Maps

Ancestral Atlas a Hidden Mapping Gem

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Have you heard of Ancestral Atlas? It is a mapping website. It is free to register and you can upgrade to a subscription for £20.00. When you subscribe you have access to history map layers for England, Wales and Ireland; historical boundary maps for the USA; all new licenced data added to the site; Life Maps functionality and other benefits.

The map is world wide and you add events related to your family history and where they happened. If my Great Great Grandmother was born at 23 York Street in Dublin then I can go to that place on the map and upload the information of her birth. You can decide to keep the information private or share the information. You must register to add your own information.

There is a link for quick help where a box pops up and it has information to help you add a new person, edit an existing person, viewing the location of the people/events in your people list, adding an event when you know the location, and many other options. You have the choice of printing this help page so that it is close at hand when you are entering your information. There is a page of FAQ’s to help you with any questions you may have.

When you look at the map for the place you are interested in you will see little blue balloons and if you click on them then you will get information that someone uploaded regarding a person linked to that place.

You can filter your search by given name, family name, start year and end year.

Visit the website and see what Ancestral Atlas is all about.

©2012 – Blair Archival Research All Rights Reserved

Mapping your Australian Ancestors

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Maps are a very important tool when you are doing your family history research. It is important to know the area where your ancestors lived, what the land looked like, the other towns in the area, the ease of migration and other items.

Today you can find many maps digitized and online. Two sites that have some good maps for Australia are the National Library of Australia and a website called Map History/History of Cartography.

The National Library of Australia website says you can find “200,000 post-1900 Australian topographic maps” and “800,000 areal photographs of Australia” as well as street directories, atlases and gazetteers. Their “collection includes over 600,000 maps, from early European charts to current mapping of Australia…”

The maps are not just for Australia you can find maps from around the world. Their decade lists goes from 1000 to 2010. The number of NLA digitized material is 14,698.

The Map History website has maps from around the world and a large collection for Australia. They provide a one line description beside each link that provides information about the maps details.

If you already use maps then these sites could provide you with more resources. If you haven’t used maps before then go in and find a map that relates to the area where your ancestors lived. You might be surprised what you find.

©2012 – Blair Archival Research All Rights Reserved