Judy Avery's Report from London and Who Do You Think You Are – Live 2011

There seems to be no doubt that NBC's You Do You Think You Are? is having an impact on interest in genealogy in the U.S. but we are several years behind the U.K. where the show started in 2004 and where the mother-of-all genealogical conferences just finished its fifth year. CGS member Judy Avery attended her second Who Do You Think You Are – Live! in London and sent this report.

After a wonderful visit in February 2010, here I was again, at the Who Do You Think You Are – LIVE! 2011 exposition in London! It’s billed as the “world’s largest family history event” and fills the Olympia Conference Center with sponsors such as Ancestry.co.uk, the Society of Genealogists, FamilyTree DNA, FindMyPast, FamilySearch, and many other vendors and local family history associations. A group of thirteen of us from the New England Historic Genealogical Society had a great week packed with genealogy and history.

First of all, we had an unforgettable tour of CNN London television studios, thanks to NEHGS member Jim Boulden. It was the same day events in Libya were changing by the minute and the studio was filled with eager young people rushing between offices, typing, watching four monitors at once, and editing footage. We heard the man in charge of CNN’s extensive plans for the royal wedding in April, who told us that four billion(!) people are expected to watch the ceremonies worldwide.  A tidbit – the wedding of William and Kate is not a “state wedding” since it doesn’t involve the next heir to the throne. Therefore heads of state are not on the invitation list as they were for Charles and Diana’s wedding.

We were lucky to hear George Redmonds - there is no one like him for knowledge of English surnames, geography, history, folkways, and language. He is fascinated with pre-Tudor England when there wasn’t a concept of a nation and no common language, only regional dialects. Custom and living memory were relied on instead of parish registers and statutes. George said in the 13th and 14th centuries people didn’t have a single name as is popularly thought. In the records there are thousands of “by-names,” which weren’t inherited. He gave examples of by-names which were descriptive of occupation (William Whitebrow, plasterer), physical attributes (Simon Doggeschanke, Nicholas Saddebely) the morally and physically challenged (William, son of Dokefot; Thomas Neverathom).

George and Ann-Marie Redmonds

Author Roger Thompson entertained the NEHGS group with stories of researching for his many books on colonial New England. He has a history of 17th century Charlestown, Massachusetts coming out soon. Nick Bunker, a former reporter for the Financial Times, recently published “Making Haste from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and their World.” He told us about the importance of the beaver fur trade to the early colonists and the extensive inland trading routes used by native tribes to bring furs to the coastal settlements.

Parish Church of St. Andrew Undershaft with "The Gherkin" in background.

In a break from the drizzle, we had a rare sunny day for a walking tour of parish churches within the compact City of London, led by John Titford. They are sandwiched between old or modern office buildings and most are small and serene inside. Favorites were the Temple Church, setting for “The Da Vinci Code,” and St. Bride’s Church, whose spire is the inspiration for tiered wedding cakes.

St. Stephen Walbrook, built by Wren.

In the evening we had a tour of the College of Arms where we were welcomed by Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms. What a privilege to be allowed into the inner sanctum, lined with ancient books illustrating coats of arms through the centuries. These are not digitized or copied in any form – the original hand-painted books. 

College of Arms

Now on to an exhausting and fascinating two days at the fifth annual WDYTYA – LIVE! exposition! Fortunately we had “jump passes” on opening day which let us go right in. Everyone there was so friendly, eager to hear questions and offer suggestions. People lined up for a popular section called “Ask an Expert” where you could have fifteen minutes to discuss your questions with a genealogist. I got some helpful advice on looking for records of a British soldier in the 1800s. From another booth I bought a paperback Your Ancestor’s Life in Textiles to give insight into life working in the cotton mills of Lancashire. Brenton Simons and Gary Boyd Roberts were having a great time checking out several booksellers’ stalls to make additions to the NEHGS library.

NEHGS Booth with Josh Taylor, Meriwether Schmid, Gary Boyd Roberts

A visit to the Huguenot Society of London booth was a highlight for me, where I asked about a 17th century ancestor in London. They immediately did a search on their laptop and found several references to him. Later in California, I got an email saying there was even more in the files and offering to send me copies. Needless to say, I thought a membership was well worth it.

Family Tree DNA was a big presence and featured talks every hour in their area on this evolving field. A lot of it is still over my head, but I keep thinking if I listen to enough lectures, I’ll finally get it! Their Family Finder test is used to predict if two people have a common ancestor within 3 or 4 generations. It’s the test for finding half-siblings or for adoptees and goes across M-F lines. Another talk was about the National Genographic Project, started in 2003 by the National Geographic Society, and Family Tree does the testing for it. It’s useful for anthropological studies, migration patterns and deep ancestral background. An important point – National Genographic keeps its samples for five years but Family Tree DNA preserves your sample for 25 years. You can transfer your results easily from National Genographic to Family Tree – so I’m going to do that soon. Family Tree is going to start offering upgrades to test for 111 markers.

Maureen Taylor was identifying pictures in the photo booth and reported business was booming. I wish I could have gotten around to all the booths for local history societies or vendors of maps and charts. What a treat the week was for travelers and genealogists!
– Judy Avery

Photographs courtesy of Judy Avery.


Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Judy Avery's Report From London: Who Do You Think You Are?

I'm so excited that Judy Avery agreed to send a report from this year's WDYTYA - Live. Okay, I'm a little jealous, too. Thank you, Judy, for taking time out to be our eyes and ears in London!

It's been a busy and jam-packed couple of days so at night I've been too tired to report anything! Today it's pouring rain and a good morning to stay in the hotel and actually try to write about what I've seen and heard at the conference.

It's called Who Do You Think You Are - Live: a National History Show at the Olympia Conference Center in London. Even though WDYTYA is a hit BBC show, it's not a BBC event but sponsored by Ancestry.co.uk., in association with the Society of Genealogists and The Genealogist.co.uk. It's a huge success - they estimated 10,000 to 15,000 participants over the three days and judging by the number of day passes and workshop tickets that have sold out, they've reached their goal.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society has a table in one of the corners for the first time and this is an experiment to see what response an American organization gets. The president, Brenton Simons, and three staff members are manning the table and giving lectures (they're called workshops in the brochure). Trustees and councilors were invited to join up and at least four of us are here - visiting booths (at least 200), enjoying bangers and mash for lunch and chatting with other participants.

Sandi Hewlett, Judy Avery and Meriwether Schmidt at the NEHGS table.

You should see the crowds! Very orderly, queuing up cheerfully as the British do, so happy to be here. There is a fairly-quickly moving line in front of the Military Memorabilia booth, where people are bringing in photos, medals, letters, etc. and waiting to talk to a military expert who can tell them about their treasures. Another very popular booth is Ask the Experts – a free 20-minute session with a genealogist and his laptop. Michael LeClerc and Josh Taylor have volunteered stints there, and find themselves answering family history questions about the U.K. and other European countries. They report great interest in people who went to America and have been lost by family members. "My grandmother's favorite brother went to California in 1910 and no one knows what happened to him."  Or "Mary sailed for America in 1890 - we think she went to New York and married a man named Smith." Remarkably in most cases, the staff members have been able to find some information or give helpful advice, and  people are so grateful. It seems at conferences in the U.S. we're interested in where our ancestors came from. Here we've had many questions on what became of family members in America.

Highlights for me: Maureen Taylor's talk on Scrapbooks. Remember when she gave that wonderful talk to the California Genealogical Society about dating old family photographs? She said scrapbooking in Britain isn't the big industry it is in the U.S. but it's coming. There are no big stores dedicated to readymade scrapbooks yet but supplies are in arts and craft shops. Audience members said they are making their own albums - very creative. Original photographs or documents should be copied and then pasted into the scrapbook. In the 20th century scrapbook makers began telling a story in their scrapbooks and it's a good idea to have a theme in the book.

Photo Detective Maureen Taylor

FamilyTree DNA has a big presence here and interesting workshops. If you're like me, you've done some testing but find it really frustrating and confusing to interpret. I think I understand it a bit better going to "DNA for Genealogy - Basic Concepts" and "I've Been DNA Tested - Now What?" FamilyTree is in the beta phase for a new program called Family Finder, which can find relatives within 4-5 generations across all lines. Traditional testing has done the yDNA and MtDNA chromosomes which can show direct male and female lines - good for surname projects and showing if men are related. The new Family Finder tests the other 22 chromosomes and can find male and female cousins, half-siblings, and will become the "perfect test for adoptees." Their new motto on a t-shirt is, "Sex doesn't matter anymore."

The best find in all this new information was Terry Barton explaining the FamilyTree website and giving information on his organization WorldFamilies.net. He and his wife have explained for us laymen about terms (markers, alleles!), and navigation of the FamilyTree website to get the results we want. "You are responsible for your own learning," he says, but this makes it seem possible.

So many booths with enthusiastic volunteers - small local history societies, Irish, Scottish and Welsh history groups, preservation supplies, map sellers, military history tables, a booth scanning documents, etc. I'm going back this afternoon and will try to take in some more!

- Judy Avery

Photographs courtesy of Judy Avery.

Will WDYTYA Impact Genealogy in the U.S.?

When the BBC television series Who Do You Think You Are? made its debut in the United Kingdom in 2004, queues of family researchers formed at archives and libraries all over England and the show became a huge hit. Now that NBC has scheduled the long-anticipated U.S. version to air on March 5, 2010, the questions is: will the show have the same impact on American audiences? Meet the seven celebrities who will trace their ancestry this season.



2/2/10 Update: Received notice from Ancestry.com that they are a partner with NBC on the new show. A Who Do You Think You Are website has been launched with "bios of the celebrities featured in the show, photos, and several video clips as well as articles on how to get started in family history."