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W.I.S.E. Words The Newsletter of Family History Society

Volume 10, Number 2 Denver, Colorado April, May, June 2009

celebratim,0 25 years!

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W.I.S.E. 25th Anniversary Celebrated In Style And, what a party it was!

On December 6, 2008 in the Vida Ellison Gal-lery on the 7th Floor at the Denver Public Li-brary, W.I.S.E. members and friends gathered for an elegant British silver or cream tea to celebrate 25 years of the W.I.S.E. Family His-tory Society. The setting for the tea added to

the elegance by offering a panoramic view of downtown Denver.

Five tables of eight were set with the finest antique china and silver from the collection of

--cont'd on pg 21

W.I.S.E. Words

President's Message

As Prince Charles might say to Queen Eliza-beth II, "You'll be a tough act to follow, Mum."

As the new president of W.I.S.E., that's how I feel. I am succeeding an admirable gang of past presidents, each accomplished in his or her field, and no slouch when it comes to ge-nealogy research, either. They've set high standards.

First, there's Ann Lisa Pearson who was presi-dent when I joined in 2000. She's honed and practiced her genealogical skills on the nation-al scene as program chairman for the National Genealogical Society's Conference in the States in Denver in 1998, and as a director of NGS for six years. She's served as president of the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History and founded its annual British Institute, a weeklong course of study in Salt Lake City, now organizing for the ninth straight year. She's been a member of Colum-bine Genealogical and Historical Society for 33 years, and has held virtually every one of its offices. Professionally, she worked in business management and she and her late husband ran an apartment rental business.

Ann Lisa was followed as W.I.S.E. president by Paul Kilburn, who earlier served as secre-tary. He's a past governor of the Colorado So-ciety of Mayflower Descendants, a descendant of passengers Francis Cook, John Cook and Richard Warren. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in botany and envi-ronmental conservation, He may properly be addressed as Dr. Kilburn, and confesses he's "in love" with old English churches. He's visited his ancestors' homes in Britain and elsewhere and has presented memorable pro-grams on them for W.I.S.E. and other societies. An article about two of these churches appears elsewhere in this edition of W.I.S.E. Words.

April, May, June 2009

Next on the list was John Mossman. For 32 years, he worked as a quality control engineer and configuration management chief for Mar-tin-Marietta Denver Aerospace, the space technology company with headquarters in Jef-ferson County now called Lockheed Martin. He created and negotiated contracts for several projects, including the early Titan missile launch system as well as classified jobs. At the helm of W.I.S.E., he held two jobs at once —he was president and he took over the program chairman's job when the elected chairman re-signed. He's also served as publicity chairman and as editor of WISE. Words.

Then came James K. Jeffrey. Officially, he is the genealogy collections specialist at the Den-ver Public Library; unofficially, he is just about everyone's go-to guy. Virtually all gene-alogists around here know this man, mostly through his 241/2 years at DPL, the last 22 as genealogy specialist. He's active throughout the national genealogy community as well, and he was singularly honored as America's top genealogy librarian in 2004 when he received the P. William Filby Award from the National Genealogical Society. James continues as the W.I.S.E. archivist and nominations chairman. And that's not all: He and John Mossman are graduates of the same school in West Virginia, Barboursville High School. Both are West Virginia natives and became acquainted in Denver.

Finally, there's my immediate predecessor, Duane Woodard, a man with impressive public service and political credentials. How many of you know that he was twice elected Colorado's attorney general, serving from 1983 to 1991? His first public position was municipal judge in the town of Windsor. Then he became a state senator, representing parts of Larimer, Morgan and Weld counties, and served on the Public Utilities Commission. After his eight years as AG, he was general counsel to U.S. Senator Hank Brown as well as counsel to a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. His Colorado roots are deep —grandparents and great-grandparents were homesteaders in Weld County. In 2009, Duane

W.I.S.E. Words

is still practicing law. And, there's more: He and Ann Lisa Pearson were classmates at Na-trona County High School, Casper, Wyoming, class of 1956. They renewed their friendship through W.I.S.E. He also has served as W.I.S.E. program chairman.

With those esteemed "ancestors," how can I go wrong? I'm humbled to have this position as W.LS.E. president, and I aspire to meet their standards. I'll appreciate all and any help they, and you, the members, can give.

In 2009, W.I.S.E. acquisitions for the Denver Public Library will have a new face in the per-son of member, Gary W. Routh. At the end of each year, W.I.S.E. sets aside 30 percent of the moneys over $1,500 in its treasury for DPL, and the accrued fund now stands at a very healthy level. Gary introduces himself and out-lines his goals in an article elsewhere in this newsletter.

W.I.S.E. has established a Web page, designed to keep members informed about activities and to invite anyone interested in British Isles ge-nealogy and culture to attend our programs and become members. You can check out the site at hup://www.wise-fhs.orn.

We have a new hospitality chairman, Diane Barbour. Her main duty will be coordinating the sweet treats at our program meetings, always a pleasant interlude. We still have an opening for representative to the Colorado Council of Genealogical Societies, which meets quarterly. Volunteer, please make your-

self known.

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W.I.S.E. News Briefs

Salt Lake City Trip. W.I.S.E. members and friends traveling to Salt Lake City in April are reminded that April 15 is the deadline for final payment for your hotel room. Checks go to the travel agent, Sally Garcia at Atlas Travel, 11650 West 8th Ave., Golden, CO 80401.

April, May, June 2009

Although the deposit deadline has passed, those of you who are still interested in joining the trip, April 26 through May 3, are advised to contact Ms. Garcia at 303-234-1040, sallvgarcia;Uatlastraveline.com, or Zoe Lappin at 303-322-2544, ZLappireaotmail.com. The travel agent is handling hotel reservations only; participants must get to Salt Lake City on their own. ❑

Annual Meeting Held. W.I.S.E. Family Histo-ry Society held its annual meeting on January 24. Secretary Eileen Langdon read the minutes of the 2008 annual meeting. President Duane Woodard opened the floor to nominations, which was followed by the election of officers. Upon passing the gavel to Zoe von Ende Lappin, the newly elected W.I.S.E. president, the outgoing president thanked the board and the membership for a successful year. Nancy Craig, incoming treasurer, presented the 2009 budget for W.I. S.E. It was approved by voice vote. ❑

In This Issue

W.I.S.E. 25th Anniversary Celebrated 17

President's Message 18

W.I.S.E. News Briefs 19

Membership Report 20 OriginsNetwork.com Now Available 20

Country Editors for Ireland 20

W.I.S.E. Program Schedule 21

English Parish Churches and Genealogy 22

Denver Public Library News 23

Members' Interests Database 24

W.LS.E. to Resume Book Donations 25

500 Years of London History 25

Tartan Day Benefit Celebration 26

Traveling with TIARA 26

Presbyterian Church Research 28 More on Irish Research 28

Australia / New Zealand Tips 29

Member Profiles 29

The Queens English 30

Antiques Road Show in Denver 31

Backward, Ho! Again 31

Photo Album 33

Calendar of Events 34

W.I.S.E. Words April, May, June 2009

W.I.S.E. Family History Society

WISE. Family History Society is dedicated to re-search in Wales, Ireland Scotland England, the Channel Islands and the Isle ofMan. Attention is also directed to the emigration and immigration of these peoples as well as heraldry and one-name studies. Monthly meetings are generally held the fourth Saturday of most months at the Central Denver Public Library, Gates Conference Room, 5th Floor. Membership is open to anyone with interest in family history and genealogy. Membership dues for the calendar year are $12 for an individual or $15 for a family living at the same address. The W.I.S.E. Family History Society publishes W.I.S.E. Words four times per year. A subscription is included with mem-bership dues.

© 2000-2009, WISE. Fcrmil y History Society. All rights reserved

Visit our website at http://wvay.vii se-fhs.org

Officers and Board Members

President Zoe von Ende Lappin zlappiOhoirriai 1 corn

T "ice President Sandy Carter-Duff

Secretary Eileen M. Langdon

Treasurer Nancy G. Craig

Past President Duane Woodard

Membership Vancy G. Craig Members' Interest Coordinator Terence Quirke

Publicity Coordinators Fran & Dan Parker

Archivist/Historian James K. Jeffrey

CCGS Delegate.. Open

Web Master Gary Routh

Newsletter Staff

Editor Judith S. Phelps jaspl:decirthlink..rzei

Photographer John M. Mossman

Book Review Editor Zoe von Ende Lappin

Proofreaders Jack and Zoe von Ende Lappin

Distribution Coordinators Fran & Dan Parker

Country Editors

Wales Elizabeth Brown

Ireland MaryLee Hagen & Marilyn Lyle

England Paul Kilburn

Scotland John Mossman

Membership Report

As of 28 February, 128 members had paid their dues for 2009, Welcome to new members! Linda and Warren Pearce and Brian O'Malley joined the day of our 25th anniversary party. The smell of fresh-brewed tea drew them to the party. Milly Jones and Harold Vogel joined at our January meeting. Five ladies joined in Feb-ruary: Nancy Click, Gina Moore, Kathy Pugh, Cari Taplin and Clair Villanon

OriginsNetwork.com Now Available Online at DPL

Denver Public Library has added an online resource subscription of interest to W.I.S.E. members. It is known as OriginsNetwork.com and is available on site at the main library downtown and all DPL branches, but not from home computers. It offers comprehensive Brit-ish, Irish and Scots collections, some suppo-sedly dating to the 13th century.

British Origins features the Society of Geneal-ogists' records; Irish Origins lets you peruse such gems as Griffith's Valuation and an Irish Wills Index, 1484-1858; Scots Origins lets you see the 1861 and 1871 censuses, among other databases.

To access this website, go to the address window on DPL's home page, type in www.originsnetwork.com for the welcome page. Next, click on the subscriber login box at the top right, and follow the cues. o

Country Editors for Ireland

Two W.I. S.E. members have stepped forward to serve as Country Editors for Ireland. Marilyn Lyle will be keeping us updated on Northern Ireland while MaryLee Hagan will keep readers posted on the Republic of Ireland. Both of these women have considerable expe-rience researching in Ireland — in fact, you may have heard their Irish lectures — so feel free to call them with research questions.o

W.I.S.E. Words -21 April, May, Jun 2009

W.I.S.E. Program Schedule

25 April

Chasing the Link: Passenger Arrival Lists — Julie Miller, C G. More hours are spent in pursuit of finding an immigrant ancestor's name on a Passenger List than almost any other type of genealogy research. The search can be frustrating as well as time consuming. This lecture will discuss the passenger list records that are available, where to find the records and how to use them.

Julie Miller is a Certified Genealogist (CGSM) with more than 30 years genealogy experience and a newspaper columnist for Broomfield Enterprise [Colorado]. She is on the Board of Directors of the National Genealogical Society and the Interna-tional Society of Family History Writers and Editors. She's also president, Colora-do Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), and a past president, Colorado Genealogical Society. You also may have met her sometime in the past 11 years at NARA-Rocky Mountain Region where she is a volunteer. o

23 May

Highland Games: History and Events — John Thornton

John Thornton will present the history of the Highland Games and tell us about competitive events that take place. He'll also tell us about the Colorado Scottish Festival and Rocky Mountain Highland Games to be held August 8-9, 2009 at Heritage Park, 9651 South Quebec Street in Highlands Ranch. Because our W.I. S.E. Family History Society sponsors and provides volunteers for the family history tent,, this will be kick-off to recruit our volunteers. Visit their website at www.seottishgames.org for more information.

John Thornton has been the games marshal for the Rocky Mountain Highland Games for 19 years.o

27 June

W.LS.E. Summer Outing to Leadville

Our June, 2009 "get out of town" event will be a trip to Leadville. Details of this outing are still being worked out. We will tour the National Mining Museum and maybe Hamil House, a property owned by the Colorado Historical Society. A list of suggested lunch settings will be provided and you can stroll main street for a visit in downtown shops.

Because we need an advance count if you want to ride a charter bus to Leadville, contact Kendrick King by May 29 at 303-377-2962 or email (lakdlw44dim.com). If you plan to go and will drive on your own, please let her know by June 13. Leadville is 100 miles from Denver and roughly a 2 hour drive one way.°

2? Anniversary Celebration Cont'd from page 17

Ann Chambers. Ann is on the staff of the Denver Public Library but in her off-time she collects antique china and specializes in hosting cream tea parties. She graciously offered to set the stage for our traditional British tea with her collection. Bonnie Wright and Eileen Langdon

added to the elegance by cleaning and polishing the library's silver teapots, creamers and sugar bowls and trays.

W.I.S.E. members and friends added to the au-thenticity of the tea by bringing tea sandwiches, home-made scones with jam and Devonshire cream, oat cakes, English plum pudding with hard sauce and Eccles cake.

W.I.S.E. Words - 22 - April, May, June 2009

James Jeffrey reviewed the history of W.I.S.E. which was presented in the October, Novem-ber, December 2008 (Volume 9, No. 4) issue of W.I.S.E. Words. We were honored to have some of the founding members — Donna Por-ter, Terence Quirke, Paul Kilburn, James Jeff-rey and Betty Brown — in attendance. Sandy Carter-Duff read greetings from George Forby, a founder who was unable to attend.

Our membership extends a big "Thank You!" to all who made this a lovely event. With this festive and elegant celebration we may have started a new holiday tradition for W.I.S.E.o

English Parish Churches and Genealogy

—Paul Kilburn

The search for one's ancestors in England often leads one back to villages where that an-cestor was born, raised and worshipped. Nearly all of these villages have a parish church, often the village's religious and social center. The clergy of these churches originally recorded and housed records of baptisms, marriages and burials that provide key evidence about an an-cestor. Since copies of those records are now easily accessed in this country and worldwide on the Internet, and since finding them must be a first goal, one tends to overlook the value of visiting the churches.

Such a visit, both to the church and the villages where these ancestors came from, allows one to see where they lived and walked. England pre-serves old well-built buildings much better than Americans do, and sometimes old birthplaces and residences remain. Usually however, all that remains in a village is the old parish church. Today those several centuries-old churches are not only well used, but remain an integral part of the village. Visiting them, and talking with the parson and his parishioners, can add a new dimension to appreciating one's ancestor.

The parish church often dominates the village today as well as remaining a visible reminder of

prior life. The visitor often asks how could such small villages erect such large, substantial and permanent churches? How could they raise the money to do so? The answer lies in sheer reli-gious and financial power of the Church at that time. It is often said that prior to 1500 in Eng-land, the King owned one-third of the land and its buildings; the Church owned the same share; while the rest of the population owned the final third. The church had enormous power and wealth and sought to erect magnificent stone cathedrals, abbeys and parish churches, usually replacing the more temporary wooden churches established earlier in less prosperous times.

There are over 10,000 English parish churches of historic importance in England, and no two of them are identical.' Most were built between the 14th and 16th centuries, hence they are often called "fifteenth-century churches." The archi-tects and builders of that time had a great deal of freedom in designing and building these re-ligious centers. Construction took a long time; these churches were not built in a year, but over decades, and parts of them over centuries. Dur-ing construction not only did architects change, but so did fashion and custom. Thus, no towers, entry doors, porches, naves, chancels, hand carved screens, roofs or attached chapels are the same. These differences and changes make seeing them a high point to any trip.

The plan of the typical fifteenth-century parish church was cruciform with the large central nave where the parishioners faced the altar where the sermon was given, a transept extend-ing north and south (but often absent), a chan-cel extending to the east behind the parson's lectern (and where the choir sits today), and the tower, usually at the west end, frequently the tallest structure in the village. The tower was often constructed a century after the main edi-fice, sometimes square topped, and sometimes with a pointed spire. The tower housed the bells, which, when rung before and after ser-vices, added a resounding charm to the village and surrounding countryside. A porch, usually facing south, provided the cover to the main entrance to the church. Wealthier and larger churches have added one or more chapels to the east end of the chancel which are used for

W.IS.E. Words --23--- April, May, June 2009

special services and events. The illustrations below show a small church in the tiny village of Kilburn, and the very large church in the 14th century thriving wool town of Lavenham.

Blessed Virgin Mary Parish Church in Kilburn, Yorkshire, England. This small Norman church was built in the 12th century, but the perpendicular stone tower was not completed until 1667.

of the larg-England. It

was built in the latter part of the 15th century and it now boasts two exquisite chapels attached to the east end of the church and a magnificent tower, built in the 16th century, that dominates the area. Lavenham was a major East Anglian "wool" town in the 15th century, exporting woolens to other coun-tries. Today Lavenham is a major tourist attraction with perhaps more old English buildings of this period than any in England.

Prominent in nearly all of these churches is the baptismal font, usually made of marble, often octagonal, often with detailed carvings, and

Saint Peter and Saint Paul Parish Church in Lavenham, Suffolk, England. It is one est and best known parish churches in

containing the bowl where young infants were immersed during the baptismal ceremony. Some of these fonts arc as old as the church, and are likely the very font where an ancestor was baptized.

While the church and font may be the only di-rect tie to an early ancestor, in some cases the ancestor was the parson of the church, and hence he and his family occupied the adjacent parsonage. Some of these buildings remain in use today.

Subsequent articles will illustrate the genealog-ical importance of particular parish churches, their fonts, stained glass windows, brasses, gravestones and parsonages.

1 According to Graham Hutton, 1976 English Parish Churches, p118; illustrated with 214 black and white photographs. This is one of the best books describing the history and architecture of English parish churches in villages, towns and cities. Many counties have one or more illustrated books on their parish churches; some have illustrated leaflet guides with a county map showing the location of the more unusual churches.o

Denver Public Library News --James K Jeffrey

Terence T. Ouirke, Ph.D., Donates Gifts to the Genealogy Collection, Denver Pub-lic Library, December 2008

It is with great joy that I share with members of W.1.S.E. Family History Society the following materials.

Genealogists' Magazine. This is a title change and it is important to note for it may help you in locating these issues. The Denver Public Li-brary catalog does not include the apostrophe. Now we all remember that when CARL first started that all punctuation was disregarded and that is the case with this title. However it does not end there, as there are subtitle subtleties to be considered. Formerly it had the subtitle Official Organ of the Society of Genealogists.

W.I.S.E. Words - 24 - April, May, June 2009

The current subtitle is Journal of the Society of Genealogists. Regardless, these and all issues will be found at G929.05 G2894 and every vo-lume should be read cover to cover by anyone doing British Isles research. These issues and others back to 1932 are available for you to read.

Families. This is the journal from the Ontario [Canada] Genealogical Society. The Library has incomplete holdings for our earliest volumes of 11-15, which are for the years 1972-1976. We arc complete from 1986 on-ward. Terry has brought in volumes 46 and 47 for 2007-2008. These are to be found under call number G929.3713 F21.

Newsleaf. Also from the Ontario Genealogical Society is Newsleaf for volumes 36 and 37, 2007-2008. This is the newsletter for OGS and full of news it is. W.I.S.E. researchers would be well advised to read every page of both of these publications as they are filled with not only news of interest to the British Isles and Cana-dian genealogist but informational, methodo-logical, and geographical articles that will enrich your understanding of W.I.S.E. areas. The area to find this is G929.3713 059.ne.

Kent Family History Society Journal out of Canterbury, England is a true gem. Over the course of the past several years Terry and Ruth Quirke have generously brought in their volumes from 1988 through 2003. This last, volume 11, covers 2004 through 2007. When volume 11 returns from the bindery, research-ers will see it at G929.14223 K419.

Septs. Published by the Irish Genealogical Society of St. Paul, Minnesota, volumes 28 and 29 for the years 2007 and 2008. Between Terry Quirke and Eileen Langdon we have a com-plete run of this title since volume 10 in 1990. If you are not familiar with this title I recom-mend either talk with Terry Quirke and Eileen Langdon or pick up a copy of this publication and explore the contents. Those researching Irish ancestry from what is now Northern Irel-and, the Republic of Ireland, or anywhere else in the world where Irish men and women have relocated, will find useful information between

the covers. Volumes 28 and 29 are at the bin-dery and when they return you will find them with the other volumes at G929.308991 5479.

Sussex Family Historian. Vol.17 Nos. 1-8. This is a complete volume for the years 2006 and 2007. When it comes back from the bin-dery the researcher will find it along with the many other back issues since 1989 that Terry and Ruth have donated under call number G929.1433 S964.

Colorado Genealogist. Terry also generously brought in his back issues of the Colorado Genealogist, the official publication of the Col-orado Genealogical Society. Do not be parochi-al and think that there is nothing of interest to the British Isles researcher. Everyone from Colorado came from somewhere else. Explore the pages of this publication and glean bits and pieces of early and not so early British Isles ex-patriates who were the builders and shapers of Colorado. This title can be found at G929.1788 C719.o

Members' Interests Database --Terence Ouirke

W.I.S.E. Family History Society maintains a database of surnames which arc being re-searched or are otherwise of interest to members.

This database includes, besides the surname:

• any other names associated with the sur-name such as given name(s)

• general period of time during which the surname is of interest; e.g., 1740-1800 or 16th century

• the town, city and/or tow-nland in which the surname is to be found

• the county/shire of the search (please use the Chapman codes)

• country of the search

All this information can be entered on pre-printed sheets available at all W.I.S.E. meet-ings. Send the filled in sheet to T. Quirke, 2310 Juniper Court, Golden 80401-8087 or give it to

W.I.S.E. Words - 25 - April, May, June 2009

him at a meeting. Alternately, simply list the information you have about names in which you are interested in the order above. You can then send it along with your name, address and e-mail to the address above or e-mail it to T2quirke iiaol.com. The information can then be entered into our database and thus subse-quently printed out for study at any W.I.S.E. meeting.

In this way everyone's interests are available to the group and anyone having information or interest in another member's name being searched can contact the member and possibly collaborate, or at least commiserate. In several cases, even in such a relatively small group as ours, two or more people can be found working on the same name or in or near the same locali-ty thus being able to help each other.

The greater the number of names listed the greater the chance of finding mutual interests. There are almost 600 names on the list, includ-ing spelling variations, multiple locations, and multiple dates. Don't just look at the list and think to yourself, "my names aren't there" and give up. Put your name there so someone else can recognize your names that are of interest to him or her and be able to contact you. Add your problem names and see what happens!o

W.I.S.E. to Resume Donations

to Denver Public Library

In January the W.I.S.E. Board appointed Gary W. Routh as our new 2009 Denver Public Library book acquisitions liaison. It has been a while since we have had someone in this position and are glad to have Gary step forward to take on the task.

W.I.S.E. sets aside an annual acquisition fund for the purchase of library items specific to United Kingdom and Ireland family history research. Gary will be working closely with James K. Jeffrey at DPL to coordinate library needs. But it is also important that our members suggest research books they would like to see added to the DPL collection. Final purchase selections will be reviewed, approved and

ordered on a quarterly basis. A descriptive list-ing of final donations will appear in WISE. Words.

Gary has been purchasing and donating geneal-ogy research books to DPL over the past two years as a volunteer of Columbine Genealogical and Historical Society. He previously lived in Yorkshire for six years and is enthusiastic about focusing on U.K. research materials. Please contact Gary with suggestions of British Isles books or periodicals you would like made available to researchers working at DPL. Con-tact: Gary W. Routh at groutlagrotith.org.o

500 Years of London History

to Launch Online

with 77 Million Names

Terence Quirke shares the following notice which should be of interest to W.I.S.E. mem-bers who have been and are trying to research ancestors in the London area. The URL is littp://www.citvoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation /LGNL Services/Leisure and culture/Records and archives/Ancestrv+digitisation.htm. Terry further advises that although one may not be able to get there directly, he gets there from the Society of Genealogists site: WW IV sog.ore.uk.

The notice reads:

"London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section are delighted to announce a new partnership with AncestryTM to digitise genealogical sources.

"The first records will launch on Alice-stry.codik in early 2009, with the following prioritised for launch in the coming year:

• Parish records — records from more than 10,000 Greater London parish registers of baptisms, marriages and bu-rials dating from the 1530s to the 20th Century

• Poor Law documents — relating to the administration of poor relief, including workhouse registers from 1834 onwards

W.IS.E. Words - 26 - April, May, June 2009

• London school admissions — records from 843 individual London schools dating from the early Victorian times through to 1911, providing admission and personal details for millions of London students

"It is anticipated that the full digitisation and indexing program will include:

• Parish baptisms, marriages and burials • Bishops transcripts • Parish poor law records • Boards of Guardians records • Diocesan marriage bonds and allegations • Non-conformist baptisms, marriages and

burials • School admission and discharge registers • Electoral registers, overseers returns and

poll books • Land tax records • Wills • City of London Freedoms • Middlesex Sessions — Transportation Con-

tracts • Consistory Court of London Matrimonial

and Testamentary Papers" o

Tartan Day Benefit Celebration

As part of the Tartan Day Celebration, Pint's Pub proudly presents a benefit fundraiser. Benefiting from this event will be the Masonic Scottish Rite Foundation's Children's Hospital Program for Speech Therapy.

Pint's Pub, located at 221 West I3th Avenue in Denver (on 13th Avenue between Bannock and Cherokee Streets), will host the 7th Annual Single Malt Scotch Whisky Tasting and Dinner on Sunday, April 5, 2009, beginning at 4 p.m. Come explore a tradition one dram at a time. The cost is $50.00 per person and includes sev-eral great single malt Scotch whiskies, a deli-cious light buffet, the best haggis sampling in town, and an authentic and outstanding bangers and mash dinner! Great door prizes will be awarded including a stay at Glen Eyrie Castle.

Because of limited space, designated drivers and non-whisky drinkers are welcome to partic-ipate for the full $50.00 cost which entitles them to soft drinks and/or any other standard bar drinks and the entire food and door prize offering. There will be a charge for any other alcoholic beverages.

Reservations are required and seating is limited. Send your check to Ken McIntosh, 8989 W. 14th Avenue, #405-South, Lakewood, CO 80215 made out to Pint's Pub by March 29th. Call 303-234-0469 with any questions.❑

Traveling with TIARA — Dan and Fran Parker

On January 10, we boarded the Independence of the Seas for a ten-day Irish Genealogy Con-ference sponsored by The Irish Ancestral Re-search Association or TIARA, a genealogy group from Boston. For 3% days we were led through the maze of Irish records by six speak-ers from both Boston and Ireland.

Gregory O'Connor from the National Archives of Ireland, Dublin, assured us that not all the records "went up in smoke." Many records had been stored in the State Paper Office and were unaffected by the burning of the Four Courts. Two complete census records are available to the public. They are the 1901 and 1911 returns and are for all 32 counties in what are now both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In 1877, a government order destroyed the 1861 and 1871 censuses and another such order was given in 1918 to destroy the 1881 and 1891 returns.

The returns of 1911 asked, along with the usual family members, sex, occupation, county of origin and literacy, etc. They also asked how long the present marriage has lasted as well as number of children born alive and number of children still living. The year 1901 may seem recent but remember it is more than 100 years ago! The Archives is busy with their project of digitizing many of their records, so those of you doing research in that part of Ireland keep checking the website for recent additions.

W.IS.E. Words - 27 - April, May, June 2009

Gregory also had many suggestions for re-search before the 1800s.

George Handran of Boston and Valerie Adams of Belfast, Northern Ireland, did several ses-sions on Griffith's Valuation. The valuations were carried out to assess the local taxation rate. We have heard many talks on Griffith's Valuation in the past, but this time we had enough time spent on it to really come to un-derstand all the information that it contains.

George has done a great deal of research in Ireland and lectures and writes on Irish sub-jects. He edited and published Townlands in Poor Law Unions. He also accompanies many of the research trips to Ireland with TIARA.

Valerie Adams was one of the best speakers with her clear and concise lectures on the records available in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. She has been working there for over thirty years. PRONI has been able to put many of their records on line and are add-ing more every day. They are building a new building with state; GI the art, abilities that will allow them to store and access many more records. She also lectured on Landed Estate Records. PRONI has many of the records of the Republic that are not available in the Arc-hives in Dublin.

Michael Leclerc is an active professional ge-nealogical researcher, consultant and author. He is director of special projects at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Bos-ton. You may know him as one of the editors of the weekly e News of NEHGS. One of his spe-cialties is doing research in Eastern Canada and the methodology of doing work in Canada. Mi-chael is a great believer in publishing your work in hard copy. Using good paper will secure your research much longer than any other form.

Mary Choppa is the president of TIARA and is active in many genealogy conferences held in the Boston area. She is also a great folk singer and entertained us with a collection of songs including many drinking songs. She has a M.A. in European history and gave us an overview of Irish history.

Mary Ellen Grogan is vice president of TIARA and is a professional genealogist and specializ-es in Massachusetts and Irish records. She was the organizer of the cruise and leads yearly trips to Ireland. One of her lectures was on the Irish birth, marriage, and death records.

The speakers were available to us at breakfast and lunch as well as each of us having a one-on-one hour with one of the experts. My hour (Fran) was with Valerie Adams and she had done some research for me before she came on the cruise. I am still looking for the birth and death of my great-grandmother in County Down. She has several more places that she has offered to check for me, so here's hoping!

While Fran was having her private consulta-tion, Dan was present for. Michael Leclerc's lecture on Canada. Many Irish people went to Canada before entering the U.S. It was less ex-pensive and easier because Ireland and Canada were parts of the same country, the United Kingdom, at that time. Another significant fact is that there never has been a quota for persons entering the U.S. from Canada.

Official vital records began as early as 1867 in Canada. One has to rely on church records prior to that date. There are some records in the east-ern provinces prior to 1867, but they are very limited. Virtually all the civil records in the Quebec province are in French. Prior to the first total Canadian census in 1871, the birth records for everyone regardless of religious faith were kept in the churches in each town. Also, all the land records were held by the notary public and most lawyers were notaries. Those records are the property of the notary. Ship's passenger lists began in 1865 and continued until 1935. These few facts may assist persons seeking records in Canada.

It was very helpful to have these outstanding people all together. One was able to receive more of a whole perspective upon a question. One helpful outcome for me (Fran) was to get the full picture of the different divisions of land and communities and the reasons these divi-sions came about. The experience was very rewarding for further research in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. ❑

W.1.S.E. Words --28-

Presbyterian Church Research --Marilyn Lyle

The Presbyterian Church had put down roots in Ireland by the seventeenth century with origins in Scottish migrations to Ulster. By the eigh-teenth century the church had somewhat changed due to emigrations to America and fractions within the church itself. Many North-ern Irish towns had more than one Presbyterian Church, which were noted as "First", "Second", and "Third". This could have come about due to differences in doctrine, size of congregation or perhaps some other dispute. Frequent dis-putes in the Presbyterian Church often led to two or three churches in the same area.

As congregations broke away, they formed their own churches and called themselves Seceders. They objected to the Act of Parlia-ment of 1712, which appointed ministers and had other controls over the church. Most of these differences were resolved by 1840 and the main tradition of the Presbyterian Church became the Synod of Ulster and the Secession Synod along with a few smaller divisions. Today they are all united and make up the Presbyterian Church of Ireland.

Since the Penal Laws discriminated against both Catholics and Presbyterians, there were very few burial grounds for Presbyterians and records for burials only started after the seven-teenth century. These burials are often found with the Church of Ireland cemetery records and sometimes with the Catholics. Even after the Presbyterians had their own burial grounds, few maintained burial registers until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Early marriage records often were not kept since it was not legal for a minister to marry a Presby-terian and a member of the Church of Ireland.

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has filmed most of the surviving registers of Presbyterian congregations of Northern Ireland. Some of the original Presby-terian registers and records are held by the Presbyterian Historical Society for congrega-tions of both Northern Ireland and the Irish

April, May, June 2009

Republic. Some information on Presbyterians may also be found in registers and records of the Church of Ireland.

At this time, any of the microfilmed records of the Presbyterian congregations can be viewed, but not copied without permission of the local minister. Since many of the churches no longer have ministers, it is quite difficult to obtain that permission making hand-copied records the only alternative.

Some Web sites which may be helpful include: www. Inc sbvterian irel and . org ww w mire land. cam/ genealog v www. proni. govnik www. from-ire land. net❑

More on Irish Research --MarvLee Hagan

Good News. All the Griffiths Maps arc now online powered by Google. This free site has been a test project in the works since last August. At that time about half of the maps would not show up when clicked. I can now get to all of my ancestors who arc listed in the Primary Valuation of Tenements. Search the following web site to try it out — it's fun —call me if you need help. http://Griffiths.askaboutireland ieiev4lgv start.php

Bad News. On the Irish Family History Foun-dation Online Genealogy Databases for Ireland — there still is NO free index access to the following counties: Donegal, Derry, Monag-han, Clare, Kerry, Cork (South), Waterford, Wexford, Carlow, Laois and Offaly. Google the web site, http://www.brsgenealogy.com,to check it out.

If you attended Dr. James Ryan's workshop on Irish Research in November of 2008, you might recall he mentioned House Books when we were talking about Griffiths Valua-tion. Since I have the Valuation of Tenements and Cancelled Books pages of my Lovett ancestors, I decided to pursue trying to also get pages from the House Books. I wrote to the Valuation Office like Dr. Ryan advised

W.IS.E. Words - 29 - April, May, June 2009

us to do, however they told me to write to the National Archives. So I did, and a nice lady took the time to look up the information for me and sent me a few pages. I wrote for some clari-fication of the numbers listed, but have not heard back. For Jacob Lovett's house it gives the following description: Length 42-0, breadth 18-0, Height 6-6, Number of Measures 75, Rate per Measure 4 1/3, mount 1.8.1. The mea-surements sound like feet and inches to me. I know it can't be metric. If you know the an-swer, let me know. I'll update you next time with more details.❑

Australia / New Zealand Tips

Australian records: http://www.coraweb.com.atil

New Zealand records: http://bdmhistoricalrecords.identityservices. goyt.nz:80/Home%❑

Member Profiles

Elizabeth (Betty) Brown Country Editor

Wales

Elizabeth E. 'Betty" Brown was born in Michi-gan, grew up in New Jersey and worked in New York, before retiring to Colorado. She graduat-ed from Westfield High School in New Jersey, Albion College in Michigan and Pratt Institute in New York. She majored in chemistry and modem languages at Albion. She commuted by train, ferry and subway from her home in West-field to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn to obtain a masters in library science.

Betty worked as a librarian and information retrieval specialist for the IBM Corp. for twenty-eight years, witnessing the evolution of electronic accounting machines to electronic computers, on-line systems and networks to today's Internet and the Web.

She began her genealogical research about 1984 and has found some fascinating families that include the inventor of an improved potato digger, a Revolutionary War Pensioner, a Calvinistic Methodist Welsh lay preacher, a Welsh bard and four Mayflower passengers.

Betty has been to Wales numerous times in-cluding trips to attend the Welsh Heritage Week at Nant Gwrthcyrn, the home of the Welsh National Language Center. o

MaryLee Hagen

Country Editor

Republic of Ireland

MaryLec Hagen has been doing Irish and Nor-wegian genealogy for 13 years. She is now working on the one-quarter mixture of the English and French-Canadian portion of her heritage.

She belongs to W.1.S.E. Family History Socie-ty, Columbine Genealogical and Historical So-ciety, Colorado Genealogical Society, and several historical societies in South Dakota and Minnesota. She is the coordinator for Norwe-gian Genealogy sponsored by Sons of Norway, Fjelldalen Lodge.

MaryLee has traveled and researched in Ireland and Norway. She visited the homeland of her Norwegian grandfather (her father's side of the family) in 2001. She got to see the Hagen farms and the church where her ancestors attended. She found her mother's long lost Lovett cousins in County Kerry, Ireland, in 2006 and visited the homelands of three Irish great-grandparents. A highlight of her trips is to always visit class-rooms in schools when she travels.

MaryLee is active in promoting genealogy to adults and students in the Denver metro area. She has given several programs for genealogy societies and other local groups. She was an instructor for Irish research for the High-lands Ranch Family History Community Gene-alogy 2007 Fair. She is the Adopt-a-School Coordinator for her Sons of Norway Lodge and

W.I.S.E. Words - - 30 - April, May, June 2009

has given many programs on Norway and Irel-and for students in schools. Her favorite times were Norwegian programs for her 5th grade grandson's class in Parker, Colorado, and 6th grade grandson's class in West Jordan, Utah. Columbine Genealogy Society recently volun-teered her to do a genealogy research program for two classes of Littleton's High School Options Program.

MaryLee was born and grew up in Huron, South Dakota. She has a B. A, in elementary education and M.A. in special education from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. She taught first grade in Huron, South Dakota, and third grade in Stockton, California. She was a substitute teacher, homebound teacher and reading tutor for Littleton schools. She has had her own private tutoring business for students with learning disabilities and spe-cial needs for several years where she lives in Centennial, Colorado.❑

Marilyn Lyle Country Editor

Northern Ireland

Marilyn Lyle continues to work part time as a reference librarian at Englewood Public Library after retiring several years ago as a high school teacher and school librarian for Englewood Public Schools.

As a retirement gift she was given a notebook set up with dozens of blank genealogical forms and a how-to guide on family history. This along with a box of notes and a beginning ge-nealogy from her deceased mother (what a gift), she was off and running. She began with her Norwegian family and then the German line of her father, which has now grown to include the Scots-Irish family from Donegal, Ireland. Her great-great-grandparents emigrated from that area in 1849 to Iowa and the trail has since led to family in Colorado, California, and all over the country.

Marilyn has located family cousins in Donegal and made a trip to meet one in 2006. It was a great experience to visit the family farms there.

Though research in Ireland is difficult, she nev-er gives up trying to locate the connections and collateral family that began in Ireland or most probably Scotland.

Several years ago, Marilyn joined the Colum-bine Genealogical and Historical Society and took a beginning genealogy class there. Since then, she has joined SON to work on Norwe-gian roots and W.I.S.E. to help with Irish ancestors, CGS, and also genealogy groups in South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois. This research has led her to locate family that includes Revo-lutionary War ancestors and a Mayflower an-cestor, which has enabled her to belong to DAR and Mayflower Society. What a surprise to dis-cover those links.

She writes book reviews for several organiza-tions and volunteers to help fledgling genealo-gists she meets as a reference librarian. She has become adept at census research and other internet research, which provides new discove-ries each year.

W.I.S.E has given wonderful programs to en-courage research on these newly discovered Irish lines, but it would have helped if the fami-ly had left better clues. After several trips to Salt Lake City, which began with 2-3 days and now extends to 6-7 days, she knows she is hooked.

Other interests beside genealogy include; tra-vel, reading, gardening, decorating, cooking and writing. Life is just too short!!!o

The Queens English

Yes, the above title reads correctly if it were a street sign in Birmingham, England. There the "Queen's English" has become the "Queens English." England's second-largest city has decided to drop apostrophes from all its street signs, saying they're confusing and old-fashioned. Birmingham officials have been tak-ing a hammer to grammar for years, quietly dropping apostrophes from street signs since the 1950s much to the disgust of language pur-ists. To sticklers, a missing or misplaced apo-strophe can be a major offense.

W.1S.E. Words - 31 - April, May, June 2009

Recently the council made it official, saying it was banning the punctuation mark from signs in a bid to end the recurring debates over the apostrophe once and for all, so they could get on with other things. Councilor Martin Mulla-ney made the final decision and hopes to stop public campaigns to restore the apostrophc that would tell passers-by that Kings Heath was once owned by the monarchy. To bolster his argument, Mullaney further claimed apo-strophes confuse GPS units, including those used by emergency services.

Jenny Hodge, a spokeswoman for satellite na-vigation equipment manufacturer TomTom, said most users of their systems navigate through Britain's sometime confusing streets by entering postal codes rather than street ad-dresses. She said that if someone preferred to use a street name — with or without an apo-strophe — punctuation wouldn't be an issue. By the time the first few letters of the street name were entered, a list of matching choices would pop up and the user would choose the destination. Will the debate end? — adapted from article written by Meera Selva, The Asso-ciated Press, Saturday, January 31, 2009.o

Antiques Road Show in Denver

Antiques Road Show, that PBS show beloved by family historians and genealogists, will be at the Colorado Convention Center on July 25. You must have a ticket to attend, and tickets will be awarded by lottery. To register for the drawing, ask Google to find "Antiques Road-show" Denver 2009, or you can check out http://www.pbs.orgiantiques. o

Backward, Ho! Again

In Volume 9, Number 3 of W.I.S.E. Words published in the third quarter of 2008, the first five years of newsletter history was summarized. The following wraps up coverage of our 2.5th anniversary year.

2004, Jan/Feb/Mar, Volume 5, No. 1 Paul Kilburn continued with Part II of his ar-ticle, The Reverend Jones Comes to America.

The remainder of the newsletter was filled with the usual message from the president, book reviews, poetry, W.I.S.E. tips and advice on Irish birth records.

2004, Apr/May/Jun, Volume 5, No 2 Elizabeth Brown provided an article on Con-flicting Evidence. News from the Denver Public Library, an article on Welsh Heritage Week and other typical entries rounded out the issue.

2004, Jul/Aug/Sep, Volume 5, No 3 Derek Palgrave shared his views on The Value of Genealogical Indexes. Betty Brown pre-sented an article entitled, Sorting It Out, where she explained various designations encountered in early colonial records. James Jeffrey was recognized for being awarded the National Genealogical Society's Filby Prize.

2004, Oct/Nov/Dec, Volume 5, No. 4 Betty Brown shared her research in an article entitled, We Almost Weren't—Life on the Edge and also described her trip to Wales to attend Welsh Heritage Week. Book reviews by Zoe von Ende Lappin and research tips provided by Donna J. Porter rounded out the issue.

2005, Jan/Feb/Mar, Volume 6, No 1 Zoe von Ende Lappin wrote A Hand across the Border: Finding a Family for Billy the Black-smith. A tribute to Robert Burns, the poet, was provided by John Mossman. A book review and other business articles were also included.

2005, Apr/May/Jun, Volume 6, No. 2 James K. Jeffrey wrote about Colorado Catho-lic Church Records and Zoe von Ende Lappin wrote about Chasing Scots and English Catho-lics in the DPL. Other articles presented infor-mation about a CD featuring 1881 British Surnames and Welsh Heritage Week.

2005, Jul/Aug/Sep, Volume 6, No. 3 Betty Brown shared a research effort entitled, It's a Small World. James K. Jeffrey wrote about the William P. Horan Burial Records Index-1900-1956, a project completed by vo-lunteers. Nearly a dozen books purchased for the genealogy collection of Denver Public Li-brary by W.I.S.E. were reviewed. Genealogy activities such as Welsh Heritage Week, Scot-tish/Irish Highland Games, the British Institute, and the trip to Salt Lake City were featured.

W.I.S.E. Words 32 April, May, June 2009

2005, Oct/Nov/Dec, Volume 6, No. 4 John Mossman introduced Robert the Bruce and His Traveling Heart. Zoe von Ende Lappin explained how she solved the puzzle of an Evo-lution of a Name: From Birmingham and Back Again and shared reviews of several books.

2006, Jan/Feb/Mar, Volume 7, No. 1 An article by Derek Palgrave featured Family History and Conservation. Betty Brown shared her experiences on Welsh Research at the Brit-ish Institute. Zoe von Ende Lappin shared Good News and Bad News Out of Canada, on the opening of the 1911 census. Terry Quirke re-viewed the WISE. Members' Interests data-base and encouraged its use. George Fosdick talked about attending a family reunion and Zoe provided book reviews: The Great Wagon Road Opens the South and The National Road.

2006, Apr/May/Jun, Volume 7, No. 2 Ancestral Conjunction-370 years later, a pic-ture enlivens a sea captain's tale by Zoe von Ende Lappin is the tale of how her ance-stral line and that of her husband's came to-gether. Interviews with W.I.S.E. Researchers at Work in Salt Lake City gave some interesting insights on the value of such a trip. An article on the Union Jack Birthday-400 years rounded out the issue.

2006, Jul/Aug/Sep, Volume 7, No. 3 W.I.S.E. proudly congratulated Terence T. Quirke on his award from the National Genea-logical Society for his book, Quirke Genealogy and Family History of Clonmel, County Tippe-rary, Ireland. Janice Prater and James Jeffrey were acknowledged for receiving special Community Relations Awards from Colorado State Library. A register of W.I.S.E. members contributing to the Members' Interest database and a chart of their interests were published.

2006, Oct/Nov/Dec, Volume 7, No. 4 Jean Maguire shared Searching for a Priest's File. A review of 1491: New Revelations of the Americans before Columbus was written by Betty Brown. Advance news on the trip to Salt Lake City and the Arvada Family History Fair completed the issue.

2007, Jan/Feb/Mar, Volume 8, No. 1 Genes of the Isles was the feature article written

by Zoe von Ende Lappin. She also presented book reviews and talked about the Salt Lake City trip. Betty Brown provided a short article saying Thank You, King Philip and James Jeff-rey wrote a short article entitled, My Ancestor's Grave. He found the grave of his British Isles ancestor by using GPS coordinates. 2007, Apr/May/Jun, Volume 8, No. 2 Tommie Brett Kadotani talked of Heraldic Vi-sitations, 1530-1689—a genealogist's treasure. John Mossman updated readers on BYU's Emi-gration Project. Zoe von Ende Lappin gave a Lancashire Researchers' Alert to a CD listing 66,000 marriages; it is available for browsing at DPL. She also updated readers on What's New for Genealogists on DPL's 5th Floor.

2007, Jul/Aug/Sep, Volume 8, No. 3 The front page featured Rudy Ramsey's Eng-lish translation of an article, In a Place That's Not a Place. Rudy's original Scottish Gaelic story won the original prose competition at the 2004 U.S. National Gaelic Mad. Photographs featured Marilyn Lyle and MaryLce Hagen giv-ing their Irish presentation. Book reviews and upcoming events filled the balance of pages.

2007, Oct/Nov/Dec, Volume 8, No. 4 An Interview with a Prize-Winner introduced Terry Quirke, his research, his book, and his 2006 Award for Excellence from the National Genealogical Society. Book reviews and activi-ties rounded out the issue.

2008, Jan/Feb/Mar, Volume 9, No. 1 Fran Parker shared her story about Finding a Cousin in Ireland. Highlights from the WIS.E. Day with Sherry Irvine and program photo-graphs documented the society's seminar dur-ing the fall of 2007. The issue also included information about the annual meeting and the Salt Lake City trip. Zoe von Ende Lappin shared another interesting book review.

2008, Apr/May/Jun, Volume 9, No. 2 Eileen Langdon shared her theory of Do Hous-es Have Ancestors? Daniel 0. Parker chimed in with Colonial Homes—Fact or Fiction? Atten-dees' comments were highlighted in The British Institute, a Rich and Rare Opportunity. A de-scription of the New Digs for PRONI in Belfast completed the issue. ❑

W.I.S.E. Words - 33 - April, May, June 2009

Photo Album: Annual Meeting with Program Speakers

W.I.S.E. Words - 34 - April, May, June 2009

Calendar of Events

Date Time Place Speaker/Sponsor Topic

April 4 TBA Olde Town Arvada, CO

See www.coloraclotartandav coin

2009 Colorado Tartan Day Festival

April 25 1:00 p.m Miller, Gates Room, 5th Floor Denver Public Library Passenger

Julie C.G. Chasing the Link:

Arrival Lists

May 23 1:00 p.m. Gates Room, 5 1̀, Floor Denver Public Library

John Thornton Highland Games: History and Events

June 20-21 TBA Civic Center Park Fort Collins, CO

See www.fo )11i nsirishlestival com

2009 Fort Collins Irish Festival

June 27 TBA Leadville, CO Kendrick King ktkdlwiiixlim.com

W.I.S.E. Summer Outing to Leadville

Reservations: 303-377-2962

July 10-12 TBA Clement Park Littleton, CO

See www.coloradoirishfestivaLorsz

15th Annual Colorado Irish Festival

July 18-19 TBA Casey Jones Park Elizabeth, CO

See wivw.elizabetlicelticfestival.com

17th AnnualCeltic Festival

August 8-9 TBA Heritage Park Highlands Ranch, CO

See www.scottish arnes.orit

46th Annual Colorado Scottish Festival and Rocky Mountain Highland Games

September 10-13 TBA Fairgrounds Park Estes Park, CO

See www.scotfest.com

2009 Long's Peak Scottish/Irish Highland Festival

r For details about upcoming programs sponsored by W.I.S.E., please turn to page 21.