And the Wall Came Tumbling Down

One genealogist has brought the British government to its knees. Guy Etchells requested access to a single 1911 census record for Bottesford in Leicestershire through a Freedom of Information request. His request was granted, and when Your Family Tree contacted The National Archives (TNA) with the news, they agreed to crack open the entire census ahead of the official 2012 release date.

Starting in January, TNA will offer a limited research service where the address of an individual in the 1911 Census is already known. There will be a non-refundable search charge of £45 (see www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/1911census).

Meanwhile, TNA said it hopes to offer a searchable online service in early 2009, with key sensitive information withheld until 2012.

And Mr. Etchells isn't done yet.

Guy told us: “As you may imagine, I was elated with the decision. I now also have questions about the legality of restricting information of any census up to 1981...” [Link]

U.K. Archives Search Goes Global

The U.K. National Archives has introduced a new search engine to "easily access 11 catalogues and databases on the website through one easy search."

The National Archives Global Search allows users to easily search across the holdings of The National Archives, local and private archives. The new search engine has a number of useful features such as a "Quick Search" and a breakdown of results into subject categories. For more experienced users there is also an "Advanced Search", and the individual catalogues and databases continue to be searchable online.

The National Archives Global Search brings up results from The National Archives´ website pages, the Catalogue, DocumentsOnline and Access to Archives (A2A). It also searches the Moving Here and Family Records websites, the National Register of Archives (NRA), the ARCHON Directory and online research guides. [Link]

[tagged: genealogy, family tree, ancestry]

British Genealogists Get Their Hands Dirty

From 50 connect.co.uk, posted Nov. 26, 2005:

Trace Your Tree & Plant A Tree

Want to buy friends or family a present that will mean something?

The National Archives and the Woodland Trust have got together to create the Family Tree Present: a chance to trace your family's past and plant a tree for the future.

This special offer includes the Easy Family History pocket guide plus a choice of a Tree Dedication or a Sapling Pack.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

The French Keep Track of Their Seamen

From The (London, U.K.) Independent Online Edition:

Uncovered: A French eyewitness account from Battle of Trafalgar

By Matthew Beard
Published: 04 November 2005

A French eyewitness account of the country's dramatic defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar has been discovered, shedding light on the historic battle.

Details of the sea battle, in which British ships chased and captured the French vessels, appear in the helmsman's log. The document, taken from the French ship Mont Blanc, was discovered by researchers from the British National Archives among the vessel's muster roll, the lists of payments to the crew on board.

Alistair Hanson, a historian at the National Archive, said: "This discovery is of significance because it provides us with a rare French eyewitness account of the battle. It will also be valuable to French genealogists who will be able to track those seamen who died."

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

What Grandpa Didn't Tell You About the War

From Guardian Unlimited (of London, U.K.):

Top brass feared worst as GIs and good-time girls enjoyed blackout

Owen Bowcott
Tuesday November 1, 2005
The Guardian

Swarms of prostitutes and "good-time girls" pestered American soldiers in Mayfair to the extent that they posed a menace to Anglo-US relations, according to wartime police files released today.

Two conferences were organised at the Home Office to forestall the spread of moral outrage in the US and combat venereal diseases on the streets of London's West End. The Metropolitan police papers, withheld for more than 50 years but now in the National Archives in Kew, show a police force under pressure from senior US officers to clamp down on the trade.

[snip]

A letter to the Home Office said a US-born lady complained the "neighbourhood swarms with women and girls, some in their early teens, who pester American soldiers, clinging to their arms, refusing to be shaken off, telling stories of poverty".

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

The 411 on UFO FOI Requests

From Silicon.com:

Nazi gold to UFOs - National Archives frees information

Case study: The National Archives invests £150,000 to prepare for FOI requests

By Dan Ilett

Published: Wednesday 14 September 2005

[snip]

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 came into force on 1 January this year. Under the law, public sector organisations including central government, local councils, emergency services and health authorities are obliged to make most of their information available within 20 working days of receiving a request.

This meant the [U.K. National Archives] needed to have systems that could handle requests for information from the public.

[snip]

[Dr Chris Owens, head of e-access development services] added: "We were on a very tight timescale - we finished testing in October or November. We had the system in one or two weeks later. We didn't go live until a week before January."

But after the rush to prepare, and although it has seen more requests than any other government department, the NA received fewer enquiries than expected.

"We get enquiries on Nazi gold, and on UFOs but most of the information we're asked for is about family history," he said.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

The Truth Hurts

From the UK National Archives:

Census reveals the gossip columnist from 1861
19 May 2005

In vividly describing his neighbours as “bastards”, “prostitutes” and “syphilitic paupers” in the census, Isaac Norris Hunt could almost be depicted as the 1861 version of a gossip columnist.

A data collector for Stow-on-the-World in the 1861 national census, Mr Hunt took a rather overzealous approach into his task of collating information on his fellow Cheltenham residents.

Along with the vigorous observations of I.N Hunt, The National Archives has unveiled the complete name, birthplace and occupation of residents across all 52 counties of England and Wales in 1861. You can trace the lives of ancestors through the five consecutive censuses.

A railway manager by profession, Mr Hunt took the opportunity to add some highly personal remarks when entering the occupation of his neighbours:

* Several are listed as prostitutes including Emma Cook aged 19 and the 64-year old Mary Newman
* Eliza Williams is said to be ‘kept’ by her ‘paramour’ William Clapton
* The unfortunate Hannah Cokey is described as a ‘pauper, syphilitic’
* William Shall was an ‘absconding bankrupt’
* Elizabeth Wixey ‘cohabits with a man’
* and the two young sons of the ‘very doubtful’ Lavinia Collicott are described rather bluntly as ‘bastards’.

Unsurprisingly, Isaac Hunt does not appear to have undertaken the role of enumerator in any of the later censuses, which are now held at The National Archives.