British Libraries launch the Newspaper Archive. Marian Emily Crowden born 15 April 1888, Lewisham, Kent. Harold Bradley born 17 September 1888, Hackney. Roy Argyle Galloway born 1889 Brighton.

Victorian Magazines, newspapers and other publication are much in the news with the announcement that the British Libraries are launching  the Newspaper Archive on the Internet. See Search the Archive for Free.

It is not only in Newspapers that genealogical and other family history details can be found. Such information can be found in more obscure places within publications.

The Royal Academy Pictures-a supplement to The Magazine of Art (founded in 1838) published in Victorian Times provided pictures of various artists, some of which illustrated the lives of 'ordinary' people. It also carried advertisements some of which included letters and in some instances photographs of family members. One such advertisement was for Mellin's Emulsion a food for "Delicate Children and Weakly Adults". The advert contained letters from users praising the product. The letters also contained the names and addresses of the writers plus photographs of the children who 'benefited' from the food. These letters and photographs came from all over the country and as far a field as Australia.

The following are some examples from a private collection of the Magazine. Starting off with a girl who was born in Lewisham, Kent.

Royal Academy Pictures Part 4 1892.

Marian Emily Crowden born 1888, Lewisham, Kent. 

"12, Ennersdale Road , Lewisham, S.E.

Sir,-Enclosed please find photo of my baby; she is one year old. 9 months ago she was suffering with eczema, and was in such a weak state-one could count every bone-and was unable to hold up her head. My medical man almost gave her up, and ordered her other foods, but the child became weaker. Three days after giving your Food the child revived like a flower in water, and not a more healthy or stronger child can be found.           "Yours truly, E. CROWDEN."

The 1891 census. show the family at 6, Gurney Terrace, Northampton,  Northamptonshire.

CROWDEN, Chas T Head Married M 32 1859 Manager Of Engineering Works Halesworth Suffolk

CROWDEN, Emily Wife Married F 32 1859 Langley Middlesex Broom

CROWDEN, Nellie Daughter  F 4 1887  Lewisham Kent

CROWDEN, Marian A Daughter  F 3 1888  Lewisham Kent

PARR, Alice S Visitor Single F 29 1862 Lambeth Surrey

Free BMD shows that Marian was registered as Mariam Emily Crowden. Births Mar 1888 CROWDEN  Marian Emily  Lewisham  1d 1166   which is confirmed by Baptism record: Marion Emily Crowden Baptised 15 Apr 1888 Charles Thomas Crowden, Engineer, and Emily Crowden St Mary, Lewisham. Address 56 Ennersdale Road.

The writer of the letter was obviously her mother, Emily Crowden.

Harold Bradley born 2 Feb 1888, Hackney

"259 Dalston Lane Mare Street, Hackney.  Jan. 12, 1891.

Dear Sir, I am proud to hand you a photo of one of my children. This boy was eighteen months old when his photo was taken, and weighed 33lbs. He is very solid and rnuscular and not flabby like most big children. Has been brought up on MELLIN'S FOOD, and has always been the picture of health.-Yours truly, W. E, BRADLY".

The record of Baptism shows Harold Wilfred Bradley was Baptised on the 4 Nov 1888 and his parents were William Bradley, Licensed Victualler, and Lilian Bradley at Dalston St Mark, Hackney.  Address at Baptism 129 Kingsland Road. Date of Birth 17 Sept 1888. 

The 1891 census shows the family at 259, Dalston Lane, Hackney, London.

BRADLY, William Head Married M 28 1863 Licensed Victualler  London  

BRADLY, Lilian Wife Married F 23 1868  London 

BRADLY, Leonard Son  M 3 1888  London

BRADLY, Harold Son  M 2 1889  London  

BRADLY, Hilda Daughter  F 1 1890  London

BRADLY, Lilian Daughter  F 0 (2M) 1891  London

AUGUST, William Servant Single M 20 1871 Barman  London

BUNTING, Alice Servant Single F 24 1867 Barmaid  London

READ, Emily Servant Single F 20 1871 Barmaid  London

BEDWELL, Maria Servant Single F 24 1867 Cook Domestic Servant  London

PIGGOTT, Kate Servant Single F 22 1869 Nursemaid Domestic Servant  London

The writer of the letter was Harold's father, William Bradley.

Roy Argyle Galloway born 1889 Brighton.

 

5, Clifton Place, Brighton.  Feb. 1st, 1891 .

Dear Sir,-I have the pleasure to enclose the photo of our little one-Roy Argyle-at the age of 10 months. He has been brought up entirely on your Food, and is in perfect health, which proves its marvellous efficacy.

Sincerely yours, "ARGYLE GALLOWAY."

In 1891 the family were at 8 Lancaster Villas, Brighton

Thomas A Galloway, Commercial Traveller, Head Male 30 abt 1861 Islington London

Mary E Galloway Wife Female 23 abt 1868 Brighton Sussex

Roy C A Galloway Son Male 1 abt 1890 Brighton Sussex England

The father, Thomas Alfred Galloway, married Mary Edith Welling. Free BMD gives the following:

Marriages Dec 1888 

GALLOWAY  Thomas Alfred    Steyning  2b 571   

WELLING  Mary Edith     Steyning  2b 571   

Births Dec 1889  Galloway  Roy Argyle   Steyning  2b 292

In 1901 the family were at Young Croft, Montifiore Road, Brighton.

Thomas A Galloway Head 39 abt 1862, Wholesale Grocer, Male Islington London

Mary E Galloway Wife 32 abt 1869 Female Brighton Sussex

Roy A Galloway Son 11 abt 1890 Male Brighton Sussex

Alice Faircloth Servant 16 abt 1885 Female Smithfield London

Kent: Defunct Brewery Livery. The History of the Christmas Card-Thursday 1 December 2011. The National Archives have issued this notice - Closure on 30 November 2011.

Kent: Defunct Brewery Livery.

If your ancestors or family worked for a Brewery and you are looking for information about the company or more background information this site might be of interest.

It list many details of Breweries that have been found, plus photographs in many cases of the signs and if survived any remaining buildings. The majority of the information has been compiled by the Brewery History Society and contributors. The Kent data can be found at Defunct Brewery Livery

Most of the rest of the country is also covered and details of other counties can be found at Index By Brewer or at Index  Further details of the Brewery History Society can be found at Home Page

The History of the Christmas Card.

If you happen to be in London or live in the area you might be interested in the Archives for London seminar about the history of the Christmas Card. It will be held on Thursday 1 December 2011, 6:00pm (doors 5:30pm) - 7:30pm at the  London Metropolitan Archives - Huntley Room, 40 Northampton Road, London EC1R 0HB.

Anna Flood of the British Postal Museum and Archive explores the custom of sending Christmas cards. Using images from the BMPA’s collections popular card themes and the way they were produced and some of the reasons for sending them will be looked at.

Further details of the seminar can be found at  AFL History of Christmas Cards Free to AFL Members £2 for non members (payable at the door). Advance booking is essential. You can book a place by e-mailing AFL Seminar

The National Archives have issued this notice -  Closure on 30 November 2011.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has announced national strike action on Wednesday 30 November. As the strike coincides with industrial action by other unions, The National Archives will be closed to the public on this day.

We therefore ask visitors planning to come to The National Archives on 30 November to arrange their visit for an alternative day.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Please continue to check our website for updates. National Archives

Free Articles about prominent families from the Dartford area on the North West Kent Family History Society Website. Guild of One Name Studies Seminar: Army Records Ash Victoria Hall, 121 Ash Hill Road, Ash, Surrey, GU12 5DN 18th February 2012

Free Articles about prominent families from the Dartford area on the North West Kent Family History Society Website.

There are a series of articles available about prominent families from the Dartford area on the NWKFHS website that are free to read. They have been written by NWKFHS member Philip Taylor, who has kindly provided them for the website

'Frederick Alexander Preston Pigou (1838-1905) : Gunpowder maker and controversial landholder in Dartford'. (PDF file)

'Richard Sanham (1815-95): Dartford Builder and Local Politician'. (PDF file)

 'Larking John Seager (1840 – 1905) : Engineer and entrepeneur'. (PDF file)

James Sharp (1808-83) and his Children, a Prominent Family in Victorian Dartford'. (PDF file)
'Thomas Edward Tiffin (1868-1952): Architect of Dartford Library'. (PDF file)

'Samuel Charles Umfreville JP (1820-94) of Ingress Abbey and his Fight with the Cement Makers'. (PDF file)

They can be found on the NWKFHS at On-Line Articles

Guild of One Name Studies Seminar: Army Records Ash Victoria Hall, 121 Ash Hill Road, Ash, Surrey, GU12 5DN Saturday 18th February 2012.

The Guild of One Name Studies is holding a Seminar that should interest all who had ancestors and family who served in the British Army.

"We have secured an excellent team of specialists for this seminar, which will be covering many aspects of the Army records. We lead off with Iain Swinnerton who will be explaining how the British Army was organised up to how it is today. Simon Fowler will then give us some sources for more information in the archives. Then, following an included buffet lunch, Roy Hemington of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission explains their work plus gives us a deeper look at their archives. We complete the seminar with Peter Bailey and his marvellous knowledge of the Army in British India."

Cost for the Seminar is £15 per person. Further details can be found at Event Calendar You can also book by e-mailing Seminar Booking

Remembering the First World War-Heritage Lottery Fund. The Identity & Passport Service has warned: don't pay too much for your replacement birth certificates. New North West Kent Family History Society CD Publications-Bromley, Kent.

Remembering the First World War.

2014 sees the start of a series of centenaries marking the First World War. Such events will commemorate the Battle of the Somme, the Gallipoli campaign, the changing role of women, the Armistice and the dedication of the first war memorials.

The Heritage Lottery Fund is offering to provide funds to help mark these important anniversaries by exploring the history and legacy of the war and helping people understand how it impacted on communities across the UK, especially their own. Working along with Imperial War Museums (IWM), who are leading the UK’s cultural commemorative programme for the centenaries, HLF applicants can access IWM expertise and resources by joining the centenary partnership. The fund is to also help communities mark the event.

The First World War was a major conflict that not only impacted on our ancestors and families life, that is still felt to this day. It was to lead to major changes in Society, Culture and politics.

Details can be found at Heritage Lottery Fund   The HLF also has a downloadable booklet at HLF Booklet which gives further details and how to apply.

The Identity & Passport Service has warned: don't pay too much for your replacement birth certificates.

The above warning comes via the Federation of Family History Societies. This applies equally to other certificates. When using commercial websites to find an index entry for a birth, marriage or death registration it is tempting to click on a placed link on the site to order a certificate.  However, it can be much  costly to do this rather than going to the official website at The General Register Office

New North West Kent Family History Society CD Publications-Bromley, Kent.

The Cd's are from the LB of Bromley Archives holdings. They contain facsimiles of parish registers of Beckenham, Bromley, Bromley Common, Chelsfield, Chislehurst, Farnborough, Keston and Penge. They contain all the material for these Parishes that is in a fit condition to be handled.

Further details can be found at Publication News more details and how to order can be found at Current Society Projects 

The General Register Office has announced it is considering options for digitising and indexing civil registration birth, marriage and death records back to 1837. Music Halls, Graces Alley, London E1 8JB - Wilton's the oldest surving Music Hall.

The General Register Office has announced it is considering options for digitising and indexing civil registration birth, marriage and death records back to 1837. .

In addition the way births and deaths are registered and giving notice to marry is being modernised. Registration Online (RON)  has  been extended to cover birth, death, stillbirth and marriage registration together with the legal preliminaries to marriage and civil partnership.

The registrars general for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have extended the opportunity for existing customers to obtain death data for England and Wales dating back to January 2007.

GRO is also currently reviewing its options for digitising all birth, death and marriage records dating back to 1837.The digitisation and indexing project to scan and digitise civil registration records for England and Wales from 1837 to present and create a new online index of events has been halted since September 2010.

Some 50% of the birth, death, adoption and marriage records have already been digitised. a decision is to be taken for financial year 2011/12 about the future plans for the digitisation of its remaining records. More details can be found at Modernising Civil Registration 

 

Questions are already being asked that if Digitisation is started again and completed what impact this could have on the indexes on FreeBMD, FindmyPast, Ancestry, The Genealogist and FamilyRelatives.

 

Music Halls, Graces Alley, London E1 8JB  - Wilton's the oldest surviving Music Hall.

 

Music Hall's were a part of many of our ancestors lives. If you are interested in the social life of  your ancestors, or if they worked in Music Halls then this site is worth looking at.  Wilton's is the oldest surviving Grand Music Hall in the world. One of the the first generation public house music halls in London during the 1850s. Now owned by the Wilton's Music Hall Trust and run by a small team of people, it produces imaginative, distinctive work that combines all art forms and spotlights new talent. They are also raising funds to renovate the Music Hall.

 

They run guided tours where you can  "Discover Wilton's unique and colourful history. Hear how a Victorian sailors' pub became a famous music hall, how it was transformed into a Methodist Mission, survived the London Blitz, was forgotten for decades and reopened as the exciting theatre venue it is today. These tours have been devised by Wilton's historian and archivist and last approximately one hour".

 

More information can be found at Wilton's Music Hall  information about the tours can be found at Guided Tours

 

Apprentice Indentures-downloadable free from The National Archives site. National Archives Podcasts.

Apprentice Indentures-down loadable free from The National Archives site.

The register of duties paid for Apprentice Indentures between 1710-1811 can be searched on a pay per view site. The Society of Genealogists also have a database that can be searched by members or on a pay per view site.

What is not widely known is that the same records can be freely accessed at the TNA site. You can download the records at Ledger Duties Paid on Indentures

You will have to search through the records yourself, but they are free. Warning the down loadable file is a PDF about 39.9mb in size.

National Archives Podcasts.

Another invaluable and free resource available on at TNA website are podcasts. They can help you in many ways including how to research the many resources at the Archives.

They range from: English burial and cemetery records online and on film. The untold story of women in the Crimean War.  The Land Tax 1692-1963. Nineteenth century soldiers: getting the most from online resources. Suing and being sued - finding people in legal disputes and many many more.

The podcasts can be found at National Archives Podcasts

National Archives-Family History: Nursing Service Records, First World War-Free search and download. Scadbury House, Chislehurst and Survey House, St Mary Cray. Invitation to a Vestry Meeting a talk by Jean Stirk, at Farningham Kent, 25 November 2011. Bexley Historical Society-60th Anniversary

National Archives-Family History: Nursing Service Records, First World War-Free search and download.

The National Archives is providing a free search and download of 15,000 First World War nursing service records online, a look into the life stories of the women who dedicated their lives to their profession. The records date from 1902 to 1922 and hold an unusually high level of detail, rarely seen in service records. You can search at Nursing Service Records

Archaeological Societies can be a great help in researching your family history, the area they lived in and the events happening around them. They also published information that can assist in putting together different aspects your family's history.

Orpington and District Archaeological Society (ODAS) is an active local archaeology group based in Orpington, Kent with a field headquarters at Scadbury Manor, Chislehurst.

November 2nd a talk by Steve Waters Survey of Ancient Trees at Scadbury .

Scadbury Manor a medieval moated manor house in Chislehurst, Kent currently being excavated by the Orpington and District Archaeological Society (ODAS). It is situated in Scadbury Park Local Nature Reserve in the London Borough of Bromley. Events

There are also details of the excavations of Survey House, a Medieval House in St Mary Cray, Kent which is still standing. The aim of both excavations is not only to excavate and determine the structure of the houses but to also find objects that will an insight to the lives of the people of the area. Scadbury House  and Survey House

The meetings open to the public: no charge is made for admission (space is limited, however, and where necessary priority is given to members).

Invitation to a Vestry Meeting a talk by Jean Stirk, at Farningham Kent, 25 November 2011.

Friday, 25 November 2011 at 19:30 (7:30pm) Invitation to a Vestry Meeting a talk by Jean Stirk, a re-creation of a typical Vestry meeting held by the Farningham  &  Eynsford Local History Society at the Farningham Village Hall.

Bexley Historical Society-60th Anniversary 12 December 2011.

 'History of Playing Cards' a talk by Alan Payne as part of the 60th anniversary of the Society. 8pm on Monday 12 December 2011 at Bexley Historical Society, The Huxtable Hall, St Martins Church, Erith Road. Barnehurst, Kent. DA7 6LE

Playing Cards were popular or very unpopular, depending on the belief or views of our ancestors so this would be a good opportunity to find out about their history.