Today, Remembrance Day, we acknowledge the sacrifices made by those who have fought for the freedom and democracy we enjoy.
In these troubled times, we also reflect on the cost and consequences of war and the hope for peace and justice.
Findmypast Weekly Update
Britain, First World War Campaign Medals
This week sees a new transcript collection of British First World War Campaign Medals, containing 6,527,684 detail-rich records.
The information recorded is similar to that contained within the existing Medal Roll Index. However, you can expect to find additional details to enrich your understanding of military service.
As well as a name, rank and service number, you can expect to learn a disembarkation date (when they arrived in a theatre of war), a regiment or unit, and the theatre of war that they fought in. This information is provided in the form of a code, for example, 1 is Western Europe, 1A is France and Belgium, and 1B is Italy. For the full list of theatre of war codes, be sure to consult the extra information on the search page.
Many of these records also contain extra information such as battalion, previous service details, and whether they were demobilised or killed in action. As personnel are listed under the unit that they were serving with when they received the medal, you may find multiple records for the same person.
Cheshire, Macclesfield WW1 Hospital Records
If your ancestor recovered at Macclesfield Infirmary between 1914 and 1918, then their name may just appear within this set’s 1,880 transcriptions.
Each record is a transcription of an original hospital record, held at the Cheshire Archives. Although an initial is often used in place of a first name, knowing an ancestors’ service record will allow you to pinpoint them within this collection with ease.
From these records, you’ll learn a name, a birth year, an age, an event date and a place, as well as details like rank, service number, regiment and unit or corps.
You’ll usually be given an admission date, as well as the date and year that a person was discharged from the hospital. In some cases, the name and address of a relative or friend is also listed – this rich information may help you to build your family tree.
Crimean War casualties 1853-1856
Added this week are 5,893 new transcriptions, which cover the span of the war (1853 to 1856).
These records are an index of casualties from the conflict. You can expect to learn a full name, a date, soldier number, rank and regiment, as well as a description of the casualty and details of the action it was caused by.
Irish Lives Remembered Magazine
The latest issue of Irish Lives Remembered is now available, free to enjoy! Articles are:
Elizabeth Cowan – “Her Faithful Comrade and Lifelong Friend”: Sapphic Revolutionaries of Twentieth Century Ireland
Christopher Fitz-Simon interview – Golden Gate: the Lifelong Love of Mícheál MacLiammóir and Hilton Edwards
Fiona Fitzsimons – Lily’s Lineage: the Savage Irish Ancestry of Paul O’Grady
Brigit McCone – Seeking Self: The Transcendental and Transgender Journey of Michael Dillon
Katharine Simms – Gay Gaels in the Middle Ages: Medieval Irish Attitudes to Homosexuality
Caitlin Bain – Preserving History: interview with Orla Egan, founder of Cork LGBT Archive
Donna Rutherford – Size Matters when working with DNA Matches!
Eamonn P. Kelly – Tobar na Molt: Aspects of solar religion in the cult of St. Íta
Film Reviews – Wilde Irish Biopics: Remembering Gay Irish Lives on Film
Regular columns:
Dear Genie – Our Genealogists help you with your research block
Heritage Highlight – Cork Public Museum
Emerald Roots Interview – Caitlin Bain, co-host of the official IFHC podcast
The Four Courts Press Book Review & Excerpt – Edith Somerville: a biography by Gifford Lewis (2005)
The Genealogical Publishing Company Book Excerpt – A Guide to Irish Churches and Graveyards by Brian Mitchell (1990)
Ancestry adds UK, Officers’ Birth Certificates, Wills and Personal Papers, 1755-1908
This collection of 104,288 items contains documents used to legally prove the pension claims of deceased or disabled officers in the British Military between 1755 and 1908.
A search returns the Name, Birth Date, Event Type, Event Date, Event Place, and Relatives, plus a link to an image of the original. Some of that information is commonly missing.
There were 18 entries for the last name Little. At least six of those were for Thomas Little — variously Thomas Sargent Little (2), Thos. S. Little, Thomas Gargert Little, Thos. Dargent Little (2). The indexing is from various types of records — registers, certificates, and sworn statements- and appears to be done by AI.
Original data is from WO 42 from The National Archives (UK).
Fold3 free access
Access to the records on Fold3® will be free until 12 Nov 2023 at 11:59 p.m. MT. Registration required. After the free access period ends, you can only view records using a paid Fold3® membership (until the next free access period, whenever that is!)
Findmypast free access
Free access to Findmypast runs until 10:00 GMT on Monday 13 November. Almost all of Findmypast’s family tree hints, newspapers and records are free to access. The 1921 Census of England and Wales and Tree Search are not included. To view any excluded resources during the free access period, you’ll need a valid subscription.
MyHeritage adds England, Lancashire, Lytham St. Annes Burials
Here’s another instance of MyHeritage finding a municipal burial collection online, this one with 111,798 records, and adding it to their service for free access.
This collection contains burial records from Lytham Park Cemetery and Crematorium from the year 1928 onwards. Records typically include the name of the deceased, age at the time of death, date of burial and information about the burial.
If you find an entry of interest, the original charming book of remembrance is worth a look at https://www.remembrance-books.com/lytham/book-of-remembrance.html
MyHeritage PhotoDater™
It’s now available on the MyHeritage and Reimagine mobile apps and mobile web browsers, as well as laptops and desktops where it has been available since August.
PhotoDater™ is a MyHeritage exclusive free feature that uses AI technology to estimate when historical photos were taken.
WDYTYA Magazine November 2023
I’ve been forgetting about British genealogy magazines lately. There’s some catching up to do, starting with WDYTYA Magazine for November.
Two of the issue’s three feature articles are written by women, and two are about female ancestors.
Tracing Female Lines
Laura Berry, researcher for the Who Do You Think You Are? TV program, describes the techniques used in discovering the stories of the women in celebrities’ family trees.
Parish Heros
Chloe O’Shea explains the history of Online Parish Clerks projects, some thriving, some moribund, and highlights some of the more successful.
New Women
Jad Adams explores the lives of our female ancestors who broke down barriers at the end of the 19th century. The major impetus he attribites to the Elementary Education Act of 1870.
In other articles:
Focus On
Else Churchill shares her advice for finding and using
the varied records left by guilds and livery companies.
Best Websites
Jonathan Scott picks the best online gems to help you
take your family back to the 17th century.
Record MASTERCLASS
Phil Tomaselli explains how to use online Army Lists to
research the British Army officers in your family tree,
and much more include a section on resources for Cambridgshire, Huntingdonshire and the Isle of Ely.
Ancestry Opens Global Wartime Collection
Information is posted by Family Tree Magazine (UK) about opening wartime records for seven days. The link below to the UK site appears to work from Canada.
The offer allows users unlimited record views and searches. Featured collections include:
- British Army World War I service records
- Royal Navy registers of seamen
- UK World War I Women’s Army Military Corps
Explore for free at Ancestry. For full terms & conditions for this Ancestry offer, click here.
UPDATE
The same access is now available from the Canadian Ancestry site at https://www.ancestry.ca/c/remembrance/. Here is the list of all of the records collections that are free: https://www.ancestry.ca/search/categories/ca_remembrance_2023/?o_iid=130986&o_lid=130986&o_sch=Web+Property
It appears the UK free access stays available after the Canadian closes,
This Week’s Online Genealogy Events
Choose from selected free online events in the next five days. All times are ET except as noted. Assume registration in advance is required; check so you’re not disappointed. Are you looking for more options? Additional mainly US events are listed at https://conferencekeeper.org/virtual.
Tuesday 7 November
1 pm: Pilgrimages, Pandemics and the Past, by Tom Holland for Gresham College and the Royal Historical Society.
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on/pilgrimages-holland
2:30 pm: British Research Methodology: How, What & Where to Search, by Sylvia Tracy-Doolos for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/9324162
7:30 pm: DNA Clustering: Using the Leeds Method to Sort Your Matches, by Ben Dawson for OGS Durham County Branch.
https://ogs.on.ca/events/durhams-nov-7th-hybrid-meeting-dna-clustering-using-the-leeds-method-to-sort-your-matches-ben-dawson/
Wednesday 8 November
7 pm: Sacrifice: Researching Canada’s War Dead, 1914-1945, by Glenn Wright for Lakeshore Genealogical Society.
https://www.lakeshoregenealogicalsociety.ca/calendar
8 pm: Scottish Emigration to North America: Before, During and After the Rebellions, by Paul Milner for Legacy Family Tree Webinars. https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/scottish-emigration-to-north-america-before-during-and-after-the-rebellions/
Thursday 9 November
6:30 pm: Beginner Colonial-era Research
through the Life of Anne Marbury Hutchinson, by Kim Richardson for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/9324205
Friday 10 November
Saturday 11 November
10 am: Our Indominable War Bride Mothers, by Bob Reay and Carol Small for OGS London Middlesex Branch.
https://londonmiddlesex.ogs.on.ca/events/london-and-middlesex-branch-our-incredible-war-bride-mothers
2 pm: Widows of the War of 1812 —research sources and strategies, by Janice Nickerson for OGS Simcoe County Branch.
https://simcoe.ogs.on.ca/branch-meetings/
Moorshead Magazines Ceases Operations
It’s via an unverified, but reliable source.
“Please be advised that Moorshead Magazines Ltd has ceased operations.
The pandemic greatly affected our industry. We made significant changes in an effort to adapt, but the economic challenges were too great to overcome. This was a very difficult decision.
Moorshead Magazines Ltd”
It’s sad to see the only Canadian-produced commercial genealogy magazine, Internet Genealogy, go under. I’m sure Ed Zapletal, Rick Cree and the team gave it there all and wish them all the best following the decision.