Welcome to the Family History Social

The following news is written by The National Archives:

The National Archives is delighted to announce that we will digitise the National Farm Survey (MAF 32 and MAF 73) in full, thanks to a generous grant of £2.13 million from Lund Trust.

The 1941 National Farm Survey is one of the most comprehensive records of land that we hold in our collection and is a window in time on the UK’s agriculture and land use in the middle of the Second World War. Containing extensive data on over 300,000 English and Welsh farms, the survey is among the most-requested record series at The National Archives.

Currently, the complex filing of the paper record makes it difficult for readers to order and use, with the records only available in physical copy. This project will digitise the series in full and create a new digital cataloguing arrangement to make each farm searchable online.

It will not only make the survey permanently and freely available, but will also improve its accessibility and searchability.

Genealogists, family and local historians will be able to consult the series for their own research, and the project will lay the ground for new analyses by historical economists, geographers and ecologists.

Jeff James, CEO & Keeper of The National Archives said:

“This is a unique opportunity to realise the potential of what was seen as a ‘Second Domesday Book’, a ‘permanent and comprehensive record of the conditions on the farms of England and Wales’. Thanks to this partnership, the National Farm Survey, an enormous database of land ownership and land usage in mid-20th century Britain, will be freely available online to researchers in the UK and globally.”

Andrew Wright, Director of Lund Trust said:

“The National Farm Survey was born out of a wartime need decades ago but still has much to teach us about the land. We are pleased to support making these records accessible to help people in England and Wales to know their local areas better and aid scholars researching our rich agrarian history.”

The project began in October 2023 and will finish in March 2027, with teams from across The National Archives working on the conservation, digitisation, transcription, cataloguing, and publishing of the records. More information about the project’s progress and first image release will be published later this year.

About The National Archives

The National Archives is a non-ministerial government department and the official archive for the UK government, and for England and Wales. We look after and make available to the public our collection of historical records dating back more than 1,000 years, including records as diverse as the Domesday Book and MI5 files. We are also a cultural, heritage and academic organisation which promotes public accessibility to iconic documents while ensuring preservation for generations to come.

Lund Trust supports work that greens people’s lives in the UK and also gives to other causes its donors especially care about. Since 2002, it has given more than £107m.

For more information:

You can find out more about the National Farm Survey in Explore the Collection, or by reading our Research Guide.

Family history website TheGenealogist has announced today an exciting new feature as part of their powerful Map Explorer™ tool. For the first time, you can explore 1861 census records for England, Scotland and Wales seamlessly connected to contemporary maps with pins revealing the parish, thoroughfare, or even the very building where your ancestor lived. This enhancement adds a fascinating layer to your research and exploration.

Charles Dickens location in the 1861 census displayed on Map Explorer™

Family historians and house historians will now find it easier than ever to locate a person in the official population count from 1861. With one click, you can view a historic map with a pin indicating where a person was living in that year. 

You can then go on to see the routes your ancestors would have used to visit shops, local pubs, churches, places of work, schools and parks. You can also find where the nearest railway station was, important for understanding how our ancestors could travel to other parts of the country to see relatives or visit their hometown.

The 1861 Census joins previously released 1871 to 1911 censuses and the 1939 Register, which are all linked to TheGenealogist’s innovative Map Explorer™. This means that with just the click of a button, you can travel in time through 7 decades of records to discover future occupants and see how an area changed.

Most of the Greater London area and other towns and cities can be viewed down to the property level, while other more rural parts of the country can be identified down to the parish, road or street.

Read TheGenealogist’s article: Where the Dickens Are They? to discover more and see an interesting case study: 

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2024/where-the-dickens-are-they-7061/ 

Save Over 50% on our Diamond Personal Premium Package

To celebrate this latest release, TheGenealogist is offering its Diamond Personal Premium Package for only £98.95 a saving over 50%.

This offer includes a lifetime discount! Your subscription will renew at the same discounted price every year you stay with us.

To find out more and claim the offer, visit: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/MGBCEN224

This offer expires at the end of 23rd May 2024

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!

Tomorrow, Thursday, 22 February 2024 at 14:00 

The Society of Genealogist's are presenting an online talk:

Implications of Hardwicke's Marriage Act in Genealogical Research with John Wintrip (1-hour talk)

This talk is about marriage (in England and Wales) from a genealogical perspective in the period from the Restoration (1660) to the introduction of Civil Registration (1837), with particular reference to the implications of Hardwicke's Marriage Act of 1753. Topics to be discussed include: Anglican canon law in relation to marriage; why an Act of Parliament was thought necessary; marriage registers before and after the Act (which did not require the introduction of printed registers as is commonly supposed); the content of marriage entries before and after the Act, including variations in what was recorded; the recording of consent in relation to marriages of minors; how did the newly married bride sign the register in the period from 1754 to 1837?; where were marriages supposed to take place and where did they take place in practice?; changes resulting from George Rose's Act of 1812.

Zoom talk by John Wintrip, expert in initiatives for the improvement of parish registers.

Book your place now: https://members.sog.org.uk/events/64873549b5c4c50008caab4a/description?ticket=64873549b5c4c50008caab4c

Over 140,000 names from War Memorial records released, plus thousands of Image Archive pictures pinned onto georeferenced maps

TheGenealogist has just added 142,861 new individuals to their War Memorial collection, bringing the total number of fully searchable War Memorial Records on TheGenealogist to over 1,688,000.

These fully searchable records have been transcribed with their location plotted on Map Explorer™ so you can find the names of ancestors who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Lt. William Bruce VC on the war memorial in Lerwick, Shetland Islands

These War Memorials, from a variety of places in the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, can be used to find ancestors and reveal organisations, churches, towns and communities that they had belonged to. 

• War Memorials provide us with links to a community, village, town or area
• Workplace memorials reveal where ancestors may have worked in civilian life 
• Organisation monuments and plaques honour their lost members
• Past pupils and staff of schools or universities reveal connections with the institution
• Names in a church or other places of worship tell us about religious affiliation
  

TheGenealogist has transcribed the details from these memorials and then pinned their location to maps on their powerful Map Explorer™; this allows researchers to see where the places connected to their ancestors are.

Also released this week are thousands of extra historical pictures added to TheGenealogist’s Image Archive. These often fascinating and atmospheric drawings and historic photographs have also been geolocated with pins on the Map Explorer™. Having found an ancestor’s address in a record such as the census and seeing it located on the map, researchers can then view pictures of the neighbourhood as it had once looked when our ancestors lived there. 

Central YMCA Canteen, Tottenham Court Road

TheGenealogist has boosted this resource with the addition of some great locational views, including over one thousand beautiful engravings for places of interest in the capital from Old and New London by Edward Walford. There are now over 12,000 geolocated images viewable on Map Explorer™.

TheGenealogist has used this resource in a new case study, Looking at the Past Through Our Ancestors’ Eyes, which you can read here: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2024/looking-at-the-past-through-our-ancestors-eyes-6949/ 

Save Over 50% on TheGenealogist's Diamond Personal Premium Package

To celebrate this latest release, TheGenealogist is offering its Diamond Personal Premium Package for only £98.95 a saving over 50%.

This offer includes a lifetime discount! Your subscription will renew at the same discounted price every year you stay with them.

To find out more and claim the offer, visit: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/MGBWMI224

This offer expires at the end of 10th May 2024

Press Release

The Family History Show, Online returns on Saturday, February 10th, at the end of this week!

We are excited to welcome you to The Family History Show, Online this week!

With talks and all the features of a physical family history show, this virtual event can be easily accessed from wherever you are in the world without having to leave home.

The Family History Show, Online organised by Discover Your Ancestors magazine, will give participants the opportunity to put their research questions to an expert, watch free talks and speak to family history societies, archives and genealogical suppliers by text, audio, video chat or email from the comfort of their own home.

Make a date in your diary and snap up an early bird ticket now for only £7! You'll also get a downloadable goody bag worth over £10.

Featuring a range of interesting talks

This year’s show features the following talks:

• Donna Rutherford – Get the most out of your DNA test using GEDmatch. 
• Nick Barratt – Behind the Scenes of Who Do You Think You Are? 
• Jackie Depelle – Out and About - In the Name of Family History.
• Keith Gregson – Walking in the Footsteps of our Ancestors.
• Nick Thorne – Tracing the History of a House Through Time. 

Book a free one-to-one session with one of our speakers or AGRA experts

With hundreds of bookable slots available, get your ticket today and have one of our experts help you break down a brick wall.

Societies, Archives and Companies

Visit exhibitors, societies, archives, and companies in our virtual exhibition hall. You can talk to some of the stallholders by text, audio, or video from the comfort of your own home.

Early Bird Ticket Offer

Buy your tickets in advance and save – tickets to attend The Family History Show Online are available from the website at just £7.00 each. You will also get a FREE virtual goody bag on the day worth over £10. thefamilyhistoryshow.com/online/tickets/

For those who are looking forward to our in-person events. See us at the 2024 Family History Shows in the Midlands (March 16th), York (22nd June) and London (5th October).

Visit thefamilyhistoryshow.com to find out more.