Links Family History Blog

Family Line Founder Series. This ancestor profile continues a series of posts about my family's first Canadians. I feel that remembering my family's founding members recognizes and honours their courage in leaving behind all that was familiar - family, friends, homeland - for the dream of a new and better life in a wild and sometimes harsh New World. William Hornsby Hutchinson (1824-1907) Today, I wish to remember William Hornsby Hutchinson, my 3rd great-grandfather and Hutchinson family founder in Canada. William was born on 15 June 1824 in the North East of England, in the tiny village of Heighington in Durham County (see  Figure 1  below).  Figure 1: County Durham in England's North East Region. Located in the rich farmland of southeastern Durham County, Heighington village was - and still is - a farming community. In ancient times, what is now Durham County formed part of the northern border between Scotland and Roman Britain. During William's time, the county wa...

23andMe: The Difference Is In The Details. The way 23andMe categorized my DNA led to some fascinating genealogy research insights. While Ancestry.ca is where my public family tree resides, to which I have linked my AncestryDNA test results (see  Links  blog page,  The Inside (DNA) ), I have also done a DNA test with the company 23andMe, and their breakdown of my results was compellingly different. Figure 1 below shows my DNA composition according to 23andMe.  Figure 1: My 23andMe DNA Test Results The results also showed that I have a 0.2% trace of Cypriot DNA, and 0.1% "Unassigned" DNA, for a total of 100%. 23andMe: Genetic Groups. Focusing on my 80.2% "British & Irish" results, I discovered that the way 23andMe broke down these results was surprisingly well-aligned with what I knew from genealogy research about my family's British origins. (For a summary of my known British origins see  Links  blog page,  The British Side .) Since I know the most ...

Who Remembers Fairview Farm? On discovering that one of my Hutchinson relatives was married at her father's (Cuthbert Hutchinson, 1864-1951) farm in Grey Township, Huron County, Ontario, and that the farm had been known to some as "Fairview Farm," I was intrigued.  I put out the call to elder family members and asked what they might know about the Cuthbert Hutchinson farm (located at Lot 18, Concession 5), or if they had any knowledge of a location called Fairview Farm.  My cousin Steve - a lifelong resident of Ontario, with close family connections to Hutchinson uncles, aunts and cousins in Grey Township - had these fond childhood memories to share. Memories Of The Cuthbert Hutchinson Farm What follows is a summary of my cousin Steve's thoughts and memories, communicated to me on 19 February 2024, when I asked him if he knew of a Fairview Farm in Grey Township, or anything about the wedding of  Grace Jane Hutchinson (1890-1968) -  our great-granduncle Cuthbert Hutch...

My Personal Approach To Getting Organized. In the inaugural post for this DIY Genealogy Series  I gave an overview of the tools and methods (my do-it-yourself "system") that I use for my research, resources, and family treasures. W hen starting my family history journey years ago, o ne of the biggest questions I had was: How on earth do I keep track of all my "stuff"? In this post,  I share my personal approach to getting and staying organized by using logs. Letting Logs Do the Work. Do any of these situations sound familiar? You "just know" that six months ago you saw the perfect website listing your 7th great-grandfather's affiliation with a military regiment, but couldn't find it again.  You triumphantly open the mail for the birth certificate proving your great-grandmother was born in Leicestershire and not Staffordshire, England, but on filing it discover you already had a forgotten copy, acquired 10 years ago. You remember buying that book on...