A recent query of one of my Facebook pages asked

"I have a variety of family members' wills denoting their personal effects in British pounds. I would like to be able to convert these into Canadian dollars for their particular eras. Does anyone know of a website which would provide this conversion? I've looked and looked but haven't found one yet."

To which the reply was

" If you go onto the National Archives website they have a converter for old money to new in pounds Stirling for today's value and then you should be able to convert to the currency at today's exchange rate"


See: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency/default2.asp

Talking of which, I found a stash of old coins this week. they included a Victorian farthing, an Edward VII penny and lots of George V, George VI and some Elizabeth II predecimal coins.  Unfortunately there were no Edward VIII coins which isn't surprising as he wasn't on the throne less than a year (20 January 1936 – 11 December 1936).

Somewhere I have some Georgian pennies and some old silver sixpenses (the ones which were traditionally put into Christmas puddings).

I was thrilled recently received a reply to a plea on this site.  The person said that the person I was asking about was one of his 1C4Rs (!). Never heard of that so looked it up and below what I found.  So his 1C4R - is 1st cousin 4 times removed.

Common Progenitor:

The closest ancestor two people have in common is their common progenitor.
For example: you and your sister have your parents as your common progenitor.  (You also have your grandparents and great-grandparents in common, but for these purposes, we are concerned only with your closest common ancestor). 
Another example: the common progenitor of you and your first cousin is one of your grandparents.

Removed:

When we speak of a cousin being “once removed”, we are referring to the number of generations removed.
For example: Your father's first cousin is your “first cousin once removed” — You are one generation away (“removed”) from the first-cousin relationship.
Another example: Your grandfather's first cousin is your “first cousin twice removed” — You are two generations away from the first-cousin relationship.

Relationship Chart:

	0	1	2	3	4	5	6
0	CP	S	GS	GGS	2GGS	3GGS	4GGS
1	S	B	N	GN	GGN	2GGN	3GGN
2	GS	N	1C	1C1R	1C2R	1C3R	1C4R
3	GGS	GN	1C1R	2C	2C1R	2C2R	2C3R
4	2GGS	GGN	1C2R	2C1R	3C	3C1R	3C2R
5	3GGS	2GGN	1C3R	2C2R	3C1R	4C	4C1R
6	4GGS	3GGN	1C4R	2C3R	3C2R	4C1R	5C

CP = Common Progenitor S = Son or Daughter B = Brother or Sister N = Nephew or Niece

C = Cousin #R = Times Removed GS = Grandson or Granddaughter GGS = Great-grandson or Great-granddaughter

For more information, see: http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/related.htm

Were any of your ancestors criminals?  What constituted criminals in those days perhaps may not be now ....

1.9 million historic criminal records published 

online for the first time

See: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/news/1-9-million-historic-criminal-records-published-online-for-the-first-time/

What happens when a photoshop expert breathes new life into a photo: an interesting video is on this link: https://youtu.be/vcriltNQMfI
http://www.trendzified.net/joaquin-villaverde/

I've just been sorting out a large art folder and found these paintings which I'd never seen before.  These are some of the paintings executed by my father, John WH Smale (1919 - 2006).

Find archive footage of your postcode

As part of its current Britain on Film season, the BFI has produced an interactive ‘film map’ (see link below) that allows you to search for archive videos made in your local area. Tap in your postcode and the site brings up any films it has related to said location.

The collection ranges from 1895 to the present day and includes adverts, newsreels, government-made films, TV shows and movies, as well as the world’s earliest home movies dating back to 1902.

London is particularly well represented, though it has to be said that the search can yield fairly broad results at present — better to think in terms of larger areas like the East End or the City rather than your local launderette. The project is in its early stages but has grand ambitions to grow the current catalogue of 2,500 digitized archive films to 10,000 by 2017.

Ultimately the aim is so create a huge interactive library that will offer instant insights into the past and easy access to a rich variety of material once locked away in warehouses and dusty attics. The BFI is keen for the public to get involved too, so the collection can expand further.

http://londonist.com/2015/07/find-archive-film-footage-of-your-postcode.php?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=facebook_page&utm_medium=Londonist&utm_content=Find%20Archive%20Film%20Footage%20Of%20Your%20Postcode

Irish Catholics can now trace their anestry back to as far as the 1740s

Irish Catholics can now trace ancestry online back to 1740s

Almost 300 years of parish registers to be made available by National Library of Ireland

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys will launch online the entire collection of Catholic parish register microfilms with Taoiseach Enda Kenny. Photograph: Cyril Byrne/The Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

• Topics:
• News
• Social Affairs
• Religion & Beliefs
• Ciara Kerrigan
• Enda Kenny Taoiseach
• Heather Humphries
• Herigage

Tue, Jul 7, 2015, 22:28

First published:Tue, Jul 7, 2015, 22:28

 

People of Irish Catholic ancestry will be able to trace their origins back almost 300 years online from Wednesday.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys will officially launch online the entire collection of Catholic parish register microfilms held by the National Library of Ireland (NLI).

Involved are more than 370,000 digital images of the microfilm reels on which the parish registers are recorded and which will be accessible free of charge.

These parish register records are considered the single most important source of information on Irish family history prior to the 1901 census. Dating from the 1740s to the 1880s, they cover 1,086 parishes throughout the island of Ireland, and consist primarily of baptismal and marriage records.

The NLI has been working to digitise the microfilms for more than three years under what is described as its most ambitious digitisation programme to date.

Ciara Kerrigan of the NLI said: “We . . . received a hugely enthusiastic response from people worldwide with an interest in Irish family history.”

Further information is available at registers.nli.ie.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/irish-catholics-can-now-trace-ancestry-online-back-to-1740s-1.2276916