2017 British Institute Courses
2017 British Institute Courses
DNA as a Genealogical Tool
Maurice Gleeson, MB
DNA is rapidly expanding as a necessary component of genealogical research. This presentation will discuss the science of DNA, the application of that science to your family tree, and the various testing methods, their results, and how that information can be applied to your family research.
**This course is 6 hours per day.**
Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Suggested prerequisites: None
English Genealogical Research before 1837
Amy Harris, PhD, AG
English research before the institution of civil registration (1837) and the existence of genealogically useful censuses (1841) can be tricky. With high rates of religious nonconformity, relatively high rates of mobility, and records with limited explicit information, research between 1750 and 1840 often proves complicated. This track concentrates on that period, but much of it is also applicable to any post-1690 research. It focuses on methodology, using indirect evidence, and hands-on case studies.
Level: Intermediate
Suggested prerequisites: Need to know where (parish/village/city) the ancestor(s) lived. Best suited for those already familiar with English census and civil registration records.
Scottish Family History Research: Where and How to Find the Real Records
Bruce Durie, PhD, QG
You simply cannot do Scottish Genealogy seriously using Ancestry.com, FamilySearch and the other popular services. It’s not their fault – they just don’t have the necessary records. Yet Scotland has the best set of genealogical records on the planet – a great many available online and a lot of them free.
Where are they? How to access them? What do they contain? How to use them?
All these questions and more will be addressed in this wide-ranging course, also covering Inheritance, Maps, Heraldry and much more besides.
Level: Beginner to Advanced
Suggested prerequisites: None
Finding Irish Ancestors before the Great Famine
Fiona Fitzsimons, BA, MA
The digital revolution in Irish Family History means it’s now possible to search accurately across tens of millions of Irish records. Better access to sources means we can trace Irish ancestry earlier than ever before.
Drawing on 25 years of archival research, I will
- Show what sources (online and manuscript) are most useful to researchers and where they can be found.
- Demonstrate strategies and skills to extract vital evidence from the sources.
- Use collateral sources to fill the gaps.
Level: Intermediate
Time Period: Before the Great Famine: 1600s to 1851
Suggested prerequisites: A basic knowledge of research methodology and terms; It’s not necessary to have Irish ancestry to take this course. If you *do* have an Irish ancestor, you can probably achieve best results by knowing the approximate years in which they flourished (birth/ marriage/death and other milestone event including immigration). Place of origin in Ireland is a bonus, not a pre-requisite.