My new book is now on sale in Australia

My latest guide book for Adelaide based Unlock the Past (my eighth title) is now on sale in Australia. Entitled A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Ancestry, it very much does what it says on the tin! Here's the blurb:

You've decided that you want to trace your British and Irish family history, but have absolutely no idea where to start. If only there was a handy beginner's guide...?

In this Unlock the Past guide, genealogist Chris Paton takes you through the key record sets that will help you get underway with your family history research. He will introduce you to the family history societies and archives that can assist your efforts, and provide a little context to the ancestral landscape within which your ancestors once lived, and into which you will soon be immersed. Along the way he will point out some of the major differences in record types to be found in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and the Crown Dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

In each chapter Chris also provides a steer towards further books which can further develop your skills as you become more experienced with the subject matter, making this an invaluable introduction.

Warning – once you get started with your family history research, you will never stop...!

And the contents list:

Introduction
Acknowledgements
1. Researching your family tree
- Documentary sources
- Gateways
- Record your finds
- Gadgets
- Brick walls
- Overcome mistakes
- Question everything
- Make your ancestors real
- Damn the rules!
- Further reading
2. Civil registration records
- Basic information
- England and Wales
- Scotland
- Ireland
- Certificate exchange sites
- Further reading
3. Parish registers
- Baptisms
- Marriages and banns
- Burials and deaths
- Locating state church records
- Records of church governance
- Non-conformist churches
- Further reading
4. Monumental inscriptions
- English and Welsh gravestones
- Scotland
- Ireland
- Further reading
5. Cenuses
- What censuses contain
- Online records
- Scotland
- Ireland
- Census substitutes: directories
- Further reading
6. Wills and testaments
- Forms of estate
- Probate and confirmation
- England and Wales
- Recent wills
- Scotland
- Ireland
- Further reading
7. Maps and gazetteers
- Modern maps
- Ordnance Survey maps
- Other maps
- Gazetteers
- Further reading
8. Occupations
- Ancestral context
- Understand the job
- Newspapers
- Dig deeper
- Further reading
9. Societies, archives and libraries
- Umbrella bodies
- National societies
- Special interest groups
- Archives
- Catalogues
- Libraries
- Further reading
10. Social networking
- Facebook and Twitter
- Blogs
- Message boards and forums
- Family tree networks
- Further reading
11. DNA tests
- Types of DNA
- Testing companies
- Further reading
Appendix: The Crown Dependencies
- Isle of Man
- The Channel Islands
Index

The book can be purchased from Gould Genealogy in Adelaide via https://www.gould.com.au/a-beginners-guide-to-british-and-irish-genealogy/utp0289/, priced at AU$12.03. An ebook version will also be available shortly via www.gen-ebooks.com, and then print copies in due course will also be on sale in the UK and Canada, which I will announce in due course.

I hope it is of some use if you are just getting under way with your research!

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

In Springfield for the FGS conference

On Monday evening I arrived in Springfield, Illinois, where I will be giving three talks and a workshop over the next few days at the FGS conference (www.fgsconference.org). The journey was extremely long, taking me via Philadelphia, Dallas and eventually into Springfield, although the highlight has to be the extraordinary amount of thunderstorm activity I witnessed on the last flight out of Dallas, in the world's most wee commercial plane - you can't beat a bit of lightning as you fly through it, although I did think the words "Flash, Flash, I love you, but we only have fourteen hours to save the Earth" a few times! :)

I asked the taxi driver who took me into the city what Springfield's biggest industry was, and her reply was "Lincoln"! The city is where the former President of the USA, Abraham Lincoln, was buried following his assassination in 1865, as well as being the very place where he lived and worked whilst an elected representative. I spent yesterday (Tuesday) dodging rain and thunderstorms to try to find some of his presence in the area, and it couldn't really be missed, with staties and historic markers everywhere chronicling his life and times.

Due to the weather I had to prioritise what I could do in terms of visitor attractions. Whilst it rained I made a visit to the Korean War National Museum (www.kwnm.org), a fascinating wee exhibition in the downtown area, on one of the wars that I know least about (why are we not taught about Korea in the UK, many folk from there served?), despite having been an avid fan of MASH as a child. Nothing is ever as it appears to be, and that series, so the exhibition told me, was more of a commentary on the Vietnam War, based within a Korean War setting - you live and learn. It was extremely well laid out, recalling the various factions at play, including the United Nations, the United States, the UK, North and South Korea, China and Russia, as well as providing a useful timeline of events. Thoroughly recommended.

I waited for the rain to clear and then took a long walk out to the Oak Ridge Cemetery (www.oakridgecemetery.org) to see the President's tomb, where he and several family members are buried. It was an impressive structure, both outside and within. It is possible during daylight hours to go inside and to see the spot where Lincoln was buried, and it was quite a moving experience, considering that I am not American! Statues to the politician were accompanied by quotes from some of his greatest speeches, including the Gettysburg Address. The Oak Ridge Cemetery itself was a huge sprawl, and I only glimpsed some of it, deciding I needed to get back to my hotel before Armageddon erupted again from the skies.

In the evening I picked up my registration pack for the conference, and then caught up with several genies I knew, including Paul Milner, Carol Baxter and Audrey Collins, for a meal, where I met several new faces from the US genie scene. Looking forward now to the conference getting under way!

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Travelling to the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference

I'm on my travels again from tomorrow (Monday) as I make my way to the United States to give three talks and a workshop on Scottish subjects at the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in Springfield, Illinois (see https://www.fgsconference.org). This will be my first trip to the States to speak at a genealogy event, and my first proper visit to the country since October 2001 (bar a four hour stopover last year in Philadelphia!).

The talks I am doing are as follows:

Thurs 1st Sept
The Godly Commonwealth: The Kirk's History and Records

Fri 2nd Sept
Scottish Land Records
Tracing Scottish Ancestors before 1800 (2 hour workshop)

Sat 3rd Sept
Scottish Marriage: Instantly Buckled for Life

I'll hopefully be able to blog whilst there, and I hope to catch up with some familiar faces from Canada, the US, Australia and Ireland. Very much looking forward to it all - it will be interesting to see how the Americans do things genealogically!

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Scottish Research Online course starts soon!

Another reminder that my latest Scottish Research Online course kicks off on Tuesday 6th September, the day after I return from the US.

Full details on the five week long course from Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd are available at http://pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102.

There are still plenty of spaces available, hopefully I will see a few of you there!

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Lanarkshire Family History Show reminder

A quick reminder that Lanarkshire Family History Society will be hosting its annual Local and Family History Show in Motherwell Concert Hall, Windmillhill Street, Motherwell, ML1 1AB, on ​Saturday 3rd September 2016. 

I'll unfortunately not be able to make it this year as I won't be in the country, but it is Scotland's biggest genealogy event, and well worth attending!

For further details, please see my original post at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/lanarkshire-local-and-family-history.html

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

England's Immigrants 1330-1550 website podcast

The latest National Archives podcast takes a look at the subject of immigration in a historic context, with a talk from Jonathan Mackman and Jessica Lutkin entitled England’s Immigrants between 1330 and 1550. The talk explores a new database at https://www.englandsimmigrants.com containing the names of 65,000 immigrants to England, who helped to build the nation up in the medieval period.

You can listen to the podcast at the website via http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/englands-immigrants-1330-1550/, download it from the site or download through iTunes.

Chris


For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Kent records added to Ancestry

Two new collections for Kent have been added recently to Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk):

Bexley, Kent, England, Electoral Registers, 1734-1965
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61151
Original data: Bexley Electoral Registers. Bexley Local Studies & Archive Centre, Bexleyheath, Kent, England.

Medway, Kent, England, Poor Law Union Records, 1836-1937
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=60655
Original data: Poor Law Union Records. Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre, Chatham, Kent, England.

Further details are available via the links.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

FindmyPast adds enemy aliens and internees in Britain records

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.com) has added the following records:

Britain, Enemy Aliens and Internees, First and Second World Wars

Were your ancestors suspected of being enemy sympathisers or spies? Were they interned or declared exempt from internment? During the First and Second World Wars, thousands of foreign nationals were investigated and interned in camps across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. These records comprise enemy alien index cards from the Home Office, nominal rolls, correspondence, and much more.

Sources:

First World War
HO 144/11720 - First World War internment lists (1915 and 1918): Enemy aliens in London This series contains lists of German nationals who were assessed for internment, but not interned.

HO 45/11522 Parts 1 and 2 - Aliens and Nationality and Naturalisation: Central Register of Aliens in United Kingdom; policy of internment and repatriation of alien enemies, 1914-1924 This series contains registrations of enemy aliens in lunatic asylums, investigations by the Home Office into reports of suspicious characters, and quantified lists of enemy aliens by district from the 1911 census, as well as lists of enemy aliens, organised by age, with familial information such as spouse and children.

Second World War
PCOM 9/661 - Reception and internment of aliens: list of internees, 1938-1946 The lists include internees from prisons in Holloway, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, Lincoln, Lewes, Dorchester, and Leeds. You will find notifications of the reception of enemy aliens into prisons and the dates of their arrests and arrivals. These files include a large number of female internees.

PCOM 9/662 - Reception and internment of aliens: list of internees, 1938-1946 In this series, you will find reports of internee movements and transfers and internee complaints about conditions and investigations. For example, three internees complained that the prisons were not set up for non-criminals and that they were kept in solitary confinement for 19 ½ hours a day. However, the prison officers disputed the complaints.

Nominal Rolls
HO 215/469 - Hutchinson, Isle of Man: Nominal roll, September 1943
HO 215/471 - Metropole, Isle of Man: Nominal roll, October 1943
HO 215/473 - Mooragh, Isle of Man: Nominal rolls, 1943-1945
HO 215/475 - Onchan, Isle of Man: Nominal roll, May 1943
HO 215/478 - Port Erin, Isle of Man: Nominal rolls, 1943-1944
HO 215/502 - Married camp, Isle of Man: Nominal roll, November 1943 Nominal rolls will include your ancestor’s name, birthdate, and birthplace. Some rolls will have additional remarks such as the name of your ancestor’s spouse or occupation.
HO 396 - 308 volumes of people interned or considered for internment by the British in the Second World War (1939-1947)

Further details at http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-Records/britain-enemy-aliens-and-internees-first-and-second-world-wars

COMMENT: Don't forget my website also at http://ruhleben.tripod.com which looks at British and British Empire based citizens interned in Germany in WW1.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Donegal outrages and bribery in Hull added to The Original Record

Latest additions to The Original Record (www.theoriginalrecord.com) website:

1799
Lodging House and Boarding House Keepers in Bath
A list of all the lodging and boarding houses in the city of Bath, street by street, with house numbers. 'The general price of Lodgings from the first of September to the 31st of May is 10s. 6d. a week for the best rooms, and 5s. 6d. for servant's rooms; the other three months, viz. June, July, and August, 7s. 6d. a week for the best rooms, and 5s. 6d. a week for servant's rooms.'

1851-1861
Victims of Outrages: Kilmacrenan barony, county Donegal
Return of outrages specially reported by the constabulary as committed within the barony of Kilmacrenan, county Donegal: giving date of the offence; parish and townland; name and class of the injured person; nature of the offence; number of persons arrested; and whether conviction was had or not.

1854
Bribers and Bribed in Hull
A Bill for the Prevention of Bribery in the Election of Members to serve in Parliament for the Borough of Kingston-upon-Hull, passed 11 April 1854, stated that a commission of inquiry 30 August 1853 had found that over a hundred voters were bribed at one or more of the elections for the borough in 1841, 1847 and 1852: the names of those bribed, and those who gave the bribes, were listed in the bill, and all those persons were disqualified from any future parliamentary elections for the borough.

1854-1855
Assaults on Women and Children: Bow Street, Hammersmith and Lambeth
The return, under 16 & 17 Vict. c. 30 of offenders convicted of aggravated assaults upon women and children: giving date of conviction, full name of offender, and sentence.

1870
London University Matriculation List
The matriculation list of the University of London published in January 1870 shows all the students entering the university 1865 to 1869, but who had not yet taken an examination. The alphabetical list gives full name, surname first; year of matriculation; and the name of the school or college (or private study or the name of a tutor) of previous education.

(With thanks to The Original Record)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Irish Family History Centre podcast: Mna 1916

The latest podcast from the Irish Family History Centre entitled Mna - 25 years of searching - lesson and leads, a talk by Sinead McCooly recently given at the National Library of Ireland. 'Mna' is the Gaelic word for women, and the talk discusses an exhibition on the women of the Easter Rising, and other movements from 1916, as well as tips on how to search for them in the records.

To listen to the podcast, visit https://irishfamilyhistorycentre.com/article/sinead-mccool-mna-25-years-of-searching-lesson-and-leads-2.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Free UK and Irish records on Ancestry this weekend

It's a bank holiday everywhere in England and Wales, but we still get to have some fun here in Scotland (and NI!) also! Ancestry is making its UK and Irish records available for free this weekend. Here's the blurb:

FREE ACCESS ALL LONG WEEKEND
The sooner you start, the longer you get
Are you from a long line of adventurers? Perhaps a recently discovered cousin is from a long line of minor royals? Now is the time to find out with FREE access to all UK and Ireland records.

This Bank Holiday you can search millions of records to find the answers you’re looking for. All weekend long and all for free.

*Access to the records in the featured collections will be free until 29 August 2016 at 23:59 BST. To view these records you will need to register for free with Ancestry.co.uk with your name and email address. We will then send you a username and password to access the records. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using an Ancestry.co.uk paid membership. To see a full list of the records in the featured collections please click here.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

ScotlandsPeople Centre remains closed

Another update from the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh (www.nrscotland.gov.uk/news/2016/customer-notice-service-disruption):

Following a recent problem at one of our buildings we continue to experience technical difficulties at our ScotlandsPeople search rooms. These will remain closed today and Friday 26 August so please check back before travelling.

The SFHS (Scottish Family History Service) network and some other users are also affected. We’re working hard to resolve the problems and restore services and will continue to provide updates here and at our Twitter account, @natrecordsscot. Our online services and the historical and legal search rooms remain unaffected.

COMMENT: The Scottish Family History Service network essentially means all the centres across Scotland that are connected to the ScotlandsPeople database, so there will be problems at Glasgow, Hawick, Inverness, etc. I've read a few tweets and Facebook messages today from folk who will be affected - this is not a great advert for all the tourists making their way here to use the service, here's hoping it gets resolved quickly.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Coming Soon - A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy

A quick heads up for my new book, coming very soon from Unlock the Past (www.unlockthepast.com.au):

More soon! (And kudos to anyone who recognises the church!)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Irish Police Gazettte 1861-1893 records on Ancestry

Ancestry has released a new collection, Ireland, Police Gazettes, 1861-1893, available at http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61046.

From the site:

About Ireland, Police Gazettes, 1861-1893

This collection contains printed publications used for communication among members of the police force in Ireland between 1861 and 1893. It contains information on wanted criminals, crimes committed, criminals who had been apprehended, and missing persons.

The collection can be searched by:

Name
Birth year
Publication year
Event year
Event location
Event Type
Role in Crime
Conviction Place


Ancestry has written a blog post about the collection at http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/08/22/wanted-criminals-and-reward-systems-revealed-in-new-irish-police-gazette-records/.

NB: In terms of coverage, the collection is very incomplete, with coverage for some years very hit and miss, and in some cases absent altogether. It starts in February 15th 1863, with no records at all then from 1864-1865, 1867-1869, 1872-1873, or 1881. Within the years presented, a quick search test has shown that in the year 1870, there are only six pages in total, whilst only 3 pages are returned for 1871, 5 for 1875 etc, so some years are very well represented, and some not at all. This is not Ancestry's fault, it has merely digitised the source as presented, which comes from Luminary Trading Ltd. Nevertheless, for what is available, you may find a useful gem.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

ScotlandsPeople Centre closed again

Just a quick update on a story from a couple of days ago to say that the ScotlandsPeople Centre (www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/visit-us/scotlandspeople-centre) in Edinburgh has re-opened its doors again today (Tuesday), following its recent closures due to computer problems.

UPDATE 11am: No sooner had I posted this based on an update from the ScotlandsPeople website, than I then discover this on Twitter:

We’re very sorry, our technical problems have reoccurred and our ScotlandsPeople search rooms aren’t open this morning.

Other hobbies are available...! :) Might be worth giving it a day or two before planning a trip.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

WW2 Merchant Navy deaths and Bexley records join Ancestry

The following collections have been released by Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk):

UK, Merchant Seamen Deaths, 1939 -1953
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61094
Source: Lists of Merchant Seamen Deaths. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, UK.

This collection details the names of over 50,000 merchant seamen who lost their lives during and just after WWII. The Merchant Navy during this time was made up of approximately 185,000 seamen, including 40,000 men of Indian, Chinese and other nationalities. When war broke out, the merchant fleet, which was the largest in the world, was put under the control of the Ministry of Shipping, later part of the Ministry of War Transport. The most significant battle that involved the merchant navy was the Battle of the Atlantic, during which the merchant fleet, with its naval escorts, struggled to bring food, fuel, equipment and raw materials from America and elsewhere across the Atlantic, while Germany mobilized U-boats, battleships, aircraft and mines against them in an attempt to sever Britain's supply lines.

Please note that the organisation of the collection on Ancestry reflects the way that the original data is arranged at the National Maritime Museum.


Bexley, Kent, England, WWI Registration Cards, 1914-1919
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61152
Source: Bexley World War I registration cards. The Mayor & Burgesses of the London Borough of Bexley, Kent, England

The first National Registration exercise in the United Kingdom was taken during the First World War. The basis behind the exercise was to identify the number of men within the population available to fight. Existing statistics were judged to be insufficiently accurate and the Cabinet decided to resolve the matter through the introduction of national registration. Under the National Registration Bill, personal information on all the adult population was compiled in locally-held registers, and identity cards were issued.


Bexley, Kent, England, Electoral Registers, 1734-1965
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61151
Source: Bexley Electoral Registers. The Mayor & Burgesses of the London Borough of Bexley, Kent, England.

This database contains yearly registers listing names and residences of people in Bexley, Kent, who were eligible to vote in elections. These year-by-year registers can help place your ancestors in a particular place and possibly also reveal a bit about property they owned.

Further details are available via the links.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Gould Genealogy revamps website

Australian genealogy store Gould Genealogy is celebrating its fortieth anniversary this year, and its twentieth online. As such, it has taken the opportunity to revamp its website, which has now been launched at www.gould.com.au. The company's Alona Tester has blogged a feature looking at previous incarnations of the site, should you fancy a trip down memory lane, at www.gouldgenealogy.com/2016/08/gould-genealogy-website-now/.

Gould Genealogy is also the parent company behind Unlock the Past (www.unlockthepast.com.au), which does just about everything these days from genealogy cruises and conferences to books and e-books. My latest title for the company, A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, should be joining their book range shortly - watch this space for more details soon!

(With thanks to Alona Tester)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

ScotlandsPeople search rooms closed Monday 22nd

From ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk):

The ScotlandsPeople search rooms - closed on Monday 22 August 2016

The ScotlandsPeople search rooms will be closed on Monday 22 August 2016 due to technical problems affecting our services.

Our ScotlandsPeople online service and our historical and legal search rooms are unaffected.

We apologise for the inconvenience and will provide further updates when they are available on Twitter and Facebook.

For seat booking enquiries, please call 0131 314 4300.


COMMENT: There's been a few problems last few days apparently, so if you are planning to visit Edinburgh to do research next week, I would keep an eye for further announcements. I suspect this will also affect other centres hostinh the ScotlndsPeople system (it usuall does), such as the Glasgow Registrar's service at the Mitchell Library, and other centres in Kilmarnock, Inverness, Alloa, Hawick, etc - you may wish to contact them in advance if planning a visit also.

National Records of Scotland hosted catalogues seem to be unaffected.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Latest additions to The Original Record website

Latest additions to The Original Record (www.theoriginalrecord.com):

1664
Suffolk Archdeaconry Marriage Licences
Marriage licence bonds in the Suffolk Archdeaconry Registry at Ipswich, abstracted and printed by Frederick Arthur Crisp

1845-1850
Consistory Court of London Divorce Cases
The list of causes of divorce determined in the Consistory Court of London gives the title of the cause; whether opposed or unopposed; whether promoted by husband or wife; whether for adultery and cruelty, or which; when commenced; when concluded; whether appealed or not; whether carried to the House of Lords.

1850
Masters and Mates in the Merchant Service
Masters and mates in the Merchant Service who voluntarily passed an examination and obtained certificates of qualification under the regulations issued by the Board of Trade, from 28 February to 11 April 1850.

1868
Art School Teachers
The Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education produced this list of persons certificated as competent to act as teachers of art schools, revised to March 1868. The list gives name (surname first); school where previously taught; and certificates obtained (1 elementary drawing and colouring; 2 painting; 3 the figure drawn and painted; 4 modelling ornament; 5 modelling the figure; 6a mechanical drawing; 6b architectural drawing).

1876
Members of the Society of Biblical Archaeology
This membership list of the Society of Biblical Archaeology is corrected to January 1876; it gives names and addresses, asterisks indicating members of the society's council.

1882-1887
Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders Died in Egypt and Sudan
The roll of officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the 79th Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders who were killed in action or died of wounds and disease in Egypt and the S(o)udan 1882 to 1887, compiled from the orderly room records by Captain T. A. Mackenzie and Lieutenant C. Findlay: giving rank, full name, and where or how died.

1909-1910
Durham University Matriculation Examination
The lists of students who satisfied the examiners, September 1909 and March 1910: surnames are given, with initials.

(With thanks to The Original Record)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

FindmyPast releases Irish outrage reports 1836-1840

The following records have been released by FindmyPast (www.findmypast.com) today:

Ireland, Outrage reports 1836-1840 [TNA HO 100]
18,157 fascinating police reports released in association with the National Archives. Discover realities of life in historic Ireland and read descriptions of thefts, assaults, suicides, daring rescues, infanticide, arson, highway robbery, and much more.

Middlesex, London, Old Bailey Court records 1674-1913
Was your ancestor involved in a crime as either a perpetrator, victim or witness? Explore 239 of fascinating documents from the Central Criminal Court in London.

England & Wales Non-Conformist Births and Baptisms
Number of volumes added: 208,610
Total volumes: 1,564,672
Covering: Roman Catholics, Jews, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, members of the Society of Friends and other denominations
Discover: Baptism date, place, parents' names, godparents & denomination

England & Wales Non-Conformist Marriages
Number of records added: 3,108
Total records: 8,007
Covering: Roman Catholics, Jews, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, members of the Society of Friends and other denominations
Discover: Date of marriage, location, spouse's names, witnesses & denomination

England & Wales Non-Conformist Burials
Number of records added: 300,764
Total records: 888,641
Covering: Roman Catholics, Jews, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, members of the Society of Friends and other denominations
Discover: Birth year, death year, burial date, location, spouse's name, parents' names & denomination


Further details and collection links at https://blog.findmypast.com/findmypast-friday-1978092206.html

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

ScotlandsPeople to go offline for a few days next month

In preparation for the imminent revamp and relaunch of the ScotlandsPeople website, the following announcement as been posted at http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/Content/Help/index.aspx?2394:

Service announcement for the ScotlandsPeople website

We are writing to let you know that the ScotlandsPeople website will be unavailable from Wednesday 7 September 2016 at 23.59 (BST). This is due to essential planned work which is taking place over this time. The work is expected to be completed and service resumed by Monday 12 September 2016. Please check Facebook or Twitter for updates.

Customers visiting The ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh or using one of the local family history centres will be able to access records as normal on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 September 2016.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you and thank you for your patience.

The team at ScotlandsPeople.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

A wee glimpse of the Waverley

It's a bit quiet just now on the family history news front, so here's a wee treat from Largs in North Ayrshire - the Waverley sailing past the isle of Cumbrae earlier this evening!

(Also available at https://youtu.be/Ns5YKTsNpIg)

The Waverley is the world's last sea-going paddle steamer, and well worth an excusion. Your Scottish based ancestors may once have enjoyed a wee trip 'doon the watter' to the Clyde on a beautiful day like today and on a boat just like her!

For more details see www.waverleyexcursions.co.uk and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS_Waverley.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Ancestry adds US bound English emigrants in bondage 1614-1775 list

Ancestry has added a new collection, Emigrants in Bondage, 1614-1775, accessible at http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61074. Here's the blurb:

About Emigrants in Bondage, 1614-1775

Between 1614 and 1775 more than 50,000 English men, women, and children were sentenced to be deported to the American colonies for crimes ranging from the theft of a handkerchief to bigamy or highway robbery. After years of painstaking research, the names of nearly all those transported were extracted from official court records by Peter Coldham and published in the landmark work The Complete Book of Emigrants in Bondage in 1988 and its Supplement in 1992, forming the largest and most complete passenger list of its kind ever published. From this unexpected source the researcher at last had the means of learning the names of the persons transported to the colonies, the charges against them, the dates and places of sentencing, the ship names, and the places of arrival in the colonies.

The original volume of Emigrants in Bondage published in 1988 acknowledged that there were some notable omissions from the list of transported felons then printed, which remained to be researched and remedied. The Supplement of 1992 began to supply the omissions, but now with the publication of More Emigrants in Bondage, Mr. Coldham has closed the remaining gaps. Altogether there are some 9,000 new and amended records in this important new work, which is arranged and annotated in the same way as the parent volume. To the original list of 50,000 records, these additions come as a windfall, arising from the availability of previously closed archival resources and the re-examination of conventional transportation records such as Assize Court records, Circuit Court records, and the quaintly-named Sheriffs' Cravings, to which can be added newspapers and printed memoirs.

The addition of 9,000 records to the canon makes this the most important list of ships' passengers to be published in years. Whether as a list of additions or corrections, this new work is an indispensable tool in the researcher's arsenal, and anyone using the parent volume and supplement cannot possibly ignore this volume. Questions about the peopling of colonial America come readily to mind when looking at a book like this--questions about ancestors, too--and the answers found here are both challenging and surprising.

Note: The entries in this collection are highly condensed from the original records. For information on how to read and interpret these records, each volume includes a guide that describes the format of the entries. For additional help, a key to abbreviations is also included in each volume (A-Sh, Sl-Y).

The source is two books:

Coldham, Peter Wilson. The Complete Book of Emigrants in Bondage, 1614-1775. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988.

Coldham, Peter Wilson. More Emigrants in Bondage, 1614-1775. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2002.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Work to commence on new Plymouth history centre

Work is abou to commence on constructing a new Plymouth based history centre, thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £14.8 million grant, following a previous grant of £940,300 to progress intial designs for the project. The new centre will create a single attraction out of the current city museum, central library and St Luke's Church.

From The Plymouth Herald newspaper: "The centre will see five of Plymouth's major heritage collections come together in one location. The Plymouth and West Devon Record Office, South West Film and Television Archive and South West Image Bank will join the Local Studies and Reference Collection and the City Museum and Art Gallery's significant art, human history and natural history collections on the Tavistock Place/North Hill site."

For more on the story visit www.plymouthherald.co.uk/plymouth-s-history-centre-green-lit-thanks-to-14-8-million-grant/story-29610786-detail/story.html#xIiDdBWGY3YV4RGu.99.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Ancestry updates National Probate Index

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has updated its England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) database to include coverage from 1973-1995, adding to the already existent coverage for 1858-1966. The collection can be searched at http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=1904.

Don't forget that calendar entries for England and Wales can also be searched at https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk, where copies of wills or administrations can be ordered at a price of £10 per record. Once paid for you will have 31 days to download the record, though you may have to wait a few days for the record to become available for digital download following your order.

For equivalent Scottish calendar entries, visit Ancestry's Scotland, National Probate Index (Calendar of Confirmations and Inventories), 1876-1936 database at http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=60558.

For Ireland, see my page on Irish probate at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/ireland-probate-calendars.html.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Diary moments

This blog isn't the only daily fare that I attend to - I've just completed my latest personal diary, covering the last two years and a bit of my life, from May 2014!

In that period it includes coverage of three genealogy lecture trips to Canada, a genealogy cruise around the Baltic, a genealogy conference in Portugal, the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the last Scottish independence referendum, four subsequent election campaigns that I've helped to canvass for (three successfully, the other we'll know by Friday!), the EU referendum, five family encounters with two Scottish First Ministers, my son Calum's exams and rugby successes, as well as his award of the President's Badge in the Boys Brigade, my other son's Lego obsession and his last day at primary school, various trips to Ireland and family visits from Ireland, my wife's trips to St. Lucia and the United States, a range of family trips around Scotland, finally getting around to travelling on the Waverley, getting lifted up on the Falkirk Wheel and an ascent of the Wallace Monument, publication of four new genie books, a campaign that I've been involved with to save a local landmark from a forestry development, two expensive Christmases, fifteen published letters in the local paper, and still no lottery win.

The unwritten first rule of family history research - don't forget to record your own life! 

A diary takes just 5 minutes to add to each day. Fill it with anecdotes, pack it with pictures, stuff it with news; don't be the only box on your family tree without a story!

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

North of Ireland Family History Society short courses

News of a series of courses from the North of Ireland Family History Society (www.nifhs.org):

The programme of courses for autumn 2016 offered by the North of Ireland Family History Society is now available for booking at http://www.nifhs.org/resources/courses/. All will be delivered at the Society's Research Centre in Newtownabbey and they are for members and non-members. The topics and dates are:

October 1st – “The Advantages of Y-DNA” – 1 Saturday afternoon
October 3rd – “You’ve taken the DNA Test, what next? – Understanding Family Finder” – 3 Monday evenings
October 4th – “Writing up Your Family History” – 1 Tuesday morning & afternoon
October 8th – “Dublin Archives & Visit to Dublin” – 1 Saturday afternoon PLUS trip to be arranged
October 8th – “You’ve taken the DNA Test, what next? – Understanding Family Finder” – 3 Saturday afternoons
October 11th – “Life in Ulster in the 1830s” – 1 Tuesday morning
October 18th – “A Beginners’ Guide to Facebook” – 1 Tuesday morning
October 25th – “The Plantation of Ulster – Name
s & Places” – 1 Tuesday morning
October 29th – “Memory Box” – a creative craft class” – 1 Saturday morning and afternoon
November 5th – “A Beginners’ Guide to Facebook” – 1 Saturday afternoon
November 9th – “A Beginners’ Guide to Word” – 1 Wednesday afternoon
November 15th – “Land Records & Maps” – 1 Tuesday morning and afternoon
November 16th – “Manipulating Images in Word” – 1 Wednesday afternoon
November 19th – “Researching Military Ancestors” – 2 Saturday afternoon
November 23rd – “A Beginners’ Guide to PowerPoint” – 1 Wednesday afternoon

Further information via the website.

(With thanks to Michael McKeag)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

AncestryDNA sale promotion

AncestryDNA has announced a short sale promotion:

Find out where you come from for less

AncestryDNA provides scientific fact about where you come from and who you’re related to. Buy before 18 August and you’ll save 25%, making it the perfect time for you to start solving the mysteries in your family.

£59* (normally £79) SAVE 25%  Visit http://dna.ancestry.co.uk/ to order.

Find your answers with AncestryDNA

*Offer runs from 10 August to 18 August 2016 at 11:59pm BST. Price excludes shipping. AncestryDNA is offered in the United Kingdom by Ancestry International DNA LLC.

(With thanks to AncestryDNA)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

E-Course in Writing Your Family History

From genealogist Gill Blanchard, details of a new course that she will be running in the coming month:

E-Course in Writing Your Family History

This is a practical writing course that guides participants through the process of bringing their ancestors to life in an entertaining manner. It will enable students to choose the most suitable format, decide what to include (and exclude) and how to find and integrate relevant background context.

The course consists of two ten week modules, although module one can be taken as a stand alone unit. Lessons are delivered electronically. Students receive individually tailored in-depth feedback; have regular live discussions with the tutor and each other and access to an online learning hub.

Module One starts 25 September 2016. 10 Weeks. £125
Introducing your Project
Using Archival Resources - context
Bringing it to Life
Time and Place
Finishing Off - the end?

Module Two starts 29 January 2017. 10 Weeks. £125
This module develops the themes introduced in Module One. Students will focus on developing a specific writing project. The emphasis will be on writing and critique, both with the tutor and through peer to peer sessions.

* 10% discount for both modules booked together £225 *

Further details, and to book, at www.writingyourfamilyhistory.co.uk

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Deceased Online promotion offers double value on vouchers

From Deceased Online (www.deceasedonline.com):

Buy one, get one free: pay per view vouchers doubled in value until 29 August 2016

Deceased Online is delighted to offer our registered users the opportunity to double up on pay-per-view vouchers* used to access records and data on www.deceasedonline.com *Excludes subscriptions

This special holiday promotion starts immediately and runs until midnight (British Summer Time) on 29th August 2016.

Under the 'buy one get one free' offer, all voucher purchases, which start from only £5.00, will be doubled in value. For every voucherpurchased, the same value will be added to your account in the form of a bonus

When purchasing vouchers simply click on 'add a promotion code' and enter the special code AUG16DBLV in the box provided.


Major new additions coming to the website

Millions of unique burial and cremation records from thousands of cemeteries and crematoria are available on the Deceased Online website, with many more coming soon.

From September 2016 into early next year, Deceased Online will be adding records for some major collections around the UK.

We can't give exact dates (preparing and checking data is notoriously time-consuming) or advise about locations, but we can divulge that records for two of the most important historic cemeteries in the country and for several key cities and rural areas will be added soon.

(With thanks to Deceased Online)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

My next Scottish Research Online course starts September 6th

My next Scottish Research Online course starts on September 6th, if you want to hone your Caledonian directed genie skills!

Taught entirely online, the course is 5 weeks long and costs £49.99 - full details on what it covers are available at http://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102, and also in the following video (recorded two year ago, so please ignore me noting the cost as £45.99 - it is now £49.99!):

Hopefully I might see a few of you there!

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

The Yorkshire Dialect Society

I've just discovered the website of The Yorkshire Dialect Society at www.yorkshiredialectsociety.org.uk which is the oldest dialect society in Britain. It's a fun read, not only on the arrival of the different waves of Germanic dialects in England (via the Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, and later the Normans), but specifically on the Viking based dialect that established in Yorkshire. There's an interesting piece on how English dialects have evolved across the land over the last few centuries, including the following bit on rhoticity (pronunciation of an 'r' after vowels) which amused me:

Until about 1700, most English speakers (whatever their dialect) pronounced the letter R very clearly in words where it followed a vowel such as in “farmer” and “carter”. After 1700, this custom died out quite rapidly and is now virtually unknown in Standard English, It survives, however, in the dialects of the West Country, parts of Lancashire and small pockets of Yorkshire. It is also a standard feature of the English spoken in Scotland, Ireland, and of course, North America. Nobody is quite sure why it disappeared from Standard English, but its loss was certainly noticed at the time. Some eighteenth-century folk complained about “R-dropping” the way people complain about “H-dropping” today!

There are some fascinating explanations about dialect changes and 'vowel shift' on the site, including the fact that in times past people went to sea in 'boots' and wore 'boats' on their feet! The page on the Yorkshire dialect is equally of interest, noting how there are in fact several regional dialects (Yorkshire is only slighly smaller than Northern Ireland after all, so only to be expected), despite the prevalence of a media stereotype Yorkshire accent found commonly on TV and radio.

Also fun is the page with audio recordings of the dialect at www.yorkshiredialectsociety.org.uk/listen/, including a recording of poem on having to keep quiet because there's a "babby i’ t’hahse"

The website is well worth a visit, and there's also a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/YorkshireDialectSociety.

Incidentally, the following blog post may be of interest also, on an Anglo-Saxon August, part of an Old English/Anglo-Saxon poem known as the Menologium from the 10th century describing the months of the year - see http://aclerkofoxford.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/an-anglo-saxon-august.html. Just a wee bit different to how we speak today...

(With thanks to @1_gillian via Twitter)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors book on 7th print run

One of the most useful books for Northern Irish genealogy research is now in its seventh print run. Definitely one for the genie library...!

Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors: The Essential Genealogical Guide to Early Modern Ulster, 1600-1800 by Dr William Roulston

One of the greatest frustrations for generations of genealogical researchers has been that reliable guidance on sources for perhaps the most critical period in the establishment of their family's links with Ulster, the period up to 1800, has proved to be so elusive.

Now on its seventh print run, Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors by Dr William Roulston can claim to be the comprehensive guide for anyone researching Ulster families prior to 1800.

For more information or to purchase a copy of this great publication please go to: www.booksireland.org.uk/store/genealogical-guides/researching-scots-irish-ancestors-the-essential-genealogical-guide-to-early-modern-ulster 

Highly recommended!

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

The Original Record updated

Latest additions to The Original Records (www.theoriginalrecord.com):

1854
Casualties in the Battle of Alma
The commander of the British forces transmitted to the Secretary-at-War this return of casualties among non-commissioned officers and men sustained at and after the battle of Alma, 20 September 1854. This was the opening battle of the Crimean War, in which British forces seized the heights above the river Alma. The returns include those killed and wounded in the battle; missing; dead of wounds, and since dead, to 3 October 1854.

1855
Members of Hull Subscription Library
The list of the members of Kingston-upon-Hull Subscription Library is arranged by year of admission (the earliest surviving being in 1798): full names are given (except for ladies); no addresses, except in case of members living in outlying villages.

1856
Passengers in the Wreck of the Josephine Willis
The sailing ship Josephine Willis, from Liverpool to New Zealand, was run down by the steamer Mangerton from Limerick, in the English Channel off Folkestone, on 4 February 1856, and sank with the loss of almost all the passengers.

1891
Actresses
The Dramatic Year Book for 1891 includes this list of actresses, giving full name and address or agent's name.

1894
Boot and Shoe Operatives: Aberdeen
The Annual Registry of the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives gives full name, age, and number on the register.

1895
Subscribers to Rhymes and Dreams
Henry Houlding's 'Rhymes and Dreams, Legends of Pendle Forest, and other Poemns' was published in Burnley for the Joint Committee of the Literary and Scientific Club and the Literary and Philosophical Society, with subscriptions mainly from the Burnley area.

(With thanks to The Original Record)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.