New MOOC to explore Working Lives on Britain's Railways

From Tahitia McCabe at the University of Strathclyde's genealogy team:

Just wanted to tell you about a new MOOC (massive open online course) which has been created by colleagues from the English Studies programme here at Strathclyde and the Railway Museum in York. It’s Working Lives on Britain's Railways: Railway History and Heritage and as you might suspect focuses on people working on the railways and their experiences. I think it will be of interest to genealogists! It’s free, offered through FutureLearn and starts at the end of September. Folks can sign up here https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/working-lives-on-the-railway.

And here's the formal description from the course site:

Working Lives on Britain's Railways: Railway History and Heritage

Discover Britain's industrial heritage and learn about the lives of British railway workers from 1840-1914.

Explore British railway history and learn what work on the railways was like

On this course, you will investigate the professional lives of the men and women working on the British railways from the 1840s until the First World War.

Using archival materials from the National Railway Museum, you will learn about the mental and physical hardship endured by railway workers, as well as the risks and pleasures that came with working in this new industry.

From Irish Catholic navvies to female office clerks based in industrial cities, you will discover the surprising diversity and complexity of the railway workforce.


What topics will you cover?

You will learn about four categories of railway worker:

• Engine-drivers
• Signallers
• Navvies
• Clerks

You will compare their differing experiences, investigate the physical and mental labour involved in their job and consider some of the following questions:

• What did they do on a daily basis?
• How did this change during this period?
• What were the key responsibilities and risks in their work?
• What were the key pleasures?

You will look at the ways in which railway workers represented their own work, using autobiographies and other primary historical materials.

You will also study how these professions were represented by those with no direct connection to railway labour.

(With thanks to Tahitia)

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. My next Scottish Research Online course starts 2 September 2019 - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Blitzed: Liverpool Lives exhibition

From the Museum of Liverpool (www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk):

BLITZED: LIVERPOOL LIVES
80 years on, Museum of Liverpool captures the devastation and resilience of local people during the Blitz in rare photographs.

Displaying up to 60 photographs taken by Liverpool City Police from 1940 –1941,a free new photography exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool reveals the devastation the Blitz brought to the lives and city of Liverpool. Through personal accounts, this exhibition brings to life the impact of the war through the eyes of those directly affected by the bombings.

The Port of Liverpool and surrounding areas were key targets for German bombers. In Merseyside, an overwhelming 4,000 civilians were killed, 10,000 homes destroyed and 70,000people made homeless.

Liverpool itself suffered the second highest number of civilian deaths in air raids in the countryand due to censorship, press reports often didn’t tell the whole story.

At the heart of this exhibition is the people of Liverpool; those affected by the Blitz – their memories, struggles with the aftermath and how they rebuilt their lives. The display will feature audio interviews and written memories of carrying on in the face of a terrible onslaught.

Kay Jones, Curator of Urban Community History comments:

“Seeing these striking images of desolation alongside the experiences of people who were there really brings home what this city and its people went through. They reveal many stories of personal tragedy but also the incredible resilience of local people.

The legacies of these bombings can still be seen and felt in the city today.They also remind us of ongoing conflict around the world and the continuing terrible human cost”.

The exhibition will be divided into three key themes: City centre and shops; Homes and neighbourhoods and Industry, docks and transport.

Visitors will be invited to share their own memories and reactions to the photographs. Selectedresponses will be displayed alongside the photographs.

Sensory elements will also enable visitors to experience wartime aromas and hands-on tactile images.

Recording scenes of Liverpool in its darkest days, this exhibition showcases some of the most impactful photographs, epitomising the human consequences of war.

Exhibition is open from 14 June 2019.

@MuseumLiverpool/ #BlitzedLiverpool

(With thanks to Sahar Beyad)

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.

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.

Lives of the First World War project to end 2019

From the Imperial War Museum (www.iwm.org.uk), news of the Lives of the First World War project (​https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org):

Findmypast and Imperial War Museums’ groundbreaking Lives of the First World War project enters its final year

Findmypast and IWM call on members of the public to preserve as many stories as possible before submissions cease on 18 March 2019

Findmypast and Imperial War Museums today announced their groundbreaking collaboration, Lives of the First World War, will cease taking submissions on 18 March 2019. From this date onwards, IWM will act as the custodian of the millions of contributions made by members of the public, creating a permanent digital memorial that will always remain free to access.

Lives of the First World War was launched in 2014 as the IWM’s flagship digital centenary project. Since then it has captured the stories of more than 7.6 million men and women from across Britain and the Commonwealth who contributed their ‘toil and sacrifice’ during the First World War.

Charlotte Czyzyk, Public Engagement and Project Manager for Lives of the First World War, said:
​
"From factory workers and members of the armed forces, to medics and conscientious objectors, Lives of the First World War has curated over 2.2 million biographical details, anecdotes and images thanks to the contributions of more than 130,000 dedicated members. These rich, personal life stories will be preserved by IWMs for future generations, serving as a powerful and permanent record of the ‘lost generation’."

As the project enters its final year, Findmypast and IWM are calling on members of the public to help them preserve as many stories as possible. By joining Lives of the First World War and uploading scans of photos, letters and diaries, by researching a name on a local war memorial, or by sharing anecdotes passed down through the generations, family historians will contribute to a permanent digital memorial that will help shape our understanding of this important period of world history, both now and in the future."

(With thanks to Charlotte Czyzyk)

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.

Railway work, life and death project

I have been contacted by Dr. Mike Esbester about a University of Portsmouth and National Railway Museum project website underway entitled Railway Work, Life & Death, located at http://www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk/.

From the home page:

Welcome to the website for the Railway Work, Life and Death project, a joint initiative between the University of Portsmouth and the National Railway Museum (NRM). We’re aiming to make it easier to find out about railway worker accidents in Britain between 1911 and 1915 – who was involved, what they were doing on the railways, what happened to them and why. Although today most people don’t realise it, working on the railways 100 years ago was incredibly dangerous, with hundreds killed and tens of thousands injured each year.

In this project a team of volunteers from the NRM, to whom we’re immensely grateful, have painstakingly been through reports produced by the state-appointed Railway Inspectorate between 1911 and 1915, detailing investigations into railway worker accidents. They’ve extracted the details found in the reports – things like names, ages, roles, companies and details of the accident – and entered them into a spreadsheet. This spreadsheet is now available, on this website, so that anyone who’s interested can easily learn more about work and accidents on Britain’s railways around the time of the First World War. We think this will be of great interest to all sorts of people: railway enthusiasts, family historians, railway museums and heritage centres, the current railway industry and academics.


The Railway Work, Life and Death project is making use of accident reports produced by the Railway Inspectorate, the body that was created by the state to oversee railway safety. It is also asking for contributions from the public on any further information that might be available. To access the database of accidents on the platform, please visit http://www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk/the-accidents/ and scroll to the bottom of the page for the link.

(With thanks to Dr. Esbester)

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.

Royal Air Force centenary conference

2018 sees the 100th anniverary of the Royal Air Force. To mark the year, the National Archives in England (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) is hosting an academic conference entitled There will be wings: the First World War origins of the RAF on March 2nd 2018, in partnership with the National Museum of the Royal Navy, the RAF Museum, and the National Army Museum. Here are the programme details:

Programme

09.30 - 10.00 Registration and refreshments
10.00 - 11.00 2 into 1: Wing Commander (ret'd) Jeff Jefford MBE and William Spencer (The National Archives)
11.00 - 11.15 Break and refreshments
11.15 - 12.15 Body and Soul – health and morale in Britain’s Air Arms: Dr Lynsey Shaw-Cobden (Air Historical Branch - RAF) and Dr Emma Hanna (University of Kent)
12:15 - 13:00 Lunch
13:00 - 14:00 Air Vice-Marshal (ret’d) Dr Peter Dye (Cross and Cockade International) and Peter Hart (Imperial War Museum)
14:00 - 14:15 Break and refreshments
14:15 - 15:15 Keynote – The Creation of the Royal Air Force, Professor Richard Overy (University of Exeter)
15:15 - 16:00 Open Discussion and close

To books tickets, visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/there-will-be-wings-the-first-world-war-origins-of-the-raf-tickets-39324353199

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.

FindmyPast releases British and Irish Roots collection

The latest releases from FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk):

British & Irish Roots Collection *

Explore this unique resource, handpicked by our in-house experts. Our new British & Irish roots collection brings together more than 95 million records from across a wide variety of records covering the United States and Canada. Each record identifies a British or Irish emigrant who came to North America. For example, Findmypast identified a population register from California that noted that a widow was Scottish and pulled this record into the collection. This new, first-of-its-kind collection gives North American family historians the chance to search for their British and Irish roots all in one place.

The collection includes passenger lists, census records, naturalization applications, and draft registrations, as well as birth, marriage, and death records. The journeys researchers can expect to find include:

• Anyone leaving the UK or Ireland and emigrating to the US, Canada or the Caribbean
• Anyone emigrating from Canada or the Caribbean to the US (this covers the large number of British and Irish emigrants who stopped temporarily in Canada and/or the Caribbean)
• Anyone listed on any US or Canadian record with British or Irish origins, birthplace or parents

* These records are currently free to access at https://search.findmypast.ie/search-world-Records/british-and-irish-roots-collection


British Army, Imperial War Museum Bond of Sacrifice 1914-1918

Discover photographs and uncover details of your WW1 military ancestor's service with an index pertaining to more than 18,000 records found on the Imperial War Museum website. Each transcript will reveal your ancestor's rank, regiment, awards, soldier number and death date.


Kent Baptisms

Over 13,000 records have been added to our collection of Kent Baptisms. The new additions cover the parishes of Meopham, Luddesdown, Cobham, Nurstead and Ifield.


Kent Banns

400 new records have been added to our collection of Kent Banns. An ancient legal tradition, banns are an announcement in church of a couple's intention to marry. Banns were read in the parish (or parishes) in which the couple lived on three consecutive Sundays before the wedding and provided an opportunity for the congregation to put forward a reason why the marriage may not lawfully take place.


Kent Marriages

More than 3,000 new records have been added to our collection of Kent parish marriage records.


Kent Burials

Over 10,000 new records covering the parishes of Meopham, Luddesdown, Cobham, Nurstead, Ifield have been added to our collection of Kent Burials.


Kent Wills & Probate Indexes

Over 49,000 new probate index cards have recently been added to our collection of Kent Wills & Probate Indexes 1328-1890. The contains consists of records from seven different ecclesiastical Church of England courts across the county and was compiled from four separate sources: the West Kent Probate index 1750-1890, West Kent Probate Index 1440-1857, Kent Inventories 1571-1842 and Kent Will Abstracts 1328-1691, and includes 14 different types of document.


Further details and links are available at https://blog.findmypast.ie/findmypast-friday-december-8th-2515822547.html

Chris

Needing a Christmas present for a family history obsessed love one (or for yourself)?! 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.

Final Open Day at Coventry's Electric Railway Museum

From Coventry's Electric Railway Museum (http://electricrailwaymuseum.co.uk):

Final Open Day at Coventry railway museum

Electric Railway Museum will open to the public for the final time this weekend (Sunday 8 October) with organisers promising a fitting send off for the unique Coventry heritage attraction.

Alongside rides on the Museum’s 7 ¼ inch gauge miniature railway, shunting demonstrations and the opportunity to explore its unique collection of electric railway vehicles for the last time, the site’s final Open Day will also arrive with its own Beer & Cider Festival.

In partnership with The Kentish Belle Ale House, Electric Railway Museum will be offering six draft ales, four ciders and a commemorative bottled pale ale, Third R-Ale.

Furthermore, adult visitors won’t need to draw straws as to who is the designated driver, as the Museum will be running a free vintage bus service from Coventry city centre to the site and back throughout the day.

Situated on Rowley Road on land close to Coventry Airport and the Warwickshire village of Baginton, Electric Railway Museum occupies a site earmarked for commercial development.

Landowners Coventry City Council have not renewed the Museum’s lease and, despite concerted efforts by the trustees, volunteers and wider heritage sector behind the scenes, an alternative location for the attraction has not been found.

Electric Railway Museum Chairman, Ian Brown CBE, FCILT, said:

“Despite us failing to secure a single site to house the collection, a long term home has been sourced for almost every item we are currently displaying. Once our doors close to the public on Sunday, the work of dismantling the site begins.

“Myself and the trustees have been humbled from the support of our volunteers, the general public and railways enthusiasts alike, as well as organisations such as the National Railway Museum and the Heritage Railway Association. In fact, the latter’s President, Lord Faulkner of Worcester will be attending our final Open Day to further discuss the issue of electric railway heritage and how this will be preserved following the closure and dispersal of the only such collection in the UK.”

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Electric Railway Museum aims to promote the heritage of all electric trains in the UK through traction and rolling stock restoration, display and operation, along with work in gathering historically relevant technical and photographic archives.

Electric Railway Museum houses the largest private collection of electric trains in the UK and is the only railway museum in Great Britain dedicated to electric traction. A registered charity, the work of the Museum has been entirely run by volunteers and funded through donations from the public.

Despite only open to the public on selected days throughout the year, the Museum attracted more than 2,000 visitors to the region in 2016, and has already exceeded that figure in 2017.

However, the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and joint venture partners Roxhill are hoping to move forward with revised plans for the Coventry and Warwickshire Gateway scheme. Electric Railway Museum is currently situated within the proposed site for this new development and in July this year, the attraction announced it would be forced to close if an alternative site was not found by Sunday 8 October.

Railway historian and Electric Railway Museum Trustee, Graeme Gleaves, said:

“It is with a heavy heart that Electric Railway Museum will have to close this weekend. Rest assured that we will continue to work hard behind the scenes to ensure that locomotives and rolling stock currently on our Coventry site are not endangered.

“However, we want to thank the public for all their support over the past 10 years and will be departing Coventry with our biggest Open Day ever, including a Beer & Cider Festival, free vintage buses between the Museum and city centre, and extended opening hours from 10.30am until 6.30pm.”

Elsewhere, members of the public will be able to climb aboard the Class 457 and one of the Class 309s, complete with the museum display (Museum 309), a café – serving hot and cold beverages, snacks and light bites – and the Electric Railway Museum shop.

Shunting demonstrations will be carried out throughout the day by Spondon Electric Locomotive No. 1 and 165DE Locomotive ‘Mazda’.

Visitors will be able to see the Victoria Line Signalling Centre, which showcases how trains were controlled on the London Underground line when it first opened in the late 1960s.

The display, which opened to the public last September, is housed inside the passenger accommodation area of the Museum’s Class 308 EMU vehicle and features the Victoria Line push-button control desk and line diagrams from the original control room at Cobourg Street.

Furthermore, Electric Railway Museum has two carriage bodies built for the City and South London Railway (C&SLR), the first deep-level underground ‘tube’ railway in the world and today part of London Underground’s Northern Line. The oldest carriage is a timber body on a steel underframe and dates from 1903, the other is from 1907 and, unlike earlier builds, was created all in steel, making it the oldest surviving steel frame carriage in the UK.

Volunteers will be on-hand to explain more about Electric Railway Museum’s diverse collection, which also includes British Railways Classes 307 and 308, as well as the power car for the record-breaking Advanced Passenger Train Prototype (APT-P), on loan from the National Railway Museum.

Electric Railway Museum was formed in 2007 to bring about the urgent need for a permanent home where the rich and lengthy history of electrically powered trains could be presented to the public on one site.

The collection of electric trains at the Museum’s Baginton site represents over a century of technological progress and includes examples of commuter trains, battery-electric locomotives, underground carriages, high speed express units and some of the specialist line side equipment that made them work, such as signalling and current collection apparatus.

Electric Railway Museum

Rowley Road, Near Baginton, Coventry CV3 4LE

Website: www.electricrailwaymuseum.co.uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/electricrailwaymuseum 

(With thanks to Ben Goodwin) 

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.

Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Galleries opens

Dunfermline's new £12.4 million Carnegie Library & Galleries (http://www.onfife.com/venues/dunfermline-carnegie-library-galleries) has officially opened today. The project, a Fife Council development with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Carnegie Dunfermline Trust, commenced construction.

To celebrate its opening a porgramme of activities is underway for the first week, details of which can be accessed at https://www.onfife.com/sites/default/files/DCLG%20Activities%20Lealfet_0.pdf. This includes a series of family history tasters at 11am each morning from today until Wed 24th May (excluding Sunday) - see http://www.onfife.com/whats-on/detail/family-history-tasters to book a free place.

From the facility's latest newsletter (http://www.onfife.com/sites/default/files/DCL%26G%20Newsletter%20Feb%20Final.pdf):

The new Reading Room combines the reference and local studies departments into one beautifully designed space. 12 public access pcs will supplement the extensive range of books about the local area as well as family history sources, newspapers, maps and photographs. There is plenty of space to study once you have finished contemplating the inspiring historic view. Local Archives as well as the unique special and rare books collections will be available for research by appointment in our new search room. If there was a competition for the most beautiful library space in Scotland we think the Reading Room would certainly be a winner.

Visit Scotland has noted several key features with the new facility at https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/dunfermline-carnegie-library-and-galleries-p1423451, including:

A new Local Studies Centre - Visitors will be free to browse Dunfermline’s wide-ranging collection of local history archives, books and photographs in a purpose built study space. Special emphasis will be given to exploring some of the town’s hidden gems, including the Murison Burns Collection, a significant collection of books and memorabilia relating to Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns, and the George Reid collection of illuminated manuscripts and early books.

Preservation and celebration of the world’s first Carnegie Library - The new development of a modern children’s library and the preservation and conservation of existing facilities within this historic building will create a cultural hub and learning resource for local residents and visitors alike.

Te local Dunfermline press has an article on the opening also at http://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/15292057.It_s_been_a_rollercoaster_ride_but_today__Dunfermline_s_new___12_4_million_museum_opens/.

Looks like a great facility!

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102.
For details on my Scottish & Irish genealogy guide books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.
For my genealogy research service, please visit http://www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk.

New railway museum to open in Northern Ireland next year

A wee bit of news from my home patch in Northern Ireland. The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, based in Whitehead, County Antrim, is to open its new £3.1 million museum by April of next year.

For further details of the new facility, read the Carrickfergus Times story at www.carrickfergustimes.co.uk/news/3-1m-museum-to-open-in-whitehead-next-year-1-7619957, and visit the society's website at www.steamtrainsireland.com.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, 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 1916 exhibition at the Ulster Museum

From today the Ulster Museum in Belfast is hosting a new Heritage Lottery Fund funded exhibition entitled The Corr Family: Witnessing History, which looks at the lives of five brothers and sisters from the city's Ormeau Road, as they separately experienced aspects of the First World War and the Easter Rising in 1916.

The Irish News has the story, along with a photo gallery, at http://www.irishnews.com/news/2016/07/27/news/different-roads-taken-by-family-during-1916-to-be-focus-of-new-ulster-museum-exhibition-624202/.

The Ulster Museum has a story on the exhibition also at http://nmni.com/um/What-s-on/Current-Exhibitions/The-Corr-Family--Witnessing-History.

The exhibition runs from Wednesday 27th July until Tuesday 23rd August 2016.

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.

Bletchley Park podcast and Oral History Project

The latest podcast from Bletchley Park includes the story of the sinking of the Bismarck:

This month in the Bletchley Park Podcast’s It Happened Here series, we tell the story of The Bismarck. The iconic German battleship was sunk by the Royal Navy 75 years ago. While this clearly did not happen at Bletchley Park, but in the Atlantic Ocean, codebreaking and some of the pioneering techniques developed as part of it played a crucial role in locating the flagship of the German fleet.

Bletchley Park’s Research Historian, Dr David Kenyon, explains how work going on in wooden huts in the Buckinghamshire countryside contributed to the ship’s destruction, which was vital for the Allies, both strategically and symbolically.

Jane Fawcett worked in Hut 6 from 1940. She recalls “It may be the most important thing that any of us have ever done in our lives. We didn’t realise it at the time, but we do now.”

To hear the podcast please visit http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/podcast/932393/The_Bismarck.html


Also, Bletchley Park is seeking more participants for its Oral History Project:

Since November 2011 we have visited over 300 Veterans to interview them and hear how enemy signals were intercepted, decrypted and turned into intelligence, as well as capturing fascinating glimpses of their daily lives. We have interviewed people who worked at Bletchley Park and in outstations from the north of Scotland to Australia. Their jobs highlight the broad range of roles people were fulfilling, from the upper echelons of Oxbridge academics via machines operators and clerical staff to cooks, cleaners and even delivery staff from the local bakery.

We are keen to interview anyone who worked:

• At Bletchley Park or its outstations, civilian or military, in any role, however junior
• In the Y services, in the UK and overseas
• In SLUs or SCUs
• In the Radio Security Service
• In the development and construction of Colossus
• In the construction and maintenance of Bombes

We would also like to hear from anyone who lived in the Bletchley area during the Second World War.

For further details visit http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/content/hist/oralhistory.rhtm.

(With thanks to Bletchley Park)

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 Pinterest account is at https://www.pinterest.com/chrismpaton/.

Reopening of American War Museum at IWM Duxford

From the Imperial War Museum:

The American Air Show at IWM Duxford
Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 May

Celebrating the reopening of the transformed American Air Museum

May Bank Holiday weekend (Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 May) will see the American Air Show at IWM Duxford, celebrating the reopening of the newly-transformed American Air Museum .

Over the weekend, vibrant flying displays will be accompanied by evocative living history, veterans’ voices and powerful film and music to show the developing relationship between Britain and America through the World Wars, Cold War and into the present day.

In addition to the dynamic flying display, visitors will be able to meet living history groups representing the United States Air Force in the Second World War and during the Vietnam era, listen to nostalgic music performed by Miss Holliday Swing, The Bluebird Belles and Pete Wayre and explore the newly-transformed American Air Museum, containing the best collection of American aircraft on display outside North America.

Highlights of the flying programme include:

Epic flying displays depicting the bomber operations of the Second World War, the war in the Pacific and the Vietnam War.

Thrilling contemporary displays by the Patrouille de France (Saturday only), the Red Arrows (Sunday only) and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Two replica Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a biplanes and a replica Nieuport 17, representing the relationship created between Britain and America during the latter stages of the First World War.

Four North American Harvards, key training aircraft for British and American pilots, take to the skies to represent the British-American alliance reinforced while America remained neutral in the Second World War. The Harvards are followed by a Spartan Executive and a Ryan STA, glorious 1930s aircraft that were also used for training purposes.

Archive sound and film footage places visitors on an Eighth Air Force bomber airfield in the Second World War as the ground crew await the arrival of the last B-17 Flying Fortress to return from a mission. B-17 Flying Fortress Sally B flies in, accompanied by two P-51 Mustangs and aTF-51 Mustang, the fighter aircraft that accompanied the huge bombers for part of their mission. Following a poignant display by B-17 Flying Fortress Sally B, the Mustangs are intercepted by a Hispano Buchón (Messerschmitt Bf 109) and a thrilling tail chase ensues.

As two Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft fly in, large screens are filled with footage of American paratroopers and, in a filmed interview, Henry ‘Duke’ Boswell, a paratrooper in the Second World War, describes his experiences as a young man carrying out combat jumps, including on D-Day, 6 June 1944. The two C-47 aircraft are followed by a de Havilland Dragon Rapide and a Piper L-4 Club.

Demonstrating the war against Japan in the Pacific, a North American B-25 Mitchell, Mitsubishi A6M Zero Replica, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Grumman FM-2 Wildcat and Goodyear FG-1D Corsair, take to the skies accompanied by archive film footage of the Doolittle raid.

In commemoration of the decade-long Vietnam War two North American T-28 Fennecs take to the skies to the unmistakable sound of Jimi Hendrix. Bell UH-1 Iroquois (‘Huey’) and Hughes OH-6 Cayuse (‘Loach’) helicopters fly through accompanied by the dramatic Ride of the Valkyries by Wagner. The Vietnam display concludes with a display by a North American OV-10 Bronco and a Shorts SC-7 Skyvan to the rousing music of The Doors.

The story of British and American collaboration in conflict concludes with an exploration of modern warfare and the causes of conflict in the Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq.

(With thanks to Esther Blaine)

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 Pinterest account is at https://www.pinterest.com/chrismpaton/.

Robert Burns' birthplace in Alloway

Yesterday (Good Friday), my wife Claire, youngest son Jamie and I made a journey to Alloway in south Ayrshire, to do the Robert Burns birthplace tour, visiting the new birthplace museum, the cottage where the national bard was born, Alloway Auld Kirk (where the poem Tam o' Shanter was set), and the famous Brig o' Doon.

To find out how we got on, to see some pictures, to discover what we made of it all - and to find how I finally made peace with the bard! - please visit my other blog at https://scotlandsgreateststory.wordpress.com/2016/03/26/robert-burns-birthplace-alloway-ayrshire/.

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 Pinterest account is at https://www.pinterest.com/chrismpaton/.

Official Irish 1916 commemoration programme

The Irish Government's official programme for commemorations of the 1916 Easter Rising is outlined on a website at www.ireland.ie, which includes a short 8 minute video outlining some of the highlights. Amongst these are contributions from some well known faces from the National Library of Ireland and the National Archives of Ireland, with announcements of exhibitions and digitisation projects, as well as an ancestry project for school children to try to work out how to trace back to ancestors alive at the period. The video is on YoutTube at https://youtu.be/1RKER4WYl2I and also reproduced here for convenience:

I am currently working hell for leather to produce a short introductory genealogy guide book for Unlock the Past (www.unlockthepast.com.au) on the subject of the Decade of Centenaries from 1912-23, looking at everything from the Ulster Covenant to the Irish Civil War. This will not only examine how to research ancestors connected to the constitutional struggle, but also the First World War, women's suffrage, the Dublin Lockout, and more. One hundred years ago there was no Northern Ireland or Republic of Ireland, it was all a single constituent part of the United Kingdom. It's a period which until now has been tantalisingly close to us in ancestral terms, but rarely talked about. The governments north and south, and others, are to be commended for the programmes being put together this year, whether commemorating the Rising or the Somme, and everything else in between and beyond in the period.

The BBC also has a feature on the commemorations programme at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35247856, and a feature on 1916 itself at http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/z2c4j6f, including the interesting detail that in 1916 Ireland's time zone was aligned with that of London - prior to this the island actually had a time zone that was 25 minutes behind England. You learn something new every day.

Irish family history never got so interesting...!

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/.

Belfast Boys: West Belfast to Western Front exhibition in Dublin

Glasnevin Cemetery Museum has an exhibition ongoing in Dublin looking at how Belfast folk from across the religious and political divide temporarily put aside their differences in the First World War to concentrate on the military effort against Germany. Here's the description:

Our new exhibition looks at the untold story of how Belfast's Unionists and Nationalists put aside their Home Rule differences and fought together as one during The Great War 1914-18.

This Exhibition will be on display from the 11th November in the Museum's Prospect Gallery. The exhibition explores the journey of a volunteer 1912 - 1916, it looks at both the Ulster and Irish Volunteer, the 36th Division and the 10th Irish. Contrasting but mostly comparing their similar journeys to war.

Giving a broad overview of the roles of both volunteer groups but will then focus on 'Belfast Boys' from west Belfast, looking at their military, social and political history.

It is a joint exhibition between the Unionist Centenary Committee and the 6th Connaught Rangers Group and is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

One of the items on display is a German Officer’s Walking Stick. The German officer killed Pte Fitzgeralds of the Connaught Rangers with this stick and was himself killed with the same weapon, by the donor, Gunner Clements.

To book tickets, and for opening hours, visit http://www.glasnevintrust.ie/visit-glasnevin/events/belfast-boys/index.xml.

(With thanks to Glasnevin Cemetery Museum)

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/.

Glasnevin Museum to host What's Your 1916 Story? event

Glasnevin Cemetery and Museum in Dublin is to host a What's Your 1916 Story? event, to ask folk to bring along documents, photos or other mementoes connected to the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916.

The event will take place on November 20th and 21st from 10am-4pm, and in addition to providing a free historic assessment of the items, requests for some items to be included in a temporary 1916 themed exhibition at the Museum's Prospect Gallery may be made of attendees with some of the more unusual items brought along.

For further details on the event, please visit www.glasnevintrust.ie/visit-glasnevin/events/whats-your-1916-story/index.xml.

And if interested to find out about their stories - those who were, or who knew or were connected to the Rising's participants - a new book has also been launched, entitled To Speak of Easter Week by Dr Helene O’Keeffe. It includes oral testimony from 240 people, the oldest of whom are relatives currently aged 102 and 104 when interviewed.

For more on the book, visit the Irish Times article at www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/to-speak-of-easter-week-brings-together-testimony-of-25-family-members-of-rebels-1.2390223.

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/.

Conference: 1916 - What's It All About?

The following is from PRONI (www.proni.gov.uk) in Belfast:

Conference to look ahead to significant 2016 anniversaries

A Creative Centenaries conference and resources fair will take place at the Ulster Museum on October 15, focusing on anniversaries of 2016 and how events such as the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme, amongst many others, will be explored, remembered and commemorated.

Titled ‘1916 – What’s it all About?’, the day-long event will feature panels and interactive discussions with a range of professionals including the importance of 1916 in an island wide context; what’s happening here in 2016 and how people can get involved; and the role of learning and involving young people in exploring the past.

• Why is 1916 important?

A panel of history professionals will offer an insight into key events of 1916 including Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme as well as the Battle of Jutland and movements in labour and suffrage. This session will attempt to understand how and why 1916 has become an important year to remember.

• What’s happening here in 2016?

A chance to hear from a range of organisations and groups about their advanced plans for 2016 and how anniversaries will be addressed. This session is also a chance for participants to share their experiences and ideas.

• Education, learning and involving young people

An interactive workshop for community groups, teachers, councils, youth leaders and anyone dealing with 2016 to get their hands on resources and practical information to help address and explore the significant anniversaries.

Confirmed speakers so far include Professor Richard Grayson, Michael Laffan, Philip Orr, John Gray, Dr. Marie Coleman and Dr. Eamon Phoenix.

Taking place in the Ulster Museum, Belfast, the event will also see presentations from heritage, cultural and community organisations about their involvement in marking 2016. Up to 30 exhibition stands will be situated throughout the Museum providing information and opportunities for those planning and organising their own events or programmes in 2016.

Admission to the resources fair is free, however booking is essential. While registering, attendees have the option to sign up for each of the three individual sessions.

Further details and booking via http://nmni.com/um/What-s-on/Events/Creative-Centenaries-Conference

This event is being organised through the Decade of Centenaries Roundtable, as convened by Community Relations Council and Heritage Lottery Fund. Organising groups include Community Relations Council, National Museums Northern Ireland, Living Legacies, PRONI, Queen’s University Belfast, Heritage Lottery Fund and the Nerve Centre.

(With thanks to PRONI)

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.

SCRAN launches new blog - Scranalogue

From SCRAN, the Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network (www.scran.org.uk)

Scranalogue - the Scran Blog

Scranalogue (https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/scranblog/) is the new home for rolling news, features, updates on Scran collections, learning and teaching materials and insights into our outreach activities.

September - this month find out about:

• The Ian Landles Archive, an oral history collection from Scottish Borders Council Archive Service, featuring fantastic material about the First World War, the old Borders railway and the suffragettes. 
• Scran's work with Skills for the Future trainees on The Scotsman Collections, a rich seam of social history on Scran.
• New Pathfinders about Scotland's historic properties in English and Gaelic, developed in partnership with Historic Scotland.

Visit our blog to find out more.

SCRAN is also on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Scranlife

(With thanks to Jackie Sangster)

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.

Huguenot Museum in Rochester

The Federation of Family History Societies  (www.ffhs.org.uk) has news of the recently opened Huguenot Museum in Rochester, Britain's first museum of Huguenot history.

The article is available at http://ffhs.org.uk/news/news150722.php, with the museum's own website available at http://huguenotmuseum.org/.

(With thanks to the FFHS)

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.