Ancestry have just announced that they will discontinue selling Family Tree Maker (FTM) after 31st December 2015 due to reduced demand for software. They will continue to provide support for users until 1st January 2017.

To me Family Tree Maker is a much loved resource but it is inevitable that there is a shift away from computer-based tools. I have noticed this year a distinct increase in the number of students coming to courses with iPads and other tablets rather than laptops. I had hoped that FTM would be developed as an App so we could still benefit from its many fantastic features in future but it doesn’t look like this will happen unless another developer takes it over.

If you already have FTM don’t worry - It’s not redundant!

• All features including TreeSync will continue to work until 1st January 2017
• From 2017 Family Tree Maker will continue to work on your PC/Laptop but without the features that integrate with Ancestry

I have been using FTM since buying a very early version about 15 years ago and several upgrades later still consider it an essential tool for organising my research. I intend to continue using it as there are several excellent features that are not available on Ancestry or other online trees, such as the ability to create and customise printable reports, charts and trees. In fact, until a few months ago, I didn’t synchronise my FTM with Ancestry at all preferring to use it as a standalone tool on my laptop so I will just go back to using it this way again from 2017.

Family Tree Maker is currently still available, for example, on amazon.co.uk. The Platinum editions include a 6 month subscription to Ancestry so if you are thinking of getting it while you can this is the best option (but remember to activate your 6 month subscription before the end of 2016). 

Please note: If you have an Apple PC/Laptop you need Family Tree Maker for Mac v3 (6 month subscription included, as above)

Find a way that suits you to organise your research
Of course, it is not essential to use FTM and I found this site which compares features of other software - genealogy-software-review.toptenreviews.com
There are also various options for organising your research online and many websites where you can do this free although you will need to register with the relevant sites, for example:
findmypast
ancestry.co.uk
familysearch.org
genesreunited.co.uk 

This show is a must for anyone interested in family history and this year’s event moved out of London to be held for the first time at the NEC in Birmingham. We've been every year since the show began. I still find something new at each event and the show is often used to release major new data collections, such as tithe maps released by thegenealogist.co.uk this year, or to launch new genealogy projects, such as Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War at last year’s show. There’s always a good range of topics in the programme of workshops and all the major genealogy organisations have stands. Many family history societies also attend with lots of resources, books and info from their own county.

Is it worth going? Here’s what I got out of this year’s show...

• a clear insight to using WW1 Unit War Diaries held at The National Archives many of which are now online (a workshop held by TNA)
• solution to issues I’ve had using the Gazette website (short TNA workshop) 
• information to help move some specific WW1 research forward (detailed chat with a military expert)
• subscribed to Lincolnshire Family History Society (chatted to and browsed many other FHS stands too)
• bought Rebecca Probert’s new book, Divorced, Bigamist, Bereaved? which Rebecca was promoting at the show
• lots of very helpful copyright info relating to use of historical photos etc from the Intellectual Property Office (having a design background this is something I’m very conscious of but in a historic context where the copyright holder is unknown can be tricky to know where you stand)
• met and exchanged contact details with a Belgian genealogist
• info on Ancestry's DNA package (workshop from Ancestry and Sir Tony Robinson) - doubt that I'll use this but you never know!
• packets of Flanders poppy seeds from Commonwealth War Graves Commission stand which I will pass on to my current students.

If you haven't been to a family history fair before it's a great day out and there are others during the year, but WDYTYA?live is the biggest show in the UK and claims to be the biggest in the world. Dates for next year’s event have already been released so make a note in your diary now - Thursday 7th to Saturday 9th April 2016 at the NEC, Birmingham - whodoyouthinkyouarelive.com

You may well have seen celebrities on TV tracing their ancestors and discovering some fascinating and sometimes remarkable stories (with a great deal of help behind the scenes from a team of genealogists!)

But you don’t have to be a celeb to find you have fascinating people in your ancestry. After all every one of us is descended from people who lived during the historical times we are familiar with as well as the less familiar events of the past. You may already know of a family member who fought in the trenches in the First World War or perhaps your grandmother was a suffragette but there could be much more waiting to be discovered. Where did your ancestors come from? What did they do? Whether they were rich or poor they are all part of your history.

I began researching my own family history in the late 1990s and was quickly hooked. Since then many historic records have become available to search on the Internet and this is growing all the time but there is also much, much more to be found in archives, libraries and other sources too.

My favourite documents are wills as they often contain details you would never find anywhere else. One of my family wills mentioned an illegitimate child and was the clue that started the search to find out what had happened to this child that was given away in 1893. Other research has uncovered  Jeremiah’s story.  At the age of 20, in 1837, he stole a watch and was sentenced to 10 years transportation to Australia. Newspaper reports, his jail record in Gloucester, hulk (prison ships) records and convict records from the Tasmanian archives provide a trail of evidence, building a picture of Jeremiah and his struggle to survive in the notorious penal colony of Port Arthur. Two of my ancestors ended their days in the workhouse but no doubt many more of them lived in fear of it. It wasn’t all grim though, one ancestor was the son of a baker but worked his way up to eventually become a very wealthy Victorian factory owner. Another, who began his domestic service as a footman, became a butler to an Earl and lived in a cottage in the grounds of their stately home. He even appears as a visitor’s servant on the 1871 census for Belvoir Castle.

I enjoy researching other people’s ancestry as much as my own. This can be anything from helping to find an elusive ancestor who appears to be missing from the census to a full family history. I also teach a range of family history courses in Nottinghamshire and Lincoln.

Every family has a story to tell and there’s never been a better time to start discovering yours!