Welcome to the Family History Social

For anyone who is looking for a good read then you could do no better than picking up a copy of the new Discover Your Ancestors Issue 9 which has just come off the press and is available now! With articles on tracing your house history, the family history of the cast and the castle of Downton Abbey and items covering criminal gangs to criminal lunatics, it’s a magazine that’s hard to put down.

This is a high quality glossy bookazine with 196-pages of new in-depth articles, research advice, social and general history, ‘how to’ features, case studies, places in focus, and much more! It is ideal for both experienced researchers and those just starting out.

In this volume you will find features on:

• Downton Abbey: the historic location, stars and their family histories 
• Charles Dickens 150th Anniversary
• Celebrity Genealogies: Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Rowan Atkinson
• Peaky Blinders & The Krays: the real history of organised crime gangs
• DNA and how it can pinpoint ancestors’ locations
  and much more!

Also included are over £170 of FREE resources! Including a free online research subscription and a voucher for a free subscription to the monthly online magazine, Discover Your Ancestors Periodical.

Pick up this new release from WHSmiths or go online to S&N Genealogy Supplies where you can also find Discover Your Ancestors Back Issues so you can complete your collection, Periodical Compendiums so you can get up to date with the monthly online magazine, as well as many Books and other new releases from Discover Your Ancestors, including the popular Seven Generation Log Book, 10 Generation Relationship Chart and Birth Year from Census Date Calculator.

https://genealogysupplies.com/

This is the first time that these RAF records are fully searchable by name, aircraft, location and many other fields, making it easier to find your aviation ancestors.

In a release of over half a million records, this is the first batch of RAF Operations Records Books (ORBs) to join TheGenealogist’s ever-expanding military records collection.

 The operations records books are for squadrons primarily after the First World War but there are a few early squadron records from 1911 to 1918.

 These documents tell the stories of these brave aircrew who battled against the odds and give insights into their everyday lives. You can use the collection to follow an airman’s war time experiences from these fully searchable Air Ministry operations record books which cover various Royal Air Force, dominion and Allied Air Force squadrons that came under British Command. The AIR 27 records allow the family history researcher a fascinating insight into their relatives serving in a number of wartime air force units.

In the last week we have been sad to hear of the death of the last surviving Battle of Britain ace pilot from World War Two. Wing Cdr Paul Farnes died aged 101 a few days ago and so it is, therefore, poignant that as one of the last from among the 3,000 airmen – known as The Few – who had defended Britain's skies in 1940 he appears in this release of RAF records from TheGenealogist.

Wing Commander Farnes had six confirmed enemy aircraft destroyed, two shared destroyed, two possible destroyed and 11 damaged in his impressive war time tally making him qualify as an ace (a pilot who shot down five or more enemy planes).

 Wing Commander Paul Farnes   Oem89 [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

The records provide summaries of events and can reveal the death of aviators, crashes, as well as less traumatic details such as weather and places patrolled by the planes and where the squadrons were based as the war wore on. As aircrew personnel are named in these reports, those wanting to follow where an ancestor had been posted to and what may have happened to them will find these records extremely informative.

Sgt P.C. Farnes first "kill" recorded in the Operations Record Book for 501 Squadron on TheGenealogist

Of value to researchers are the duties recorded in these documents so that you can find the assignments the men took part in. This includes Bombing, Convoy Escort, Submarine Hunt, Attack Docks & Shipping, Dive Bombing Raids and more.

Use these records to:

●     Add colour to an aircrewman’s story

●     Read the war movements of personnel in air force units

●     Discover if a pilot, navigator, radio operator or gunner is mentioned in the action

●     Find if an airman is listed for receiving an Honour or an Award

●     Note the names of squadron members wounded, killed, or did not return

●     Easily search these National Archives records and images

This expands TheGenealogist’s extensive Military records collection.

Read their article:

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2020/raf-operations-books-build-a-picture-of-wwii-aircrew-ancestors-action-1231/

These records and many more are available to Diamond subscribers of TheGenealogist.co.uk

Many genealogists and family history researchers will be heading to Bristol for The Family History Show, South West in just a weeks' time!

The show takes place on Saturday 8th February at UWE Exhibition Centre, with two Large Lecture Theatres with Free Talks, Free Ask the Experts Area, Societies, Local Archives and Ministry of Defence stands, Free Goody Bag worth over £8 on entry, Free Parking and Free minibus from Station.

Don't miss their Early Bird Offer, Two Tickets for £8, saving £4 on the door price, which you can claim here.

Not in the South West? Don't worry, they are also coming to York in June and London in September.

The Stirling Affair

The eighth novel in the Morton Farrier genealogical crime series has now been released and getting great reviews on goodreads.com and on Amazon.

The Sterling Affair by author Nathan Dylan Goodwin continues the well recieved set of books about a forensic genealogist.

​When an unannounced stranger comes calling at Morton Farrier’s front door, he finds himself faced with the most intriguing and confounding case of his career to-date as a forensic genealogist. He agrees to accept the contract to identify a man who had been secretly living under the name of his new client’s long-deceased brother. Morton must use his range of resources and research skills to help him deconstruct this mysterious man’s life, ultimately leading him back into the murky world of 1950s international affairs of state. Meanwhile, Morton is faced with his own alarmingly close DNA match which itself comes with far-reaching implications for the Farriers.

This is the eighth novel in the Morton Farrier genealogical crime mystery series of ten stories, although it can be enjoyed as a stand-alone story. Available online and to order.

See the author's website: https://www.nathandylangoodwin.com/

Press Release from TheGenealogist

New Searchable War Memorials

TheGenealogist has just released over 12,000 records from 138 War Memorials. This means that there are now a total of over 580,000 individuals on War Memorials that are fully searchable in TheGenealogist’s Military records with photographs centred on their inscription. These memorials can give researchers an insight into education, rank, regiment and occupation of an ancestor. 

Red Deer 55th Street Cemetery Alberta, Canada - RAF Deaths At Penhold 

The War Memorial records will allow the family history researcher to discover:

• over 12,000 additional individuals recorded on War Memorials 
• additional War Memorials from England and Canada 
• fully searchable records which are transcribed from images of the tributes
• colour images of the memorial centred on their name
• a variety of memorials in honour of the war dead from various conflicts 

The Map Explorer™ on TheGenealogist can also be used to locate all the War Memorials on georeferenced historic and modern maps making them easy to find. The War Memorial database includes names from the Boer War, the First World War and World War II. This latest release from TheGenealogist covers war memorials from various parts of the UK, particularly West Yorkshire, County Durham and East Sussex as well as Canada. 

This new release covers memorials that are not all set in stone or cast in iron. There is the WW1 memorial volume book held in Darlington Central Library for Pease and Partners of Darlington. This firm owned mines, quarries and other works all over County Durham and Teesside. This particular memorial is useful to a researcher wanting to "break down barriers" as it not only gives the rank and regiment of the man, but also gives his place of occupation (which particular mine, quarry, or works they had been employed in) which could aid a researcher to try to get the employment record for an ancestor – the volume is divided into sections for the 543 men who died, over 4,100 who served and details of the medals awarded to 134 of them.

Other employment War Memorials in this release include: Yorks & Lancs Railway locomotive works at Horwich where 122 employees were killed in WW1 and in London the Worshipful Company of Armourers and Braziers recording 37 men who were killed or served in WW1 and WW2.

1914 1919 The Great War: Liverymen and Freemen of the Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers

Additional School and college War Memorials added this time include Petworth Boys school, which commemorates 2 teachers and 28 pupils killed in 1942 when the school was destroyed by enemy action, and King’s College Cambridge where 345 students or former students etc. are commemorated having been killed in both the First and Second World War.

Of further note are War Memorials in Pimlico, London where 67 men from a Peabody Estate who were killed in WW1 are recorded. There is an interesting set of stained glass windows in Grimsby Minster dedicated to 25 Grimsby men lost in WW2 who were members of various clubs such as the Grimsby Cyclists' Club. In this release there is a memorial in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada to 35 men of the RAF killed there during their training and in Eastbourne Town Hall there is a roll of 180 civilians or firefighters etc. killed there in WW2 by enemy action. 

These records are available to Diamond subscribers of TheGenealogist as part of their large Military Records collection.

Read TheGenealogist’s article: Using War Memorials to research ancestors from the First World War

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2019/using-war-memorials-to-research-ancestors-from-the-first-world-war-1213/

This is a story that is being run by the family history magazine Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine and is worth passing on.

A Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine reader is seeking the family of Robert and Margaret Raven to return their love letters to them.

Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, are hoping to give the couple’s descendants an extra Christmas present by reuniting them with the precious documents.

The correspondence between Robert Raven and Margaret Blyth was bought as a lot by Bob Sheridan, a Rutland man interested in the history of the armed forces postal service and the postal marks on the letters.

But the letters revealed a moving story of lovers separated by wartime.

Bob and his friend Tracey Dene Powell researched Robert and Margaret in family history, immigration and RAF records, but have yet to find a living descendant to give the letters to.

Read more on the Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine website:

 http://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/news/appeal-return-second-world-war-love-letters-couple%E2%80%99s-descendants

TheGenealogist has just released a collection of Colour Tithe Maps for Bedfordshire to join the previously published greyscale maps in their National Tithe Records collection. This release of attractive colour digitised maps will provide the family historian with highly detailed plans sourced from The National Archives (TNA). TheGenealogist has linked these to the appropriate apportionment books that provide researchers with the details of the plots, their owners and their occupiers at the time that the survey was taken in Victorian times. These make the maps easier to understand as the streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, houses and trees are often highlighted in different colours. 

Subscribers to TheGenealogist’s Diamond membership can now select to view the latest colour or grayscale maps when using the Tithe & Landowner records for this county of England.

Colour Tithe Map of Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire

The new release covers:

• Bedfordshire colour tithe maps showing plots of land 
• The years 1837 to 1855 with some much later plans for any altered apportionments
• Owners and Occupiers recorded means that all levels of society were surveyed 

These tagged colour maps join the previously released apportionment record books, national greyscale maps and colour maps for Warwickshire, Rutland, Huntingdonshire, Buckinghamshire, City of York, Middlesex, Northumberland, Surrey, Westmorland, and the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire. The National Tithe Records collection gives the family history researcher the ability to search by name and keyword (for example parish or county) to look for property holdings from large estate owners to occupiers of small plots such as a homestead, or a cottage.

Read the article, Bedfordshire Tithe Records pinpoint ancestors’ homes large and small at:
https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2019/bedfordshire-tithe-records-pinpoint-ancestors-homes-1206/

About TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist is an award-winning online family history website, who put a wealth of information at the fingertips of family historians. Their approach is to bring hard to use physical records to life online with easy to use interfaces such as their Tithe and newly released Lloyd George Domesday collections. 

TheGenealogist’s innovative SmartSearch technology links records together to help you find your ancestors more easily. TheGenealogist is one of the leading providers of online family history records. Along with the standard Birth, Marriage, Death and Census records, they also have significant collections of Parish and Nonconformist records, PCC Will Records, Irish Records, Military records, Occupations, Newspaper record collections amongst many others.

TheGenealogist uses the latest technology to help you bring your family history to life. Use TheGenealogist to find your ancestors today!

 About The National Archives

The National Archives is one of the world’s most valuable resources for research and an independent research organisation in its own right. As the official archive and publisher for the UK government, and England and Wales they are the guardians of some of the UK's most iconic national documents, dating back over 1,000 years. Their role is to collect and secure the future of the government record, both digital and physical, to preserve it for generations to come, and to make it as accessible and available as possible. The National Archives brings together the skills and specialisms needed to conserve some of the oldest historic documents as well as leading digital archive practices to manage and preserve government information past, present and future.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/  http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ 

For the latest stories, follow the Media Team on Twitter @TNAmediaofficer

S&N Genealogy Supplies, the family run largest UK genealogy publisher and award winning retailer has announced its 2020 catalogue filled with all sorts of items that the family history researcher could require.

You can download a digital version, or order a paper copy of this useful catalogue by going to this page now:

 https://genealogysupplies.com/catalogue-request/

As we are now approximately a month off Christmas perhaps it would be a good time to start thinking of those festive presents for the genealogist?

Take a look at their website for a number of special offers and gift ideas including free charts, over 60% savings on some books and upgrades to software packages.

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The Find a Will service, provided on the official government website, is now providing each copy of a probate record for  England and Wales at £1.50 each.

You can use their service to:

• search for a probate record in England and Wales
• check if probate has been issued
• check the type of probate issued
• order a copy of a probate record (including a will, if there is one)

 Order online costs £1.50 at: https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills

The General Register Office (GRO) has updated it website so that they now have added to thier online indexes for deaths registered between 1984 to 2019.

The General Register Office holds a central copy of all birth, adoption, marriage, civil partnership and death registrations for England and Wales. Their website service allows you to search their historical birth and death indexes and order copies of registrations in a variety of formats including certificates, PDFs and Multilingual Standard Forms via them at the official government website.

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/