We ask you to complete our customer feedback surveys because your opinions are important to us. Your responses to our surveys provide us with crucial information about how we can improve our service.

As a thank you for taking part in these surveys, we have awarded a 12 month Full subscription to the following people:

November 2011 - Alan Leach
December 2011 - Jenny Woodall
January 2012 - Margaret Campbell

Thanks to all of you who took the time to complete our surveys. We award our prizes quarterly so the next round of prizes will be announced in May 2012.

We’re pleased to announce the winner of our December newsletter competition. We asked you this question:

‘What is the name of the column in the 1911 census that tells us about our family’s health?’

Congratulations go to Diane Lyddon from Barnstaple who correctly answered ‘infirmity column’. Diane wins a brilliant Panasonic digital camera.

Thanks to everyone who entered - you’ll find the next competition question in our January newsletter, coming very soon.

We’re very pleased to announce that our parent company, brightsolid, has been awarded Best Genealogy Organisation of 2011 in the GeneAwards 2011.

The award recognises the millions of new records that findmypast.co.uk published last year and highlights our investment in quality records. Also cited are the launch of findmypast Ireland and the British Newspaper Archive, as well as Find My Past the TV show.

See all the details of why we won

We’re very pleased to announce the lucky winners of our Start Your Family Tree Week competition.

Our winners are:

Claire Stafford, Grant Feltham, Andrea Heath, Rachel Willis, Mary Napper, Katherine Walsh, Maureen Bowler, John Lock, Joanne Collins, Richard Wilson, Jill Marquis, Anne Brown, Christine Hughes, Diane Dare, Ruth Elizabeth Hogan, Diane Gow, Louise Booth, Brenda Wordsworth, Lorna P Cowan, Jane Cree, Steven Shaw, Mary de Burgh, Amanda Prowse, Scott Hamilton, James Stewart, Christine Bone, Christine Hodgetts, John Perfect, Sue Herrington, Janet Taylor, Ann Evans, Carole Davies, Rosemary Rowley, Janet Digby, Kate Taubman, Susan Steel, Jane Roberts, Margaret Lawrence, Leona Thomas, Julie Griffiths, Helen Scott, Laura Clarke, Richard Spencer, Roy Norris and Stuart McGee.

Our winners have been awarded some fantastic prizes - see what they won

Take a look at the correct answers to our questions:

26 December:

Q: How many generations can you record on our free family tree chart (including yourself)?
A: Four

27 December:

Q: Where was Merry Christmas born in 1874?
A: Midhurst, Sussex

28 December:

Q: How old is the one child named Mistletoe in the 1911 census?
A: 10

29 December:

Q: In what year did Joan Christmas marry Peter Tree?
A: 1956

30 December:

Q: How many people called Holly Berry are there in the 1901 census?
A: Two

31 December:

Q: According to ScotlandsPeoples’ occupations guide, what is a Laxfisher?
A: Salmon fisherman

1 January:

Q: What discount code will save you 10% on a findmypast.co.uk subscription until 31 January?
A: NEWYEAR12

Thanks to everyone who entered - we hope you enjoyed it!

We’re pleased to announce the winner of our November newsletter competition. We asked you this question:

‘How much does a three month findmypast.co.uk voucher cost?’

Congratulations go to Nora Martin from Suffolk who found the correct answer on our gifting page: ‘£35′. Nora wins a copy of ‘Women’s Lives’ by Jennifer Newby.

Thanks to all of you who entered - look out for the next competition question in our December newsletter, coming very soon.

We’re very pleased to announce the winner of our October newsletter competition in which we asked you this question:

‘Which three events from WWII does our Honour our heroes photo collection focus on?’

Congratulations to Sue Redfern who correctly answered ‘D-Day, Battle of Britain and Dunkirk’. Sue wins a copy of ‘Air Raid Shelters of the Second World War’ by Stephen Wade.

Thanks to everyone who entered - look out for the next competition question in our November newsletter, coming very soon.

We ask you to complete our customer feedback surveys because your opinions are important to us. Your responses to our surveys provide us with crucial feedback about how we can improve our service.

As a thank you for taking part in these surveys, we have awarded a 12 month Full subscription to the following people:

August 2011 - Ruthven Whisker
September 2011 - Barry Edwards
October 2011 - Kerry Cook

Many thanks to all of you who took the time to complete our surveys. We award our prizes quarterly so the next round of prizes will be announced in February 2012.

We’re very pleased to announce the winner of our September newsletter competition in which we asked you this question:

‘We found an Arthur Thomas Bowman in the Manchester Workhouse Registers. In which year was he born?’

Congratulations to Tracy Suthers who correctly answered ‘1905′. Tracy wins a copy of ‘Tracing Your Ancestors’ by Simon Fowler.

Tracy found out the answer by searching the Manchester Workhouse Registers on findmypast.co.uk

Thanks to all of you who entered - look out for the next competition question in our October newsletter, coming very soon.

Today is Winnie the Pooh’s 85th birthday and to commemorate his author AA Milne, we’ve been investigating Milne’s family history.

Educational ancestors

We discovered that Milne came from a family of school teachers. Our first stop was the census records on findmypast.co.uk where we found Milne in the 1891 census. He is recorded at Henley House School, Mortimer Road, Hampstead, aged nine. He is listed as a scholar with his father, John Milne, the schoolmaster. John was born in Jamaica and was married to Sarah Heginbotham. See the record here:

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Ten years later, the 1901 census tells us that Milne’s father had moved on from Henley House School and was the schoolmaster at Streete Court School, Westgate-on-Sea, Kent. Milne was living with his aunt and uncle as a Cambridge undergraduate at this time.

Milne’s uncle, Alexander Milne, was the principal of the Boys’ Private School, University School, Holmesdale Gardens, Hastings. Alexander is listed in the Teachers’ Registration Council Registers 1914-1948 on findmypast.co.uk. He registered on 1 July 1919 and his career in education spanned 1871 to 1932. View Alexander’s record here:

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Our research revealed further evidence of teaching in Milne’s family. Milne’s mother and maternal grandmother, both named Sarah Heginbotham, were school mistresses at Brooklyn House, Wellington, Shropshire at the time of the 1871 census.

Milne’s paternal grandfather, William Milne, was recorded as being an inspector of schools in the 1861 census, which made us wonder whether he was the catalyst for the family’s teaching tradition.

At the time of the 1911 census, Milne was living at Broadgates, Steeple Bumpstead in Essex with his parents. Milne was recorded as being a journalist, working on his ‘own account and Punch‘. By this time, his father was a retired schoolmaster.

Milne on the move

We were intrigued to find Milne 20 years later in the passenger lists on findmypast.co.uk travelling as a first class passenger to the USA with his wife, Dorothy.

The couple were aboard the Aquitania, which departed Southampton for New York on 21 October 1931. In the detailed log, Milne is described as an author and his address is recorded as being 13 Mallord Street SW3. View the record here:

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As Milne’s ancestry demonstrates, you can glean huge amounts of detail when you find your ancestors in the Teachers’ Registration Council Registers 1914-1948 on findmypast.co.uk. We are working in partnership with the Society of Genealogists to bring you these rich records.

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

‘What is the name of Seb Coe’s paternal great-grandfather?’

Congratulations go to Lynne Nurhonen who correctly answered ‘Robert Coe’. Lynne wins a year’s subscription to Who Do You Think You Are? magazine.

Lynne found out the answer by reading our research into Seb Coe’s past.

Thanks to all of you who entered - look out for the next competition question in our September newsletter, coming very soon.