Category Archives: News

Find My Past – Irish and Australian sites

Find My Past has recently set up sites for Ireland and Australia with information specific to those countries. Fantastic I hear you say, and yes I agree, but there is a BUT ! If you are an annual subscriber to FMP you would think that for an extra charge you would be given entry to those two sites – NO.

Unlike Ancestry, who for an extra charge or upgrade the world becomes your oyster and you can visit any section i.e. ancestry.ca (Canada) ; ancestry.com (USA); ancestry.com.au ( Australia) and even ancestry.fr (France) to name a few.

Ancestry FMP England FMP Ireland FMP Australia

So, after all which do I prefer ? Well, to tell the truth I love Ancestry as I find the search easier especially for the census as I know where my rellies were born but not where they were living. FMP likes you to put where your family were living…. come on how are you supposed to know where they went after they were born. I have one family who moved after the birth of every child, and they didn’t just move around the corner they moved big time!

A birth certificate tells you where they were born but does not give you a crystal ball and tell you where they will be months or years later – I wish one came as standard !

Find My Past does or did have records that were stand alone to them and were very useful when I was transcribing naval records for war memorials.

So, if anyone at Brightsolid is reading this, just think about those of us whose families venture overseas or in the case of Australia came from overseas. Twoor three memberships may not be an option but an upgrade could well be a possibility in these days where we have limited income to spend on things that we love!!

Military records on Ancestry for Free!!

For three days around Armistice time Ancestry are giving FREE access to a selection of their military collection (see below). That surely has to be good news, especially with military nursing records being accessible from 1902 – 1922

Search all these records for FREE

10th-13th November

WWI Service Records, 1914–1920

WWI Pension Records, 1914-1920

WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920

See all our military record collections

These records will be available to search for free from 00.01 GMT on 10 November 2011 until 11:59pm GMT on November 13 2011. To view these records you will need to register for free with Ancestry.co.uk with your name and email address.

Men from Wakefield in Lijssenthoek CWGC

Resting in Lijssenthoek CWGC Military Cemetery are over 35 young men from the Wakefield area. I know there names and in which section they rest but only two I know very well – one being my great uncle Herbert Siddle. Herbert was 1 of 13 children born to Charles Siddle and his wife Emma Mills – Emma lost 3 of her children within months of their births.

The siddle family lived in the Kirkgate area of Wakefield, with cousins living just up the hill on Warrengate, Stanley Road and in the East Moor area.

Herbert was born in Wakefield in the year 1892 and by 1911 he was a driller at the local boiler works, living with his parents, 4 siblings, a nephew and a niece, an uncle and a boarder on Hardy Croft, Wakefield – 11 people in a 5 roomed house. I was brought up in that house and I can’t imagine how it would have been living in a house with a dining kitchen, front room, 2 double bedrooms and an attic. It would have been so different from when I lived there with my parents.

Herbert enlisted in Wakefield, joining the KOYLI and becoming Pte 242874. He had been wounded in the Somme and sent home to recuperate before being sent back to France and Belgium. In April of 1918 he was in a trench and was shot in the neck. Very quickly he was taken to a Dressing Station at Kemmel before becoming one of the many who are KIA.

Kemmel Wood bunker copyright C Sklinar 2008

Mrs Siddle had 2 other sons serving in WW1, Claude served as 241166in the RFA; Edwin served as 268976 and had been in in the WRVAD Hospital – he had been awarded, along with his other service medals, the Silver War Badge which he would have worn on his lapel to show he had been injured out of service.

Coming forward many decades to the 1980’s my father and I often met and chatted with an old gentleman whom we met while shopping. After not seeing him for many months I mentioned to dad that we’d not seen him in a while, to which I was informed that he had died. The conversation went on about the gentleman only for it to be brought up that this man was next to or very near great uncle Herbert when he had been shot !!! By the 80’s I’d already started the family tree and there are no words to describe how I felt at this moment – should I scream ‘Why did you not tell me?’, utter a few choice words or just throttle my dad. The reply I got from a bemused father was ‘Well, didn’t think you’d be interested’, like hell!!

I could have throttled my dad but could give my great grandma a very big hug for she kept all the paperwork from the army, including an eye witness report from Sgt Greasby and the Red Cross along with a newspaper from the time with Herbert on the front page. The local paper tried to put a picture of the young men on the front page when Wakefield lost a son, brother or father.

I have this about my Wakefield soldier but do you have a soldier from Wakefield or know anything about your Wakefield soldier who was KIA or DoW during WW1? Please let me know.

Please contact me with information.

Heritage Weekend 2011

Every year I make a point of visiting churches, homes and halls that are either not open or you have to pay to get in – I prefer to visit the wonderful places that are only accessible on very few occasions and have been known to plan my visits and routes weeks in advance.

I seem to have visited the local places on more than one occasion and to my disappointment there are no new places signing up to the Heritage Weekend Scheme in Wakefield. We have an array of wonderful buildings in the area so come on get organised, get volunteers an OPEN next year !

Bardsey Church C Sklinar 2007

Now, back to this year, bookmark these dates 8-11 September – what is open that we can go and visit:-

The Chantry Chapel, Kirkgate, Wakefield Sunday 11am – 3pm

Clarke Hall, Stanley Road, Wakefield Saturday 10am – 4pm

National Coal Mining Museum, Wakefield Saturday/Sunday 10am – 5pm

St James’s Church, Denby Dale Road, Wakefield Saturday 10am – 12 noon

St John’s Church, Wakefield Saturday 1pm – 4pm

St Peter the Apostle’s Church, Kirktgthorpe, Wakefield Saturday/Sunday 12 noon – 4pm

The Gissing Centre, Westgate, Wakefield Saturday/Sunday 2pm – 4pm

Wakefield Cathedral Saturday 10am – 4pm

Wakefield Civic Society Guided Walk, Saturday/Sunday 12.30pm – 3.30pm

Further information about the above can be found by clicking here as some of the properties have limited spaces and need to be booked prior to your visit.

But you may not live in the Wakefield area and don’t really want to travel far, so what else is open a little further afield.

Here are a few you may wish to visit :-

Lister Lane Cemetery, Bradford ; Manningham Walk, Bradford ; Halifax Playhouse ; Halifax Town Hall ; Shibden Hall, Halifax ; Masonic Lodge, Haworth ; Brotherton Library, Leeds ; Farnley Hall, Leeds.

Heritage Weekend information click here

Open House London information click here

Imperial War Museum in the North

After trying to arrange a visit for a few weeks and work always getting in the way I finally got there!

Did I enjoy my visit ? Was I disappointed ? Wait and see !

Firstly, the museum was reasonably easy to find and we only went twice around a roundabout once – I must add I was not driving and the front passenger did give good directions and in plenty of time – I say no more!

The car park was larger than I expected with enough pay machines BUT I was disappointed that people with a Blue Badge even had to ‘cough up’. One thing I did like, but did not seem to be well advertised was a cabin, a wooden hut that gave change – a good idea.

The building seemed strange, not because it was modern and industrial but seemed lifeless, now was that a play on the subject within, I don’t know. We entered via a large tower, at the time seemed pointless and a waste of space and money – we were peering through the slatted sides of the tower as we went in and it seemed one big void. On entering we found it was basically a lift shaft to a viewing tower and a charge of £1.40 was made for the journey to stand over a chasm – not flippin’ likely! Passed the lift ladies have their handbags searched, yes, for good reasons, but why only women and why only handbags?

Although the museum is free entry you are still funnelled via a ticket machine and a little persuasion is made to purchase a guide. Ticket entry via a turnstile would be ideal, you would still get a ticket, they would still know how many people are in for fire regulations, you would not be badgered into buying a guide (unless you wanted one) and on exit you go through a similar turnstile – at the moment you are ticketed, counted on the way in, but there is no count on the way out – does not seem right when fire regulations come into it

Mini moan over, we entered the museum which is on the 1^st floor. Well, as we entered the first hall my companion and I decided the outside matched the inside – it was claustrophobic, even though the hall was very high, oppressive and depressing. I’ve been in many military and war museums over the years and never felt this on entering. Yes, war is a harsh subject but never have I felt this on entering a museum before, even a modern museum.

A Harrier Jump Jet was the first thing we saw, mounted in mid air – what a wonderful thing to greet you, they always seemed larger in flight. The halls were very spacious, only the tank, a Trabbant, and other large displays on the floor – still leaving a very large amount of open floor space. The main exhibits were in cabinets within the walls and for the amount of space there was not that many.

The cabinets did hold some fascinating artifacts for example: – A souvenir In Loving Memory of the women and children killed in an air raid on London on June 13 1917, War Bonds and one or two cabinets dedicated to people with a definate story. I’ll blog about those later. I was surprised that how much wall and floor space there was there did not seem a great deal of artifacts on display. I could have spent time spelling what it was like in the trenches, what wet smelly socks smelt like or what a lot of men together for a long time with no where to wash or limited facilites also smelt like – that was one for the kids as were a lot of the displays.

While we were in the main hall a visual display started and the already dimly lit room went virtually dark apart from the illuminated images on the walls and the slide show. If you only wanted to listen to the slide shows description, walking around without tripping over someone who was sat down or just standing around was a task. The darkness also made reading any description in and around the displays a waste of time. When the lights came back on it was done quite gradually.

The museums history of war started with WW1 and went up to the present, with a special display telling of the fantastic work that war correspondents do in time of conflict. One of the displays in this section was for want of a better word a chart showing how many journalists from all over the world have had their lives taken by the very thing they wanted to tell the world about.

Time to check out the café! Yes, it was lunchtime but the queues were reasonable apart from the picnic section and one lady with a hoard of children who could not make up their mind. Overtaking them and going straight for the kill – coffee and cake, the prices were reasonable and the portions very good. The pork lunch served with all the trimmings was very good value and looked fantastic.

Yes, I bought a book, again that information is in another blog, but I also bought two other items, but can’t tell you about those as they are ’stocking fillas’ for christmas.

The shop had the usual bits and bats for children and then some very nice memorabilia, gifts and some wonderful jewellery made from buttons in all shapes, sizes and colours – so unusual and very retro. After this I, we, homed in on the WW1 books but we were both disappointed in the small display. The sections for wars post WW1 was far better, but not really my or my companions main interest.

Would I go again to the Imperial War Museum in the North, I don’t think so; next time will venture to the original in London.

If you do wish to visit a wonderful place full of interest and packed with information, artifacts and displays that suit children, military personnel, veterans and those with an interest in all things military, visit the Royal Armouries in Leeds. On the various floors there are good displays from all over the world – from the UK to India and Japan , from times gone by to modern warfare and policing – go on pay it a visit.

To see information about the Imperial War Museum click here

To see information about the Royal Armouries, Leeds click here

To see information about the Royal Armouries, London click here

Queen Victoria’s youngest grandson

While reading my newest purchase – yes it has either family history or military connections I came across an entry for the following and found it quite interesting as years ago I transcribed Eton College War Memorials for no other reason than something to research and with a couple of family members who were KIA – I was hooked and as my family and friends know I can now spot a war memorial at a great distance !

So, who caught my interest this time?

Prince Maurice Victor Donald of Battenberg, was the son of Princess Beatrice and cousin to the Tsar and Kaiser.

Maurice was born in October of 1891 at Balmoral and was the first prince to be born in Scotland for nearly 300 years.

He served as a professional soldier in the KRRC – into which he was commissioned in 1910 and moved with his battalion France in August of 1914. A few short months later there were only 10 of the original officers left. On the 13^th of October Prince Maurice was Mentioned in Despatches. The battalion moved to near Zonnebeke and on the 27^th of October, while leading his men forward he was killed by a shell burst. During this time, his cousin, Prince Arthur of Connaught, was an ADC to Sir John French and he made every effort to attend his cousin at the dressing station – but was too late. Kitchener suggested that he be brought ‘home’ but his family, mainly his mother, decided he should rest with his friends and his men and to this end Prince Arthur made the arrangements.

The family had a memorial service in the Chapel Royal attended by King Geore V and Queen Mary along with other members of the family, the Prime Minister and Lord Kitchener. The Prince of Wales is reported to have said that he had found the names of many of his friends and fellow officers on casualty lists, including his cousin Prince Maurice, his equerry, Major Cadogan and two of his father’s equerries. He is also reported to have said that he should not have a friend left soon.

The Prince’s elder brothers also fought in the war – Prince Alexander was invalided home with an injured knee and Prince Leopold, a platoon leader in the Grenadier Guards was hospitalised with a chill and he was sent home – according to some, this was not a bad thing.

Prince Maurice Victor Donald of Battenberg rests along with many others in Ypres Town CWGC Cemetery & Extension

To visit the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website click here

To visit Major and Mrs Holt’s Battlefield click here

To purchase any of Major and Mrs Holt’s Battlefield Guides visit Pen & Sword click here

I-Tunes new addition – StreetMuseum Londinium

Free App, yes a free app.

This brand new app combines an ancient map of Rome with today’s modern London map, showing you what the city could have looked like over 2000 years ago.

Did you know The Roman Temple of Mithras stood just moments away from where Bank Tube station is now situated? Or that the Amphitheatre – used for gladiatorial games – was located near St. Paul’s Cathedral?

Unearth hidden artefacts, listen to the hustle and bustle of the city, and step back 2,000 years as augmented reality video presents scenes of Roman London against today’s modern backdrop.

Streetmuseum Londinium is available TODAY for iPhones and iPads and is free to download from the iTunes store – the link on the right hand side will take you directly to the i-tunes store.

Charles Dickens Exhibition

Last weekend I spent a few days with my daughter in France. While we travelled in the Eurotunnel we noticed a sign promoting the Charles Dickens Exhibition in Hardelot, it was something new to visit so we may give it a go.

During Saturday we had taken our time over breakfast and then just pottered around – visiting the local Auchen, and then mooched around St Omer, ending our leisurely visit in a local bar having a coffee while we people watched. The coffee, now that was an event in itself as we waited 20 mins for it to arrive only to go to the bar and fine the person who took our order did just that took it but did nothing else with it. It was ok when we fetched it ourselves.

Later that evening we went to our local restaurant for a wonderful meal and a few drinks – wine for my daughter and Kir for me. After our meal we sat outside in the evening sun and chatted to a family friend. Isn’t it funny how things happen. As we all stood up to say goodnight there was a young couple on the next table, as we departed I used the phrase ‘like an asthmatic pit pony’ commenting on something said by our friend. At those words the young man grinned, I smiled and said was he amused by what I had said. It turned out he had been sat there working out where our accents came from – seems he lived only a few miles from us. That is not the first coincidence that has happened there, a few years ago I was walking back from the bar and chatted to a couple. After the usual where are you from etc., it turned out that she was my cousins wifes cousin – she is on my family tree but now I can put a face to a name.

Anyway, Sunday came and off we set armed with bread, meat and drinks to see the Castle at Hardelot. I think I was a little bit disappointed with the entrance, just the rather sorry looking stone posts standing with no gate or barrier and no wall to make an impressive statement. But we entered through the narrow passage and came upon a track with a few parked cars and open areas with picnic tables full of families having lunch – it was Mother’s Day in France. The dusty track lead to a country walk, a lake and ofcourse, the castle.

The neglected entrance did not give a clue to what we were to behold only a few yards away. As you walked through the shade to the stone walls you were greeted through the arched gateway with a brilliant white building as it was lit up by the brilliant sunshine. Through the archway neat lawns and flower beds stood out against the almost white stone walls and the circular driveway.

We walked up the side steps and paid our entrance and entered the world of Charles Dickens. I did not know that Charles had lived in Condette , just a short way from the castle. I also did not know, but then had never really thought about it but Charles spoke and wrote in French and had a French publisher – hence the exhibition.

What was on show, well there was a room display with family portraits, photographs and pencil drawings + items belonging to the family and information on his early life. There was his desk, what joy and frustration that must have know when Charles was writing his novels. There was also numerous letters in French and English to and From Charles and here is another strange thing. My daughter was looking at a display when I noticed a letter with its envelope – split so you could see both front and back. The franking mark was upside down and I turned my head to try and read the place name better – why I never looked a the address I do not know, but anyway, I thought it said ‘Wakefield’, only then did I look at the address on the envelope – Tadman St, Wakefield and the year was 1850. I will have to do a bit of research to see who the recipient was. But I have been told since my return home that Dickens was a friend of Gissing a local writer. Who would have thought that I travelled to France, by chance visit an exhibition and see a letter to someone in my home town.

Our visit, did we enjoy it ? Yes, I think we did.

Was it value for money ? Yes, I think 2 Euro per person for the exhibition was very good value for money.

What about parking? Parking and entrance to the grounds was FREE, so you could walk around at your leisure and finish with a picnic on the tables provided.

Charles Dickens – click here or here for the Charles Dickens’ birthplace museum or here for Charles Dickens online

Some other castle on the Continent – click here

The Gissing Centre, Wakefield – click here

York Family History Fair June 2011

What a fantastic day and well done to the organisers. The day was nice and breezy outside but where I was on the Morleyfhg stand it was quite warm and sometimes a lack of a breeze made it a little overpowering – but saying that the group had a good day and promoted their new booklet, East Ardsley Monumental Inscriptions complete with the burial listings, so every grave has an entry regardless of whether there is a marker or not……..now isn’t that good, you can now find the plot without disturbing any of the church staff.

Morleyfhg seemed to be busy most of the day with people seeking us out to buy publications, ask questions or just a known face saying ‘hello’ – that is so nice. I sold quite a few of my ‘Family History Diary’s’ both in the A4 and A5 formats and a few of the ‘Interview Diary’s’. It was so nice that people who had bought them at previous events stopped by and said how useful they were with all the information you had at your fingertips and more important, you could see what was missing !

So who else was there, well next to us was another local group (with whom I also have a connection), Wakefield & D FHS, who also seemed to have a good day. Huddersfieldfhs was also present along with many other local societies. There were also many businesses selling maps, old and new books, family tree items, family tree printing and transcriptions. There was also a company that I have had a connection with for many years – Parish Chest and are a lovely couple – you will probably seen them at your local event. There company is for want of a better explanation a ‘shopping centre’ for all your family history needs.

One of the stands opposite Morleyfhg was FINDMYPAST who were such a friendly bunch of people, always helpful and smiling. They were promoting their website and offering tips on how to get the most of your searches. They also had a competition which I entered, won’t win but went through the process of entering. It was nice to meet you all.

Around the corner from us was Ancestry, they were a little late setting up and when I snapped them first time were not ready at all to be photographed, but I did anyway! When I caught them later they were in full swing.

Upstairs there was The Western Front Association, The Metcalfe Society and more, then up onto the next floor to find Family Search, the website of the LDS Church again, a very friendly, helpful and smiley bunch and willing to take time from setting up to ‘pose’ for a snapshot. Oh ! if you need to know anything about a regiment, battle or uniform contact the Western Front Association, or better still become a member, they are very helpful and nice and it’s not just a man thing, there are lots of women members too. Go along to one of their meetings as a guest and see!

Well a good day seemed to be had, but we did think that numbers were down a little from last year, but that did not dampen our spirits or the enjoyment of a good day had by all

Ancestry – latest additions

These latest additions are fantastic news for those of us not able to visit the local Archives or LDS Church or those not wishing to visit or like me, want to do family history at my convenience and no one elses – yes after 5pm and before 9am!

So what has been added, well I am very, very pleased to say that over 8 million West Yorkshire parish registers record baptisms, marriages, burials and confirmations as far back as the English Civil War. That’s good news but what records have been indexed and the original document uploaded and made available.

Here goes :-

West Yorkshire, Births and Baptisms 1813 – 1906

West Yorkshire, Deaths and Burials 1813 – 1985

West Yorkshire, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1512 – 1812

West Yorkshire, Marriages and Banns, 1813 – 1921

West Yorkshire Confirmations 1859 – 1915

+ The Dade registers, named after the vicar that instigated them. What do they include ? Parents names, grandparents names with occupations and addresses – now isn’t that a fantastic resource !

Edith Smith of Crofton was born in 1883 and was confirmed aged 18 on 15 February 1901. Others that were confirmed at 6:30 on that Sunday before the Bishop of Wakefield were, Mary Berry of Spring Hill aged 15; Mary Ethel steele of Old Hall Lodge aged 15; Miriam Clark of Old Hall aged 18 and Mary McKay aged 17 also of Old Hall and Alice Blackburn of Crofton Tower aged 18 to name a few.

Martha Bates aged 26, widow, daughter of Benjamin Siddle, Waterman was married to John George Patrick, 25, Batchelor, son of James Patrick on December 25 1869. The witnesses were Francis Fledhill and Mary Jane Broughton – all signed the register with the exception of the bride, she Made Her Mark.

Joseph Officer was buried in All Saints Burial Ground on 3 January 1757.

Allan Douglas Riach was born on 2 December 1883 and baptised on 20 April 1884 in St Paul, Esholt, the son of John and Susan Riach. John was a policeman.

Go on, visit Ancestry and see what a very useful resource this is, especially for overseas researchers

If you don’t have a subscription, pop down to your local library, you may be surprised that your library can access these records.

Gen Blog – Official Blog of Wakefield Family History Sharing

www.wakefieldfhs.org.uk/blog

Category Archives: News

Find My Past – Irish and Australian sites

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Military records on Ancestry for Free!!

Search all these records for FREE