Welcome to the Family History Social

TheGenealogist is adding to its Court and Criminal Records collection with the release of almost 150,000 entries for prisoners locked up in Newgate prison along with any alias they were known by as well as the names of their victims. Sourced from the HO 26 Newgate Prison Registers held by The National Archives, these documents were created over the years 1791 to 1849.

Newgate Gaol, London from TheGenealogist’s Image Archive

The Newgate Prison Registers give family history researchers details of ancestors who were imprisoned in the fearsome building that once stood next to the Old Bailey in the City of London. The records reveal the names of prisoners, offences the prisoner had been convicted for, the date of their trial and where they were tried. The records also give the name of the victims and any alias that the criminals may have used before.

Use the Newgate Prison Registers records to:

• Find ancestors guilty of crimes ranging from theft, highway robbery, libel and murder
• Discover the victims of crime
• Uncover some of the aliases used by criminal ancestors
• See descriptions of offenders with details of their height, eye colour and complexion
• Research records covering the period 1791 - 1849

Read TheGenealogist's article about Marie Antoinette’s libeler locked up in Newgate:

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2018/find-criminal-records-of-ancestors-imprisoned-in-newgate-1007/

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!

About The National Archives

The National Archives is one of the world’s most valuable resources for research and an independent research organisation in its own right. As the official archive and publisher for the UK government, and England and Wales they are the guardians of some of the UK's most iconic national documents, dating back over 1,000 years. Their role is to collect and secure the future of the government record, both digital and physical, to preserve it for generations to come, and to make it as accessible and available as possible. The National Archives brings together the skills and specialisms needed to conserve some of the oldest historic documents as well as leading digital archive practices to manage and preserve government information past, present and future.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/  http://www.legislation.gov.uk/

For the latest stories, follow the Media Team on Twitter @TNAmediaofficer

The Union Castle Lines’ Pendennis Castle

TheGenealogist has just released over 4 million BT27 Outbound Passenger List records for the 1950s. These records join the ever expanding suite of Immigration, Emigration, Naturalisation and passenger list resources on TheGenealogist. With the release of this decade of records, researchers can discover ancestors who departed from the UK by ship to destinations across the globe. 

 The fully searchable BT27 records from The National Archives just released will allow researchers to:

 ●     Locate family members making a journey together using TheGenealogist’s SmartSearch. This unique system is able to recognise family members together on the same trip. In this situation it will display a family icon which allows you to view the entire family with one click.

●     Discover people sailing to the USA, Canada, India, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere in the Outgoing Passenger Lists  from the United Kingdom.

●     View images of the original passenger list documents compiled for the Board of Trade's Commercial and Statistical Department and its successors.

●     Discover the ages, occupations and address and where the passenger intended to make their permanent residence.

●     These fully indexed records allow family historians to search by name, year, country of departure, country of arrival, port of embarkation and port of destination.

Those family history researchers with ancestors who sailed from the UK in the 1950’s will welcome this fascinating new release from TheGenealogist, which adds to their current Emigration records that take you back to 1896.

 See their article:

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2018/the-1950s-passenger-lists-discover-celebrity-voyages-972/

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!

 About The National Archives

The National Archives is one of the world’s most valuable resources for research and an independent research organisation in its own right. As the official archive and publisher for the UK government, and England and Wales they are the guardians of some of the UK's most iconic national documents, dating back over 1,000 years. Their role is to collect and secure the future of the government record, both digital and physical, to preserve it for generations to come, and to make it as accessible and available as possible. The National Archives brings together the skills and specialisms needed to conserve some of the oldest historic documents as well as leading digital archive practices to manage and preserve government information past, present and future.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/  http://www.legislation.gov.uk/

 For the latest stories, follow the Media Team on Twitter @TNAmediaofficer

Headline sponsor: TheGenealogist

The UK's Biggest Family History Show of 2018 is almost upon us. After last year’s hugely successful event we are back and twice the size! With even more free talks, societies and exhibitors. Come along to discover ways to delve deeper into your family tree and add more detail to your research. Dick Eastman will be giving the keynote speech on 'The Future of Genealogy' and there is a full programme of free talks to help you on your way back to the past. With free car parking and a free minibus from the train station, you won't want to miss this!

Saturday 22nd September 2018 10am to 4.30pm

Sandown Park Racecourse, Esher

You will find plenty to explore on the day:

• Double the talks - Two Large Lecture Theatres with Free Talks all day
• New This Year - Free Ask the Experts Area
• Announcing The National Archives as a new exhibitor this year
• Local Archives and Ministry of Defence stands
• Gain knowledge from the societies and organisations attending
• Advanced tickets are just 2 for £7.50

Announcing our DNA Sponsor - MyHeritage DNA

We're pleased that MyHeritage will be joining us as our DNA sponsor! They will be available throughout the day and will also be giving a talk in one of our free lecture theatres.

Free Talks throughout the day

There will be free talks throughout the day in our two large lecture theatres.

Keynote - The Future of Genealogy with Dick Eastman

Breaking down brick walls in your family history research with Mark Bayley, Online Expert

Mark describes how to resolve stumbling blocks in your family history research using innovative search strategies and unique record sets to find those missing relatives.

Tips & Tricks for Online Research with Keith Gregson, Professional Researcher & Social Historian

Keith shares top tips & techniques for finding elusive ancestors, illustrated by some fascinating case studies.

Tracing Your Military Ancestors with Chris Baker, Military Expert & Professional Researcher

Chris draws on his experience from researching thousands of soldiers to explore what can be found when looking for a military ancestor.

Photo Dating with Jayne Shrimpton, Photo Expert and Fashion Historian

Using DNA to Trace Your Ancestry with MyHeritage

5 Killer Apps for Mobile Genealogy with Graham Walter

Many of us have a smart phone with us when we are out doing our genealogy research. What are the apps that will best aid us in our pursuit?

Ask the Experts

New this year will be the Free 'Ask the Experts' section, with Jayne Shrimpton on hand to date photographs, Chris Baker to answer questions regarding Medals and Military Research and Social and Sporting Historian Keith Gregson to help break down your brick walls.

• Bring along copies of your photographs and have them dated by our expert
• Have those military queries answered
• Learn more about the social history of your family

Two Tickets for £7.50!

Buy One Get One Half Price on Tickets! Buy your tickets in advance for £5 a person or buy two for £7.50 (Price on the door will be £7 each). HURRY, this offer ends Midday 19th September!

https://thefamilyhistoryshow.com/london/tickets/

TheGenealogist is adding to its Court and Crimianal Records collection with the release of over 160,000 records of prisoners at the bar and their victims from the CRIM 9 records held by The National Archives. These documents were created by the Central Criminal Court and document the After Trial Calendar of Prisoners.  

Central Criminal Court; The Old Bailey

After Trial Calendars give family history researchers details of ancestors who were up before the Old Bailey, revealing the names of prisoners that had appeared before the court, the committing magistrates, offences the prisoner had been indicted for, the date of their trial and who they were tried before. The records give the verdict of the jury, previous convictions and the sentence or order of the court. Other information in these records are the names of the victim and the level of education or ‘Degree of Instruction’ as well as false names that the criminals may have used to try and hide their tracks from the authorities.

Use the After Trial Calendar of Prisoners records to

• Find ancestors accused of crimes ranging from stealing a matchbox to murder
• Discover people standing trial as forgers, baby farmers, German spies and more
• Uncover some of the aliases adopted by criminal ancestors
• See the occupation or trade of the offender
• Research records covering the period 1855-1915

You can read their article about the cycle thief who became a serial wife killer:

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2018/new-criminal-records-reveal-ancestors-crimes-from-petty-theft-to-murder-928/

News from The National Archives -  Free Talk 23 August 2018

This talk will assess the role played by Lord Fairfax, the commander-in-chief of the New Model Army, in securing victory for Parliament in the South-East of England during the Second Civil War.

The talk will include a discussion of Fairfax’s controversial role in the bloody siege of Colchester, encompassing why parliamentarian retribution was more severe in Essex than in Kent. It will also reflect on the political consequences of this military campaign in creating conditions favourable towards placing Charles I on trial for his life. There will also be an original document display.

Dr Andrew Hopper (University of Leicester) is the author of Black Tom: Sir Thomas Fairfax and the English Revolution, and co-editor of England’s Fortress: New Perspectives on Thomas, 3rd Lord Fairfax.

The National Archives run an exciting range of events and exhibitions on a wide variety of topics. For more details, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/whatson.

Please note: TNA will be introducing charges in our visitor car park later in 2018. Follow the link for further information

TheGenealogist is releasing the second part of its exciting new record set, The Lloyd George Domesday Survey. This major new release can be used to find where an ancestor lived in 1910 in the area around Barnet, Edgware, Finchley, Friern Barnet, Hendon and Totteridge. This unique combination of maps and residential data, held by The National Archives and being digitised by TheGenealogist, can precisely locate your ancestor’s house on large scale and exceptionally detailed hand annotated maps that indicates the exact property.

Researchers often can’t find where ancestors lived as road names changed over time, the Blitz saw areas bombed to destruction, developers changed sites out of all resemblance from what had stood there before and lanes and roads were extinguished to build estates and office blocks. All this means that searching for where an ancestor lived using a website linked to modern maps can be frustrating when they fail to pinpoint where the old properties had once been.

• TheGenealogist’s new release will link individual properties to extremely detailed ordnance survey maps used in 1910

• Shows the original Field book often giving a detailed description of the property

• Locate an address found in a census or street directory down to a specific house on the map

• Fully searchable by name, parish and street.

• The maps will zoom down to show the individual properties as they existed in 1910

Image of an IR58 Field Book

The Star Hotel, Barnet High Street

Complementing the maps on TheGenealogist are the accompanying Field Books that will also provide researchers with detailed information relative to the valuation of each property, including the valuation assessment number, map reference, owner, occupier, situation, description and extent.

This mammoth project is ongoing with over 94,500 Field Books, each having hundreds of pages to digitise with associated large scale IR121 annotated OS maps. This second release from TheGenealogist includes these more detailed IR58 Field Books which feature more information about the properties that have been surveyed.

The release this month, covers Barnet, Edgware, Finchley, Friern Barnet, Hendon and Totteridge, just to the south of Hertfordshire. These join the City of London and Paddington Index and maps already released. More areas are coming soon for other London Boroughs and the county of Buckinghamshire.

Find out more at: TheGenealogist.co.uk/1910Survey/ where you can read about how the Lloyd George Domesday Survey finds the Baronet of Barnet:

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2018/lloyd-george-domesday-survey-finds-the-baronet-of-barnet-906/

Mark Bayley, Head of Development at TheGenealogist says:

“With our English & Welsh Tithe Map collection, we’ve become known for our map based records and this new collection makes a fantastic later addition. The maps show an incredible amount of detail, allowing you to zoom right in on the hand annotated property. The records that go with these maps are just as detailed, allowing you to find out all manner of information about your ancestral home.”

The National Archives issued the following statement:

“The Lloyd George ‘Domesday Records’ form essentially a census of property for Edwardian England and Wales. The innovative linking of individually searchable property data with associated annotated Ordnance Survey maps will be of huge value to family and local historians alike.”

To find out more about these records, you can visit our informative record collection page at

TheGenealogist.co.uk/1910Survey/

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!

About The National Archives

The National Archives is one of the world’s most valuable resources for research and an independent research organisation in its own right. As the official archive and publisher for the UK government, and England and Wales they are the guardians of some of the UK's most iconic national documents, dating back over 1,000 years. Their role is to collect and secure the future of the government record, both digital and physical, to preserve it for generations to come, and to make it as accessible and available as possible. The National Archives brings together the skills and specialisms needed to conserve some of the oldest historic documents as well as leading digital archive practices to manage and preserve government information past, present and future.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/  http://www.legislation.gov.uk/

For the latest stories, follow the Media Team on Twitter @TNAmediaofficer

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Public Records Act (PRA) 1958.

This Act introduced a new system of reviewing, selecting and transferring of records which continues to this day.

The National Archives posted a link on their facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TheNationalArchives/) for anyone that wants to learn more about TNA’s duties under this Act: http://socsi.in/m6opG

TheGenealogist has added to its Criminal Records collections with the release of the Metropolitan Police Criminal Records Office: Habitual Criminals Registers and the Habitual Drunkards Registers.

These are high quality transcripts with original colour images of the registers, as well as registers created by the Police to supervise released criminals.

One of the most interesting features of these records are the photographic portraits taken from the Registers of Habitual Drunkards. These feature two photographs - face on and profile - per individual, and some records may also give distinguishing features. The Habitual Drunkards Registers were distributed to licensed premises and the secretaries of clubs to prevent the convicted person from buying alcohol.

• Entries contain a description of the individual and date of discharge from prison
• Some records may also give distinguishing features of the individual
• See face on and profile Photographs of habitual drunks.
• It may also give the name of the prison, length of sentence and previous convictions.
• Includes registers created by the Police to supervise released criminals including spies!

These new records from The National Archive’s MEPO 6 are available as part of the Diamond Subscription at TheGenealogist.

The Criminal Records on TheGenealogist could reveal the darker side of your family tree. Read TheGenealogist’s article:

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2018/criminal-records-on-thegenealogist-could-reveal-the-darker-side-of-your-family-tree-816/

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!

About The National Archives

The National Archives is one of the world’s most valuable resources for research and an independent research organisation in its own right. As the official archive and publisher for the UK government, and England and Wales they are the guardians of some of the UK's most iconic national documents, dating back over 1,000 years. Their role is to collect and secure the future of the government record, both digital and physical, to preserve it for generations to come, and to make it as accessible and available as possible. The National Archives brings together the skills and specialisms needed to conserve some of the oldest historic documents as well as leading digital archive practices to manage and preserve government information past, present and future.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/  http://www.legislation.gov.uk/

For the latest stories, follow the Media Team on Twitter @TNAmediaofficer

f you have ever looked at an old document and been unable to read the old script then you may be interested in a fascinating post on The National Archive’s blog about software that is being developed to read old handwritten documents.

A 1496 Prerogative Court of Canterbury Will from TNA retrieved from TheGenealogist’s online collection of Will documents

 The National Archives (TNA) points out the revolution  that optical character recognition (OCR) technology has made reading printed words written in books, newspapers and some archival documents.  But OCR does not work on handwritten documents. It is for this reason that TNA say that they are excited by the new platform called Transkribus, developed by the EU funded READ Project. It will offer, for the first time, the potential to use computers to ‘read’ handwritten documents.

See TNA’s blog post on their website here: http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/machines-reading-the-archive-handwritten-text-recognition-software/

TheGenealogist has added Colour Tithe Maps from The National Archives to their National Tithe Records collection. With this release researchers can see the plots owned or occupied by ancestors that lived in this ‘home county’ at the time of the survey in the 19th century.

The new data includes:

• Over 40,000 Plots of Land covering the years from 1837 to 1855 with some much later plans of altered apportionments
• Joining the apportionment record books and the previously published greyscale maps

These tagged colour maps and their fully searchable tithe schedule records are from those held at The National Archives. The collection gives the family history researcher the ability to search by name and keyword (for example parish or county) to look for all levels of society from large estate owners to occupiers of tiny plots such as a cottage or a cowshed.

Read TheGenealogist’s article: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2018/buckinghamshires-colour-tithe-maps-online-748/