Family History News
Rix Family Alliance
21/03/12 04:57
The Rix Family Alliance (Guild of One Name Studies membership number 298) is holding a Family Open Day.
All Rixs, Rix descendants and anyone with an interest in the Rix family name are most welcome to attend.
The Open Day will be on Saturday 23rd June 2012 at Ketts Park Sports Hall, Harts Farm Road, Wymondham, Norfolk. Plenty of parking space is available.
Doors open at 10:00 a.m. The AGM (usually quite brief) will take place in the afternoon and the day ends at 5:30 p.m.
Anyone requiring lunch (for a very reasonable price) should contact either Sheelagh Rix on 01727 832762 or Sue Simpson on 01953 454404 in early June.
Link to Rix-Alliance web site
New merchant seamen records online
06/03/12 04:32
Merchant seamen records from the 19th century have been made available online for the first time.
Covering the years 1835-1857, 359,000 records of individuals have now been added to findmypast.co.uk who have released the records in association with The National Archives.
Details contained within the records can include name, age, place of birth, physical description, ship names and dates of voyages.
Janet Dempsey, Maritime Expert at The National Archives, said: 'These records are as significant to the social historian as they are to the family historian. No other group of working class men and women had the same freedom of movement and ability to see the world as these 19th century mariners.
'This was the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen's earliest attempts at keeping individuals records and resulted in four different registers over 22 years.
Although more of a challenge to work with than other family history sources, it can be very satisfying to decipher the codes and have your investigative efforts rewarded with sometimes surprisingly rich detail.'
The records are taken from volumes held at The National Archives in series BT112, BT113, BT114, BT115, BT116 and BT120 and were created by central government to regulate the merchant shipping industry.
As the series spans two decades, some individuals may appear in multiple series, making it possible for maritime historians or those with ancestors in the merchant navy to trace a seaman's service over time.
Search the records here
Royal Naval Seamen Records (1853 - 1923)
19/02/12 05:27
You can search and download over 600,000 service records for most ratings who joined the Royal Navy between 1853 and 1923.
These records can tell you about your ancestor's birth, their physical appearance, their occupation and which ship(s) they served on.
From 1853, all boys from the ages of 14-17 joining the navy had to sign an engagement to serve 10 years, from the age of 18.
There was the possibility of serving further engagements, towards the 20 years required for a long service pension. This form of service was also extended to those joining aged 18 and over.
Link to National Archives web site for more information
West Ham Cemetery Records
06/02/12 03:03
West Ham Cemetery, Cemetery Road, Forest Gate, London, E7 9DG.
Approximately 180,000 burial records are available online for West Ham Cemetery, East London.
The data available comprise computerised index records, details of graves including names of all those buried in each grave, and cemetery section maps to locate graves.
Note that only the index records are available, and not the full burial register records, as regrettably these were irrecoverably damaged due to flooding.
West Ham Cemetery (located in Forest Gate) was created in 1857 as one of London’s first publicly-owned cemeteries following the Metropolitan Burials Act of 1852.
The Act was introduced as at that time London’s small burial grounds were overcrowded, causing serious health problems, and lacked good management and accountability. All of the burials since its opening were manually catalogued and these have now been digitised and indexed for the Deceased Online website.
These records are available at deceasedonline on a pay-per-view basis.
Transcribed register entries cost £1.50, image of a grave memorial £2 and maps showing grave or memorial location £5.
Romford Cemetery Records 1871-1994
13/06/11 03:29
All 39,400 burial records for Romford Cemetery in Essex are now available on the Deceased Online website on a pay-per-view basis.
Digitised burial register scans for the period 27 October 1871 to 15 August 1994, and computerised records thereafter, include details such as occupation and/or marital status, age, place of death and grave number. Grave details for all interments are also available.
Romford Cemetery is managed by the London Borough of Havering, and joins Hornchurch, Rainham and Upminster cemeteries, which have all their burial records on www.deceasedonline.com.
Abney Park Cemetery Online Register Index
19/05/11 02:19
There is a free on-line index containing over 193,000 burials of the 194,815 burials that took place in this cemetery from 1840 to 1978.
There have also been a small number of burials since that time in family sites.
This information was kindly provided by Gary Barnes, member 11005.
Many thanks!
Link to web site
Podcast from the National Archives: March 2011
25/03/11 03:55
Published date: Fri, 18 Mar 2011 17:00:00 GMT
This talk provides an introduction to the main sources for family history research available via The National Archives website.
Topics covered include the online catalogue, online resources and the research signposts. The talk is given by Gerry Toop, a Reader Adviser in the Family History team in the Advice and Records Knowledge department.
Link to national Archives podcasts
Recommended web site
29/06/10 09:00
Explore two million pages of 19th century newspapers.
Search 49 local and national titles using keywords.
View complete articles from the Penny Illustrated Paper and The Graphic free of charge;
or buy a 24-hour pass for £6.99 allowing you to view up to 100 articles, or a seven-day pass with 200 article views for £9.99;
or access the whole site free if you are a member of a subscribing institution
(The digitised nineteenth century British Library newspapers are freely available for people in UK higher and further education, in some UK public libraries, and in some institutions in other countries. Please contact your library to find out about access.
New online records at FamilySearch International
09/06/10 08:00
The names come from extracted original sources and include many collections that have never before been available online.
The move bolsters FamilySearch's earlier announcements regarding ongoing efforts to digitize the billions of genealogical records stored in its Granite Mountain Records Vault near Salt Lake City, Utah.
Parish Register Newsletter
03/06/10 09:00
Latest Newsletter from Parishregister.com
"This month we've uploaded another in the St Dunstan's series, 1608-1628, so we're gradually closing the gap up to 1730. Once that's been achieved then we'll have all the records from 1568 all the way up to 1848!
We've also got the first of our Catholic Register CDs back in stock (SS Mary and Joseph), two new CDs from the East of London Family History Society, three offers on East of London Family History CDs, a new special offer on our compendiums 1-5, and a new book in stock."
For special offers, books, CDs, maps and more, see all their current offerings and news here...
"This month we've uploaded another in the St Dunstan's series, 1608-1628, so we're gradually closing the gap up to 1730. Once that's been achieved then we'll have all the records from 1568 all the way up to 1848!
We've also got the first of our Catholic Register CDs back in stock (SS Mary and Joseph), two new CDs from the East of London Family History Society, three offers on East of London Family History CDs, a new special offer on our compendiums 1-5, and a new book in stock."
For special offers, books, CDs, maps and more, see all their current offerings and news here...
Launch of Nonconformist Registers 1694-1921
02/06/10 17:01
For the first time ever the names and details of hundreds of thousands of UK radicals and religious dissenters from over 225 years are available online.
Ancestry.co.uk have launched the first tranche of Non Conformist Registers (1694-1921) containing 224,000 names including baptism, marriage registers and burial inscriptions.
Digitised in partnership with London Metropolitan Archives (where the paper originals are held), the online records detail the names of thousands of men and women who refused to conform to the doctrine of the established (Anglican) Church including Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists and Quakers.
Ancestry.co.uk have launched the first tranche of Non Conformist Registers (1694-1921) containing 224,000 names including baptism, marriage registers and burial inscriptions.
Digitised in partnership with London Metropolitan Archives (where the paper originals are held), the online records detail the names of thousands of men and women who refused to conform to the doctrine of the established (Anglican) Church including Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists and Quakers.
First World War merchant seamen medals available to download
19/05/10 09:00
The cards, available in the National Archives Documents Online list the recipients of the British War Medal, the Mercantile Marine Medal and the Silver War Badge.
Read More...