Discover Your Ancestors Review

Launching a new family history publication may be considered a brave step by some following the recent demise of the online Discover My Past (back issues still available), and the much lamented Family History Monthly.   

However, the new Discover Your Ancestors Periodical is hoping to build on the success of the glossy annual bookazine, available from newsagents or the publisher. The monthly magazine is published in association with theGenealogist.

The first issue (May) had an article on tracking down archives by expert author Simon Fowler, social history articles on the early aviators and on child labour, a look at records available for Essex, book reviews and more.The June issue focussed on the suffragette movement, records for the legendary Dambusters squadron, how to research Welsh Anglican and Nonconformist ancestors, plus a look at Birmingham resources and more.

Looking at the first two issues, I would say that the magazine is initially aimed at those starting out in family history.  However, hardened campaigners should still find the social history articles and focus on particular records valuable, particularly if you like to put your ancestors’ lives in context. Next month's features are listed here, including one on vaccination registers by yours truly.

Subscribers can download the whole magazine in pdf. format or you can just browse each article online. Unfortunately I can’t comment on how easy the magazine is to read on mobile devices as I am old-fashioned and just use my phone for texts and calls!

The monthly periodical is 20 pages long, fully illustrated, and comes with free subscriber data.  It costs £1 per month (£12 for a year’s subscription). 
This compares with £4.99 for BBC Who Do You Think You Are? (100 pages long).  Your Family History and Family Tree are both £4.99 I think (the latter is £3.99 for its digital edition).  These magazines also have subscriber offers and offer free data sets.

As always with the family history magazines, I think which you choose very much depends on your budget, how experienced a researcher you are, and which datasets are useful for your personal research.  You may like to flit between each magazine according to which records are being discussed that month, or you may prefer to treat yourself to a subscription so that you don’t have to remember to buy it each month, and so that you can keep up with the latest news.  

Do you prefer a print magazine which you can thumb through (in or out of the bath!), or do you prefer to read articles on your mobile device or PC?  I’d love to hear your views!

Reach for the Skies!

Yesterday we went to see the RAF Cosford Air Show, which this year showcased the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.  A Lancaster bomber, Hurricane, Spitfire and C47 Dakota put on an amazing show, and the last flying Vulcan was a real crowd-pleaser.  The Red Arrows were on their

usual form with a breath-taking display.

We had a fantastic day out.  The only downside was that it took us a very long time to get into the venue, and an excruciatingly long time to get out again – the local road infrastructure clearly can’t cope with so many visitors.  Next time we would seriously consider going by train instead.

Update for Genealogists

If your ancestor was an early aviator, TheGenealogist.co.uk has just released records for Aero Club members, including aeronaut certificates.  Their Pilot Records collection (Occupation Records section of the website) now covers 1909-1926, and can be accessed by Diamond subscribers.

Photos © Sue Wilkes:

Lancaster bomber, Spitfire and Hurricane at the Cosford Air Show. 

Vulcan bomber XH558 at the air show.

The Red Arrows hit the high notes.

Example of aviators’ certificate records, including that of Albert Ball, and postcard of Samuel Cody’s biplane courtesy theGenealogist.co.uk.

Save Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry!

I was horrified to see that the Museum of Science and Industry at Manchester is in danger of closing.  It is reported that the Science Museum Group, of which MOSI is now a member, has a massive operating deficit. It seems that MOSI, the National Railway Museum in York and Bradford's National Media Museum may face the axe in order to keep the Science Museum in London open.

Lancashire was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, and Manchester – ‘Cottonopolis’ – was its beating heart.  The first inter-city railway was built here, and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway station is an important part of the MOSI site. Manchester’s contribution to the great scientific breakthroughs of the twentieth century such as computing is well known: MOSI is home to 'Baby', the first stored-programme computer built at Manchester University in 1948.

MOSI is a living showcase of our industrial past, in particular the industrial revolution, with nationally important collections relating to the cotton industry and the city’s social history.   If the collection is closed or dispersed, a wonderful treasure for past and future generations will be lost and is unlikely to be replaced. 

It seems unlikely that the City Council would take over MOSI, as it too faces swingeing cuts from Whitehall and has to prioritise funding for essential services.  But this could be a short-sighted view: I understand from the MEN report that over 830,000 people visited MOSI last year.  Visitors generate income for local businesses, which in turn pay their local rates, and hence more funding for Manchester.  A multiplicity of high quality tourist attractions are vital to help promote the city and attract visitors.

MOSI is not just a collection of machinery – the museum is a window into the past so that we can see how our Lancashire ancestors (including my own) lived and worked in Manchester.  It’s a great resource for local schools, colleges and students as well as tourists. Its closure would be a national disgrace, as well as a local tragedy.  

Although free admission boosts visitor numbers, I would rather pay a modest entrance fee, if this is the only way to keep the museum open.  However, it seems that the Science Museum Group does not have the power to impose entrance fees. 

Please take a moment to sign the MEN petition to save MOSI; there’s also one on Change.org. 

Update 6 May: The Financial Times is running the story this morning, and the MEN petition has already received over 20,000 signatures. 

Images:

Weaving shed, Haworth’s Mills, Ordsall, Lancashire. Illustration by H E Tidmarsh, Manchester Old and New Vol. II, (Cassell & Co., c. 1894).

Drawing cotton at Richard Howarth & Co., Tatton Mills, Ordsall, early C. 20th postcard.

Battle of the Atlantic: Remembering WW2 Heroes

On Sunday the sun shone, so we zoomed down to Liverpool to see the 70th anniversary commemoration of the Battle of the Atlantic in WW". There were lots of displays by the armed forces along the waterfront, but the highlight for me was the Battle of the Mersey.

A group of 'pirates' captured the historic tugboat Brocklebank. Royal Navy patrol vessels and landing craft sped to the rescue, and commandos from HM Royal Marines boarded the captured ship from a Sea King helicopter.It was good to see the Merseyside Maritime Museum's Brocklebank being put through her paces - even the Mersey ferryboats got in on the action! Then there was a flypast from a Spitfire and Hurricane from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight - very exciting!

Photos © Sue Wilkes: The 'Battle of the Mersey' and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight flypast at Liverpool on 25 May.

STOP PRESS!

TheGenealogist.co.uk's latest addition to their online records is the Operations Record Book for 'Operation Chastise' undertaken by the brave men of 617 Squadron - the famous 'Dambusters' raid.  The squadron was based at RAF Scampton.  The new records release is a fabulous resource if you have ancestors who served on this historic raid: sadly, 53 air crew died during the mission.

Update 27 August 2013: Images of all the Dambuster crews have just been released.

Images courtesy TheGenealogist.co.uk show a Lancaster bomber (built in Lancashire) and one of the crews which took part in the Dambusters raid (crew of Lancaster bomber ED285/AJ-T).

The Book Which Inspired a Research Project and Exhibition

I was absolutely thrilled to hear that my book The Children History Forgot has inspired a research project and a new exhibition on child miners in Somerset, as reported in the Mendip Times (see feature, above).   The exhibition, which runs at Radstock Museum through May, June and July, tells the poignant story of the boys who worked in the local mines: some of the lads were as young as seven years old.

This sounds like an amazing exhibition, so do drop in if you are in the area. 
Update 24 July: The exhibition has been extended for another four weeks - until 31 August. 

Image: Feature © Mendip Times and reproduced by kind permission of the editor, Steve Egginton.

Lives of the First World War

Exciting news today for genealogists and historians researching World War One! The Imperial War Museum and brightsolid, the online publishing and technology arm of publishing group DC Thomson, are working in partnership to create Lives of the First World War.  This innovative and interactive digital platform is in honour of the First World War centenary next year.

Lives of the First World War will become a permanent digital memorial to more than 8 million men and women from across Britain and the Commonwealth, and will be an amazing digital legacy for future generations.

You can watch a short film here about the new digital platform, and find out how to get involved here.  When the site goes fully live, people will be able to upload images and stories about their WWI ancestors. Even if you don't have a family connection, volunteers will be needed to help with checking/transcribing/indexing records.






Images:
Photo montage, 'Lives of the First World War'.
WWI pilots ( IWM E(AUS)2661).
Private W. C. Tickle. His mother's handwritten note on the photograph (taken a few days before his death) describes him as "One of the very best". Pte Tickle is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. (IWM HU 93549).

All images © IWM.

Tracing Your Ancestors’ Childhood

My forthcoming book Tracing Your Ancestors’ Childhood, which will be published by Pen & Sword this September, is now available for pre-order from Amazon UK!

The first part of Tracing Your Ancestors’ Childhood and Education explores children’s experiences at home, school, work and in institutions.  In Victorian times, children and young people formed a far higher proportion of the population than the present.  In 2009, twenty per cent of the UK’s population was under sixteen years old.  In 1841, thirty-six per cent of the population of England was under fifteen.  If you could travel back in time and walk down a Victorian street or explore a factory, you would be struck by how many children and teenagers were present.  Many thousands of children lived in institutions, too: in 1840, 22,300 children aged nine to sixteen were workhouse inmates.

In my book, I discuss childhood records in detail such as poor law records, apprenticeship indentures, school registers, criminal records, wartime records, child migrant records (including evacuees), and so on. 

The second part of the book is a directory of archives and specialist repositories, and children’s societies. It includes databases of online records, useful genealogy websites, and places to visit.

Images from the author’s collection:

1920s postcard of children.

Two boys working Delarue’s envelope machine. Illustrated London News, 21 June 1851.