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November 2007
Our November issue has a military theme. The lead story and its related articles describe how to use a variety of military records in researching your family history. In other articles, Georgette writes about a relative who served in Lucknow, KiwiChris tells us about her great great grandmother who was at Scutari and Christine in Herts describes how she was able to persuade the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to amend the details of Great Uncle Cecil. In addition, Wendy Pusey tells us about the gun carriage which finished up in somebody's garden, guest author Dawn Lewcock shares her wartime memories of Buckinghamshire and Guinevere recounts her day at the LDS Roadshow in Coventry.
| At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.... Laurence Binyon |
Using Military Records In Your Research
Remembrance Sunday and the 11th November itself are days that have always been very important to me. They are days for reflection, to think about those who have fought or are fighting for their country (and for us as individuals) in all wars, whether they have died or survived.
I started my family history research in 2003 and as a result (along with many other things), have learned about my ancestors who have been involved in the military over the years.
I have been lucky in that one of my grandparents kept records and photos of some of these people and has in turn passed these on to one of my a ...
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| We are always being told to 'kill off' our relatives |
 | We Will Remember Them
We are always being told to 'kill off' our relatives, if only to avoid spending months researching what turns out to be the wrong line because the poor chap wasn’t really your great great grandfather but someone of the same name who died in infancy. It’s a slightly different matter when you know that you have the right person, you have their birth and marriage certificates and they are all present and correct on all the censuses they should be. Getting the death certificate and locating their final resting place then brings a sense of closure.
Recently I have been trying to ...
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| It was a lovely sunny Sunday morning the day war broke out |
Wartime Memories
I remember it was a lovely sunny Sunday morning the day war broke out. We listened to Mr Chamberlain’s speech on the wireless in the kitchen, the only wireless we had, and my parents were very serious and shooshed us when we, my two younger sisters and I started to speak, not really understanding what it was all about. My father took us across to the air raid shelter he had made in an old underground farm slurry tank and said that we would have to go into this dark, damp and smelly room if there was an air raid, and then had to explain an air raid. I think we also all tried on our gas ma ...
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| The Latter Day Saints Roadshow visits Coventry |
 | LDS Roadshow Comes to Town
My research would have ground to a halt very early on without the Family History Library at The Church of the Latter Days Saints in Coventry. None of my ancestors have any connection with Warwickshire and day trips to County Record Offices would have been expensive and time consuming. Thanks to the LDS I’ve been able to view films of Parish Records, Manor Court Rolls, School Admission Books and many others. Tuesday is LDS morning and I rarely miss a week. There is a core group of regulars and, over the years, we’ve been able to offer help and support in our research and in our priv ...
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| The Siege of Lucknow |
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The Storming of the Hrin Khana
Nearly everyone has a moment, when researching their family tree, that reduces them to tears. Mine was when I discovered the existence of, and half an hour later the death of, Henry Ayton the brother of my great great grandmother Emily Esther Ayton. The 1851 census had just been released on Ancestry and I was really pleased to find my great great great grandparents, Robinson and Priscilla at home in Portchester, with their family. I was even more pleased to see that they had a 21-year-old son who ...
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| Women in the Crimea |
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From the Gorbals to Auckland via Scutari
My favourite ancestor and the one I would most like to meet, is my great great grandmother Ann Alison Corbett. From the information I have been able to find, her life was at least interesting and quite possibly exciting, but she also faced more than her share of dangers. Ann Alison Corbett was born in the Gorbals, Glasgow, Scotland on the 28th of November 1826. She was the second child of James Corbett and Jean Ellis. James was a cabinet maker/joiner by trade and was probably involved in the maki ...
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| What really happened to the gun carriage? |
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What Really Happened to the Gun Carriage?
I have a very tatty photograph of a gun carriage sitting in a garden. My mother always told me that it was my father's fault that it ended up there, although she never told me exactly what happened. I knew my father, Benjamin Thomas, was in the Royal Horse Artillery as I also have a photograph of him with his troop. He died when I was 11 years old and as I didn't have any interest in family history at that time, I never asked him what happened. I did often wonder what exactly ...
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| Identifying Great Uncle Cecil |
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2nd Lieutenant E.C.R. Christmas
I always had a vague interest in the idea of following up my family tree. I knew my maternal uncles had done quite a bit, and I had made sporadic attempts to put something together now and then, picking my mother’s brains. Eventually, I decided to make a start myself. This was the beginning of my addiction! I started off on my mother’s tree with the name CHRISTMAS, it was immediately attractive, plus I knew that a start had been made. I listed a lot of the records I found in the Gener...
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