Translate This Page
Welcome to my family history site
GLOSSARY OF GENEALOGY MAILING LIST TERMS
BMD - The abbreviated term for Births, Marriages and Deaths can either refer to classifieds sections in newspapers or official notices at the archives.
Death notice - Usually refers to the official document required to be filed after a relative (or, in the absence of one, the person present at death) dies, but can refer to newspaper notices.
EGGSA - The online version of the Genealogical Society of South Africa, from which back copies of Familia can be purchased on CD. Also called "Genealogy without Frontiers".
GISA - Genealogical Institute of South Africa, situated in Stellenbosch.
Familia - The quarterly journal of the GSSA.
Genealogy widow/widower - The other half of a married pair who spends his/her life wishing the research half would come to bed instead of making out with the PC. Equivalent to the spouse of a armchair sportsman or heroin addict.
LDS – Abbreviation for the Church of Latter-Day Saints, the Mormon church which has transformed millions of couch potatoes worldwide into BMD transcribers.
NAAIRS – Officially stands for National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System, which searches the National Archives of South Africa.
Progenitor - Broadly the English translation of stamouer, but can incorporate as few as three generations of a family, depending on when the first member of the family was born in SA.
SAG - South African Genealogies: an unrepresentative, but comprehensive, genealogy register of colonial ancestors post-1652.
Stamouers – Broadly the Afrikaans translation of "progenitor".