Transcriptions volunteers

The data backbone of Family History Societies is the transcribing and indexing of original documents. Eric Jackson in his report for the Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS) general meeting (2018) mentions the transcribers' comradery of the Lancashire ‘Crew Lists Project’ volunteers. The same atmosphere is enjoyed by NWKFHS volunteers. In addition to the transcribing activities there is also a team of volunteers creating a catalogue of the books, photographs, fiche and old documents held in the Society Library. At these sessions the comradery is created by the supply of tea, coffee and biscuits with lots of ready banter among the team. The advantage the Society has is having a room in which to work with the tools of atlases, magnifying glasses and guidance references and adjacent kitchen facilities.

Members are very welcome to join the transcription and cataloguing teams by offering their services at the regular monthly branch meetings or at the Library on any Wednesday.

Metropolitan Police History

Ken Chamberlain at Dartford on Saturday talked about the history of the Metropolitan police force and during the presentation gave hints on researching your police ancestors. The first was to contact the metropolitan police historical collection www.metpolicehistory.co.uk and the second was the guidance notes at the TNA. The TNA under the MEPO piece number MEPO4 has a number of registers that have been digitised and are FREE to view on line. You can in 'Discovery' enter the ancestors name and  then view the actual register entry online at no cost. I managed to see the registers that gave the date of recruitment, date of leaving, warrant number and the division of members of my family who served in the police. One of these men served not in London but at Chatham Dockyard.
A good talk that surprised me in providing information that has lead to four new pieces of family history. Thanks Ken.