Red Cross Records coming online soon

The records of over 24,000 volunteers who served in the British Red Cross during WW1 are expected to become available online soon, thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.  Index cards for Voluntary Aid Detachment workers (VADs) are being digitised and are expected to be online - free to access - by August.

Their website contains the following statement :
Did your relatives volunteer during the First World War?
To mark the upcoming centenary, the British Red Cross is digitising the records of all those who volunteered during the Great War – that’s almost a quarter of a million people.
Thanks to a generous grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the information will be made available to the public for the first time.
Work will soon begin to digitise thousands of index cards stored at the Red Cross’ London headquarters. The first batch of index cards will be online in time for the start of the centenary in August, and new material will be uploaded on a monthly basis.
Selfless volunteers
So just who were these volunteers? Leading up to the First World War, many voluntary aid detachments were formed. These comprised volunteers from the British Red Cross, Order of St. John and Friends Ambulance Association.
These brave and selfless volunteers (known affectionately as VADs) went on to help thousands of casualties, often putting their own lives at risk.
Fittingly, the Red Cross now plans to recruit another 100 volunteers to help with the £80,000 digitisation project. 
Famous names
The index card list also has some very interesting names tucked away. Famous former volunteers include author Agatha Christie, novelist and poet Naomi Mitchison, and writer and feminist Vera Brittain.
Phil Talbot, director of communications, said: “All these volunteers – whether they worked in auxiliary hospitals, convalescent homes or drove ambulances – played a vital role during the Great War.”
He added: "The index cards are a unique source of historical information. As we approach the centenary, we believe this is a fitting way to pay tribute to those who gave their time in non-military service.”

52 Weeks of Genealogy - Week 10 - Occupations

I have decided to try to participate in Shauna Hicks's 52 Weeks of Genealogical Records in 2014, although I do lack a little confidence in my ability to do full justice to each topic, as I seem to be rather time-poor lately.  I have a bit of catching up to do also,  as I am coming in at Week 10.  Better late than never.

Shauna launched this blog challenge to "stimulate my own genealogy blogging efforts in 2014 by focussing on a different kind of genealogical record each week. I wanted a challenge that reflected my own archival background as well as my own genealogy interests and there are probably lots of other records that I could have included. The challenge has an Australian focus but most of these records will be found just about anywhere in the genealogy world."  What a great idea!

Week 10 focuses on Occupation Records.  Within my own famiy history many ancestors were tied to the land (Ag Labs abound), although some professions do seem to appear quite regularly in some lines.  6 generations of Millers appear in my father's mother's family, 4 generations of plasterers run in my mother's paternal line.  Census records give me the professions of a few generations, with Ancestry (I use the Library Edition) as my main source of records.  Several old directories have been very handy too, including the Historical Directories of England and Wales.  Sometimes marriage or death certificates have given me information, and Trove has been another useful source.

Once you find the occupation it can be another challenge to work out exactly what the occupation involved.  Sites such as Old Occupation Names or Old Occupations in Scotland can be a great source of information (and amusement), especially for my favourite example, the ancestor who listed Hooker as her occupation on her marriage certificate in 1874.  For those who think this may be just too much information at such a time - here is the listing from Old Occupation Names :
1) 16c. Reaper 2) 19c. Textile mill worker operating machinery which laid out fabric in uniform folds to required length.  Yes, she worked in a textile mill.

5000 Poppies

As part of the 2015 Anzac Commemoration, the 5000 Poppies project will be “planting” a field of more than 5000 poppies in Federation Square Melbourne as a visual tribute to Australian servicemen and women for more than a century of service in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.  Over 9000 poppies have been collected to date.

Members of Campaspe Regional Library are asked to contribute to the project by dropping in their  home made poppies to any branch library.  Poppies can be knitted, crocheted, felted or sewn from any materials. Crafters are encouraged to dedicate their poppy to a member of their family who served in World War One.

Craft patterns and dedication forms can be found on the 5000 Poppies website.  Poppies will be collected and displayed together with their dedications in libraries for Remembrance Day  November 11 2014.

Sands Directory of Sydney

The firm of John Sands Ltd (Printers and Stationers) published their directory each year from 1858-59 to 1932-33 (except for 1872, 1874, 1878 and 1881). The household and business information it contains has become a fundamental source for research into Sydney history, especially family history.
Until now the directory has usually been accessed through a microfiche edition made by WF Pascoe Ltd which is available at many public libraries.

The City of Sydney has now obtained a complete digital edition of the directory from WF Pascoe, scanned from the microfiche, and is making it available for public access through their website.  This is the first time a complete set of Sands Sydney, Suburban and Country Commercial Directory has been made available online.

Irish Wills database extended

PRONI has extended its wills calendar database to include entries up to 1965, with the data available online now at www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/will_calendars/. This is a great addition to the database, extending it beyond 1943 and filling in the gaps.

The collection is being formally launched today and part of their press release is copied below :

PRONI is pleased to announce details of a public event to formally launch the extension of our Wills Calendar Application. 170,000 additional Will index entries covering the period 1918 – 1921, 1944 – 1965 will be added to this unique resource. These wills were proved in the Armagh, Belfast and
Londonderry District Registries.

This comprehensive index will enable researchers to search over 400,000 Will index entries for the years 1858 – 1965, making this an invaluable genealogical resource.

What ELSE is new on Ancestry?

They are having a major upload of new records at Ancestry!

They have now added a major series of collections of Roman Catholic records from parishes across Ireland which include the following :

1) Ireland, Select Catholic Birth and Baptism Registers, 1763-1912.  Records sourced from 73 parishes
2) Ireland, Select Catholic Marriage Registers, 1775-1912.  Records sourced from 62 parishes
3) Ireland, Select Catholic Death and Burial Registers, 1767-1912.  Records sourced from 19 parishes
4) Ireland, Select Catholic Confirmation Registers, 1775-1912.  Records sourced from 12 parishes.

While these records clearly do not cover all parishes they are still a very welcome addition to Ancestry's range of records and access to Ancestry is free at all our library branches.  For those with Irish ancestry, happy hunting!

What's new on Ancestry?

There are a huge number of new records available on Ancestry.com which can now be searched.  They include the following –

Index Title	Date Range	No of Records
Australian Marriage Index	1788-1950	5,329,018
Australian Death Index	1787-1985	5,893,086
Australian Birth Index	1788-1922	5,157,166
England Perogative Court of Canterbury Wills	1384-1858	1,012,964
British Army WW1 Service Records	1914-1920	1,907,094
England and Wales Birth Index	1916-2005	71,311,768
England and Wales Death Index	1916-2007	49,722,476
England and Wales Marriage Index	1916-2005	63,960,989

These are only a few of the many new datasets to become available on Ancestry over the past few months.  It should be noted that the wills are ONLY for the Perogative Court of Canterbury, and also that not everyone made a will, or had anything to leave behind them.  The poor especially did not leave wills.  It will, however, give you a copy of the original handwritten will if you are lucky enough to find any relevant to your family.  Your next problem is deciphering it, as old handwriting can be quite a challenge to understand.  Remember also that many older wills may have been written in Latin.

Irish Military Service Pensions

The Irish Department of Defense has launched a collection of military service pension records that span the years from 1916 to 1923. The first collection  contains some 10,000 files on members of the Irish Volunteers, Citizen Army, Hibernian Rifles, the Irish Republican Army, Cumann na mBan and the National Army. This collection is part of a wider program by the Irish Department of Defense to catalogue and eventually put online some 300,000 military service pension files. Most of the files are expected to be online by 1916. The collection is fairly diverse and includes everything from letters applying for a pension to various organizational and membership files to basic administration files. The pension files are particularly detailed and list the full name of the individual, address, date of birth, date of death, civilian occupations, military record, military awards, etc. The entire collection can be searched by keyword. The website has a detailed guide to the collection. Access is free.

Victorian Wills on FamilySearch

FamilySearch.org has indexed 1 million records from their State of Victoria probate register collection. The collection covers the years from 1841 to 1989 and generally involves wills. A typical record lists the name of person, date of death, address, occupation, date of testament and a declaration. Most wills list names of children, names of heirs, name of the spouse and name of the administrator of the will. Access is free.

Genealogy Cruise Post 6

It is hard to believe that today is the last day of the cruise, and tomorrow we arrive back in Sydney and disembark.  This has been a fantastic trip, with time to relax and unwind as well as the opportunity to hear so many great talks and meet so many enthusiastic genealogists.  It truly is the people who make this cruise what it is - so many friendly faces.  Amongst the many passengers on board we have all learnt to recognise the white and red Unlock the Past lanyard that identifies a fellow genealogist and even when not attending talks we tend to congregate - at meal times, at shows, in the library and the coffee shops.
Talk highlights today have included researching your family's Health History (mine all live forever - I hope I have those genes!) with Helen Smith.  Another great talk by Chris Paton on Irish Land Records, which he followed by later in the day with Scottish Inheritance.  As he said, when it comes to wills and probate, Scotland is NOT England.  And here I thought Scottish Church history was twisted and murky!!  Another highlight was Finding the Poor in 16th and 17th Century England.
The final talk of the cruise - Chris Paton again, I think he was losing his voice at the end of all this - was in the evening and focused on British civilian POWs in World War 2.

A big congratulations should go out to the team at Unlock the Past and to all the speakers for a thoroughly enjoyable and very informative program, and I hope to cruise with you again.

Genealogy Cruise Post 5

A morning of talks before our arrival in Hobart for the afternoon and all day tomorrow.  Jan Gow started my morning with Delving Deep into FamilySearch, a site I am quite familiar with but which is constantly changing and uploading more information.  There is so much more to this site than is immediately obvious, and it is easy to make the mistake of heading straight for the records and missing all the other resources and information the site has to offer.  My dining room tablemate Kirsty Gray also gave a talk on the World of the Workhouse - the history of how they developed and were administered, and what they were like for those unfortunate enough to need them.  Now to explore Hobart.

Genealogy Cruise Post 4

After a hot and sunny day walking around Adelaide, it is back to the Conference Room for more great talks.  The Top 10 Tips for finding hard-to-find ancestors has reinforced for me just what a huge undertaking family history can be and how persistent and sometimes just lucky we have to be to find that elusive clue that leads to a brick wall breakthrough.  Jill Ball's talk on free websites for Australian genealogy has me once again amazed at how much information is now available online and the sheer scale of effort that has gone into various digitising and scanning projects.  Also just how much is still left to do - it is certainly not all online.  Other talks today have included Lost in London, Civil Registration in the British Isles, and World War 1 diggers.  My brain is full.

Genealogy Cruise Post 3

Today kicked off with a talk by Helen Smith on using timelines in Genealogy.  This is  not something I have considered before now, but I really like the concept and will put it to use.  I do need to consider the social and historical context more for my ancestors - the major events (local, national and worldwide) that took place during their lives.  It tied nicely with Shauna Hicks's talk on mapping your ancestors, something I have done to some extent but I see a whole new area of focus opening up for me.  Chris Paton's talk on The Godly Commonwealth has me despairing of ever unravelling Scottish Church history - I only have one small branch of the family that is Scottish but quite a few of my ancestors were non-conformists (apparently we have a history of not being followers of the common path!), so they can be tricky to find.  These and several other talks today have left me with even more notes and severe information overload - I went back to my room, sat down to relax for a few minutes and woke to find I had slept through dinner!

Genealogy Cruise post 2

After deciding not to go ashore for our day in Melbourne, the city on the cruise that I know the best, I have been reading back over my notes after having spent the morning thoroughly exploring the ship.  I loved Jill Ball's talk about blogs (thanks Jill for your kind comments about mine), and Thomas MacEntee's talk on building a genealogy toolbox have made me think about all the tools I use for genealogy - the programs, the websites, the charts, the documents... and how I store and keep track of what I use.  Having recently had a major reorganise of my files I am currently in a fairly good position to be able to find things, but my organisation could definitely be better.  Neil Smith's talk on Australia's military history was timely considering the huge number of projects underway this year for the 100th anniversary of the start of World War 1.  While I have the basic war records of most of my military family from WW1 & 2, it is amazing to realise how much else is out there that I have never thought of or tried to access.  Finally for day 1, Kerry Farmer's talk on immigration has reinspired me to find the shipping records of several ancestors.  The can't ALL have swum...
And finally, I have to say how much I love the way they deliver our towels....

Genealogy Cruise post 1

So the 4th Unlock the Past genealogy cruise is underway.  Currently internet connection aboard the ship is rather dodgy - I hope that will improve along the way, but I will post updates as I can.  Having boarded the ship, found my cabin and settled myself in, I will not bore you with descriptions of the ship and it's amenities - you can look that up online for yourself.  It is time for the genealogy to begin, starting with a talk by Chris Paton on British and Irish newspapers.  While there is certainly more out there than I had realised, I will admit to a bit of patriotic satisfaction and say the United Kingdom is nowhere near as organised and simple as the Australian site Trove.  Of course, the United Kingdom probably has a few more papers over the years to deal with....

While not all UK newspaper sites are free to use, I will echo the advice that you need to check your National Library and State Library to see if they have a subscription.  Membership of both is free (as is membership of your local library - hint, hint), and you may be able to access these resources online for free with your membership too.  Why pay if you don't have to??
Numerous other talks during the day have left me with about 30 pages of notes (most of which I can even read) and a severe case of information overload.  I'm going to need our days in port to recover and time after the cruise to sort my notes and take it all in.
While there have been a few hiccups (does technology EVER completely work properly the first time??) overall the cruise is off to a great start and my biggest problem is trying to get to all the talks I want to hear.  I have yet to learn how to be in two places at one time.

Children's Essays of WW1 Zeppelin Attacks on Britain

The British Library have made newly digitised material from World War I available online, including some of the collection’s eye-opening essays written by children about Zeppelin attacks in 1915. 

The boys of Princeton Street Elementary School, London, were aged between 5 and 14 when the Zeppelin attacks took place. Some of the boys recorded their recollections of the airship raids.

Their accounts reveal how unexpected the raids were and how unprepared Britain was to deal with the new threat. Most of the boys were getting ready for bed or playing out on the street when the Zeppelins arrived - Londoners had no prior warning of either of the attacks on 8 September or 13 October 1915.
These boys express both excitement and fear during the airship raids, and satisfied their curiosity by going out to inspect the damage once the raids were over.
Read the transcripts from this unique collection of essays, revealing the terror of a German Zeppelin attack through a child’s eyes.

First World War Military Service Tribunals

The National Archives has launched a rare collection of First World War military service tribunals. These are 11,000 case files from Middlesex, where people applied to the local tribunal for exemption from compulsory military service (which was introduced in 1916, some two years after the start of the war). Most of the applications for exemptions fall into four categories: moral (conscientious objectors); medical (disability); family (looking after dependents) and economic (preserving a business).
As the First War dragged on, fatalities and casualties climbed far beyond anyone’s expectations. News about the horrible conditions on the front line slowly filtered back home. Much of it contradicted the official propaganda. This created a significant amount of tension on the home front. Still, only an estimated 10% of the applications for exemptions were based on moral grounds.
Only a very small number of these military tribunal papers survive. After the war, the UK government issued explicit instructions to local tribunals to destroy all these types of records due to their sensitive nature and the risk to the government.

The Middlesex collection was specifically held back from destruction and retained to be used as a possible benchmark in case military conscription was ever required in the future. The collection can be searched by name, occupation and location. Access is free.

World War 1

2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I.
From 2014 to 2018, across the world, nations, communities and individuals of all ages will come together to mark, commemorate and remember the lives of those who lived, fought and died in the First World War.
IWM (Imperial War Museums) is leading the First World War Centenary Partnership, a network of local, regional, national and international cultural and educational organisations.
The website provides useful information on upcoming events and website launches. It also has a very useful guide for genealogists wanting to research soldiers from WWI. Access is free.

Ancestry.com

Ancestry.co.uk has added a collection of pre-1858 wills. The collection contains about 1 million records. The wills in this collection were managed by the ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England (wills prior to 12 January 1858 were managed by the church). Wills provide a good means of understanding family members and family relationships. A typical will lists spouses, children, and sometimes even parents.
Most early English and Welsh wills from this period were written by people who had to transfer land and significant property. This collection will likely appeal to people who had wealthy ancestors. There are a couple of other things to note before looking at this collection. First, married women were not allowed to own property, so there are few women in the collection. Second, wills were sometimes recorded in the courts years after the person died, so search a wide range of dates after the expected year of death.
I have included as an example the will of my ancestor John Green of Fordham Hall in Essex.  Now all I have to do is decipher the handwriting!

Unlock the Past Genealogy Cruise

I am really looking forward to the Unlock the Past 4th Genealogy Cruise which starts 4th February.  I'll be reporting on the cruise in this blog and am really impressed by the program that has been put together.  This is the first time I will have made it to one of these cruises but I certainly hope it will not be the last.  The cruise is a southern Australian ports cruise out of Sydney visiting Melbourne, Adelaide and Hobart with a varied program planned with leading Australian, New Zealand and overseas presenters – around 60-70 topics in all, some as parallel electives.  To all those who are booked on the cruise, I look forward to meeting you and sharing our knowledge and enthusiasm for genealogy.

FamilySearch

FamilySearch has created a massive new collection of indexes for births, marriages and deaths that cover England and Wales from 1837 to 1920. In total, there are 65.6 million births listed, 35.1 million marriages, and 40.6 million deaths. Note these are indexes and not complete records. These indexes will, however, point you to the exact location of the record. Access is free.  Either search the full FamilySearch site or access each index individually - UK Birth Index, UK Marriage Index and UK Death Index.  Other new FamilySearch collections include the Catholic Church records from the district of Santarém, Portugal. The collection now consists of some 650,000 images of baptism, marriage and death records spanning the years from 1544 to 1911. The images can be searched by municipality, parish, type of record and year.  Another recent addition is approximately 100,000 civil marriages from Denmark that span the years from 1851 to 1961. These records can be searched by first and last name. The records cover the small percentage of people who did not get married in the state church.

London's Pulse

The Wellcome Library has unveiled London's Pulse, a free website which allows you to search more than 5500 Medical Officer of Health (MOH) reports from the Greater London area.  The era of the Medical Officer Health saw the emergence of new ways of thinking about the connections between poverty, health and government.  The reports provided statistical data about births, deaths and diseases, but they also allowed the authors to express the diversity of their local communities and their own personal interests.  Many of the daily concerns and shifting preoccupations of Londoners can be seen through the eyes of their Medical Officers of Health.

The Gazette

There is now easier access to the digitised editions of the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes as The Gazette launches its new website.  Fully searchable, the site offers access to millions of articles dating back to the 17th century, ranging from Royal announcements to insolvency notices.  A free resource, users can set up a personal account and save clippings, as well as share favourite finds through social media.  Search and browse all notices including the Queen’s Honours and Awards, Military, State, Transport and Planning notices, or choose a specific option to search Wills and Probate, Insolvency, or Awards and Accreditation. Wills allow you to search and browse Section 27 Trustee Act notices or read the guides and checklists for managing probate yourself.  Insolvency allows you to search and browse corporate insolvency and personal bankruptcy notices.  In Awards and Accreditation you can search and browse military and civilian awards.