News & Articles 2023

1910s Northamptonshire Property Records and Maps Released
8th December 2023

We have just added to our ever-growing Landowner and Occupier records with the release of more than 170,000 individual heads of households and property owners in Northamptonshire.

Covering 345 parishes that were surveyed in the years between 1910-1915 for the Inland Revenue Valuation Office, these records are a fantastic tool for family, house or social historians to use.

The project has seen years of collaboration between The National Archives and TheGenealogist in conserving and digitising these records. Comprising the IR 58 Field Books and accompanying IR 121 to IR 135 Ordnance Survey maps, they join the millions of records in TheGenealogist’s powerful research tool, Map Explorer™.

Remembering the fallen with over 1.6 million new records
10th November 2023

This release of over 40,000 Rolls of Honour, over 65,000 Medal awards and over 1.5 Million War Memorial Records significantly adds to the suite of fully searchable Military records on our website.

The new War Memorials can be searched from our Master Search or by locating the memorial on the georeferenced maps displayed on their Map Explorer™, which also lets you search the area around where your ancestor lived.

For those with ancestors who were mariners and served in the Merchant Navy or Fishing Fleets, the Rolls of Honour and Medal Awards from The National Archives Series BT 339 will be especially poignant.

The Rolls of Honour name the deceased and missing-presumed-dead from the ranks of the merchant marine fleets and fishing trawler crews who were employed on minesweeping and patrol duties during World War II (1939-1945) and further years up to 1953.

The list of Medal Awards from 1866 to 1970 includes Mercantile Mariners recognised for gallantry and service. Among these honours is the Albert Medal, initially awarded for saving lives at sea.

Additionally, the Mercantile Marine Officers Nominal List 1916-1920 records recipients of the Order of the British Empire, Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Service Medal, along with issues of the London Gazette listing many other medals (such as the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal and Commendations) citing the deeds of gallantry these Mercantile Marines performed. The images of these records include the details of these deeds, some of which reveal very interesting stories of shipwrecks, gallant heroes, and shark attacks!

Find out more in our latest Featured Article, "Unsung Heroes of the Rolling Sea".

New Court Records Reveal a Bewitching Array of Crimes
27th October 2023

We have added a fascinating new collection of Quarter Session Registers to our Court & Criminal Records, this new release covers a period from 1590 – 1839 and includes the names of indicted persons, witnesses, and the Justices of the Peace.

Search these records to find your miscreant ancestors brought before the local court quarter sessions, with indictments such as assaults, riots, running unlicensed alehouses, bastardy, and not going to church on a Sunday. They even include those accused of practising witchcraft!

The Quarter Session Records were produced by the local courts that were traditionally held at four set times each year. These courts, presided over by two or more justices of the peace plus a chairman, would sit with a jury at Epiphany (in January), Easter (March/April), Midsummer (June/July) and then at Michaelmas (September/October).

National Tithe Record Collection for England & Wales now complete on Map Explorer™
13th October 2023

MAJOR NEW RELEASE:

We are excited to announce the completion of our major project to link all the National Tithe Record Collection for England & Wales with our powerful Map Explorer.

This exciting addition to Map Explorer will open new doors for researchers, genealogists, and anyone interested in the historical and geographical landscape of England and Wales. This powerful tool lets you connect with the past and learn more about the land and communities that shaped our present.

Find out more about our Tithe Records and Map Explorer in our short video.

“This final release of the Welsh tithes marks the completion of our project. These records, in combination with Map Explorer, make it easier than ever to learn about our ancestors’ lives and the places they lived and worked.” - Mark Bayley, Head of Online Content at TheGenealogist

Family historians can use this exciting resource to view their ancestors’ land and homes plotted on the historic Tithe maps. These maps have been georeferenced, allowing you to view the location on today's Modern Street and Satellite maps to see how the area has developed over time.

Searchable by the owner or occupier’s name, place or keyword via Master Search or you can view the maps directly in Map Explorer™. Zooming in on a place will show pins for each plot of land, showing you the owner and occupier of each property. You can view the original Tithe map or other related historic maps and a satellite image view.

This week's article looks at Thomas Rees, an agricultural labourer and leader of the first Rebecca Riots, who became a freeholder of a cottage by building it in one night!

Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Records and Maps Now Complete
29th September 2023

We have now completed the 1910s land tax records for Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. These Lloyd George Domesday Survey records are a fully searchable resource that family and house historians will find invaluable in their research. Using the field books and maps enables you to discover more about the type of property that your ancestors had once occupied and to see the actual location on a range of contemporary and modern maps.

Using the power of our Map Explorer™ family and house historians can now see the same georeferenced plot on a modern map and investigate how the area may have changed over the last hundred years or more, as well as click through to read the surveyor's field book entries.

With the addition of these records, there are now over 2 Million land tax records searchable online exclusive to TheGenealogist, covering all the boroughs of Greater London plus Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire and Middlesex.

Over Half a Million Irish Parish Records Released
15th September 2023

Another whole county's worth of Irish parish records now bolsters our record collections, with over 510,000 individuals from County Laois added to our easily searchable records.

County Laois, once known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922, is a double landlocked county in the Eastern and Midland Region of the Republic of Ireland. As the Irish diaspora has spread out across the globe, especially during the terrible events of the Great Famine of 1845–49 which devastated the county at the time, many people from across the world will be able to trace their roots back to this part of Ireland.

Searching our records provides handy links to the National Library of Ireland (NLI), in order to see digitised images of the actual registers. Our transcriptions benefit greatly from our powerful SmartSearch which can be used to identify possible siblings, as well as parent's potential marriage details.

New Legal Ancestors' Records
25th August 2023

Finding that an ancestor belongs to a profession or occupation can be a great way in to researching a family tree. Many of them will be recorded in specially produced lists or directories, such as those lawyer lists that have been released online today.

For researchers with forebears that belonged to the legal profession, this is a great set of new historical data which has just joined our ever expanding Occupational Record set. These book records can give family historians fascinating facts about an ancestor, often revealing to researchers useful details of their lives beyond simply their professional particulars.

These resources can be used to reveal: addresses of ancestors in the legal profession; confirm or unearth relevant dates; some biographical entries will even give names of other family members; schools and universities that forebears attended; the qualifications that an ancestor had gained; details of judges and lawyers involved in an ancestor’s cases.

With the release of thousands of records online, Diamond subscribers can now look for members of legal professionals in a number of listings with a legal flavour from 1780 to 1911.

Over 1,000 square miles of land tax records released
11th August 2023

MAJOR NEW RELEASE:

Today sees the launch of a superb new resource for family historians, providing a great way to discover what type of property our ancestors once occupied. We have just added records covering every head of household and property owner in Oxfordshire around the period 1910-1915, with ver 1,000 square miles of searchable property records.

Following many years of collaboration between The National Archives' conservation and records team and TheGenealogist’s digitization staff at Kew, the project to publish these records, comprising of the IR 58 Field Books and accompanying IR 121 to IR 135 Ordnance Survey maps, has now reached a major landmark.

Dr Jessamy Carlson, Family & Local History Engagement Lead at The National Archives, says: “The Valuation Office maps are a key resource for house and local history, and this project is an exciting development for future research. Oxfordshire is an excellent addition to this growing set of online resources, and the variety of residences it covers reveals some fascinating insights into communities before the First World War.”

Known as the Lloyd George Domesday Survey, we now have over 2 million records in this collection, covering all boroughs of Greater London plus Middlesex, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and West Hertfordshire, along with the newly added Oxfordshire.

New Wartime British Jewish Newspapers
28th July 2023

We have just released a significant batch of The Jewish Chronicles from the First World War and The Jewish Echo (Scotland and Ireland’s only Jewish paper from the time) covering years during the build up to World War 2.

These newspapers offer the opportunity to traverse through time and witness the pivotal moments that shaped the lives of the Jewish community throughout the war. Accompanying this great resource are the seatholders for the Crosby Street Synagogue in New York, with fascinating details of how it came to be. These records join the substantial holdings of Jewish records on TheGenealogist, including Seatholders of London Synagogues between 1920 and 1939, The Jewish Year Books from 1896 to 1939 and the Jewry Book of Honour (1914-1918).

New Seafaring Records
13th July 2023

We have just released a range of records that will appeal to those with seafaring roots. As an island nation, we have seen countless ancestors go to sea, especially in the two World Wars. Whether our forebears served in merchant vessels or in warships, this latest release has records of interest for those with both types of sailors in their family trees.

Researchers can use these fully searchable records to reveal names, dates and information about ancestors who were recorded in a number of Navy Lists for the Royal Navy that cover both WW1 and WW2. Family historians looking for Merchant Navy (MN) mariners killed or who died on service in WW1 will also find something in this release for them, as well as gaining access to names for merchant seamen honoured with medals and awards between 1914-1918.

For those who have lost seafarers, whether in either the Royal Navy or the Merchant Navy, then this collection of records is a useful addition. Family history researchers will be able to look for ships that were sunk. The new resources include Merchant Shipping Losses 1914-1918, and the British Merchant Vessels Lost or Damaged by Enemy Action During the Second World War 1939-1945. For the Senior Service’s vessels, the Returns Showing the Losses of Ships of the Royal Navy 1914-1918 will give details of the ship and where it was sunk.

New Occupational Records Reveal Ancestors in the Arts
30th June 2023

Our new release of records allows English, Scottish and Welsh family historians to discover useful information on a myriad of people. From ancestors who were writers, artists, actors and many other professions, this collection opens up the lives of these people for the researcher.

Using entries recorded in a number of biographical resources, Diamond subscribers can fill in gaps with tantalising facts about the person, facts and more which can lead on to all sorts of other records and avenues for investigation.

The name rich resources that make up this release augment our already extensive Occupational Records. Fully searchable by name or keyword from our Master Search, the new records come from a variety of publications.

New Records for Guilds, Societies and People of Note
9th June 2023

Our new release of the Guilds, Societies and People of Note collection includes records that reveal names, dates and information about ancestors who were Freemen, Liverymen, Aldermen, members of the Masons and Oddfellows, or people classed as Worthies.

The various records in this collection have been gathered together under our extensive Occupational Records and adds 65,000 names from fourteen new resources to this collection, fully searchable by name or keyword.

Use these records to reveal names, dates and information about ancestors who were Freemen of various towns and cities, Liverymen, Aldermen, members of the Masons and the Oddfellows, or who were Worthies in their circle. Gathered together under the Guilds, Societies and People of Note section of our Occupational Records, this diverse collection can reveal fascinating research clues to work with.

New Records for Removal of Graves and Tombstones
19th May 2023

We have added copies of records from certain local authorities and the Church Commissioners that relate to the removal of graves and tombstones in burial grounds to our Headstone Collection. These records from The National Archives cover former cemeteries from all over England and Wales. A number contain a plan of the original place of burial while some will reveal the place of reinterment also.

If your ancestor was buried in one of the burial grounds to have been recorded in this release then, despite the headstone no longer standing, you will be able to discover details about your ancestor recorded on their tombstone at the time it had been originally erected.

New Hertfordshire Records & Maps
4th May 2023

This week also sees the release of over 33,000 Lloyd George Domesday Survey records for the Hitchen area of Hertfordshire where we find the occupation and ownership records of people from across the social strata. These link through to highly detailed contemporary maps to show exactly where your ancestor lived. You can then see how the area changed over time with TheGenealogist’s powerful MapExplorer.

These newly released records include the childhood home of the King’s beloved grandmother, click here to find out more in this week's featured article.

New War Memorials Released
3rd May 2023

We have added over 56,924 new individuals to our War Memorial collection, bringing the total number of fully searchable War Memorial Records to over 665,000. This release includes images from war memorials of a variety of shapes and sizes and have been fully transcribed. Covering the war dead from various conflicts including the Boer War, the First World War and World War II, an ancestor’s inclusion on a memorial can be profoundly moving to find, especially as so many of the war dead will have no actual grave for us to visit.

See the census in greater detail than ever before
21st April 2023

MAJOR NEW RELEASE:

Subscribers will now have access to the highest resolution and quality census images for England and Wales ever seen online with vastly improved readability revealing even faint writing in pencil.

Building on the success of our previously upgraded 1891 census images release, we have now significantly improved the image quality of all our 1851,1861 and 1871 census record images as well.

Replacing the old bitonal images with high-resolution greyscale census images reveals the details in the census columns or margins and where previously shadows or pencil marks could render an image unreadable. This is a great step forward in clarity and readability - writing appears sharper on the new images and you can zoom in to reveal what would otherwise be illegible words on other sites.

You can find out more about this release in this week's featured article, Murder in the Margin.

Find your Infamous Ancestors
5th April 2023

Over 56,000 individuals and 20,802 further aliases from The Police Gazette have been released today, covering the years 1901, 1911, 1921 and 1931. These are now available to Diamond subscribers in the Court and Criminal Records Collection.

Searchable by keywords such as name, alias and offence, these records provide an effective resource for discovering descriptions of our wayward ancestors. Sometimes known to researchers by its historic name of Hue and Cry, these records are part of the MEPO 6 criminal records that also include Habitual Criminals Registers and Miscellaneous Papers.

A search through our criminal records reveals a female gang leader known as The Queen of the Forty Thieves, a notorious all-female crime syndicate operating out of the slums of south London. Their deftness in avoiding being caught is legendary - click here to find out more in this week's article.

Mapping the UK 1871 Census
10th March 2023

MAJOR NEW RELEASE:

The 1871 Census for England, Scotland and Wales has, for the first time, been georeferenced on TheGenealogist. This is the process of linking a record to a geographical spot and means you can now see where a household stood with links to detailed maps on the powerful Map Explorer™. This is set to make investigating the places where ancestors lived in this year even more interesting for family and house historians.

Viewing a household record from the 1871 census on TheGenealogist will now show a map pinpointing its location to either house, street or parish level. Clicking through from this preview map opens the powerful Map Explorer™ with its georeferenced modern and historical maps. This then enables subscribers to explore their ancestors' area in much greater detail than on other census sites.

You can find out more about this release in this week's featured article, Putting 1871 on the map.

More than 355 Square Miles of additional Lloyd George Domesday Records Released
24th February 2023

We have just released over 134,000 new Lloyd George Domesday land tax records. This latest addition covers more than 355 square miles of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, including areas around Watford, St Albans, and Hemel Hempstead, and extending up to Luton, Dunstable, and Toddington.

These records are an essential resource for family historians and researchers looking to uncover information about their ancestors' properties and landholdings. The newly released records include detailed maps, field books, and accompanying notebooks that provide an invaluable insight into the lives and homes of our ancestors.

Whether you're a seasoned genealogist or just starting your family history journey, these records are an exciting addition to our already extensive collection of historical documents. So, delve into these fascinating records and discover the stories of your ancestors and their properties today!

New 1939 Register Records Revealed
10th February 2023

We have just added over 342,500 new records to the 1939 Register for England and Wales, opening previously closed records. Researchers can now see all people born in 1922 opened under the 100 year rule along with those who have passed away since the last release.

Our version of the 1939 Register is matched to our powerful mapping tool Map Explorer™, so that researchers can see more accurately where their ancestor's house was situated on maps down to house, street or parish level, giving more detail than ever before. With its SmartSearch family historians can discover even more from the records in the 1939 Register not just where their ancestors were living as the Second World War began in Britain, but potential birth and death records. You can discover more about this in this week's article.

New 1831 Irish Tithe Defaulters and Irish Parish Registers
13th January 2023

Today we have released 371,400 Kildare Catholic Parish Registers covering baptisms, marriages and burials, which will be a welcome resource for those family historians wanting to research their Irish ancestry from this eastern part of Ireland.

Also released at this time are more than 29,000 individuals recorded as Irish Tithe Defaulters. These records from 1831 can be a useful stand-in for the 1831 Irish census which was almost completely destroyed in 1922.

Tithes were levied on all occupiers of agricultural land, no matter what their religion was and the Roman Catholic population of Ireland particularly resented paying these tithes to the Church of Ireland (the Established Church) on top of often supporting their own priests. Refusal to pay the tithes came to a head in the years 1831 to 1832, beginning what is known as the 'Tithe War' in Ireland. You can discover more about this in this week's article.