Recent content by Stokkie

A very happy birthday, Frothblower!

They certainly gleam in the sunshine now. I think they are made in bronze with a gold finish? Perhaps they were dulled with dust and polluted air in the 60s and 70s?

John, the BBC are moving to the rebuilt site of the old Typhoo Tea building, so Bordesley Street/ Typhoo Basin on the Digbeth Branch Canal. I'm glad that they are building and intending to stay in Birmingham. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-62407714

Currently Ancestry won't accept raw DNA data uploads from other company's tests, so anyone with 23 and Me could download their data and keep it for possible future use before deletion. Back up DNA data may belong to the individuals rather than being a company asset. Such data would be covered by...

Yes Eric, see MWS's post #73 above. I think they are trying to sell the company.

Thanks, Lady Penelope. My wife who is a radiographer had an operation for this on one of her hands. I didn't know the Viking connection. She isn't inclined to test her DNA. At present Ancestry don't have health traits, but they have started to offer a survey which might develop in this...

The British Library suffered a cyber attack in Oct 2023 which was massively disruptive. The databases are being rebuilt on a new computer system.https://www.bl.uk/cyber-incident/

Welcome to BHF, Woodcarver! Splendid photos and your personal connection. My Mom lived close, but was a non-swimmer and regaled me with stories of drownings there! Your grandfather and his friends look a fine body of men. Open water swimming is popular, but I don't think any is allowed at...

The ethnic origins are said to be the most open to interpretation in these tests and vary historically. The last upgrade said I'm 2% Icelandic, perhaps this means that a very distant ancestor was a Viking?? The Vikings came to Britain 800 to 1150 AD. I did have a red beard...

Fred Sirieix is of course French and DNA testing remains illegal there. So they won't find many French matches. I'll be interested to see how they establish his ancestry. https://www.myfrenchroots.com/dna-testing-in-france/

There is a risk in submitting DNA to a company, but nothing is risk free and the benefits of doing so are that you can be more sure your family tree is more accurate. It is a wager and it enabled me to build a clearer picture of my grandparents generation. Let's hope Ancestry is secure!

'In September, the firm settled a lawsuit alleging that it failed to protect the privacy of nearly seven million customers whose personal information was exposed in a 2023 data breach. In some cases, hackers gained access to family trees, birth years and geographic locations, by using...

Google Maps can go back as far as 2007. But fortunately historical maps can be overlaid. I'd recommend following @pjmburns advice in #3 The National Library of Scotland is well worth investigation and practicing finding the maps at an age and scale you want...

https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/birmingham-jewellery-quarter/birmingham-jewellery-quarter/

Thanks, as you can see some phrases are much more readable than others. At the moment I can't see any other place or field names I'm afraid. But then I don't know what to look for. Stokkie