40 YEARS!

Celebrating societies working together

FamilyTree
JULY 2014

Your Ancestors Your History www.family-tree.co.uk

TRACE
Your 1,000
Tales of the
unexpected

year story
Make new finds in
familiar records

Using ancient
documents or DNA
You can do it too!
Genealogy & the
Your new reader next generation
research zone
How to capture a
Showcasing the best child’s imagination
of your latest projects

Plus
£4.99

• Fancy a challenge?
Gen up with our guide to
court records
• Looking for a new lead?
Find your ancestors in an
unusual tax source

Plus FREE census records & more online for every reader – see inside...
 S&N Genealogy Supplies
S& N S& N

EN EN
G

Y
Y
E A L O G TM E A L O G TM

Slide & Negative Scanners Flip Pal Mobile Scanners

Slides and negatives can be difficult Slide, Negative & Film 14 Mp Scanner £129.95 Flip Pal Scanner £129.95 Having digital copies of your
to view and are often passed down Slide, Negative & Film 14 Mp Scanner & Digital Creativity Flip Pal Scanner & Digital Creativity Suite £149.95 documents, photos and other
from one generation to the next. Don’t Suite £154.95 Flip Pal Scanner & Craft Edition 2.1 £144.95 memorabilia is as important as
discard these forgotten gems. No longer Slide and Negative 5 Mp Scanner £59.95 Screen Protectors (pack of 3) £8.95 having the originals. With the Flip-
do you need bulky slide projectors 8GB SD Card £7.95 Energizer 1Hour Charger &4High CapacityAA Batteries £24.95 Pal scanner, you can scan these
or back-lit panels. All you need is our 32GB SD Card £29.95 Energizer Base Economy Charger & 4 AA Batteries £14.95 memories without taking them out of
compact, stand alone slide and negative Slide Cleaning Brush £2.95 4 AA Energizer High Capacity rechargeable Batteries £9.95 their album or frame. This means you
scanners. Dust Puffer £2.95 Flip Pal Carry Case (Red, Purple, Pink or Blue) £23.45 can easily scan and share relatives’
Cleaning Cloth £1.95 Flip Pal Protective Sleeve £11.95 photographs and documents without
Flip Pal Cleaning Cloth £4.95 fear of damage.
Premium Bundle £199.95 Save over £190* Premium Bundle £215.95 Save over £210*

Archival Storage Best Selling Software

The ideal way to store your valuable documents is in our A4, A3 and long Colours: RootsMagic Platinum Edition
binders. They have high quality, heavy duty, ring mechanisms and a padded Version 6 UK Edition
leather-effect finish. Our range of sleeves are archival quality so they will Includes free British resources:
preserve the contents without sticking to or damaging valuable documents. • 3month subscription to TheGenealogist
Binders are available in blue, black, green and burgundy. Various sleeves, • 1898 Atlas • Change of Names CD
card inserts and tabbed dividers are also 1760-1901 UK & Ireland • Quick Start
available. As a perfect complement to our Guide • General Armory of England,
range of binders, our springback binders Scotland & Ireland • English & Welsh Landowners 1873
are ideal for presenting your family history. Unlike ring binders, you don’t have to • Scottish Landowners 1872-1873
punch any holes in the paper - you simply choose the sheets you want, fold the • Irish Landowners 1876 SPECIAL OFFER £39.95
hardback covers of the binder back, and place the paper into the acid-free lining. RootsMagic Standard Edition V6
Deluxe colours
You can add or remove pages as many times as you like, and Includes Atlas for 1898 & Quick Start Guide
the binder can store up to 200 A4 pages. £34.95
Leather effect colours New Window Springback Binder RootsMagic Upgrade V6 £19.95
This binder has a hard wearing cover, Family Tree Maker 2014 World Edition £84.95
and comes in maroon without any gold Family Tree Maker 2014 UK Platinum £39.95
Long Certificate Binder £14.95 lettering on the front and spine. There Family Tree Maker 2014 UK Deluxe £39.95
A4 Family History Binder £14.95 Family Tree Maker 2014 UK Upgrade £19.95
is a window on the front cover of the
A4 Family History Binder (without lettering) £14.45 Family Tree Maker UK Platinum for Mac V2 £50.95
A4 Landscape Binder £14.95 binder so you can add your own text.
Family Historian 5 £36.90
A3 Family History Binder £19.95 This binder has Family Historian 5 Upgrade £23.95
Springback Deluxe Binder £14.95 hardback covers Custodian 4 £28.45
Springback Deluxe Landscape Binder £15.95 with an acid-free £22.95 Reunion for Mac Version 10 £62.45
Springback Deluxe Binders (without lettering) £13.95 lining, and a Legacy Family Tree Deluxe 8 £39.99
Springback Leather Effect Binders £19.95 25mm capacity, which can hold up to
Springback Leather Effect Binders (without lettering) £18.95 Includes Free CD & Guide worth over £10
200 A4 pages.
Springback Leather Effect Binders with slip case £29.95 £32.95
A4 Sleeves (10 pack) £5.95 (100 pack) £49.95 Software Guides
Long Certificate Sleeves(10 pack) £5.95 (100 pack) £49.95 Archival Products Getting the Most out of RootsMagic 6 £14.95
A3 Sleeves (10 pack) £6.95 (100 pack) £59.95 Acid Free Calligraphy Pens £2.95 The Companion Guide to FTM 2014 £17.95 £12.45
Insert Cards (10 pack) from £3.50 Acid Free Writing Pens from £1.95 Getting the Most From Family Historian V5 £16.95
Tabbed Dividers (5 pack) from £2.50 Acid Free, Dual Action Glue Pen £2.50
Acid Free Permanent Paper from £1.00 Archival Quality Cotton Gloves £1.80 National Burial Index
Parish Records Magnifying Sheet £2.00 Third Edition - Entries of over 18.4 million
Dome Magnifier £11.75
Berks (2 Vols) £9.95, Bucks (9 Vols) £16.95, Cambs (8 Vols) Ruler Magnifier £8.45 burials. Includes forename & surnames,
£16.95, Cheshire (5 Vols) £12.95, Cornwall (26 Vols) £17.95, Auto Focus Line Reader Magnifier £7.45 date of burial (from 1538), age, details of
Cumb (2 Vols) £9.95, Derbys (15 Vols) £16.95, Dorset (7 Vols) place where the event was recorded.
£16.95, Essex (4 Vols) £14.95, Glos (17 Vols) £16.95, Hants
Pocket LED Magnifier £7.95 £27.95
Pop Light Magnifier £12.95
(16 Vols) £16.95, Herts (3 Vols) £14.95, Kent (2 Vols) £9.95, Acid Free Tape Runner £8.95
Leics (12 Vols) £16.95, Lincs (11 Vols) £16.95, London - Sets Document Repair Kit £8.95 New Downloads
1, 2, 3, 4 per set £19.95, Middx (9 Vols) £16.95, Norfolk (12 Document Repair Tape £4.85
Vols) £16.95, Notts (22 Vols) £16.95, Oxon (2 vols) £9.95, Brass Archival Paperclips (100) £3.25 Cheshire, Stockport Parish Registers 1584-1619 £6.95
Shrop Set 1 (29 Vols) £24.95, Shrop Set 2 (14Vols) £21.45, Cheshire, Prestbury Parish Registers 1560-1636 £6.95
Somerset (15 Vols) £16.95, Suffolk (4 Vols) £14.95, Surrey (15
Cotton Ribbon £1.95 (10M) £8.45 (50M)
Small Medal Keepsake Box £2.95 Bucks, Swanbourne Parish Registers £6.95
Vols) £24.95, Wilts (14 Vols) £16.95, Yorks (4 Vols) £14.95
Please visit our website for our complete range of parish Acid Free Tissue Paper (25 Sheets) £2.45 Bucks, Chesham Parish Registers 1538-1636 £9.95
records, coverage and areas Acid Free Clamshell Boxes (Various Sizes) From £7.95 Bucks, Addington Parish Records 1558-1908 £6.95

Guarantee: We will beat any UK mail order pricing for the same product!
For Thousands more products ask for our free 2014 Guide, or visit our website.
www.GenealogySupplies.com Tel: 01722 716121
S&N Genealogy Supplies, West Wing, Manor Farm, Chilmark, Salisbury, SP3 5AF. Calls taken 9am-5pm, Mon-Fri. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Delta, Maestro,
Amex and JCB. Please add £2.95 p&p per order. Prices correct at time of going to press.
 CONTENTS July 2014 Vol 30 No 10

6 Family history news

Latest news with Belinda Griffin,
including the IWM’s new Lives of the
First World War project, pre-1901 Irish
census returns and using DNA data.
10 Dear Tom...
Get your monthly fix of genealogical
gems and funnies with Tom Wood.

p6
14 Routes to your roots
Your ancestral journey is written
into your DNA. Find out how to plot
its course and reveal your surname
origins with Dr Tyrone Bowes.
18 Helping family historians
since 1974
Celebrating the 40th anniversary
of the Federation of Family History
Societies, with Philippa McCray.

p26
22 Dig for the past
Read about an international summer
conference with Fred Feather.
24 On to the printed page
Amanda Randall reads up on how a
film fanzine handled the early days of
World War I in her A-Z film series.
26 Cap badges & insignia of the COV
Great War: Part 2 STOREYR
Learn how to identify the badges and

p14
insignia worn by your ancestors on
the Home Front and by women’s units
during World War I, with Neil Storey.
33 Tales of the unexpected
Genealogy can be full of surprises,
as Roy Stockdill found out when he
unearthed some Jewish ancestry.
38 Down on the 18th century
farm
Caroline Makein ploughs into
tax records applied to Scottish

p38
agriculture to see what they reveal
about the lives of our rural ancestors.
42 Save 33% on subscriptions
Save 33% when you subscribe to
Family Tree by direct debit.
44 Calling all Family Tree
subscribers
Reap the benefits of your Family Tree
subscription with our exclusive offers.
photo © LiliGraphic/iStock/Thinkstock. Artwork by Sally Stray.

Tracing your 1,000

year story.
Cover images: DNA © In-Finity/Shutterstock;

Family Tree is

p24
printed in the
UK.

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 3

 CONTENTS
p72
45 Twiglets
Catch up with the latest adventures of
our tree-tracing diarist Gill Shaw.
46 Understanding the UK court
systems
Get to grips with complicated court
records relating to your ancestors
with Chris Paton’s essential guide.

p56
50 Reviews
Read all about the latest family history
books with Karen Clare.
52 Free digital data
Access millions of records online for
free, including a parish register, Army
List, census and back issue.
54 Family History Bookshop
Essential genealogy reads from our
dedicated online bookshop.
56 Catch ’em young!
Judi Buchanan advocates family
history classes for kids, which can
spark a life-long interest in tracing
their trees.
59 Navigating names
Surnames expert John Titford
discusses monikers with origins in

p60
ancestors’ occupations – and warns
of amateur mavericks from the past. COV
60 Tracing an ancient tree STOREYR
Discover how Ian F Brown traced his
family tree back to the 10th century.
67 Guide to new findmypast
Learn how to use findmypast’s
new website with Mary Evans’s
unmissable expert guide.
72 The Great War on a plate
What did your ancestors eat during
World War I? Amanda Randall
cooks up a brief history of allotments,
rations and Army mess tins.
76 Your Q&A: advice
Get the very best research tips and
answers from our genealogy experts
David Frost, Mary Evans, Jayne
Shrimpton and Tim Lovering. From
photo-dating to brickwall births,
they’re here to help.
84 Finding lost soldiers
Join Simon Wills as he uncovers the
secrets of successful family history
projects in our new Research Zone
series, starting with researcher and
author Barrie Barnes.
p84
86 Mailbox
Your news, stories, views and tips.
90 Diary dates
Your genealogy dates in July.
92 Coming next in Family Tree
A sneak peek at our August issue.
93 Your adverts

p76
98 Thoughts on...
Diane Lindsay reflects on ageing.

4 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk

 FamilyTree
EDITORIAL

Assistant Editor - Karen Clare

Welcome
karen.c@family-tree.co.uk
Never mind being related to William
Web Editor - Belinda Griffin the Conqueror, it seems there are
belinda.g@family-tree.co.uk
ways to trace even further back in
Designers - time. Do you think you could?

H
Sally Stray &
Curtis Fermor-Dunman
ow far back does your family tree go? It’s the sort of thing
ADMINISTRATION that people like to ask when they realise they’re chatting to
someone into family history, isn’t it? I suspect that most of us
General Manager - would have to mumble something about the 1700s, and be
Natalie Woodbridge very impressed with anyone who’s travelled further. Thoughts of tracing
natalie.w@abmpublishing.co.uk
back a thousand years, however, would be the stuff of dreams.
Interestingly, this issue, we have two articles by authors who have
Publishing Director - managed just this – despite taking completely different approaches. One
Darren Marriott
darren.m@abmpublishing.co.uk
(see page 14) puts the science of genealogy under the microscope to
reveal how DNA can lead you to the place your surname originated. While
the other (page 60) takes a much more traditional, but certainly no less
Classified Advertising &
Publishing Director - exciting, path. Having exhausted the parish registers, long-time family
Helen Marriott historian Ian Brown tackles all sorts of fascinating lesser-known sources
helen.m@abmpublishing.co.uk to find his ancestors, locating a family tree recorded on vellum and
even deciphering clues once carved on a small silver sword. Sounds like
Display Advertising - something out of ‘Lord of the Rings’? No, this is the stuff of family history.
Paula Turner
paulat@warnersgroup.co.uk

Subscriptions -
subscriptions@warnersgroup.co.uk
Helen Tovey
A
issu ugust
0800 612 8377 e
Frid on sa
EDITOR ay 1
1 Ju le
Founded by helen.t@family-tree.co.uk ly
Michael Armstrong FSG &

Get in touch with us...

Mary Armstrong

PHONE EMAIL POST

l Unsolicited material: We regret that we cannot be General & editorial General enquiries Family Tree
held responsible for any loss or damage to material sent 0845 519 0228 (UK) info@family-tree.co.uk 61 Great Whyte
to us for possible publication. It is advisable to send
copies rather than originals. Any items sent for review +44 1487 814050 (overseas) Editorial Ramsey
will be disposed of at our discretion, unless a specific
request for its return with a postage paid, addressed
Subscriptions editorial@family-tree.co.uk Huntingdon
envelope is enclosed for this purpose. Images sent in for 0800 612 8377 Subscriptions Cambridgeshire
Q&A pages may be used on our social media streams.
Display advertising subscriptions@warnersgroup. PE26 1HJ
l Family Tree is available on audio CD for the visually 01778 392445 co.uk Please mark on your letter
impaired. Contact National Talking Newspapers and
Magazines on 01435 866102; www.tnauk.org.uk. Classifieds Display advertising which department you are
l ©2014 Family Tree/ABM Publishing Ltd: All rights 01487 811830 paulat@warnersgroup.co.uk writing to.
reserved. Reproduction in part or in whole is forbidden. Fax Classifieds
Personal views expressed in articles and letters are
those of the contributor and not necessarily those of 0845 519 0229 (UK) helen.m@abmpublishing.co.uk Our office opening hours are
the publishers. We reserve the right to delete from any
article, material which we consider could lead to any
+44 1487 711361 (overseas) 8.30am-4.30pm Monday-Friday
breach of the law of libel. Whilst we do not knowingly
include erroneous information, the responsibility for
accuracy lies with those who submitted the material.

l ISSN 0267-1131 www.family-tree.co.uk

l Printed in the UK by Warners (Midlands) plc, The
Maltings, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH.

l Newstrade distribution by MarketForce (UK) Ltd

4th Floor, The Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street,
Become a fan at facebook.com/familytreemaguk
London SE1 0SU. Tel: 020 3148 3300; www.market-

Follow us @familytreemaguk
force.co.uk.

Published by ABM Publishing Ltd in the UK.

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 5

 FAMILY HISTORY NEWS
With Web Editor Belinda Griffin. Keep up with us at www.family-tree.co.uk,
facebook.com/familytreemaguk & on Twitter @familytreemaguk.

Lives of the First World

War needs YOU! War has launched with the records of
those who served with the British Army

I mperial War Museums (IWM) has

launched Lives of the First World War
(livesofthefirstworldwar.org). Now
it’s your turn to tell the life stories of
people from across Britain and the
Commonwealth who served in uniform
and worked on the Home Front.
Over the next five years, Lives of the
First World War, delivered in partnership
with DC Thomson Family History, will
become the permanent digital memorial
to more than 8 million men and women.
Luke Smith, IWM’s digital lead for the
First World War Centenary, said: ‘The
launch of Lives of the First World War
really is just the beginning. We need the
public to help us piece together more
than 8 million life stories, so that we
can remember these people now and
in the future. Everybody can contribute
to Lives of the First World War, whether
they choose to simply remember
someone online, upload a picture from
their family album, share a story passed
down through generations, or connect
official records to build a full and factual
picture of what happened to that person
overseas – more than 4.5 million men and
more than 40,000 women. Many of those
included are currently recorded only as
throughout the war. This is the start of names. Help from the public is needed to
a journey and we urge everyone to get add further details and stories.
involved.’ Millions of additional records will be
Dan Snow, Lives of the First World added over the coming months.
War ambassador, said: ‘Lives of the
First World War will become an A party of British troops with guns and
extraordinary online memorial – one of shovels at Fleurbaix.
the most extraordinary
war memorials ever. IWM
has created Lives of the
First World War and is now
handing it over to us, the
public. We need to make
it happen by uploading
information about our
First World War ancestors,
piecing together their
stories, remembering them
and saving this knowledge
for future generations.’
Lives of the First World

Children’s homes history revealed Hospital records online

A website providing information about
the many and varied institutions
that became home for thousands of
children in Britain has launched at
childrenshomes.org.uk.
The website has been set up by Peter
Higginbotham, the man behind the
excellent workhouses.org.uk website.
‘The new site grew out of the large
amount of material relating to all the
various types of children’s homes and related institutions that
I’ve accumulated over the years during my workhouse researches. I felt it really
deserved a home of its own,’ explained Peter.
The children’s homes featured on the site include a wide variety of
establishments ranging from orphanages, homes for those in poverty and
children with special needs, through to reformatories, industrial and approved
schools, training ships and hostels. You can search the site for information on a
particular home, institution, organisation or locality.
Information on more homes will be added over the coming months.
T he history of the county hospital in Dorset is
the subject of new website historydch.com.
The site has been set up to help researchers
access the hospital’s pre-National Health Service
archives.
Dorset County Hospital was established in
Dorchester in 1840 and received its first in-patients
in May 1841. It remained an independent charity
until it was taken over by the NHS in 1948.
The new website, run by local researcher Mark
Collyer, includes a growing number of transcripts
of the patient admission registers, which date back
to 1847, as well as lists of
staff and benefactors.
The site is a work
in progress with new
material being added
all the time. Follow
@historydch for updates.

l Our Criminal Past has relaunched l RootsTech genealogy conference will be at Salt Lake City again in February 2015.
its website with a new look at FamilySearch has issued a call for presentations, which can be made in the form of a
www.ourcriminalpast.co.uk. webinar: submissions accepted until 27 June 2014. Find out more at goo.gl/nfdvfL.

6 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk

 l A series of WWI commemorative projects have been l FamilySearch.org has added to the following collections:
commissioned for St Paul’s Cathedral (stpauls.co.uk), Sussex, parish registers, 1538-1910, index only; Dorset,
including the display of a largely forgotten tapestry, parish registers, 1538-1936, index and images; London
hand-stitched by injured soldiers during the war. electoral registers, 1847-1913, index and images.

IN BRIEF Write a letter to the unknown soldier

TNA appoints new Keeper
J eff James has been
appointed the new Chief
Executive and Keeper of
The National Archives.
Jeff, who starts on 29 July,
said: ‘I know that with such
a resilient and innovative
organisation and dedicated
staff this is... a very exciting
time to take the helm.’
BBC First World War tour
A project called ‘Letter to
an Unknown Soldier’
has been launched as a new
kind of war memorial; one
made only of words, and by
thousands of people.
The project is part of 14-18
NOW (www.1418NOW.org.
New Keeper
of the uk) – a publicly funded major
archives, cultural programme taking
Jeff James. place across the UK to mark
the centenary of the First
World War.

T he BBC will continue its

commemorations of the First World War
centenary with a series of public events this
summer. The BBC World War One At Home
Tour will visit county shows, summer
festivals, air shows and shopping centres
throughout the UK. Visitors will be able to
use Lives of the First World War to see how
they can discover, remember and share their
First World War connections with the rest of
the world. Find out more at goo.gl/eTgmNE.
Surrey needs you!
On platform one of
Paddington Station in
London, there is a statue of
an unknown soldier reading
a letter. In the weeks leading
up to the 100th anniversary
of the declaration of the
First World War, everyone
in the country is invited to pause, take a moment or two, and
Statue of unknown
write a letter to the soldier. The letters can be sent through
soldier reading a letter,
the post, or uploaded via the specially-created website at Paddington Station.
(www.1418NOW.org.uk/letter), where they will be displayed
until 2018. They will then be archived in the British Library for future generations to read

A research questionnaire has been made

available to help refine the development
of a Heritage Lottery Fund bid to support the
project, ‘A County Remembers: Surrey in the
Great War’. This project will facilitate new
research into Surrey’s experience of the First
World War. The project will create a website
showcasing the research taking place around
the county and publicising events and other
Surrey projects commemorating the war.
The questionnaire can be found at www.
surveymonkey.com/s/YPJ96V2.
WDYTYA? Live Scotland
and reflect on the thoughts and feelings of their ancestors.
Pledges have already been made by 50 well-known writers including Stephen Fry,
Sebastian Faulks, Andy McNab and Sheila Hancock.
Pre-1901 Irish census records go online
T he National Archives of Ireland (NAI)
and findmypast have released an
extensive series of records that will
The census manuscript returns for
each household survived the 1922 fire
for all 32 counties for 1901 and 1911. The
prove invaluable to anyone tracing Irish new records add to the existing census
ancestry. The records, which include and include information pre-dating 1901,
more than 600,000 names from pre-1901 with data sets covering some parts of the
Irish census records, are now available to country now available from 1821, 1831,
access for free on findmypast and the NAI 1841 and 1851. The 1821 Census is a

T ickets are now on sale for Who Do

You Think You Are? Live at Glasgow’s
website (genealogy.nationalarchives.ie).
This is the first free-to-access launch
particular highlight for family historians,
as it records all members of the families
Images: Lives of the First World War image © IWM; unknown soldier statue © Dom Agius.

SECC, 29-31 August 2014. Along with
specialist exhibitors, there will be a
workshop programme, put together by the
Society of Genealogists. Buy two tickets
for £24 by quoting FTS24 when booking at
whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk or on 0844
873 7330. (£2.25 fee applies. Offer ends 31
July 2014. Usual on door price is £18 each.)
Bumper prize winners
resulting from a partnership between
findmypast, NAI, and FamilySearch.org.
Millions more family history records will be
released in the coming months under the
terms of the partnership.
Irish family histories are often difficult
to trace, owing to the destruction of the
Public Record Office in Dublin, along with
millions of records, in 1922. However, the
destruction was not total. The surviving
documented. The 1841 Census and 1851
Census record family members living
elsewhere, and also provide information
on family members who died in the
intervening period.
The Ireland census records for 1841
and 1851 are comprised of search forms
used to corroborate the validity of pension
claims made in 1908 and are extracted
from the 1841 and 1851 Censuses, which

C ongratulations to our 350th issue

giveaway (FT May 2014) winner Robert
Nicholls, Cheshire, and to the runners up:
John Michael Milburn, Somerset; Brian
Barton, Colchester; Pat Brown, Salisbury;
and Karen Bowman, Dumfries.
records now form an online archive of Irish
history available to everyone.
The records cover three decades,
1821-1851, and include the surviving
Irish census records from 1821-1851 and
census search forms from 1841 and 1851.
were subsequently destroyed in the fire.
They represent a very useful link to pre-
famine Ireland, and also list the applicant’s
details and all of the information available
from the census records – including other
family members present on census night.

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 7

 l Prince William, President of the Football l TheGenealogist is offering new customers £50 cashback when they sign up for
Association, is backing plans to mark the a Diamond annual subscription, making it £69.45 for a year. Full details and T&Cs
legendary First World War Christmas truce. of the deal are at TheGenealogist.co.uk/CBOFTM14. Please note, cashback
See goo.gl/3q1yq5. must be claimed within 30 days of purchase.

100 in 100 record campaign Child criminals and Surrey pubs

F indmypast.co.uk has published parish records
held by the Shropshire Archives as part of its
100 in 100 promise to launch 100 record sets in
100 days.
Spanning 1538 to 1900, the Shropshire
Collection comprises approximately 2.1 million
fully searchable transcripts and 155,000 scanned
colour images of the parish registers. A selection
of Anglican, Methodist and Nonconformist
registers from more than 200 Shropshire parishes
are included in the collection.
Many notable Shropshire men and women can
be found within the records, including Charles
Darwin and Wilfred Owen.
Findmypast has also added the ‘burnt’ WO 363
and WO 364 records. The newly-indexed service
and pension records have revealed more than
600,000 records never previously indexed.
You can view the 100 in 100 records at 100in100.
findmypast.co.uk.
T housands of 19th-century child criminal
records have been added to Ancestry.co.uk.
The West Yorkshire Collection 1779-1914
details the crimes of thousands of boys
admitted to Calder Farm Reformatory, East Moor
Community Home School and The Shadwell
Children’s Centre.
Crimes range from gambling and petty
criminality through to forgery, burglary and violent
assault. Examples of child convicts include
Henry Sutton, whose record is shown (right).
Each entry lists the boy’s name, age, birth
date and birthplace and selected records
include physical descriptions and photographs,
background information on their families and
remarks on general attitude and behaviour.
Release notes also detail how they fared up to
three years after discharge.
Details of nearly 400,000 adult offenders are Noted as having a ‘very
also included within the collection. These records violent temper’, 13-year-old
contain the prisoner’s name, age, occupation, Henry Sutton was admitted
nature of the offence, sentence, and dates of for ‘unlawful assault’.
admission and release. Selected records also give
background information and physical descriptions.
Also launched as part of The West Yorkshire Collection 1779-1914 are more than
32,000 historic police records and nearly 3,000 registers pertaining to local militia.
Ancestry has also added thousands of historic records relating to Surrey pubs
as part of The Surrey Collection 1696-1903. The records detail the names of
more than 65,000 victuallers – those officially licensed to sell alcohol – and their
establishments. Each record states the date, parish, the name of the victualler and
the name of the establishment. Some records also include the name and residence
of the person who vouched for the victualler in court.

DNA: find your ancestral home Aberdeenshire burial sites online

T racing where your DNA was formed more than 1,000 years ago
is now possible thanks to a revolutionary technique developed
by a team of international scientists.
The groundbreaking Geographic Population Structure (GPS) tool,
created by Dr Eran Elhaik from the University of Sheffield and Dr
Tatiana Tatarinova from the University of Southern California, helps
you pinpoint your ancestor’s home from 1,000 years ago.
Previously, scientists have only
been able to locate where your
DNA was formed to within 700kms,
which in Europe could be two
countries away. However, this
pioneering technique has been
98 per cent successful in locating
worldwide populations to their right
geographic regions, and down to
their village and island of origin.
Dr Tatiana Tatarinova has
developed a website making GPS accessible to the public.
‘To help people find their roots, I developed a website that allows
anyone who has had their DNA genotyped to upload their results
and use GPS to find their ancestral home,’ said Dr Tatarinova. The
GPS website is at www.prosapiagenetics.com.
Discover more about the GPS tool with a YouTube video at
youtu.be/Aap-s1kle4Q.
D eceased Online is continuing to digitise records for all burial
sites managed by Aberdeenshire Council and now has more
than 50 sites available at deceasedonline.com.
The latest sites include Alford, Corgarff, Echt, Ellon, Gartly and
Keithall, with records dating back to 1866. Records for a further
150+ sites across the area will be available soon.
The records comprise scans of registers and grave details
identifying all those buried in each lair (grave). Cemetery section
maps will follow soon.
Updates at Origins.net
O rigins.net has added Kent Will Abstracts 1328-1691 to the
National Wills Index. This collection contains indexed abstracts
(summaries) to wills proved in the Archdeaconry and Consistory
Courts of Canterbury for people living in or near Faversham 1450-
1642 and Thanet 1328-1691. The collection also includes abstracts
to a small number of wills proved in the Prerogative Court of
Canterbury. Images are available. The abstracts include all names
and places appearing in the will plus incidental information such as
relationships, occupations, date of death/burial place and value of
estate where found in the original document.
Origins.net has also added Northamptonshire Hearth Tax 1673-
1674 and a new full index to and digitised images of the original
1881 Census records for all counties in England and Wales.

8 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk

 In this issue:

Dear Tom
 Early & late baptisms
 Centenarians
 Same-sex siblings

Explore the serious, sublime and the ridiculous facets of

family history in this genealogical miscellany. This issue
Tom Wood looks at unusual baptisms, the final years of World
War I and a mystery in actor Angela Lansbury’s ancestry.

The real end of WW1

W Images: illustration © Ellie Keeble; Angela Lansbury licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-
e all know that in August until the Treaty of St Germain was Baptisms of necessity
it will be 100 years since signed on 10 September 1919. In fact, The revelation, back in the March
the start of World War hostilities did not end in Bulgaria issue, of a baby that appeared to have
I, but do we realise until 29 November 1919 (Treaty of been baptised after it had died has
exactly when it ended? Many will Neuilly) nor in Hungary until 4 June given rise to several very interesting
say in 1918, but I’m afraid it really 1920 (Treaty of Trianon). A similar explanations from readers. First up
didn’t end until 1920, and Dr Colin ceasefire was only reached in Turkey was Benny Wicking, who tells me a
Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence; girls photo courtesy Margaret Oliver.

R Chapman has been in touch to
clarify this reasoning. He tells me that
although the Armistice was signed on
11 November 1918, fighting continued
in several areas until well after this
date. The Treaty of Versailles was not
signed until 28 June 1919, formally
bringing the war with Germany to
a close, and that’s the reason many
British war memorials are dated 1914-
1919. Furthermore, Colin points out
that hostilities for Britain and its allies
with Austria did not formally end
with the signing of the Treaty of
Sevres on 10 August 1920.
Thus Colin adds that it can be
said with confidence that the war
between Britain and its allies and
Germany and its allies did not end
until 10 August 1920. However, we
must not forget that Hitler, then still
some years from running Germany,
did not even accept the Treaty of
Versailles in 1919, and so felt justified
in embarking on the Second World
War 20 years later.
possible explanation is that the priest
who was called to baptise the ailing
child, did indeed baptise her while she
was still alive. Shortly afterwards the
baby died, but when the priest later
came to make the entry into his parish
register, he may inadvertently have put
the date of the day when he entered
it, instead of the date the child was
baptised.
Next is Daniel Smith-Ramos, from
Brussels, who tells me that in Galicia
in north-west Spain, where many of

How do you want to contact Tom?

By post ‘Miscellany’, Family Tree, By email editorial@family-tree.co.uk with ‘Tom Wood’ in the subject
61 Great Whyte, Ramsey, Huntingdon PE26 1HJ line, and we will forward your correspondence.

10 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk


his maternal Catholic ancestors lived,
the practice of baptising newborn
babies with serious life-threatening
problems was quite a common
occurrence. He cites a distant relative,
Rosa Cerviño (1824-1874), who
married and had three daughters
perfectly normally, then in 1865 gave
birth to a son. Sadly, according to the
parish register, the nameless boy only
lived for 10 minutes and had to be
given a Spanish ‘baptism of necessity’
at the end of his terribly short life. In
Spain, Daniel explains, ‘baptisms of
necessity’ were proclaimed by Church
law from the second half of the 16th
century. Midwives were for centuries
the only laypersons attending the
labouring mother, so they were
obliged to baptise newborns who were
unlikely to survive. Did the Catholic
Church play a similar role in this
country?
Still with baptisms, though this
time with late ones for very elderly
people, Lesley Wilson tells me that
at her confirmation in Salisbury
Cathedral last year, there were quite
a lot of people waiting by the font to
be baptised. Among the eldest was
a sprightly 82-year-old gentleman,
who was being baptised before being
confirmed. This set Lesley thinking
that if anyone in his family in years to
come hopes to find his baptism in the
early 1930s, when he was born, they
will be in for a shock!
Meanwhile, Susan Weeks, from St
Simeux in France, tells me that in
the baptism register for Whitfield
Tabernacle at Kingswood near Bristol,
there is the following entry: ‘Martha
Jeffries, daughter of Robert and
Sarah Leonard (Bitton), born January
1732, baptised September 10th 1815,
aged 83.’ Martha was accompanied
by another older lady, whose name
Susan didn’t note but whose date
of birth was 1 January 1750, so she
was aged 65. Susan adds that there
must have been many people who
were evangelised and wanted to be
baptised as they grew closer to death,
especially in the mining community
of Kingswood, where John Wesley
preached and also set up a school.
The Whit(e)field Tabernacle was a
prominent Wesleyan Nonconformist
chapel, whose local worshippers
included wealthy coal-owning families
and many of their workers.
www.family-tree.co.uk
Finally, we round off baptisms with
quite an unusual one from Donna
Kenny of Brisbane in Australia.
She spotted it among baptisms for
Kingston, Jamaica, 1722-1792 (volume
one): ‘Sarah the daughter of William
and Agnes Cockburn, was born on
board ye Prince William in ye Latitude
of 38, on ye 23d day of March 1736/37
and baptised on ye 20th day of May
1737.’
Live long & prosper
Now, have you any centenarians
among your ancestors? Well, I haven’t,
but Sheila Jelley has, and one is her
mother and the other is her father!
Sheila’s father, David Bradford, was
born on 29 February 1896 (so only
had a birthday every fourth year – he
celebrated his 21st birthday in 1980!)
in Dundee, Scotland, and he died on
5 February 1997 in Gerrards Cross,
Buckinghamshire. He served with
the 14th Battalion of the Argyll and
Sutherland Highlanders during World
War I, being awarded a Military Medal
and a Croix de Guerre. Sheila has
his 1917 diary in which he lists losing
seven of his friends, killed ‘going
over the wall’ at 4.15am on 24 April
1917. This was a horrendous military
move that cost the British Army many
thousands of lives, with troops leaping
out of their trenches to attack the
enemy on foot. David married in 1923
and had twin children born in 1924,
but his first wife died in 1927 and he
married Sheila’s mother, Joyce Hardy
Watkiss, in 1931. David had three
children, six grandchildren and seven
great-grandchildren by the time he
died. Joyce was born on 10 May 1906
in Hampstead, London. She led a
busy life and much loved time spent
looking after all the family, including
her two stepchildren. At her 101st
birthday lunch she stood up and
thanked everyone for coming. She
died in Amersham, Buckinghamshire,
on 1 July 2007.
What an amazing family, and
there’s more: on her maternal family
tree, Sheila has found that from her
grandfather right back to the 1600s
in Broseley, Shropshire, none of the
men on her male line had died under
the age of 70! She adds that the town
she now calls home in East Devon is
one of the top 10 places for longest
living people – and you have to be in
Genealogical miscellany
your eighties, at least, to appear in the
parish magazine when you die!
Now, can anyone else equal or beat
Sheila, with both parents reaching
more than 100 years? It’s quite a
target.
Lansbury marriage error
I was interested to hear from
genealogist Roy Stockdill, who
reminds us of Michael Foster’s handy
1998 book on the GRO marriage
entries of the Victorian era (A Comedy
of Errors, or, The Marriage Records
of England and Wales, 1837-1899,
currently out of print), which shows
that the records and indexes are
‘riddled with errors’. Roy stumbled
across a very interesting example
while taking a peek into the ancestry
of Angela Lansbury (pictured below).
The 88-year-old actor in ‘Murder,
She Wrote’ and umpteen Hollywood
films, recently appeared in London’s
West End in ‘Blithe Spirit’. Roy
began with her grandfather George
Lansbury, an equally distinguished
Liberal-Socialist politician, one-time
editor of the Daily Herald, an MP and
leader of the Labour Party. Roy says
it’s well recorded that his marriage
to Elizabeth Jane Brine took place
in 1880 in Whitechapel. However, to
Roy’s astonishment when checking the
FreeBMD records, he discovered the
couple also married in Whitechapel in
1885! What was going on?
July 2014 FamilyTree 11
 Dear Tom
To try to solve this mystery, Roy
checked in Ancestry.co.uk’s London
parish records from 1754-1921 and
discovered the marriage on two
different dates – 29 May 1880 and
29 May 1885 – both at Whitechapel
Saint Mary! To settle the matter, he
downloaded both marriage entries,
which finally revealed the reason
for the confusion. The entries were
virtually identical, but showed that
the real marriage was the first one.
But how did this happen? Well, two
annotations had been made alongside
the 1885 entry; the first across the
top, stating ‘several leaves turned over
by mistake, see entries page 114’, and
the second, down the left-hand side,
reading: ‘Several leaves have been
turned over by mistake. The entry of
the marriage of Lansbury and Brine
on page 114’. Quite obviously the 1885
marriage should have been deleted,
but Roy suspects FreeBMD will not
accept a correction to the 1885
marriage and remove it altogether
because the entry is correct as it
appears in the indexes for that year.
Census delivery
Last word this time belongs to Val
Brown, who tells me she was looking
at the 1871 Census returns for
Snodland in Kent, when she came
across the following: ‘[No first name]
Peters son of Thomas and Emilly, aged
45 minutes!’
Val adds that perhaps it wasn’t the
best of times for the enumerator to
call! And we both wonder if this is the
youngest child on a census?
About the author
Tom Wood was a founder member of
Lincolnshire Family History Society and its
first, award-winning, magazine editor. As
well as contributing to Family Tree from its
early days, Tom also edited the Federation
of Family History Societies’ magazine
and wrote An Introduction to British Civil
Registration. A member of the SoG and Guild
of One-Name Studies, he is still researching
the family names, Goldfinch and Shoebridge.
12 FamilyTree July 2014
Considerable sons & daughters
I had proposed to call it
a day this issue in my
bid to find the greatest
number of successive
sons or daughters in
family trees, and indeed
I still will. However, a
considerable number of
new families have been
sent in that I simply
can’t ignore, as I have
been very impressed
with the interest this
topic has caused. I am
briefly listing below everyone who has
made the effort this past month. Sadly
there is not the time or space to list each
full family of the children by name, and
apologies if your entry was received too
late to be featured here.
First is Andy Micklethwaite with a
Benjamin Micklethwaite who married
Emma Cooper at Scisset in West
Yorkshire in 1875 and had six daughters
there from 1875-1886. Andy also has
a seven-strong family of girls from
1821-1834 that were the children of
Jonathan Micklethwaite and Judith
Inman who married in Huddersfield in
1821. Fleur Adcock is next with John
Clayton and wife Mary Judd and their
seven consecutive girls from 1713-1732
at Syston in Leicestershire. Then comes
Mrs EA Ferriss with another run of seven
girls. They were the daughters of Embry
Arthur Hardwick and his wife Emma
Sylvester and were all born in Alford in
Lincolnshire from 1907-1924; the last
girl was a twin, the other twin being a
boy. Another contributor with seven
daughters is Denis Jones, whose wife is
one of seven girls born to William
and Mary Williams from 1910-1928.
Then, completing the runs of seven girls,
is Margaret Oliver from Aldbrough in
East Yorkshire with the daughters of
John Wood and his wife Sarah (née
Beech), at Sutton near Hull from
1877-1890. Margaret kindly sent the
lovely photo above, which includes her
grandmother Gertrude (second from
left), the third born of the seven Wood
daughters.
Then with a family, this time of nine
boys, is Jenelle Fischer from Magnetic
Island in Queensland in Australia. They
were the sons of Thomas Leather and
wife Elizabeth Maria, née Schmierer, in
the Boolboonda district of Queensland in
Australia from 1885-1905. Also with
nine children, though this time nine girls,
is Janet Old, with father John Hunnisett
and wife Mary from Sussex covering
the years 1862-1878. However, the
first to submit 10 children this time was
Kathryn McGuire, with the daughters of
Henry and Anne Southall in Staffordshire
from 1876-1898. Ian Shinton comes
next with 10 boys from the family of his
great-grandparents James and Elizabeth
Chadwick in Rochdale from 1876-1892.
Then it’s Steve Williams’ turn, with a
10-strong family of girls by William Turner
and second wife Ellen Ormerod from
1820-1842 at Helmshore in Lancashire.
Still with another family of 10 girls is
Peter Chandler of Melksham in Wiltshire.
And they were the family of George
Raymond and Charity Thorne of Milborne
Port in Somerset, from 1820-1838.
Wrapping up all the above families with
another successive run of 10 daughters
is Bill Pollock of Newcastle-under-Lyme.
They were the all-female family, from
1874-1898, of John Merry and wife Alice
Kenyon at Scropton and Tutbury in East
Staffordshire.
However, this month’s outright winner
of my challenge with the largest number
of consecutive girls is Janet Haines, from
Auckland in New Zealand. She has a
family of 13 successive girls, the children
of James and Helen Grugeon who
married in London in 1818 and began
their family in 1819. But for a solitary
brother, at number 14, there would have
been a non-stop run of 15 sisters!
Thanks for all the entries. Watch out
for another of my challenges about our
ancestors in the near future.
www.family-tree.co.uk
 DISTANT ANCESTRY

Routes to
your roots
Your personal ancestral journey is written into your
DNA. Find out how you can plot its course and reveal
your surname origins with Dr Tyrone Bowes.

T
he ascent of man from
hunter gatherer to master
of planet Earth is the most
remarkable story ever to
unfold. It is a journey so rapid that
one can still find pockets of hunter
gatherers scattered across the world.
You’d be forgiven if you’d imagined
that our own part in this story had
been lost and that recorded history
only began with accounts of the
ancient world in about 4,000BC. Your
own very personal ancestral journey
has been recorded in your DNA which
you’ve inherited from your ancestors,
DNA that mutates over time. Each
mutation arose in a single individual
who lived in a specific location at a
particular point in time, a mutation
that was passed on to his or her
descendants, who continued to live
in the same location. Occasionally
someone migrated to a new location
taking their mutations with them,
but crucially accumulating new
mutations in this new location that
they passed on to their descendants.
So as your ancestors migrated
over tens of thousands of years
they accumulated more and more
mutations, each of which is associated
with a specific location, acting as a
global positioning system; placing
your ancestors in a specific location
at a specific point in the human
journey. Scientists are continually
sampling human populations
throughout the world with the aim
of uncovering new mutations unique
to specific population groups. They
can also estimate when each mutation

14 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk


arose. So today when you choose to
participate in commercial ancestral
DNA testing you can discover which
specific mutations you inherited from
your mother or father and examine
where those mutations occurred in
the world, and begin reconstructing
your ancestral journey over tens of
thousands of years.
Where do you come from?
In my work I routinely pinpoint where
one’s direct male ancestor lived when
paternally inherited surnames became
common, which in Britain was an
estimated 1,000 years ago. What I had
not anticipated was the curiosity of
my customers, the same curiosity that
has allowed us to succeed as a species,
a curiosity that led our ancestors to
first descend from the trees into the
savannahs of Africa. My customers
always want to know what else their
DNA test results can reveal and the
most common question someone
with British ancestry wants answered
is, when did their ancestors arrive
in Britain, and where did they come
from? Since modern humans are
Surname case study:
Figure 1
This table shows Mr Henderson’s
distant genetically recurring surname
matches. Upon Y-DNA testing
Images: landscape © Stewart Smith Photography/Shutterstock; Neanderthal model © Trustees of the National
Mr Henderson matched multiple
individuals with English (shown in red)
and Scandinavian (pink) surnames.
Black font indicates surnames with
multiple ethnic origins. Surnames
appear at the point at which they first
appear as a genetic match. Figures
in brackets represent the number of
people with each surname who appear
History Museum, London; figures 1 & 2 © Dr Tyrone Bowes.
as a genetic match.
www.family-tree.co.uk
relatively recent arrivals in Britain
– they began to arrive after the ice
sheets retreated in about 8,000BC –
that question can be readily answered
by the DNA test.
The commercial ancestral Y-DNA
test explores your paternal line (the
Y chromosome is only passed from
father to son) and typically examines
67 markers (or mutations) in your
Y chromosome and compares those
markers to others who have also
tested. The more markers you share
with another individual the more
recent your common male ancestor
lived. Hence your closest genetic
matches typically reveal where your
ancestor lived 1,000 years ago, so if
you have English, Scottish or Welsh
ancestry then you will typically match
people with various English, Scottish
or Welsh surnames respectively.
Movements & surnames
As you explore your more distant
genetic matches (people with whom
you share fewer markers), you
often see a dramatic change in the
surnames of the people with whom
you share common ancestry. You
DNA trails
are in fact catching a glimpse of
your more ancient paternal roots, so
depending on where your ancestors
lived prior to their arrival in Britain,
you may see genetic matches to
Western European, Eastern European,
Arabic or even Scandinavian
surnames.
It is in this manner that someone
like Mr Henderson (see surname
case study: Figure 1) will discover
that although his closest genetic
matches were to surnames associated
with Lanarkshire in Scotland
(where the Henderson surname is
particularly prevalent), his distant
genetic matches reveal a mix of
English and Scandinavian surnames.
These distant matches reveal that Mr
Henderson’s recent Scottish ancestors
were originally Vikings who had
first settled in England. His paternal
ancestral journey can be further
reconstructed by dissecting out the
clues in his DNA test results. Many
of the people with whom he shares a
common male ancestor will detail the
location of their earliest known (male)
ancestor. One can then plot these
locations using Google Earth (freely
downloadable – find out more about
using Google Earth for family history
July 2014 FamilyTree 15
 DISTANT ANCESTRY DNA trails

with Barbara Starmans’ article in FT

Case study: Figure 2 April) and watch as a pattern emerges
revealing the locations where your
This illustration shows ancestral locations revealed by Mr Henderson’s distant ancestor lived thousands of years ago
genetic matches. Plotting the location of the most distant known paternal ancestor and where your distant relatives still live
for all of Mr Henderson’s distant genetic matches reveals four distinct clusters in (see case study: Figure 2).
Norway (1), Sweden (2), Finland (3) and England (4). Mr Henderson’s ancestors It turns out that Mr Henderson
originate in southern Norway where the I1d haplogroup reaches its highest density carries a very specific mutation known
in the male population (top left corner). Mr Henderson’s Viking ancestors spread as I1d, which arose in a single male who
east from Norway (1) to Sweden (2) and Finland (3), and later west to England (4). lived in southern Scandinavia about
3,000 years ago; and Mr Henderson
matches a large number of individuals
who record their most distant known
ancestors near Elverum in southern
Norway, at the heart of where the I1d
mutation first appeared. By 700AD
the people of Elverum had become
‘Vikings’, a seafaring people who first
spread south and east towards southern
Sweden and the Baltic coast. Later the
Vikings raided England where many
eventually settled.
All of these movements are recorded
in Mr Henderson’s DNA results. In
fact he matches a number of people
called Schofield, a surname associated
exclusively with Oldham in Lancashire,
which was founded by Vikings in
865AD. Many of Mr Henderson’s
matches also record ancestors near
Viking-Oldham and it was from here
that his Viking ancestors spread into
Scotland, eventually becoming the
Lowlander Scottish Hendersons.

Greatest story ever told Tracing roots & routes

Our ancestors have gone through
You can explore the full story of the many changes of identity. As more
human colonisation of Britain by and more people participate in
visiting London’s Natural History commercial DNA testing we’ll be able
Museum exhibition ‘Britain: to precisely reconstruct our ancestral
One Million Years of journey, rediscovering past identities
the Human Story’ and maybe even visiting the key
(www.nhm.ac.uk, ends locations (like Elverum and Oldham
28 September 2014). for Mr Henderson) associated with our
You’ll discover what ancestors, where we’ll almost certainly
your distant relatives bump into some of our very distant
once looked like and relatives.
the tools they used,
and the evidence About the author
of their presence Dr Tyrone Bowes realised
throughout Britain. that his ancestral DNA test
You will also find out results could be used to
what DNA testing has pinpoint precisely where
his direct male ancestor
uncovered about the lived when he first picked
ancestral journey of six his surname some 1,000
well-known celebrities, years ago. He now runs
IrishOrigenes.com,
and discover what
EnglishOrigenes.com and ScottishOrigenes.
your own DNA may com to show others how to use ancestral
reveal. DNA test results to pinpoint their own origins.

16 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk

 Family History Getaway
Breaking Through The Brick Walls
price £220/£176
8th - 12th September 2014 includes lunch

Spend a week on your family history with the Society of Genealogists. The SoG is hosting its five
day extensive genealogy programme in its library in London. This intensive course will concentrate
on using techniques and resources, at the SoG and elsewhere, to tackle genealogical conundrums
and take your family history further. However, there will be plenty of opportunity to concentrate on
your own research as use of the Society's extensive genealogical library is included in the course
and there will be opportunities for personal consultations with the tutors and members of the SoG's
expert help and advice team. The course will be led by Else Churchill, Genealogist at the Society
of Genealogists and members of the lectures and education team.

Lectures will include topics:

I'm Stuck – evaluating and overcoming

Army Records 1750 -1913
brick walls

Putting It all together Discovering Discovery - The National

Archives online

Hidden Treasures in the Ancestry and Understanding and Finding Probate

Findmypast databases Records

Something for everyone with an interest in Family History

Open to All – Non-members Welcome. For information on further events, please visit
our website, or contact us for a copy of our full 2014 events programme.
www.sog.org.uk | Tel: 020 7553 3290 | email: events@sog.org.uk
14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA

All events must be pre-booked. Lunch will be provided.

Registered Charity No. 233701. Company limited by guarantee. Registered No. 115703. Registered office, 14 Charterhouse Buildings, London, EC1M 7BA. Registered in England & Wales
 40 YEARS OF THE FEDERATION

Helping family
historians since
1974
This year the Federation of Family History Societies
celebrates its 40th anniversary and, as Philippa
McCray looks back on the past 40 years, sees how
dramatically the world of genealogy has changed –
and takes a look at some future plans too!

If you visited the FFHS stand at the

Who Do You Think You Are? Live show
in London in February you may have
The Federation: ‘In this our 40th year we are proud to be sponsoring a number of been offered a slice of celebratory
events up and down the country and overseas which have been organised by our cake! From left: Lady Teviot (vice presi-
members. From open days, to one-day conferences and seminars we hope that you dent), David Holman (chairman) and
might be able to take advantage of some of the things on offer’. Colin Chapman (vice president).

T
hose family historians
present at the inaugural
meeting of the Federation
of Family History Societies
(FFHS) in Birmingham in 1974 could
not have foreseen how our hobby
would develop, the revolutionary
impact of the internet or, indeed,
how the Federation would grow to
become the organisation that it is
today. From humble beginnings
with just 11 organisations sufficiently
well established to collaborate,
today the Federation is proud to
have a membership of more than
180 societies. These include British
county and local societies, one-name
and specialist area groups as well
as overseas member societies, the
majority of which are currently based

18 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk

 FFHS: achievements & plans

You can search the conscription appeals database at

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/conscription-appeals,
and download scans of the original images free of
charge.

FFHS representatives, from left – David Lambert (honorary

legal adviser), Francis Howcutt (vice chairman & archives
liaison officer) and Steve Benson (publicity officer) – at the
launch of the digitised conscription appeals collection at
The National Archives.

in Australasia. We estimate that the order to make important sources

FFHS represents a total membership accessible across the world free of
Images courtesy the Federation of Famliy History Societies.

of more than 140,000 family historians
worldwide.
Projects in hand
While the FFHS is a federation of
societies, much of what we do is for
the direct benefit of individuals. We
are continually exploring the funding
needs of genealogical data projects
of widespread interest as part of our
educational remit. Currently we are
helping to fund two such projects in
charge.
As a result of help from the
Federation, earlier this year the First
World War Conscription Appeals
records were made available for free
online via The National Archives
website at www.nationalarchives.
gov.uk/records/middlesex-military-
service-appeal-tribunal.htm, telling
the stories of 8,000 individuals.
We are also helping to update the
Manorial Documents Register for
‘Birmingham & Midland Society for
Genealogy & Heraldry has been associated
with the Federation since its inception
and is proud to be a member. Our society
particularly values the representation by
the FFHS on national bodies ensuring the
views of family history societies are well
represented.’ Jackie Cotterill, General
Secretary BMSGH.

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 19

 40 YEARS OF THE FEDERATION

How it began

The founding of the Federation resulted

from two separate aims.
l Initially a group or ‘federation’ of
Read the ‘really useful societies was needed to support,
information leaflet’, organise and provide financial backing
downloadable free for the 13th International Congress of
from the Federation’s Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences,
website, for 20 pages which was to be held in England in 1976
of invaluable family – and it was not the intention that such a
history advice. ‘federation’ should be permanent!
l The second aim, supported by the
late Elizabeth Simpson who became the
first secretary of the FFHS, was that if
a network of local societies across the
British Isles could be linked in some way
it might be possible to arrange a mutual
self-help scheme for genealogists who
needed to conduct research in areas
remote from where they lived. Elizabeth
believed that, if this were the case, by
being a member of one society you
would benefit from the pooled skill and
knowledge of the rest.

four counties, prior to their details

being added to the online version of
this nationally important guide to
name-rich material.
Later this year it is anticipated that
the fourth Edition of the National
Burial Index will be released, a
database of entries recorded in
English and Welsh burial registers
– parish, Nonconformist, Roman
Catholic, Quaker and cemetery. The
NBI, the first edition of which was
released in 2001, would not have been
possible without the work of many
volunteers throughout England and
Wales from our member societies as
well as individual contributors. They
have worked tirelessly to transcribe
data to make it available for the wider
family history community both at
home and overseas. Many thousands
of family historians have been aided
in their research with information
discovered via the NBI.
In 2007 the Federation collaborated
with findmypast.co.uk to make
available parish data previously hosted
by the Federation’s own website, The digitised conscription appeals records include full-colour scans of the letters
FamilyHistoryOnline, and in so doing and paperwork gathered, and reveal the numerous reasons why a man might not
the voluntary work of family history wish to be conscripted during the First World War.

20 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk


societies in transcribing data was able
to reach a much wider audience.
Sharing information
Through our website www.ffhs.org.
uk we are able to ensure that family
history news, book reviews and
guidance on how to learn more about
the subject are readily available to
member societies and to the general
public online. We publish annually
‘our really useful information leaflet’
and if you happen to be out and
about this summer and visit a family
history fair, society open day or similar
event, the chances are you will be
able to obtain a copy. If not, it can
be downloaded from our website. In
this, the year of the centenary of the
First World War, the leaflet includes
an article and information to assist
you in researching your World War I
ancestors, advising you of the records
and steps you need to take to find your
serving relatives.
Books to help
Of course, prior to the advent of the
internet, those engaged in the hobbies
The Gibson
guides make for
comprehensive
but succinct
reading on many
topics. See www.
familyhistory
bookshop.co.uk.
www.family-tree.co.uk
The Federation
is updating four
counties’ details
in the Manorial
Documents
Register.
of genealogy and family history had
a far greater reliance on printed
works to aid and assist them in their
research. The FFHS through the
formation of its publications company
became a significant publisher in the
field, producing a wide range of books
covering every aspect of family history
research. This included the innovative
series of ‘basic guides’ written by
Jeremy Gibson, which covered most of
the archive sources regularly consulted
by family historians, and which provide
invaluable family history advice to this
day.
Your interests at heart
Over the years the Federation
has developed links with external
organisations with common interests
and, by so doing, is able to represent
the interests of all family historians
at both national and local level. The
Federation liaises with The National
Archives, General Register Office,
regional archives and record offices,
the probate service, and the Archives
and Records Association, as well as
many other related bodies. By doing
FFHS: achievements & plans
1881 Census project
For those who have only been tempted
to start researching their family history
because of the ease and wealth of
information that the internet offers,
from both commercial and non-
commercial organisations, it is probably
inconceivable that once upon a time we
stood virtually zero chance of finding our
ancestors on a census return unless we
knew exactly where to look!
The collaboration between the
Federation and the Genealogical
Society of Utah (FamilySearch) on the
1881 Census Index project heralded
a momentous development for family
historians. The index was initially made
available on microfiche during the
1990s but was later released on a set of
CDs. Family historians were overjoyed
to be able to finally track down ‘lost’
ancestors!
so, we can ensure that we are able to
disseminate up-to-date information
to family historians via our electronic
mailing lists and bi-monthly ezine.
Anyone can sign up to receive the
ezine by visiting the website.
The Federation aims to continue
to support, inform and advise its
membership and by so doing hopes
to continue to encourage and foster
public interest in family history
research, genealogy and heraldry.
Whether online, in the archives, at a
family history show or a local family
history society meeting, there are all
sorts of ways you can join in with the
vibrant and long-lasting genealogy
community brought together under
the umbrella of the Federation of
Family History Societies.
‘We sincerely thank the FFHS for
conceiving and administering this
Sponsorship Grant Programme – a perfect
way to celebrate the 40th anniversary.’
Ann Williams, Alberta Family Histories
Society, which received sponsorship for
an event.
July 2014 FamilyTree 21
 A GREAT GENEALOGY JAUNT
Commemorating the Great War, and celebrating the 40th birthday of the Federation
of Family History Societies, ‘Dig for the Past, Look to the Future’ will be an
international event worth attending, as conference organiser Fred Feather reveals.
T
he line-up of speakers at
‘Dig for the Past, Look to
the Future’ in Essex this
August is rich in genealogy
specialists from around the globe.
International speakers
The former president of the
Federation of Family History Societies,
Lady Mary Teviot, lectures all over
the world, and has recently appeared
in the television show ‘Heir Hunters’;
this is the subject that she will be
exploring.
Dan Poffenburger’s talk, on one
of his many facets of family history
research, will be Skyped from the
offices of The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
Meanwhile, back in Britain, Matthew
Pridham is to be found with the LDS
Church researchers at The National
Archives, and is a respected speaker
on the subject of cemetery memorials
and the way London has managed
its dead. Raconteur Stefan Dickers
is the librarian and guide for the
Bishopsgate Institute in the City of
London, custodian of a wide-ranging
library specialising in trade unionism
and the co-operative movement and
many special London subjects.
Martyn Lockwood, who formerly
served in the police and is now
secretary of the Essex Police
Museum and of the Essex
Police Memorial Trust,
Dig for the past
22 FamilyTree July 2014
International family history conference
will speak about the use of poison,
particularly in Victorian times. Patrick
Cracroft-Brennan from the Heraldry
Society will also be giving a talk. DNA
specialist and author Debbie Kennett
searches for the genetic connections
between us all, researching a plethora
of surnames from the British Isles,
Canada, America, Australia, New
Zealand and South Africa.
The military contingent
English military historian Andrew
Robertshaw, best-known for his
television appearances, in programmes
such as ‘Two Men in a Trench’ and
‘Time Team’, was also a military
adviser on the film War Horse and is
currently the curator/manager of
the Royal Logistic Corps Museum
in Deepcut. Digby Smith, originally
writing under the pen name Otto von
Pivka, is a British military historian,
whose knowledge of the German
army and history will balance the
presentations. Meanwhile, Christine
Kendell focuses on the experiences
of women in the Great War, both at
home and abroad, looking at nurses,
war workers and those who waited
fearfully for the arrival of the telegram
boy on his red bicycle. Colin Chapman
is a doyen of British family
history and an author
of many books about it,
including most recently
one on the prisoner of
war camps in England and
the treatment of their occupants.
Paul Nixon, DC Thomson Family
History’s resident military expert
specialises in the location, availability
and value of all sorts of military records.
Finally, chairman of the Federation of
Family History Societies, and himself
a former serviceman, David Holman
will talk about using British medals
and associated records to help fill out
your family tree. Due to the widespread
coverage of World War I at the moment,
a number of the military history speakers
will confirm their precise topics nearer
the time.
During the weekend
On Friday evening, 29 August, the after-
dinner speaker will be Michael Gandy,
one of the country’s foremost experts of
family history and entertaining on any
subject he chooses, while on the Saturday
evening actor and music hall devotee
Roy Hudd will take to the stage. Over
the weekend military artist Bob Marrion
will be happy to examine any uniform
photographs brought to the conference.
To book your place
l The conference is being organised by
the Essex Society for Family History, on
behalf of the Federation and, in particular, its
East Anglian Group, and will be held at the
Holiday Inn Basildon, 29 to 31 August 2014.
You can book to attend the entire weekend,
or just for a day. Prices from £10 to £360
(two people sharing a room).
l Further details and a booking form are
available at www.esfh.org.uk. Alternatively
email events@esfh.org.uk, phone 01702
522992, or write to 52 Symons Avenue,
Leigh on Sea, Essex SS9 5QE.
Image: © Halfpoint/Shutterstock.
www.family-tree.co.uk
 Version 6 TM

All Versions Are WindoWs

2000, 2003, XP, VistA,
VistA 64, 7, 8
ComPAtible

Bring your past to life... Easy to learn and use

UK Edition
Run RootsMagic from a USB drive
Global search across any record type Web tag to link
RootsMagic V6 UK Platinum Edition people, families, sources, etc. Widest range of charts & reports
INCLUDES 7 UK DATA CDs Easily create family history websites Publish family history
• £1620 Vouchers off British Data
books Multimedia scrapbooks for photos, video, word processor
Archive CD Sets
• Bartholomew’s Atlas 1898 files Quaker & BMD quarter date entry Make shareable CDs
• Change of Names CD 1760-1901 Direct import from FTM^, FO, PAF, Legacy & GEDCOM
UK and Ireland
• General Armory of England, Add your own photos and
Scotland and Ireland images to wall charts
• English and Welsh Landowners Drag & drop
1873 boxes
• Scottish Landowners 1872-1873
• Irish Landowners 1876
• Free subscription to TheGenealogist (3
months) INCLUDES:

7
Over £99 Worth of
£49.95 Contains CDs Genealogy Resources Choose your
own pictures for
backgrounds

RootsMagic V6 UK Upgrade
Download £18.40 On CD £19.95
Copy & paste S& N
charts together

www.RootsMagic.co.uk EN

Y
E A L O G TM

GEN fair.co.uk
THE ONLINE GENEALOGY FAIR
Tens of Thousands of Family History Products
Hundreds of Suppliers
The Largest Range of Products
Covering the British Isles
Atlases & Maps, Military Records, Monumental Inscriptions, Parish
Records, Directories, Books, Census, Charts, DVDs, Software, Wills
Plus much more...
With the widest range of items, special offers and a great choice of books, CDs, software, DVDs, fiche and family history
society memberships, GenFair can’t be beaten. It’s the largest of its type and it was also the first.

SAVE TIME & MONEY DOWNLOAD

THE PRODUCT YOU WANT AND START
RESEARCHING TODAY DOWNLOAD

SUPPORT LOCAL SOCIETIES ONLINE

 THE GREAT WAR ON SCREEN
On to the
printed page
Amanda Randall reads up on the fervour surrounding
the early days of the Great War in a film fanzine....
children’s page, all designed to attract
these new audiences.
In early August 1914 it was announced
that future issues would be improved with
Earl Kitchener a ‘charming gallery of picture-players on
featured on the cover’, such as Miss Norma Phillips,
the cover who appeared on the 15 August issue.
of Pictures However, when the next issue appeared
and the there was no film star on the cover,
Picturegoer, but instead a portrait of Earl Kitchener
22 August ‘the man we all rely on’. War had been
1914. declared and interest in screen stars was
temporarily suspended. A new subtitle
was also introduced – The War Picture
Weekly and a picture supplement, The
War. Half of the content in the main
section was devoted to the war, with
P is for… Pictures and the ‘portraits and war scenes that may not
Picturegoer be shown on the screens’ (alluding to
As the film industry grew so other related Government restrictions on filming certain
products, such as fan magazines, became scenarios). The magazine launched into a
popular. Certain film stars were beginning frenzy of patriotism, offering war stories in
to attract a regular devoted fan-base and film and apparent first-hand accounts in a
cinema-goers wanted portraits and news section entitled ‘What War Is: Real Battle
about their favourites. Pictures and the Stories By Eyewitnesses’. There was a
Picturegoer was a weekly film magazine vogue throughout the press for publishing
launched in early 1914; it was packed ‘real’ soldier stories, including in film
with star portraits and film stories, gossip, magazines; German atrocity reports were
poems, jokes, letters and competitions. especially rife. People were bombarded
The magazine was aimed at a largely from all angles with harrowing tales and
female readership and there was a images from the Front; the impact on
Cover
dated 12
Belgian September
refugees on 1914: a
the cover 12-year-old
of The War ‘Servian
Special soldier’
Picture who is ‘an
Supplement. example to
Britons who
hesitate’.
24 FamilyTree January
July 20142014
An A-Z
An A-Z of
of World
World War
War II Film
Film
October 1914: Pictures and the
Picturegoer printed a photo of British
PoWs asking ‘Is your boy above?’.
readers must have been enormous.
Pictures and the Picturegoer’s focus
for the next couple of months would be
on the war. However, it included not only
distressing images, but also photos of
happy, smiling Tommies and Jack Tars.
By October 1914 it had returned to its
Images courtesy of Lucie Dutton.
original brief of predominantly conveying
film information, but laced with a strong
flavour of the war. Alongside the usual
fare, the magazine continued to publish
articles about the war’s impact on the film
industry.
At the end
of October
1914, the
magazine
reverted to
its usual
starry
format.
About the author
Film and social history have
intrigued Amanda Randall
for as long as she can
remember, especially what
early film and home movies
can tell us about our past.
Since completing her MA
in Film Archiving she has
been researching and writing
about these intertwined subjects,
and now blogs about them at
paperpenaction.wordpress.com.
www.family-tree.co.uk
� � � BMD registers.co.uk
Provided in association with The National Archives

����������������������������������������������������������������������������
���������������������������������������������
��������������������
���������� ��������������

��������������������������������������������� ������������������������ ���������������

�����������������������������������������������
�������������������������������
��������������������������������������������������
����������������
��������������������������������������������������
���������������������������������������������������� ������������
�����������������������������������������

����������������������������������������������������� � ����������������������������������������
����������������������������������������

Also available as part of a subscription to TheGenealogist.co.uk

�
�������������������������������������������������

Untitled-2 111
Untitled-7
Untitled-1 24/06/2013 09:42:25
28/02/2013
19/08/2013 11:42:58
14:14:13

Forces War Records

The professional military genealogy specialists
Over 5 million individual military records
Rare collections not available elsewhere
Records include unit & battle data
Exclusive library of content for researchers
www.forces-war-records.co.uk

Join today and save over 40% on your first month’s subscription - Use code: FT40
 Photo
WWI RESEARCH
forensics

Cap badges &

insignia of the
Great War part 2
In the second part of his beginner’s guide to badges and insignia of the First
World War, Neil Storey looks at some of those found on the Home Front and
among women’s units.
The Silver War Badge
The Silver War Badge, or the Silver
An ex- Wound Badge, was first issued
serviceman in September 1916 to ex-service
wearing personnel who had been granted
his Silver an Honourable Discharge, perhaps
War Badge due to ill health or accident.
c1917. Therefore the badge does not
always represent a man who was
wounded in the course of duty.
A certificate was issued with the
badge and the medal index card
(now held at The National Archives,
TNA) should show the soldier’s
entitlement to the Silver War Badge
(SWB) along with its list reference
number. The number was stamped
onto the reverse of the badge and
can be used to track your relative’s
Ministry of Pension records at
Above: Honourable TNA. The badge indicates that any
Discharge Certificate injured man in civilian clothing, who
awarded to Acting Sergeant may have appeared fit to the casual
Alfred A Wright, the Norfolk observer, could be identified as having
Regiment. served in the Army and therefore had
done his bit; this badge went a long way
to circumventing accusations
of cowardice. Particular
contingents at veterans’
parades would march together
as ‘Silver Badge Men’.

Alfred A Wright’s medal index card showing his

entitlement to the Silver War Badge and its list The Silver War Badge,
reference number. The number of his Silver War also known as the ‘Silver
Badge is stamped on the reverse of the badge. Wound Badge’.

26 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk


Left: Lapel badge
of a Norfolk
Constabulary
Special Constable.
Right: Lapel
badge of a King’s
Lynn Borough
Police Special
Constable.
Home Front produced metal, printed or stitched
On the Home Front there were several versions stating ‘Special Constable’),
organisations for men who were too perhaps with a cap and badge or
old, unfit or in reserved occupations a badge worn in his lapel, you will
but who could still ‘do their bit’. One appreciate he was doing what he could
of the most commonly seen in family under difficult circumstances.
photos is the special constable. The
Special Constables Act of 1914 placed Volunteer Training Corps
the Special Constabulary on a more From the moment war broke
permanent footing and uniforms of out, in some towns and villages,
cap, jackets and boots were issued especially coastal areas concerned
for the first time. Supplies quickly about invasion, groups of men
ran short following the early drive gathered to form a defence force.
to recruit ‘Specials’ to replace the The Government was not keen
regular police officers who were called on independent units, so brought
to the colours as ex-military reservists. them under the banner of a new
As many men as possible were organisation – the Volunteer Training
required to take their place and deal Corps (VTC). Many local units
with such issues as the ‘spy mania’ that began by wearing lapel badges but
gripped the country, administration soon progressed to the approved
of the Alien Registration Act, training VTC uniform, often made by local
in handling evacuation in the event manufacturers to official guidelines.
of invasion and black-outs following These early uniforms are distinct from
the first Zeppelin raid in January their military counterparts, appearing
1915. Hence early photos of ancestors to be a shade lighter (grey-green)
in their partial uniforms can look and the material less coarse. Officer
odd, but if your ancestor is wearing rank was indicated by knots and rings
a civilian suit with an armband with on the cuffs. Most units had their
vertical stripes (or one of the locally own cap badges, which are not easy
Images: © Neil Storey Archive.
A typical group photo from an Auxiliary War Hospital predominantly staffed by Red
Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment nurses, 1915.
www.family-tree.co.uk
Badges & insignia
to trace, but a letter with a copy of
the photo to a military museum or
relevant record office may just give
you the answer. If you’re lucky, these
collections may also hold muster rolls
for the local VTCs.
One problem in researching Great
War photos stems from October
1916 when Army rank badges were
adopted by the VTC; in December
1916 the first Army khaki uniforms
were issued to Volunteers. In July
1918 (with the exception of the
units in the City and County of
London) the VTC battalions became
Volunteer Battalions of their local
line regiments. They were permitted
to wear county regiment badges but
with no battle honours; it appears
from the photographic evidence they
wore both county badges and the
standard or ‘General List’ badge of
the Royal Arms supported by the lion
and unicorn in brass for other ranks
and bronze for officers. On their
lapels under the collar badge (if they
wore one) officers wore a letter ‘V’, a
pattern repeated by other ranks who
would wear a ‘V’ above their county
designation shoulder titles on the
epaulettes. By February 1918 the VTC
had 285,000 members.
Women at war
Women in photos from the period
can be seen wearing a range of badges
and insignia from small military
or nursing units to later war units
officially adopted by the military.
Always take time to make sure the
badges worn by your female ancestor
are correctly identified; there are
numerous variations and subtle
differences among the khaki units.
Red Cross nurses
If, however, your ancestor is wearing
nursing uniform with an apron
emblazoned with a Red Cross, then
a Red Cross nurse she is and almost
certainly a member of a Voluntary
Aid Detachment (VAD). If her apron
is plain she may be a cook or ward
servant but don’t assume anything,
because in the larger hospitals there
were many fully-trained nurses who
were not military nor VAD and they
wore plain aprons too. The clue is in
the absence of a Red Cross, instead
you’ll see nursing qualification
medallions or badges.
July 2014 FamilyTree 27
 Photo
WWI RESEARCH
forensics
Civilian companies
To the untrained eye, uniformed
women can look military and the
fashionable military cut of the time
can add to the confusion, especially
if the woman is dressed in a tram or
A bus clippie, c1916; she has a cap
badge and letters on her collar.
A group of uniformed postwomen c1917.
28 FamilyTree July 2014
bus ‘clippie’ uniform without holding
tickets or a ticket machine as a clue.
Some transport companies had cap
badges rather than company initials
in brass or embroidery, but most
have company initials somewhere,
so examine collar tabs as a clue to
a civilian transport company rather
than a military unit. Postwomen,
although they had a variety of hats in
the early war years, always wore a GPO
arm band. When the uniforms arrived
they were navy blue and emblazoned
Nurses at war
Military nurses were often
photographed wearing capes
or tippets; they didn’t wear a
Red Cross on the apron and
their rank insignia is shown in rings
on their forearms. Additional insignia
may be displayed on the tippet,
such as a medallion worn on the
right side to delineate the medical
units, eg Queen Alexandra’s Imperial
Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS).
The Territorial Force Nursing Service
(TFNS) wore silver ‘T’ badges on the
point of the tippet, as this photo of a
young nurse shows.
with the fancy lettering ‘GPO’; the
women may have had letters and
numbers on uniform collars to
designate the postal area they served.
Land girls
There were other women’s agrarian
organisations, such as the Women’s
Land Corps (WLC) and the
predominantly female Forage
Corps, but when the Women’s Land
Army (WLA) was formed in 1917;
it quickly became well organised
www.family-tree.co.uk
 Badges & insignia

A member of
the Women’s
Land Army in
1917, wearing
her Voluntary
Land Worker
cap badge, a
WLA arm band
and proficiency
badge on her
left lapel, both
seen to the right.

and uniformed. A brass ‘Board of

Agriculture Land Worker’ pin back
badge can sometimes be seen on
the hats of WLA girls. They were
presented with a loden-green armlet
decorated with a red crown to mark
the first three months of efficient
service and having passed an exam
in particular aspects of farm work.
The land girl would be presented with
a cloth Women’s Land Army, Land
Army Agricultural Section proficiency
badge.

Women’s Legion
One of the most significant women’s units of the early war years
was the Women’s Legion (WL), which was originally proposed in
1915 by the Marchioness of Londonderry as a voluntary service
to meet the shortage of Army cooks and clerks at home. Despite
being uniformed, the WL were not militaristic and did not practise
drill. More than 40,000 women enrolled and a number of work
sections were set up, each one denoted by the coloured backing
of the badge that depicted the figure of Victory holding a laurel
wreath and a sword in the centre enclosed by an oval wreath of
laurel and roses with initials ‘WL’ at the top. At the base of the large
wreath a scroll bore the motto ‘Ora Et Labora’ (‘Prayer and Work’).
The badge itself was designed and produced in the workshops of
the Loughborough Technical College.

The Women’s
Legion badge is
clearly visible on
this young lady’s
hat.

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 29

 Photo
WWI RESEARCH
forensics

WAACs & QMAAC

In 1917 the Women’s Auxiliary Army
Corps was formed and its distinctive
WAAC badge can usually be clearly
seen in photos. The organisation
was officially renamed Queen Mary’s
Auxiliary Army Corps (QMAAC)
in April 1918, new cap badges were
designed and issued, the main
difference being the addition of a
scroll bearing the words ‘Queen
Mary’s’ but this title was not generally
adopted and the WAACs proudly
stayed as they were. However, they had
to wear the QMAAC arm band on
their greatcoats.
Munitions workers
I’ll finish this overview with another
sector of war work – munitions.
Anything from making ammunition
boxes or propellers to turning out
gunshells was regarded as munitions
work. The ‘National Shell’ overalls
worn by female munitions workers are
distinctive and were looked upon with
pride by many women as their ‘badge
of office’. It is unusual to find insignia
on these. Perhaps an inspector
or leading charge hand would be
delineated by an arm band but one
badge was common to all, a badge
that showed you were part of the war
effort (it was issued to both men and
women); each one was numbered
and was accompanied by a card of
A member of the Women’s authority to wear the badge (including
Auxiliary Army Corps the number). This was the triangular
in 1917, wearing her ‘On War Service’ badge of 1916, which
distinctive cap badge. was commonly worn until the end of
the war.

WRNS
In 1917, the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) adopted their
own distinctive uniform based on the men’s uniform (see below)
and like the sailors, the ratings wore cap tallies, theirs emblazoned
with ‘WRNS’. In April 1918 the last force to accept women was
the RAF, but note that drivers recruited and organised by the
Women’s Legion (WL) motor service for the Royal Flying Corps
(RFC) often wore RFC shoulder insignia and brass cap badges on
the WL uniform. Indeed, always look carefully at uniform details
because the insignia
for different units can
look very similar, it
is the cloth shoulder
titles and cap badge
that set them apart.
For example, the Navy
and Army Canteen
Board uniform is very
similar to that of the
WL (see p71).

The Women’s Royal

Naval Service
uniform was based
on the men’s kit.
Above: A worker of the Navy and Army Canteen
Board, 1917, her uniform resembles the WL
uniform (see p71).

30 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk

 Badges & insignia

Top tips
l Examine your photos carefully.
l Enlarge and crop digital images on a
computer or use a magnifying glass to inspect
printed photos.
l Military Badges of the British Empire by
Reginald HW Cox (Ernest Benn, 1982).
l Women in the First World War by Neil Storey
and Molly Housego (Shire 2010).
l www.britishbadgeforum.com/books/
bibliography.htm – a comprehensive list of
military badge books.
l www.scarletfinders.co.uk – military and VAD
nurses research and history.

About the author

Neil Storey is an
award-winning historian and
lecturer specialising in themes
that shaped society in the
19th and early 20th centuries,
notably crime, medicine and
warfare. He has published
more than 30 books, including
The triangular Two members of the Queen Mary’s Military Photographs & How To
‘On War Auxiliary Army Corps wearing QMAAC Date Them, and has featured on numerous
Service’ armbands on their greatcoats. television and radio documentaries.
badge, first
issued in
1916.

Munitions workers at
the Woolwich Arsenal,
June 1917, wearing
the triangular ‘On War
Service’ badges as
seen above.

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 31

32 July204 1 uk.ctrfeao-mliwy
 NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN...
of William Edward Downs and his wife
Rose, William being a compositor/
printer of music. William’s birthplace
was given in 1911 as Victoria Park, East
London, and Rose’s as Cambridge.
I then found Hannah Rose’s
baptism in Cambridge on 9 September
1900 at the Church of St Andrew
the Less, her father William being
described as a printer and stationer.
Hannah Rose married Douglas Argyle
McLean in the registration district
of Mutford, Suffolk, in 1925, and
their son Douglas Robin McLean,
Sarah’s father, was born in the same
district in 1931. So far it was fairly
straightforward; however, I had found
no indication of any Jewish ancestry.
Next, I found an online transcript
at findmypast.co.uk of the marriage of
Sarah’s great-grandparents, William
Edward Downs and Rose, which took
place also at St Andrew the Less,
Cambridge, on 11 September 1899,
the same church where Hannah
Rose was baptised the following year.
However, this gave Rose’s surname as
Wheeler – not Cohen, as Sarah had
thought it might be. I decided to look
more deeply into Rose’s background
and discovered she was born in
34 FamilyTree July 2014
Baptisms of four
more children of
Ezekiel and Elizabeth
Cohen at St John’s,
Bethnal Green, in
November 1860.
Cambridge in 1872, the daughter
of Henry Wheeler, a carpenter and
joiner, and Elizabeth Kitchiner. What
was interesting was how the family
seemed to move about, because I
found the marriage of Henry and
Elizabeth not in Cambridge but at St
Mary’s Church, Islington, London, in
1868.
But try as I might, I could find no
indication that Rose Wheeler/Downs
had ever had the surname Cohen.
Moreover, I was now back to a pair
of Sarah’s great-great-grandparents
in Henry and Elizabeth Wheeler
– but still I had not turned up any
suggestion of Jewish ancestry. Rose
Hannah Cohen, baptised at almost 30
years old at St John’s, Bethnal Green,
in 1862.
Downs, I discovered, died in 1931
a few months before her grandson,
Douglas Robin McLean, Sarah’s
father, was born, so it was obvious why
he never knew her.
The breakthrough
Then came a breakthrough!
Becoming increasingly frustrated,
I decided to go down a different
line and looked at Sarah’s great-
grandfather William Edward Downs,
the music printer. He was born in
1875 at Victoria Park, Bethnal Green,
and baptised in August 1877 at the
Church of St John of Jerusalem,
Hackney, the son of another William
Downs and Esther. I then found in
the General Register Office (GRO)
marriage indexes a record in the
second quarter of 1873 of a marriage
in the Shoreditch registration district
for William Downs – and Esther
COHEN, no less! I obtained the
marriage certificate and this showed
the ceremony took place on 11 May
1873 at the parish church of St John
Charles Booth’s
map of Palestine
Place and the
Episcopal Jewish
Chapel and
School, 1898-89,
booth.lse.ac.uk/
static/a/4.html.
www.family-tree.co.uk
 NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN...
of William Edward Downs and his wife
Rose, William being a compositor/
printer of music. William’s birthplace
was given in 1911 as Victoria Park, East
London, and Rose’s as Cambridge.
I then found Hannah Rose’s
baptism in Cambridge on 9 September
1900 at the Church of St Andrew
the Less, her father William being
described as a printer and stationer.
Hannah Rose married Douglas Argyle
McLean in the registration district
of Mutford, Suffolk, in 1925, and
their son Douglas Robin McLean,
Sarah’s father, was born in the same
district in 1931. So far it was fairly
straightforward; however, I had found
no indication of any Jewish ancestry.
Next, I found an online transcript
at findmypast.co.uk of the marriage of
Sarah’s great-grandparents, William
Edward Downs and Rose, which took
place also at St Andrew the Less,
Cambridge, on 11 September 1899,
the same church where Hannah
Rose was baptised the following year.
However, this gave Rose’s surname as
Wheeler – not Cohen, as Sarah had
thought it might be. I decided to look
more deeply into Rose’s background
and discovered she was born in
34 FamilyTree July 2014
Baptisms of four
more children of
Ezekiel and Elizabeth
Cohen at St John’s,
Bethnal Green, in
November 1860.
Cambridge in 1872, the daughter
of Henry Wheeler, a carpenter and
joiner, and Elizabeth Kitchiner. What
was interesting was how the family
seemed to move about, because I
found the marriage of Henry and
Elizabeth not in Cambridge but at St
Mary’s Church, Islington, London, in
1868.
But try as I might, I could find no
indication that Rose Wheeler/Downs
had ever had the surname Cohen.
Moreover, I was now back to a pair
of Sarah’s great-great-grandparents
in Henry and Elizabeth Wheeler
– but still I had not turned up any
suggestion of Jewish ancestry. Rose
Hannah Cohen, baptised at almost 30
years old at St John’s, Bethnal Green,
in 1862.
Downs, I discovered, died in 1931
a few months before her grandson,
Douglas Robin McLean, Sarah’s
father, was born, so it was obvious why
he never knew her.
The breakthrough
Then came a breakthrough!
Becoming increasingly frustrated,
I decided to go down a different
line and looked at Sarah’s great-
grandfather William Edward Downs,
the music printer. He was born in
1875 at Victoria Park, Bethnal Green,
and baptised in August 1877 at the
Church of St John of Jerusalem,
Hackney, the son of another William
Downs and Esther. I then found in
the General Register Office (GRO)
marriage indexes a record in the
second quarter of 1873 of a marriage
in the Shoreditch registration district
for William Downs – and Esther
COHEN, no less! I obtained the
marriage certificate and this showed
the ceremony took place on 11 May
1873 at the parish church of St John
Charles Booth’s
map of Palestine
Place and the
Episcopal Jewish
Chapel and
School, 1898-89,
booth.lse.ac.uk/
static/a/4.html.
www.family-tree.co.uk

the Baptist, Hoxton. William Downs
was a bachelor and a warehouseman
and Esther was shown as a spinster
and a minor. William’s father was
Edward Downs, a mariner, and
Esther’s father was Ezekiel Cohen, a
clothes dealer and the possessor of a
potentially Jewish name if ever I heard
one!
Without going into all the ins and
outs of my research, I was satisfied
from the censuses and other evidence
that I had now found the right woman
in Sarah Mackenzie’s ancestry. But it
wasn’t her great-grandmother Rose
Wheeler/Downs who was Jewish, but
Rose’s mother-in-law, Esther Cohen,
Sarah’s great-great-grandmother, who
married William Downs senior in
the Church of England and had her
daughter christened in the Anglican
Church as well.
My eyes are opened!
I was even more determined now
to try to discover how the apparent
conversion – if indeed it was – from
the Jewish faith to Christianity had
happened in Sarah’s family. The
result of my quest was an eye opener
indeed, which brings us back to the
proposition I put forward at the start
of this article that even we experts can
always learn something new.
From the census returns and a
www.family-tree.co.uk
Report in
the Carlisle
Journal,
February
1852.
GRO birth entry I deduced that
Esther Cohen had been born in the
Whitechapel registration district
between 1852 and 1854, but it wasn’t
easy to tell which was the right entry
because there were four of them!
However, in looking for a baptism for
Esther I made another breakthrough
when I found in Ancestry’s London
Parish Records collection a baptism
for Esther Cohen, daughter of Ezekiel
and Elizabeth Cohen, in 1860. I
downloaded the image and discovered
that Ezekiel and Elizabeth Cohen
baptised no fewer than four children
all on the same day, Christmas Day, 25
December 1860 at St John’s Church,
Bethnal Green, clearly into the
Church of England.
Ezekiel’s occupation was given as
a confectioner and the residence of
Ezekiel and Elizabeth was shown as
Wellington Street, Bethnal Green.
However, what I found particularly
interesting was that all four of their
offspring were obviously baptised as
older children, their birth years being
shown as follows...
l James, born 1846.
l Sarah, born 1848.
l Jane, born 1851.
l Esther, born 1853.
What was going on? Why would this
couple, Ezekiel and Elizabeth Cohen,
who were almost certainly Jewish,
have four children all baptised in
New leads
an Anglican church together on the
same day when the children were aged
from about 15 to eight? Turn to page
32 and you will see that the answer is
revealed in the top left image, which
shows a number of baptisms at St
John’s, Bethnal Green, with Jewish
surnames like Cohen, Marshusson
and Hielbron. Look more closely
and you will see that down the left-
hand side of the register is written
the following annotation: ‘From the
Episcopal Jews Chapel’. The Episcopal
Jews Chapel? This was something I
had never heard of! But as I went on
with my researches, I discovered other
children of Ezekiel and Elizabeth
Cohen who were also baptised at St
John’s, Bethnal Green including the
following...
l Emily, born 1838, baptised 30
November 1860.
l Phoebe, born 1842, baptised 30
November 1860.
l Abraham, born 1842, baptised 30
November 1860.
l Rachel, born 1844, baptised 30
November 1860.
So, four other children of the same
couple had been baptised earlier,
again on the same day at the same
church; all as older children, indeed
almost adults. And once more the
words ‘From Episcopal Jews Chapel’
were scrawled down the left-hand
side of the baptismal register. Finally,
yet another child of Ezekiel and
Elizabeth’s, Hannah Cohen, was
baptised at St John’s in 1862 and her
birth year was given as 1833, so she
was christened into the Church of
England as an adult of almost 30. I
Ezekiel and
Elizabeth
Cohen
recorded
in the 1881
Census, aged
82 and 79
respectively.
July 2014 FamilyTree 35
 NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN...
now had six pages of baptisms at the
same church, a total of 60 christenings
all apparently of Jewish people, and I
felt certain that if I’d looked further
there would have been others. I asked
myself again, what was going on?
The solution
A Google search for ‘Episcopal Jewish
Chapel’ supplied the answer. I learned
that early in the 19th century the
Church of England launched a big
push to convert Jews to Christianity
and the East End was an obvious
place to start, being the home and
settling place of thousands of Jewish
immigrants. I discovered that a
society was founded in 1809 called
the London Society For Promoting
Christianity Among the Jews. The
Episcopal Jewish Chapel and a school
were established at Bethnal Green on
a five-acre field at Cambridge Heath
and named Palestine Place. In 1813,
a Hebrew-Christian congregation
called Benei Abraham (Children of
Abraham) started meeting at the
chapel. This was the first recorded
assembly of Jewish believers in
Jesus and the forerunner of today’s
Messianic Jewish congregations.
The London Jews’ Society (now
The Church’s Ministry Among
Jewish People) was the first such
society to work on a global basis.
In its heyday, the society had more
than 250 missionaries. It supported
the creation of the post of Anglican
Bishop in Jerusalem in 1841 and
the first incumbent was one of its
workers, Michael Solomon Alexander.
The society was also active in the
establishment of Christ Church,
Jerusalem, the oldest Protestant
36 FamilyTree July 2014
Plaque in Christ
Church, Spitalfields,
recording the work of
the London Society
For Promoting
Christianity Amongst
the Jews. The
inscription refers
to 10 other tablets
in the church that
had been removed
from the Episcopal
Jewish Chapel when
it closed in 1897.
church in the Middle East, completed
in 1849. To my surprise, I also learned
that seven clergymen who served in
three East End churches – St Mark,
Whitechapel, Christ Church, Watney
Street and St John the Evangelist,
Grove Street – in the mid- to late-
19th and early-20th centuries were
converts from Judaism. Most of them
took a special interest in ministry
among the Jews in what had become
the heartland of British Jewry. I even
found a map of Palestine Place and
the Episcopal Jews Chapel and school
at the website of the Charles Booth
Poverty Maps of London in 1898-1899,
booth.lse.ac.uk/static/a/4.html.
At the online British Newspaper
Archive (via findmypast.co.uk) I
discovered reports from several
provincial papers in 1852. One report
in the Carlisle Journal of 13 February
reads: ‘Conversions From Judaism.
Christianity is spreading among the
Jewish population in the metropolis.
On the 4th of January a respectable
Jewish family was baptised at the
Episcopal Jews Chapel, Palestine
Place, Bethnal Green; and on Tuesday
evening last, six Jews were baptised
at the same church’. The Episcopal
Jews Chapel was closed in 1897 but
some monumental tablets from the
chapel still survive in other East
End churches, two of them in Christ
Church, Spitalfields. Why did the
Church of England apparently have
some success in persuading Jewish
people to convert? I can’t help wonder
if it was because of the persecution
sometimes faced by Jews.
I am pleased to report that my
client, Sarah Mackenzie, was thrilled
to bits with what I had found,
This tablet, also in Christ Church
Spitalfields, honours the memory of
the Rev H Aaron Stern (1820-1885), a
German-born Jewish convert who did
missionary work for the society for 40
years in Britain, Turkey, Persia, Arabia
and Abyssinia.
especially that I had finally pinned
down her Jewish ancestry from her
great-great-great-grandparents,
Ezekiel and Elizabeth Cohen. I was
unable to find a marriage for the
couple but censuses showed that both
were born at Whitechapel, Ezekiel
in about 1802 and Elizabeth about
1805. Both lived to a ripe old age: in
the 1881 Census of Bethnal Green,
Ezekiel was 82 and Elizabeth 79.
The infirmities column showed that
Ezekiel was blind by then. Knowing
that Ezekiel and Elizabeth had at
least nine children, Sarah would be
delighted to hear from any other
descendants of her ancestors.
And so, not only did I have a
satisfied client but I had added
something to my own genealogical
and historical knowledge. That’s why
I say, isn’t family history a wonderful
thing?
About the author
Roy Stockdill has been a family
historian for almost 40 years.
A former national newspaper
journalist, he edited the Journal of
One-Name Studies (for the Guild of
One-Name Studies) for 10 years.
He is on the Board of Trustees of
the Society of Genealogists and
is commissioning editor of the ‘My
Ancestors…’ series of books. He regularly
writes famous trees blogs at blog.
findmypast.co.uk/tag/roy-stockdill and
now at roystockdillgenealogy.com.
www.family-tree.co.uk
FamilyTree
Passionate about helping people trace their ancestors since 1984

PC & Mac

Each and every page of

Family Tree is packed with new
discoveries for you from the
world of family history.
Find Family Tree in all good newsagents, or on
your device (see family-tree.co.uk/digital).
Or save money with a print subscription. PC &
MAC LE
COMPATIB

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 37

 Documents
AGRICULTURAL TAX RECORDS workshop
Down on the
18th century
farm Caroline Makein ploughs into the records of one type
of tax applied to Scottish agriculture to see what it can
reveal about the lives our rural ancestors led.
T
he Farm Horse Tax was created in 1797 towards
the end of the long reign of King George III (1738-
1820) at a time when many taxes were introduced
to alleviate the Crown’s financial difficulties. The
prime minister, William Pitt the Elder, borrowed heavily
to fund the Seven Years’ War against France, which began
in 1756 after years of disputes and skirmishes over land in
North America. Ultimately the French were beaten and
the British colonies expanded. Britain’s poor financial
situation was exacerbated by the later loss of these American
colonies, triggering another war from 1775-1781 when the
British were finally defeated. With the French Revolutionary
Wars (1792-1802) the Government began taxing wealthier
members of society for male and female servants, hair powder,
greyhounds, watches, windows, carriages, carts and horses.
Horsepower
The Farm Horse Tax required farmers to pay two shillings tax
for each working horse they owned. At the time agricultural
labourers were earning seven shillings a week. The Scottish
Farm Horse Tax rolls have been scanned from 13 volumes
of Exchequer Records (E326/10/1-13) held at the National
Records of Scotland (NRS) in Edinburgh and may be viewed
there for free on their computers or by subscription at www.
scotlandsplaces.gov.uk. Some other contemporary taxes,
such as the clock and watch tax rolls, are also free to look at
though the other tax rolls require a subscription. The Farm
Horse Tax rolls list the names of the owner and the number
of horses and mules used in husbandry or trade in 1797-1798.
They are currently being transcribed by volunteers and, as it
is an ongoing process, for those completed pages you will see
the original scanned image with the transcription below.
l  The geographical regions covered by the Farm Horse Tax
Rolls in Scotland: volumes 1-5 cover the surveys of the various
counties of Scotland from Aberdeenshire to Wigtonshire.
Volume 6 covers the Scottish burghs and royal burghs, and
Volumes 7-13 include the additional visits the surveyors made
to the counties and burghs to chase non-payers.
38 FamilyTree July 2014
What’s in this document?
Ê This beautifully handwritten document has the
name of the surveyor – Patrick Penderleath – at the top
right-hand corner.
Ë The date range ‘for the year ending 5 April 1798’.
Ì The actual date of assessment, ‘December 12th
1797’. Patrick visited them over a short period because
they lived within a small radius.
Í 32 owners are listed, but Patrick has not given
them their designations, nor are there addresses or
occupations. He appears to have listed the prominent
citizens first, because Charles Dempster is mentioned
in local histories as a landowner, politician and
entrepreneur.
Î These columns show the actual number of horses
owned by each person – and may vary with the actual
number of horses liable for duty because some
animals were exempt. The more horses owned – the
larger the business, again Charles Dempster paid duty
on five horses, only equalled by one other on the list.
Ï There were 65 horses listed, all of which were liable
for duty at two shillings each.
Ð The number of horses exempt from duty – none.
Ñ The total of duty paid for this year in pounds,
shillings and pence – six pounds and 10 shillings.
Burghs and Royal Burghs Farm Horse Tax Rolls:
Volume 6 is not fully transcribed as yet, though some
areas are complete, for example Caroline’s home
town of St Andrews. This document is from the Royal
Burgh of St Andrews. National Records of Scotland
E326/10/6/page 205.
www.family-tree.co.uk
 Scottish farm horse tax rolls

Ë Ê

Ì
Î

Í
{
Images: reproduced with permission from the National Records of Scotland.

Ï Ñ

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 39

 Documents
AGRICULTURAL TAX RECORDS workshop

Í Î
This page, which covers some of the 70 farmers and 53 farms
in the parish of St Andrews, provides a brief snapshot in time,
telling us who owned the various farms or was working them.
This surveyor took longer to make his assessment because he
rode round all the farms between 2-26 September, 1797. National
Records of Scotland, E320/10/2/page 323.

40 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk


These St Andrews rolls are from the
town and the regality where horses
were vital to their owners’ businesses
in some way. They may have been
cart horses for hauling goods or
building supplies, or perhaps dray
horses at a brewery – certainly one
name, Berwick, is linked to a brewery
in South Street on the 1820 Woods
town map of St Andrews. Horses
were the tractors or white vans of
their age used by millers, tradesmen,
farmers, fishermen, and carriers. In
comparison, the county version of the
Farm Horse Tax rolls in Volumes 1-5
are listed by parish. Though similar to
the Burgh rolls, they are more useful
to genealogists because they include
farm names. This can be another
way of finding the names of farm
proprietors and tenants almost 50
years before the 1841 Census.
What’s in the document?
Ê This surveyor has given the people
their correct designations eg ‘James
Cheape Esquire, Strathtyrum’. This estate
remains on the edge of St Andrews, with
a golf course named after it. Women
occasionally feature as owners as it was
not uncommon for a widow to carry on
her husband’s business.
Ë The number of horses being used
and those which were taxable. Ploughing
normally required two horses, so the
more horses employed, the larger
the farm. Looking at other entries for
Kincaple, Mr William Haig had 12 horses,
John Ewing had five, while Mr Meldrum
had four and John Balfour had six,
therefore 27 working horses in a fairly
small area. Did these men have additional
work or business connected with the
farms?
Ì Several farmers for the same farm,
eg Kincaple, suggest it was a larger farm
with several tenants.
Í 314 horses in total and all but 10 liable
for tax.
Î Total duty raised £30/8s.
www.family-tree.co.uk
Where next?
The Old Statistical Accounts of the
various parishes of Scotland, which
were written c1791-1799, may be
browsed without subscription at
www.edina.ac.uk.
Some ministers gave very detailed
reports about the state of farming
in their parishes. The St Andrews’
minister, John Adamson, wrote, ‘The
coast is very rocky and bold, the face
of it in some places perpendicular rock
to the height of 30 or 40 feet, yet the
plough comes to the very brink, having
a sufficiency of soil’. He related that
moors had been limed and ploughed
and elsewhere clover crops planted in
winter. Discussing the type of crops
grown and the size of farms, he noted
that the number of black cattle had
declined yearly because all the farmers
did their work now with horses alone:
‘Two of which are yoked to the plough’,
whereas less than 30 years earlier each
plough had a horse and four oxen.
Historical context
In 1707 after the Union with England
conscious attempts were made to
improve agriculture in Scotland. The
Society of Improvers, founded in 1723
mainly by some enthusiasts in the East
Lothian area, had new ways and ideas
that initially spread among the landed
classes. The 18th century experienced
an Agricultural Revolution in
farming methods towards a more
modern and productive system of
land management. New practices
were introduced, particularly in the
Lowlands, changing farming from
the older cottar and runrig systems.
Previously, rural communities had
to be subsistent, working in family
groups jointly farming an area for
two or three plough teams. Runrigs
were furrows and ridges of land
allocated in strips to tenant farmers.
Heavy wooden ploughs with an iron
coulter needed oxen to drag them
through the claggy Scottish soils.
The use of fertilisers, the draining of
marshes and wet areas, proper crop
rotation and oxen replaced by teams
of horses, all led to better productivity,
the decline of the cottar system and
ultimately less work for agricultural
labourers.
Scottish farm horse tax rolls
Key collections &
finding aids
l  Scottish burgh and Royal burgh
records – some can be found in
the NRS online catalogue at www.
nrscotland.gov.uk. Also try St
Andrews University Library Special
Collections www.st-andrews.ac.uk/
library/specialcollections.
l  Registers of Sasines began in the
17th century and recorded the transfer
of ownership of land or buildings
(except within the royal burghs) but
they are incomplete. From 1781
digitised abridgements are available on
‘Virtual Volumes’ in the NRS.
Some sasines are still held in local
archives, search on the Scottish
Archive Network www.scan.org.uk.
l  Scottish Kirk Session Minutes can
give plenty of information about what
is going on in a particular parish at a
particular time, though it is a matter of
browsing them because they are not
indexed. Check local archives or view
them on the ‘Virtual Volumes’ at NRS in
Edinburgh.
l  Currency converter, www.
nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency.
l  Old maps and post office and trade
directories may be viewed for free
on the National Library of Scotland
website, www.nls.uk.
l  www.genuki.org.uk for information
of what records are available in each
Scottish parish.
l  The SCAN online catalogue, www.
scan.org.uk, has information on more
than 20,000 collections of historical
records archives throughout Scotland.
l  www.archiveshub.ac.uk for
archives in UK universities and
colleges.
About the author
Caroline Makein has worked
for many years as a professional
genealogist researching
throughout Scotland. She
runs Fife Rootsearch, a
research service at www.
scottishgenealogyresearch.
co.uk. She has a certificate in
Scottish Family History Studies
from Stirling University and is a member of
the Scottish Genealogical Society.
July 2014 FamilyTree 41
 SUBSCRIBE TODAY TO

FamilyTree T
reat yourself to a subscription to
Family Tree and with every new
issue we’ll help you to discover
Simply fill in this form and post to: Family Tree Subscriptions, c/o Warners
Subscription Department, West Street, Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH.
even more about your ancestors. From
q UK direct debit for 6 issues £19.99 – Print subscription only.
beginner guides on sources you have yet
q UK direct debit for 6 issues £22.30 – Joint print & digital
subscription. to explore, to expert problem-solving
Offer code: FTJuly2014
advice and information about the best
YOUR DETAILS
Title First name
ways to access new records, we know
Surname what you need, to inform and inspire
Address
you to uncover your family history.
Postcode Country Tel We make sure that each page every
Email
issue is devoted to discovering your
DIRECT DEBIT FORM ancestors – and by subscribing
Instructions to your bank or building society to pay by direct debit.
To: The Manager (Bank/Building society).
you get to enjoy reading about
Address: your favourite hobby for less.
As Britain’s longest-running
Postcode: family history magazine, Family
Name of account holder(s):
Tree has been helping readers trace
Bank/building society account number Branch sort code
their ancestors since 1984. Start
Reference number (office use only)
saving now by subscribing by direct
F T M debit to Family Tree – and discover your
Originator’s identification number ancestors, your history, today...
Instructions to your Bank/Building Society Please pay ABM Publishing Ltd Direct Debit

838558
from the account detailed in this instruction subject to the safegaurds assured by the
Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand that this instruction may remain with ABM Publishing
Ltd and, if so, details will be passed electronically to my Bank/Building Society.

Signature Date / /  Pay just £3.33 per issue

OTHER METHODS OF PAYMENT  Get free access to
q Cheque q Mastercard q Visa q Maestro q American Express digital records for longer
q Visa Electron
Card no
 Enjoy exclusive
/ / subscriber offers
Valid date Expiry date

Maestro only: Issue no. Security no.  Never miss your copy
(last 3 digits on reverse of card. AMEX: last 4 digits)

Signature Date  Receive FREE UK

q UK 6-month subscription by credit/debit card or cheque £24
delivery
(£3.75 per issue)
q UK 1-year subscription credit/debit card or cheque £48
p
Sign u e
(£3.46 per issue)
q Europe airmail £65 by cheque/credit or debit card

& sav !
q Rest of the world airmail £70 by cheque/credit or debit card

q Add £5 extra for a 1-year joint digital & print subscription.

today
Digital access information emailed to subscribers
Quote code FTJuly2014.
l Please make £sterling cheques payable to ‘Family Tree Magazine’

Offer closes 10 July 2014.

"

42 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk

Save 33%When you subscribe by
*
direct debit to Family Tree
today!*
Pay only £19.99 every 6 issues and save on the shop price.

Turn over
r
to see you nly
r- o
subscribe s
o f fe r
(* 33% saving based on subscribing by direct debit for 1 year)

Go to subscribeme.to/family-tree
UK freephone 0800 612 8377
(lines open weekdays 8am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm) Overseas +44 1778 392008
www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 43
 FT SUBSCRIBER BENEFITS Offers & competitions

Calling Family Tree

subscribers
As a print or digital subscriber to Family Tree you can enter
pa g

o
et a
Not y Turn to
ribe ?
r
subsc 2 to sign u
e 4
t bene
fit
& star r exclusive
u
ing
p

from s today!
offer
exclusive competitions and take advantage of special offers
just for you. So, come on – join us today...
Books!
Topical tie-ins
Seven hundred years on from to win
the Battle of Bannockburn,
the struggle surrounding the
issue of Scottish independence
continues, and in Bannockburn
– Scotland’s Greatest Battle for
Independence historical writer
Angus Konstam explores the
‘medieval battle [that] helped
define the political landscape
of Britain’. Former museum
curator and archaeologist
Angus has had a life-long
interest in Robert the Bruce,
and believes the story of
Bannockburn is well worth
retelling.
l Aurum Press, RRP £18.99.

Win a Worldwide subscription to Ancestry Just a few years before

Explore many millions of records from around the world Bannockburn, in 1305, fighter
with an Ancestry Worldwide subscription. Collections for Scottish independence,
include the core census and birth, marriage and death William Wallace, was executed
records, plus numerous specialist collections too. And in for his role in the conflict. Now
this, the centenary year, don’t miss the soldiers’ Great War Chris Brown looks at the rise,
service and pension records, and the medal index card fall and reality of this famous
collections, to trace your First World War ancestors. We Scot inWilliam Wallace: the Man
have a one-year Worldwide subscription to www.ancestry. and the Myth.
co.uk to give away to a lucky Family Tree subscriber – just l The History Press, RRP £9.99.
enter the draw to be in with a chance of winning!
Win a copy
How to enter We have a copy each of
To enter the draw to win a Worldwide Bannockburn – Scotland’s Greatest Battle for Independence
subscription to Ancestry, simply email Must !be and William Wallace – The Man and The Myth to give away

won
to Family Tree subscribers. To enter the draws, simply email
subscribers@family-tree.co.uk with ‘Ancestry subscribers@family-tree.co.uk with either ‘Bannockburn
worldwide’ in the subject line. See ‘The book’ or ‘William Wallace book’ in the subject line. See ‘The
important stuff’ panel for further details. important stuff’ panel for further details.

The important stuff...

Kindly note, the competitions and offers on this page are open to Family Tree subscribers only (print and/or digital). When you contact us, please include your
name, subscriber number and postal address (print subscribers), or state if you are a digital subscriber. To enter by post, please write to the address on page
5. No cash alternatives will be offered and the editor’s decision is final. The closing date for competitions/offers on this page is 12 September 2014 unless
otherwise stated.

44 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk


DIGGING DEEPER
Twiglets
T
o begin with, I was jumping
for joy about how easily I’d
found the marriage of my
4x great-grandparents,
Richard and Hannah Walker, and
then, hot on its heels, whizzing my
tree back yet another generation to
Hannah’s parents, Adam and Ann
Jackson of Capesthorne, Cheshire.
But then I started feeling a bit uneasy.
What if I’ve got this wrong? What if
there’s more than one marriage of a
Richard Walker and a Hannah, but it’s
not showing up when I search?
Part of the problem is that I’m still
getting to grips with findmypast.co.uk’s
new website and search engine, but my
main worry is the date. The marriage I
found took place in 1775, but their first
child, another Richard, wasn’t baptised
until 1781. Hang on, though, let’s not
throw the Walker baby out with the
bathwater – maybe there are more
children out there. Let’s try that route
first, rather than complicating things.
Little Richard, as I like to call him,
was baptised at Marton – the same
village where my direct ancestors
Richard, Hannah, and their youngest
child, my 3x great-grandmother Ann
Leah, are buried – but perhaps
I should be looking further afield.
In findmypast’s parish records
I search for Walkers baptised anywhere
in Cheshire 1778+/-2 years, which ought
to find any children born between the
date of the wedding and little Richard’s
birth. Click the magic search button
and ouch, 334 results. I know Walker’s a
popular name, but I didn’t expect quite
this many in a four-year slot. Hmm.
Will it make any difference if I input
‘Richard’ in the ‘optional keyword’ box?
By ’eck, it does! The 334 results
miraculously become seven, all relating
to the baptism of three children: Peter
in 1776, Samuel 1778 and John 1779.
And whereabouts? Ha, Capesthorne! –
Hannah’s own birthplace, and home to
her parents and the vast Jackson brood.
Since the last issue, I’ve tried to find
out more about Capesthorne. There
doesn’t appear to be a village at all
there now, just a grand-looking place
called Capesthorne Hall that you can
45 FamilyTree July 2014
Diarist Gill Shaw charts the rollercoaster
ride of researching her family history.
hire out for weddings and events.
Apparently it’s still owned by the same
family, the Bromley-Davenports, who
lived there at the time my ancestors
did. And behind the hall lies a tiny
private chapel called Holy Trinity…
I click to view the image of Peter
Walker’s baptism in the register. Here
he is, ‘son of Richard and Hannah
Walker’. Good stuff; exactly as I hoped.
But just before I click the ‘back’
button, I spot something on the
facing page – it’s second son Samuel’s
baptism; and just above it, the names
of Hannah’s sister, Phebe, and her
husband Henshaw Faulkner who are
christening a son, Adam. Clearly this
parish is so small that barely a dozen
life events, be they baptisms or burials,
took place here each year.
What a swizz, we’re only just
getting to know each other!
Ooh, I like this! I cast my eye around
the rest of the page: there are Leahs
on here too (hmm, I wonder…), and
blimey, there’s Adam and Ann Jackson
– my 5x great-grandparents – baptising
their youngest, Susannah; and then
Phebe and Henshaw again, this time
having son Nathan christened. But, aw,
only two entries below that, the burial
of little Nathan in 1777, and also of
an ‘Anne’ Jackson. Could that be my
5x great-grandmother’s burial?
I click through to the next page
of the register. Here’s baby John’s
baptism entry in 1779, ‘son of Richard
and Hannah Walker of Henbury’ – that
was Richard’s home village when they
married, so it’s more welcome proof
I’m on the right lines. But oh dear,
here we go again… 1779: ‘Susannah
Jackson was buried Apr 18th’ – she’d have
been just three years old. Phebe and
Henshaw make another appearance,
having a son Samuel christened, but
then crikey, ‘Adam Jackson was buried
Aug 17th’. My 5x great-grandfather?
Nooo, what a swizz, we were only just
getting to know each other!
One bit of light relief: directly below
Adam’s burial is an entry set right in the
middle of the page, and taking up 10
times the space of anything else: ‘Henry
William, son of Davies and Charlotte
Davenport, was born September 19th and
baptised Wednesday the 22nd by me, Henry
Ingles, Minister’. Clearly even the day of
the week was considered worthy of record
for the lord of the manor’s child!
It’s somehow sweet but strange to see
the privileged family of the big house
recorded in the register bang next to my
humble ancestors, but I’m fascinated to
know why the Jacksons and Walkers are
here at all – did they work at Capesthorne
Hall, perhaps, or on the estate?
All this on one or two pages of a
church register. I’ve never seen anything
quite like this snapshot in time before,
documenting one extended family’s joy
and heartache. I reckon I could probably
just flit from page to page and construct
the entire Jackson tree. A project for a
wet Sunday afternoon, maybe…
But, for now, time to move on. Let’s
get back to Richard Walker and see if we
can find his baptism. Now Richard was
the grand age of 83 when he was buried
in Marton in 1835, so that makes his
birth around 1752. I search the parish
baptisms, +/- five years for luck, and
bingo, here’s one in Marton – and spot
on 1752. I click on the transcript first
to check: yep, Richard Walker, parents
(in other words, yet more 5x great-
grandparents!) Peter and Mary Walker.
Hey, Peter, that’s a new one. Except
it isn’t, is it? Peter’s also the name of
Richard and Hannah’s first child whose
baptism I found only an hour ago – aw,
this is all making perfect, magical sense!
Click on the image – and wow, two for
the price of one: 11 May 1752, ‘Richard
and Katharine son and daughter of Peter
and Mary Walker baptised’. So my 4x great-
grandfather Richard was a twin!
I’m simply loving this… Records and
images galore, forenames that are a
bit more unusual (and passed down
through the family), ancestors who
appear to have lived their whole lives
in the same spot – and now twins. Can
it get any better?
About the author
Gill Shaw is editor of Dogs
Monthly magazine and former
assistant editor of Practical
Family History. She lives in
Cambridgeshire and loves
singing, walking and tracking
down elusive ancestors.
www.family-tree.co.uk
 Researcher
COURT RECORDS by your side

Understanding
the UK court
systems
Legal matters are notoriously complicated, but Chris
(though from 1560 it exclusively dealt
with criminal cases involving abuse
of power, corruption or insurrection).
By 1875 the many civil courts were
amalgamated into one body, the High
Court of Justice and Court of Appeal,
and into various divisions that were
eventually reorganised into the current
Paton’s guide to the national judicial systems of set-up that exists today, the divisions
Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales outlines the of the Queen’s Bench, Chancery and
Family.
courts and the sorts of crimes that each one dealt
with. Read on, to get to grips with these useful but Criminal courts
Although some of these courts had
challenging records. jurisdiction in certain criminal cases,

I
n the last issue I described the
local court systems that held
sway over what was largely a
rural population from medieval
times. Over the years, however, the
State asserted its authority across the
population through more centralised
and national forms of courts, dealing
with issues of both common law and
criminal cases. The nature of the
courts across the British Isles varies
markedly, as there were different legal
systems at play in England and Wales,
Ireland, and Scotland. To complicate
things further, the various courts often
competed with each other in terms of
their respective jurisdictions, meaning
that it is not always straightforward
to understand where to turn to for
relevant cases and records.
Civil courts
From 1066 justice in England was
initially dispensed by the Curia Regis,
or King’s Council, but from the 12th
century onwards common law cases
were dealt with by a constantly evolving
range of courts in the name of the
Crown. The Court of Common Pleas,
for example, dealt with specific civil
disputes over land and debt, such as
trespass, while the Court of the King’s
Bench (or Queen’s Bench) also heard
civil cases. This, however, was also
the most senior criminal court below
Parliament, and a court where cases
of particular interest to the monarch
were heard, such as breaches of the
peace, or in cases where his or her
particular interests were threatened.
Throughout much of their history the
two courts at times had overlapping
jurisdictions in civil matters, a set-
up not fully resolved until after the
Restoration in 1660. Also in operation
from medieval times was the Court
of Exchequer, dealing with financial
affairs such as taxes and revenues due
to the Crown, and with later cases over
issues surrounding equity. This role
was later transferred to the Court of
Chancery.
In addition to these courts were
many others with more specific
areas of jurisdiction. For example,
the Admiralty Court was established
in the 14th century to deal with
breaches of maritime law, while
the Court of the Star Chamber was
established by an Act in 1487 to deal
with criminal and civil cases requiring
the monarch’s personal intervention
there was also a separate set-up to
administer criminal law in England
and Wales. From the 12th to the 14th
centuries the justices of the king’s eyre
would travel around the country in a
series of circuits to hear serious cases.
The system was later replaced by the
assizes, a similar system of visitations,
which operated across ‘circuits’ that
could be made across their respective
regions two or three times a year.
This set-up continued to operate
until 1971, at which point the Crown
Courts assumed authority. London and
Middlesex were excluded from the
system, with their cases instead heard
at the Old Bailey – documents for some
200,000 cases from this court from
1674-1913 can be read free online at
www.oldbaileyonline.org. The various
palatinates at Cheshire, Lancashire
and Durham also had their own assize
courts, as did Bristol. Assize cases could
be appealed at the Court of the King’s
Bench, and from 1848 at the Court for
Crown Cases Reserved, from 1907 at
the Court of Criminal Appeal and from
1906 at the Court of Appeal (Criminal
Division). In addition, lesser crimes
were tried at a local level by magistrates
or Justices of the Peace, who, on behalf
of the Crown from the 14th century,

46 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk

Images: Court of King’s Bench © Mary Evans Picture Library/Alamy. Part
Part
2 2

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 47

The Court of King’s Bench, 13th century.
 Researcher
COURT RECORDS by your side

had taken over the responsibility for uk/archon for details), or search by Search the English and Welsh criminal
cases previously heard by the manorial record type at www.nationalarchives. registers from 1791-1892, comprising
courts. They met regularly in a series gov.uk/a2a. more than 1.5 million records, on
of quarter sessions four times a year up Ancestry.co.uk.
to 1971 in most counties. The Scottish system
Most records from the English and The situation in Scotland has sheriffs on behalf of the Crown, for
Welsh courts are today held at The historically been very different to that both criminal and civil matters. The
National Archives at Kew, the website in England and Wales. As with those system was imperfect, with the authority
for which at www.nationalarchives. two countries, in medieval times there of many corrupt sheriffs held on a
gov.uk has a series of detailed were initially conflicting systems of hereditary basis up to the 17th century.
research guides on the types of local justice as administered by feudal In 1748 there were many changes
courts and how to access the various landowners and by the Scottish Crown. to the Scottish criminal justice system
records. There are many challenges In areas of Scotland known as baronies implemented, including the abolition
when using such records, notably and regalities, feudal landowners of jurisdiction within the local feudal
with earlier cases that are written in could prosecute virtually any crime courts. From this point sheriff deputes
Latin and often with legalistic jargon. on their patch with the exclusion of were all appointed, along with their
For more recent times, Ancestry. treason, while the jurisdiction of the deputies, the sheriff substitutes, to
co.uk has digitised 279 English and rest of the country was handled by operate the county-based sheriff
Welsh criminal registers
from 1791-1892 as part of
its World Archives Project
(sourced from HO 26 and
HO 27 at The National
Archives), which provides
information about the
individuals charged, their
trials and sentences, if
convicted, or any other
outcome. For the records
of justices of the peace and
magistrates’ courts you
may need to visit your local
county record office (see
www.nationalarchives.gov.

Find the Irish petty session

court rolls for the Republic
of Ireland 1828-1912 on
findmypast.ie. (Above, the
left-hand page, and below,
the right-hand one.)

48 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk


court system. Their responsibilities
in handling criminal cases were vast,
with their remit added to in the 19th
century to handle certain civil matters
such as small debts cases, testamentary
matters, maritime cases and
sequestrations (bankruptcies). Sheriff
courts were also used to determine
who the official heir would be in many
property inheritance cases through the
Services of Heirs process, while from
1895 sheriffs have also heard Fatal
Accident Enquiries into workplace
accidents.
More serious criminal cases such as
murder, rape and treason have instead
been heard since 1672 by the High
Court of Justiciary, Scotland’s supreme
court, which has both travelled
regularly on circuits across the country
and heard cases in a permanent
facility in Edinburgh. Prior to this the
country’s ‘ justiciars’, as royal judges,
www.family-tree.co.uk
Locate details of your
local county record office
at www.nationalarchives.
gov.uk/archon or search
by record type at www.
nationalarchives.gov.uk/
a2a on the holdings of 400
repositories in England and
Wales.
had previously operated circuits on
behalf of the Crown known as ‘ayres’.
Until 1708 it was also possible to hear
criminal cases and appeals at the
higher Privy Council court, but this
was abolished with the Act of Union,
at which point the High Court became
the supreme authority.
Although the sheriff courts had
some jurisdiction in civil matters,
cases were also heard by the
superior Court of Session, which was
established by James V in 1532. In
1810 this court was divided into two,
with an Outer House (a court of first
instance) and Inner House (a court
both of first instance and appeal). In
1815 a Jury Court was also created to
allow trial by jury, though this was
absorbed into the Court of Session
in 1830, along with the Commissary
Courts and the Admiralty Court. The
Commissary Courts had previously
been set up in 1562 to
take over aspects of the
old canon law that had
previously been handled by
the Church’s consistorial
courts prior to the
Reformation, such as the
probate process (known as
‘confirmation’ in Scotland),
and marriage law. Also
operating in Scotland is the
Court of the Lord Lyon,
which oversees heraldic
law, part of the common
View items from The
National Archives’ museum
at www.nationalarchives.
gov.uk/museum, part of
the education web pages,
or search its image library
at www.nationalarchives.
gov.uk/imagelibrary, which
includes images of a broad
selection of court-related
records.
Part 2
law of the land. Its officers of arms can
prosecute in breaches of armorial law,
such as the illegal use of arms, before
the Lyon Court (www.lyon-court.com).
Most surviving historic courts records
are held at the National Records of
Scotland in Edinburgh, although, while
many have been catalogued, a great
many more remained unindexed and
can be quite difficult to work through.
A series of guides are available via the
institution’s website at www.nas.gov.uk,
while the search room hosts a useful
19th-century criminal database called
the ‘Solemn Database’.
Courts in Ireland
In Ireland, surviving records for criminal
and civil court cases are held at the
National Archives of Ireland (www.
nationalarchives.ie) and the Public
Record Office of Northern Ireland
(www.proni.gov.uk), but both are very
poorly catalogued online. Historically
the Irish court system closely mirrored
that in England, with Courts of the
King’s Bench, Common Pleas, Chancery
and Exchequer – hence the name of
the Four Courts building in Dublin.
Major reforms were implemented in
1877, while partition later led to entirely
separate judicial systems in the north
and the south.
Historic records of the lowest courts
in the country, the petty session courts
(the equivalent of the English-based
assizes), dealing with both criminal and
civil cases, are available on findmypast.
ie for the Republic of Ireland from
1828-1912.
It’s likely that the first mention of your
ancestor’s involvement with court is in
a historic newspaper. By noting what
crime they were tried for, hopefully
this guide will help you track down the
archives you need to explore.
About the author
Chris Paton runs the Scotland’s
Greatest Story research service
(www.scotlandsgreateststory.
co.uk), lectures and teaches
online courses through www.
pharostutors.com. He is the
author of Researching Scottish
Family History, Tracing Your Family
History on the Internet, Tracing
Your Irish Family History on the Internet and
The Mount Stewart Murder, and blogs at
www.britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk.
July 2014 FamilyTree 49
 Your Send
product
Ramsey, Huntingdon,
REVIEWS
Ou r t op
choic
Aldeburgh War Memorial: the story
behind the names 1914-1918 by
Simon Last & Michael Good
V
olunteers across the globe are
busily embarking on projects
to remember those from our
communities who died in conflict as we
mark the centenary in August of the start
We will remember them
Victims of the Great War (1914-
1918) Remembered in Burngreave
Cemetery by Albert Jackson
The Great War memorials of Burngreave
Cemetery in Sheffield
are the focus of this
fascinating 60-page
book, published
by The Friends
of Burngreave
Chapel and
Cemetery. It mainly
concentrates on
the cemetery’s two
official World War I memorials erected
by the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission (CWGC), but there’s lots
of great background detail too, such as
the history of the cemetery. As author
Albert Jackson explains, Sheffield was
a garrison town well before the Great
War, with Hillsborough Barracks built to
provide protection from civil unrest and
house regiments as they went to and from
postings overseas. With its armament
factories too, it was well used to a military
presence. This is reflected in Burngreave
Cemetery, which was created in 1861
and is also home to memorials to those
involved in earlier conflicts, including in
India and South Africa.
50 FamilyTree July 2014
review
publications for possible review to Family Tree (Reviews), 61 Great Whyte,
Cambridgeshire PE26 1HJ or email editorial@family-tree.
co.uk for details. If relevant, include the supplier’s postal, email and website
addresses; prices and postage. Please mention Family Tree when buying
products from suppliers listed in Reviews.
of the First World War.
Professional genealogist Simon
Last is no stranger to these unique
projects. Having already compiled two
books commemorating those listed on
Framlingham war memorial in Suffolk
from both world wars (Framlingham War
Memorial: the men behind the names
1914-1918 and ...1939-1945), he picked
up the baton for this latest book when
the original researcher, Michael Good,
sadly became ill with Alzheimer’s.
Simon has used Michael’s extensive
research into the names on Aldeburgh
war memorial as a springboard into the
past, producing a remarkable tribute
to those from the Suffolk town and
e! its surrounding villages who made
the ultimate sacrifice.
Eighty-three men are featured along
with one Aldeburgh woman: she was
25-year-old nurse Christina Jay, who died
aboard the hospital ship, Takada, in the
Indian Ocean in 1916 and was buried at
sea. Simon has traced descendants and
conducted interviews, collected photos
and memorabilia, used census records,
newspaper reports and war diaries,
The cemetery has a CWGC World War I
mass grave and memorial for 31 men who
died in the 3rd Northern General Base
Hospitals in Sheffield after being wounded
while on active service; the tragic roll call
includes men from across the British Isles
and the Commonwealth. The main CWGC
memorial is that designed by Sir Reginald
Blomfield and built, like many others,
in 1921. The book details where names
listed on this memorial may be found
elsewhere in the city, such as the Sheffield
postal workers’ memorial now sited at a
Co-op store and the Thomas Firth and
Sons memorial at River Don Steelworks.
The roll of honour includes official
details listed by the CWGC along with,
in some cases, family information and
even photos. Graves with a headstone
are also listed with inscriptions, and
various personal stories are highlighted.
One of those buried in the mass hospital
grave, for instance, is Private David Barry
of the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles.
Formerly from County Antrim in Ireland, he
emigrated before the war and joined up in
Toronto in February 1916. After training,
he sailed to England and was posted to
the Somme, where he received serious
wounds and had to have his right arm
amputated. Shipped back to the UK, he
died in hospital in Sheffield in September
and visited museums, archives and
cemeteries in mainland Europe to record
the lives of those often anonymous
names and bring their stories to life.
Alongside this moving chronological
‘who’s who’ of the fallen we glimpse the
impact the war had on local communities;
in stark black and white, we see how
these mostly young men from all walks
of life – neighbours, friends, husbands,
sons, brothers and uncles – fell just
months apart and sometimes side by
side. ‘No family’, the author reminds us,
‘was unaffected’, and this tragic loss ‘was
echoed... across the land’. A century later
this book is a fitting tribute to all those
who gave their lives, and a blueprint
for any other family and local history
researchers considering embarking on a
similar memorial project.
l ISBN: 9780992858704. RRP £10
paperback. Charnwood Genealogy:
www.charnwood-genealogy.com.
l Turn to pages 82-83 to read about WWI
centenary projects being undertaken by
fellow readers, and see our new Research
Zone series on pages 84-85.
1916 of septic poisoning, the author sadly
noting, ‘his brother William spent the last
few hours of his life comforting him’. He
adds that Barry is listed on the Canadian
War Memorial and also remembered in his
home town of Ballycarry every November.
It’s a humbling, poignant little story so
don’t be fooled by the simple format, this
book is a quiet family history gem.
For researchers local to Sheffield,
The Friends of Burngreave Chapel and
Cemetery is holding a guided walk and an
exhibition of embroidered WWI postcards
and artwork in Burngreave Mortuary
Chapel on 8-10 August (see website).
l A4 paperback. £7 inc p&p from www.
friendsofburngreavecemetery.btck.co.uk.
Animals in the First World War
by Neil R Storey
Horses, camels, dogs, pigeons and even
cats and baby orang-utans played vital
roles in World War I. Family Tree author
Neil Storey gives us a brief
but colourful insight into the
war work of our furry and
feathered friends. During
World War I, all services
of the armed forces kept
animals and they were put
to great use on the Home
Front too. The book is
www.family-tree.co.uk
 ok
Win a bopetition. Find full
in our late
st website
a
com
t family-tre
e.co.uk
an d enter
details
wonderfully illustrated with photos, such
as a picture of the RSPCA War Fund
paper flag featuring a horse, and a cap
badge of the Royal Engineers, which used
dogs as messengers: all useful to know if
you come across them in your own family
history memorabilia. It abounds with
colourful stories too, from ‘Tirpitz’ the pig
who was rescued from a sinking German
cruiser and ended her adventures with
her head on a mount at the Imperial War
Museum; to the Royal Navy’s treasured
ship cats, not just keeping rats at bay but
giving comfort and companionship to the
men – and adorning many a greetings
card home. One of the most astonishing
tales is that of Prince the Irish terrier,
who found his way to his owner Private
Brown near the Front line in France, after
disappearing from home back in England.
There was no happy ending to war
service for many animals. What is
communicated here is not simply their
vital work but the incredible bonds formed
with the ancestors they served alongside.
l ISBN: 9780747813675. £6.99
paperback. Shire Publications.
Clipstone Camp and the Mansfield
Area in World War One by Pauline
Marples
‘The impact of a large
military presence in a
North Nottinghamshire
community’ is the subtitle
of this book by Pauline
Marples, founder of Forest
Town Heritage Group. The
call for fighting men in the
town of Mansfield saw
a large number of men
enlist and depart – but an even greater
number moved to Clipstone Camp to live
and train. Pauline looks carefully at the
impact this had locally, with each chapter
highlighting a different aspect. This book
will be of great use to local and family
historians with ancestors who passed
through the camp, and those interested in
the social, economic and environmental
impacts of the war at home.
l A4 paperback. £10 plus £2.50 UK p&p;
www.foresttown.net/index.php/heritage.
Wartime memoirs
Call the Doctor by Ronald
White-Cooper
Ronald White-Cooper’s memoirs of his
eventful life as a doctor from 1910-1965
were found in an old trunk in the attic,
and have been beautifully edited into this
www.family-tree.co.uk
Family history books & products with Karen Clare
book by his journalist
granddaughter
Deborah White-
Cooper. Starting in
his school days, and
moving on to his
student life at Barts
in London a century
ago, we learn of his experiences tending
the wounded on the Western Front after
enlisting with four Barts friends. Only
Ronald made it home. Between the wars
he ran a GP surgery in Devon and saw
many changes in medical practice and
technology, as well as the emergence of
the NHS, spending his latter working life in
South Africa. This memoir is packed with
tales and wonderfully-drawn characters
from a life well-lived in a period of
dramatic change. Hugely evocative of a
bygone age, fans of memoirs in the vein
of Call the Midwife will particularly enjoy it.
Not all of us our lucky enough to find our
ancestors’ memoirs in the attic – but as
this book goes to show, it’s certainly worth
a look.
l ISBN: 9781447252122. RRP £7.99
paperback. Pan Macmillan.
A Home Front Diary 1914-1918 by
Lillie Scales
The diaries of
upper-middle-class
North Londoner
Maria Elizabeth
Scales (‘Lillie’) paint
a strikingly honest
picture of life in a
bombarded city
during World War I.
Although 46 when
war broke out, Lillie was determined to
do her bit for the war effort with husband
George. Both were dedicated diarists and
the accounts of young men trooping off
to war, Zeppelin raids, taking in Belgian
refugees and Anzac soldiers, the deaths
of loved ones and more give fresh insight
into the effects of the war on the Home
Front. Nicely edited by Lillie’s great-
nephew Peter Scales.
l ISBN: 9781445618968. RRP £9.99
paperback. Amberley Publishing.
Oceans Apart by Penny Starns
From May 1940, the Children’s Overseas
Reception Board began evacuating British
children to Australia, South Africa, Canada
and New Zealand for safety. Wealthy
British families had already been sending
their children to relatives abroad since
1938, and private evacuation schemes
run by companies such as Kodak and
Ford were also established. Public
criticism caused by resentment, and fear
of invasion, led the Government to act
‘and British children’, says the author,
‘were subsequently sent to far-flung
corners of the Empire’. And so she tells
the stories of the controversial ‘sea-vacs’
and what happened to them when they
returned home years later, with their
identities reforged in a foreign accent and
culture. Based on research in
archives worldwide, she also
examines social attitudes
and political ideologies of the
time, giving a unique – and
heart-breaking – perspective
on the Second World War.
l ISBN: 9780752490113.
RRP £12.99 paperback. The
History Press.
CDs & downloads
Gemini Projects
Genealogist Audrey Buxton, of Gemini
Projects, has published Rutland Marriage
Index (1568-1754) & Rutland Marriage
Licences Index (1598-1772) on CD-rom,
searchable by date, groom, bride and
parish. The records have been carefully
transcribed at Northamptonshire County
Record Office (CRO) and at Leicestershire,
Leicester and Rutland CRO. It’s a true
genealogical labour of love with many
thousands of detailed entries.
l £16 inc UK p&p/£20 inc p&p overseas.
Available from Audrey Buxton, Gemini
Cottage, Little Lane, Greetham, Oakham,
Rutland LE15 7NQ: cheques payable to
Audrey Buxton. Email audreybuxton@
supanet.com for more information.
Archive CD Books
Various collections are now available as
digital downloads as well as on CD at
Archive CD Books, for example: Nathaniel
Jones’s Directory of Glasgow 1787
(€2.64) and Kelly’s Post Office Directory
of Herefordshire 1879 (€12.18). All prices
include VAT.
l www.archivecdbooks.ie/acatalog/
Latest_Download_Releases.html.
S&N Genealogy Supplies
Somerset, Diocese of Bath & Wells Bishops’
Transcripts, Dwelly’s Parts 5 & 6 completes
S&N Genealogy Supplies’ collection of
Dwelly’s transcripts available as digital
downloads.
l £6.95; www.genealogysupplies.com.
July 2014 FamilyTree 51
 FAMILY HISTORY SOURCES ONLINE

FREE digital Every issue Family Tree brings readers

free family history resources online,
such as ebooks to browse, census
indexes to search and software to try
before you buy. Simply register or log in
to begin exploring the records...

ebook
Download Norfolk
Phillimore’s Parish
Records (Marriages) Vol
1, covering dates ranging
from 1540 to 1812. Find
your ancestors in Acle,
Hemblington, Calthorpe,
Ingworth, Southacre,
East Lexham, Castleacre,
Langley, Narborough and
more in this 153-page
volume, published 1899.

Census
Enter first name,
surname and age
to search the
1891 Census for
Brecknockshire,

 
Wales. Use the ‘full
details’ link to view
further transcribed
details and the ‘Find
this person’s family’
link. Another link will
enable you to ‘View
an image of the
original page’.

52 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk

 Free
Free to readers for
resources of Family
you toTree
use

data Back issue

How to view your free digital data?
1. Go to www.family-tree.co.uk/data to register or log in.
2. Select ‘Activate more content’.
3. Select the issue of the magazine.
4. You will need to enter your code for that issue. For this issue’s
free digital data the code is Hp94tv.
Subscribers will also need their subscription number so that
Delve into back
issues from our they can access the records for a longer period. Follow the
archives. This dedicated on-screen subscriber instructions.
month you can 5. The menu will display the latest issue’s selection of resources.
step back 20 6. Select the resource you would like to view, search or download
years to enjoy the
and click on the button to access the records.
July 1994 issue of
Family Tree.

Digital data queries

l Why doesn’t my code
work?
Ensure that you have the
correct code for the issue.
l Where can I find my
subscription number?
It is on your magazine
wrapper at the top of the
name and address box or
freefone 0800 6128377.
l How long can I view the
records for?
Print subscribers will be able
to access them for 12 months
or for the period of their
subscription. Other readers
will have 30 days’ access
once registered.
Registration will be
available for three months
from the UK on sale date.

l Which records are l Which records will be

viewable online, and which
can be downloaded?
The census is searchable
online, and the Army List, back
issue, family history software
and digitised parish records
are all downloadable.
covered in the future?
Please email helen.t@family-
tree.co.uk with your preferred
geographical areas and we’ll
do our best to source useful
records for these places.

Software Laptop image © David Orcea/Shutterstock.

Military records
Search for your British soldier
ancestors across the globe in this
comprehensive Army List from
September 1880, packed with
names. With more than 900 pages
to search, you’ll find Army officers,
Royal Marines, members of the
Would you like to try a family history program?
We’ve got a selection for you to download...
RootsMagic 6 Essentials, Family Historian (30
day trial), Custodian 3 (limited to 10 records
per form), Legacy Family Tree Standard 7.5.
Follow the on-screen prompts to download and
install the programs. If they don’t autorun, you
can locate them via your ‘All Programs’ listing.
Discover which is the right program for your
family history research...

 
militia, yeomanry and volunteers,
with fascinating details and adverts.

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 53

family
familyhistory
history
bookshop
bookshop
family history A Dictionary of Medical & Related
‘Recommended’
bookshop
Terms for the Family Historian
For many of the
diseases described in
Ancestral Trails
this dictionary, Joan
This book guides the
has given an outline
researcher through the
of the symptoms
substantial British archives
and sometimes
with a detailed view of the
gory ailments of our
records and published
ancestors. Flesh is
sources available. Research
put on the bones of
in Scotland, Wales, Ireland,
our forebears and
the Isle of Man and the
provides an insight into their lives, social
Channel Islands is also
conditions and deaths. £5.75
covered. £25

History’s Midwives
Joan Grundy’s excellent
overview of the
profession. £6.95

The Book of Trades

or Library of Useful
Arts: Volume 1, 2 & 3
£3 each

The Genealogist’s
Internet
There is a wealth of material
online for those researching a
family tree. £14.99

Order at
www.familyhistorybookshop.co.uk
or call us today on
0845 5190 228
54 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk
 your
Claim %
10 NT
OU
Family History Bookshop has more than 1,000 products DISCough
thr k
to choose from, with books, back issues, subscriptions, F a c eboo
our age
family history software, family tree charts, magazine p
binders, accessories and maps.

Researching Brewery and Publican Village Records Palaeography for Family and Local
Ancestors John West’s book Historians
This, the second is unusual in its Family and local
edition of Simon skillful and seamless historians frequently
Fowler’s Researching combination of encounter the
Brewery and Publican ‘how to’ advice with challenge posed by the
Ancestors, will lead a comprehensive writing and sometimes
the researcher to work of reference. To the translation of the
the many avenues of illuminate his detailed, records that might
research available. practical guidance, most enable them to
£5.95 the author has used a make further progress
series of landmark documents relating with their research. Many documents
to one particular village, Chaddesley before 1733 were written in Latin and
How to get the most from Family Corbett in Worcestershire. £30 the author includes an outline of the
Pictures differences between classical and
This comprehensive guide, in colour medieval usage and a vocabulary to
and illustrated Essential Maps for Family Historians cover the section in Latin. £18.99
with around 220 Maps are of crucial
images, is essential interest to family
reading for anyone and local historians Words from Wills
researching their alike, in particular and Other Probate
family pictures. those undertaking Records
This is the first book research for villages Stuart Raymond’s A-Z
to cover inherited and other histories. listings and meanings
artworks and Maps help us make of words found in these
photographs spanning sense of how and valuable documents.
the late 18th to mid- 20th centuries. where our ancestors £8.50
£12.99 lived, identifying an individual’s location
and circumstances within his or her
community. The maps in the book are How Heavy, How Much and How
House Histories for Beginners reproduced in colour and there are Long?
Colin and O-lan Style’s integrated case studies within each Weights, money and
excellent guide chapter. £12.99 measurements used
to house history by our ancestors were,
research is ideal for in most cases, very
beginners. £15.99 different than the ones
we use today. Read Colin
Chapman’s fascinating
explanations about their
development. £5
* All prices quoted are exclusive of postage & packaging.

Follow us on Facebook & Twitter

facebook.com/familyhistorybookshop
twitter.com/FamHistBooks
www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 55
 Reader
JUNIOR GENEALOGY story

Catch ’em
young!
Judi Buchanan believes concentrating on the past
Capturing family
discussions
about the past
helps develop
children’s
communication
skills.

can mean the future is sometimes overlooked, so

she has devised a creative after-school programme
to encourage primary school children to engage
with their family history.

Old toys show children how simplicity has evolved into electronic complexity. Children have always made their own toys, for
example, an old pram with four wheels and a piece of rope made a go-cart, or lengths of wood turned into a pair of stilts. Children
can make their own toys as part of the programme.

56 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk


Craftwork can open young minds to other people’s
individuality; there is a great variation in how children
approach and conclude their project, which can lead
to a discussion about how every family is unique.
C
hildren are the new shoots
of any family tree and once
the book of genealogy
is opened to them, they
can become fascinated. Discovery,
detective work, history, the way
families once lived extends the
learning process and promotes active
imaginations. I arrived at family
history research from a career in
education, specifically special needs,
finally leaving my post as a training
coordinator with a local college
to seek new opportunities. The
incentive was to use my experience
and training in education and
associate it with research into family
history.
Decisions
My target group was school children
at key stage 2, (seven-to-eleven year
olds). Considerable planning was
needed before I approached schools
in my home region of Wiltshire.
Headteachers needed to see
something in the project that would
stimulate interest in other subjects
within the curriculum. History was
obvious, but interviewing family
members also introduces children to
research and how to compile facts
into logical conclusions. It also
develops social skills and extends
their ability to communicate in
Images: courtesy the author.
an interactive environment. The
children interview each other
with a voice recorder and then
take a list of questions to ask
their parents and grandparents,
from which a family tree can be
constructed.
www.family-tree.co.uk
My local museum and heritage
centre were enthusiastic because
they saw a way for their archives to
be opened up to young minds and
hopefully start a life-long association.
Day workshops during school
holidays were deemed appropriate
for a museum. The children would
be introduced to junior genealogy,
play with historic toys to discover the
comparison between the past and
today’s technology and construct a
family history box covered with collage
using duplicate copies of documents
and photographs directly associated
with their own family. This box would
become part of a continuing interest in
their heritage. The advantage of a day
workshop is the time given to looking
at visual material and documents
that illustrate the past and how such
records might have influenced their
own family and how they can be
The family history box is a modern
interpretation of the old family bible,
where special events were recorded
on the flyleaf, often by the head of
the house; now children can keep the
records.
New shoots
These are 'lost'
photographs found at
a car boot sale. Such
records can prompt
questions for the junior
genealogist.
used as a basis for research. This
is also built into practical activities
in recreating objects from the past
such as the cornucopia that hung
on the Victorian Christmas tree.
Creative craftwork is a large part of
what the children do because this
course is an activity rather than a
classroom lesson. Practical material
can be found at ScrapstoresUK (www.
scrapstoresuk.org), the charity from
which craft basics can be obtained
either for free or a minimal cost.
Children who have attended
the courses so far have been very
enthusiastic; they see themselves as
explorers and, because it concentrates
on their own family, it becomes the
key to opening an enquiring mind.
An introduction is also given to
websites that enable more specific
research and to utilise the high level
computer skills that many children
have already developed.
After-school clubs
Initially I approached schools offering
a junior genealogist after-school club,
which immediately met the demand
to show children how interesting
family history could be. The
course runs over six weeks and
parents pay a fee to cover the
cost of tuition and resources,
which includes a family tree
chart and a certificate at the
end of the course. The growing
July 2014 FamilyTree 57

JUNIOR GENEALOGY
folder of information contains all the
documents related to the course and
forms a major part of future study.
Schools are realising that junior
genealogy clubs are a productive
alternative to the usual offerings and
parents appreciate the opportunity to
become an active part of their child’s
school work. Talking about past
family members creates a cohesive
environment at home and a sense
of security for the child in knowing
that they have roots in history. Some
children are so enthusiastic that
they return for another course. They
appreciate the practical sessions,
making mind maps and the way in
which workshops can be associated
with specific topics such as the First
World War, or changes in celebrating
Christmas, which extends their
understanding of family history as an
ever-changing procession of events.
Through their children parents
might also make discoveries; some
58 FamilyTree July 2014
Reader
story New shoots
Mind mapping is a tool
for collating thoughts in a
logical manner. Variations
in results indicates the
thought process of each
group member and
provides information on
how each child might
best be instructed on
a one-to-one level.
Mind mapping can be
tailored to specific group
interests – girl guides,
scouts, and even Harry
Potter enthusiasts.
Each child receives
a family tree and
a certificate at
the end of the
course. They are
encouraged to
produce a tree of
their own design,
which shows
imagination and
re-enforces their
interest.
parents have requested their own l A current DBS check.
family research. Children readily l Parental permission to photograph
associate with the project and the activities. Photos can be used
produce some amazing creative work to build up a portfolio to show
that shows they already have the prospective headteachers; photos can
ability to be future researchers. What be copied to disc for use by the school
an endorsement for Junior Genealogy at open days and parents' evenings.
clubs! l A good relationship with the head
and staff.
Essentials l Knowledge of the educational
Ideally other genealogists could set system can help.
up similar after-school clubs in their To date nine schools have taken up
areas, a network the workshops and each term provides
could then be a new group of students.
formed to unify
the presentation,
exchange About the author
information, Judi Buchanan worked in
education for more than 25 years
and standardise
from voluntary helper to school
resources. So what are governor. She has worked with
the essentials to start all ages from five years to 20+
you off? within schools, an FE college,
and adult learning centres. She
started researching by asking her
father about his family. After taking
voluntary redundancy, Judi now passes
Family photos can on her skills and experience by running
school workshops to encourage the next
spark discussion and generation of genealogists. Email her on
interest. judi@theirpastmypresent.co.uk.
www.family-tree.co.uk
NAMES KNOW-HOW Making sense of surnames

Navigating names
John Titford, editor of The Penguin Dictionary of British Not what they seem
Surnames, highlights suspect surname ‘experts’ from l Cabbage. As a surname this can
the past and monikers with origins in occupations. indeed refer to a head of cabbage (can

I
it really mean that someone resembled
t’s always fun to try such a thing?), but it can also have its
to make sense of origins in a fish called a cabbage – that
surnames but as we is, a bullhead. Neither sounds very
do so we’re likely to complimentary!
depend quite heavily on l Cadger. In modern terms, a person
the pioneering research who is always looking for free hand-
done by those who have outs; originally a dealer in small wares.
come before us. Yet the l Cash. A box-maker.
published work of times past l Cattell. From the female name Catlin,
has been something of a a surname chiefly found in the West
curate’s egg – breathtakingly Midlands.
well-informed at best, but l Coffee. An anglicised form of the
hit-and-miss at worst. Some Irish name, O’Cobhthaigh.
of the great masters in the field have Occupational surname: Loving memory l Coffin. An occupational name for a
stood the test of time: we can still card for Mary, widow of the late Wm basket-maker. This is a surname well-
get something of value by consulting Cartwright, died 27 January 1866. known in Devon, where Rev John Pine
CW Bardsley’s Dictionary of English of East Down assumed the additional
and Welsh Surnames, first published in whereby surnames and place-names surname and arms of Coffin by Royal
1901 but reprinted many times since, alike are altered over the years until Licence in 1797, thus establishing the
or PH Reaney’s Dictionary of they sound like something familiar well-known family of Pine-Coffin.
British Surnames, which first – such as purses or gloves. A l Colledge. From Colwich
appeared in 1958; later less romantic but more likely in Staffordshire or Colwick in
editions with corrections m o n th explanation of these two Nottinghamshire.
f the
Tip no’t trust the mbout
and additions by RM re surnames is that each l Cotton. From one of a number of
Wilson bear the more Do a t iv e– is derived from a place- place-names.
strictly accurate title of imagin ish – 19th- name: from Spellow or Le l Crank. From a nickname for a
ur f
A Dictionary of English amate y writers o Spenelowe in Derbyshire, cheerful or lively person – not a cranky
r s
centu dictionarie
Surnames. m e and from Purslow in one.
surna
These are the best Shropshire. More surnames
of the older experts, but are derived from place-names of packhorses, Keeble to a maker or
the more amateurish writers, than from any other source – so seller of cudgels, Lorimer to a harness
especially those working in the 19th always be on the look-out. maker, Parmenter to a maker of lace
century, are very likely to come up and trimmings, Runciman to a man
with interpretations that owe more Surnames of the month in charge of work-horses known as
to guess-work than to thorough Surnames based upon an occupation rouncies and Threadgold to someone
etymological or genealogical research. can afford a fascinating insight into who practised embroidery using gold
Take two related surnames for social history, since alongside the thread.
example: Spendlove and familiar Baker, Butcher, Carpenter,
Purs(e)glove. You might read that Cook, Mason, Miller, Smith, Taylor – About the author
Spendlove was used for a person who even Cartwright, Wheelwright and the John Titford is editor of
was too free in spending their love like – it’s not difficult to spot references The Penguin Dictionary of
– that is, spreading their affections to trades that are long-since defunct. British Surnames (2009).
As well as a writer, he is
far and wide. Purs(e)glove, we are Byron can refer to a cowman, Chapman
Images: Memory card © John Titford.

sometimes told, might have been a
nickname applied to a person who
wore a glove with a purse in it. These
may seem like bold and imaginative
explanations – and both are almost
certainly inaccurate.
‘Folk etymology’ is a process
to an itinerant trader, Chaucer to a
shoemaker, Crerar to a sievewright,
Culpeper to a spicer or herbalist,
Earwaker to one who watched over
wild boars, Falder to a shepherd,
Hansard to a maker of cutlasses or
daggers, Jagger to a man in charge
a broadcaster, researcher,
lecturer and genealogical
bookseller. He is a liveryman
of the Worshipful Company
of Scriveners, trustee and
chairman of examiners of the Institute of
Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, and a
fellow of the Society of Genealogists and of
the Society of Antiquaries.

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 59

 Reader
SEE HOW IT’S DONE... research

Steps to
tracing an
ancient tree
Unless you have ties to aristocrats or landed gentry,
and can link to proven lines that lead to medieval
royalty, a family line going back for a thousand years
is often just a pipe dream. Nevertheless Ian Brown
tells how – with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work –
it really might be possible to trace your lineage back
into the mists of time.

T
hanks in no small measure
to a 19th-century antiquarian
and an 18th-century family
survey, quite a number of
Scottish family historians with the
name Buchanan in their tree can
trace their line back to AD970 without
the appearance of a royal – and I am
fortunate to be among them.
I was born in 1941, and as far back
as the Middle Ages all of my traceable
lines are in Scotland where I live. My
parents married in 1937 when my
father, Archibald Forbes Brown, was
44 and my mother, Jeanie Buchanan
Allan, was 40. My Buchanan ancestry
is through my maternal grandmother,
Jane (Jeanie Buchanan) Boyd. Born
in 1860, she was the daughter of
Alexander Boyd and Agnes Leckie.
Working through the records
Alexander Boyd and his twin sister,
Janet, were born in 1816 in Luss
parish, but were not baptised until
they were nearly six. The entry in
the parish register reads, ‘December
9th 1822, Alexander & Janet twins to
James Boyd, carpenter, Greenock and
Margaret Buchanan’. Interestingly, the
entry in the register does not say that
the parents were married and
nor does it say that the
twins were ‘natural’
(ie illegitimate). My Tip gether
mother, however, ced to h
Ian pie using paris
had passed on a is t re e t is t ic al
h ta
ers, s ,
story told to her regist ts, papers Dumfin. This was one of three
c c o u n &
that Margaret a t o r ie s places rented by Alexander’s
direc histories.
Buchanan fell in s h e d grandfather, Alexander
love with James publi Buchanan, who had leased Dumfin
Boyd and they were since 1787 (Colquhoun Papers –
publically betrothed. see page 62). By the time of the 1841
James then went off to sea Census the mill at Dumfin was being
and never returned and the twins had operated as a sawmill, and Alexander
been conceived on their final night Boyd remained working in the Turkey
together. Red works until around 1872.
Aged 14, Alexander Boyd was Slater’s Directory of Scotland for
apprenticed into the textile trade. The 1872 in the entry for Bonhill parish
Statistical Account of Scotland (goo. lists Alexander Boyd as Co-operative
gl/kmEZxd) for Luss parish states secretary. The history of the Vale of
that there was a small thread mill at Leven Co-operative Society states that

60 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk

 Case study: tracing further back in time

Many of Ian’s ancestors came from Luss

on the shore of Loch Lomand. Ian’s research centred on
the parish of Luss. See
Alexander was secretary from 1873 Genuki.org.uk for a really
Images: map © Brendan Howard/Shutterstock. Buchanan tartan
by Stephen Buchanan licensed under the Creative Commons

until 1888. informative overview and

Alexander’s mother, Margaret useful links for your parish
Buchanan, born in 1790, was the third of interest.
daughter of Alexander Buchanan
Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence.

and Margaret Buchanan, whose

marriage entry in the Luss registers
for 1784 reads, ‘August 7 Alexander
Buchanan son to George Buchanan
late in Corriechennagen & Margaret
Buchanan daugr to Duncan at Miln
of Finlas’. Given the amount of
information in the parish register

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 61

 Reader
SEE HOW IT’S DONE... research

gravestones. Another visit was called A quick look in Black’s Surnames

s
e t r a ditioonthal for. I soon located the gravestones of Scotland revealed that the name
a g
Marroitland public obnstituted alnform
e tr all on the east side right next to the McWattie was a sept (see circle below)
In Sc te copula c r principa n church. Though the name Buchanan of Buchanan of Leny. The stone next
quen othe ratio was visible the stones were badly to that of Duncan was an older one
subse rriage, the eing decla that
la r m a ia g e b s s e s worn. Fortunately in the for ‘Alex McWaty’, dating from 1728.
irregu gular marr nt of witne say both 1960s the monumental Duncan McWattie and Jean
f ir re f ro s t o
o
ouple
in les et wit
h
Need Tip lues
by a c married. did not me rities. inscriptions prior to Turner (née McIntourner) had
r e s o
e e
they w se marriag church au gular
th 1855 for Luss had been und c eight children. Margaret was
Ian fo eyards
of the l from the form of irre it and transcribed by family g r a v l their fourth daughter, born
va d ab in enta
appro was a thir riage by h historians John and n d m onum . in 1760 at Port of Rossdoe
T h e re
t of m a r w ho a tions
ia
uple
ge tha here a co nd wife for Sheila Mitchell. I soon inscrip (Rossdhu). Jean McIntourner
a r r
m ew a
reput her as man arded as found an entry in the was born in 1729, the daughter
t o g et e re reg
lived w monumental inscriptions of Archibald McIntourner and
years rried.
seven ormally ma for Peter Buchanan, farmer at Jean Smith. According to Black the
f
High Bandry (d1750), and his wife McIntourners were a sept of the
‘Eliz’ MacFarlane (d1754); and for Lamonts. Duncan McWattie (also
Duncan Buchanan, farmer Miln called John) was born at High Bandry
entry it ought to have been relatively of Finlas (d1804) and his wife Jean in 1721, the son of Patrick McWattie
easy to find the baptisms of Alexander Turner (d1802). and Elizabeth McFarlane. Patrick and
Buchanan and his wife, Margaret, but So, as well as Miln of Finlas I now Elizabeth had three sons and two
it did take some research. also had High Bandry as a location to daughters, some born in High Bandry
According to the Colquhoun Papers, search. Armed with this information I and others in Struddle, both farms
following his marriage Alexander then searched the baptismal in Luss. Patrick McWattie had been
went to live at Hillhouse, Luss, taking register – not for previously married to Agnes
over a forfeited lease from Malcolm names, but for the s Walker. They had three
McIntyre. In January 1788 Alexander two locations – o l q u hounn daughters, two born in
secured a fresh lease of Hillhouse for and soon found The C C o lq
Cla
uhoun at in High Bandry and one in
The ic se
16 years effective from Whitsunday (15 the families of d it s histor , in West Shemore.
ha C astle n the
May) 1787 at a rent of £5. both Peter and la s s o The Luss baptismal
Dung rtonshire, lyde.
Elizabeth, and n b a e r C register revealed
Du Riv s
Recalling family memories Duncan and o re s of the n’s paper three sons and
sh c la ity
of the ow C
I then recalled that as a child I Jean. Much to Some ld in Glasg ational four daughters to
had, along with my parents and an my surprise all are he and the N nd. George McWattie and
s
elderly aunt of my mother’s, visited the entries were A rchive s of Scotla Katherine McGregor,
o rd
Rec
Luss parish graveyard where we under the surname including Alexander, in
viewed some old Buchanan family McWattie, however. Glenmacorin in 1744. George
was then found to be the son
of Alexander McWattie and Mary
McAusland and was born in 1710.

Tackling ancient histories

I had now exhausted the parish
registers, which for Luss parish only
started in 1698. Intrigued by the
coats of arms on the gravestones, I
then looked in Scottish Family History
(1930) by Margaret Stuart and Sir
James Balfour Paul, where I came
across a reference to the
name McWattie
and ordered The
t?
History of the
a t i s a seeprful
Ancient Surname h
W pt is a po , withw
of Buchanan A se hin a clan
wit me –
by William family own surna ttie
their McWa
Buchanan of h a s the he
su c ithin t
Auchmar. This sept w an clan.
an
work covers Buch
Search for the whereabouts of family papers in the National Register of the history of
Archives and locate them in repositories across the UK and overseas. all branches of the

62 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk


The Statistical Accounts of Scotland are free to browse at goo.gl/s5TX2y.
Buchanan family up to
18th century. ip
T mily
Auchmar had this nt fa
to say about the Ancie revealed
ies
McWatties: histor f varying
s o
lead acy.
accur
The first and most
Considerable of this last
Sort are the Macwatties. The
Ancestor of these was Walter, Son to John,
second of that Name Laird of Lenny. This
Walter [...] had a son called John, who
came to the Lennox and resided in the
Parish of Luss. John [...] had his Surname
Changed into a Patronimical one, derived
from his Father’s proper name, being thence
termed John Macwattie. He having Nine
Sons, who all had Issue, was the Cause
of that new Name’s becoming in a Small
process of Time pretty Numerous. Some
Families of these Macwatties after the
Conflict of Glenfroon having left the Parish
of Luss, Settled in the parishes of Killearn,
and Strablain; these, quitting that of
Macwattie, reassumed their right Surname
of Buchanan, and those of Lenny’s Family
in both the above parishes, with some few
in the Parish of Campsie descended of
these Macwatties, so many of them at least
as continued in the parish of Luss, and
Highland Places, retain the Surname of
Macwattie yet, the principal Person of these
being Alexander Macwattie in Glenmacorin connection. When I started on this
in Luss, Parish.
www.family-tree.co.uk
Case study: tracing further back in time
This descent for the McWatties of
Luss was in the end found not to
be wholly accurate. Nevertheless
the reference to Alexander
McWattie in Glenmacorin spurred
me on to further research.
How to proceed?
Apart from Auchmar the other
main source for Buchanan history is
Strathendrick and its Inhabitants from
Early Times by John Guthrie Smith
published in 1896, which contains a
reference to a charter dated 25 June
1458 in favour of Andrew Buchanan
of Leny and his heirs, the first of
whom is his son, John. On the
basis that Alexander was born
sometime in the third quarter
of the 17th century this left a
gap of some 200 years to be
bridged, to reach the time
of the charter. Bridging the
gap between generations is
a notoriously risky approach to
undertake – the accepted and more
reliable path being to work back
in time, generation by generation.
However this was an approach
that I wanted to take, in the hope
that I could make a valid lineage
task I had no idea what, if any, records
there might be to assist me.
I looked at The Chiefs of Colquhoun
and their Country by Sir William
Fraser and the printed Register of
Testaments for the Commissary Court
of Glasgow, the court covering Luss,
and also the Commissary Court of
Edinburgh, which, in addition to
its area, has a jurisdiction over the
whole of Scotland. In The Chiefs of
Colquhoun and their Country the name
McWattie appeared on a number of
occasions, most of which contained
references to the Register of the Privy
Council. I found five testaments for
Buchanans/McWatties, three of which
proved to be of use, those of Elizat
Buchanan (1596), Allaster McWattie
or Buchanan (1606) and Archibald
McWattie (1677). Allaster McWattie’s
executor was his son, Robert McWattie
or Buchanan.
In the Register of the Privy Council in
1602 Robert Moir (More) McWattie in
Glenmollachan claimed recompence
for the loss of 44 great ky (cows)
stolen by the Clan McGregor. This
was to prove a small loss compared
to what happened the following year,
1603, when the Clan Colquhoun
and their McWattie allies fought
the Battle of Glen Fruin against
the Clan McGregor who had
invaded Colquhoun lands, causing
great slaughter and depredation.
A complaint in the Privy Council
was then made against the Earl
of Argyll for not protecting Luss
against the McGregors and seeking
recompence. Among those seeking
restitution were the widow of Robert
More McWattie in Glenmollachan,
Marion McCoull widow of Allaster
McWattie in Glenmacorin, Robert
Gib McWattie in Edintaggart
and Gilbert McWattie in
Ti and Corriechennagen. Which
p
ments Robert was the son of
Testa egisters Allaster? Was it Robert
u r t r
co c isive
d e More McWattie or Robert
held .
e s f or Ian Gib McWattie? The answer
clu
was to be found in the
testament of Elizat Buchanan.
Included in Elizat’s testament
was a reference to an unpaid tocher
(dowry) amounting to 33 cows. As this
testament was very difficult to read
I passed it to genealogist Rosemary
Bigwood, author of The Scottish Family
Tree Detective, to transliterate it for me.
Due to the difficulty with the writing
July 2014 FamilyTree 63

SEE HOW IT’S DONE...
Scottish parish registers can reveal very specific placenames, and to
complicate matters the spellings can vary greatly (for instance Glenmacorin
in the parish register can be found as Gleann ma Caoruinn on the map).
To learn more about them, try searching the list of parishes at geo.nls.uk/
search/parishes.html and browse the maps to locate the places.
Rosemary transliterated the name of
Elizat’s father as ‘[?]bert Buchanan
…… clerk McWatit in Torrythenethen
(Corriechennagen)’. She said that
her initial thought was ‘Robert’ but
hesitated and left part blank because
Robert More McWattie had lost 44
cows and not 33.
This was where the Glen Fruin
recompence claim at the Privy
Council came to the rescue. I
informed Rosemary that at the
conclusion of the Glen Fruin case
there was a Gilbert McWattie living in
Corriechennagen. She then looked
again at the testament and came to
the conclusion that the words that
were difficult to read were ‘Gilbert
Buchanan alias clerk McWatit in
Torrythenethen’. Thus Robert Gib
McWattie was the son of Gilbert
leaving Robert More McWattie as the
son and executor of Allaster McWattie.
Due to the time taken to give
judgement in the Glen Fruin case
both Marion McCoull and Robert
More McWattie were deceased and
an Allaster McWattie was living at
Search for useful free ebooks from
books.google.co.uk and archive.org.
For instance, The Chiefs of Colquhoun
and their Country (volume 2) and The
History of the Ancient Surname of
Buchanan are available from both.
64 FamilyTree July 2014
Reader
research
Glenmacorin. From the testament
of Archibald McWattie I was able to
discern that Alexander McWattie
(died 1728) was the son of a Robert
McWattie.
Charters & royal seals
The line was now complete from the
mid-16th century to the start of the
parish registers, but roughly 100 years
remain to be bridged to get back to
Andrew Buchanan of Leny.
Having achieved what I could
from testaments and the records of
the Privy Council
I turned to the Tip tters
r t ers, le of
Buchanan of Cha s
gister
Leny family and re te family
no
deposit at the seals nships.
relatio
National Records
of Scotland and
record of the Royal
Seals, the Register of the Great Seal
of Scotland (Registrum Magni Sigilli
Regum Scotorum), and the Register of
the Privy Seal of Scotland (Registrum
Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum). Looking
in these records suggested to me that
the way forward would be to start with
Andrew Buchanan of Leny and his
charter of 1458.
The 1458 charter lists Andrew’s
heirs starting with his eldest son,
John, followed by John’s baby son,
Walter, and then John’s five brothers,
Archibald, Walter, Walter Alterus,
George and Gilbert. As John was
succeeded in the lands of Leny by his
son, Robert, it is clear that Walter died
as a child.
The next piece of evidence was a
letter from Robert Buchanan of Leny
to Stirling of Keir in 1560, which
though now lost during a transfer of
documents between the archives in
Edinburgh and Glasgow, is fortunately
contained in The Stirlings of Keir by Sir
William Fraser. It is a genealogical
letter that shows Walter Alterus as
having two sons, Robert Roto and
Wattie Dogis. Wattie Dogis took the
name of McWattie as evidenced by a
manuscript in the National Library
www.family-tree.co.uk
 Case study: tracing further back in time

of Scotland wherein he is described

as Walter McWattie de Calintuy alias
Buchanan de Lany. The letter also
shows that a daughter of Andrew’s
son, John, married the ‘laird o’
Darlethe bewest Lewin’. A family
called Darleith lived on the west bank
of the River Leven in Dunbartonshire
close to Luss parish.

Vellum family tree

Walter McWattie had a son,
John, who went to Luss Tip ord,
in the early 1500s in all v er sw s-
A sil rie
centu e
likelihood to marry his and a re
mil t
y
cousin, the Darleith old fa n’s line
heiress. Instead he found took Ia AD970.
himself without any lands b ack to
and forced to become a
tacksman (long leaseholder). Read The Stirlings of Keir at archive.org. Old publications such as this
This would then mean that the may have clues about sources that may themselves not have survived the
McWatties descend not only from passage of time.
Walter Alterus but also from John,
not through his son Walter, however, the male line failed on the death Genealogical Table of
ral
ncest
but through a daughter, which could of another Gillespic de Lany c1227. the Family of Leny, Find a n www.
so
account for Buchanan of Auchmar’s Gillespic left a daughter, Margaret, prepared in 1847 event land.com/
c ot g-
error. who had a husband called Alan, and from the old visits omecomin
John McWattie appears as a witness the lands of Lany were confirmed to 16th-century - d o / h 1 4 /
see nd-20
in a sasine of the McCoull family in Alan and Margaret in a charter in vellum pedigree scotla part of the
tr l,
a ing
1530. John is believed to have had 1227. This charter in Regesta Regum that showed him ances Homecom
is h aign .
seven sons, but I have only managed Scottorum refers back to the original to have married Scott camp
2014
to find three of them, Robert, John charter by Culenus to Gillespic Moir. ‘Johneis dochter’.
and Walter. Robert and John are Alan de Lany was succeeded by In 1937 it was finally
clearly the eldest and were away his son, John, who was granted a established to the satisfaction
fighting in the 1540s. Robert appears charter of the lands of Drumchastel of the Lyon Court that Janet de Lany
in the Register of the Great Seal of by Malcolm, Earl of Lennox. John left married John, the son of Sir Walter,
Scotland as a witness in 1557 being no heir and on his death the lands and that John Buchanan of Leny was
described as Robert Lany alias of Lany passed to a daughter of his their third son.
Buchquhanne McWattie and given the father, Alan de Lany, who married Tracing my tree back to AD970
Lany name he would then appear to Alan Buchanan. required me to explore a wide range
be head of the McWattie family. Alan’s direct male descendants of records and to think hard about
He is the father of Allaster continued in the lands of where I might find the ancestral
who died in 1600. Lany for four generations details I needed. Dedication and good
L e n y
Many tions
In the Buchanan of until the then holder, fortune together combined to help me
Leny papers there is a i a
var e was spelt John de Lany, left only take my family tree back to the 10th
family tree written on a m e a daughter, Janet, who century – something I’d always hoped
This n sly and th y
vellum in 1560 which a r io u L a n married John Buchanan to do, but had thought might simply
v ny,
goes back to AD970. e r s io ns, Le re just the representative of the be a pipe dream.
v a
enny, ded
The earliest name on and L ose recor . main Buchanan line. On
of th ents About the author
the tree is Gillespic some ric docum 6 July 1392 they received
is t o
Moir de Lany cAD970. in h a charter of the lands of Ian Brown is a chartered
Around that year the Petqwhonardy from King accountant and is financial
director of a group of
King of Alba (Scotland, Robert III. companies near Glasgow.
north of the Forth and Clyde John and Janet had three sons. He has been researching his
family history for more than 30
valley), Culenus (or Culen), granted The third son, John, succeeded to years and has written an eight-
a Charter of Confirmation of the the estates of Lany or Leny as they volume Guide to Genealogical
estates of Lany to Gillespic Moir – the came to be called. In the past many Sources in the West of Scotland
published by Glasgow & West of Scotland
grant was narrated on a small silver authorities have mistaken this John Family History Society. He is a member
sword. The Lany family continued for his father and given his wife as of the Society of Genealogists and of two
family history societies – Glasgow & West of
in ownership of their estates of Lany Janet de Lany. The source of this error Scotland FHS and Dunbartonshire FHS.
for a further 10 generations until would appear to be the manuscript,

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 65

 FamilyTree in association with

Family History
at your fingertips
GENEALOGY IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Discover
the latest
online leads
& how-to
projects Now l!
in our digitaily History
m
oad Fa ps from
bumper family Downl
at you
r finge
g
rti
s.com
or you
r

history guide
t m a 7. .
9 9
pocke , p r ic e d £
o r e
ap p s t

On sale from selected

WH Smith stores for a
limited period only – priced
just £7.99 or from www.
familyhistorybookshop.co.uk
Packed with great new ways to discover your ancestors online

66 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk

SEARCH TUTORIAL Using the new website

findmypast
guide l

on ho
A s
findm

in o
ypast

u r g
veme

u
tes

main

tha t
effect sitive points uide to th k/2014/05
se n d g
update ily-tree.c past.
a
made
Updacontinue to bceoncentratedst
nts

r
e hav
impro website, w h strategie re time

e
e

searc on the mo .
to the to use the rather than ly to chang on our
w ide, like
e on
o.u
e p
s to b

o s ted
e
e

/start
er-

If you would like some tips on how to is an

l This in May at
fam
n ew - fi n dmy est news fr ard
la t B
om
o
- e s
webs
ite guide te with th past Idea r the
use the new findmypast, our guide by up - t o - d a
the f in d m y
k Fo r u m ) o
keep either e Feedbac ypast CEO
genealogist Mary Evans will help you to l To
y p a s t , see a s t h f in d m
findm usly known logs from Belt.
search the site and find results. b
(previo kly update es van den a useful
ed
wee Anneli s Board is ents plann
h e Id ea e lo p m u r
lT de v se y o
future propo
la c e to see ite and to FMP.
p es or
for th wn ideas f
o

You can make a

wide-ranging search
from the home page.
The new search
system provides
filters for you to apply
to narrow down the
number of results to a
manageable amount.

How can you search?

W
hen searching there are
various routes you can
take, even for simple
birth, marriage and
death (BMD) or census searches. You
can end up with long lists of results
until you get used to applying filters
or choosing a particular option in the
first place.
There are three different ways of
searching. You can search by using the
‘Search all records’ option, a specific
search from the drop-down list under
the ‘Search records’ tab or the A-Z
listing. Different routes might require
different input and can therefore
produce different results.
1. Using ‘Search all records’
You can do a general search across
all the records from either the home
page or from the boxes at the top of
the ‘Search all records’ page accessed
under the ‘Search records’ tab. This
can be useful with an unusual name
but if you use John Smith with no
variants, born 1880, place London,
you’ll get over 4,000 records. This
can be whittled down using the filters
on the left of the results page but it
usually makes sense to opt for a more
specific search.
The ‘Search all records’ page itself
offers a tidy list of the record sets
available and by clicking on these you

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 67

 SEARCH TUTORIAL
Useful things to know
l You can search just one record set,
a few sets at the same time or even
across all sets. You can search on just
one field or you can fill in some or all of
the boxes. You no longer have to enter a
surname.
l Because the initial search can be
wide-ranging you might have to narrow
it down. The new site uses a range of
drop-down boxes, filters and browse
options.
l There is the option to ‘Browse’ lists
such as ‘Counties’ or ‘Record sets’. Tick
the box or boxes you want to search
then remember to ‘Apply filters’. If the
list is a long one start typing the word
you want in the ‘Search filters’ box
within the panel or in the box on the
search form itself and then click on the
result you want when it pops up. You
don’t always need to know the exact
form in which findmypast has entered
it – ‘St Mary’ will bring up Elland St Mary
and Luddenden St Mary and ‘India’ will
bring up the British India Office sets, for
example. But only when this is a set in
its own right. To find a Shropshire parish
you must type in ‘Shropshire’ to get the
Shropshire Collection sets then within
these you can start to type in the parish.
l When you tick and apply a filter or
click a typed option, it is disconcerting
68 FamilyTree July 2014
to find that it doesn’t appear in the box
but in a box underneath. However, this
makes sense: when you have chosen
multiple options you see them all neatly
displayed instead of disappearing
beyond the ends of the typing box.
l When you click on ‘Search...’ you
sometimes end up with a great many
results but there is a useful drop-
down box top right above the list. This
allows you to change the order of your
results. It defaults to ‘Relevance’ but
you can choose, for example, to order
by first or last name or age. It defaults
to ‘Ascending’ but the box then offers
‘descending’ for that option.
l When you have the results list you
can opt for a transcription or image.
You can also select the image from the
transcription page. To copy and paste
into your records and to get a good full-
page print click on the ‘Download’ icon
bottom right then click ‘Open’.
l Single page household and individual
census transcripts can now be printed.
l findmypast offers access to family
history records from many countries
from around the world, as you may
notice from your search results. Access
to the full transcripts and images of
the complete range of records is via a
worldwide subscription.
If your ancestor has a common name
you are likely to be faced with a very
large number of results. You may prefer
to start with a more specific search in
this instance to make best use of your
research time.
can drill down to the sets within each
and search from there. It is particularly
useful for the Special Collections
and also provides a straightforward
overview of what is available.
2. Using the drop-down list
This is the probably the option most
of us choose. You select one general
set such as ‘Birth, marriage, death and
parish records’ or ‘Census, land and
surveys’ and use the search facilities
within the set. But there are twists and
turns even within these: see the specific
BMD and Census sections below.
3. Using the A-Z list
This is exactly what it says: an A-Z list
of all the record sets. You can access it
either from the ‘Search records’ tab or
from the A-Z link that appears at the
top right corner of search pages. This is
a good way of getting a search-specific
form, and finding more details about
people you have already identified.
BMD & parish records link
Click on the ‘Search records’ tab and
select ‘Birth, marriage, death and parish
records’. This will bring up a general
search form that can search across all
these records, though strangely there
is no box for date of marriage. There
is no option on this form for specific
information relating to an event.
You can choose one or more record
collections/sets from the ‘Browse’
options and this will ensure that you
only search these sets but it will not
change the basic form. The findmypast
team are working to improve the search
fields for each record set.
To improve your options, click on
the ‘Search records’ tab, select ‘Birth,
marriage, death and parish records’ as
before but now go to ‘All collections’
to the right. When you choose a
specific set from this drop-down list
you will get a search form for that
set. So, for example, the ‘Births and
baptisms’ search will include mother’s
maiden name and the marriage
form will include spouse’s first name
www.family-tree.co.uk
 Using the new website

Searching on a specific set will usually provide you with a customised search form for that set, making the form quicker and clearer
to fill in. Above left, the general ‘BMD and parish records’ search form; and above right the specific ‘Marriages and divorces’ form,
which allows you to enter marriage year and spouse’s names for instance.

An alternative way to display a search-

specific form is to go to the ‘Search
records’ tab and then choose a record
set from the A-Z link. The A-Z list
includes all the records on the website,
not just those relating to a record set
you might just have been searching in.

and surname. There will also be

an ‘Optional keywords’ box, useful
perhaps for a parent’s name in a parish
record? Interestingly, ‘All collections’
will also bring up a search for ‘Wills
and probate’ though there is currently
nothing to indicate beforehand that select ‘Census, land and surveys’. This
this is where this record set is located. will bring up another general form You can filter the A-Z list by country
that will search across all these sets. and order it by category or sub-
Census, land & surveys link It’s also why there is a ‘When +/-’ box category. Alternatively search or
Again there is more than one option on the general form: it doesn’t make browse the A-Z list of records.
here. From the ‘Search records’ tab sense with a census but does with a

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 69

 SEARCH TUTORIAL Using the new website

The filters you’ve

chosen to search
on will be listed
below the search
7 tips to help you search
field. Ê Be prepared to spend time getting
This is the general to know your way round and trying out
search form, the various options.
but choosing a
specific census Ë Before you search, think carefully
search form will about the options available. Sometimes
provide you with a broad search gradually filtered down
fields tailored to can be useful but at other times it is
the census data. better to head straight for a specific
search.

Ì Remember that different search

land record. You can opt for one or
more record collections and sets so
that you search only these but again
this won’t change the search form.
There are very few census-specific
options here but note that you do have
that ever-so-useful ‘Other household
member’ box and an ‘Optional
keywords’ box.
Choosing ‘Census, land and surveys’
and then using ‘All collections’ links
will give you a more search-specific
form for that search.
If you want a very detailed search
form for a particular census, right
down to folio and page number, then
you need to select the appropriate
census from either the A-Z list or the
‘Search all records’ options. But be
aware that you do not get the ‘Other
household member’ option with this,
nor an ‘Optional keywords’ box that
might have served a similar purpose.
Other sections
Some sections such as ‘Churches and
religion’ have little available while
others such as ‘Education and work’
have many useful records. All except
‘Newspapers and periodicals’ work
to the same pattern so look at the
various search form options.
‘Newspapers and periodicals’
searches need a name and/or a
place and can also be filtered using
the left-hand options for newspaper
and date range. The place/county/
newspaper/article filters have useful
A-Z links to narrow your options.
Clicking on the page or image icon
highlights the relevant section of
the paper, which you can enlarge
or make full screen. You can then
download and print the image. You
can also select and paste a section to
print out.
Conclusion
It’s not easy initially but with
patience and practice you really can
get the new findmypast to work to
your advantage.
options can offer different input options
so be prepared for results to vary
accordingly.
Í If, after clicking on ‘image’, it is slow
to appear, it may be quicker to click on
the download icon and open the full,
uncompressed image.
Î If you are trying to work out what to
put into the birth place/town/city in a
census search, try typing in the place
name and seeing whether it comes
up as an option. If it is included in the
list it will pop up. This can help you
in instances where you are unsure of
the sort of place naming details that a
census page includes.
Ï There are masses of record sets
from the popular BMD indexes and
census records to small ones such as
Elmton, Derbyshire records. Take time
to browse the A-Z listing so that you’re
not missing anything. Likewise keep an
eye on the ‘News’ sections so that you
don’t miss recently uploaded records.
Note that some records, which might
not have transferred to the new site,
should be added in the weeks to come.

Ð Make use of the ‘Optional keywords’

‘Newspapers and box that appears on some search
periodicals’ are forms.
searched by name
and place, and
the place/county/ About the authors
newspaper/article Mary Evans has been
filters (circled) have researching her family tree for
more than 30 years, contributed
useful A-Z links to to research on TV series ‘Who
narrow down your Do You Think You Are?’ and
initial search. Julian Fellowes’ ‘Great Houses’,
and is a regular contributor to
FT and our forum, where she
especially enjoys tackling brickwalls.

70 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk

 There’s more to
discover at
family-tree.co.uk

Explore . Learn . Share

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 71
 FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The Great War

on a plate
A smiling British soldier
sits in mud eating a
spoonful of hot food near
the Western Front during
the First World War. It
appears to be from a
series of photographs
showing soldiers’ rations,
possibly intended to
reassure their families
back home.

Images: soldier photos from the papers of Field Marshal (Earl) Haig (1861-1928), National Library of Scotland (digital.nls.uk/74549578 and digital.
nls.uk/74549560), licensed under Creative Commons, Attribution – NonCommercial – Share-alike 2.5UK: Scotland licence; queue © Imperial War
Museums; 1918 leaflet, Punch cartoon & advert licensed under Creative Commons licence; Cooks courtesy Steven Clifford.

What did your ancestors eat during the Great vegetables rather than the more likely
cause – bacteria. Growth was stunted
War? Amanda Randall cooks up a brief history of throughout the generations; little milk
allotments, civilian rationing and Army mess tins. or other dairy products were available

H
ealth and nutrition were
divided strictly along
class lines in the years
immediately before the
Great War. The middle and upper
classes could afford adequate and even
luxurious diets. On the other side of
the divide, the working class diet was
generally poor; malnutrition was rife
and starvation was not unknown.
Meat (if the money was available),
potatoes, bread and tea formed the
bulk of the diet of poor families,
especially in towns; vegetables were
little valued, being considered (even
officially) too ‘water-rich’. Summer
outbreaks of diarrhoea were often
attributed to eating seasonal fruit and
to build strong bones. Having a
full belly was unknown among the
poorest.
So when war broke out on 4 August
1914, the depth of malnourishment
throughout the lower echelons
of society was further exposed.
Thousands of men were unable to
enlist because of poor health, which
implies an even worse state of health

72 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk


Food shortages: mums and children
among women and children at a time queue for provisions in Reading during
when it was common to serve the head World War I, before rationing began.
of the house with the best food.
Food queuing became a feature of into submission. The country couldn’t
wartime life and hoarding became feed itself with home-grown food
illegal under the Defence of the and around two-thirds of the food
Realm Act (1914). Amendments to required was imported. Reasonable
the Act continued to impose harvests in 1914 and 1915 encouraged
increasingly draconian rules official complacency, but the harvest
regarding supplying, buying and of 1916 was disastrous. Food reserves
storing food. Self-imposed restrictions became critically low, at one point
on buying certain food items was the only six weeks’ worth of wheat stocks
norm but by 1916 rising prices, queues remained. In the first month of the
and unrest, even riots, over food campaign, 230 UK-bound ships were
availability threatened stability and sunk. Every month some 52,000 tons
morale on the Home Front. of imported fruit and vegetables plus
a further 77,000 tons of other foods
Rationing, eventually plunged to the depths of the ocean.
Germany’s U-boat campaign pushed Between 1914 and 1917, almost six
Britain to the brink of being starved million tons of food was lost at sea.
Officers cooking in the open air on the
Western Front during the Great War, ‘near
Miraumont-le-Grand’, the dining chairs in
stark contrast to their surroundings.
www.family-tree.co.uk
Your WWI ancestors’ diet
Win The War Cookbook
Aimed at the upper classes with
servants to provide for, the Win The War
Cookbook urged the lady of the house
to fight back: ‘The struggle is not only
on land and sea; it is in your larder,
your kitchen and your dining room.
Every meal you serve is now literally
a battle.’ Recipes included ‘patriotic’
haricot bean fritters, barley rissoles
and nut rolls – all time-consuming
and unrealistic for most working class
mothers.
Something had to be done.
In December 1916 the new Ministry
of Food began to secure and regulate
food supplies for civilians and military
alike. The Board of Agriculture
implemented a Food Production
Department to help farmers with
equipment, fertilisers, animal feed
and workers, which led to the creation
of the Women’s Land Army (WLA).
Rapid improvements in agricultural
output were made, boosted by a
bumper harvest in 1917. Between June
1916 and June 1918, an additional two
million acres of permanent pasture
and 1.25 million acres of temporary
pasture came into production.
Shoppers had to register with their
local grocer when restrictions were
implemented: bread from February
1917, sugar from December 1917,
meats and fats in London and the
Home Counties from February 1918.
In April ration books were issued
when rationing was introduced
nationally.
In 1917 an effective convoy system
was set up to protect ships heading
across the Atlantic and, by 1918, more
than 200,000 women were working
the land, along with 30,000 prisoners
of war and a vast unofficial army of
children. Britain had been saved from
starvation.
Tommy’s diet
It is said that an army marches on its
stomach, so it’s a given that food was
(and remains) an essential element of
the performance and morale of the
fighting troops. Each man received
4,200 calories a day, much the same as
today’s military rations. The primary
foodstuff was bully beef, often
accompanied by hard tack biscuits;
July 2014 FamilyTree 73
 FOOD FOR THOUGHT
fresh vegetables and fruit were less
common. Bully beef (mainly from
Argentina) was used extensively, for
example in bread soup (bully with
bread and stock); spring soup (bully
with veg and stock) and potted meat
(minced bully with pepper). Fishcakes
were made from 10 tins of bully, 10
tins of herrings, 4lb breadcrumbs, 4lb
potatoes, 2oz pepper and stock. Fancy
those for tea?
Rations were cooked in big field
kitchens, but meals were often
cold by the time they reached the
hungry soldiers. If possible, men
supplemented rations with their own
cooking, with food sent from home or
bought locally. Cafes and bars were
popular behind the lines; here beer,
wine, bread, cake and fruit could be
bought and added to the repetitive
and stodgy mess diet. In established
camps overseas, home-grown produce
from vegetable gardens brought
variety to everyday rations.
Watch a film clip of a Front line
butchery kitchen at goo.gl/fhwB6b.
Home comforts
Food as a source of comfort was every
bit as important as it was for health.
Food parcels would be sent from
home whenever the family could
manage it. In Essex, the Reverend
Andrew Clarke recorded in his diary
dated 9 February 1916: ‘Mrs HJ Hicks,
74 FamilyTree July 2014
tew
In a s inned meat
A British Government
leaflet from 1918 listing
’s t erts,
nochie s adv
Maco , claimed it elicious’. the penalties offenders
was d ‘d
stew amous’ an g to one had received for breaching
f in
‘world th, accord ible’ warm wartime rationing
In tru it was ‘ed , which legislation.
nt, old
accou mankiller’ c crime in
b u t ‘ a a w ar at
o u n ted to ead more
am eye s ! R
zj.
some o.gl/O78k
go
Maconochie’s advert
from The Graphic, 1916.
Supply Stores, frequently sends out a Christmas cake Mum I could see you
parcel to Ernest Suckling, a prisoner and Dad sitting at the table eating
of war… a parcel… of two quartern yours.’
[sic] loaves of bread (baked extra long
so as to keep), tinned milk, tea, cocoa, Grow your own
cigarettes, tobacco, cigarette paper, To the Victorian mind, allotments
matches, butter [or] jam.’ (Echoes of provided the poor with an alternative
The Great War: the diary of the Reverend to drink and other ‘unworthy’
Andrew Clarke 1914-1919 edited by
James Munson, OUP 1985.) Punch cartoon, 12 September 1917: Mother
Those much-valued treats strongly (to maid, who has offered Marjorie some
evoked home. One soldier wrote home jam): ‘Oh no, thank you, not with the first
after receiving a parcel containing piece.’ Marjorie: ‘But, Mummy, I have given
homemade cake: ‘As I ate my up having a first piece now – war economy.’
Don’t try this at home!
Milk Biscuit Pudding (feeds 100 men)
Ingredients: biscuits (15lb), milk (3lb or
3 tins), sugar (5lb), currants (4lb), spice
(1 packet), candied peel (4oz).
Method: Soak biscuits until soft,
about three hours in cold water; wash
and pick over the currants, cut up
peel finely; place biscuits, sugar and
currants into baking dishes;
Add milk and mix well together with
spice & peel and place in oven for one
hour.
(Thanks to Feeding Tommy: Battlefield
Recipes from the First World War by
Andrew Robertshaw, The History Press,
2013).
www.family-tree.co.uk

Keeping the troops fed: this postcard shows young cooks of the Royal Field
Auxiliary (RFA).
pursuits. While country dwellers
had space to grow food, most urban
dwellers didn’t, and allotments
became increasingly popular. In 1914
there were up to 600,000 allotments in
the UK, reaching a peak of 1.5 million
by war’s end.
Home-grown produce could
counteract food shortages during
wartime, and a glut of legislation
and changes in local government
www.family-tree.co.uk
organisation helped raise the status
of the humble allotment. Soon after
the outbreak of war, the Board of
Agriculture and Fisheries appealed to
private gardeners to keep veg seeds
to pass on to allotment holders. From
the end of 1916 local councils were
empowered to turn unused land over
to food production. As the German
U-boat campaign hit home, city parks
were transformed from flowerbeds
into vegetable plots. Tomatoes grew
in municipal glasshouses, cabbages,
carrots and cauliflowers filled the beds
and people could buy the produce at
The Wipers Times
Full of fascinating satirical articles,
comments and adverts, The Wipers
Times provides a darkly witty take on
all things at the Front. On 20 January
1917, the ‘Mesopotamian alphabet’
appeared, describing an A-Z of life in
the Middle East. Here’s B:
‘B is the biscuit that’s made in Delhi,
It breaks your teeth and bruises your
belly,
And grinds your intestines into a jelly,
In the land of Mesopotamia.’
Your WWI ancestors’ diet
Familiar & not-so familiar
wartime foods
l Nestle’s Condensed Milk would be
spread on toast or used to sweeten tea;
l Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
disguised less appealing flavours;
l Horlicks Malted Milk allegedly
improved the strength and efficiency of
munitions workers;
l Jack Tarr Tinned Tuna made an
appearance in early 1918;
l Bird’s Custard, no eggs needed for
this filling addition to dessert;
l Gong Soup, a dehydrated soup
costing 2d a packet;
l Tickler’s jam, made in Grimsby,
was the jam poorer families put on
their bread. Tickler’s won the contract
to supply the Army. Once eaten, the
container could be fashioned into
bombs! Tickler’s even appears in a
poem by war poet Ivor Gurney (The
Stokes Gunners), but here is another
soldier’s ditty:
The Passionate Soldier to his Jam
‘Tickler’s Jam. Tickler’s Jam,
How I love Tom Tickler’s Jam,
Plum and apple in one pound pots
Sent from England in ten ton lots.
Every night when I’m asleep,
I’m dreaming that I am
Bombing the poor old Germans’ trench
With Tommy Tickler’s Jam.’
reasonable prices. George V’s support
was evident when he insisted the land
around the Queen Victoria memorial
should be used to grow potatoes
instead of pelargoniums; all the royal
parks followed his lead.
By the end of the war, British
attitudes to food were changing.
Serving men had put on weight
from regular Army rations, and
those returning from the East had
acquired a taste for spice. Meanwhile,
grow-your-own had developed into
a national passion. Women had
played an enormously important
role in providing home-grown food
and agricultural technology had
improved. When World War II broke
out, rationing was implemented
quickly and ruthlessly, allotments
were encouraged and protected, and
municipal land was used for food
production. It seems lessons had been
learned.
July 2014 FamilyTree 75

YOUR Q&A
Advice...
OUR EXPERTS DAVID FROST, MARY EVANS,
JAYNE SHRIMPTON & TIM LOVERING HELP
TO SOLVE YOUR MYSTERIES...
Dating a family photo
Q
The photo below
measures 2.5 x 4
inches. I understand
that the photographer
was in business during
the Victorian period, and it
came into my possession in
December, having been ‘in
the family’ for many years.
Is it possible for you to date
it and give any clues as to
the subjects? I had relatives
who lived in Doncaster from
1878 until the present, but
none from Sheffield! My
Victorian ancestors came
from Aberdeen, in 1878, to
work on what is now the East
Coast Main Line. It could
possibly be connected to
them – the Donald family.
My grandmother was born in
1878, having been conceived
as a Scot, but born a
Sassenach! Her mother was
born in 1851.
Stephen Baker
baker.karanest@btinternet.com
A
Judging from its
appearance and from
your confirmation
of the dimensions, this is a
carte de visite photographic
print. The carte (or cdv), in
production from 1859/60 until
the early 1900s, dominated
Victorian studio photography,
until the 1890s when the
larger cabinet print grew
more fashionable. Millions
survive today but the dates
of individual examples can
be determined using various
photograph-dating techniques.
There is no freely
available online data for the
photographer, JH Ainley, but
studio dates don’t always give
a close time frame and in this
76 FamilyTree July 2014
in association with
case the evidence of dress
offers great dating clues.
The lady in this scene wears
the one-piece ‘Princess dress’
which buttoned continuously
down the centre-front to
achieve a close fit: sometimes
the lower skirt section was
separate and was ornamented
with narrow pleats, as seen
here. This style of costume
was formed by the elongated
cuirass corset or bodice, which
created a fitted,
narrow line and was
fashionable between
the mid to late 1870s
and early 1880s, until
the bustle began to
form again in around
1884. Features that
help to narrow the
potential time frame
more closely include
the round collar
effect at her neck –
usually seen on adult
women from c1878/9
until the mid-1880s.
Based on the mother’s
appearance, then,
I estimate that this
photograph was taken
c1878-84.
The girl is also
fashionably-dressed
in a narrow frock that
echoes slender adult styles,
but appears more ornate with
its bands of shirring – a popular
form of ornamentation at the
time. She too wears a rounded
collar and her hair is cut into
a short fringe, fashionable
for children and also worn by
some young women during
the 1880s. In view of the date
range, this lady and child could
definitely be members of your
family who arrived in Doncaster
from Aberdeen in 1878. The
girl may be aged around five or
six years old, so she could well
be your grandmother, born in
1878, pictured with her mother.
If correct, the photograph must
date to the end of the time
frame, about 1883 or 1884.
Unfortunately we can only
guess as to why they were
photographed in Sheffield, 19
or 20 miles from Doncaster,
but perhaps one day this may
become clear. JS
Note the rounded corners of
the card mount: the earliest
cdvs had square corners, but
rounded card corners were
used increasingly from the
late 1870s onwards.
Coloured mounts of various
shades were being offered
by the late 1860s, the bright
golden-yellow hue of this
particular card being most
popular during the 1870s
and 1880s.
HOW TO GET IN
TOUCH...
We welcome your family
history queries, and try
to answer as many as
possible. To contact us:
l EMAIL:
helen.t@family-tree.co.uk
l FORUM:
Alternatively, for a more
speedy response and to
publicise your question
more widely, visit our forum
at www.family-tree.co.uk/
forum, to ask our experts
and fellow readers for advice.
l FACEBOOK & TWITTER
Or post a query on our
Facebook page, facebook.
com/familytreemaguk, or
tweet us
@familytreemaguk.
The elaborate design on
the mount reverse featuring
the photographer’s name
sprawled diagonally across
the centre, an ornate capital
letter ‘S’ and decorative
filigree scrollwork is
characteristic of the late
1870s and 1880s.
www.family-tree.co.uk
 Your questions answered

Clues in the registers

Q
the Suffolk Burial Index,
I am trying to trace from www.suffolkfhs.co.uk. Can you help?
my ancester Kezia/ Although the marriage of a

Keziah/Kazia Kerry
b1795(?) died 1828(?), married
to William Bridgeman c1815,
but I cannot trace parish
register entries, nor can I find
Kezia on Ancestry or Genes
widower to his dead wife’s
sister was forbidden, it was
only made explicitly illegal in
1835. ME
In two census
households
Q
Seeking Edmund Guy Cleary’s death & burial
I have been searching for Edmund Guy Cleary for
more than 20 years and would like to know when
or where he died and was buried. He was born in
1846 in Ballinasloe, Co Galway, to soldier James Cleary
(Connaught Rangers). Edmund married Lydia Mary Finchett
in Manchester in 1872 and was a fruiterer in Smithfield

Reunited. William Bridgeman
then married Kezia’s sister,
Elizabeth, in 1830, and I have
found this register entry. Do
you have any ideas how I can
trace Kezia?
Bill Clague
hazel.clague@gmail.com
Q
I am tracing my
mother’s side.
She was born a
Muggleton, from Tottenham.
I have traced my 2x great-
grandparents James and
Matilda Muggleton. In the
1871 Census Matilda is a
Market. He was one of 11 children, some of whom emigrated.
The last sighting of him is 1894 in the London rate book. He is
‘deceased’ on his son’s wedding certificate in 1924.
H Cleary
344 Lower Luton Road, St Albans, Herts AL4 8LQ
have a second daughter called Burrows, would probably
Sarah while the first was still automatically record her as
alive so I can’t help thinking being part of his family, even if

A
Your first port of call for
details on Kezia should
be the Suffolk Record
Office. The Suffolk Family
History Society’s baptism
index on www.findmypast.
co.uk has a baptism for Keziah
on 29 March 1798 to parents
Robert and Sarah in Holy
Trinity, Stowupland. Elizabeth
was baptised on 9 July 1800
and an older sister, Sarah, on
17 April 1796. All three entries
have ‘late Godbold’ included
and this leads to a marriage
on the Suffolk Marriage Index
on 21 April 1795 for Robert
Kerry and Sarah Godbold in
Stowupland. TheGenealogist.
co.uk has a digitised image
of the transcript of Keziah’s
marriage to William Bridgeman
on 17 April 1815. William is a
widower of Stowmarket but
the marriage took place in
Combs. I can’t find an online
record for Keziah’s burial but
you should be able to find it in
one of the parish registers.
All the above indexed entries
will be recorded in the relevant
parish registers. The Suffolk
parish registers are available
at the Suffolk Record Office,
in the case of Stowupland and
Combs at the Ipswich Branch
at Gatacre Road, Ipswich,
widow, listed with a Sarah that this could simply be a she was spending a night with
Aberry Muggleton, cited as double entry in the census if her widowed mother, especially
‘daughter’ aged 24, giving a Sarah was spending census if he had filled in the schedule
birth date c1847, occupation night with her mother instead a few days before. In the
‘general servant – out of at home with William. meantime, if she was spending
of employment’, born in Her husband, William
Tottenham.
At first I thought this might
be Sarah Ann Muggleton,
a daughter of James and
Matilda who is living with
them in the 1851 and 1861
Censuses. However I have
found out Sarah Ann was
born on 23 January 1842 and
she married William Burrows
on 1 July 1866, and in the
1871 Census is living with
William and their daughter
Mary at 4 Brunswick Gardens,
High Road, Tottenham, so
clearly is not Sarah Aberry
Muggleton.
Sarah Aberry Muggleton
does not appear in any other
census and I cannot find a
record of her birth, marriage
or death. Aberry is not, to my
knowledge, a forename and is
not a common surname, and
I can’t for the life of me find a
link between Muggleton and
Aberry. So Sarah Aberry is a
real mystery.
Glyn Evans
glynee@blueyonder.co.uk

IP1 2LQ: see goo.gl/9y6C1e.
The record office has a parish
register copying service: goo.
gl/q7fauf.
There are also a number
of CDs available, including
A
Like you I have
searched for and failed
to find any evidence
of a Sarah Aberry Muggleton.
It seems most unlikely that
James and Matilda would

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 77


YOUR Q&A
the night with her mother, she
would be included on that
return.
In 1871 we see only the
enumerator’s interpretation of
the schedule, perhaps poorly-
written by the householder, or
possibly even his interpretation
of what he was told if the
householder wasn’t able to
fill it in. Did Sarah’s mother
record her daughter as Sarah
A Burrows and, if not clearly
written and with the final
‘s’ perhaps trailing, did the
enumerator interpret this
as Aberry and then assume
that she shared the surname
Muggleton with the rest of
the family, thus including
the ditto abbreviation under
the surname for her as well?
Likewise a badly written 9 and
4 could be confused in her age.
When it came to occupation,
her mother might have felt that
she had to write something so
gave her previous occupation
of general servant together
with ‘out of employ’ as she
was looking after her young
daughter. ME
My father’s birth
Q
Due to not being
able to locate the
place of birth of my
father, William Lewis, it has so
far proved impossible for me
to trace his family. He would
appear to have been born in
1889, 1891 or 1892, according
to different sources. My
parents separated when
I was very young and my
mother seemingly never had
any contact with my father’s
family.
I have my parents’ marriage
certificate, 26 March 1925,
Kingston, Surrey. William
Lewis (bachelor, age given 33)
to Ruth Simpson (aged 19),
both resident in Teddington,
my father’s occupation stated
as bird and animal specialist.
According to the certificate
my grandfather, also William
Lewis, was a solicitor by
profession, but had died by
the time of their marriage. I
78 FamilyTree July 2014
in association with
have been unable to find out
if my father had any siblings
(the witnesses at the marriage
would not appear to be
relatives), nor do I know his
mother’s forename or maiden
name.
I also have my father’s
death certificate, 31 August
1940, Wimbledon, Surrey,
age stated 51. The informant
was not a family member. My
father’s occupation is shown
as veterinary surgeon (retired).
I have established there was
no will or grant of probate in
his estate.
I had understood my father
served in the Army during the
First World War, with the 17th
Lancers. There is a medal
card on Ancestry for a Private
William C Lewis who served
with the 17th, 16th and Corps
of Lancers, but there is no
address on the reverse and no
surviving record of service.
Following the First World
War he joined Harrods
Live Stock Department,
and his departure notice in
the Harrodian Gazette in
1933 provides no further
information other than that ‘he
had a wonderful knowledge
of animals and birds, both
foreign and native’.
I have established he
was not registered with the
Royal College of Veterinary
Surgeons, but believe at that
time it was not necessary to
do so in order to be able to
practice.
I have applied for
information from the 1939
Register, which gives his date
of birth as 27 February 1891
but no location. You will note
that the ages of 27 he gave
on joining Harrods and 33
on his marriage, and the age
of 51 shown on his Death
Certificate, differ in the year of
birth from the date he stated
for the 1939 Register.
How else might I locate my
father’s place of birth, please?
Without being able to obtain
a birth certificate, I fear I may
never trace his family.
GW Lewis Moore
Correspondence via the
magazine please
A
Despite careful
searching of the
1891/1901/1911
censuses I haven’t been able
to find a William Lewis of the
right age living with a William
Lewis, solicitor, though at the
time of your father’s birth his
father might have been training
to be a solicitor so might not
have been referred to as such.
In the absence of a likely
family in the censuses I
wondered whether in fact your
grandparents never actually
married? Both the 1891 and
1901 censuses have entries
for the name William Lewis
where the person is both
single and a solicitor. It might
be worth having a closer look
at these. The records of the
Registrar of Attorneys and
Solicitors were set up in 1843:
see www.nationalarchives.
gov.uk/records/research-
guides/attorneys-solicitors.
htm#18030.
The 16th and 17th Lancers
seem to be included in The
Queen’s Royal Lancers and
Nottinghamshire Yeomanry
Museum: see www.
qrlnymuseum.co.uk/17l.htm.
It might be worth contacting
the museum to see if they can
offer any advice.
Although your father’s ages
at various points do not match
Many of the
artworks in
today’s family
collections are
modest watercolour
miniatures, but
this one might be
termed a ‘small
portrait’. Certainly,
its execution in oil
on canvas signifies
a superior artistic
medium.
the year of birth in the 1939
Register, I think the specific
date of 27 February is almost
certainly correct and the year
is likely to be too. If the date is
right then he would have been
just over one month old at the
time of the census. It might be
worth trying this.
If you can find a descendant
of the informant on his death
certificate – he/she might
know something? Is there a
headstone that might provide a
clue? Have you looked at local
newspapers? Are you sure
the witnesses on the marriage
certificate are not related? ME
Regency portrait
Q
I am anxious to get
closer to identifying
the subject of this
oil portrait (7 x 5 inches). I
have reason to believe that
the subject is Thomas Pitcher
(1745-1837), my 3x great-
grandfather, a shipbuilder at
Northfleet on the Thames.
The picture is unsigned but
was inherited by me, together
with a number of other well
authenticated pictures and
documents. The fact that
it has been passed down
the family suggests that the
subject was a family member
and Thomas seems the most
likely to fill this position. His
mode of dress suggests
to me the latter part of the
18th century, but I would be
grateful for advice.
www.family-tree.co.uk

Dr Chris Pitcher
chris@pitcher.plus.com
A
It is always interesting
to see portrait
heirlooms dating from
the pre-photographic era –
hand-crafted paintings or
drawings that typically depict
our more affluent or well-
connected ancestors.
I work on significant
numbers of family artworks
each year and, unless the
family is of aristocratic
ancestry or long-established
landed gentry (the hereditary
ruling classes accustomed to
commissioning portraits for
generations), most examples
tend to date from the early to
mid-1800s, that is, from the 40
or 50 years before photography
became a popular method of
portraiture. This trend directly
reflects the expanding late-
Georgian and early-Victorian
middle classes, whose rising
social and economic status
significantly opened up the
market for portraiture by the
turn of the 19th century. Your
painting accords perfectly with
that development.
Male images can be hard to
pin down precisely as men’s
fashions did not change
rapidly or very distinctly.
Additionally, there are few
dress details visible in this
head and shoulders view.
However the gentleman’s short
hairstyle swept forward slightly
onto his face represents the
tousled ‘Neo-classical’ style
fashionable in the early 1800s.
Meanwhile, what we can see
of his clothing reveals the dark
tailored frock coat usual during
the period broadly termed
‘Regency’. The starched collar
of his white shirt is raised
fashionably high to rest on his
cheeks and is swathed about
the neck with a fine white linen
or muslin cravat, the tying of
cravats becoming virtually
an art form in the hands of
‘Beau’ Brummel, the Prince
Regent’s sartorial advisor. The
completed look is that of the
www.family-tree.co.uk
impeccable young English
gentleman of the early 1800s –
c1800-1825.
Unfortunately a closer time
frame isn’t possible, for lack
of fashion clues, but this does
offer you an accurate starting
point for identifying this
ancestor. In my opinion he is
aged in his twenties or perhaps
about 30, so I’m afraid that he
can’t realistically be Thomas
Pitcher (1745-1837), who was
an elderly man by the time of
this painting. However he may
well be from that family line. JS
Died at sea
Q
In 1880 our landed
estate was bankrupt,
and my great-
grandfather decided to go to
sea. I had ‘known’ that my
great-grandfather had died
aboard ship in about 1885,
and his doctor brother-in-law
was forced to go ‘down to
the south coast’ to sort it out
‘in winter’. My fifth cousin
reminded me that my great-
grandfather appeared on the
1891 Census, but in the 1901
great-grandmother was listed
as ‘widow’.
Is there an easy way other
than searching every James
Reid who died between the
census dates in Portsmouth/
Southampton/Plymouth to
find the right man? He was
James Reid of Auchinellan,
Argyll and would have been
37 in 1891. He was a marine
engineer, not an able seaman.
Jim Derham-Reid
kunghitjim@hotmail.com
A
If you’ve found James
in the 1891 Census
you’ll know his
occupation and initially you
should work on the assumption
that he died in the same area,
especially if his wife was in the
same place for both censuses.
If you don’t find him in the
death registers, work on the
assumption that he did die at
sea. Tracing seafarers is easy
if you know which ships they
served on but more difficult
Your questions answered
Can you help?
Do you recognise this chap?
Q
I responded to John Burnett’s question (FT
January, page 84) as I wished to help him find
further details about the photos. We do not know
the man’s name, but he was born c1896 in either the
Macclesfield/Gawsworth
area of Cheshire or just
over the county border
with Staffordshire around
the Leek area. He worked
with horses on a farm in
Gawsworth 1915-1916
before enlisting in the
Army Veterinary Corps,
probably serving in the
Eastern theatre against
Turkish forces. John
Burnett has sent me a
photograph of the young
man out of uniform,
taken when he was
younger, and I am hoping
that the photo might be
duplicated in a reader’s
own photo album, and
hope that a fellow reader
can help.
Graham Caldwell
gljcaldwell@ozemail.com.au
If you recognise this man from photos in your
family collection, please contact Graham.
if you don’t. Only a few crew William George Argyle
lists are indexed and can be McKenzie (cooper) and Jane
viewed on findmypast.co.uk. If Gillam, both of full age,
you draw a blank there look to bachelor/spinster. The
see if he got any qualifications. fathers were Donald
Ancestry has a list of all the McKenzie (soldier) and
masters and mates certificates George Gillam (gardener).
issued between 1850 and There were two children:
1927. 23 March 1857 in Northfleet
If James died at sea he will Kent, Henry George; and 9
probably have been buried at May 1859 in Northfleet, Kent,
sea as there was no convenient William Thomas. On both
means of transporting bodies certificates father William
in those days. Only if his death is shown as cooper at a
occurred close to port would cement works.
he be likely to appear in the On 6 May 1860 in
port records. Registers of Bermondsey Jane
deaths at sea for the period MacKenzie (widow) married
are at The National Archives. Robert David Munn.
See further details at www. My problem is that I can
nationalarchives.gov.uk/ find no evidence of the death
records/looking-for-person/ of William George Argyle
bmdatseaorabroad.htm. DF McKenzie, despite checking
up to see whether he died
Distinctive names
Q
a lot later, but I have had no
I have a marriage luck at all.
certificate dated 27 Bob & Pauline Johnson
December 1858 in pauline_m_johnson@yahoo.
Stepney between co.uk
July 2014 FamilyTree 79

YOUR Q&A
A
This is a distinctive
combination of
names. However, it
is unlikely that all three first
names will appear in full in a
death index so the entry might
appear as William George A
or even William GA McKenzie/
MacKenzie. I also noticed
that at his baptism in Stepney
in 1834 he was recorded
as George William Argyle
McKenzie so you have to put
this into the mix too.
However, having tried all
these combinations in a search
from the date of marriage
onwards I had no results.
Given the names I have also
searched in Scotland.
Having said that, the
surname McKenzie/MacKenzie
is not all that common in the
London/Kent area and given
that William’s father was called
Donald I would be inclined
to take a look at the death
in the September quarter of
1859 in St George-in-the-East
for Donald William George
McKenzie. It fits within the
very short time frame if Jane
was indeed a widow on her
remarriage and, given that
he was born and married
in Stepney the registration
district, seems reasonable.
If the death was registered
by someone other than Jane
there could well have been
some confusion over the three
first names. If this is William
then the second child’s birth
certificate should show William
as deceased but such detail is
not always recorded.
It might be worth checking
the local register office for
Northfleet in case the death
registration did not get
through to the national index.
I think this is now under the
Medway Registry Office:
see www.medway.gov.uk/
birthsceremoniesanddeaths.
aspx.
Try looking for records of the
cement works in Northfleet at
the Kent History and Library
Centre: see goo.gl/cturgc. It’s
possible that William died in an
80 FamilyTree July 2014
in association with
accident so local newspapers
might prove fruitful too. ME
Children’s homes
Q
James Seal married
Daisy Long in 1930,
Kent, and they
had: Neville (born 1930);
Peter (1933); Louie (1934)
and Brian (1937). The boys’
mother died when they were
young, so they were put in
a Dr Barnardo’s Home and
their father seems to have
disappeared. Neville lived
with my family in 1947-1948,
then moved to Penshurst
until he married in 1953.
Peter lived with my family
in the 1950s and married in
the 1960s. Louie was blind
and was sent to a blind
home at two years old in
Leamington Spa. Brian was
sent to Australia at 12 years
old from Dr Barnardo’s Home
in Ifield Hall, Surrey. He has
since died. I was very young
when Neville came to live
with my family. Two of my
three older brothers had died,
so Neville was like an older
brother to me but sadly he
died when he was 48. Peter
is still alive and will be 81 this
year. Louie could still be alive
and would be 80 this year.
Any help on Louie would be
most appreciated.
Mrs SM Drury
51 Leechcroft Avenue,
Swanley, Kent BR 8 8AP
A
First I suggest you
contact Dr Barnardo’s
who have a family
history service at goo.gl/
eFO2BM and may be able
to help. Some of its records
are very comprehensive and
reveal fascinating detail. For
details of schools for the blind
in Leamington Spa contact
the Warwickshire Association
for the Blind, www.wa4b.org.
uk. The RNIB ran a school
for young blind children at a
house called Milverton Lawn
from the 1920s to 1985 by
when it had become normal
to integrate blind children into
the main education system.
This sounds like the school
of which you speak. The
Royal National Institute of
Blind People (RNIB) may have
retained the school records
and if not the county archives
heritage.warwickshire.gov.
uk/warwickshire-county-
record-office may have them.
It is usual for school logs and
admission records to be kept
but other records may not have
survived. Seven to 10 years
is a typical retention period
for some records, but schools
interested in their history may
keep them longer. DF
Six-footer soldier
Q
Sergeant Robert
Owen, my great-
grandfather, was
a brother of Lord Leycester
Hospital Warwick and is in
both of these photographs
taken in 1897 (above right)
and 1902 (above). The
hospital is a retirement home
for former servicemen. Is it
possible to identify Robert?
The 1902 photo was taken
a short time prior to his
death in that October. The
Royal Horticultural Society
confirmed the photo was
taken late summer by the
various flowers. Robert
was 6 ft tall. He served in
India for many years until
he contracted hepatitis and
was declared unfit for further
service in October 1864.
Joe Fenn
joe.topsy@talktalk.net
A
Height (six footers
were not so common
then) and the fact that
the medals in your possession
show that Robert had earned
the India General Service
Medal with the Pegu bar and
the Long Service and Good
Conduct (LS and GC) Medal
are useful indicators.
In the 1897 photo four men
are wearing two medals. We
can rule out the one on the
extreme left of the back row as
he’s not the tallest present and
his medals have no visible bar.
Third from the right in the back
row can also be ruled out as he
has three bars on what looks to
be the Crimea Medal. Second
from right in the front row is
a possibility. His right-hand
medal appears to have a bar
of the type associated with the
India General Service Medal
and the other could be the
LS and GC medal. However
campaign medals are worn
before LS and GC medals but
as they’re hung independently
he could have put them on the
wrong way round. Although
seated he’s obviously a big
man. Front row third from
left is not particularly tall and
unfortunately his medals are
partly concealed.
In the 1902 photo only two
www.family-tree.co.uk
 Your questions answered

Knowing that Robert had earned the India General
Service Medal with the Pegu bar and the LS and
GC Medal helped to rule out some of those shown
in the photos from 1897 (below) and 1902 (left).
the other, marched into battle
to the nearest fallen body,
giving the last rites or taking
him to where he belonged to,
according to his uniform. On
another notable occasion,
he was marched in broad
daylight, flanked by two
German officers, back to his
own lines.
Anne Lavers
lavers@esc.net.au
Pass it on
Unwanted certificates
To request any of these certificates, kindly sent in by
Therese Lloyd, please email helen.t@family-tree.co.uk with
details of your family connection.
l Birth: Emily Jane Croucher, parents George and
Susannah (formerly David), 27 July 1837, Lewisham, Kent.
l Birth: Albert Wheatley, 21 November 1853, Radford,
Nottingham, parents Aaron and Mary (formerly Brierley).
l Marriage: Charles Croucher and Eliza Wheeler, 20 April
1844, Frensham, Surrey (fathers Charles Croucher and
James Wheeler).
l Marriage: Charles Croucher and Caroline Ansell, 25
December 1850, Lambeth, Surrey (fathers William Croucher
and Levi Ansell).
l Death: Mathew Miller, 15 January 1911, age 57 years,
Walton, Liverpool, widow and informant M Miller.
l Death: Emma Lloyd, 6 December 1918, 72 years,
Worcester, informant R Roberts, master of union
workhouse, Worcester.
l Death: Ann Perris, 27 January 1852, age 41 years,
Taunton St Mary Magdalen, Taunton, Somerset, informant
James Packhouse, present at death.
l Death: Hannah Perrins, 2 November 1881, age 84 years,
Leigh, Martley, Worcester, son and informant Edward
Robinson Perrins.
l Death: Frances Mary Ann Johnson, 21 December 1937,
age 77 years, Dartford and Farningham, Dartford, son and
informant Ernest R Johnson.
l Death: Elizabeth Staples, 28 November 1879, Bromley,
Kent, spouse and informant Joseph Staples.
1930s plane crash
I have an original typewritten account by LA Greaves of

are wearing two medals and
one of those has a star which
rules him out as Robert. The
other with two medals is not
Robert either as one of the
medals fits neither the shape of
the India GS Medal nor the LS
and GC Medal. It’s possible, but
unlikely given the scenario, that
he wasn’t wearing his medals or
they were under his overcoat.
If Robert died shortly after the
1902 photo it may well be he
was missing due to illness. DF
Chaplain at the Front
A
I searched for Charles’s
original commission
on www.thegazette.
co.uk, and found an entry in
the supplement to the Gazette
dated 15 May 1917. This states
that Cadet Charles Roland
Whereat was commissioned as
a temporary second lieutenant
in the Worcester Regiment
on 15 May 1917. Having
this information, I was able
to locate Charles’s service
record in the catalogue of
The National Archives (WO
339/75270). This file should
his plane crash in East Africa en route from Nairobi to
Mombasa, I think in the 1930s. LA Greaves was working at
Welsey College, Kumasi, Gold Coast with my father. I am
sure the account will interest LA Greaves’s descendants.
Please email me if you are a descendant and would like a
scanned copy, or to request the original typescript.
Gillian Smith
gillbri13@gmail.com
(recordsearch.naa.gov.au). war diaries are held at the
This returned Charles’s Second Australian War Memorial in
World War Australian Army Canberra (www.awm.gov.au/
service record, under his Army collection/war-diaries) – it
number SX5201. Charles’s should be noted that only a
record is freely available online. minority of these have been
The record provides a detailed digitised and made available

Q
I’m researching
Chaplain Charles
Roland Whereat, and
would like to find out what he
did during World War I. One
story remembered well from
early childhood days, was
how Charles, 6’4” tall, clad
in a white robe, Bible under
one arm, shepherd’s stick in
provide the best insight into
Charles’s First World War
service. Unfortunately, officers’
service records have not been
digitised for online access, but
it may be possible to pay to
have the original digitised or
copied for you.
Next I searched for Charles
on the National Archives of
Australia’s records search page
account of his postings,
movements, promotions and
training. While there is little
indication of any unusual
exploits, the details may help
you to identify relevant unit
war diaries. Although these
rarely mention ordinary soldiers
by name, officers such as
Chaplain Whereat are more
likely to appear. Australian
online.
The National Library of
Australia’s Trove website
(trove.nla.gov.au) provides
free access to a vast collection
of digitised Australian
newspapers. This includes
multiple references to
Chaplain Whereat. I think this
resource would reward further
investigation. TL

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 81


YOUR Q&A
WWI research
Can you help?
Lyndhurst village
A group of local residents are
researching the casualties
commemorated on the various
war memorials in Lyndhurst
and Emery Down.
Most of those named
on the memorials are well
documented, but some are
elusive. Who, for example,
were Private A Broomfield of
the Royal Sussex Regiment
and Private FA Turner of the
Hampshire Regiment? We
would be very pleased to
hear from anyone connected
to the World War I names on
the Lyndhurst memorial or on
the lychgate at Emery Down
church. Additionally, do let
us know if you are connected
to anyone from the area who
enrolled as a Red Cross nurse
and worked in France or at
one of the Lyndhurst hospitals:
Fenwick Cottage Hospital,
Hill House, Lyndhurst or
Beechwood House, Bartley.
We hope to produce a
commemorative book in
time for the centenary of the
Images: Royal Sussex Regiment © Paul Reed www.greatwarphotos.com.
Lyndhurst memorial.
82 FamilyTree July 2014
in association with
Armistice in 2018 – photos
and memorabilia will all add Bishopthorpe
to the story. Please contact memorial.
the research team by email
at clairewickens@waitrose.
com or by post at Lyndhurst
War Memorial Research
c/o Burwood, Chapel Lane,
Lyndhurst, Hampshire SO43
7FF. Find further information at
www.lyndhurstparishcouncil.
org.uk/emery-down-lychgate-
project.
Bishopthorpe memorial
I have been researching the
men on the war memorial in
the village of Bishopthorpe,
just south of York, for several
years with a view to a
commemorative publication. I
have found out a considerable
amount regarding the military
side of things. However,
in some cases, I have not
been able to contact any
descendant relatives of these
men, and I am particularly
keen to obtain a photograph of
each man if possible.
There are 14 men from the whose names are not on the as a result of their service. I
First World War and 10 from memorial (eight men from the intend to include these men in
the second conflict. There are First World War, and one from my publication too.
other men from Bishopthorpe, the Second), who each died Ken Haywood
kenhaywood@outlook.com
The names in red are not
included on the memorial.
Find the full details (regimental
numbers, units etc) on our
forum at goo.gl/6gd9ai.
WWI Bishopthorpe fallen
Bailey, William
Barker, Charles Oxtoby
Bowlby, John Arthur
Bowlby, Stephenson
Dale, William Edward
Fountain, Daniel
Fuguel, Mark Walter
Gibbs, Edward Reginald
Holt, Arthur
Hudson, George Ambrose
Johnson, Frank (Army)
Johnson, Frank (RND)
Lumley, Richard John
Mackay, Donald Paley
Muggeridge, John
Outram, Frank
Paget, Berkeley
Simpson, Charles
www.family-tree.co.uk
 Your questions answered

About our experts

David Frost’s
interest in
genealogy was
sparked by the
unexpected
appearance of
an illegitimate
and distinctly
dodgy family member in 1967.
He’s been writing on genealogy
topics since 1991.
Mary Evans has
been researching
her family tree
for more than 30
years, contributed
to research on
Photos on this page: soldiers from the Royal Sussex Regiment. TV series ‘Who
Do You Think
You Are?’ and Julian Fellowes’
‘Great Houses’, and is a regular
contributor to FT and our forum,
where she especially enjoys
tackling brickwalls.

Simpson, George Henry
Smith, John Arthur
Watson, Arthur Toward
Wilkinson, George
WWII Bishopthorpe fallen
Dixon, John Raymond
Hebden, George Granville
Iles, Geoffrey
Johnson, Charles William
Lancaster, Alan Norman
Medhurst, Richard Edward
Hastings
Stobart, Simon
Umpleby, Edgar
Whittaker, Edwin Eric
monument at Priez on 10
September 2014, where the
county regiment suffered its
first casualties 100 years ago
to the day. The memorial will
list the 22 members of the
regiment who died that day by
name and will also honour the
memory of the 7,302 officers
and men who died while
serving in the regiment during
the Great War. If you have
information or photographs
relating to the fallen, please
get in touch. Donations
relating to the monument
can be made at mydonate.
bt.com/events/priez or by
cheque/postal order made
out to ‘War Memorial Fund’
and sent to Mr B Hudson, 29
Henry Avenue, Littlehampton
BN16 2PA.
Nigel Taggart
royalsussexregt@live.co.uk
01243 699881
Jayne Shrimpton
is a professional
dress historian,
portrait specialist
and ‘photo
detective’. She
is photograph
consultant for
TV series ‘Who Do You Think
You Are?’ and her latest book
is Tracing Your Ancestors
Through Family Photographs
(2014). Find her online at www.
jayneshrimpton.co.uk.
Tim Lovering
has worked widely
as an archivist
and historical
researcher, and
developed an
interest in genealogy
through his archive
work. He has had a lifelong
interest in British military history.

Royal Sussex Regiment

family research
The Royal Sussex Regimental
Association is seeking
descendants of men who
served in the regiment and
died, both at Priez, France
in September 1914, and
those who fell from this
point to December 1914.
The association is currently
fundraising to unveil a new

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 83

 research
SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS zone

Finding lost
soldiers
Barrie: It must be a subject that
interests you – don’t do it just because
you want a publication. Be organised
because the amount of data can be
overwhelming. You also need to realise
that some recorded information will
be false, so you must be sceptical
All family historians are researchers: we pose about data. I found mistakes in
questions about our own ancestors, seeking answers official records, on memorials and
in newspapers all the time – names
and devising strategies to conquer brickwalls. spelled wrongly, incorrect first names
However, some of us take it a step further by devoting and so on. You need to shine a bright
light into dark corners, and get at the
time to bigger projects. In this and future issues, truth.
author and researcher Simon Wills will shine the
spotlight on some such ventures, which we hope Q You discovered 28 Beverley men not
recorded on a war memorial. Why
you’ll find interesting, and inspiring too. were they missed?
Barrie: There were many reasons.

W
ith First World War
commemorative
projects very much at
the forefront of family
historians’ minds at the moment, I got
in touch with Barrie Barnes. Barrie
has spent 20 years researching the
history of Beverley, Yorkshire, during
the First World War. His 912-page
book, Known Unto God, is an impressive
achievement, and describes the effects
of the war on the community, and the
fates of the many men who died in the
conflict in great detail. I asked him
about his research...
it might be a war memorial. So I went
back about a week later and it was
vandalised, and strangely all the names
were written on the back. I’m not from
Beverley – I’m from Hull – but I’m
inquisitive and it all went from there.
Q Do you have any tips for anyone
thinking of starting a research
project?
Researcher Barrie Barnes at the
Hengate Great War memorial at
Beverley.
Families sometimes moved out of
the area before the memorial was
completed; some families refused to
put their loved ones’ names forward
as they had been reported missing in
action and in this way they kept hope
alive of their deliverance. Others
were deeply traumatised and in their
grief withdrew from the world. There
was also bad feeling in the town of
Beverley towards the War Memorial

Q What inspired you?

Barrie: I’m a working historian
so I’m interested in the social side.
One day I was stuck in the traffic in
Beverley, near a street
called Hengate, and I
saw this big memorial
tucked away. It looked
forgotten but I thought

Known Unto God by

Barrie Barnes is £48
plus £10 postage and
only available to buy
direct from Barrie. Call
01430 874089 or email
bs_barnes@btinternet.com.

84 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk

 Reader studies

you
The unveiling of the Beverley war memorial, Hengate, 22 September 1921.
How in in
o
can j ould like
Committee. Things were recorded toll was deliberately under-reported house) to see w
If you ct featured
differently in the past. I compared in the press. Afterwards some of the book and a o je
your p r Zone,
official records, local newspapers the men who fought in the war and large amount of R e s earch t@
in .
helen
and other memorials to compile an their families faced unemployment, unpublished extra email e.co.uk.
-tre
accurate list. starvation and the influenza epidemic, material – personal family
often with tragic consequences. But it’s service records,

Q Did you unearth any disturbing

material; how did you deal with it?
important to present the information
warts and all – to be honest.
photos, letters.

Barrie: Yes, I uncovered suicides, for

example. One man shot himself over
a girl. There was fear in the town at
the height of the war when people
began to realise their loved ones
might not come back and the death
Q How can people see your research
for themselves?
Barrie: They can visit the Beverley
archives, the Treasure House (www2.
eastriding.gov.uk/leisure/the-treasure-
Q How do you feel now you’ve
completed it?
Barrie: Proud of it. It’s the biggest
thing I’ve ever done. It’s the definitive
history – a textbook for people to use
for years to come.

About the author

Dr Simon Wills is a genealogist
and author with more than 25
Images courtesy Barrie Barnes.

years’ experience of researching his

ancestors. He has a particular interest
in maritime history and his latest book
is the historical novel Lifeboatmen (Pen
& Sword, 2014). He is also author of
How Our Ancestors Died (Pen & Sword,
Memorial 2013).
service at the
monument,
November 2011.
www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 85
 ding
ve rea
LETTERS We lo ers, and tr
le t t
your lish as m a n
y
y
u b To
to p ossible.

mailbox
as p us, see the
ct t
conta us ways a
va r io o f
ttom
the bo e 88.
pag

Calls to honour a D-Day pilot, precious

examples of wartime papers, and a range of
views on the new findmypast website...
Can we right a historic wrong?
I am a member of the RAF Memorial Flight petitions/64215. Non-UK residents/ regular contact with her. His name was
Club (www.memorialflightclub.com) and citizens cannot sign that one, but I have Sergeant Albert E France, number 17678,
I would like to encourage readers to sign also created a petition at Change.org: goo. Worcestershire Regiment. I know that
a petition that I have created to put to the gl/68CQJ5. Albert survived the war because I have
UK Government to award a posthumous We have got one year to obtain 100,000 a letter sent to Mary from his brother
Victoria Cross (VC) to a brave D-Day pilot signatures for the e-petition. It would be Charles France in 1921, but I have no idea
who was recommended for it, but who great if, 70 years after Harvey Jones died, what became of Albert and would love to
had this denied. The circumstances are as the Government would change the decision know. Perhaps he has descendants out
follows. made back then and award the VC to this there somewhere? Mary Ellen remained a
On 5/6 June 1944 (D-Day), Flying Officer representative of such a brave generation. spinster and died in 1944.
Harvey Edgar Jones (RCAF) was captain Stephen Keene-Elliott I am also lucky enough to have letters
of a Dakota of 233 Squadron as part stephen.keene-elliott@phantom- and funeral cards from the family of Private
of Operation TONGA (the first wave of enterprises.co.uk Charles E Payne, number 389948, who also
paratroop drops). corresponded with Mary, and who died in
The aircraft was hit by flak, setting it on Our family war letters 1921.
fire. Despite the danger the aircraft was in, I have a collection of First World War letters My own great-uncle also served in
Jones flew on until the drop was completed that were sent to my husband’s great-aunt, the war. He was Private Ernest Howarth,
and remained with the aircraft until all crew Mary Ellen Rigg. She was born in 1873, in
had bailed, dying himself when it crashed. Rochdale, Lancashire, and the family later Sylvia Rigg has a precious collection
He was recommended for a Victoria moved to Ansdell, Lytham. of all sorts of First World War family
Cross by the Station Commander, by No 46 During the war Mary became a VAD correspondence and photos, of which
Group and by AOC Transport Command, nurse working at a place called Starr Hills these shown are just a small sample.
but was denied it by the Air Ministry. and the letters are from soldiers that she Left: her husband’s great-aunt, who
He received a Mention in Despatches. had nursed during the war. served as a VAD, and (below) a letter
The recommendation states, ‘Jones One soldier, in particular, remained in from soldier Albert E France.
deliberately sacrificed his life to carry out
his orders and to ensure the safety of his
crew’.
My understanding is that at this stage
in the war, the Air Ministry/the Ministry
of Defence (created in 1940 by Churchill)
were wary of awarding too many Victoria
Crosses – they wanted the VC to be
seen as the highest award, something
exceptional. As a result, most pilot VCs
showed bravery with two elements:
1. The pilot remained with the damaged
aircraft until the main mission objectives
were met.
2. The pilot remained with the aircraft until
the rest of the crew members had got to
safety.
In this case, Harvey Jones met both
criteria, giving his life to ensure this.
On this 70th anniversary of D-Day, it is
high time to rectify the original mistake and
posthumously award this hero a VC.
UK residents/citizens can sign the
petition at epetitions.direct.gov.uk/

86 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk


fo
Don’t em!
th amily First
e f
hav
number 240164, If you a r lette hare
W
10th Battalion World you can s t
t o s ,
Lancashire pho
rc h iv e the war.
and a firstworld
Fusiliers, who o f t h e
lives
died in battle on
18 September 1918,
and is remembered with
honour on panels 5 and 6,
Vis-en-Artois Memorial. I have a copy of his
movements during his final days.
He fought in the Battle of Epéhy on
the Hindenburg Line, where the battalion
attempted to capture Heather Trench, near
Gouzeaucourt, and on 18 September was
successful in doing so.
The companies reached their objectives
between 5.30am and 5.40am, but D
company – in which Ernest served – arrived
before the battalion on its right and met
with some opposition from a machine gun
and some bombers concealed in Heather
Trench. This was where Ernest was killed.
Sylvia Rigg
sylvia_rigg@btinternet.com
Top: a letter from soldier Charles
Payne to Mary Ellen Rigg. Above:
Charles’s memorial card – he survived
the war only to die in 1921. Below:
Sylvia also has a photo of her great-
uncle Ernest Howarth, who died in the
First World War. She has researched
his war service, discovering the events
leading up to his death.
I thought it was just me
I had thought it was just me having difficulty
with the new findmypast website, but
now I realise that I am not alone. I loved
r g e t
the old website, so easy to work with
and it has helped me so much. For
instance, from the home page,
rs and
you would make one click on
the census, another for the year
m a
and another for either address or
person – and there were your results.
org.
Searching on baptisms, marriages and
deaths was just as quick and, dare I say,
simple. I am really hoping it will go back to
the original website.
Wendy Morgan
6 Butlers Drive, Carterton, OXON OX18
3QU
It’s not a ‘no’ ...
I have just taken out a month’s subscription
to findmypast.co.uk, after not having used
it for a few years, mainly because I missed
not doing research in person at some of the
local record offices.
I noticed the change to the format
straight away when I logged on to search
a census. It took some time to get used
to and, yes, I did have to trawl though
the records to find what I wanted, but
eventually I got used to it and by tweaking,
I got results.
I will weigh up the benefits of the website
once I have used it more and when my
subscription is up, but for the time being I
wouldn’t say no to using it again.
Gareth Booker-Card
gm.booker@aol.co.uk
I found the site very easy
Having seen so much bad publicity about
the new findmypast site I decided to take
out a short subscription to see what I
thought of it.
Perhaps I should first explain that I do
not normally use any of the online sites as
my research is now mainly in the medieval
period.
Possibly due to not using online records
frequently I found the site very easy to use
and in fact I could use it in a similar way
that I would search paper records, from the
known to the unknown, using information
already gathered as a pointer to information
to be found, using minimal information and
only adding more if I need to reduce or filter
the number of returns.
Many of the complaints and problems I
have read have not affected me, possibly
because I have no preconceived ideas on
how the site should work.
I am not saying the site is perfect (even
findmypast admits there are problems)
but certainly the site is better than the
complaints I have read indicate. I would
also suggest that perhaps people need to
review their own search methods.
Guy Etchells
guy@anguline.co.uk
Graham to the rescue again!
I would like to thank Family Tree for printing
my question (Regimental Number Research
Q&A, April 2014). What really amazed me is
that, thanks to you printing my query, I was
emailed by Graham Caldwell in Australia
who helped another of your readers, Les
Pettitt (Q&A Special, November 2013, page
79). Graham’s hobby is military genealogy
and he has, very generously, given me
enough information and tips to enable me
to find out a great deal more information. I
am really grateful for all the help Family Tree
and Graham in particular have given me.
Christine Stringer
chris17stringer@yahoo.co.uk
The clue is in the French
I have a clue to the mystery of ‘Mr Fient,
pigeon-fattener’ in Simon Wicks’s article on
old occupations (FT April, page 12).
Anyone fluent in French would feel this is
a nickname given to a poor man because,
in French, ‘la fiente’ is the proper word for
bird droppings.
My guess is that this mystery man was
probably a tramp who was catching and
feeding pigeons, either to supplement
his diet or to sell them for a small income.
Many French cook books still give the
recipe for ‘pigeon aux petits pois’ (Google
it if you are curious!). I do not know the
context in which the name is quoted in
1898-1899, of course, so I could be wrong.
The surname Fient is quite rare in
England and the only family of that name
I could find on the 1901 Census (with the
correct spelling) was that of George Fient
age 33 (born in France) and his wife Ada
née Bastone, age 30, married in London in
1893.
George was already in England in 1891,
working as a salesman. The 1901 Census
says he was a commercial traveller (with
another detail I could not manage to read). I
do not think he is the mystery man because
of his job but of course it is still a possibility.
The couple – George Fient (working in
a bank as a clerk) and Adèle found in the
1911 Census may be George Jr’s parents,
being 66 and 63, both born in France. In
1910, a G Fient is listed in the phone book
July 2014 FamilyTree 87
 LETTERS
As you can imagine it is now
somewhat worn and falling apart,
but I thought fellow readers would
like to see the list of names, shown
here.
Janis Fackrell
Correspondence via the magazine

Serving in India
I’m busy writing up the World War I
life of my grandfather, Dr ET Harris,
and I came upon these two photos
(below).
On the back of the photo
featuring two men it says: ‘Captain
Trow, RAMC. Major Harris, DSO
IMS. Lt Jones. 1/25 Londons.
Leaving Gharial Hospital Aug 1917’.
Gharial Hospital was in the Murree
Hills in India.
The group photo includes my
grandfather and one of the men,
Jones, with Jones’s full initials on
Janis’s grandfather, William Hurst, the back: ‘Lt TJW Jones’ and the
wearing his medals – including date ‘5:8:17’. Given that Jones is a
the Croix de Guerre, and the letter hard name to check on, at least we
naming William and other soldiers have three initials here!
awarded the CdeG. Janis’s family In November 1914 my grandfather was in
archives also include a number of East Africa with the Indian Medical Service,
photos, which she believes show so perhaps he was invalided back to India.
men in the 2nd Battalion Middlesex Anyway, I hope these photos may
Regiment Signals division, in which interest descendants of Jones or Trow.
her grandfather served. Ann Crichton-Harris
johnw.senders@utoronto.ca
and is a fruit salesman. Another Fient
family, in 1911, has three children Ann’s photos show her grandfather
and two servants in a 14-room and colleagues.
house. No trace of a pigeon-fattener
anywhere – so surely it is a fancy job
and a fancy nickname !
Sophie Pigott
pgotts41@yahoo.fr

Military honours from

France
Along with other papers and
photos from World War I, I
have my grandfather’s original
correspondence, which he received
from the General Commandant of
the French Army, citing the reasons
that the soldiers mentioned in the
letter received the Croix de Guerre.

Share your views with other readers on the FT letters pages. Contact us...
By post Letters, Family Tree, 61 Great Whyte, By email By forum
Ramsey, Huntingdon PE26 1HJ helen.t@family-tree.co.uk www.family-tree.co.uk/forum

facebook.com/familytreemaguk @familytreemaguk

88 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk

Take the next steps
with your family history
Sign up for the Family Tree newsletter and let
us guide you on your genealogy journey.
family-tree.co.uk/newsletter
e’ll send ,
W s, tips
w
PLUS: you nepetitions
com more!
Receive our FREE ebook
How to write your family history! How to and
write yo
In this ebook you will learn how to:
family h ur
• Write a family story to remember
• Find compelling characters
istory
• Use senses to evoke a place from
the past
• Enliven your story with authentic
dialogue
• Devise your plot
• Avoid writers’ block

We’ll even send you a bonus ebook

of case studies and interviews
with family story authors who have
had their books published.

Sign up now and be among the

first to get the latest from
Family Tree.
Facebook.com/familytreemaguk

family-tree.co.uk/newsletter @familytreemaguk
 DIARY DATES
JULY 2014
2 & 8 July Talks
Buckinghamshire. Bucks Family History
Society (FHS) is holding two talks in July:
‘Tracing Marriages: Legal Requirements
and Actual Practice, 1700-1900’ with
Professor Rebecca Probert (2 July,
Bletchley) and ‘Death and Taxes’ with
Dave Annal (8 July, Bourne End).
l Both 7.15pm. Free, small donation
appreciated from non-members; www.
bucksfhs.org.uk/meetings.
12 Conference
Devon. The Ultimate Summer Special,
hosted by Devon FHS’s South Devon
Group, promises a fantastic day of family
history in Torquay, based around the theme
‘BMD’: Brickwalls, Mariners & Death! There
will be various talks and stalls, including
Devon Heritage Centre.
l 9.45am-4.15pm. £6.50-£13. Download
registration form at www.devonfhs.org.uk/
summerspecial2014.pdf.
12-27 Festival
Nationwide. Get hands-on with history at
The Festival of Archaeology, co-ordinated
by The Council for British Archaeology and
featuring more than 1,000 events. There
will be tours, exhibitions, excavations
and workshops, re-enactments, finds
identification days and more, such as ‘Ice
Sunday’ at London Canal Museum on 20
July, when you can descend into the ice
wells below the Thames to explore the
Victorian ice trade.
l www.archaeologyfestival.org.uk.
18-20 Festival
West Dorset. Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival
marks 180 years since six farm workers,
leaders of an agricultural workers’
union, were sentenced to seven years’
transportation for taking an oath of
secrecy, leading to a national outcry and a
turning point in British history. The festival,
held in the village where it all began in
1834, includes music, talks, guided tours
BOOK AHEAD
29-30 August Genealogy show
Glasgow. Who Do You Think You
Are? LIVE Scotland at Glasgow’s
SECC promises a multitude of stands,
workshops and talks for family historians
in the north.
l Tickets from £14 advance; www.
whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk.
90 FamilyTree July 2014
Threads of
Huguenot
heritage
O
ne in six of us in Britain
are said to have Huguenot
blood in our veins –
and a new London festival is
celebrating the contribution made
here by French Protestant refugees,
after they fled religious persecution
in the 17th century.
Following on from the success of
last year’s Huguenots of Spitalfields
Festival, Huguenot Threads 2014
will highlight the lives and legacy
of these talented silk weavers and
artisans. More than 35 events have
been lined up between 9-20 July, in
partnership with City of London.
Many are free, including visits to
Goldsmiths’ and Apothecaries
Livery Halls. Huguenots in the City
walks take place daily in Spitalfields,
Guildhall Library is hosting an open
day at The Clockmakers’ Museum;
and London Metropolitan Archives
is running a free ‘Focus on Family
History’ workshop. Visitors can even
take a day trip to the French Hospital
and new Huguenot Heritage Centre
and wreath-laying on the grave of Tolpuddle
martyr James Hammett.
l Tickets from the Tolpuddle Martyrs
Museum; www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk.
From 19 July Museum reopens
London. IWM London is reopening after
its major transformation, unveiling its
groundbreaking new First World War
Galleries in time for the centenary.
l Visit iwm.org.uk and find out more in our
next issue!
26 Open day
Buckinghamshire. Buckinghamshire FHS
Open Day is the county’s major family
history event, with great resources and
advice for beginners and experienced
genealogists alike. Research facilities will
be on hand, including the society’s names
database of 5 million names, parish register
library, Bucks People and Bucks Places.
With guest societies and genealogy stalls.
l 10am-4pm. Free entry. The Grange
School, Wendover Way, Aylesbury HP21
Spitalfields silk dress made by
Huguenot weavers and handed down
to a descendant of Ann Fanshawe,
Lady Mayoress of London, 1752.
in Rochester (opening in 2015),
or drop in at Christ Church
Spitalfields’ open day on 11 July,
where the Huguenot Society will
help you discover whether you have
Huguenot roots.
l Festival programme and tickets at
www.huguenotsofspitalfields.org.
7NH; www.bucksfhs.org.uk.
28 July-1 August Conference
Leeds. The First World War in Retrospect
Conference at Weetwood Hall in Leeds
commemorates the 100th anniversary
of World War I, with a wide range of
professional historians and speakers.
l Prices from £450 (five days, non-
residential); www.weetwood.co.uk/
firstworldwar.
Transport Museum @ Transport for London; Captain Leslie Skinner
PHAROS TUTORS ONLINE
Images: silk dress © Museum of London; B-type bus © London
July Pharos Tutors courses:
1 So You Think You Know Family
Search – A Guided Tour (4 weeks,
£39.99).
19 The Poor, The Parish and the
Workhouse – Records in the 18th &
19th centuries (5 weeks, £45.99).
© Imperial War Museums.
29 One-Place Studies – Research
from a New Perspective (3 weeks,
£33.99).
l Book at www.pharostutors.com.
www.family-tree.co.uk
 What to do this month
Email your event details to editorial@family-tree.co.uk

NEW EXHIBITIONS SOCIETY OF GENEALOGISTS

21 June-2 August DNA project
Stirling, Scotland. Discover if you have
a warrior’s genetic code in your DNA!
Researchers from The Genealogical
Studies Postgraduate Programme
within the University of Strathclyde
have discovered genetic code passed
down the generations to modern-day
descendants from the warriors who fought
at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
To mark the battle’s 700th anniversary,
the students are hosting a Bannockburn
Family History Project Exhibition at
Bannockburn Visitor Centre near Stirling,
revealing how they traced the family
trees of several warriors, leading to the
discovery of male descendants who
undertook DNA tests with Family Tree
DNA. The exhibition features names, coats
of arms, family trees and DNA results,
throwing light on battle participants from a
genealogical point of view.
l Bannockburn Visitor Centre (National
Trust for Scotland members free); www.
battleofbannockburn.com. Find out more
about the DNA project at www.strath.
ac.uk/genealogy/bannockburn.
Now open The Padre’s Trail
Cambridgeshire. The D-Day experiences
of Captain Leslie Skinner (pictured above),
one of the first chaplains to make it ashore
in Normandy on 6 June 1944, are revealed
in this new display within the Normandy
Experience in the Land Warfare exhibition
at IWM Duxford. Part of the museum’s
commemorations of the 70th anniversary
Goodbye
Piccadilly:
A B-type bus
during World
War I, converted
to house carrier
pigeons.
of D-Day, Padre
Skinner’s emotive
story is told through extracts from the
diary he kept while chaplain to the
Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry tank
regiment. He travelled all over the Front
line and battlefield, counselling troops,
aiding medical staff and risking his life time
and again to recover and bury the dead.
Padre Skinner methodically recorded the
location and personal details of Sherwood
Rangers killed in action and corresponded
with their families. He was Mentioned
in Despatches, survived the war and
received the French Croix de Guerre with
Palm and the Belgian Chevalier of the
Order of Leopold II with Palm.
l Free with general admission ticket;
iwm.org.uk.
Until March 2015 Goodbye Piccadilly
London. ‘Goodbye Piccadilly: From
Home Front to Western Front’ is a major
new exhibition and events programme
at London Transport Museum in Covent
Garden that uncovers the story of
London’s transport staff and vehicles
during World War I. Discover how drivers
took their buses to the Front, how women
joined the workforce for the first time
as bus conductors, mechanics, porters
July courses at the SoG:
2 2pm-3pm What can we trust
on Birth, Marriage and Death
Certificates? with Dr David Wright
(£8/£6.40).
5 10.30am-1pm Unmarried Mothers
(and Fathers) 1700-1900 & Poverty
1601-1834 with Dr Samantha Williams
(£20/£16).
5 2pm-5pm The London Labyrinth:
Family History Research in London
with Dr Kathy Chater (£20/£16).
9 11am-1pm Walk: Around
Whitechapel with Derek Morris, author
of Whitechapel 1600-1800 (£10/£8).
9 2pm-3pm The British Red Cross
Collections & Services for Family
History with Jemma Redgrave
(£8/£6.40).
12 10.30am-1pm DNA & Heredity
for Family Historians with Dr Geoff
Swinfield (£20/£16).
16 2pm-3pm Tracing your Aristocratic
Ancestors with Anthony Adolph
(£8/£6.40).
19 10.30am-1pm Record Keeping for
Family Historians with Kirsty Gray
(£20/£16).
19 2pm-5pm Scottish & Irish
Immigration with Maggie Loughran
(£20/£16).
23 2pm-3pm Probate Record
Collections at the London Family
History Centre with Sharon Hintze
(held at SoG premises, £8/£6.40).
26 10.30am-5pm Family Tree Maker
Software Essentials for Beginners
& Refreshers with Mike Bollinger
(£35/£28).
30 2pm-3pm What’s New at
FamilySearch with Sharon Hintze
(£8/£6.40).
l Society of Genealogists, 14
Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road,
London EC1M 7BA. Book your place via
events@sog.org.uk or 020 7553 3290;
www.sog.org.uk.

and guards, and how Londoners came

under aerial attack and sought safety
on the Tube. Don’t miss ‘Ole’ Bill’, a
1911 B-type bus No B43 on loan from
the Imperial War Museums, one of more
than 1,000 B-type buses requisitioned by
the War Department in 1914 for use on
the Western Front. Ole’ Bill was used in
Armistice Day parades until the 1960s.
l Free with general admission ticket;
www.ltmuseum.co.uk.

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 91

 Coming next in
FamilyTree
Out & about with family history
Make leaps and strides with your research by Plus
exploring archives, museums and the landscape of
l Laws that changed lives
your forebears. The internet is just the start of your
journey... Acts of Parliament & their impact on
our ancestors’ lives, health & work.
Learning from war memorials
Find out how to research the stories of the men Every issue
named on memorials and uncover the records to Expert tips, fascinating reader stories
help tell their tales. and the latest family history sources
issue after issue.
Medal index cards explained
Decode your Tommy’s card and reveal more about
his wartime service.

Image: Garysa/Shutterstock.
Close to their hearts
August issue Learn about the family photos soldiers
kept in their breast pockets at the Front.
on sale Friday
11 July

92 FamilyTree July 2014 www.family-tree.co.uk

YOUR ADVERTS
CONNECTIONS SOUGHT
l TABOR Descendants sought from the Tabor family from Manuden,
Essex, 19th and 20th centuries: paultabor@hotmail.co.uk
ONE-NAME STUDIES
l ADSHEAD Worldwide one-name- study (GOONS). Enquiries
welcome. Information gratefully received. Gordon Adshead, 2
Goodrington Road, Handforth, Cheshire SK9 3AT;
www.adshead.com
l ARMSTRONG CLAN ASSOCIATION For further information visit
www.armstrongclan.info and follow the link or alternatively
email arm.clan@sky.com
l BECKINGHAM and variants. Worldwide. All enquiries welcome
(with SAE please). Alex McGahey, 2 Vane Road, Thame, Oxfordshire
OX9 3WE; Tel: 01844-217625; email: beckingham@one-name.org
l CORY & variants. Worldwide society (GOONS). Information sought
and given for SAE/IRCs. Mrs Jean Hayes, 3 Bourne Close, Thames
Ditton, Surrey KT7 0EA; email: cory@one-name.org;
website: corysociety.org.uk
l FORNEAR worldwide one-name study. All references sought.
Enquiries welcomed. Brian W Fornear, 18411 Sierra Falls CT,
Tomball, TX 77377, USA; email: bfornear@mail.com
l KAY/E FAMILY ASSOCIATION UK. Dedicated to all aspects of
Kay/e (and variants) family history research. Contact Pat Fitzpatrick,
1 Rowan Way, Canewdon, Rochford, Essex SS4 3PD; email: kayuk@
btinternet.com; web: www.kayfamilyassociationuk.com
l LAWS FAMILY REGISTER For all your LAWES/LAWS worldwide
research. Online Database available to members. Member of GOONS
(www.one-name.org) Contact registrar@lawsfamilyregister.org.uk
l LEEDS Worldwide one-name study. Enquiries welcomed,
information gratefully received. Everett Leeds, Flat 1, 4 Hardwicke
Road, Reigate, Surrey RH2 9AG; www.leeds-family.co.uk
FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETIES
l BEDFORDSHIRE Family History Society welcomes new
members. Contact:- www.bfhs.org.uk , bfhs@bfhs.org.uk or P.O.Box
214 BEDFORD MK42 9RX
l WILTSHIRE Family History Society’s members in 30+ years
have assembled a wealth of knowledge and information, available via
its publications, CDs, website and FindMyPast. WFHS is the focus
for people worldwide with Wiltshire ancestors. Advice available.
Join for full benefit. www.wiltshirefhs.co.uk, society@wiltshirefhs.
co.uk or Unit 3, Bath Road Business Centre, Devizes SN10 1XA.
BOOKS
l BOOKS ON RURAL LIFE. Leading specialist in old books on rural
life difficult to find elsewhere. Rural recollections, local history, rural
occupations, rural & agricultural history, cottage life, folklore, mills,
Gypsies and all aspects of rural life as it used to be... large stock.
Free catalogue. Postal only. Established 1970. Cottage Books,
Rempstone Road, Gelsmoor, Coleorton, Leicestershire LE67 8HR;
email: Jenny@boyd-cropley.co.uk
l BOOKS BY MALCOLM TUDOR: At War in Italy; Beyond the Wire;
British Prisoners of War in Italy; Escape from Italy; Prisoners and
Partisans; SOE in Italy. Online ordering at www.emiliapublishing.
com and www.amazon.co.uk
MISCELLANEOUS
l GREAT AUNTY ALICE is a directory of independent researchers,
based throughout the UK and abroad. Whether you need a small
look-up or extensive research go to www.greatauntyalice.com to
find the help you need.
www.family-tree.co.uk
l WILLS etc. Transcribed, Latin translated. Margaret McGregor,
Tel: 01179507508; email: questions@wheretheresawill.org;
website: www.wheretheresawill.org
FOR SALE
l FAMILY TREE MAGAZINES 1995 – 2009 plus 72 discs. £60 –
buyer collects.  Essex 01245 460786
ANCESTRAL RESEARCH
l AMERICA See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l AUSTRALIA See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l BEDFORDSHIRE, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, HERTFORDSHIRE,
HUNTINGDONSHIRE family and local history research undertaken
by experienced researcher. AGRA member. Enquiries welcome.
Colin Davison, 66 Sudeley Walk, Bedford, Bedfordshire MK41 8JH;
Tel: 01234-364956; email: cn.davison@virgin.net; website:
www.davison-research.co.uk
l BEDFORDSHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l BELGIUM See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l BERKSHIRE research. Hourly rate and no minimum charge.
Enquiries to Emmy Eustace BA (Hons), 7 Rowan Close, Wokingham,
Berkshire RG41 4BH; email: emmy.eustace@btinternet.com
l BERKS/OXON. Ancestry Research undertaken by thorough and
enthusiastic researcher. Specialist in Wantage area and military
research. Trevor Hancock 3 Priory Orchard, Wantage, Oxon OX12
9EL 01235 762598 or email trevorhancock@waitrose.com
l BRISTOL See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l BRISTOL – See Branchlines, SOMERSET
l BUCKINGHAMSHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry,
LINCOLNSHIRE
l BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Family and Local History Research.
Experienced Qualified Researcher. Reasonable rates. Anne Holmes
MSc Genealogical Studies. 10 Friars Walk, Prestwood, Bucks HP16
0ST. E-mail: bucksheritage@btinternet.com
Website: www.bucksheritage.co.uk
l BUCKINGHAMSHIRE and surrounding counties. Family and
house history research by experienced qualified researcher. AGRA
and APG Member. All enquiries welcome, reasonable rates. Cathy
Soughton, 15 Walnut Drive, Wendover, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire,
HP22 6RT; Tel: 01296624845; email: soughton@btopenworld.com;
website: www.bucksresearch.co.uk
l CAMBRIDGESHIRE, ESSEX, HERTFORDSHIRE and
SUFFOLK research undertaken by professional genealogist.
AGRA Member. Dr Karen Cummings, Professional Family
History, 17a Cleves Road, Haverhill, Suffolk CB9 9PL; email: info@
professionalfamilyhistory.co.uk; Tel: 07583 973373;
website: www.professionalfamilyhistory.co.uk
l CAMBRIDGESHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l CAMBRIDGESHIRE and English records. What stories could your
ancestors tell? Professional research, courses, coaching and talks:
www.myfamilygenealogy.co.uk/contact, Robert Parker, +44 (0) 7803
129207
l CANADA See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l CANADA, NB. Searching all types of records with full reports.
Carolyn Harris BA, MEd. 5922 Route 505, Jardineville, NB, E4W
2J2 Canada. Write or email for details: hilderly@nb.sympatico.ca
July 2014 FamilyTree 93
 YOUR ADVERTS
ANCESTRAL RESEARCH
l CHESHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l CORK CITY & COUNTY, Ireland in general.  Rosaleen
Underwood MAPGI, experienced genealogist with local
knowledge.  15 Whitechurch Drive, Ballyboden, Dublin 16 Ireland.
Email: underwor.rmc@gmail.com
l CORNWALL experienced researcher and genealogist. Margaret
Bray (Book of Life Genealogy and Probate Research)
Tel: 07788 440288; email: margaret.bray@btinternet.com
l CORNWALL See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l CUMBRIA For professional research by the Cumbria Archives
Service at competitive rates contact Kate Holliday, Cumbria
Archive Centre, County Offices, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 4RQ;
Tel: 01539 713539
l DERBYSHIRE and surrounding counties. Family and local
history by conscientious and friendly researcher with over 30 years
experience. Kate Henderson BA Hons History, 16 Steeple Grange,
Wirksworth, Derbyshire DE4 4FS; Tel: 01629 825132;
kate.henderson2@virgin.net;
www.relativelyspeaking-derbyshire.co.uk
l DERBYSHIRE & STAFFORDSHIRE Experienced researcher.
Other counties by arrangement. Sara Scargill, B.A (Hons), Flat 2/1
Waterloo Mill, Waterloo Street, Leek, Staffs ST13 8AT; Tel: 01538
387765; email: sarascargill@gmail.com; website:
www.scargillgenealogicalresearchservices.com; Facebook: Sara
Scargill Genealogist
l DERBYSHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l DEVON and SOMERSET family history research. Free estimate.
Heather Ayshford, D’Esseford, Blackborough, Cullompton, Devon
EX15 2HH; Tel: 01884-266312; Devon_Somerset@hotmail.com
l DEVON See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l DORSET See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l ESSEX research. £10 per hour. Roz Downs, 34 Blackheath,
Colchester, Essex CO2 0AA; 01206-514453;
roz.downs@virginmedia.com
l ESSEX Professional research. Glynis Morris, AGRA, 56 Armond
Road, Witham, CM8 2HA; 44-1376-516315; email:essexresearch@
btopenworld.com; www.researchinessex.co.uk
l ESSEX/LONDON. Rita Harris, 71 Vicarage Road, Chelmsford,
Essex CM2 9BT; 01245-346490 email: rita@johnkennedy.freeserve.
co.uk Enthusiastic research at reasonable rates.
l ESSEX, See Professional Family History, CAMBRIDGESHIRE
l ESSEX See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l GERMANY See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l GLOUCESTERSHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry,
LINCOLNSHIRE
l GLOUCESTERSHIRE, HEREFORDSHIRE, SHROPSHIRE,
Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire family, house,
heraldry and other local history research. Competitive rates.
Contact: Whitworth Genealogy Research Services, 21 Geneva
Close, Worcester WR3 7LZ. or email rogerwhitworth1@btconnect.
com
94 FamilyTree July 2014
l HAMPSHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l HAMPSHIRE, SURREY, SUSSEX and TNA research undertaken
by professionally qualified genealogist. Contact Les Mitchinson,
DipGen, 7a The Causeway, Petersfield, Hampshire, GU31 4JT; Tel:
01730-264472; email: info@mitchinsongenealogy.com;
website: www.mitchinsongenealogy.com
l HAMPSHIRE and the surrounding area. Family and local
history research by Terry Firth Research Services. For more
information visit; www.tcfresearch.co.uk or contact me via email at:
tcfresearch@btinternet.com or Tel: 079-3915-8020
l HERTFORDSHIRE and LONDON family history research
(AGRA member). All enquiries welcome. Mrs Carolynn Boucher, 1
Ivinghoe Close, Chiltern Park, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL4 9JR; Tel:
01727-833664; email: Carolynn.Boucher@virginmedia.com
l HERTFORDSHIRE, See Professional Family History,
CAMBRIDGESHIRE
l HOLLAND See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l HUNTINGDONSHIRE Family & Local History Research. All
enquiries welcomed. Experienced friendly researcher. Caroline
Kesseler Dip.HE Local History (Cambridge), 42 Crowhill,
Godmanchester, Cambs. PE29 2NR;
email: caroline.kesseler@ntlworld.com; web: www.genfair.co.uk/
l HUNTINGDONSHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry,
LINCOLNSHIRE
l IRELAND See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l ISLE OF MAN. Family and local history research. Carole Carine,
Solway, Windsor Mount, Ramsey, Isle of Man IM8 3EA;
carolec@manx.net
l ISRAEL See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l ITALY See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l KENT An experienced, diligent researcher will access Maidstone,
Canterbury, London Metropolitan Archives and all Kent archives.
Roots in Kent also offers professional photography and holiday
planning, including accommodation and archive bookings. You
can now follow Roots in Kent on Facebook. Contact Sarah Talbutt
at Roots in Kent, Springfield, Mereworth Road, West Peckham,
Maidstone, Kent ME18 5JH; Tel: 01622-813862; email: sarah_
talbutt@yahoo.co.uk; web page: www.roots-in-kent.com
l KENT See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l KENT research undertaken, reasonable rates. Hold Higher
Certificate in Genealogy. Pauline Weeds, 37 Holcombe Road,
Rochester, Kent ME1 2HU; Telephone: 01634-845999;
email: PWeeds@gmail.com
l KENT research by qualified, experienced genealogist.
Professional reliable service at competitive rates. Enquiries to
Margaret Lewis at Genus Ancestral Research, 42 Graystone
Road, Whitstable, Kent CT5 2JX; www.genuskent.co.uk;
Tel: 01227-276438; email: research@genuskent.co.uk
l LANCASHIRE, CHESHIRE & CUMBRIA.  Comprehensive
service undertaken by experienced genealogist.  Denise A
Harman, 12 Wrights Fold, Leyland, Preston, Lancashire.  PR25 4HT.
E:  harman@blueyonder.co.uk;
W: www.lancashirefamilyhistoryresearch.co.uk
www.family-tree.co.uk
Would you like to advertise?
DISPLAY ADVERTS CLASSIFIED ADVERTS
For further details, please contact Paula Turner: For further details, please contact Helen Marriott:
01778 392445/07774 193704 01487 811830
paulat@warnersgroup.co.uk Helen.m@abmpublishing.co.uk
l LANCASHIRE, CHESHIRE AND CUMBERLAND.  All types of
research undertaken by experienced genealogist.  Jane E Hamby
LHG, 26 Fulwood Hall Lane, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire PR2
8DB. Email: hambyje@aol.com.
l LEICESTERSHIRE. Diligent, thorough service offered by
experienced family historian. Moderate fees. All enquiries welcome.
Write (with SAE), phone, email. Virginia Wright, 64 Shirley Avenue,
Leicester LE2 3NA; Tel: 0116-270-9995;
email: pvwright@hotmail.co.uk
l LEICESTERSHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l LINCOLNSHIRE All sources reliably and enthusiastically
searched by experienced researchers. Countrywide service.
Sovereign Ancestry, The Willows, High Street, Swineshead,
Boston, Lincolnshire PE20 3LH; Tel: 0845 838 7246 or 07721-
679104; email: drb@sovereign-ancestry.com; website:
www.sovereign-ancestry.com
l LINCOLNSHIRE Family/local history research. Dr Wendy Atkin,
15 Castle Street, Sleaford, Lincs NG34 7QE; Tel: 01529-415964;
wendy@kinword.co.uk
l LINCOLNSHIRE Family and local history research undertaken by
experienced researcher. All enquiries welcome. AGRA Associate.
Sarah Taylor, 2 Hillside Cottages, Blyborough, Lincolnshire DN21
4HG; Tel: 01427 668 810; email: spt07@vodafoneemail.co.uk
l LONDON See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l LONDON See Roots in Kent, KENT
l LONDON family history research undertaken by experienced
graduate researcher, all London archives covered.  Peter Houghton
BA (Hons), 69 Broom Gardens, Croydon, Surrey CR0 8NQ;
email: pwhoughton@hotmail.com
l LONDON AND ADJACENT COUNTIES ancestral research.
Details of services provided on application. All enquiries welcome.
Richard Vanderahe, BA, MA, 23 Chestnut Drive, Broadstairs, Kent
CT10 2LN; Tel: 01843 579855;
email: Richard.vanderahe@virginmedia.com
l LONDON, SURREY and MIDDLESEX – Free initial assessment. 
Paypal payments accepted.  Patricia O’Neill
www.london-archive-searches.com
l MANCHESTER/LANCASHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry
LINCOLNSHIRE
l MERSEYSIDE/CHESHIRE family history research undertaken
by experienced reliable researcher. All enquiries welcome. Many
satisfied clients. Frank Liston, 38 Warwick Road, Upton, Wirral
CH49 6NF; Tel: 0151-6773620; email: fliston@yahoo.com
l MIDDLESEX/LONDON Family & Local History Research - all
major record repositories. Also, India Office records at the British
Library - £24 per hr. Janice O’Brien B.Ed; 11 Ravenscar, Bayham
Street, London NW1 0BS; janicekivlanobrien@hotmail.com
l NORFOLK specialist. All types of research and Latin translation,
by professional genealogist (30 years’ experience). AGRA member.
Diana Spelman BA, 74 Park Lane, Norwich NR2 3EF;
Tel: 01603-664186; email: dianaspelman@waitrose.com
l NORFOLK family and local history research by experienced
professional. Christine Hood BA, Cert Local History (UEA), 137a
Nelson Street, Norwich, Norfolk NR2 4DS; Tel; 01603-666638;
email: pinpoint1@btinternet.com; www.pinpointyourpast.co.uk
www.family-tree.co.uk
Advertising
l NORFOLK See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l NORTHAMPTONSHIRE and BEDFORDSHIRE family history
research. Friendly service by former Northamptonshire Record
Office archivist. Sue Comont, 137 Addington Rd, Irthlingborough,
Northants NN9 5UP; email: suecomont@hotmail.co.uk;
website: www.northantsfamilyhistory.co.uk
l NORTHUMBERLAND, DURHAM, CUMBRIA, TYNE & WEAR,
research undertaken by qualified family historian with 30 years’
experience. Contact Lorna Young, 12 Hedgerow Mews, Ashington,
Northumberland NE63 8LH; Tel: 01670-811376; email: lorna@
northumbriaresearch.co.uk or visit www.northumbriaresearch.co.uk
l NORTHUMBERLAND See Sovereign Ancestry,
LINCOLNSHIRE
l NOTTINGHAMSHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry,
LINCOLNSHIRE
l OXFORDSHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l OXON/BERKS Friendly, experienced AGRA-accredited
researcher. All assignment types. Contact Ken Wheeler, 70
Woodcote Road, Reading, Berks RG4 7EX; 0118 9474719;
www.thamesvalleyancestry.co.uk
l POWYS (Brecon, Radnor & Montgomeryshire). All enquiries
welcome. Jennifer Lewis, Grove Villa, Crossgates, Llandrindod
Wells, Powys LD1 6RE; email: jennifer.powysresearch@hotmail.com
l SCOTLAND all areas, Fife specialist. For thorough, professional
genealogical research. Caroline Makein BA., CSFHS., Fife
Rootsearch, 22 Canongate, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8RT;
Tel: 01334 476924; email: fifers@talktalk.net;
website: www.scottishgenealogyresearch.co.uk
l SCOTLAND See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l SCOTTISH ancestry researched. Friendly service by experienced
researcher. All queries welcome. Contact Margaret Davidson
(CSFHS), Grampian Ancestry Research, 6 Bayview Road,
Inverbervie, Aberdeenshire DD10 0SH; Tel: 01561-361500;
email: grampian.ancestry@btinternet.com
l SCOTTISH research, minor to major. Friendly, enthusiastic
service. Caroline Gerard, 6 Belford Mews, Dean Village, Edinburgh
EH4 3BT; email: caroline.gerard@btinternet.com
l SCOTTISH research. Full services from look ups to brick walls to
full trees. Jacqueline Hunter, Ancestral Research by Jacqueline, 14
Mid Brae, Dunfermline, Fife, KY12 9DU. Tel: 01383 626201.
Email: jacquelinehunter895@gmail.com.
l SHROPSHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l SOMERSET & DEVON, CORNWALL & DORSET. Family history
research. West Country Ancestors, Queensbridge, Ash Priors,
Taunton TA4 3NA; Contact: John Campbell; Tel: 01823 430990;
jar.campbell@gmail.com; www.westcountryancestors.co.uk
l SOMERSET See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l SOMERSET, BRISTOL, WILTSHIRE. Frances and Malcolm
Daniels offer a friendly service as experienced researchers.
Branchlines, 6 Middlemead, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Bath, BA3
4QH; Tel: 01761-232083; email research@branchlines.info;
web: www.branchlines.info
July 2014 FamilyTree 95

YOUR ADVERTS
ANCESTRAL RESEARCH
l SOUTH AFRICA Experienced researcher. Anne Clarkson Box
1486, Somerset West, 7129 South Africa; ebor@intekom.co.za;
www.sagenealogy.weebly.com
l STAFFORDSHIRE, SHROPSHIRE, BIRMINGHAM and BLACK
COUNTRY research. Lichfield diocese wills, etc. Friendly service.
Problems welcome. Dr Richard Totty, Rock Cottage, Red Hill,
Rugeley, Staffordshire WS15 4LL; email: richard.totty4@virgin.net;
Tel: 01543-491830
l STAFFORDSHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l STAFFORDSHIRE See DERBYSHIRE Sara Scargill;
www.scargillgenealogicalresearchservices.com
l SUFFOLK family history research undertaken by researcher
with many years experience in Suffolk. Jane Cummins, 38 Pound
Meadow, Fornham All Saints, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP28 6JL;
Tel: 01284-755460; email: jaycee@westley2.freeserve.co.uk
l SUFFOLK, See Professional Family History,
CAMBRIDGESHIRE
l SUFFOLK, ESSEX, NORFOLK. Experienced family history
researchers. No commission too small. Contact: Tessa Barker BA
or Maggie Andersen BA on 01473 381420/07984 611221/07877
923474. tessa@researcheastanglianfamilyhistory.co.uk or maggie@
researcheastanglianfamilyhistory.co.uk,  The Hub Business Centre,
Hubbard Way, 2 Civic Drive, IPSWICH IP1 2QA. Visit our website:
www.researcheastanglianfamilyhistory.co.uk
96 FamilyTree July 2014
Would you like to advertise?
DISPLAY ADVERTS
For further details, please contact Paula Turner:
01778 392445/07774 193704
paulat@warnersgroup.co.uk
l SURREY see Patricia O’Neill, LONDON
l SUSSEX See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l SUSSEX Local and Family History. All research undertaken at
reasonable rates by friendly experienced genealogist. Keith King,
21 Drove Crescent, Portslade, Brighton, BN41 2TA; Tel: 07947
903418 or email: genealogykk@gmail.com;
website: www.genealogykk.co.uk
l SUSSEX, WEST see Patricia O’Neill, LONDON
l WALES family history research. All enquiries welcome.
Segontium Searchers, 51 Assheton Terrace, Caernarfon, Gwynedd
LL55 2LD; Tel: 01286 678813; email: enquiries@segontium.com;
web: www.segontium.com
l WALES See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l WARWICKSHIRE Including Modern Records Centre, Warwick
University. Family, Local, Legal history research plus copies and
other photography. Jackie Edwards MA LL.B [Hons], 104 Earlsdon
Avenue South, Coventry CV5 6DQ: twigsbranches@yahoo.co.uk
 
l WILTSHIRE, see Branchlines, SOMERSET,
l WILTSHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
l WORCESTERSHIRE, HEREFORDSHIRE,
GLOUCESTERSHIRE  researched for family history.  Friendly and
reliable service at reasonable rates.  Nigel Higenbottam, 17 St
Marks Close, Evesham, Worcestershire, WR11 2EU.  Tel: 01386
49972; email: nigel.higenbottam@btinternet.com
l YORKSHIRE ancestry research. All enquiries welcome. £10 per
hour. Over 30 years’ experience. SAE. Ruth Simpson, 19c Park
Lane, Pontefract, West Yorkshire WF8 4QQ;
email: ruth-yorkshire@sky.com
l YORKSHIRE See Sovereign Ancestry, LINCOLNSHIRE
Would you like to advertise?
DISPLAY ADVERTS
For further details,
please contact
Paula Turner:
01778 392445/07774 193704
paulat@warnersgroup.co.uk
CLASSIFIED ADVERTS
For further details,
please contact
Helen Marriott:
01487 811830
Helen.m@abmpublishing.co.uk
www.family-tree.co.uk
 CLASSIFIED ADVERTS
For further details, please contact Helen Marriott:
01487 811830
Helen.m@abmpublishing.co.uk Advertising

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES

Private small ads submitting their adverts. Private advertisers wishing to
(Connections sought, etc) 16p per word including VAT. emphasise further names will need to pay for additional
When counting the number of words, please remember to adverts.
include your address in the calculations. Adverts not specifying a specialist area of research will
Commercial lineage not be inserted in the Ancestral Research column. They
41p per word including VAT. will appear under Miscellaneous. All text for Ancestral
Discounts and Deadlines Research should begin with the name of the county or area
Three months prepaid: less 5% of research. This policy prevents advertisers commencing
Six months prepaid: less 7.5% their adverts with the letter A in order to gain an unfair
One year prepaid: less 10% advantage over other advertisers.

Conditions of acceptance No alterations, cancellations or refunds will be possible

All advertising must be prepaid. Advertisers requiring a
receipt must send an SAE.
If advertisers do not wish to use their phone numbers or
personal names on their adverts, they must give them to
our office; we will only pass them on to clients in the case
of serious complaints.
Bold capitals at the beginning of lineage adverts will not
extend beyond the first line (approximately 40 characters).
Commercial advertisers should bear this in mind when
after the deadline for a particular issue.
We reserve the right to refuse or alter adverts at our
discretion.
Although every care is taken to avoid mistakes, we do not
accept responsibility for clerical errors.
We expect all advertisers to provide an acceptable
standard of service. Failure to do so will undoubtedly result
in the refusal of future advertising.

Deadline date 14th July for September 2014 issue

UK Census Online
Start researching your family history today with the best value
subscriptions available online.

Get a great value annual subscription to BMDs and the

1841 to 1911 Census for only £5.83 a month*

www.UKCensusOnline.com
* When paying £69.95 as an annual payment

www.family-tree.co.uk July 2014 FamilyTree 97

 THOUGHTS ON...
Age advantage
Diane Lindsay
muses on the
advantages of
growing old, and
the luxury of
being a veteran
researcher.
G
lancing into
the mirror
and seeing
your great-
grandma can be a sobering
experience, especially
as mine was a bit stern
and granite-jawed in
later life. She morphs
into me, despite every
artifice and cosmetic
device known to the
sophisticated 21st-century
pensioner-about-town or
more correctly, the fading
family historian about-the-
house. Fewer white hairs,
marginally better teeth, and
pummelled and primed
skin doth not a genetic
scowl disguise.
She may of course have
been the ‘It’ girl of her
village but I wouldn’t
know, having no early
photographs. I rather
suspect not, given menfolk
to whom lipstick was the
Devil’s paint and rouge the
last resort of fallen women.
In the vastly enjoyable but
rather unsubtle Holby-
City-Sur-Somme nursing
drama ‘The Crimson Field’,
a young nurse was heavily
criticised for pinching
her cheeks to perk them
up a bit. I couldn’t help
wondering if she ever tried
black shoe polish on her
lashes, as I once did.
Growing old is no joke,
and don’t let anyone tell
you any differently, but
98 FamilyTree July 2014
Why do we do family history?
To honour and remember
there are compensations
– children, grandchildren
and more guilt-free eating
of cake. One of the finest
advantages of being a
veteran family historian,
however, is that you tend to
forget things. This allows
you to re-read books that
only reveal themselves as
old friends three-quarters
of the way through.
Senior Moment
Syndrome, with today’s
fantastic armchair
records online, means
that sometimes, pursuing
something you’d forgotten
you’d already found, you
discover something new
after all.
I certainly don’t mind the
fun of the chase all over
again and the trick is, don’t
spend money till you’ve
checked whether a resource
really is new to you.
One such absent-minded
foray yielded spectacular
results. Regular readers may
recall the commemorative
Blood we share, genes we carry
World War I memory quilt
my class has been working
on, in pursuit of which I
have been checking the
facts about every military
ancestor on my tree. One
such was my great-uncle,
Harry Jones, whose brother
Charles Hugh died on the
Somme aged 19, but who
himself survived only to
die in a charabanc crash
in 1920 at Blacko Bar,
Lancashire aged just 21.
Harry was harder to
trace in a military sense
so I followed up more on
his tragic accident and,
years ago, was vastly proud
finding old newspaper
reports from Collingwood
library. I suppose I rested
on my laurels. A sergeant
in the territorials, he looks
very young, and I knew he
had enlisted in the Royal
Engineers in 1917 so I left
it at that. Did I imagine
he’d spent his war reading
a book and singing Blighty
songs?
I swiftly found more, and
fuller newspaper accounts
at findmypast.co.uk,
and learned from Forces
War Records that he had
received the Distinguished
Conduct Medal, second
only to the VC. This
made me feel very guilty
for leaving poor Harry
unremarked all this time.
Not only was he gassed
and returned to the Front,
he was finally invalided out
with trench fever, but in
between he was decorated
for accompanying an
infantry raiding party
on two occasions across
the River Selle near Le
Cateau between October
and November 1918. I now
have weeks of research
time in hand, discovering
just how and why a young
telephone linesman from
Skipton found himself in
that position. And, perhaps
more mysteriously, why his
medal was never spoken of.
My surmise is that the
pain was too great to bear
for a mother who saw her
first husband, her first
child, her first grandchild,
three adult sons and two
adult daughters, including
my grandmother, die before
she did, the youngest aged
three, the eldest 46. It’s
almost too much for me to
contemplate. But isn’t this
why we do family history?
Illustration: © Ellie Keeble.
To honour and remember
the courageous forgotten
whose blood we share and
whose genes we carry,
granite jaws and all.
About the author
Diane Lindsay
discovered her twin
passions of family
history and English (and
her sense of humour)
while training as a
teacher and bringing up
three small children in
the 1970s. She’s a writer
and local and family historian
and, although retired, still teaches
anything to anyone who will listen.
www.family-tree.co.uk
 YOU T HINK YOUR ANCESTORS W
O D O eERE?
W H

Usually £119.95 use the link below and pay only £109.45

English & Welsh Census 1841-1911
Birth, Marriage & Deaths
Overseas Birth, Marriage & Deaths
Parish Records
Non-Conformist Records
Image Archive
Apprenticeship Records
Criminal Records
Occupational Lists
Naturalisation & International
Diamond
Personal Premium
Tithe Records
Headstone Database
Military Records
Regimental Records
Casualty Lists
Medal Rolls
War Memorial Database
Ship Crew Lists
Roll of Honours
Army / Navy / Air Force Lists
Electoral Records & Poll Books
Wills with Original Images
Directories
Griffiths Valuation of Ireland
Historical Newspapers
Railway Worker Records
Peerage & Heritage Records
Visitation Records
and much more...

Go to www.TheGenealogist.co.uk/FTJUL14 to sign up
Search thousands of historical images for
TheGenealogist free at TheGenealogist.co.uk/ImageArchive