Genealogy Links
Ancestry is a fee based site, either pay as you go, monthly or annual subscriptions. Personally I have found it a great resource and it is generally the first site I go to when looking for information on someone.
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No genealogist researching English or Welsh ancestors, whether professional or hobbyist, can do without this site. Once you know the GRO reference for any birth, marriage or death from 1837, this is the place to go to order a copy online. You don't have to have the GRO reference but if you do it's cheaper at £7.00 a certificate rather than £10.00. You can order them by post as well but there is an additional charge made for this. Do not order your certificates through any other site (unless it's a local records office) - they'll charge you considerably more for the same service and it may well take longer to arrive as they get it from GRO and then send it on to you.
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On this site you can search the names in other members trees to see if you have a match and then contact them. You can create your own tree on the site or upload it from a GEDCOM file. There are also message boards for hints and tips or just general chat. To date most of my tree contacts have come from this site. All this for an annual subscription of around £10.
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This is a free site containing huge amounts of information for anyone tracing their family history. It is basically a
"virtual reference library" (Genuki phrase, not mine) that provides general information on researching your tree and
genealogy plus links to sites that have genealogical information available online. This is a huge site and can be a bit
daunting at first but bear with it and you'll be amazed at what you can find. Their site search engine is very good so if
all else fails try a search.
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If you are looking for an easy to read introduction into researching your family history in the UK, this is a good place to start. It has a good breadth of information and links. Well worth a visit.
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This is a free to use site, the aim of which is to make all birth, marriage and death registration indexes in England and Wales from 1837 to 1983 available online in a searchable database. The work is all undertaken by volunteers and is an
ongoing project but already has over 150 million records online. It has two sister sites FreeCEN with the aim of making the 1841 to 1871 and 1891 England and Wales census returns available to all and FreeReg which aims to provide baptism, marriage, and burial records from parish and non-conformist church registers in the UK. They aren't as far along as FreeBMD but they will become valuable research aids for genealogists in the future.
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This site is run by The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints but is available to anyone regardless of their
religion. They have many transcribed records from across the world available online or through their local Family History
Centers located world-wide. Their key and probably best known database is the "International Genealogical Index". One word of caution needs to be made when reviewing search results, the record will show whether it is a member submitted entry or an extracted record. Extracted records are transcripts from parish or similar records and are quite good evidence (although if you are serious about your work you should still aim to view the original record) however the member submitted records are another person's opinion on their family tree, so these should be used with caution as they are not original records and could contain errors. They can however provide a clue for you to research further until you can find definite proof or otherwise of the validity of the information.
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This site provides links to many genealogy sites and to people researching particular surnames that may be useful to anyone tracing their family history.
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Non-Genealogy Links
Tuberous Sclerosis is a genetic condition in which tuber-like growths form on the brain and other organs. TS is a little known condition but affects about 1 in 7,000 people. The impact of TS varies widely from person to person depending on the complexity of the condition. Some people will never be diagnosed with TS and will lead apparently normal lives, for others, TS symptoms could be broad ranging and may include some or all of the following: skin disorders; autistic spectrum disorders; heart and/or kidney problems; epilepsy and developmental delay. Although it is a genetic condition where someone with the faulty gene has a 50% chance of passing it on to their offspring, TS can also occur "out of the blue" in any family, in fact approximately 70% of all cases are the first appearance of TS in a family. I am privileged to have two beautiful family members with TS and I recognise and am amazed by the tireless support their parents, extended family and friends bestow on them. Please do all you can to support this organisation and in turn those individuals and families whose lives are impacted by TS.
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Rivington Arts is the online gallery of Gerry Halpin, a highly regarded artist in the north-west. Gerry was also the head of the art department at Rivington & Blackrod High School which is where I first met him.
Gerry produces limited edition watercolour prints and cards. Occassionally there are original oils and watercolours on canvas available to purchase as well.
Gerry has an enviable talent in which he is able to capture the beauty and atmosphere of his chosen subjects and they bring back many fond memories of my childhood roaming free around this glorious lancastrian countryside.
The picture? That's the Pigeon Tower in the Terraced Gardens at Rivington, one of the many structures commissioned by William Hesketh Lever or more formally, Lord Leverhulme.
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If you've never tried quality organic meat and don't understand what all the fuss is about, then you should get yourself to one of the farmer's markets that the Forsters attend or visit the farm shop at Shoot Delph Farm, Moss Bank, St Helens. Once you try their meat, you won't want to eat anything else. How do I know, because the Forsters are friends of my mum and I've tried their meat on numerous occassions and have never been disappointed in either the taste or quality, both of which are superb.
You don't have to rely on my opinion either, they received a rave review in January 2005 from Tom Parker-Bowles (yes, step-son of HRH The Prince of Wales) in the Sunday Mail "Night and Day" supplement, for which Tom was a food critic. Tom wrote:
The crown of lamb from Forster Organic Meat is a truly special piece of meat. Produced in Lancashire, the animals are reared naturally on a GM and hormone free diet of sweet meadow grass. The taste is superb, sweet and succulent with a particularly defined flavour. They also produce well-hung organic beef.
Recently the Forster's were filmed for a future Gordon Ramsay programme at Woolton Village Farmer's Market. That's Chris Forster with Gordon in the picture on the left. Gordon chose to use meat supplied by the Forster's for the programme. I don't know which series it's for yet but I assume it's Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and the Forsters are part of the rescue plan that Gordon devises for whichever business he's terrorising, sorry improving, in the programme. What better recommendation can there be than that?
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This is a shameless link for a family member, Dick Nolan [second cousin, once removed actually], who is a founding member of It Bites. I offer no apologies for this nepotistic promotion, after all it's my site so I can support whoever I like! If you are sat there thinking It Bites? and assuming you are of a certain age, cast your mind back
to the 1980's and a number 6 hit "Calling All The Heroes". Still not got it? Then get yourself to your favourite music download store right now.
For those of you not in the know, It Bites have reformed. At the time of writing they are on tour across the UK and a new album is planned for release in 2007. Go on, relive your youth and set yourself a reminder to buy the album and go see them on tour and discover why Ray Davies (yes Ray of The Kinks) regularly employs Dick as his bass player!
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Every now and then I return to the hobby of cross-stitch and often have a number of projects on the go. Unfortunately as I don't do this consistently they can take a while (think years!) to complete, but when I do get in the right frame of mind for it, cross-stitch is a wonderfully relaxing and rewarding pastime. I've linked to Michael's site as he provides a range of cross-stitch designs that are a little out of the ordinary (quirky is a good word) and they appeal to me far more than the sentimental / cutesy designs that seem to form the bulk of designs in the cross-stitch world.
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If it wasn't for this site I wouldn't have had a clue how to design a website. This site is host to hundreds (if not thousands) of open source web designs that anyone can use. It was here that I found the designs by Andreas and Viktor [see design credit] that inspired this site.
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