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Search more than 1 million new Cambridgeshire records

Search for your ancestors in 1,100,105 new parish records for Cambridgeshire on findmypast.co.uk

This vast quantity of records and the wide date range they cover make them a hugely valuable resource for family historians.

Below are further details of these records:

The Cambridgeshire Family History Society provided findmypast.co.uk with these records, in association with the Federation of Family History Societies.

Search for your Cambridgeshire ancestors now

Join us at the British Library's family history day

The British Library, in association with findmypast.co.uk, is holding a family history day at the Library on Saturday 16 April.

Come along and hear the findmypast.co.uk team talk about our records, as well as lectures from British Library experts.

This is sure to be a fascinating day for anyone interested in family history. Find out more here and book your place now before it sells out!

Join us at the British Library’s family history day

The British Library, in association with findmypast.co.uk, is holding a family history day at the Library on Saturday 16 April.

Come along and hear the findmypast.co.uk team talk about our records, as well as lectures from British Library experts.

This is sure to be a fascinating day for anyone interested in family history. Find out more here and book your place now before it sells out!

Search two new sets of military records

We have just published two new sets of military records on findmypast.co.uk: Royal Navy Officers Medal Roll 1914-1920 and New Zealand WWI Soldiers.

Below is further information about these records and the valuable details about your ancestors you could discover.

Royal Navy Officers Medal Roll 1914-1920

These records comprise a transcript of the complete WWI Campaign Medal Rolls to 53,000 officers of all branches of the Royal Navy.

Added to the transcript are service details for a large number of officers, particularly those killed in action or died of wounds during WWI. In many cases, post-war deaths and WWII deaths are noted.

The medals that the rolls cover are: The 1914 Star, the Clasp to the 1914 Star, the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

These records can add vivid detail to your family tree – below is an example. Note the especially comprehensive cause of death:

Find out more and search these records now

New Zealand WWI Soldiers

This is a set of records for 288,526 New Zealand WWI service personnel and reserves.

The records are obtained from the following sources: Nominal Rolls, First and Second Division Rolls of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force Reserve, Native Reserve Lists, Military Defaulters List, New Zealanders who served with the Australian Imperial Force, Guthrie Index, Smith Index, Halpin Index, British Section NZEF, Fijian Contingent, Roll Of Honour Section 3 and the Stock Index. Find out more about each of these sources

Here is an example record from this series. It shows the soldier’s military details, as well as other information, such as marital status, last New Zealand address and next of kin details:

Find out more and search these records now

Improved search for overseas, at sea and army deaths

Searching for your ancestors’ overseas, at sea and army death records is now much easier on findmypast.co.uk

When you search these records, your results will now appear as a list of individual names.

Previously, your search results showed a list of pages and only displayed the first and last names that appeared on each page. You had to check through numerous pages to find your ancestors.

Now, you should be able to find who you’re looking for straight away in the list of individual names. It is well worth searching these records again for any ancestors you were previously unable to find.

This search improvement follows the recent launch of our enhanced overseas, at sea and army birth and marriage records search.

Try our new and improved search now:

• British overseas deaths 1818-2005
• British deaths at sea 1854-1890
• British armed forces deaths 1796-2005

The other benefits to you include:

• Search for your ancestors who died overseas 1818-2005 in one go, rather than searching twice for two separate date ranges
• Perform a more detailed search: search by region to narrow down your results more easily

Here is an example of a death at sea record:

Click to enlarge

The record shows some fascinating information about the circumstances surrounding these deaths. The cause of death for several of the people on this record is ‘drowned’ or ‘supposed drowned’. For two men, Robert Waite and David Beynon, the record goes on to state: ‘vessel missing since’. Perhaps the most gruesome cause of death on this record is for Jane Atkinson, aged 33: ‘Inflammation of Bowels & Exhaustion caused by Sea Sickness’.

To be able to see in detail the cause of your ancestors’ deaths really adds colour to your family history.

This is the latest development in our project to fully name index all our birth, marriage and death records. The fully name indexed death records for England and Wales are coming very soon, marking the completion of this project.

Search these records now

How many ancestors will you find today?

Pudsey Local & Family History Fair competition winners

Thanks to everyone who came to visit the findmypast.co.uk stand at the Pudsey Local & Family History Fair on Saturday, and especially to those of you who entered our competition. We can now reveal the names of our lucky winners…

Winner of a 12 month Full subscription: Madeleine Barrett

Winners of 6 month Full subscriptions: Richard Bowyer and Diane Lawton.

Congratulations to all of you and we hope you enjoy your subscriptions!

Family photos: what's the history?

Welcome to the first in a new series of blogs about how to understand and interpret your old family photos. In this series, Jayne Shrimpton, internationally recognised dress historian, portrait specialist and photo detective (pictured below), dates and analyses different types of photographs and helps you to add context to your old family pictures.

Jayne Shrimpton

What type of photograph?

Portrait photography is 170 years old and seven, even eight, generations of the family may have been portrayed in photographs. Yet many old photographs have been passed down without labels or notes giving helpful information about the date, occasion or people depicted in them.

Different types of photograph, or formats, were produced throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, each having its own recognisable features. Identifying the format of a ‘mystery’ photograph and locating its place in history is the first step to establishing an accurate timeframe.

Daguerreotypes c.1841 – early 1860s (most common c.1845-55)

The first commercial photography studios of the 1840s produced one-off photographs on a silvered copper plate, known as daguerreotypes. The natural successors to miniature paintings, daguerreotypes cost around one guinea each – expensive luxuries beyond the means of ordinary working ancestors, hence they occur rarely in today’s family collections. Being fragile images, daguerreotypes were protected under glass, framed in a gilt surround and fitted into a folding case.

A few early-1840s daguerreotypes survive, but most belong to the period c.1845-1855. After the mid-1850s they were rapidly eclipsed by cheaper photographic formats.

Daguerreotype in leather case, c.1847-8. The earliest studio photographs, daguerreotypes mainly portray prosperous ancestors. This lady is believed to be the wife of a Windsor property developer who served as Mayor, 1846-7 and 1854. (Chris Cobb). Click to enlarge.

Ambrotypes (collodion positives) c.1852-1890s (most common 1855-early 1860s)

The next photographic format was the collodion positive, usually known as the ambrotype. Another unique picture, the ambrotype was a negative image on a glass plate, backed with black varnish (shellac) or velvet to create a positive photograph. Like daguerreotypes, ambrotypes were mounted into a brass or pinchbeck surround and often protected in a case, or framed for hanging on the wall. The technique, devised in 1852, was widely used from mid-decade but its heyday was brief. Many ambrotypes set in the studio date from within just a few years, c.1855-60, although a few itinerant photographers produced them until c.1890.

Costing around one shilling by 1857, ambrotypes brought photography to more working people and they occur in a number of family collections.

Paired, cased ambrotypes, c.1860. Ambrotypes were the most common type of photograph c.1855-60. Affordable for many working people, these paired pictures portray the children of a Calcutta cabinet maker, photographed when visiting London. (Chris Cobb). Click to enlarge.

Cartes de visite c.1858-1919 (most common c.1860-1908)

The small carte de visite, measuring around 10cms x 6.5cms, was the first commercially produced card-mounted photographic print. Arriving from France in 1858, the carte came of age in Britain in 1860 and rapidly achieved widespread popularity from 1861 onwards, inspiring the ‘cartomania’ phenomenon. Convenient cartes (or cdvs) could be mass-produced and, being fairly inexpensive, extended to all social classes by mid-decade.

Copies were collected, given as gifts and exchanged, leading to production of the first purpose-designed photograph albums in the early 1860s. Any collection of early family photographs is likely to include cdvs as they dominated Victorian photography, remaining popular in the Edwardian era.

Carte de visite, c.1863-4. Printed cartes were the first mass-produced photographs and in Britain they became popular throughout society soon after 1861. This example is typical of an early carte. (Jayne Shrimpton). Click to enlarge.

Cabinet Prints c.1866-1919 (most common late 1870s-c.1910)

In 1866 the cabinet photograph was introduced – another print mounted onto card, but, measuring around 16.5cms x 11.5cms including the mount, over twice the size of the cdv. At first cabinet prints gained little favour, but demand gradually increased during the 1870s and by the 1880s they were a popular choice, their production finally equalling or exceeding the carte by the 1890s.

Cabinet prints, like cdvs, were still available in the early-1900s, even the 1910s, although surviving examples usually pre-date 1910. Together cartes and cabinet prints account for most Victorian and Edwardian studio photographs in early picture collections.

Cabinet print, c.1892-4. Cabinet prints, larger than cartes, were introduced in 1866. Popular by the 1880s, they were the most common card-mounted photograph of the 1890s. (Kat Williams). Click to enlarge.

Tintypes (ferrotypes) In Britain 1870s-1940s

The tintype, or ferrotype, is identifiable as a photographic image struck directly onto an iron plate. Like daguerreotypes and ambrotypes, tintypes were unique pictures but they cost just a few pence – their cheap price generally reflected in their inferior quality. Produced in the US from the mid 1850s, tintypes were less fashionable in Britain, scarcely being recognised there until the later 1870s. Never widely popular, demand for these modest photographs nonetheless persisted until the 1940s. Well-suited to itinerant photographers, tintypes often depict outdoor scenes, such as the beach or fairground.

Surviving examples may be framed under glass in a decorative surround or may simply comprise a thin, sharp-edged piece of metal: tiny ‘gem’ tintypes were sometimes inserted into carte de visite or other card mounts.

Tintype (ferrotype), early-mid 1880s. Tintypes, produced in Britain from the late 1870s, are often quite informal photographs, showing family members enjoying a day out. (Pat FitzSimmons). Click to enlarge.

Portrait postcards c.1902-1940s

Postcards offered a new card format for photographic portraits in the early 20th century. The first picture postcards had appeared in the 1890s, but after 1902, following the introduction of a convenient divided back with separate spaces for the address and a short written message, they began to be used for presenting photographic portraits. Portrait postcards could be posted, like other postcards, but often the photograph was never intended for that purpose, being kept for the image.

Both commercial and amateur photographers used postcard mounts and many examples survive in family collections, dating from c.1902 until the 1940s.

Postcard portrait, c.1910. Many family photographs taken between c.1902 and the 1940s are mounted onto postcards with a divided back. (Kat Williams). Click to enlarge.

20th century card-mounted studio photographs

Some early 20th century studio photographs are neither cdvs, nor cabinet prints, nor postcards. Large or small prints were sometimes mounted onto a stout card of a pale or muted colour – usually off-white, beige, grey, soft brown or dusty green. Mounts were typically much larger than the picture, the wide border offering scope for subtle detailing – often a series of borders or a decorative surround pressed into the card.

In time, as photographic papers became sturdier, some photographs were presented in a folder. Between the 1920s and 1940s the fold-over card was popular: this had pre-cut slots in its back half for containing the photograph, while the front folded over to protect the image.

20th century mounted studio photograph, c.1900. Some early 20th century studio photographs are mounted onto thick, pale or sombre coloured card. The wide frame often has borders or designs pressed into the card. (Claire Dulanty). Click to enlarge.

Amateur ‘snapshots’

Amateur photography has existed for as long as professional photography, but for many years mainly the affluent, leisured classes followed the expensive and time-consuming pursuit. In the 1880s, following technical advances, some middle-class hobbyists began to shoot spontaneous photographs for their own amusement and some of these 19th century ‘snapshots’ do survive. Most families, however, didn’t take up amateur photography until the 20th century. The early-1900s saw a significant rise, with more rapid growth during the 1910s, and most casual snapshots in family collections date from that decade onwards.

Amateur ‘snapshot’, c.1926-30. Casual ‘snapshots’, usually outdoor photographs, are common in family collections. Although early examples can occur, most date from at least the 1910s. (Kat Williams). Click to enlarge.

Look out for the second blog in this series, coming soon. View Jayne’s website here

Further reading

The Victorians: Photographic Portraits, Audrey Linkman (Tauris Parke, 1993)

Dating Nineteenth Century Photographs, Robert Pols (The Alden Press, 2005)

Dating Twentieth Century Photographs, Robert Pols (The Alden Press, 2005)

Family Photographs and How to Date Them, Jayne Shrimpton (Countryside Books, 2008)

How to get the most from Family Pictures, Jayne Shrimpton (Society of Genealogists, 2011)

Family photos: what’s the history?

Welcome to the first in a new series of blogs about how to understand and interpret your old family photos. In this series, Jayne Shrimpton, internationally recognised dress historian, portrait specialist and photo detective (pictured below), dates and analyses different types of photographs and helps you to add context to your old family pictures.

Jayne Shrimpton

What type of photograph?

Portrait photography is 170 years old and seven, even eight, generations of the family may have been portrayed in photographs. Yet many old photographs have been passed down without labels or notes giving helpful information about the date, occasion or people depicted in them.

Different types of photograph, or formats, were produced throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, each having its own recognisable features. Identifying the format of a ‘mystery’ photograph and locating its place in history is the first step to establishing an accurate timeframe.

Daguerreotypes c.1841 – early 1860s (most common c.1845-55)

The first commercial photography studios of the 1840s produced one-off photographs on a silvered copper plate, known as daguerreotypes. The natural successors to miniature paintings, daguerreotypes cost around one guinea each – expensive luxuries beyond the means of ordinary working ancestors, hence they occur rarely in today’s family collections. Being fragile images, daguerreotypes were protected under glass, framed in a gilt surround and fitted into a folding case.

A few early-1840s daguerreotypes survive, but most belong to the period c.1845-1855. After the mid-1850s they were rapidly eclipsed by cheaper photographic formats.

Daguerreotype in leather case, c.1847-8. The earliest studio photographs, daguerreotypes mainly portray prosperous ancestors. This lady is believed to be the wife of a Windsor property developer who served as Mayor, 1846-7 and 1854. (Chris Cobb). Click to enlarge.

Ambrotypes (collodion positives) c.1852-1890s (most common 1855-early 1860s)

The next photographic format was the collodion positive, usually known as the ambrotype. Another unique picture, the ambrotype was a negative image on a glass plate, backed with black varnish (shellac) or velvet to create a positive photograph. Like daguerreotypes, ambrotypes were mounted into a brass or pinchbeck surround and often protected in a case, or framed for hanging on the wall. The technique, devised in 1852, was widely used from mid-decade but its heyday was brief. Many ambrotypes set in the studio date from within just a few years, c.1855-60, although a few itinerant photographers produced them until c.1890.

Costing around one shilling by 1857, ambrotypes brought photography to more working people and they occur in a number of family collections.

Paired, cased ambrotypes, c.1860. Ambrotypes were the most common type of photograph c.1855-60. Affordable for many working people, these paired pictures portray the children of a Calcutta cabinet maker, photographed when visiting London. (Chris Cobb). Click to enlarge.

Cartes de visite c.1858-1919 (most common c.1860-1908)

The small carte de visite, measuring around 10cms x 6.5cms, was the first commercially produced card-mounted photographic print. Arriving from France in 1858, the carte came of age in Britain in 1860 and rapidly achieved widespread popularity from 1861 onwards, inspiring the ‘cartomania’ phenomenon. Convenient cartes (or cdvs) could be mass-produced and, being fairly inexpensive, extended to all social classes by mid-decade.

Copies were collected, given as gifts and exchanged, leading to production of the first purpose-designed photograph albums in the early 1860s. Any collection of early family photographs is likely to include cdvs as they dominated Victorian photography, remaining popular in the Edwardian era.

Carte de visite, c.1863-4. Printed cartes were the first mass-produced photographs and in Britain they became popular throughout society soon after 1861. This example is typical of an early carte. (Jayne Shrimpton). Click to enlarge.

Cabinet Prints c.1866-1919 (most common late 1870s-c.1910)

In 1866 the cabinet photograph was introduced – another print mounted onto card, but, measuring around 16.5cms x 11.5cms including the mount, over twice the size of the cdv. At first cabinet prints gained little favour, but demand gradually increased during the 1870s and by the 1880s they were a popular choice, their production finally equalling or exceeding the carte by the 1890s.

Cabinet prints, like cdvs, were still available in the early-1900s, even the 1910s, although surviving examples usually pre-date 1910. Together cartes and cabinet prints account for most Victorian and Edwardian studio photographs in early picture collections.

Cabinet print, c.1892-4. Cabinet prints, larger than cartes, were introduced in 1866. Popular by the 1880s, they were the most common card-mounted photograph of the 1890s. (Kat Williams). Click to enlarge.

Tintypes (ferrotypes) In Britain 1870s-1940s

The tintype, or ferrotype, is identifiable as a photographic image struck directly onto an iron plate. Like daguerreotypes and ambrotypes, tintypes were unique pictures but they cost just a few pence – their cheap price generally reflected in their inferior quality. Produced in the US from the mid 1850s, tintypes were less fashionable in Britain, scarcely being recognised there until the later 1870s. Never widely popular, demand for these modest photographs nonetheless persisted until the 1940s. Well-suited to itinerant photographers, tintypes often depict outdoor scenes, such as the beach or fairground.

Surviving examples may be framed under glass in a decorative surround or may simply comprise a thin, sharp-edged piece of metal: tiny ‘gem’ tintypes were sometimes inserted into carte de visite or other card mounts.

Tintype (ferrotype), early-mid 1880s. Tintypes, produced in Britain from the late 1870s, are often quite informal photographs, showing family members enjoying a day out. (Pat FitzSimmons). Click to enlarge.

Portrait postcards c.1902-1940s

Postcards offered a new card format for photographic portraits in the early 20th century. The first picture postcards had appeared in the 1890s, but after 1902, following the introduction of a convenient divided back with separate spaces for the address and a short written message, they began to be used for presenting photographic portraits. Portrait postcards could be posted, like other postcards, but often the photograph was never intended for that purpose, being kept for the image.

Both commercial and amateur photographers used postcard mounts and many examples survive in family collections, dating from c.1902 until the 1940s.

Postcard portrait, c.1910. Many family photographs taken between c.1902 and the 1940s are mounted onto postcards with a divided back. (Kat Williams). Click to enlarge.

20th century card-mounted studio photographs

Some early 20th century studio photographs are neither cdvs, nor cabinet prints, nor postcards. Large or small prints were sometimes mounted onto a stout card of a pale or muted colour – usually off-white, beige, grey, soft brown or dusty green. Mounts were typically much larger than the picture, the wide border offering scope for subtle detailing – often a series of borders or a decorative surround pressed into the card.

In time, as photographic papers became sturdier, some photographs were presented in a folder. Between the 1920s and 1940s the fold-over card was popular: this had pre-cut slots in its back half for containing the photograph, while the front folded over to protect the image.

20th century mounted studio photograph, c.1900. Some early 20th century studio photographs are mounted onto thick, pale or sombre coloured card. The wide frame often has borders or designs pressed into the card. (Claire Dulanty). Click to enlarge.

Amateur ‘snapshots’

Amateur photography has existed for as long as professional photography, but for many years mainly the affluent, leisured classes followed the expensive and time-consuming pursuit. In the 1880s, following technical advances, some middle-class hobbyists began to shoot spontaneous photographs for their own amusement and some of these 19th century ‘snapshots’ do survive. Most families, however, didn’t take up amateur photography until the 20th century. The early-1900s saw a significant rise, with more rapid growth during the 1910s, and most casual snapshots in family collections date from that decade onwards.

Amateur ‘snapshot’, c.1926-30. Casual ‘snapshots’, usually outdoor photographs, are common in family collections. Although early examples can occur, most date from at least the 1910s. (Kat Williams). Click to enlarge.

Look out for the second blog in this series, coming soon. View Jayne’s website here

Further reading

The Victorians: Photographic Portraits, Audrey Linkman (Tauris Parke, 1993)

Dating Nineteenth Century Photographs, Robert Pols (The Alden Press, 2005)

Dating Twentieth Century Photographs, Robert Pols (The Alden Press, 2005)

Family Photographs and How to Date Them, Jayne Shrimpton (Countryside Books, 2008)

How to get the most from Family Pictures, Jayne Shrimpton (Society of Genealogists, 2011)