FREE FAMILY HISTORY COURSE!

Research and document your family history, using memory and online resources.

When:
Every Monday 1pm – 3pm
Enrol: 28th September 2009
Start: 5th October 2009
End: 14th December 2009

Where:
Sunnyhill Children’s Centre, Sunnyhill Road, Streatham, London SW16 1UW, Tel. 07815 935 397. Click here for map

What:
~ Access and search microfilmed records
~ Learn to read old script
~ Build a family tree
~ Start a personal family blog to share with children and relatives
~ Write an account of an interesting person or event in your family history (e.g. emigration)
~ Visit to the Family History Centre and behind the scenes tour of the National Archives

Who:
Open to anyone from countries where records are currently available in the UK (please ask at enrolment)

Tutor has successfully traced her own family history back to the 1840s, and is passionate about the subject.

Course is funded by Lambeth Adult Learning.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Singer

We search the records and compile a list of names, dates and somewhat unreliable ages; possibly an occupation, planter being a common one, which could mean anything from one yam plant inna yard to several hundred acres.

We look with envy to those celebrities on ‘Who Do You Think You Are’, and the colourful facts uncovered. We want the dry facts to leap off the page – we want to know who our ancestors were and how they lived.

Personally, I am yet to discover a prince, rogue, villain or saint. But when my parents visited from Jamaica in June, my dad casually asked my mum: ‘What was the name of your cousin the singer again?’ It turns out he was none other than Jamaica’s very own reggae singer Jacob Miller.

Jacob Miller and Bob Marley (via Flickr Diego’NoMas !)

At this stage, there is little I can say about him that isn’t already known – except that he definitely wasn’t born in 1960, as some sources assert. My mother left Jamaica in 1960, and she remembers Jakey as ‘a sweet little boy playing in the yard’.

I am now corresponding with my aunt who grew up with him. She was delighted when I told her I wanted to write about Jakey. As soon as I find out anything interesting, I will share it.

The relevance of this to all you family researchers out there is: when questioning relatives, be persistent and don’t take ‘I don’t remember’ for an answer. Otherwise when you finally hear something interesting and you wonder why they didn’t tell you before, the invariable answer is ‘You never asked’.

by Ayshah Johnston

Using the Ellis Island Foundation for tracing Caribbean ancestors

The Ellis Island Foundation website is useful not only if your Caribbean ancestors migrated to the USA, but also for a general ancestor search. Given how near the two regions are (a mere five days by steamship!) many Caribbean travellers simply visited and returned. And as the Ship’s Manifest records detailed information about each passenger, it’s a great starting point.

Procedure: Enter your ancestor’s name, gender and approx. year of birth. A list of possible matches will (hopefully) appear from which you may select the following: Passenger Record, Ship’s Manifest1, Original Ship’s Manifest2 and Ship Info. You will need to log in, but registering is free. If nothing comes up, try omitting a first name, varying the possible dates and even the spelling of your surname – spellings were pretty random in the past, and mistakes common.

The Ship’s Manifest is particularly useful as it records details such as the passenger’s name, age, marital status, ethnic origin, country of residence and address in the States. Both the Ship’s Manifest and Passenger Record may be viewed for free, or hard copies purchased from the Foundation. As a registered member, any additional information you have about the passenger may be added on the Create an Annotation page, for other users to see.

My Search: I have been trying to find out about my great grandparents. The eldest of their 13 children, Herman Johnston (No. 003) emigrated to the USA in 1914. I typed only his name, and to my amazement his entry was there along with some surprising additional information:

1 Ship’s Manifest fragment

extract courtesy of Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc

2 Original Ship’s Manifest fragment

extract courtesy of Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.

He travelled with five other family members (Nos. 2–7) and stayed with a Mrs. Alalia Joyce of 308 West 119th St., NY. The record shows she is his aunt, and the mother of Adrian and Evelyn Joyce (Nos. 6 & 7). It would appear that Alalia Joyce is my great grandfather’s sister. I do not know who Frances Johnston is (No. 2), but the scribble that looks like ‘dght’ could be daughter, meaning that Alalia is her daughter, therefore she herself would be my great grandfather’s mother. If so, then I have managed to go back one more generation without expecting to!
I definitely recommend this site. It is easy to use and has yielded exciting clues into my ancestry.

by Aysha J.

 

More information:
Ellis Island