancestry DNA Adventures Part 1

I'm taking a little time off from searching baptismal records to review the matches I've received with my autosomal DNA test from Ancestry.com. Here is what I've found so far.
 
A little background, my genealogical ancestry is Australian and then British Isles with possibly an emigration from Europe (in the region of France and Switzerland) in the mid to late 18th century or thereabouts. Everything else is solidly East Anglia or the Greater London area with the addition of a couple of convicts from the Scottish Highlands, another from Gloucestershire, and a catholic girl from the workhouses in Ireland who was sent out to the colonies.

When I took the Ancestry DNA test (it's the autosomal DNA they test for) I was hoping to find some connections from Norfolk and possibly something that led back to France. So far I've got thousands of potential 5th-8th "cousins" and I haven't really figured out how to handle all these tree matches. The name matches are only for the direct line for the person the DNA results are attached to. Here are some things I've found:

• Private Trees - you can't see what name or place in your direct line is matching one of yours, if any. You have to contact the private tree holder. It's not worth the effort for me, I'm sending them all to the garbage bin.
• People with no trees or trees with no data - straight off to the garbage again. And how people expect to find matches with nothing in their tree beats me!
• Trees that don't go back to Europe at all in their direct line. This is very common. Ancestry, after all, is a US site and the people taking the test are resident in the US. Even those with large and seemingly well documented trees don't go back to Europe very often. These I'm ignoring but not sending to the garbage can.
• Sheer volume - I've got 3-4000 trees to match.
• Trees with junky data; no birth place (or even country), no last names, no first names ... You get the idea.
• Very common surnames (Taylor, Baker, Thompson, Wright ...). These are the ones getting the most hits. I'll have to view the results from every tree to find the few I'm really interested in (Tissott, Brothers, Reeder, Barnard). I've found a few Reeder and Barnard but so far neither of the others.
• When a name is mis-spelled there won't be a match on the name. This is obvious of course but it has only just occurred to me. 
• Place name matches: I've been looking for some specific counties in England but I know I haven't caught them all because it took me a while to realise that I would have to make a note of them. 

Ancestry is supposed to be working on some tools to let us manage this enormous amount of data. A search function for a specific name or place would be wonderful. However I can see that this could be an enormous resource hog and their servers are already struggling with TreeSync volumes. Well, we'll see what happens. Ancestry also indicated that they would let us have the raw data so we can then use it on other DNA sites. This is supposed to happen in 2013. Again, we'll just have to wait and see.

Ancestry also provides you with your ethnicity. This has proved to be very controversial because many people can't wrap their minds around the fact that it can have little relevance to their genealogical data.  Ancestry has said that they are working on this and the more data they get the better it will be. My ethnicity shows as 48% Scandinavian, 41% British Isles and 11% Southern European. This fits me pretty well. The Vikings raided the British Isles centuries ago and I'm sure some settled there. That's the Scandinavian. The Southern European is probably the Romans who conquered Britain back in the time of the Caesars, had garrisons there, and the soldiers stayed when the armies withdrew because they had families there.

 

I can't say whether the hint system is useful because I haven't had any hints. I'm also not surprised by this because my heritage is totally European and until there are more people in the database from this area I won't see any hints.

 

Here are a few statistics:

Total number of matches: 3350

Matches in the garbage can: 250

Matches not in the garbage can: 3100

Matches reviewed: 410

Matches to be followed up:  250

Elizabeth Fendich of Northwold, Norfolk

Elizabeth Fendich

The great grandmother of the husband of my grand aunt.

 

The only data I had on Elizabeth was her marriage to Thomas Kitteringham on 28 Nov 1783 at Northwold, Norfolk without any citation at all. The Northwold Parish Register provided the information that both Elizabeth and Thomas were of age and the Banns were posted at Northwold on the 9th, 16th and 23rd of November 1783.  

 

Online user trees with data for Elizabeth are on Ancestry (14), Rootsweb (3), Pedigree Resource File (1) and WikiTree (1) and show conflicting data.

• Birth: 1755 in Northwold (12)
• Birth: 11 Jul 1755 in Northwold (4)
• Birth: 11 Jul 1765 in Northwold (3)
• Birth Citation: OneWorldTree on Ancestry.com (1)
• Birth Citation: Ancestry Family Trees (1)
• Death: Foulden (4)
• Father: William Fendick (15)
• Mother: Mary (11)
• Mother: Elizabeth (4)

 

The parish registers for Northwold and the nearby parishes of Methwold, Cranwich, Gooderstone, Wretton and Feltwell show NO baptisms for Elizabeth Fendich in 1755 or 1765. The most likely baptisms are:

 

(a) 18 Apr 1757 at Northwold, parents William and Elizabeth Fendick. The sequence of events occurring around this time are:

• 22 Apr 1756: Elizabeth Fendike, wife of William Fendike of Northwold, was buried at Methwold.
• 01 Nov 1756: William Fendicke of Northwold (widower) married Elizabeth Parlette of Wretton at Wretton.
• 18 Apr 1757: Elizabeth, daughter of William and Elizabeth Fendick was baptised at Northwold.
• 19 Apr 1757: Elizabeth, wife of William Fendick, was buried at Northwold.

(b) 27 May 1762: Elizabeth, illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth Fendick was baptised at Northwold.

 

I haven't been able to find another marriage or burial for Elizabeth Fendich that would let me identify which of these 2 Elizabeth's is the Elizabeth that married Thomas Kitteringham.

 

My conclusion is that Elizabeth's mother was named Elizabeth Fendich but whether she was married to William Fendich or a single woman I am unable to tell.

 

Elizabeth's death remains unresolved. Her last child (from the Northwold baptism registers) is Martha Kitteringham. Martha was born on 22 Dec 1800 and baptised on 08 Jan 1801 at Northwold. I've searched the transcripts available on FreeREG.org.uk as well as the Northwold Burial Registers for:

 

(a) Death of Elizabeth Kitteringham/Ketteringham in Northwold on/after 1801.

 

There were a number of burials for Elizabeth Kitteringham/Ketteringham. I rejected these either because they were single women or the ages didn't agree with a birth/baptism date of between 1753 and 1765.

 

(b) Marriage of Elizabeth Kitteringham as a widow after her husband Thomas Kitteringham was buried at Northwold on 22 Dec 1827.

There were no marriages of Elizabeth Kitteringham/Ketteringham as a widow after 1827.

 

I would welcome any thoughts on who Elizabeth Fendich's parents were and where and when she was buried.

 

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/37066957/person/19030342285

Let's Try This Again

For one reason or another I let this blog lapse. So now, on the 13th January 2013 I'm going to give it another shot.

I'm going to change the focus and record what I find in my really thorny rosebush. It's gotten completely out of hand and I've started reviewing everyone, cleaning up sources, adding sources, trying to remember where I found a piece of data.

A little background first.

My primary file is a Family Tree Maker 2012 database residing on my PC running Windows Vista. I've synchronized this to an Ancestry Member Tree (an extremely useful function now that most of the obvious kinks have been resolved). I only update my tree in Family Tree Maker. The only exception to this is when some generous soul has posted an image to their public tree and then I'll attach it to my tree and send them a little thank you note. Wouldn't it be great if we could "like" a person?

I use Family Tree Maker's Web Search function to add records from Ancestry to my database. I don't use all it's features preferring to search directly on Ancestry for the records I need. Other databases that I search have to be manually added, not a tremendous chore once you have done enough of them and feel comfortable with the software.

I'm working through my file in birth date sequence (I'm up to 1754 at the moment). For each person I'm reviewing the citations (if any), cleaning them up or adding them. If I'm missing any of the essentials (birth, baptism, marriage, death, burial) then I'll see if there is anything readily obtainable from databases I regularly use. If I can find children that I haven't got, I'll add them. I also take a look at the Ancestry Member Trees who have this person making a note of anything that looks useful.

To change things around a bit every so often I'll pick a person from my Ancestry tree that has hints and work through the hints. Then, when I've gone through everything that is readily available I'll add a Status Fact to that person and move on to the next. So far I've done 115 out of 4,448 people (2.5%!!).

I may finish this one day.

On This Day: 3rd January

1891: Thomas Winn, son of Thomas and Hannah Winn of Pelton, Co Durham, married Louisa Jane Murray, daughter of Thomas and Helen Murray of Chester-le-Street, Co Durham, at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Pelton, Co Durham.

On This Day: 2nd January

1909: Kathleen Mary ANNAKIN was born in Leeds, Yorkshire. She was the daughter of Arthur Dodsworth ANNAKIN and Jessie COMSTIVE.

1912: Lavinia Ann TISSOTT married William Alexander SHEPPARD at Winslow, Victoria. Lavinia was the daughter of Joseph Henry TISSOTT and Elizabeth Hannah HUGHES; William was the son of Moor SHEPPARD and Mary ARCHMAN. Lavinia was my 1st cousin 1x removed (Joseph Henry was my grandfather Harry's eldest brother).

1970: Evangeline Isobel Booth TISSOTT (nee CARR) passed away at Collie, Western Australia. Auntie Eva was married to my uncle, Harold TISSOTT.

On This Day: 1st January

1803: Sarah BARNARD, daughter of Charles BARNARD and Ann HARDY was baptised at Scoulton Holy Trinity, Norfolk. Sarah was my 2nd great grand aunt.

1967: Vera Annie MORRISON (nee LINDSAY), died in Heidelberg, Victoria. Vera was the daughter of John LINDSAY and Annie Eliza ROBINSON and the wife of John Daniel MORRISON. She was my 1st cousin 1x removed.

A very late GeniaMeme (with apologies to Geniaus)

I've been obsessively researching a gentleman using a false name and have quite neglected this blog.

The Ancestors' Geneameme

The list should be annotated in the following manner:

Things you have already done or found: bold face type

Things you would like to do or find: italicize (colour optional)

Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type

You are encouraged to add extra comments in brackets after each item 

1.  Can name my 16 great-great-grandparents (Unless one of my maternal gt grandmothers rises from the grave and tells us who fathered her children I'll never know)
2.  Can name over 50 direct ancestors (56 wheee...)
3.  Have photographs or portraits of my 8 great-grandparents
4.  Have an ancestor who was married more than three times
5.  Have an ancestor who was a bigamist
6.  Met all four of my grandparents (Like Geniaus, this will have to wait for another life or another turn of the wheel. One grandfather died before his son was married)
7.  Met one or more of my great-grandparents
8.  Named a child after an ancestor
9.  Bear an ancestor's given name/s
   
10.  Have an ancestor from Great Britain or Ireland.
11.  Have an ancestor from Asia
12.  Have an ancestor from Continental Europe (presumably my 3x gt grandfather was French; anyway the name is French or Swiss)
13.  Have an ancestor from Africa
14.  Have an ancestor who was an agricultural labourer (Who hasn't?)
15.  Have an ancestor who had large land holdings
16.  Have an ancestor who was a holy man - minister, priest, rabbi (does lay preacher count? my grandfather was one)
17.  Have an ancestor who was a midwife
    
18.  Have an ancestor who was an author (we were still signing our names with an X in the early 20th century)
19.  Have an ancestor with the surname Smith, Murphy or Jones
20.  Have an ancestor with the surname Wong, Kim, Suzuki or Ng
21.  Have an ancestor with a surname beginning with X
22.  Have an ancestor with a forename beginnining with Z (Zacariah, Zachary, Zarah, Zillah, Zonaier)
23.  Have an ancestor born on 25th December (not yet)
24. Have an ancestor born on New Year's Day (not yet)
25.  Have blue blood in your family lines
26.  Have a parent who was born in a country different from my country of birth (my mother was born in England)
27.  Have a grandparent who was born in a country different from my country of birth (my maternal grandparents were born in Norfolk)
28.  Can trace a direct family line back to the eighteenth century
29.  Can trace a direct family line back to the seventeenth century or earlier
30.  Have seen copies of the signatures of some of my great-grandparents
31.  Have ancestors who signed their marriage certificate with an X (Lots)
32.  Have a grandparent or earlier ancestor who went to university
33.  Have an ancestor who was convicted of a criminal offence (4 convicts in my father's line)
34.  Have an ancestor who was a victim of crime
35.  Have shared an ancestor's story online or in a magazine
    
36.  Have published a family history online or in print
    
37.  Have visited an ancestor's home from the 19th or earlier centuries (In Australia, England, Ireland,  Scotland)
38.  Still have an ancestor's home from the 19th or earlier centuries in the family
39.  Have a  family bible from the 19th Century (Paternal great-grandparents)
40.  Have a pre-19th century family bible

Tuesday's Tip - FamilySearch - Batch Numbers are Back!

That old standby of genealogists everywhere, the batch numbers for controlled extraction records in the International Genealogical Index (IGI to its many fans) has returned. For those of us new to genealogy the batch numbers allowed you to

• Browse all records for a given batch - generally within a given parish
• Search all records within that batch for people with a common surname

Hugh Wallis provided us a very good explanation and a batch number search which can be found IGI Batch Numbers . There are batch numbers for other countries besides the United States and North America which you will find at the bottom of the page. Unfortunately Hugh Wallis has passed away and the list is now incomplete.

Start with the FamilySearch Advanced Search panel.

Pick a batch number from the list (or use one that you have noted down), enter it and Search. I've used a batch number of C113956 for this example - Baptisms and Christenings in Tibbermore, Perthshire, Scotland.

From this point you can refine your search to reduce the number of results. I've expanded the first person found, Isabella Aberdeen to show that she was born on 22 Nov 1841 and baptised on 11 Jan 1842 at Tibbermore, Perthshire, Scotland.

Happy Hunting!

99 Things Genealogy Meme Aussie Style

Better late than never!

Geniaus asked Aussie genealogy bloggers to continue this meme. Here is her post http://geniaus.blogspot.com/2011/09/99-things-genealogy-meme-aussie-style.html

The list should be annotated in the following manner:
Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicise
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type

Here is my contribution.

1. Belong to a genealogical society.
2. Joined the Australian Genealogists group on Genealogy Wise
3. Transcribed records.
4. Uploaded headstone pictures to Find-A-Grave or a similar site.
5. Documented ancestors for four generations (self, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents)
6. Joined Facebook.
7. Cleaned up a run-down cemetery.
8. Joined the Genea-Bloggers Group.
9. Attended a genealogy conference.
10. Lectured at a genealogy conference.
11. Spoke on a genealogy topic at a local genealogy society.
12. Joined the Society of Australian Genealogists.
13. Contributed to a genealogy society publication.
14. Served on the board or as an officer of a genealogy society.
15. Got lost on the way to a cemetery.
16. Talked to dead ancestors.
17. Researched outside the state in which I live.
18. Knocked on the door of an ancestral home and visited with the current occupants. 
19. Cold called a distant relative.
20. Posted messages on a surname message board.
21. Uploaded a gedcom file to the internet.
22. Googled my name. (and those of ancestors and distant cousins)
23. Performed a random act of genealogical kindness.
24. Researched a non-related family, just for the fun of it.
25. Have been paid to do genealogical research.
26. Earn a living (majority of income) from genealogical research.
27. Wrote a letter (or email) to a previously unknown relative.
28. Contributed to one of the genealogy carnivals.
29. Responded to messages on a message board.
30. Was injured while on a genealogy excursion.
31. Participated in a genealogy meme.
32. Created family history gift items (calendars, cookbooks, etc.).
33. Performed a record lookup.
34. Took a genealogy seminar cruise.
35. Am convinced that a relative must have arrived here from outer space.
36. Found a disturbing family secret.
37. Told others about a disturbing family secret.
38. Combined genealogy with crafts (family picture quilt, scrapbooking).
39. Think genealogy is a passion not a hobby.
40. Assisted finding next of kin for a deceased person.
41. Taught someone else how to find their roots.
42. Lost valuable genealogy data due to a computer crash or hard drive failure. 
43. Been overwhelmed by available genealogy technology.
44. Know a cousin of the 4th degree or higher.
45. Disproved a family myth through research.
46. Got a family member to let you copy photos.
47. Used a digital camera to “copy” photos or records.
48. Translated a record from a foreign language.
49. Found an immigrant ancestor’s passenger arrival record.
50. Looked at census records on microfilm, not on the computer.
51. Used microfiche.
52. Visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. 
53. Used Google+ for genealogy.
54. Visited a church or place of worship of one of your ancestors. 
55. Taught a class in genealogy.
56. Traced ancestors back to the 18th Century.
57. Traced ancestors back to the 17th Century.
58. Traced ancestors back to the 16th Century.
59. Can name all of your great-great-grandparents.
60. Found an ancestor on the Australian Electoral Rolls
61. Know how to determine a soundex code without the help of a computer.
62. Have found relevant articles on Trove.
63. Own a copy of Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.
64. Helped someone find an ancestor using records you had never used for your own research.
65. Visited the main National Archives building in Washington, DC.
66. Visited the National Library of Australia.
67. Have an ancestor who came to Australia as a ten pound pom.
68. Have an ancestor who fought at Gallipoli.
69. Taken a photograph of an ancestor’s tombstone.
70. Can read a church record in Latin.
71. Have an ancestor who changed his/her name.
72. Joined a Rootsweb mailing list.
73. Created a family website.
74. Have a genealogy blog.
75. Was overwhelmed by the amount of family information received from someone.
76. Have broken through at least one brick wall.
77. Done genealogy research at the War Memorial in Canberra.
78. Borrowed microfilm from the Family History Library through a local Family History Center.
79. Found an ancestor in the Ryerson index.
80. Have visited the National Archives of Australia.
81. Have an ancestor who served in the Boer War.
82. Use maps in my genealogy research.
83. Have a convict ancestor who was transported from the UK. 
84. Found a bigamist amongst the ancestors.
85. Visited the National Archives in Kew. 
86. Visited St. Catherine's House in London to find family records.
87. Taken an online genealogy course.
88. Consistently cite my sources.
89. Visited a foreign country (i.e. one I don't live in) in search of ancestors. 
90. Can locate any document in my research files within a few minutes.
91. Have an ancestor who was married four times (or more).
92. Made a rubbing of an ancestors gravestone.
93. Followed genealogists on Twitter.
94. Published a family history book (on one of my families).
95. Learned of the death of a fairly close relative through research.
96. Offended a family member with my research.
97. Reunited someone with precious family photos or artifacts.
98. Have a paid subscription to a genealogy database.
99. Edited records on Trove.

Madness Monday - Working in a Lunatic Asylum

My 3x Gt Grandfather John Bull was a Storekeeper in a Lunatic Asylum, Melbourne Lodge on Lamb Lane just off the London Fields. When he wasn't at work he and his wife Sarah lived at 13 Exmouth Place, Hackney.

1841 English census taken 6 Jun 1841

There is reference to Melbourne Lodge in British History Online (about half-way down the page - use CTL-F to find it). I didn't realise it was a Lunatic Asylum until I received his death certificate from the GRO.

1843 Death Register of John Bull, Storekeeper in a Lunatic Asylum.

Tuesdays Tip - Baptisms at Grandfather's Church

Then, as now, families like to have a relative baptise the latest additions to the family. When it is grandfather performing the baptism then the family travels to grandfather's parish. I've recently transcribed some baptisms held at St Martin Outwich in the City of London and found these nice examples of a family having grandfather baptise the latest additions.

1. 19 Sep 1832, Beaumont Ellis s. of Beaumont Atkinson, gentleman, and Elizabeth (Ellis), South Grove, Hampstead, b. 15 July; by J. J. Ellis, M.A., Rector
2. 02 Aug 1835, Georgina Elizabeth, d. of George Stevenson Ellis, gentleman, and Barbara Frances (Simpson), South Sea House, b. 21 July; by J. J. Ellis, M.A., Rector
3. 23 May 1837, John Joseph Ellis, s. of Beaumont Atkinson, gentleman, and Elizabeth (Ellis), South Grove, Hampstead, b. 20 April; by J. J. Ellis, M.A., Rector
4. 23 May 1837, Catharine Frances, d. of George Stevenson Ellis, gentleman, and Barbara Frances (Simpson), South Sea House, b. 21 April; by J. J. Ellis, M.A., Rector
5. 20 Dec 1840, George Simpson, s. of George Stevenson Ellis, gentleman, and Barbara Frances (Simpson), South Sea House, b. 16 Sep; by J. J. Ellis, M.A., Rector
6. 11 Jul 1842, Henrietta Jane, d. of George Stevenson Ellis, gentleman, and Barbara Frances (Simpson), South Sea House, b. 6 June; by J. J. Ellis, M.A., Rector
7. 08 Jan 1844, Barbara Frances, d. of George Stevenson Ellis, gentleman, and Barbara Frances (Simpson), 20 Dartmouth Terrace, Blackheath, b. 19 Nov 1843; by J. J. Ellis, M.A., Rector
8. 08 Dec 1845, Helen Blanche, d. of George Stevenson Ellis, gentleman, and Barbara Frances (Simpson), 20 Dartmouth Terrace, Blackheath, b. 29 Oct; by J. J. Ellis, M.A., Rector 

Here is  The Rev John Joseph Ellis, M.A. record in the CCEd, the Clergy of the Church of England database. His son, George Stevenson Ellis, lived nearby at South Sea House but moved out to Blackheath and still returned to have his father perform the baptisms. His daughter Elizabeth (Ellis) Atkinson, lived in Hampstead and came into the city for her father to perform the baptisms.

Knowing the occupation of relatives can make all the difference in finding baptisms which don't appear in the home parish.

Black Sheep Sunday - Henry Tissott (Tissett) 1832 Pleading for Clemency (Part 1)

Following my previous post on  Henry Tissott 1832 Letter from Gaol Henry's father Joseph Tissott petitioned the court for clemency because he was only 13.

HO17/99 Petitions for Clemency

Petition SQ10

The humble petition of Joseph Tissot

Sheweth

That your Lordships humble Petitioner is the Father of Henry Tissott an unfortunate youth thirteen years of age now under Sentence of Death recorded in Stafford Gaol for aiding and assisting Elizabeth Banks seventeen years of age in Stealing and disposing of a cow, belonging to Henry Crutchley of Wolverhampton in the County of Stafford.

Your Lordships humble Petitioner prayeth of your great goodness you will consider the feelings of a parent having but this Son and a daughter many miles from him left out of Seven children my said Son Henry Tissott has always been brought up with me under my own care untill Childlike he was enticed to leave me prior to the said Robbery.

Your Lordship’s Humble Petitioner therefore humbly prayeth that you may consider the prisoner’s tender years, and that this is the first and only charge ever brought against him, and that you of your great compassion will ameliorate the anguish of an afflicted parent Sixty one years of age over an unfortunate child

and be pleased to be as lenient with the prisoner as his case will admit and your Lordship’s humble Petitioner will as in duty bound ever pray

Joseph Tissott – his mark