That's it folks - after eight years, The GENES Blog (previously British GENES), has now ceased to be! You will now find all the latest news from Scotland and Ireland, as well as the rest of the UK and its diaspora, on the newly reinvigorated Scottish GENES blog at https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com. In a post-Brexit world, Scotland and Ireland have some very exciting prospects ahead of them, which has led to me returning to my roots with Scottish GENES, as I wish to portray a more forward looking brand from the greatest country on Earth - Alba gu bràth!!! If you have followed The GENES Blo ..read more

The latest stories on the renewed Scottish GENES blog: Ulster Historical Foundation's 'Things that Money CAN Buy' auction https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/ulster-historical-foundations-things.html National Archives family history book sale https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/national-archives-family-history-book.html * The GENES Blog will cease to carry news from February 14th, with Scottish GENES (https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com) taking over from then. You can subscribe to Scottish GENES for a daily email feed in the right hand column on the page, at the top, as sho ..read more

The latets stories on Scottish GENES (https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com): Scottish Vaccination Records https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/scottish-vaccination-records.html Forthcoming talks at the National Records of Scotland https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/forthcoming-talks-at-national-records.html Forthcoming events at The National Archives https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/forthcoming-events-at-national-archives.html What's happening to the Scottish censuses on FamilySearch? https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/whats-happening-to-scottish-censuses-o ..read more

The latest news additions to Scottish GENES (https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com): Heritage Tourism with Ancestry https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/heritage-tourism-with-ancestry.html Latest additions to the British Newspaper Archive https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/latest-additions-to-british-newspaper.html Forthcoming talks in Belfast and Beith https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/forthcoming-talks-in-belfast-and-beith.html * The GENES Blog will cease to carry news from February 14th, with Scottish GENES (https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com) taking over from th ..read more

I've received an update on my LivingDNA ethnicity profile, which has raised some interesting findings! Full details at https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/my-livingdna-updated-ethnicity-profile.html. * This blog will cease to carry news from February 14th, with Scottish GENES (https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com) taking over from then. You can subscribe to Scottish GENES for a daily email feed in the right hand column on the page, at the top. Chris You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April ..read more

For a review of Paul Brown's new book, The Ruhelben Football Association: How Steve Bloomer's Footballers Survived a World War Prison Camp, please visit https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/book-review-ruhleben-football.html. * This blog will cease to carry news from February 14th, with Scottish GENES (https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com) taking over from then. You can subscribe to Scottish GENES for a daily email feed in the right hand column on the page, at the top. Chris You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisP ..read more

For further information on this coming Transcription Tuesday's four projects, including the Scottish project to find the names of those interned at Stobs Military Camp in the First World War, please visit https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/transcription-tuesday-stobs-military.html. * This blog will cease to carry news from February 14th, with Scottish GENES (https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com) taking over from then. You can subscribe to Scottish GENES for a daily email feed in the right hand column on the page, at the top. Chris You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish ..read more

For an update on Kirsty Wilkinson's new book, Finding Your Scottish Ancestors: Techniques for Solving Genealogy Problems, please visit Scottish GENES at https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/02/kirsty-wilkinsons-new-scottish-research.html. * This blog will cease to carry news from February 14th, with Scottish GENES taking over from then. You can subscribe to Scottish GENES for a daily email feed in the right hand column on the page, at the top. Chris You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). A ..read more

Over eight years ago, in December 2011, I suspended the Scottish GENES blog in order to widen the scope of the news coverage I was offering, with a separate blog British GENES (later The GENES Blog) established in parallel some months earlier. At the time another blogger (thanks John!) amusingly referred to the move as 'blogicide', but in fact the readership transferred and continued to expand over the years. In this same period, however, there has been a dramatic change in world circumstances, and as we move forwards in the world on the day after Brexit, I want to regain control of the mes ..read more

From FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk): Britain, Royal and Imperial Calendars 1767-1973 Do you have ancestors’ who worked in the public sector? Explore more than three million records from the Royal and Imperial Calendars from 1767 to 1973 to find out about their career. This expansive collection of records from The National Archives includes lists of all the official departments of state, and branches of public service, the law, the church, national or commercial companies and institutions, and many additional articles of public utility. Each record includes a transcript and original image ..read more