Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2020 i Who Do You Think You Are?

O ten in episodes of Who Do You Think You Are? it’s the death records that create the memorable story, and places of burial are the perfect location for reflection. So, when I wanted the very best advice for killing off your ancestors, I felt we couldn’t do better than asking Laura Berry who has worked on the series for many years. Enjoy her 10 tips on page 23 and use them to complete the story of your ancestors’ lives. We are also marking the 400th anniversary of the iconic voyage of the Mayflower (page 18). According to Felix, if you can trace your family back to the early 19th century in America you are highly likely to be able to make a connection. We’d love to hear if you…

FELIX ROWE Felix is a freelance history writer and editor who goes behind the story of the Mayflower and shares some tips on how you can find out if you have a family connection on page 18. LAURA BERRY As a TV genealogist, Laura has spent more time than most looking for death records and burial places. Turn to page 23 to learn from her expertise and give your research a boost. ALEX OMBLER Alex is a heritage project officer who researched the dockers of Hull as part of his PhD. Many of his ancestors worked in port-based industries, and he shares his advice on page 59.…

Editor Sarah Williams Production editor Seth Burgess Staff writer Rosemary Collins Art editor Robbie Bennie Contributors Hilary Brown, Jenny Price Ad manager Sam Jones 0117 300 8145 Ad sales executives Andy Williams 0117 300 8803, Tony Robinson 0117 300 8826 Inserts Laurence Robertson 00 353 876 902208 Marketing manager Kellie Lane Direct marketing executive Craig Ramsay Head of PR Dominic Lobley Production director Sarah Powell Production co-ordinator Emily Mounter Ad design Parvin Sepehr Ad co-ordinator Bryony Grace Director of licensing & syndication Tim Hudson Magazine syndication executive Emma Brunt Managing director Marie Davies Promotions and partnerships manager Rosa Sherwood Publishing assistant Lara Von Weber Group managing director Andy Marshall CEO Tom Bureau…

If your Victorian ancestors took a snapshot of their trip to Stonehenge, English Heritage wants to hear from you. In 2018 the charity appealed to members of the public to send in their family photographs of the stone circle to mark the 100th anniversary of its entering public ownership, via stonehenge100.co.uk. English Heritage was inundated with photos, and 148 of the best are going on display at the Stonehenge Visitor Centre. The oldest dates from 1875, and the most recent shows a couple kissing and taking a selfie at the monument in 2019. The exhibition ‘Your Stonehenge – 150 Years of Personal Photos’ will run until August 2020. If you have a Stonehenge family photograph from before 1875, or if you feature in the ‘kissing selfie’ photograph, email YourStonehenge@ English-Heritage.org.uk.…

Joseph Billings, fishmonger, appeared before Norwich magistrates charged with keeping a refreshment house open during prohibited hours. According to the Eastern Daily Press, a police constable testified that he’d seen three youths “eating fried fish and chipped potatoes” in Mr Billings’ shop at 11.35pm – just after the deadline. The magistrates dismissed the case on the grounds that it couldn’t be proved that a fishmonger’s was a refreshment house.…

Free family history site FamilySearch (familysearch.org) has published a collection of 3,947,025 Lincolnshire parish records, dating from the introduction of parish registration in 1538 until 1990. The records, transcribed from registers held at Lincolnshire Archives, include baptisms, marriages and burials. Many of the parish registers were already digitised and free to browse on Lincolnshire Archives’ website www.lincstothepast.com, but this is the first time they have been indexed and made searchable. FamilySearch relies on online volunteer transcribers to keep releasing its records. Turn to page 16 to find out how you can support the website during our annual Transcription Tuesday event on 4 February.…

THE FAMILY HISTORY SHOW, SOUTH WEST 8 February a UWE Exhibition and Conference Centre, Bristol w thefamilyhistoryshow.com/south-west The Family History Show comes to south-west England this February. The show will feature talks on all aspects of family history; an ‘Ask the Experts’ area where you can discuss your family history queries; photo-dating with regular Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine contributor Jayne Shrimpton; and stalls from more than 40 different family history societies, companies and archives, as well as the Ministry of Defence. The Bristol show will be followed by events in York and London later this year. Tickets cost £5.50 in advance (£6 on the day) or two for £8.…

Family historians often overlook ordering death certificates because they’re not always essential for taking a family tree back in time, yet they frequently provide the all-important story that we need to make an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? work. “How extraordinary! It is like something out of Sherlock Holmes … We’re going back into some real turn-of-the-century derringdo here,” exclaimed the actor and comedian Griff Rhys Jones while on the hunt for the death certificate of his great grandfather Daniel Price. In the episode, broadcast in 2007, Griff unearthed two Daniel Prices who had been poisoned before finally identifying the correct certificate for his ancestor, who was killed after a drunken brawl. DEALING WITH DEATH Civil registration started on 1 July 1837 in England and Wales and…

HANSARD w hansard.parliament.uk This official report of all Parliamentary debates has searchable online transcriptions back to the early 19th century. ROYAL FLYING CORPS RECORDS w airhistory.org.uk/rfc This invaluable free online resource includes a database of officers and crew with references indicating where you can access documents giving details of their service, from casualty records to logbooks and medal rolls. TEACHERS’ REGISTRATION COUNCIL REGISTERS w findmypast.co.uk You can follow a teacher’s career by searching these records. The originals are held at The National Archives and date from 1902, when the council was set up; Findmypast has digitised registers for 1914–1948.…

Does this photograph show my husband’s grandmother and her sister? Q Can you tell me when this photo was taken? I think the girls might be my husband’s gran and her older sister, one born 1879 and the other in 1882. They lived in Motherwell. Sara McMahon A It is difficult to date photographs of children precisely from their appearance alone, since their dress, while broadly reflecting adult modes, also incorporated youthful features that continued beyond high fashion trends. So we need to examine every available clue, including the photographic card mount. The reverse view shows the divided-back style of postcard introduced for postal communication in 1902. The printed style of this example suggests the 1910s/early 1920s. Happily, the studio is named: James Dewar of 296 Shields Street and 8…

ANGLICAN CLERGYMEN SOURCES w bit.ly/tna-clergymen This podcast from The National Archives details sources for researching Anglican clergymen. BEDFORDSHIRE HISTORICAL RECORD SOCIETY w bit.ly/beds-sources-clergy This website has many useful resources relating to Bedfordshire priests, clergy and ministers. CAUSE PAPERS DATABASE w hrionline.ac.uk/causepapers This free database contains details of church court cases in the Diocese of York, 1300–1858. LONDON METROPOLITAN ARCHIVES w bit.ly/lma-sources-clergy This URL leads to LMA leaflet 57, Sources for Tracing Clergy and Church Officials. METHODIST HERITAGE w methodistheritage.org.uk This site has advice on finding Methodist Church records, and an online version of the Dictionary of Methodism in Britain and Ireland. METHODIST MINISTERS w bit.ly/manc-lib-meth Explore an index of Methodist ministers, which is maintained by the John Rylands Library. QUAKER LIBRARY w quaker.org.uk/resources/library The Library of the Society of Friends…

BOOKS Dockers: The Impact of Industrial Change David Wilson Fontana/Collins, 1972 This history follows the role of the dockers up to the 1960s. Tracing Your Docker Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians Alex Ombler Pen & Sword, 2019 Alex’s book helps you understand this complex labour force. WEBSITES LONDON’S SCREEN ARCHIVES w bit.ly/bow-creek Watch a 12-minute silent film that shows dockers at work in the capital, mainly in the 1960s. MUSEUM OF LONDON w bit.ly/mol-coll The museum’s digital offering includes dockland artefacts such as photographs and tools. YORKSHIRE FILM ARCHIVE w bit.ly/port-goole This 34-minute film from 1964 promotes the port of Goole.…

John Fielding was born in 1721 in London, the third son of Army officer Edmund Fielding, by his second wife, and the half-brother of the author Henry Fielding (1707–1754), who is best remembered for the comic novel Tom Jones . Henry had become chief magistrate at Bow Street in 1748 and, with his brother John, founded the Bow Street Runners, the first professional police force in the capital. Henry believed that the crime that plagued London was the result of corruption in government together with the loose morality of the countless hordes who left their families and communities behind and came to the capital to make their fortune. John Fielding was blinded in an accident at sea at the age of 19. Despite this handicap, he was appointed a magistrate…

BOOKS Crime and Punishment in England: A Sourcebook Edited by Andrew Barrett and Christopher Harrison UCL Press, 1999 This book contains primary material, offering insights on crime and punishment through the words of those in authority, the victims and the criminals. Quarter Session Records for Family Historians, 5th Edn Jeremy Gibson Family History Partnership, 2007 Gibson provides a detailed county-by-county guide to the available records. Tracing Your Ancestors in County Records Stuart A Raymond Pen & Sword, 2016 This is an interesting and informative introduction to the wide range of surviving county records. WEBSITES FIND AN ARCHIVE  w discovery.national archives.gov.uk/ find-an-archive This website has details of more than 2,500 archives across the UK, as well as some abroad, searchable by location or keyword. THEGENEALOGIST  w thegenealogist.co.uk This site has a collection…

1863 TRAINS RUN UNDERGROUND This year the world’s first underground railway was a spectacular success deep beneath the streets of London. The railway met the urgent need for a fast transport method between the mainline stations of Paddington, Euston and King’s Cross and the City, so businessmen did not have to spend hours in traffic after commuting into London from outlying cities. It was the brainchild of a progressive solicitor to the City of London, Charles Pearson, who spent more than a decade raising money for his scheme and overcame huge technical problems to create a form of locomotion underground. If an ordinary steam locomotive went through a tunnel, passengers would be suffocated by the soot and steam. One solution was a smokeless engine powered by heated blocks, but this…

Jonathan Scott rounds up the best free resources for remote researchers who have ancestors from Kent, including indexes, parish records and memorial inscriptions WORLD WAR ONE IN MEDWAY w foma-lsc.org/wwi/index.html This Friends of Medway Archives index contains more than 4,000 records of Medway soldiers killed during the war. MEMORIAL INSCRIPTIONS w kentarchaeology.org.uk/ research/monumental-inscriptions The society’s website includes this free database of transcribed memorial inscriptions. INDEXES w freepages.genealogy.rootsweb. ancestry.com/~mrawson This site contains a number of local indexes, including census returns, directories and newspapers, plus useful links. PARISH RECORDS w kent-opc.org At the Kent Online Parish Clerks website you can explore a host of material free of charge, from parish records to the funeral accounts from a Bromley undertakers. HISTORICAL DIRECTORIES w bit.ly/ special-collkent The 689 directories on the University of Leicester’s…

WEBSITE ANCESTORSEARCH ON GOOGLE SEARCH  randymajors.com/p/ ancestorsearch.html Free Computer developer and family historian Randy Majors has invented a new tool for searching for your forebears online. AncestorSearch on Google Search uses advanced search operators to make it easier to filter for relevant results. Try searching for your ancestor’s name; dates of birth, marriage or death; and location. PODCAST DOUBLE HELIX HISTORY Various sources including anchor.fm, breaker.audio, open.spotify.com and radiopublic.com Free This series of four podcasts, presented by Prof Jerome de Groot and Dr Matthew Stallard of the University of Manchester, looks at the latest findings in the world of DNA and family history, drawing on focus groups of family historians and interviews with experts. APP HELMUT FILM SCANNER Android Free Helmut Film Scanner lets you scan your negatives of old family…

This issue is full of great tips, but the one on page 42 caught my eye because it has come up in our Letters section before. A few dialects (London, most famously) drop initial aitches, so the surname Horton can easily be recorded as Orton. However, it can work both ways as some Londoners would add extra aitches to the start of words, especially in a formal setting, to sound ‘posh’, so Anna might become Hannah.…

WE NEED TO KEEP RECENT WILLS PRIVATE Legislation is a patchwork quilt of statutes and laws that attempts to do the best for the ‘common good’. Its imperfections may be many and that is why it is a plastic, ever-changing beast. However, am I alone in thinking that changes should be made to plug the holes that impinge upon genealogical research and the privacy of living relatives? With the recent carrot-dangling of the (unusual) 85 per cent price reduction for wills, doubtless we have all been stampeding to our keyboards to purchase them, particularly those of more peripheral ancestors. For those wills from the dim and distant past, I am happy that these should be made freely available for genealogical research. What I cannot understand is why, in this privacy-paranoid…

Findmypast adds 166,000 Scottish burial records Two new indexes of Scottish death and burial records are now available on findmypast.co.uk. The first, covering Renfrewshire, has 83,000 records covering 25 locations in the county (1471–2017). Volunteers at Renfrewshire Family History Society transcribed the records. The second is a set of 83,000 records from Stirlingshire and Perthshire (1755–2019), from Stirling Council. The records can provide date and place of burial, and age at death. TheGenealogist publishes Bedfordshire tithe maps Family history site thegenealogist. co.uk has added a new set of colour tithe maps of Bedfordshire. The maps, available with a Diamond subscription package, show the division of plots of land in the county. They primarily date from 1837 to 1855, with some much later plans for any altered apportionments. They are linked…

Family history website Findmypast (findmypast.co.uk) has unveiled a new design on its UK site. The design includes a new logo with a purple background and a choice of four colour schemes for the text, replacing the previous logo with white text on blue. Each of the four logos uses the handwriting of a different Findmypast user in the word ‘my’, which the company explains is intended to reflect the importance of the website’s community of users. Findmypast now has a new colour scheme and illustrations to accompany individuals in a family tree without a photograph. In addition, it has a new slogan: ‘Where Will Your Past Take You?’ A blog post said: “The new-look site is designed to encourage more family history beginners to get started, while staying true to…

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has digitised two crucial record sets from Northern Ireland. The record sets cover the six Irish counties later designated as Northern Ireland: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone. The first record set, ‘Northern Ireland Tithe Applotment Books 1823–1837’ (FIN/5/A), is divided into 275 volumes, one for each parish. The content is subdivided by townland, and for each townland the names of the occupiers, the areas subject to tithe, the valuation and the tithe payable are all recorded. The second set, ‘National Education Commissioners Grant Aid Applications’ (ED/1), consists of 33 volumes of applications made to the Commissioners of National Education for grants for building schools in Northern Ireland, paying teachers, and funding textbooks and equipment. The records date from 1832 to…

As a historian I frequently come across people in the past who strike me, for varying reasons, as being particularly interesting characters. Quite often such discoveries are accidental, when I’m looking at documents for one purpose and find much more rewarding content that has nothing to do with my particular project. One such case concerns a thieving family in Salford in the reign of Charles I, starring a young boy who could give the Artful Dodger a run for his money. At the beginning of January 1630 Sir Cecil Trafford, a magistrate, cross-examined William Shawe, aged 11. The interview took place at Cecil’s house in Trafford Hall or Park, a large rural estate. Young William admitted that a year previously his grandmother, Katherine Eller, had persuaded him to “get what…

The USA saw a huge wave of immigration during the 19th and early 20th centuries, which presents the first hurdle for family history researchers. If you can trace an American line of your family tree back to the early 19th century, you’ll be drawing closer to the ‘older’ New England families. Bear in mind, however, that some Mayflower descendants may have returned to Europe or migrated elsewhere so don’t assume that only Americans will have pilgrim connections. Fifty-one of the Mayflower’s passengers have known descendants, and this list can be reduced further to 26 surnames. So, if you can identify family members in earlier generations who share these surnames, you’re narrowing in. Thankfully, you don’t have to trace your family back to the 1600s because a lot of the early…

How can I find out where my husband’s forebear George Irving was born? Q I’m trying to find out where my husband’s ancestor George Irving originated. In 1837, George married Susannah Mayhew in Bothal, Northumberland. They had six children (John 1838, Maria 1840, George 1842, William 1846, James 1849 and Robert 1852). In 1841, they were living in Chirton, Northumberland but later birth records show they moved to Whitehill Point. George died in July 1852, so should be traceable on the 1851 census, but I can’t find him. I know the name Irving has Scottish roots, so wonder if George came from there. Sue Wicker A I’ve browsed the part of the 1851 census that covers the Chirton area of North Shields, but there’s no sign of the Irving family.…

Can you tell me more about William and his family? Q I am searching for information about William Bowater and his family. He was born in Birmingham in 1855, and married a Louisa Perks. Two of his children, John and Ada, were sent to the Middlemore Homes in Birmingham then on to Canada in 1892 and 1893. I believe William was sent to Winson Green Asylum in Birmingham, but I cannot find out when he died or where he is buried. Can you help? Marilyn Davis A The Middlemore Homes in Birmingham, originally known as the Children’s Emigration Homes, were set up in 1872 by John Throgmorton Middlemore to prepare children for a life in Canada. Many records of British Home Children who were migrated under these schemes are on…

Anyone who has watched Downton Abbey will have been struck by the glamour of life in a country house in Edwardian Britain – a period that often resembles an idyll before the horrors of the First World War. One wealthy family – the Lacy-Thompsons of Farlam Hall in Cumberland – created a set of journals that offer a memorable window into the era. We spoke to Louise Smith, archivist at the Carlisle Archive Centre, to find out more. WHO WERE THE LACYTHOMPSON FAMILY? Charles Lacy-Thompson (1857–1920) was the son of a wealthy Cumberland family who lived at Farlam Hall. He was a well-established member of the local gentry, a justice of the peace, deputy lieutenant and high sheriff of Cumberland. Sadly his health deteriorated, as a consequence of a colliery…

ARCHIVE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS LIBRARY a 10 Portugal Street, London WC2A 2HD t 020 7955 7229 w lse.ac.uk/library The Booth archive is in the reading room on the fourth floor. However, you will need to complete an online application form to join the library at least five days before visiting. BOOK Charles Booth’s London Poverty Maps Thames & Hudson, 2019 This reproduction of the maps includes new essays and infographics. WEBSITES ANCESTRY w ancestry.co.uk The site has an exclusive relationship with the London Metropolitan Archives, so is a rich resource for researchers. THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE OLD BAILEY w oldbaileyonline.org Whether your London ancestor committed a crime or was a victim, you may find them in these digitised court transcripts covering 1674–1913.…

Local and regional newspapers frequently reported on strike action in ports, as well as the accidents and fatalities that regularly occurred on the docks. More than 35 million pages digitised from local and national newspapers can be searched and accessed at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk, and are also available to users of findmypast.co.uk who have a ‘Pro’ subscription. A visit to the Modern Records Centre at Warwick University can also be fruitful for finding out about the trade union activity of docker ancestors (warwick.ac.uk/services/ library/mrc). The centre is the largest repository for British trade union records, including the main dockers’ unions. Finally, The National Archives at Kew holds the records of the National Dock Labour Board, which administered the country’s registered dock workers from 1947 to 1989 (nationalarchives.gov.uk). Also held at Kew are…

This record of a 19th-century quarter session at Sherborne is held by Dorset Record Office. It has also been digitised, and is available online in the collection ‘Dorset, England, Quarter Sessions Order Books, 1625–1905’ on ancestry.co.uk 1 JURY The record lists the names of the 12 jurors sworn to “try as well the Several Prisoners at the Bar as the Several Persons on their Traverses”. Women didn’t serve on a jury until 1920. 2 CRIMINAL PAIR John Browne and Jane his wife had been indicted at Blandford Session for a “Misdemeanour”. They were found guilty and fined 10s. 3 NOT GUILTY Samuel Smith had been indicted for an “Assault on one Richard Evans”. The jury found him not guilty. 4 FINED SIXPENCE John Palmer was also indicted for an “Assault”,…

TE Lawrence described his home at Clouds Hill as “an earthly paradise”. This tiny cottage in the Dorset parish of Turners Puddle was his holiday home after the First World War, and the perfect place to edit his memoirs of Arabia. Built in 1808, the cottage was originally a woodman’s home. Lawrence renovated it during the 1920s, but maintained its rural charm. There was no electricity, and for insulation he used asbestos lined with aluminium foil. The cottage became a salon for distinguished guests, including Thomas Hardy, Siegfried Sassoon and EM Forster. The property is now owned by the National Trust, and Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine reader Martin Gething is one of its volunteers. He became curious to know who lived at Clouds Hill before Lawrence of…

In 1838, Patrick Murphy was the name on everyone’s lips. The Irishman had created an almanac in 1837 that forecast the weather on every day of the coming year. This was nothing unusual, but what made Murphy’s stand out was his prediction that 20 January 1838 would be the coldest day of the year. And so it proved, with temperatures well below freezing and the River Thames frozen solid again. In fact, it was the start of a prolonged cold snap. Murphy became an overnight sensation, and his almanac the must-have book of the year. It ran to 45 editions and made its author a staggering £3,000 (more than £250,000 in today’s money). It even inspired a play. For a whole generation, the harsh winter of 1837/1838 came to be…

This is our first visit to Kent since 2017, and much has changed both on the ground and on the web. The headline news is that all of the parish registers dated before 1920 held by the Kent Archives service are now available to search and view online at findmypast.co.uk – that’s more than 2.6 million fully indexed baptism, banns, marriage and burial records spanning over 400 years. These records, which first appeared in April 2019, have been created from more than 3,000 handwritten registers currently held at the Kent History and Library Centre in Maidstone. This particular batch covers most of central and west Kent, and join already digitised registers covering east Kent held at Canterbury Cathedral Archives, permitting parish record searches across most of the county. Kent Archive…

What inspired you to write this book? I knew that there was a letter sent to England in 1857 by my 3x great grandmother, who was killed in the Cawnpore Massacre in the Indian Mutiny. About four years ago, I found online a theory that one of her children, Henry Larkins, might be the mysterious Harry Larkyns who’d been murdered by Eadweard Muybridge. I got in touch with somebody who’d put the theory into a book, who said that one of the few hard facts about Harry Larkyns was that he’d claimed to have a brother-in-law called Cutler. And I knew that Henry Larkins had a brother-in-law called Cutler. It was a real eureka moment. That’s what kickstarted the writing of the book, marrying the beginning of this poor young…

POETRY BOOK If you have an ancestor with an unusual name, it’s always worth a basic internet search for any information. Katherine did this for her 3x great grandfather James Arminius Richey, and discovered that he wrote books of poetry. She then visited the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto to view one of them. Several of his books have been digitised and are available for free from the Internet Archive archive.org, including More Half-Hours (1877): bit.ly/arch-richey. CANADIAN DEATH RECORD Many Canadian birth, marriage and death records have been made available on ancestry.co.uk, arranged by province. We were able to find an index entry for James Arminius Richey’s death on the site at bit.ly/anc-richey. The full record will be held locally at Prince Edward Island Public…

ADVERTISING t 0117 300 8803 e andy.williams@immediate.co.uk EDITORIAL t 0117 300 8621 e wdytyaeditorial@immediate.co.uk Q&A QUERIES e wdytyaquestions@immediate.co.uk SUBSCRIPTIONS t 03330 162120* e wdytya@buysubscriptions.com WDYTYA ? APP SUPPORT e wdytyadigital@buysubscriptions.com WEBSITE QUERIES e wdytyaeditorial@immediate.co.uk *UK calls will cost the same as other standard fixed-line numbers (starting 01 or 02) and are included as part of any inclusive or free minutes allowances (if offered by your phone tariff). Outside of free call packages call charges from mobile phones will cost between 3p and 55p per minute. Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am–6pm and Saturday 9am–1pm. Overseas subscribers call +44 1604 973728.…

EAST PETERBOROUGH CORONER’S RECORDS 5 February a Salvation Army Citadel, Peterborough e secretarypdfhs@gmail.com w peterborofhs.org.uk/ Annual-Programme.php Sophie Mitchell talks about why coroners’ records are important, and how to access transcriptions. Suggested donation £2. SOVEREIGN, SQUIRE AND REBEL: THE STORY OF MAHARAJAH DULEEP SINGH 5 February a Norfolk Record Office, Norwich t 01603 222599 w bit.ly/sovsquire Peter Bance explores the life of Maharajah Duleep Singh, the last ruler of the Sikh Kingdom and a Norfolk country squire. Free. LONDON HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY: PERSONAL MEMORIES OF DIFFICULT TRUTHS 27 January a British Library t 01937 546546 w bit.ly/diff-truths Edmund de Waal, the author of The Hare With Amber Eyes, discusses the recently discovered diary of Polish-Jewish teenager Renia Spiegel. £13. MY ANCESTOR CAME FROM SUFFOLK/MY ANCESTOR CAME FROM NORFOLK 1 February a…

‘For the first time, we’ll hold an in-person group event at TNA’ We first launched Transcription Tuesday in 2017, and we’re so proud that it’s been such a success. Almost all family historians have been helped in their research by the hard work and generosity of volunteers. One of the biggest areas where volunteers contribute their time is transcribing records – the simple act of typing up handwritten records to create easily readable and searchable copies. The growth of the internet has been a game-changer, making it possible to search many key record sets online. But many more datasets have never been digitised or indexed, which limits the number of researchers who can access them. Volunteer transcribers play a vital role in making these records readily available to everyone. We…

BOOKS Mayflower Families Through Five Generations General Society of Mayflower Descendants Each of the books in this extensive series typically focuses on the progeny of one or two Pilgrims. MUSEUM MAYFLOWER MUSEUM a 3–5 The Barbican, Plymouth PL1 2LR t 01752 306330 w bit.ly/may-museum This exhibition includes a scale replica model of the Mayflower and three floors of immersive displays. SOCIETIES EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF MAYFLOWER DESCENDANTS w facebook.com/MayflowerEurope This off-shoot of the GSMD was set up to aid researchers who are based in Europe. GENERAL SOCIETY OF MAYFLOWER DESCENDANTS w themayflowersociety.org The GSMD is dedicated to education and research on the lineal descent of Pilgrims. There are many more societies in the USA related to the Plymouth Colony. WEBSITES INTERNET ARCHIVE w archive.org The archive has many free books on…

One of the most fascinating aspects of family history is coming across unexpected parallels with an earlier generation. “I’d always believed that I was the first member of the family to leave Blackburn and train as a teacher,” says WDYTYA? Magazine reader Steve Parker. Then he discovered his relation Robert Layer-Parker and his father. However, it wasn’t just Robert’s teaching that made him so interesting. The life of this colourful character was full of twists and turns – and, eventually, a shocking fall from grace. COMPUTER CONNECTION The discovery that you could build your family tree using a computer program was what first drew Steve (at the time an IT teacher) to genealogy. “I loved the way you could attach photos and notes.” ‘We think Margaret had had enough of…

If your match hasn’t supplied a tree and isn’t responding to messages, don’t despair! People often use the same username on multiple sites or in their email address, and can be identified with some judicious Googling. You might find that they have uploaded a tree to another website, or have mentioned their research on a mailing list or in a Facebook group. Once you identify them, you can build a quick private tree on ancestry.co.uk to find the connection. If you prefer, you can use your own family tree program.…

Do you recognise the medals that this unknown man is wearing? Q Can you tell me anything about the unknown man in this family photograph? I believe the medals are the 1914–15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, and that, given the man’s advanced age, he is likely wearing them on his right breast to remember a family member. Hence, the cloth poppy. I have a possible candidate: William Henry Hooton (1854–1934). One of his sons, Theodore Clifford Hooton (1895–1915), was killed in Egypt during the First World War and was awarded the medals posthumously. What would the event be, and why would he be dressed like that? Leo Hickman A This is a studio portrait of a well-dressed elderly gentleman wearing, as you’ve surmised, a relative’s…

CCEd, the Clergy of the Church of England Database (theclergydatabase.org.uk), is the authoritative source for identifying Anglican clergymen between 1540 and 1835. It enables you to identify all incumbents of Anglican parishes, most curates, and some schoolmasters. It tells you where they served, who ordained them, and who their patrons were. Occasionally, it also gives dates of baptism, provides details of education, and notes dates when livings became vacant (a clue to deaths). You can search for individual clergy in the ‘browse persons’ box, and for the succession of clergy in particular parishes in ‘browse locations’. CCEd is based on sources from some 50 archives, and records the major events in clerical careers: ordinations; institutions; appointments as schoolmasters, lecturers and curates; and resignations. Sources are mostly diocesan archives, rather than…

As long as vessels have carried cargoes on the seas, there has been the need for labourers to carry goods between ship and shore. However, the huge growth of seaborne trade and the construction of commercial docks during the 19th century saw the emergence of dock workers or ‘dockers’ as a recognisable labour force. Among the grey mass of the working classes, the dockers were viewed by many as something of a race apart. While some had originally been agricultural labourers who had drifted from the land into port towns and cities in search of work, the core of the dock labour force was formed by Irish navvies who stayed on to work the docks and quays they had helped to build. This was certainly the case at Liverpool, Glasgow…

BRITISH NEWSPAPER ARCHIVE w britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk This subscription website has searchable images of local and national newspaper articles dating from the 1700s, taken from the British Library’s collection. DISCOVERY w discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk Discovery holds more than 32 million descriptions of records held by thousands of archives, including of course The National Archives in Kew. FAMILYSEARCH w familysearch.org/search/catalog FamilySearch has a huge collection of microfilms of quarter sessions records. Most are digitised and viewable at a Family History Center or FamilySearch Affiliate Library.…

1 For key steps in researching the history of your home, visit historic england.org.uk. This has advice on dating a house, analysing architectural clues, and finding out information about the property’s administrative area. 2 Search old maps, plans and photographs to see how your home fits within its history. The site francisfrith.com has old photos of British villages and countryside that are free to view, and maps that can be purchased. 3 The 1910 Lloyd George Domesday Survey can help to reveal who lived in your home in Edwardian times. London and north Buckinghamshire records are on thegenealogist.co.uk, otherwise try the local record office.…

ARCHIVES BRITISH NEWSPAPER ARCHIVE  w britishnewspaperarchive. co.uk Discover how your ancestors coped in severe weather from contemporary accounts. LOCAL RECORDS OFFICES Your county collection is likely to contain information about the local weather in parish records, diaries and estate records. MET OFFICE ARCHIVE  a Great Moor House, Sowton Industrial Estate, Exeter EX2 7NL t 01392 360987 w library.metoffice.gov.uk Holdings include weather diaries and daily weather reports for the UK since 3 September 1860. ROYAL SOCIETY ARCHIVE  a 6–9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG t 020 7451 2500 w royalsociety.org/collections/ catalogue-search The collection includes 18th-century weather records, and the papers of key figures in the history of meteorology. BOOKS The Diary of a Country Parson, 1758–1802 James Woodforde Canterbury Press, 2011 This edition of Woodforde’s diary is edited by John…

597 Canterbury Cathedral is founded. 1387 Ships and more than 8,000 casks of wine are captured at the Battle of Margate, a decisive confrontation in the Hundred Years’ War. 1520 The first English hop garden is created near Canterbury. 1581 The first dry dock opens at Chatham. The keel for HMS Victory is laid down at Chatham Dockyard in 1759. 1617 The funeral of Pocahontas takes place in the parish of St George’s Church, Gravesend. 1821 Nine-year-old Charles Dickens walks past Gad’s Hill Place. He buys the house in 1856. 1862 Ghost-story author MR James is born in Goodnestone, Kent. 1920 The oldest surviving rollercoaster in Britain, the Scenic Railway, opens at Dreamland, Margate. 1968 A passenger hovercraft runs from Dover to Boulogne. The service operates until 2000.…

BELSEY  There were 305 Belsey households recorded in Kent in 1891, 65 per cent of all of the Belsey families in England and Wales. BING  This is a topographic name for someone who lives near a bing, a Danish word for an animal pen, stable or stall. BRENCHLEY  This habitational name comes from a village near Royal Tunbridge Wells. CHITTENDEN  Another habitational name; the word itself is thought to derive from the Old English personal name Citta. COUCHMAN  This is an occupational name for a maker of beds. EPPS  This name derives from various personal names, such as the Old English name Eoppa. FAGG  This is an occupational name for a fishmonger or baker. HOLNESS  This habitational name derives from a holly-covered hill. More than half of all of the…

Edith Cornelia Crosse is a legend in her family. A beautiful, intelligent and vivacious society lady, she rejected the comforts of her privileged life to follow her heart – and paid a heavy price for this decision. Edith was known to family and friends by her Hungarian nickname Yoï (rhymes with Joey). She is a distant cousin of John Porter, who has written a book about her life. “I didn’t know about Yoï until I began looking into the Crosse family of Somerset,” John explains. “We are related to Andrew Crosse, a pioneer of electricity who used to carry out daring – and noisy – experiments at his stately home. “Yoï was his granddaughter and she was born in 1877 in Tállya, north-east Hungary, where her parents owned a vineyard.…