News

Central Criminal Court Records reveal thieves, forgers and serial killers 17 August 2018

TheGenealogist is adding to its Court and Criminal Records collection with the release of over 160,000 records of prisoners at the bar and their victims from the CRIM 9 records held by The National Archives. These documents were created by the Central Criminal Court and document the After Trial Calendar of Prisoners.

After Trial Calendars give family history researchers details of ancestors who were up before the Old Bailey, revealing the names of prisoners that had appeared before the court, the committing magistrates, offences the prisoner had been indicted for, the date of their trial and who they were tried before. The records give the verdict of the jury, previous convictions and the sentence or order of the court. Other information in these records are the names of the victim and the level of education or 'Degree of Instruction' as well as false names that the criminals may have used to try and hide their tracks from the authorities.

• Find ancestors accused of crimes ranging from stealing a matchbox to murder
• Discover people standing trial as forgers, baby farmers, German spies and more
• Uncover some of the aliases adopted by criminal ancestors
• See the occupation or trade of the offender
• Research records covering the period 1855-1915

Read our article on the bicycle thief who became the infamous 'Brides in the bath murderer'.

New Records added to The Lloyd George Domesday Survey 03 August 2018

TheGenealogist is releasing the second part of its exciting new record set, The Lloyd George Domesday Survey. This major new release can be used to find where an ancestor lived in 1910 in the area around Barnet, Edgware, Finchley, Friern Barnet, Hendon and Totteridge. This unique combination of maps and residential data, held by The National Archives and being digitised by TheGenealogist, can precisely locate your ancestor's house on large scale and exceptionally detailed hand annotated maps that indicate the exact property.

• Links individual properties to extremely detailed ordnance survey maps used in 1910
• Shows the original Field book often giving a detailed description of the property
• Pinpoint an address found in a census or street directory down to a specific house on the map
• Fully searchable by name, parish and street
• Zoom into the maps to show individual properties as they existed in 1910

Complementing the maps on TheGenealogist are the accompanying Field Books that will also provide researchers with detailed information relative to the valuation of each property, including the valuation assessment number, map reference, owner, occupier, situation, description and extent.

This mammoth project is ongoing with over 94,500 Field Books, each having hundreds of pages to digitise with associated large scale IR121 annotated OS maps. This second release from TheGenealogist includes the extra detailed IR58 Field Books which feature more information about the properties that have been surveyed.

The release this month covers Barnet, Edgware, Finchley, Friern Barnet, Hendon and Totteridge, just to the south of Hertfordshire. These join the City of London and Paddington Index and maps already released. More areas are coming soon for other London Boroughs and the county of Buckinghamshire.

To find out more about the records, read Nick Thorne's Article "Finding the Baronet of Barnet".

New Poll Books Added 10 July 2018

TheGenealogist has just released 116,218 records into its ever growing Poll Book Database. This useful resource for family historians can be used to find ancestors' residences from the period before the census collection. The newly released Poll Books range from 1705 to the 1830s, joining records covering periods between census years.

The database allows researchers to:

• Discover ancestors who had the vote
• Find where they were registered to cast their ballot
• Discover the nature of their qualification to vote, such as possessing a Corn Warehouse, a Workshop, a House, or owning a Brewhouse
• These Poll Books range from 1705 to the 1830s.

The records cover 18 different registers of people who were entitled to vote in between 1705 and the 1830s and cover constituencies situated in Abingdon, Bristol, Hampshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Maidstone, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Worcestershire and York.

These records have been transcribed by volunteers on the UKindexer.co.uk website, which brings benefits to the volunteers as well as the wider family history community. They join the millions of electoral resources on TheGenealogist, which include Electoral registers, Voters lists and Absentee Voters.

These new records are available as part of the Diamond Subscription at TheGenealogist.

Discover how John Constable's family voted in Nick Thorne's article about the release.

New Change of Names Database 22 June 2018

This searchable database is great for family historians wanting to find ancestors who officially changed their forename or surname in Britain. The Change of Names Database covers information gathered from a number of sources including Private Acts of Parliament; Royal Licences published in the London and Dublin Gazettes; notices of changes of name published in The Times after 1861 with a few notices from other newspapers; registers of the Lord Lyon [King of Arms] where Scottish changes of name were commonly recorded; records in the office of the Ulster King at Arms and also some private information.

These fully searchable records allow researchers to:

• Break 'Brick Walls' in your research
• Discover ancestors that recorded a change of name
• Find what name had been adopted and the name discarded

Read Nick Thorne's article exploring this record set.

[Image shows Lord Byron who is featured in these records]

New Colour Tithe Maps 21 June 2018

TheGenealogist has now added Colour Tithe Maps for the North Riding and the East Riding of Yorkshire. Complimenting the already released schedule books and greyscale maps, these colour maps add an attractive visual aid to find where your ancestor lived in the mid 1800s.

The fully searchable tithe records released online allow researchers to:

• Find plots of land owned or occupied by ancestors in early Victorian North Riding and East Riding of Yorkshire on colour maps
• See where your forebears lived, farmed or perhaps occupied a small cottage or a massive estate.

1921 Census Substitute Expands to More Counties 07 June 2018

With the 1921 census still some years away from public release, TheGenealogist has added to its 1921 census substitute. This resource covers a large number of county directories which have been transcribed to produce a searchable resource. This appears under Census Records as the 1921 Census Substitute on TheGenealogist and they encompass a period currently not served by a published census. With this release, the total records are boosted to 1.75 million heads of household.

The fully transcribed, searchable records released today will allow researchers to:

• search by forename, surname and profession
• search by street, town and county
• look for a business name
• discover your ancestors' addresses
• find professions listed

If you have ancestors from the 1920s then this new release from TheGenealogist adds a fantastic name rich resource for you to use. Why not read our article on how the census substitute reveals the Suffragists Tea Room?

These 1921 directories cover Nottingham, Glasgow, Leicestershire & Rutland, Derby, Shropshire, Kent and add to those already released for Aberdeen, Bath, Berkshire, Bradford and Surrounding Districts, Bristol and Suburbs, Brixton and Clapham, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Channel Islands, Cheshire, Cumberland, Dorset, Durham, Hessle, Hull, Lincolnshire, London, London County Suburbs, Middlesbrough, Norfolk, Northumberland, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Westmorland, Wiltshire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire.

These new records are available as part of the Diamond Subscription at TheGenealogist.

New Metropolitan Police Habitual Criminals Registers 25 May 2018

We have added to our Criminal Records collection with the release of the MEPO 6 Metropolitan Police: Criminal Record Office: Habitual Criminals & Habitual Drunkards.

These are high quality transcripts with original colour images of the registers, as well as registers created by the Police to supervise released criminals - including spies! Entries can contain a description of the individual, dates of conviction or discharge from prison and even the places they frequent!
One of the most interesting features of these records are the photographic portraits taken from the Registers of Habitual Drunkards. These registers feature two photographs, face on and in profile, per individual. Some records may also give distinguishing features, the name of the prison, length of sentence and previous convictions.