Dedicated
to making old and rare books available to family and local historians, the
Anguline Research Archives catalogue now includes more than 600 titles,
including the new Historic Still Birth Register and a free downloads
section. The collection spans all
English Counties, Wales, Scotland and now Canada, and titles are browsable by
area and category, which include directories, maps, military, parish registers,
church and non-conformist history, schools and more. Titles are in PDF format so they can be
viewed on computer, tablet, e-reader and other viewers, and the majority of
titles can be bought either on CD or a digital downloads.
A blog to talk about genealogy and family history, ask questions, highlight useful sites and share tips.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Monday, September 30, 2013
Will Calendars at PRONI
The Will Calendars at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland provides a fully searchable index to the will calendar entries
for the three District Probate Registries of Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry,
with the facility to view the entire will calendar entry for each successful
search. The database covers the period 1858-1919 and 1922-1943. Part of 1921
has been added, with remaining entries for 1920-1921 to follow in the near
future.
Digitised images of entries
from the copy will books covering the period 1858-1900 are now available online,
allowing users to view the full content of a will. 93,388 will images are now
available to view.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Scottish Soldier's Wills
Scottish Soldiers Wills are scheduled to come online in 2014 as part of the commemoration of World War 1. The wills consist of special forms removed from soldiers' pay books, other army
forms, or other documents. They are generally very brief and do not mention
individual possessions. They contain limited personal or service history
information.
About 31,000 wills survive, of which approximately 26,000 date from the First World War (WW I) and 4,700 from the Second World War (WW II). The rest belong to the period between 1857 and 1966. The wills were written by men up to the rank of warrant officer. About 100 wills exist of officers who were commissioned from the rank during WW I, and a few from WWII. There are wills of some Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel from WW I, and of six women serving with the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) during World War II.
The soldiers' wills belong to a special series among the records of the Edinburgh Commissary Office, which received them from the War Office because the men were domiciled in Scotland. Most were not recorded in the commissary registers of the Commissary Office and the sheriff courts.
About 31,000 wills survive, of which approximately 26,000 date from the First World War (WW I) and 4,700 from the Second World War (WW II). The rest belong to the period between 1857 and 1966. The wills were written by men up to the rank of warrant officer. About 100 wills exist of officers who were commissioned from the rank during WW I, and a few from WWII. There are wills of some Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Air Force (RAF) personnel from WW I, and of six women serving with the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) during World War II.
The soldiers' wills belong to a special series among the records of the Edinburgh Commissary Office, which received them from the War Office because the men were domiciled in Scotland. Most were not recorded in the commissary registers of the Commissary Office and the sheriff courts.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Archaic Medical Terms
Rudy's List of Archaic Medical Terms is a collection of archaic medical terms and their old and modern
definitions. The primary focus of this web site is to help decipher the Causes
of Death found on Mortality Lists, Certificates of Death and Church Death
Records from the 19th century and earlier. The web site is updated often and as new
information is received, with the intention of collecting and recording old medical terms
in all European languages. The English and German lists are the most extensive
to date. If you are having trouble decoding the medical language used to describe causes of death then the Archaic Medical Terms website may help you.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
WW1 Conscription Appeals
The World War 1 Military Conscription Appeals series contains 11,000 case papers from the Middlesex Appeal
Tribunal which, between 1916 and 1918, heard appeals from men who had previously
applied to a local tribunal for exemption from compulsory military service. The
reasons provided by applicants are varied, with applications made on moral
grounds (conscientious objectors), on medical grounds (disability), on family
grounds (looking after dependents) and on economic grounds (preserving a
business). The vast majority of cases relate to the impact of war on a man’s
family or their business interests, and the papers reveal some fascinating and
tragic stories.
Due to the sensitive issues that surrounded compulsory military service during and after the First World War, only a small minority of the tribunal papers survive. In the years that followed the end of the war, the Government issued instructions to the Local Government Boards that all tribunal material should be destroyed, except for the Middlesex Appeal records and a similar set for Lothian and Peebles in Scotland, which were to be retained as a benchmark for possible future use. A sample of records from the Central Tribunal were also retained, which are also part of the series.
Due to the sensitive issues that surrounded compulsory military service during and after the First World War, only a small minority of the tribunal papers survive. In the years that followed the end of the war, the Government issued instructions to the Local Government Boards that all tribunal material should be destroyed, except for the Middlesex Appeal records and a similar set for Lothian and Peebles in Scotland, which were to be retained as a benchmark for possible future use. A sample of records from the Central Tribunal were also retained, which are also part of the series.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Great War Pension Records
The Western Front Association (WFA) has announced that it has
secured the safe storage and preservation of over six million
Great War soldiers' pension record cards after learning that the Ministry of Defence was no
longer able to retain and manage this archive. There was a possibility that the records would have had to be destroyed
unless they could be passed for safe keeping to a reputable organisation.
The WFA has made a study and catalogued the primary information for of each group of records in the archive, and arranged the safe transfer and storage of the records to the WFA's secure premises.
During the Great War, dependents of each serving British soldier, sailor, airman and nurse who was killed were entitled to a pension, as were those service personnel who were wounded or otherwise incapacitated due to the conflict. There is a card for each. These cards are categorised as follows:
The WFA has made a study and catalogued the primary information for of each group of records in the archive, and arranged the safe transfer and storage of the records to the WFA's secure premises.
During the Great War, dependents of each serving British soldier, sailor, airman and nurse who was killed were entitled to a pension, as were those service personnel who were wounded or otherwise incapacitated due to the conflict. There is a card for each. These cards are categorised as follows:
- Other Ranks Died (this contains nearly one million individual records)
- Widows and Dependents of Other Ranks Died (in excess of one million records)
- Other Ranks Survived: Requested/Rejected/Receiving Pension (over 2.5 million records)
- Officers survived and Officers' Widows (approximately 150,000 records)
- Merchant Naval Cards (about 5,000 records
Thursday, September 12, 2013
English Wills
In England, wills fall into two main categories - pre-1858 and post-1858. Pre-1858 wills were probated in one of two principal courts for England and Wales - the Prerogative Court of Canterbury in the south, searchable at www.discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk and the Prerogative Court of York in the north, searchable at www.britishorigins.com. Below these were other levels of ecclesiastical courts, including what were known as peculiars.
Post-1858 wills were proved at the Principal Probate Registry, established 12 January 1858, and can be searched on Ancestry. Copies of wills can be ordered at a cost.
Post-1858 wills were proved at the Principal Probate Registry, established 12 January 1858, and can be searched on Ancestry. Copies of wills can be ordered at a cost.
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