Ironic - you can now check your previous dependencies on Independence Day.

A good time to check and see if your last name shows in the Origins Database, if you have Irish or British ancestors. The site will be free for a day and a half over the holiday.

OriginsNetwork.com - 4th July Independence Day Offer

The Origins Network: British Origins, Irish Origins, Scots Origins and Origins Search, has relaunched, changing from pay-per-view to subscription.

Origins is the definitive site for UK and Irish genealogy.

Disclaimer - I was a co-founder.

Gazetteer: Census Info, Physical and Cultural Features, Aerial Photos, Maps, Zip Code Data

Location information for 1.8 million physical and cultural features with links to maps and aerial photos. via Research Buzz

The Land Management Information Center has compiled a series of ancestry maps showing ethnic/national heritage for each US county, based upon data from the 1990 census. via Metafilter via Crabwalk.

(Scroll down to "ancestry groups in the United Sates")

The data is not always what you would expect. For instance, the highest concentration of people of English decent is in Utah, and Irish ancestry is highest along the east side of the Mississippi.

Over at Irish Origins we have recently added a database of all the property valuations for the middle of the 19th century. The reason these are important is that the census records were destroyed, making the property records only way to do comprehensive search accross Ireland for as far back as most Irish American's decendants.

MSNBC reports on user experience of the new field of genetic genealogy:

"I clutched the phone and started the trans-Atlantic countdown: Thanks to a mail-order DNA test, I was about to find out whether my Irish cousin was really my cousin. On the other end of the call was my cousin's fiancée, who read off 10 numbers while I compared them. The first number? Check. The second? Check. So far, so good..."

DNA tackles a family's mysteries

MSNBC reports on user experience of the new field of genetic genealogy:

"I clutched the phone and started the trans-Atlantic countdown: Thanks to a mail-order DNA test, I was about to find out whether my Irish cousin was really my cousin. On the other end of the call was my cousin's fiancée, who read off 10 numbers while I compared them. The first number? Check. The second? Check. So far, so good..."

DNA tackles a family’s mysteries

The Internet has revolutionized genealogy, however most people can only trace their family tree back to the beginning of the 19th century.

The price of genetic tests is dropping exponentially and it is now possible to test markers on Y Chromosome (male lineage) and Mitochondrial (female lineage) DNA to show where you came from over a 100,000 year timescale for $200.

What is so special about genetic genealogy is that it almost entirely dispels racist ideology. Although first identifiable humans appeared 2M years ago and spread throughout the world, all of us are descended from around 20,000 people who left Africa around 100,000 years ago. Although the Chinese government may insist that different races evolved from earlier hominids we are in fact all Africans.

While in the UK I met with the maker of The Journey of Man a documentary which tracks the ultimate genealogical goal, the trail of humans as they migrated from Africa. A new series of documentaries is being planned which will undertake the most ambitious genealogical study in history.

One of the potential by-products from online genealogy, which has created a dramatic rise in the popularity of family history research, is rich family tree databases which will be invaluable for medical research.

The combination of DNA tests and traditional research will help to fill in the gaps that have made the goal of a global family tree impossible.

Online Genealogy may be the online application that is about to come out of stealth mode. It is the second most popular hobby in the US, is one of the most successful e-commerce areas and now the connection to life-sciences promises to make it much more lucrative.

GoMemphis: Local

There has been no coverage of this deal yet in the press, however this represents a major consolidation in the space, with the largest company acquiring the second largest. The combined network will have over a million paid subscribers and will be the dominant site for US genealogy.

Most of the premium genealogical data controlled by Ancestry and Genealogy.com consists of US records, but most genealogical research quickly leads outside of America, to Europe in particular. This is where the opportunity for other companies rests.
MyFamily.com, Inc. Acquires Genealogy.com

For all budding genealogists out there with English ancestors, English Origins has extended its access period to 7 days.

English Origins - Genealogy data for family history research in England

Friends reunited, the hugely successful UK version of Classmates has launched a spin-off called Genesconnected - allowing collaborative sharing of family tree information. The idea is not new but the link between the alumni sites and genealogy is.

The three most successful eCommerce sites in terms of number of paid subscribers are Classmates, Match.com and Ancestry.com - this is not surprising, they are all about networks of people and so is the Internet.

What about the future of online genealogy, dating etc.? Weblogs perhaps show the way. What is yet to happen with these activities is that they become distributed in the way that weblogs have done with online discussions.

GenesConnected Home Page

Black or White, Brazilians' DNA Similarly Mixed

Up till now, US census data has only appeared on subscription sites such as Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com

CNN.com - Mormons put census from 1880s online - Oct. 24, 2002