UK Genealogical Periodicals Scottish Coverage

[DavidWW]

UK Genealogical Periodicals Scottish Coverage

I’m often asked for my recommendation in terms of the genealogical magazine in the UK that gives the best coverage of the Scottish scene.

Not an easy question, I have to confess!, - especially in view of conflicting editorial claims over which magazine has the best Scottish coverage.

In order to reach as rational a conclusion as possible I decided to examine in detail the last 12 issues of:

· Family Tree Monthly (FTM), March 2004 to February 2005
· Family History Monthly (FHM), April 2004 to February 2005, as there was a separate Christmas 2004 edition
· Your Family Tree (YFT), March 2004, May 2004, June 2004, then August 2004 through to March 2005, including the Christmas 2004 issue (I didn’t subscribe until the August issue!)

I have not considered the sister magazine of FTM, - Practical Family History, - never having seen a copy of it, so that I cannot comment on its contents.

Neither have I considered in this context the TNA genealogical magazine “Ancestors”. Up until recently, Ancestors concentrated on material held at TNA, but I understand that the new editor takes the view that his remit should extend to the whole of the UK. After all, the “N” in TNA stands for national.

In addition, I haven’t considered the major magazines produced in North America

History

FTM is at volume 21, which I assume means that it’s been about for that number of years.

FHM is currently at Issue 113 which I assume means that it’s been published for around 9 years.

The “newcomer” on the block is YFT, which is only at issue 22, so yet to celebrate its 2nd anniversary.

Methodology

I examined in detail the last twelve issues that I hold (see above for the dates involved) of the three periodicals, making a careful note of the specific Scottish content.

Obviously, a number of articles are generic in the sense of UK readers’ interest, be that “Jewish Ancestors”, “Quaker Ancestors”, “IGI”, Ellis Island Records”, etc., etc., but far and away the greatest number of articles in each of the 3 periodicals which are the subject of this exercise focus exclusively on England.

Let’s be honest, not a surprise in terms of there being a population in England of 50m, compared to that in Scotland of 5m!!

Although disappointing, perhaps, in terms of the 10s of millions of Scottish descent abroad, - recent “genealogical tourism” research which has revisited this subject in some depth has led to an increase in the figure for those of Scottish descent in N America and Australasia of up to 50m !!

The total numbers of pages, or words where only a fraction of a page was involved, e.g. editorials, reviews, “boxouts”, were carefully noted, counted, and totalled. Short editorials etc., were totalled and converted to page equivalents at the conversion factor of 500 words/page.

Results

FTM’s and FHM’s Scottish material in the periods analysed totalled, respectively, 30 and 31 pages, with YFT well behind at 22½ pages, which rather knocks on the head the claim of the YFT editor that YFT gives the best coverage for Scottish readers in magazines published in the UK.

It was noticeable that FTM’s Scottish content had greatly increased in the last few months, but that much of this increase was due to 8 pages worth of articles on resources in the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Bute (described by the incorrect term “Buteshire”), Orkney, and Shetland, as opposed to methodology and case study based articles.

A significant element of FHM’s Scottish coverage related to military subjects. I understand that the series on the histories of Scottish regiments is unlikely to continue, so that Scottish content may decrease, on average.

In all three magazines, you will be fortunate to come across more than the very occasional letter to the editor, or “queries answered” type section entries involving matters Scottish. In all three magazines, over the 12-issue period considered, I don’t think that I needed to use the fingers on more than one hand !!

The amount of editorial material relating to Scottish subjects varied greatly between the three, but it’s not possible to draw any conclusion from this since the overall amount of such material varied significantly.

While YFT appear to have started off with a policy of always including a significant comment on matters Scottish in “all UK” articles, this has tailed off badly from 1¼ pages in a longer article on parish registers, to a mere token 44 to 272 words in recent articles (and in terms of those 272 words, full of inaccuracies and omissions, with readers being asked to believe that a “hamfest” was a frequent part of the ancient customs relating to marriage in Scotland!!, - I suspect that the author was referring to the old custom of handfasting!!), with an ever increasing number of articles now making no effort at all to distinguish between the situation in England and that in Scotland, never mind other areas of the UK, - just be thankful that you are not researching Ulster, Isle of Man, or Channel Island ancestors.

Recent YFT articles that have made disturbingly little or no attempt to distinguish between the English situation and that in Scotland have included adoption, censuses, and education records. The particular Scottish situation as regards divorces was seen as adequately covered by a scant 44 words in a 4-page article!! I’m not asking for a book on the situation with respect to divorces in Scotland, but would have considered that something between 300 to 500 words were justified to explain and cover properly the quite different Scottish situation.

That, however, is possibly being a little unfair on YFT, as all three magazines are distinctly Anglo-centric, - not something that I can really complain about given the minority that we Scots represent in the UK, - about 10% of the current population.

What is infuriating, in all three, however, is to come across frequently authoritative statements regarding situations as if they apply to the whole of the UK which are blatantly incorrect as regards Scotland, but then most authors are writing for an English audience.

Sadly, this is most often based on ignorance of the Scottish situation on the part of writers. No surprise really, as we get the same treatment on UK TV news when, for example, there is often an item on some aspect of government policy without any clarification that it only applies to England and Wales (or even only England!) Maybe we should just be thankful that we’re not from Northern Ireland or The Isle of Man, or the Channel Isles!

Every country tends to be a bit inward-looking. In historical terms, the correct name for the “English” Civil War is The Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but try getting English historians and academics to believe that!

Even so, I have to confess that the names of the three magazines would give a truer description of their contents were they to be changed to English Family Tree Monthly, English Family History Monthly and Your English Family Tree.

The reality is that the market in the UK would not support a purely Scottish focused genealogy magazine. Around the world there would certainly be such a market, but it becomes very difficult, if not impractical, to handle the marketing involved, never mind the fact, as I know from my writing, that US audiences need a different style compared to UK or Australasian readers.

Conclusion

I’m ducking the original question! Based on the above I’d tend to recommend FHM, but it has to be appreciated that the situation involves trying to hit a moving target. If YFT can get back to their approach in terms of a sensible and accurate amount of Scottish information, then it could be hard to choose between the two; this also in the context that there is a new editor at FHM, and who knows the direction that she might take? In a similar vein if the level of Scottish coverage in FTM continues at the most recent level, and there are more articles on methods and case studies rather than just sources, then I could end up being hard put to choose between the three!

The reality, however, is that the readership of all three is overwhelmingly English so that their interests are always going to take precedence.

Davie

[CatrionaL]

No reply required

[emanday]

I can't help wondering if the editors of these magazines have bothered to take into consideration the numbers of "English" families which are descendants of mass exodusii (is that a word?) from Scotland; The Highland Clearances, to name just one. These people had children, who had children, who had children, etc... etc...

Scottish miners who came down across the border for work are another lot, explaining one English regional accent that can be understood by most Scots?

I think they are missing out on a potentially larger market. I know I don't take these magazines because the content simply does not cater for my ancestral interests. I'm probably not alone!

[Chris Paton]

The reality is that the market in the UK would not support a purely Scottish focused genealogy magazine.

Can I ask what the evidence behind that claim may be? There seem to be other magazines that are Scottish oriented in a similar field (History Scotland, Scots magazine, etc). As well as Scotland there would certainly be a strong market within Northern Ireland, with the majority of its population of Scottish descent, I would have thought, and certainly a strong subscriber base in England and Wales for ex-pats.

I agree that Scottish coverage in English based magazines has been poor, and I agree 100% about how madenning it is to read articles proclaiming to define a situation that is actually only true for England, though I would suggest that YFT are slowly beginning to turn their content around (I've contributed a few case study based articles in the last six months!). I think there is a case for a Scottish publication, and if it could be designed as effectively as YFT (its design has helped to secure its position as an easy to read coffee table mag in England) I would suggest it could capture an emerging market up here north of the border...!

Chris

[DavidWW]

The reality is that the market in the UK would not support a purely Scottish focused genealogy magazine.

Can I ask what the evidence behind that claim may be? There seem to be other magazines that are Scottish oriented in a similar field (History Scotland, Scots magazine, etc). As well as Scotland there would certainly be a strong market within Northern Ireland, with the majority of its population of Scottish descent, I would have thought, and certainly a strong subscriber base in England and Wales for ex-pats.

I agree that Scottish coverage in English based magazines has been poor, and I agree 100% about how madenning it is to read articles proclaiming to define a situation that is actually only true for England, though I would suggest that YFT are slowly beginning to turn their content around (I've contributed a few case study based articles in the last six months!). I think there is a case for a Scottish publication, and if it could be designed as effectively as YFT (its design has helped to secure its position as an easy to read coffee table mag in England) I would suggest it could capture an emerging market up here north of the border...!

Chris

Hi Chris

The reality as I see it, on the basis of discussion with editors of various UK and N American genmags is that they don't see a profit in a specifically Scottish focused magazine.

Yes, there are defintutely out there sufficient folk of Scots descent who, in my opinion, could be very interested in a genmag focused on the Scots diaspora, - the basic challenge being how to access effectively this potential market in N America and Australasia, and elsewhere .........

The basic question being which publishers will be interested in taking forward such a Scottish focused magazine.

Orraverybest

David

[Chris Paton]

I think I'm right in saying that YFT was set up purely because they saw a niche in the market for genealogy in the UK. I wonder if any Scottish publishers not currently engaged in genealogy might see an advantage in claiming an under-represented corner of the market with a populaist coffee table mag, rather than some of those already engaged in the subject? History Scotland works quite well in that regard, it's not a chunky or detailed read, just a few select articles each month to keep the history addicts satisfied...!

Then again, pigs may fly..! lol