Nephew of Alex Haley tracks down British ‘Roots’ through DNA testing
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A little help for genealogists who are researching their medieaval ancestors in the form of a database of 14th and 15th century English and Welsh soldiers at http://medievalsoldier.org. It is the result of work being undertaken by the universities of Reading and Southampton. In fact there are two databases for the period 1369-1453, based on rolls found at Kew: the first contains 90,000 "service records" taken from muster rolls; the second is the protection and attorney database with 20,000 records from the treaty rolls. This database should be used with care, as a protection or attorney only indicates an intention to serve, rather than actual service. In addition there are detailed biographies for a number of soldiers. Information includes name, rank (both officers and other ranks), with whom served and where served, as well as the TNA reference of the original record. If you are interested in finding out more (the website is rather reticent about its findings and the project in general) a conference is being organised in Reading in July.
The Federation of Family History Society’s Family History Online (FHO) service is closing at midday on 2 March. Many of the records hosted here have been transferred to FindMyPast (FMP), but others will not be. These are mainly small indexes and databases from family history societies who, for one reason or another, do not wish to participate in the new arrangements. The site is particularly strong in birth, marriage and death indexes and transcripts from the census, particularly 1851. There are other unusual indexes as well. You can find FHO at http://www.familyhistoryonline.org.uk, although it is no longer possible to sign up. If you are already a subscriber unused credits will be transferred to FMP.
For the first time we have devoted an entire issue to a particular subject – the 1911 census. As you would expect there’s lots of interesting articles and useful resources on how to use the census schedules, what they tell us as well as pieces on the late-Edwardian world our ancestors knew.
If you don’t already subscribe, pop out now and buy your copy at WH Smiths in the high street, larger Tescos and many newsagents. It’s the best £3.99 you’ll spend today!
Ancestry.co.uk and FreeBMD partner to launch fully indexed GRO birth indexes
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