At RootsTech 2024, FamilySearch announced a new full text search that uses AI to transcribe images of handwritten and typed text into machine-readable format. This allows searching before any indexing is done. It also allows the searching of relatively unstructured … Continue reading →
In 2015, Bram Hoonhout, then a PhD student working on the 18th century history of Essequibo and Demerara, alerted me to the existence of references to Hendrik, Jan and Nicolaas van Cooten in the letterbooks of Theodore Barrell, a merchant … Continue reading →
My cousin, David Pitman, allowed me to copy the following postcard that belonged to his mother Elwyn. The postcard is from someone called Annie to Mr. W. Thomas, who was Elwyn’s (and also my father’s) great grandfather. I presume the … Continue reading →
I wondered if Madame Camille Cornwell had any descendants who may have been interested in the transcription of Jessie Van Cooten’s journal of her lessons with Madame. Quite a comprehensive picture of her adult life can be pieced together from … Continue reading →
Jessie Miriam Van Cooten was born in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, on 30 December 1890. She was the youngest daughter of John Hughes Van Cooten and Elizabeth (nee Berry). John Hughes Van Cooten arrived in Brisbane aboard the “Indus” on 20 … Continue reading →
I’ve had an autosomal DNA test on Ancestry since 2019, although I tested earlier with FamilytreeDNA and the Geneographic Project. I find the Ancestry ThruLines feature very useful in exploring matches, and I’ve been gradually trying to confirm the relationships … Continue reading →
A recent blog posting I came across recently listed some sources of free online genealogy and history books. I had a search for “Van Cooten” at The Digital Public Library of America and came across this cartoon contained within the … Continue reading →
William Berry is a very common name, and at first glance we have very few clues as to his origin in Scotland. His death certificate says that he was born in Burse, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and that his father’s name was … Continue reading →
I referred in an earlier post to the sale of the Berry House. Elizabeth Berry married John Hughes Van Cooten at her father’s residence, Berry House, Ipswich, on 22 Jul 1880. The marriage certificate lists her parents as being William … Continue reading →
In an earlier post I mentioned that I had lost track of Emma Hewes‘ first husband Henry William Hewes. Subsequent research revealed that he had been a baker or confectioner, had become bankrupt in 1848, and died in 1858. Ancestry … Continue reading →