Folkestone & District
Family History Society

Member of the Federation of Family History Societies

WEBSITES FEATURED IN WEB WATCH

For ease of viewing the websites mentioned in “Web Watch”, a regular feature of our quarterly journal, the whole article is reproduced below.

Since websites, their content and their links are prone to frequent change, or even removal, we will only display the articles from the previous four issues of the journal.

Vol 28, No 2: December 2014

Probate Index from 1996 - https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills

For England & Wales this gives name, date of death, date of probate, registry, type and number, but not address or names and addresses of executors and administrators.

The National Archives - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

TNA have indexed 140,000 army officers records from post-1913 in WO 339.

Ancestry - http://www.ancestry.co.uk

They have added records for Fleet, Marshalsea and King's Bench prisons in London from TNA PRIS10 and PRIS11, London Workhouse records for 1738 to 1930 from LMA, a million Liverpool Crew records from 1861 to 1919, and WW1 Women's service records.

Find My Past - http://www.findmypast.co.uk

FMP have added the first batch of National School Admission Registers & Log-Books 1870-1914; 12 counties so far including Kent. Other additions include Yorkshire parish records and numerous records transferred from Origins.

Deceased Online – https://www.deceasedonline.com/servlet/GSDOSearch

New additions are records for Blackburn, Darwen and Nottinghamshire.

The Genealogist - http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/index.php

They have added 1.3 million records for wounded servicemen from Casualty Lists for WW1 and records for recipients of the Territorial Efficiency Medal and Distinguished Conduct Medal. The latter has a link to The London Gazette which in numerous cases contains full details of the heroic deed that won them the medal.

FamilySearch - https://familysearch.org/

New additions include Isle of Man parish records and Durham wills and associated probate records.

Forces War Records - http://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/

They have added the first 30,000 medical records for WW1 soldiers from a large collection including MH106 at TNA. There are numerous other records on this site from 1700.

Irish Military Archives - http://www.militaryarchives.ie/en/home/

They have updated the list of Irish Regiments in the British Army, with contact details for regimental associations and links for particular regiments. Download from -

http://www.militaryarchives.ie/fileadmin/user_upload/Documents_2/Information_Document_on_the_Irish_Regiments_of_the_British_Army.pdf

Also records of military pensions.

British Newspaper Archives - http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald has been added for 1909 and 1911.

Newspapers : Elephind, A Digital Newspaper Collections Search Engine -

http://www.elephind.com/

Blog about Scottish Soldiers' Wills - http://blogs.nls.uk/familyhistory/?p=799

Royal College of Physicians - http://munksroll.rcplondon.ac.uk/

Obituaries of Fellows of Royal College of Physicians 1518 to date and those of licentiates from 1818 to 1825.

Burke's Commoners published 1834-1838 is online at Google Books - http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=QisAAAAAQAAJ&dq=editions%3AYmtOknedJY0C&pg=PP7#v=onepage&q&f=false

Radio Times - http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/

Searchable images of 4469 issues of the Radio Times from day 1 in 1923 to 2009.

National Library of Scotland - http://maps.nls.uk/os/national-grid/index.html

Detailed maps of London and Edinburgh at 1:1250 around 1950s.

Wellcome Institute maps - http://wellcomeimages.org/

Various population and disease maps.

Cricket Archive - http://cricketarchive.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi

Search for players, scorecards, grounds and more.

Rockstar Genealogists - http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/englandscotlandwales-rockstar.html

The results of John Reid's annual poll include several of our past speakers.

Vol 28, No 1: September 2014

The National Archives – http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

TNA have added the surviving records of service for over 12,000 servicemen from the Household Cavalry to the catalogue and available view and download. They are in WO400 and cover 1799 to 1920.

Ancestry - http://www.ancestry.co.uk

Ancestry have added Naval Officer and Rating Service records for 1802 to 1919 from TNA ADM29. Also Naturalisation Certificates and Declarations for 1870 to 1912 from TNA HO334. A really useful addition is Phillimore's county maps of pre-1832 parishes with a searchable index.

Find My Past - http://www.findmypast.co.uk

With TNA they have released 342,000 airmen's service records of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force, dating from 1899 through to 1939, from AIR 79. The index includes any next of kin mentioned. Other additions include 30,000 burials in Gravesend, detailed censuses for Dartford in 1801 and 1821, more Wiltshire baptisms and parish registers for Staffordshire.

Deceased Online – https://www.deceasedonline.com/servlet/GSDOSearch

New additions are records for Hatfield and Welwyn in Hertfordshire.

The Genealogist - http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/index.php

They have added records of over 117,000 individuals awarded the Military Medal in WW1 and over 80,000 records for Prisoners of War in WW1.

FamilySearch - https://familysearch.org/

For Kent images of Manorial Documents for 1241 to 1976 and images and index for Electoral Rolls for 1570 to 1907. Also Parish records for Essex and Isle of Man.

British Newspaper Archives - http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald has been added for 1912 to 1927.

Newspapers - For Australia, try http://trove.nla.gov.au/ and for New Zealand

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast

The long S is not an F -

http://blog.eogn.com/2014/05/21/decoding-the-long-s-in-old-documents/

Basic guide to scanning including format, compression and DPI -

http://blogs.loc.gov/digitalpreservation/2014/03/personal-digital-archiving-the-basics-of-scanning/

Surname variants. Instead of Soundex, try NameX at Origins http://www.origins.net/ or Steve Archer's Nominex optimised for surnames of British origin -
http://www.archersoftware.co.uk/nominex/index.htm
You can do searches here: http://www.archersoftware.co.uk/nominex/demo.php

or The Original Record - http://www.theoriginalrecord.com/database/search/namelist

The lost letter called Thorn -

http://blog.eogn.com/2014/05/31/how-do-you-pronounce-ye/

Confused by Cousins and Removed? - try this 4 minute video -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM79Epw_cp8&feature=youtu.be

Irish Ancestors – free 30 page guide from the Ulster Historical Foundation -

http://www.ancestryireland.com/wp-content/uploads/PDFs/irish-ancestors.pdf

London Cemeteries – a map showing major locations outside central London but not updated for 4 years - http://tinyurl.com/4suwfs and a database of Scottish burial grounds - http://safhs.org.uk/burialgrounds.asp

The Federation's Really Useful Leaflet for Australasia – download the 20 page guide

http://affho.org/news/useful%20websites.pdf

London Inhabitants within the Walls 1695, a British Record Society index -

http://british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=31

For railway buffs, a list of closed stations - http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/

Adult Paupers in Workhouses in 1861 - http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Paupers/

A 10% sample of over 14,000 records with name, place, age and reason for admittance of those aged 16 and over who had been a inmate for over 5 years. The full index is on LDS microfiche 6359376.

Lives of the First World War - https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/

The Imperial War Museum is creating a permanent digital memorial to over 8 million men and women who were involved – and want your contributions.

Another new WW1 website is Every Man Remembered, a collaboration between The Royal British Legion and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission - http://www.everymanremembered.org/

Vol 27, No 4: June 2014

The National Archives – http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Another batch of WW1 diaries from WO95 has been added.

Ancestry - http://www.ancestry.co.uk

Ancestry have added Medals awarded to Merchant Seaman in WW2 from TNA BT395; the index to Royal Navy Reserve Service Records 1860 to 1955 from TNA BT164 and BT377; the index to Wills of Royal Navy Seamen 1786 to 1882 from ADM48; and records of Electrical Engineers 1871 to 1930. Also numerous parish, non-conformist and voters records and records of WW1 Silver War Badges.

Ancestry have shut down the Old Search, which was preferred by many experienced users. This blog has links to advice on getting the most out of the current Search -

http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2014/03/10/a-fond-farewell-to-old-search

Find My Past - http://www.findmypast.co.uk

One of the few good things resulting from the revamp of their database structure and searches is the ability to add new records quickly. 100 new databases are promised in 100 days from mid April. Highlights include a new index to WW1 Army Service Records (TNA WO363) and Pension Records (TNA WO364) which has found 600,000 new names not on the Ancestry version; services deaths from 1945 in Palestine, Cyprus and Malaya; 870,000 Royal Artillery attestations from 1883 to 1942 held at the Royal Artillery Museum at Woolwich; 500,000 Royal Navy and Marine service records from 1899 to 1919 from TNA ADM188, ADM196 and ADM159; and millions of parish records for Devon and Shropshire.

Deceased Online – https://www.deceasedonline.com/servlet/GSDOSearch

New records include new scans and indexes for Spa Fields, Islington ( now the park opposite LMA) with 113,800 names from 1778 to 1849 and for Bunhill Fields, Islington with 71,100 burials from 1704 to 1854 (part of TNA RG4).

The Genealogist - http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/index.php

They had added records for 80,000 WW1 British and allied Prisoners of War. Also 600,000 parish register transcripts including 167,000 for Kent.

Origins - http://www.origins.net/

The National Wills Index now includes Kent Will abstracts for 1328 to 1691. The 1881 census for England and Wales has been added with a new index.

FamilySearch - https://familysearch.org/

New additions include London Electoral Registers 1847 to 1913 (Ancestry have these for 1832 to 1965) and plenty of parish records. Their Wiki on English Research has an amazing amount of information on sources down to parish level. See this blog - http://www.ancestryinsider.org/2014/05/ngs2014gen-english-research-and.html

Soldiers' Wills - https://www.gov.uk/probate-search

230,000 wills for soldiers from England and Wales who died in service between 1850 and 1986 with an inadequate search. ScotlandsPeople has 31,000 wills at http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/Search/SoldiersWills/index.aspx whilst 9,000 Irish ones are at http://soldierswills.nationalarchives.ie/search/sw/home.jsp

Irish Censuses 1821 to 1851 – the pieces of these censuses that survived the destruction of the Dublin PRO in 1922 have been indexed, over 600,000 names. The records are on Family Search, FMP and the National Archives of Ireland http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/ So use whichever has your preferred search.

Land Registry - http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/market-trend-data/digitalarchives

They have made the entries from its 1862 register available. Search by the proprietor's name and having found an entry, search by just the title number for details of the land involved.

Vision of Britain - http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data/
Much of their map collection is freely downloadable including a complete set of Ordnance Survey First Series one-inch maps from the 19th century, a complete set of OS New Popular Edition one-inch maps from the late 1940s, and a great many administrative boundary maps. Some of the scans were made ten years
ago using low resolution, so quality is a little variable.

Two other useful sites are - www.history.ac.uk/library and www.british-history.ac.uk/

National Library of Scotland - http://maps.nls.uk/openlayers.cfm?id=39

6 inch OS maps for the whole of Britain.

Historical Directories – the site run by the University of Leicester is now here - http://cdm16445.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16445coll4

Vol 27, No 3: March 2014

The National Archives – http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

TNA have put online over 8,000 records from Appeals against WW1 Conscription from MH47 for Middlesex, one of two counties for which records were not destroyed.

Another new resource consists of the first batch of WW1 unit diaries from WO95. A crowdsourcing project has started to index them.

Ancestry - http://www.ancestry.co.uk

Ancestry now have the Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills 1384-1858, already on TNA and The Genealogist but with a new index.

Other new additions include London, Surrey and Yorkshire Electoral Rolls, London Rate Books, and the IGI databases from FamilySearch.

Find My Past - http://www.findmypast.co.uk

The main addition is 2.5 million BMD, pension, doctors and Probate records for British India from the British Library.

Also Rate Books for Devon, Lancashire and London.

Deceased Online – https://www.deceasedonline.com/servlet/GSDOSearch

They have added 257,000 burials for Kensal Green cemetery and crematorium in London.

Until now only Pay Per view, annual subscriptions have been introduced. I wonder if this will make the website available in KCC Libraries?

The Genealogist - http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/index.php

New additions include the Army Lists for 1780s and 1790s, and over 1.6 million transcripts of parish records.

Origins - http://www.origins.net/

London Poor Law Abstracts from Guildhall Library have been added, plus the 1901 census for England and Wales.

FamilySearch - https://familysearch.org/

New additions include the BMD indexes for England & Wales from 1837 to 1920.

Also Norfolk Electoral Rolls and parish registers for Essex, Bristol and Norfolk.

www.UKBMD.org.uk - UK Births, Marriages and Deaths

www.UKGDL.org.uk – UK Genealogical Directories and Lists

www.UKMFH.org.uk – UK Military Family History
These three websites with links to resources have continued to grow since their respective launches. UKBMD.org.uk now has over 2,400; UKGDL.org.uk over 1,900; and UKMFH.org.uk over 1,500, concentrating on World War 1.

Children's Society Archives – www.hiddenlives.org.uk/including_the_excluded/files/Case%20files%20of%20disabled%20children.pdf Case files of children admitted into their care from 1882 in date order, with date of birth, parent(s) and health.

Fishermen and Merchant Seaman imprisoned in WW1 –

http://spw-surrey.com/MT9/?page_id=26 An index to document MT9/1238 in TNA.

Hertfordshire Names Online -

https://www.hertsdirect.org/ufs/ufsmain?ebz=1_1393249292769&ebd=0

Includes apprentices, crime, marriages and licences, poor law, tithes and wills.

Reasons to keep microfilm when digitising -

http://www.ancestryinsider.org/2014/01/monday-mailbox-keep-microfilm.html

Unusual English words for family members -

http://mentalfloss.com/article/54486/11-little-known-words-specific-family-members

Tube map family tree -

http://www.copenhagenize.com/2013/12/my-family-tree-as-metro-transit-map.html

London on film: 1927 vs 2013 - http://vimeo.com/81368735