Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2021 i Who Do You Think You Are?

I’ve got a confession to make. All these years of family history and I still haven’t broken into the 1600s. My earliest record is a baptism for the helpfully named Ambrose Green in 1729. I can see hints from other trees that connect to mine but I’m nervous about accepting other people’s research, especially for these early years. I’ve also got so much to occupy me on my tree with 300 years of family that it’s tempting to put off those earlier generations for another day. But not any more! Janet Few has inspired me to get stuck in and step back into a world of civil war, plague and puritans (page 16). For those of you not quite ready to make that next step, there’s plenty more in this…

I can’t compete with the 51-year ‘engagement’ described by Sue Wicker in her letter (January), but my maternal grandparents Charles Fisher and Minnie Neal only married after two children and 17 years had passed following their first meeting. They did, however, have a good reason for delaying their wedding. They met in Islington in about 1920, and the story goes that they disappeared for a couple of days and returned to say they were married. Fast-forward 17 years and my mum, aged 12, recalled her shock when returning home to meet her father on the doorstep, as he announced in a distracted way that her “mother had died”. She was understandably panic-stricken, but quickly discovered her mum safe and well indoors. No further explanation was given at the time. Shortly…

Staff at The National Archives in Kew want to hear from anyone who has run a citizen-research project online as part of the new initiative ‘Engaging Crowds: Citizen Research and Heritage Data at Scale’ (tanc-ahrc.github.io/Engaging Crowds). They want to understand how successful the project was, what the experience was like for organisers and digital volunteers, and whether there were any surprises. They are interested in hearing from community groups, libraries, museums, galleries, archives and other heritage organisations, and want to see any findings about the project’s outcome in the form of a summary or internal report, blog post, Twitter thread, website, published newspaper or academic article, or book. Email research@nationalarchives. gov.uk by 28 February to take part.…

Family history website Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk) has added a new collection of 229,276 nonconformist records from Wiltshire, dating from 1810 to 1987. The records include baptisms, marriages and burials, and cover Methodist, Baptist, Quaker, Presbyterian, Congregationalist and Catholic congregations. As well as showing your nonconformist ancestors’ dates of birth, marriage and death, the records can be used to reveal additional details such as their parents’ names. The records set also includes the surviving rolls of members for some churches. These act as an alternative to a census, listing each member of the congregation for that year with their residence and profession as well as the date that they were admitted to the church. The collections has been added as part of Ancestry’s partnership with Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council. Ancestry…

93,917 The number of Gloucestershire nonconformist parish records added to family search.org £81,900 The price paid for the key to the room on St Helena where Napoleon Bonaparte died. It was sold at auction by descendants of a Scottish soldier who guarded him 20,000 The number of Catholic baptism records for Killenaule, South Tipperary, added to rootsireland.ie myDNA The health DNA testing company has announced a merger with FamilyTreeDNA 55,000 The number of headstone records from 174 churchyards and cemeteries added to the genealogist.co.uk…

ROOTSTECH CONNECT 25–27 February w rootstech.org In response to the coronavirus pandemic, RootsTech, the world’s largest family history show, is going online, global and free for the first time. Don’t miss three jam-packed days of talks, family history classes in multiple languages, and cultural activities including cooking demonstrations, music and yoga. US genealogist Sharon Morgan, Australian motivational speaker Nick Vujicic, Italian pianist and composer Francesco Lotoro and Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa will all deliver keynote speeches about the power of genealogy. There’s also a virtual marketplace with the chance to try out the latest products from hundreds of family history companies, and messaging boards to chat with other attendees. You can find out more on page 9, and we hope to see you there! Free (pre-registration necessary).…

1601 The Elizabethan Poor Law This sets out a system that acknowledged three categories of pauper, and regulated poor relief for over 200 years. 1605 The Gunpowder Plot Robert Catesby and his fellow conspirators attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in response to James I’s persecution of Catholics. 1620 The sailing of the Mayflower Two decades of departures known as the Great Migration begin when Puritans and other emigrants left for the New World. 1642–1651 The English Civil War Battles between Charles I and Parliament lead to the beheading of the king in 1649 and the Puritan Oliver Cromwell ruling as Lord Protector. 1652–1674 The Anglo-Dutch Wars This conflict with the Dutch Republic, a fellow Protestant country, stems from disagreements over trade and colonies. 1661–1665 The Clarendon…

BOOKS Church Court Records Anne Tarver Phillimore, 1995 This valuable guide is aimed at family and local historians. Coffers, Clysters, Comfrey and Coifs Janet Few Family History Partnership, 2012 Janet explores 17th-century life. Pre-1841 Censuses and Population Listings in the British Isles Colin Chapman Clearfield, 2012 Learn more about resources for uncovering your relations’ details. WEBSITES THE CHURCHWARDENS’ ACCOUNTS DATABASE w bit.ly/wardens-accounts Search this very useful resource. ENGLISH WITCH TRIALS w witchtrials.co.uk/trials.html This site includes a list of those tried for witchcraft all over England. THE HARLEIAN SOCIETY w harleian.org.uk The society has published copies of many heraldic visitations. HEARTH TAX DIGITAL w gams.uni-graz.at/context:htx Browse or search the returns. THE MANORIAL DOCUMENTS REGISTER w bit.ly/manorial-docs-register Identify manors and locate records. OLD BAILEY ONLINE w oldbaileyonline.org Search cases in London’s Central…

1 On the site’s homepage thegenealogist. co.uk enter the surname of interest and click ‘Search’. In the list of filters on the left click ‘Census’ to access a dropdown menu with all of the censuses for England and Wales from 1841 to 1911. Click the year of interest followed by ‘View a map of results’. 2 For each census year you can generate a ‘heat map’ that shows the distribution of your surname in England and Wales. Hover your cursor over a location on the map to see the figure for each named county. There is also a table where you can see the total for every county simultaneously. 3 The site also provides free access to a map showing the distribution of surnames in the 1940 US census. After…

BOOKS Researching Surnames Julie Goucher The Guild of One-Name Studies This concise booklet introduces the concept of one-name studies, and is available from one-name.org/ welcome-to-the-guild-shop. Seven Pillars of Wisdom The Guild of One-Name Studies Compiled by Guild members this covers the principles of one-name studies. Available from the Guild’s shop and as a Kindle book. COURSES PHAROS TUTORS w pharostutors.com Pharos Tutors offers online courses on one-name studies. DATABASE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF FAMILY NAMES IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND P Hanks, R Coates and P McClure Discover the meaning, origin and distribution of more than 45,000 surnames. Available for some library members and at the Society of Genealogists in London. SOFTWARE SURNAME ATLAS This tool for mapping surname frequencies and distributions in England, Scotland and Wales in 1881 is available…

DEVON MILITIA LISTS w genuki.org.uk/big/eng/dev/militaryhistory/ militialists Some transcriptions of Devon militia lists are available via GENUKI. FAMILYSEARCH w bit.ly/familysearch-english-militia The extensive FamilySearch Wiki includes a guide to militia records in England. THE GAZETTE w thegazette.co.uk The Gazette published details of appointments and commissions for militia officers. THEGENEALOGIST w thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2013/ militia-records-121/ This article introduces the English and Welsh militia muster lists collection launched in 2013. GENGUIDE w genguide.co.uk/source/militia-records-military This excellent page includes many useful links and suggestions for further reading. GLASGOW MILITIA w glasgowfamilyhistory.org.uk/ExploreRecords/Pages/Militia.aspx Learn more about the Glasgow militia records held at the Mitchell Library. HAMPSHIRE MILITIA w hants.gov.uk/librariesandarchives/archives/ collections/militialists This is another example of the useful information you might find at a local record office. NATIONAL RECORDS OF SCOTLAND w bit.ly/nrs-militia Don’t miss the NRS’s guide to the militia…

BOOKS Glory Gone: The Story of Nailing in Bromsgrove Bill Kings and Margaret Cooper Halfshire Books, 1989 This comprehensive account of nail-making in Bromsgrove is available second-hand. The White Slaves of England Robert Harborough Sherard James Bowden, 1897 This book describes the conditions of nail-makers in Worcestershire at the end of the 19th century, and is available for free from the Internet Archive at bit.ly/arch-white-slaves. SOCIETY BELPER HISTORICAL SOCIETY w belperhistoricalsociety.co.uk The society has information about nail-making in this Derbyshire community, which was renowned for horse nails. MIKE SHARPE is a genealogist. His books include Tracing Your Potteries Ancestors (Pen & Sword, 2019)…

DISCOVERY w discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk Search the catalogues of 2,500 archives across the country via the ‘Advanced search’ facility of The National Archives’ catalogue. FAMILYSEARCH w familysearch.org/wiki/en The FamilySearch Wiki has parish information including register details, indexes, transcripts and online availability. GENUKI w genuki.org.uk This virtual genealogical reference library includes church records. Coverage and information vary from parish to parish.…

1 FIRST STEPS The National Library of Australia (nla.gov.au) is a great starting point. It offers information on finding ancestors via electoral rolls, military records and business directories. 2 FAMILY NOTICES Australian newspapers and magazines are free to search at trove.nla.gov.au. This excellent resource may reveal potential leads via family notices and news stories. 3 PASSENGER MANIFESTS There is no national index of entry to Australia, but Findmypast (findmypast.co.uk) has manifests for people leaving the UK at bit.ly/fmp-leavers-1890-1960.…

BOOKS Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England Roy Adkins and Lesley Adkins Little, Brown, 2013 This detailed exploration of daily life and experiences draws upon contemporary accounts. Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen Sarah Jane Downing Shire Publications, 2010 You will find colourful images and interesting information in this concise overview of fashion during the Regency period. The Jane Austen Handbook Margaret Sullivan Quirk Books, 2007 Sullivan provides an entertaining guide to behaviour from the world of Austen’s novels. The Regency Revolution Robert Morrison Atlantic Books, 2019 Morrison’s engaging account of the Regency era includes social, cultural and economic history. WEBSITES THE GEORGIAN PAPERS PROGRAMME w gpp.rct.uk Search a catalogue of digitised papers relating to the Georgian monarchs, held at the Royal Archives and the Royal Library at Windsor Castle.…

DIRECTORIES w bit.ly/special-hants Hampshire-wide volumes on the University of Leicester’s website Special Collections Online include a Pigot’s directory (1828) and a Kelly’s edition (1898). There are directories for Winchester too. ISLE OF WIGHT GRAVES w rshg.org.uk/grave-search The website of Ryde Social Heritage Group has a database of more than 23,000 records from local cemeteries. ISLE OF WIGHT DATABASES w bit.ly/iow-databases The website of the Isle of Wight Record Office has free databases and finding aids including alehouse licences, apprenticeship indentures, the Cowes Registry of Shipping, indictments, paupers’ lists, sacrament certificates, an index to the 1841 census, and a marriage register index for 1837–1900. PARISH REGISTERS w bit.ly/fs-hants Among the billions of records on FamilySearch (family search.org ), the world’s biggest free website for family history, are parish registers for Hampshire…

ARCHIVES AND LIBRARIES HAMPSHIRE ARCHIVES AND LOCAL STUDIES a Hampshire Record Office, Sussex Street, Winchester SO23 8TH t 01962 846154 e archives.enquiries@hants.gov. uk w hants.gov.uk/archives The website has details of the archive’s parish registers, electoral registers, newspapers, cemetery and burial records, Bishops’ Transcripts and more. The catalogue (calm.hants.gov. uk) includes lists of wills and inventories of Hampshire and Isle of Wight from 1398 to 1941. The building also houses the local studies collection and Wessex Film and Sound Archive. The latter includes more than 22,000 cinefilm and video recordings, together with over 16,000 sound recordings. You can explore some highlights at youtube.com/user/ WessexFilmArchive. ISLE OF WIGHT RECORD OFFICE  a 26 Hillside, Newport, Isle of Wight PO30 2EB t 01983 823820 e record.office@iow.gov.uk w bit.ly/iow-record-office The record office looks after parish,…

A HISTORY OF BRITISH BAKING FROM BLOOD BREAD TO BAKE-OFF EMMA KAY Pen & Sword, 224 pages, £25 A History Of British Baking covers just about every aspect of baking that you can think of, and as many again of those you cannot. Historical content includes the Assize of Bread and Ale, where miscreants were tried for a shortfall in the specified weight of a loaf or adulteration of beer; the pie that contained a live dwarf and delighted a French queen; and the little doll-like suffragette cakes that appeared in 1908. The book’s author Emma Kay also reminds us of the delicious biscuits produced by Peek Freans and Huntley & Palmers. For family historians there are explanations of a host of unusual old terms that are so often encountered…

JANET FEW You won’t find anyone more enthusiastic about 17th-century research than Janet. She has recently written a novel set in the period, and on page 16 shares some family history tips. DANIEL WEINBREN Daniel is a historian and author of Tracing Your Freemason, Friendly Society and Trade Union Ancestors. Discover Freemasons on page 52 with his ‘Record Masterclass’. JAD ADAMS Journalist and historian Jad Adams wrote our ‘Behind the Headlines’ series for many years. His new series looks at census records from 1801 onwards. Explore 1831 on page 79.…

Civil records from France go online at My Heritage Family history website My Heritage (myheritage.com) has added two major collections of civil records from the French department of Nord. There are 6.7 million birth records, dating from 1820 to 1915, and 6.9 million death records, dating from 1820 to 1935. Although the records are available on other sites, the My Heritage collections feature additional information. For example, the birth records include the child’s birthplace, both parents’ names, and the mother’s maiden name. Thousands of Scottish maps made freely available The National Library of Scotland has added new collections to its free maps website maps.nls.uk. The additions include 214 commercial maps of Scotland, dating from the 1870s to the 1930s and primarily drawn at a half-inch or quarter-inch to the mile;…

Rare historic film of Europe from as early as 1897 has been released on the British Film Institute’s (BFI’s) online player. BFI National Archive has collaborated with Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to produce The Brilliant Biograph, a 52-minute compilation of newly restored rare 68mm footage dating from 1897 to 1902. The compilation includes the first-ever moving images of important events such as the coronation of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and the launch of the transatlantic liner RMS Oceanic, as well as footage of street scenes ranging from Venice’s Grand Canal to Southampton High Street. There are also spectacular performances by acrobats and dance troupes; and a display of firepower from the battleship Odin. All of the films were photographed using the unique large-format 68mm Mutograph camera, which…

SHADOWY FIGURES Alan Crosby wonders if he’ll ever manage to solve all the enigmas in his family tree The fringes of my tree are populated by a shadowy group of people, a crowd of hardly visible figures whose one-time existence is known, or assumed, but about whom I know next to nothing. The definitive list on my family tree program has them at the beginning, starting with someone called simply “?” and identified as “3rd cousin’s wife”. From that anonymous lady onwards there are dozens and dozens of them, lacking surnames: “Elizabeth” (first cousin twice-removed’s wife), “Jane Anne” (3x great uncle’s wife) or “Hannah” (half-second cousin four-times-removed’s wife). Then there are quite a few labelled merely as “unknown” (for example, second cousin seven-times-removed’s husband). More exotically, the list includes “unknown…

Nathaniel is one of the characters in my fact-based historical novel Sins as Red as Scarlet (Blue Poppy Publishing, 2020), which is set in 17th-century Devon and chronicles the events that led up to a witchcraft trial. Nathaniel’s life is well documented, and he features in a range of sources as well the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (oxforddnb.com). His baptism and burial appear in the parish registers. Although he was for some time a fervent Dissenter, Nathaniel was also a clergyman in the Anglican Church, so he appears in the Clergy of the Church of England Database (theclergydatabase.org.uk). From The National Archives’ (TNA’s) series ‘Registers of Licences to Pass Beyond the Seas’ indexed on Findmypast (findmypast. co.uk) I learnt of his visits to Leyden and France. Nathaniel was accused…

The Ruby One-Name Study provides an excellent example of collaborative working. It was a one-year project running from 2018 to 2019 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the guild, and to showcase best practices for one-name studies. Thirty-five guild members collaborated on the research, and by the end had accumulated a database of more than 16,000 people in many countries around the world. The focus of the study was on family reconstruction, which they thought would be the most visible output of interest to outsiders. One of the challenges of collaborative working was finding a method of standardising the way that the members of the team worked together. They produced a style guide, and decided to focus on a few core datasets for each country to make sure that they…

My granny, who would have been eight at the time, remembered her father putting on his Sunday best and going out with other people from the village to collect the bodies that were washing up on the shore.” This was the aftermath of the Iolaire sea disaster in 1919. And when William Cumming, a maths teacher living in Gateshead, began tracing his ancestors from near Stornoway, he discovered that many more of them had been touched by maritime disasters. Some of these feature in three booklets he has published about the history of the area. “Every summer, when I was a child, my parents would take me and my brothers up to the Outer Hebrides, which was very different to the south of Scotland where we grew up,” says William.…

Am I descended from a pirate called Captain Blood? Q My grandmother, Kate Beatrice Bidgood (née Blood), once told me that she had a notorious ancestor – a pirate named Captain Blood. I think it’s possible this was Colonel Thomas Blood, who stole the Crown Jewels in 1671. I have gone back on Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk) as far as my 4x great grandfather Robert Blood, who died in Lichfield, Staffordshire, in November 1788. Thomas Blood’s ancestors came from Makeney near Duffield, Derbyshire. Can you confirm my suspicions? Jim O’Sullivan A The lives of seafaring ancestors are often exaggerated down the generations. Elderly relatives told me that I had an ancestor who was a fearsome pirate with a hook for a hand. Actually, he was a cargo ship’s captain who lost his…

Can you tell me anything about these two soldiers? Q Can you help me with some photographs in an old family album? Two are of soldiers. If I knew the regiments and approximate year it might help me work out who they are. Janet Jacob A These photographs depict two Welsh Regiment soldiers, both photographed in a studio, but at least a generation apart. The earlier one, with the spiked helmet, dates from the 1880s and is probably a Rifle Volunteer. The other dates from approximately the First World War. The earlier soldier is probably a member of V Company, 2nd Admin Battalion, the Glamorganshire Volunteers (originally formed as the 19th Company in Pontypridd). In 1887 the battalion became 3rd (Volunteer) Battalion, Welsh Regiment. Volunteer soldier records are sparse (many…

Located in Loughborough in Leicestershire, John Taylor & Co is one of the oldest bell foundries in the world and has been run by the Taylor family since 1784. The company’s archive includes a set of inscription books recording the messages cast on the countless bells that its workers have made. As archivist Chris Pickford reveals, the stories contained in these inscriptions feature commemoration as well as celebration. CAN YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE BOOKS? Bells have had inscriptions cast on them since the 13th century. In medieval times the text was very often religious, but from the 16th century onwards people started to get a lot more adventurous, so there are some quite humorous inscriptions on old bells, as well as the names of parish officials and religious…

BOOKS Freemasonry: A Very Short Introduction Andreas Önnerfors Oxford University Press, 2017 This guide to Freemasonry includes its rituals, symbols and practices. Masonic Records 1717–1894, 2nd Edition John Lane United Grand Lodge of England, 1895 This important source can be downloaded for free from the Internet Archive at bit.ly/arch-masonic. MUSEUM MUSEUM OF FREEMASONRY a Freemasons’ Hall, 60 Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AZ t 020 7395 9257 w museumfreemasonry. org.uk As well as a range of interesting exhibits, the UGLE’s museum has a library and archives. WEBSITE LANE’S MASONIC DATABASE w dhi.ac.uk/lane This searchable database of all of the lodges that have been established by the English Grand Lodges, from the foundation of the first Grand Lodge in 1717 until 2010, is largely based on Lane’s work.…

As an unregulated occupation, there are few specialised records relating to nail-makers. Formal apprenticeships were rare, and where they did occur will be in parish apprenticeship records; Worcestershire Archives has an online index at bit.ly/worcs-arch-apprentices. Since nailing families often lived on the edge economically, you may find them in Poor Law records receiving support from the parish or workhouse. Newspapers may carry reports of strikes and of campaigns set up to help the nailers improve their conditions, so search britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk. Your ancestors may also turn up in court records as a result of a dispute with a nail-master or fogger. In addition, local archives may have nailers’ account books. For example, Derbyshire Record Office (derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/ record-office/derbyshire-record-office.aspx) has one for Samuel Mason, a Belper nailer (D1370/ZB/1). Weekly entries for 1872–1882 show…

1 STREATHAM In 1827 the parish of Streatham was in Surrey. It was incorporated into the County of London in 1889, under the 1888 Local Government Act, and its registers are held by London Metropolitan Archives. 2 FORMAT The register is in the form introduced under the 1812 Act “for the better regulating and preserving parish and other registers” – ‘Rose’s Act’ – which came into force on 1 January 1813. 3 BIRTH The dates of birth of those who were baptised have been added in the margin. This was quite common practice by many clerks and incumbents, even though Rose’s Act did not require it. 4 ILLEGITIMACY The entry for Frances Cakebread, who was born in the workhouse, is annotated “Illegitimate”. Often illegitimacy has to be inferred from the…

BOOKS Birth, Marriage and Death Records David Annal and Audrey Collins Pen & Sword, 2012 This comprehensive guide covers both civil and ecclesiastical records. The Parish Atlas of England Tim CH Cockin Malthouse Press, 2017 Discover the pre-1844 parish boundaries based on the early Ordnance Survey six-inch plans. Tracing Your Ancestors’ Parish Records Stuart A Raymond Pen & Sword, 2015 This wide-ranging review of parish records includes baptism registers. WEBSITES DUSTYDOCS w dustydocs.com This excellent resource has links to free websites in the British Isles that contain parish records. FOREBEARS w forebears.io The site brings together the wide variety of genealogical sources that are available online and offline.…

Hampshire has an impressive variety of heritage attractions, research hubs and museum collections on offer for family historians. Although all of the city and county collections are currently closed because of Covid-19, staff are working hard towards longer periods of stability. The county is home to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, the ‘military quarter’ of regimental museums in Winchester, and the medieval walls of Southampton. It was here that in 1909 Noel Pemberton-Billing purchased engineering workshops on 3,000 acres of land. The Pemberton-Billing company would eventually become better known by the name Supermarine, producing the Spitfire fighter during the Second World War, alongside many other aircraft including seaplanes and flying boats. Indeed the company won the Schneider Trophy, a seaplane race held between 1913 and 1931, three times in a row. SOUTHAMPTON…

BUCKETT  The census districts of Brading, Portsea, Shalfleet and Titchfield have all been hotspots for the name Buckett. CHIVERTON  This prominent local surname derives from an Old English personal name and the word tun meaning ‘farm’. DOWNER  This is a topographic surname for someone who lived in an area of downland. Nearly half of all of the Downers who were recorded in 1891 resided in Hampshire. FREEMANTLE  The habitational name Freemantle is related to a suburb and electoral ward in Southampton. HAYLES  It’s possible that this surname has its origins in a nickname for someone stout or brave, from the Anglo-Saxon word hale . HOLDAWAY  This variant of Holloway is scattered throughout Hampshire. MEW  This may have begun as a nickname related to the Old English word for a seagull.…

The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick Maker Roger Hutchinson Abacus, 2017 Hutchinson presents a concise guide to the census. Comparative Account of the Population of Great Britain in the Years 1801, 1811, 1821, and 1831 House of Commons, 1831 w bit.ly/arch-comp-accnt This report with household and population statistics is available for free on the Internet Archive. Making Sense of the Census Revisited Edward Higgs Institute of Historical Research and TNA, 2005 Higgs explains census records for England and Wales from 1801 to 1901. Pre-1841 Censuses and Population Listings in the British Isles Colin R Chapman Lochin Publishing, 2002 Chapman highlights some of the records that are less often used.…

VIDEO COLETTE  bit.ly/guardian-colette Free This moving 25-minute documentary on the website of the Guardian follows 90-year-old Colette Marin-Catherine, a former French Resistance fighter, and 17-year-old history student Lucie Fouble as they visit Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp in Germany where Colette’s brother Jean-Pierre died 75 years ago. WEBSITE HOW CAN I FIND OUT ABOUT MY GARDENING ANCESTORS?  bit.ly/rhs-ancestors Free If one of your ancestors worked as a gardener, don’t miss this short online research guide from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), which includes basic guides to the different types of gardening profession and the RHS Libraries resources that are available for you to use in your research. PODCAST THE PRINCES IN THE TOWER: A MEDIEVAL MURDER MYSTERY  Spotify/Apple Podcasts Free In 1483, 12-year-old Edward V and his nine-year-old brother Prince Richard were…

COURT RECORDS Jason also found a convict in his tree, his 3x great grandfather Joseph Lyons. Joseph was originally from London, where he was put on trial for handling stolen goods in 1841. We found the details at the free website Proceedings of the Old Bailey, which has the records of 197,745 criminal trials: old baileyonline.org . The above image can be seen at bit.ly/old-bailey-lyons. TASMANIAN CONVICT DATABASE Joseph was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in Tasmania, known at the time as Van Diemen’s Land. Tasmanian Archives and Heritage has created a database for its convict records, which can be searched for free at https:// librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/names. We found Joseph’s conduct record here, which can be seen at https://stors.tas.gov. au/CON33-1-23$init=CON33-1-23p122.…

WIN an AncestryDNA test kit from ancestry.co.uk WORTH £79  The writer of our star letter wins an AncestryDNA test worth £79 – so drop us a line and share your thoughts with us. NOTTINGHAM PUBLICANS I was interested to read Simon Fowler’s ‘Record Masterclass’ on Victuallers’ Licences in the January issue. I am pleased to say that back in 1994 the Nottinghamshire Family History Society published a list of nearly 2,000 such licences that were issued in the Borough of Nottingham between 1756 and 1769. Each entry lists the landlord and the name of the public house in question, along with the names of two sureties and their occupations. Then there are added insights such as one landlady who was “ill” on 24 May 1757, “very ill” on 22 May…

Family history website Findmypast (findmypast.co.uk) has launched a new look for its online family trees. The updated features include showing five full generations at once, and a sidebar menu allowing easier editing of ancestors’ profiles. There are also new capabilities to zoom in and out on specific individuals or branches; easily return to a family tree’s ‘home person’ by selecting the house icon; and highlight ‘focus’ individuals for easier navigation. The move follows the introduction of other tools allowing users to view messages from each other, and view hints from each other’s trees.…

ONLINE DEVON FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Various dates e virtualtalks@devonfhs.org.uk w devonfhs.org.uk The topics of upcoming virtual talks from Devon Family History Society include the salmon fishermen of Stoke Gabriel (12 February) and Devon’s suffrage activists (13 February). Free. INSTITUTE OF HERALDIC AND GENEALOGICAL STUDIES Various dates e registrar@ihgs.ac.uk w bit.ly/ihgs-zoom-tutorials The IHGS has a programme of Zoom tutorials on all aspects of family history. Forthcoming topics include promoting your family history online and house history for beginners. £10 each. VIRTUAL BOOK LAUNCH: THE LAST GHETTO 9 February e lsebirehawkins@wiener holocaustlibrary.org w bit.ly/wiener-last-ghetto In this event from London’s Wiener Holocaust Library, Dr Anna Hájková will discuss her new book The Last Ghetto – an Everyday History of Theresienstadt. The ghetto was operated by the Nazis between 1941 and 1945. Free. ANCESTORS…

PARISH REGISTERS Some registers no longer survive or have gaps, particularly during the Commonwealth period. Entries may be brief, difficult to read and in Latin. HERALDIC VISITATIONS Pedigrees of armigerous families are held at the heraldic authority the College of Arms in London; you can also find copies in the British Library. Fortunately those for some counties are in print. DEEDS AND LEASES These are likely to be found in local archives. ‘Feet of fines’, found at TNA, are records of fictitious court cases allowing land to be transferred. WILLS Wills, sometimes with an inventory attached, are found in local archives or The National Archives (TNA). All wills proved from 1653 to 1660 are at TNA. PROTESTATION RETURNS This list of those confirming a belief in Protestantism and support for…

Sue Swalwell started researching her tree just over 30 years ago. Since Swalwell is a relatively rare surname, she began collecting information on all of the individuals who carried it. This evolved into a one-name study, and she registered the name with the guild in 2012. Sue has a database of nearly 7,000 individuals who are grouped into 14 separate branches. Sue has set up a guild profile page and a Facebook group for the surname. She has a fledgling DNA project that was initiated when she tested her 93-year-old father who was the last surviving male of her own personal Swalwell line. A newly established study website has been set up as part of the Members’ Websites Project. Surname mapping shows that the Swalwell surname was heavily concentrated in…

ANCESTRY w ancestry.com/learn/facts Find out the distribution of a certain surname in the US census from 1840 to 1920, with numbers and percentages for each state, and view maps of the distribution. IRISH ANCESTORS w johngrenham.com/surnames Discover maps showing surname distributions in the 1901 and 1911 censuses and Griffith’s Valuation (1847–1864), plus birth locations (1864–1913). FOREBEARS w forebears.io/surnames This website reveals the global distribution of a surname in 2014, and the number of present-day bearers. Click on the map for regional breakdowns where available. ISOGG w isogg.org/wiki/surname_mapping This list on the International Society of Genetic Genealogy’s wiki includes links to lots of useful sources for mapping surnames in many continental European countries.…

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND w nls.uk The small communities of the Outer Hebrides have passed down a lot of material of interest to family historians via oral history. Individuals, such as Celtic scholar Rev William Matheson, have recorded what they could. His writings can be viewed at the NLS. NATIONAL RECORDS OF SCOTLAND w nrscotland.gov.uk The NRS holds many records relating to the Outer Hebrides. William came across a letter in a miscellaneous collection than took one family branch back a further generation. STORNOWAY TRUST w stornowaytrust.org.uk The rentals for the Hebrides can help you piece together families who lived in the area and their movements. They aren’t yet online, so William consulted the ledgers at the Stornoway Trust.…

Q I have been given this digital photo, which I think shows my 3x great grandparents Henry and Jane Hatton, and wonder if you could date it? Henry was born in 1815 and Jane in 1813, and both lived in Reading. Their 50th wedding anniversary was in 1892 – was this the occasion for the photograph? Linda Kent A This card-mounted studio portrait looks like a carte de visite , the most popular Victorian photographic format. Information regarding the named photographers, Appleton & Spencer of Reading, is elusive. I contacted cartedevisite.co.uk without success. However, the visual image and style of the studio’s card mount together provide a firm timeframe. The subjects’ conservative appearance indicates the mid-to-late 1880s/the turn of the 1890s. They are elderly, possibly in their 70s, fitting with…

The militia holds a particular place in the hearts of family historians, because the lists that were compiled in order to muster local forces comprise a sort-of ‘pre-census’ census of able-bodied men. Each parish would draw up lists of adult males, before holding a ballot to choose who would serve. The process generated a lot of written records, but many of them are scattered and fragmentary. There are a host of places where you may find militia lists or muster rolls – local museums, county archives, regimental museums and national repositories. That creates a confusing situation, but fortunately The National Archives’ website provides an excellent starting point for searches. You can use its online catalogue at discovery.nationalarchives.gov. uk to make specific searches of archival holdings across the country, find references…

Nails are an essential technology, whose production dates back millennia. Any village blacksmith would have been able to make nails, for horseshoes for example. In medieval times, as demand grew and applications diversified, specialist centres of production emerged. In England, two areas in particular became associated with the nail-making trade: Belper in Derbyshire and communities in the Black Country, to the south and west of Birmingham. In Bromsgrove, north Worcestershire, nail-making dominated the economy to such an extent that it was known locally as ‘Nail Town’. Clusters were also found around Cramond and Kirkcaldy on Scotland’s east coast. Each of these areas exhibited similar characteristics: easy access by sea or canal (and later the railways), and proximity to the raw materials needed to make nails – coal and ironstone. ‘Nailers…

Anyone who’s been asked to share their tree as a GEDCOM file knows the potential issue involved: your tree is only 100 percent relevant to you and your siblings. Most requests come from researchers who are only interested in a particular branch, so how do you go about producing a truncated tree containing just the information they need? Most family history programs allow you to export part of your tree as a GEDCOM file, but if you store your tree on the web, then your options are more restricted. Thankfully, you no longer need to run a downloaded GEDCOM file through a third-party program to produce a truncated version. Geneanet (en.geneanet.org) has just added a selective-export option allowing you to pick a single ancestor and export a family tree containing…

The turn of the 20th century was a time of increasing social mobility in Britain. Compulsory education was gifting academic children promising opportunities, and in adulthood their skills were in demand overseas. Many of our ancestors continued the 19th-century trend of emigrating to Australia and the USA. However, the travelling time and distance often led to families losing contact with loved ones. Kenneth Atkinson was keen to discover what had happened to his globe-trotting ancestors. MY BRICK WALL I started my research 30 years ago with a great unknown. What happened to my dad’s uncle Prof Meredith Atkinson, who was born in 1883 and emigrated to Australia? We were in touch with all of Dad’s first cousins in northeast England, but Meredith’s descendants were a mystery. I knew that Meredith…

Born in August 1762, George Augustus Frederick was the first child and eldest son of George III and Queen Charlotte. He acted as Regent from 1811 to 1820, then reigned as George IV until his death. Able to charm, and with manners that could be extremely pleasing, the prince was known as the ‘First Gentleman of Europe’. He was also a patron of art and architecture. However, he spent extortionately, drank heavily and his behaviour shocked the public. In December 1785 George married Maria Fitzherbert, a twice-widowed Roman Catholic. The marriage was illegal, because it contravened the 1772 Royal Marriages Act. Although the ceremony was conducted secretly, it was a well-known scandal, and the marriage was regarded as invalid. In exchange for relief from his debts, the prince married his…

1043 Edward the Confessor (left) is crowned in Winchester Cathedral. He reigns until his death in 1066. 1194 Richard I orders the construction of the first dock on the site of what will become Portsmouth. The oldest dry dock in the world is built here in 1495. 1510 A letter is sent ordering the construction of the Mary Rose and sister ship the Peter Pomegranate. 1620 The Mayflower sets sail from Southampton. It will make an extended stop at Plymouth before crossing the Atlantic. 1775 Jane Austen is born on 16 December at Steventon Rectory near Basingstoke. 1812 Charles Dickens is born on 7 February in Mile End Terrace, Portsmouth. 1841 The national mapping agency Ordnance Survey moves to a new home in Southampton following a fire at its Tower…

Charles Grey was born in Fallodon, Northumberland, on 13 March 1764 and attended Eton and Cambridge. He was elected to the House of Commons at the age of 22, and quickly became one of the leaders of the Whig Party and a proponent of many reform movements. Grey became Earl Grey on the death of his father in 1807. He was foreign secretary for a short period before being in opposition for 23 years. Grey’s period of office as prime minister was short, from November 1830 to July 1834, but he was one of the most influential premiers. He carried through the Reform Act, the abolition of slavery, and restrictions on the employment of children. He finally resigned because of disagreements with his colleagues over Ireland. Earl Grey tea is…

FAMILY HISTORIAN 7 PCs running Windows Vista or later £59.95 Family Historian is the ultimate ‘power tool’ for experienced genealogists. Almost six years after the last major release of the software, version 7 arrives with a spring in its step and the focus very much on its existing users, with most of its changes based on customer requests. There are too many to list here, but two areas receive the most attention. First, much is made of Family Historian’s new integrated word-processing features, allowing you to introduce formatted text as well as tables, embedded source citations and other elements into your text fields and notes, all of which are then replicated in reports, books, web pages and more. The feature is accompanied by a new floating Note Window with word-processing…

What made you want to write the book? Most readers assume that I wrote the book because of my family history, but actually I was very worried about the political situation in Europe and the USA in 2016. Populist parties in France, Germany and Eastern Europe, and also in Italy, Great Britain and the USA, started to be very successful, and among these parties there were many who have a very nostalgic connection to Europe’s fascist past. And so I was wondering: if these parties are popular today, does it mean that we have failed to remember what happened in the 1930s and during the Second World War? Have we failed in our duty of keeping the past alive in order to learn from it? These were the questions I…