FindmyPast adds merchant seamen crew lists

The latest records added to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) this week:

England & Wales Merchant Navy Crew Lists 1861-1913
Over 135,000 new Portsmouth records have been added to our collection of Merchant Navy Crew Lists. The records document the role and employment of each member of the crew. Individuals would 'sign on' when they began their employment, either at the start of the voyage, or when they joined the ship at one of its ports of call. They 'signed off' at the end of the voyage or, if they chose not to finish, at a port of call.

Greater London Burial Index
Over 28,000 miscellaneous records have been added to the Greater London Burial Index. Covering the years between 1399 and 1992, this vast index is an excellent resource for all those with ancestors in the greater London area. Records may reveal your relative's name, age, occupation, address, religious denomination, death year, burial date, and burial location.

New Jersey Marriage Index, 1901-2016 Image Browse
Browse through over 300 volumes of the New Jersey marriage index from 1901 to 2016. Containing well over 200,000 individual records, this collection will enable you to discover who your ancestors married, when they married them and where.

UK Electoral Registers & Companies House Directors 2002-2019
Over 1.6 million new additions are now available. Within this collection you can search registers of UK directors whose companies are registered with Companies House along with the UK's electoral registers beginning from 2002.

International Records Update – Sweden
Celebrate the National Day of Sweden by unearthing your Swedish roots. Over 12 million Swedish baptisms, marriages and burials are now dating back to 1611 are now available to search on Findmypast. These records will also generate hints against your Findmypast family tree. Our Swedish collection consist of the following indexes:

Sweden Baptism Index 1611-1920
Sweden Burial Index 1649-1920
Sweden Marriage Index 1630-1920

British & Irish Newspaper Update
This week we have added 86,414 new pages to our collection this week, with updates to six of our existing titles. We have updates to two of our new titles – specialist countryman's newspaper Field and West Midlands title the Sandwell Evening Mail – as well as updates to four of our other titles. We have added a long run of late nineteenth century pages to the Acton Gazette, and there are also updates to the Reading Evening Post, the Tottenham & Edmonton Weekly Herald, and finally the Mansfield & Sutton Recorder.

Full details and links at https://blog.findmypast.co.uk/findmypast-friday-2638717527.html

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.

Dublin Port Archive maps collection

I noticed a tweet this morning stating that the Dublin Port Company has added a maps collection to its Archive portal, which can be viewed at https://dublinportarchive.com/gallery/historical-map-collection/.

37 maps are available, including one depicting the North Lotts from 1717, showing the names of their respective owners.

A fun browse!

(With thanks to @DublinPortCo)

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.

TheGenealogist adds nautical records

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

TheGenealogist is expanding its occupational records with over 300,000 records of Masters and Apprentices included in a nautical set of apprenticeship records.

These BT 150 records from The National Archives comprise of an index that had been compiled by the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen and its predecessor. It consists of apprentices indentured in the Merchant Navy between 1824-1910.

Family historians can use these records to:
Find ancestors who had learned the trade of a professional merchant seaman
Discover the age of an ancestor at the time that he went to sea and his year of birth
Find the name of the company and the port that he was registered as an apprentice
In some cases also learn the name of the ship that your ancestor sailed on

The index was begun as a result of an Act of the UK parliament in 1823 which introduced a law that required the Masters of British merchant ships of over 80 tons to carry a given number of indentured apprentices on their vessels. The law required that these apprentice seamen’s names were to be enrolled with the local Customs Officer.

By the middle of the 1830s, however, these provisions were extended by the Merchant Seamen Act 1835 which now made it necessary that the indentures were officially registered. In London, this was done with the General Register and Record Office of Seamen; while in “outports” (other ports around the country), the registration was made with the local Customs officers who were under orders to submit quarterly lists to the Registrar General.

Compulsory apprenticeship was abolished in 1849, though the system of registration was maintained by the authorities and the index continued to be kept. The books have now been transcribed by TheGenealogist and include colour images of the original registers to add a fascinating resource to their broad range of records which can be used to build an ancestor’s story.

Read TheGenealogist’s article for tales of apprentices who rose to take command of the Cutty Sark, some more successfully than others:
https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2019/merchant-seamen-apprentices-to-captains-of-the-cutty-sark-1104/

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

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.

Don't always assume with database sites!

Whilst working on the second edition of my Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet book today (cooking along nicely!), I came across a timely reminder that what you think a genealogy website may have to offer you by way of resources has every means to surprise you, by throwing up something completely new.

Eddie's Extracts (www.eddiesextracts.com) is Eddie Connelly's go to website for many Northern Irish resources, most notably intimations extracts from many newspapers in the north of Ireland. But there are a few surprises in there also. For example, in Eddie's Mariner Extracts section, you will find entries from the Register of Deceased Seamen from 1911 to 1924/25 for the Scottish islands of Orkney and Shetland. In his Roll of Honour section, where the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Rolls of Honour for the two world wars are located, as well as many rolls for Northern Irish based congregations, you will also find the The Register of the War Dead (Dublin City and County), the Kilkenny Great War Memorial, and Roll of Honour for St. Nicholas Collegiate Church, Galway, amongst other southern Irish based collections.

You'll find the same thing on other sites. On ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk), for example, the Scottish Roman Catholic records collections also include material from the Aldershot based Bishopric of the Forces, for events featuring Roman Catholics from British bases worldwide - no Scottish connection required!

And on the English and Welsh General Register Office site (https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/default.asp), you're not only able to order up records of English and Welsh birth, marriage and death records from 1837 onwards, but also many British overseas records, including various Army registers dating back to the 1760s. The records are separately indexed on Findmypast, FamilyRelatives (free) and TheGenealogist, but for a detailed overview of them, the best place to go is to a cached version of an article on FindmyPast's old help site, the 'Knowledge Base', located at http://tinyurl.com/overseasbmds, preserved by the Internet Archive a few years ago.

The moral of the story? Fully EXPLORE the sites you are using!

You'll never know quite what you might find if you don't... :)

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.

Scottish deaths and English marriages added to FindmyPast

This week's releases on FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk):

England, Clandestine Marriages
Did your ancestor have a clandestine or irregular marriage ceremony? Explore over 881,000 clandestine marriage records covering the years 1667 to 1775 to find out. Each result will provide you with a transcript along with an image of the original hand-written record. Records will reveal a combination of the couple's names, marital conditions, occupations and residences.

Britain, Directories & Almanacs
Over 329,000 additional records have been added to our collection of directories & almanacs. The new additions include English & Welsh publications spanning the years 1766 to 1919. Inside you will find the names, addresses and occupations of prominent people, tradesmen, people who held office, business owners and local civil servants.

Scotland, Lanarkshire Death & Burial Index 1642-1855
Discover your ancestor who died and was buried in the Scotland county of Lanarkshire. This index of more than 64,000 death and burial records covers 31 burial places across the county and spans the years of 1642 to 1855.

Queensland, Seamen 1882-1919
Discover your Australian ancestor in this index of Queensland seamen. From this index, you may learn the name of the ship your ancestor worked on. The registers this index was created from pertain to the years from 1882 to 1919.

New Zealand Birth, Marriage & Death Indexes
Over 62,000 additional transcripts of baptisms, marriages and burials have been added to our collection of New Zealand Indexes.

British & Irish Newspapers
This week we have added 131,666 new pages to The Archive. We have updated six of our existing titles, spanning England, Scotland and Ireland, including;

Liverpool Echo 1991-1993
Drogheda Argus and Leinster Journal 1873-1904, 1906-1912, 1917, 1922, 1927
Evening Herald (Dublin) 1988
Scottish Referee 1894
Irish Independent - 1918-1919, 1986, 1988, 2002
Mid Sussex Times 1914-1918

Further details are available at https://blog.findmypast.co.uk/findmtpast-friday-2596616084.html

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.

Maritime Perspectives: Collecting Art of a Seafaring Nation

From the Scottish Maritime Museum (www.scottishmaritimemuseum.org) in Irvine:

The Scottish Maritime Museum will unveil a remarkable new national art collection featuring works by artists such as FCB Cadell, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Muirhead Bone, Kate Downie and John Bellany in a major art exhibition opening on Friday 1st June.

‘Maritime Perspectives: Collecting Art of a Seafaring Nation’, which will run at the Scottish Maritime Museum on the Harbourside in Irvine, North Ayrshire, until Sunday 21st October, will be the first full showing for the new art collection which captures life along Scotland’s coastline in all its grit and glory.

The exhibition will feature over 80 works gathered for the collection over the last three years through SMMart, an ambitious project to create a nationally significant art collection to enrich the nationally recognised maritime heritage at the Museum.

For further details, see the original story at https://www.scottishmaritimemuseum.org/Pages/FAQs/Category/exhibitions, where you can also download a flyer of art related events to tie in.

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.

James Cook: The Voyages - British Library talks

The London based British Library (www.bl.uk) will be hosting three talks on maritime voyager James Cook:

Nicholas Thomas: The Voyages of James Cook
Thursday 3 May, 19.00-20.30
£12 / £10 / £8, Knowledge Centre Theatre (keynote lecture)

Captain James Cook was one of the greatest sea explorers of all time. In this keynote lecture, Professor Nicholas Thomas, Director of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, reimagines Cook's journeys to describe what he and his associates experienced and what the societies he encountered experienced when their divergent worlds came together.


James Cook: Travelling Worlds
Tuesday 12 June 19.00-20.30
£12 / £10 / £8, Knowledge Centre Theatre (keynote lecture)

In a keynote lecture, Anne Salmond, author of The Trial of the Cannibal Dog and Aphrodite’s Island, examines the differences between the wooden world of Endeavour and the Pacific Islands James Cook visited, discusses some of the artefacts collected during the voyage, and contrasts our contemporary world with the world of Cook, Joseph Banks and their companions.


James Cook: Legacies and Controversies
Friday 15 June, 19.15-20.30
£12 / £10 / £8, Piazza Pavilion (panel discussion)

In August 2017, a statue of James Cook in Sydney’s Hyde Park was defaced amid demands that its inscription should be changed, prompting intense debate about celebration and dispossession. Why is Cook such a controversial figure? Anne Salmond and Ahilapalapa Rands discuss Cook’s social, environmental and cultural legacy. Chaired by Nicholas Thomas.

To book tickets, please visit https://www.bl.uk/whats-on. Tickets are on sale to Members from 1 March and on general sale from 8 March.

(With thanks to the British Library)

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.

Carto-Cymru - The Wales Map Symposium 2018 - Charting the Seas

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (https://rcahmw.gov.uk) is hosting a dedicated mapping conference this May 18th 2018 at the National Library of Wales (https://www.llgc.org.uk):

Carto-Cymru - The Wales Map Symposium 2018 - Charting the Seas

Charting the seas and coasts of the World – how maps depict the sea and coastline and how such mapping is used to widen our understanding of these environments.

Admission by ticket
£20.00 which includes buffet lunch and morning and afternoon refreshments

Bilingual event with simultaneous translation provided

TICKETS
01970 632 548
Website: events.library.wales

(Original source: https://rcahmw.gov.uk/carto-cymru-the-wales-map-symposium-2018-charting-the-seas/)

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.

Eddie's Extracts new web address

Having previously been hosted on Rootsweb, the popular Northern Irish website Eddie's Extracts now has a new web address at www.eddiesextracts.com. On this you will find indexes and abridgements of newspaper articles, records orf deceased seamen, military rolls of honour, parish records, and more.

Have fun exploring!

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.

Merchant Seamen of Sailortown talk on YouTube

From PRONI (www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni) in Belfast:

Merchant Seamen of Sailortown talk

PRONI recently hosted an exhibition from esteemed nautical genealogogist David Snook entitled, ‘The merchant Seamen of Sailortown, Belfast 1918 ’. This fascinating exhibition of photographic identity cards, relating to merchant seamen from Sailortown working in home and foreign trade in 1918. The exhibition was launched with a talk exploring the administrative context of the ID record cards and the unique possibilities offered by the source in the making of family history for people with roots in a storied part of Belfast. You can watch the talk on the below link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aa4HIBBFgA

Also presented here:

Explore other talks series and recently added videos on our website. https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/proni-youtube

(With thanks to the PRONI Express)

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.

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.

PRONI lecture on Merchant Seaman of Sailortown, Belfast

The latest video on the YouTube channel of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland is entitled The Merchant Seamen of Sailortown, Belfast, 1918: 40 faces from 1918-21, a 20 minute recording of a talk given by David Snook.

The video is available at https://youtu.be/2aa4HIBBFgA and presented below for convenience:

Additional lectures from PRONI are available at https://www.youtube.com/user/PRONIonline

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.

Royal Naval Seamen and Railway records on Ancestry

Two minor developments from Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) on the collections front:

Web: United Kingdom, Royal Naval Seamen Index, 1853 -1872
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=70684

This is a third party web index to a collection held on the website of the National Archives in England, Series ADM 139. See http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/royal-navy-ratings-service-records-1853-1928/


UK, Railway Employment Records, 1833-1956
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=1728

Listed as updated, but no detail as to with what. The original source is again the National Archives in England, with the following records:

RAIL226: Great Central Railway Company
RAIL264: Great Western Railway Company
RAIL397: London and North Eastern Railway Company
RAIL410: London and North Western Railway Company
RAIL411: London and South Western Railway Company
RAIL414: London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
RAIL415: London, Chatham and Dover Railway Company (formerly the East Kent Railway)
RAIL426: London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company
RAIL463: Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company
RAIL491: Midland Railway Company
RAIL1156: Special Collections: Retired Railway Officers' Society

Missing for privacy reasons:

RAIL 264 Great Western Railway Company: Staff Records
Pieces 412, 413, 440, 442, 443, 471-522

RAIL 397 London and North Eastern Railway Company: Staff Records
Piece 13

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.

Additions to The Original Record

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

1602
Salford Portmote
The earliest surviving records of the portmote of the borough of the township and manor of Salford in Lancashire were transcribed and edited by J. G. de T. Mandley and published by the Chetham Society in 1902. The court was held after Easter and Michaelmas each year. The record usually starts with a list of jurors, sometimes with a general suit roll. Officers are appointed in the autumn court - borough reeve, constables, miselayers, burleymen, alefounders, scavengers, and overseers for the pump. Where a freeholder had died since the previous court, an inquiry was made as to his or her heir. There are presentments of minor offences, particularly affrays and selling ale contrary to statute. 19 October 1602

1625
Letters of Marque: Masters of Ships
The Letters of Marque or Commissions to take Pirates authorized the owners of ships enumerated in the second column, to set forth the ships named in the third column, for the purposes contemplated by their Letters of Marque or Commission. 24 June 1625 to 30 December 1625

1800
East Riding Game Certificates
A list of Game Duty certificates issued in the East Riding of Yorkshire, September 1800. Full names are given, surname first, and address.

1870-1874
London Telegraph Clerks
This list of persons irregularly admitted to the service of the Post Office from the date of the transfer of the telegraphs, 29 January 1870, to 30 September 1874, extends to 3653 names. The return gives full name (surname first, married women indicated by Mrs.); age when admitted; service to which admitted; and last previous employment.

1877
Hull Sailors' Orphans
Orphans admitted to the Port of Hull Sailors' Orphan Home in January 1877. Full names, and port.

1879
Zulu War Medal Roll: 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot
List of Officers, Non Commissioned Officers, and men, entitled to the medal for military operations in South Africa, during 1877-8-9, and the names of those soldiers who would have been entitled except for Desertion, or Misconduct. This regiment's actions were almost exclusively against the Zulus in 1879. WO 100/47

1937
Naturalized Aliens
The Home Office issued a monthly list of aliens to whom Certificates of Naturalization (or of Readmission to British Nationality) had been granted by the Secretary of State, and whose oaths of allegiance had been registered. The lists are arranged alphabetically by surname and forename; then give country of origin, occupation, address, and date of taking oath of allegiance. This is the list issued in September 1937 of those naturalized in August 1937. An asterisk indicates re-admission.

(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.

Book launches and maritime research at PRONI

Forthcoming events at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni):

Ulster Society of Irish Historical Studies (USIHS) Lecture
PRONI are pleased to host the Ulster Society of Irish Historical Studies Beckett Lecture on the 9th June at 6pm. This will commence with a wine reception at 6pm followed by the Beckett lecture at 6.30pm delivered by Professor Robert Armstrong

Book Launch
Launch of ‘Titanic: Culture and Calamity’ by Dr John Wilson Foster at PRONI on 21 June 2016 at 1pm. Foster shows how the great ship as a vast symbol entered Western art, drama, poetry, fiction and film, as well as popular culture and folklore. Belfast writer, GlennPatterson, co script-writer of Good Vibrations will the launch the book. John Wilson Foster is a freelance writer and literary critic and an honorary research fellow at Queen's University Belfast. He has published three books on RMS Titanic.

Temperance Conference
23 June 2016 - Half day conference in conjunction with Open University Ireland on the theme of temperance and alcohol will be held in PRONI on 23rd June starting at 1.30pm. Speakers will include: Annemarie McAllister, Conor Reidy, Orfhlaith Campbell, Gillian McIntosh, Leanne McCormick and Maura Cronin.

Lunchtime Talk to conclude the showing of the Sailortown Maritime Exhibition.
On 24th June, the last day of the Sailtortown Maritime exhibition, PRONI will host two events to round off this survey of the sea-going people of Belfast. Firstly, Dr Desmond McCabe will supplement the work of Mr Snook with a short lunchtime talk on ‘The Forgotten Fishermen of Belfast Lough, 1680 to 1900’. This body of fishermen was made up of a group of trawler-men from Carrickfergus, who were among the earliest working such vessels in the British Isles, and groups of line-fishermen from most of the villages on the Lough.

Secondly Mr Snook will attend PRONI during the afternoon of the 24th June in order to give genealogical assistance to anyone who may have had an ancestor in the merchant marine in the early 20th century. Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to get specialist advice from someone who knows this aspect of nautical genealogy inside-out!

Book Launch
PRONI would like to extend an invitation to the launch of John Wilson Foster's book ' Titanic: Culture and Calamity’ by Dr John Wilson Foster on 21 June 2016 at 1pm. Foster shows how the great ship as a vast symbol entered Western art, drama, poetry, fiction and film, as well as popular culture and folklore. Belfast writer, Glenn Patterson, co script-writer of Good Vibrations will launch the book. John Wilson Foster is a freelance writer and literary critic and an honorary research fellow at Queen's University Belfast. He has published three books on RMS Titanic.

Customer Notice:
There are two disabled parking spaces available to Blue Badge holders free of charge opposite to the main entrance to PRONI. In addition, there are sixteen parking spaces on Titanic Boulevard which are pay and display to all, including Blue Badge holders.

(With thanks to PRONI)

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.

New FindmyPast releases

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has released three new collections today:

i) Lloyd's Register of Merchant Ships Index 1843

The Lloyd's Register of Merchant Ships Index 1843 was created using the 1843 publication of Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, provided by John Dagger. Lloyd's register was completed annually and this register covers 1 July 1843 to 30 June 1844.


ii) Bradford FHS burials

62,000 new burial records in Bradford, Yorkshire - but no further detail on where.


iii) Cambridgeshire, Ely Diocese Marriage Licences 1684-1811

More than 8,000 marriage licences and discover the date your ancestor was issued a marriage licence, your ancestor's spouse's name and the name of the bondsman for the licence.


Further details at https://blog.findmypast.co.uk/fridays/

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released 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 Pinterest account is at https://www.pinterest.com/chrismpaton/.

Mayflower 400 anniversary events planning visit to Plymouth

From Plymouth City Council:

US AMBASSADOR VISITS CITY LEADING THE MAYFLOWER 400 ANNIVERSARY EVENTS

US Ambassador to the UK Matthew Barzun is visiting the city where the Mayflower set off on its historic voyage to the United States almost exactly 395 years ago.

The Ambassador is visiting Plymouth over two days and will be meeting the leadership group responsible for planning the Mayflower 400 events for which Plymouth is the lead city in the UK.

He will also be meeting students and young people, visiting local businesses, paying his respects to US servicemen and visiting sites connected to the historic voyage.

The Ambassador’s visit to Plymouth is a high point to date in the Mayflower 400 campaign, which ultimately seeks to invite all US presidents past and present to stand on the Mayflower steps in 2020.

“We have set ourselves some very ambitious objectives for 2020” said Adrian Vinken OBE chair of the Mayflower 400 Leadership Group. “When we started out on this campaign two years ago we probably wouldn’t have thought that we’d be welcoming Ambassador Barzun to Plymouth and yet we’re honoured by his presence here today. For an occasion as globally significant as Mayflower 400 anything is possible.”

City Council Leader Tudor Evans wrote to the Ambassador last year inviting him to the city and a delegation from Plymouth to the USA in March visited the State Department to discuss Mayflower 400 and the international opportunity that the commemoration represents.

Councillor Evans said: “We’re delighted that Ambassador Barzun is coming to Plymouth almost exactly five years before this hugely important anniversary. The sailing of the Mayflower is arguably one the most influential single voyages in the history of the world and the spirit of that voyage and the beliefs that motivated it led to the creation of the most p owerful nation on earth.

“So Mayflower 400 is a very significant event on both sides of the Atlantic. We are looking forward to discussing the opportunity with the Ambassador, as well as sharing some of the many connections between Plymouth and the United States both past and present and showing him the city where it all started.”

The Ambassador’s visit will also coincide with the launch of the Mayflower 400 website and a national Mayflower education pack which is being distributed to schools in all 11 English towns and cities that make up the Mayflower 400 Compact.

“We’re delighted that Ambassador Barzun has come to the city to visit where his ancestor stood before embarking on that world-changing voyage’ said Mr Vinken. “It also serves to demonstrate that the ‘special relationship’ we share with the United States which originated with the Mayflower and its values of individual freedom and democracy is today as relevant and strong as ever.”

If you would like to become involved in either fundraising or participating then please visit our website: www.mayflower400UK.co.uk

Plymouth City Council is proud to be working with our national and international partners:
Scrooby & Babworth (Nottinghamshire)
Austerfield & Doncaster (Yorkshire)
Gainsborough (Lincolnshire)
Boston (Lincolnshire)
Immingham (Lincolnshire)
Leiden (Holland)
Rotherhithe (Southwark)
Harwich (Essex)
Southampton (Hampshire)
Dartmouth (Devon)
Plymouth (Devon)
Plymouth, Massachusetts (USA)


Mayflower 400, Plymouth is led and supported by:
Plymouth City Council
Plymouth Culture
Plymouth and Devon Chamber
Plymouth Citybus
Destination Plymouth
Plymouth University
City College Plymouth

(With thanks to Annabel Jenkins)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released 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 Pinterest account is at https://www.pinterest.com/chrismpaton/.

Latest FindmyPast releases

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has released the following English and Welsh based collections on its site:

• Images added to Merchant Navy crew lists from Anglesey and Devon, UK
• Baptisms from North Cray, North West Kent, England
• Burials from North Cray and Swanscombe, North West Kent, England

There are also some further Irish newspapers additions. For full details visit http://blog.findmypast.com/fridays/

Chris

The latest British GENES podcast is available at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/podcasts.html. For details on my latest book Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, and my other genealogy guide books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Memories of Maritime Leith project

From Historic Scotland (www.historic-scotland.gov.uk):

Memories of Edinburgh’s maritime past explored in new project

A unique local community project has captured a series of personal stories, shedding new light on the rich history of Scotland’s once bustling chief port of Leith.

The Memories of Maritime Leith project saw members of the local Leith community invited to share their own personal tales and memories of the area, which was once the focus of the seafaring community for centuries.

Over a number of months, the project saw four residents of Leith share their own accounts, memories and experiences of the city’s nautical history, inspired by objects held at Trinity House Maritime Museum – once the former headquarters of the Incorporation of Masters and Mariners. The collection at Trinity House includes a vast array of objects and special items from naval history, from navigational instruments and models of ships to furniture, maps and even a 200-year-old harpoon.

These stories charting the memories of four ordinary people, have now been made into four special short-length films, capturing new insights into Edinburgh’s seafaring past.

The digital stories, featuring the participants’ memoirs are paired with personal photographs as well as other images, objects and paintings from the collection at Trinity House. All four short audio stories will be screened at a special event for those involved with the project to celebrate Leith’s maritime heritage and history.

The Memories of Maritime Leith films include:

A Bow-Tow Remembers by Sophia Abrahamsen
From Lerwick to Leith by Stephen Hall
Leith Docks by Ramsay Tubb
All at Sea by Andrew Grant

The Memories of Maritime Leith project was created in partnership with Historic Scotland, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) and The Living Memory Association.

The completed films form a learning and educational resource, helping to raise awareness and engagement with Leith’s colourful maritime past. Trinity House will regularly screen the films as part of their community learning programmes and will be shared through talks for community groups and care homes in the area.

Commenting on the project, Craig Fletcher, Senior Learning Manager at Historic Scotland, said: “The Memories of Maritime Leith project engaged with older members of Leith’s community and encouraged them to share their own stories and memories of the area during the height of its maritime past.

“Each of the four films and story-tellers offer a truly unique perspective and insight into a different part of Edinburgh’s nautical heritage, bringing it to life with their own story and personal photographs.

“These digital stories will enable several individual’s personal accounts of Leith’s maritime past to be recorded and shared at a wider level for current and future generations.”

Miles Tubb, Project Coordinator at The Living Memory Association, added: “This community project provided the opportunity for Leith’s residents to revisit a part of their past and share their own individual account of their local community’s heritage with others around them.”

“We hope that people will enjoy hearing their stories first hand, and more about the objects which helped inspire them.”

The Memories of Maritime Leith project was funded by The Historic Scotland Foundation. The films will shortly be made available on the Historic Scotland website and YouTube channel; to learn more please visit: www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/learning or www.youtube.com/historicscotlandtv

(With thanks to Grant Thomson)

Chris

For details on my range of genealogy guide books please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. To commission me for genealogical research, please visit my research site at www.scotlandsgreateststory.co.uk.