A friend sent me details of "Mapping our Anzacs", which provides a unique map-based way to access to the 375,000 plus First World War service records held by the National Archives of Australia. http://mappingouranzacs.naa.gov.au. Based on Google Maps, markers identify places around the world where Australian service personnel were born or enlisted – many of whom of course were born in the UK. Clicking on the markers allows you to view details of the individuals (sometimes with next of kin), with links to digitised copies of their service records. You can also add additional information about individual man. It is clear and easy to use. Indeed it is a brilliant way to get access to this data, particularly for local historians or for people researching their local war memorial.
Nothing to do with family history, but this is the URL for the superb 3D view of Ancient Rome http://earth.google.com/rome/index.html you may have read about (and I spent a lot of time over the weekend trying to find). If you haven’t already got it, you will need to download Google Earth, which can do from the main Google homepage.
Calendars of State Papers are one of the best ways of finding your way through the mass of pre-1800 official papers. There are nearly a thousand volumes of transcriptions or pécis of letters and other papers from the various series of papers at the old Public Record Office and other archives. Best of all from the point of view of family historians most volumes include a detailed name index. As well as at The National Archives sets can often be found at the Society of Genealogists and local studies libraries. Odd volumes can be picked up fairly cheaply second-hand.
Now scanned images and indexes for 800 volumes are available online at http://www.british-history.ac.uk. Most are free, but about ten per cent of volumes are pay per view (although it is not clear from the website which ones you have to pay for). There is also a feature which allows users to update, correct, or enhance the calendars for the benefit of other users. Not everything, however, is yet available, another 150 volumes will be added over the next year.
Among the series now available are 21 volumes of "Letters and Papers of Henry VIII", 25 volumes of "State Papers, Foreign – Edward, Mary and Elizabeth" and 38 volumes of
"State Papers, Venetian (1202-1675". The British History Online website in general has lots of very useful material particularly if you are researching the Tudor, Stuart or Georgian periods or are interested in local history, particularly for London.
Service records of 40,000 members of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) are now available on The National Archives’s Documents Online service. They provide a range of information on each individual, including name, division, date of birth, former occupation, ships and units served in, and period of service. The records also offer details such as height, hair and eye colour, along with remarks about character and ability. Very occasionally a record may reveal the person’s place of birth. Included among the thousands of records are those for Rupert Brooke and Bernard Freyberg, who was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1916 after being transferred to the British Army. Individuals using these records (contained in ADM 337) online will be able to search by name, service number, RNVR division and date of birth. Records are held for ratings who joined between 1903 and 1919, and officers who signed up between 1914 and 1922. The officers’ records include details of promotions, honours and awards. They also wore distinctive wavy stripes on their uniform sleeves which give the Reserve its nickname. The RNVR was formed in June 1903 by the Naval Forces Act from civilians who agreed to be called up in time of war. Members agreed to serve ‘either ashore or afloat’ and therefore performed a wide range of duties. At the outbreak of the War, volunteers reported to their divisional headquarters. Some men were drafted into ships of the fleet, but others joined the Royal Naval Division because there were no vacancies at sea.The records can be found at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/rnvr.asp. And here’s a useless fact, Commander James Bond was supposed to have been in the RNVR during WW2.
Maps can be important in our research. Few of us of course have explorers in our family tree, but many have forebears who owned land and many more fought in the trenches during the First World War, so tithe, enclosure or Valuation Office maps may show you the plots of land they owned and where they could be found. Meanwhile trench maps can indicate exactly where Great Uncle Harry was killed. And even if our ancestors weren’t that grand the houses they lived in will be shown on large-scale street maps. But best of all maps are always fascinating to look at. On 29 November the Royal Geographical Society is hosting a one-day seminar on maps in genealogy. Speakers will look at the Society’s extraordinary collections and the wider importance of maps in general. As well as chairing the day I’m also giving a couple of short presentations on maps for family historians and historic maps online. Tickets are a reasonable £20. Details at [url]www.rgs.org/OurWork/Collections/Exploring+Family+History.htm[/url]
If you are planning to go to the Who Do You Think You Are LIVE! Show at Olympia next year you may wish to buy your tickets as soon as possible. Until Sunday (9 November) the organisers are offering two tickets for £16 rather than the usual £20. The 2009 show takes place between 27 February and 1 March. Ancestors of course will be there sharing a stand with The National Archives and I’m scheduled to do a couple of lectures. Details at [url]www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=39[/url]. To mark the 90th anniversary of the Armistice, during November Ancestry are providing free access to their WW1 military records, particularly the WW1 Army service records and medal cards at http://www.ancestry.co.uk. In addition downloads of medal index cards from Documents Online have been cut to £2.50 each rather than £3.50 they used to be. Details at [url]www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline].
