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Search 18,000 new Thames and Medway records

If you have Thames and Medway ancestors in your family tree, you’ll be pleased to know that we have just published 18,219 new Thames and Medway baptism, marriage and burial records on findmypast.co.uk

Local specialist Rob Cottrell provided findmypast.co.uk with these records. This release represents the latest update to our Thames-side and Medway records collection.

See the table below for the details of these records:

Read more about this exciting collection on our Thames-side and Medway page

Search for your Thames and Medway ancestors now

Fantastic new subscription prices on findmypast.co.uk

Best value in history

At findmypast.co.uk, we’re committed to offering you the best possible value when researching your family tree. That’s why we’ve just reduced the prices of our most popular subscriptions, Full and Foundation.

As an example of the significant amount of money you’ll save, our 12 month Full subscription used to cost you £129.95. With our new prices, you will now pay just £109.95.

For those of you with Explorer and 1911 census subscriptions, we hope you’ll take this opportunity to upgrade to a Full or Foundation subscription at the new reduced prices and enjoy access to more records for less money.

Remember that when you choose a Full subscription, the thousands of new records we add to findmypast.co.uk each month will automatically be included in your subscription.

As before, our existing customers will still pay even lower prices when they renew, thanks to our loyalty discount.

See our reduced prices now

Ask the Expert – unusual last name

Our resident expert Stephen Rigden, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Ray Norval in Brisbane, Queensland:

‘Can you help me? I am searching for any information as to the ancestry of my maternal grandmother Nellie Buckley Formiston. We think she was born in 1880, birthplace unknown, but lived in West Hartlepool. Family legend has it that she came from a seafaring family and that her father was a ship’s master and died at sea. She spoke of a brother Geordie. In the census we found a George Formiston who was born about 1875, was a seaman and died in the Throston Road Workhouse in 1902.

We can find no record of Nellie leaving England but we know she married John Frederick Towers in St Mary’s Church Woodstock Capetown in March 1905. The record of marriage does not contain any reference to parents of either party. Her husband emigrated to Queensland in 1889 with his parents and enlisted with the Queensland Imperial Bushmen to fight in the Boer War.

He returned to Australia with his contingent in 1902, presumably going back to South Africa in 1905 to marry Nellie. They returned to Australia where the first of their four daughters was born near Ipswich in 1906. Nellie died in Brisbane in 1956, her early life a mystery to her family. Her husband died in a gold mining accident in 1937 – Nellie never remarried. Any tips or clues would be gratefully received.’

Stephen says:

‘Thanks for your intriguing question.

The first thought that struck me was that I had never heard of the last name Formiston before and that it might be a variant of another name. After a little research, it is clear that it certainly exists in its own right (very locally, in Cheshire, for example) but I believe that the original version of the name for this particular family was Formstone. On the 1881 census there is a family named Formstone including children David (aged 7, born Fleetwood, Lancashire), George (aged 5, born Rock Ferry, Cheshire), Ellen (aged 4, born Birkenhead, Cheshire) and Rosette (aged 1, also born Birkenhead). If I am right, Ellen will be your Nellie.

They are residing at Back Cottage in Church Street, Thornton, in the Fylde, Lancashire. The census reference is RG11 piece 4255 folio 128 page 8 (use this reference to go straight to the right page on findmypast.co.uk’s census reference search. I also noticed that there was a Rose Formiston on the 1901 and 1911 censuses in Hartlepool who was born circa 1879/80 and who, therefore, matches the 1881 Rosette (even though she claims later to have been born in Kilburn or Paddington, London – this may suggest that the family moved to London when Rose was a child).

One tip for searching the censuses is to progressively subtract letters from the end of the last name and use an asterisk (*) for a trailing wildcard search. In other words, if you get no relevant results with an expected spelling, such as Formiston in this instance, start by removing one or more letters from the end of the name, using your judgement as to what might have been either different in the original spelling or, for that matter, misspelt by the census enumerator or mis-transcribed during the process of digitisation. Each time you remove one or more letters, you will multiply the search results returned to you. Searching under Form* will, therefore, bring back all results for last names beginning with these letters, including those relevant to this case (you might also wish to consider replacing the first vowel, i.e., names beginning Farm- rather than the expected Form-).

In any event, the mother of this family is Margaret Formstone, a 25-year old widow and charwoman, a British subject born in “Hindustan” (i.e., British India). If she was the mother of David, then the 1881 census suggests that she had her eldest child when she was little more than 18 years of age. I searched on the Lancashire Online Parish Clerk website and found two references to the family: 21-year old mariner Henry Formstone (son of Richard) married 19-year old Margaret Craig (daughter of John) on 11 February 1873 in Fleetwood and their son David was born and baptised there three months later, on 9 May 1873.

Hopefully, with this information, you can resume the search for your ancestors.

Incidentally, I can let you in to a secret. Our plans for imminent new record set releases include two different types of records of merchant marines, plus a significant collection of records for the county of Cheshire. Both of these may well contain records of value to your Formiston/Formstone family history research. They should all be online within the next three months. Good luck with your research!’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

Ask the Expert – missing battalion

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Ian McIntosh in Cambridgeshire:

‘Please can you help? My grandfather was in the Liverpool Regiment in WW1. I have his medals which are inscribed on the edge. What I am looking for is which Battalion he was in and where he went during his service period.

His name was Otto Dorer McIntosh. From the information I have on the paperwork that accompanied the medal he was a Sergeant. The number on the medal is 57981.

I believe he was injured and in hospital at one point in Arras, France. I look forward to hearing from you and hope you can guide me to the correct information.’

Paul says:

‘Determining a battalion from numbers can sometimes be done but I’m afraid not in this case. The number does, however, indicate that it was given to him in late 1916; probably November or December of that year. He may have attested earlier, however, and been called up at this time. I see that he married in early 1916 and this would have placed him in a lower call-up category than he would have been in had he been single.

If he had attested under the Derby Scheme, he would have been placed into one of 46 groups. Group 1 was for single 18-year-olds, Group 2 for single 19-year-olds right up to Group 23 for single 40-year-olds. Group 24 was for married 18-year-olds, Group 25 for married 19-year-olds and so on. In early 1916, Otto would have been married and 23-years old so he could have been in Group 29. Alternatively, had he been conscripted he would have fallen into Class 6, which was for those men born in 1892. Without seeing a service record, it’s difficult to know whether he was a Derby Scheme man or a conscript.

Your best bet in trying to track down a battalion would be to have somebody check the medal rolls at The National Archives. As you know, he was entitled to the British War and Victory Medals and at some point transferred to the RAF. Details of his medals are in the RAF rolls: RAF/101 B16 Page 314. It may also be worth contacting the RAF museum at Hendon to see if they hold any additional information about your grandfather.’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

Ask the Expert – military Malta mystery

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, answers your queries.

From M Marshall in Barnet, Hertfordshire:

‘A relative called John Telford Graham (born 1890/91) came from Newcastle upon Tyne and served in the First World War. He belonged to The Army Medical Corps (Territorial Force) and died on 15 July 1917 in Malta. His army number was 386384 and his rank was Private.

What was the cause of John’s death? Where was he buried in Malta? Why was his unit serving in Malta? I would be most grateful if you could answer these questions.’

Paul says:

‘Soldiers Died in The Great War notes simply ‘died’ which probably means that he died as a result of sickness or accident; probably the former, as Pieta Military Cemetery dealt with the sick and wounded from Gallipoli and Salonika. The Commonwealth war Graves Commission gives the following information:

Name: GRAHAM, JOHN TELFORD
Initials: J T
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Royal Army Medical Corps
Unit Text: 2nd/1st Northumbrian Field Amb
Age: 26
Date of Death: 15/07/1917
Service No: 386384
Additional information: Son of John Sewell Graham and Margaret Ann Graham, of “Holmside,” Armstrong Rd., Benwell, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: C. XIV. 5.
Cemetery: PIETA MILITARY CEMETERY

The 2/1st Northumbrian FA was initially part of the 63rd (2nd Northumbrian) Division and you can read more about this Division on The Long, Long Trail website. From the information contained here, the unit had moved to Salonika as Army Troops in September 1916.’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

July newsletter competition winner

We’ve picked the winner of our July newsletter competition in which we asked you this question:

‘In the 1861 Worldwide Army Index, can you name the ranks of the three soldiers named ‘Geeves’?’

Congratulations go to John Hayward from Newport, Gwent who correctly answered ‘trumpeter, hospital sergeant and corporal’.

John found out the answer by searching our 1861 Worldwide Army Index. He wins a copy of Pen and Sword’s military DVD, ‘Tracing Your Great War Ancestors’.

Many thanks to all of you who entered – look out for the next competition question in our August newsletter, coming soon.

Thousands of new Gwent parish records published

You can now search 79,842 new parish records for Gwent on findmypast.co.uk

The records cover the period 1634 to 1933 – a vast time span in which to search for your ancestors.

The Gwent Family History Society provided us with these records, in association with the Federation of Family History Societies

Read on for the details of this exciting release:

Search for your Gwent ancestors now

Family photos: family snapshots

Welcome to the eighth in our series of blogs about how to understand and interpret your old family photos. In this series, Jayne Shrimpton, internationally recognised dress historian, portrait specialist, photo detective and regular contributor to Family Tree, Your Family History and Family History Monthly magazines, dates and analyses different types of photographs and helps you to add context to your old family pictures.

Jayne Shrimpton

In our photo blog series so far, we have been looking mainly at professional studio photographs (with the exception of some outdoor wedding scenes – see previous blog). This time we turn to family ‘snapshots’ – informal photographs set in real surroundings, taken by amateur photographers.

History of amateur photography

Amateur photography – as distinct from professional, commercial photography – was practised from the earliest times. For many years, however, it remained essentially a genteel pastime for the privileged classes – those with the means to buy expensive, elaborate apparatus and leisure time to devote to experimenting with the medium.

Unmotivated by business interests, early amateur photographers tended to be more interested in the aesthetic aspects of their craft and often shared knowledge and ideas through photographic societies. Family picture collections today very occasionally include early amateur photographs from the 1840s to the 1870s, but such examples are rare.

During the 1880s, various innovations gave a significant boost to amateur photography. Dry photographic plates became widely available – more sensitive and more convenient than the old wet plate method – and ‘modern’ developing out papers for producing prints also came into general use. Price reductions in photographic equipment and supplies also made photography more affordable for middle-class hobbyists, but perhaps the greatest change of all came with improved camera design.

In the United States, George Eastman was trialling gelatine-coated paper-backed film for use in roll form in a specially-designed camera. In 1888 he launched the Kodak No.1 camera – a relatively simple box camera loaded with a 100-exposure roll of film: this was sent back to the Eastman factory for processing, the camera also being re-loaded there and returned to the customer. To demonstrate the ease of the new method, Kodak devised the famous slogan: “You push the button, we’ll do the rest.”

The traditional glass plate method was still used by professionals and serious amateurs, who usually processed their own pictures, but taking photographs no longer necessitated advanced technical skills, artistic ability or complex equipment.

For enthusiasts with little expertise, the practise of photography was becoming much easier. It was at this time that the term ‘snapshot’ (first coined in 1860) began to be popularly used to describe the spontaneous photographs being taken by the new wave of amateur photographers or ‘snapshooters’. Amateur photography was still a specialist interest in the 1880s and 1890s and owning a camera was not yet an option for the masses, but a few of today’s private photograph collections do include late-Victorian family snapshots (see Fig.s 1 & 2).

By the early 20th century, amateur photography was gathering momentum and was soon to become a leisure activity enjoyed throughout society. In 1900 the user-friendly Box Brownie camera was launched – again ready-loaded with film – and this inexpensive, popular model encouraged many ordinary working people to try out photography for themselves.

By the 1910s new, more convenient models of camera were also coming onto the market, such as the Kodak Vest Pocket Camera, introduced in 1912. During the First World War reputedly many soldiers took one of these folding cameras away with them and a massive increase in sales was recorded during 1915. Evidently the 1910s were definitely a turning point, for significantly more family snapshots survive for this period than for the previous decades (see Fig.s 3-5). By the interwar era the camera was a familiar gadget in many homes, snapshot photography was becoming increasingly popular and professional studio photographs were no longer in such high demand.

Family snapshots

Photographs were taken by the family photographer to record both special events and everyday scenes and all private photograph collections are likely to include amateur snapshots. A few family historians may be fortunate in possessing late-Victorian or Edwardian examples; however, the majority of surviving snapshots date from at least the 1910s. Most of those taken during the early-mid 20th century are set outdoors where there was a natural source of light, for illuminating interiors was difficult in the period before flashbulbs came into general use.

Colour photographs may very occasionally crop up by the 1930s or 1940s, but colour photography was still in its infancy, and most family snapshots taken before the mid-1960s will be black and white images.

Unlike formal studio photographs carefully composed in contrived, artificial settings, casual family snapshots portray earlier generations posing more spontaneously in genuine surroundings, so they provide more realistic and accurate portraits. They may include elderly ancestors who had lived most of their lives in the 19th century, or, conversely, much younger relatives who are still alive today.

From the garden of the family home to a weekend picnic spot or a favourite holiday destination, they show the places that family members frequented and where they spent their leisure time. Some scenes are full of interesting historical detail, including images of the friends, neighbours, colleagues, household pets, vehicles, buildings, objects and material possessions that were familiar to the family in earlier times. Family snapshots are therefore of tremendous documentary value to today’s researchers, offering fascinating visual records of domestic, working and social lives and glimpses of special and everyday human experiences.

Surveying the evidence

Sometimes the subjects and/or settings of old snapshots are instantly recognisable, or perhaps a reliable verbal explanation has been passed down through the family. In some cases the back of the paper print or an album page may be annotated with helpful handwritten details such as names, the year and the geographical location.

Other snapshots from the past may initially be unidentifiable and, frustratingly, also unlabelled – baffling images of unfamiliar people or places. But before giving up, consider whether a snapshot may perhaps be recognisable by someone else within the family: it may well be worth consulting older relatives for ideas or information.

It’s also possible that another family member has a copy of the same, or a very similar scene that has been annotated on the back by the photographer or one of the people in the picture. Finally, remember to look closely at other snapshots in the wider collection, as one image may be able to shed light on another, as transpired with Fig.1 below.

Some family snapshots remain elusive and appear to give little away: perhaps they are proving hard to positively identify or the setting seems to be a complete mystery, as is often true of open landscapes. Even if this is the case, remember that there is factual information to be gleaned from every surviving image and further analysis and research may eventually lead to clarification of the scene.

Dating family snapshots

As with all types of old photograph, it is important to try to determine an accurate date range for undated family snapshots as this will automatically narrow down the possibilities regarding identification of the subjects and setting. Unlike professional photographs, with snapshots there is no studio setting, card mount style or photographer data to help with dating, although it may be possible to loosely date the size of the print (see Recommended Reading for books offering further tips).

Otherwise, any date estimate has to be based on the visual image itself. Much has been written in family photograph books about spotting different kinds of visual clues that can potentially help with dating a snapshot: for example, buildings or street scenes may suggest a particular time frame. Various different elements in a picture could, theoretically, be relevant, but in my experience the most useful features are the fashions worn by the subjects and any vehicles occurring in the scene.

Fashion clues

Through experience of studying clothing styles, or with useful visual sources or dress-dating guides to hand, it is always possible to gain a reliable time frame for a photograph from the dress worn by its subjects. With casual snapshots taken at home or out and about, people aren’t always wearing their most fashionable ‘Sunday best’ outfits, but even so ordinary day clothes, comfortable holiday and beach garments and sports wear can always be dated to within about 10 years – if not a closer time frame.

In blog No.5 we looked at dating family photographs from their fashion clues and this gave a basic timeline of the main developments in dress up until the mid-20th century. In addition, several of the books in the Recommended Reading will provide more detailed guidance and many good images with which to compare your own snapshots.

Vehicles

Some 20th century snapshots will include a family car or motorbike, or a charabanc, bus or commercial van or lorry in the picture – vehicles that offer dateable evidence. Motor vehicles can usually be dated approximately from their make and model and perhaps very closely from their number plate, if this is visible. In addition letters on the plates may show the district of registration, thereby offering further clues as to geographical location.

Three of the photos in the snapshot sequence below were analysed and dated by car experts from the Surrey Vintage Vehicle Society – Fig.s 5, 8 & 10. The wonderful website of the SVVS (www.svvs.org.uk) displays thousands of historic images of all kinds of motor vehicles, providing helpful visual comparisons for family snapshots, while their ‘Help’ page offers free assistance with identifying/dating vehicles in family photographs.

In addition, Old Classic Car – www.oldclassiccar.co.uk – includes a helpful Car Registration Numbers Index. Also some of the major car manufacturers have a ‘heritage’ division within their organisation and sometimes an archivist who may be able to explain more about early cars owned by the family.

Some wheeled vehicles that crop up in photographs are of the non-motorised variety: – bicycles, tricycles, tandems and other contraptions that moved by pedal-power (Fig.s 11 & 12). In the 1930s when health, outdoor exercise and physical fitness were high on the agenda, and before there were many cars on the road, cycling became very popular, with membership of cycling clubs soaring and major cycle races being organised.

For help with identifying and dating these kinds of vehicles in photographs, visit bicycle history websites or search online for an independent expert who can help you – they do exist!

Further research

Even when a snapshot is dated, or its subject(s) and location have been identified, it can be very rewarding to carry out further investigations, to try to discover more about the scene and gain a clearer understanding of how it fits into the family’s history.

There has never been a better time to research old family photographs, especially if you have access to the internet, as so many collections of historical material are now available online and you never know exactly what you will find once you begin digging around.

Try scouring some of the online image collections that exist, for example county archive photo collections or community or local history websites, as these may display dated photographs from the past that have a bearing on your own snapshots. Or take the central subject/theme of the picture as a starting point and try to discover more about what it represents, or its history.

Consulting official records and delving into other random sources helped with confirming and fleshing out the details of several of the photographs in the sequence below. For example the estimated date and location of the early snapshots seen in Fig.s 1 & 2 were supported by checking census returns and ships’ passenger lists; general internet research and obtaining a naval service record helped to explain the setting and context of Fig.9; Fig.11 was firmly located by deciphering the image clues and researching holiday camp history online, while a new perspective on Fig.14 was gained by learning about early surfboards and surfing traditions with help from www.museumofbritishsurfing.org.uk.

Old pictures can be enjoyed on many levels and sometimes it takes patience and ingenuity to unravel all their layers of interest and meaning. Casual family photographs may seem to be very ordinary images, but every one is fascinating and valuable, offering a vivid snapshot of family life in the past.

Fig.1 The garden at ‘Arreton’ Surrey Road, Bournemouth, c.1888 - click to enlarge. This early amateur snapshot was initially undated and the location uncertain, but fashion clues indicated a late-1880s date. Meanwhile another snapshot showing the same grassy bank was found, marked ‘Arreton’, confirming the family’s address recorded on the 1881 census. These and other photographs are thought to have been taken by the father of the children, on a visit from Argentina. Recently the original glass plate negatives have also been found (Pat Brady)

Fig.2 Argentine picnic, 1899 - click to enlarge. Another early, undated snapshot, this interesting picnic scene set in the Argentine bush depicts female ancestors from Fig.1 visiting their relatives who had been cattle ranchers in Argentina since c.1870. The style of the younger women’s blouses here suggested a mid-late 1890s date and the photograph’s owner, consulting ships’ passenger lists, found a record of the English guests arriving in Argentina in March 1899 – a date that perfectly fits the photograph (Pat Brady)

Fig.3 In the park, Manchester area, Spring/Summer 1913 - click to enlarge. By the 1910s amateur photography was becoming increasingly popular and most surviving family snapshots will date from around this time onwards. This undated scene shows a young family apparently enjoying leisure time in a public park, the 1913 date judged from the children’s birthdates of August 1910 and July 1912. Although the father – always a snappy dresser – looks rather over-dressed for the occasion, his wife and boys’ garments are just right for that year (Claire Dulanty)

Fig.4 The garden at 33 (‘Livonia’) Broomwater, Teddington, Middx, 1914 - click to enlarge.This dated snapshot is typical of casual summer photographs taken during the 1910s, which often depicted family members at home, relaxing in their garden. These relatives were recorded at 33 Broomwater on the 1911 census, a house they rented after returning from Argentina, before buying No.11 in the same road. The clothing styles of the various age groups reflect very accurately the 1914 date (Pat Brady)

Fig.5 Car outing, Stamford, Connecticut, USA c.1918-19 - click to enlarge. The little girl seen here with her nanny in the back of the car was born in New York City in 1913 and lived there until the family moved out to Connecticut in 1918. Her mother is at the wheel of the family’s first car, at time when only wealthier families owned their own vehicle. The car has been positively identified by the SVVS as a 1916 Overland 81 Touring (Claire Dulanty)

Fig.6 Bathing on Thurlston Beach, South Devon, 1924 - click to enlarge. Annual summer breaks in Britain were enjoyed by many ordinary families before the introduction of cheap foreign package holidays. Devon was always a popular seaside destination and this beach snapshot, dated 1924, shows relatives wearing the modest jersey bathing costumes typical of the early-mid 1920s (Fiona Adams)

Fig.7 Church group outing, c.1926-30 - click to enlarge. Membership of church groups and social clubs was popular in the inter-war era and this family snapshot depicts what was perhaps a church outing for women and children. It is undated but the style of the women’s outfits, especially their short skirts and close-fitting cloche hats, confirms a date range of c.1926-30 (Katharine Williams)

Fig.8 Great Southern Railways charabanc outing, Ireland c.1927-30 - click to enlarge. Charabancs were often used for group outings in the inter-war era and this snapshot shows colleagues or friends riding in a charabanc bearing the crest of the Great Southern Railways. The SVVS advised that the GSR was an Irish railway company formed in 1924 which also took over several private bus operators in Ireland between 1926 and 1929. They identified the vehicle as a 1927 Lancia Charabanc, offering the earliest possible year for the photograph, while the men’s appearance suggests a date no later than 1930 (Claire Dulanty)

Fig.9 On the beach in Yugoslavia (Croatia), 1932 - click to enlarge. This snapshot depicts crew members from the Royal Navy C-class light cruiser HMS Coventry, enjoying off-duty time on the beach. A handwritten note on the back gives the date and location: ‘At “Abbazia” Jugo-Slavia. August 1932’. Internet research showed Abbazia (Italian for Opatija) to be a popular resort on the Adriatic coast of western Croatia, formerly Yugoslavia. The family researcher obtained his relative’s service record and the ship’s itinerary, which confirmed this to be one of many ports at which it docked between April and October 1932 (Patrick Davison)

Fig.10 Summer snapshot, Connecticut, USA c.1934 - click to enlarge. This snapshot screams 1930s, from the sleek lines of the car to the stylish young woman wearing fashionable bobbed, waved hair and sundress – the child from Fig.5. The SVVS identified her car as a 1933 Plymouth Convertible and it is known to have been a special 21st birthday present from her parents in June 1934 (Claire Dulanty)

Fig.11 Holiday at Maddieson’s, Hemsby, Norfolk 1937 or 1938 - click to enlarge. My father (left) once told me that he and his friends had enjoyed a holiday shortly before WW2 at one of Britain’s new holiday camps. Researching this photograph online revealed that Maddieson’s, Hemsby - a holiday camp situated on the Norfolk coast - had only opened in the 1930s. These young men from London all wear casual holiday wear - shorts, sports shirts and V-necked sweaters (Jayne Shrimpton)

Fig.12 Cycling club outing, Essex 1938 - click to enlarge. This snapshot dated 1938 on the back shows members of a cycling club touring the countryside. Cycling was a very popular activity during the 1930s, when bicycles became less expensive and there were few cars on the road. The young men and boy here may look rather formally-dressed to us, but wear comfortable sports gear of the time – shorts, open-necked shirts and linen jackets (Katharine Williams)

Fig.13 Outside Hazeldene, Greywell, Hampshire 1940s - click to enlarge. Relatives posing proudly on the front doorstep of their house are a common theme of family snapshots, this unmarked photo dateable to the 1940s from the lady’s hairstyle and clothing. The house, bearing her maiden name, was built in 1926, three years after the couple’s marriage. Eventually passing to the husband’s brother, it remained a much-loved family home for over 80 years, until 2009 (Katharine Williams)

Fig.14 On holiday, possibly Selsey, East Sussex 1946 - click to enlarge. A note on the back of this snapshot records that my mother was photographed in 1946 (when aged 15). She lived in London but families soon returned to Britain’s beaches after the war and this snapshot may have been taken near Selsey in East Sussex, where our family had friends. At first it seemed odd that at that date she would be carrying what looks to be a small surfboard, but the Museum of British Surfing confirmed this to be an early type of board, then called a ‘surf rider board’ – used like today’s belly boards (Jayne Shrimpton)

Recommended reading

The Snapshot Photograph: The Rise of Popular Photography, 1888-1939, by Brian Coe & Paul Gates (Ash & Grant, 1977)
Dating 20th Century Photographs by 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)
Everyday Fashions of the 20th Century, Avril Lansdell (Shire Publications, 1999)

148,000 new burial records to search on findmypast.co.uk

Great news for anyone with East Surrey or East Kent ancestors: we’ve just published 148,316 new burial records for these areas.

The details of these records are as follows:

• St Mary parish in Lambeth: 20,315 records covering 1819-1838. The East Surrey Family History Society provided these records.
• East Kent: 128,001 records covering 1802-1846. These records are from the East Kent Burial Index.

Find your ancestors in our burial records now

Improving the way we organise historical records

Hello – my name is Ian Tester, and I’m findmypast’s product manager. I wanted to let you know about a fundamental change we’re about to make to the way findmypast.co.uk is organised, which should make it a lot easier for you to find and search the millions of new records we’re adding to the site every month.

Findmypast has grown an awful lot since we last designed the way the records are organised. We’ve added millions of records that don’t fit into the main categories of births, marriages and deaths/census/military/migration/living relatives and, at the moment, they are often either being wedged into a section where they don’t really fit, or being put into specialist records.

This doesn’t make it easy for you to discover and use some of the fantastic historical records that are regularly being provided by our record partners. You’ve probably also noticed that we’ve significantly upped the rate at which we put new records online – and the number of records we are adding each year is increasing all the time.

Ian Tester, findmypast

So the site is already beginning to burst at the seams and there are lots of very exciting new collections on the way that deserve new sections to accommodate them. We’ve spent several months working with our members to find a set of categories that will allow us to make room for the new records and make better sense of the records that are already online. Many thanks to the hundreds of you who have taken the time to complete surveys and participate in research sessions to help get us to this point!

The result of all this hard work is that in the next month, you’ll begin to see some changes to the site. The first one is that the main record categories across the blue navigation bar at the top of the site will all come under a single new category: “Search records”. Within this category, you’ll be able to choose from a range of sub-categories of records, just as you can now. The new sub-categories are very similar to the current ones in many cases, but you’ll notice a few new ones as well.

• Life events (births, marriages and deaths) – this will be very similar to the current BMD section and will continue to contain our millions of parish records
• Census, land & surveys – as well as our best-in-class England & Wales censuses (including our complete 1911 census), this will include fabulous new records, including historical electoral rolls
• Armed forces & conflict – our comprehensive military collections will live here
• Education & work – with fantastic school and merchant marine records on the way, we need a new sub-category. You’ll also find some gems currently buried in the specialist section
• Institutions & organisations – covering workhouses, hospitals and more, you’ll also find some fabulous new court records in future, as well as records that are sprinkled across other sections at the moment
• Travel & migration – is very similar to our current migration section, but has some lovely new international records on the way
• Living relatives & directories – this will give us room to expand the directories that we hold, way beyond the current living relatives directories

These new sections are designed to be as futureproof as possible, so you’ll also notice a few more new sub-categories appear over time as new records come online. A fringe benefit of creating more space on the blue navigation bar at the top of the site is that we’re making room for some very exciting new tools, including what we hope will be one of the best “saved records” tools available.

Obviously it’s hard to imagine these changes before they go live, but let us know if you have any thoughts on this approach.

We’re very excited to be making such a large-scale improvement, especially as it has taken lots of time to test and refine the new sub-categories so that they make sense to our members. Keep your eyes peeled for other improvements in the coming months – there’s a pile of exciting new features in the pipeline, as well an awful lot of exciting new records…