As we approach Remembrance Day and a time to contemplate the wars and conflicts of the past, it's a time when many people decide to look at the war service and records of their ancestors. The major World Wars involved so many of our ancestors that most families were touched by the events of the time.
The military data CDs at S&N Genealogy Supplies are a useful research point in finding out more information about events and military history from the major conflicts. If you have an ancestor who served with the 25th Division in World War One, or if you have a general interest in military history, the new CD -'The 25th Division in France and Flanders' may be of interest. This CD looks at the operations and events of this Salisbury based Division that experienced many of the major battles of World War One. There's more information available at: http://www.genealogysupplies.com/product/World-War-1-Great-War/The-25th-Division-in-France-and-Flanders/
New military CD available from S&N Genealogy Supplies
For those family historians with Irish ancestry, there's a couple of new books now available from Flyleaf Press which may be of interest. They form part of the 'Tracing your...' series looking at specific counties in Ireland and offer excellent guidance on how best to go about finding records and generally how to discover more about your Irish ancestors.
The 2 latest books I have discovered are 'Tracing Your Cork Ancestors' by Tony McCarthy and Tim Cadogan and 'Tracing Your Roscommon Ancestors' by John Hamrock. Cork is the largest Irish county with a diverse social history and equally diverse sets of records available. Roscommon is one of the smallest Irish counties with a history based primarily around agriculture that suffered greatly in the famine.
If you need some advice and guidance on researching your Irish history for either of these counties or the other Irish counties for that matter, this series of books will definitely be of interest. They can be ordered at S&N Genealogy Supplies at http://www.genealogysupplies.com/product_search.php?search=Irish&titlebar=true
Have you read any of the series? Let us know!
TheGenealogist has continued to add to its extensive collection of parish records with the release of almost 385,000 new individual record transcripts covering a wide variety of counties in England. The records cover the period from the mid 1500s to 2005.
The new parish records added cover the counties of Bedfordshire, Devon, Essex, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Middlesex, Rutland, Shropshire and Westmoreland. It’s an addition of a substantial amount of individuals around the country. The newly added records cover a range of baptisms, marriages and burials in these counties.
In the new Essex records available, TheGenealogist uncovered the family history of shadowy highwayman, Dick Turpin, born in Hempstead, Essex, baptised in 1705, as Richardus Turpin, in the same parish where his parents had married. He started life as a butcher, but came into contact with the ‘Essex Gang’ and embarked on more clandestine, criminal activities which became legendary as his 'highwayman' exploits became notorious at the time.
There's more details on the Parish Record releases at http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/nameindex/ai_content.php?type=diamond&show_cat=9#includes
New parish records released on TheGenealogist include those of Dick Turpin
Latest developments from TheGenealogist have seen the introduction of a new 'Image Archive' addition to the family history website. TheGenealogist is the first family history website to launch a dedicated 'Image Archive' that allows you to view both 3D and standard images.
The images are free for everyone to search and view and cover the period from 1850 to 1940. See www.TheGenealogist.co.uk/ImageArchive
These historical pictures allow you to relive the past through the eyes of your ancestors. The Image Archive allows anyone to search and view images of towns, landmarks, churches, resorts, occupations and military campaigns. They also include images of social interest showing how your ancestors could have led their lives. You may even be able to find the church where your ancestor was baptised or married.
Crystal Palace 1860 as featured in the Image Archive
Diamond subscribers to TheGenealogist will be able to view and download the images in a high resolution format for extra clarity. Find our more at www.TheGenealogist.co.uk/ImageArchive
If you haven't yet seen the online periodical for family historians, 'Discover Your Ancestors', it's well worth taking a look with its useful articles of interest to experienced family historians and beginners alike. For the past couple of weeks on Facebook, TheGenealogist has been giving away 100 free 12 issue subscriptions of 'Discover Your Ancestors' to winners of its 'name the place' competition. There's another competition this week so if you'd like to enter go to https://www.facebook.com/thegenealogist?ref=hl
This Saturday, the 26th October, (in what promises to be a busy weekend for family history fairs) sees the West Surrey Family History Society Open Day in Woking. After a popular fair last year, it promises to be a good one again this year.
Open from 10am to 4pm, there's a number of family history societies, suppliers and specialist help desks available. With a number of 'taster talks' on offer including looking at the information you can find from a photograph, local war memorials and the topic of DNA in family history, there's a talk of interest for everyone!There's also free parking available. More information is available from the West Surrey Family History Society website at http://www.wsfhs.org/pages/openday.php
A wide selection of stalls and information on offer
If you live in Ireland or have an interest in Irish family history, you may wish to make it along to the Irish genealogy event this weekend in Dublin. It's called 'Back to our Past' and is at the RDS Industries Hall in Dublin. From Friday the 18th October to Sunday 20th October the event is on, with doors open from 11am to 7pm.
There's a number of exhibitors and also The Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland (APGI) will be offering a free advisory service, so if you have any queries the experts are on hand!
If you'd like more information, please go to the organisers official website at http://www.backtoourpast.com/mysitecaddy/site3/index.htm
The excellent courses available from the Society of Genealogists in London are well worth taking a look at and there's a free course coming up on Wednesday the 23 October.
There's only a few places left for the short course on 'Getting the most from the Society Catalogue'. It's from 10.30 to 11.30 and features guidance from the society's librarian, Tim Lawrence.
Learn how to get the best from the Society 'Library catalogue'. The course is free, but must be pre-booked. There's more information from the Society website at http://www.sog.org.uk/books-courses/events-courses/getting-the-most-from-sogcat/
To contact the Society please contact their events department on 020 7553 3290 or by email at [email protected]
For those family history researchers who love a challenge, there's another 'name the place' competition running on TheGenealogist Facebook page this week. All you have to do is name the location and like the page to be in with a chance of winning access to free 12 online issues of the popular new periodical 'Discover Your Ancestors'. It's well worth entering, the competition can be found here at https://www.facebook.com/thegenealogist
Win a Discover Your Ancestors periodical subscription
The National Archives are currently seeking four new delegates for their 'User Advisory Group' . The User Advisory Group was set up in early 2011 to give users of The National Archives the opportunity to have a say in the planning and decision-making processes.
Meetings are held at The National Archives in Kew, four times a year, and delegates are expected to make every effort to attend. In addition, prospective delegates are asked to commit to a minimum term of one year's service.
They are after delegates representing different sections of the research user community, so if you use the services at Kew, you may wish to get involved and have your say. For more information go to the National Archives website at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/881.htm
