The Society of Genealogists is presenting a course aimed at taking your research back into the 1600s. Away from the pressures of life for a weekend, you can focus on how to find your earlier ancestors and flesh out your family’s history. If you sign up for this online course you will spend time with other people in the class that share your interests and are as keen as you are to learn new skills. Most of us enjoy meeting and learning from expert genealogists and we find others’ ancestry almost as fascinating as our own.

The SoG 2-day intensive course covers:

The Commonwealth Gap

Civil Wars

Migration to the Americas

Parish Registers and Records

Heraldic Visitations

Grammar Schools and Universities

London Guilds and Livery Companies

Taxation

Old Poor Law

Sources for English Civil War soldiers

Court records and Quarter Sessions

Nonconformity

17th Century Probate

Using case studies, document workshops and small group discussions alongside lectures you will learn about England in the 17th Century the sources available to research your ancestors in this period, and what their life would have been like. 

On Saturday afternoon guest speaker Tim Healey presents "Sex, Drink and Death in the 17th Century" a romp through the pleasures and perils of life in this turbulent era, featuring bawdy frolics, alehouse revels, highway robberies, Civil War, fire and plague. Hugely entertaining, the talk also gives insight into evolving customs - of courtship, celebration, faith and burial. 

Time: 

From 10:30am to 5 pm on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th September on Zoom. 

Students will then have access to the recording of each talk for two weeks. 

Bookings are open until 9am 16 September 2023. 

https://members.sog.org.uk/events/6406270ba8ecf00007e50953/description?ticket=6406270ba8ecf00007e50955

Discover judges, barristers and other court officials in Lawyer lists from 1780 to 1911

Finding that an ancestor belongs to a profession or occupation can be a great way into researching a family tree. Many of them will be recorded in specially produced lists or directories, such as those lawyer lists that are being released online today by TheGenealogist.

For researchers with forebears that belonged to the legal profession, a great set of new historical data has just joined the ever expanding Occupational Record set on TheGenealogist. These book records can give family historians fascinating facts about an ancestor, often revealing to researchers useful details of their lives beyond simply their professional particulars. 

[The Royal Courts of Justice, London]

These resources can be used to reveal:

• addresses of ancestors in the legal profession
• confirm or unearth relevant dates
• some biographical entries will even give names of other family members
• schools and universities that forebears attended
• the qualifications that an ancestor had gained
• details of judges and lawyers involved in an ancestor’s cases
  
  

With the release of thousands of records online Diamond subscribers of TheGenealogist can now look for members of legal professionals in a number of listings with a legal flavour from 1780 to 1911.

Read TheGenealogist’s article, An Ancestor Bar None:

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2023/an-ancestor-bar-none-4119/ 

About TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist is an award-winning online family history website, which puts 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!

Over 1,000 square miles of searchable property records have been released

Today sees the launch of a superb new resource for family historians, providing a great way to discover what type of property our ancestors once occupied. TheGenealogist has just added records covering every head of household and property owner in Oxfordshire around the period 1910-1915 with their latest release. Known as the Lloyd George Domesday Survey, the site now has over 2 Million records searchable online from this collection, covering all boroughs of Greater London plus Middlesex, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and West Hertfordshire, along with the newly added Oxfordshire.

High Street, Oxford TheGenealogist’s Image Archive

The records were created when one of the most important government surveys took place in Britain as a result of David Lloyd George’s 1910 Finance Act. The Board of Inland Revenue Valuation Office Survey, or The Lloyd George Domesday Survey as the records have become known, is safely held by The National Archives at Kew. 

Following many years of collaboration between The National Archives’ conservation and records team and TheGenealogist’s digitization staff at Kew, the project to publish these records, comprising of the IR 58 Field Books and accompanying IR 121 to IR 135 Ordnance Survey maps, has now reached a major landmark.

This latest release of Oxfordshire records from The National Archives joins the millions of records in TheGenealogist’s powerful tool, Map Explorer™.

• The Lloyd George Domesday Survey identifies individual properties on extremely detailed 1910-1915 maps, zoomable to the exact plot
• The surveyors’ field books provide fascinating details about the house, often revealing the size and number of its rooms
• Maps reveal the features of the neighbourhood in which an ancestor lived
• Search using the Master Search or by clicking on the pins displayed on TheGenealogist’s powerful Map Explorer™ 
• Historic maps are layered over modern street maps, allowing you to see how an area changed over time
• The project will expand to cover the rest of England & Wales

Dr Jessamy Carlson, Family & Local History Engagement Lead at The National Archives, said:

“The Valuation Office maps are a key resource for house and local history, and this project is an exciting development for future research. Oxfordshire is an excellent addition to this growing set of online resources, and the variety of residences it covers reveals some fascinating insights into communities before the First World War.”

Mark Bayley, Head of Online Content at TheGenealogist, said:

“This release marks a major milestone in the Lloyd George Domesday Project, with now over 2 Million records available for family historians to search. These records enable genealogists and researchers to gain insights and reveal the intricacies of our ancestors' homes, gardens and property ownership.”

Oxfordshire is the latest release of TheGenealogist’s Lloyd George Domesday Records

Visit thegenealogist.co.uk/1910Survey for more information.

Read TheGenealogist’s article in which these records were used to find the property of Oxford resident William Morris: The Cyclist Champion who built a Car Empire

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2023/the-cyclist-champion-who-built-a-car-empire-3795/

About TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist is an award-winning online family history website, which puts 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 and 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!

Come and be part of a fascinating day dedicated to exploring your genealogy! Sit and be inspired by our free captivating talks, interact with experts who can help you find answers to your questions, and explore a diverse range of exhibitors, family history societies, and genealogy companies from all over the country in the exhibition hall. 

This event is an absolute must for all enthusiasts of Family history. Come along and discover fascinating insights into your heritage or your past family. Join us and experience a great day out with lots of friendly exhibitors, complimentary talks, convenient parking, regular trains from London Waterloo or Clapham Junction, and refreshments available all day. Secure your tickets now to take advantage of our amazing two-for-one offer!

Get your early-bird tickets now, The Family History Show – London.

Make a Day of it

Book an expert session and watch a talk in the morning, then have lunch in our restaurant before finishing the day with a bit of retail therapy, chat with societies and catch another talk before you go.

The Family History Show – London features:

• Free talks held throughout the day in two large lecture areas
• Ask the Experts - Book a free personal 1-2-1 session with an expert
• Free goody bag on entry worth over £10. 
• Free Parking 
• Kempton Park Railway Station onsite
• All Day Refreshments
• Wheelchair Friendly Venue

Early-bird Ticket Offer

Get your tickets now and save, Two tickets for £12 (£12 each on the day) and you’ll also get a goody bag on entry worth over £8. 

Save 50% by getting two tickets for £12 for the London show here: https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/london/tickets/ 

Talks you can look forward to at the London show include:

10:30 - Tips & Tricks for Online Research
Keith Gregson – Professional Researcher & Social Historian

11:30 - Pinpointing Your Ancestors
Mark Bayley - Online Genealogy Expert

12:30 - Behind the scenes of Who Do You Think You Are?
Nick Barratt - Historian, Author and Professional Genealogist

13:30 - Breaking Down Brick Walls in Your Family History Research
Mark Bayley - Online Genealogy Expert

14:30 - The Genetic Detective - Tips & tricks for solving unknown DNA matches
Donna Rutherford - DNA Expert

Early-bird Ticket OfferGet two tickets for £12 for the London show here: https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/london/tickets/

Ask the experts free One to One advice sessions

Find Out More at: https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/ 

TheGenealogist has just released a significant batch of The Jewish Chronicles from the First World War and The Jewish Echo (Scotland and Ireland’s only Jewish paper from the time) covering years during the build up to World War 2.

These newspapers offer the opportunity to traverse through time and witness the pivotal moments that shaped the lives of the Jewish community throughout the war. Accompanying this great resource are the seatholders for the Crosby Street Synagogue in New York, with fascinating details of how it came to be. These records join the substantial holdings of Jewish records on TheGenealogist, including Seatholders of London Synagogues between 1920 and 1939, The Jewish Year Books from 1896 to 1939 and the Jewry Book of Honour (1914-1918).

• Researchers can use these resources to find Jewish ancestors in the news
• Learn what was happening from community notifications
• Find Births, Deaths, Engagements, Marriages, Obituaries and Wills
• Unearth dates for Bar Mitzvahs 
• Track down when Tombstones were to be Set
• Discover relatives that contributed to the many charitable funds supporting victims of the War
• Learn about ancestors’ Military Promotions and listings in Casualty Lists

Read TheGenealogist’s article on how we used records in this release to set history straight and discover the truth about a WW1 Aviator, Businessman and Playboy:

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2023/setting-history-straight--discovering-the-truth-about-a-ww1-aviator-businessman-and-playboy-3261/ 

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!

ScotlandsPeople have announced that four volumes of Lightkeepers Records, spanning 84 years (1837-1921) have been added to their website. Sourced from the Lightkeeper registers of the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses,  2,047 images capturing the entries of 1,363 lightkeepers can now be searched online. 

Lightkeepers can be searched by name, age and the year they entered service. Alternatively, searches can be undertaken by searching for the name of a specific lighthouse, the county or locality.

https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/advanced-search/employment-records#record-type

TheGenealogist has just released a range of records that will appeal to many British family historians with seafaring roots. As an island nation, we have seen countless ancestors go to sea, especially in the two World Wars. Whether our forebears served in merchant vessels or in warships, this latest release has records of interest for those with both types of sailors in their family trees.

Researchers can use these records to reveal names, dates and information about ancestors who were recorded in a number of Navy Lists for the Royal Navy (RN) that cover both WW1 and WW2. Family historians looking for Merchant Navy (MN) mariners killed or who died on service in WW1 will also find something in this release for them, as well as gaining access to names for merchant seamen honoured with medals and awards between 1914-1918. 

For those who have lost seafarers, whether in either the Royal Navy or the Merchant Navy, then this collection of records is a useful addition. Family history researchers will be able to look for ships that were sunk. The new resources include Merchant Shipping Losses 1914-1918, and the British Merchant Vessels Lost or Damaged by Enemy Action During the Second World War 1939-1945. For the Senior Service’s vessels, the Returns Showing the Losses of Ships of the Royal Navy 1914-1918 will give details of the ship and where it was sunk.

Fully searchable by name or keyword from TheGenealogist’s Master Search. The new additions include records from a variety of sources, including:

• The Navy List 1914
• The Navy List January 1916
• The Navy List April 1918
• The Navy List August 1937
• The Navy List October 1937
• The Navy List July 1943
• The Navy List April 1945
• Return Showing the Losses of Ships of the Royal Navy 1914-1918
• Merchant Adventurers 1914-1918
• Merchant Shipping Losses 1914-1918
• British Merchant Vessels Lost or Damaged by Enemy Action During Second World War 1939-1945

To learn more about how this collection of records helped in the research of a mariner whose daring deeds earned him a VC read TheGenealogist’s article: Under the “Red Duster” and the White Ensign.

https://thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2023/under-the-red-duster-and-the-white-ensign-2246/ 

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!

It seems to have been a long time coming!

The General Register Office (GRO) for England and Wales has just announced that family history researchers can now get instant-access images of birth records from 1837-1922 and deaths from 1837-1887.

Civil birth and death registration records from selected years are now available as instant-access digital images via the GRO's website at: https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/login.asp

Civil registration in this part of the UK began in 1837 for Births, Marriages and Deaths (BMDs) and until now researchers could not get an instant-access digital image. 

Family history researchers have previously had to make do with ordering records as either a print record for £11, or as a PDF for £7. At this price you would need the GRO index references and then have a wait of up to four working days for orders to be despatched.

However, the GRO has now launched a scheme for births from 1837 to 1922 and deaths from 1837 to 1887 to be available as digital images (JPEGS). The online service is the cheapest and simplest way of placing an order but you do still need to order with the GRO index reference number. Their website says that it takes around 10 minutes and you’ll need a debit or credit card and the JPEG cost £2.50.

- Find out more about ancestors who were writers, artists, actors and more

A new release of records by family history website TheGenealogist allows English, Scottish and Welsh family historians to discover useful information on a myriad of people. From ancestors who were writers, artists, actors and many other professions, this collection opens up the lives of these people for the researcher. 

Using entries recorded in a number of biographical resources Diamond subscribers of TheGenealogist can fill in gaps with tantalising facts about the person. Facts which can lead on to all sorts of other records and avenues for investigation.

[Biographical Records from TheGenealogist]

The name rich resources that make up this release augment TheGenealogist’s already extensive Occupational Records. Fully searchable by name or keyword from TheGenealogist’s Master Search, the new records come from a variety of publications, including:

• Contemporary Biographies at the Opening of the 20th Century, Volume I
• Contemporary Biographies at the Opening of the 20th Century Volume II
• The Green Room Book 1907
• The Dramatic List 1879
• The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook 1908
• The Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography 1863

Researchers can use these records to fill in gaps in the lives of individuals, discover stories and anecdotes about the person, read facts which may lead you on to research other records and point you towards more avenues for investigation.

To learn more about how this collection of records helped us in the research of A Child Actress who Managed The Prince of Wales’s Royal Theatre read our article here:

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2023/a-child-actress-who-managed-the-prince-of-waless-royal-theatre-2051/