Welcome to the Family History Social

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

Ahead of Remembrance Sunday, when we remember the two world wars and later conflicts, TheGenealogist is marking Armistice Day by adding to its collection of Military records.

This release of over 40,000 Rolls of Honour, over 65,000 Medal awards and over 1.5 Million War Memorial Records significantly adds to the suite of fully searchable Military records on this family history website.

The new War Memorials can be searched from the TheGenealogist’s Master Search or by locating the memorial on the georeferenced maps displayed on their Map Explorer™, which also lets you search the area around where your ancestor lived.

[Attack on a Merchantman by Enemy Submarines]

For those with ancestors who were mariners and served in the Merchant Navy or Fishing Fleets, the Rolls of Honour and Medal Awards from The National Archives Series BT 339 will be especially poignant. 

The Rolls of Honour name the deceased and missing-presumed-dead from the ranks of the merchant marine fleets and fishing trawler crews who were employed on minesweeping and patrol duties during World War II (1939-1945) and further years up to 1953.

The list of Medal Awards from 1866 to 1970 includes Mercantile Mariners recognised for gallantry and service. Among these honours is the Albert Medal, initially awarded for saving lives at sea.

Additionally, the Mercantile Marine Officers Nominal List 1916-1920 records recipients of the Order of the British Empire, Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Service Medal, along with issues of the London Gazette listing many other medals (such as the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal and Commendations) citing the deeds of gallantry these Mercantile Marines performed. The images of these records include the details of these deeds, some of which reveal intriguing stories of shipwrecks, shark attacks and gallant heroes.

Read TheGenealogist’s feature article: Rolls of Honour for Unsung Heroes of the Rolling Sea

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2023/rolls-of-honour-reveal-unsung-heroes-of-the-rolling-sea-6860/

TheGenealogist has added 56,924 new individuals to their War Memorial collection, bringing the total number of fully searchable War Memorial Records on TheGenealogist to over 665,000.

These fully searchable records have been transcribed and their location plotted to allow subscribers to find the names of ancestors that paid the ultimate sacrifice.