FindmyPast adds Merchant Seamen's Campaign Medal Records 1939-1945

FindmyPast (www.fundmypast.co.uk) has added a new merchant seamen wartime collection:

Merchant Seamen's Campaign Medal Records 1939-1945

Discover the campaign medals awarded to Britain’s Merchant Navy during the Second World War. These records list the men and women who kept Britain supplied across dangerous wartime seas, detailing their name, birth information, rank, and medal entitlement. Use this set to trace your ancestor’s wartime service and recognise the vital role merchant seafarers played in the Allied victory.

For a link to the record set, and for other news from the company, visit https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-records/merchant-seamens-campaign-medal-records-1939-1945

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, 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. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

Second World War Merchant Seamen Registry added to FindmyPast

The latest FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) additions this week include the following:

Britain, Merchant Seamen Registry 1939-1945
These 24,406 new records will help you to understand your maritime ancestors' Second World War experiences in more detail than ever.

British Rolls of Honour and Nominal Rolls
But that's not all - we've also updated our existing collection of British military rolls, with 293 records covering the Second World War.

For further details visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/barry-railway-nominal-rolls

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, 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. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

TheGenealogist adds 1.6 million records to commemorate Remembrance

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

Remembering the fallen with more than 1.6 million newly released records

Ahead of Remembrance Sunday in the UK, when we remember the two world wars and later conflicts, TheGenealogist is marking Armistice Day by adding to its collection of Military records.

This release of over 40,000 Rolls of Honour, over 65,000 Medal awards and over 1.5 Million War Memorial Records significantly adds to the suite of fully searchable Military records on this family history website.

The new War Memorials can be searched from the TheGenealogist’s Master Search or by locating the memorial on the georeferenced maps displayed on their Map Explorer, which also lets you search the area around where your ancestor lived.

For those with ancestors who were mariners and served in the Merchant Navy or Fishing Fleets, the Rolls of Honour and Medal Awards from The National Archives Series BT 339 will be especially poignant.

The Rolls of Honour name the deceased and missing-presumed-dead from the ranks of the merchant marine fleets and fishing trawler crews who were employed on minesweeping and patrol duties during World War II (1939-1945) and further years up to 1953.

The list of Medal Awards from 1866 to 1970 includes Mercantile Mariners recognised for gallantry and service. Among these honours is the Albert Medal, initially awarded for saving lives at sea.

Additionally, the Mercantile Marine Officers Nominal List 1916-1920 records recipients of the Order of the British Empire, Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Service Medal, along with issues of the London Gazette listing many other medals (such as the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal and Commendations) citing the deeds of gallantry these Mercantile Marines performed. The images of these records include the details of these deeds, some of which reveal intriguing stories of shipwrecks, shark attacks and gallant heroes.

Read TheGenealogist’s feature article: Rolls of Honour for Unsung Heroes of the Rolling Sea
https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2023/rolls-of-honour-reveal-unsung-heroes-of-the-rolling-sea-6860/

* SCOTTISH GENES READER OFFER 

TheGenealogist is also offering Scottish GENES readers a Diamond Subscription for the price of a Gold plus a free gift! For just £98.95 this Diamond Annual Subscription will renew at the same discount price every year that you stay with them! To sign up visit https://thegenealogist.co.uk/MGBMR1123 

Offer expires 10/12/2023.

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

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 adds Royal and Merchant Naval records

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

New Seafaring Records

TheGenealogist has just released a range of records that will appeal to many British family historians with seafaring roots. As an island nation, we have seen countless ancestors go to sea, especially in the two World Wars. Whether our forebears served in merchant vessels or in warships, this latest release has records of interest for those with both types of sailors in their family trees.

Researchers can use these records to reveal names, dates and information about ancestors who were recorded in a number of Navy Lists for the Royal Navy (RN) that cover both WW1 and WW2. Family historians looking for Merchant Navy (MN) mariners killed or who died on service in WW1 will also find something in this release for them, as well as gaining access to names for merchant seamen honoured with medals and awards between 1914-1918.

For those who have lost seafarers, whether in either the Royal Navy or the Merchant Navy, then this collection of records is a useful addition. Family history researchers will be able to look for ships that were sunk. The new resources include Merchant Shipping Losses 1914-1918, and the British Merchant Vessels Lost or Damaged by Enemy Action During the Second World War 1939-1945. For the Senior Service’s vessels, the Returns Showing the Losses of Ships of the Royal Navy 1914-1918 will give details of the ship and where it was sunk.

Fully searchable by name or keyword from TheGenealogist’s Master Search. The new additions include records from a variety of sources, including:

●    The Navy List 1914
●    The Navy List January 1916
●    The Navy List April 1918
●    The Navy List August 1937
●    The Navy List October 1937
●    The Navy List July 1943
●    The Navy List April 1945
●    Return Showing the Losses of Ships of the Royal Navy 1914-1918
●    Merchant Adventurers 1914-1918
●    Merchant Shipping Losses 1914-1918
●    British Merchant Vessels Lost or Damaged by Enemy Action During Second World War 1939-1945

To learn more about how this collection of records helped us in the research of a mariner whose daring deeds earned him a VC read TheGenealogist’s article: Under the “Red Duster” and the White Ensign. https://thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2023/under-the-red-duster-and-the-white-ensign-2246/.

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

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 the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

FindmyPast to release 1921 census for England, Wales and Crown Dependencies

I know that here in Scotland we are going to be absolutely beside ourselves with joy over the release of the Scottish Government Cabinet papers from 2006 tomorrow on ScotlandsPeople (!), but south of the border there is also the small matter of the release of the 1921 census, for Engand, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. In addition, there are many overseas records for the British armed forces (Army, RAF and Royal Navy), and details for those on merchant ships in English and Welsh waters. If your Scottish or Irish ancestors were down south, in any of the Crown Dependencies, or serving in a military or merchant navy capacity, this is going to be a potentially major release for your research.

Recorded on June 19th 1921, the records, which are held at the National Archives at Kew and which have been sealed for a hundred years, have now been digitised by FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk). The records will costs £2.50 each initially for a transcript, or £3.50 to see the actual image, but will undoubtedly eventually become a part of the subscription offerings of all the main genealogy records vendors. You can find more about the FindmyPast records at https://www.findmypast.co.uk/1921-census and details of what the record will include at https://www.findmypast.co.uk/help/articles/360009238618-what-information-does-the-1921-census-contain-

One thing to note is that this is a particularly big deal down south because the 1931 census for England and Wales was destroyed in a fire in Middlesex during the Second World War. With no census in 1941 because of the Second World War, the next English and Welsh census that will be released is from 1951, in 2052. (Obviously if I am still around at this point, which I fully intend to be, I'll blog about it then!).

Fortunately in Scotland the 1931 census still survives, and will be released in about a decade; we also have the 1926 census for the Republic of Ireland coming in the next few years, and the Northern Irish 1937 census should hopefully be released around the time when I retire! 

The Scottish 1921 census also exists, but we still have a bit of a wait on that front before it goes online - the latest update from the NRS has stated that it will be released late in 2022.

Good hunting!

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - 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. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

FamilySearch adds Irish Merchant Navy Crew List and Prison Registers collections

FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org) has added two new Irish collections this week:

Ireland, Merchant Navy Crew Lists, 1857-1922
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/4316495

The collection was compiled from records held by the National Archives of Ireland. The crew lists provide information about of members of the Irish Merchant Navy who were from all over the world. The records may include information about births, engagements, marriages, and deaths. Index courtesy of FindMyPast.com.

Ireland, Prison Registers, 1798-1928
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/4279963

This is a collection of prison registers from Ireland dated between 1798 and 1928. While the information contained in each record may vary considerably depending on the prison and date, the index contains the prisoner's given name and surname, and potentially their age and birthplace. The index is provided courtesy of FindMyPast.

Whilst the collections can be searched, and some details gleaned, the images can only be viewed at a family history centre. 

For other releases from FamilySearch this week, visit https://media.familysearch.org/new-free-historical-records-on-familysearch-week-of-16-august-2021/.

(With thanks to Gail Dever)

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.