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TheGenealogist reveals its plans for 2017 record releases

  Press Release from TheGenealogist:

TheGenealogist logo

What TheGenealogist has in store for 2017 2017 is going to see millions of new records added to TheGenealogist across a wide variety of collections. New Data Sets We are adding millions of new and unique Parish Records and Bishops’ Transcripts are being added for many more counties. A new and unique record set covering detailed records of our ancestors houses, which will be searchable by name, address and area, with high resolution maps showing the property. Our ongoing project with The National Archives is set to release yet more detailed Colour County and Tithe Maps with tags to show where your ancestors lived. We are releasing a 1921 census substitute, using a wide variety of records including Trade and Residential Directories of the time. New decades of BT27 Passenger Lists and Emigration Records will become available. Our International Headstone Project will be expanded with more Commonwealth Cemeteries added. More worldwide War Memorials added to our comprehensive database. Following on from our release of over 230 million U.S. records in 2016, we will be launching more U.S. records in 2017.   New & Improved Census Images Thanks to new technology and new Silver Halide Film provided by The National Archives, we have now been able to re-scan the 1891 census with improved resolution and quality. This combination of improved readability and new transcripts will help locate your ancestors and view the relevant images with a superior grayscale format. Our “Deep Zoom” images have over 5 times the resolution of previous images. They will be lightening fast to view thanks to the  technology used in our new image interface. We will launch these new images in early 2017.   Look out for these exciting new developments and more in 2017 at TheGenealogist.co.uk  
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Discover Your Ancestors November 2016 issue

  The November edition of the acclaimed digital family history magazine Discover Your Ancestors is out and packed with interesting articles. Have you got your copy?
  • The People’s Palace: Eighty years ago this month the Crystal Palace burnt down. Sue Wilkes tells its story
  • Banking on fraud: Nick Thorne discovers that a Royal Charter and having MPs for directors failed to stop a Victorian bank embezzling its customers’ money
  • ‘Off by heart’: Ruth A Symes looks at the role of poems in the family
  • Who teaches the teachers? Richard Willis explores the history of the Chartered College of Teaching
  • The escapologists: Nick Thorne follows the ‘Thrill Slayer’ and the ‘Artful Dodger’ in newly released US records
  • History in the details: Jayne Shrimpton on blouses
  • Regulars: Region: Cardiganshire / News & Events / Books  / Classifieds

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Head over to Discover Your Ancestors website http://www.discoveryourancestors.co.uk/subscribe/
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TheGenealogist are launching over 220 million US records

This press announcement is from TheGenealogist: We are expanding our international records with the release of:
  • 90 million Social Security Death records 1935-2014
  • 1940 Census Images containing 132 million records with searchable transcripts linked to the Enumeration Maps
  • Irish immigration records for 604,596 persons arriving in New York 1846-1851
Many people hit a brick wall where an ancestor seems to disappear from all the records in the U.K. It could be that they have gone abroad for a period or emigrated for good. If your elusive ancestor went to the United States of America, TheGenealogist’s expanded international records can help.   Social Security Death Records The U.S. Social Security Death Index is a database of over 90 million death records. These give information of those who died from 1936 whose death has been reported to the Social Security Administration. The data includes: Given name and surname; Date of birth; Month and year of death (or full date of death for accounts active in 2000 or later); Social Security number; State or territory where the Social Security number was issued; Last place of residence while the person was alive (ZIP code).   1940 Census The American census is searchable by first name, surname, age, state, county, street address and place of birth (allowing us to find Brits enumerated in the American census). The records give details of over 132 million individuals with a transcription along with the actual image of the schedule. Where available, the record is also linked to the Enumeration Index Map for the area so that you can see exactly which street your ancestor lived on. Our transcripts also have the added benefit of street addresses included, allowing you to search for a street rather than an individual. The 1940 Census transcripts on TheGenealogist are not the same as those found elsewhere online; apart from the linked maps and street addresses, we have also audited the images discovering many that haven't been transcribed previously elsewhere. These are also being added to our records.

US 1940 census with maps

  We believe that experienced researchers will welcome this release, knowing that having alternative transcripts to those already available gives the family historian a better chance of finding people whose names have been difficult to read or have contained errors in the other databases.   New York Immigration Records The New York Port Arrival 1846-1851 series gives the family historian access to useful information about immigrants from Ireland to the United States during the era of the Irish Potato Famine, identifying 604,596 persons who arrived in the Port of New York and giving the name of the ships on which they arrived. Approximately 70 percent of the passengers listed were natives of Ireland, with the rest being nationals of 32 countries that included Canada, Brazil, Saint Croix, Russia, Morocco, the United States and various European countries. Information contained in these records include name, age, town of last residence, destination, passenger arrival date, and codes for the passenger's gender, occupation, literacy, native country, transit status, travel compartment, passenger port of embarkation, and the identification number for the ship manifest.   These new records join TheGenealogist’s growing collection of other U.S.A. data sets such as the WWII PoW records, Early Settlers and Emigrants to America, Passenger Lists, American Wills, Almanacs and Directories.
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Powerful WW1 photographs superimposed onto modern images.

  There is a fascinating collection of World War I pictures that are superimposed onto the same scene from modern times on The Telegraph website here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/10993859/WWI-photographs-superimposed-into-modern-times.html Well worth a look if you have a minute or two!

telegraph

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New Occupational Records now on TheGenealogist

New Occupational Records now on TheGenealogist

religious-occupational-records-on-thegenealogist

If your ancestor held a prominent position in a religious organisation then you may find them in amongst a number of recent releases at TheGenealogist.co.uk. The new records include:  
  • The Year Book of The Church of England in the Dominion of Canada 1926 & 1935 - These year books contain the details of the members of clergy in Canada.
  • New Zealand Methodist Union Index 1913 - Listing details of Methodist Ministers and their placements in New Zealand up to 1912.
  • Catholic Directory 1867 & 1877Directories of Catholic Clergy with addresses for England, Scotland and Wales.
  • Biographical Dictionary of English Catholics 1534 to 1885 - This work by Joseph Gillow gives biographies of prominent Catholics which often include details of their family, education and achievements.
  • Shropshire Roman Catholic Registers 1763-1837
  • The Roman Catholics in the County of York 1604
  • Various Catholic Record Society volumes - These include a variety of interesting records including various Catholic Church registers, memoirs and letters of prominent Catholics and Recusant Rolls.
  • Jewish Year Books 1896-99, 1901-8, 1910-11, 1918-21, 1925, and 1928-39 - These year books list the details of prominent people within each synagogue, obituaries, Jewish officers in the Army, Navy and Auxiliary Forces, Ministers, MPs, Peers, and even Jewish 'Celebrities' of the time.
  • Jewish Synagogue Seatholders in London for 1920, 1922, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1937
  • The Clergyman's Almanack 1821 & 1822 - These Almanacks list archbishops, bishops, dignitaries, MPs and Peers.
  • Register of Missionaries 1796-1923 - A register of the missionaries and deputations of the London Society of Missionaries. This book includes many details about each missionary, as well as listing their wives (including their maiden name).
  • Durham Diocesan Calendar 1931
  These records compliment an already wide range of religious occupational records such as Cox's Clergy Lists and Crockford's Clerical Directories, Jewish Seatholders, Catholic Registers, and Directories already on TheGenealogist.   Diamond subscribers can access these records by going to the Search tab on the home page - scrolling down to Occupational Records and then selecting the type of records that they are interested in. Go to: TheGenealogist.co.uk.
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Discover Your Ancestors Periodical has some great articles...

Discover Your Ancestors September 2016 Edition

Discover Your Ancestors Sept 2016

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/
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Nuneaton & North Warwickshire FHS worked with TheGenealogist to put records online

TheGenealogist logo

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.

Nuneaton 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.
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Early Military Records go online

  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

jul16_waterloo1

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.

1828_MilitiaMuster_watercolor_byDCJohnston_AAS

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.

The_Manchester_Regiment_by_Harry_Payne

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
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Launch of new website - War-Memorial.co.uk

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.

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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:

war-memorial search

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!  

war-memorial

Click here to find out more: http://war-memorial.co.uk/
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Great Ticket offer for Yorkshire Family History

Yorkshire Family History Fair

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

York Family History FairThe 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]

York Family History Fair

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