Innholdsfortegnelse for Special 2022 i Who Do You Think You Are?

When I first started exploring my family’s history, I had no idea that I had any Irish roots, but digging back five generations took me to County Wicklow. Only then did I lament the lack of 19th-century census records that we take for granted when researching British ancestors. As Nicola’s excellent article on page 17 shows, the fire that destroyed so many Irish records in 1922 wasn’t the sole reason for the lack of census records, but it has certainly played a part in making Irish research challenging. Hopefully the exciting work done by the Beyond 2022 digital project will help more of us explore our Irish heritage. Of course, it’s not just Irish research that is tricky. Anything before the introduction of civil registration can lead to uncertain paths…

IN PERSON SOMERSET & DORSET FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY Various dates a Various locations w sdfhs.org/events The society’s local groups are hosting a variety of talks. Contact the groups for details. BREAKING THE NEWS Until 21 August a The British Library, London t 01937 546546 w bl.uk/events/breaking-the-news Discover five centuries of British news in this exhibition about the history of journalism. £16. DO IT YOURSELF? Until 1 September a The Museum of Making, Derby t 01332 641901 w derbymuseums.org/event/ do-it-yourself This exhibition explores the past, present and future of DIY. £4.50. DIVING DEEP: HMS INVINCIBLE 1744 Until 20 November a The Historic Dockyard Chatham t 01634 823800 w tinyurl.com/diving-invincible This exhibition tells the story of HMS Invincible, its capture, the contribution it made to the Royal Navy and ship design, and…

Family history website Findmypast (findmypast.co.uk) has added three record collections from Wiltshire. The first new collection is ‘Wiltshire Tithe Award Register 1813–1882’, consisting of more than 257,000 records. Originally, tithes were paid by parishioners as a tax in kind to their local church, traditionally in the form of one tenth of all agricultural produce. However, in 1836 tithes were commuted into a monetary charge. The tithe surveys identified owners and occupiers of land, and who should pay what and to whom. The records list each individual’s name, place of residence, details of their plot of land, and whether they were an owner or an occupier. The second record set consists of lunatic asylum registers, dating from 1789–1921 and covering six asylums. There are nearly 28,000 records altogether. They often reveal…

Summers were always longer, sunnier and more idyllic in the past, weren’t they? Well, maybe for some – but for many of our ancestors this was the hardest part of the year. The long days meant very long hours in the fields, and exhaustion by nightfall. As regular readers will know, I’m interested in diaries and journals as a historical source, because of their immediacy and their way of giving insights that official records cannot. A favourite is the diary of Rev Peter Walkden, the nonconformist minister at Chipping, in the hills near Preston, in the 1730s. Like many dissenting clergy, Peter was a part-timer, because it was essential to have another source of income – in his case, farming. In July and August 1733 he records work on the…

Before we can appreciate what was lost in 1922, it is important to understand the history of public records in Ireland: what records were created and survived, sometimes over centuries, prior to the Civil War. Herbert Wood (1860–1955) was the assistant deputy keeper in the Public Record Office of Ireland (PROI) and in 1919 published his Guide to the Public Records of Ireland, a work seven years in the making. This guide, which listed the collections in the PROI, gained significant importance following 1922 because it could be used to determine what had been destroyed. However, the guide is not just a collection list for the PROI. Wood’s introduction sets out the history of public records generated in the administration and governing of Ireland, and how those collections were brought…

1 CHOOSE YOUR SEARCH OPTIONS You can search the register at discovery. nationalarchives.gov.uk/manor-search by the name of a parish, a manor or a historic county. Try different searches to see what’s available. 2 REVIEW THE SEARCH RESULTS Searching for a parish may reveal results for multiple manors. The descriptions show the name of the manor, coverage dates and the number of record sets. 3 SEE AVAILABLE COLLECTIONS Click the name of a manor to read a brief description of its collections and where they are. Select ‘View details of this record creator’ to see any links to related resources online.…

Kevin Asplin is a professional military genealogist and military author The Ogilby Trust supports and promotes the regimental and corps museums of the British Army. The parent website (armymuseums.org.uk) has been a regular bookmark for military historians for years – the place to find out what museums are where, and so a useful directory for when you’re ready for a deep dive into a regiment’s history. The Ogilby Muster (theogilbymuster.com) is a relatively new sister site, launched late last year. This centralised hub enables you to search digitised material from across members’ collections. Of course, regimental museums vary a great deal in terms of the amounts of archival material they preserve. And over the years many have made finding aids, transcriptions, indexes, images and other digitised content available. The Ogilby…

BOOKS The Parish Chest, 3rd Edn William Edward Tate Phillimore & Co., 1983 The classic account of the nature and use of parochial archives is compendious and comprehensive. A Cambridge University Press edition can be borrowed from the Internet Archive (archive.org) at tinyurl. com/arch-tate provided you create a free account. Tracing Your Ancestors Through Local History Records Jonathan Oates Pen & Sword, 2016 This guide, written for family historians, provides a detailed introduction to local-history records, including rate books. WEBSITES ANCESTRY w ancestry.co.uk The subscription website Ancestry has collections of rate books that are likely to be added to in the future. So do Findmypast (findmypast.co.uk) and the free site FamilySearch (familysearch.org).…

Q The 1921 census was a big turnoff for me because I couldn’t find my father’s entry. I know where he and his family were living. I have even got a picture of them outside the house (pictured). I inputted their details, but nothing came up. Then I explored the street where they lived, but there was no listing for their house. Was this a failure by my grandfather to complete the census record (he did fill in the 1911 census), or was the record lost or unable to be deciphered? His name was Harry Tebbutt and he lived with his wife, Florence Elizabeth, and sons, Charles William and Thomas Arthur. They should have been living at 13 Thornton Street, Kempston, Bedfordshire. Any help would be appreciated! Andrew Tebbutt A…

Q My 3x great grandfather, Edward Long, was born c1786 in Portsea, Hampshire. I’ve found him in the 1841 and 1851 censuses listed as a carpenter and living with his wife Ann in Ladywell, Lewisham. I couldn’t find them in 1861, so assume they died between 1851 and 1861. I found a record for Edward Long, a carpenter aged 76 who died in 1859 in Portsea (pictured). There is also a will for an Edward Long (carpenter) living at Clarence Street, who died in 1806, which mentions a son Edward. Do these records relate to my family? Philip Long A Before weighing up the likelihood that a record is connected to your family, it is important to gather as much information as possible. The address and occupation of the will’s…

Q Can you help me with this family photograph? I have no idea about the identity of the man or what his uniform is. Family names include Beer and Hodge. Sharon Slater A Probably shot in a studio, this photo shows a Royal Artillery (RA) private (usually gunner or driver). Given that he’s wearing Khaki drill – lightweight cotton clothing with only breast pockets on the tunic, designed for warmer climates – it’s likely that the picture was taken in South Africa. The slouch hat was not standard RA headgear, and he must have enlisted after 1896 because the prize badge on his sleeve was only introduced in 1898. It should be possible to make a shortlist of candidates. ‘UK, Military Campaign Medal and Award Rolls, 1793–1949’ on Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk)…

Established in 1560, kirk sessions were Scottish courts presided over by the local minister and church elders. They discussed parish business such as the allocation of poor relief, and punished parishioners for drunkenness, swearing and perceived sexual misdemeanours. Crucially, they kept minutes that form a rich and illuminating social history of Scotland. These documents are available to search online and in archives. Women seeking support for illegitimate children would often appear before the kirk session to name the father. Sarah Young has found such a paternity suit, which unravelled the mystery behind a Scottish forebear’s birth. MY BRICK WALL I’ve known for a long time that my great grandfather Edward Yeoman Wilson was born illegitimately. He had a sister called Margaret, who was also born out of wedlock. During the…

Dealing with unusual jurisdictions is very much the norm for family historians, and there’s a nice little quirk at the heart of Aberdeenshire’s heritage. The county of Aberdeenshire and the county of Aberdeen are separate local authorities. Yet the archive service for both is in Aberdeen, along with the rest of the council offices. In other words, Aberdeenshire is the only Scottish council to have its offices outside its own administration area. Modern Aberdeenshire encompasses Kincardineshire, as well as parts of Banffshire. If you have roots in the county, or “the silver city with the golden sand”, as Aberdeen was described in a 1950 guidebook, then you’re in for a treat because the area boasts unrivalled collections. Aberdeen has the earliest and most complete body of burgh records of anywhere…

BIRNIE This Scottish locational name is believed to originate from the Grampian region. BUCHAN Buchans were particularly common in Lonmay, Rathen and Peterhead in 1881. CATTO This name comes from the archaic name Cattoch. CRUICKSHANK This originates in a nickname from the Scottish words cruik (‘bend’) and shank (‘leg bone’). DUTHIE The name Duthie derives from the Gaelic Mac Gille Dubhthaigh – ‘son of the servant of Dubhthach’. EMSLIE When the 1881 census was taken on 3 April, 521 Emslies were recorded in Aberdeenshire. In second place was Kincardineshire with just 80. PIRIE The surname Pirie is most associated with Aberdeenshire and Banffshire. SANGSTER The surname Sangster comes the Scottish word sangstere meaning ‘singer’. It was either an occupational name for a singer or chorister, or a nickname for someone…

The Court of Arches is an ecclesiastical court of the Church of England covering the province of Canterbury. Until 1857, the court exercised a wide-ranging jurisdiction over marriage, probate and testamentary disputes, defamation, church property, and the morals of the church and laity. Its records, many of which contain information of interest for tracing the lives of our ancestors, are now held by Lambeth Palace Library in South London. James North, the library’s archives assistant, shared with us one such set of records from a fascinating matrimonial dispute, which sheds light on the difficulties of legally ending a marriage in the early 18th century. CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR GEM FROM THE ARCHIVE? These documents are Court of Arches witness depositions from the case of Young vs Young. They form part…

BACK IN TIME FOR BIRMINGHAM Commissioned to coincide with the Commonwealth Games being held in England’s second city, the latest offering in the Back in Time ‘living history’ strand explores the experiences of South Asian Britons. An estimated 1.1 million people live in Birmingham, and a quarter of them have Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi or Sri Lankan heritage – but what would their lives have been like in previous decades? Finding out are the Sharma family from Solihull, who begin by heading back to the 1950s. Just how do you cook traditional recipes at home when local shops don’t sell chilli? All four episodes originally aired across a single week in June.…

FAMILY MEMOIR LETTERS FROM BRENDA EMMA KENNEDY Hodder Studio, 320 pages, £16.99 I love actor and writer Emma Kennedy’s books, and was thrilled to be chosen to review this one. If you haven’t read her memoir of 1970s family holidays The Tent, the Bucket and Me, you’ve missed a treat. I was so glad that I had already read it (several times!), because I felt I already knew her mother Brenda before starting this new book which is devoted to her amazing life and death. There are countless stories and incidents in the book that are so relatable to anyone with an interest in family history and their own past, and why they are the way they are. I cried right through the first chapter where Brenda sadly passed away,…

How did you research the book? Dartmoor Prison has got a register of these 6,500 US sailors who were imprisoned there. Different columns list how old they were, where they came from in the USA, and tell you a bit about their race. The register also says what they looked like. The main thing I did that made the book possible is that I transcribed the register, so I basically had a massive spreadsheet where I put all 6,500 names. What were the problems with researching the stories of the black prisoners? Approximately 1,000 of those 6,500 Americans were black. There are maybe three- or four-dozen accounts of the prison that are written by white people, but not a single one by a black person. There are diaries written by…

NICOLA MORRIS Nicola is the co-founder and director of Irish genealogy company Timeline. On page 17 she talks about what the Beyond 2022 project means for the future of Irish research. IAN WALLER Although Ian has retired as a professional genealogist, he is still very active on the scene. He is the author of Introducing Manorial Records and shares his expertise on page 30. PAUL BLAKE A regular contributor, Paul is a professional genealogist and member of AGRA based in London. On page 44 he explains how to use rate books to grow your tree.…

THE GENEALOGY SHOW SUMMER EVENT 1–3 July w thegenealogyshowlive.com THE Genealogy Show held its first event in 2019 and they have continued on a regular basis ever since, although they have migrated online. This event features a packed schedule, with three days of talks on topics as varied as ‘Understanding Old Scottish Handwriting’, ‘Linguistics in Family and Local History’, ‘Dramatising Past Lives – Resurrecting Historic Individuals for 21st Century Audiences’ and ‘Mind Mapping for Family History’. There will also be the chance to chat with speakers; a virtual exhibition hall containing stalls from family history companies and societies; and games and competitions. Attendees will be able to access the talks and other content for 30 days after the show ends. £20, or £30 for a ticket to the Summer Event…

Levens Hall and Garden in Cumbria is appealing for more information about the garden’s creator Guillaume Beaumont. It is thought that Beaumont was born in France in 1650 and died in 1727; that he was a pupil of André Le Nôtre, the principal gardener of Louis XIV; and that he was a gardener to James II of England and helped design the gardens at Hampton Court. He lived at the hall for years and in 1694 laid the foundations of its topiary garden – the first in the world. The hall’s owner Richard Bagot is hoping to hear from family historians who might be related to Beaumont, as well as French gardening experts. If you have any information, please email houseopening@levenshall.co.uk.…

A council report has revealed that the completion of the new Durham History Centre has been pushed back. A report submitted to Durham County Council’s Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 28 March noted, “Due to unforeseen issues to the listed building which involved additional works on the stonework and roof, the History Centre has been delayed. “This will extend the construction programme beyond the original completion date of October 2022. New timescales are currently being reviewed.” The £17 million centre, named The Story at Mount Oswald, is due to open in 2023 and will combine archive, heritage and registration services. Durham County Record Office’s searchroom closed to visitors in January 2022 to allow the records to be moved.…

Family history website Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk) has added the collection ‘Edinburgh, Scotland, Lord Provost Passports, 1845–1916’. Its 17,112 records contain details of Scottish individuals who applied for passports. Before 1915, Scotland had a separate passport system to the rest of Great Britain and passports were granted by the crown, noblemen or local officials. In Edinburgh, this could be the lord provost, a local authority similar to a mayor. Each entry records the date; the individual’s name, residence and destination; and the name of a character witness for them.…

BEYOND 2022 w beyond2022.ie Search for surviving, ‘salved’ and substitute material from the Public Record Office of Ireland (PROI). CENSUS OF IRELAND w census.nationalarchives.ie Visit this website for digitised and indexed fragments from early censuses that survived the fire. CENSUS SEARCH FORMS w tinyurl.com/census-forms Here you will find digitised and indexed census search forms from old-age pension applications. HERBERT WOOD’S ESSAY w jstor.org/stable/3678487 Create a free account with the digital library JSTOR to read Wood’s key journal article. HERBERT WOOD’S GUIDE w tinyurl.com/murphy-ebooks Download Sean Murphy’s facsimile copy of Wood’s guide, and read an essay on Wood. HISTORIC MANUSCRIPTS w sources.nli.ie Many of the historically important manuscripts in this database are also relevant for genealogy. OUT-OF-PRINT BOOKS w tinyurl.com/imc-books Titles from the Irish Manuscripts Commission are available here, including abstracts…

Thumbing through A Book Full of Rogersons, you’re treated to a glimpse into another world: one of great naval commanders, racehorse owners and charismatic businessmen. Its author, Barnaby Rogerson, is a publisher at London-based Eland Publishing, and since he was a young boy he has been diligently piecing together his family’s history. When we went into lockdown in March 2020, he recognised it as the ideal opportunity to press the pause button on publishing other people’s stories and to write those of his own family instead. At the heart of his account is a passion for history, the epic tale of a self-made dynasty, the search for an exiled Cavalier – and an unconventional great aunt who, like Barnaby, loved to tell stories. AN INSPIRATIONAL GREAT AUNT Barnaby’s book is…

Henry Brougham was the eldest son of Henry Brougham of Brougham Hall in Westmorland. He chose law as his profession, and was a forceful member of the House of Commons before joining the House of Lords. He was also very aware that vast tracts of land were owned by few people. Brougham was an advocate of enfranchisement, and during a debate in the Lords he highlighted a Bill that should be “framed with the greatest care”. This Bill, which became the 1852 Copyhold Act, started with the Real Property Commissioners, who were appointed in 1829 to reform the law and produced a report on tenures. Brougham’s dilemma was that enfranchisement should neither inflict injury on the lord or tenant, nor interfere with the property of a tenant who did not…

BOOKS Introducing Manorial Records Ian H Waller The Family History Partnership, 2020 Ian’s straightforward guide has practical research tips. Manors and Manorial Documents After 1500 Mark Forrest with Helen Watt British Association for Local History, 2022 This 96-page guide includes illustrated examples. The Manor and Manorial Records Nathanial J Hone Methuen & Co., 1906 Hone’s book, the ‘Bible’ for researching manorial records, is available from the Internet Archive (archive.org) for free at tinyurl.com/arch-hone. WEBSITES BRITISH HISTORY ONLINE w british-history.ac.uk This digital library includes the Victoria County Histories useful for the historical context of both village and constituent manors. They also contains information about the lords, origins and extents of manors. CONISBROUGH COURT ROLLS w dhi.ac.uk/conisbrough Conisbrough Manor has an impressively complete collection of court records. Many have been transcribed by…

ANCESTRY w ancestry.co.uk/search/categories/39 The website’s military holdings include pension records, enlistment and service records, awards, casualties and decorations. ANGLO BOER WAR w angloboerwar.com This site has unit histories, soldiers’ records, a forum, digitised books, images, articles and technical details of honours and awards. BRITISH BATTLES w britishbattles.com Learn about countless battles – each entry has narratives, illustrations and hand-drawn maps. FINDMYPAST w bit.ly/fmp-military Explore the datasets in the website’s ‘Military, Armed Forces & Conflict’ category. FORCES WAR RECORDS w www.forces-war-records.co.uk/collections Search exclusive material from the Army. IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM COLLECTIONS w iwm.org.uk/collections Learn about IWM’s letters, personal diaries and unpublished memoirs of servicemen and women. PRISONERS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR w grandeguerre.icrc.org Explore International Red Cross index cards for servicemen and civilians in detention camps. THE GAZETTE w thegazette.co.uk…

The payment of rates to maintain the poor became compulsory in 1601 Rates were based on the value of the property and paid by the occupier of both domestic and business premises, not the owner, although of course they may have been one and the same. All but the poorest families would have been liable. The word ‘rate’ refers to an amount expressed as a percentage of another amount, for example ‘6d in the pound’; so a ‘rateable value’ of £20 would require a payment of 10s, since £1 was equivalent to 20s or 240d. Rates were originally levied by the parish, and only later by the civil authorities. They were imposed spasmodically in different parts of the country from at least the 14th century; the vestry had the power…

Richard F Thomas This photograph, taken in New York in 1943, shows my grandfather entertaining his first grandsons, my brothers Fred (left) and Richard. Beatrice Annie Mildren This is our Nana in her finest. The photo was taken in Liskeard before she emigrated to the USA to join her fiancé Richard. Beatrice’s return to Cornwall After my grandmother settled in New York she went back to Liskeard to visit her family the Mildrens. My mother, Dorothy, is the child seated front and centre. Beatrice and Richard Beatrice was due to take the Titanic when she sailed to New York, but a fortune teller dissuaded her. No-No Grace This picture was taken at a photographic studio in Liskeard owned by “Madame Eliza Garland”, but I don’t know who the women are…

Q My husband’s great grandmother was Mary McIndoo. Her father was John McIndoo. In the census returns from 1871 to 1911, she gives her birthplace as Scotland except for 1881 when she adds Kirkliston. I have been unable to find any trace of her in England or Scotland before 1864. I did find a Mary McIndoo in Killearn, Stirlingshire, but I don’t know if it is the right one. Can you help? Christine Judd A The 1881 Chingford census shows Mary aged 39, thus born about 1842 (if accurate). Since one of the daughters present, Alice or Elizabeth, may have been named for her mother, it is worth looking for combinations of John and Alice, or John and Elizabeth, in the censuses, as well as the marriage records on ScotlandsPeople…

John Young Stratton was a writer, social reformer and the rector of Ditton in Kent, but he is best known for his advocacy of hoppers’ rights and his campaigning against rural poverty. Raised in the countryside himself, he gained an insight into the experiences of farm labourers and understood the terrible impact of low wages. Throughout his working life he campaigned tirelessly to improve both the wellbeing and living conditions of seasonal hop pickers. With the ongoing threat of cholera in the Kent hop gardens, by 1865 Stratton decided to act. He began to canvass support, leading to the formation of the Society for the Employment and Improved Lodging of Hop Pickers the following year. The society encouraged farmers to improve living conditions and used the 1874 Sanitary Acts Amendment…

NATIONAL RECORDS OF SCOTLAND w nrscotland.gov.uk The website of the national archive offers advice that will help you discover more about your Scottish ancestors. It’s a great gateway for beginners. OLD SCOTTISH w oldscottish.com Search over 45,000 decrees with details of unmarried mothers who pursued fathers for maintenance (“aliment”) in the Sheriff Court in the 19th century. SCOTLANDSPEOPLE w scotlandspeople.gov.uk You can search this Scottish government website for free, where you’ll find minutes of kirk sessions listed by date. Paternity suits were often heard at these meetings.…

1319 Robert the Bruce grants land to Aberdeen that forms the basis of the city’s ‘Common Good Fund’. 1398 Aberdeen’s ‘common books’ begin. The earliest eight volumes of the council registers have now been included in the UNESCO UK Memory of the World Register. c1587 George Jamesone is born in Aberdeen to a stonemason and the daughter of a magistrate. He becomes the first prominent painter of portraits in Scotland. 1790 Architect Archibald Simpson is born at 15 Guestrow, Aberdeen. His designs including St Andrew’s Chapel (now St Andrew’s Cathedral, pictured) help make the ‘Granite City’ world-famous. 1808 The fishing village of Footdee (pronounced ‘Fittie’) is created to rehouse fishermen displaced by developments in Aberdeen Harbour. 1824 George MacDonald, a minister and pioneering fantasy writer hailed as an influence by…

WEBSITE TRACING NURSES rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/ blogs/tracing-nurses Free If you’re lucky enough to have a nurse in your family tree, don’t miss this downloadable guide in PDF format created by the History of Nursing Forum. It explains where to get started tracing nurses, from identifying nursing certificates and badges that you may have at home to using archival collections and online resources. WATCH AIMEE CROSS – GENEALOGY HINTS youtube.com/c/AimeeCross GenealogyHints/featured Free Professional genealogist Aimee Cross shares her tips in this YouTube series. Although it’s US-focused many of the topics, such as using the 1950 US census, organising family photos and documents, and understanding test results from AncestryDNA (ancestry.co.uk/dna), are useful to family historians around the world. LISTEN PRESERVING OUR HERITAGE bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/ m0016969 Free In this recent episode of Radio 3’s…

Growing up in a lighthouse must be a remarkable experience that would, most likely, instil a love of the sea. Finding an ancestor who lived such a life in the 1760s is even more extraordinary. Janice Oliver has made such a discovery on her Hiller line, which can be traced back to Broadstairs and Ramsgate. “About 20 years ago, I registered my surname interests with the Kent Family History Society,” Janice explains. “In December 2000, I was surprised to receive a letter from the society’s honourable secretary. He had acquired a copy of an old annotated picture signed by a Captain Thomas Hiller. Thomas had many brushes with death during his long career “I had already traced the line back to my 5x great grandparents John and Esther Hiller, who…

Findmypast adds Oldham workhouse registers Family history website Findmypast (findmypast.co.uk) has added 150,000 records from Oldham Union Workhouse in Lancashire (1867–1917). They contain details such as the name of the person’s parent if they were born in the workhouse; their condition on admission if they were admitted as an adult; the dates of their admission and discharge; any special diet; whether they died in the workhouse; and observations on their character and behaviour. Historic England launches map of the Queen’s visits Historic England has launched an interactive story map showing 70 years of the Queen’s visits to heritage sites across England (historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/education/teaching-activities/ platinum-jubilee). Launched to mark the Platinum Jubilee, the map boasts hundreds of photographs of the Queen visiting a wide variety of sites, many of which are on the…

RootsIreland has added 12,846 poor-list records to its County Monaghan database (rootsireland.ie/monaghan). They cover 1803–1864 and consist of seven different sets recording individuals who received charity, including during the Great Famine. They can be used as a substitute for census records, which haven’t survived in Ireland from the 19th century (see page 17). RootsIreland is the website of the Irish Family History Foundation, and holds more than 22 million Irish records.…

Records of another 1,424 individuals have been added to the ‘Military Service (1916–1923) Pensions Collection’ on the Irish Military Archives site. The files relate to pensions claims submitted by veterans of the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921) and the Irish Civil War (1922–1923), as well as the next of kin of soldiers who were killed in the fighting. The tranche contains roughly 3,450 files and brings the total of fully digitised files relating to individual claims to 42,180, representing 14,739 individuals. They include 1,099 claims lodged by women applicants, 32 successful service pension applications awarded under the 1924 Military Service Pensions Act, and 294 applications under Army Pensions Acts (from 1923 onwards) for special allowances, wounds, disability and dependants. They include 74 individuals with an address in Northern Ireland, 44…

FAMILY PAPERS Many of Barnaby’s relations had scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, photograph albums, letters and other useful material. ROYAL NAVY RECORDS Barnaby located his father’s and grandfather’s naval records. Hugh’s accounts of life on HMS Indomitable give a detailed insight into the lead-up to the Battle of Jutland in 1916. They are included in their entirety in the appendix of Barnaby’s book. WILLS w tinyurl.com/tna-guide-wills Barnaby found crucial wills at Norfolk Record Office. They can reveal a lot about a relation, including their job, possessions, members of the family and close friends, illegitimate children, and feuds. Some wills are held locally, while others are in The National Archives at Kew. You can search the latter via TNA’s online research guide.…

1 WILLIAM RICHES This record of the surrender of a tenancy reveals details of the holding and that it was handed back to the lord. 2 PROCLAMATION The named tenants appeared before the court because they owed rent arrears. The proclamation was an acknowledgement that monies were owed and that action was being taken for their recovery. 3 AMERCEMENT An amercement refers to a financial penalty. This indicates that only the defaulters were being fined, and that no other tenants were subject to such action at this court. 4 GENERAL COURT The heading indicates the type of court and the date that the sitting commenced. “General Court” suggests that matters of the court baron and the court leet were dealt with together. 5 THE HOMAGE The named tenants formed the…

A website is a perfect medium for sharing your tree with others. It’ll run on any computer, and doesn’t even need to be hosted online. You can simply copy the contents to a DVD or USB flash drive, and ask people to double-click the file named index.htm to open the site in their web browser. Of course, you’ve got to build the website first, and that’s a hard task, right? Wrong. Thanks to a brilliant free program for Windows, Macs and Linux called Ancestor Tree Manager (ATM), you can convert a GEDCOM file into a fully functioning website within minutes. And if the results aren’t perfect or you spot a mistake, it’s a simple matter of editing a person’s data or adding new material in the form of photos, facts…

How can I find out more about my great grandfather? In practice, before the 1920s divorce was restricted to wealthier couples Q My great grandfather, Edward Robert Wright (born c1872), married Isabella Eliza Brown on 4 September 1899 in Camberwell and my grandfather, Edward Daniel Wright, was born that month. On 14 November 1900, Edward Daniel and Isabella went into Southwark Workhouse, and in the 1901 census they were staying with Isabella’s mother in Southwark. There is a death record for “Isabel Wright otherwise Poulton” in 1918, wife of Edward Wright, “labourer at aerated water factory”. In the 1911 census, I found Isabella Poulton with Edward Poulton (aged 11), Ethel Poulton (three) and Edith Maude Poulton (one). The girls’ parents are recorded as Isabella Poulton formally Wright and William Poulton.…

ARCHIVE KENT ARCHIVES AND LOCAL HISTORY a Kent History and Library Centre, James Whatman Way, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1LQ t 03000 413131 w kentarchives.org.uk Local archives in hop-growing areas such as Kent hold records relating to villages and farms where hop picking took place. BOOKS Hopping Melanie McGrath Fourth Estate, 2010 McGrath describes the hop-picking holidays of a real-life East End family during the first half of the 20th century. Hops and Hop Picking Richard Filmer Shire Publications, 2011 Filmer tells the story of hopping. MUSEUM THE HOP FARM a Maidstone Road, Paddock Wood, Kent TN12 6PY t 01622 872068 w thehopfarm.co.uk The site of the Hop Farm, which used to be owned by Whitbread and supplied hops to London’s breweries during the 19th and 20th centuries, includes oast houses…

During the 19th century increasing numbers of public parks were opened in large cities, providing much-needed access to green spaces for our urban ancestors. One such park is Hillsborough Park. Generations of Sheffield residents have fond memories of the 49-acre space, which was built on land the Sheffield Corporation bought from the Hillsborough Hall estate in 1890. It’s really important to look at the history of Hillsborough as a whole The charity Age UK Sheffield spent five years completing the restoration of the coach house and potting shed, which have now been opened as a café and makers’ shed. These buildings, alongside the bowling pavilion and the walled garden managed by the Friends of Hillsborough Park, are known as the ‘Gathering Ground’, a community activity and wellbeing space. In partnership…

DIRECTORIES w tinyurl.com/ nls-direct Explore the National Library of Scotland’s Post Office directories covering Aberdeen from 1858 to 1912. MAPS w tinyurl.com/nls-maps-abdn View town maps and county charts from the area via the National Library of Scotland. The earliest from 1661 includes a “description of new and of old Aberdeens, with the places neerest adjacent”. GRADUATES’ ROLLS w tinyurl.com/ uni-abdn-rolls Search graduates from the University of Aberdeen (1860–1970) and its predecessors King’s College and Marischal College. INDEXES w tinyurl.com/ acaaa-ind The archive service’s offering includes indexes to militia records, tax rolls, police court books, and registers of apprenticeships and baptisms. MEMORIAL INSCRIPTIONS w anesfhs.org.uk The DataBank on Aberdeen & North-East Scotland Family History Society’s website includes MIs.…