Cousins, calculations and Christmas

I've been spending the day adding people to my Lost Cousins Ancestors page. If you haven't heard of this genealogy tool, do have a look at the link. I subscribe to the newsletter, which editor and founder Peter Calver fills with useful genealogy tips and the occasional offer or competition.

This month's contest involves entering as many ancestors or blood relatives as you can, based on selected England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, US and Canada censuses. The earliest is the 1841 England & Wales census, which is too late for most of my Aussie ancestors, and finding my early emigrants' and convicts' families is a tough job, full of brick walls.

Still, I'm a genealogist, and we're a stubborn persistent lot, so I keep chipping at those ancient walls. No-one ever said family history was easy, did they? Or if they did... well, don't listen.

And fossicking out direct ancestors' brothers and sisters often gives surprisingly useful clues, as well as filling up my Lost Cousins list and increasing my chances of contacting my living rellies. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm hopeful (another genealogists' characteristic).

I was pleased to find my 4xgreat grandmother, Margaret Richardson (born around 1789 in Hamsterley, Co Durham), in the 1841 census. Off I hurried to add her to my ancestors' list, when I came up  against a problem. I had to enter her Ahnentafel number. You know, those numbers you see on family tree charts and other genea-tools.

When I've needed an Ahnentafel number before, I've gone to my trusty battered paper family tree chart, which goes back to my 3xgreats. I know, not very tech, but it weighs nothing and I can slip in my bag when there's even a slight chance of fitting in some genealogy action that day.

But Margaret's off the scale. She's a 4xgreat. And I know it's a shocking thing to say, but I had no idea how to calculate the numbers, short of counting all the way up from 63 (my Irish 3xg, Julia Harrington).

A quick search came up with the answer, which is so simple that I had to share it, in case there are any other Ahnen-newbies in the Worldwide Genealogy community.

Here's how: to find out the number for someone's parents, take their number and multiply it by 2. That gives the father. Add 1 and you have their mother.

It really works! Though if you're going back a few centuries you may need a calculator.

For example:my parents. I'm the person I'm calculating from on my family tree, so my number's 1. 1x2+2. So my father's number is 2. 2+1=3. So my mother's is 3.

Oh, no! Margaret's off the chart.

Getting more complicated, to calculate 4xgreat granny Margaret, I take her daughter Elizabeth Bell (1810-1876). Elizabeth has Ahnentafel number 59, which will always mean the number 1 person's mother's mother's father's mother's mother. On any Ahnentafel you see. Clever, eh?

59x2=118. And I'm looking for the mother, so add 1. 118+1=119. And that's Margaret's number.

You can also work out Ahnentafel numbers using the binary system, but I'm going to stick to what I know.

And there's a clever site that does all the work for you, set up by Stephen P Morse.

But that's enough hard work, it's nearly Christmas! I've got two weeks off work so I'm going to get down to searching for my earliest female Australian, Elizabeth Bayly, wife of Nicholas Delaney. Anhentafel 49, in case you wondered. Ohh, but, she's hard work. And over on my A Rebel Hand blog there's a scary Christmas story to write for later in the month.

Have you got any genea-projects for the holiday season?

Wishing you a very merry Christmas, a happy Yuletide, Nadolig Llawen, Nollaig Shona dhaoibh, Nollaig Chridheil, Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad und Fröhliche Weihnachten!

Croeso i'r Blog Worldwide Achyddiaeth o Gymru

or Welcome to the Worldwide Genealogy Blog from Wales

Although I have lived in Wales for almost 21 years I do not speak the language. I used Google translate for the title phrase.
I know this is a tool that genealogists have used when researching in countries which do not use their native tongue. They have found it an asset as it is much cheaper than getting a translator for the records. It is not infallible but for most genealogists it has opened up the records they can use especially now more of them are becoming available online.

A bit more about me. My name is Hilary Gadsby and the title of my blog is The Edge of Snowdonia which pretty much describes where I live in North Wales. My research areas are all in England which is where I was born, Hampshire, Dorset and Wiltshire for my family and Lincolnshire, Rutland, Leicestershire and Norfolk for my husband's family. We have one or two people from other areas in our direct lines but the majority of the family have stayed in a small geographic area for centuries.
I started researching when the only internet we had available was using a dial up modem and you paid for each minute you were online, at this time or a little later I signed up for some rootsweb mailing lists in order to connect with other family historians, I also started with a free genealogy program which did little more than record basic details.
Over the years I have used various websites to connect to others with a shared interest  http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/, http://home.ancestry.co.uk/, http://www.lostcousins.com, http://tribalpages.com and http://www.wikitree.com being the main ones. 
I also use social networking websites such as  www.facebook.com and plus.google.com to connect with friends family and fellow genealogists. These are great if you want to connect with other researchers but what if you want to share with your own family and in a way that they can get involved as much or as little as they want. Most of these have varying amounts of privacy but none are totally private.

Famberry is different from most family history sites in that in order to be able to access the tree and any accompanying images you must be invited and a member of the family. Access is granted by the tree owner and can be restricted, the owner may also choose to grant access to the entire tree. So here is a place where you can share and collaborate without everyone having access. This makes it an ideal place for photographs and announcements, including living members of the family. To access the website go to http://famberry.com/ 

We discussed this website with the developer on last week's Mondays with Myrt which can be viewed on YouTube at 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXTRg5UDeM8&list=UUZlX5znu6d7CCz6xobwMXOA&feature=c4-overview
you may have to subscribe in order to view the video.

There are many ways in which we genealogists or family historians (whichever term which wish to use) can share and collaborate you may have others which I have overlooked. Please feel free to share them with us as collaboration is what we aim to foster with this blog.