Fold3 adds UK militia attestation papers 1803-1915

From Fold3 (www.fold3.com):

New UK Military Records on Fold3

Our UK military records are expanding! We’ve recently added a new collection, “UK, Militia Attestation Papers, 1806-1915”. These records or attestation forms were filled out at the time of recruitment, and in most cases, annotated to the date of discharge. They form a record of military service for soldiers who fought in conflicts during that time period.

The collection is arranged alphabetically under regiments and in order of seniority.

Attestation Papers contain wonderful details for researching specific soldiers. They list parish, town, and county of birth, address at the time of enlistment, age, and trade or job. The papers also include a physical description including a place to list any distinctive characteristics or scars. The files list military service rendered and whether a soldier was wounded or received medals or decorations. They also list the name and address of next of kin.

Here are a few examples of what you might learn in this collection. John Hart from Wales served in the Royal Monmouthshire Engineers. His papers reveal that he didn’t show up for training in 1891 and was liable to serve for an additional year. In 1894, he was discharged by purchase, in other words, he obtained a discharge by payment.

The Attestation Papers for Robert Eastburn from Leeds record that his superiors deemed him unlikely to be an effective militiaman with defective intelligence and insubordination. He was discharged in 1906.

James Allison from Paisley, Scotland, was just 17-years-old when he joined the 26th Foot (Scottish Rifles) in 1875. His service record shows military service for 20 years before being discharged in 1895.

This collection of Attestation Papers provides a glimpse into the history of militias and multiple conflicts in the United Kingdom. If you are researching ancestors that served for the United Kingdom during this time, be sure to check out the collection on Fold3 today!

COMMENT: I find Fold3's user interface to be fairly uninspiring, with searches involving a lot of faffing about. Ancestry has a basic index to this collection entitled Scotland, Ireland and Wales, Militia Attestation Papers, 1800-1915, available at https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/61643/.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Scottish-Ancestry-through-Church-and-State-Records-Paperback/p/16848. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Ancestry adds UK Officer Service Records 1764-1932 database

The election's over, back to business again!

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has released the following collection:

UK, Officer Service Records, 1764-1932
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/61807/
Source WO76, National Archives, England

Here's the blurb:

The British military can be divided into two clear tiers - officers and other ranks. Officers hold the positions of command and authority within the military and are often in a different uniform to other ranks servicemen. Officer ranks include all commissioned positions from Lance Corporal up to General and Field Marshar l.

This Collection

This collection comprises service papers for officers in the British military for the years 1764-1932. Records often include information about the officer's family and details of his service history.

The following information can be found, where available:

Name
Name of relative(s)
Relationship to serviceman
Place and date of birth
Place and date of death
Age
Place and date of enlistment
Place and date of discharge
Gender
Marital Status
Regiment and unit
Service rank
Service number
Marriage date


Sadly, the original record images cannot be consulted on Ancestry, only some basic details from the records - yet again they are redirecting folk to a second site Fold3 (www.fold3.com) to see the originals, for which you will need a separate subscription.

How many subscriptions does a person need to view a record? Ho ho ho...

Chris

Order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Scottish-Ancestry-through-Church-and-State-Records-Paperback/p/16848. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Free access to Fold3 military records until May 28th

From Ancestry's military records site, Fold3.com:

Free Access. All Records.

To honor Memorial Day, we're proud to offer free access* to everything on Fold3 — now through Tuesday.

Explore more than 530 million records. See how your family served our country and uncover unique personal details you won’t find anywhere else.


*Access to all records on Fold3 will be free until May 28, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. ET. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using a paid Fold3 membership.

Visit https://go.fold3.com/freeaccess to see the records.

NB: Access includes British records and those for Commonwealth countries.

Chris

Pre-order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) for just £11.99 at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. Details of my genealogical research service are available at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Fold3 offers free access to US Civil War records

From Ancestry:

To commemorate the beginning of the #CivilWar in 1861, @fold3 is offering free access to more than 100 million records from their Civil War Collection until April 15th. Click here: https://go.fold3.com/civilwar

If your family headed to the US and got caught up in the Civil war, you have two weeks to find out what they got up to.

Chris

My next Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course starts May 13th 2019 - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. Details of my genealogical research service are available at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. For my Scottish and Irish themed books, visit https://britishgenes.blogspot.com/p/my-books.html. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

American Revolutionary War records available for free until July 15th

If any of your ancestors made their way from Britain and Ireland to the American colonies and got involved in the Revolutionary War, Fold 3 (www.fold3.com) has free access to some records until July 15th which might be of interest:


Access Revolutionary War Records for Free*

Revolutionary War Signing for Payment Vouchers To commemorate Independence Day, Fold3 is providing free access* to our Revolutionary War Collection July 1–15.

We continue to offer everyday free access to our Constitutional Convention Records, Continental Congress Papers, George Washington Correspondence, and other archives from the founding of our nation! See the original manuscripts written with quill and ink by our founding fathers.

Our Revolutionary War collection contains 22 collections with almost 5 million records! Here’s just a few of the titles:

Revolutionary War Rolls: The Continental Army was made up of troops provided by each colony. They formed battalions, regiments, companies or militias. There is an introduction to this collection from the National Archives, and then you can search by state and narrow down to a specific fighting group.

Navy Casualty Reports, 1776 – 1941: This collection records both wartime and peacetime deaths of navy soldiers in the Revolutionary War and later conflicts including the War of 1812, Civil War, WWI and others.

Revolutionary War Service Records: These are service records for soldiers who fought for the Continental Army. They are arranged under state, fighting company and then alphabetically by soldier’s name.

Revolutionary War Prize Cases – Captured Vessels: After the US declared independence from the British, colonists were no match for the powerful British Navy. In an effort to disrupt British commerce, colonists captured British vessels. The vessels were known as prizes. These records, which are copies of the original manuscripts, are cases heard on appeal by courts from 1776-1886. You can browse them by state, case name, or by vessel name.

Final Payment Vouchers Index for Military Pensions, 1818-1864: This is a collection of records of final pension payments made to military veterans or his widow. They shed light on where a family may have moved after the war, death dates of veterans, widows, or dependent children, and sometimes the maiden name of a widow.

Get started searching our Revolutionary War Collection today! Access via https://go.fold3.com/revolutionary-war

*Access to the records in the featured collections will be free until July 15, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. MT. Free access requires registration for a free Fold3 account. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using a paid Fold3 membership.

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Fold3 celebrates Women's History Month

From Fold3.com (www.fold3.com):

March is Women's History Month. Come explore two of Fold3's newest collections of women's records: British WWI Honourable Women and British WWI Service Women Casualties.

British WWI Honourable Women
https://www.fold3.com/title/986/british-wwi-honourable-women
This collection is a reproduction of a book entitled Honourable Women of the Great War & the Women's (War) Who's Who. The book gives brief biographies of more than 200 British society women who participated in the WWI war effort through nursing, charitable work, etc. Photos of some women are also included. In addition to discussing the women's war work, each entry provides a wide range of genealogical and social information, such as parents' names, husband's name, marriage date, hometown, hobbies, club membership, and more. The book's entries are arranged in alphabetical order by surname. However, note that many of the married women included in this book are referred to by their title or surname only, or by their husband's name or initials, rather than by their given name.

British WWI Service Women Casualties
https://www.fold3.com/title/982/british-wwi-service-women-casualties
Like the title indicates, this index documents British servicewomen and nurses who became casualties of World War I. Early in the war, women were primarily involved in the war effort through nursing, caring for refugees, and assisting and caring for wounded servicemen. But as the war progressed, women’s branches of the armed forces were created, and as a result women also served in organizations such as the Women's Army Corps, Women's Royal Navy, and Women's Royal Air Force. On Fold3, this index is organized first by the organization the woman served with, then by given name in alphabetical order.

Get started searching or browsing these two collections on Fold3!

Women's History Month Special!
Save $30 on a Fold3 All-Access Membership
was $79.95 Now $49.95. 

See https://go.fold3.com/join/?p=wh&utm_source=content&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=content-march-2018

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Free access to Fold3 British Commonwealth military records

Fold3 (www.fold3.com) is providing free access to its British and Commonwealth collections this weekend:

The British Commonwealth Military Collection
Explore military records outside the U.S.

A unique collection of military records

Free access until November 13th*

Australia WWI Service Records
British Army Lists
British Army WWI Service Records
Distinguished Conduct Medal Citations
Military Books
U.K. Navy Lists
British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards
Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Admission & Discharge Records
Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Soldier Service Record
Royal Hospital Kilmainham Pensioner Records (Ireland)
U.K. WWI War Diaries (France, Belgium, and Germany)
U.K. WWI War Diaries (Gallipoli-Dardanelles)

*Access to the records in the featured collections will start on 10 November and be free until 13 November, 2017 at 23:59 BST. To view these records you will need to register for free with Fold3.com with your 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 All Access membership.

Chris

My next 5 week long Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course commences Nov 6th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.