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Meritorious Service Medals now available online at TheGenealogist

23rd March, 2018 , Family History, Family Tree, Latest News, Military Records, TheGenealogist, World War One Records First World War , Meritorious Service Medal , Military Medals , Military Record Collections , MSM

TheGenealogist has released the records of 29,000 individuals who were decorated with the Meritorious Service Medal (MSM). The roll of names for those who were awarded this British honour in the First World War have been released by TheGenealogist. Researchers can now look for holders of this medal up to 1920 from within their ever growing military records collection.

  • See a copy of the image of the Medal Card with the theatre of war where the medal was won
  • Details the name, rank, regiment and service number
  • Unique “SmartSearch” links to the comprehensive military records on TheGenealogist.co.uk
  • These new records cover British servicemen from The First World War

The medal was first awarded in 1845 to non-commissioned officers in the British Army who had a record of long service in the forces. Given originally for long service of at least 20 years to servicemen who were of irreproachable character and already held the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal of their service, the First World War saw it awarded to those who performed acts of non-combatant gallantry in the performance of their military duty. In the second case the bravery was not necessarily while the serviceman was on active service and may have been in the saving or attempted saving of the life of an officer or an enlisted soldier.

Family history researchers searching for ancestors who had been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in the First World War will be able to find their forebears in this new addition to the military collection of records on TheGenealogist.

Meritorious Service Medal (MSM)

Meritorious Service Medal (MSM)

Read TheGenealogist’s article on a First World War NCO awarded his medal ‘For exceptionally good work’ operating night and day to keep the RFC’s aeroplanes at El Hammam flying:

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2018/finding-ancestors-awarded-the-meritorious-service-medal-768/

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TheGenealogist adds another 15,000 names from 53 new War Memorials

10th November, 2017 Family History, Latest News, Military Records, New Records, TheGenealogist, War Records, World War One Records, World War Two Records Boer War , South Yorkshire War Memorials , War Memorials , War Memorials Canada , War Memorials From Worcestershire , WWI Records , WWII Records
In time for Armistice day TheGenealogist has added to their War Memorial records on the website so that there are now over 383,000 fully searchable records.

Mark Herber's photo of a War Memorial at Olds, Alberta

War Memorial at Olds, Alberta in Canada newly added to TheGenealogist

This latest release includes war memorials from Worcestershire and South Yorkshire as well as some further monuments from Australia, Canada, London and various other British counties. A more unusual one added in this release is from Olds, in Alberta, Canada - the memorial is a Sherman tank! War Memorial at Olds, Alberta in Canada newly added to TheGenealogist Fully searchable by name, researchers can read transcriptions and see images of the dedications that commemorate soldiers who have fallen in the Boer War, WW1 and various other conflicts.   These new records are available as part of the Diamond Subscription at TheGenealogist. Read our article on War Memorials that reveal WW1 heros, The neglected Sheffield soldier finally recognised, at: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2017/war-memorials-that-reveal-ww1-heroes-681/  
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Additional Military Records released by TheGenealogist

13th October, 2017 Family History, Family Tree, Latest News, Military Records, National Archives, New Records, TheGenealogist Family History , Family Tree , First World War Newspapers , Military Record Collections , Military Records , National Archives , New Records , The Illustrated War News , The Worldwide Army Index , The Worldwide Army Index For 1851 , The Worldwide Army Index For 1861 , The Worldwide Army Index For 1871 , TheGenealogist , WO 10-11-12 Series Of War Office Paylists
TheGenealogist has released some useful records this week for those who are researching their military ancestors. Here is the press release that gives you more information and a link to a fascinating article:

Military Records on TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist is pleased to announce it has added two new record sets that will be useful for researching the First World War and Victorian soldiers.
  • Part one of this release is The Worldwide Army Index for 1851, 1861 and 1871 which adds another name rich resource to the already vast Military record collections at TheGenealogist with over 600,000 records
  • Also released at the same time is another 3,368 pages from The Illustrated War News covering 6 September 1916 to 10 April 1918 and adding to those previously made available for this First World War paper from 1914 to 1916
The Worldwide Army Index for 1851, 1861 and 1871 If you have not found your ancestor in the various British census returns, and you know that they may have been serving at the time in the British Army, then this new release from TheGenealogist may help you to find these elusive subjects. Many thousands of men of the British Army were serving overseas in far flung parts of the British Empire over the 1800s. This index of names is compiled from the musters contained in the WO 10-11-12 Series of War Office Paylists, held at the National Archives, Kew. The 1851, 1861 and 1871 Worldwide Army Index lists all officers* and other ranks serving in the first quarter of 1851 and second quarter of 1861 and 1871, together with their regimental HQ location. The index is, therefore, effectively a military surrogate for the relevant census. Over 70,000 records have extra notes that can indicate whether a soldier was a recruit awaiting transfer to a regiment, detached from his regiment or attached to another, possibly discharged, on leave, had deserted or retired. Men identified as using aliases are also included. Many notes include a place of birth and former occupation. Also included within the records are recruits, boy soldiers, bandsmen and civilians working in the armed forces as clerks, pension recruiters, teachers and suchlike. Colonial regiments which invariably had numbers of British subjects are also featured. The Illustrated War News was a weekly magazine during the First World War, published by The Illustrated London News and Sketch Ltd. of London. The IWN publication contained illustrated reports related entirely to the war and comprised articles, photographs, diagrams and maps. From 1916 it was issued as a 40-page publication in portrait format, having been landscape prior to this. It claimed to have the largest number of artist-correspondents reporting on the progress of the war until it ceased publication in 1918. To search these and many other records go to: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/search/advanced/military/muster-book-pay-list/ or read our article at: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2017/worldwide-army-index-1851-1861--1871-661/   *While the 1851 and 1871 include officers, the 1861 index excludes officers as they were not mustered in all the Paylists.
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Millions of new Parish Records as well as the New British India Collection

07th April, 2017 Family History, Latest News, Military Records, New Records, Parish Registers, TheGenealogist, Who Do You Think You Are? Live British War Memorials In India , Durham Parish Records , East India Registers , Hampshire Parish Records , Headstone Records Of British Cemeteries In India , Image Archive - British In India , Indian Army And Civil Service Lists , Indian Family History , Parish Records Of British In India , The British In India
 

TheGenealogist logo

TheGenealogist launches millions of new Parish records as well as their New British in India Collection

TheGenealogist has just announced three important releases to coincide with the Who Do You Think You Are? Live show covering Britain and British India.

Over 2.5 Million people in the latest release of Parish records!

Augmenting the substantial Parish Records that are already available on TheGenealogist comes the release of more than 2.5 million people for two major counties:

  • Hampshire Parish Records (Bishop’s Transcripts) (886,616 individuals)

This brings their total number of records to 3,199,820 with coverage of

Baptisms: 2,379,836 (1538 to 1940)

Marriages: 495,034 (1538 to 1940)

Burials: 324,950 (1538 to 1940)

  • Durham Parish Records (1,697,206 individuals)

This brings their total number of records to 1,850,068 with coverage of

Baptisms: 1,253,273 (1556 to 1919)

Marriages: 198,845 (1540 to 1896)

Burials: 397,950 (1538 to 1939)

These will be a boon to Family Historians looking for key events in the lives of their ancestors.

The British in India Collection

The TV series ‘Indian Summers’ starring Julie Walters created in many a fascination with India under British rule. This new record set reveals information about those ancestors that lived in the subcontinent, their lifestyle and the communities that they lived in.

Nainital Civil Service Week c1900

Nainital Civil Service Week c1900

 

  • Parish Records of British in India

  • Headstone Records of British Cemeteries in India

  • British War Memorials in India

  • East India Registers

  • Indian Army and Civil Service Lists

  • Image Archive - British in India

The release of The British in India Collection on TheGenealogist now allows family historians to search for ancestors who went out to British India in a very broad-ranging set of resources ranging from the early 1800s up to the 1920s.

These records make up part of the Diamond subscription to TheGenealogist

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TheGenealogist Launches over 282,000 Parish Records, plus 43,000 New War Memorial Records

07th February, 2017 Birth Records, Death Records, Family History, Latest News, Military Records, New Records, Parish Registers, TheGenealogist, War Records Berkshire War Memorials , Cumberland Parish Records , Cumbria War Memorials , Essex Parish Records , London War Memorials , Norfolk Parish Record , Perth Australia War Memorial , Saskatchewan War Memorial , Suffolk War Memorials , Warwickshire War Memorial
 

New records to search from TheGenealogist

The Genealogist has added to the millions of its UK Parish Records collection with over 282,000 new records from Essex, Cumberland and Norfolk making it easier to find your ancestors’ baptisms, marriages and burials in these fully searchable records covering ancient parishes. Some of the records go back as far as 1672. Also released are another 43,000 new war memorial records. The new release of War Memorial records means there are now over 350,0

War Memorials on TheGenealogist00 searchable records. This latest release includes war memorials from London, along with further English counties including Cumbria, Berkshire, Warwickshire and Suffolk. The collection also stretches across the globe to encompass new War Memorials situated in Perth, Australia and the Province of Saskatchewan in Canada. Fully searchable by name, researchers can read transcriptions and see images of the dedications that commemorate soldiers who have fallen in the Boer War, WW1 and various other conflicts.

     

example of a war memorialIn amongst these newly published War Memorial records are those from St John’s Church in Bassenthwaite, Cumbria. This is a fascinating WW1 roll with men who died or served and includes information such as that for Louis Willis Bell who died in Rouen as a result of poison gassing. Another notable entry is that for Isaac Hall. This soldier enlisted in January 1915 in 7th Border Regiment and was discharged on the 21st March 1917, because of wounds resulting in the loss of his left leg.

        Example of Parish Records on TheGenealogist:

Parish Records can sometimes unearth fascinating stories

We are all aware that parish records give us those all important dates and names for our ancestors - but in some cases they reveal interesting stories as well. When a vicar, or parish clerk, feels the person they are entering in the register needs an extra explanation, over and above the date and name of the person, then some fascinating historical details can emerge for researchers to read. As an excellent example of this we can look in the parish records for All Saints Church, in Maldon, Essex. Here we find the burial of one Edward Bright in the year 1750. Edward, a Tallow Chandler and Grocer, who died when he was in his late twenties, had an unusual claim to fame. The entry in the parish register on TheGenealogist reveals that he was an extremely large man, weighing 42 stone (588 pounds) and was in fact believed to be the fattest man in England at the time.

The Fat Man of Maldon

Edward Bright by David Ogborne http://www.itsaboutmaldon.co.uk/edwardbright/) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The notes for his burial on the 12 November 1750 in the parish register explain that Edward had to be buried in a special coffin as he was so large. To remove the casket from his room above his shop, special provisions were needed requiring structural modifications to the wall and stairs to aid his final journey to All Saints. Having arrived at church on a carriage, more unusual procedures were used to get the deceased to his final resting place. Edward’s coffin would have been far too heavy to be borne by pallbearers up the aisle to rest before the congregation during the funeral service. Also it would have severely taxed the muscles of those men who would have normally lowered it manually into the grave. The logistics, in this case, needed rollers to be used to slide the coffin up to a brickwork vault and then a triangle and pulleys were used to lower poor Edward into his grave. The parish register entry did, however, not just dwell on the problems of burying a man of such large proportions. It went on to also record a number of positive attributes that Edward Bright had - so giving us a picture of the man that he was. We can see that he was well thought of by the vicar and community of this 18th century Essex parish. The register tells us that he was: “... A Very Honest Tradesman. A Facetious Companion, Comely In His Person, Affable In His Temper, A Kind Husband, A Tender Father & Valuable Friend.”

Burial record from parish record on TheGenealogist

As we have seen here, sometimes a parish register can give you so much more than just the date that your ancestor was baptised, married or buried. https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2017/the-fat-man-of-maldon-436/
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Early Military Records go online

08th August, 2016 Family History, Latest News, Military Records, New Records, TheGenealogist 63rd And 96th Regiment 1758-1883 Vol I And 1883-1922 Vol II , Army Lists From 1838 To 1886 , Battery Records Of The Royal Artillery 1716-1859 , Certificate Of Musters In The County Of Somerset 1569 , The Manchester Regiment , The Waterloo Roll Call 1815
  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

11th July, 2016 Family History, Latest News, Military Records, New Records, World War One Records, World War Two Records Http://war-memorial.co.uk , Mark Herber , War Memorial Photographs , 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.

war-memorial-5-sm

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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TheGenealogist releases British Telephone Directories, United States WW2 PoWs and more Worcestershir

10th June, 2016 Family History, Latest News, Military Records, New Records, TheGenealogist, War Records PoW Records , Telephone Directories , Worcester Parish Records
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.

Edwin Ringer

old telephone on thegenealogist.co.uk
  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 P O Telephone Cardiff

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.

Post Office Telephone Directory Cardiff 1938

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.

Bob_Hoover_Photo_D_Ramey_Logan

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.

Robert Hoover PoW on thegenealogistPrisoner 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
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Battle of Jutland

27th May, 2016 Family History, Latest News, Military Records, On This Day, TheGenealogist, War Records, World War One Records Admiralty's Registers Of Killed And Wounded , Battle Of Jutland , Battle Of Jutland Roll Of Honour Database , Naval Who's Who Of 1917 , Roll Of Honour
  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

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.
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Hugh Dennis Urges Public To Remember War Dead In UK

10th May, 2016 Family History, Latest News, Military Records, War Records Commonwealth War Graves Commission , First World War Graves , Hugh Dennis
The well loved British actor, Hugh Dennis, teamed up with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) to launch the organisation's new initiative recently (April 11th 2016) to get the British public to visit war graves and discover the stories behind the names of those who gave their lives in the First World War. The CWGC launched its UK wide project to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme by remembering the forgotten front. That is the name it has given to the 300,000 war graves and commemorations that are here in Britain to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. Hugh Dennis, who is the Living Memory ambassador for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, is quoted on their website saying: "I have a very personal connection with the First World War as both my grandfathers fought at the Western Front. My great uncles also fought and one, my great uncle Frank, died and is commemorated by the CWGC in Gallipoli, Turkey. "I'd urge everyone to get involved in this initiative so we never forget those who died during the Great War and are buried and commemorated so close to us on the home front." Check out the CWGC post on their blog here.

CWGC Hugh Dennis

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