This website will be useful for those with ancestors in the South West of England. As the name suggests the archive is of images of this part of England. I suspect that most genealogists will head for the Galleries where you can chose from Local Photographers, Local Business, Topical or Quick Links. I chose “Local Photographers” where you can chose from either William Gilhen or Gordon Sparks and then from a county or “other” section and then work your way through the images available for viewing online. Once you have found something of interest then it is possible to purchase a copy. A postcard size copy is £1.50 plus postage.
Archive for the ‘Where Did They Live?’ Category
South West Image Bank
January 31st, 2012 
Linda Elliott Historic Bristol Maps Online
January 29th, 2012 Linda Elliott 
This website offers access to historic maps, images & links for the city of Bristol. There is a good guide to using the site and what you can expect to find. Even though I don’t have any Bristol family I had great fun playing with this website !!
http://www.bristol.gov.uk/page/know-your-place
York Cause Papers now online
January 7th, 2012 Linda Elliott 
I wasn’t sure what Cause Papers were until I read about this new website. It seems that they are the papers relating to cases heard by the Church Courts, now I had heard about those and I was excited to find that thanks to funding from JISC they are now available online for the Diocese of York.
The website says …..
Documents detailing cases heard in the church courts of the diocese of York from 1300 to 1858 can now be explored online.
The Cause Papers Database, available at www.hrionline.ac.uk/causepapers, has been digitised thanks to a grant from funding body JISC and allows visitors to search and view more than 14,000 records held at the Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York.
The set features details of a wide range of social and religious issues, from marriages and separations to subjects that are now regarded as more secular, including taxation and professional misconduct.
“The York Cause Papers Database is a wonderful resource for family and local historians,” says archivist Paul Dryburgh. “More than 200,000 people, from places ranging from York parishes to as far afield as Russia and America, have now been catalogued. Such a rich variety of cases, including breach of faith, defamation, immorality and testamentary, gives exciting insights into the real life concerns and experiences of your ancestors.”
http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/causepapers/
Diocesan of York, Cause Papers, Borthwick Institute, Family History, Genealogy
Poor Law Records Online
January 6th, 2012 Linda Elliott 
I have written before about the Southwell, Nottinghamshire Poor Law records that have been available online via The National Archives website. However having revisited the site I see that there are quite a few other Poor Law records from places around the country.
The website has this list….
- Axminster Poor Law Union, Devon and Dorset, 1834- 1848
- Basford Poor Law Union, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, 1834- 1845
- Berwick upon Tweed Poor Law Union, Northumberland, 1834- 1852
- Bishop’s Stortford Poor Law, Union Hertfordshire and Essex, 1834- 1852
- Blything Poor Law Union, Suffolk, 1834-1840
- Bromsgrove Poor Law Union, Worcestershire, 1834-1842
- Cardiff Poor Law Union, Glamorganshire, 1834- 1853
- Clutton Poor Law Union, Somerset, 1834- 1853
- Keighley Poor Law Union, Yorkshire West Riding, 1834- 1855
- Kidderminster Poor Law Union, Worcestershire, 1834- 1849
- Liverpool Vestry (technically not a Poor Law Union, it retained vestry status throughout the 19th century), 1834- 1856
- Llanfyllin Poor Law Union, Montgomeryshire and Denbighshire, 1834-1854
- Mansfield Poor Law Union, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, 1834- 1849
- Mitford and Launditch Poor Law Union, Norfolk, 1834- 1849
- Newcastle under Lyme Poor Law Union, Staffordshire, 1834- 1856
- Newport Pagnell Poor Law Union, Buckinghamshire, 1834- 1855
- Reeth Poor Law Union, Yorkshire North Riding, 1834- 1871
- Rye Poor Law Union, East Sussex and Kent, 1834- 1843
- Southampton, Hampshire (technically not a Poor Law Union but an earlier incorporation), 1834- 1858
- Southwell, Nottinghamshire, 1834- 1871
- Truro Poor Law Union, Cornwall, 1834- 1849
- Tynemouth Poor Law Union, Northumberland, 1834- 1855
- Wolstanton and Burslem Poor Law Union, Staffordshire, 1834- 1851
Many of my ancestors knew all about the Poor Law having been on the receiving end of it, sadly however none of my parishes are covered, but you might be lucky !!
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/workhouse.asp
Aborfield, Berkshire Local History
January 2nd, 2012 Linda Elliott 
An website which will be of interest to all those with ancestors from the Aborfield area of Berkshire. It has a parish history timeline, a page about the families who have lived in the village for generations, information about properties in the village, memories of the village by long time residents and much more. Always good to find a website specialising in “your” village.
http://www.arborfieldhistory.org.uk/index.htm
Aborfield, Berkshire, Local History, Family History, Genealogy
Posted in Local History, Where Did They Live? 
Tags: Aborfield, Berkshire, Family History, Genealogy, Local History 
No Comments »PRONI launches a YouTube channel
December 18th, 2011 Linda Elliott 
It’s all happening at once, first I learn about The Family History Show vodcast (see previous posting) and then I hear that the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) are launching a YouTube channel.
The channel is offering a series of lectures which are being presented in conjunction with the Open University Ireland. The first lecture is entitled “What is Irish Local History?” and the second is “Poverty”.
Sounds interesting and having them on You Tube is great for us who can’t get to PRONI to hear the original talks. Dr Janice Holmes has started a blog to accompany the lecture series.
The sound is a little tinny, but hey nothing to complain about when we have the luxury of top speakers talking to us in the comfort of our own homes!!
British Commonwealth 1638 – 1660
December 3rd, 2011 Linda Elliott 
I wanted to know what was happening in 1658 so did a Google search and came up with this website. What an excellent find, it has Timelines, Biographies, Military History, Links & Bibliography.
I now know what was happening in 1658 and why the person who was keeping the registers for the parish of Sparsholt in Berkshire was entering children as born not christened. Think it was getting a bit dangerous there to do much else.
David Plant is the creator of this site which has been in existence for 10 years. How come I haven’t come across it before? Anyway I know about it now and will use it as my main site for understanding what was happening during this disruptive period in English History. My compliments to David Plant for such a great site !!
Posted in Uncategorized, Where Did They Live? Tags: 1638 - 1660, Civil War, Commonwealth, David Plant, Family History, Genealogy No Comments »British Library Blog
December 2nd, 2011 Linda Elliott ![clip_image002[5]](http://www.madaboutgenealogy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/clip_image0025_thumb.jpg "clip_image002[5]")
The British Library has launched a new blog containing stories of peoples lives gleaned from the vast collections that make up the library. It is not only the rich and famous that you will find here, but those folk who have had fascinating and/or unusual lives, but which have largely been forgotten. You will find murderers and missionaries, Napoleon and Slaves and much, much more.
Take a look, who knows what you will find and remember these stories are about real people so they have to be on someone’s family tree !
http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/untoldlives/about-this-blog.html
Background information
October 29th, 2011 Linda Elliott It is all very well collecting names and dates of christenings, marriages & burials, but to really get to know your ancestors you will need to research the world they lived in.
Wikipedia is a website that I turn to before any others for such information. I generally first search under the name of the person, you may be surprised by what you find that your ancestor did – good and bad! Then I search under the parish in which they lived, finally I search under any events – wars and such like to complete my picture of them.
Take for instance Henry Pottinger, a name search gives me details of his birth, marriage & death, his parentage and career. There are links at the end of the page to pages on the history of Hong Kong and the Pottinger Baronets. A search on Mount Pottinger, County Down gives me data on the place where he was born and finally a search on the East India Company completes my quick, but effective research effort.
I recommend putting some flesh on your ancestors poor old dry bones using Wikipedia!
Posted in Take It Further, What Did They Do?, Where Did They Live? Tags: Family History, Genealogy, Pottinger, Wikipedia No Comments »Fire Insurance
September 29th, 2011 Linda Elliott 
When I lived in Fair Oak in Hampshire one of the old houses had a Fire Mark over the door in the shape of a sun. In the 18th century this was to show that the owners of the house had insured with the Sun Fire Office. I think the idea was that if it caught fire the company’s private fire brigade would arrive and put the fire out. I assume that if there wasn’t a Fire Mark for that particular company on the building they watched it burn!!
Anyway there is an index to some of these insurance policies online. You need to go to the advanced Search on A2A at The National Archives website
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/advanced-search.aspx?tab=1
and select the Guildhall Library from the repository list and then enter a “name” and/or “address” and the word “insured” into the all these words field.
I put in Pottinger insured and got 6 hits. One of which was this
Insured: William Pottinger, 27 Queen Street, Cheapside, tailor and draper. Other property or occupiers: Parish of Great Pornder, Essex (Law and others); Parish of Bloxham, Oxon (baker)
So enough to give you some idea if this applies to one of your ancestors.
There is a good leaflet about these records at http://217.154.230.218/NR/rdonlyres/E62730BB-5BFF-4ED7-8B7D-C7F4777A7805/0/48FIREINSURANCERECORDS.pdf
and an excellent article in the October 2011 edition of Your Family History magazine.
