Unusual British Militaria

As I travel throughout the British Isles, I have a tendency to purchase unusual items that relate to my genealogical interests. Anything that might be interesting to insert in a lecture that is an unusual example. One of these is/was Wills's Cigarette Picture-Card Album. This "album" has small cards that have a color ticket-sized picture of a regiment's colours, cap badge, and a short history of the regiment. In this booklet there are five cards per page (total 10 pages). The Colours and badge are on the front of the card and the history on the back. The cards are by John Players and Sons.

Jewish Conference in Washington, D.C.

Just came back from this conference - what a great opportunity! This was held at the Grand Hyatt which was a great venue. Spent a lot of time on the computers helping attendees to try to locate genealogical records so that they can trace their ancestry. Many new records have been posted from eastern Europe by FamilySearch with preliminary cataloging in an effort to put the images online quicker. This can mean that the description is in the language of the record without English "sub-titles".

Genealogy At A Glance

Recently I found a "new" four page handout by David Dobson for Scottish genealogical research. It is a series published by the Genealogical Publishing Company, and can be otained at http://www.genealogical.com/.

For those who don't know, Mr. Dobson is one of the major players when it comes to Scottish immigration into North America. The handout contains the following major titles: Contents, Quick Facts, Scottish Emigration, Unlocking Scottish Family History, basic sources (parish registers, civil registration, census); supplementary sources, further reference, and major online resources.

He is better known for the series of Directory of Scottish Settlers in North America, 1625-1825 [Genealogical Publishing Coy] and The Scots Overseas; Emigrants and Adventurers From Southern Scotland [self-puplished]. Why are these so brilliant? Let's look at some of the more important sources used:

• Burgh records


• Propinquity Books


• Kirkintilloch Court Book


• Calendar of Treasury Books (London)


• Various parish registers


• Estate papers


• London Guildhall and Record Office


• National Library of Scotland


• Various passenger lists


• Register of the Privy Council of Scotland


• Guildry Books


• State Papers, London


• Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, to but name a few!

Many Americans with Scottish ancestry can be helped in tracing their origins with his publications.

John Kitzmiller

Social Media and Genealogy

Came across a great book on this topic, but one I would recommend is The Social Media Guide for Ancestral Research (Applying Web 2.0 Strategies), by Claire V. Brisson-Banks. Some of the topics are: Blogs, Twitter, Wikis, Forums, Podcasts & Vodcasts, etc. The ISBN number is: 978-1-4583-8021-0.

Have fun!

Back to Blogging

It's been awhile since I had a blog, but now there are more tools to make blogs important as carriers of information. Currently working with "23 Things" in relationship to social media and using it for genealogy. My main posts will concern British military records, UK genealogy, heraldry, and books of interest in these areas.

Conferences will be discussed as well, and speaking of which, I will be teaching a 20-lecture course for ISBGFH [International Society of British Genealogy and Family History] on the topic "The Amazing Honourable East India Company", usually shortened to HEIC. Use this link to join www.isbgfh.org or to learn more about the conference.

J. Kitzmiller