2026 Update: Wikitree projects and Moved to Substack

 

Update for 2026:  

• Wikitree Riddell Name Study and Sankey Name Study and FreeSpace research project see my profile at Malcolm-2634
• I moved to Substack platform as "Gwynn's Genealogical Gleanings" https://gwynnsocolich.substack.com/ sometimes I cross post my substack post to the Riddell Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100071791133521, 

Gwynn's Genealogical Gleanings on Substack will feature some of my personal Genealogy research highlights and some Genealogy research tips.  

Subscribing to Substack is free.

Wikitree progress in Riddle Name Study, Sankey Name Study, and John Leonard Riddell's profile and Webathon

March and April 2025

I have been working on the two name studies on Wikitree that I manage and the Profile for John Leonard Riddell (reformatting and adding sources)

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Riddle_Name_Study

• added 6.7 Sarah (Riddell) Shafter (1823-1900) in the Notable Riddell Section, she was an abolitionist.
• Added and edited Collateral lines to the Riddell family section

and

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Sankey_Name_Study
Sankey Families of England (sorted by location)

I also virtually attended the 24 hour webathon with Family Tree Webinars. I only missed four because I was sleeping. There were lots of great speakers with a variety of topics.  There seems to be more and more on Genealogy and AI as technology in this area is advancing rapidly.

 Today on Mondays with Myrt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMGpiq_Agw0 and today, we had a guest, Mitch Goldstone who talked about his company and the high speed digitization services they provide:  https//www.scanmyphotos.com  The company is located in Southern California. I have some digitization projects in mind that could be done with this company. 

Disclaimer: I am a guest panelist on Mondays with Myrt and not affiliated with scanmyphotos. 

Heirloom Plate from my Dad

This plate was owned by my dad who was from Findlay, Hancock, Ohio. I love the nautical theme. My step mom sent it to me. 

On my mom's side I have some Gates captains who lived in Mystic Seaport, New London, Connecticut.

 

Riddell Family: Scholary Publication for the de Ryedales in Yorkshire and the Scottish Roxburgshire Riddell family

                        

Dr. George Riddell, Findlay, Palmyra Wisconsin 

to Chippewa Falls, WI

Don't forget to look at scholarly publications such as thesis to help locate sources for your research.

My personal Riddell family favorite is https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/59664/1/59664.pdf Marritt, S. (2011) The Ridale papal letters and royal charter: a twelfthcentury Anglo-Scottish baronial family, the papacy, the law, and charter diplomatic. English Historical Review, CXXVI (523). pp. 1332-1354. ISSN 0013-8266 http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/59664 (University of Glasgow)

You Tube Videos List for Ulster Scots

You Tube Videos on Ulster, Northern Ireland: I have watched all of these and they are all useful.

Maine State Library: Tracing Irish ancestors: an introduction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAovWL54Cj0...

Maine State Library: Scots Irish (Title given by presenter)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzEqnqAUxwE...

Irish Genealogy: Genealogy TV with Connie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyXpEESFq1k

Irish Resource List: Genealogy TV with Connie, Pam Hollands’s links

https://genealogytv.org/.../Irish-Genealogy-Resource-List...

Beginning Research in Ireland - James Tanner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWpZYZVqHfw

https://youtu.be/9NFlJiGN54E

PRONI: Plantation Families: part 1 (2013)

PRONI - Plantation Families Part 2 (2013)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NuLP5MVrus&t=87s

PRONI | Researching farming ancestors in PRONI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moqFsZdwW9A&t=13s

PRONI | Key Sources for Genealogy - Title Deeds and the PRONI Land Registry Archive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKbGgbVh2-0&t=337s

Using

Survey Maps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svMnrZGqn8E

PRONI | "Sheep stealers from the north of England” – the Riding Clans in Ulster

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdVWgcvB0DM&t=10s ROBERT BELL (Surname Dictionary author)

PRONI | Researching Presbyterians in Ireland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPlswuLuZSQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAQbKdz_ezU&t=1s Life of Robert Stewart, Lord Castlereagh (father was Lord Londonderry)

PRONI | Key Sources for Genealogy The Tithe System & Tithe Applotment Books

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NMgLA50zOg

Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors (Allen County Public Library)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAhi9ihy8wY

The Londonderry Plantation from 1641 until the 19th Century - Professor James Stevens Curl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqStacdndBI&t=18s

Comber - The Ards Peninsula: An Ulster-Scots Heartland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItLdzqvLamw&t=45s

Newtownards - The Ards Peninsula: An Ulster-Scots Heartland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRJ-kqW15TY

The Siege Of Derry 1689( BBC Documentary) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYXPmYS9hPA

Ulster Surnames with author Robert Bell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEQsrgqujP0&t=14s

It can be confusing when Irish Gaelic names change into English. This also occurs with place names.

Williamite-Jacobite War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhndOo8zA1w&t=77s

 

Scotland Genealogical Research Internet Websites

💨Tip: You also may need Estate or Manor Name to locate on maps or in the Ordinance Survey https://maps.nls.uk/estates/

• Search terms: Covenantors (Scottish Presbyterians); Scottish Borders; Jacobite uprising; Scottish Wars; Marches (Borders aka “Marshes”): some of these areas were conquered and claimed by Northumberland, England, Gretna Green (Scots marriages), King James Plantation: “inland Scots” (Lowland or Borders) may also include Kircubright, Sterling and Roxburgh? Though this is unclear, Scottish Parliament, Ulster Scots (Scottish perspective)

• King James Plantation: Who are the inland Scottish?

"The said undertakers, their heirs and assigns, shall not alien or demise their portions or any part thereof to the mere Irish. Every undertaker shall within two years after the date of his letters patents, plant or place a competent number of English or inland Scottish tenants upon his portion. Every of the said undertakers shall be resident in person himself upon his portion, or place some such other person thereupon, as shall be allowed by the state of England or Ireland, who shall be likewise resident there." (page 80 in the book:     https://www.monreaghulsterscotscentre.com/.../historical...

and

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/livery.../vol1/pp213-235 (use Control F to search for “inland Scottish”)

Scottish History (for context)

• British History Online: Includes Scotland https://www.british-history.ac.uk/search?query=Scotland

• How Scotland became part of the UK https://www.history.com/.../united-kingdom-scotland... [James VI, Stuart king of Scotland, also inherited the throne of England in 1603, becoming James I of England, and this Union of the Crowns of the two independent kingdoms lasted until the Acts of Union in 1707 merged the two kingdoms into a new state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Scotland....

• Mention of Scots in English Parliamentary records. https://www.rps.ac.uk/

Scottish Genealogy

• Start here: Family Search WIKI gives a good overview. Don't limit your search to just these sites. https://www.familysearch.org/.../Scotland_Online...

• The Scottish Statistical Accounts: Old 1791-1799, New 1834-1845 (read these first for historical background of the area, your ancestor may be mentioned if they were landed estate owners, tenants sometimes mentioned https://stataccscot.edina.ac.uk/static/statacc/dist/home

• Find My Past (subscription) (Look for this as a benefit from Genealogy Society Membership) or as part of a Genealogy Library (like Allen County Indiana or possibly the Newberry in Chicago)

Ancestry: Search>Card Catalog>Scotland

Scottish Record Society: https://www.scottishrecordsociety.org.uk/publ.../old-series/

(Commisariot Courts are Ecclesiastical courts)

Court and Legal Scotland, National Records of Scotland

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/.../court-and-legal-records Look for more research guides https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/research-guides

ScotlandsPeople index on the website at http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk, where copies images can also be purchased.

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/family-history

Scottish/English Societies

• If you have landed estate owners check specialized sources such as: Society of Antiquaries for Scotland https://www.socantscot.org/ (These are mainly archaeology related but some contain collector biographical information, for Example: my ancestor Robert Riddell was a collector of Baptismal Fonts see Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. United Kingdom: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland., 1889. Google Books (p.70) Google Books and Internet Archives have many of this society's publications from the 1800s. See digital books section

• Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet. The Signet Library, Riddell collection of Wax seals is an online collection. https://www.wssociety.co.uk/ws-society-seals-history

• Scottish Prisoner of War Society https://spows.org/

• Guild of One Name Studies (also British): https://one-name.org/

Digital books: (Try looking for Digitized books in catalogs or special collections online at Scottish Universities too)

• Google Books: https://books.google.com/ (I really like this site because you can create your own library list and sort books according to labels you create.)

• Internet Archives: https://archive.org/details/texts

• Hathi Trust: https://www.hathitrust.org/

• Family Search Digital Library: https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/

• Note: Many of the books from the Scottish Record Society will show up in digital book searches especially Google Books but they are easier to access via table created by the Society here :https://www.scottishrecordsociety.org.uk/publ.../old-series/ (same as referenced previously)
• National Library of Scotland https://www.nls.uk/digital-resources/; https://digital.nls.uk/gallery/category/family-history (online books) https://digital.nls.uk/histories-of.../archive/93506071

SCOTLAND REGIONAL ARCHIVES (not all inclusive)

LOWLANDS:

• Ayrshire Archives: Kilmarnock; Monumental Inscriptions (PDF) [284KB] , https://www.ayrshirearchives.org.uk/.../52527/Church-Records

• Glasgow City Archives: Glasgow; https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/.../family.../research-guides; htthttps://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/libraries/family-history/family-history-at-the-mitchell/glasgow-city-archivesps://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/libraries/family-history/family-history-at-the-mitchell/glasgow-city-archives

• Scottish Borders Archive and Local History Centre: Hawick; aka Hawick Heritage Hub; catalog https://www.calmview.eu/HUBCAT/CalmView/ (Search); https://www.calmview.eu/HUBCAT/CalmView/advanced.aspx... (Advanced Search) https://www.scottishhandwriting.com/

• Stirling Council Archives: Stirling https://www.stirling.gov.uk/.../archives/archives-catalogue/ describes holdings no links to digitial collection

Scottish HIGHLANDS:

• Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives: Aberdeen (note Aberdeen affiliated itself with the lowland counties in the past)

• Highland Council Archives: Inverness, Fort William, Wick

• Orkney Library and Archive: Kirkwall

• Shetland Islands Council Archives: Lerwick

Maps (Please note the map date versus the date of your ancestor)

• Ordinance Survey Maps https://maps.nls.uk/os/#scotland
• As individual sheets using a zoomable map of Scotland: Click on area you want to search on the map and the corresponding sheets will appear on the right menu bar. https://maps.nls.uk/townplans/index.html
• Choose area by list. https://maps.nls.uk/townplans/list.html
• Ayr: https://maps.nls.uk/townplans/ayr.html

Other

Legacy Family Tree Webinars subscription: Bruce Drury has several webinars in the library for Scottish Research. Most live webinars are free except the Best of ESM (Elizabeth Shown Mills) which is a member benefit.

Scottish Postal Directory https://digital.nls.uk/directories/