Genealogy Chat

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Couldn't find much on here about it, but it's a fab resource. I access it through my library website, and have found some juicy bits of info on ancestors. It's an Oxford publication, and you can search for names or places within the text as well as searching for individual names. Hope this is of use to someone xx Jen

could you post the www address so we can have a look? sounds good! Sarah :-)

Hi Sarah You have to access it through your local library website - you need your library card to log in to the electronic reference book section. Just had a peep and most UK libraries have access. Many thousands of public libraries, universities, colleges and schools worldwide subscribe to the Oxford DNB, and their members are able to access the resource free of charge. And, following a landmark deal in England, over 48 million residents now have free access to the Oxford DNB simply by joining their public library. If your library does subscribe, you should be able to access the Oxford DNB from home, using your library's subscription. Ask your librarian about 'remote access'. (taken from my library (West Sussex) site. xx Jen

I have found a lot of stuff on the Ancestry Version. Is this the same thing? Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-20, 22 Description: The Dictionary of National Biography began in 1882 as an ambitious project spearheaded by George Smith to produce a biographical dictionary of prominent figures from Britain and Ireland from the earliest of times up to 1900. The efforts of hundreds of contributors resulted in a 22 volume alphabetical series containing thousands of biographies. This database contains Volumes 1-20, and 22 of this series, which includes the biographies of those with surnames Abbadie-Whewell. It also contains The Concise Dictionary, which is a summary guide and index to the rest of the series, and also the Supplement, which deals with people who died too late to be included in the earlier volumes. Source Information: Ancestry.com. Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-20, 22 [database online]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2003. Original data: Edit: Sir Leslie Stephen and Sir Sidney Lee. The Dictionary of National Biography Founded in 1882 by George Smith, Vol. I-XX, XXII. London, England: Oxford University Press, 1921-22. Merry

Seems to be an updated version of that one Merry. Just scooped up the following. xx Jen The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography was published simultaneously online and in print on 23 September 2004. The dictionary is the result of research instituted by the University of Oxford and funded by Oxford University Press and the British Academy (1992–2004). It is the achievement of 10,000 contributors and advisers, a worldwide community co-ordinated by the project staff in Oxford. The Oxford DNB aims to provide full, accurate, concise, and readable articles, based on current scholarship, on noteworthy people from all walks of life who have left their mark on British history. No living person is included in the dictionary. In September 2004 the Oxford DNB comprised 50,113 substantive articles telling the life stories of 54,922 individuals from the earliest times to the end of the year 2000. The dictionary includes people who were born and lived in the British Isles; people from the British Isles who achieved recognition in other countries; people who lived in territories formerly connected to the British Isles at a time when they were in contact with British rule; and people born elsewhere who settled in the British Isles for significant periods or whose visits enabled them to leave a mark on British life. The dictionary treats the nation very broadly: its earliest subjects lived long before the nation state existed; its geographical range extends to all the changing national entities that have combined in varied ways at different stages to form Britain; and its coverage extends beyond the British Isles to consider subjects from imperial and commonwealth history. The Oxford DNB builds on the Dictionary of National Biography, which was begun in 1882 under the editorship of Leslie Stephen, completed in 1900, and supplemented by later volumes which brought in people who died between 1901 and 1990. All people included in the first DNB and its supplements keep their place in the Oxford DNB, with the majority of articles being rewritten completely in the light of advancing knowledge and scholarship; the remaining articles have been revised. In September 2004, the Oxford DNB included 38,607 people who appeared in the first DNB. To this the new dictionary added a further 16,315 biographies to produce the final complement of 54,922 lives in 50,113 substantive articles. About one in five of these entries is accompanied by an image of the person who is the subject of the article. Selection of the 10,057 likenesses was organized in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery, drawing on its collection and other sources worldwide. Further details of the history and aims of the dictionary (1992–2004) are available in the Introduction to the Oxford DNB, September 2004.

nudging for the weekenders xx

Sadly I don't think any of mine did anything sufficiently notable to merit an entry.

:-))) Yeah, I suppose it may be irrelevant for a lot of people. I have an MP in there, and some refs to a rare name (Caiger) that may be of use one day. xx Jen

The editor, Leslie Stephen, is perhaps better known as the father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. nell

I've got a few references on the 'famous' side of my tree that are a couple of times removed by marriage to my main line (ie. not blood relatives), so there are a couple of eminent Victorian architects and engineers, physicians, early music hall stars and a few Victorian and Edwardian MPs in there which are very interesting and full of info, but it's of very little use if your ancestors were either Ag. Labs, Fishermen or Servants as most of mine were. Definately worth checking out though!

Hi Gill Not exactly in the book token area, is it? :-))) But you don't have to go to the library, just access your local library website, find online reference books and use the number on your card (mine is above the barcode). xx Jen

Does anyone know of a Dictionary of Miners and Ag Labs? Would be more use to most of us...

nudged xx

You are very welcome Christine, exactly the kind of spin off research I hoped to kick off. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx :-)))))))))))))) Jen

Beds. Library has online access. Usual moan about outsiders spending my Council tax omitted since my grandpa is in it. J