Anglo-Celtic Connections

These record packages are for non-officer members of the REME  who were born over 100 years ago. The REME, established in 1942 during World War II, maintained military equipment, drawing skilled tradespeople, such as mechanics, technicians, and electricians, from other parts of the Army. 

Each service member’s record includes a collection of forms that offer details about their life and military service, such as birth and marriage dates, ranks, regiment assignments, enlistment, and discharge information. Some records also provide information on family members, including parents’ and spouses’ names and birth details. The service packets may contain attestation papers, statements of service, and tracer cards documenting postings, promotions, and assignments. Medical and conduct information is not included.

Of the 133,366 individuals in the collection, 173 were born in Canada.

As they pass the 100-year threshold, more records are expected to be added.

On Monday, 4 November, at 7:00 pm, Mike More will give an online presentation to OGS Leeds and Grenville Branch about his grandfather’s experience in the British Army in the First World War. Mike says, “To many Canadians, The Great War was fought in the trenches of France. But my grandfather spent almost five years in India and the Middle East. This was truly a global war, and although few Canadians served on other fronts, there was a great deal of fighting outside of France, and “Soldiers of the King” were involved in all of them, along with many other nations. I’ll briefly summarize what happened in the other areas of the conflict.”

All are welcome to this free presentation. For more details and to register, visit https://leedsandgrenville.ogs.on.ca/

 

At 10 am ET on Tuesday, 26 November 2024, Steven Skeldon from the National Library of Ireland will talk online about using the NLI’s services and collections to research your family history.

This online talk will include a presentation on accessing the library’s family history services, an exploration of examples of family history resources held in the library collections, and a discussion of how to undertake genealogy research.

Find out more and book your place at https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/talk-family-history-research-national-library

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

The lecture starts at 15 minutes.

News from the National Gallery of Canada

GCTC marks half a century of boosting Canadian theatre with an eclectic 50th anniversary season

Halloween Candy Ratings by Cost and Love

UK, World War II Photographs, 1939-1945
Ancestry now has a collection of 15,047 photographs sourced from Mirrorpix, which includes works from the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, and leading regional newspapers. A search for the keyword Canad* finds 193 photos.

FamilySearch’s AI-assisted Full-Text Search
Dana Leeds will present on the topic on a live YouTube stream on Monday, 4 November, at 2 p.m. She says, “I’ve discovered family records in unexpected counties and states I would have never thought to check! The discoveries I’m making are incredible!” I agree. Watch at https://www.youtube.com/live/4yVm5fRTKMk?si=D10C4_B3z5FEbRvi or view later on YouTube.

Thanks to this week’s contributors: Anonymous, Barbara Tose, Elizabeth Kipp, Nick Mcdonald, Teresa, and Unknown.

Over 1.6 million records for South African baptisms, marriages, and burials from 1660 to 1996, sourced through FamilySearch, cover the Cape, Free State, Kwazulu-Natal, and Transvaal.  

Within the baptisms collection, around 1.2 million newly added or enhanced records are now available as images and transcriptions.

The 715,616 marriage records, with images and transcriptions, are for 1650 to 1994.

Burial records total 21,228, and range from 1818 to 1981.

Did an ancestor own, operate or work at a British mill? Perhaps a farmer ancestor took corn to be ground at a local windmill or watermill.

New from the National Library of Scotland is a web resource showing the locations and details of over 15,000 mill sites mapped in 18th-19th century Britain. You can browse and filter the mill records by survey date, map symbology, mill type, and distance from rivers.

The mills were identified from county maps (1729-1836) and Military Survey of Scotland maps (1747-1755) as part of a Leverhulme Trust project based at the University of Glasgow. Find out more background here.

 

The records were created by the War Office and held by the National Archives in Kew; this 228,736-record database documents British military personnel who served in various specialized corps during the 20th century. The collection includes service records from units such as the Army Air Corps, Royal Army Pay Corps, Intelligence Corps, and Royal Army Physical Training Corps.

Each service member’s packet potentially contains multiple documents, including attestation forms, statements of service, B102 Tracer cards, and B103 Service and casualty forms. You can find basic biographical information, such as birth and marriage dates, and specific military particulars, such as service numbers, regiments, and postings. Some sensitive documents have been omitted for privacy reasons.

239 of the records are for people born in Canada; most enlisted during the early years of WW2. In contrast to those who served with Canadian forces, these records are open without any restriction on access so that we can appreciate their service.

 

The recent release of around 180,000 records from Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow, covering 1882 to 1899, offers an intriguing glimpse into those who spent time within the walls of Scotland’s largest and most notorious prison. Available on Scotland’s People, these records provide detailed information about prisoners admitted to Barlinnie, including over 2,000 photographs of inmates.

Barlinnie is added to other historical prison records at Scotland’s People.

Edinburgh Bridewell, 1798 to 1840
Edinburgh (Calton) Prison, 1841 to 1851
Largs Prison, 1843 to 1853
Perth convict journals (male), 1867 to 1879
Perth Prison registers (male), 1888 to 1897, 1902 to 1909, 1913 to 1921
Perth Prison registers (female), 1901 to 1916.

Search prison registers use some or all of the following index fields:

• Surname
• Forename
• Sex (Male, Female or Both)
• Age (an age range can be used, for example 20 to 30)
• Year admitted (a year range can be used, for example 1880 to 1890)
• Prison (a drop-down list of all prisons currently included in the index)
• Country of birth (a drop-down list of All, Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, Outside UK/Ireland or Not Recorded)
• Trial court (the court from where the prisoner was committed; a free-text field, ideally not to be used when searching for a named prisoner)

The search form includes tips for each field with links to more detailed research guides where appropriate. You need to be registered with Scotland’s People to search.

A search for the surname Connery surfaces 31 entries, none for the first name Sean.

 

 

Ancestry.com has added two minor collections that may be of interest to those with 19th—and early 20th-century Irish ancestry.

The first, “Ireland, Women’s Army Auxiliary WWI, 1916-1920,” documents 150 Irish women who served in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, detailing their names, birth dates, occupations, and contributions during World War I. The collection, based on the book “Irish Servicewomen in the Great War: From Western Front to the Roaring Twenties” by Barabara Walsh, covers servicewomen primarily from the counties of Northern Ireland (Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone.

The second collection, “Ireland, Paupers in Workhouses Born in England, Wales, or Scotland, 1863,” lists approximately 570 non-Irish individuals in Irish workhouses, noting their names, ages, birthplaces, and poor law unions. About three-quarters were from England, a fifth from Scotland.  The same information is available on the Internet Archive in “Return of Names and Ages of Paupers in Workhouses in Ireland, March 1863, born in England, Wales or Scotland.”

The partial outage previously reported appears to be resolved.

While unavailable, the FreeBMD Database was updated on Friday, 25 October 2024, to contain 291,727,471 unique records, up from  291,560,221.

The years with more than 10,000 additions are 1993, 1995-96 for births,  1994-95 for marriages, and 1995 for deaths.

The collection added 45 new or updated titles in October compared to 69 last month. That includes 5 (6) new titles.

The earliest publication year mentioned is 1854.

29 (13) papers had more than 10,000 pages added.

Title	Years Covered
Daily Express	1900-1999
Sunday Express	1918-1999
Field	1977-2009
Belfast News-Letter	1959, 1961, 1995, 1999
Bedfordshire Times and Independent	1996, 2000-2002
Burnley Express	1999-2003
Halifax Evening Courier	1991-1992, 1995, 1997
Lancaster Guardian	1993-1995, 1999-2002
Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette	1990, 1992
Wolverhampton Express and Star	1992-1993
Morecambe Guardian	1992, 1997, 1999-2002
Hastings and St Leonards Observer	1994-1995, 2000-2003
Chorley Guardian	1994-1995, 1999-2002
Shropshire Star	1986, 1988
Sussex Express	1965-1973, 1985, 1992, 1994-1995
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail	1991, 2001
Shields Daily Gazette	1992, 1999
Epworth Bells, Crowle and Isle of Axholme Messenger	1911-1915, 1935-1939, 1951-1959, 1970-1973, 1994-1995, 1997, 2000-2003
Dewsbury Reporter	1990, 1994-1995, 1999-2002
Harrogate Advertiser and Weekly List of the Visitors	1995-1996, 1999, 2002
Batley News	1994-1996, 2001-2003
Biggleswade Chronicle	1995, 1999, 2001-2002
Leighton Buzzard Observer and Linslade Gazette	1994-1996, 2001-2002
Derry Journal	1998-1999
West Lancashire Evening Gazette	1953, 1974, 1987, 1999
Mid Sussex Times	1979-1980, 1990, 1992
West Sussex County Times	1972, 1988, 1990-1991
Bucks Advertiser & Aylesbury News	1990, 1992, 2000
Whitby Gazette	1992, 1994, 1996, 2000

 

This just-published book from Gloria Tubman is a deeply personal look at the British Home Children immigration program through the lens of her own family history. “British Home Children to Canada – Three Sisters from Kensington and Chelsea Union” traces the lives of three sisters, Florence, Caroline and Annie Bond,  who came to Canada as child migrants in the late 19th/early 20th century.

Beyond being an engaging true story, the book is case study for others researching their British Home Child ancestors. Gloria’s 30 years of research experience uncovers a wealth of records – from a London Union workhouse to a Canadian receiving home – that shed light on the sisters’ experiences before, during, and after their emigration. By weaving together these disparate sources, she is able to document the sisters’ lives well beyond the typical 16 years of age that most records cover.

Gloria’s own family connection brings together the elements covered in the extensive bibliography and research appendix which are a valuable reference for fellow genealogists and historians.

https://globalgenealogy.com/countries/canada/home-children/resources/101321.htm