Notes of Life

I booked Christmas to New Year off work as I thought I was over due a break, so I’ve been using my time to get caught up with some family history research.

I was one of the ones invited to beta test the 1911 Census website (UK) before it goes live. The beta period ends tomorrow, which for me is fine as I can’t afford to pay for any more credits. Once I’d used up the credits I already had with FindMyPast.com, I bought more – 280 credits for £24.95 (the biggest package) – but used them up in just a couple of hours. It costs 10 credits to view a transcript and 30 to view an original page, so with the biggest package that’s 80p to view a transcript and £2.40 to view an original page. So when the 1911 census becomes live, I think I’ll be waiting until its available on subscription, preferably on Ancestry as I don’t use Findmypast.com much.

It’s not all bad though, I did find a number of my ancestors in the 1911 census – only the ones in Shropshire though. The Wales data, along with various other English counties, wasn’t available on the beta site, so I could only look for my Shropshire ancestors (I’m not allowed to publish any results though).

The 1911 census differs from other census records publicly available in that you can view the original household returns, in other words you can see your ancestors handwriting and they are more accurate. The 1911 census returns also show additional information such as “Completed years the present marriage has lasted” (ideal if you’re having trouble finding a marriage certificate!), as well as the number of “Total children born alive to present marriage”, “Children still living” and “Children who have died” (so you can see if these numbers match up with yours). The “Infirmity” column (providing medical information such as being deaf, dumb, blind, lunatic etc) is currently blanked out due to sensitivity issues as the census is being made publically available early.

I have also being doing some research on one or two ancestors, but that can wait until another post.

Blimey it’s cold outside! The bird bath is frozen over with an icicle hanging from it but that didn’t stop the birds from foridging for food. I haven’t seen many robins about this season, so when I saw this one I had to grab a camera and take a photo. He/she kept flitting about the place though, so it was quite difficult to get a decent shot!

Camera Critters – Why not join in?!

I hope you have a wonderful festive season!

Don’t forget to visit the Official NORAD Santa Tracker to track Santa throughout tonight’s journey.

I’m off to do my own present deliverying, so I shall catch you on the other side of Christmas!

This week’s Thematic Photographic theme is “Quiet”. Quiet to me is the beautiful countryside in which I live, and so I’ve chosen a photograph I took back in August 2007.

Here, all is quiet except for the wind and the baa-ing of the sheep. Can you believe they want to spoil this beautiful countryside with big ugly electricity pilons?

Join in with this week’s Thematic Photographic theme!

It’s not long now and I think I’m just about ready… Well, I’ve got a few more cards to write, but that’s about it.

I thought I’d share with you my annual seasonal recommended links. All 3 are related to the big man himself, Santa Claus (or “Father Christmas” as he’s known around here).

Firstly, you can read his journal over at the Santa Claus Blog. You would think he would be too busy at this time of year, but apparently not!

You can also see Santa on his webcam! Visit Santa Claus Live and see what he’s up to. At certain times of the day you will see children visiting him to give him their wishlists.

Now, this last website is best visited on Christmas Eve. Track Santa with NORAD – On Christmas Eve you’ll be able to track Santa as he travels around the world delivering presents.

So there you go, a few websites for big kids and little kids to visit in the run up to Christmas. Does anyone else have some good ones to share?