NLS uploads Ordnance Survey 1950s-1960s maps

From Chris Fleet, Map Curator of the National Library of Scotland's Collections and Research Department:

New Ordnance Survey National Grid 1:10,560 maps (1950s-1960s) go online

The National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk) has just put online 13,953 Ordnance Survey maps which provide near-complete coverage of England, Scotland and Wales in the 1950s-1960s.

These maps show excellent detail of the mid-20th century urban and rural landscape, including farms and settlements, roads and railways, rivers and watercourses, administrative and field boundaries, woodland and land use. Buildings are simplified in urban areas but many street names are also shown. They are especially useful for more remote rural areas, where this is the most detailed scale of Ordnance Survey mapping. This online addition includes all our out-of-copyright maps at this scale, published over 50 years ago.

• The maps are all available via the home page at: https://maps.nls.uk/os/national-grid/index.html
• There is a clickable index map at: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/find/#zoom=6&lat=55.2535&lon=-2.6990&layers=61&b=1 .
• A georeferenced layer is at: https://maps.nls.uk/openlayers/?m=1&id=193 (This currently covers Scotland and northern England only, but will extend to all of England and Wales by March 2019)

NLS Maps Website User Survey

During January and February 2019, we are undertaking a survey of those using our maps website in order to help plan future developments. We are very keen for a range of responses from personal, educational, business and professional users. All responses will be anonymous.

Detail about the survey is available at this link: https://maps.nls.uk/additions.html#61.

The survey is available at: https://maps.nls.uk/survey

This and other map news is also available in our January 2019 Cairt newsletter at: https://www.nls.uk/media/1685264/cairt34.pdf

(With thanks to Chris)

Chris

My next Scottish Research Online course starts March 11th 2019 - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. 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.

QUB's Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland website

Have you used the Ordnance Survey Memoirs for Irish research? They provide a great contextual backdrop to the parishes in the north of Ireland in early to mid 19th century Ireland.

Queens University Belfast previously had a great page detailing their contents, but this now seems to be dead - however, I have found it preserved on the Internet Archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20140403234906/http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/IrishStudiesGateway/Research/PastResearch/OrdnanceSurveyMemoirs/OrdnanceSurveyMemoirsbyCounty/.

They are a great resource - the volumes themselves can be purchased form the Ulster Historical Foundation at https://www.ancestryireland.com/latest-news/ordnance-survey-memoirs-now-available/.

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.

NLS completes 25 inch OS English county maps coverage

The National Library of Scotland has completed its coverage of the 25 inch county map series for England (1841-1952), with some 85,279 sheets now available online.

The completely free to access maps are available to consult at http://maps.nls.uk/os/25inch-england-and-wales/index.html.

(With thanks to the NLS via Twitter)

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.

ScotlandsPlaces records now free to access

Major news from Scotland, in that the records collections on ScotlandsPlaces (www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk) have now been made available free of charge. In the past the site hosted a mixture of records, some of which were free to access (as was the case when the site was originally launched), and others which required a subscription of £15 +VAT, i.e. £18 (the only records collection I ever saw in the UK which advertised its sub on that basis!), although transcripts of some of those records were free to access. The sources for the collections are the National Records of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland, and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (now part of Historic Environment Scotland).

The records that are now completely free on the site are:

Historical Tax Rolls

Carriage Tax, 1785-1798, (20 volumes)
Cart Tax, 1785-1798, (14 volumes)
Clock and Watch Tax, 1797-1798, (2 volumes)
Consolidated Schedules of Assessed Taxes, 1798-1799 (32 volumes)
Dog Tax, 1797-1798, (2 volumes)
Farm Horse Tax, 1797-1798, (13 volumes)
Female Servant Tax, 1785-1792, (28 volumes)
Hearth Tax, 1691-1695, (43 volumes)
Horse Tax, 1785-1798, (33 volumes)
Inhabited House Tax, 1778-1798 (64 volumes)
Land Tax, 1645-1831, (129 volumes)
Male Servant Tax, 1777-1798, (27 volumes)
Poll Tax, 1694-1698, (88 volumes)
Shop Tax, 1785-1789, (8 volumes)
Window Tax, 1748-1798, (218 volumes)


Ordnance Survey Name Books

Aberdeenshire, 1865-1878, (91 volumes)Argyll, 1868-1878, (81 volumes)
Ayrshire, 1855-1857, (64 volumes)
Banffshire, 1867-1869, (28 volumes)
Berwickshire, 1856-1858, (41 volumes)
Buteshire, 1855-1864, (7 volumes)
Caithness, 1871-1873, (15 volumes)
Clackmannanshire, 1861-1862, (7 volumes)
Dumfriesshire, 1848-1858, (55 volumes)
Dunbartonshire, 1860, (18 volumes)
East Lothian, 1853-1854, (55 volumes)
Fife and Kinross-shire, 1853-1855, (135 volumes)
Forfarshire (Angus), 1857-1861, (84 volumes)
Inverness-shire, 1876-1878, (86 volumes)
Kincardineshire, 1863, (20 volumes)
Kircudbrightshire, 1848-1851, (159 volumes)
Lanarkshire, 1858-1861, (50 volumes)
Midlothian, 1852-1853, (135 volumes)
Morayshire, 1868-1871, (23 volumes)
Nairnshire, 1869, (7 volumes)
Orkney, 1878-1880, (26 volumes)
Peeblesshire, 1856-1858, (47 volumes)
Perthshire, 1856-1858, (79 volumes)
Renfrewshire, 1856-1857, (21 volumes)
Ross and Cromarty, 1848-1852, (187 volumes)
Roxburghshire, 1858-1860, (42 volumes)
Selkirkshire, 1858, (15 volumes)
Shetland, 1877-1878, (26 volumes)
Stirlingshire, ca 1864, (27 volumes)
Sutherland, 1871-1875, (35 volumes)
West Lothian, 1855-1859, (69 volumes)
Wigtownshire, 1845-1849, (88 volumes)


RCAHMS Archives

Alexander Curle diaries, 1908-1953 (14 volumes)
Inventories, 1909-1992 (30 volumes)


Burgh registers

Aberdeenshire Burgh Registers, 1398-1511 (8 volumes)


Official Reports

Medical Officer of Health Reports, 1891
Land Ownership Commission Reports, 1872-1873


Published Gazetteers and Atlases

Hay Shennan, County and Parish Boundaries, 1892
An Atlas of Scottish History to 1707


Hydrographic Surveys

Bathmetrical Surveys of Scottish Lochs, 1898-1909


Archaeological and architectural sites, and historical maps and plans

1st edition 6-inch series1st edition 25-inch series
2nd and later edition 6-inch series
2nd and later edition 25-inch series

The ScotlandsPlaces team are still looking for volunteer transcribers to help with deciphering some of the collections from their older script forms, so if interested, do drop them a note!

Have fun! :)

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.

Book offers from Ulster Historical Foundation

From the Ulster Historical Foundation (www.ancestryireland.com):

For those of you looking for your Ulster Ancestors before 1800 the Fighters of Derry is one of the best sources currently available.

First published in 1932 William R. Young's Fighters of Derry for decades been one of the most overlooked works on the Siege of Derry and as a local genealogical resource.

For information on those who were involved in the siege of Derry in 1689 and events during the Williamite War in general, Fighters of Derry is the best source available.

This important publication lists the names of some 1,660 individuals who defended Derry or were associated with William of Orange; for many of them brief biographical sketches are provided. This book provides a real insight into settler society, particularly in north-west Ulster, in the late seventeenth century. Also included in this book is a list of 352 Jacobites, again with biographical sketches for many of them.

This new edition has seen the index revised and substantially extended.

To order go to: www.booksireland.org.uk/store/all-departments/fighters-derry-deeds-descendants


Special Book Deal for those of you looking for pre-18th century ancestors

Priced at just £37.99 (RRP £47.97) this combination of books offer some of the best historical and genealogical texts relating to the 17th century.

For information on those who were involved in the siege of Derry in 1689 and events during the Williamite War in general, Fighters of Derry is the best source available. Men and Arms is essentially the first ‘census’ of English and Scottish settlers in the nine counties of Ulster and the Ulster Port Books is an underrated source for those interested in this period.

For more information please go to: http://www.booksireland.org.uk/store/all-departments/fighters-derry-men-arms


Complete Set of Ordnance Survey Memoirs

The Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland provide a uniquely detailed history of the northern half of Ireland before the Great Famine. Learn not just about the houses of your ancestors, but the type of work they did, the schools they were educated in, the churches where they worshipped, the roads they got about on, and more.

For the first time ever get the complete set of memoir volumes (over 40 volumes) for just £129.99 (plus P&P) A saving over over £200! For more information please go to: http://www.booksireland.org.uk/store/all-departments/complete-set-volumes-1-40-ordnance-survey-memoirs?mc_cid=8dc3606f72&mc_eid=%5bUNIQID%5d.

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.

Ancestry adds Popular Edition Maps, 1919-1926 for England and Wales

Ancestry has released a new collection entitled UK, Popular Edition Maps, 1919-1926 (http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=60657). Here's the blurb from the site:

England’s Ordnance Survey began in 1791 in an effort to produce detailed maps of areas in southern England for military uses. Though it took the better part of a century, the Survey eventually mapped the entire country, and the maps were published between 1805 and 1874. In the meantime, the rapid expansion of railroads and urbanization had changed the face of the country, and maps were being put to greater civilian uses. New surveys led to new maps published between 1876 and 1896. These maps were revised again starting in the interwar years and are known as the Popular Edition Maps, 1919–1926.

The Popular Edition maps are included in this database. These detailed maps cover much of Britain and include features such as forests, mountains, larger farms, roads, railroads, towns, and more to help you better understand and even visualize the world your ancestor lived in.

The title is factually incorrect, as this only covers England and Wales, not the United Kingdom - Northern Ireland and Scotland are not included.

Chris

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. To commission me for genealogical research, please visit my research site at www.scotlandsgreateststory.co.uk.

Historic Northern Irish OS maps on NI Environment Agency website

In November last year I noticed that the Ordnance Survey for Northern Ireland website had been relocated to www.nidirect.gov.uk/osni, but that the historic OS maps were no longer available there (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/ordnance-survey-ni-historic-maps.html). I queried this with them and was told that it was hoped they would be online in the near future.

Well it seems that the Northern Irish Environment Agency now has them hosted on its platform at http://maps.ehsni.gov.uk/Mapviewer/Default.aspx. You will find the historic six inch series of Ordnance Survey maps for the north under the Historic Maps link, with the earliest dating from 1829-1835, and the latest historic map available dating from 1945. The site is completely free to access. You can zoom in and out by clicking on the + or - sign at the top, and can also select an area using the + key, simply clicking with the left button of your mouse and dragging across the area of interest. You can then use the hand icon to grab onto a map once zoomed in, to drag it across the screen, or under the Navigation menu option on the left simply drag your mouse across the compass image to achieve the same thing. (One thing to bear in mind is that if you don't use it for too long, your access will time out, and you will need to reload the site.)

If like me, you lost several years of your life through the stress of using the old version of this database, I think you'll be in for a much happier time now! Conclusive proof that God is indeed an Ulsterman.

Been saying it for years... :)

(With thanks to Lorraine Stewart via the Scottish Genealogy Network Linked In forum)

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.

Ordnance Survey NI historic maps temporarily unavailable

I noticed yesterday that the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland had relocated its web presence to the main NI Direct government platform at www.nidirect.gov.uk/osni. The new site looks great and wonderfully refreshed, but an unfortunate consequence of the migration is that the historic mapping tool that previously existed on the old site is not available on the new one.

I queried this yesterday on Twitter, and NI Direct have kindly since contacted OSNI on my behalf to ask about the situation. I've just received a follow up tweet saying that "Historic maps aren't currently on site but OSNI hope they will be within next few months".

The various historic maps on the old OSNI site dated back as far as the 1820s, and coverage extended into the 20th century, providing an extraordinary overview of the development of the north of Ireland and Northern Ireland.. However, whilst that was the good part, the bad part was that it was probably the most difficult mapping or family history based website that I have ever had to use, it being very clunky, constantly taking forever to return searches and occasionally crashing. It was usually worth the pain to eventually find what you wanted - but be in no doubt, there was a lot of pain! Hopefully the migration to the new platform means that there is a rethink going on about how to display these important maps, which are some of the most useful online Irish maps available.

In the meantime, for any queries concerning OSNI maps visit www.nidirect.gov.uk/osni-mapping-helpdesk.

(With thanks to @NIDirect)

Chris

My next Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Records online course starts on November 5th, and runs for 5 weeks, priced at £45.99. Spaces are still available - see http://pharostutors.com/coursedescriptions.php#302