The WWI diaries of the war poet Siegfried Sassoon are published free online for the first time. The Workhouse. Children's Homes and Institutions

The WWI diaries of the war poet Siegfried Sassoon are published free on line for the first time. 

The 23 journals and two notebooks of poetry has been digitised by the Cambridge University Library and can now be read free of charge. This is the first time they have been made available to all.

There are 4,100-pages that describe life in the trenches, including the moment he was shot by a sniper at the Battle of Arras, and his description of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. They also contain pencil or ink sketches, notes on military briefings, and diagrams of the trenches.

The Diaries cover the war years when he was stationed on the Western Front and in Palestine after WWI up to 1927, and from 1931-32.

They can be found at Sasson Diaries Click on any Journal picture on the right of the page which opens the Journal and you can navigate through the pages.

Was one of you Ancestor's in the Workhouse?

You might be interested in The Workhouse  there is an amazing amount of information including photographs/plans and some indexes. The Workhouses include many in Kent such as Dartford, Bromley, Cudham and so forth.

Children's Homes and Institutions:

If your Ancestor or family were in a Children's Home or Institution The Children's Home site is worth looking at. It has many details of the different homes through out the Country including Kent. You can use the search facility to find them, such as the Home for Little Boys at Farningham, and the one at Hextable, Swanley.

The Lloyd’s of London Captains Registers Index-Free online. LMA Welcomes Your Questions. Exhibition exploring Bexhill on Sea in the First World War for 2014. Tenterden Museum, Kent WWI Exhibition Friday 18th April to Sunday 5th October 2014

The Lloyd’s of London Captains Registers Index has been completed and is available free online.

The LMA’s longest running project (1992-2014) the indexing of the Lloyd’s of London Captains Registers, 1869-1911 has been completed. The Registers give details of the careers of 68,824 captains and/or mates and certificate number on vessels whose voyage details were transmitted to Lloyd's of London. They can give a considerable amount of information about individual captains and their careers.

The indexes give place and date of birth and certificate number. If you wish to see the Registers you can either see them at the London Metropolitan Archives or use their copying service to order them.

The details of the project and how to search the Indexes can be found at Lloyd's Captains Indexes an Information leaflet on the Captains Registers can be downloaded (pdf) at Information leaflet no:50

LMA Welcomes Your Questions!

Until November 2014 the LMA are seeking questions about workhouse and poor relief records. LMA receives around 25,000 enquiries a year but most of the answers are only seen by one or two people.

The LMA newsletter readers are to be given a chance to peek inside their email answering service by inviting enquiries on a particular topic. They will publish the most interesting questions and answers in the next newsletter

To find out more about how to submit questions go to LMA Questions If you wish to join the Mailing List details can be found at the bottom of the page at LMA Mailing List

Tenterden Museum, Tenterden, Kent WWI Exhibition Friday 18th April to Sunday 5th October 2014.

Memorabilia from the museum collection to complement a large display of artefacts found on the battlefields of the Somme and Ypres, on loan from a private collector.  There is also detailed information on a fallen soldier from each of the 10 villages surrounding Tenterden and 2 from the town of Tenterden.  The exhibition has many other rarely seen artefacts recovered over the years from the trenches. Tenterden Museum

Temporary exhibition exploring Bexhill on Sea in the First World War for 2014.
Bexhill Museum is holding an Exhibition from Monday 3 February until Sunday 7 December 2014 Exploring Bexhill’s contribution to the Great War, and discovering what life was like for soldiers, nurses, refugees and civilians in the resort, during the war. Bexhill on Sea

North West Kent Family History Society on facebook. The Society was represented at the Imperial War Museum preview day

North West Kent Family History Society on facebook:

You can also find the NWKFHS on facebook where you can find out what is happening in the Society and in the Family History world in general. 

The Society was represented at the Imperial War Museum  preview day of the reopening of the Imperial War Museum and the new First World War galleries which officially opens to the public on the 19th July 2014.

Our representatives was impressed with the Exhibition:

" It is a very impressive exhibition and apart from the WW1 exhibition on the ground floor it also contains on the:  

First floor WW2 theme of "Family in Wartime" plus war story of "Supplying front line troops in Afghanistan."
Second floor "Secret War, Peace and Security 1945 -2014"
Third Floor "Horrible Histories Spies" and whilst meant for children I found fascinating (not sure what that says about me!) plus art galleries depicting British art of WW1

Forth floor "The Holocaust"
Fifth floor Lord Ashcroft gallery "Extraordinary Heroes" the largest collection of Victoria and George Cross decorations and tells the stories of 250 people.

A very worthwhile and enjoyable visit which I would recommend".

For more information see the IWM Website

Over 1,350 images now on NWKFHS flickr page free to view. Cray Community Festival, Sunday 6th July 2014. The white feather diaries. Folkestone commemorative arch to be unveiled on 4th August 2014

Over 1,350 images now on NWKFHS flickr page free to view.

There are now 1,350 images on the North West Kent Family History Society flickr site. They consists of documents such as Wills, Indentures, Post Cards from the early 1900's, Photographs and other items.

These are documents from the private collections/papers of Members of the Society who have agreed to allow the Society to place them on flickr. They are documents that would not normally be available to the public. As our Members have interests and families throughout the United Kingdom they cover the whole of the UK.

There are various categories broken down into regions, so why not have a look to see if there is something connected to your family history. They can be found at NWKFHS on flickr

Cray Community Festival, Sunday 6th July 2014: 

The NWKFHS will be at the Cray Community Festival being held at St Mary Cray Recreation Ground, Park Road, BR5 4AS  from 11am - 5pm. There are many activities being held on the day so why not come along and enjoy the day and visit the NWKFHS stand at the same time. 

Further details can be found at Cray Festival

The white feather diaries:

The White Feather Diaries is an online project using extracts from the writings of five Quakers during World War I,  it will serialise the diaries of conscientious objectors. Starts on August 4th 2014. More details can be found at White Feather Diaries

Folkestone commemorative arch to be unveiled on 4^th August 2014:

HRH Prince Harry will be at the unveiling of a dramatic arch on the Leas in Folkestone to commemorate the town’s important links to WWI. The stainless arch, designed by Philip Gearing of Foster Gearing, is being erected on the Leas in memory all who passed through the port en route to or from the Western front from 1915 onwards.

Details can be found at Step Short

Free NWKFHS emailinfoservice. BBC World War One At Home to tour UK. Exhibition - Your Country Calls. Folkestone Town Hall, Folkestone, Kent

Free emailinfoservice to keep you up to date with Society and Family History News.

The emailinfoservice offered by the Society is now open to all. It is a way of receiving up to date Society and other family history news. The service grew out of requests by Members at an AGM and is becoming more popular. There are now nearly 400 members who subscribe. 

If you would like to subscribe send an email to NWKFHS emailinfoservice stating you wish to subscribe.

You can also keep up to date with the Monthly Society Newsletter which can be found at NWKFHS Newsletters where in addition you can download and read Branch Newsletters. 

You can read and download all Society Journal from 1978 - 2008 for Free. They can be found at NWKFHS Journals (All links open in a new window)


Events in Kent.

BBC World War One At Home to tour UK: June 28 1914: Woolwich Great Get Together and Armed Forces Day.

Free event. The day consists of family-friendly events that includes hands-on activities, performances and interactive sessions designed to appeal to all ages. Visitors will be able to meet experts from Imperial War Museums to research their families’ connections to the war. IWM’s major digital centenary project, Lives of the First World War is an integral part of the tour.

More information can be found at BBC World War One and at the First World War Centenary Site (both sites open in a new window)

Exhibition - Your Country Calls: Enlistment to Embarkation. Folkestone Town Hall, 1-2 Guildhall Street, Folkestone, England, CT20 1DY:  24 June 2014 - 01 May 2015

The exhibition included items from the National Army Museum along with local artifacts and stories to explore how Folkestone became a gateway between Britain and the rest of Europe.

'Your Country Calls: Enlistment To Embarkation is in partnership with the National Army Museum, Step Short and Folkestone Town Council. There are accompanying talks, object handling sessions and live performances which explore how the First World War changed the world.

More details can be found at FolkestoneExhibition (opens in a new window)

NWKFHS Drop-in, Mottingham, Kent Library. 28 June 2014 at 10:00–16:00. Free downloadable WWI Guide. Change of Speaker for the Dartford Branch Meeting on 6th September 2014. Marriage Certificate Petition. Manorial Documents Conference – Saturday 12 July 2014, Chelmsford, Essex.

NWKFHS Free Drop-in, Mottingham, Kent Library. 28 June 2014 at 10:00–16:00.

North West Kent Family History Society is hosting a Free drop-in session at Mottingham, Kent Library. It is open to all so if you have hit a brick wall or perhaps researching your WW1 ancestors? Why not pop in to Mottingham library and see if we can help you.

You do not need to book just come along 28 June 2014 between 10:00–16:00

Mottingham Library (Facebook) 31 Mottingham Road, SE9 4QZ London, United Kingdom

Researching your WWI family? NWKFHS has a Free downoadable guide to WWI resources on the Internet.

This Free 13 page Guide (pdf) can be down loaded from NWKFHS WWI Centenary Page

Change of Speaker for the Dartford Branch Meeting on 6th September 2014.

Mr. Peter Daniel was due to give a talk on A history of Crayford's famous textile printers. Due to unavoidable circumstances this has had to be changed. Mr Colin Brown has kindly agreed to take his place on 6 September to speak about Ordnance Survey Ancient and Modern: A history of Ordnance Survey.

Details about the Branch can be found at Dartford Branch Meetings

There is a petition to have the name of the mother included in English and Welsh Marriage Certificates.
This has long been the case in Marriage Certificates in Scotland and Northern Ireland where both parents are named. How much easier our research would be had this been the case in the past in England and Wales. So far over 60,000 people have signed.

Signing the petition will help future family historians and recognise that the mother should be named and recognised.

If you would like to support this the petition can be found at Marriage Certificate Petition 

Manorial Documents Conference – Saturday 12 July 2014, Chelmsford, Essex.

Essex Records Office is holding a Conference:  Essex Through The Ages: Tracing The Past Using Manorial Documents. Saturday 12 July, 10.30am-3.30pm. Full details can be found at Essex Records Office You need to Book and there is a fee (£15 which includes Lunch).

Free downloadable guide to WWI research. NWKFHS Flickr items have have grown to over 1,000. Children of the Great War Free Open day Wednesday 9th April 2004 11 - 4 pm Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice

With apologies for the hiatus in posting last month:

Free down loadable guide to WWI research: NWKFHS has a free guide to WWI research that can be downloaded (pdf) from its World War I Centenary web page at WW I Centenary

You can also find details of WWI related talks being held during the year and the progress of the War Graves Project.

NWKFHS Flickr items have have grown to over 1,000. Documents, photographs, Post Cards e.t.c. some from the 18th century. There are also documents, photographs and other items connected with WWI. 

Many  that are held in the private collections and papers of Members that would not normally be easily accessible to others and cover the whole country, not just Kent. We would like to thank Members who have made them available to the Society to be used for the benefit of all.

They are divided into areas e.g. Kent 18th - 20th Century, WWI Military, North East England, Scotland and so forth. NWKFHS Flickr 

Children of the Great War Free Open day Wednesday 9th April 2014 11 - 4 pm Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice, 185 Bostall Hill, Abbey Wood SE2 0GB. Booking essential email Booking

NWKFHS Free to read/download Guide to WWI websites. NWKFHS meetings. Britain Remembers: The First World War Project Map.

NWKFHS Free to read/download Guide to WWI websites:

The North West Kent Family History Society Publications and Projects team along with Publicity have produced a guide to World War Websites and other useful information. It is freely available to anyone who wishes to use it to help with their research. It will be updated from time to time.

It can be read/downloaded at NWKFHS WWI Guide where you can also find other information about what the Society is doing to mark the Centenary of the start of WWI.

NWKFHS meetings:

Bromley Branch located at Bromley Methodist Church, College Road, Bromley BR1 3NS. Open at 9.45am. Visitors are welcome to come along.

21st  February 2014:  Paul Blake World War I Military Records.

Dartford Branch located at Dartford Science & Technology College, Heath Lane, Dartford DA1 2LY. Open at 9.45am. Visitors are welcome.

1st March 2014: Scott Belcher  The Historic Dockyard, Chatham

Sevenoaks Branch located at Sevenoaks Community Centre, Otford Road, Sevenoaks, TN14 5DN. Meetings start 8.00pm. Visitors are welcome.

13th March 2014:  Denise Baldwin & Kathy Hardy The Life of Douglas Macmillan

Please check the Society website at NWKFHS for any changes before travelling. Visitors are welcome at Society meetings, a donation is appreciated.

Britain Remembers: The First World War Project Map:

Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine? have created a central map where people can list and find out about projects near them or where their ancestors lived. First World War Project Map

The site states that During the centenary of the First World War, thousands of volunteers across the country will be working on different ways to remember those who lived, worked and fought during 1914-1918. There are hundreds of projects already in progress – some big, some small, but all deserving recognition.

WDYTYA will be Publicising new additions to the map in the magazine, in their Weekly Newsletter on Facebook and Twitter throughout the next four years.

NWKFHS WWI Projects: The War Graves Project. 1921 Census e-petition. Available free to search, The National Archives have digitised around 1.5 million pages of WWI war diaries with more to follow.

1921 Census e-petition:

An e–petition has been created by Gareth Farrell to request the Cabinet Office to amend the 1920 Census Act to make the publication of the census data exempt from the 100 year rule such that the 1921 census data can be published now. The petition points out that the 1931 census was destroyed and the 1941 census was never taken. If you would like to support the petition you can find it on the HM Government website

Available free to search, The National Archives have digitised around 1.5 million pages of WWI war diaries with more to follow and Crowd Sourcing Project:

The National Archives have digitised around 1.5 million pages of war diaries  and more will be released throughout this year as part of First World War 100, the National Archives centenary programme. 

This will allow researchers around the world to access the diaries, and has given us the opportunity to embark on a hugely exciting crowd sourcing project, Operation War Diary. This project asks for help to  classify the type of page and then tag key data from which will be created a detailed index to the people who appear in the pages. More information and for searches British Army War Diaries

NWKFHS WWI Projects: 

The War Graves Project: NWKFHS volunteers have been retaking photographs of War Graves at Cemeteries within our area which will be used to update the photographs on the War Graves Photographic Project which is a joint venture with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and assisting the Office of Australian War Graves, Canadian Veterans Affairs and the New Zealand Ministry of Heritage and Culture.

So far some 1,500 photographs have been taken and uploaded by the Society to the War Graves Photographic Project. In addition our volunteers have been identifying civilian WWI graves, family stones and resolving any problems that arise in information and details. 

The Society wishes to thank the various Churches and people who have helped with information and details and the volunteers are are giving so much time to this project.

WWI Graves in the following Churchyards/cemeteries have been rephotographed:

Ash & New Ash Green St Peter & St Paul Churchyard

Bexley St Mary’s Church

Bexleyheath Cemetery

Bidborough St Lawrence Churchyard

Biggin Hill Cemetery

Brasted St Martin Churchyard

Chelsfield St Martin of Tour Churchyard

Chevening Burial Ground

Chevening St Botolph

Cobham St Mary Magdalene New Churchyard

Darenth St Margaret of Antioch R.C. Churchyard

Dartford East Hill Cemetery

Dartford Watling Street Cemetery

Dartford Stone Cemetery

Dartford Joyce Green Hospital Cemetery

Erith Brook Street Cemetery

Erith St John the Baptist Churchyard

Eynsford Baptist Chapelyard

Eynsford St Martin Churchyard

Fawkham St Mary Churchyard

Footscray All Saints

French Street Private Burial Ground

Halstead St Margaret Churchyard
Hayes St May the Virgin Churchyard

Hartley All Saints Churchyard

Higham St Mary Churchyard

Horton Kirby St Mary New Churchyard

Ide Hill St Mary Churchyard

Ifield St Margaret Churchyard, Cobham

Ightham St Peter Churchyard
Kemsing St Mary Churchyard

Keston Parish Churchyard

Lamberhurst St Mary the Virgin Churchyard

Larkfield Holy Trinity

Longfield St Mary Magdalene

Meopham St John Churchyard

North Cray St James Additional Churchyard

Northfleet Cemetery

Nurstead St Mildred Churchyard

Orpington All Saints Chuchyard Extension

Orpington All Saints Churchyard

Otford St Bartholomew Churchyard

Paddock Wood St Andrew old Churchyard
Penshurst St John the Baptist Churchyard

Plaxtol Churchyard

Ridley St Peter Churchyard

Riverhead St Mary Churchyard

Shoreham St Peter & St Paul Churchyard

Sidcup Cemetery

Sidcup St John’s

Southfleet St Nicholas Churchyard

St Mary Cray, Star Lane Cemetery

St Paul's Cray, St Paulinus Churchyard

Stansted St Mary Churchyard

Sutton-at-Hone Burial Ground:

Swanley St Mary Churchyard

Swanley St Paul Churchyard

Swanscombe Cemetery

West Kingsdown (St. Edmund the King & Martyr) Churchyard (also known as The Church in the Woods)

West Wickham St John the Baptist Churchyard

Wrotham St George Churchyard Extension

Kent Wildlife Trust awarded an Heritage Lottery Fund for Robert Pocock, 1760-1830 research. Dartford Library Exhibition 16th November - 14th December 2013. Peace Pledge Union, in partnership with the Heritage Lottery Fund, Conscientious Objectors

 

Robert Pocock, 1760-1830, a Gravesend resident, by profession a printer and by inclination a botanist.... with connections to Henslow, SF Grey and other important figures of that period. Sadly he died in Wilmington and received a pauper’s burial.

Now the NWK Local Group of Kent Wildlife Trust has been awarded an Heritage Lottery Fund grant to find those herbarium sheets, produce a digital herbarium available to all and to host a celebration of Robert Pocock and his work as a botanist.

16 volunteers have been trained and are currently searching through the herbarium at the NHM to re collate the Pocock Herbarium.  So far some 70 sheets have been located, along with stray herbarium sheets from the Banksian Herbarium!

 

More details can be found on Robert Pocock

Dartford Library Exhibition 16th November - 14th December 2013: "Documentarium - Opening up Kent's Archives" which is currently on display at the Peter Blake Gallery in Dartford Library. This is a new exhibition by Alan Kane - an artists’ view of the county's history. More details can be found at Exhibition

The Peace Pledge Union, in partnership with the Heritage Lottery Fund, has announced the launch of a new project to uncover some of the neglected stories of the First World War. 

From 1916-1918 some sixteen thousand men registered as Conscientious Objectors Many of these men would face unfair trial, imprisonment and torture. Some were faced with the death penalty and over 100 would die as a result of their commitment to peace. After the war some were shunned and in the modern day their lives, stories and struggles are largely forgotten.

The project aims to find out who these men were - why did they object? Who supported them? What punishments did they receive. Peace Pledge Union

North West Kent Family History Society - flickr. Knole House Winter Lectures. WWI Soldiers Wills

North West Kent Family History Society - flickr

NWKFHS is now on flickr. As a start to the build up of the anniversary of the start of  WWI there are photographs of many aspects of the war. There are six sets consisting of some 130 photographs: Women and WWI, Civilians in WWI, WWI Entertainment, Cinema, Music, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Military WWI, How WWI was portrayed in Children's Comics and as Cartoons in Magazines.

The photographs are on subjects from all over the Country, it is hoped to have a set on Kent in WWI soon. NWKFHS flickr
 

Knole House, Sevenoaks, Kent, Winter Lectures:

Knole House is hosting a series of winter lectures in the property’s Great Hall. 

Lady Anne Clifford: was she Cleopatra?

Saturday 9 November 2013, 5-7pm

£15.00

Find out whether one of the extraordinary mistresses of Knole, Lady Anne, played the part of Cleopatra in this discussion and recreation of a 400-year-old play in the Great Hall, where it was once performed.

Lord Sackville’s Christmas Lecture

Tuesday 3 December 2013, 11:30-2pm

£35.00 including 2-course buffet lunch

Lord Sackville delivers his annual Christmas lecture; ‘Living at Knole’.

Normal for Knole: our unbelievable architecture

Tuesday 10 December 2013, 11:00-12:30pm

£15.00

Archaeologist Nathalie Cohen reveals why all the 'unusual, baffling, uncommon and singular things' about Knole - the wonky roofs, voids, hidden stairs and a timber structure that defies the laws of physics by staying up' are all normal - at least for Knole.

The writing on the walls of Knole

Thursday 12 December 2013, 11am-12:30pm

£15.00

Archaeologist Matt Champion discusses hundreds of years of graffiti at Knole. Why did people write and draw on the walls? What does it tell us about life in a great house?

You need to book in advance. Further details can be found at National Trust Knole House

WWI Soldiers Wills:

Some 230,000 wills of soldiers who died on the front are available on line. They are part of huge on line archive is also a part project which aims to make all war wills from the Boer War to the Falklands publicly available. It is free to search but you will have to pay for copies of a wills. The charge is £6, which seems high for a copy of a Will. Find A Will 

Low Price DNA Testing at Who Do You Think You Are Live. North West Kent Family History Society at Who Do You Think You Are Live. Faces of the First World War.

Low Price DNA Testing at Who Do You Think You Are Live.

DNA testing is an area of growing interest to Genealogists/Family Historians, though the price is starting to become more reasonable it is still not cheap or something that is affordable to all.

 

If you are at the Who Do You Think You Are Fair, 22 - 24th February 2014 you may wish to consider visiting the Family Tree DNA stand. They are apparently offering a basic Y-DNA test at a low price. They also have Workshops during the three days of the fair where you can learn more about DNA testing and what it can offer. WDYTYA Workshops

 

North West Kent Family History Society at Who Do You Think You Are Live.

If you are visitng the Fair do not forget to call in at the NWKFHS Stand number: 96 & 97. There will be publications, data CDs, Books and other items available for sale. You are more than welcome to just have a look and a chat about your family history or see how we can help you with your research of your family in the North West Kent and SE London (Parishes formerly in the NWK area).   NWKFHS Website

 

Faces of the First World War.   

 

The Imperial War Museum continues to add photographs to its IWM Collections' photostream on Flikr IWM Faces of WWI

 

"The idea behind the project is for people from across the world to help IWM uncover the stories of the people in the photographs, who served – and often died – in the First World War". More details on the project can also be found at First World War Centenary

 

You can now add your own photos,  "Only submit photos where you know the name of the person in the portrait and no more than three photos of a single individual". To be able to do so you need to be a member of the IWM Flickr Group.