Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine not only explores the stories behind the popular BBC genealogy TV series, but also helps you uncover your own roots. Each issue is packed with practical advice to help you track down family history archives and get the most out of online resources, alongside features on what life was like in the past and the historic events that affected our ancestors.
Welcome
SARAH’S TOP TIP • Join the Western Front Association (WFA) to view WW1 pension cards
CONTRIBUTORS
WHERE THERE’S A WILL
Letters
Who Do You Think You Are
What’s On
PICK OF THE MONTH • Find out how to research your impoverished kin
BOOK AHEAD • Visit Northampton in May for expert advice on house history
ScotlandsPeople adds Perth Prison registers
Warwickshire ‘Loss Accounts’ database launched
CAN YOU HELP?
NEWS IN BRIEF
The National Archives launches ‘Prize Papers’ research portal
New MyHeritage tool makes photographs ‘move’ and ‘speak’
Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine Android app updated
Grants to uncover working-class heritage announced
Findmypast adds index for Norfolk memorial inscriptions collection
FamilySearch launches new scheme for volunteer transcribers
HORROR IN THE HOME • Alan Crosby considers the domestic tragedies that lay in wait for our Victorian ancestors
Get more from MAPS • Gill Blanchard reveals the historic maps and plans from the 1500s to the 1900s that will transform your family research
6 ESSENTIAL MAPS FOR FAMILY HISTORIANS • The six types of map that will help you research your forebear’s life back to the 17th century
USING THE MAPS ON THE NLS’S WEBSITE • Learn how to search the thousands of maps that are available for free on the National Library of Scotland’s website maps.nls.uk
UNCOVERING THE STORY OF A HOUSE • Gill explains how she used maps to research a house in Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk
10 USEFUL MAP WEBSITES • The online resources you can’t afford to miss
HURRICANES AND HEATWAVES • Ruth A Symes explains how you can find out how the weather affected your ancestors’ lives
EXTREME WEATHER • From storms to droughts, we reveal the weather from the past 600 years that our families remembered for generations
THE ACRE INITIATIVE • How researchers across the globe are revealing the climate information hidden in old records
WEATHER SOURCES • There’s a vast range of sources to learn about historic weather
RESOURCES • Take your research further
Make the most of Family Tree DNA • Debbie Kennett looks at this pioneering testing company in the third article in our series about genetic genealogy
FAVOURITE FEATURES • FTDNA offers a wide range of options for working with the results of your DNA test
RESOURCES • Learn more about DNA testing
‘MY VICTORIAN GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS A BLACK ACTOR’ • Audiences and critics alike loved the performances of Clare Patrick’s ancestor John Robert Mitchell, but beyond the stage door prejudice made life difficult for him and his descendants, says Gail Dixon
RESOURCES • These three resources were a great help in Clare’s research
THE BIG PICTURE • Celebrating our ancestors caught on camera
HAVE YOU HIT A BRICK WALL?
Q&A • Our team of experts offers tips and inspiration
Is the baby in this photograph my great great grandfather?
Was the murderer Joseph Heald one of my wife’s ancestors?
Which branch did J Hellier serve in?
QUICK TIP
MY FAMILY ALBUM • Send us your favourite images for a chance to win photographic software worth $49.99. Here Rob Walsh from Zurich in Switzerland shares his...