News

New Change of Names Database

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.

The fully searchable tithe records released online 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

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

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 MAJOR NEW RELEASE

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.

Over A Million Individuals Added To Our Warwickshire Parish Record Collection MAJOR NEW RELEASE

TheGenealogist has added over 1,270,000 individuals to its Parish Record collection in an ongoing project with the Warwickshire County Record Office. These newly transcribed records are linked to high-quality images of the original parish register pages and bring our total for Warwickshire to over two million.

• Over 1,270,000 individuals added to the Parish Records for Warwickshire
• High-quality transcripts with original images of the registers
• Additional information such as Witnesses, Father's Name and Profession have been transcribed where given
• Released in association with Warwickshire County Record Office
• The original Parish Register images are available for a growing list of parishes

These new records are available as part of the Diamond Subscription at TheGenealogist and join the millions of Parish Records already on the site.

You can find out more about these records and a famous actress found within them in Nick Thorne's Article "Warwickshire Parish Records reveal the marriage of an 18th century ‘tragedienne’"

New Headstone records

We have added over 13,000 new Headstone records covering 53 new cemeteries.

The International Headstone collection is an ongoing project where every stone photographed or transcribed earns volunteers credits, which they can spend on subscriptions at TheGenealogist.co.uk or products from GenealogySupplies.com. If you would like to join, you can find out more about the scheme in this week's article.

The headstone for the Earl of Avon, Anthony Eden, is included in this release. This politician served three periods as British Foreign Secretary and then succeeded Winston Churchill as Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957. He is laid to rest at Alvediston in Wiltshire.

Why not make the most of this sunny weather and go out and photograph your local cemetery, it's easy (all you need is a digital camera) and you could earn a free subscription! Find out more at UKIndexer.

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

New War Memorial records

Over 64,000 additional War Memorial records have just been added, which include a complete roll of honour for both WW1 and WW2 for Shetland, with men's units and the Shetland village in which they resided. There are other war memorials in this release that cover the country including the Abercarn Tinplaters Memorial Institute in Wales. There are plaques and monuments in Bedford, Bolton, Lancashire, London, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Warwickshire and even further afield in Canada, Western Australia and the USA. One of the Canadian memorials is a fascinating, but sadly very worn, WW2 memorial from Calgary in Canada that names 227 aircrew from Australia and New Zealand who died while training in Calgary, revealing just how dangerous WW2 aviation was.

From the USA TheGenealogist has uploaded some WW1 and WW2 war memorials from New York, including a fine one in Battery Park. This is a roll of those men and women who lost their lives in the Atlantic coastal waters in WW2 and had no known grave as a result of U-boat action. The war memorial gives researchers the ranks, units and the US state from which they were from, and the shockingly large number of Americans included is a salutary lesson when in Britain we are often only aware of our own countrymen/women who died at sea from enemy action against the convoys.

Lastly there are a number of Boer War memorials - for example the tribute within Blackpool Town Hall that commemorates the 74 Blackpool men who volunteered to join various units for service in South Africa.

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