Dispensations in Days of Old

 

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My blog is a day late due to my return from attending the 36th International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences in Boston. It was the first time the over 100 year old conference was held in the U.S. and I was delighted to be able to present on Tracing Noble Roots: Validating the plementi ljudi (pl) Lineage in Former Austria-Hungary. My talk was on how you, too, can identify your noble Croatian ancestors. It was held in South Church, a beautiful building where Benjamin Franklin had been baptized and where I had a family member that used to play tone bells there. Nothing like following in the footsteps of others!

I'd be the first to admit that I don't have much knowledge or experience with heraldry so I did learn a lot by attending the conference. One of the most interesting lectures involved Roman Catholic dispensation records between 1250-1558 in Great Britain. I didn't know they existed and they may be important to your family if you are researching that time period.

From the earliest time until Henry VIII cut his ties with the Roman Catholic church, dispensations were required to legitimize a marriage. For a fee, the amount of which is unknown, couples who wanted to marry were required to complete paperwork with their local parish which would then research if the couple was closely related. If couples did not pay for this "service," and it was later determined that they were closely related (1st-2nd cousin) their marriage was considered void and any children of the marriage would not be eligible to inherit from the estate. Meaning, the Roman Catholic Church obtained the estate since their was no "legitimate" heirs at the time of the parents death.

You can find the 1000+ dispensations in the Calendar of Papal Registers, Britain, and Ireland series under Paper Regesta through 1534. You may also look at the Apostolic Penitentiary to England and Wales through 1503 that were indexed and published by the Canterbury and York Society. Unfortunately, I don't know how to access the publication.

During the Q&A, a discussion ensued on whether other countries dispensations were available. I did a quick internet search and discovered that was the case for Austria-Hungary. Apparently, if you were a noble you couldn't wed unless you were 3rd cousins or further related whereas peasants could wed at 2nd cousin status or back.

Further discussion led to the use of church banns used prior to a couple's wedding. This would be an interesting research topic to determine if those banns were added after Henry VII to continue the validation that a couple were not closely related. "Speak now or forever hold your peace" could then be considered the final measure used to legitimize the marriage in the absence of the church researching the couple's genealogy.

Great Britain Connections

 

In August and September I traveled throughout Great Britain. This was a heritage trip and not designed as a genealogy trip. What's the difference? A heritage trip is a visit to an area in which your family once resided but while there you aren't looking for the old homestead or farm. Rather, you are just getting a feel for what the area is like. A genealogy trip is when you are actively researching records for an ancestor.

To be honest, I couldn't help but combine the two. I did stop at libraries and genealogical societies in a few places to see if I could find anything that wasn't already online. No luck! I also just showed up at several locations where I knew that my husband or my ancestors had once lived to ask about various surnames.

The picture above is of Bains Sweet Shop in Edinburgh, Scotland. Our hotel happened to be next door. While exploring the city I was stunned to see the sign - yes, I have a sweet tooth but it was the owner's name that struck me. I am a Bains/Baines/Baynes and my distant cousin Vickie had asked me before I left to see if I could get any information on that wonderful Quaker line.

The Bains are often in my thoughts as I put in a fireplace in my home two years ago. Unknowingly, I was drawn to a type of rock to use and when it arrived at my home to be installed, I was surprised to discover I had selected rock quarried from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. That's where my 7th great grandmother, Elinor "Ellin" had emigrated to. Her parents, Mathew and Margaret Hatton Baines/Bean had died at sea. I've wondered if Ellin had a stone fireplace similar to mine.

I didn't expect to actually meet a Bains on my travels but I did. Mr. Bain was not into genealogy and had no idea how we could be connected but he did know that his family had been in Scotland for hundreds of years. He jokingly told me to research his line and let him know if I find we are related. Kindly, he gave my husband and I free samples of his delicious candy that he makes himself.

My husband was also in for a surprise. We had decided to visit a site that was once a monastery in Ireland. The tour guide mentioned Brian Boru, of who I am descended. The guide gave some incorrect information about the University of Notre Dame so after the tour ended, I approached him to let him know privately that the school is not known as the Fighting Irish because they come from Irish fighters but because they had once taken on the Ku Klux Klan when that white supremacist organization tried to instill their racist views on South Bend, Indiana.

The tour guide said he did know the real reason but his story was much more entertaining (Sigh). He then mentioned he had noticed I was very interested in what he had to say about Brian Boru. I told him I was a descendant and he asked me if I was an O'Brien. I told him no, but that my husband's third great grandmother was Mary "Molly" O'Brien from Limerick. In sharing our genealogies, turns out he was my husband's third cousin. He also claimed to be a descendant of Brian Boru meaning, my husband is likely, also. This isn't the first time that my husband and I have shared an ancestor but it was the strangest way I've ever gotten a hint that we might have. Definitely, more research is needed. What struck me as odd, though, was that in May I had sought out the location of Molly's grave in Chicago and discovered there was no stone. Since then, I submitted an article for publication in an Irish American newsletter about Mary and her unusual agreement with her husband. Mary was Roman Catholic, her husband was Protestant. Back in the 1850s they agree to maintain both faiths in their household. I've blogged about their decision previously but thought it should be published somewhere for future generations. I had just emailed the article off the day before we left for the trip and wasn't thinking much more about Molly until this strange connection occurred.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?!

Next week I'll be heading off to the 36th International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences in Boston so I won't be blogging next weekend. See you the following week.

Association of Professional Genealogists Management Conference

 

Book Review - Building a Legacy by Rebecca Shamblin

 Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review purposes.

We all love research, but sometimes we forget to keep our family trees safe from simple errors or unexpected disasters. Rebecca Shamblin to the rescue! Her latest book, Building a Legacy: A Guide to Combining Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker, is a step-by-step guide to preserving your hard work.

Not sure why you should sync your Ancestry tree? The explanations are clear and concise. Rebecca provides excellent ideas on how to make the most of both tools. Connecting with distant cousins is crucial for gaining valuable information about ancestors. Remember, not everything is available in record sets! A photo, oral history, or a Bible entry might help you overcome a brick wall in your research. The best way to obtain these family-held items is to make connections via your tree. For those needing to keep their information confidential, Rebecca explains how to ensure complete privacy in Figure 59.

Rebecca noted that Ancestry.com once owned Family Tree Maker (FTM). Although it had a checkered past with several owners (Banner Blue Software, Broderbund, The Learning Company, SoftKey, Mattel, and Ancestry), FTM has improved through Software MacKiev. I had frustrations with the older versions, but repurchasing the updated software was a good decision, and Rebecca's book is an excellent resource I wish I had last year.

Whether you prefer Ancestry.com or FTM, Rebecca's instructions are easy to follow, with examples for both programs. Your view might differ slightly from the examples in the book. For instance, when I sync Ancestry to FTM as shown in Figure 12, I don’t need to sign in to Ancestry again. If yours is set up like mine, just skip that step.

With my large Ancestry tree, I sometimes have to re-sign into Ancestry during a sync. FTM's 24/7 tech support helped me find a workaround for this issue. Rebecca recommended checking the box for Ancestry Citation Media when downloading. For large trees with heavy media, this might not work well. Instead, download the tree without citation media (Figure 19). You can easily obtain citation media later by clicking on any thumbnail under the Media tab and pressing Ctrl + F5. Choose to add all citations, then repeat the process to add only the missing ones for extra security.

Tree Vault is mentioned as a valuable add-on for data safety. However, be cautious. I accidentally deleted files from OneDrive that Tree Vault used, causing issues. FTM flagged the problem, and I had to resync the trees. Lesson learned!

Rebecca mentioned that some Ancestry features are available to free account users. For those on a budget, here's a link to get a free Ancestry membership: Free Registered Guest Accounts. Note that with a free account, you can’t search all records. Keep in mind if you use Ancestry at your local library, you can’t view or create your own tree.

One of Rebecca's most helpful tips is how to set up FTM on more than one computer. This is great if you use a desktop at home and a laptop in archives. Follow her directions, and you’re good to go.

I’d like to add a tip for dealing with Newspapers.com’s OCR. If you’re unsure about confusing words, try using AI to make corrections. However, always verify with the original source to ensure accuracy. Your local library might offer free access to Newspapers.com so check that out.

Rebecca shared issues she encountered when backing up and compacting her tree, which I’ve also faced. Her book is a must have if you are using FTM to avoid those problems!

Building a Legacy is a valuable resource for researchers at all levels. I highly recommend purchasing this book . It's offered in a variety of ways - digital pdf, black and white paperback, spiral bound color or a hardcover color edition.