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Gory discovery in City of London Burial Index

Did anybody see “History Cold Case” on BBC 2 last night? The team were researching a skeleton, found on an archaeological dig in Southwark, of a young woman, who, it transpired, died over 150 years ago.

Amazingly they found a probable identification for her: Elizabeth Mitchell, who died at St Thomas Hospital on 22 August 1851, aged 19. You can see her listed in the City of London Burial Index. Watch last night’s programme. Find out more about the City of London Burial Index in our knowledge base.

Ask the Expert – customs and excise ancestor

Our expert Stephen Rigden, pictured right, answers your questions.

From Graham Nowell in Abingdon, Oxfordshire:

‘I have some items that belonged to an ancestor who was a Customs and Excise Officer in the South West of England sometime in the 1800s. I know nothing about him except his and my surname, Nowell, not a very common name.

Are there any records available for searching that might give me more clues? Thank you.’

Steve says: ‘For questions such as this, two sources immediately spring to mind. The first is the relevant local county record office (or equivalent – many have now been re-branded) and the second is The National Archives at Kew. As Customs and Excise was a function of central government, I would suggest that TNA is much the better option to start with.

There is nothing searchable online. However, you can read an online Research Guide on the subject of Customs and Excise officials and tax collectors and this gives much information about what is available – indeed, it is clear that TNA holds a vast collection of materials.

From a quick glance, it seems that few of the records are likely to have integral indexes and, therefore, it would prove time-consuming searching speculatively for a reference to your ancestor. You would need to visit in person or, alternatively, commission a researcher to make the searches for you.

If you have the time, I would recommend that you undertake the research yourself, which would be much more fulfilling. When at TNA, you can always ask the search room staff for help and guidance, so you should not feel intimidated about the prospect of searching records which are unknown to you.’

If you’d like to send your question to Steve, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account.

Ask the Expert – the mystery of Reginald

Our expert Stephen Rigden, pictured right, answers your questions.

From Ray Derricott: ‘My late father-in-law was born on 5 August 1907 in Islington. His mother was a domestic servant serving in a house in Islington. The father is not named on the birth certificate. His mother Florence Grace Edwin does not appear on the 1911 census and neither does my father-in law, Reginald Frederick Edwin. I have tried to find about his early life but to no avail.

I know he sailed to Canada in 1929 and returned in 1931. I have his TA military record and his marriage and death certificates. But what happened to him between 1907 and 1929? I would appreciate your help.’

Steve says: ‘In my experience, the vast majority of individuals resident in the areas covered by the 1911 census are findable. In this case, the solution is to consider the background and circumstances: a domestic servant would be unlikely to be able to care for her illegitimate child while remaining in service. Therefore, she would need to find a carer for her child. Moreover, the details of servants resident in their employers’ households are perhaps less likely to be recorded accurately and in full detail: the household form would have been filled in not by them but by their employer.

In this instance, therefore, I searched the 1911 census for a Florence living in the district of the birth and found one candidate: a Florence Edwin living as a general servant with a family named Hopkins at 137 Petherton Road, Highbury, aged 32, single and born in Huntingdon. Checking the birth index, there is a Florence Grace Edwin born in June quarter 1878 in Huntingdon registration district, which lends further support to this being the correct individual. I then searched for her young child living elsewhere and found a Reggie Edwin, aged 3, born in Highbury and boarding at 4 Victoria Terrace, Huntingdon with a family named Marriott.

I am confident that these two individuals are the ones you seek, even though they are not residing in the same household and their names are not given in full. In answer to your question, therefore, I suspect that Reginald spent his early years not in north London but in rural Huntingdon, where his mother was born and doubtless had family and friends. However, it is unlikely to prove possible to find out much more information about his formative years, although doubtless the 1921 census, due to be released in 2022, will place him somewhere in the country.’

If you’d like to send your question to Steve, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account.

Your experiences – separated siblings

In previous findmypast newsletters we asked you to email us your experiences of tracing your ancestors. Thanks to all of you who got in touch – your stories make for fascinating reading. Read on for Vivienne Whiddett-Hare’s story:

‘I was evacuated from Battersea, London to South Derbyshire in 1944 aged 6 weeks. My mother, who I found to be unmarried with a lot of children, (I have found 10 but my sister, who I met before she died, told me there were 14) asked the couple who I was placed with in south Derbyshire to adopt me, which they did.

I was 60 years old when I started my family tree which now has around 2,000 names. I also met my eldest sister and a brother and have spoken on the phone and exchanged e-mails with quite a lot of my family in Italy and Australia, as well as the UK.’

If you have an experience you’d like to share with us and our readers, email casestudies@findmypast.co.uk with ‘My experience’ in the subject line. We look forward to reading your stories!

Your experiences – Living Relatives search success

In previous findmypast newsletters we asked you to email us your experiences of tracing your ancestors. Thanks to all of you who got in touch – your stories make for really interesting reading. Read on for Trevor Bailey from South Australia’s fascinating story:

‘My 84 year old mother had long suspected that her father (who was accidentally killed in 1934 when she was still a child) had a previous marriage with children, but it was never talked about by her own mother. As an only child, my mother longed to know if she had any half brothers or sisters. As my grandfather had a rather common name, and lived in London, however, checking for any previous marriages on the General Register Office registers produced too many possibilities to easily investigate.

Seeing as I did at least know my grandfather’s exact date of death, a British friend suggested he could check for a will or probate when he was next in London as I live in Australia. In a week or two, a copy was on its way to me and it named my grandfather’s first wife as a beneficiary. Armed with this information, it was not long before I had obtained a copy of their marriage certificate and then names of two daughters. While they would have been my mother’s half-sisters, both had died just a few years ago.

Tracking down descendants of the two daughters meant finding their marriages to obtain their married names. I eventually found a son for the first married daughter but I thought it unlikely I could ever make contact, assuming he was still living. He might have emigrated, too. I tried findmypast’s Living Relatives search facility and obtained a list of well over 100 possible names and addresses in Britain, as the son’s name is a fairly common one.

On an impulse, I decided to order a birth certificate for the son and found that his parents had the unwitting foresight to give him a middle name with an unusual initial (which had not been recorded on the GRO birth lists). I then repeated the search on the Living Relatives page and narrowed my list down to 11 names and addresses. I wrote a letter to each person, giving some details about my grandfather and my email address. Within a week, I had a reply from the right person and found he had an extended family of children, siblings and cousins, some in Canada. My elderly mother was thrilled to bits with the news.

A rapid exchange of scanned family photos and other documents ensued, then phone calls. We are all now planning a Skype link up and making new holiday plans. Persistence does sometimes pay!’

If you have an experience you’d like to share with us and our readers, email casestudies@findmypast.co.uk with ‘My experience’ in the subject line. We look forward to reading your stories!

April’s competition winner

We’ve picked the winner of our April competition in which we asked you to tell us Florence Nightingale’s address and occupation as stated on the 1901 census. Congratulations go to Barbara Renshaw from Haslemere, Surrey who correctly answered that Florence was living at 10 South Street, St George Hanover Square, London and was ‘living on own means’. Barbara wins a 6 month subscription to Your Family History magazine. Well done Barbara!

Thanks to all of you who entered – keep an eye out for May’s competition in this Friday’s newsletter.

FMP goes to Australia

Findmypast is coming to Australia in May for the findmypast in Australia Roadshow, organised by Unlock the Past. Elaine Collins, findmypast’s director of content acquisition, will be in Australia for a week of events to promote the fantastic range of services that findmypast offers.

If you’re unable to attend one of the events this time around, Elaine will be returning to Australia for a more extended tour, which will include Perth and Canberra as well as the other capital cities.

Further details can be found here:
http://www.unlockthepast.com.au/events/national-roadshow-australian-cities

Prizes for survey participants

We really value your input at findmypast.co.uk. Completing our user surveys means that you provide us with ways in which we can improve our service to you. As a thank you for taking part in these surveys we have awarded a year’s Full subscription to the following people:

February 2010 - Stephen Mills
March 2010 - Gordon Nicoll
April 2010 - Paul Edden

Thanks to everyone who took the time to complete our surveys. The prizes are awarded quarterly so the next round of prizes will be awarded in August.

Competition winners

Once you subscribe to findmypast.co.uk we send you a series of emails to help with your research. One of them involves finding your great-great grandparents and we are happy to announce the current crop of winners. The following people have been awarded a 12 month Full subscription:

February 2010 - Phil Roberts
March 2010 - Rosamond Chamberlain
April 2010 – Janet Taylor

Congratulations all of you and thanks to everybody for entering. Keep emailing us your great-great grandparents and the next winner could be you!

This is a quarterly competition so the next round of winners will be announced in August.

Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records 1873 to 1882 now on the site

You can now search 97,515 records of men who were pensioned out of the British Army between 1873 and 1882 on findmypast.co.uk. We're working in association with The National Archives and in partnership with FamilySearch on this ongoing project. Here is a breakdown of the records you can find on the site and which are still to come:

Whereas many other military records provide information about officer-class soldiers, these records relate to ordinary, non-officer class soldiers. This makes it more likely that you will be able to find details about your ancestors. The connection with 'Chelsea Pensioners' is that the pensions were administered through The Royal Hospital at Chelsea. The great majority of pensioned soldiers were out-pensioners and did not reside at the Hospital itself.

What makes these records so special?

The records provide rich detail and colour to our ancestors' lives to a level that is difficult to find elsewhere. There are usually six or seven records per soldier, whereas an individual would only get one line in, say, a 19^th century census record. Most of the service records note all of the regiments in which a soldier served, with both start and end dates, ranks attained, and the total service rendered, again in years and days, in each rank and regiment. Service in either the East or West Indies is noted separately.

The reason for the soldier's discharge (illness or wounds) is given, as are remarks on general conduct while in the service, and notations on height, complexion, eye and hair colour, and civilian occupation. The form is dated and signed by both the soldier and commanding officer. In the absence of photographs, these records are an essential tool in providing an insight into what your ancestors actually looked like. These records are among the most popular at The National Archives as family historians and genealogists have realised how valuable they are. You can find more information about these records on our knowledge base page.

The Chelsea Pensioner Service Records are made up of servicemen from all over the British Empire. Below is a percentage break down of where the servicemen were born:

• England = 68.9%
• Ireland = 17.6%
• Scotland = 8.3%
• Wales = 2.2%
• West Indies = 0.6%
• India = 0.4%
• Sark = 0.00073%

Start searching for your Chelsea Pensioner ancestors now.