Today is the launch day for the British Newspaper Archive - www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk. The archive will offer access to up to 4 million pages, 65 million stories at launch, fully searchable online, featuring more than 200 newspaper titles (mainly dating from the 19th century) from every part of the UK and Ireland.

It's free to search but you'll need to pay to access the content. A 12 month subscription costs £79.95 for unlimited access. The cost of 3000 credits, valid for 30 days, is £29.95 and 500 credits, valid for 2 days, is £6.95. The following table shows how many credits each type of content costs to view for both Package options.

Type of Scanned Page	Credit cost per page	30 Day Package Equivalent Cost per Page	2 Day Package Equivalent Cost per Page
Published over 107 years ago (B&W) Pages scanned from microfilm (B&W	5	£0.05	£0.07
Published over 107 years ago (colour scan)	10	£0.10	£0.14
Published within last 107 years	15	£0.15	£0.21

Be aware that UK citizens may already have free access to some of these publications through their local library membership. This doesn't mean you have to go to the library to view the material, you can do it online at home with your membership card.

[Why Tuesday's Tip? This phrase has been included in the title in order to take part in Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers]

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]

Today is American Thanksgiving Day, which has strong ties with Plymouth, England. Plymouth is home to the Mayflower Steps from where the Pilgrim Fathers left England aboard the Mayflower to cross the Atlantic Ocean to settle in North America on 6 September 1620.

To celebrate, two ceremonies were held to mark Thanksgiving Day this year, the Flag raising ceremony at the Guildhall and a Thanksgiving ceremony at the Mayflower Steps Memorial. The ceremonies were organised by American citizens living in Plymouth and were attended by the Lord Mayor and local Councillors.

I popped down to the Mayflower Steps and captured parts of the ceremony on my camera. Apologies for the sound quality of the video but it was quite a breezy day. You should be able to make out the sound of the seagulls squawking when the wreath was being layed and I particularly enjoyed the rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.


Read more about the Mayflower Steps in my previous post.

[Why Those Places Thursday? This phrase has been included in the title in order to take part in Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers]

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]

Series 2 of the American 'Who Do You Think You Are' TV show hit our screens last week and last night's episode featured the film star, Ashley Judd. Of course, I know this is old news to American readers but I thought it worth commenting on anyway.

The first part of the program featured an ancestor of Ashley's who was in the American Civil War but it was the second part which most fascinated me. Timed to coincide with Thanksgiving, the program unravelled the life of William Brewster, one of the Pilgrim Fathers who sailed to America on the Mayflower in 1620.

Ashley travelled to England and visited York, Cambridge and Boston before ending up at Plymouth in Devon. The final scene showed Ashley and her father standing at the Mayflower Steps Memorial on Plymouth's Barbican, a place I'm very familiar with, being a native of Plymouth (see my previous post).

The story was very interesting but I find, in general, the American show skips along at a far greater pace than the English version. There isn't so much time given to the celebrity's musings about what they've discovered so far. Generations are quickly pushed to one side as they rush towards the story they're featuring. I imagine the reason for this is because of the need to build in time to show adverts in the US whereas the BBC has the luxury of being able to dedicate a complete hour to each episode.

So in summary, a great subject for the second show in the US 2nd series but it left me wanting more.

For UK viewers who missed it, the program can be viewed on the BBC iPlayer until 14th December.

[Why Thanksgiving Thursday? This phrase has been included in the title in order to take part in Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers]

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]

Amongst the genealogy community I've read so much about the Flip-Pal Mobile Scanner and I can see the merits in having such a useful little gadget. In fact, I'm sold on having one except, wait for it, you still can't get one in the UK.

I've been in touch with the manufacturer and their response was...

"Unfortunately, we do not yet distribute in UK. Of course we are actively investigating what that would take. It is a matter of both the distribution/support processes as well as regulatory approvals. Currently, even if you could have a friend in the US or Canada order and ship it to you, the warranty is not valid outside of the US."

I replied that I didn't mind about the warranty but didn't know anyone in the US who could help me get hold of a Flip-Pal but the reply was much the same.

How disappointing that after more than a year (perhaps longer) since launch they still haven't come up with a way of sending the Flip-Pal abroad. I can't believe it takes rocket science!

Ah well, I'll have to start looking around for an alternative so I can quickly and easily scan the numerous boxes and albums of photographs which I have in my possession. If anyone can suggest something similar that is available in the UK (not sure the hand-held ones are all that good), please could you let me know, either by leaving a comment or using my contact form.

[Why Sorting Saturday? This phrase has been included in the title in order to take part in Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers]

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]

I can't believe I've overlooked the television show, Find My Past. 4 of the 10 episodes have already been aired but I shall definitely be watching as from tomorrow (Thursday).

I imagine it takes a similar format to Who Do You Think You Are but with ordinary people. Each episode features three members of the public who are connected to each other through an event in history. This week will be about the Mutiny on the Bounty.

The program goes out on Thursdays at 9pm on the Yesterday Channel: Freeview channel 12, Sky 537 and Virgin Media 203. I understand that repeats are aired the next day.

Post a tribute of remembrance at Ancestry's Facebook page and they'll donate £1 to the British Legion up to their target of £10,000.

I posted the following about my great-grandfather...

Pte Henry James Weaver 4732, my great-grandfather, killed by accident on 8th September 1916 whilst at the base in France. Buried at Merville.

See more about Henry on my website.

Ancestry.co.uk are offering a selection of their World War I records FOR FREE between 10th-13th November.

For 4 days you can access:

• British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920
• British Army WWI Pension Records 1914-1920
• British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920

It's been 12 months since I started my blog (the main site has been going for about 4 years now) and in that time I've posted over 150 articles ranging from items from Mrs Beeton's Cookery Book, images from my grandpa's collection of slides, 'On This Day' in the history of my family, features on specific ancestors, a slection of genealogical links and tips, and more.

I don't have a favourite post but I like my 'Ancestors Corner' category most of all as it fleshes out some of the details of my forbears and, at times, allows me to indulge in my own thoughts and draw my own conclusions.

I'm not entirely certain what sort of following I have so if you'd like to say hi, please drop me a line in the comments section. I'd love to hear from you.

Here's looking forward to my next blogiversary!

[Note: All content on the Hibbitt Family History website and blog is copyrighted. Click here for conditions of use.]