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
00 searchable records. This latest release includes war memorials from
London, along with further English counties includingCumbria, 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.
In 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.
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.”
The latest release adds over one million new parish records.
New Colour Tithe Maps for Surrey in partnership with Surrey History Center
New Colour Tithe Maps for Westmorland in partnership with The National Archives
Parish RecordsWith over 2.5 million Essex Parish Records their latest release makes TheGenealogist the place to go for Essex Research.
The launch of 900,000 new Essex Parish Records transcripts brings the total coverage for that county to over 2.5 million individuals. Spanning the period from 1512 to 2005
These records with our BMDs and Census allow family historians to research ancestors from this eastern part of England with ease.
Also released are over 158,000 Worcestershire Parish Records, bringing Worcestershire’s coverage to over 2 million individuals
Colour Tithe Maps
TheGenealogist.co.uk in conjunction with the Surrey History Centre, has launched the Surrey Colour Tithe Maps.Westmorland Colour Tithe Maps are published in partnership with The National Archives and is just one of the many counties to be conserved and digitised by TheGenealogist. Many more will be published in the forthcoming months.
These releases bring the addition of wonderfully detailed colour tithe maps to complement the online collection of tithe schedules and greyscale maps that have already been so well received by family historians researching where their ancestors lived.
This rich store of land occupation and usage records were created in a massive survey of England and Wales from between 1836 and the early 1850s.
In these early years of the Victorian period, at a time when people were moving from the countryside to the towns, many of the urban areas that we see today as part of cities and towns can be found mapped out as tithable plots. This includes some parts of London and other big cities where cottages and gardens are plotted in the same way as fields and woods are in the countryside.
Farnham Tithe Map
These records are made available online by TheGenealogist in a partnership with The National Archives and several County Record Offices.
Brief History of Tithes
Tithes were an amount of produce given to the church, originally a tenth, then finally it became a tax on the income from the land. This was paid to the Church of England and to some lay people who owned the rights that had previously been due to the dissolved monasteries. In 1866 the majority of England and Wales was still paying what the government recognised was a discredited tax. Before they could legislate, however, they first had to collect details of what people paid - and so all the owners and occupiers of land subject to tithes were recorded and thus this fantastic resource was created.
To check out these new records head over to www.thegenealogist.co.uk
Latest news from TheGenealogist is the release of over 1.5 million parish records, covering the counties of Essex, Worcestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset. Combined with the new record releases is a new look search layout making it easy to use on all devices.
The records cover the period from the mid 1500s to the early 1900s. The parish record collection can be searched by name, spouse's name, father's name, mother's name, birth date, baptism date, marriage date, burial date and by parish using the SmartSearch features available on TheGenealogist.
For more details please go to TheGenealogist website.
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
00 searchable records. This latest release includes war memorials from 
In 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.
