Saturday, July 26, 2014

FREEBIE Alert - UK records

Ancestry UK is offering FREE access this weekend at http://home.ancestry.co.uk



Happy Searching,
Pat

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Comparing UK National Archives

Chris Paton has written an extensive blog about the differences of three of the UKs national archives here http://britishgenes.blogspot.ca/2014/07/comparing-uks-three-national-archives.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+BritishGenesGenealogyNewsAndEvents+%28British+GENES+%28GEnealogy+News+and+EventS%29%29

Great article. Although he is upset, he might feel better about theirs if he had to deal with Canada's national archive!! just saying.


Cheerio,
Pat

Irish Names

This is an amazing book! You can read it online and it's free. Some of the pages are in Irish. It will keep you occupied for ages ... for good or for bad. https://archive.org/stream/varietiessynonym00math#page/n5/mode/2up


Cheers,
Pat

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

British Researchers

For anyone who has not already joined LostCousins, or at least subscribed to the free newsletter, here ya go http://www.lostcousins.com/ I continually learn something, or am reminded of something I've not tried for a while when reading his newsletter. It's a good read. AND I admit to having not yet entered my family data here, but it's on my ever growing list of things to do. Gigantic sigh. The list gets longer, but the time gets shorter. Something's got to give.

Cheers,
Pat

Irish School Records

This is very cool, and I've missed a few housecleaning hours immersed in this website. Thanks to Chris Paton.


"80% of its school records holdings from counties Dublin, Donegal, Mayo and Waterford, about 64,000 items in total, and comprising of a collection of folklore compiled by schoolchildren in Ireland in the 1930s.

It's a real gem, with some interesting holdings - one school child from Raphoe in County Donegal, for example, recalls how his granny used to describe the "stiffy lifting" or theft of corpses from graves in the local cemetery for medical students to experiment on.

To access the records, indexed by school and location, visit http://duchas.ie/en/cbes


Cheerio,
Pat

German Researchers

There is a lot of help on this website http://vorfahrensucher.de/start-seeking-ancestors-germany/ ... you'll just need to be patient, do a little reading , and poke around. It's free so have a look.


Cheers,
Pat

Friday, July 11, 2014

CWGC - archive explanation

Thanks to Chris Paton for the following explanation regarding the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website http://www.cwgc.org/


"The archives consists in the main of three sets of documents and in many cases not all sets will be present. The documents can be downloaded as JPEG’s

Grave Registration

This is the most common document, which can consist of two parts:

The Register for the cemetery or the memorial, if your relative is commemorated on a mem
orial such as the Menin Gate at Ypres or the Thiepval Memorial on the Somme this likely to be the only document. This is the original register and may show if there was any additions to the register or in one case I looked at for the Thiepval Memorial it had the details crossed out showing that the body had been found later on and where it was now buried.

Grave Registration Form which gives the name of the burial place, its map reference, the Regimental Number, Name, Rank and Initials, Date of Death, Cross Erected or Grave Registration Unit Date, Plot Row & Grave Number

If the Grave Registration Form is present and your relative is buried in a cemetery the other document likely to be present is the “Headstone” document which shows

a) The burial place, its map reference
b) Plot Reference

Then for each headstone:

1st Line Badge Design No and Layout No
2nd Line Number & Rank
3rd Line Initials, Name and Honours
4th Line Regiment
5th Line Date of Death (In any instances where the entry “None” appears in line 6 the age will be omitted from the Headstone and the date of death centred laterally)
6th Line Age
7th Religious Emblem (Centre of Stone) this could be a cross or the Jewish Star for Jewish personnel
8th line to be stencilled on the foot of the headstone below ground level, the plot number, row number, grave number

The second page shows what text if any was to be entered on the stone for unknown soldiers “ Known unto God”, where the family had requested text to be added it shows the text and the name and address of the relative


Concentration Document (Exhumation and Reburials)

This document was created when bodies were removed from burial plots or cemeteries that could not be maintained or controlled by the Imperial War Graves Commission / Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It shows the name of the cemetery of reburial , plot number and grave number for that cemetery.

It shows the name of the cemetery or the map reference for where the individual was originally buried if a cross had been erected, the name of the individual if known and their regimental particulars, the means of identification and were any effects forwarded to the base. For my own research it showed that Cyril Broom a 2nd Lieutenant in the 10th Battalion H.L.I. who was killed on the 15th July 1915 was originally buried in Salome Churchyard German Extension, a cross had been erected and he was indentified by this and his officer’s uniform. Cyril was then reburied in Rue Petillon Military Cemetery at Fleurbaix. In another example, Robert Speedon Macfarlane 2nd Lieutenant 15th Battalion H.L.I. killed on the 3rd July 1916 on the Somme front, was buired not in a cemetery but in an unnamed burial plot which is identified with a map reference, a cross had been erected and he was identified by his uniform and boots and he was then reburied at Serre Road Cemetery No 2."


Cheers,
Pat

QUICK - one month British Newspaper Archive for 1 British pound

Offer ends 20 July 2014. Use promotion code SUMMERSALE and choose 1 month from https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/account/subscribe?nextpage=%2Fpayments%3Fsisearchengine%3D1068%26siproduct%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3Dsummer%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Duk%26utm_content%3D91800&gift=false

if the above link does not work, go to the homepage http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/


This is an amazing offer!! Great searching everyone.


Cheers,
Pat

Thursday, July 3, 2014

US Census - FREE for July 4th weekend

The title says it all and extends until July 6th, 2014. If you've already searched the Federal Censuses, try the others listed on the site http://search.ancestry.ca/search/group/usfedcen

Happy Searching!!


Cheers,
Pat

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

British Children's HOMES

"The Children's Homes website aims to provide information on all the many and varied institutions that became home for thousands of children and young people in Britain. These establishments range from orphanages, homes for those in poverty, or with special needs, through to reformatories, industrial and approved schools, training ships, and hostels. As well as details of each home's location, history etc. the site includes hundreds of historic images of the buildings and their inmates."


Thanks again to Peter Higginbotham for this website http://childrenshomes.org.uk Be sure to follow directions as there is a lot of information available for places within the British Isles as well as Canada, Jamaica, and Australia. You will never know unless you look.


Happy Canada Day Everyone!
Pat
and isn't it wonderful to finally see the sun again?