Welcome to the Family History Social

Discover Your Ancestors September 2016 Edition

Read about The great fire brigade of London: Nicola Lisle looks at how the Great Fire led to the formation of the London Fire Brigade. Find out about 1666 and all that: Margaret Powling looks at the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire 350 years ago. Explore the records in Tracing the trails our ancestors leave behind: Nick Thorne finds out about a soldier who served in every engagement from Corunna to Waterloo. See the article... Roast beef and rain?: Ruth A Symes uncovers a 19th century Frenchman’s views of our Victorian ancestors. Discover An English eccentricity: Colin Ellson explores the forgotten role of the ‘squarsons’ – wealthy priests at the head of their communities. And take a look at History in the details: Jayne Shrimpton on men’s shirts. As always the online magazine includes a number of Regulars: This month's region: Worcestershire / News & Events / Books  / Classifieds. If you are not already a reader then go now to: http://www.discoveryourancestors.co.uk/

Press Release from TheGenealogist. TheGenealogist adds to its growing collection of Parish Records with the release of those for Nuneaton & North Warwickshire.

• Released in partnership with the Nuneaton & North Warwickshire Family History Society there are over 454,000 new fully searchable records of individuals
• Allowing the researcher to discover more than 300,000 people recorded within the baptisms from this area in the heart of England
• Family historians can also discover the details of over 90,000 individuals from marriages and nearly 60,0000 people listed in the burials of Nuneaton & North Warwickshire

Nuneaton & North Warwickshire FHS worked with TheGenealogist to publish their records online for the first time, making 454,525 individuals from baptism, marriage and burial records fully searchable. "The officers of Nuneaton & North Warwickshire Family History Society are delighted to be working with The Genealogist to bring their collection of baptism, marriage and burial transcriptions for north Warwickshire online…” John Parton (Chairman) With some of the surviving records reaching back into the 1700s this is an excellent resource for family historians to use for discovering Nuneaton & North Warwickshire ancestors. The records are also available on TheGenealogist’s Society website FHS-Online.co.uk where societies get 100% of the income. “This new initiative will provide for those researchers preferring online access, while allowing us to continue offering the data on CD.  NNWFHS members have opportunity to take out an enhanced subscription which includes access to the data." John Parton (Chairman) This is an ongoing project with the society working on transcribing many more records. “We’re delighted to welcome NNWFHS to both TheGenealogist and FHS-Online. This release adds to the growing collection of parish records on both websites. These partnerships help societies boost their funds whilst bringing their records to a much wider audience, through online publication.” Mark Bayley (Head of Online Development) If your society is interested in publishing records online, please contact Mark Bayley on 01722 717002 or see fhs-online.co.uk/about.php

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Examples from Nuneaton & North Warwickshire Parish records In these records can be found the famous novelist, poet, journalist and translator George Eliot, under her real name of Mary Anne Evans. She was born in Nuneaton and baptised at Chilvers Coton All Saints church in 1819 - she used the pen name of George Eliot in order to be taken more seriously as a writer. For the settings of the stories, Mary drew on her Warwickshire childhood. Chilvers Coton became Shepperton. Shepperton Church is described in great detail in The Sad Fortunes of the Reverend Amos Barton, and is recognisably that of Chilvers Coton.

Also to be found in these records are members of her family that she used as inspiration for some of her characters. For example the record for her sister Christiana Evans, baptised in 1814, contains a relevant note by the society that reveals: Sister of George Eliot. Christiana, 'Chrissie' as she was known to her family, was the original of: "Celia" in ‘Middlemarch’ & "Lucy Deane" in ‘The Mill on the Floss’. If we search for Mary Anne’s brother, Isaac Pearson Evans who was born in 1816, there is a note which tells us that he was the brother of George Eliot and that he was the basis of Tom Tulliver in “The Mill on the Floss”. Another person to be found in these records is a Henry Harper, born 1830, whose mother Anne has the note: Anne Harper - daughter of Rev. Bernard Gilpin and Mrs Ebdell ("Mr Gilfil" and "Caterina") and was the son of "Mr Farquhar - the secondary squire of the parish" in “Scenes of Clerical Life” by George Eliot. Additionally there is Isabell Adolphine Gwyther born in 1834 and Edward James Wilson Gwyther born in 1837, who share a mention that reveals: The Rev J Gwyther was Curate of Coton. He and his wife were the originals of “Amos & Milly Barton” in ‘Scenes of Clerical Life’ by George Eliot, “Milly Barton” was the mother of six young children. Using these records you would also be able to find the death in 1836 of Christiana Evans, the writer’s mother.

  This month TheGenealogist has announced that it has added several new early military records. Joining their ever growing and fully searchable Military collection are:

• The Waterloo Roll Call 1815
• Battery Records of the Royal Artillery, 1716-1859
• The Manchester Regiment, 63rd and 96th 1758-1883 Vol I and 1883-1922 Vol II
• Certificate of Musters in the County of Somerset 1569
• Four more Army Lists, from 1838 to 1886

The Waterloo Roll Call of 1815 enables researchers to find ancestors within a list of nearly 2,000 men, most of whom were officers present at the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium on June 18th 1815 under the Duke of Wellington - whose record we can find in this collection. You can search for your ancestors in ‘The Waterloo Roll Call’ using Title, Forename, Surname, Regiment, Rank, Decoration and Staff position. Many of our forefathers would have served in the British Army, and with the military 08known for their record keeping these can provide researchers with valuable information on ancestors. The earliest records in this new release are 16th century Militia Musters for Somerset. The Certificate of Musters in the County of Somerset 1569 contain names of Militiamen (soldiers raised from the civil population) and what role they carried out including archer, pikeman and light-horseman.

The Battery Records of the Royal Artillery 1716-1859 is a prime reference record containing tabulated Battery records, numerous useful historical notes, lists of various officers and more.

For Mancunian military forebears The Manchester Regiment 63rd and 96th 1758-1922  includes the succession of Colonels and an alphabetical roll of regimental officers from 1758 to 1923 showing dates of service with the Regiment, dates of promotion and date and reason for being struck off. With the centenary of the First World War these records can be used to find casualties of all ranks from “The Manchesters” in the Great War. With a list of Honours and Awards, including foreign, these digitised books also provide an interesting in-depth history of the regiment so that researchers can follow the postings of The Manchester Regiment and the action in which it took part. Those researching Victorian soldiers will welcome the inclusion of several early Army Lists in this release for January 1838, December 1838, April 1886 and The Annual Army and Militia List 1855. To search these and many other records go to: www.TheGenealogist.co.uk   Image sources: https://commons.wikimedia.org

War-Memorial.co.uk, is the brand new website dedicated to Photographing, Transcribing and preserving war memorial records for the future, has just launched online providing a unique service that allows the researcher to find their ancestor using the largest collection of combined War Memorial records and images currently available anywhere.

This project is based on Mark Herber’s growing collection of war memorial photographs and personally checked transcriptions. It honours those men and women, who died or served our country in military conflict over the years and it already features over 20,000 detailed photographs of more than 1,200 memorials, commemorating over 270,000 people, with their names (and the memorial’s information about them) transcribed and indexed. With regular additions of photographs, names and information to War-Memorial.co.uk expected as the months go by, War-Memorial.co.uk is the place to find your ancestors immortalised on the country’s war memorials.

Details that can be found in these memorial records include:

• Name
• Regiment, unit or ship
• War or date of death
• Rank and medals
• Photograph of the War Memorial from multiple angles and zooms

War-Memorial.co.uk’s collection includes a very large number of records from the Boer War of 1899-1902 and WW1 and WW2, but it also includes memorials from as early as the 17th century up to very recent conflicts such as Northern Ireland and Afghanistan. Soldiers, sailors, aircrew and civilians are all featured - and not just those who died. Many men and women who served but survived also appear in the records. Using the sophisticated search technology and just basic details you can locate full information on War Memorials on which men and women are commemorated, find more details about them (such as their regiments, ships, ranks and medals), discover the location of the War Memorial and see images of the memorial itself and a close up view of the name of your ancestor! War-Memorial.co.uk is offering some great value options to suit every pocket starting at £5 for a month’s access, £9.95 quarterly, or take out a great value annual subscription at only £29.95. With regular additions of photographs, names and information to War-Memorial.co.uk expected as the months go by. War-Memorial.co.uk is the place to find your ancestors immortalised on the country’s war memorials.  

Example of finding your ancestor in the records

Here we find the unusual records of a Thomas Ambrose, who was killed in 1916 by a bomb from a German airship flying over Sudbury. The transcribed record details how he died and where he is commemorated, as shown below:

Each transcript brings up details of the memorial with overview images of the entire memorial so you can find your ancestor using just their name, locate their memorial and add the images and information to your family history records, or even plan your visit!  

Click here to find out more: http://war-memorial.co.uk/

Yorkshire Family History Fair

Saturday 2nd July 2016 10am to 4.30pm The Knavesmire Exhibition Centre, The Racecourse, York, YO23 1EX

The second largest Family History Fair in the UK is in its 21st year. With exhibitors from all over the UK and Ireland

many family history societies and companies attend each year. You don't have to have Yorkshire Ancestors to come to this fair - they can be from anywhere at all. Everyone is very welcome and there is lots to see. There is plenty of parking, refreshments are available all day, with exhibitors on two floors and FREE talks held throughout the day. This event is organised by family historians for family historians. Do you really know who you are? Come and find out - you may be surprised. Chose between two great ticket offers on www.yorkshirefamilyhistoryfair.com/ FREE gift when you pre-book tickets Claim your Discover Your Ancestors Issue 4 and Discover Your Ancestors Compendium (worth £17.94) at the show Or Buy One Ticket and Get One Free (offers valid until Wednesday 29th June at midday BST) See you at The Knavesmire Exhibition Centre, The Racecourse, York, YO23 1EX. Admission: Adults £4.80, Children under 14 FREE   For late availability on exhibitor space contact [email protected]

TheGenealogist completes Norfolk Parish Records

• Over 6.23 million new searchable Norfolk Parish Records released in partnership with the Norfolk Record Office
• This final tranche includes over 5.95 million records for Norfolk
• Plus more than 276,000 records relating to the boundary areas of Suffolk
• Adding to the 3.6 million individuals already released earlier

TheGenealogist has successfully completed a project to release over 9.8 million fully searchable records for the registers of baptisms, marriages, marriage banns and burials for Norfolk with images of the original registers. It is now easier than ever to research Norfolk ancestors in the parish registers of this Eastern English county. With some of the surviving records reaching back as far as the early 1500s, this is a fantastically rich resource for family historians to use for discovering Norfolk ancestors. Released in partnership with The Norfolk Record Office, the registers of baptisms, marriages, burials and banns of marriage cover the majority of parishes in the Diocese of Norwich. This also includes a number of Suffolk parishes in and near Lowestoft that make up the deanery of Lothingland. Also covered by this release are the parishes in the deanery of Fincham and Feltwell that were part of the Diocese of Ely in south-west Norfolk.    

Examples of famous people to be found in these records include:

Edith Cavell, the First World War Nurse executed by the Germans for treason was born in the South Norfolk village of Swardeston. Her baptism can be found in the register of Swardeston for February 1866 where her father was the vicar and performed the christening ceremony. With a single click family historians can see an image of the actual entry in the parish register.

Edith Cavell's baptism record in the Norfolk Parish Registers on TheGenealogist

Likewise, Horatio Nelson - who would grow up to become perhaps Britain’s best known naval hero of all time - was also baptised by his clergyman father. In Nelson’s case it was in the the village of Burnham Thorpe on the North Norfolk coast in 1758.

Horatio Nelson's baptism 1758 in the Norfolk Parish Records on TheGenealogist

Another British seafaring hero, whose baptism can be found in the Norfolk parish records on TheGenealogist, is Henry George Blogg. He would grow up to become known as the “Greatest of the Lifeboatmen” and be highly decorated. In his case, however, it was not his father that baptised him. His entry in the register reveals a less than auspicious entry of this Norfolk hero into the world - the vicar wrote in the parish register of Cromer that Henry was “base born”. Blogg, however, became a skilled seaman and a lifeboatman. For the many rescues, that he took part in as the coxswain of the Cromer lifeboat, he was awarded the gold medal of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution no less than three times and also the RNLI silver medal four times. He was also honoured with the George Cross from the King, the British Empire Medal, and a series of other awards.

Norfolk Parish Registers on TheGenealogist: Record of Henry Blogg's baptism 1876

Five years after his birth, Henry’s mother, Ellen Blogg, married a fisherman called John Davies. It was this stepfather that taught Henry how to fish and the skills that he needed to be a highly competent seafarer. The marriage banns for Henry’s mother and stepfather can be found in the Banns book for the parish, within the new records on TheGenealogist. Their actual marriage can also be found recorded in the parish register for Cromer included in this new release.

Banns of Marriage records from the Norfolk Parish Registers on TheGenealogist

To search for your Norfolk ancestors go now to: TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist has just launched a new collection of British telephone directories. Complementing the early UK Telephone Directory from 1899-1900 that is already available on TheGenealogist, this new release includes the 1907 Post Office National Directory which adds a resource for finding names and addresses before the 1911 census. This directory was published at a time when the telephone was becoming more important to our ancestors. The Post Office's first coin-operated call box had been installed at London’s Ludgate Circus just the year before, and Trunk (long distance) telephone charges were reduced to half-price for telephone calls made after 7pm and before 7am.

  In addition, and at the same time, TheGenealogist has released the 1938 South Wales District Post Office Telephone Directory. The big contrast between this and the earlier directories are that so many more ordinary people had become telephone subscribers. For this reason the directories were by now split up into regions to cope with the large number of names and addresses.  

• Containing names and address details for subscribers the telephone directories are a useful resource for discovering ancestors who had a phone
• Find private names and small businessmen’s addresses. If your ancestor worked as a fishmonger, butcher, ironmonger or bootmaker, then all these and more feature in the fascinating records.
• The difference between the turn of the century directories and the 1938 South Wales District Directory is marked by the number of new telephone subscribers, so making it possible to find many more ancestor’s names and addresses.

  In a snapshot example from the 1907 Post Office National Directory we can see that in Cardiff that subscribers included various business including a furniture remover and funeral director, fruit merchants, fishmonger, a commercial traveller and some private individuals.

1907 Post Office National Directory.   By the late 1930s the various regions now contained tightly packed names and addresses with many more private subscribers for the family historian to research.

1938 Post Office Directory for Cardiff.   TheGenealogist has also just released online the United States WWII Prisoner of War records to compliment those that are already online for British and former Empire Prisoners of War of the Germans in WWI and WWII.

• These new records reveal the names of U.S. military as well as U.S. and some Allied civilians who were prisoners of war and internees
• Covering the years 1942 - 1947, Prisoners of both Germany and Japan are included in this collection
• The record for each prisoner provides:
  • Name
  • Casualty status
  • Rank
  • Service number
  • PoW camp
  • Regiment, branch of service or civilian status
  • Home town or place of enlistment
  • Date reported
  • Race
  • State of residence

  Example Searching these PoW records we can find Robert  A. "Bob" Hoover, the former air show pilot and United States Air Force test pilot. Known as the "pilot's pilot", Hoover transformed aerobatic flying in his time and many in the world of aviation saw him as one of the greatest pilots ever to have lived. In the Second World War he was a fighter pilot.

Robert A “Bob” Hoover by WPPilot (Own work)

[CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

  During World War II, Hoover was posted to Casablanca where he test flew the assembled aircraft to ensure that they were ready for service. Later in the war he was re-assigned to the Spitfire-equipped American 52d Fighter Group in Sicily. In 1944, and on his 59th mission of the conflict, his malfunctioning Mark V Spitfire was shot down by a German plane off the coast of Southern France. Taken prisoner, he then spent 16 months at the German prison camp Stalag Luft 1 in Barth, Germany, which we can see from these new records on TheGenealogist.

Prisoner of War records on TheGenealogist.

These records are derived from the National Archives and Records Administration, World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946.   In another record release TheGenealogist have added over 37,450 individuals to their Baptism Transcripts for Worcestershire in partnership with Malvern Family History Society, expanding their coverage and bringing the total to over 2 million individuals. These records range from the years 1544 to 1891.   Join TheGenealogist today to take advantage of a comprehensive set of family history records: www.thegenealogist.co.uk

The Twentieth Yorkshire Family History Fair

Organised by Family Historians for Family Historians

If you are in the York area on Saturday 2nd July 2016 then pop along to the Yorkshire Family History Fair. Open from 10am to 4.30pm at The Knavesmire Exhibition Centre, The Racecourse, York, YO23 1EX Admission: Adults £4.80, Children under 14 FREE And at the moment there is a special offer on tickets. Their website says: "With exhibitors from all over the UK and Ireland, this is probably the largest event of its kind in England. Many family history societies and companies attend each year. There is lots of local history from the York area too. You don't have to have Yorkshire Ancestors to come to this fair - they can be from anywhere at all! Everyone is very welcome and there is lots to see. There is plenty of parking, refreshments are available all day, and there are over 70 exhibitors on two floors. There are several lifts to take you to the upper levels, and the whole place is wheelchair friendly. This event is organised by family historians for family historians. This will be our 21st year here in York, and it gets ever more popular each time. Do you really know who you are? Come and find out - you may be surprised!" And  you can get a great offer using this link

To celebrate the Fair's 21st year, they are giving away a Discover Your Ancestors Volume 4 and compendium worth nearly £18 when you buy tickets online before the 26th of June!

  This week sees the 100 year anniversary of the Battle of Jutland. Many websites have been publishing their own stories to commemorate this event and browsing TheGenealogist's Featured Articles section I found this one that draws on some of the excellent records for Jutland available on their site. As they say in the piece: TheGenealogist has a comprehensive Battle of Jutland record set that provides researchers with a full list of the men killed or wounded in the battle with their rank, name of ship and date of death taken from official Admiralty sources. Within these records we can find the brave Boy (1st Class) Cornwell alongside his comrades in arms that died in this battle 100 years ago. It includes the commander of the 1st Cruiser Squadron, Rear Admiral Robert Arbuthnot, who went down with his flagship HMS Defence. The Battle of Jutland Roll of Honour database at TheGenealogist was initially based upon the Admiralty's Registers of Killed and Wounded (from The National Archives). These were cross-referenced with the Naval Who's Who of 1917 and subsequently the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, along with other records. Where possible the records online are cross-referenced to entries at the CWGC's website, as with other Roll of Honour records at TheGenealogist. This combined database is uniquely available on TheGenealogist. Read the full article here: http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2016/jutland-jack-cornwell-the-battle-of-jutlands-youngest-vc-332/

From the Image Archive on TheGenealogist: Boy (First Class) J T Cornwell of HMS Chester, though mortally wounded, stands at his post amid the dead and wounded crew.

In Clerkenwell, London can be found the Society of Genealogists If you are looking for a genealogy talk in the next few weeks of May 2016, then why not consider one of these? Sat 21 May 10:30-18:00 Open Day - with Free Lectures, Library Tours & Advice  - Free (must be pre-booked) Please watch their website for upcoming details on a variety of online talks to take place in 2016 Wed 25 May 12:00-13:00 Nursing through Shot and Shell: Medical Women at the Front £8.00/£6.40 for SoG members. Dr Viv Newman Wed 25 May 14:00-15:00 SoG Special Collections: What has Been Done Before  £8.00/£6.40 for SoG members. Else Churchill Sat 28 May 10:30-13:00 Upstairs, Downstairs: My Ancestor was in Domestic Service £20.00/£16.00 for SoG members. Ian Waller FSG Sat 28 May 14:00-17:00 Divorced, Bigamist, Bereaved - Marriage Law for Genealogists £20.00/£16.00 for SoG members.  Prof Rebecca Probert Sat 28 May 14:00-16:00 Walk: Historic Shoreditch  £10.00/£8.00 for SoG members. Check with their website to see what is fully booked or otherwise before going! http://www.sog.org.uk/books-courses/events-courses/ 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA

Image by Fergusfish (http://www.societyofgenealogists.com) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons