Introduction

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The main aim of Good Connexions is to aid my Family History research, by publishing my interests in order to contact others with similar interests.

I am not a genealogy expert by any means - and this web site was set-up to publish my own research interests - but at the same time provide the sort of general UK info that I had to dig hard for when I first started out. My primary surname interests each have their own page herein - and if your UK interests coincide with any having uncommon names - then there is good chance I can help.

I have tried to provide a collation of brief but useful general key UK orientated facts. If you have any suggestions, submissions or constructive criticism they all will be welcome.

When I first set up this web site - all local UK telephone calls were charged by the minute - and consequently Internet so were dial-up connections. It was therefore desirable to spend a minimum of time on-line. Consequently my aim was to provide a quick reference guide in one place. We have moved on and it is now possible (in theory) to make unlimited Internet calls for a fixed monthly charge. However the increased web traffic has slowed things down a lot and our own available time has become the issue - so one stop shopping is still the need.

I was involved with the Computer Group of West Surrey FHS before its demise when I noticed there are a few reoccurring questions.  I have therefore added a Computer Corner - aimed at giving Windows 9x tips&tricks so that you can get more from your computer. Also I have added support notes (generally as stand alone tutorials) - for the various talks I give.

From the Graphics point-of-view it is recommended that your Computer is set for at least 16 bit colour (NOT 16 colours) for viewing these pages - and additionally your browser should have Javascript and Style Sheets enabled before some of the navigation buttons will work. These pages have been optimised for a screen area setting of 1024 by 768 pixels. Higher resolutions will result in images displaying smaller. e.g. a 512 pixel wide image on a 1024 wide screen will cover half the width - whilst the same image on a 2048 wide screen will only cover a quarter of the width - and similarly for the height.

So that you dont end up going around in circles - this site uses a tree structure (what else would you expect for a genealogy site!)   All backward links are marked return to .....  Although it's tempting - I have deliberately avoided placing links that go every which way - apart from the Site Map of this web-site button which allow you to go directly to any main page.  And don't forget - your browser's Back button - is a powerful aid - should you get lost. 

This Update:
has become more like an editorial / semi-personal News Letter and it now has its own page titled - This Last Month .  

 

Enjoy your Visit - James Montague

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 Good Connexions  - Table of Contents 

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Good Connexions presently has 39 main pages and 21 sub-pages - plus 63 pages relating to my   talks and tutorials.

If your web-browser has Javascript enabled - you can jump directly to any main page by clicking the Map of this Web-site navigation button at the top or bottom of most pages.

NOTE:  If you are a new visitor to this site and want to tour the whole site then click 
Circular Tour One for the genealogy pages and 
Circular Tour Two for the rest. 

To continue a tour - click 'Continue Tour' button on the navigation bars at the head or foot of the current page. 

Surname Interests Names we are presently researching. If any match with yours - we would like to hear from you. Primary names:
ALCOCK, BASSINDALE, BRACKPOOL, BROWN, CAMBELL, CALLAGHAN, CLARK, CLIFFE, COOPER, CORBETT, COWING, DENT, HALL, HOLDER, JANION, KERFOOT, MAJOR, MARSH, McGUINESS, MARSHALL, MONTAGUE, NICHOLSON, PARFITT, PERFECT, PERFITT, ROWARD, ROWE, SALVIDGE, TAYLOR, THOMPSON, TREVITT, WELSH, WARD. (for secondary names click Surname Interest)
- (revised 22nd Jun 2009) 

Useful Information
Chapman Codes - Standard County & Country abbreviations
- (revised rev 17th Mar 2000) 
England & Wales Census dates
- (revised 08th Oct 2005) 
Estimating birth dates
- (revised 12th Mar 2000) 
Day-Of-Week Calculator
find out on what day were you born - or on what day your grandparents married - or on what day will will that special anniversary fall in two years time? - (new 25th Jan 2004 totally re-designed 14th Feb 2004 - and now includes future dates and is easier to use).
Kinship
working out relationships of - grand aunts and uncles - cousins twice removed etc - (rev 9th Oct 2005) 
London & the home counties 
- (revised 19th Aug 2005) 
Naming Conventions. 
can this help identifying your true relations?  ` - (rev 10th Oct 2005) 
Time travel
messing about with dates and times - BST - (rev 17th Nov 2007) 
Do You Remember.... A little bit of nostalgia and something to stir up old memories rather than genealogy - and a pointer to the way we lived. - (new 17th Nov 2007)   

Snippets
  • Garden of England - The County of Kent - divided into East and West Centings. - (rev 4th Sep 1999)   
  • Norsemen's Kingdom - Yorkshire together with the counties Northumberland and Durham.  
 
Scanned Images
& Editing 		Considerations for scanning - maintaining image quality and storage size. 
- (revised 26th Feb 2000) . 

Computer Corner
  • 1881 census on CD - installing problems - advanced search - (rev 17th Mar 2004)   
  • Fooling Windows "New Machine" CD - this CD will not let you install to a drive with a different system already installed. Overcoming this - (new 4th Sep 2003)   
  • Windows 95 & 98 tips and tricks that enable you to get more from your computer. 
  • Printing Directories and Folders - how to get round this Microsoft omission - (rev 3rd Feb 2000)   
A Digital Camera for Genealogy Considerations when making a choice. My research leading to the purchase of a Canon Powershot A40 in October 2002 - and its performance over the following year  (Includes sample images). Whilst the A40 is no longer available - the principals in making a choice remain the same.
- (new  2nd Jan  2004) 

Internet Corner
  • Is your computer being put to criminal use without your knowledge? - its a very real possibility and you could take the blame - but it can be avoided.
    - (rev  11th Nov  2005) 
     
  • Re-occuring Problems - unanswered emails - help spreading virus - composing webmail offline - ousting Badtran - 404 messages
    - (rev  11th Nov  2005) 
     
  • Badtrans virus - this insideous little monster appears to be doing the rounds again
    - (new  24th Feb  2002) 
     
  • Addressing - Having trouble getting to that internet site or page?  Are you getting   404 Not found or 404 Page not found message after diligently entering a long address? Or even not being able to find the expected data having reached a site. 
    -(rev 24th Feb 2002) 
Trivia   You'll be surprised! - (revised 9th Mar 2002) 
My links
& Exit 		Links that I have found invaluable during my FH research and the development of this site.   A good way of leaving this site once you have done browsing. 
- (rev 7th Feb 2005) 
Security Issues ADVANCE NOTICE:-
Set of pages being prepared for publication at this site. Some of the draft pages are now available 

Things you should consider before putting personal data on your computer.

I was hit by a couple of persistent worms early last year - and talking around it has become apparent that with the evolving methods of attack - and the explosion of identity theft - good computer security is becoming ever more necessary.

 
- (rev 25th Apr 2004) 
My Talks and
Tutorials 		Talk support notes (some with narrative added to form stand alone tutorials):
  • Support notes and tutorial "Home Computer Networks" (37 pages). 
    - (rev 10th Jun 2005) 
     
  • Support notes and introduction "Graphics for Genealogists" (4 pages). 
    - (rev 11th May 2003) 
     
  • Support notes and tutorial "Web Site Design" (22 pages) 
    - (rev 8th Feb 2005) 
     

 

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