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

We all have a tendency to stick with what we know. My family tree, along with most of my research, sits online in the same place it has always been. I know that a lot of you have family tree software on your computer that you use in your research, but are you missing out by not upgrading to the very latest version, or for that matter switching to a different program altogether? For anyone wrestling with these questions, our six-page buyer’s guide on page 16 will help you to make a decision. It has certainly made me wonder whether I’m missing out on some of the reporting flexibility and other benefits of software versus online trees. We’ve also got an introduction (and an exclusive discount) to the Society of…

I bought the February issue of WDYTYA? Magazine mainly because of the ‘Around Britain’ article on Wiltshire records, intending to use any links that were new to me to research one of my ancestors who was born in Goatacre, part of the Hilmarton parish in Wiltshire. Before I moved onto my computer, I read the ‘Off the Record’ article about annotations and comments written in the margins of parish register books. Alan Crosby ended his article with a baptismal record from the Hilmarton parish register: “Baptised, 2 Feb 1806, Aaron son of Olivia Draper of Goatacre, who was sold by William Draper her husband in Calne market to James Harper her brother-in-law with whom she now shamefully cohabits.” Alan finished with the throwaway question, “Who wouldn’t want that story in…

Volunteers are invited to help transcribe the registers of a First World War military hospital for Men of Worth, a project researching the service of men and women from Keighley and the Worth Valley in West Yorkshire. Volunteers have already transcribed all 13,214 names from the Keighley War Hospital registers, but help is needed to check their work against the images. The transcribed registers will be made available via Keighley Library and possibly online. The hospital treated British soldiers as well as German prisoners of war from a local camp. To volunteer, fill in the form at menofworth.org.uk/about/contact and put “War Hospital Register” in the subject field.…

Plans to cut 30 staff jobs at the National Library of Wales (NLW) have been temporarily halted after the Welsh government granted the organisation additional emergency funding amounting to £2.25 million for 2020–2022. The proposed job cuts, first announced on 15 January, were widely criticised, with an online petition opposing them attracting 14,338 signatures. Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, the Welsh deputy minister for culture, sport and tourism, said that the funding, along with £3.95 million for National Museum Wales, would “safeguard and support two of our most important cultural institutions during this very challenging period”. Rob Phillips, a representative of the Public and Commercial Services Union at NLW, said: “We appreciate the Welsh government has made this additional funding available in a time that finances are tight, and we really appreciate…

Many of us have an ancestor who we can’t get out of our minds – someone whose story captures our imagination, fascinates or puzzles us, or maybe disturbs or upsets us. My father was haunted by such a story when he was a little boy – his grandfather told it to him, and he couldn’t get it out of his mind. When I was a boy, he told me the same tale and I likewise never forgot it. The story was simple enough – my great grandfather’s first cousin William Ralston was said to have drowned in a tanpit when he was a child in the 1860s. There was something about this family tragedy – perhaps the way that the episode was recounted, or the obvious emotion of those who…

Douglas found these books and websites useful in his research BOOKS Des Marranes à Spinoza IS Révah Vrin, 1995 Révah’s book helped Douglas to uncover his Sephardic ancestry. The Jewish Victorian: Genealogical Information from the Jewish Newspapers 1861–1870 Doreen Berger Robert Boyd, 2004 This title and a 1999 volume covering 1871–1880 collate priceless genealogical details. WEBSITES FINDMYPAST w findmypast.co.uk Electoral rolls can reveal addresses for people who are still living. The addresses will be a few years old, but you may find the relation you’re looking for. LONDON METROPOLITAN ARCHIVES w bit.ly/lma-research-guides LMA has created a guide to researching Jewish ancestors who settled in the capital. It also holds records from Bevis Marks, a historic Sephardic synagogue in the City of London, including births, circumcisions, marriage contracts and burials.…

When was this photograph taken? Q A cousin of my husband has come across this brooch. The story is that one of their great uncles made the brooch for his mother, supposedly during the First World War. If we can date the picture we may be able to work out who it is. The front of the brooch is fairly intricately carved ivory or bone. The back of the brooch is a picture of a gentleman on glass. Wendy Ray A This is a piece of sentimental jewellery. Such items became popular and widespread during the Victorian era, and often contained a photograph or painting of a loved one. Most common were rings, lockets, pendants and brooches, the vogue continuing into the early 1900s. Antique jewellery like this complex brooch,…

Trove (trove.nla.gov.au) is a collaboration between the National Library of Australia and hundreds of libraries, archives and organisations providing a one-stop shop for Australian research. It is free to use Trove and download a record if it is digitised. Keyword-searchable with an advanced search feature, there are 10 categories: ‘Newspapers and Gazettes’; ‘Magazines and Newsletters’; ‘Images, Maps and Artefacts’; ‘Research and Reports’; ‘Books and Libraries’; ‘Diaries, Letters and Archives’; ‘Music, Audio and Video’; ‘People and Organisations’; ‘Websites’; and ‘Lists’ (created by researchers, public or private). Each category has specific filters. For example, for digitised newspapers the filters are state or territory; newspaper title; date range; category of newspaper article; illustrations; and word count. Digitised newspapers provide easy access to all kinds of family stories. A quick search for a person’s…

The production of luxury goods from silkworm cocoons originated in China c2640 BCE, the closely guarded secret of silk farming or ‘sericulture’ eventually reaching medieval Europe via the Silk Road. The manufacture of silk ribbons and other small wares developed in England from the mid-1400s, and the fledgling silk industry was boosted immensely by the arrival of Huguenots fleeing the Netherlands and France in the late 16th and late 17th centuries. Thousands of these Protestant refugees settled in Spitalfields, East London, and put their superior weaving expertise to use. They also employed many poor homeworking ‘throwsters’ whose job was to ‘throw’ (spin) the silk – twisting the ‘filaments’ (strands) into lengths of strong thread for weaving. The district became the centre of Georgian silk manufacture, producing fashionable, high-quality plain and…

Over the years, many streets have come and gone across the British Isles as towns and cities have evolved. The chances are that there’s at least one street or place in your ancestors’ records that you’ve failed to locate on a modern-day map, and that’s where this tutorial comes in. We’re going to show you a tried-and-tested solution to help locate where old and forgotten streets once lay, helping you track down their whereabouts on a modern map and providing you with the geocodes you need to plot the street’s location using your software’s mapping tools. The step-by-step guide reveals how to find out more about lost streets, including how to use the National Library of Scotland’s georeferenced maps tool to potentially track down your missing street with a simple…

1 Clicking the ‘Inhabitants’ tab on the menu bar on the homepage then choosing ‘Civil Records’ reveals a chronological listing of inhabitants’ lists and census returns back to 1309. These are indexed and fully searchable. 2 Choosing ‘Military Records’ instead after clicking the ‘Inhabitants’ tab takes you to this page, where you can select records of births, marriages or deaths. These can be searched by a wide range of criteria. 3 Clicking the ‘Evacuation’ tab from the menu bar then ‘Embarkation Records > Surnames’ from the dropdown takes you to a list of the 1940 evacuees, including the date, the ship’s name and the destination.…

The scandal of giving birth to an illegitimate child in the early 20th century led to tragic tales of abandonment, social stigma and even suicide. If the father’s name was not given on official records then his identity could remain a mystery for generations, or for that matter never be revealed. Sarah Fuller was determined to discover the name of her natural grandfather, and embarked on a quest that would reveal an enthralling history of passion, secrecy and attempted murder. MY BRICK WALL My grandmother Ethel Aubrey was born in Woolwich, South-East London, in 1886. In 1912, Nan gave birth to my mother Phyllis Edna in Cardiff. She was unmarried, but unlike most women in her predicament was able to keep her baby. A year later Nan married a Frenchman…

1066 King Harold Godwinson triumphs over invading Norwegian forces at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September. Three weeks later he loses his life fighting the Normans at the Battle of Hastings. 1548 The suppression of the church of St John the Evangelist at Beverley ends over 850 years of Catholicism on the site of Beverley Minster. 1759 Noted abolitionist William Wilberforce is born in a house on Hull High Street. He dies shortly after the passing of the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act. 1778 The Dock is opened in Hull. It is renamed the Queen’s Dock in 1854 to commemorate a visit by Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. 1883 Shipbuilder Cook, Welton and Gemmell is founded in Hull, later moving to Grovehill, Beverley. 1929 Hull-born pilot Amy…

Thomas Henry Lister, the first registrar general, was born in a well-to-do family at Armitage Park near Lichfield in Staffordshire, and attended Westminster School then Trinity College, Cambridge. He found success writing novels about the upper classes, including Granby (1826) and Arlington (1832). He married Lady Maria Theresa Villiers in 1830; she was herself to become a significant writer. In 1830 Lister’s short story A Dialogue for the Year 2130 was an early example of science fiction, featuring a future of machines instead of horses, an automatic letter-writer and a robot porter powered by steam. His interest in progress might have helped him in 1836 to the post of registrar general of births, marriages and deaths. It can have done no harm in gaining a public appointment that he was…

How did you come to write the book? It was a result of the BBC Two programme A House Through Time. They popped a flier through our letterbox early in 2019 asking if we’d like to be on the show. We had our deeds already that we’d looked at in the past. We could make out a few names there like Jacob Crook and Edward Bearpacker, and they sounded really colourful and interesting, but we never got around to doing anything about it. Then the TV series came along, and to our amazement we reached the shortlist. That drove us to do more research ourselves, a lot more, and over the coming months we discovered that we had some really interesting people who had lived in our house. Eventually we…

By the age of 10, David Cunningham could build a cart, a sled and even an aviary for his father’s canaries. Carpentry became more than a career for David – he believed that it actually saved his life during wartime. Few people knew of the importance of his military role, even his own family. “Dad used to talk about the war, and I believed that he’d had a relatively quiet time in India,” says Linda Kelsey Collard. “Then I read his memoir, which was aptly entitled My Life in Wood.” David was born in 1922 in Plaxtol, a village in Kent. “He enjoyed an idyllic childhood spent dancing round the maypole, harvesting berries in summer and sledging in winter.” At the age of 15, he joined a local building firm…

NICK PEERS Nick has been reviewing family tree software for many years now, and writes our ‘Tech Tips’ article every issue. On page 16 he tests out the latest software on offer. ELSE CHURCHILL Else is the Genealogist at the Society of Genealogists, where she has worked for 27 years. On page 25 she explains everything that the Society offers to family historians. PAUL BLAKE Paul is a regular contributor to this magazine, and on page 61 he explains how to track down ancestors in Gibraltar, including military personnel who were stationed there.…

FamilySearch adds petty sessions from Australia Free family history site FamilySearch (familysearch.org) has added a set of 3,095,843 transcriptions of petty-sessions records from the Australian state of Victoria. The records date from 1858 to 1985, and cover minor criminal matters and committal proceedings in magistrates’ courts. Researchers can search by the name of each individual concerned, and include the date and place of proceedings. The record images can be viewed at Family History Centers. Campaign saves Spanish Armada maps for nation Ten incredibly rare hand-drawn maps charting the thwarted 1588 invasion of England by the Spanish Armada have been saved for the nation thanks to a fundraising campaign. The Government placed an export ban on the maps in July 2020 to stop them being sold abroad. The National Museum of…

AROUND NORTH WARWICKSHIRE IN PHOTOGRAPHS OLD AND NEW 9 March w facebook.com/nnwfhs Photograph collector John Parton shares glimpses of historic North Warwickshire. Free to members of Nuneaton & North Warwickshire Family History Society – joining costs £10. PHAROS TUTORS From 9 March w pharostutors.com Pharos Tutors’ latest online courses are ‘Practicalities of a One Name Study’ (from 9 March, lasts five weeks, costs £49.99) and ‘Writing and Telling Your Family History’ (from 15 March, lasts five weeks, costs £49.99 unassessed or £64.99 assessed). HIDDEN HISTORIES 11 March w bit.ly/eventbrite-hidden-hist Staff at Northumberland Archives explain how the overlooked records in their collections reveal the history of black communities in the county. Free. BAPTISMS, WEDDINGS & FUNERALS 15 March w northants-fhs.org/online John Vigor uses illustrations including carvings, wall paintings and stained glass…

These days, almost everything you need to research your genealogy is online, so why would you still need to use a program installed on your PC or Mac? The readers of WDYTYA? Magazine have the answer. “I use Legacy 8, so my tree is available even if the internet is down,” says Helen Parker-Drabble. Family Historian user Harriet Hopkins adds, “I am independent of the major sites so can add data from anywhere.” Privacy is an issue too: “I can have private information on it which I would not put in an online tree,” reveals Ian McIvor. There’s also the argument that online sites still can’t do everything that dedicated software programs can. “Ancestry is my workbook as it is easy to see and navigate your tree,” says Jane Evans,…

Many of the unique collections from the Society’s library and archives are gradually being digitised and made available to our members via our online catalogue SoG Data Online at sogdata. org.uk. The full guide to the collections notes hundreds of databases, indexes and images of records, images of books from the library, and browsable documents containing millions of indexed names. The highlights include: ALMANACKS FROM THE LIBRARY These include browsable images of various editions of the Royal Kalendar from 1776 to 1886 ARMY BIOGRAPHIES FROM THE LIBRARY An index to the historical and biographical information about soldiers found in periodicals and other reference books on the ‘Army’ shelves of the Society’s library THE COLEMAN CATALOGUES INDEX This comprises original marriage settlements, wills, rent rolls, peerage claims, private and local Acts…

What happened to my ancestor’s family after his suicide? QI was shocked to find a newspaper article relating to my 3x great grandfather, Henry Bowers. He committed suicide in 1798 (two years after my great great grandfather Daniel Bowers was born) leaving my 3x great grandmother (Ann née Woolrich) and six children. They lived in Sandon and Stone, Staffordshire. Ann died in 1836 in Tittensor, but was buried in Sandon. Ann’s father, John Woolrich, yeoman of The Romer, Sandon, died in 1796. His will was proved in 1797 in which he left everything to his son James (died 1829), and nothing for Ann, Henry or his grandchildren. I assume therefore that the reason for the suicide was debt. But what happened to Ann and their children between 1798 and 1836?…

ANCESTRY w ancestry.co.uk/search/places/australia Ancestry’s collections of Australian records include electoral rolls (1903–1980). AUSTRALASIAN FEDERATION OF FAMILY HISTORY ORGANISATIONS w affho.org The website of this umbrella organisation has details of groups across the country. FAMILYSEARCH INDEX w familysearch.org/search/collection/1542665 This is FamilySearch’s own index to bounty immigrants (1828–1842). The wider Australia Wiki is unmissable as well. THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA w naa.gov.au Make sure you don’t neglect the website of the national repository. You can find the website of the National Library of Australia at nla.gov.au. PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE VICTORIA w prov.vic.gov.au This website has a great family history section with information on census records and sources for births, marriages and deaths, as well as Aboriginal missions stations and reserves. SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIAN GENEALOGISTS w sag.org.au Find out about projects and…

BOOKS Macclesfield: the Silk Industry Louanne Collins and Moira Stevenson Nonsuch Publishing, 2006 This illustrated guide to silk production in Macclesfield includes its origins, the mills and the workers’ experiences. The Silk Industry, 2nd Edition Sarah Bush Shire Library, 2009 Bush’s book provides an expert but succinct explanation of the British silk industry including notable processes, equipment and occupations. Tracing Your Textile Ancestors Vivien Teasdale Pen & Sword, 2009 This guide includes a chapter on silk with the history of British silk manufacture, processes, and the development of various regional centres and their products. JAYNE SHRIMPTON is a dress historian and portrait specialist, and one of our regular ‘Q&A’ experts – see page 37…

In May 1940, the British government ordered the evacuation of Gibraltar. The territory was to be converted into a fortress, because it was believed that Hitler was planning its capture. As a result 13,495 women, children, the elderly and infirm crossed the Strait to French Morocco. However, soon after their arrival in early June 1940 France fell to Nazi Germany. As a result, the evacuees were ordered to leave within 24 hours. Against the Gibraltan government’s wishes, they initially returned to the territory, from where, after a short delay, they sailed for Madeira, Jamaica, Northern Ireland and London, where they arrived in August 1940. Among them was actor Michelle Keegan’s great grandmother and children as discovered in her 2018 episode of Who Do You Think You Are? . By the…

ARCHIVES LOCAL RECORD OFFICES The records of Poor Law unions, which may include admission and discharge registers from workhouses and children’s homes, are held locally. BOOKS Children in Care, 1834–1929: the Lives of Destitute, Orphaned and Deserted Children Rosemary Steer Pen & Sword, 2020 This account explores the lives of many named children before, during and after care. Tracing Your Pauper Ancestors Robert Burlison Pen & Sword, 2009 Burlison’s guide includes a chapter on destitute children. WEBSITES CHILDREN’S HOMES w childrenshomes.org.uk Peter Higginbotham’s site gives details of hundreds of children’s homes across the country. THE CHILDREN’S SOCIETY w hiddenlives.org.uk This virtual archive from the former Waifs and Strays Society includes photographs, sample case files and annual reports. CORAM STORY w coramstory.org.uk Uncover the history of the charity Coram, the former…

AFRICAN STORIES w africansinyorkshireproject. com The project ‘African Stories in Hull and East Yorkshire’ documents the experiences of local people of African descent. DIRECTORIES w bit.ly/special-yorks Search trade and street directories from Yorkshire on the University of Leicester’s site Special Collections Online. BMDS w yorkshirebmd.org.uk This ongoing volunteer-run project includes an index to East Riding births, marriages and deaths back to 1837. MAPS w whatwashere.org This site offers geotagged photos and East Riding enclosure maps. PARISH REGISTERS w bit.ly/arch-brant This volume of registers from Brantingham (1653–1812) is one of many local sources on archive.org. CAUSE PAPERS w dhi.ac.uk/ causepapers Search Yorkshire church court cases that date from 1300–1858.…

This was the first British census that named everybody in the household. This page, from Guiseley in Yorkshire, shows novelist Charlotte Brontë working as a governess, like the protagonist of her novel Jane Eyre (1847) 1 HOUSES Both inhabited and uninhabited houses were registered. Where more than one household shared a house, the enumerator was supposed to separate the households with a single slash. A double slash was used to indicate a new house. Here the enumerator has marked the servants, including Charlotte Brontë, as a separate household. 2 NAMES Only those who had been in the house the preceding night were recorded. 3 AGE AND SEX Only those under 15 were supposed to have their exact age entered. Those over 15 were meant to have their age rounded down…

REMARKABLE JOURNEYS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR A COLLECTION OF UNTOLD STORIES  VICTORIA PANTON BACON The History Press, 256 pages, £16.99 Many of us have relatives who experienced, or even lost their lives in, the Second World War. V ictoria Panton Bacon’s new book looks at the real-life wartime journeys of various individuals, including children, teenagers, pilots, soldiers and prisoners of war. I loved the idea of different chapters focusing on people from all walks of life. Deeply personal stories and information that I have never heard of before make this a very interesting read, and a book that will educate anyone who reads it. In particular, I found the chapter on Auschwitz extremely moving and I learnt so much. I visited Auschwitz last year, and the information in the…

MORE MARGINALIA Alan Crosby’s article in your February issue reminded me of something I found in a parish register some time ago. I was researching my Cole family that came from Witchford in Cambridgeshire, and at the front of a register the vicar had recorded notes about events in the village. This note for 31 July 1851 caught my eye: “Parish meeting to make a Poors Rate, the Overseer John Cole, gone to US America, having absconded, his account £118 deficient.” Now I realised why I hadn’t been able to trace this John Cole after the 1851 census. I couldn’t find him on any passenger lists, but suspect that he may have changed his name. Recently I found his brother Thomas Cole had also gone over to America. I found…

Findmypast (findmypast.co.uk) has added a collection of more than 70,000 burial records from Londonderry (Derry) City Cemetery. They date from the cemetery’s opening in 1853, and cover both world wars and the formation of Northern Ireland in 1921. Each record reveals a combination of the deceased’s date of death; date of burial; grave location; age; address; place of birth; and parents’ names. One of the famous individuals buried there is Cecil Frances Alexander, the writer of hymns including All Things Bright and Beautiful and There Is a Green Hill Far Away, who passed away on 12 October 1895 when she was 77 years old.…

USER INTERFACE Family Tree Maker’s (FTM’s) user interface splits itself into seven clearly labelled sections, including Plan, People, Places and Publish. Each manages to lay out its key elements over just one or two tabs without overcomplicating the screen. As a result, it’s easy to see where you are and navigate around the program. MEDIA MANAGEMENT This is traditionally a weak point, but recent improvements have included a Photo Darkroom tool that’s designed to improve pictures that have faded with age. You can now also select a primary photo for a person, then choose a headshot from it to use as a thumbnail, improving the overall look of your tree. CHARTS AND REPORTS FTM’s Publish tool contains a wide range of charting and reporting options, along with tools for writing…

WASHDAY BLUES: CHARWOMEN AND WASHERWOMEN Thursday 11 March, 2pm Adèle Emm takes you on a journey from the impoverished laundress all the way to the arrival of washhouses after the 1844 Act. £10 THE ART OF CRIMINAL CONVERSATION: DIVORCE RECORDS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM Saturday 13 March, 10.30am Claire Moores will look at an overview of the historical context for divorce in the 16th century, and explain how you can delve into original records of marital unrest over the years. £10 SEVEN DIALS & ST GILES (LONDON) Thursday 18 March, 2pm Wedged between Covent Garden, Bloomsbury and Soho, this area saw the birth of the Great Plague in 1665, the first leper hospital in Norman London and one of the worst rookeries of the Georgian and Victorian capital. Find…

‘Vincent must have been recorded under his mother’s maiden name’ When I was growing up, people frequently asked me where my surname came from,” says Douglas Zegers. “After decades of family history research, I now know the answer to that question and so many more.” Douglas has discovered links to the Chilean navy, Portuguese Jews and a world-famous diarist. “However, there was a time when I considered giving up on my Zegers research because I couldn’t get further back than my father!” Douglas’ parents were Leslie Vincent Burdis Zegers and Phylis Frances Wohlfarth, both of whom were born in Britain. “My maternal grandfather Albert Wohlfarth was a pork butcher from Baden-Württemberg in south-west Germany. I was able to trace his ancestry back 500 years, but I couldn’t find a trace…

KATHERINE COBB is a member of AGRA based in Somerset EMMA JOLLY is a writer, historical researcher and member of AGRA ANTONY MARR is a former deputy registrar and the chair of AGRA REBECCA PROBERT is a legal historian and the author of Marriage Law for Genealogists JAYNE SHRIMPTON is a professional dress historian and portrait specialist STEVEN SMYRL is a genealogist based in Dublin ALAN STEWART is a family history writer, and author of Grow Your Own Family Tree RUTH SYMES is the author of Tracing Your Ancestors Through Letters & Personal Writings PHIL TOMASELLI is a military family history expert, and wrote Tracing Your Air Force Ancestors Q In 1943, my aunt Kathleen Downs married and about 10 years later her husband, Leslie Thomas Blake, deserted her.…

Can you tell me about my relation’s uniform? QI have a photo of my ancestor James Neil (born 1878 in Sheffield), and I am trying to obtain more information about him. I know that he served in Egypt. Can you help? Tina Shorter A Sixty per cent of First World War service records were destroyed in 1940, so we usually have to look elsewhere for information. Your photograph offers some clues though. It’s a studio portrait of a pioneer in a Light Infantry regiment (Durham Light Infantry or King’s Shropshire Light Infantry), probably taken in 1915. Men who served abroad received medals, so James must have a Medal Index Card. Searching The National Archives’ (TNA’s) online collections (the best indexed) for cards for James Neil in the KSLI and the…

The further back in time we go, the harder it is to find information about our ancestors’ day-to-day lives, including what they ate. But one document held by Warwickshire County Record Office provides a fascinating glimpse of day-today dining at Rouen Castle in Normandy during some of the most turbulent events of the 15th century, as archivist Amanda Williams explains. CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE DOCUMENT? The account book records the expenses, in volume form, of the provisioning of Rouen Castle while Richard Beauchamp’s household and his guests were in occupation, and the entries date from 1431 to March 1432. Contained within a flexible but hardened and shiny parchment cover are pages covered in spidery writing, in Latin with English words included (you might be able to spot the word “strawberries”…

WEBSITES FAMILYSEARCH w bit.ly/fs-irish-tabs The FamilySearch Wiki has a guide explaining how to search the TABs online. HISTORY IRELAND w bit.ly/hi-irish-tabs Fiona Fitzsimons’s magazine article from 2019 features a more detailed description of the TABs. IRISH GENEALOGY TOOLKIT w bit.ly/irish-genealogytoolkit-tabs Claire Santry’s valuable website irish-genealogytoolkit.com includes a helpful introduction to the TABs, and shows where you can find the records.…

Silk workers are recorded in the census returns using various occupational terms, some common to all textile manufacturing, others specific to silk production. Managerial, supervisory and senior staff roles include mill owner, manager, overlooker/overseer, millwright and engineer; other trades include tackler, bale breaker, rover, doubler, fettler, helper/trotter, piecer, thrower/throwster, reeler, beamer/ warper, winder/windster, weaver, dresser, handkerchief weaver, reacher, sarcinet/ sarsenet weaver, sizer/draw boy, Jacquard card puncher, finisher, dispatcher, gasser, printer, silk designer, and silker. For more information, see Adèle Emm’s My Ancestors Worked in Textile Mills (Society of Genealogists, 2019). Silk processing/manufacture occurred in many towns, so you should also consult the business records in local collections. Vivien Teasdale’s book (see ‘Resources’) mentions useful sources. Trade directories list silk and silk velvet manufacturers, mercers, printers, throwsters and other businesses, while…

1 RETURN OF PERSONS The 1834 census, which took place on 1 December, is divided into the Overseas Territory’s five police districts. 2 HOUSE NUMBER The house number is displayed in the first column. The street name, Turnbull’s Lane, is shown on an earlier page. 3 NAMES Males and females are listed separately, and females’ status is indicated. Widows may be listed using their maiden name. 4 NATION This refers to a resident’s place of birth): here “British”, Morocco, “Native” (ie Gibraltar) and Spain. 5 RELIGION This could be useful in indicating where any surviving birth/baptism, marriage and death/burial records might be found. 6 YEARS OF RESIDENCE Given for non-Natives, this can help you determine when a family arrived in Gibraltar. GNA may hold details of their permit.…

ARCHIVE GIBRALTAR NATIONAL ARCHIVES a Convent Courtyard, Secretary’s Lane, Gibraltar t +350 2007 9461 e archives@gibraltar.gov.gi w nationalarchives.gi Gibraltar’s own archive holds a huge collection of records. BOOKS Community and Identity: the Making of Modern Gibraltar Since 1704 Stephen Constantine Manchester University Press, 2009 This book focuses on the civilian population of the territory, rather than its military history and its role as a fortification. The Gibraltarian: the Origin and Evolution of the People of Gibraltar, 3rd Edition HW Howes Mediterranean Sun, 1991 Howes provides a detailed study of the people and the economic history of Gibraltar. WEBSITES FRIENDS OF GIBRALTAR w friendsofgibraltar.org.uk Membership of the society is open to anyone who shares an interest in Gibraltar’s past, present or future. GIBRALTAR HERITAGE TRUST w gibraltarheritagetrust. org.gi The trust’s online…

As well as traces of history you will have heard of, the collections held by East Riding Archives contain more obscure items that are no less interesting. Within quarter-sessions records at the Treasure House in Beverley, for example, survive references to legendary highwayman Dick Turpin, who appeared in court under the alias John Palmer. Less well known, but of more use to family historians, is a modestly sized Book of Roads by William Watson, dated 24 June 1828. “William Watson of Seaton Ross was a man of many talents – a farmer, land surveyor, mapmaker, poet and even an amateur astronomer and sundial-maker,” says archivist Hannah Stamp. “The book contains Watson’s plan of all of the roads in Seaton Ross, annotated with the names of occupiers and owners of the…

COVERDALEThis is a habitational name from North Yorkshire and Lancashire. DINSDALE Dinsdale originates in two villages in County Durham. HARDAKERHardakers pop up all over Yorkshire in the 1881 census. KNAGGSKnaggs is a topographic surname for someone whose home was by or near a rugged hill or an outcrop. LONGBOTTOMThis topographic name for someone who lived in a long valley is relatively common throughout the county. OLDROYDOldroyd is a habitational name that derives from a number of places throughout the north of England. SPIVEYThis Yorkshire surname was originally a medieval nickname for someone who was blessed with business smarts. STEPHENSONAlthough found all over the UK, there are concentrations of Stephensons in County Durham and East Yorkshire. WALKINGTONThis habitational name derives from a village in the East Riding that was first recorded…

ANCESTRY.CO.UK £ Index and images for England and Wales, index-only for Scotland. Occupation indexed only for Scotland. Irish index links to National Archives of Ireland (NAI). FINDMYPAST.CO.UK £ Index and high-quality images for England and Wales, index-only for Scotland. Occupation indexed only for Scotland. Irish index to some NAI records. CENSUS.NATIONALARCHIVES.IE Free Only records for some areas in Ireland survive. Also has census search forms filled in by people claiming an Irish pension checked against the 1841 and 1851 census. FREECEN.ORG.UK Free Great index for England, Wales and Scotland. Good search options including occupation. No images. Not every county is complete yet. SCOTLANDSPEOPLE.GOV.UK £ Images and an index of Scottish censuses. FAMILYSEARCH.ORG Free Index shared with Findmypast for England and Wales. Index and images for the small number of surviving Irish records from NAI (see…

VIDEO WYCOMBE MUSEUM ONLINE TALKS  wycombemuseum.org.uk/talks-for-adults-tasting-histories Free If you’re missing visiting museums, you can relive the experience from your computer with this series of short talks from staff at Wycombe Museum. Topics include an introduction to the items in their collections, the Chilterns’ historic chair-making industry, and the history of Wycombe Wanderers football club. PODCAST THE MARINER’S MIRROR  play.acast.com/s/ the-mariners-mirror-podcast Free Discover more about the history of the high seas with this new maritime history podcast from the Society for Nautical Research, presented by Dr Sam Willis. Topics include excavations of shipwrecks; exhibitions, museums and archives worldwide; and interesting sea voyages in history. WEBSITE ONLINE GENEALOGICAL INDEX  ogindex.org Free This search engine for genealogical data is a great way to see where your ancestors’ records can be found. Simply choose…

ROYAL NAVY SERVICE RECORDS Like many other men from Devon, Henry had a long career in the Royal Navy, including during the First World War. We found his service record in The National Archives’ (TNA’s) catalogue, and it can currently be downloaded for free if you register with the site: discovery. nationalarchives. gov.uk/details/r/D6824213. CENSUS RECORDS Gregg found tragedy when investigating the life of Selina. She was from Devon too, and worked as a glovemaker. Gregg was shown a photograph of her and followed her trail to the 1901 census, which revealed that she spent her later years in an asylum. Census returns can be found on most genealogical websites, and include ancestors who were living in institutions as well as the family home. Here is her 1901 census entry on…