News

Number of Tithe Maps on Map Explorer™ Doubled 04 September 2020

We have just released over 3,000 new Tithe Maps to our Map Explorer™, bringing the total to over 6,900 maps. Map Explorer™ now has over four million selectable records shown using Map Pins, displaying maps for historical periods up to the modern day. By making use of our powerful Map Explorer™, you can see how the landscape where your ancestor lived or worked changed over time.

Map Explorer™ now features various colour and black and white Tithe maps as well as modern map base layers and historical maps which are all georeferenced to allow you to see how places change over the years. Map Explorer™ is a useful tool for browsing an ancestor's area to find other plots that they owned or occupied, while our Master Search can be used to look for ancestors' plots across the tithe records and then view them on Map Explorer™.

The addition to Map Explorer™ this week of the black and white tithe maps for Cheshire, Dorset, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Staffordshire and Yorkshire West Riding are linked to the apportionment books which enable you to discover ancestors who both owned or occupied property between 1837 and the 1850s, with some additional altered apportionments in later years when property was sold or divided.

New Poll Book Records Released 21 August 2020

We have just released over 266,000 records into our ever-growing Poll Book Record Collection. This useful resource for family historians can be used to find the address of an ancestor's residence from the period before and after the census records. The newly released Poll Books range from 1747 to 1930 and join records that also cover periods between the census years.

The records cover 36 different registers of people who were entitled to vote and includes constituencies situated in Bath, Devon, Hampshire, Hertford, Kent, Lincolnshire, London, Monmouthshire, Northumberland, Rutland, Scotland, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk and Surrey. The release allows researchers to:

• Find ancestors who had the vote
• Discover where ancestors were registered to cast their ballot
• See the nature of their qualification to vote, such as owning rateable property
• Search Poll Books that range from 1747 to the 1930s

Find out how poll books and electoral rolls can be used to locate your ancestors in our featured article.

Hounslow Lloyd George Domesday Records Released 07 August 2020

We have just released the records of over 33,000 individuals for the Hounslow area into our property ownership and occupancy record set: The Lloyd George Domesday Survey. This is a unique online resource that includes maps and field books and gives researchers the ability to discover where an ancestor lived in the 1910-1915 period. By making use of our powerful Map Explorer™, you can see how the landscape where your ancestor lived or worked changed over time.

The Lloyd George Domesday Survey plans include plots for the exact properties and are married to various georeferenced historic map overlays and modern base maps on the Map Explorer™. With this resource, the researcher is able to thoroughly investigate the area in which an ancestor lived.

• Link individual properties to extremely detailed maps used in 1910-1915
• Fully searchable by name, county, parish and street
• The maps will zoom down to show the individual properties as they were in the 1910s
• The transparency slider reveals a modern street map underlay
• Change the base map displayed to more clearly understand what the area looks like today

Hounslow records cover the areas of Bedfont, Chiswick, Cranford, Feltham, Hanworth, Heston, Isleworth, New Brentford and Old Brentford.

Read our article to see how Chiswick House (featured in the release) became a 'Lunatic Asylum' before the First World War and a Fire Station in World War 2.

New records to help find your Australian cousins 24 July 2020

We have added a set of new resources which can be used to find ancestors who lived in Australia in the past. These name rich resources are sourced from a diverse range of historic books and directories which can be useful for finding out information such as where ancestors lived and what their occupations were.

Use these records to:

• Add details to the lives of your Australian ancestors
• Locate ancestors' homes and business addresses in street directories
• Discover lists of Doctors, Chemists, Dentists, Lawyers and Teachers
• Find Municipality officials, Magistrates, Clergy, Secretaries of Clubs and Societies
• Search for Australian Military personnel (Army & Navy)
• See advertisements for traders, hoteliers and ship owners, etc.
• This latest release expands our International records collection.

To find out more about these records, you can read our article "Find out more about your Australian cousins and their lives down under".

2 Million New RAF Records 10 July 2020

To mark the 80th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Britain (10 July 1940 - 31 October 1940) we have released over 2 million new RAF records. These records not only cover this important fight for Britain's survival, but also encompass all of the Second World War period for a number of squadrons. This release brings the total ORBs records to 3.7 million and are part of our extensive Military records collection.

The ORBs are fully searchable by name, aircraft, location and many other fields, making it easy for researchers to find their aviation ancestors. The fascinating pages from these diary-like documents tell the stories of brave aircrew, including those at the time of the Battle of Britain. Recording patrols flown, the daily journal records give insights into the everyday lives of the personnel on bases. Researchers can use the collection to follow an airman's war time experiences which cover various Royal Air Force, dominion and Allied Air Force squadrons that came under British Command.

These records allow the family history researcher an interesting insight into relatives who had served in air force units under wartime conditions. They provide a summary of daily events - some are ordinary entries, such as the names of new pilots posted to the squadron, entertainment on the base, or even noting the fact that an officer has become engaged. Sadly, these ORBs also record the death of pilots, crashes, or names of airmen that were missing in action. As names of personnel are recorded in these reports, for a family history researcher wanting to follow where an ancestor was posted and what may have happened to them in the war, ORBs are often very enlightening documents.

Use these records to:

• Read the war movements of personnel in air force units
• Discover if a pilot, navigator, radio operator or gunner is mentioned in the action
• Find if an airman is listed for receiving an Honour or an Award
• Add colour to an aircrewman's story
• Note the names of squadron members wounded, killed, or did not return
• Easily search these National Archives records and images

To find out more about these records, read Nick Thorne's article "Ace in a Day".

New Parish Records Released 03 July 2020

We have added over 85,500 individuals to our Parish Records for Worcestershire in association with Malvern Family History Society. This is an ongoing project where high quality transcripts of Parish Records are made available for family history researchers to find their ancestors. Included in this release are:

• 54,948 baptism records
• 8,703 marriage records
• 3,558 banns of marriages records
• 18,293 burial records

These new records can be used to find your ancestors' baptisms in fully searchable records that cover parishes from this part of the English midlands. With records that reach back to the mid 16th century, this release allows family historians to find the names of ancestors, their parents' forenames, the father's occupation where noted, and the parish where the event took place.

New Headstone Records Released 20 June 2020

We have expanded our growing International Headstone Collection with nearly 53,000 new additions that allow researchers to see details that have been carved on stone about their ancestors and commemorated in various churches and cemeteries.

The headstone records released cover 71 new cemeteries from the English and Welsh counties of Buckinghamshire, Cheshire, Conwy, Denbighshire, Devon, Dorset, Essex, Flintshire, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Merionethshire, Merseyside, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Wiltshire and Worcestershire. These new records are all available as part of our Diamond Subscription.

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. Click here to find out more.