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Let’s start with the stats πŸ˜’πŸ˜

There really aren’t many of us around the world, but what does that mean? Today on MyHeritage a search for the surname Caddie showed 100,817 results for the whole world.  Obviously not all the records are available digitally or on MyHeritage but as some comparison as search for Harris (another name in my tree) produced 45,547,937 results; and McKay had 6,298,162 results. It makes it easier to search for relatives and less likely that there are multiple options every time you search, so there are positives.  It also means people are often interested in where your surname came from as they are unlikely to have come across it previously. So back to the 100,817 results, having had a look at some of the categories the golfing occupation of caddie crops up, particularly in advertising in trade directories and maps which wipes a few of the returns out.  There are 2,689 in census and voters lists, but for most adults they will appear in voters lists or censuses multiple times, gi...

Reincarnation

 Hello again I have realised that I hadn’t published results of the sporadic work I was doing on my Caddie one name study for some time, in fact over a decade on the blog.  A lot has happened in that time, multiple house moves and jobs but of more relevance a couple of break ins which saw me lose computers and hard drive back ups πŸ˜”. So the plan is to work through what I had, including on here, check against records in 2024 and go again, but this time spend more time publishing as I go.  Cads #ons #genealogy #caddiekin #familyhistory

Done it!

So I set myself the challenge and I have done it - I now have a profile on the Guild of One Name Studies for my Caddie study - link below, http://www.one-name.org/profiles/caddie.html I found it quite challenging as it has to be in plain text and whilst I wanted to put tables with the data trying to make them look good was too difficult for me. I have therefore resorted to putting numbers in lines of text working on the basis that it is a start and can be edited going forward. Or the fancy stuff can be on the web site. I suprised myself looking at all the stuff that I have managed to collect from around the world - I don't think I have missed anywhere obvious but will keep looking. However I have no idea how to progress the origins of the name any further except for working backwards to see if they all converge in one area which might be a clue.
Today I thought that the time had come to try and create a profile with the Guild of One Name Studies and start a website to load all the Caddie details. A website appears to be some undertaking - lots of fellow Guild members have mentioned TNG so I had a look and it needs PHP and MySQL.  It can also have multiple trees but didn't seem to think this would be facility needed by many - it is for my one name study, I have groups of people in various locations and no indication that they may join up anytime soon. TNG recommend SimplyHosting so I had a look and then had a look at HostGator which is highly recommended by someone who uses her website to make her living so needs it to work.  Like everything on the web it appears that there are hundreds of variable and if you are like me and just starting out how to know what I might need? So I investigated Google Sites - free and easy to set up so I have a site but I am pretty sure that it doesn't have half the functionality I n...

Caddie ONS - next objective

Caddie ONS So the objective I now have for my ONS is to start making sense of the information that I have - linking the branches so that I have a better view of the families.   This will then lead to a better picture of where the gaps are and so where I should look next.
Objectives I went to a course at the Society of Genealogists last weekend about report writing for clients - there were a few points to take away for working on your own tree. Are you setting yourself some objectives or just meandering around hoping to find something new?  Do you consciously think at the start of the session I would like to work out who the father of x is, and then do you?  Or as I am often prone to, do you get distracted and wander off down a completely different track?  What then happens to the father, does he get pushed to 'next time'?  Is there a problem and what is it, are you making notes on what you have done to try and crack it so that you don't try the same thing next time, and the time after?  Are you also making notes about what you are actually searching, the area, the age range and if so why are you making these assumptions? Whilst I know many of us think about these things, but do we remember when we go back?  A few note...

Applications

I am lucky enough to have an iPhone and whilst there have been apps previously they seem to have upgraded to being something that is really helpful. I use the Ancestry app which now links with the online tree(s) I have and allows for updates / editing.  I haven't really kept those trees up to date but now need to pull everything together. I also use GedView which does not allow editing but gives details in a list allowing you to easily see all the who-evers you have, you can also look at the family groups but an alphabetical list has turned out to be really useful on many occasions. Lastly I have recently donwloaded iFMP - I today looked up all the Caddies and put the details into my ONS.  Very easy interface and gave me 165 Census returns, 56 Births, 33 Deaths and 55 Marriages.  The BMD are all for England and Wales but some of the census returns cover Scottish locations (although I am fairly sure not all of them) - I now need to check online what their records act...