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Have a genealogy question for Chris?
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‘Grow Your Family Tree’ in the subject line.8 – 21 June 2022 • Issue 633 Next issue: Search records held by the Women’s Royal Naval Service (Wrens)I’m having problems finding details of a
French ancestor (surname Joly). He was a
bodyguard to Archduchess Maria Anna of
Austria (1738-1789), and prevented an
assassination attempt. Can you help?
Fred BernardA useful starting point is the key archivalinstitutions. In France, the Archives
Nationales (www.snipca.com/41975),
includes the ‘Commission nationale
d’héraldique’. In Austria, try the Austrian
State Archives (www.statearchives.gv.at).Search by general
details such as
names and year of
birth, or narrow it
to include parents
and siblingsChris’s wife’s ancestor was living in Quincy,
Massachusetts in 1950tool at the top (^1 in screenshot) to narrow
it down to a specific enumeration area
(which is the area covered by a census
worker). You can search by first and
middle names, surnames, year of birth
and location, and where they lived^2.
Further options narrow down entries,
such as those for names of parents,
siblings or a spouse^3.
You can also browse by state, county,
populated place and enumeration
district, if for any reason the indexing
software has not correctly picked up
on a name^4.View individual records
Here, I’ll look for a relative of my wife,
Henry Giles, who left Ireland for the
States in 1922.U
S census records are made public
after 72 years, so genealogists have
been looking forward to the
release of the 1950 US Federal Census,
which was recorded in every state on
1 April that year. In a technological first,
Ancestry used artificial intellignce to read
the handwritten entries (as explained on
its blog http://www.snipca.com/41948). These
were evaluated for accuracy by volunteers
from Ancestry and FamilySeach
(www.familysearch.org).
The process allowed Ancestry to
publish records in weeks, where
previously it would have taken years. It
means that a searchable version of the
census – containing details of 150 million
people – is now available to Ancestry
members with a worldwide subscription.Narrow your search
Ancestry has recently redesigned its
home page, making it much easier to find
what you’re looking for. Click the Search
menu at the top, then Card Catalogue
from the dropdown menu. Once in,
untick the top-left box titled ‘Only
records from the UK and Ireland’, then
type 1950 United States Federal Census
into the Title or ‘Keyword(s) fields. Now
click Search and a link to the collection
will appear in the results box.
If you don’t know which district your
ancestor lived in, use the ‘Explore maps’It’s always best to start with as few
details as possible, and in this case I
typed only his forename and surname,
his birth year of 1907, and the location for
this as Ireland.
In the returns, his is the first entry that
pops up, showing him based in Quincy,
Massachusetts (see screenshot below).
Clicking ‘View Record’ offers a brief index
entry and a link to the image, which
provides the full record – highlighted in
yellow in the screenshot – as well as
those of his wife and five children,
highlighted in green.
For further details on additional forms
you may encounter in your searches, visit
the US National Archives and Records
Administration website (www.snipca.
com/41974).Search the 1950 US Federal Census
If you have ancestors that emigrated to the States, follow
Chris Paton’s advice to...
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