Press Release: Announcing Map Explorer
Powerful new map tool helps trace ancestors properties through time

TheGenealogist’s latest innovation helps you find an ancestor’s property and watch the landscape change over time. The team have georeferenced their Lloyd George Maps for Greater London which are available at launch, with further exciting developments planned for the coming months.

• TheGenealogist’s Map Explorer displays maps for different historical periods up to the modern day
• Maps are fully searchable by county, parish, street and even postcode
• Zoom down to show the individual properties as they were at the time
• Use the transparency slider to reveal a modern street map underneath
• Change the modern base map displayed to more clearly understand what the area looks like today
• Georeferenced pins link to the records for each property
• Display county or parish boundaries
• Find out more and watch the video at TheGenealogist.co.uk/maps/
  

The powerful Map Explorer has been developed to view these georeferenced historic maps overlaid on top of modern background maps including those from Ordnance Survey and Bing Street maps, as well as a satellite view, letting you see where your ancestor's house is today.

To complement the launch of the new Map Explorer, TheGenealogist has also released historic Ordnance Survey maps covering England, Scotland and Wales between the 1890’s and 1960’s. These have also been georeferenced, allowing you to see how the landscape changed over time.

These maps have been divided up into 3 types of layer that can be viewed on top of each other like sheets of paper -  you can then change the transparency of a layer to view the layers below.

The Base Layer

This is the modern layer, which can be used to select a modern OS Map, Open Street Map or a Bing Satellite Image.

The Historic Layer

The historic layer can be used to select a range of OS maps from the 1890’s to the 1960’s

Record Set Layer

This layer provides access to map record sets such as the Lloyd George Domesday, or the soon to be launched Georeferenced Tithe Maps. Keep an eye out as further record sets are added to this layer in the future. This layer also has the ability to show “Pins”, these are map markers that link directly to the records so you can see who was living in a particular property.

[The new Map Explorer from TheGenealogist, going from a historic map to satellite view]

The new Map Explorer has several tools to aid researchers, such as the “Place Search”.  This allows you to enter a postcode or address (either Modern or Historic) and jump to that location on the maps.

Further tools let you see county and parish boundaries and even historic “Wards”, which were the areas that the Lloyd George Domesday Survey were divided into.

[Map showing coverage now available for Lloyd George Domesday Maps]

Researchers are now able to view Lloyd George Domesday Maps for the Greater London Area (Survey books for this area are being released ward by ward over the coming months).

Now you can pinpoint properties old and new with TheGenealogist’s Map Explorer.

Find out more and watch the video at TheGenealogist.co.uk/maps/

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!

Author talk and signing at The National Archives in Kew

A talk and signing to coincide with the publication of a new popular history study on the life of King Henry VI, by Dr Lauren Johnson; author of The Arrow of Sherwood (2013) and So Great a Prince (2016).

This talk will chart the extraordinary rise and fall of the son of Henry V, who became king as an infant but who, as an adult ruler, oversaw the loss of the English claim to the throne of France, and whose inabilities sparked the Wars of the Roses in England.

Dr Lauren Johnson is a historian and costumed interpreter with a first-class degree from Oxford University. Her research for the book was completed at The National Archives and she will be providing insight into her processes as part of this fascinating talk.

Thursday, 28 March 2019  18:30 – 20:00 GMT 

at The National Archives, Bessant Drive, Richmond, TW9 4DU United Kingdom

TNA's café remains open to the public when there are evening events taking place, serving a range of speciality coffees and teas, cakes, pastries, snacks, sandwiches, beer and wine.

We run an exciting range of events and exhibitions on a wide variety of topics. For more details, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/whatson.

Map Showing the areas covered in this latest release (red) and current total coverage (green)

TheGenealogist is releasing the field books and detailed annotated maps for Kensington and Chelsea as the next part of this exciting record set, The Lloyd George Domesday Survey - a resource that can be used to find where an ancestor lived in 1910. Covering the areas of Brompton, Chelsea East, Chelsea West, Holland Park, Notting Hill East, Notting Hill West and South Kensington the newly added records contain 49,608 individuals who owned or occupied property in this upmarket part of London.

This unique online combination of detailed maps and residential data held by The National Archives is being digitised by TheGenealogist and can locate where your ancestor’s house had been on large scale (5 feet to the mile) hand annotated maps which show the outlines of property plots.

Beatrix Potter's childhood home at 2 Bolton Gardens, Kensington

Details of the Potter’s lavish family home, including 6 bedrooms, 2 dressing rooms, 3 WCs and a servants hall

Previously, researchers would often not be able to find where ancestors lived for several reasons. Road names changed over time, the Blitz saw areas bombed to destruction, developers changed sites out of all resemblance from what had stood there before and lanes and roads were extinguished to build estates and office blocks. All this means that searching for where an ancestor lived using a website linked to modern maps can be frustrating when they fail to pinpoint where the old properties had once been.

• TheGenealogist’s new release will link individual properties to extremely detailed ordnance survey maps used in 1910
• Locate an address found in a census or street directory down to a specific house
• Fully searchable by name, county, parish and street.
• The maps will zoom down to show individual properties on roads as they existed in 1910
  

Complementing the maps on TheGenealogist are the accompanying field books that will also provide researchers with information relative to the valuation of each property, including the valuation assessment number, map reference, owner, occupier, situation, description and extent.

This huge project includes over 94,500 Field Books, each having hundreds of pages to digitise with associated large scale IR121 annotated OS maps, and is therefore ongoing.

The initial releases from TheGenealogist have begun in London and will continue to expand outwards across the country with cross linked maps wherever they are available.

Find out more at: TheGenealogist.co.uk/1910Survey/

Or read the feature article: Kensington and Chelsea Lloyd George Domesday Survey finds famous authors and actors https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2019/kensington-and-chelsea-lloyd-george-domesday-survey-finds-authors-and-actors-1069/

Discover Your Ancestors Issue 8 Now Out!

The 196 page bookazine contains 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.

• Fascinating features about life in the past
• Different types of records explored
• Explore Edward's Era - meet the Edwardians at home and at play
• How to research: Methodists & Dissenters, Scots criminals and family myths
• George Eliot: 200th Anniversary
• Celebrity genealogies: Emily Blunt and Michael Caine
• Over £170 of FREE resources! Including a 6 Month Gold Subscription to leading website TheGenealogist (worth £44.95!) and a 12 Month Subscription to the monthly online magazine, Discover Your Ancestors Periodical.
• Lots of other downloadable resources
• and much more!

Buy your copy from S&N Genealogy Supplies

TheGenealogist is adding to its Military Records collection with the release of more than 1 million entries for people recorded in the Second World War Casualty Lists. Sourced from collection WO 417 held at The National Archives, these documents contain records from the war years of 1939 to 1945 and list casualties sustained by the British Army during the Second World War. There are volumes for Officers and Nurses, with separate volumes for Other Ranks. The Casualty Lists were compiled from daily lists that had been prepared by the War Office Casualty Section and cover the various expeditionary forces deployed in different locations across Europe, Africa and Asia as well as for personnel at home.

British Army Second World War casualties include wounded and POWs

WW2 Casualty Records will give family history researchers details of ancestors’ names and regiment as well as ranks and service numbers for those recorded. The World War 2 casualty lists contained more detail than their WW1 counterparts and often list the date of the casualty (as well as the list date), plus other information such as the unit a soldier had been serving in at the time.

Included in these lists are those who had been unaccounted for by the military, been dangerously ill or injured, captured as a Prisoner of War or died. The records include troops who had been serving in a number of places across the world, but also cover personnel who had lost their lives, were injured at home or were serving at an overseas station outside the theatres of war. Updates and corrections appear in the records as new information was received by the War Office.

These records allow a researcher to use TheGenealogist’s unique SmartSearch by simply clicking the magnifying glass at the bottom of the transcript. This will automatically search for any other records relating to that person. For example, if they were a Prisoner of War this will return other records from TheGenealogist’s military collection, including PoW records that reveal what camp that soldier had been recorded in.

If a person had died, you also get a smart link to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) which brings up details of their war grave, with further information.

Use the WWII casualty list records to:

• Find ancestors who were Missing, Wounded, Killed in Action or Prisoners of War
• Discover army personnel seriously ill or accidentally killed serving at home or overseas
• Check an ancestor’s rank and service number
• Find the theatre of war in which your ancestor was serving when they became a casualty

Read TheGenealogist's article:  WWII Casualty Lists finds two motor racing aces executed by the Nazis

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2019/wwii-casualty-lists-finds-two-motor-racing-aces-executed-by-the-nazis-1059/

The Family History Shows 2019

York 22nd June  -  South West 6th July  -  London 24th August

There is some exciting news and special offers from the Discover Your Ancestors Family History Shows upcoming events for 2019! Here is what they are saying:

Due to the sell-out success of last year's London show, the extremely popular face to face Free 'Ask the Experts' section will be run at all of the Discover Your Ancestors Family History Shows this year. We're also expanding this area to cover your questions on DNA, Dating Photographs, Medals, Military Service and Research Problems. So don't forget to bring your ancestors' medals, records and photos along!

New for the 2019 shows we are also introducing Q&A panel sessions, where you can get your family history queries answered by a group of experts. So make sure you have time to ask those family history questions when planning your day.

Each show will have two lecture areas with Free Talks given by various expert independent speakers including Photo Dating Expert and Fashion Historian Jayne Shrimpton, DNA Expert Debbie Kennett and others we have lined up and will announce in later emails and on our Facebook page.

With over 100 tables already booked, space is filling up fast! If you or anyone you know are interested in exhibiting please contact bookings@thefamilyhistoryshow.com.

We are making The Family History Shows affordable events to attend with low-cost entry, Free Talks and Free Parking. Book your tickets now to avoid disappointment.

Keep up with our latest announcements for all our shows on Twitter and Facebook.

Ticket Offers

Purchase tickets now to save with our Early Bird specials:

• South West - Tickets on the day are £6, Early Bird: Two for £8!
• York - Tickets on the day are £6, Early Bird: Two for £8!
• London - Tickets on the day are £8, Early Bird: Two for £10!

https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/

Special Offers for Exhibitors

Our shows have become synonymous with great value ticket prices, free talks and free parking, which continue to impress visitors and stallholders alike. We always have a good turn out with the halls nearing capacity, leading us to opt for bigger and better venues. With table prices at just £50 for Bristol, £57 for York and £79 for London, our events provide exhibitors a big show to fit any budget.

To celebrate our new South West show in Bristol for 2019, everyone who books tables at both London and York can Buy One Get One Free on tables for the South West event. But hurry as this offer will only last until the end of February. To claim this offer or find out more, please email us at bookings@thefamilyhistoryshow.com.

Fantastic Value on Sponsorship Opportunities

We have a range of sponsorship opportunities to fit all budgets. With options for stand space, branding and talk slots, contact bookings@thefamilyhistoryshow.com to find out more.

Prisoner Records reveal a criminal lunatic who threatened Queen Victoria and was detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure

TheGenealogist is adding to its Court and Criminal Records collection with the release of almost 700,000 entries for prisoners. Sourced from the HO 8 Registers held by The National Archives, these documents contain records from the years 1821 to 1876. This expands our collection to over 1.3 million individuals covering 1801-1876.

Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey

These Prison Registers give family history researchers details of ancestors who were imprisoned in a number of convict prisons from Broadmoor to the Warrior Convict Hulk. The records reveal the names of prisoners, offences the prisoner had been convicted for, the date of their trial and where they were tried.

Use the quarterly prison registers to:

• Find ancestors guilty of crimes ranging from theft, highway robbery and libel to murder
• Discover the sentences received
• See the age of a prisoner
• Find out where they were sentenced and to which prison they were sent

Read our article, “A child poisoner and a criminal lunatic detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure”.

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2019/ho-8-historic-prisoner-records-reveal-a-child-poisoner-and-a-criminal-lunatic-detained-at-her-majestys-pleasure-1049/

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

The 24 January 1965 saw the death of the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill aged 90. He died at his London home nine days after suffering a severe stroke on the morning of Sunday, 24 January 1965. Coincidentally it was 70 years to the day after his own father's death.

More than 144,700 Worcestershire Baptism records added to TheGenealogist and a further 20,000 individuals on Headstones

TheGenealogist is releasing the records of 144,793 individuals added to their Worcestershire Baptisms (in Partnership with Malvern FHS) and an additional 20,000 individuals on headstones from the UKIndexer project where volunteers help their fellow genealogists by indexing and/or photographing the monumental inscriptions in churchyards and cemeteries.

• Discover dates of ancestors’ baptisms
• Glean names of parents of those baptised in Worcestershire
• Headstones give dates and name details of those buried and sometimes familiar relationships
• Memorials can reveal information not recorded elsewhere for ancestors

St Giles, Imber

Headstones being released this week includes the transcriptions and the images for those at St Giles, Imber on Salisbury Plain, useful for those with ancestors buried there as it is only open a few days a year. St Giles' Church is in the deserted village of Imber, Wiltshire and was built in the late 13th or early 14th century. The village falls within the British Army's training grounds on Salisbury Plain and is deserted as a result of the entire civilian population being evicted in 1943 to provide an exercise area for American troops preparing for the invasion of Europe during the Second World War. Once the war came to an end the villagers would have liked to return but were not allowed. The church today is without its pews and its font was moved to Brixton Deverill while the pulpit has been sent to Winterbourne Stoke. St Giles’ seating, bell and two effigies are now housed at Edington Priory. The Church of St Giles is open for visitors and services on specified days of the year when the Ministry of Defence allows access. St Giles is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a Grade I listed building, and is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

These fully searchable records released this week are available now to Diamond subscribers of TheGenealogist.

Read their article: TheGenealogist adds to its Headstone collection to reveal some fascinating celebrities

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2019/thegenealogist-adds-to-its-headstone-collection-to-reveal-some-fascinating-celebrities-1038/

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List of churchyards and burial grounds in this release

Bedfordshire: Lidlington Graveyard, Lidlington; St Andrew, Ampthill; St Lawrence, Wymington Buckinghamshire: St Leonard, Chesham Bois Devon: St Clement, Powderham; All Saints, Kenton Dorset: St Andrew, Fontmell Magna; St Aldhelms, Upton; Church of the Ascension, Woodlands; St Wolfrida, Horton; Sherborne Abbey, Sherborne; St Mary Magdalene, Fifehead Magdalen; St Nicholas, Edmondsham; St Gregory, Marnhull; All Saints, Chalbury; St Laurence, Farnham; St Peter, Pimperne; Holy Trinity, Stourpaine; St Mary, Iwerne Minster; All Saints, Kington Magna Essex: North Road Burial Ground, Westcliff-on-Sea Gloucestershire: St Barnabas, Snowshill; St Peter, Daylesford; Hailes Parish Church, Hailes; St Mary, Driffield; Hampshire: All Saints, Minstead Herefordshire: St Peter and St Paul, Weobley Lincolnshire: St Paul, Morton, Gainsborough London: St Pauls Burial Ground now West Hackney Recreation Ground, Hackney North Yorkshire: St John and All Saints, Easingwold; St John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Easingwold; Christ Church Cemetery, Marton cum Grafton Northamptonshire: St Mary’s Rushden, Rushden; Rushden Cemetery, Rushden; All Saints, Earls Barton; Earls Barton Baptist Church, Earls Barton Oxfordshire: St Mary, Swinbrook Shropshire: St Catherine, Eyton on the Weald Moors; St Cuthbert’s Donington, Albrighton, Wolverhampton; St Bartholomew, Tong Somerset: St John the Baptist, Biddisham; St Nicholas, Brockley; Sawbridgeworth Cemetery, Sawbridgeworth; St Lawrence, Rode; St Lawrence, Cucklington; St Nicholas, Henstridge Suffolk: St Mary, Grundisburgh Wiltshire: St Editha, Baverstock; St Martin, Barford St Martin; St Margaret of Antioch, Corsley; Christ Church, Warminster; Holy Trinity, Bradford on Avon; Baptist Burial Ground, Crockerton; St Leonard, Sutton Veny; St Peter Ad Vincula, Tollard Royal; St Aldhelm, Bishopstrow; Holy Trinity, Dilton Marsh; Christ Church, Bradford on Avon; St Giles, Imber; St John, Warminster; St John the Baptist, Bishopstone Worcestershire: St Eadburgha, Broadway Yorkshire: New Connexion, Shepley, Huddersfield; St Pauls, Shepley, Huddersfield; St Thomas, Thurstonland; St Lucius, Farnley Tyas; Christ Church, New Mill, Holmfirth

List of Worcestershire Parishes

Beoley, Birtsmorton, Clent, Cradley Nr Ledbury, Ripple, Severn Stoke, St. Peter The Great, Tenbury Wells, Upper Arley, Upton On Severn, Upton Upon Severn, White Ladies Aston, Whittington, Wolverley, Worcester All Saints, Worcester St Albans, Worcester St Clement, Worcester St Clements, Worcester St Helen, Worcester St John Of Bedwardine, Worcester St Martin, Worcester St Michael, Worcester St Nicholas, Worcester St Swithun, Worcester St. Helen, Wribbenhall, Wyre Piddle

From 1 February 2019, there will be changes to some of The National Archives (TNA) fees in the UK.

This is taken from what is written on their website:

As a government department providing a public service, TNA are able to charge for some statutory services (as defined by the Public Records Act ) on a cost recovery basis. The Fees Order, which regulates our fees, has been refreshed from the last calculation which came into effect 1 April 2017. The National Archives are maintaining the standard approach in line with the HM Treasury publication, Managing Public Money, to set charges at a level that will recover full costs, ensuring that The National Archives neither profits at the expense of consumers nor makes a loss for taxpayers to subsidise.

There are both price increases and decreases, for example a digital copy up to A3 size goes up by 10p to £1.20. Currently, TNA's research service costs £23.35 per 15 minutes, this will go up by £1.00. However, the charge for a copy of a naturalisation certificate will go down by 25p to £27.15.

As there is no legal requirement for The National Archives to digitise physical public records these services are by definition discretionary. TNA has therefore removed the following digital surrogate related lines:
• The creation of digital surrogates funded by others (for a commercial return, or to widen access)
• Reprographic charges (Production and Estimation)
• Image Library (Serviced Copies – Colour Photograph)
• Digital Downloads
• Conservation for Digitisation

In addition to, but separate from, the Fees Order changes, TNA are introducing a fee for the provision of letters of no evidence of naturalisation, in the same way that they charge for certified copies of naturalisation certificates. These will incur a fee of £27.15 which is regulated to be the cost recovery price (i.e. the cost to The National Archives doing the work).

A full list of fees can be found here