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Posts Tagged ‘ British Newspaper Archive ’
Ask the expert – military photograph
Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, offers advice on how to solve your military family history mysteries.
From Martyn Newell:
‘James William Jeffs was born in 1884/86 in Hackney. He enlisted in the army in 1904 and served for seven years. In the 1911 census his occupation was ‘gas stoker’ and he lived at an address in East Ham. In 1914 he was recalled to the 2nd Battalion the Border Regiment as a reservist at the outbreak of the Great War.
He saw plenty of action before suffering with trench foot in the winter of 1914/15 and he was wounded – a gunshot wound to the arm – in the battle of Neuve Chapelle in 1915. He was sent home to recover before returning to join the 1st Border Regiment at the start of April 1916 on the Somme. He was killed on 6 April 1916 in a German bombardment that preceded a trench raid on the British front line. He was buried in the nearest location to where he fell and he lies with 12 other men of his unit in Auchnonvillers Communal Cemetery.
My question: the family have never found a photograph of James William Jeffs, although older family members said that one did exist. We wonder where we could look for a photo and how to go about it. We have made contact with people who have actually bought the house next to the cemetery where the soldiers are buried in France and they do battlefield tours – they would like to keep the memory of James and his unit alive and a photo would help them too. I have never found an entire military record for Private 7340 JW Jeffs to fill a few gaps that the family have, so any help would be fantastic.’
Paul says:
‘You have a great of information about this man already so you’re doing well! You may well have tried these potential sources but if you haven’t done so, now’s the time to tick these off:
- Post this self-same query on the Great War Forum and the Border Regiment forum
- Check the local newspaper/s for East Ham between 1914 and 1916. Newspapers are a greatly overlooked resource and while some are already online – and indeed brightsolid, findmypast.co.uk’s parent company, has a huge ongoing project with the British Library, the British Newspaper Archive – the majority are not. Check with Newham Archives to see if they hold copies on film, archiveslocalstudies@newham.gov.uk, and check with the British Newspaper Library
- Drop a line to the East of London Family History Society
- Find Living Relatives on findmypast.co.uk
- Consider looking at the photographic archive held by the Imperial War Museum in London and the Border Regiment Museum
Finally, start a blog and write about your relative; get some information online and let the search engines do the rest. You may be surprised at how many people contact you.’
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 – Boer War brick wall
Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, answers your queries.
From Keith Griffiths:
‘I’m trying to trace any record of my grandfather Howell Lewis Griffiths. He was born on 11 April 1878 in Carmarthen, Wales and is said to have fought in the 2nd Boer War in South Africa. I have not been able to trace a record as I do not have a regiment to which he may have been attached. Any help would be appreciated.’
Paul says:
‘You’re going to struggle with this as the medal rolls for the 2nd South African War often only list initials rather than first names. There is one H L Griffiths listed who served with the Commander in Chief’s bodyguard (number 22647) but you’d need more evidence to positively identify this man as your relative.
Why not try the local papers for the time and see if he is named either as going out to fight, or returning home? brightsolid online publishing and the British Library have just launched the British Newspaper Archive, where you’ll be able to search 4 million newspaper pages, rising to 40 million over the next 10 years. Read more about this and register here: www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk‘
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!
The British Newspaper Archive launches
Today marks the launch of the British Newspaper Archive, where you can search up to 4 million pages of historical newspapers online.
The British Library and brightsolid are working in partnership on this ground-breaking project, which will transform the way that historical newspapers are used to find out about our past. The website offers access to up to 4 million fully searchable pages, featuring more than 200 newspaper titles from every part of the UK and Ireland.
The newspapers – which mainly date from the 19th century, but which include runs dating back to the first half of the 18th century – cover every aspect of local, regional and national news. Thousands of new pages will be added to the collection every day, to reach up to 40 million pages over the next 10 years – this is an unmissable resource for your family history research.
Alongside first-hand accounts of historic events, such as the wedding of Victoria and Albert and the Charge of the Light Brigade, the newspapers also provide numerous rich details about how our ancestors lived. You can search a wealth of material to help your family history research, including family notices, announcements and obituaries. The ability to search by name, location, date and newspaper title means that you can search hundreds of thousands of pages at a time to track down those elusive ancestors.
Findmypast.co.uk’s marketing executive, Amy Sell, has made a fascinating discovery of her own in the archive. She found an article about her great-great-great-grandfather, Richard Howard, who was accused of stealing a pocket watch. We learn Richard’s fate at the end of the article: ‘Verdict: “Not guilty” – this caused much surprise in court.’
As well as adding new and colourful information to her family tree, the article also tells Amy the following about her great-great-great-grandfather:
- His age in 1867 (30)
- His occupation (chimney sweep)
- Where he was from (Hitchin, Hertfordshire)
- His father (Amy’s great-great-great-great-grandfather)’s name (James Howard) and the words he used to describe his son’s character
- Information about her ancestor’s whereabouts in the 1850s – his father said “he has been at Biggleswade for ten years, and works for all the gentry”.
Search the British Newspaper Archive now