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Topics - Josephine

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 ... 9
1
Canada / How do I get rid of the map on Ancestry.ca?
« on: Tuesday 24 August 21 02:52 BST (UK)  »
I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but I've just signed up to Ancestry.ca and when I try to view a province-specific list of records there's a huge map taking up the left half of my computer screen. I've figured out how to make the map take up the entire screen but can't see an option for getting rid of the map! (I've used Ancestry.com and haven't had a map pop up when I've selected a state.)

Please help!

Thank you,
Josephine

2
The Lighter Side / "A fugitive from church justice"
« on: Thursday 25 March 21 20:25 GMT (UK)  »
As I make my way through some of the kirk sessions records on ScotlandsPeople, I find myself feeling exceedingly glad that I can't be compelled to answer to a religious court.

I've just read about a woman who had a relationship with a married man and ended up pregnant. The church elders found the man but couldn't find the woman, so they had to go in search of her, and the entry referred to her as "a fugitive from church justice."

It's one thing to voluntarily place oneself under the authority of a religious court for specific issues, or to ask a cleric for advice, but this was something else.

Just think: 300 years ago, a woman and/or man found guilty of fornication or adultery could be compelled to appear in church wearing sackcloth and to sit on a special seat in full view of the congregation while being verbally abused and forced to show regret. They also had to pay a fine.

We can't judge people in the past by today's standards, I know, but it sounds so humiliating.

I want to go back in time and tell that fugitive woman: "Run, Bessie, run!"

Regards,
Josephine

3
The Lighter Side / Certainly not!
« on: Wednesday 24 March 21 22:06 GMT (UK)  »
I've just come across an entry in the 1911 census that made me laugh. In the column for "Infirmity," the head of the household wrote, "Certainly not," and then "do" (ditto) all the way down the column for everyone else.

 ;D

Regards,
Josephine

4
The Common Room / What was/is a "picture gown"?
« on: Monday 01 February 21 20:10 GMT (UK)  »
I've just read a newspaper account of a 1945 wedding that included the following: "The bride’s picture gown of ivory moire silk... The bridesmaids also wore picture gowns, one rust coloured and the other blue."

Does anyone know what a picture gown was (or is)? I've never heard the term before.

Thanks,
Josephine

5
The Lighter Side / Ridiculous causes of death (poorly indexed)
« on: Monday 11 May 20 21:56 BST (UK)  »
They're not even trying. ;D

I copied the following causes of death from an online index while looking for the death record of an infant. (These were not done by volunteers; they're all from a well-known fee- or subscription-based website.)

"Drowned In a Twp of Walter"
"Conoulsious"
"Jastro Enteritis"
"Cranp"

I guess hiring a proofreader would cut into their profit margin. Oh, well, at least the images are available.

Regards,
Josephine

P.S. I'm sure this subject has been addressed numerous times and this will not surprise anyone but I had to share these because they were so ridiculous.

6
The Common Room / Unable to access Rootschat using Firefox
« on: Friday 13 March 20 21:33 GMT (UK)  »
Is anyone else having trouble accessing Rootschat while using Firefox? I had to go to Google Chrome to get onto the site.

This is the error message I've been getting today (see attached).

Maybe it's just a temporary glitch on my end but I'll hit the button to notify a moderator, in case I'm not the only one with this issue.

Regards,
Josephine

7
The Common Room / A notorious chain dropper!
« on: Sunday 24 December 17 19:47 GMT (UK)  »
I've just come across this appellation for the first time; does anyone know what it means?

Caledonian Mercury
Sat., Aug. 5, 1843

"CHAIN DROPPING. -- Yesterday, Alexander Muir, brother of a notorious chain dropper, who was a few days ago convicted here, was brought from Glasgow by the police on a charge of having practised his nefarious trade recently in Broughton Street."

This particular Muir doesn't belong in my tree (as far as I know), so I'm not tracking him or anything; I'm just curious about the charge.

It seems to have had something to do with gambling, per the 1869 Prevention of Gaming Act in Scotland.

Merry Christmas! Keep those chains in your pocket or Santa won't visit your house tonight!

 :)

Regards,
Josephine

8
Other Countries - Resources / "Homeward Mail from India, China and the East"
« on: Friday 10 March 17 16:24 GMT (UK)  »
There's a publication called Homeward Mail from India, China and the East that I've just discovered on The British Newspaper Archive http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ . (It's called Homeward Mail in the index.)

The website has a large number of issues from the mid-1800s to some time in the 1900s.

I've found some interesting information on some members of my distant family who worked in India. On one person, I've found information about his work in Punjab, and mentions of when he and his wife  travelled to and from home in England by ship (these ship lists aren't available online elsewhere as far as I can tell). I found a lovely, information obit for another person. He worked in India prior to the coverage offered online but luckily they wrote about him when he died, so I lucked out in that way.

I don't have any affiliation with the website; I just wanted to mention the publication as a great potential resource.

Regards,
Josephine

9
The Lighter Side / "A Genealogical Puzzle" from 1872
« on: Sunday 05 February 17 21:30 GMT (UK)  »
Hi, All:

I thought you might enjoy this. It was published in the Pittsburgh Daily Gazette on Christmas Day 1872 (transcribed by me).

"A Genealogical Puzzle.

“A wedding there was and a dance there must be,
And who should be first? Thus all did agree –
First, grandsire and grandame should lead the dance down;
Two fathers, two mothers should step the same ground.
Two daughters stood up and danced with their sires
(The room was so warm they wanted no fires);
And also two sons, who danced with their mothers.
Two sisters there were, who danced with their brothers;
Two uncles vouchsafed with nieces to dance,
With nephews to jig it pleased two aunts.
Three husbands would dance with none but their wives
(As bent so to do for the rest of their lives).
The grand-daughter chose the jolly grandson.
And bride – she would dance with bridegroom or none.
A company choice! Their number to fix,
I told them all over, and found them but six!”

Regards,
Josephine

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