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P. William Filby
Passes Away at 90
DearREADERS,
Thanks to many readers who wrote to report the passing of one of most widely
read and well-respected figures in the world of genealogy -- P. William Filby.
His obituary appeared in the 9 Nov 2002 Baltimore Sun and spotlights another of
his passions, "The Star Spangled Banner." See:
http://www.sunspot.net/news/obituaries/bal-md.ob.filby09nov09,0,5644375.story?coll=bal%2Dnews%2Dobituaries
I can't imagine doing any US genealogy research without consulting Mr. Filby's
books. I find his Bibliography of American County Histories and Bibliography
of Passenger and Immigration Lists particularly helpful. Additionally,
Mr. Filby devised and edited indexes of numerous passenger and immigration lists
with associates who shared his fervor for accurate compilations. P. William
Filby has expedited the search for original ancestral documentation for
literally hundreds of thousands of researchers.
The National Genealogical Society heralded P. William Filby's work in the 7 Nov
2002 issue of UpFront with NGS, co-edited by Dennis and Carla Ridenour. http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/upfront/archives/
From this we read:
"He was librarian and assistant director of the Peabody Library,
Baltimore which possessed a rich genealogical collection, especially British
material. Knowing nothing about genealogy he decided that such a collection had
to be used and made known to unsuspecting genealogists, and he proceeded to
acquaint himself with the subject.
In those days libraries were not interested in genealogy or genealogists; but
being sympathetic to them, he determined that they should receive better
treatment. Since he knew little about the subject upon arrival he decided to
issue a book which would help beginning genealogists and librarians by telling
them what was available for their research. "American and British Genealogy
and Heraldry," published in 1970 was an immediate success; the second
edition was issued in 1976 and the third in 1983, and a supplement in 1986. The
third edition was included in the best ten reference books of 1983, and with the
supplement it contains 13,000 titles, with annotations, and over 30,000 index
entries. The Library of Congress staff regards it as its "genealogy
Bible."
[...] In 1998, Scholarly Resources, publishers of Wilmington, Delaware awarded
an annual prize of $1,000 and named it the Filby Prize, to be awarded to a
genealogical librarian. In 2000 the American Society of Genealogists conferred
its Certificate of Appreciation for his genealogical publications.
Our heartfelt condolences are expressed to his wife and the family including two
sons, two daughters, four grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. Funeral
services will be held in Mr. Filby's native England.
Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE,
Daily Genealogy Columnist
AOL Keywords: roots, myrtle
http://www.DearMYRTLE.com
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