Month: November 2022

Wanting to learn about what your grandparent or ancestor did during wartime? Which regiment they joined? What their job was? Where they served? What they experienced?

On Tuesday, 15 November at 1 p.m. (EST) – the Canadian War Museum invites you to a Zoom session to explain the research methods, tools and resources used by the Canadian War Museum’s Military History Research Centre. Learn more about family members by exploring their military service.

Register here.

On Wednesday, 16 November at 1 p.m. there’s a similar session in French.

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

A journey through the Book of Kells & Old Trinity College Dublin Library

Fine-scale cultural variation reinforces genetic structure in England

Family history is not sufficient for assessing inherited disease risk

Six Canadian battles shaped by weather and climate

Margaret Atwood: Russia’s propaganda narratives don’t stand up

Thanks to this week’s contributors: Ann Burns, Anonymous, Barbara Di Mambro,  Brenda Turner, Bruce Murduck, Ellie Ayton, Gail B., Kathie Cornes, Maria Laty, Michael Penzer, Sheila Faure, Teresa, Unknown,

 

Here are some of the main contents of the December issue, released on 11 November.

FAMILY HISTORY NEWS
Includes news of the passing of Guy Etchells. Without his dogged pursuit of the release of the 1939 Register of England and Wales, we may well still not have access. R. I. P.

AWAITING THE 1921 SCOTTISH CENSUS
Genealogist Chris Paton anticipates the release of the 1921 Census for Scotland and recommends some records to research the period while we wait.

DEAR PAUL
Paul Chiddicks continues examination of errors and oddities from readers and takes a trip down memory lane on favourte chidhood toys and games.

PHOTOGENEALOGY: STEP 5
Aon Larknam advises us on the final step on the photogeneaiogy project — securing your legacy.

TWIGLETS
Gill Shaw gives a salutary, and intriguing reminder that two records are always better than … although they may not provide the clarity sought.

WW2 MILITARY CASE STUDY
Graham Caldwell provides Miltary Competition winner
Lindsay Seels wih a report about her grandfather.

INTERWAR HOBBIES
Jayne Shrimpton brings to life popular culture and our ancestors’ pastimes of the 1920s & 30s.

WHAT’S INSIDE THE PARLIAMENTARY ARCHIVES?
Senior Outreach Archivist Penny McMahon shows us around.

CONSIDERING THE USEFULNESS OF NAME LISTS
Family Tree Academy’s David Annal evaluates their uses & limitations.

BOOKS & CO
Helen Tovey & Rachel Bellerby review a selection of new history-related tities.

THE SINKING OF THE ‘ALERT PACKET’
Family historian Melanie Winterbotham stumbled on the story of the sinking of the Alert Packet when tracing the life and death of her 3x great-grandfather.

GENEALOGY GADGETS
Discover the tools that fellow family historians are putting to use in their search, for fun and efficiency. One mentioned is zoompast.com (or .org) which looks interesting and I hope to examine in a coming post.

NEW ANCESTRYDNA TOOL
Discover the revolutionary new beta tool from AncestryDNA being rolled out,

DNA WORKSHOP
Karen Evans investigates a case study to help a reader find her grandfather.

YOUR QUESTIONS
Our experts share their insights on reader research problems.

PHOTO CORNER
Jayne Shrimpton helps a reader puzzle out a photo and sets a puzzle of her own.

DIARY DATES
Online, in person, or hybrid – events to enjoy this November.

THOUGHTS ON – WARTIME MEMORIES
Diane Lindsay reflects on how the slightest thing can cause the memories to come flooding back |

 

Bilston Cemetery’s 64,600 records date from 1855 to 1993 and provide an insight into the local history by including occupation in the early records. The cemetery itself features a number of very old, large memorials, as well as 111 Commonwealth War Graves from the First and Second World Wars.

Bushbury Cemetery, 19,973 records, opened in 1949 and the Crematorium, 75,023 records, followed shortly thereafter in 1954.

The records available to view on www.deceasedonline.com comprise digital scans of the original burial registers, cemetery maps showing the section in which the grave is located for most records, and grave details for each of the graves and their occupants.

There are now 284,224 Wolverhampton records in the Deceased Online collection.

On Saturday, 12 November, BIFHSGO has two presentations to enjoy.

At 9 am Anxious Mothers, Voluntary Aid Workers and Military Nurses: Letters from Canadian women during the First World War will be presented by Melanie Morin-Pelletier, historian, War and Society at the Canadian War Museum.

At 10 am, BIFHSGO popular speaker Carol Annett in Stories from the War, will recount the experiences of RCAF bomb aimer Richard Glanville “Dick” MacKinnon during WWII,

You have the choice of attending in person at Knox Presbyterian Church (Lisgar & Elgin) in Geneva Hall using the Garden Entrance on Elgin Street, or online.

Find out more at https://www.bifhsgo.ca/events

Prisoners of War Sound Recordings 1916-1918
Linked from the British Library’s website,  56 audio recordings of British prisoners of war. Featuring various accents and dialects, all soldiers recite the Passage of the Prodigal Son. You may find notes on their trade, family life, religion, place of origin and the date they were captured.

Prisoners of War, General Correspondence, 1915
Sourced from The National Archives, series FO 383, this collection consists of official documents, reports and letters, offering a glimpse into the treatment of First World War prisoners of war in Germany. You could maybe discover information on the treatment of prisoners and the concerns raised by their loved ones back home. A total of 1,184 records.

British Rolls of Honour and Nominal Rolls, First World War
An additional 251 records for Coventry are now in this collection. You may find birth year, details of the previous occupation, and more information on their time serving in the military, and perhaps a photo of your ancestor.

Newspaper additions this week include War Pictures Weekly and the London Illustrated Weekly, 1914-1916.

 

Perhaps like me, when 11 November comes around, you think of those who died in bloody combat on the battlefields and in the skies of Europe.

This year, remember that 1914-18 and 1939-45 were world wars. Would you expect there to be two Great War Canadians commemorated in Italy or three from WW2 in Australia?

The article below recounts the story of Canadians who died in Alaska in 1943, not fighting with the enemy but of friendly fire during the fog of war.

Lest We Forget – When Canadian soldiers helped liberate a remote Alaskan island

 

The victims, on Kiska Island, were Gaston Boisclaire, Peter Poshtar, and Sidney Vessey. They are interred at Fort Richard Cemetery, Anchorage, Alaska along with Gerard Dejardins who was the victim of a mine.

Perhaps you missed, as I did, that Fold3 has opened its nearly 600 million records to free access, with registration,  from 10 to 12 November. That complements the Ancestryopen access to military records ending on Friday.

The following is a news post from Library and Archives Canada.

In this week of remembrance, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) announces more than 43,000 newly available digitized records from the Second World War. It is now easier than ever for Canadians to find and access the records of family members who died while serving their country.

The digitized records are the service files from Canadian Forces members who died during the Second World War (1939–45) or soon after. These include Canadian Forces members who were killed in action, those who died while in service, and those who died from service-related injuries in 1946–47.

These service files can be found through Collection Search. LAC has improved access by:

-Increasing the number of digitized files from 1,629 to more than 43,000
– Creating a new embedded search form to focus your search on these records
– Making it possible to search first and last names separately
– Improving search wildcards to make it easier to check various spelling options
– Adding tips to the page so you can access help without visiting another page
– Allowing users to download a service file in a single bundle rather than page by page
– This initiative is part of LAC’s efforts to improve your online experience. Feedback on this tool is welcome here and will serve as a guide in this process of continuous improvement.

Users are encouraged to bookmark the new search page because the outdated Second World War Dead 1939–47 database will be closed in the coming weeks.

COMMENT
This is a most welcome addition to the LAC website increasing the number of records available. It appears to match those that have been available for some years through Ancestry. Perhaps the exclusivity period expired.

I’m told the online file contains the major documents but may not be all that’s available. To obtain the full file an application to LAC is required.

 

Already, since the start of the month, there are ten new international collections on MyHeritage.

One is for the UK — Scotland, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde Newspaper Intimations 1794-1918, with free access to 115,477 records. It includes transcriptions from the Greenock Advertiser, Greenock Telegraph and other local papers with information like date and place of birth, marriage, military or death, age, date and place of publication.

Other collections added are
Australia, Tasmania Deaths, 1803-1929, 158,444 records
Greece, City Directories, 1901-1947,  202,823 images
Spain, First Territorial Military Courts and Tribunals, 433,050 records
Italy, Honours and Awards, (FREE), 347,758 records
Spain, Jaén, Municipal Census Records, 1857-1920,  714,030 records
Idaho, Reconstructed Census, 1890, 118,521 records
Australia, Government Honours and Awards, 276,001 records
Spain, Huelva, Municipal Census, 414,650 images
Spain, Segovia, Municipal Census, 1881 and 1920, 404,475 images.

Here’s one that escaped my attention for the online events listing posted on Tuesday.

OGS Lambton County Branch meets on Thursday, 10 November at 7 pm ET when Ken McKinlay will present “Researching a Canadian Soldier of the Great War.” Register to attend via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtdOyoqTksGNVrfjOh0Sf8fiu4QJIVB_O_

If you can’t attend, and even if you can, Ken has updated his resource pages on researching those who served Canada during the First or Second World Wars.

First World War: Researching a Soldier of the Great War

Second World War: Researching the Canadian Fallen

Whether called Remembrance Day, or Veterans Day, Findmypast and Ancestry have opened up their military collections for a limited period.

Findmypast goes a big step further with free access for signed-in users to all its records, except the 1921 census of England and Wales, from 11 to 14 November.

Ancestry’s free access to all military records ends on 11 November at 11:59 p.m. ET. Only one free access per person. Registration required.