Baldock/Fagg/Small Family History

Ancestry has recently released the England & Wales National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) for the period 1861 to 1941.

This has already proved (pardon the pun!) its worth – a search for the surname HAGESTADT reveals a lot of information!

The Calendars often give siblings and/or spouses as executors, and can also give dates and places of death as well as occupations of both parties, all to help populate your tree details.

Give it a look!

Those of you who use Genes Reunited will probably be aware of the facility which notifies you of record matches in your posted tree.

I had such a recent match, suggesting that Frederick Elmer HAGESTADT and his cousin, John, were both participants in World War I. A short spell of research revealed that they were, unfortunately, casualties.

Frederick fought in East Africa, and is commemorated at the Dar Es Salaam British & Indian Memorial.
His cousin, John, is commemorated at the Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, France

R.I.P.

Well, I attended the show on Friday 27th February, as planned.

I was quite surprised how many people were waiting for the Olympia train on the Earl’s Court platform ! Everyone carrying their bags of files & paperwork to “ask the experts”.

On arrival, entry was trauma-free and straightforward. I had gone with a route planned out on the show map, but this soon went out the window, as I was rushing at the start to make sure I found the location of the 12:00pm seminar and got a ticket! All the rushing around and searching got me very disoriented (as usual at Olympia!), so I threw caution to the wind and just zig-zagged my way between the stands.

 
Generally, I thought the seminar timetable was far too full. I would have liked to hear the “Getting the most out of Ancestry.co.uk”, but it clashed with Else Churchill’s “I’m stuck! Tracing your elusive ancestor“

I picked up some tips, spoke to some useful people, learned of some useful websites (including The War Graves Photographic Project – http://www.twgpp.org/), came away with lots of leaflets, restricted my spending(!) and managed to speak to an Army memorabilia expert who identified the uniforms in a mystery photo which may be linked to Noel HAGESTADT.

If I have anything else bad to say (other than the full timetable), then it might be that it was very commercial. But then I guess that’s what the sponsors expect/want. I was advised to attend The Family History Event (http://www.thefhevent.com/ ) at the Barbican Centre on Sunday 3rd May 2009. You’re more likely to see your local family history society, since the exhibition fees are more affordable!

Hope anyone else who went felt their trip useful. Comments welcome.