British Newspaper Archive update

I'm a bit tardy here, but I should document the fact that the British Newspaper Archive (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) has passed 87 million pages of added content now, with the current total at 87, 435,010 pages. 

The following are the recent additions for Scotland and Ireland over the last 30 days:

Irish titles:

Larne Times
1990

Banbridge Leader
2000, 2002

Louth Standard
1971-1975, 1981


Scottish titles:

Fife News
1875-1877, 1890

Forfar Dispatch
1987-1991, 1993

Cumbernauld News
1993

Milngavie and Bearsden Herald
1901-1902, 1970-1979

Northern Scot and Moray & Nairn Express
1995-1999

Galloway Gazette
1874-1876, 1879, 1883, 1886, 1993-1995

Stornoway Gazette and West Coast Advertiser
1989-1992

Carluke and Lanark Gazette
1993, 1995-1997, 2000-2003

Inverness Courier
1969-1977, 1980, 1982-1983

Brechin Advertiser
1982, 1986-1987, 1989-1991

Stirling Journal and Advertiser
1875, 1877, 1882-1883

Daily Record
1984-1985

Broughty Ferry Guide and Advertiser
1990-1991

Motherwell Times
1987, 1991

Musselburgh News
1990

Kirriemuir Herald
1993

Fife Herald
1989-1992, 1995

Kirkintilloch Herald
1990-1992

Kilsyth Chronicle
1989-1993

Bellshill Speaker
1990-1991

Buchan Observer and East Aberdeenshire Advertiser
1992

Witness (Edinburgh)
1859

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

SCAN website to be killed off on January 9th 2025

The end is nigh for the Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) website at www.scan.org.uk, which has been replaced by the new Your Scottish Archives platform (see https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2024/12/your-scottish-archive-catalogue-launches.html). The following announcement is currently being carried at the top of the SCAN platform, which for twenty years has provided a catalogue detailing holdings in over fifty archives across Scotland:

Please be aware that from 9 January 2025 this website, The Scottish Archive Network, will be decommissioned.

The SCAN website will have had its final web archive completed and all the content, apart from access to the Highlands and Islands Emigration records, will be available via National Records of Scotland Web archive.
 
The Highland and Island Emigration records database (HD4/5) is already available to search for free on the Scotland's People website.  Researchers just need to register for a free account in order to search it.

There is also a supporting record guide for researchers which provides background information and explains how to search the database at the Scotland's People help and support guides.

RIP SCAN...

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Ancestry adds RNLI and heraldry records

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has made a couple of new records collections available:

UK and Ireland, The Royal National Lifeboat Institution Records, 1824-1989
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62701/
Source: RNLI Records. Poole, Dorset, England: Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

Institution Records, 1824-1989

This collection covers the records between 1824 and 1989 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), a charity to save lives at sea on the coasts of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. Record types in this collection include pension lists, honorary presentation books, legacy books, medal books, lifeboat donation records, crew lists, and applications.

Using this collection

Records in this collection may include the following information:

• Name
• Residence
• Occupation and rank
• Name of assigned lifeboat and station
• Employment or volunteer start/end date
• Date of gallantry medal(s)
• Date of pension
• Date of injury or death
• Information about spouse (name, death date)

The pensions and crew lists within this collection can provide a detailed timeline of your family member's service and valuable information about their life. The mApplications for Gallantry Medals books, also in this collection, may reveal specific instances of your family member's bravery. The RNLI records also include widow's pensions, which name relatives of RNLI members who died in the line of duty. If your family member served on a lifeboat, you may find documentation of rescues the lifeboat engaged in, including shipwrecks and events from the First and Second World Wars. You may also find records for your ancestor who funded lifeboats.


UK, Heraldic Card Index, 1150-1850
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62736/
Source: Heraldic Card Index. London, England: Society of Antiquaries of London.

About the UK, Heraldic Card Index, 1150-1850

This collection captures hundreds of thousands of index cards created by the Society of Antiquaries for the purpose of connecting coats of arms to family names between 1150 and 1850. The Society of Antiquaries not only recorded descriptions of the coat of arms, but also brief genealogical information for the individual the coat of arms was assigned to.

Using this collection

In these index cards you may find the following information:

• Name (including suffixes and aliases)
• Age
• Birth year
• Occupation
• Residence
• Date and place of death
• Names of relatives
• Artifact date

This collection can help you determine if your family had a coat of arms, or to which family a coat of arms belonged to. Each index card describes a coat of arms and the objects on which it appears (seals, plateware, monuments, etc.). Sometimes the index card even includes a photograph or drawing. Keep in mind that the amount of information on each card varies greatly and may be printed or handwritten.


And two new third party indexes:

Web: United Kingdom, Corps of Military Police Index, 1800-2022
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/63108/

Web: Isle Of Man, Wills Index, 1600-1864
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/63077/

For further details on all, please consult the links given.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Scottish Baronial Families 1250-1750, by David Dobson - review

The Genealogical Publishing Company has kindly sent me a copy of David Dobson's new book, Scottish Baronial Families 1250-1750, for review.

Under Scotland's old feudal system, baronies were erected as administrative areas in Scotland, with their chief overseers, the barons, being the Scottish equivalent of the English 'lord of the manor'. Barons were not a peerage rank, with a baron only being a baron so long as he retained the barony to which he had been granted a right to oversee - or to be more accurate, so long as he retained the 'caput' of the barony, where the barony courts were held. As a feudal possession. baronies were heritable, and could thus be passed down to an heir. The role of baronies and their barons diminished following the passing of the Heritable Jurisditions Act of 1747.

David's book provides a concise introduction to the topic, summarising the role of the barons in Scottish society, and identifying the limited number of baronies for which records have been published. There then follows the main event, an alphabetical listing of over a thousand baronial familes known to exist over a 500 year period from 1250-1750. The main source used by David is The Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, and in the introduction he notes that for more concise information on the families themselves, Margaret Stuart's Scottish Family History (1979, GPC, Baltimore) should be consulted. 

The book does not act as a manorial documents register, as found down south, it identifies the individuals known to have held baronies, and when they were granted the right to do so, with no further source citations noted in most cases, apart from a very general bibliography noted in the introduction. This means that if you wish to chase records for those noted, many of which are in private hands, there will still be some work to do for the reader. In addition, an index of barony placenames might have been a useful addition, which is unfortunately missing. 

Nevertheless, this is still a very useful guide to those known to have held baronies in Scotland, a much under-used source for local records. An appendix at the end also identifies some Scots-Irish baronets, not to be confused with barons, these being created for entiriely different purposes from 1611 as a means to fund the Plantations of Ulster and the settlement of Nova Scotia.  

Scottish Baronial Families 1250-1750, by David Dobson, is available to buy from the Genealogical Publishing Company in Baltimore Maryland, USA, priced at US $35. For further details visit https://genealogical.com/store/scottish-baronial-families-1250-1750/.

(With thanks to the GPC for the review copy)

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Next Scottish Research Online course starts 6th January 2025

The next Scottish Research Online course from Pharos Tutors (www.pharostutors.com), taught by myself, starts on January 6th 2025. 

Scottish Research Online (102)
Tutor: Chris Paton

Scotland was one of the first countries to digitise its major family history records collections for accessibility online, and continues to this day to use such resources to promote a worldwide interest in family history for those with Caledonian connections.

This course describes the major sites and record types that you will encounter in your research, and how to analyse the results. It compares and contrasts many of the key websites available for Scottish research, drilling down to key features within each to help improve a users knowledge of what is contained within the presented records, and equally important, what is not. It explores the key resources for vital records such as births, marriages and deaths, as recorded by the state from 1855 onwards, and the usefulness of the decennial censuses from 1841-1911 in connecting family members and branches together.

Prior to civil registration there are the records created by the Church of Scotland as the state church, with the course exploring access to its Old Parish Registers (OPRs) on ScotlandsPeople and through FamilySearchs various finding aids. In the final lesson, wills and inventories generated by Scotlands confirmation process are explored, with some of the many differences flagged up between the records of Scotland and the rest of the UK, thanks to the distinctly different legal system north of the border.

Most importantly this course will inspire you to actively pursue your interest in Scottish genealogy and take it to the next level.

Lesson Headings:

    * Understanding Scotlands People, FindmyPast, Family Search, Ancestry, and FreeCen
    * Essential Maps and Gazetteers
    * Civil Registration and Census Research
    * Searching in Church of Scotland Registers
    * Scottish Wills and Inventories

Note: it is recommended but not required that students in this course sign up for the basic search option, 30 units/seven days, at ScotlandsPeople (cost is £7.50 for 30 credits)

Each lesson includes exercises and activities; a minimum of 1 one-hour chats See How Courses Work.

STUDENTS SAID: 

'I particularly liked the fact that the course didn't just focus on the well-known BMD resources available, but on a much wider range of websites, including many which give extremely useful background information on the geography and history of the localities where our ancestors lived.'

'Excellent tuition from Chris Paton; very good course materials; well-paced; excellent value for money. I very much liked the opportunity to work at my own pace.'

Relevant Countries: Scotland
Course Length: 5 Weeks
Start Date: 6 January 2025
Cost: £70.00

For a wee video introduction to the course, see below or visit https://youtu.be/ssdYLlGtoHw?si=eTlH-QEVCQlmd6Ii

To sign up for the course, please visit https://www.pharostutors.com/scottish-research-online

I hope to maybe see you there!

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Your Scottish Archive catalogue launches

Although I am still down under in Australia, this is too big a development to wait to talk about until I get home! 

The new Your Scottish Archives site has finally launched, after an extensive delay, at https://yourscottisharchives.com. Designed to replace the long out-of-date Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) platform, the site offers a catalogue of many archival institutions in Scotland, including county archive services, and for the first time, community based archives. In addition, the site has an updated Knowledge Base and Glossary, features previously available on the SCAN platform. 

This is probably the most significant development in Scottish genealogy for a decade, with the platform able to assist family historians to locate many collections that can assist with research. Please note that this is not a straight migration of participating organsiations from the SCAN platform, however, so there may be organisations that were represented there now not on the new Your Scottish Archive platform, so do always remember to consult websites of Scottish archives also, in case they have their own dedicated catalogues there.

Happy hunting - and I will carry out a fuller review when I get home!

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

TheGenealogist releases new military records

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk): 

New Release of Military Records Celebrating Our Armed Forces
Search over half a million names

Ahead of Remembrance Sunday, TheGenealogist is proud to announce the release of a collection of military records spanning over half a million names. This collection provides invaluable insights into the service and sacrifices of members of the British Armed Forces and colonial forces throughout history.

"This collection offers a glimpse into the service and sacrifices of our military and naval personnel throughout history," said Mark Bayley of TheGenealogist. "As we approach Remembrance Sunday, we are honoured to provide researchers and historians access to these invaluable resources, which contain the names of over half a million individuals who served their countries with courage and distinction."

The newly released records include:

●    Naval and Military Despatches Vol. IV-VI (1915 - 1916)
●    The British Roll of Honour 1837-1887
●    Return of The Names of The Officers in The Army 1811-1816
●    Surrey Musters, Part I-III 1544-1684
●    The Army List for 1881
●    The Army List for September 1933
●    The East-India Register and Directory, 1811
●    The East-India Register and Army List, 1842
●    The Last Post, Roll of Officers (Naval, Military or Colonial) who fell in South Africa 1899-1902 (also includes War Correspondents and Nurses who lost their lives)
●    The Muster-Roll of Angus, South African War, 1899-1902 (with 700 portraits)
●    A List of the Flag Officers and Other Commissioned Officers of His Majesty's Fleet, 1826
●    List of Officers of the Navy of the United States and of the Marine Corps, 1775-1900
●    Naval Worthies of Queen Elizabeth's Reign 1562-1643
●    Navy - Pensions, Compensations, and Allowances
●    The Royal Navy List for 1901
●    The Navy List for 1902
●    The Navy List for April 1915
●    The Navy List for April 1932
●    The Navy List for July 1915
●    The Navy List for January 1929
●    Arbroath & District Roll of Honour 1939-1945

The release of these records coincides with Remembrance Sunday, a solemn occasion when we pay tribute to the members of the armed forces who have died in the line of duty.

TheGenealogist's comprehensive military records collection allows individuals to delve into their family histories and honour the legacy of their ancestors who served.

One of the many interesting characters in these new records is Norman Douglas Holbrook, a remarkable submariner with extraordinary courage, skill, and determination - read his story here: https://thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2024/how-a-wwi-submarine-raid-birthed-a-hero-and-a-town-half-a-world-away-7864/

Explore the parish records and start your genealogical journey today with TheGenealogist. To celebrate this release, for a limited time you can claim a Diamond Subscription for the price of a Gold subscription at just £98.95 along with a FREE online magazine - a saving of over £64. You can claim this offer here: https://thegenealogist.co.uk/MGBMIL1124

This offer expires 14th February 2025.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Free access to FindmyPast for Remembrance Day commemorations

From FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk):

Uncover forgotten wartime stories with free access to Findmypast this Remembrance Day

•    Research from Findmypast has revealed that 1.18 million wartime stories could be lost to history forever, as two thirds (64%) of Brits admit they haven't researched an ancestor who served
•    To combat this, all records on Findmypast will be free to the public over the Remembrance weekend (7-11 November 2024)
•    Delve into ancestors’ wartime experiences – from WRENS to frontline troops – in millions of military records
•    The 1921 Census will be free to view for the first time, offering a snapshot of interwar life
•    Uncover the details of family heroics and tragedy within the pages of Findmypast’s treasure trove of historical newspapers
•    Preserve stories and memories in a family tree and take advantages of helpful free tools and features

This Remembrance weekend, Findmypast is offering free access to all records to enable more people to discover their family’s wartime experiences.

This comes after new research conducted by Findmypast revealed that 1.18 million wartime stories are at risk of being forgotten, with a staggering two thirds (64%) of Brits admit they haven't researched an ancestor who served. 

From 7 November – 11 November, anyone can delve into the billions of records and historical newspapers on Findmypast, including the exclusive 1921 Census for the first time.

With millions of military records available – from WWI service records to medical records, enrolment forms, and rolls of honour – you can trace every detail of your ancestors’ wartime service across the globe.

With millions of women serving in in uniform and undertaking civilian wartime roles, make sure to uncover their stories in record sets including the WRENs files, Red Cross volunteer lists, rolls of honour, and service records. 

Newspapers on Findmypast offer a treasure trove of information and stories. You might find details of your ancestors’ wartime heroics, images of your community during the blitz, or fascinating insights into the reporting of major milestones in the war. Follow history as it happened with free access to millions of newspaper pages, digitised in partnership with the British Library.

With the 1921 Census offered free for the first time, you can also discover the impacts of the First World War on your family’s lives. Uncover their changing occupations and reflect on tragic losses, all documented in the largest and most comprehensive census in British history. Trace their lives further into the 20th century with the 1939 Register, taken on the advent of the Second World War.

Plus, you’ll get free use of all Findmypast’s tools and features to aid your research and grow your tree. Preserve your findings with Findmypast’s online family tree builder, and allow the clever hints to get your family history further, faster and with more accuracy. Search for ancestors within the branches of other members’ tree and uncover new connections. Discover milestone moments with Family Notices, and map these onto their profile.

Sarah Bush, Managing Director at Findmypast said: "Remembrance Day provides the perfect opportunity to reflect on our ancestors’ sacrifices, but research shows many stories remain untold. We’re encouraging people to honour their ancestors by uncovering their wartime stories. Every family’s wartime experience is unique, so we’re making our vast and varied collection of records, newspapers and tools on Findmypast free to ensure that no story is left behind.”

Free access on Findmypast will run from 10am GMT on 7 November to 11.59pm FMP on Monday 11 November. Ts&Cs Apply.  

(With thanks to Maddy Gilbert)

 

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Ancestry releases five UK themed Second World War databases

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has released five new UK themed World War 2 databases:

UK, World War II Photographs, 1939-1945
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62210/
Source: WWII Images. London, England: Mirrorpix.

About UK, World War II Photographs, 1939-1945

The World War II collection includes photos of the Second Great Fire of London and the destruction following the Blitz air raid bombings.

The images in this collection come from Mirrorpix, a division of Reach PLC, a publishing company.

Mirrorpix is a comprehensive archive of photographic press images. The collection includes works from the Daily Mirror newspaper, the Daily Express, and hundreds more leading regional newspapers.

 

UK, British Army World War II Medal Cards, 1939-1945
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62862/
Source: WW2 C.S.20 Army Medal Cards (WO 460). Kew, Surrey, England.

About UK, British Army World War II Medal Cards, 1939-1945

This collection contains an index of cards with information about medals awarded by the British Army for service during the Second World War. Records include a link to the image available on Forces War Records and Fold3.

The cards served as applications for war service medals, including the Defence Medal, the War Medal 1939-45, and campaign stars that were awarded for service in specific theatres of the war. Veterans or their family members were required to submit an application to claim the appropriate medals, and many veterans didn’t file applications to receive their military honours.

It is believed that the medal index cards do not survive for members of the following regiments:

• Royal Engineers
• Royal Army Veterinary Corps
• Royal Army Medical Corps
• Royal Army Ordnance Corps
• Auxiliary Territorial Service
• Scots Guards
• Leicestershire Regiment
• Royal Warwickshire Regiment
• Lincolnshire Regiment
• West Yorkshire Regiment
• East Yorkshire Regiment
• Green Howards
• Duke of Wellington's Regiment
• Sherwood Foresters
• York and Lancashire Regiment
• Royal Northumberland Fusiliers
• Royal Ulster Rifles
• Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
• Royal Irish Fusiliers
• King's Own Regiment
• Lancashire Fusiliers
• East Lancashire Regiment
• Border Regiment
• South Lancashire Regiment
• Loyal Regiment
• Manchester Regiment
• Welch Regiment
• Cheshire Regiment
• Worcester Regiment
• South Staffordshire Regiment
• North Staffordshire Regiment
• South Wales Borderers
• Royal Welch Fusiliers
• Liverpool Regiment

The Second World War medals for civilian personnel in the Political Warfare Directorate are not included in this series.


UK, Selected Smaller Units Service Records, 1921-1959
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62683/
Source: WO 421: War Office: Selected Smaller Corps Other Ranks: Service Records. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives.

About UK, Selected Smaller Units Service Records, 1921-1959

This collection contains military service records for members of the British armed forces created between 1921 and 1959. A majority of the records are related to the discharge of over-age personnel who served during the Second World War between 1939 and 1945.

This collection includes service records from the following Corps:
Army Air Corps Royal
Army Veterinary Corps
Royal Military Police (or Corps of Military Police)
Royal Army Pay Corps
Royal Army Physical Training Corps
Military Provost Staff Corps
Royal Corps of Army Music
Royal Army Education Corps
Royal Pioneer Corps
Intelligence Corps
Officer Training Corps
Non-Combatant Corps


UK, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Service Records, 1942-1959
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62682/
Source: WO 420: War Office: The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Other Ranks: Service Records (WO 420). Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives.

About the UK, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Service Records, 1942-1959

This collection contains records of service members who served in the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (officers excluded) between the years 1942 and 1959. In this collection you’ll find service members who served during and after the Second World War, as well as those who were discharged for “aging out” of service (over 45). Only records of service members born over 100 years ago have been published, with more released annually as they exceed 100 years since birth.

Using this collection

Records in this collection may include the following information:
Name
Birth date and place
Age
Service number
Rank
Regiment
Residence place
Parents’ names
Parents’ birth dates and places
Spouse’s name
Spouse's birth date and place
Marriage date and place
Religion
Physical attributes
Enlistment date and place
Discharge date and place
Occupation
Death date and place

Each service member has a packet containing multiple records. When viewing this collection be sure to use the image viewer to view all the records available in the packet. Service record packets may include the following:

• Attestation forms: documents created upon initial recruitment or transfer between units
• Statement of service: a list of the soldier’s postings whilst in service
• B102 Tracer cards: used to trace the soldier’s movements and promotions in the military
• B103 Service and casualty forms: an expanded version of the military service providing more in-depth details

The first page of each packet will include the piece number, which is used for cataloguing the records and will prove useful when creating source citations.

 

Poland and Great Britain, Polish Air Force in Great Britain, 1940-1947
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/63126/
Source: personelu Polskich Sił Powietrznych w Wielkiej Brytanii, 1940-1947. Polska: Krzystek’s List. https://listakrzystka.pl/en/ Accessed: July 2024.

About Poland and Great Britain, Polish Air Force in Great Britain, 1940-1947

This index-only collection captures over 16,000 Polish aviators who served in Great Britain during the Second World War. The index also includes service members who worked in other divisions of the Polish Air Force (PAF) in Britain—such as the Aviation Inspectorate—as well as Polish volunteers for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF).

The index may include the following information:

• Name
• Service number
• Rank and specialty
• Date and place of birth
• Date of death
• Place of burial
• Last known assignment/post
• Military decorations
• Last known residence

The names of Polish personnel were processed by British officers, so misspellings may have occurred. Consider different first name/surname variations during your search. If you locate a service number, you can use it to order service records from the Ministry of Defence. Such records can offer more details about a service member’s military career. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/royal-air-force-personnel/ and https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records offer guidance on how to order and procure RAF service records.

* Further details for al the collections via the links given.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Ancestry adds new Irish based paupers database

Ancestry has added the following dataset:

Ireland, Paupers in Workhouses Who Were Born in England, Wales, or Scotland, 1863
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62994/
Source: Paupers (Ireland). Return of Names and Ages of Paupers in Workhouses in Ireland, on the 25th day of March 1863, who were born in England, Wales or Scotland. Dublin, Ireland: Poor Law Commission Office, 1863.

General collection information

This collection is an index of information from a book titled: Return of Names and Ages of all Paupers in the Workhouses in Ireland, on the 25th day of March 1863, who were born in England, Wales or Scotland.

Records in this collection may include the following information:

• Name
• Age
• Birthplace
• Name of poor law union

The information in this collection can be used to learn more about your ancestor and their life in a pauper workhouse. Knowing your ancestor's birthplace and the union where they lived in a workhouse may lead to other documents from that geographic area, such as church records of births, marriages, and deaths. Although the index may feature multiple people with the same last name in a particular section, the records do not say whether they are related. Ireland parish records, birth and death certificates, and census records can help you determine relations.

Chris

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