Month: November 2021

James F. S. Thomson will present Finding World War II Records for Oxford County OGS Branch today, Monday, 15 November at 7 pm.

“James will provide an information-packed introduction to a broad range of resources now widely available for Second World War research, or which (as with additional service records) are likely to become more accessible. Adopting the perspective of a distance researcher, our survey encompasses and compares Canadian and British military records and selected further sources relating to war brides, the merchant navy and the home front.”

https://oxford.ogs.on.ca/

Tim Cook, serving as a military expert during the CBC TV coverage of the ceremonies at the National War Memorial on 11 November, mentioned twice that there are about 20,000 Second World War veterans still living. He didn’t mention a source.

According to Library and Archives Canada, 1,159,000 Canadians and Newfoundlands served. About 61,000 died leaving 1.1 million alive at the end of the war in 1945. That’s 1.8 percent of those alive in 1945 still living.

Applying the same percentage to the 43,454 war brides who came to Canada after the Second World War that would be 782 war bride survivours.

A previous estimate for living war brides in 2020 was 1,000 to 1,800. Applying the death stats from life tables the range at the end of 2021 would be 640 to 1,152. It’s a happy day when two estimates are in the same range.

Monday 15 Nov 2021 at 2 pm via Zoom.
Film, poetry and conversation on childhood.
https://www.bl.uk/events/speaking-volumes-on-childhood-memories

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Time to ban fossil fuel advertising. Tobacco, alcohol and cannabis advertising are banned. When will GHG spewing vehicle advertising be banned? Look for measures such as that in the Speech from the Throne — or recognize the government isn’t sufficiently serious.

I’ve been hoping the BBC WDYTYA episode with Pixie Lott would become available on YouTube. Not yet. In the meantime.

Free Irish Genealogy eBooks

GBNames maps surname distribution from historical census data and modern consumer registers.

The “Dating Apps” of Victorian England

1000 Men, 1000 Stories: Canadians in Combined Operations, WW2. Eyewitness Accounts.

BCATP 1943 Canada
Following on the post on The History of Port Albert: No. 31 ANS,  Roy Cook recalls his early training days with the RAF Meteorology Office in Port Albert.

Thanks to this week’s contributors. Ann Burns, Anonymous, Brenda Turner, Christine Jackson, Jane MacNamara, Judith H., Nancy Frey, Unknown.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission: www.cwgc.org/
General Register Office (England and Wales): https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/login.asp/
Booth Poverty Map and Notebooks:  booth.lse.ac.uk/
National School Admission Registers and Logbooks, 1870-1914: findmypast.com
A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 10, Hackney. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1995: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol10/
Google maps (for travel times): https://www.google.com/
Anglo-Jewry’s Experience of Secondary Education from the 1830s until 1920, Emma Tanya Harris, UCL Ph.D. Thesis 2007: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1444779/1/U592088.pdf
British Army Officer Service Records, 1914–1922: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-officers-after-1913/
British Army war diaries 1914-1922: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-war-diaries-1914-1922/
National Library of Scotland, British First World War Trench Maps, 1915-1918: https://maps.nls.uk/ww1/trenches/
McMaster University WW1 Maps: https://library.mcmaster.ca/maps/ww1/ndx5to40.htm
London Gazette: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/
British Army Medal Index cards 1914-1920: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-medal-index-cards-1914-1920/
World War I Roll of Honour – The Clove Club Hackney Downs School: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/17094170/world-war-i-roll-of-honour-the-clove-club-hackney-downs-school/

The December issue of UK Family Tree Magazine is now available, including through PressReader at the OPL website. It includes another climate-related article by Calgary genealogist Wayne Shepheard.

Family Tree:
Dive in and unravel the mysteries in our bumper end-of-year family history quiz. Family Tree Academy tutor David Annal has laid down the gauntlet, with 25 intriguing genealogy questions. It’s time to see how much you know about family history!
Plus learn how to ‘interview’ your ancestors (yes even those no longer with us) with professional researcher and blogger Susie Douglas’s intriguing and practical tips for writing up your family history.
And learn about the diligent folk who have been responsible our birth, marriage and death certificate details since 1837.

Also inside this issue:

– Rachel Bellerby reports on the latest news from the world of family history
– The impact of the Laki eruptions: Wayne Shepheard considers our ancestors and the events of pan-continental environmental catastrophe in the late 1700s
– Tales from the City of the Dead: Drs Anna Maria Barry and Fiona Snailham share stories from Highgate Cemetery – a place where social status could continue, even beyond the grave
– Paul Chiddicks rounds off a memorable year with a selection of stories with a family history festive twist
– Books & Gifts: Ideas to pop on your wish list or treat yourself too
– In the latest installment of Twiglets, Gill Shaw ponders on the poignant question of ‘Who survived to adulthood?’
– DNA advisor Karen Evans comes to the aid of a reader trying to solve a long-standing great-grandfather brickwall
– School records: Simon Wills reports on a selection of education related sources
– Spotlight on: Borders Family History Society has been helping people trace family for 35 years
– Diane Lindsay looks into an ancestor’s eyes and brings them to life in her inimitable way
– And: Your Questions Answered, Dates for your Diary this November, & Readers’ Letters.

 

Many of us will be busy on Saturday.

At 9 am Ken McKinlay and Glenn Wright for BIFHSGO will be sharing tips for finding UK military records.
The session continues at 10 am with  “At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them”  — Military Moments with Sandra Adams, Gil Croome, Gillian Leitch, Nigel Lloyd, Bill Rasmus, and John Reid.

Meanwhile, there’s the Family History Federation’s Really Useful Show which actually starts with a free session today (Friday). See the full program at https://www.fhf-reallyuseful.com/

 

Here are the FMP additions this week,

Indian Army Service Records, 1900-1947
These newly-released Indian Army records of service store detailed information for 12,760 military servicemen and women. From captains to conductors, colonels to cooks, these documents provide invaluable insights into the lives of those that served.

Dotted throughout the Indian Army Service Records are the few female privates that served in the Women’s Auxiliary Corps, India. Formed in 1942, these women relieved service personnel in the Army, Navy, and Air Forces, providing invaluable support throughout the war.

Greater Burnley Roll of Honour
This focused 4,100 item collection details those from the Greater Burnley area of Lancashire that lost their lives during the First World War.

Though most of these records specify everything from regiment to home address, some entries go as far as to note the nature of a soldier’s death or even pay homage to his honours and awards.

Tipperary Studies has launched a new website with a database of Irish servicemen and servicewomen who died in the Great War.

There are 31,384 entries in the database, which is the work of military historian Tom Burnell.  Included are contemporary press reports and death certificate information, where available.

Searching “Canadian” finds 1,153 entries, “Canada” finds 421 entries.

www.irelandsgreatwardead.ie

FREE ACCESS to Fold3 military records through 14 November..

FREE ACCESS to Findmypast ‘Military, Armed Forces & Conflict’ records to 10 am on 15 November.  – 100 million records.

FREE ACCESS to First and Second World War records on Ancestry until 12 November – 2 billion records.

FREE ACCESS to military records at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Library and Archives Canada, every day of the year.

 

 

Just in time for Remembrance Day, Library and Archives Canada has added two military Challenges.

Women in the War challenge invites you to identify servicewomen and nursing sisters who served in Canada and abroad between 1942 and 1945. The selected photographs depict them at work and play, on ships, in kitchens and libraries, playing sports and dancing. In many cases, the word “unidentified” is part of the title of the image. A start has been made on the 70 images, 6% need review, none are complete.

First World War Posters challenge invites you to transcribe, tag, translate and describe these 125 images selected from 4,000 posters collected during and immediately after the Great War. Transcription is 55% complete; a further 26% need review.

 

The National Library of Scotland is actively adding Ordnance Survey town plans for England and Wales online dating from the 1840s to 1890s. Presently with over 400 town coverage, these are high resolution 1:500 scale — one inch on the map represents 42 feet. You can select a town or use a zoomable map to home in on the exact area of interest.

NLS is extending coverage in November and December 2021 and stitching them together overlayed on a Google map so you don’t struggle with the Iron Law of Maps – the area of interest is always at the intersection of two or more maps.

Naturally, NLS has a wide assortment of maps for Scotland. Access the complete collection from https://maps.nls.uk/os/