The Pharos Bulletin

Friday 23, December 2011

Dear Reader,

We hope you are having a festive time with friends and family and are enjoying a Christmas break.  This is our last newsletter of 2011, but it is as bursting with Pharos news as ever!

Website Changes - New Student Area

Before we took a break for Christmas, the Pharos team had been working hard to make some changes to the way the courses are delivered, including setting up a new Student Area on the website.

From the Student Area you will be able to see and change the details we hold about you, check the courses you are registered for, and access the forums and chatrooms for your courses without having to remember passwords. This should provide everybody with a more seamless experience. All students should have received an email from us with details of their new account and how to access it. If you have not heard from us, let us know!

If you are not yet a student and want to visit the forums (free to all) and see what the Student Area looks like, then just set up an account here.

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Tutor Spotlight - Simon Fowler

Simon Fowler is a leading authority on family history and a prolific writer on the subject. He has a particular interest in military history and as such is our expert tutor on the course, World War Research.

Simon has written many books on the subject including Tracing Your First World War Ancestors, The Joy of Family History and Army Records for Family Historians (with William Spencer). Simon's latest book, is called Tracing Your Naval Ancestors. It can be bought online from Amazon or direct from the publishers at www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

Simon lives in Kew and is former editor of the National Archives family history magazine Ancestors and Family History Monthly. Simon is now a full time independent historical researcher.

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Course Highlights

World War Research | Simon Fowler

13th March 2012 | 3 Weeks | £33.99

Almost everyone has ancestors who fought in the two world wars, which means this course is not only incredibly relevent but also very popular.

You will learn to use resources from The National Archives and other online provders to begin your journey of discovery. But offline research is equally important to really understand the life of a world war soldier so you will also learn to make use of original records from Kew and the Imperial War Museum.

Finding and intepreting service records, medal records, casualty records and operational records are all skills you will aquire to piece together the heroic military history of your ancestors.

Students will be under the excellent guidance of military research expert, Simon Fowler throughout this course, so can expect some very useful insights.

<<Sign Up Early - Expected to Sell Out!>>

Discover More or Sign Up Here.

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Beginners Guide to Creating & Researching Your Family Tree | Hannah Baker

1st January 2012 | 3 Weeks | £21.99 (Lesson One FREE)

Only Ebenezer Scrooge need fear from the past. For family historians discovering our past and tracing roots is a fascinating way to gain understanding of our ancestors and learn a little more about ourselves.

At Pharos we want to make this even easier, especially to those that are new to genealogy. We have a very special new course starting on 1 January entitled "Beginners Guide to Creating and Researching Your Family Tree".

We think this is an ideal introduction to our online Genealogy courses and as such have you can download the first lesson absolutely FREE as a taster, before deciding if you wish to go on to complete the course.

The course has been written in association with findmypast.co.uk to mark Start Your Family Tree Week: 26 Dec – 1 January, and is designed to quickly and easily enable you to start building your family tree. Focusing on Genealogical knowledge and technological know -how, a combination which makes family history research easy and enjoyable. You will also experience accessing and using an on-line forum as well as taking part in a live web chat.

We hope this course will inspire, guide and equip you to enter the world of genealogy with confidence. It's the perfect Family History starter course and we encourage you to forward to any friends or family interested in starting to build their family tree.

The course is suitable for all beginners who have either English or Welsh ancestry.

<< First Lesson FREE to download NOW!>>

Discover More or Sign Up Here.

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Course Reminders

Introduction to One Name Studies | Helen Osborn

9th January 2012 | 5 weeks | £45.99

Pharos Tutor, Helen Osborn, will guide you through the practical aspects of running a one name study; collecting data, publicising your study, data protection, and ensuring your study is preserved for others in the future. It's a very popular course and should not be missed!

<<Includes Guild of One-Name Studies membership!>>

Discover More Here.

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One-Place Studies | Celia Heritage

12th January 10121 | 3 weeks | £33.99

A one-place study is guaranteed to provide you with a detailed understanding of the lives of your ancestors. Learn to use records such as church registers, census data, voters lists, land records and tax lists in a totally different way to reconstruct a community focusing on the period between 1800 to 1875.

<<Be Quick - Limited Places Available!>>

Discover More or Sign Up Here.

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Tracing Beneficiaries - A Step by Step Guide | Karen Bali

24th January 10121 | 5 weeks | £54.99

This is a specialist course, designed specifically for solicitors, executors and legal staff. It will takes you through the basics of finding named beneficiaries and proving family connections where there is no will. You will discover easy, low cost sources and methods, including tips on where to access records.You will also be shown how to present your evidence and advised how best to make an approach to possible beneficiaries.

<<Specialist Course!>>

Discover More or Sign Up Here.

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That's all for this month and in fact this year. From all of us at Pharos, we wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and our Best Wishes for the New Year - Happy Ancestor Hunting!

Pharos Tutors