Rootschat
Encyclopedia
Rootschat is a free online genealogy
forum
primarily concentrating on local and family history research in the United Kingdom
. It was launched by Welsh couple Trystan Davies and Sarah Mackay in December 2003. 18 months after its launch its membership was 16,000 and it was gaining 140 new members per day, enough for advertising to pay for its costs. Members ask questions and exchange information using a number of online forums.
Members have created various games combining the resources available to them, and their passion for genealogy. These include Censuswhacking, whereby people look through the English census
indexes for a unique first name, surname or occupation; and a monthly challenge with an aim of discovering as much as possible about a randomly selected person.
At irregular intervals "Meets" are organised, where RootsChat members can meet and get to know each other "in the flesh", and not just as anonymous contributors to the forum. These, and the numerous 'mini-meets', not just in the UK, all go towards building the sense of community spirit that many members value.
and British
and Irish
Counties all have their own boards to allow people researching in the same area to communicate and share knowledge. There is a strong ethos of sharing resources, with members frequently looking up census
and parish records for each other.
In addition to these boards there are special Cornish
, Irish
, Gaelic
and Cymraeg boards for postings in each respective language.
There are also several very active "Special Interest" boards, including
Friendship bonds created between members have led to the creation of two boards, the "Lighter Side" and "Totally Off Topic" available to members only, and a chatroom for humorous and postings unrelated to family history
the members of the site were successful in closing a police enquiry dating back over fifty years. In another, through the help of RootsChatters, the relatives of airmen killed in a crash in 1942 were traced and were able to attend the funeral ceremony for the lost airmen.
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
primarily concentrating on local and family history research in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It was launched by Welsh couple Trystan Davies and Sarah Mackay in December 2003. 18 months after its launch its membership was 16,000 and it was gaining 140 new members per day, enough for advertising to pay for its costs. Members ask questions and exchange information using a number of online forums.
Membership
As of October 2011 there were over 169,000 members with over 3.5 million postings in nearly 500,000 topics. RootsChat uses volunteer forum moderators in an effort to keep a friendly atmosphere and welcome new visitors.Members have created various games combining the resources available to them, and their passion for genealogy. These include Censuswhacking, whereby people look through the English census
Census in the United Kingdom
Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941 and in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State in 1921; simultaneous censuses were taken in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, with...
indexes for a unique first name, surname or occupation; and a monthly challenge with an aim of discovering as much as possible about a randomly selected person.
At irregular intervals "Meets" are organised, where RootsChat members can meet and get to know each other "in the flesh", and not just as anonymous contributors to the forum. These, and the numerous 'mini-meets', not just in the UK, all go towards building the sense of community spirit that many members value.
Site Organisation
The message posting area of the site is organised into various boards, some grouped together. As well as generic beginner and "common room" boards, countriesCountry
A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...
and British
Counties of the United Kingdom
The counties of the United Kingdom are subnational divisions of the United Kingdom, used for the purposes of administrative, geographical and political demarcation. By the Middle Ages counties had become established as a unit of local government, at least in England. By the early 17th century all...
and Irish
Counties of Ireland
The counties of Ireland are sub-national divisions used for the purposes of geographic demarcation and local government. Closely related to the county is the County corporate which covered towns or cities which were deemed to be important enough to be independent from their counties. A county...
Counties all have their own boards to allow people researching in the same area to communicate and share knowledge. There is a strong ethos of sharing resources, with members frequently looking up census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
and parish records for each other.
In addition to these boards there are special Cornish
Cornish language
Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...
, Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
, Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
and Cymraeg boards for postings in each respective language.
There are also several very active "Special Interest" boards, including
- Photograph Restoration board to help restore damaged family pictures.
- Technical Help board providing assistance with hardware and family-history software
- Armed Forces
- Occupation Interest for people interested in the history of a particular occupation
Friendship bonds created between members have led to the creation of two boards, the "Lighter Side" and "Totally Off Topic" available to members only, and a chatroom for humorous and postings unrelated to family history
Rootschat in the News
In a case reported by the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
the members of the site were successful in closing a police enquiry dating back over fifty years. In another, through the help of RootsChatters, the relatives of airmen killed in a crash in 1942 were traced and were able to attend the funeral ceremony for the lost airmen.